This paper primarily focuses on the description of the results of a study conducted on ten Chinese university students ESL learners to investigate  whether or not cultural context has a significant impact on university students’ ability to remember and understand English figurative idioms as part of English as a Second Language instruction in China. Since Idiom  is a kind of language block which concord rich cultural elements and the figurative idiom whose meaning cannot be easy inferred by the usual meaning of its constituent elements, so the present study was based on the relationship between culture and language, the origins of the idioms and their cultural connotations. As some scholars’ studies have shown before, knowing the origins and the source domains of the idioms can enhance the learners motivation, then their comprehension and retention of idioms are improved. The present study also demonstrates that the cultural context can facilitate learners understanding and memorization of the English figurative idiom.

In this textual analysis I have examined the book Att följa Jesus by Ulf Ekman and information from Word of Life's official website. The aim of this study is to see how a religious leader is shaping the identity of the groups members after a certain pattern that differs from the surrounding, secular society. The research focus  of this essay includes several aspects:  how a culture is formed in a religious minority in contrast to the prevailing cultural context; how the material can be explained by Paul Pruyser’s theory on the psychological worlds; how what Ulf Ekman writes about distinguishing themselves from the environment differs from how other religious minority groups distinguish their identity;  and,  how the psychological world, expected behavior, and context of Word of Life can be structured by Valerie DeMarinis’ model of assessment. I have placed Word of Life in a realistic illusionistic world developed from Paul Pruyser’s theory of psychological worlds. I have also used Valerie DeMarinis’ orientation model for meaning making systems for placing Word of Life in its cultural context. The investigation revealed that the group is a religious minority in Sweden. After this, I compared Word of Life with other religious minority groups. I chose to focus on Jewish identity in the American South and in Copenhagen, which showed that the individuals who were interviewed who felt that their Jewish  identities were under attack became defensive. Ekman, however, ordered his members to be inclusive but theologically conservative and to seek a counterculture existence. I placed the steps of ‘belonging’  into DeMarinis’ assessment model, which showed how the psychological world is leading up to the achievement of the expected behavior, and how the surrounding cultural context affects the model.

Sibling aggression is one of the most frequently occurring forms of aggression within the family and has been associated with socioemotional problems. Guided by the cultural context perspective and family systems theory, a conceptual model depicting the direct and indirect effects of cultural orientation values, traditional gender role attitudes, parental differential treatment, and parent-child conflict on sibling aggression and psychosocial functioning (i.e., psychological distress and interpersonal difficulties) was developed. It was hypothesized that perceptions of cultural values and gender role attitudes endorsed by primary caregivers would be associated with family dynamics factors (i.e., parental differential treatment and parent-child conflict) that contributed to sibling aggression and resulting impaired psychosocial functioning. A total of 272 participants completed the online questionnaire that measured the variables of interest. Structural equation modeling (SEM) methods were used to analyze the data. Findings of the final models lent clear support to the indirect effects of cultural values and gender role attitudes on sibling aggression and resulting psychosocial functioning through differential treatment and parent-child conflict although the results also yielded some unexpected nuances regarding the indirect effect paths. Specifically, lower levels of independent cultural values contributed to greater levels of sibling aggression and impaired psychosocial functioning through more differential treatment and parent-child conflict, while higher levels of traditional gender role attitudes contributed to the outcome variables only through differential treatment. Findings are discussed from the cultural context and family systems framework. Limitations, future directions, and clinical implications are also discussed.

Social entrepreneurship has grown in popularity since Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 2006. Pollinate Energy is an Australian social business working to improve the lives of the urban poor in India. The purpose of this study is to investigate the portability of the organisation’s business model to other geographical locations, e.g what adjustments might be needed if transferring and implementing the concept in new cities and locations. A qualitative case study approach was conducted by gathering experiences from Bangalore through interviews and secondary sources and field observations from a field study conducted in Hyderabad, India. The results indicate that the local cultural context shapes the structure of the concept. It was found to be easier to establish relationships through products with immediate tangible benefits, which indicates that products are highly context dependent. Therefore, local trials of products are needed for the concept to be effective. Moreover, further investigations of the model would be required if the concept were to be transferred to other geographical locations. The model can generate spin-off effects contributing to development, and can thus be a catalyst for social change.

