Verbal and nonverbal indices of the communicative performance and acculturation of Chinese immigrants

This paper develops a theoretical framework for examining the acculturation process of immigrants. Focusing on communication variables, it suggests five levels of analysis for assessing acculturation as a continuous rather than dichotomous variable: the speech act level, ritualistic communication, strategic communication, the organization of conversational discourse, and verbal information processing. Examples from research on Chinese communication are utilized to illustrate important differences between Chinese and Americans at each level of analysis. The use of this perspective offers the twofold promise of improving our understanding of “acculturation processes” in general as well as our understanding of the particular everyday communicative actions of immigrant groups. Research on Chinese communication patterns using this perspective will increase our knowledge of Chinese and American interrelations, in addition to providing insight aimed at developing better indices of acculturation of Chinese in the United States.     

Factors predictive of black students' communication with the administration and students at a predominantly white university

Black students' interaction with a predominantly white university's administration, faculty, and students appears to be a central issue in current study of black student success in college. This study examined personality and situational factors predictive of black students' communication with such a university's administration, faculty, and students. The development of an instrument describing environmental and social concerns of black students demonstrated reasonable predictive validity of communication with the administration and white students. Feelings about the social environment and tendencies of communication anxiety were among the strongest predictors of black students' communication.     

Study of the factors influencing sex differences in the career motivation of Iranian high school students

The purpose of the study was to investigate some factors thought to influence sex differences in the Career Motivation of Iranian high school students. Subjects (n = 206) were balanced on sex, ages 17–18 and attending schools in Tehran, Iran. Measures included the criterion career motivation and six predictors: Sex, Social Class, Early Family Socialization, Religious Orientation, Community Resources and Community Discrimination against women 's careers.Multivariate regression analyses with partial correlations were used to test hypotheses. Hypotheses were that males would score higher than females on career motivation; upper middle class students would score higher than lower middle class students on career motivation; Scores on Early Family Socialization, Community Resources and Religious Orientation would be positively correlated with Career Motivation; and Community Discrimination would be negatively correlated with Career Motivation. Interactions were expected for Sex, Religious Orientation and Social Class. Main effects found in the regression analyses supported hypotheses related to Sex, Social Class, Community Discrimination and Early Family Socialization. It remained for the interpretation of three significant interaction effects to shed light on the contribution of Religious Orientation to Career Motivation. The three significant interactions found were Sex × Social Class; Sex × Religious Orientation; and Religious Orientation × Community Discrimination. It appeared that the religion measure was confounded by the new movement within Islam led by the Mojahedin Khalgh group that is supportive of women 's careers, in contrast to the dominant Shia Islam group. The Community Resources measure was significantly (p<.05) and positively related to career motivation but it did not contribute importantly to the prediction equation. The equation derived including interaction terms accounted for 41% of the variance. It was concluded that the analysis used provided an important addition to understanding complex phenomena such as career motivation in a changing social context.     

International perceptions across the sea: Patterns in Japanese young adults

The international perceptions of Japanese young adults were explored in 172 professional education students in two Tokyo colleges. They classified 30 nations according to their “current” and “future” affinity to Japan. Little difference was detected in the Q-sorts between institutions arid sexes, while the “current” and “future” sorts correlated .96 with each other. In cluster analyses, many two-nation units (e.g., Czechoslovakia-Yugoslavia) were found to be the building blocks for the overall pattern. The total configuration consisted of three broad groups: mostly Western European nations, problematical nations (China, Russia, Israel, Egypt, etc.), and remote and neutral nations. Structurally, the results were similar to those for American young adults, but the contents were different. The notion of cultural metastereotypes thus received tentative support.     

Cross-cultural differences in attitudes towards disabled persons: A study of Jewish and Arab youth in Israel

Cultural values may be seen as the primary determinants of altitudes towards deviant or exceptional persons. The present study deals with the attitudes of Jewish and Arab youth in Israel towards the disabled as a function of cultural identity, existence of contact with a disabled person, and type of disability (blindness, amputation, facial disfigurement, or confinement to a wheelchair).A sample of 510 Jews and 655 Arabs filled out the Yuker Altitudes Towards Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP). The results indicated that overall, Jews were more positive towards the disabled than Arabs. Furthermore, the existence of previous contact with a disabled person was a positive factor in the formation of the Jews' attitudes, and a negative factor for the Arabs. In their ranking of different types of disability, Jews and Arabs differed significantly.The results are interpreted in the context of modern versus traditional cultures, whereby the Jewish youths' more tolerant Western approach seems to engender a more positive attitude than the Arab youths' conservative values.     

