Cross-cultural variations in climate for autonomy, stress and organizational productivity relationships:A comparison of Chinese and UK manufacturing organizations

Cross-cultural researchers have questioned the extent to which European–American management practices can be transported to major markets in Asia, such as the People's Republic of China. Applying employee involvement theory, we examined the relationships between climate for autonomy, work demands climate, employee stress and organizational productivity in a cross-national study of 51 UK and 104 Chinese manufacturing organizations. We predicted and found that climate for autonomy was positively and negatively related to stress in the Chinese and UK contexts, respectively. The interaction of climate for autonomy and work demands climate was significant: climate for autonomy was positively related to organizational productivity only when work demands climate was low.

Island diasporas: Perceptions of Indo-Caribbean protégés regarding the effects of their cross-cultural mentoring experiences in the United States

Mentoring is defined as an "intense caring relationship in which persons with more experience work with less experienced persons to promote both professional and personal development" (Caffarella, 1992, p. 38). It is "a powerful emotional, and passionate interaction whereby the mentor and protégé experience...intellectual growth and development" (Galbraith & Zelenak, 1991, p. 126). In cross-cultural mentoring, mentors and protégés from different cultures confront social and cultural identities, goals, expectations, values, and beliefs (Cross & Lincoln, 2005) to "achieve a higher level of potency in education and society" (Mullen, 2005, p. 6). Cross-cultural mentoring research explores attitudes, behaviors, linguistics and motivators of the more visible racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. (Elmer, 1986, Ulmer, 2008). The cross-cultural mentoring experiences of Indo-Caribbeans in the U.S. are obscured from the research despite their rich socio-historic culture. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of Indo-Caribbean protégés regarding the effects of their cross-cultural mentoring experiences in the United States. Phenomenology is "the systematic attempt to uncover and describe...the internal meaning structures, of lived experience [by studying the] particulars or instances as they are encountered" (Van Manen, 1990, p. 10). Criterion and snowball sampling were used to recruit 15 participants. A semi-structured interview guide was used to gather data and Creswell's (2007) simplified version of Moustakas's (1994) Modification of the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen Method of Analysis of Phenomenological Data was used to analyze the data. Three themes emerged: (a) "Sitting at the feet of gurus" taught protégés how to accept guidance, (b) Guru-Shishya: Learning and Discipleship, ways that protégés perceived mentors' guidance related to work, skill acquisition, and social or emotional support, and (c) Samavartan sanskar: Building Coherence, helped protégés understand, manage and find meaning. Protégés' goals and professional expectations determined what they wanted from cross-cultural mentoring relationships and what they were willing to endure within those relationships. Since participants valued achievement and continuous improvement, mentor support was integral to making meaning and developing a sense of coherence in their lives. Implications regarding cross-cultural mentoring relationships together with recommendations for future research conclude the study.

The magical realism of metaphor: cross-cultural comparisons in use of metaphor in cognition

Three experiments explore the hypothesis that due to linguistic and cultural factors, metaphor usage – or thinking in terms of what something is like – differs across cultures. In Experiment 1, a lexical decision task supported the hypothesis that perception of what something is like tends to be faster and more automatic in Latino participants than in Anglo participants. In Experiment 2, Anglo participants were less able to solve a problem framed metaphorically than Latino participants were. To ensure that a preference for metaphor is not applicable to all bilingual populations, we included bilingual Asian participants in Experiment 3. In this study, Latino participants rated arguments presented with metaphors as more persuasive than arguments that did not have metaphors, while the opposite pattern was found in Anglo and Asian participants. The findings from these three studies provide support for the hypothesis that the Latino preference for metaphor is real and pervasive. Implications in the domains of education and public health interventions are briefly noted.

Sexual dysfunction in breast cancer survivors: cross-cultural adaptation of the Sexual Activity Questionnaire for use in Portugal

"Introduction: The increasing survivor population of breast cancer has shifted research and practice interests into the impacts of the disease and treatment in quality of life aspects. The lack of tools available in Portuguese to objectively evaluate sexual function led to the development of this study, which aimed to cross-culturally adapt and validate the Sexual Activity Questionnaire for use in Portugal. Material and Methods: The questionnaire was translated and back-translated, refined following face-to-face interviews with seven breast cancer survivors, and then self-administered by a larger sample at baseline and a fortnight later to test validity and reliability. Results: Following cognitive debriefing (n = 7), minor changes were made and the Sexual Activity Questionnaire was then tested with 134 breast cancer survivors. A 3-factor structure explained 75.5% of the variance, comprising the Pleasure, Habit and Discomfort scales, all yielding good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α > 0.70). Concurrent validity with the FACt-An and the BCPT checklist was good (Spearman’s r > 0.65; p-value < 0.001) and reliability acceptable (Cohen’s k > 0.444). The Sexual Activity Questionnaire allowed the identification of 23.9% of sexually inactive women, for whom the main reasons were lack of interest or motivation and not having a partner. Discussion: Patient-reported outcomes led to a more comprehensive and improved approach to cancer, tackling areas previously abandoned. Future research should focus on the validation of this scale in samples with different characteristics and even in the overall population to enable generalizability of the findings. Conclusion: The adapted Sexual Activity Questionnaire is a valid tool for assessing sexual function in breast cancer survivors in Portugal."

