붓다가 일러주는 것처럼, 모든 현상은 그것을 발생시키는 조건들에 의해 발생한다. 현상을 볼 때는, 그것을 발생시킨 원인조건들을 동시에 고려해야 진실에 접근할 수 있고, 또 문제를 제대로 풀 수 있다. 실존의 근원적이고도 궁극적인 문제를 풀려는 청년 고타마 싯닷타의 모험적 도전이 성공할 수 있었던 것도, 성공할 수 있는 조건들을 확보하였기 때문이다. 고타마 싯닷타의 수행과정을 주목한다는 것은, 깨달음의 발생과 인과적 연관을 맺는 조건들이 무엇인가를 읽어내려는 것이다. 붓다가 사람들에게 자신의 수행과정을 회고해준 것도, 자신이 성공할 수 있었던 요인들, 그 ‘깨달음의 발생조건들’을, 체험적 증언을 통해 알려주려는 것이었을 (...) 것이다. 제자들의 기억과 후인들의 전승을 통해 전해지고 있는 붓다의 수행 회고담에서 고타마 싯닷타의 성공 요인 네 가지를 골라 그 철학적 의미를 읽어본다.BR 고타마 싯닷타의 수행과정은 니까야/아함 문헌에서 두 유형으로 전해진다. 붓다가 자신의 수행경험을 회고하는 유형이 하나이고, 자신의 수행과정을 구도자의 표준 모델로 일반화시켜 설하는 유형이 다른 하나이다. 특히 구조와 내용에서 정합성을 보여주는 일반화 유형이 자주 설해지고 있다는 것은, 붓다가 자신의 깨달음을 세상과 공유하기 위해 수행과정의 경험을 적극적으로 활용했음을 의미한다.BR 니까야/아함이 전하는 내용을 종합해 볼 때, 4가지 조건들을 주목해야 할 것으로 생각한다. 〈1) ‘이해/언어’와 ‘탈(脫)이해/탈(脫)언어’의 차이 및 관계에 대한 개안, 2) 조건적 발생에 대한 개안 – 이지적 연기 깨달음, 3) 모든 조건과 경험에 갇히지 않는 능력의 확보 – 새로운 선법(禪法)의 수립, 4) ‘조건인과적 발생’에 대한 직접지(直接知) 성취 – 체득적 연기 깨달음〉이 그것이다. (shrink)

This paper reports a study of the key success factors of what have been recognized as successful service enterprises in China, each considered representative of its respective industry. The grounded theory approach was used to analyze information collected from these enterprises, resulting in the identification of the attributes shared by these enterprises: customer-oriented service, service management, service innovation, and corporate social responsibility. Based on these attributes, a survey was conducted to verify the relationships among these attributes and important (...) outcomes, namely customer satisfaction, perceived service quality, and enterprise reputation. The results of the statistical analysis indicate that the four attributes have positive impacts on service outcomes. The findings are of far-reaching importance in view of the vast potential service markets in China. (shrink)

Background: Maintaining dignity is important for successful aging, but there is lack of validated research instruments in the nursing literature to investigate dignity as perceived by the old people. Objective: This is a methodological study aiming to investigate the psychometric properties of the Greek version of Jacelon Attributed Dignity Scale as translated in the Greek language. Research design: A methodological approach consisting of translation, adaptation, and cross-cultural validation. A sample of 188 Greek-speaking old Cypriot persons drawn from the Hospital outpatient (...) departments was asked to complete the Greek versions of Jacelon Attributed Dignity Scale and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. Data analyses included internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient), item analysis, and exploratory factor analysis using principal component method with orthogonal varimax rotation. Ethical considerations: The study protocol was approved by the National Bioethics committee according to the national legislation. Permission to use the research instrument was granted from the author. Information about the aim and the benefits of the study was included in the information letter. Findings: Cronbach’s alpha for Greek version of Jacelon Attributed Dignity Scale was 0.90. Four factors emerged explaining 65.28% of the total variance, and item to total correlation values ranged from 0.25 to 0.74 indicating high internal consistency and homogeneity. Mean item score in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living was 5.6 (standard deviation = 1.7) for men and 6.7 (standard deviation = 1.7) for women, and the correlations between demographics, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, and the four factors of the Greek version of Jacelon Attributed Dignity Scale were low; also in multiple linear regression, the values of R2 are presented low. Discussion: Demographic characteristics and degree of functionality seem to be associated with some of the dimensions of dignity but with low correlations; therefore, they cannot predict attributed dignity. Conclusion: The Greek version of Jacelon Attributed Dignity Scale is a valid and reliable tool to measure attributed dignity in Greek-speaking older adults, but further testing of the psychometric properties and other potential factors that may affect the attributed dignity is needed. (shrink)

This study examines factors impacting organizational commitment of 214 employees working at a Chinese state-owned steel company. Ethical behavior of peers and ethical behavior of successful managers had a significant impact on organizational commitment. The four facets of job satisfaction (pay, coworker, supervision, and work itself) had a significant impact on organizational commitment. Respondent’s age also significantly impacted organizational commitment. Perceptions of ethical behavior of successful managers, satisfaction with work, and gender were significantly correlated with social desirability bias.

Despite changes in their representation and visibility, there are still serious concerns about the inclusion and day-to-day workplace challenges various groups face (e.g., women, ethnic and cultural minorities, LGBTQ+, people as they age, and those dealing with physical or mental disabilities). Men are also underrepresented in specific work fields, in particular those in HEED (Health care, Elementary Education and the Domestic sphere). Previous literature has shown that group stereotypes play an important role in maintaining these inequalities. We outline how insights (...) from research on stigma, social-identity, and self-regulation together increase our understanding of how targets are affected by and regulate negative stereotypes in the workplace. This approach starts from the basis that members of negatively-stereotyped groups are not just passive recipients of negative attitudes, stereotypes, and behaviors, but are active individuals pursuing multiple goals, such as goals for belonging and achievement. We argue that it is only by understanding stigma from the target’s perspective (e.g., how targets are affected and respond) that we can successfully address workplace inequality. Key in this understanding is that stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination have taken on much more subtle forms, with consequences for the way members of stigmatized-groups cope. These insights lead us to propose an approach to understanding barriers to workplace equality that highlights four key aspects: a) the different (often subtle) potential triggers of identity-threat in the workplace for members of stigmatized-groups, b) the ways in which members of stigmatized-groups cope with these threats, c) the role of supportive factors that mitigate potential threats and affect self-regulation, and d) potential hidden costs for the self or others of what appears at first to be effective self-regulation. The focus on threats, coping, support, and potential hidden costs helps us understand why current diversity efforts are not always successful in increasing and maintaining members of stigmatized-groups in organizations, and provides insight into how we can aid efforts to effectively lower barriers to workplace equality. (shrink)