This research is about the Social Networks and Social Capital of British-Bangladeshi Young Women in relation to their identity, cultural context and social aspects. It is a qualitative study based on the lives of a small sample of Bangladeshi young women, who are second or third generation British-born Bangladeshis between the ages of 16 and 29, living in London. They are British citizens and were born or grew up in Britain. The main area that the research takes place in is the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Methods encompass in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. This research investigation has found that the social networks and social capital of Bangladeshi young women were impacted by their identity, ethnicity, social and cultural contexts, such as religious and gender identity, patriarchal practice within households and racism. Accordingly, for many women the construction of social networks was enabling; but for others, there were constraints in relation to their identity. On the other hand, the social networks through various places, especially places of study and work, significantly enabled the women to acquire their identity with regard to their social position, which has been helpful for agency and negotiation power. Consequently, their social networks were shaped based on their subjective experience, cultural expectations and social aspects. However, the women were active in order to create and maintain their social life, as well as to negotiate and develop their own ‘strategies to manage’ techniques to cope with the constraints. In this study, my main argument aims to emphasise how social networks are formed and maintained by the Bangladeshi young women in relation to their identity, cultural context and social aspects. I contend that these women actively negotiate a multitude of personal, familial and structural concerns in developing their social networks. I also argue that agency and negotiation power positively contribute to mitigate cultural constraints and inequalities with regard to the social networks of these young women; however social structures and inequalities create significant boundary conditions for these women to acquire negotiation power.

This research offers permeable Spirit ecclesiology as a viable way forward for the churches in the context of the challenges in North India. Broadly, the challenges of the church in North India are twofold: one, to be an Indian Christian church amidst the plural religio-cultural context; second, to be in solidarity with the struggles of the marginalised. In other words, the church arguably ought to be relational with other communities and rooted in the North Indian context; on the other, it should critically and distinctly witness for Christ as a community of liberation in the context of the struggles of the marginalised. Thus, the church in North India arguably needs a relational-distinctive dialectics to address the challenges. This calls for a church with permeable borders to uphold the above in tension. I show that such dialectics can be upheld if ecclesiology in North India is construed from a pneumatological perspective with a Christological dimension. In dialogue with both Western and Indian theologians I show that a permeable Spirit ecclesiology is a viable way forward for the churches in North India.

This study explores the complexity of teachers’ attitudes towards promoting their pupils’ mental health in Kuwait middle schools, teachers’ perceptions of the contextual factors that shaped those attitudes, the barriers they identify that might hinder the implementation of the promotion process, and changes required to put such a promotion process into practice. A mixed-methodological research approach is adopted within a complementary research design, consisting of two stages. A total of 497 Kuwaiti middle school teachers completed a systematic survey and twelve teachers were subsequently chosen purposely to take part in semi-structured interviews. The study’s findings suggest that Kuwaiti middle school teachers tend to hold moderately favourable attitudes towards promoting pupils’ mental health. However, a variety of personal, interpersonal, socio-cultural, and structural-organizational barriers were perceived by teachers, which could undermine positive attitudes and impact on the implementation of promoting pupils’ mental health. The study also showed teachers’ attitudes and perceptions as markedly embedded within their socio-cultural and religious context.

Adaptation is the fit between the individual and the environment. The dynamic interplay between person, culture, and environment is one of the most important issues in analyzing creativity. Adaptation is defined as the fit or adjustment of the individual to external conditions, but adaptation can also mean moving from one environment to another more suitable, or even forcing the environment to adapt in response to creative efforts. Culture impacts creativity in limiting acceptable boundaries, yet providing the artifacts used in creating. Culture is impacted and changed by creative efforts. Tight conformity to confining environments or cultures can stifle. The creator must be aware of cultural values and not overstep these boundaries for work to be accepted. A developmental continuum of adaptive, creative behaviors suggests a shift from individual adaptation to the environment to adaptation by the world to the individual. / Adaptación y creatividad en el contexto cultural La adaptación es la integración entre el individuo y su entorno. El interjuego dinámico entre la persona, la cultura y el entorno es uno de los temas más importantes en el análisis de la creatividad. La adaptación es definida como la integración o el ajuste del individuo a las condiciones externas, pero adaptación también puede significar moverse de un entorno hacia otro más adecuado o, incluso, forzar el entorno para adaptarse en respuesta a los esfuerzos creativos. La cultura impacta la creatividad al limitar las fronteras aceptadas, brindando los artefactos usados en la creación. La cultura es impactada y cambiada por los esfuerzos creativos. La conformidad ajustada a los límites de los entornos o de las culturas puede resultar asfixiante. El creador debe estar alerta a los valores culturales y no sobrepasar estas barreras para que su trabajo sea aceptado. Un desarrollo continuo de conductas adaptativas y creativas sugiere un desplazamiento de la adaptación individual hacia el entorno, hacia la adaptación del mundo para con el individuo.

