In this era of razor-edge competition, marketers strive to outperform their rivals by improving their brands. Increasing brand coolness may be the best way to do it. This study used a stimulus organism response model by integration with brand attribution theory to conduct a cross sectional study using purposive sampling technique and surveying young consumers of smart gadgets in Pakistan. A total of 1,178 responses were received and analyzed by structural equation modeling. The results found a positive impact of brand (...) coolness on brand love and brand engagement. Brand experience moderated these links. Brand love and brand engagement also mediated the relationship between brand coolness and consumer well-being and delight. The findings suggest a very important contribution to theory and practice by testing unexploited outcomes of brand coolness. Especially, this study contributes to the consumer well-being literature, again an unexploited aspect of marketing literature. Despite the uniqueness of the findings, the cross sectional design of this study remains a major limitation. Future research may supplement the findings with the help of longitudinal studies. Marketers and practitioners may benefit from this study by improving the coolness of their brands so they may not only increase consumer engagement with the brand but they will also make consumers happy with their brands. (shrink)

Purpose Corporate social responsibility communication on corporate websites have become an emerging trend by firms. Similarly, corporate websites have been used to manage stakeholders’ impressions about the organization. Meanwhile, CSR by firms have been criticized for been a manipulative tactics used by firms. The purpose of this paper therefore is to ascertain how telecommunication companies operating in Ghana communicate CSR on their corporate websites. Design/methodology/approach This study used a qualitative content analysis technique. It also used Bolino et al.’s impression management (...) framework as the conceptual framework. Data were extracted from the websites of four telecommunication companies operating in Ghana. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis techniques. Findings The results show that the companies use impression management in communicating CSR on their corporate websites. Account, assertive impression management; blaring, boasting, defensive impression management; demonstrative impression management; exemplification, favor-rendering, illustrative impression management; ingratiation, other-enhancement, other-focused impression management; self-enhancement, self-focused impression management; and self-promotion tactics are tactics prevalent in the CSR communication of the companies. Actor-to-actor link impression management and other emotional appeal also emerged as some of the impression management tactics used by the companies. Originality/value This provides insights into how organizations use impression management in their CSR communication on their corporate websites. Studies of this nature are limited. Again, studies specifically adapting Bolino et al.’s impression management to study CSR communication on corporate websites are rare. (shrink)

ABSTRCTIn recent times, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) hasbeen developed and widely spread around world. ICT is used in various sectorsand considered a basis in the emergence of some important technologies such asvirtual reality technology. Virtual Reality (VR) is a special technology as anadvanced technology connected to several fields, e.g. training, learning, science,engineering, medicine, military, etc. VR has great potentials which enabled toperform several phenomena and experiments. Hence, several scenarios havebecome available. The purpose of this study is to shed light (...) on virtual realitytechnology and list a glimpse of common publications and studies involved. (shrink)

Monetary intelligence theory asserts that individuals apply their money attitude to frame critical concerns in the context and strategically select certain options to achieve financial goals and ultimate happiness. This study explores the dark side of monetary Intelligence and behavioral economics—dishonesty. Dishonesty, a risky prospect, involves cost–benefit analysis of self-interest. We frame good or bad barrels in the environmental context as a proxy of high or low probability of getting caught for dishonesty, respectively. We theorize: The magnitude and intensity of (...) the relationship between love of money and dishonest prospect may reveal how individuals frame dishonesty in the context of two levels of subjective norm—perceived corporate ethical values at the micro-level and Corruption Perceptions Index at the macro-level, collected from multiple sources. Based on 6382 managers in 31 geopolitical entities across six continents, our cross-level three-way interaction effect illustrates: As expected, managers in good barrels, mixed barrels, and bad barrels display low, medium, and high magnitude of dishonesty, respectively. With high CEV, the intensity is the same across cultures. With low CEV, the intensity of dishonesty is the highest in high CPI entities —the Enron Effect, but the lowest in low CPI entities. CPI has a strong impact on the magnitude of dishonesty, whereas CEV has a strong impact on the intensity of dishonesty. We demonstrate dishonesty in light of monetary values and two frames of social norm, revealing critical implications to the field of behavioral economics and business ethics. (shrink)

This research tests a model of employee helping behavior (a component of Organizational Citizenship Behavior, OCB) that involves a direct path (Intrinsic Motives → Helping Behavior, the Good Samaritan Effect) and an indirect path (the Love of Money → Extrinsic Motives → Helping Behavior). Results for the full sample supported the Good Samaritan Effect. Further, the love of money was positively related to extrinsic motives that were negatively related with helping behavior. We tested the model across four cultures (the USA., (...) Taiwan, Poland, and Egypt). The Good Samaritan Effect was significant for all four countries. For the indirect path, the first part was significant for all countries, except Egypt, whereas the second part was significant for Poland only. For Poland, the indirect path was significant and positive. The love of money may cause one to help in one culture (Poland) but not to help in others. Results were discussed in the light of ethical decision making. (shrink)

