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Within international relations theory, there is significant disagreement on the nature and significance of leaders' dispute outcome preferences. While many variants of realism assume that such preferences are relatively fixed and homogeneous, both the liberal and the constructivist schools view them as significant variables. This debate remains unresolved because, for the standard large-sample conflict data sets, there are no direct measures of leadership preferences over outcomes in given types of international disputes. Using a conflict bargaining experiment, we ask whether, after controlling for the effects of relative power and initial conditions, leadership preferences have a statistically significant impact. We use two different country samples--from China and the United States--to examine whether the impact of leadership preferences varies internationally. We find that realist-style preferences are a special rather than a general case, and that such differences have significant implications for understanding continuities and changes in Chinese and US foreign policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bilateral relations between China and the United States have evolved over the past two decades from the 'same bed, different dreams' of the 1990s when, despite different interests and perceptions, globalisation and multilateralism drew them closer, to the potential 'different beds, same nightmare' scenario where their economies draw further apart and their governments are locked in hegemonic rivalry. Drawing on Wendtian constructivism and cognitive psychology, this article proposes a systematic and dynamic theoretical framework and a review of the evolution of Sino–US relations to explain how and why the above changes happened. We subdivide Sino–US relations since the early 1990s into five periods that describe the United States' China strategy in four aspects and China's US strategy in three aspects. Our findings are that the United States' China strategy has changed dramatically while China's US strategy has remained relatively stable, and that Sino–US relations from the early 1990s to mid-2010 were characterised by cooperation borne of strategic compatibility, whereas those ensuing were characterised by competition due to strategic incompatibility. We argue that rivalry between the two countries stems from their fundamentally different ideas, namely, Chinese statist nationalism and American liberal hegemony, and that gaps in perception have exacerbated the differences. Simply put, their 'different dreams' have led to the 'same nightmare'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of homeless persons in the U.S., focusing on the function played by literacy identity in their lives. Concepts including socioculturalism, constructivism, and critical literacy are explored and applied to the data gathered by the researchers in regards to the subjects' reading and writing activities. Comments from homeless persons interviewed through the case study are highlighted.

This constructivist study investigates 225 student drawings and explanations from three different schools in the midwest in the US, to identify seventh grade students' mental models of the greenhouse effect. Five distinct mental models were derived from an inductive analysis of the content of the students' drawings and explanations: Model 1, a 'greenhouse' for growing plants; Model 2, greenhouse gases cause ozone depletion or formation, causing the Earth to warm; Model 3, greenhouse gases, but no heating mechanism, simply gases in the atmosphere; Model 4, greenhouse gases 'trap' the sun's rays, heating the Earth; and Model 5, the sun's rays are 'bounced' or reflected back and forth between the Earth's surface and greenhouse gases, heating the Earth. Science textbooks are critiqued in light of the students' mental models and curricular and instructional implications are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have examined the bereavement experiences of African-American teen girls who have mourned the loss of friends due to homicide. This qualitative study examined such bereavement experiences with a sample of 20 African-American teen girls, ages 16-19, living in a large northeastern U.S. city. Meaning making, adolescent developmental theory, ideas regarding traumatic loss, and resilience provided a framework to understand how these teens coped with the tragic loss of a friend. The teen girls in this study demonstrated resilience in their ability to adequately "move on" with their lives. They remained achievement oriented and sustained meaningful relationships with family, valued friends, and others. Early, metaphysical, and motivational meaning constructions contributed to the teens' resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed an unsettling polarization, politicization, and securitization of cultural and religious identities linked to "Islam" and "the West." Political and military conflicts between the United States and various Middle Eastern states and movements have begun to feed a larger dynamic of identity conflict, in which partisans perceive their cultural values or religious identity -- and not merely their state or nation -- to be under attack. Drawing on insights gleaned from interdisciplinary conflict analysis as well as from constructivism and identity theory, the present study outlines a number of policy-relevant principles that Western leaders and activists might apply in efforts to deescalate Islamic-Western conflict and stimulate cooperative efforts to advance an inclusive, human security agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the effects of a constructivist counseling on clients in the university counseling center in the United States. Types of constructivist counseling; Implications of the counseling approach for client resources and development; Process of self-construction.

The article analyzes the American family using six theoretical developments in marriage and family therapy namely systems theory, constructivism, feminism, family resources, narrative metaphor and increased emphasis on qualitative research. A systemic view of families has been the bedrock of family therapy theory since its inception in the 1950s. If one family member changes his/her behavior, the entire family is affected. The U S family generally values independence more than families in other countries. According to feminist theory, a healthy family is one where flexible sex roles are valued and the woman has as much freedom as the man to pursue meaningful work. Family therapies have increasingly emphasized the importance of identifying and building on family strengths. Systems theory reminds that there are reciprocal links between society and the media. Negative and alarmist descriptions often beget more negative and alarmist descriptions as commentators increasingly view family life through these lenses. Feminism, like constructivism, has forced one self to look at one's values not only as individuals and family members, but as participants in larger systems, such as our political structures.

Drawing on media coverage and the Tower Commission Report, this paper analyzes the social construction of political accounts in the United States Iran-Contra scandal. The scandal illuminates the dynamics of accounting within a political, organizational context. The analysis demonstrates how information management, a complex division of labor, and boundary control cloud governmental responsibility for the initiatives. Moreover, coverage of political accounts within established news frames highlights questions of individual responsibility and motivation. The political accounts are based on and reinforce underlying assumptions about the legitimacy of existing institutional arrangements. Together, these dimensions form a social ecology of political accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An appendix is presented concerning the Constructivist Psychology Network (CPN), a nonprofit organization largely comprised of psychologists in the U.S.

Our commentary focuses on juxtaposing the proposed science of intentional change with facts and concepts pertaining to the level of large populations or changes on a worldwide scale. Although we find a unified evolutionary theory promising, we think that long-term and large-scale, scientifically guided – that is, intentional – social change is not only impossible, but also undesirable. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]