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Cultural Variation (cultural + variation)
Selected AbstractsInternational and Cultural Variations in Employee Assistance Programmes: Implications for Managerial Health and Effectiveness*JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 2 2007Rabi S. Bhagat abstract While employee assistance programmes (EAPs) are becoming commonplace in large Western organizations, little is known regarding their prevalence in non-Western cultures. In this paper, we provide a framework for understanding the prevalence of EAPs in four distinct cells of societal culture-based variations. A cultural matrix for analysing the relative emphases of styles of coping, social support systems, rites and rituals, and the prevalence of EAPs is developed. The implications for managerial health and effectiveness in the global context are discussed. [source] Cultural Variations in the Placebo Effect: Ulcers, Anxiety, and Blood PressureMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2000Daniel E. Moerman An analysis of the control groups in double-blind trials of medicines demonstrates broad variation,from 0 to 100 percent,in placebo effectiveness rates for the same treatment for the same condition. In two cases considered here, drug healing rates covary with placebo healing rates; placebo healing is the ultimate and inescapable "complementary medicine. " Several factors can account for the dramatic variation in placebo healing rates, including cultural ones. But because variation differs by illness, large placebo effects for one condition do not necessarily anticipate large placebo effects for other conditions as well. Deeper understanding of the intimate relationship between cultural and biological processes will require close ethnographic scrutiny of the meaningfulness of medical treatment in different societies, [placebo effect, ulcer disease, anxiety, hypertension, cross-cultural variation] [source] Mother,Infant Person- and Object-Directed Interactions in Latino Immigrant Families: A Comparative ApproachINFANCY, Issue 4 2008Linda R. Cote Cultural variation in durations, relations, and contingencies of mother,infant person-and object-directed behaviors were examined for 121 nonmigrant Latino mother,infant dyads in South America, Latina immigrants from South America and their infants living in the United States, and European American mother,infant dyads. Nonmigrant Latina mothers and infants engaged in person-directed behaviors longer than Latino immigrant or European American mothers and infants. Mother and infant person-directed behaviors were positively related; mother and infant object-related behaviors were related for some cultural groups but not others. Nearly all mother and infant behaviors were mutually contingent. Mothers were more responsive to infants' behaviors than infants were to mothers. Some cultural differences in responsiveness emerged. Immigrant status has a differentiated role in mother,infant interactions. [source] Cultural variation and the psychological contractJOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2003David C. Thomas Literature on the psychological contract has made significant contributions to our understanding of the exchange relationship between employees and their employer. However, the influence of cultural differences on perceptions of the employment relationship has largely been neglected. We propose both cognitive and motivational mechanisms through which the cultural profiles of individuals influence (a) formation of the psychological contract, (b) perceptions of violations of the psychological contract, and (c) responses to perceived violations. General mechanisms for the influence of culture on the psychological contract are followed by specific examples of the influence of individualism and collectivism. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Cultural variations in pre-emptive effort downplayingASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Reinier P. Pualengco Pre-emptive effort downplaying (PED) occurs when people publicly downplay their effort expenditure on test preparation prior to taking a test for the sake of managing the social evaluation of the self in the face of a challenging performance task. Thirty Asian Americans and 29 European Americans had two opportunities to publicly report their effort expenditure on a practice exercise. They also completed measures of self-evaluations and concern for performance before working on the practice exercise, and the self-evaluation measure again at the completion of the actual test. Only European Americans showed PED. Additionally, concern for performance was positively associated with and mediated cultural variations in PED. The implications of these results are discussed. [source] Semantic Differences in Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) Alarm Calls: A Reflection of Genetic or Cultural Variants?ETHOLOGY, Issue 9 2006Claudia Fichtel In this study, we compared the usage of alarm calls and anti-predator strategies between a captive and a wild lemur population. The wild lemur population was studied earlier in Western Madagascar (Fichtel & Kappeler 2002). The captive population was studied in outdoor enclosures of the Duke University Primate Center. Alarm calls and anti-predator behavior were elicited by conducting experiments with both vocal and visual dummies. We scored the