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Asian Cultures (asian + culture)
Selected AbstractsStruggles among Japanese women with conservative gender roles flooded with ,ideal' feminine images through commercialismPSYCHOTHERAPY AND POLITICS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2006Konoyu Nakamura Abstract In Japan, eating disorders among women have been become a huge social problem in the past three decades. It is clear that eating disorders are developed by socio-cultural context, especially the pursuit of thinness. This paper first shows, through research using EAT-26, how such behaviours have recently spread even to elementary schoolgirls in Japan. It then attempts to explore, from feminist perspectives, the social status of Japanese women and how commercialism floods them with ,ideal' feminine images, which drive them to various self-destructive behaviours. Conservative gender roles in East Asian culture also greatly restrict women, consciously or unconsciously. Stereotyped feminine images function as a sort of internal oppression, which is observed in much clinical experience with patients with eating disorders. Jungian approaches, dream analysis, insight and withdrawing projections are helpful for patients. By reporting some patients' dreams, I describe their struggles to find their true selves. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Prospects for an integrated trait and cultural psychologyEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 3 2009A. Timothy ChurchArticle first published online: 8 APR 200 Abstract Church (2000) discussed a possible integration of trait and cultural psychology perspectives, two dominant theoretical approaches in the study of culture and personality. In this article, I summarise the results of cross-cultural studies we have conducted to test elements of this integrated perspective, discuss prospects for an integrated approach, and note future research needs. The studies address the measurement of implicit theories regarding the traitedness versus contextuality of behaviour; culture, method, and the content of self-concepts; culture and explanations of everyday behaviours; accuracy and self-enhancement in trait assessments; cross-role consistency and its relation to adjustment; and cross-situational consistency and trait prediction of daily behaviour. Our results, and those of other researchers, indicate that an integration of trait and cultural psychology perspectives has potential. However, some findings suggest that cultural psychology hypotheses may be more consistently supported in comparisons of Americans with selected Asian cultures than in comparisons of individualistic and collectivistic cultures more generally. Thus, an integrated perspective may need to be recast using theoretical perspectives that go beyond individualism,collectivism. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale , Second Edition: initial validation of the Korean versionJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 3 2009Myung-Sun Hyun Abstract Title.,Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale , Second Edition: initial validation of the Korean version. Aim., This paper is a report of a study conducted to test the validity and reliability of the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale , Second Edition in Korean culture. Background., Depression is a significant mental health problem in adolescents. The Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale , Second Edition has been shown to be a useful tool to assess depression in adolescents, with extensive research on this measure having been conducted in western cultures. Measures developed in western cultures need to be tested and validated before being used in Asian cultures. Method., The participants were a convenience sample of 440 Korean adolescents with a mean age of 13·78 years (sd = 0·95) from grades 7 to 9 in three public middle schools in South Korea. A cross-sectional design was used. Back-translation was used to create the Korean version, with additional testing for cultural meaning and comprehension. The data were collected at the end of 2004. Results., Internal consistency reliability for the Korean version of the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale , Second Edition was 0·89, with subscale reliability ranging from 0·66 to 0·81. Evidence for criterion-related, convergent and discriminant validity for the Korean version of the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale , Second Edition was found. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the 4-factor structure of Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale , Second Edition. Conclusion., Our results support the validity and reliability for the Korean version of the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale , Second Edition as a measure of depression and suggest that it can be used to screen students and to evaluate the effectiveness of preventive interventions in school settings. [source] Feminism and Women's Autonomy: the Challenge of Female Genital CuttingMETAPHILOSOPHY, Issue 5 2000Diana Tietjens Meyers Feminist studies of female genital cutting (FGC) provide ample evidence that many women exercise effective agency with respect to this practice, both as accommodators and as resisters. The influence of culture on autonomy is ambiguous: women who resist cultural mandates for FGC do not necessarily enjoy greater autonomy than do those women who accommodate the practice, yet it is clear that some social contexts are more conducive to autonomy than others. In this paper, I explore the implications for autonomy theory of these understandings of the relation between culture, FGC, and women's agency. I review the range of worldwide FGC practices , including "corrective" surgery for "ambiguous genitalia" in Western cultures as well as the various initiation rites observed in some African and Asian cultures , and the diverse cultural rationales for different forms of FGC. I argue that neither latitudinarian, value-neutral accounts of autonomy nor restrictive, value-saturated accounts adequately explain women's agentic position with respect to FGC. I then analyze a number of educational programs that have enhanced women's autonomy, especially by strengthening their introspection, empathy, and imagination. Such programs, which engage women's autonomy skills without exposing them to autonomy-disabling cultural alienation, promote autonomy-within-culture. This understanding of autonomy as socially situated, however, entails neither endorsement of FGC nor resignation to its persistence. [source] Cultural differences related to positive and negative valenceASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2007Kenji Noguchi Differences between North American and East Asian cultures were examined in terms of the valence of psychological constructs. Americans were more likely than Japanese to focus on positive things. In contrast, Japanese (vs Americans) were more likely to attend to negative information of the self, but not more or less likely to focus on negative things about others. Based on within-culture analyses, the Americans' data were better described by their tendency to focus on positive things over negative things than by their tendency for self-enhancement. In contrast, the Japanese data were better described by their self-critical tendency. This result was replicated in a second study. In addition, correlations between constructs with opposite valences were negative in the USA, but positive or absent in Japan. [source] Asian social psychology: Achievements, threats, and opportunitiesASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2007Kwok Leung A scan of citation impact suggests that Asian social psychologists have made significant contributions in three areas: indigenous research, culture and social behaviour, and in several topics in social psychology. An analysis of the most cited articles published in Asian Journal of Social Psychology (AJSP) in 1998,2002 in March 2005 reveals that most papers are concerned with culture, with a focus on either popular topics in the West or indigenous concepts. Asian social psychology seems to be closely associated with cultural issues, but it still lacks unique theoretical contributions, and the number of internationally visible scholars is limited and is mostly confined to East Asia. However, Asian cultures provide a fertile ground for identifying new constructs. Many Asian universities are now under pressure to internationalize, which will motivate more academics to participate in Asian conferences and publish in AJSP. To develop Asian social psychology, effort should be focused on nurturing the next generation of Asian social psychologists, who not only need an international perspective, but also ambition and creativity. [source] Sociocultural Perceptions and Patterns of Cigarette and Alcohol Use among College Students in VietnamASIAN SOCIAL WORK AND POLICY REVIEW, Issue 3 2008Paul DuongTran This empirical study was conducted in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to investigate cross-sectionally the influences of sociocultural contexts on the patterns of addictive substance use cigarette, alcohol, and illicit drugs. A sample of 202 monolingual adults who were enrolled in college courses at the University of Hanoi in Vietnam responded to a self-reported questionnaire in their native language on the frequency, quantity, and occasions of addictive behavior. The project staff were fluent in English and Vietnamese. The questionnaire was critically reviewed for its face validity and cultural appropriateness before being translated into Vietnamese. In addition to patterns of use, this research explored the central role of drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes in peer socialization among college adults. Vietnam, like other Asian cultures, emphasizes initiation and conformity to social traditions and norms. The empirical findings provide invaluable knowledge of the complex roles of cigarette and alcohol in the social processes and relationship-building among college adults in Vietnam. Further knowledge will assist in identifying intervention approaches and health prevention that is more focused and congruent with cultural and social beliefs about this behavior and these substances. Its implications for research into culturally appropriate intervention and prevention are also discussed. [source] | |||||||||||||