A new temperament construct based on recent brain physiology literature has been investigated using the Fisher Temperament Inventory (FTI). Four collections of behaviors emerged, each associated with a specific neural system: the dopamine, serotonin, testosterone, and estrogen/oxytocin system. These four temperament suites have been designated: (1) Curious/Energetic, (2) Cautious/Social Norm Compliant, (3) Analytical/Tough-minded, and (4) Prosocial/Empathetic temperament dimensions. Two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have suggested that the FTI can measure the influence of these neural systems. In (...) this paper, to further the behavioral validation and characterization of the four proposed temperament dimensions, we measured correlations with five variables: (1) gender; (2) level of education; (3) religious preference; (4) political orientation; (5) the degree to which an individual regards sex as essential to a successful relationship. Subjects were 39,913 anonymous members of a US Internet dating site and 70,000+ members in six other countries. Correlations with the five variables characterize the FTI and are consistent with mechanisms using the proposed neuromodulators. We also report on an analysis between the FTI and the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, using a college sample ( n = 215), which showed convergent validity. The results provide novel correlates not available in other questionnaires: religiosity, political orientation, and attitudes about sex in a relationship. Also, an Eigen analysis replicated the four clusters of co-varying items. The FTI, with its broad systems and non-pathologic factors complements existing personality questionnaires. It provides an index of some brain systems that contribute to temperament, and may be useful in psychotherapy, business, medicine, and the legal community. (shrink)

The circumscribed quadrature of professional ethics aims to show the necessary shift from deontology to professional ethics, from deontological codes to ethical codes. While deontology and the deontological codes that materialise from it set their sights on professionals' responsibilities, professional ethics and the ethical codes that should derive from it would set their sights on the professional act, on its successful performance. In this way, the stress comes to be placed not only on the professional's responsibility, although that too, but (...) also on the necessary orchestration of the responsibilities shared at numerous levels by everyone involved in the performance of the professional act. The author identifies and typifies five elements present in the professional act. Four of them involve direct the protagonism of the professional, the recipient of the professional service, the institution that makes the service possible and from which the professionals' service is offered, and finally the human factor, the people who are behind the aforementioned factors and their nature, the professional, the recipient of the services and institutions. And each of these factors paves the way for a series of diversified protagonisms: inter-professional cooperation, receiver of professional services and their human environment around them, macro and micro institutions, diverse human profiles. However, all of this takes place within the framework of the fifth important element in professional ethics: a given, specific society as a circumscription of the four elements cited above, which sets the moral bar, a set of convictions and desired collective ethics which unquestionably also affect the performance of professional acts. With this reflection, we take note of the necessary co-responsibility in the provision of professional services, a co-responsibility which we could express simply in healthcare terms: it is not enough to merely have sound healthcare professionals if we do not have good patients with favourable affective environments, nor sound healthcare institutions, nor serious people who are socially committed to their work and their role, nor a society that believes in and fosters given identifiers of the personal and professional health to which we aim. The reflections in this proposal embark on a pathway of reflection which, we believe, deserves to be further explored. (shrink)

IntroductionThe Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development–third edition is one of the most widely used tools for assessing child development, and adapted versions of this instrument have been successfully used in many countries. No comprehensive psychometric studies of the Bayley-III have yet been performed in Russia.Materials and methodsThis psychometric study was part of the longitudinal study conducted by the Ural Federal University in 2016–2020. Within the project, the original Bayley-III manual was translated into Russian and then used in a (...) cohort of 333 infants to assess cognition, expressive/receptive communication, and fine/gross motor skills. For the purpose of psychometric analysis, we selected the data for four age groups of children from the longitudinal study database: 4–6 months, 10 months, 15 months, and 24 months. The development scores of the sample children were compared with the original Bayley-III norms in each age strata separately. Reliability and validity of the translated instrument were examined using correlation analysis, tests of internal consistency, and confirmatory factor analysis.ResultsThe average scaled scores of the examined children were generally comparable with the original Bayley-III norms, with the exception of those older than 1 year, who demonstrated 1.2–1.9 points better performance in cognitive development and gross motor skills and 0.9–2.6 points lower performance in expressive communication. The correlation of both raw and scaled scores between different scales was low to moderate in all age groups. Internal consistency tests confirmed high reliability of the translated instrument. CFA demonstrated a good fit of the three-factor model in all age strata.ConclusionThe Russian version of the Bayley-III proved to be a psychometrically valid and reliable tool for assessing child development, at least in a research context. The development of the examined children was close to the original US norms, with some deviation in cognitive, gross motor, and expressive communication scores mostly in older children, which could be attributed to the biased sample. (shrink)

With the increasingly serious employment situation in China, the government and schools encourage college students to start businesses to alleviate employment pressure. College student's successful entrepreneurship depends on national preferential policies, social support, and, most importantly, their healthy and solid psychological quality and entrepreneurial psychological quality. The purpose is to understand the entrepreneurial psychology of college students and study the entrepreneurial psychological effect. Firstly, the four aspects of entrepreneurial psychology are summarized, including entrepreneurial awareness, entrepreneurial volition, entrepreneurial ability, and (...) entrepreneurial personality. Secondly, the research status of college students' entrepreneurial psychology is reviewed, and the existing problems are pointed out. Thirdly, the combined model of wavelet transform and Neural Network is proposed, and the feasibility of the proposed model is evaluated through the analysis of college students' entrepreneurial psychology. The wavelet NN is used in experimental design to predict college students' entrepreneurial psychology, and the predicted results are compared with the actual value. From the perspective of the prediction results of entrepreneurial psychology, the combination of wavelet algorithm and neural network is more accurate for entrepreneurial psychology prediction and evaluation results of law students. Overall, the difference between the predicted value and the actual value is within 0.3 points, which is relatively stable. According to the analysis of single-factor results, the scores of students of different majors in the four dimensions of entrepreneurial psychology are all higher than 3.5, but there is no significant difference among the four dimensions, indicating that the major has no significant impact on entrepreneurial psychology; law students with different educational backgrounds have significant differences in entrepreneurial psychology, among which students with a master's degree have the strongest entrepreneurial will, while doctoral students have the lowest entrepreneurial will; in terms of entrepreneurial psychological capital, men's self-efficacy is higher than women's, and the difference is significant. The difference between males and females in the scores of entrepreneurial psychological factors' four aspects is not very obvious. In terms of entrepreneurial psychological capital, males' self-efficacy is significantly higher than females'. Artificial Intelligence technology has great application prospects in the prediction and evaluation of college students' entrepreneurial psychology, and college students' entrepreneurial psychology is highly correlated with gender and education. (shrink)

This study examines elderly residential life in long-term care settings, focusing on the ways residents interact with their physical and social environments. It further proposes that the residential environment is an important player for everyday ethics in long-term care settings, and is also an important factor in enhancing the quality of life for residents. By employing the theories of place identity and environmental meanings and listening to the voices of the elderly collected through an ethnographic field study in elderly homes (...) of life care, the study reveals the residents’ experiences of going through declining health and moving through the stages of care. Two major themes were identified. The first theme of liminal life portrays the elders’ fears as they move through the stages of care. This theme includes four sub-themes: the loss of home and the loss of autonomy; impending loss and its constant reminders; the social classification of “us” and “them”; the irreversibility of moving. The second theme of relational life describes the keys to successful transitions as experienced and told by the residents. The second theme includes three sub-themes: shifting identity and the acceptance of old age; human interdependence and building trust; an accompanied death. Study implications are further discussed, including specific suggestions for social programs and revisions to the physical environments. A more fundamental question about place-based staged care is also raised so as to serve as a point of departure for reflections and discussions amongst health professionals, planners and designers, and other decision-makers. (shrink)

We investigate 1 factor that influences the success of ideas or cultural representations by proposing that they have a habitat, that is, a set of environmental cues that encourages people to recall and transmit them. We test 2 hypotheses: (a) fluctuation: the success of an idea will vary over time with fluctuations in its habitat, and (b) competition: ideas with more prevalent habitats will be more successful. Four studies use subject ratings and data from newspapers to provide (...) correlational support for our 2 hypotheses, with a negative factoid, positive rumor, catchphrases, and variants of a proverb. Three additional experimental studies manipulate the topic of actual conversations and find empirical support for our theory, with catchphrases, proverbs, and slang. The discussion examines how habitat prevalence applies to a more extensive class of ideas and suggests how habitats may influence the process by which ideas evolve. (shrink)

This book updates the Vedic stages of life for modern times, through the lens of yoga philosophy, and features tips on how to lead a more fulfilling life on every level. From relationships and education to monasticism, it offers an entertaining look into how today's yogis are thriving through these stages. Includes conversations with the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa, reports from America's oldest and most successful yoga community, and meetings with yogis in India.

