Sexuality Related Social Support Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (“LGB”) youth may face significant stressors related to their sexual orientation. Few studies, however, have examined youth’s experiences of support for coping with these stressors. The current study compared LGB youth’s perceptions of support for sexuality stress to their support for other types of problems. The links between sexuality stress, sexuality support, and emotional distress were also examined. Ninety-eight LGB youth (ages 18–21, 33% female) rated support from family, heterosexual friends, and sexual minority friends for dealing with problems related, and not related, to their sexuality. From family and heterosexual friends, support for sexuality stress was less available than support for other stressors. Sexual minority friends provided the highest levels of sexuality support. In regression analyses, higher levels of sexuality support related to decreased emotional distress and buffered against the negative effects of sexuality stress on emotional distress. Sexuality support, although less available than other types of support, may be especially relevant to mental health among LGB youth.     

Understanding the academic learning of university students using smartphone: Evidence from Pakistan

As the number of smartphone users have increased worldwide, research on the usage of the smartphone has received scholarly attention. However, different results were found in previous studies in different contexts. The main research question is whether adopting smartphones by students improve learning or generates interference. The purpose of this study is to examine the usage of smartphone among university students in Pakistan. Using a survey approach, data were collected from different universities/colleges of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. total, 585 entries was analyzed using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 21.0 software. Results of analysis, validated most of the hypothesis showing the intention of Pakistani students towards smartphone usage for academic purpose. In addition, findings confirm that students' self‐efficacy related to a smartphone works as a moderating role of intention to use a smartphone for learning and actual usage of the smartphone. The current study has several implications in terms of smartphone usage and student academic performance. Limitations and implications of the study are also discussed in the last section.     

THE MESSAGE BEHIND HAMBURG PROTESTS

<正>Leadership forums like the G20 should better address people’s desire for a more equitable world order The G20 Summit in the German city of Hamburg will be remembered for both the disagreements among the leaders of the 20 members in the conference hall over issues like climate change and the violent protests outside.     

A King's Art: Dynastic Ambition and State Interest in Hussein's Jordan

This article investigates the paradox that despite Jordan's relative weakness, its foreign policy during the 1980s and 1990s exhibited surprising assertiveness, particularly towards the Palestinian and Iraqi questions. Proceeding from the premise that conventional explanations based on state interest are insufficient by themselves, the article will argue that important ambiguities in Jordanian policy during the period under review can only be understood by taking into account King Hussein's dynastic aspirations as a Hashemite. Hussein's skill in intertwining his dynastic objectives with the interests of an emerging Jordanian state identity will be identified as a prominent feature of his statecraft.     

Technology‐Driven Alteration of Nonverbal Cues and its Effects on Negotiation

A person’s appearance, identity, and other nonverbal cues can substantially influence how one is perceived by a negotiation counterpart, potentially impacting the outcome of the negotiation. With recent advances in technology, it is now possible to alter such cues through real‐time video communication. In many cases, a person’s physical presence can explicitly be replaced by 2D/3D representations in live interactive media. In other cases, technologies such as deepfake can subtly and implicitly alter many nonverbal cues—including a person’s appearance and identity—in real time. In this article, we look at some state‐of‐the‐art technological advances that can enable such explicit and implicit alterations of nonverbal cues. We also discuss the implications of such technology for the negotiation landscape and highlight ethical considerations that warrant deep, ongoing attention from stakeholders.     

“Tongpan”: An important event in Thai cinema

Abstract

Films being made in Asian countries are now beginning to express an Asian reality. This is happening in a small way, but it is happening. The scale of the movement to break away from Hollywood and Bombay-type extravaganzas, and from films as a kind of “celluloid LSD,” is still small, constrained as it is by film-makers and sellers out to make quick profits. One little ripple that has recently emerged from the stagnant waters of Asia's film world is called “Tongpan.” The work of a group of creative amateurs, “Tongpan” is not the result of a commercial venture, and is not a professionally-made film in the conventional sense. It is also not a film in the style of what has come to be known as the “New Wave Cinema,” for “Tongpan” is not an art film to be “museumed” for wealthy connoisseurs. But precisely for all these reasons it is important that a film called “Tongpan” has been made. Indeed an important event has occurred in Thai Cinema. Important because it shows what is happening to the Thai people in the name of ‘development’ and captures for posterity the tensions and strains of an important period in Thailand's recent history.     

Afghanistan since the revolution

Buddhism under Mao. By Holmes Welch. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1972. Pp. 666. Illus.     

Globalization and transnational class relations: Some problems of conceptualization

This article argues that class analysis in the post-cold war era is still valid and that transnational class relations is an important topic for investigation when studying globalization. However, such a study is replete with many theoretical and methodological problems which have yet to be resolved. Using the pioneering works of Cox and Sklair as its starting point, this article addresses the problematics of conceptualizing transnational class relations in the context of capturing a globalization process by focusing on three interrelated issues: (1) globalization and the reconfiguration of class relations; (2) emerging global class structure and the dominant class; and (3) subordinate groups vis-à-vis the dominant class. Cautioning that one should not overwork the concept in our theoretical endeavour, and not to assume the formation of transnational classes just because there are domestic classes that serve in global forces of production, this article raises several questions in the conceptualization of transnational class relations and offers some new propositions.