This study investigates the effect of kindchenschema across cultures. The kindchenschema is a gestalt that triggers a special protective behavior (Lorenz, 1970). We adopted a normative approach, which searches for possible objective aesthetics and canonic values (i.e. normative aesthetics; Crowther, 2004), and conducted a pretest, where it was inquired whether we could transfer the canonic rules of “looking cute” into five dimensions: small size, light-color, tilted angle, wide, and round shape. 229 participants completed a task in which they modified a rectangle for the parameters of size, color, angle, height-width ratio, and roundness to create a “cute rectangle.” As predicted, the “cute rectangles” created by participants were significantly smaller, lighter, more tilted, or rounder than the reference shape. The canonic rules of cuteness were confirmed by the pretest data. In the main study, type of cultural self-construals (independent or interdependent) was hypothesized as a significant predictor that differentiates the evaluation of cuteness aesthetics. 228 participants from Estonia, South Korea, and the United States (N = 228) evaluated 32 rectangles with a high or low level of the 5 cuteness dimensions in 9 semantic differential scales along with the perceived cuteness. The findings suggest that an individual’s interdependent cultural self-construal is a determinant factor in the perception of cuteness. We then discuss the theoretical and practical implication of cuteness aesthetics with regard to cultural self-construals, caring behaviors, and the perception of others.
Due to the relative lack of media comparison studies within Asian contexts, theoretical frameworks based in Western societies have been applied to knowledge production in the global South. Using a ‘most different’ design, this study compares the dimensions of media systems reflected in two Chinese and two Korean newspapers in their initial coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Content analysis showed statistically significant differences in distribution of sources, topics and valence, usage of frame types, and actors including domestic government and foreign entities held responsible between the two groups of media. Based on political implications of crisis on Chinese and Korean news content, we mainly discuss political instrumentalization and parallelism in the media in an Asian context. Finally, we open up the dimensions of media system from an Asian perspective and address the need for future research.
This study examines how scoring with feedback in formative assessment affects learning in an English as a foreign language (EFL) writing classroom. Two EFL writing classes were compared: in one class, teacher feedback was given to students on initial drafts, and scores were given only at the end of the semester; in the second class, teacher feedback and scores were given to students on each draft throughout the semester. This study adopted a mixedmethods approach, including a statistical analysis to explore whether teacher feedback accompanied by scoring makes a difference in student writing, and observation, and interviews of focal students to examine how feedback with scores affects students' perceptions and attitudes towards writing. The results reveal that the scoring class wrote more accurately than the non-scoring class and that the focal students in the scoring class were not only more aware of both their own and their classmates' performances, but that they also made efforts to emulate the students they considered effective writers. This study implies that scoring can fortify the effects of feedback by motivating high achieving students to do their best in their writing assignments.
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