subjects' immediate behavioral responses, including alarm calls, from video recordings made during the experiments. In principle, both populations have a mixed alarm call system with functionally referential alarm calls for aerial predators and general alarm calls for terrestrial and aerial predators and for situations associated with high arousal, such as group encounters. Although wild and captive sifakas exhibit the same alarm call system and use the same alarm call types, we discovered striking differences in the usage and perception of some of the alarm calls. We argue that these differences indicate either an evolutionary drift in the meaning of these calls or reflect cultural variation. The latter possibility is consistent with our understanding of the ontogeny of call usage and comprehension. [source] Marital Research in the 20th Century and a Research Agenda for the 21st CenturyFAMILY PROCESS, Issue 2 2002John M. Gottman Ph.D. In this article we review the advances made in the 20th century in studying marriages. Progress moved from a self-report, personality-based approach to the study of interaction in the 1950s, following the advent of general systems theory. This shift led, beginning in the 1970s, to the rapid development of marital research using a multimethod approach. The development of more sophisticated observational measures in the 1970s followed theorizing about family process that was begun in the decade of the 1950s. New techniques for observation, particularly the study of affect and the merging of synchronized data streams using observational and self-report perceptual data, and the use of sequential and time-series analyses produced new understandings of process and power. Research in the decades of the 1980s and 1990s witnessed the realization of many secular changes in the American family, including the changing role of women, social science's discovery of violence and incest in the family, the beginning of the study of cultural variation in marriages, the expansion of the measurement of marital outcomes to include longevity, health, and physiology (including the immune system), and the study of co-morbidities that accompany marital distress. A research agenda for the 21st century is then described. [source] Psychological essentialism and cultural variation: children's beliefs about aggression in the United States and South AfricaINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2008Jessica W. Giles Abstract The present study compared indigenous South African versus African-American schoolchildren's beliefs about aggression. Eighty 7,9 year olds (40 from each country) participated in interviews in which they were asked to make inferences about the stability, malleability, and causal origins of aggressive behaviour. Although a minority of participants from both countries endorsed essentialist beliefs about aggression, South African children were more likely than American children to do so. Results also revealed some degree of coherence in children's patterns of beliefs about aggression, such that children responded across superficially different measures in ways that appear theoretically consistent. The authors consider these findings in light of debates concerning the role of cultural forces in shaping person perception. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Mental health and intellectual disability: culture and diversityJOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 8 2006R. Littlewood Abstract Background Compared with that in mental illness, cultural variation in popular conceptualisations of intellectual disability has been rarely addressed. Methods A survey of the relevant literature was conducted. Results and Conclusion Preliminous conclusions are that local conceptualisation does not lead to invariant social response, but that intellectual disability is generally distinguished from mental illness. [source] Confucian Capitalism and the Paradox of Closure and Structural Holes in East Asian FirmsMANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Sun-Ki Chai abstract A long-standing debate has taken place in the organizational sociology and social network literatures about the relative advantages of network closure versus structural holes in the generation of social capital. There is recent evidence that these advantages differ across cultures and between East Asia and the West in particular, but existing network models are unable to explain why or address cultural variation in general. This paper seeks to provide a solution by integrating a culture-embedded rational model of action into the social network model of structure, using this not only to re-examine the closure versus structural hole debate, but also to tie it to the literature on Confucian capitalism and the ,East Asian Model' of the firm. We argue that this integrated approach allows us to systematically analyse the relationship between culture and behaviour in networks and, more specifically, to explain why closure has been a more powerful source of productivity in East Asia than the West. [source] Inclusive heritability: combining genetic and non-genetic information to study animal behavior and cultureOIKOS, Issue 2 2010Étienne Danchin Phenotypic variance results from variation in biological information possessed by individuals. Quantitative geneticists often strive to partition out all environmental variance to measure