The purpose of this study was to understand the influence mechanism of college students’ entrepreneurial intention in view of the increasing number of college students at present to alleviate college students’ employment competition. The psychological factors that influence the entrepreneurial tendency of art graduates were analyzed and studied. First, venture capital and factors affecting entrepreneurial performance were analyzed. Second, the coefficient calculation is carried out for college students majoring in art through the regression analysis of the logistic model. (...) Finally, a team entrepreneurial performance questionnaire was designed, and team reward levels were discussed. The results show that the logistic model can well reflect the real situation of the respondents. The significance level of the entrepreneurial team was 0.02, which was correlated. Additionally, corresponding suggestions were put forward according to the questionnaire results. Clear team goals, assignment of tasks to members, good pressure resistance, and psychological quality of members are necessary qualities for successful entrepreneurship. This conclusion provides a certain theoretical basis for the current college students’ entrepreneurial learning and a reliable inspiration for helping college students to successfully start a business. (shrink)

Studies of how scientists select research problems suggest the process involves weighing a number of factors, including funding availability, likelihood of success versus failure, and perceived publishability of likely results, among others. In some fields, a strong personal interest in conducting science to bring about particular social and environmental outcomes plays an important role. Conservation biologists are frequently motivated by a desire that their research will contribute to improved conservation outcomes, which introduces a pair of challenging questions for (...) managers of science and scholars of policies governing science: 1) How do scientists integrate that goal into their processes of research priority evaluation, and 2) How can managers and funders of science utilize that knowledge in designing and administering funding programs? I use Q method to uncover four distinct schools of thought amongst researchers and knowledge-users about the merits of possible research priorities for coral reefs; one of the axes along which these schools of thought differ is in their interpretation of how science can and should interact with policy. The results reveal that perceived severity of reef stressors plays a role for some participants. Disciplinary training does not appear to be a major influence on research priority evaluation, but individual participants indicated professional expediency does prevent some researchers from pursuing or advocating that others pursue topics outside of that disciplinary specialty. Influences on and processes in research prioritization uncovered in this study have the potential to lead to counter-productive disciplinary path dependencies. From these results and building on outside literature, I conclude that better coordination and communication about research priorities across disciplines and with broader stakeholders – including knowledge users – could improve the research enterprise’s ability to contribute to meaningful societal and conservation goals. These findings are relevant to researchers and research administrators across disciplines that seek to conduct or fund science that is useful in addressing specific goals. (shrink)

Background: The Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-Being was developed in order to address a religious/spiritual dimension as being an important part of psychological well-being. In the meantime, the instrument has been successfully applied in numerous studies. Subsequently, a short version, the MI-RSWB 12 was constructed, especially for the use in clinical assessment. Here it is intended to contribute to the further development of the MI-RSWB 12 by investigating its structural validity through structural equation modeling.Materials and Methods: A total sample of (...) 1,097 German-speaking adults from the normal population filled in the MI-RSWB 12 via an online-survey. In line with theoretical assumptions 5 different factor structure models for the MI-RSWB 12 were tested: a single-factor model, a model with four correlated RSWB dimensions, a single higher-order model with four lower order factors, a two higher-order model with four lower order factors, a bifactor model, which includes four specific RSWB dimensions.Results: The single-factor model provided the poorest model fit, with no indices falling within the acceptable range. The four-factor, two higher-order factors and the bifactor models showed overall acceptable fit indices. With regard to the Akaike information criterion, the four-factor model demonstrated superiority compared to both the two higher-order factor model and the bifactor model, which in turn showed did not differ from each other.Conclusion: Four different MI-RSWB 12 sub-scales should be calculated in future studies, while a general factor and two higher order factors are statistically valid as well. Further applications of the MI-RSWB 12, especially in the clinical patient groups, are encouraged. (shrink)

Brentano's Four Phases of Philosophy, first published in 1895 and here translated into English for the first time, presents a dramatic account of the history of philosophy in terms of a succession of cycles of renewal and decline. Phases of renewal are associated with the rediscovery of science, of empiricism, of rigour and clarity. Phases of decline are associated with competing schools and sects, with mysticism and obfuscation, and with relativisms and idealisms of various sorts. Each final phase of (...) decline, with its ultimate collapse into nonsense, gives rise to the call for a new phase of renewal, and Aristotle, in Brentano's eyes, represents the ideal type of this renewal phase of philosophy. Brentano exploits his cyclical theory to provide a guiding path through the history of Western philosophy from the beginnings in the Presocratics to what was from his perspective the final phase of decline in the work of Kant and the German idealists. In an extensive introduction, Balász Mezei and Barry Smith present a detailed account of Brentano's method in the history of philosophy. They demonstrate its roots in the work of August Comte, and compare it to other methodologies in the historiography of philosophy, including that of Kant. Most interestingly, however, they seek to bring up to date Brentano's account of the cycles of renewal and decline in the history of philosophy. They show how Brentano's method can be applied to the histories of twentieth-century analytic and Continental philosophy, from their auspicious beginnings in the work of Frege and Husserl (and Brentano) himself to their ultimate decline in the work of Rorty, Levinas and Derrida. (shrink)

