Address behavior is governed by politeness phenomenon which is culturally bound. This paper attempts to draw a cross-cultural comparison between Chinese and English address forms and, going beneath the surface, explore the cultural differences in value systems and their underlying philosophical sources. The study will help people develop a fuller understanding of the meanings of the address ter...

Many psychologists and philosophers have suggested that religious ideas emerge because they are motivationally attractive. This paper attempts to support a version of the motivational thesis by relying on religious creeds as a source of historical evidence. This simple source of evidence indicates that the cultural evolution of religious ideas is partly a function of the motivational attractive...

Research in cultural evolution has focused on the spread of intuitive or minimally counterintuitive beliefs. However, some very counterintuitive beliefs can also spread successfully, at least in some communities-scientific theories being the most prominent example. We suggest that argumentation could be an important factor in the spread of some very counterintuitive beliefs. A first experiment ...

Article history: Received 17 September 2009 Received in revised form 22 April 2010 Accepted 8 June 2010

Mainstream Western ethics defines humans as rational beings. Ethics is a system of rules external to society and culture. Qualitative inquiry defines humans in holistic terms—as cultural beings, and cultures are value centered. The master norm for qualitative research, therefore, ought to be cultural continuity. Decisions for change are controlled by cultural groups themselves. Research ought t...