heritability. Behavioral biologists and ecologists however, require methods to integrate genetic and environmental components of inherited phenotypic variance in order to estimate the evolutionary potential of traits, which encompasses any form of information that is inherited. To help develop this integration, we build on the tools of quantitative genetics and offer the concept of ,inclusive heritability' which identifies and unifies the various mechanisms of information transmission across generations. A controversial component of non-genetic information is animal culture, which is the part of phenotypic variance inherited through social learning. Culture has the unique property of being transmitted horizontally and obliquely, as well as vertically. Accounting for cultural variation would allow us to examine a broader range of evolutionary mechanisms. Culture may, for instance, produce behavioral isolating mechanisms leading to speciation. To advance the study of animal culture, we offer a definition of culture that is rooted in quantitative genetics. We also offer four testable criteria to determine whether a trait is culturally inherited. These criteria may constitute a conceptual tool to study animal culture. We briefly discuss methods to partition out cultural variance. Several authors have recently called for ,modernizing the modern synthesis' by including non-genetic factors such as epigenetics and phenotypic plasticity in order to more fully explain phenotypic evolution. Here, we further propose to broaden the concept of inheritance by incorporating the cultural component of behavior. Applying the concept of inclusive heritability may advance the integration of multiple forms of inheritance into the study of evolution. [source] Comparison of stone handling behavior in two macaque species: implications for the role of phylogeny and environment in primate cultural variationAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 12 2008Charmalie AD Nahallage Abstract This study describes the stone handling (SH) behavior of captive rhesus macaques and compares it with that of a captive troop of Japanese macaques with reference to the relative contributions of phylogeny-driven behavioral propensities, environmental differences and socially facilitated learning to the formation of culture. These systematically collected data demonstrate for the first time that two closely related macaque species might share a common cultural behavior, SH. The rhesus troop displayed SH behavioral patterns that was already described in Japanese macaque troops. The one exception was a new pattern not yet seen in any Japanese macaque troop. Differences in the physical environment of the two study enclosures may be responsible for some of the variation in observed SH behavioral patterns in these two troops. These data support the idea that environmental factors can be important for the formation of cultural variation, when the key materials needed to perform the behavior are present in both habitats (stones). Our results are consistent with the prediction made by Huffman and Hirata [The biology of tradition: Models and evidence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p 267,296] that an interactive triad of phylogenetic, environmental and social factors can be responsible for the formation of cultural variation in primates. Am. J. Primatol. 70:1124,1132, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Beyond nature versus culture: cultural variation as an evolved characteristic,THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, Issue 2 2009Daniel Nettle There is a perceived dichotomy between evolutionary explanations for behaviour and social or cultural ones. In this essay, I attempt to dissolve this dichotomy by pointing out that organisms are susceptible to social or cultural influence because they have evolved mechanisms that make them so. I review two classes of evolutionary explanation for cultural variation, ,evoked' and ,transmitted' culture, and argue that these two classes of mechanism enrich and strengthen existing social science accounts, as well as making new predictions. I suggest a high degree of mutual compatibility and potential gains from trade between the social and biological sciences. Résumé Les explications du comportement opposent deux écoles de pensée, privilégiant les explications par l'évolution (biologique) et par le social ou la culture. Dans cet article, l'auteur tente de résoudre cette dichotomie en montrant que les organismes sont sensibles aux influences sociales et culturelles parce qu'ils ont acquis au cours de leur évolution des mécanismes qui leur confèrent cette sensibilité. Il étudie deux classes d'explications évolutionnistes des variations culturelles, celle de la culture «évoquée » et celle de la culture « transmise », et avance que ces deux types de mécanismes enrichissent et renforcent les comptes-rendus existants, tout en permettant de nouvelles prédictions. L'article suggère qu'il existe une grande compatibilité mutuelle et qu'il y a beaucoup à gagner des échanges entre sciences sociales et naturelles. [source] Husserlian Meditations and Anthropological Reflections: Toward a Cultural Neurophenomenology of Experience and RealityANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Issue 2 2009CHARLES D. LAUGHLIN PH.D. ABSTRACT Most of us would agree that the world of our experience is different than