BACKGROUND Population studies conducted in Sweden have revealed an association between attendance at cultural activities and health. Using data from US residents, we examined whether the association could be observed in the US. METHODS Participants in the current study included 1,244 individuals who participated in the 1998 General Social Survey. RESULTS A significant association between cu...

Research shows the benefits of active learning in American college classrooms. International graduate students in American universities may face difficulties in teaching students with different cultural dispositions. The current research uses power distance to explore cultural juxtapositions in classrooms and personal informatics design to propose an adaptive system for cultural acquisition. Th...

This paper examines the intergenerational correlation of education in rural China. The focus is on the influence of family class origin (jiating chengfen), the political label hung on every family throughout the Maoist era. A nationally representative cross-sectional household survey for 2002 is used. It is shown that the effects of family class origin on family members’ educational attainment ...

Kin altruism appears to influence an individual’s evaluation of the reproductive decisions of other people. Playing the role of an older woman advising a younger woman about reproduction influenced female participants’ self-reported beliefs about the decision. Women randomly assigned to the group with the task of advising a daughter were more inclined to believe that the choice consistent with ...

Group decision-making problem is a common and crucial human activity. By the characteristic of group decision making process, the model of multi-attribute group decision making (MAGDM) process based on evidence theory is proposed. The interacting process for MAGDM is analyzed, and the consensus analysis and the improving approach in group experts’ decision making based on similarity is given. B...

The ginseng industry has expanded rapidly in recent years. Asian and American ginseng are cultivated around the world. Ginseng products in various forms are increasingly popular, and its consumers are no longer limited to Asians. More knowledge is needed about the horticultural characteristics, cultural methods, disease control, drying and storage procedures, and technology for value-added prod...

People often cooperate with members of their own group, and discriminate against members of other groups. Previous research establishes that cultural groups can form endogenously, and that these groups demonstrate in-group favouritism. Given the presence of cultural groups, the previous literature argues that cultural evolution selects for groups that exhibit parochial altruism. The source of i...

Previous work on mathematical models of cultural evolution has mainly focused on the diffusion of simple cultural elements. However, a characteristic feature of human cultural evolution is the seemingly limitless appearance of new and increasingly complex cultural elements. Here, we develop a general modelling framework to study such cumulative processes, in which we assume that the appearance ...