From abstraction to empiricism : a new paradigm an intercultural education in crisis

In recent years, researchers have made enormous strides in understanding culture and cognitive processes, e.g .: cultural differences in information processing, emotion, motivation, and identity; cognitive biases; empathy and value judgments. By and large, however, these insights have not been incorporated into intercultural education. Instead, intercultural education finds itself in crisis as long-standing approaches have lost credibility. This talk will argue that the empirical insights of cognitive and cultural psychology can help reorient intercultural education away from abstraction and ideology, towards the psychological realities of intercultural experiences. I will discuss research which shows that the beliefs/assumptions of intercultural educators are often at odds with an empirical understanding of cognitive processes. Just as a therapist can help identify cognitive distortions and change how we interact with others, intercultural education can give learners insights into: 1) the influence of culture on our experience of the world, 2) patterns of psychological difference around the world, 3) mental shortcuts (cognitive biases) that lead to intercultural misunderstanding, 4) and, the cognitive processes related to empathy. I will share examples of how this deep culture approach is being developed and applied, and invite participants to discuss the future of intercultural education

Intelligent interactive measurement and cultivation system of adolescent psychological resilience

Psychological resilience plays a crucial role in helping adolescents cope with adversity and maintain mental well-being. Enhancing resilience is particularly significant for preventing mental health issues. However, traditional methods of fostering psychological resilience often face challenges such as high costs and lengthy timeframes, and there is a lack of scalable, digital, and efficient approaches. To address this gap, this study integrates positive psychology theory with artificial intelligence technologies, including large language models (LLMs), to explore an intelligent system for measuring and cultivating mental resilience in adolescents through human-computer interaction. By combining mental toughness theory, intervention strategies from positive psychology, natural language processing techniques, and human-computer interaction methods, the study investigates the digital mental resilience needs of adolescents. It proposes a new approach to measuring and cultivating resilience based on intelligent dialogue, develops a prototype web-based system, and preliminarily tests the system\u27s effectiveness through user experiments

The enigmatic effects of telework on work-family conflict: Investigating boundary conditions

Telework has been widely used after the COVID-19 pandemic, making work away from the office possible. Although telework has potential beneficial effects due to the compatibility, it can also interfere with nonwork lives. Indeed, previous studies have showed mixed effects of telework on work-family conflict. To clarify the ambiguity, we conducted two studies on the boundary conditions of the relationship between telework and work-family conflict. In the first study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2022), we examined environmental characteristics called permeability and flexibility as the moderators, proposed by the work-home border theory, among 219 Korean employees who teleworked at least once a week. In the second study, we added individual differences regarding segmentation preference as the moderator and tested three-way interactions among telework, work-home border characteristics (permeability or flexibility), and segmentation preference in explaining work-family conflict. The data were collected from 310 Korean employees who responded after the COVID-19 pandemic (August 2024). The results demonstrated that the effect of telework could depend on personal characteristics concerning individual preference as well as environmental characteristics concerning the border between work and home

The malleability of cultural values : overcoming conceptual and methodological challenges

Understanding cultural change remains central to social science research. The growing availability of long-term data has renewed interest in analyzing cultural change, sparking debate over its mechanisms. Most scholars agree that existential insecurity influences value change (scarcity hypothesis), but whether it occurs across generations or also within lifetimes remains debated. Inglehart\u27s socialization hypothesis, now represented by the settled disposition model, argues that values formed in pre-adulthood remain stable, with change occurring mainly through intergenerational replacement and limited individual adaptation (Restrepo Ochoa & Vaisey, 2024; Kiley & Vaisey, 2020; Vaisey & Kiley, 2021). However, Tormos (2019) and Akaliyski & Tormos (forthcoming) challenge this, presenting evidence of substantial within-individual value change in Western societies, favoring the alternative active updating model. Using panel and repeated cross-sectional data combined with diverse modelling strategies, we provide empirical evidence for this alternative perspective. We address key debates in cultural change, including individual vs. societal shifts, the often-misunderstood implications of age, period, and cohort effects, and the importance of triangulating across data sources and country contexts. We advocate for a theory-driven approach that considers both exogenous and endogenous influences on value dynamics, reviewing mechanisms of change and discussing improved modelling strategies for understanding these complex processes

Unpacking low fertility in East Asia through social media insights

We will explore the intriguing phenomenon of low fertility rates in East Asia, focusing specifically on China, Japan, and South Korea. We will present a novel approach that leverages social media data to analyze online discussions surrounding childbirth and parenting in these countries. Using advanced natural language processing and machine learning techniques, we will conduct thematic and sentiment analyses to uncover the key topics and emotional tones present in these online conversations. Our findings reveal that discussions primarily revolve around the financial burden of raising children, the perceived benefits of having children, and the tension between modem individualistic values and traditional collective values, including gender roles. Notable differences among the three countries exist and regional socioeconomic indicators are connected to those different sentiments towards childbirth and parenthood

Lingnan Gardeners Newsletter (No. 73) = 彩園通訊 (第73期)

https://commons.ln.edu.hk/ln_gardeners_newsletter/1073/thumbnail.jp

Interpreting value changes across countries using archetypes as anchor points : individual and country level perspectives

