We present an empirical study on the impact of linguistic and cultural tailoring of a conversational agent on its ability to change user attitudes. We designed two bilingual (English and Spanish) conversational agents to resemble members of two distinct cultures (Anglo-American and Latino) and conducted the study with participants from the two corresponding populations. Our results show that cu...

This study examines the metaphoric meanings in English and Chinese and explores the similar patterns and variations. With specific reference to metaphors with human bodies and animals, the study analyzes the cultural conceptions behind the metaphors and discovers that the interpretation of metaphorical meanings lies in the different cultural values and attitudes. The awareness of metaphor usage...

BACKGROUND Gender role attitude pertains to individuals' attitude toward proper role activities for men and women. Most of the factors relevant to family and society may affect individuals' attitudes toward their role. Meanwhile, parents' behaviors can act as an important factor in formation of different dimensions of children's personality. Accordingly, the present study was aimed to investiga...

This paper presents a cross-cultural comparison of U.S., Canadian-Anglophone, CanadianFrancophone and Mexican managers' attitudes towards upward influence strategies. Generally, it was found that all four groups have similar perspectives in terms of the relative acceptability of various influence strategies. However, examination of absolute ratings of influence behaviors suggests that Canadian-...

Due to increased migration, many nations are increasingly characterized as multiracial/multicultural societies. Maximizing the conditions under which such societies achieve stability and harmony among various racial and cultural groups has become an important issue (see United Nations Development Programme, 2004). The present paper draws on concepts from cultural and social psychology to provid...

We propose a theoretical framework to study the determinants of ethnic and religious identity along two distinct motivational processes: cultural distinction and cultural conformity. Under cultural conformity, ethnic identity is reduced by neighborhood integration, which weakens group loyalties and prejudices. On the contrary, under cultural distinction, ethnic minorities are more motivated in ...

As people’s values, behaviours and even cognitive processes differ in different cultures, facilitating cultural sensitivity in design has become a critical issue. Cultural differences have been taken into account in design in various ways, such as focusing on preferences in colour or form of products, using cultural dimensions as criteria for website design (Marcus & Gould, 2000), considering h...

Culture is commonly regarded as a factor in pain behaviour and experience, but the meaning of the term is often unclear. There is little evidence that pain perception is modified by cultural or ethnic factors, but pain expression by children and interpretation by caregivers may be affected by the culture of the patient or the caregiver. The present paper examines some of the research regarding ...

The exploration of public attitudes toward animal research is important given recent developments in animal research (e.g., increasing creation and use of genetically modified animals, and plans for progress in areas such as personalized medicine), and the shifting relationship between science and society (i.e., a move toward the democratization of science). As such, public engagement on issues...

We develop a model in which individuals choose education to improve their earnings and regulate the cultural traits they acquire via social transmission. When education makes individuals more receptive to mainstream culture, minority groups underinvest in education as a form of cultural resistance. Economic and cultural incentives interact in surprising ways that increase income inequality. An ...