Corruption involves greed, money, and risky decision-making. We explore the love of money, pay satisfaction, probability of risk, and dishonesty across cultures. Avaricious monetary aspiration breeds unethicality. Prospect theory frames decisions in the gains-losses domain and high-low probability. Pay dissatisfaction (in the losses domain) incites dishonesty in the name of justice at the individual level. The Corruption Perceptions Index, CPI, signals a high-low probability of getting caught for dishonesty at the country level. We theorize that decision-makers adopt avaricious love-of-money aspiration (...) as a lens and frame dishonesty in the gains-losses domain (pay satisfaction-dissatisfaction, Level 1) and high-low probability (CPI, Level 2) to maximize expected utility and ultimate serenity. We challenge the myth: Pay satisfaction mitigates dishonesty across nations consistently. Based on 6500 managers in 32 countries, our cross-level three-dimensional visualization offers the following discoveries. Under high aspiration conditions, pay dissatisfaction excites the highest- (third-highest) avaricious justice-seeking dishonesty in high (medium) CPI nations, supporting the certainty effect. However, pay satisfaction provokes the second-highest avaricious opportunity-seizing dishonesty in low CPI entities, sustaining the possibility effect—maximizing expected utility. Under low aspiration conditions, high pay satisfaction consistently leads to low dishonesty, demonstrating risk aversion—achieving ultimate serenity. We expand prospect theory from a micro and individual-level theory to a cross-level theory of monetary wisdom across 32 nations. We enhance the S-shaped Curve to three 3-D corruption surfaces across three levels of the global economic pyramid, providing novel insights into behavioral economics, business ethics, the environment, and responsibility. (shrink)

Monetary Intelligence theory asserts that individuals apply their money attitude to frame critical concerns in the context and strategically select certain options to achieve financial goals and ultimate happiness. This study explores the bright side of Monetary Intelligence and behavioral economics, frames money attitude in the context of pay and life satisfaction, and controls money at the macro-level and micro-level. We theorize: Managers with low love of money motive but high stewardship behavior will have high subjective well-being: pay satisfaction and (...) quality of life. Data collected from 6586 managers in 32 cultures across six continents support our theory. Interestingly, GDP per capita is related to life satisfaction, but not to pay satisfaction. Individual income is related to both life and pay satisfaction. Neither GDP nor income is related to Happiness. Our theoretical model across three GDP groups offers new discoveries: In high GDP entities, “high income” not only reduces aspirations—“Rich, Motivator, and Power,” but also promotes stewardship behavior—“Budget, Give/Donate, and Contribute” and appreciation of “Achievement.” After controlling income, we demonstrate the bright side of Monetary Intelligence: Low love of money motive but high stewardship behavior define Monetary Intelligence. “Good apples enjoy good quality of life in good barrels.” This notion adds another explanation to managers’ low magnitude of dishonesty in entities with high Corruption Perceptions Index. In low GDP entities, high income is related to poor Budgeting skills and escalated Happiness. These managers experience equal satisfaction with pay and life. We add a new vocabulary to the conversation of monetary intelligence, income, GDP, happiness, subjective well-being, good and bad apples and barrels, corruption, and behavioral ethics. (shrink)

: Whilst the recent electoral performance of Parti Islam seMalaysia and Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu in Terengganuhas generated much interest, there are lack of studies over the involvementand motivations of the most committed party players; the grassrootsparty activists. PAS and UMNO are strongly supported by committed andextraordinary party members at the grassroots level who devote their time,money, effort, and energy to ensure the party they support wins elections andremains relevant. Unlike other professions, they are working for the party on afull-time (...) basis yet receive no specific income from the party. Their uniquenesshas directed this study to examine the factors which influence them to becomepolitical party activists. This study interviewed thirty-two party activists whowere selected using the purposive sampling technique, and the data was thenthematically analyzed through the content analysis method. Combining theCivic Voluntarism Model and the General Incentives Model into a frameworkto understand factors that motivate informants’ political party activism. Thisstudy discovered five major factors which include the ideology of the party,religious beliefs, defending ethnic supremacy, parental influence, significantpolitical events and educational institutions. This study also academicallydefies the common perception that party activists enjoy material rewards byvirtue of their party activism. (shrink)