Rural women in development: Veil of invisibility,world of workFemmes rurales et le developpement: Voile d'invisibilite,monde de travailLas mujeres rurales en el desarrolo: El velo de las invisibilidad,en mundo del trabajo

Over the last decade, evidence has been accumulating that the process of development has resulted more frequently in greater economic marginalization than benefits for poor rural women in much of the Third World. Yet recent efforts aimed at incorporating these poor non-urban women into development have been hampered by the “veil of invisibility” hiding their past and present conditions and contributions. This article formulates some hypotheses concerning female invisibility as well as productivity, and then contrasts the extant view of rural Third World women as relatively unproductive with (1) evidence drawn from evolutionary history, and (2) data from new micro-level and UN studies. The former indicates that women were the primary producers in most pre-agrarian human groups. The latter indicate that women continue to produce approximately half the world's food, although there is dramatic regional variation. The article concludes with an analysis of the statistical biases and stereotypes that obscure these contributions and briefly indicates the cost of this invisibility to the countries involved as well as to the women themselves.     

Family size and parental satisfaction: Race and sex differentials

The impact of family size on parental satisfaction is investigated with race and sex as moderating variables. From a national sample of parents, a white subsample is matched to the black sample on the basis of education, city size, and age. The association between family size and parental satisfaction is negative and low for white males and females as well as for black females. For black males, the association between family size and satisfaction is positive and moderately high. Exchange interaction and role transition are proposed as frameworks which could account for the general relationship between family size and satisfaction as well as for the black male anomaly.     

Patterns of interpersonal criticism in Japan and United StatesModes de critique interpersonelle au Japon et aux Etats-UnisNormas de critica interpersonal en el Japon y en los Estados Unidos

To investigate patterns of interpersonal criticism in Japan and United States, preliminary interviews were conducted. Three major variables: sources of dissatisfaction; the status of communicative partners: and modes of giving criticism were identified. These variables were incorporated into an Interpersonal Criticism Questionnaire and then administered to 149 Japanese and 168 American college students of both sexes, after establishing cross-cultural equivalence. The results demonstrated a significant difference between the two cultures, but no significant difference between the sexes. Both cultures favored expressing dissatisfaction in a direct way, but Japanese more frequently employed passive forms of criticism and Americans active forms. While Japanese consistently adapted critical messages to the status of their communicative partners, Americans consistently adapted their critical messages to the character of the provocation.     

The effects of racial self-esteem on the personal self-esteem of black youth

Much debate has been generated in the literature concerning reasons for positive black self-esteem findings. Although some contradiction is found in the literature, findings on black self-esteem suggest a shift to more positive self-images among blacks during the 1970s. This study investigates the relationship between personal and racial self-esteem. These data support the theoretical linkage of racial and personal self-esteem. A positive correlation was found between personal self-esteem and racial self-esteem for black youth in this study.     

Japanese intercultural communication competence and cross-cultural adjustment

This study explores the relationship between language and communication skills and patterns of success and failure in the cross-cultural adjustment of Japanese university students. Seven interpersonal communication skills which were selected by Ruben and Kealey as important to cross-cultural adjustment were examined: empathy, respect, role behavior flexibility, orientation to knowledge, interaction posture, interaction management, and tolerance for ambiguity. Besides these skills, language was taken into consideration as a major component influencing Japanese intercultural communication. The behavioral assessment method developed by Ruben was utilized to measure communicative performance and behaviors of Japanese university students who visited the United States for 4 weeks for their English training. In order to assess the language skills of these individuals, listening, speaking, structure and written expression, and vocabolary and reading comprehension skills were measured. At the end of their stay in the United States, the dimensions of culture shock, psychological adjustment, and interactional effectiveness were examined. Comparisons of pre- and post-test measures indicated that six out of the seven communication behaviors observed in the Japanese students did not predict success or failure in adjustment to the United States. Only ambiguity tolerance yielded correlation with culture shock. However, speaking and listening skills were closely correlated with interactional effectiveness.     

