Independence and obedience in the United States and Japan

Are some Americans and Japanese beginning to think more similarly about independence and obedience? Middle-class adult respondents from the suburbs of Chicago and Tokyo (U.S.: 43 males and 54 females: Japan: 71 males and 80 females) were surveyed about their sex-role values. This report focuses on two values which have been recognised as constituting fundamental differences between Japanese and Americans: personal independence and obedience. The survey used a metric multidimensional scaling technique called Galileo^®. Analyses of the data and results of other comparative studies suggest that any convergence taking place between the two societies is occurring primarily within American society. There is growing evidence, including the findings of this study, that Americans are moving away from their traditional stress on the importance of the individual in society. The Japanese respondents did show a more liberal conceptualization of the ideal woman with respect to obedience, however, there was no indication that this less traditional image of women extended to their other traditional roles in society.     

International conferences: Significant measures of success

This article reviews the literature on evaluating international conferences identifying significant factors which contribute to measured success. Extensive previous research over the last twenty years has identified criteria for evaluating success which continue to be ignored as international conferences repeat the same mistakes. More systematic research is needed. A framework of 25 evaluation measures is described for future research on the assessment of international conferences.Responses to three items of a questionnaire sent out by the East-West Culture Learning Institute as part of a project studying international conferences are also discussed, relating to evaluation measures, problems of evaluation and potential benefits of evaluation. Guidelines and suggestions are provided synthesizing the available research toward planning more successful international conferences in the future. In conclusion, six issues are identified for further clarification in future research on international conferences.     

Expanding the role of the interpreter to include multiple facets of intercultural communication

Intercultural communication difficulties include language factors handled well by interpreters, but the problems also include factors such as non-verbal behavior, different bases for making attributions about others, and biases stemming from the ingroup-outgroup distinction. Interpreters could expand their role by incorporating these additional facets of intercultural communication into their work. The job enlargement could have such beneficial effects as greater satisfaction, productivity, and pride in the profession. The enlargement would also increase the visibility of the profession, especially at a permanent organization where interpreters and elected representatives could form stronger relationships than those common at ad hoc meetings held in different places.     

客家先贤孙中山与美国

孙中山从1878至1910年共六次到檀香山。在檀接受西方教育。1894年11月24日创立中国资产阶级第一个革命团体兴中会,揭开了中国资产阶级革命的序幕。檀岛成为孙中山领导革命的摇篮和策源地。1896年,孙中山首次踏上美国本土,对华侨(含客家)进行反清宣传,旋又于1904年、1909年、1911年三次到美,联络华侨组织洪门(致公堂),建立同盟会,策动致公堂加入革命,并促使致公堂与同盟会实行大联合,成立洪门筹饷局,为革命筹款,直到辛亥武昌首义成功,孙中山方于1911年12月25日回国,抵上海。本文提出两个观点,即:孙中山领导的革命,是美国革命的继续;客家与美国的关系,是互动的。     

檀岛与青年孙中山

中国资产阶级民主革命的先行孙中山，在檀岛度过了人生最为宝贵的少年向青年的过渡期，民主革命的思想在此萌芽，兴中会在此建立，华侨对革命的贡献功不可没。     

The social adjustment of Filipino nonmigrants,emigrants, and immigrants to Hawaii

This study compared the social adjustment of a group of Filipinos who had initiated definite arrangements to emigrate to Hawaii (emigrants) with another group of Filipinos from the same communities as the emigrants who expressed no intention to emigrate (nonmigrants). These two samples were then compared with a group of recent Filipino immigrants to Hawaii. Social adjustment was measured by the Katz Adjustment Scales, relative's rating form, in terms of clusters of symptomatic and social behavior. The results showed that the immigrants in their social adjustment were less emotionally expressive than the emigrants, who were in turn, less expressive than the nonmigrants. However, significant cluster score differences obtained primarily between the Philippine samples and the immigrants, while there was a general lack of significance between the nonmigrants and the emigrants. The overall decline in the level of emotional expression of the immigrants was attributed to their adherence to the paramount Philippine value of social acceptance as their modal means of adjustment to the immigration experience. Thus, the direction and nature of changes in the emotional expression of Filipino immigrants follow from their culture and its integral norms and values rather than being derivative of processes of acculturation.     

On communication among “unequals”

This analysis was stimulated by the problem in international development of communication between development personnel and members of the populations with whom they work. Building on the work of Bateson and the Ardeners, I propose a theoretical framework that incorporates the “inarticulateness of women” (as discussed by Ardener) and a similar phenomenon I have observed in situations of contact between people of unequal status, in general. Three ethnographic examples of the dynamics of communication between “unequals”¹ and the resulting “inarticulateness” are then provided: one between rural and urban dwellers in Iran: one between women and men from two subcultures in rural America; and one among male and female scientists from different countries and different scientific paradigms. I conclude with a set of policy recommendations, that follow from the proposed theory.