Strategic interactions have been studied extensively in the area of judgment and decision-making. However, so far no specific measure of a decision-maker's ability to be successful in strategic interactions has been proposed and tested. Our contribution is the development of a measure of strategic ability that borrows from both game theory and psychology. Such measure is aimed at providing an estimation of the likelihood of success in many social activities that involve strategic interaction among multiple decision-makers. To construct a (...) reliable measure of strategic ability, that we propose to call ``Strategic Quotient'' (SQ), we designed a test where each item is a game and where, therefore, the individual score obtained depends on the distribution of choices of other decision-makers taking the test. The test is designed to provide information on the abilities related to two dimensions, mentalization and rationality, that we argue are crucial to strategic success, with each dimension being characterized by two main factors. Principal component analysis on preliminary data shows that indeed four factors (two for rationality, two for mentalization) account for strategic success in most of the strategically simpler games of the test. Moreover, two more strategically sophisticated games are inserted in the test and are used to investigate if and to what extent the four factors obtained by simpler games can predict strategic success in more sophisticated strategic interactions. Overall, the collected empirical evidence points to the possibility of building a SQ measure using only simple games designed to capture information about the four identified factors. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:The Parmenides and Plato’s Late Philosophy by Robert G. TurnbullScott CarsonRobert G. Turnbull. The Parmenides and Plato’s Late Philosophy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998. Pp. xii + 209. Cloth, $50.00.Plato’s Parmenides presents a number of puzzles for the interpreter. Some of these are the result of the Neoplatonic interpretation of Plato’s late philosophy; due ultimately to Plotinus and still widely influential, it fails to give a satisfactory (...) account of such elements of Plato’s metaphysics as the mathematicals, forms as “universals,” and an “acquaintance” explanation of our awareness of sensibles and forms. Turnbull strikes a decisive blow against the Neoplatonic interpretation of the Parmenides. More importantly, he makes considerable progress, where others have achieved only limited success, in placing the Parmenides into the wider context of Plato’s later thought.The present work is primarily a translation of and commentary upon the Parmenides. The translation is not intended to be a literary work but rather as an aid to the reader of the commentary, and translation and commentary move forward together, section by section, as in Cornford’s edition. The translation is fairly literal, and some passages are omitted; in the notorious “exercise” of Part II the responses of Aristoteles are regularly elided wherever possible. In some places Turnbull has sacrificed English style in favor of interpretation-neutral renderings: “no many” for Zeno’s ou polla einai at 128b2, for example. While this can sometimes make the translation difficult to read in isolation, it is very useful for the knowledgeable but Greekless reader who can do without such interpretive intrusions as, for example, rendering to hen as “Unity” (Allen). The four final chapters serve to put the dialogue into its place in Plato’s later philosophy. An appendix discusses Cornford, Allen, Sayre, Miller, and Meinwald, as well as the standard lines of the Neoplatonic interpretation.The strength of Turnbull’s interpretation is its attention to literary as well as philosophical detail. The significance of the dramatic coherence among many passages from dialogues generally thought to be late, particularly the Timaeus, Theaetetus, Sophist, and Philebus, has attracted the attention of other commentators, but it has not always been so convincingly connected to the related philosophical issues. With the Theaetetus and Sophist the Parmenides has been called “critical” in the sense that some commentators see in these dialogues a reassessment on Plato’s part of the ontology of forms as described in the Meno, Phaedo, and Republic. Turnbull, by contrast, puts the Parmenides squarely in line with the Republic and Plato’s middle period generally by connecting the dramatic setting of the two dialogues through the characters of Glaucon and Adeimantus; this, in turn, connects with the Timaeus, which is set on the day following the discussion of the Republic. Similar dramatic ties relate the Theaetetus to the Sophist, and the presence of the Eleatic stranger in the latter and mention of Parmenides in the former complete the [End Page 355] artistic connections among these late dialogues and Plato’s middle period. The Philebus is connected with these dialogues because of its discussion of the four factors of the universe: Unlimited, Limit, the Mixture of Unlimited and Limit, and the Cause of the Mixture, factors that are also explored in Part II of the Parmenides.The philosophical connections among the dialogues have their foundation in Plato’s attempt to give an account of the rational structure of the world system (the World Animal of the Timaeus) that underscores the importance of the ultimate sources of intelligibility in the kosmos. The Parmenides opens with a discussion of Zeno’s largely destructive arguments against plurality; Plato then employs Zeno’s own “method of suppositions” to present a constructive thesis to the effect that “from the fundamental forms, through the generation of the intelligible numbers, thence to their being mixed with the Unlimited (apeiron), there is and can be nothing that is that fails to be a source of intelligibility or the intelligible product of such sources” (187). The difficult deductions of the second half of the Parmenides thus exhibit two aspects: a negative, or Parmenidean, version, and a positive, or Platonic version. The Parmenidean... (shrink)

Over recent years, the issue of corruption in the public construction sector has attracted increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers worldwide. However, limited efforts are available for investigating the underlying factors of corruption in this sector. Thus, this study attempted to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring the underlying factors of corruption in the public construction sector of China. To achieve this goal, a total of 14 structured interviews were first carried out, and a questionnaire survey was (...) then administered to 188 professionals in China. Two iterations of multivariate analysis approaches, namely, stepwise multiple regression analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling were successively utilized to analyze the collected data. In addition, a case study was also conducted to triangulate the findings obtained from the statistical analysis. The results generated from these three research methods achieve the same conclusion: the most influential underlying factor leading to corruption was immorality, followed by opacity, unfairness, procedural violation, and contractual violation. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge by exploring the properties of corruption in the public construction sector. The findings from this study are also valuable to the construction authorities as they can assist in developing more effective anti-corruption strategies. (shrink)

Efforts to improve student–teacher education have recently focused on developing adequate Pedagogical Content Knowledge as a critical element for effective preparation. Despite many initiatives implemented in teacher education programs, however, their effectiveness in developing student–teachers’ PCK and factors affecting the PCK development are under-researched and evidenced. Drawing upon theories about and research on PCK, this study examined whether a recently updated 2-year teacher education program could develop student–teachers’ PCK effectively and explored what factors influencing the PCK development of (...) student–teachers with different developmental trajectories. Forty English-as-foreign-language student–teachers on the program were involved as participants. This study employed a longitudinal research design. Data were collected at four different stages along with the program through the content representation matrix, interviews with all the participants, and focus group interviews with four particularly sampled participants. Findings revealed that the current teacher education program successfully enhanced student–teachers’ PCK and the factors influencing different PCK developmental trajectories were varied and personalized. Implications for teacher education are also discussed. (shrink)

The paper aims to show how Japanese theoretical physics groups emerged between the First and Second World Wars. First, it will be argued that by the early 1930s the Japanese physics community had been predominantly inclined towards experimental physics and that several academic, cultural, and social factors had worked for the maintenance of this status quo. Next, how the situation slowly changed during the early 1930s, and how the young theoretical physicists successfully established a bridgehead during the mid-1930s will (...) be analysed. Four different elements are suggested: the dazzling success of quantum mechanics and its spread in the West; the dominance of experimental physics and its effect on the university system; cultural/social influence; and the emergence of the research network. (shrink)

In this study, for COVID-19, we divide people into four categories: susceptible S t, closely contacted C t, infective I t, and removed R t according to the current epidemic situation and then investigate two models: the SCIR models with immigration and without immigration. For the former, Model 1, we obtain the condition for global stability of its disease-free equilibrium. For the latter, Model 2, we establish the local asymptotic stability of its endemic equilibrium by constructing Lyapunov function. Afterwards, (...) by the bifurcation theory, we qualitatively analyze the properties of its Hopf bifurcations of the latter. Finally, numerical simulations are given to illustrate the obtained results of two models. The results imply the importance of finding closely contacted and overseas imports on epidemic control. It indicates that not only the incubation delay τ is crucial for the containment of the COVID-19 but also the scientific and rigorous containment measures are the key factors of the success of the containment. (shrink)

In this article, the main factors of academic cheating and plagiarism in four countries are analyzed. Three groups of factors are investigated, namely individual, motivational, and contextual. A mixed method approach has been used, with material including student surveys, interviews with university teachers and administrators, and analysis of university documents. The survey results show that the role of individual social-demographic factors are not significant for predicting misconduct. Students are prone to neutralize their own blame in misconduct, (...) and refer to the external conditions by the proposition that it is difficult to avoid cheating and plagiarism during university studies. Students are also more likely to cheat and plagiarize in the conditions of weak teachers’ control and deterrents. Such results demonstrate the importance of an integrity policy at the national, institutional and classroom levels, and that the social and cultural environment can be important factors in cheating. Integrity systems and the level, which they have been implemented, have a significant impact on student misconduct and attitudes toward cheating. (shrink)