the extramental reality of which we are a part. Indeed, the evidence pertaining to cultural cosmologies around the globe suggests that virtually all peoples recognize this distinction,hence the focus upon the "hidden" forces behind everyday events. That said, the struggle to comprehend the relationship between our consciousness and reality, even the reality of ourselves, has led to controversy and debate for centuries in Western philosophy. In this article, we address this problem from an anthropological perspective and argue that the generative route to a solution of the experience,reality "gap" is by way of an anthropologically informed cultural neurophenomenology. By this we mean a perspective and methodology that applies a phenomenology that controls for cultural variation in perception and interpretation, coupled with the latest information from the neurosciences about how the organ of experience,the brain,is structured. [source] Does professional and public opinion in child abuse differ?CHILD ABUSE REVIEW, Issue 6 2002An issue of cross-cultural policy implementation Abstract There are cultural variations in childcare and socialisation practices, and actions considered abuse in one culture may be acceptable in others. The extent to which children's rights are regarded as such within their own cultures as well as by governments may vary greatly. Moreover, there is a tendency for the public to make allowances for the intentions and circumstances of child abusers, at least in less severe or obvious cases or where the actions in question are socially sanctioned. However, there are also many professions involved in prevention or remediation of child abuse, or in the implementation of policies on children generally. Medicine, law, education and the social services are especially relevant here. Professionals in these areas could be expected by virtue of their training and experience to bring to their grasp of abuse issues a dimension that transcends cultural variation. Evidence from the literature and from two Singapore studies is used to explore the possibility that many professionals may retain attitudes to child maltreatment that reflect their culture rather than any transcultural agreement on children's rights generally or child abuse specifically. If true, changing professional attitudes should be an important priority. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Infant crying and maternal holding in the first 2 months of age: an Italian diary studyINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2008Sabrina Bonichini Abstract This study aims to confirm previous North American and North European findings about the normal developmental pattern of infant crying by studying the crying of Italian babies. A cohort of 70 healthy, full-term Italian infants was assessed longitudinally at 2, 5 and 8 weeks of age. Mothers were asked to fill in 24-h behaviour diaries for 3 consecutive days at each age. Results show significant differences in the amount of daily crying between 2 and 8 weeks and between 5 and 8 weeks. Different from other similar studies, no significant cry peak at 5 weeks was found in the Italian babies, but the amount of time Italian mothers spent holding their babies showed a peak at 5 weeks. Infants cried more during the evenings and mothers carried them most during this part of the day. Significant correlations between maternal holding and infant crying were found both concurrently and predictively. The amount of infant crying at 2 weeks predicted the amount of holding at 5 weeks. Results confirmed previous findings about the individual stability of daily crying in the first 8 weeks of age, but future research should take account of cultural variations in maternal holding in studying infant crying in different societies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Exploring adolescent perceptions of parental beliefs and practices related to friendships in diverse ethnic communitiesNEW DIRECTIONS FOR CHILD & ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT, Issue 116 2007Niobe Way It is important to examine both the belief systems and the practices of parents in regard to adolescent friendships. Belief systems inform parental practices and also reveal the full extent of cultural variations that exist within and across ethnic communities. [source] Practical strategies for working with indigenous people living in Queensland, AustraliaOCCUPATIONAL THERAPY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 4 2002Elizabeth Watts Abstract Internationally, occupational therapists have recognized the need to provide culturally appropriate services for indigenous people. This study explored experiences, perspectives and practical strategies of occupational therapists working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in rural and remote areas of Queensland, Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight occupational therapists who had at least 12 months' experience providing services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in health, rehabilitation or education services. Key themes identified in the data focused on strategies for facilitating effective communication with individuals and families, and collaborating with other service providers. The role of Aboriginal Liaison Officers or Indigenous Health Workers was emphasized by participating therapists. Participants identified resources