abstract: Twenty-five percent of Americans are first- or second-generation immigrants (US Census, 2012). Thus, it is likely that many Americans identify with at least two cultures, that of the mainstream United States culture, and their ethnic culture from which they came, making them bicultural. However, current understanding of the impact of biculturalism on psychological functioning is quite limited in scope, as few studies have examined this association longitudinally or considered the moderating role of the cultural environment. The present study proposed to take a more comprehensive approach in understanding the consequences of biculturalism on psychological outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and substance abuse symptoms) among Mexican American adolescents, as they belong to one of largest and fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States (US Census, 2013). The present study had two major goals. The first was to examine the influence of biculturalism on depression, anxiety, and substance abuse symptoms longitudinally over the course of two years. It was hypothesized that overall, biculturalism will lead to less depression, anxiety, and substance abuse symptoms. The results partially supported these predictions. For males, biculturalism was related to significantly fewer anxiety symptoms, but not for females. Further, no main effects of biculturalism were found for depression and substance abuse for males or females. The second goal of the study was to examine the potential moderating role of the cultural environment on the influence of biculturalism on mental health symptoms. It was hypothesized that bicultural individuals will exhibit less mental health symptoms in bicultural environments (person-environment fit) compared to more monocultural individuals (person-environment misfit). However, no differences are expected to ii emerge between bicultural and monocultural individuals in monocultural environments, as both groups should be well adapted in these settings. The results did not fully support these predictions. Though, biculturalism for male adolescents was related to significantly fewer anxiety symptoms in home environments where parents reported moderate degrees of biculturalism, and females' biculturalism was related to significantly fewer depression symptoms in neighborhood environments that were relatively bicultural; no effects of biculturalism were found in environments that were the most bicultural. The implications of the findings are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Psychology 2014

Growth mindset interventions have been shown to give small but significant boosts to mathematics performance. These interventions are both brief and cheap, making them attractive for boosting mathematics performance. Is it possible that South African students can benefit from a growth mindset intervention? Mindset assessments and interventions have predominantly been developed in the United States. There have been applications of the assessments and interventions to other cultural contexts, often with minimal adaptions. Adaptions are not reported in detail (or thoroughly evaluated) in existing research literature. In a series of four studies, I establish that South African high school students do have mathematics mindsets akin to the fixed and growth mindsets reported elsewhere. Using an iterative design process and item analysis, I modified a mathematics mindset assessment for use with disadvantaged students in South Africa. In two correlational studies I established validity and reliability for a mindset assessment I call “Thinking About Maths”. I examined the contribution of mathematics mindsets to mathematics performance, in comparison with mathematics anxiety, study attitude and study milieu (or environment). I found that whilst mindsets do contribute to performance, the contribution is minimal compared to other variables measured. Additionally, I found that in an impoverished study environment males have high mathematics anxiety which inhibits mathematics performance whereas females have high study attitude, boosting mathematics performance. With assistance from students and teachers, I developed a mindset intervention that is culturally appropriate and relevant. 305 Grade 9 students participated in a field-based quasi-experiment, which had a passive control group. The intervention was delivered on WhatsApp over four weeks. Each week contained a growth mindset message, a YouTube clip, advice on a learning strategy, and an integration activity. The groups were facilitated by young adult mentors. It was clear that WhatsApp groups were an effective mode of delivery and there was good evidence of participation from students. Mathematics performance at the intervention school improved significantly beyond that of the control school. The strength of the intervention seems to lie in the combination of mindset messaging and the teaching of effective strategies.