In this article, it is often pointed out to a more specific area by using the term Ṣūfi art on the basis of the aforementioned understanding. Thus, an analytic approach is adopted along with the usage of deductive method, and a layer of meaning is tried to be established through criticism and analysis. Firstly, a basic framework was constructed by mentioning the origins of Ṣūfi art. Then the attention was drawn to the sacredness included in Ṣūfi art in terms of (...) its historical frame and ontological structure. It is asserted that Ṣūfi art is based on four basic arguments: beauty, creativity, transcendence, and imagination. Ṣūfis considered art as an activity of beauty and the expressive power of it. Relying on the basic motive that Allah is the Greatest Artist, the Ṣūfis believe that the beauty of their art is a manifestation of Divine Names. They saw art as an expression of manifestation and unveiling. The Ṣūfis, who deemed the world in terms of Divine Beauty (Jamāl), witnessed the manifestations of the Divine Attribute of Beauty in all things; as a result of this witnessing, the masterpieces of Islamic art came into existence. It is the sapiental and the gnostic outlook that underlies this success of the Ṣūfi orders (tariqa) in Islamic history. In Ṣūfism, the perfection (kamāl) presupposes the beauty (jamāl); and each beauty presupposes also the perfection. Therefore, it is not possible to distinguish beauty from perfection in the Ṣūfi art. The sense of loving the beauty is so strong for them that they have tried to reflect the perfect beauty they witness in their works of art, to give an external presence to the phenomenon of beauty and to make the spiritual reality visible that is innate within their beings. Ṣūfism is in a sense an effort to seek beauty. It has been an endless longing to seek, search and witness The All Beauty, that is God Himself. The effort to search for Divine Beauty is sometimes revealed by tune, and sometimes by harmonious words or by a single line. Then, they turn into music, poetry, calligraphy and illumination. According to the maxim stating “There is a path from heart to heart”, these works were transmitted from one generation to another, ensuring the continuity of this Divine tune. Despite the fact that Ṣūfi works make no pretensions to be art as such, they were widely accepted, influenced the masses and gained appreciation in that they were created by people with a sincere heart, intimate sentiments and a deep world of contemplation. The second stage of the gnostic dimension in Islamic arts has been tried to be expounded through the ultimate goal of Ṣūfi art. In Ṣūfi tradition, the aesthetics and sensitivity of art attract attention at every opportunity, but the Ṣūfis did not consider art as their main aim. For them, art denotes only a means. Ṣūfis, who appeal to the eyes, ears and mind with the artistic forms, endeavoured to permeate to the hearts with the spiritual atmosphere provided. With their performances, exuberance and success in different branches of fine arts, they mobilized the aesthetic sentiments in each person's nature and ensured that the human pleasure become accorded with the divine pleasure. Focusing on the sapiential and gnostic dimension of Islamic arts, the basic principles of Ṣūfi art are emphasized as the third stage. It is also suggested that these principles also have a religious content are marked with religious style, have a strong sense of sacredness, possess generality and the peculiarity, have symbolic and representative aspects, are based on symbolism and have traditional characteristics, their style of expression is based on revelation, and are not intended to provoke carnal desires. As to the fourth remarkable factor within the sapiential and gnostic dimension of Islamic art, the Ṣūfi worldview behind the mentioned artistic works is given. As to the fifth remarkable factor in the gnostic dimension of Islamic arts, the thought behind the world of art sustained in the dervish lodges (tekke) is discussed. These dervish lodges were emphasized as the most important places where the beautiful word, beautiful sound and beautiful line converge and these lodges were evaluated as the kitchen where the fine arts were prepared and as the boiler where the arts are cooked. It is due to these features that each of the dervish lodges in Ottoman Empire became a kind of education and fine arts centre. In these lodges, many musicians, composers, poets, illuminators, bookbinders, carvers, engravers and marbling masters were trained. While the dervishes in the dervish lodges exhibited their own unique works of art, they also carried out the requirements of their spiritual trainings (sayru sulūk). (shrink)

The pupils of the eyes reflexively constrict in light and dilate in dark to optimize retinal illumination. Non-visual cognitive factors, like attention, arousal, decision-making, etc., also influence pupillary light response. During passive viewing, the eccentricity of a stimulus modulates the pupillary aperture size driven by spatially weighted corneal flux density, which is the product of luminance and the area of the stimulus. Whether the scope of attention also influences PLR remains unclear. In this study, we contrasted the pupil dynamics (...) between diffused and focused attentional conditions during decision-making, while the global CFD remained the same in the two conditions. A population of 20 healthy humans participated in a pair of forced choice tasks. They distributed attention to the peripheral decision cue in one task, and concentrated at the center in the other to select the target from four alternatives for gaze orientation. The location of this cue did not influence participants’ reaction time. However, the magnitude of constriction was significantly less in the task that warranted attention to be deployed at the center than on the periphery. We observed similar pupil dynamics when participants either elicited or canceled a saccadic eye movement, which ruled out pre-saccadic obligatory attentional orientation contributing to PLR. We further addressed how the location of attentional deployment might have influenced PLR. We simulated a biomechanical model of PLR with visual stimulation of different strengths as inputs corresponding to the two attentional conditions. In this homeomorphic model, the computational characteristic of each element was derived from the physiological and/or mechanical properties of the corresponding biological element. The simulation of this model successfully mimicked the observed data. In contrast to common belief that the global ambient luminosity drives pupillary response, the results of our study suggest that the effective CFD determined via the luminance multiplied by the size of the stimulus at the location of deployed attention in the visual space is critical for the magnitude of pupillary constriction. (shrink)

Research on Augmented Reality in education has demonstrated that AR applications designed with diverse components boost student motivation in educational settings. However, most of the research conducted to date, does not define exactly what those components are and how these components positively affect student motivation. This study, therefore, attempts to identify some of the components that positively affect student motivation in mobile AR learning experiences to contribute to the design and development of motivational AR learning experiences for the Vocational Education (...) and Training level of education. To identify these components, a research model constructed from the literature was empirically validated with data obtained from two sources: 35 students from four VET institutes interacting with an AR application for learning for a period of 20 days, and a self-report measure obtained from the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey. We found that the following variables: use of scaffolding, real-time feedback, degree of success, time on-task and learning outcomes are positively correlated with the four dimensions of the ARCS model of motivation: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. Implications of these results are also described. (shrink)

The transition from secondary to tertiary education often presents many first-year female students with anxiety and emotional stress. Subsequently, poorly managing this shift may increase academic risk and compromise their academic success. While a plethora of studies contribute towards the phenomenon of resilience as a positive predictor of the learning experience of female students in higher education, other scholarly findings suggest the key role resilience plays in supporting students to overcome challenges, manage their wellbeing and ultimately acquire epistemic access. (...) Moreover, there is a significantly burgeoning focus on the positive outcomes of the resilience of women in education, However, while many of the studies highlight gender as a noteworthy core construct, to date, little is known about the first-year learning experience (FYE) of female students and how they may negotiate epistemic access through academic resilience. Hence the main aim of this article is to explore what factors enable academic resilience and to what extent such factors influence epistemic access among first-year female students. An exploratory qualitative research approach was used to capture the learning experiences of 20 hospitality accounting first-year female students. Data were collected by conducting both focus group sessions and individual semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study identified four main themes. The findings of this article have implications for promoting gender equality and academic outcomes of first-year female students in understanding the risk factors, as well as encouraging the protective factors that enable their epistemic access. Contribution: The article sheds light on how an intangible construct such as resilience serves as a vehicle for epistemic access, more especially for first-year female students. (shrink)