Witnessing suffering and death in palliative care can cause moral distress, emotional exhaustion and maladaptive coping strategies. How sense and meaning is made from these experiences influences how physicians think, feel and act as professionals (professional identity formation or PIF). It also determines how they cope with their roles, care for patients and interact with other professionals. Timely, personalised and appropriate support is key as shaping how these physicians develop and contend with sometimes competing beliefs and roles. The Ring Theory (...) of Personhood (RToP) and the Krishna-Pisupati Model (KPM) offer a means of mapping PIF and thus moulding, coping and meaning making. This study uses the RToP and KPM to explore how caring for end-of-life patients impacts the personhood of palliative care physicians. Semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 13 palliative care physicians—eleven females and two males aged between 35 and 50 years—at a cancer specialist centre were conducted. Transcripts of the audio-recorded interviews underwent content and thematic analysis where complementary themes and categories identified were combined to form domains that highlighted the physicians’ key experience of providing end-of-life care. The domains identified were (1) identity formation, (2) conflicts, (3) KPM elements and (4) support systems. Together, results revealed that palliative care physicians are driven by Innate, Individual, Relational and Societal belief systems that create an intertwined professional and personal identity, enabling them to find meaning in their experiences and adapt to present contexts within cultural norms and professional expectations. However, their failure to recognise their need for support when hampered by evolving personal, existential and clinical factors underlines the exigency for ongoing surveillance and a potential role for a RToP-based tool and portfolio system that can detect and direct timely, appropriate support to in-need physicians. (shrink)

Working memory is developed in one region of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The dysfunction of this region leads to synaptic neuroplasticity impairment. It has been reported that several biochemical parameters and anthropometric measurements play a vital role in cognition and brain health. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between cognitive function, serum biochemical profile, and anthropometric measurements using DLPFC activation. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 35 older adults who experienced mild cognitive impairment. For this purpose, (...) we distributed a comprehensive interview-based questionnaire for collecting sociodemographic information from the participants and conducting cognitive tests. Anthropometric values were measured, and fasting blood specimens were collected. We investigated their brain activation using the task-based functional MRI, specifically in the DLPFC region. Positive relationships were observed between brain-derived neurotrophic factor and Mini-Mental State Examination ; however, negative relationships were observed between serum triglyceride and serum malondialdehyde with right DLPFC activation while the participants performed 1-back task after adjustments for age, gender, and years of education. In conclusion, higher serum triglycerides, higher oxidative stress, and lower neurotrophic factor were associated with lower right DLPFC activation among older adults with MCI. A further investigation needs to be carried out to understand the causal-effect mechanisms of the significant parameters and the DLPFC activation so that better intervention strategies can be developed for reducing the risk of irreversible neurodegenerative diseases among older adults with MCI. (shrink)

It has been 2 years since the first outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, and continuous efforts and measures have been exerted and implemented to halt its spread, such as the introduction of vaccination programs. However, as with the consumption of other products and services, some people hold different beliefs, consequently affecting their attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination. Thus, vaccine unwillingness and hesitancy remain an enormous concern for many countries. This paper explores the effects of anxiety, individual resilience, and conspiracy beliefs on (...) attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines among the population of Malaysia—with a focus on Muslim individuals. We used survey data from 438 respondents to assess the research model. To conduct the multi-group analysis, we used partial least square structural equation modeling in SmartPLS 3. The results suggest that anxiety is positively associated with COVID-19 vaccination attitudes, whereas conspiracy beliefs have an inverse effect on vaccination attitudes, while an individual’s resilience is also positively associated with vaccination attitudes. Furthermore, it is found that the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and vaccination attitudes is weakened for an individual with a higher level of resilience. The findings also reveal the differences and similarities between males and females. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to simultaneously explore and demonstrate the effects of COVID-19-related anxiety, conspiracy beliefs and resilience with people’s attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and to examine the homogeneity of both males and females—especially among Malaysia’s Muslim population—thereby offering a valuable contribution to the literature. (shrink)

The unsettling fear of COVID-19 infections has caused a new trend in consumer behavior in the food and beverage industry. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has shifted consumers’ preferences from eat-in to online delivery. This research aims to measure the impact of consumers’ motivation to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19, which explains why people switch from eat-in to online food delivery. We adopted the theory of protection motivation to explain consumer switching behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study investigated the (...) mediating effect of switching intention on the relationship between vulnerability, altruistic fear, anticipated regret, and switching behavior. Simultaneously, we examined the role of brand awareness as a moderator of behavioral choices of consumers switching from eat-in to online delivery. We collected data from 681 eatery consumers in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, using scenario-based survey questionnaires. Then, the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. This new generation analysis was conducted using the analysis of moment structure and the statistical package for social science. The results indicated that consumer vulnerability, altruistic fear, and anticipated regret of COVID-19 increased consumers’ propensity to shift from eat-in to online food delivery. Allegedly, consumer behavioral control and intention of switching toward online delivery were pointedly affected by switching behavior. The results indicated that consumer vulnerability, altruistic fear, and anticipated regret of COVID-19 increased the shifting of restaurant dine-in patterns and made the intention to switch to online delivery. Consumers’ alleged behavioral control and their intention of switching toward online delivery were pointedly affected by switching behavior. We also found that brand awareness moderately affects switching behavior toward restaurant settings. The present research contributes to developing the consumer behavior model of switching from eat-in to online delivery. This study also provides eatery customers and the business community with a safer and healthier proposition of shifting to online food delivery during the pandemic. (shrink)

