Public and Popular: British and Swedish Audience Trends in Factual and Reality Television

The research in this article examines audience responses to a range of factual and reality genres. It takes as a starting point that television audiences do not experience news or documentary or reality TV in isolation but as part of a range of factual and reality programmes. Factual and reality programming includes a broad understanding of non-fictional programming on broadcast television, satellite, cable and digital television. The breakdown of factual and reality programming into specific genres includes news, current affairs, documentary, and reality programmes, with further sub genres applied within each of these categories. This article critically examines genre evaluation. The quantitative research in this article is based on two national representative surveys conducted in Britain and Sweden. In both Britain and Sweden, programme makers have moved towards a reliance on popular factual genres. In Britain this is across all channels, and in Sweden this is mainly concentrated on commercial channels. Whilst there is still a commitment to news, there is an increasing use of hybrid genres in an attempt to popularise factual output. The impact of this changing generic environment on audiences is that in both countries viewers have reacted by drawing a line between traditional and contemporary factual genres. It is precisely because of the redrawing of the factual map that viewers rely on traditional ways of evaluating genres as public and informative, or popular and entertaining. The data provides evidence that contributes to existing debate on television genre, public service broadcasting, and media literacy skills. The central argument in this article is that genre evaluation is connected with wider socio-cultural discourses on public service broadcasting and popular culture, and that these are common social and cultural values that are shared by national audiences in two Northern European countries.     

Bargaining with the system: A mixed-methods study of Arab teachers in Israel

Research on minority-majority relations usually focuses on the impact of the hegemony on everyday life. In this study we chose to focus on the way minority teachers bargain with the power relations within their work environment as a microcosm of their strategies in the social arena in general. 163 Arab-Israeli secondary-school teachers completed an online questionnaire and were matched with 163 Jewish teachers according to demographic variables. 25 of the 163 teachers completed the optional open-ended question that comprised the data for the qualitative analysis. In the quantitative analysis, we found that Arab teachers showed less knowledge of the Ministry of Education guidelines regarding teachers’ freedom of speech, conducted fewer discussions of Controversial Public Issues (CPI) and rated the importance of their role as promoting active citizenship lower than their Jewish counterparts. In the qualitative analysis, three main strategies Arab teachers use emerged: ‘evasion’, ‘toning down’ and ‘promoting a shared society’. Arab teachers negotiate between their needs for self-preservation, and their national and professional identities in an implicit cost-benefit assessment. This analysis coincides with Kandiyoti’s (1988) model of women’s bargaining with the patriarchy, corresponding to Arab teachers as a governed minority group that negotiates with the hegemony. In each strategy, there is a different balance between the personal benefits, the risks involved, and the community interests one has in mind. The research sheds light on the precarious position of Arab teachers in Israel, and the flexibility that they are pressed to employ in order to muddle through.     

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.     

Beyond cultural differences: The sociopolitical impact on supervision between Arab supervisees and Jewish supervisors in Israel

Little attention has been given to the cultural and political aspects of the supervisory relationship between Arab Palestinian supervisees and Jewish Israeli supervisors in medical psychology in Israel. This paper presents a focus group of five interns and certified medical psychologists of Arab Palestinian origin who describe their experiences and relationships with their Jewish supervisors. Constant comparison analysis revealed three main themes: fusion between professional and national identities, gaps that go beyond the cultural differences, and a sense of alienation and isolation in the supervision setting. The findings indicate the inevitable presence of the political conflict in the supervision relationship and correspond with findings for other professions such as social work. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed and practical recommendations for supervisors are offered.     

Spheres of citizenship: The role of distinct perceived threats in legitimizing allocation of political, welfare and cultural rights in Israel

The question of who is excluded from full citizenship stands at the heart of the political and scholarly debate. This issue is highly relevant considering the gap between those whose substantive citizenship is taken for granted and various “strangers”. This paper addresses the issue by exploring the motivations that shape patterns of exclusion from full citizenship. The aim is to understand the attitudes of the dominant group regarding allocation of different kinds of rights to minorities under the impact of intergroup hostility and threat perception. Looking at dominant group perceptions makes it possible to explore the role of economic, symbolic and security threat perceptions as antecedents of exclusionist attitudes towards welfare, cultural and political rights for three dissimilar minorities in Israel: Palestinian citizens of Israel, non-Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union and ultra-Orthodox Jews. Analysis has indicated that regardless of the dissimilarity between the three minority groups there is a clear pattern of hierarchy of attitudes toward rights allocation. However, only the symbolic threat plays an identical role in shaping these attitudes toward the three groups. These findings emphasize the significance of the cultural dimension of citizenship.     

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.     