Rapid advances in the domain of science and technology are having an unprecedented effect upon the provision of higher education in universities throughout the world, the pace of change often being so fast as to make planning for the development of the “classroom of the future” an extremely difficult task. The Mobile Multimedia University (MMU) project, a collaborative action between four leading UK based research facilities, has been established to investigate these issues. Included amongst its aims is the use (...) of novel research methodologies to determine the factors which will influence the shape and form of future education provision, and thus the distribution of knowledge to society, such as mobility, telecommunications and multimedia services. This paper describes the use of a Delphi survey in predicting the technological trends and innovations which will affect university education in the near future. It describes the theory underpinning the Delphi method, illustrating this with examples of how such a technique has been successfully used in the past. It then details the specific application of the Delphi approach within the current MMU research project, detailing the preliminary results and discussing the implications of these findings for the future of universities and other institutes of higher education. (shrink)

This work aims to increase the consumption of online tourism products and promote the development of the tourism economy. Based on this, it first analyses the Internet market under the guidance of consumer psychology. Then, the influencing factors of online product decision-making for the tourism economy are discussed. Finally, based on the above analysis, it discusses and evaluates the main factors affecting the consumption of online travel products. The research method of this work is set based on psychology (...) so that it can analyze the psychological state of consumers more deeply and promote the development of the consumer market. The results show that the main factors affecting the consumption of online travel products include online travel platforms and user characteristics. Specifically, approximately 80% of users consume online travel products based on platform reviews, approximately 10% of users consume online travel products based on platform recommended content, and approximately 5% of users consume online travel products based on platform search content. Users vary mainly by age, gender, and region and have different preferences for different platforms. Among the four major platforms, Ctrip occupies the most consumers. The conclusion is that the main way to develop the tourism economy is to build a better online travel platform. At the same time, it is necessary to promote online tourism according to the characteristics of users and increase the marketing of online tourism products. This work not only provides a reference for promoting online tourism product marketing but also helps to promote the development of the tourism economy. (shrink)

Service-dominant logic established that for the success of service industries, it is vital to acknowledge the customer as an active agent in the commercial ecosystem. To carry it out, the consumer must participate in value creation. The resource integration theory exposes the importance of recognizing the customer as an agent capable of improving the company’s competitive advantage. It is only necessary for the participants to perceive benefits to make their resources available and integrate them into the co-creation process. This (...) study aims to find the key customer-based factors that influence the brand value co-creation process in the banking sector, analyzing the dynamics in different customers across national cultures and idiosyncrasies. In this paper, we analyze the potential heterogeneous idiosyncrasy of customers and how it leads to becoming more engaged in the co-creation process. Quantitative research was performed in five countries, obtaining a total of 2,029 valid questionnaires where latent profile analyses and ANOVAs were performed to identify and describe the latent profiles of consumer co-creators of brand value. Afterward, a PLS-SEM was performed to test the research model in each segment. The results show four different profiles of customer co-creators of brand value, from non-co-creators, skeptical and neutral, to customers committed to co-creating brand value with their banks. The results indicate that detractor customers lack the motivations and resources to carry out co-creation behaviors. On the other hand, creativity and connectedness were crucial for customers co-creators of value. To the authors’ understanding, no studies have used latent segmentation to find the profiles of customer co-creators of brand value. (shrink)

This paper asks how the intensity of individual local eParticipation affects users’ perception of democratically valuable effects. Drawing on participatory and deliberative theory literature we extract four participatory effects- internal political efficacy, common good orientation, tolerance, and legitimacy. Furthermore, the paper examines which cognitive factors may moderate the relationship between intensity of participation and perception of participatory effects. Drawing on online survey data from 670 citizens engaged in public budgeting online consultations on the local level, the conducted path (...) analysis shows that intensity of participation seems to foster the perception of common good orientation and tolerance. The other perceptions of participatory effects were not influenced by participation intensity. Findings on moderating factors indicate that the beneficial effects of online participation were not distributed unequally among participants. In conclusion, the research presents evidence for an optimistic view on local eParticipation that is able to promote democratically valuable user experiences. (shrink)

PurposeWe explored two complex phenomena associated with effective education. First, teachers’ professional agency, the volitional actions they take in response to perceived opportunities, was examined to consider individual differences in its enactment. Second, “strong” emotions have been proposed as important in teaching and learning, and we wished to clarify which basic emotions might be involved, besides curiosity, which is a known emotional factor in engagement in teaching. We also explored how agency and basic emotions might be related.ApproachThirteen teachers working in (...) Scottish secondary schools were interviewed at the start of the covid pandemic in 2020 to discuss relevant feelings, thoughts and actions arising from unprecedented changes in their lives and professional practices. Thematic analysis was used to identify aspects of agentic behavior and basic emotions expressed.FindingsTeacher agency was expressed through adaptability, collective agency, constrained agency, and non-action. Four basic emotion percepts were identified, which we label as “CARE”, “CURIOSITY”, “COOPERATION”, and “CHALLENGE”.OriginalityWe extend the definition of agency to include volitional non-action as a response to opportunity. In contrast to prior research emphasizing emotions as an outcome of volitional behavior, we explore emotions preceding agency. We develop four theoretical propositions related to teacher emotions. Four emotion percepts substantially influence teachers’ voluntary motivated behavior. The amount and proportion of emotions experienced varies between individual teachers. The four percepts are experienced concurrently or in rapid succession in engaged teaching contexts. Professional experience and specific situational factors also influence teachers’ behavioral choices. For future consideration, we suggest that awareness of emotion percepts may encourage both teachers’ engagement and their professional agency for the benefit of their pedagogical practice and outcomes for their students. (shrink)

The historical factors as well as the units of the cultural knowledge which are considered to have provided Chateaubriand’s books, and “The Genius of Christianity” in particular, with the success and the content are the subject of the present article. The following historical reasons which attracted the readers’ attention to the book have been defined: the disappointment of the society with the atheistic ideals of the revolution, the need for religious cult restoring, the authorities’ desire to stop strife (...) in the country and build relationships with Catholic Europe. The semantic content of the work also contributed to its popularity because it responded to the request of finding logic in the religion, had an emotional impact and dealt with the relevant issues of the morality by means of the cultural category of sinfulness. Scientific novelty of the research implies the following: the cultural category of sinfulness objectified in F.R. Chateaubriand’s book “The Genius of Christianity” having been analyzed for the first time as well as the author’s approach to the understanding and cultural information streamlining having been identified. More over cultural-historical factors promoting the book’s prominence among Chateaubriand’s contemporaries have been studied. The author’s using rational way while explaining the basis of the sin, resorting to the strict argumentation and the evidence-based methods, denying religious irrationality have been set. The conducted research has shown the key factors leading to the book’s relevance: the society’s necessity of the religion revival, the authorities’ support of this tendency specified by the political environment. (shrink)