The problem of the research was represented by the lack of interest of many teachers in the use of diversification and change in various exercises, despite the positive role it plays in generalizing the motor program for any fencing skill, even though most of its skills are characterized by difficulty in performing them, which requires providing the largest number of motor programs in order to be The learner has full readiness and preparedness, and the research aims to prepare various exercises (...) to develop sensory perception and accuracy in performing complex attack skills and the stabbing movement. And to identify the effect of various exercises in developing the students’ kinetic awareness and accuracy of combined attack skills and stabbing movements in fencing. Use the researcherthatThe experimental approach with two equal groups. The research sample represented the students of the third stage of the Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences at the Islamic University for the academic year 2022-2023 AD, and they numbered (50) students. They were selected by a simple random method, and were divided into two groups (experimental and control), and the number of each group was (25). ) student. The experimental group applied the various exercises prepared by the researcherthatAccording to the stages of building the motor program for learning epee skills in fencing, it was included among the educational units approved in colleges of physical education for third-year students, at the rate of one educational unit per week, amounting to (6) educational units. The time of the educational unit was (90/min), and the time of the educational unit was divided into the preparatory section. (15/d), the main section (65/d), and the final section (10/d). The most important conclusions were that there was a significant effect of the various exercises in developing sensory-motor perception and accuracy of performance in learning fencing skills. The most important recommendations are the need to pay attention to various exercises during educational units because they help learners expand their educational awareness and thus reflect on their performance of skills. (shrink)

The research problem focused on curriculum has specific courses with a small number of educational units through which the student must go through all the stages of learning basic skills. Therefore, we must increase the effectiveness of learning these skills and correct the errors that the learner may face. From here, the problem of the research became clear to us in the lack of effectiveness of learning some skills. Basic skills for students in fencing and the many technical errors during (...) performance, so the researcher thought one should study educational exercises that are appropriate for the stages of building the motor program for some basic fencing skills to increase the effectiveness of learning so that the learner can master the skill with the least number of errors. The research objectives prepared educational exercises according to the stages of building the motor program, and Identifying the effect of educational exercises according to the stages of building a motor program on learning some epee skills for students in the experimental group, and Identify the differences between the two groups Control and experimental In learning some skills with epee weapons for students In the posttest. and Use Finder One The experimental approach was designed with two equal groups : control and experimental. The same pre-test and post-test, because it suits the nature of the problem and achieves the research objectives. And the research population are third-year students in the Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences/Islamic University, who number (306) students, and the research sample of (40) students was randomly selected and divided into two equal groups(Control and experimental) with (20) students for each group, in addition to the exploratory experiment sample of (8) students. And it was done using some educational means during educational exercises and based on the stages of building the motor program for the skill to be learned. The time of the educational unit was (90/min), and the implementation of the educational curriculum began on (11/21/2023 AD) and ended on (1/18/2024 AD). The researchers concluded that the use of complex instructional exercises helped to learn and develop the skill performance of some skills with the epee weapon according to the stages of building the motor program, and the use of focused educational exercises helped build motor perception among learners, which led to accelerating and activating the learning process. The most important recommendations were: Emphasis on the use of complex educational exercises when learning basic skills for students with epee weapons to build motor programs and new motor perceptions about the skill to be learned. also it is necessary to focus on the use of complex educational exercises according to the construction of the motor program in the educational units by trainers and teachers. (shrink)

This article proposes an analysis of changes implemented during Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration (20032003), which displayed bias against changes and introduced schemes to justify the systems it upheld. Transmutations wrought during Abdullah's tenure may have been neither substantial nor totalizing, but within the conservative paradigm which had long gripped national politics, Abdullah's deviations were significant nevertheless.

Consumer well-being is a micromarketing concept that emphasizes on contributions of marketing activities in social welfare. The major objective of the current study is to analyze the impact of self-incongruence on brand dissatisfaction, brand hate, and consumer well-being. This study has utilized the Self-incongruity Theory and the Stimulus-Organism-Response model to test the impact of self-incongruity on anti-consumption and consumer voice behaviors, and subsequent effects on consumer well-being. Data were collected from young consumers of technology products from major cities of Pakistan. (...) A total of 592 consumers answered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire using purposive sampling technique. The data were analyzed by partial least square structural equation modeling. The findings of this study reveal that functional and symbolic incongruity predict brand hate and dissatisfaction, which is positively related with brand retaliation. Brand retaliation is negatively related with consumer well-being. This study offers implications for product designers, marketers, advertisers and other stakeholders to improve congruence between what young consumers of technology products expect and what brands are offering to mitigate negative attitudes and behaviors and increase consumer well-being. (shrink)