Psychological well-being and ethnic identities of Jewish adolescents planning emigration from Russia and Ukraine to Israel: Changes during the post-perestroika period

This study examines psychological well-being and ethnic identities of Jewish adolescents planning emigration from Russia and Ukraine to Israel. Measurements were conducted in 1999 (n = 654) and in 2005 (n = 243). The adolescents were questioned about half a year before they left their homeland. In Russia, adolescents who planned emigration in 2005 had less emotional and behavioral problems and suffered less from loneliness than their peers in 1999. In Ukraine, no improvement was found in psychological well-being; moreover, the school competence of adolescents who planned emigration in 2005 was lower compared to their peers in 1999. Adolescents who planned emigration from Russia and Ukraine in 2005 reported a more positive attitude towards their homeland and stronger identification with the ethnic majority in their homeland than the adolescents who planned emigration in 1999. The emigrants’ attitude towards Israel did not change from 1999 to 2005. Their identification with Jews was weaker in 2005 as compared with 1999. In both cohorts, the adolescents’ attitude towards Israel was more positive than their attitude towards Russia or Ukraine, and their identification with Jews was stronger than that with Russians or Ukrainians. In 1999, Russian/Ukrainian and Jewish-Israeli facets of the emigrants’ ethnic identity were contradictory, while they were complementary in 2005.     

The effect of television viewing on ethnic prejudice against immigrants: A study in the Italian context

Television viewers construct many different meanings from the programs they watch. Here, we investigated whether ethnic prejudice is differentially influenced by the genre of television programs in their portrayal of ethnic minorities. We also wanted to determine whether a higher educational level reduces ethnic prejudice and television use. A self-reported questionnaire was administered to 401 Italian adults. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships between ethnic prejudice and television program contents and educational level. Viewing Reality and Variety Shows was positively related to ethnic prejudice, News and Public Affairs was negatively related, and Films and TV series had no apparent influence on prejudice. Educational level was negatively related to both ethnic prejudice and watching Reality and Variety Shows, and positively related to viewing News and Public Affairs and Films and TV series programs.     

Burnout among social workers working with immigrants from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia in Israel: Testing the connections between personal value preferences,immigrant appraisal and burnout

Burnout among service providers working with vulnerable populations can lead to a deterioration in well-being, high turnover of workers and a decrease in levels of services. The current study proposes a new threat-benefit theory (TBT) as predicting experiences of burnout and personal accomplishment among social workers working with immigrants. Based on the theory of human values (Schwartz et al., 2012) and extending Integrative Threat Theory (Stephan & Stephan, 2000), TBT suggests that the local population perceives immigrants not only as threatening but also as beneficial for the receiving society and that this threat/benefit appraisal is related to personal values held by the individual. In a study carried out among 358 social workers in Israel, findings supported a conceptual model in which threat appraisal, toward immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and Ethiopia, predicted higher levels of burnout and benefit appraisal predicted greater feelings of personal accomplishment and lower levels of burnout. In addition, findings showed that (1) immigrant groups were appraised as both threats and benefits to the receiving society; (2) appraisal of threat was predicted by lower levels of values of universalism, benevolence, self-direction and higher levels of power, tradition and conformity; (3) appraisal of benefit was predicted by lower levels of values of self-direction and power (Ethiopian immigrants) and higher levels of conformity and tradition (FSU immigrants).     

Exploring the other side of cultural boundary-crossing teaching in the polarized Israeli society: Jewish teachers from the majority group who teach at the Arab minority's schools

One of the methods of multicultural societies for advancing a shared society is cross-cultural teaching. Commonly, teachers from the majority group apply to teaching at the majority's schools through the acculturation process. The current study, however, illuminates the understudied situation, in which teachers of the Jewish majority group in Israel teach at the Arab minority's schools. Our findings indicate that these Jewish teachers are mostly motivated by their ideology and moral values, mainly a yearning to bridge between two hostile societies. These teachers' integration into the minority's schools is challenging due to cultural differences, lack of familiarity with Arabic, and difficulties introducing informal pedagogy, that is not common in Arab schools, discipline problems among students, and a challenging national-political discourse.     

Genoa,Genoese Merchants and the Ottoman Empire in the First Half of the Fifteenth Century: Rumours and Reality

Among the Latin states, it was the maritime republic of Genoa that established the earliest official contacts with the Ottomans by concluding a treaty with them in 1352. This was the first step in the development of relatively smooth relations between the Genoese and the Ottoman Empire, which lasted from the mid-fourteenth until the mid-fifteenth century. Within Christendom, such familiarity earned the republic a negative reputation, which the adversaries of Genoa – Venice among others – tried to exploit for their own purposes. An element that contributed to the idea of a close connection between the Genoese and Ottomans was the outstanding position gained by some citizens of Genoa at the Ottoman court. They were influential men of affairs who owed their acquaintance with the sultans to their specific commercial activity. However, despite the fact that in some cases they held offices in the Genoese colonial administration, these merchants acted quite independently of Genoa itself and sometimes contrary to its directives.     

