Andrea Jones-Rooy

Emergent Cultural Signatures and Persistent Diversity: A Model of Conformity and Consistency

Empirical evidence demonstrates that cultures exist, they differ from one another, they’re coherent and yet diversity persists within them. In this paper, we describe a multi-dimensional model of cultural formation that produces all of these properties. Our model includes two forces: an internal desire to be consistent and social pressure to conform. When both forces operate, the society converges to a coordinated behavior that is consistent across the attributes. We find that convergence in the two-force model is slower than a pure conformity model and that a preponderance of one force over the other slows convergence, rather than hastening it. We further find that the two forces amplify small errors in individual behavior and prove capable of producing substantial persistent diversity.

Views on National Security in East Asia

In modern times, state-centered and nationalistic ideas on security have become dominant in many parts of East Asia as several governments have pursued autocratic and repressive policies in the pursuit of securing regime and economic development. This state-centered security orientation follows the Machiavellian edict that the end justifies the means, and orders the relations between state and society (Alagappa 2003). Concerns with national security and related ideas concerning the relations between the state and the outside world were lacking in East Asia during the premodern period and emerged as a reaction to imperialistic violence imposed by Chinese dynasties, Japanese colonialism, and competitions within East Asia among Western imperialistic powers (Duara 2006). In order to provide a context for the thinking of East Asians concerning national, family, and individual security, this chapter first addresses East Asia’s historical, sociocultural, and economic backgrounds. Then, current issues in this region are addressed.

Definition of Peace and Reconciliation in China, Japan, and Korea

This chapter presents a brief history of China, Japan, and Korea with an emphasis on peace and reconciliation. This is followed by a discussion of definitions of peace and reconciliation from participants from these regions to the Personal and Institutional Rights to Aggression and Peace Survey. The most common type (49 %) of definition of peace focused on the prerequisites and outcomes of positive peace (a peace characterized by social justice and equality), whereas 38 % of the responses focused on negative peace (e.g., absence of war, conflict). Sixty-five percent of the definitions of reconciliation equated it with a process rather than an end state or achievement. Exploratory chi-square analyses for types of definitions revealed a few differences based on demographic characteristics such as gender, military service, having a relative in the military, and having participated in antiwar protest activity.

Achieving Peace and Reconciliation in East Asia

This chapter focuses on peace and reconciliation processes in East Asia. First, instances of peace treaties and agreements in the region are reviewed. Diplomatic, political, economic, sociological, and psychological factors relevant to peace and reconciliation are also reviewed. Then, qualitative and quantitative analyses of survey responses from East Asians on achievability of peace and strategies for achieving peace are presented. The results indicate that the majority of East Asians in the sample believed that peace is achievable through various actions. The majority of them also suggested that humanitarian engagement such as assuming responsibility and positive human attributes would promote peace. Many considered that promoting tolerance and cooperation and eliminating violence and hatred are particularly important ways to achieve peace. They also emphasized the important role that governments play in their diplomatic efforts for international peace. Challenges and issues that East Asians face in achieving peace are discussed.

Apology, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation in East Asia

This chapter focuses on apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation processes among nations in East Asia. First, instances of apologies and forgiveness in the region are reviewed. Political, economic, sociological, and psychological factors relevant to apology and forgiveness are considered. Then, we consider qualitative responses from East Asians to items concerning apology and reconciliation in the Personal and Institutional Rights to Aggression and Peace Survey. The results indicate that the majority of East Asians in the sample believed that an apology is helpful in promoting reconciliation following various forms of international aggression such as invasion and occupation. Participants also commented, however, that the success of an apology is contingent on factors such as the sincerity of the apology, recognition of wrongdoing, effort to repair damaged relationships, and the development of mutual understanding and respect. Challenges and issues that East Asians face in the reconciliation process, such as social identity, secondhand victimization, and group-serving bias, are discussed.

Perspectives on Protest in East Asia

The views of ordinary East Asians concerning individual rights to stage protests were investigated in the context of historical and political events in the region. A total of 321 participants from China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan (average age = 30 years old) were through snowball and convenience sampling. Both deductive analyses and grounded theory approaches were used to code their responses to the Personal and Institutional Rights to Aggression and Peace Survey (PAIRTAPS; Malley-Morrison, Daskalopoulos, & You, International Psychology Reporter 10:19–20, 2006). A majority of respondents affirmed the right of individuals to protest; the most common justifications confirming this right focused on human rights, socially sanctioned rights, general agreement with the rights, and nonviolence. Most respondents also indicated a willingness to support protestors in response to a hypothetical vignette. The most common themes in responses rejecting the right to protest were pseudo-moral reasoning, distortion of the consequences of protestor action, and denial of personal responsibility. Our findings also showed intraregional group differences by gender and military experience in views concerning individual rights to stage protests. Findings were discussed in their historical and political contexts as well as in relation to Bandura’s (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 71:364–74, 1996, Personality and Social Psychology Review 3:193–209, 1999) theory of moral disengagement.

Perspectives on Torture in East Asia

Several international agreements (such as the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) have banned the use of state-sponsored torture. Torture was also a major issue at the United Nation’s first Geneva Convention where they drafted the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Not only does the Convention against Torture require countries to make the use of torture illegal, but it also specifies that under no state of emergency, external threat, or orders from a superior officer or authority can a right to torture be justifiably invoked. As of June 1, 2011, 65 nations, including China and Japan, but not North and South Korea, had ratified the Convention against Torture.

East Asian Definitions of War, Torture, and Terrorism

East Asia is a regional designation represented by Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and the two Koreas. Its states and territories are bordered by the Himalayas on the west, the Pacific Ocean on the east, Mongolia and Russia to the north, and the China Sea to the south. Although these countries differ among themselves politically, socially, and economically, they share strong cultural influences from Ancient China. This chapter is intended to provide a deeper understanding of East Asia by exploring the history of its inhabitants, their modern realities, and their mental constructions of war, terrorism, and torture.