After almost fifty years of operation, government through a number of announcements declared that FELDA (Federal Land Development) schemes need to be revitalized so that it could play its role more effectively as a vehicle that would accelerate the country’s economic growth. Having raised this point, the major aim of this study is to examine the major socio-economic issues and the current socio-economic status of FELDA settlers.Information was gathered through face-to-face interview with the Mata Air FELDA settlers and the Rimba (...) Mas FELDA settlers in Perlis. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation and percentages were employed to describe the socio-economic problems and issues studied. The findings of the study indicate the implication of the ageing phenomenon of the FELDA settlers in Perlis to some extent affect the settlers’ ability to work effectively on their plantation. It is also found that the second generation issue has become the most significant factor contributing to the productivity and income increment of the FELDA settlers in Perlis as compared to other selected socio-economic variables. The result also suggested that, the ageing phenomenon, second generation issue and entrepreneurship problem must be seriously taken into consideration in order to accelerate the FELDA’s growth specifically and the country’s growth generally. (shrink)

The contemporary Qur’anic studies have been marked by amazing development. Various methods and approaches to understand the Qur’an are offered by the scholars. One of the prominent figures in this field is Nashr Hamid Abu Zayd. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (1943–2010 M) is a highly controversial contemporary thinker. He is an Egyptian scholar who is accused of being apostate, because of his theory of qur’anic hermeneutic (the textual of Qur’an). This is reflected in his stances towards contemporary religious (...) discourse and the approach to reading religious texts, especially the Quran, which requires reading according to a hermeneutic mechanism. His books ‘Naqd al-Khitab al-Dini (Criticism of Religious Discourse)’ and ‘Al-Takfir fi Zaman al-Takfir (Thinking in the Time of Atonement)’ caused a great uproar in the early nineties of the last century. Abu Zayd was accused of criticising atheists because of their stances on the text. Therefore, this study aimed to discuss Abu Zayd’s position on contemporary religious discourse and his new approach to reading religious texts, and also aims to discuss why Abu Zayd’s theory has been string up Islamic world and ending by his expulsive from his native country. To deal with this problem, this article discusses Abd Zayd’s biography and some cultural framework of his people. The methodology of Qur’anic hermeneutic is the least his. Having examined the topic, the author finds that Abu Zayd believes that modem literary theory and criticism denote the way to understand and interpret the Qur’an ‘objectively’. The contribution of this research is discussing Abu Zayd’s contemporary religious discourse and his new approach to reading religious texts. Contribution: The contribution of this research is discussing Abu Zayd’s contemporary religious discourse and his new approach to reading religious texts. (shrink)

In classical literature on Islamic human rights, the concepts of dignity and honour are used interchangeably. Distinguishing modern and pre-modern conceptions of human life’s value, dignity represents a value everyone possesses simply in virtue of being human, regardless of social hierarchy or religious preference. Honour, on the contrary, demonstrates a status which someone achieves because of a religious or societal preference. I will explain this difference further, relying on the works of Peter Berger and Charles Taylor. Afterwards, I argue that (...) a large group of Muslim scholars who have tried to articulate a coherent Islamic version of human rights have neglected this crucial difference. I will focus my discussion on two scholars, Abdulaziz Sachedina and Mohammad Hashim Kamali, as examples of scholars who have neglected the difference. My conclusion is that anybody who intends to confront this topic must be clear about the difference between dignity and honour; otherwise, any argument for the compatibility or incompatibility in question is doomed to failure. (shrink)

Philosophy of history; the idea of the not-being and the history, by K. M. Jamil.--Philosophy of history, by Khwaja Ashkar Husain.--Philosophy of history, by A. H. Kamali.--Philosophy of history, by B. H. Siddiqi.--Philosophy of history: explanation in history, by Kazi A. Kadir.

