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Proximal and distal honor fit and subjective well-being in the Mediterranean region. J Pers 2024; 92:38-54. [PMID: 36536608 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2022] [Revised: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE People's psychological tendencies are attuned to their sociocultural context and culture-specific ways of being, feeling, and thinking are believed to assist individuals in successfully navigating their environment. Supporting this idea, a stronger "fit" with one's cultural environment has often been linked to positive psychological outcomes. The current research expands the cultural, conceptual, and methodological space of cultural fit research by exploring the link between well-being and honor, a central driver of social behavior in the Mediterranean region. METHOD Drawing on a multi-national sample from eight countries circum-Mediterranean (N = 2257), we examined the relationship between cultural fit in honor and well-being at the distal level (fit with one's perceived society) using response surface analysis (RSA) and at the proximal level (fit with one's university gender group) using profile analysis. RESULTS We found positive links between fit and well-being in both distal (for some, but not all, honor facets) and proximal fit analyses (across all honor facets). Furthermore, most fit effects in the RSA were complemented with positive level effects of the predictors, with higher average honor levels predicting higher well-being. CONCLUSIONS Our findings highlight the interplay between individual and environmental factors in honor as well as the important role honor plays in well-being in the Mediterranean region.
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Neither Eastern nor Western: Patterns of independence and interdependence in Mediterranean societies. J Pers Soc Psychol 2023; 125:471-495. [PMID: 37126053 DOI: 10.1037/pspa0000342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Social science research has highlighted "honor" as a central value driving social behavior in Mediterranean societies, which requires individuals to develop and protect a sense of their personal self-worth and their social reputation, through assertiveness, competitiveness, and retaliation in the face of threats. We predicted that members of Mediterranean societies may exhibit a distinctive combination of independent and interdependent social orientation, self-construal, and cognitive style, compared to more commonly studied East Asian and Anglo-Western cultural groups. We compared participants from eight Mediterranean societies (Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus [Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities], Lebanon, Egypt) to participants from East Asian (Korea, Japan) and Anglo-Western (the United Kingdom, the United States) societies, using six implicit social orientation indicators, an eight-dimensional self-construal scale, and four cognitive style indicators. Compared with both East Asian and Anglo-Western samples, samples from Mediterranean societies distinctively emphasized several forms of independence (relative intensity of disengaging [vs. engaging] emotions, happiness based on disengaging [vs. engaging] emotions, dispositional [vs. situational] attribution style, self-construal as different from others, self-directed, self-reliant, self-expressive, and consistent) and interdependence (closeness to in-group [vs. out-group] members, self-construal as connected and committed to close others). Our findings extend previous insights into patterns of cultural orientation beyond commonly examined East-West comparisons to an understudied world region. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
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Predicting collective action tendencies among Filipina domestic workers in Lebanon: Integrating the Social Identity Model of Collective Action and the role of fear. GROUP PROCESSES & INTERGROUP RELATIONS 2019. [DOI: 10.1177/1368430219885180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This study examined factors underlying collective action tendencies in a context of severe disadvantage and high repression. Drawing on the Social Identity Model of Collective Action (SIMCA; van Zomeren, Postmes, & Spears, 2008), we tested the roles of group-based anger, participative efficacy, group identity—SIMCA variables—but also fear. Although SIMCA has been widely used in various social contexts, little is known about how well it applies to severely disadvantaged groups in highly repressive situations. In the study of female Filipina domestic workers ( N = 123) in Beirut, Lebanon, results provided partial support for SIMCA, such that identity indirectly and positively predicted collective action intentions via efficacy, but not anger. Importantly, fear modulated the paths from anger and efficacy to collective action intentions. Efficacy and anger positively predicted collective action tendencies among individuals low, but not high, in fear. These findings attest to the importance of studying political actions among underrepresented populations.
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Autobiographical recall of mastery experiences is a mechanism of self-affirming under social identity threat. The Journal of Social Psychology 2019; 160:39-60. [PMID: 31096859 DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2019.1606775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Autobiographical memories are relevant to many areas of psychological functioning. So far, however, there is no evidence whether personal memories can also be instrumental for self-affirmation. We conducted two experiments, varying national identity threat among U.S. Americans recruited through MTurk. In Study 1, participants spontaneously recalled autobiographical memories after being exposed to varying levels of threat. When the threat was identity-relevant, those who spontaneously recalled mastery autobiographical memories had higher collective self-esteem than those who did not. In Study 2, we instructed participants to recall either mastery autobiographical memories or routine memories. When the threat was identity-relevant, collective self-esteem was again higher for mastery recall compared to routine recall, moderated by national identification and self-esteem. We also found a general, self-affirmative effect of autobiographical memories, regardless of threat relevance or recall content. Findings provide a first empirical demonstration that autobiographical recall can enhance self-affirmation in identity threat situations.