Kiowa forty-nine singing: A communication perspective

Kiowa Forty-Nine singing is a social activity in which important aspects of Kiowa culture are performed and revealed through traditional communicative activities. The purpose of this study was to examine forty-nining as it serves to reveal cultural patterns of interaction. Rooted in ethnomethodology, this field research combined personal interviews and content analysis. The data first provided a general characterization of forty-nining; subsequent analysis produced distinguishable, but interrelated, sets of rules which regulate the nature and structure of forty-nines. Patterns identified in the fortynines can be extended to other intratribal interaction, as well as to intercultural communication. Better conception of these interactive patterns may foster better understanding of Kiowa intercultural relations.     

Sex roles on television: A comparison of eastern and western media

Research on television sex roles is examined in terms of sex role portrayal, occupational endeavors, attitudes, and personalities. The studies reviewed for the U.S. verified the notion that men and women are still presented in their traditional roles. Women are not portrayed as autonomous, independent human beings, but were primarily sex typed. They were given responsibility for child care and routine home maintenance. On the other hand, men were shown in more serious roles assuming responsibility for family financial support, and thus were very likely to be employed in positions of high occupational status. The studies conducted in Japan and the Philippines likewise adhered faithfully to traditional roles and, in that sense, women were still not functioning to promote an egalitarian life for themselves.     

The impact of cultural,ethnic, and national variables on attitudes towards the disabled in Israel: A review

Studies in Israel relating to attitudes of various ethnic, cultural and religious groups towards the disabled were reviewed. The results indicate that although there were differences in attitudes towards the disabled, these differences appear to be a function of interaction effects between many other variables and not necessarily only related to ethnic, cultural, and religious affiliation.     

The cross-cultural transfer of educational technology: A myth

This paper argues that technologies can never be transferred from one culture to another. The implementation by Costa Rica of the Open University system of technologies developed in England is used as a case in point. The paper focuses on the non-applicability of using the term “transfer” with its attendant connotations, to signify the implementation of similar technologies in different cultures; differentiates between system specific and culture specific problems in the process of this implementation: and discusses the interaction of three cultures in the process of “transferring” a system of technologies from one of these cultures to another. The Open University system of technologies is described as it exists in England and the system specific problems of these technologies are delimited. The system of technologies is then “transferred” to Costa Rica and the culture specific problems discussed as seen by two evaluators from yet a third culture (the United States). The expectations of individuals from all three cultures (English, Costa Rican and U.S.) are raised in tight of these culture specific problems.     

Ethnic similarity and economic status of the potential helper as determinants of helping behavior

A field experiment was conducted in an attempt to study the effects of (a) the ethnic origin of the potential helper, (b) the ethnic origin of the recipient, and (c) the economic status of the potential helper, on the extent to which help would be offered. One hundred and twenty subjects participated in the experiment. The experimenter asked each of the subjects to contribute money for a needy family. The major finding was the significant interaction between the ethnic origin of the potential helper and the ethnic origin of the recipient. The frequency of European contributors was about equal for recipients from the two ethnic groups involved, whereas the frequency of Middle-Eastern contributors was higher when the needy family was of Middle-Eastern ethnic origin than when it was of European ethnic origin.     

Patterns of some measured mental abilities among persian bilingual and monolingual children

The purpose of this study was to provide some empirical answers regarding the effects of home and school language upon some cognitive abilities of elementary school bilinguals where the two languages involved do not bear any resembalance.A Persian translation of CTMM adjusted to Persian population was administered to elementary school children of two types of bilingual and one Persian monolingual school. The results indicate that within bilingual schools home language does not show any consistent effect upon non-language abilities. The only consistent effect was in the language measure of Delayed recall, in favor of Persian speaking homes. Comparison of various schools indicate that in the third and sixth grades Persian control was superior to both type of bilingual schools in terms of Immediate recall and to immersion schools in terms of Delayed recall. An exposure variable to Persian was then defined showing a direct relationship with amount of retention. This relationship was explained by resistence to forgetting due to the degrees of overlearning of Persian in various groups.