Schwartz\u27s seminal psychological theory on human values (Schwartz, 1992, 2012) explains differences among individuals and countries. His instruments are robust, showing similar value structures across nations despite varying priorities. Our study examines value changes over time from both individual-level and country-level perspectives. For the individual level perspective, we use archetype analysis. This method identifies extreme observations representing specific value combinations, which are stable over time and useful for monitoring group changes. Country scores are averages of individual scores. Using European Social Survey data across 29 countries over a 20-year period, we identify three archetypes: Growth-focus, Self-focus, and Social-focus, all fitting Schwartz\u27s theory. Changes in value priorities over time are observed between countries, with Growth-focus prevalence influenced by political and economic conditions. Wealthier and more democratic countries have a larger number of growth-focused individuals. For the country level perspective, we start with country-level value scores as input in the archetype analysis. We explain various results, emphasizing that values are individual level constructs based on survey responses. We argue that valid comparisons over time require equivalence of constructs across countries. The discussion focusses on the need for integrating the two perspectives with a plea for a strong theoretical basis of population-level constructs

Efficacy and feasibility of an adapted version of the unified protocol on relieving depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents

Depression and anxiety symptoms are increasingly common among adolescents, prompting a focus on effective treatments. The Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents (UP-A) has shown mixed results. Researchers suggested that the brief mindfulness component in the original UP-A might limit its effectiveness. To enhance the UP-A, this study integrated extended mindfulness practices. Additionally, based on the ecological system theory, we added social support practices, aiming to enhance the adolescents\u27 ability of utilize resources in their environments to overcome life difficult circumstances. We recruited 53 adolescents with high depression and/or anxiety symptoms, randomly assigning them to an adapted UP-A group (n = 28) or a waitlist control group (n = 25). Participants were assessed on depression, anxiety, mindfulness, distress tolerance, and social support before, after, and one month following the intervention. The intervention group received an eight-week program (once a week), and the waitlist group received no intervention. Results showed significant time and group interaction effects on depression, mindfulness, and distress tolerance, but not on anxiety and social support. The intervention group had significantly lower depression levels post- intervention, but not at follow-up. For the waitlist control group, the differences of depression among pre-intervention, post-intervention and follow-up were not significant. Mindfulness levels increased post-intervention but did not change at follow-up. For the waitlist control group, levels of mindfulness did not change significantly at post-intervention compared with pre-intervention. It decreased from post-intervention to follow-up significantly. Compared to pre-intervention, distress tolerance did not significantly differ during post-intervention and follow-up among the intervention group. However, it decreased from pre-intervention to post-intervention in the waitlist group while increased from post-intervention to follow-up. The study concludes that the adapted UP-A effectively reduces depression symptoms among Chinese adolescents and has moderate feasibility. This research supports the efficacy of the UP-A in China and adds to intervention strategies for adolescent depression

A common 2D framework : using humans’ “relation-tinted glasses” to compare concepts across cultures

Two dimensions have been found in a multitude of interpersonal judgement constructs, often termed in psychology as the Big Two of Agency and Communion. Their ubiquity is hypothesized to be rooted in common evolutionary challenges of social connection and problem solving. Osgood and colleagues’ (1957/1964) first used them to compare word meaning across cultures, consistently finding an Evaluative dimension (Communion), and two less stable dimensions of Potency or Activity (Agency). These dimensions are generally seen as emerging from the construct itself, e.g. personality traits are truly agentic or communal. But explicitly conceptualizing the 2Ds as structuring how humans rate all constructs, as if we are perceiving the world through “relationship-tinted” glasses, may allow for bigger-picture utilizations. I will illustrate how a Common Framework analysis allows for more insightful cross-language comparisons of the lay prototypes of Moral Character and Gratitude, in Chinese and English. A common 2D framework could be the source of, but also conceptually different from, similar-sounding concepts in personality, emotions, and the Inglehart-Welzel World Cultural Map. I look forward to discussing statistical puzzles (circumplex vs. factors), whether and how to differentiate a common 2D framework from similar-sounding theories, and forms of evidence still needed

Why South Korea’s fertility rate dropped below Japan’s?

In 2000, South Korea\u27s period total fertility rate (TFR) was 1.42, and this was higher than Japan\u27s 1.36. However, this fertility advantage over Japan has been lost by 2022, with South Korea\u27s TFR plunging to 0.87 (40% decrease), while Japan\u27s TFR being 1.3 (only 5% decrease). The goal of this article is to proffer a descriptive explanation for this divergence in fertility between these two East Asian countries. Building upon the existing theoretical framework on economic uncertainty and fertility, we argue that changing labor market conditions is an important factor in understanding the nature of South Korea\u27s extraordinary fertility decline. However, unlike previous research that focuses largely on employment precarity and/or stagnant real wages, I call for greater attention to economic inactivity. Using administrative records (e.g., birth and marriage registers from the Korean Vital Statistics) and nationally representative survey data, I show how the rise in economic inactivity rate among young Korean males is associated with the ongoing fertility decline