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Intergroup contact as a predictor of violent and nonviolent collective action: Evidence from Syrian refugees and Lebanese nationals. PEACE AND CONFLICT: JOURNAL OF PEACE PSYCHOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1037/pac0000234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Culture-Level Dimensions of Social Axioms and Their Correlates across 41 Cultures. JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1177/0022022104268388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 314] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Leung and colleagues have revealed a five-dimensional structure of social axioms across individuals from five cultural groups. The present research was designed to reveal the culture level factor structure of social axioms and its correlates across 41 nations. An ecological factor analysis on the 60 items of the Social Axioms Survey extracted two factors: Dynamic Externality correlates with value measures tapping collectivism, hierarchy, and conservatism and with national indices indicative of lower social development. Societal Cynicism is less strongly and broadly correlated with previous values measures or other national indices and seems to define a novel cultural syndrome. Its national correlates suggest that it taps the cognitive component of a cultural constellation labeled maleficence, a cultural syndrome associated with a general mistrust of social systems and other people. Discussion focused on the meaning of these national level factors of beliefs and on their relationships with individual level factors of belief derived from the same data set.
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Demographic Effects on the Use of Vertical Sources of Guidance by Managers in Widely Differing Cultural Contexts. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT 2016. [DOI: 10.1177/1470595805050822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Data provided by 7380 middle managers from 60 nations are used to determine whether demographic variables are correlated with managers’ reliance on vertical sources of guidance in different nations and whether these correlations differ depending on national culture characteristics. Significant effects of Hofstede’s national culture scores, age, gender, organization ownership and department function are found. After these main effects have been discounted, significant although weak interactions are found, indicating that demographic effects are stronger in individualist, low power distance nations than elsewhere. Significant non-predicted interaction effects of uncertainty avoidance and masculinity-femininity are also obtained. The implications for theory and practice of the use of demographic attributes in understanding effective management procedures in various parts of the world are discussed.
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Abstract
The present article has two objectives. First, general issues for developing and testing cross cultural multi-level models such as variable identification, measurement, sampling and data analysis are discussed. A second aim is to illustrate some of these issues by developing a multi-level framework incorporating variables at an individual, organizational and national level. The goal is to explain cross cultural differences in extra-role behaviour. Based on a review of previous multi-level research and cross cultural research it is proposed that the effect of national culture on work attitudes and behaviour is mediated by organizational practices. The framework is formulated using recent recommendations for the development of multi-level models.
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Unity and Diversity in Arab Managerial Styles. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT 2016. [DOI: 10.1177/1470595807083374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
A key approach to understanding cross-national variations in leadership is to examine how leaders handle routine events within their span of control. The sources of guidance employed by samples of middle and senior managers in four Arab nations were surveyed. Saudi managers showed the expected traditional and personalistic pattern of relatively strong reliance on both formal rules and unwritten rules, as well on as co-workers and subordinates. Respondents from Qatar, Oman and Lebanon each differed from this pattern in ways consistent with theories of modernity. Correlations with evaluations of how specific work events had been handled in each nation confirmed the presence of distinctive leader styles. The assumption that there is a relatively uniform style of leadership across Arab nations is thus questioned.
