While interaction and exchange between cultures is arguably increasing in our globalized world, sentiments reflecting division among cultures and ways of being in the world remain. In particular, the relevance of ideas,theory, and philosophy based on traditional "Western" values and a focus on the individual is often drawn into question…

The aim of this study was to analyse and compare the learning patterns of higher education students from Spain and three Latin-American countries (Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela). For this purpose Vermunt's Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) was translated into Spanish and tested. The participants were 456 undergraduates enrolled in a teacher…

A fundamental question in human cognition is how people reason about space. We use a computational model to explore cross-cultural commonalities and differences in spatial cognition. Our model is based upon two hypotheses: (1) the structure-mapping model of analogy can explain the visual comparisons used in spatial reasoning; and (2) qualitative,…

Immigrants constitute a population vulnerable to the problem of violence. This study sought to ascertain the prevalence of violence reported by the immigrant population in the Murcian Region of Spain and characterize the related factors, taking the country population as reference. A cross-sectional study was carried out based on a representative…

Both North American and Latin American business professionals were investigated in a study that focused on the perceived communication problems between the two groups. A number of major areas of interest were considered, including the following: (1) source of credibility (what dimensions of personality were seen as most desirable in the…

Latino men who have sex with men are a group at high risk for HIV infection. Much of the research addressing attitudes and behaviors related to HIV among Latinos in the United States has overlooked differences based on nationality. Brazilian immigrants, in particular, are an understudied subgroup of Latinos. This study compared HIV-positive…

Commentary on cultural differences between the Anglo-American and Spanish-American cultures focuses on food, role playing, division of labor, and the concept of making "-etic" and "-emic" distinctions in culture study. Reference is made analagously to the work of Kenneth Pike, to Howard Nostrand's remarks on Eskimo culture, and to Americo Castro's…

This textbook develops a cross-cultural portrait of Latin America. Four major sections are concerned with the cultural blueprint, historical and social foundations, the social structure, and intellectual and economic life. Subchapters include: (1) the rise of the Spanish people, (2) administration and jurisprudence, (3) the church, (4) the…

This publication is the product of a college course which focused on the general concept of race and ethnicity in films from a cross-national comparative perspective. The authors hope that the booklet will be useful to teachers who present courses on film and history, for those who use film in their general history courses, and for those who teach…

Survey responses from 1,620 subjects in the United States, Greece, India, Peru, and Taiwan provide information on cross-cultural role perceptions. Study data reveal (1) the principal factors accounting for the variance in role perception in each culture, (2) those factors that are the same in all cultures, (3) the equivalent factor scores that…

This "communication lexicon," a new source of information in the field of language and area studies, describes how selected themes such as family, society, work, and entertainment are perceived and understood by members of the Mexican, Colombian, and United States cultures. It identifies broad trends of perceptions and evaluations…

Culture is the main subject of this student material for a quarter or one-semester course on a comparative study of Mexico and the United States. The ongoing processes of continuity and change in culture and their relationship are emphasized. The first chapter is devoted to the concept of culture, the total way of life of a people from language…

Insight can be gained into the role of specified cultural variables in human development if care is taken in a study to include subcultural variations which can be matched cross-bulturally, to employ well-trained native examiners who have been calibrated cross-culturally, to use techniques which can be defended, and to involve the close and…

The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. (Individual papers contain references.) [For the 2009 proceedings, see ED504973.]