Rescuing our neglected heritage: The evolution of the Government's policy on portable antiquities in England and Wales

This paper looks at the evolution of a new approach to an old problem—that of protecting the heritage of moveable archaeological objects—‘portable antiquities’—in England and Wales. It sets out a brief history of attempts to bring forward legislation to protect such finds, charts the rise of metal detecting as an activity and describes the successful process of changing government policy through the Treasure Act 1996. This led to the Portable Antiquities Scheme which has now received full government funding. The paper looks at how this was achieved through the development of what has been described as the largest community archaeology project in the country, which is starting to change public attitudes towards objects from the past. These two initiatives have in fact started to lead to a change in public attitude towards material from the past.     

High-Speed Internet Access to the Other: The Influence of Cultural Orientations on Self-Disclosures in Offline and Online Relationships

The global village metaphor, originally popularized by Marshall McLuhan, suggests that individuals connected to information and communication technologies become more involved with others from around the world. The speed at which messages are communicated is one factor why Internet-supported technologies create a sense of community. The diffusion of Internet networks to areas around the world naturally increases the potential for intercultural communication. Considering the cultural differences of the communicators and diminished social cues of the environment, the opportunity for misunderstandings may be elevated in intercultural Internet-based communication. The present investigation explores how two important components of culture—individualism and collectivism—influence communication behaviors in face-to-face and computer-mediated relationships. Self-disclosures, which are fundamental to relationship development, are specifically studied. The findings reveal that collectivism is associated with fewer self-disclosures in computer-mediated relationships than in comparable face-to-face relationships. The difference between self-disclosure behaviors in face-to-face and computer-mediated relationships is more pronounced among individuals high in collectivism than those high in individualism. Implications to social information processing theory and future directions for intercultural Internet-based communication research are considered.     

Motivated prejudice: The effect of need for closure on anti-immigrant attitudes in the United States and Italy and the mediating role of binding moral foundations

Why do people have anti-immigrant attitudes? We proposed that individuals’ need for cognitive closure—an epistemic motivation associated with an aversion to change in established environments—is predictive of a dislike of immigrants through increased binding to powerful groups. In four studies, collected in both Italy (Study 1) and the United States (Studies 2–4), we found that there were effects of need for cognitive closure on anti-immigrant attitudes, as well as indirect effects through binding. These results were significant controlling for participants’ political orientation (Studies 2–4), when either dispositional measure (Studies 1–3) or an experimental induction (Study 4) of need for cognitive closure was used, and when both general attitudes toward immigrants (Studies 1, 2, 4) and attitudes toward immigrants’ economic impact (Studies 3 and 4) were assessed.     

Intergroup contact in context: The mediating role of social norms and group-based perceptions on the contact–prejudice link

The prejudice-reducing effects of intergroup contact have been well documented. However few studies have investigated the importance of the broader context within which contact occurs. The current study examined the predictors of social distance from Muslims in a large sample of Australian secondary school children (N = 980). Intergroup contact was an important predictor of reduced social distance even after demographics and perceptions of parents, school, media and broader intergroup dynamics were taken into account. However, in part the contact–social distance relationship was mediated by perceived parental support for intergroup relations and perceived fairness of media representation. Student's perceptions of broader group dynamics relating to collective threat and differentiation between groups impeded the relationship. The findings attest to the importance of the broader context within which contact occurs. Having contact with outgroup members leads to reduced social distance to the outgroup, however perceived norms and outgroup perceptions play a pivotal role in explaining this relationship.     

The influence of social support on the wellbeing of immigrants residing in Italy: Sources and functions as predictive factors for life satisfaction levels,sense of community and resilience

Moving from one country to another involves not only separation from the country of origin, but also the tiring process of integration into a new physical, institutional, and sociocultural context, which may expose migrants to acculturation stress. The loss of former support networks, or at the very least their transformation, presents immigrants with the need to rebuild their social support systems in the host country, involving an active search for support. Therefore, the aim of study is to analyze the structure of informal social support and its capacity to predict immigrants’ sense of community, resilience, and satisfaction with life. The results confirm that social support predicts satisfaction with life, sense of community, and resilience. Our findings highlight the way sources and frequency of support, and the satisfaction with which they are associated, have different degrees of predictive value on the dependent variables under investigation. In this study, it can be concluded that social support is an important factor in the well-being of migrants and their integration into the host community. The results have an important practical value in promoting interventions that improve immigrants’ support networks and, consequently, increase their satisfaction with life, sense of community, and resilience.