Following their violent suppression of the Indian Revolution of1857, the British founded and consolidated their secular empire in the IndianSubcontinent, which marginalized and bypassed religion as far as possible,particularly Islam, which had been the official religion of the Mughal ancienrégime. Contemporaneous Ottoman efforts to counter European imperialism ledto Sultan Abdul Hamid II’s policy of pan-Islamism, particularlythe call for Islamic unity against the Russian aggression against Turkey in1877. It was at this critical juncture that some Indian Muslim scholars gallantlyvolunteered (...) to counter this threat, and to preserve the Islamic faith and heritageworldwide, despite the severe problems faced by the Muslims in India itself.This study highlights the role of an eminent scholar in this movement, namelyAllama Shibli Nu’mani, who in 1914 conceived the idea offounding the world-famous Islamic research institute Darul Musannefin ShibliAcademy in his home town of Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. Shibli was veryactive and instrumental in collecting donations from the wealthy landowners among the Muslim elite in his hometown of Azamgarh for theOttoman cause, raising 3,000 rupees, which was handed to Husain HasibAfendi, the Ottoman Consul in Bombay in 1877. Furthermore, his eloquentpoetry rallied Muslims across India to support the valour and heroism displayedin the jihad by Ghazi Usman Pasha against the Russians. Shibli travelled toIstanbul in 1892 and met with the Pasha, on whose efforts Tamgha-i Majidi was granted to Shibli on 13th Muharram, 1310/7th August, 1892.This article is based on Shibli’s major works in Urdu, particularly his arousingeulogies, Turkish archival reports, newspapers and magazines, andsecondary sources in Urdu and English. (shrink)

Retractions of scientific papers published by some Iran-affiliated scientists in the preceding decade have attracted much attention and publicity; however, the reasons for these retractions have not been documented. We searched the Retraction Watch Database to enumerate the retracted Iran-affiliated papers from December 2001 to December 2019 and aimed to outline the predominant reasons for retractions. The reasons included fake peer-review, authorship dispute, fabricated data, plagiarism, conflict of interest, erroneous data, and duplication. The Fisher’s exact test was used to investigate (...) the associations between retractions and their underlying reasons. We selected P < 0.05 to indicate the statistically significant differences. We found 697 retracted papers. Duplication, plagiarism, and fake peer-review were the most frequent reasons for retractions. Our study highlights the importance of urgent intervention to prevent the misconduct and questionable research practices that lead to retractions in Iran. Continually educating the scientists and postgraduate students about the ethics and norms of scientific publishing is an important measure to ensure publication of reliable, worthy, and impactful papers. (shrink)

In Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: A Fresh Interpretation, Mohammad Kamali considers problems associated with and proposals for reform of the hudud punishments prescribed by Islamic criminal law, and other topics related to crime and punishment in Shariah.

This paper explores the meaning of the word “felony” in thirteenth and fourteenth century England, i.e., during the first two centuries of the English criminal trial jury. To compile a working definition of felony, the paper presents examples of the language of felony drawn from literary and religious sources, in addition to considering the word’s more formulaic appearance in legal records. The paper then analyzes cases ending in acquittal or pardon, highlighting the factors that might take a criminal case out (...) of the realm of felony. It suggests that the very definition of felony and felonious behavior—and thus the essence of criminal responsibility—may be bound up with the idea of mens rea during this period. The paper aims to uncover broader societal understandings of the nature of guilt and innocence, and to highlight connections and disconnections between the formal criminal law of felony, with its heavy emphasis on capital punishment, and popular and ecclesiastical understandings of culpability. (shrink)

The expansion of livestock production throughout the world has led to increased demand for high protein animal feed. This expansion has created economic benefits for livestock farmers and other actors in the chain, but also resulted in environmental and social side effects. This study aims to identify a set of sustainability issues that cover the environmental, economic and social dimensions of soymeal and beef production chains. The method applied combines the results of multiple studies, including a literature review and stakeholder (...) surveys. Stakeholder surveys were conducted for three different interest groups and two geographical regions . Our results reveal that the selection of issues in most sustainability assessment studies is a relatively arbitrary decision, while the literature also states that identifying issues is an important step in a sustainability assessment. Defining sustainability issues from a whole chain perspective is important, as issues of sustainability emerge at various stages along the production chain, and are found to vary across stakeholders’ interests. Business stakeholders, for example, perceived economic issues to be more important, whereas the majority of consumer stakeholders and other stakeholders perceived social and environmental issues, respectively, to be more important. Different education levels, knowledge, and living patterns in various geographical regions can affect the stakeholders’ perceptions. The combination of a heterogeneous group of stakeholders and the consideration of multiple chain stages constitutes a useful approach to identify sustainability issues along food chains. (shrink)

Reasons underlying retractions of papers authored by the Iran-affiliated highly cited researchers have not been documented. Here, we report that 229 of the Iran-affiliated researchers were listed by the Clarivate Analytics as HCRs. We investigated the Retraction Watch Database and found that, in total, 51 papers authored by the Iran-affiliated HCRs were retracted from 2006 to 2019. Twenty-three of the 229 HCRs had at least one paper retracted. One of the listed HCRs had 22 papers retracted; 14 of the 23 (...) had only one paper retracted. Among the 51 retracted papers, three had been authored by two female authors. Eight retracted papers had international co-authorships. The shortest and longest times from publication to retraction were 20 and 2610 days, respectively. Of the 51 papers, 43 had a single reason for retraction, whereas eight had multiple reasons. Among the 43 papers, 23 were retracted due to fake peer-review, eight were duplications, six had errors, four had plagiarism, and two were labelled as “limited or no information.” Duplication of data, which is easily preventable, amounted to 27%. Any publishing oversight committed by an HCR may not be tolerated because they represent the stakeholders of the scientific literature and stand as role-models for other peer researchers. Future policies supporting the Iranian academia should radically change by implementation of educational and awareness programs on publishing ethics to reduce the rate of retractions in Iran. (shrink)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be (...) preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

