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The goal of the present study was to cross‐validate two measures of cultural tightness and looseness, CTL: one used in a comparison within the United States, and the other used in a cross‐country comparison. The former was based mainly on aggregation of state laws on controversial issues and religiosity and the latter on assessment of homogeneity in moral values among representative samples across countries. To cross‐validate these two measures, both were recomputed at the US divisional level. Despite the differences in their methods of computation, the two measures of CTL correlated highly with each other, r = .92, and with theoretical variables of interest. Further, when the two measures of CTL were used simultaneously to predict theoretical variables of interest, neither remained significant suggesting that they were substitutable with each other. Convergence of results with measures computed via maximally different methods increases the confidence in the validity of these two CTL measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critics of deception in research allege harm to society, the discipline of psychology, the researchers and participants. However, neither empirical findings nor a ‘reasonable-person’ test seem to support those allegations. By and large, researchers who use deception consider its costs and benefits, and the kind and degree of deceit that is typically used in psychology is of a benevolent type. Moreover, participants prefer to participate in deception research rather than its non-deceptive alternatives. In the light of these premises, we argue that deception can be desirable, especially when considering cost and benefits to research participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry / Anadolu Psikiyatri Dergisi is the property of Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The consequences of globalization are a matter of debate. This study is an attempt to test the predictions of homogenization, polarization, and hybridization theorists with regard to the similarities and differences between and within societies. Utilizing four waves of the World Values Survey, from 1989 to 2007, this study covers 20 societies that represent 55% of the world population. The survey involved value statements in 72 areas by nationally representative samples. Results showed that differences between Western and non-Western countries’ cultures tended to increase slightly over time, but that these increases in disagreement were not due to cultures moving in opposite directions. In all instances, they were moving in the same direction, with one of the cultures moving faster. The direction of influence was mostly from Western toward non-Western, lending support to the idea that globalization leads to homogenization, rather than to polarization or hybridization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry / Anadolu Psikiyatri Dergisi is the property of Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Terrorist attacks committed in 2003 by Turkish Islamist extremists threatened the social identity of Turkish Muslims by associating them with terrorism. Using a 2 × 3 experimental design, we categorized Turkish respondents and terrorists as members of a shared superordinate group (' Muslims') or as members of separate subgroups. When sharing superordinate group membership with terrorists, less identified Turkish respondents experienced ambivalent identification, i.e., they sought to maintain attachment to their group while simultaneously seeking distance from it. Ambivalent identification was reduced when respondents emphasized their typicality as members of a Muslim subgroup that did not include terrorists. The discussion focuses on ambivalent identification as a response to identity threat, and the implications for Islamist terrorism for the social identity of Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the November 2003 attacks in Turkey by Turkish Islamist extremists, we designed an experiment to assess the religious identification of Turkish Muslim students using the inclusion/exclusion model of social judgment and social identity theory as general frameworks. Students (n = 193) were randomly assigned to experimental groups and then completed a questionnaire about religious identification. Groups varied in terms of the religious labels (i.e. Muslim vs specific religious sects) used for both the attackers and respondents in the introduction to the questionnaire. Results indicate that labeling terrorists as “Muslims” increased the respondents' religious identification when they focused on their identity as “Muslims”, but decreased it when participants focused on their own sect membership. Regardless of the strength of their identification, being cast into similar categories with Islamist terrorists increased the ambivalence that Turkish citizens felt toward their religious identities. The highest ambivalent identification occurred when both respondents and attackers were categorized as Muslims. This research highlights the benefits and hazards of various identity management strategies that a Muslim society may employ in the face of Islamist terrorism. Future studies should address the changes in religious identification and ambivalent identification over time, and extend the current study to other populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]