In the present article, the authors continue their sociological interpretations of theempiric data obtained in the research project “Aggregate Capital, Its Structure andRelation to Labour Migration” (2012). The following hypothesis has been proved: ahigher predisposition for the labour migration is more typical for economically activeregion’s inhabitants with fairly high amounts of some indicators of the aggregatecapital, especially physical capital, but with a comparatively lower amount of culturalcapital, which could transform into human capital and further into economic capital inLatgale or Latvia. (...) An in-depth analysis of the factors of life success has revealed that,in general, our respondents tend to assign the lead role not to the personal competitivecharacteristics (resources) but rather to the specificity of the social environment: anexplanation of life success by means of a set of variables that, on the whole, describeit as a socio-political innovation with criminal tendencies (political corruption) is themost spread one. (shrink)

The purpose of this study is to explore with more rigor and detail the role of social norms in tax compliance. This study draws on Cialdini and Trost’s (The Handbook of Social Psychology: Oxford University Press, Boston, MA, 1998) taxonomy of social norms to investigate with more specificity this potentially decisive (Alm and McKee, Managerial and Decision Economics, 19:259–275, 1998) influence on tax compliance. We test our research hypotheses regarding the direct and indirect influences of social norms using a hypothetical (...) compliance scenario with 174 experienced taxpayers as participants. Factor analysis of the social norm questions successfully identified four distinct social norm constructs, in line with Cialdini and Trost (1998). Results of the path analysis show that individuals’ standards for behavior/ethical beliefs (personal norms) as well as the expectations of close others (subjective norms) directly influence tax compliance decisions, whereas general societal expectations (injunctive norms) and other individuals’ actual behavior (descriptive norms) have an indirect influence. This shows that social norms have important direct as well as indirect influences on tax compliance behavior. We also investigate a number of attitudinal variables that may be related to social norms and taxpayer compliance. The results of this study further clarify the important role that social norms have with regard to taxpayers’ compliance behavior. (shrink)

To determine factors affecting successful research and publication among medical students, a cross-sectional survey study was carried out at four Thai medical schools during 2018–2022. Medical students who had previously performed research under research advisors’ supervision and their research advisors were included. There were 120 participants, 78 medical students and 42 research advisors. The most common problems reported by the students were student’s lack of knowledge of research design (78%) and research topic (53%), while the most common problems (...) reported by the advisors were student’s lack of knowledge of research topic (55%) and how to prepare documents for ethics committee approval (48%). The promoting factors for research success commonly reported by the students and advisors were “an advisor helps with protocol writing and reviewing the manuscript”, “research teaching in the curriculum”, “provision of an example of a written ethics committee protocol”, and “arranging a special session so that advisors can talk to students about their research of interest”. Among the 78 participating students, 20 (26%) had successfully published their research in journals. These 20 students were more likely than those without publications to be from an institute that had a special research project or conference for medical students (20% vs. 0%,) and to suggest that teaching protocol writing helped in promoting research success (70% vs. 43%). These findings suggest that teaching research, a special research project or conference for medical students, and faculty development of research advising could potentially increase the success rate of students’ research publications. (shrink)

Despite its long history and stunning experimental successes, the mathematical foundation of perturbative quantum field theory is still a subject of ongoing research. This book aims at presenting some of the most recent advances in the field, and at reflecting the diversity of approaches and tools invented and currently employed. Both leading experts and comparative newcomers to the field present their latest findings, helping readers to gain a better understanding of not only quantum but also classical field theories. Though the (...) book offers a valuable resource for mathematicians and physicists alike, the focus is more on mathematical developments. This volume consists of four parts: The first Part covers local aspects of perturbative quantum field theory, with an emphasis on the axiomatization of the algebra behind the operator product expansion. The second Part highlights Chern-Simons gauge theories, while the third examines (semi-)classical field theories. In closing, Part 4 addresses factorization homology and factorization algebras. (shrink)

Bainbridge’s well known “Ironies of Automation” Analysis, design and evaluation of man–machine systems. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 129–135, 1983. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-029348-6.50026-9) laid out a set of fundamental criticisms surrounding the promises of automation that, even 30 years later, remain both relevant and, in many cases, intractable. Similarly, a set of ironies in technologies for sensor driven self-quantification is laid out here, spanning from instrumental problems in human factors design to much broader social problems. As with automation, these ironies stand in the (...) way of many of the promised benefits of these wearable technologies. It is argued here that without addressing these ironies now, the promises of wearables may not come to fruition, and instead users may experience outcomes that are opposite to those which the designers seek to afford, or, at the very least, those which consumers believe they are being offered. This paper describes four key ironies of sensor driven self-quantification: know more, know better versus no more, no better; greater self-control versus greater social control; well-being versus never being well enough; more choice versus erosion of choice. (shrink)

Successful reform of the higher education system in the context of COVID-19, both in a single country and in the world in the context of its development toward democratization, requires updated approaches to assessing the results of socialization of various categories of young people, and especially students. Since student age is a period of active formation of the inner need of a person to correlate his own aspirations with the interests of society, it is sensitive for the assimilation of social (...) experience, socially significant activities, and the formation of an active creative personality. Higher education in the context of COVID-19 faces an important task - to ensure the education of "vital and socially competent person who can make independent choices and make responsible decisions in various life situations" the formation of their own motives and interests. It is important how much the student as a subject of socialization, independent in the information space, what is the level of his social competence, how quickly he chooses the field of activity in which he can achieve high professionalism. The article deals with the problem of socialization of student youth in modern conditions of a higher educational institution, associated with the processes of development and education of the individual. The features, stages and socio-pedagogical conditions of successful socialization of students in the context of COVID-19 are revealed. (shrink)

Literature on Shared Mental Models has been burgeoning in recent years and this has provided increasingly detailed insight and evidence into the importance of SMMs within specific contexts. However, because past research predominantly focused on SMM structure as measured by diverse, context-dependent measures, a consolidated multi-dimensional measure of perceived SMMs that can be used across diverse team contexts is currently lacking. Furthermore, different conceptualizations of the dimensionality of SMMs exist, which further impedes the comparison between studies. These key limitations might (...) hinder future development in the SMM literature. We argue that the field of SMMs has now matured enough that it is possible to take a deductive approach and evaluate the prior studies in order to refine the key SMMs dimensions, operationalizations, and measurement. Hence, we take a three-stage approach to consolidate existing literature scale-based measures of SMMs, using four samples. Ultimately, this leads to a 20-item five-dimensional scale – the Five Factor Perceived Shared Mental Model Scale. Our scale provides scholars with a tool which enables the measurement, and comparison, of SMMs across diverse team contexts. It offers practitioners the option to more straightforwardly assess perceived SMMs in their teams, allowing the identification of challenges in their teams and facilitating the design of appropriate interventions. (shrink)

In this article we assess the extant literature on women’s careers appearing in selected career, management and psychology journals from 1990 to the present to determine what is currently known about the state of women’s careers at the dawn of the 21st century. Based on this review, we identify four patterns that cumulatively contribute to the current state of the literature on women’s careers: women’s careers are embedded in women’s larger-life contexts, families and careers are central to women’s lives, (...) women’s career paths reflect a wide range and variety of patterns, and human and social capital are critical factors for women’s careers. We also identify paradoxes that highlight the disconnection between organizational practice and scholarly research associated with each of the identified patterns. Our overall conclusion is that male-defined constructions of work and career success continue to dominate organizational research and practice. We provide direction for a research agenda on women’s careers that addresses the development of integrative career theories relevant for women’s contemporary lives in hopes of providing fresh avenues for conceptualizing career success for women. Propositions are identified for more strongly connecting career scholarship to organizational practice in support of women’s continued career advancement. (shrink)