A Short History of Cultural Studies (Taiwanese edition)

This is the first volume to capture the essence of the burgeoning field of cultural studies in a concise and accessible manner. Other books have explored the British and North American traditions, but this is the first guide to the ideas, purposes and controversies that have shaped the subject. The author sheds new light on neglected pioneers and a clear route map through the terrain. He provides lively critical narratives on a dazzling array of key figures including, Arnold, Barrell, Bennett, Carey, Fiske, Foucault, Grossberg, Hall, Hawkes, hooks, Hoggart, Leadbeater, Lissistzky, Malevich, Marx, McLuhan, McRobbie, D Miller, T Miller, Morris, Quiller-Couch, Ross, Shaw, Urry, Williams, Wilson, Wolfe and Woolf. Hartley also examines a host of central themes in the subject including literary and political writing, publishing, civic humanism, political economy and Marxism, sociology, feminism, anthropology and the pedagogy of cultural studies.

The effect of consumer risk perceptions and information search on willingness to buy GM food products: A cross cultural analysis

This paper seeks to address the widespread call in the literature for the cross-cultural examination ( and validation) of accepted concepts within consumer behaviour, such as consumer risk perceptions and information search. The findings of the study provide support for a number of accepted relationships, whilst identifying distinct cross cultural differences in external information search and willingness to buy genetically modified (GM) food products by consumers.

Cross-cultural consumer/consumption research : dealing with issues emerging from globalization and fragmentation

To understand the effects of globalization and fragmentation, macromarketing scholars need insights about links between individual consumer behavior and societal outcomes. The challenge in this regard is to create a program of macrooriented cross-cultural research. This article offers a crosscultural consumer behavior research framework for this purpose. The framework encompasses four key areas of consumer behavior that are related to the forces of globalization and fragmentation, including the environment, identity, wellbeing,and market structure and policy. A discussion of these substantive areas is followed by a suggested macro-microoriented research agenda and a call for paradigm plurality in pursuing this agenda.

An investigation of cross-cultural differences in binge-drinking perceptions and behaviours

This paper examines the variance in binge-drinking attitudes and behaviours between university student cohorts from Western and Eastern countries who reside in Australia. In particular, we investigate the impact of social influence on these consumer responses. An online survey resulted in 190 useable responses from university students at three different Australian universities. The results show that students from Western countries consume alcohol at higher levels and demonstrate more ‘approach’ behaviours towards binge-drinking, whereas students from Eastern countries demonstrate more ‘avoid’ behaviours. Social distancing from drunk or story-telling people is evident as students from Eastern countries while students from Western countries were more likely to indulge in story-telling and either ignored or encouraged surrounding people who were drunk.

Cross-cultural differences in self-reported decision-making style and confidence

The Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (Mann, Burnett, Radford, & Ford, 1997) measures selfreported decision-making coping patterns. The questionnaire was administered to samples of University students in the US (N = 475), Australia (N = 262), New Zealand (N = 260), Japan (N = 359), Hong Kong (N = 281), and Taiwan (N = 414). As predicted, students from the three Western, individualistic cultures (US, Australia, and New Zealand) were more con® dent of their decision-making ability than students from the three East Asian, group-oriented cultures (Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan). No cross-cultural differences were found in scores on decision vigilance (a careful decision-making style). However, compared with Western students, the Asian students tended to score higher on buck-passing and procrastination (avoidant styles of decision making) as well as hypervigilance (a panicky style of decision making). Japanese students scored lowest on decision self-esteem and highest on procrastination and hypervigilance. It was argued that the con¯ ict model and its attendant coping patterns is relevant for describing and comparing decision making in both Western and Asian cultures.

From cultural studies to cultural science

This paper, first presented at a symposium on the 'past, present and future of cultural studies,' traces disciplinary changes in the study of culture from the perspective of 'cultural science', a term that was used by some of the earliest practitioners of cultural studies, including Raymond Williams. The paper goes on to describe some of the present moment, including work on the creative industries, show that a new version of cultural science is needed, based on evolutionary principles, in dialogue with the evolutionary approach in economics that was called for a century ago by Thorstein Veblen. This evolutionary turn, or 'cultural science 2.0,' it is argued, offers a radical and challenging future for cultural studies.