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Individual and culture-level components of survey response styles: A multi-level analysis using cultural models of selfhood. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2016; 51:453-463. [DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2015] [Accepted: 05/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Beyond the 'east-west' dichotomy: Global variation in cultural models of selfhood. J Exp Psychol Gen 2016; 145:966-1000. [PMID: 27359126 DOI: 10.1037/xge0000175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Markus and Kitayama's (1991) theory of independent and interdependent self-construals had a major influence on social, personality, and developmental psychology by highlighting the role of culture in psychological processes. However, research has relied excessively on contrasts between North American and East Asian samples, and commonly used self-report measures of independence and interdependence frequently fail to show predicted cultural differences. We revisited the conceptualization and measurement of independent and interdependent self-construals in 2 large-scale multinational surveys, using improved methods for cross-cultural research. We developed (Study 1: N = 2924 students in 16 nations) and validated across cultures (Study 2: N = 7279 adults from 55 cultural groups in 33 nations) a new 7-dimensional model of self-reported ways of being independent or interdependent. Patterns of global variation support some of Markus and Kitayama's predictions, but a simple contrast between independence and interdependence does not adequately capture the diverse models of selfhood that prevail in different world regions. Cultural groups emphasize different ways of being both independent and interdependent, depending on individualism-collectivism, national socioeconomic development, and religious heritage. Our 7-dimensional model will allow future researchers to test more accurately the implications of cultural models of selfhood for psychological processes in diverse ecocultural contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record
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“Brothers” in Arms: Does Metaphorizing Kinship Increase Approval of Parochial Altruism? JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND CULTURE 2016. [DOI: 10.1163/15685373-12342167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Parochial altruism is manifested in the most violent of conflicts. Although it makes evolutionary sense for kin, many non-kin groups also behave parochially altruistically in response to threat from out-groups. It is possible that such non-kin groups share a sense of “fictive” kinship which encourages them to behave parochially altruistically for each other’s benefit. Our findings show that individuals not directly involved in a conflict approved of parochial altruism enacted by an in-group against an out-group more when the out-group posed a threat to the in-group; however, this effect wasgreaterwhen the in-group members expressed fictive kinship by addressing each other using kinship metaphors such as “brothers.” Furthermore, although males approved of parochial altruism more than females, as the male warrior hypothesis would suggest, the effects of threat and kinship metaphor on approval of parochial altruism applied to both genders. These findings were replicated in an honour (Lebanon) and non-honour (Australia) culture.
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Measurement Invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Among Adolescents and Emerging Adults Across 23 Cultural Contexts. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT 2015. [DOI: 10.1177/0734282915611284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
There is hardly any cross-cultural research on the measurement invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scales (BMSLSS). The current article evaluates the measurement invariance of the BMSLSS across cultural contexts. This cross-sectional study sampled 7,739 adolescents and emerging adults in 23 countries. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of configural and partial measurement weights invariance models, indicating similar patterns and strengths in factor loading for both adolescents and emerging adults across various countries. We found insufficient evidence for scalar invariance in both the adolescents’ and the emerging adults’ samples. A multi-level confirmatory factor analysis indicated configural invariance of the structure at country and individual level. Internal consistency, evaluated by alpha and omega coefficients per country, yielded acceptable results. The translated BMSLSS across different cultural contexts presents good psychometric characteristics similar to what has been reported in the original scale, though scalar invariance remains problematic. Our results indicate that the BMSLSS forms a brief measure of life satisfaction, which has accrued substantial evidence of construct validity, thus suitable for use in cross-cultural surveys with adolescents and emerging adults, although evaluation of degree of invariance must be carried out to ensure its suitability for mean comparisons.
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Abstract
Several theories propose that self-esteem, or positive self-regard, results from fulfilling the value priorities of one’s surrounding culture. Yet, surprisingly little evidence exists for this assertion, and theories differ about whether individuals must personally endorse the value priorities involved. We compared the influence of four bases for self-evaluation (controlling one’s life, doing one’s duty, benefitting others, achieving social status) among 4,852 adolescents across 20 cultural samples, using an implicit, within-person measurement technique to avoid cultural response biases. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses showed that participants generally derived feelings of self-esteem from all four bases, but especially from those that were most consistent with the value priorities of others in their cultural context. Multilevel analyses confirmed that the bases of positive self-regard are sustained collectively: They are predictably moderated by culturally normative values but show little systematic variation with personally endorsed values.
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Terrorism and jihad in Indonesia: Questions and possible ways forward. ASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Abstract
Beliefs about personhood are understood to be a defining feature of individualism-collectivism (I-C), but they have been insufficiently explored, given the emphasis of research on values and self-construals. We propose the construct of contextualism, referring to beliefs about the importance of context in understanding people, as a facet of cultural collectivism. A brief measure was developed and refined across 19 nations (Study 1: N = 5,241), showing good psychometric properties for cross-cultural use and correlating well at the nation level with other supposed facets and indicators of I-C. In Study 2 ( N = 8,652), nation-level contextualism predicted ingroup favoritism, corruption, and differential trust of ingroup and outgroup members, while controlling for other facets of I-C, across 35 nations. We conclude that contextualism is an important part of cultural collectivism. This highlights the importance of beliefs alongside values and self-representations and contributes to a wider understanding of cultural processes.