that they perceived as useful in their practice, such as cross-cultural training and access to indigenous health workers. Other resources suggested for further development included information about learning styles of indigenous people and information about cultural variations between specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The small number of participants limits generalizability of the findings. However, therapists can decide on the relevance of strategies to their own workplaces. Suggestions for further research focused on improving occupational therapy services for indigenous people in Australia. These include an investigation of therapy goals with indigenous people, and interviews with indigenous Australians and indigenous health workers about their experiences and perceptions of occupational therapy. Copyright © 2002 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source] Cultural Orientation, Ethnic Affiliation, and Negative Daily Occurrences: A Multidimensional Cross-Cultural AnalysisAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2004Adital Ben-Ari PhD The present research focuses on cultural variations in the experience of daily stresses and strains. It simultaneously examines the experiences of daily hassles among people holding different cultural orientations (individualistic vs. collectivist) and different socioethnic groups (Jews and Arabs). Data were gathered from 662 Jewish and 300 Arab Israeli respondents by means of a random telephone number dialing. Differences were found in self-related hassles between individuals holding different cultural orientations and in family-related hassles between members of different ethnic affiliations. Multidimensional scaling analysis revealed a different configuration of relations among hassle domains in four groups of Ethnic Affiliation X Cultural Orientation, yielding a continuum from most typical individualists to most typical collectivists. with groups in cultural transition found in between. [source] Perception of achievement attribution in individual and group contexts: Comparative analysis of Japanese, Korean, and Asian-American resultsASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Yukiko Muramoto The present study focuses on the relational dynamics between individual and group attributions and examines cultural variations of people's perceptions of self-enhancing and group-enhancing attributions. Middle school students in Japan, Korea and the USA (Hawaii) were asked to read a vignette and to evaluate the stimulus person who makes an internal or external attribution for his personal or team's success. The results revealed that: (i) the self-effacing attributor was perceived as likable by the participants from all three cultures, but as less self-confident by Asian-Americans; and (ii) although Japanese and Koreans share similar cultural backgrounds, they had different preferences for the group-enhancing or group-effacing attributions. The different systems of self-enhancement across cultures are discussed. [source] Cultural variations in pre-emptive effort downplayingASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Reinier P. Pualengco Pre-emptive effort downplaying (PED) occurs when people publicly downplay their effort expenditure on test preparation prior to taking a test for the sake of managing the social evaluation of the self in the face of a challenging performance task. Thirty Asian Americans and 29 European Americans had two opportunities to publicly report their effort expenditure on a practice exercise. They also completed measures of self-evaluations and concern for performance before working on the practice exercise, and the self-evaluation measure again at the completion of the actual test. Only European Americans showed PED. Additionally, concern for performance was positively associated with and mediated cultural variations in PED. The implications of these results are discussed. [source] Does professional and public opinion in child abuse differ?CHILD ABUSE REVIEW, Issue 6 2002An issue of cross-cultural policy implementation Abstract There are cultural variations in childcare and socialisation practices, and actions considered abuse in one culture may be acceptable in others. The extent to which children's rights are regarded as such within their own cultures as well as by governments may vary greatly. Moreover, there is a tendency for the public to make allowances for the intentions and circumstances of child abusers, at least in less severe or obvious cases or where the actions in question are socially sanctioned. However, there are also many professions involved in prevention or remediation of child abuse, or in the implementation of policies on children generally. Medicine, law, education and the social services are especially relevant here. Professionals in these areas could be expected by virtue of their training and experience to bring to their grasp of abuse issues a dimension that transcends cultural variation. Evidence from the literature and from two Singapore studies is used to explore the possibility that many professionals may retain attitudes to child maltreatment that reflect their culture rather than any transcultural agreement on children's rights generally or child abuse specifically. If true, changing professional attitudes should be an important priority. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||