The basing relation is a relation that obtains between a belief and the evidence or reason for which it is held. It is a highly controversial question in epistemology how such a relation should be characterized. Almost all epistemologists believe that causation must play a role in articulating the notion of the basing relation. The causal account however faces the serious problem of the deviant causal chains. In this paper, I will be particularly looking at the philosophers’ appeal to the (...) notion of disposition as a way of excluding deviant chains. Having argued against such accounts, it will be suggested that, since the obtaining of the basing relation is what distinguishes propositional from doxastic justification, we may have a better grasp of this notion if we could clearly see how those two species of justification are related to one another. Drawing on earlier work, a dispositional account of propositional and doxastic justification is subsequently defended. It will be argued that such a view has the resources to resolve the problem of causal deviance, thus, providing an acceptable account of the notion of the basing relation. (shrink)

In this study, we propose an ecological model of teacher agency and emotional vulnerability that draws on epistemological roots of these two constructs to capture historico-personal, socio-organizational, and prospective levels of teacher professionalism. We then ontologically apply the model to exploring transnational language teachers’ agency and emotional vulnerability in the context of Turkey. Framing the study within a narrative inquiry methodology, we collected data from open-ended questionnaires, narrative frames, and semi-structured interviews. Data analyses revealed that the teachers’ personal emotions, embodied (...) agencies, and vulnerabilities were profoundly shaped by individual histories, contextual discourses, and sociocultural particularities. The findings unpack novel dimensions of teachers’ agency and emotional vulnerability, attesting to their interconnection, especially within the context of transnationalism. We conclude the study with implications for teacher educators to reduce the pressure on transnational teachers and render their agencies as rooted in effective professional growth, rather than being defined by excessive vulnerabilities that in turn restrict teacher agencies. (shrink)

Introduction Although there have been reports of misbehavior and disrespectful maternal care by healthcare providers worldwide, there are few intervention studies aimed at promoting respectful care, particularly among midwives. Research objectives The aim of this study was to examine the effect of Moral Case Deliberation (MCD) on the of midwives’ knowledge and practice in the field of respectful maternity care. Research design and methods This semi-experimental study involved 46 midwives working in the maternity departments of two hospitals affiliated with Bushehr (...) University of Medical Sciences in 2023. The two hospitals were randomly divided into control and intervention groups. All midwives from both hospitals were included in the study. The Dilemma Method of MCD was implemented for midwives of intervention hospital. The Midwives’ Knowledge and Practice of Respectful Maternity Care scale was used for data collection. It was administered both before and two weeks after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 20). Ethical considerations The study was approved by ethics committee of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences in Bushehr, Iran (ethics code: IR.BPUMS.REC.1402.017). All participants provided written informed consent. Findings The intervention group showed a significantly greater increase in knowledge scores from pre-test to post-test compared to the control group ( p <.001). The intervention group had a significantly higher mean change score in practice self-assessment and practice peer evaluation, from pre-test to post-test, than in the control group ( p <.001). Discussion MCD based on the dilemma method can improve practice in the field of respect-oriented midwifery care by increasing knowledge and potentially changing attitudes. Conclusion The Dilemma Method of MCD improved midwives’ knowledge and practice regarding respectful maternity care. This method can be included in the midwifery care quality improvement program to promote respectful maternity care. It is necessary to develop methods for wider dissemination of MCD in the cultural context of Iran. (shrink)

In one of the earlier influential papers in the field of experimental philosophy titled Normativity and Epistemic Intuitions published in 2001, Jonathan M. Weinberg, Shaun Nichols and Stephen Stich reported that respondents answered Gettier type questions differently depending on their ethnic background as well as socioeconomic status. There is currently a debate going on, on the significance of the results of Weinberg et al. (2001) and its implications for philosophical methodology in general and epistemology in specific. Despite the debates, however, (...) to our knowledge, there has not been a replication attempt of the experiments of the original paper. We collected data from four different sources (two on-line and two in-person) to replicate the experiments. Despite several different data sets and in various cases larger sample sizes and hence greater power to detect differences, we failed to detect significant differences between the above-mentioned ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Our results suggest that epistemic intuitions are more robust across ethnic and socioeconomic groups than Weinberg et al. (2001) indicates. Given our data, we believe that the notion of differences in epistemic intuitions among different ethnic and socioeconomic groups that follows from Weinberg et al. (2001) needs to be corrected. (shrink)