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Culture and the distinctiveness motive: Constructing identity in individualistic and collectivistic contexts. J Pers Soc Psychol 2012; 102:833-55. [DOI: 10.1037/a0026853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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How Distinctive Are Indigenous Ways of Achieving Influence? A Comparative Study of Guanxi, Wasta, Jeitinho, and “Pulling Strings”. JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY 2011. [DOI: 10.1177/0022022110381430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate the cultural specificity of guanxi, wasta, and jeitinho, each of which has been identified as an indigenous process of informal influence. Students in Brazil, China, Lebanon, and the United Kingdom were presented with three scenarios derived from each of the nations sampled. They rated the extent to which each scenario was representative of the locally indigenous process, the typicality for their culture of the events portrayed in the scenarios, and the extent to which these interpersonal exchanges were perceived positively. While each type of scenario was perceived as representative and typical in its culture of origin, each was also perceived as somewhat typical by respondents in additional locations. Informal influence processes may vary between cultures more in frequency than in quality. Rated scenario positivity was significantly predicted by respondents’ values. The United Kingdom–based process of “pulling strings” was rated as typical in all locations and was more positively evaluated than the other influence processes by all respondents. It is concluded that in addition to the pragmatic value of these concepts locally, their comparative testing can contribute to the development of culture-general models of social influence processes.
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Values and Justice as Predictors of Perceived Stress in Lebanese Organisational Settings. APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY-AN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW-PSYCHOLOGIE APPLIQUEE-REVUE INTERNATIONALE 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1464-0597.2010.00423.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Perceptions of rape and attitudes toward women in a sample of Lebanese students. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2010; 25:735-752. [PMID: 19494244 DOI: 10.1177/0886260509334410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated values, ambivalent sexism, religiosity, religious differences, gender, and attitudes toward rape victims as predictors of rape myths in a sample of Lebanese students (N = 300). Values of self-transcendence and conservation, gender, hostile sexism, and attitudes toward rape victims emerged as significant predictors of rape myths, confirming some of the premises in the literature. Type of rape (date, marital, acquaintance, and stranger rape) and victim's characteristics (widowed, married, devout, promiscuous, and chaste) were also investigated. Results revealed that no matter what the relationship between the victim and her perpetrator was, and regardless of the victim's characteristics, forcible sexual contact was always considered as rape. However, differences did emerge as to the degree to which these variations were perceived as rape. Implication of findings for research and the Lebanese culture are discussed.
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Abstract
The development and validation of a new instrument for measuring the descriptive norms related to individualism-collectivism (IC) is presented. IC is conceptualized as a group- specific unidimensional cultural construct with four defining attributes (Triandis, 1995). Three studies are reported showing the dimensionality and validities at individual and cultural levels across samples from 11 cultures. The new instrument has good statistical properties with iden- tical structures at the individual and cultural level, good reliabilities at the individual level, adequate agreement within cultures, and demonstrates first signs of convergent and discriminant validity. Correlations at the cultural level also indicate that the measure has the potential to add to research by integrating previously untapped attributes of IC. Finally, normative IC explains variance in self-reported behavior over and above self-referenced IC. Implications and opportunities for norm-oriented research and scale refinement are discussed.
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Abstract
Position and momentum were the first pair of conjugate observables explicitly used to illustrate the intricacy of quantum mechanics. We have extended position and momentum entanglement to bright optical beams. Applications in optical metrology and interferometry require the continuous measurement of laser beams, with the accuracy fundamentally limited by the uncertainty principle. Techniques based on spatial entanglement of the beams could overcome this limit, and high-quality entanglement is required. We report a value of 0.51 for inseparability and 0.62 for the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen criterion, both normalized to a classical limit of 1. These results are a conclusive optical demonstration of macroscopic position and momentum quantum entanglement and also confirm that the resources for spatial multimode protocols are available.
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Abstract
This article reviews the literature on cross-cultural assessment of self-construals and proposes to refine their conceptualization by incorporating principles derived from self-categorization theory and a critique of cross-cultural research. A Sixfold Self-Construal Scale is devised to measure six subcategories of self-construal: the personal self, relational horizontal and relational vertical selves, collective horizontal and collective vertical selves, and humanity-bound self-construal. The instrument's reliability and factor structure are tested in four student samples ( N = 855) from the United Kingdom, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Convergent validity of the Sixfold Self-Construal Scale is tested with measures of Group Identification, Inclusion of the Other in the Self, the Schwartz value survey, and comparison of national mean scores. Results support the reliability, validity, and sensitivity of the scale in all samples.
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