Psychological trauma of rapid social transformations: Korea's economic crisis and Hong Kong after the reunification

"In diesem Artikel werden zwei Studien berichtet, die die Rolle subjektiver Evaluationen auf die psychologischen Auswirkungen bedeutsamer sozialer Veränderungen untersuchen: zum einen in der Korea nach der Wirtschaftkrise 1997 und zum anderen in Hong Kong nach der Wiedervereinigung mit China 1997. In den beiden Studien wurden Zusammenhänge zwischen der Evaluation sozialer Veränderungen (Geschwindigkeit und Umfang), der Verfügbarkeit von Bewältigungsressourcen und psychologischem Wohlbefinden untersucht. Beide Studien zeigten, dass die subjektive Evaluation den Zusammenhang zwischen sozialem Wandel und psychologischen Wohlbefinden vermittelt. Auf dem Hintergrund dieser Ergebnisse stellen die Autoren die Vorteile der Nutzung subjektiver Evaluationen bei der Erforschung bedeutsamen sozialen Wandels." (Autorenreferat)"This article discusses the role of people's subjective evaluations in the psychological impact of significant social changes based on two studies: one in Korea after the economic crisis in 1997 and the other in Hong Kong after the reunification with China in 1997. In the series of studies, the relations among people's evaluation of social changes (pace and scope) in major social areas, the availability of coping resources, and psychological well-being were analyzed. Two studies commonly revealed that people's subjective evaluations mediated the relationship between social changes and psychological well-being. Based on the results, the authors claim the benefits of utilizing the subjective evaluation to study significant social changes." (author's abstract

Two decades of change in cultural values and economic development in eight East Asian and Pacific Island nations

In a 1982 publication, Ng et al. surveyed the cultural values of select East Asian and Pacific Island nations. In 2002, this study repeated their work, using the same sampling frame, questionnaire, and collaborators, where possible. The authors also reclassified the 1982 and 2002 survey results using Schwartz's cultural-level value dimensions. Submission versus Dionysian values that differentiated the nations in 1982 continued to do so in 2002. Furthermore, nations that endorsed Mastery (and rejected Harmony) in 1982 experienced greater subsequent economic growth than did the other countries. Moreover, economic development in 1982 predicted ensuing changes in Submission versus Dionysian and Hierarchy versus Egalitarianism values. Richer nations tended to endorse Dionysian, Autonomy, and Egalitarianism, whereas poorer nations tended toward Submission, Embeddedness, and Hierarchy values. Overall, the results support both economic and cultural determinism and imply two opposing directions of cultural change

Attitudes of Chinese in Hong Kong towards Japan

published_or_final_versionPsychologyMasterMaster of Social Science

Conversation as a resource for influence: evidence for prototypical arguments and social identification processes

Members of eight single-sex groups each consisting of three pro-and three anti-capital punishment adherents discussed their views for 30 minutes, and afterwards individually rated ingroup and outgroup members on social influence ranking, prototypicality, and social attractiveness. From the intragroup hypothesis that speaking turns are a resource for influence (Ng & Bradac, 1993), we predicted and found that turns were correlated strongly with influence in the intergroup context. Further, using self-categorization theory (SCT; Turner, 1985), we hypothesized that social identity processes would interact with turns, especially with turns obtained through interruptions. Interruptions encoded in prototypical utterances were more strongly correlated with social influence and prototypicality, but not social attraction, than interruptions encoded in non-prototypical utterances. Further, interruption attempts enacted in prototypical utterances were found to be more likely to be successful than unsuccessful in obtaining turns, while those enacted in non-prototypical utterances were more likely to be unsuccessful than successful. Additionally, interruption turns were longer when enacted in prototypical over non-prototypical utterances. Overall, the findings suggest that the power/influence of language is interactively organized and constructed around salient self-categorizations

Language, power, and intergroup relations

Language is a communication medium for turning a power base into influence. But more than that, the creation of power and its maintenance or change can also occur in and through language. In the present article, we discuss some of the dynamic links between language and power to underscore their relevance to the study of intergroup relations. In particular we address the means by which low-power groups might achieve power, and how those who are in high-power positions might retain and subvert acts of power. In doing this, we counterpose our discussion with research that addresses these same issues from a static and individualistic approach to power. Our central argument is that the latter work lacks theoretical facility for describing and understanding the aforementioned dynamic processes of power, and moreover, that its application may unwittingly serve to reify and cement existing control relationships