In their paper titled “Gender and philosophical intuition,” Buckwalter and Stich argue that the intuitions of women and men differ significantly on various types of philosophical questions. Furthermore, men's intuitions, so the authors claim, are more in line with traditionally accepted solutions of classical problems. This inherent bias, so the argument goes, is one of the factors that leads more men than women to pursue degrees and careers in philosophy. These findings have received a considerable amount of attention and the (...) paper is to appear in the second edition of Experimental Philosophy edited by Knobe and Nichols , which itself is an influential outlet. Given the exposure of these results, we attempted to replicate three of the classes of questions that Buckwalter and Stich review in their paper and for which they report significant differences. We failed to replicate the results using several different sources for data collection (one being identical to the original procedures.. (shrink)

This book sheds new light on the history of the philosophically crucial notion of intentionality, which accounts for one of the most distinctive aspects of our mental life: the fact that our thoughts are about objects. Intentionality is often described as a certain kind of relation. Focusing on Franz Brentano, who introduced the notion into contemporary philosophy, and on the Aristotelian tradition, which was Brentano’s main source of inspiration, the book reveals a rich history of debate on precisely the relational (...) nature of intentionality. It shows that Brentano and the Aristotelian authors from which he drew not only addressed the question whether intentionality is a relation, but also devoted extensive discussions to what kind of relation it is, if any. The book aims to show that Brentano distinguishes the intentional relation from two other relations with which it might be confused, namely, causality and reference, which also hold between thoughts and their objects. Intentionality accounts for the aboutness of a thought; causality, by contrast, explains how the thought is generated, and reference, understood as a sort of similarity, occurs when the object towards which the thought is directed exists. Brentano claims to find some anticipation of his views in Aristotle. This book argues that, whether or not Brentano’s interpretation of Aristotle is correct, his claim is true of the Aristotelian tradition as a whole, since followers of Aristotle more or less explicitly made some or all of Brentano’s distinctions. This is demonstrated through examination of some major figures of the Aristotelian tradition (broadly understood), including Alexander of Aphrodisias, the Neoplatonic commentators, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Francisco Suárez. This book combines a longue durée approach – focusing on the long-term evolution of philosophical concepts rather than restricting itself to a specific author or period – with systematic analysis in the history of philosophy. By studying Brentano and the Aristotelian authors with theoretical sensitivity, it also aims to contribute to our understanding of intentionality and cognate features of the mind. (shrink)

Despite all its merits, the vast majority of critical attention devoted to colonialist literature restricts itself by severely bracketing the political context of culture and history. This typical facet of humanistic closure requires the critic systematically to avoid an analysis of the domination, manipulation, exploitation, and disfranchisement that are inevitably involved in the construction of any cultural artifact or relationship. I can best illustrate such closures in the field of colonialist discourse with two brief examples. In her book The Colonial (...) Encounter, which contrasts the colonial representations of three European and three non-European writers, M. M. Mahood skirts the political issue quite explicitly by arguing that she chose those authors precisely because they are “innocent of emotional exploitation of the colonial scene” and are “distanced” from the politics of domination.`1We find a more interesting example of this closure in Homi Bhabha’s criticism. While otherwise provocative and illuminating, his work rests on two assumptions—the unity of the “colonial subject” and the “ambivalence” of colonial discourse—that are inadequately problematized and, I feel, finally unwarranted and unacceptable. In rejecting Edward Said’s “suggestion that colonial power and discourse is possessed entirely by the colonizer,” Bhabha asserts, without providing any explanation, the unity of the “colonial subject .”2 I do not wish to rule out, a priori, the possibility that at some rarefied theoretical level the varied material and discursive antagonisms between conquerors and natives can be reduced to the workings of a single “subject”; but such a unity, let alone its value, must be demonstrated, not assumed. Though he cites Frantz Fanon, Bhabha completely ignored Fanon’s definition of the conqueror/native relation as a “Manichean” struggle—a definition that is not a fanciful metaphoric caricature but an accurate representation of a profound conflict.3 1. M. M. Mahood, The Colonial Encounter: A Reading of Six Novels , pp. 170, 171; and see p. 3. As many other studies demonstrate, the emotional innocence and the distance of the six writers whom Mahood has chosen—Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster, Graham Greene, Chinua Achebe, R. K. Narayan, and V. S. Naipaul—are, at best, highly debatable.2. Homi K. Bhabha, “The Other Question—The Stereotype and Colonial Discourse,” Screen 24 : 25, 19.3. Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, trans. Constance Farrington , p. 41. Abdul R. JanMohamed, assistant professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, is the author of Manichean Aesthetics: The Politics of Literature in Colonial Africa. He is a founding member and associate editor of Cultural Critique and is currently working on a study of Richard Wright. (shrink)