The influence of geometrical and nongeometrical features on the use of the lexical concepts NEAR and FAR in English and Finnish

This paper investigates the impact of geometrical and nongeometrical features on the use of the lexical concepts NEAR and FAR in English and Finnish. Participants’ acceptability ratings for these concepts demonstrate that a bar in between a Figure and a Ground acts as a scale-setting object but not as a distance enhancing barrier, shows that the influence of the geometrical feature Figure–Ground distance exceeds the influence of several nongeometrical features, but most of all reveals that language specific lexical properties associated with NEAR and FAR predict language dependent effects for functional relatedness in interaction with Figure–Ground distance and bar presence

Листи Чернігівського архієпископа Філарета (Гумілевського) до О.М. Бодянського

Публікація містить листи відомого історика Церкви Чернігівського архієпископа Філарета (Гумілевського) до О. М. Бодянського, які висвітлюють їхню співпрацю на ґрунті дослідження слов’янських старожитностей.Публикуются письма известного историка Церкви Черниговского архиепископа Филарета (Гумилевского) к О. М. Бодянскому, которые освещают их сотрудничество на ниве исследования славянских древностей.The published article contains the letters of the famous historian of the Church – the Archbishop of Chernihiv Filaret (Humilevskyi) to O.M. Bodyanskyi covering their collaboration on the basis of Slavic antiquities research

Acculturation Strategies Among Ethnic Minority Workers and the Role of Intercultural Personality Traits

In an increasingly diverse work context minority employees strive to place and define themselves in terms of work and cultural identities. Based on Berry’s acculturation model (1990), we defined and tested preferred acculturation strategies at work. It was predicted that the dual identity, reflecting strong cultural identity maintenance combined with strong team identity adoption, is the most preferred strategy at work. The present study among non-Dutch employees working in The Netherlands (N = 108) showed that the dual identity is indeed preferred over strong team identity adoption, but solely among minority members who are emotionally stable. It is argued that these people are competent in dealing with the extra conflict and diversity-related stress that this acculturation strategy produces

A study of the adjustment of Western expatriates in Taiwan ROC with the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)

The present paper examined the validity of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). As criteria of validity three levels of adjustment were used. The study took place among a sample of expatriates (N = 102) during their assignment in Taiwan. The MPQ has scales for cultural empathy, open-mindedness, social initiative, emotional stability and flexibility. The MPQ-scales appeared to be positively related to expatriates' personal, professional and social adjustment. In all three domains, emotional stability appeared most consistently as predictor of adjustment. Social initiative was an additional strong predictor of psychological well-being, and so was cultural empathy of satisfaction with life and of the amount of social support in the host country. Flexibility was a predictor of job satisfaction and social support. The study also examined the effects of marital status on adjustment. Married expatriates showed higher levels of adjustment than expatriates who were single or separated

The effectiveness of a mediation program in symmetrical versus asymmetrical neighbor-to-neighbor conflicts

Purpose – The last decades, neighborhood mediation programs have become an increasingly popular method to deal with conflicts between neighbors. In the current paper the aim is to propose and show that conflict asymmetry, the degree to which parties differ in perceptions of the level of conflict, may be important for the course and outcomes of neighborhood mediation. \ud \ud Design/methodology/approach – Data for testing the hypotheses were based on coding all (261) files of neighbor conflicts reported to a Dutch neighborhood mediation program in the period from 2006 through 2008. \ud \ud Findings – As expected, cases were more often about asymmetrical than symmetrical conflicts. Moreover, compared to symmetrical conflicts, asymmetrical conflicts less often led to a mediation session; the degree of escalation was lower; and, particularly in asymmetrical conflicts, a mere intake session already contributed to positive conflict outcomes. \ud \ud Originality/value – Past research on the effectiveness of mediation programs mainly focused on cases in which a mediation session effectively took place. However, persuading parties to participate in a mediation session forms a major challenge for mediators. In fact, many cases that are signed-up for mediation programs do not result in an actual mediation. The current study examines the entire mediation process – from intake to follow-up\u

Intercultural Competences and Self-Identity as Key Factors to Adaptation

Students increasingly cross borders to study in a foreign country and live a full experience abroad. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship among intercultural personality, self-identity orientation, and outcomes of cultural adaptation among international students. According to the multicultural personality questionnaire, five key dimensions lead to intercultural adaptation success: cultural empathy, open-mindedness, emotional stability, social initiative, and flexibility. In addition, another relevant factor is that individuals frame situations differently depending on how they construe or represent themselves in a specific context. Thus, we consider three related identity orientations (i.e., personal, relational, and collective identity) to understand how international students feel toward and interact with others in the host culture. The results show that for international students to successfully adapt to a “host” culture, open-mindedness, social initiative, and relational identity are key factors in life satisfaction and in having more contact with the host (i.e., Dutch) and international students. However, international students with a more personal identity orientation have more contact with Dutch students, and those with a more collective identity orientation with co-nationals. In conclusion, specific intercultural competences and identity orientations may help students feel more satisfied and interact with different groups as ways to achieve international cultural adaptation

CRIQ: An innovative measure using comparison awareness to avoid self-presentation tactics

The article presents a new measure for career role identification, the Career Role Identification Questionnaire (CRIQ). In constructing the CRIQ, we used the Comparison Awareness Inducing Technique (CAIT), a new and innovative method to reduce the effects of self-presentation tactics. The results show that the CRIQ measures identification with the six career roles conceptualized by Hoekstra (2011). The inventory has reliable scales and a clear factorial structure. Furthermore, the CAIT receives some support as a new way to deal with the problem of social desirability in self-report measures. The CAIT technique is thought to induce comparison awareness and thus suppress various response tendencie