Identifying the determinants of reproductive success in small-scale societies is critical for understanding how natural selection has shaped human evolution and behavior. The available evidence suggests that status-accruing behaviors such as hunting and prosociality are pathways to reproductive success, but social egalitarianism may diminish this pathway. Here we introduce a mixed longitudinal/cross-sectional dataset based on 45 years of research with the Batek, a population of egalitarian rain forest hunter-gatherers in Peninsular Malaysia, and use it to test the effects (...) of four predictors of lifetime reproductive success: foraging return rate, sharing proclivity, cooperative foraging tendency, and kin presence. We found that none of these factors can explain variation in lifetime reproduction among males or females. We suggest that social egalitarianism, combined with strikingly low infant and juvenile mortality rates, can mediate the pathway between foraging, status-accruing behavior, and reproductive success. Our approach advocates for greater theoretical and empirical attention to quantitative social network measures, female foraging, and fitness outcomes. (shrink)

Entrepreneurship of college students has always been a hot topic in families, schools and society. Massive studies aim to explore entrepreneurial behavior. However, under the condition of the 10% success rate of student entrepreneurship, the adverse impact of COVID-19 and the changed circumstance of domestic entrepreneurship, this exploration aims to study the factors that influence college students’ entrepreneurial behavior choices under the epidemic. First, through the retrieval of relevant literature and theoretical study, the variable factors that affect (...) behavior choices are sorted and summarized. It is assumed that the factors that affect behavior choices are entrepreneurial motivation, entrepreneurial ability, willingness to behave, and entrepreneurial environment. Second, a questionnaire is designed to investigate the choice of entrepreneurial behavior for students who are starting a business or going to start a business. The standard effect values of the survey results are calculated by using structural equation modeling. The results reveal that the effect values of the nine hypothetical results are all in line with the prediction, which prove a positive impact of the four variable factors on the choice of entrepreneurial behavior. The experimental parameters set are as follows. The standardized effect value of Hypothesis 1 is 0.216; that of Hypothesis 2 is 0.221; that of Hypothesis 3 is 0.284; that of Hypothesis 4 is 0.329; that of Hypothesis 5 is 0.247; that of Hypothesis 6 is 0.339; that of Hypothesis 7 is 0.357; that of Hypothesis 8 is 0.336; that of Hypothesis 9 is 0.485. Besides, the entrepreneurial environment has the greatest impact on behavior choice. Therefore, it is believed that the government, society, schools need to strengthen the correct guidance of entrepreneurial students and create a good entrepreneurial environment to cope with economic changes under the epidemic. (shrink)

Population-based genomics studies have proven successful in identifying genetic variants associated with diseases. High-quality biospecimens linked with informative health data from diverse segments of the population have made such research possible. However, the success of biobank research depends on the willingness of the public to participate in this type of research. We aimed to explore the factors associated with the willingness of the public to participate in biobank research from four low- and middle-income countries in the Arab (...) region (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan). We used a previously validated questionnaire to assess several constructs that included the public’s perceptions, attitudes, and willingness to participate in biobank research. We recruited 967 participants. More than half did not have prior awareness of biobanks. Participants’ willingness to donate biospecimens and health data was less than 10%. Our results also showed that participants harbored concerns with trust, privacy, and with data-sharing involving international researchers. Predictors of willingness to participate in biobank research included no previous involvement in research and positive attitudes toward biobanks. Finally, our study showed several differences between the four countries regarding several of the investigated constructs. We conclude there should be additional efforts to raise public awareness and enhance perceptions of the public in biobanking research to enhance trust. We further recommend qualitative research to explore the underlying factors that contribute to the public’s concerns with international data sharing that would enhance global health. (shrink)

The aim of this research is to identify the success factors of music students and to find out what the success of primary and secondary school students in the Republic of Croatia looks like. For the research, 153 music teachers working in primary and secondary music schools in 38 cities and municipalities in Croatia were surveyed. The results show that students most often enrol in music schools because they want to learn to play an instrument or sing, (...) then because of parental encouragement or curiosity, and finally, as a rarer motivation for enrollment, the love of music or the influence of peers who attend the music school. Teachers working in Croatian music schools believe that the most important success factors for music students are family and parental support, the quality of communication between teachers and students, and the time and quality of students’ individual practicing. (shrink)

Companies' urge to maximise their profits and their attempts to remain in the highly competitive globalised market gave birth to the TQM concept and have kept it alive. TQM is a comprehensive look which encompasses virtually every aspect of the value chain as well as the human resource and customer satisfaction. Therefore, a great number of companies feel obliged to implement its rules, and procedures. However, the concept is rather complicated and culture-bound, and calls for further research in new settings. (...) The aim of this study is to examine the influences of critical success factors of TQM on customer focus therefore, employees are classified based on their perceptions from critical success factors of total quality management and consequently the level of customer focus is compared between the different classifications. The findings reveal that there is significant difference on the level of the customer focus between the established groups of employees. (shrink)

This study aims to determine the opinions of teachers of Religious Culture and Ethics Course (DKAB) about subject-based classroom application in-depth. The research has been carried from qualitative research methods with a case study design. In order to determine the working group of the study, criteria sampling was used in the first stage, and the maximum diversity sampling method was used in the next step. The sample of this research consists of 8 DKAB teachers working in Ankara province. A semi-structured (...) interview form has been used as a data collection tool in the study. The data of the qualitative of this research has been analyzed with both descriptive and content analysis by NVivo 10 program. In order to ensure validity and reliability in the study, credibility, transferability, consistency, and verifiability strategies have been used. When the research data were analyzed, four themes were formed: positive opinions about the application, negative opinions and problems related to the application, contribution of the practice to religious education and training, and recommendations about the application. DKAB teachers find the application more positive than the classroom system. It has been found that the practice of subject-based classrooms is a motivational tool for Primary School students, while it causes some problems for lower secondary school and upper secondary school students.Summary: Learning environments are among the key elements in the acquisition of 21st-century skills. Classrooms are also a part of the learning environment. Classes are the learning environment in which teachers and students spend most of their education and training process. In this context, subject-based classroom application is one of the preferred methods in the arrangement of classrooms.Subject-based classroom application means that the teachers have a special classroom related to their branches in the school building, and students attend the teacher's classroom according to the syllabus. In this practice, the teacher can decorate walls, floor, ceiling, column, and beam of the classroom with students’ study materials such as banner, poster, painting, cartoon to make the course more effective and efficient and to create a psychological atmosphere called classroom atmosphere-air.This application aims to activate the student by enriching the classroom and make learning effective and efficient. The classroom equipped with appropriate equipment and materials provides a favorable environment for the implementation of effective teaching strategies. The application can create “class/classroom culture” by using ordinary meanings and symbols related to the course. It provides students the opportunity to exhibit their products and contributes to students' self-regulation skills development. Besides, real-life practices or practices close to reality can be brought into the classroom. As a result, permanent learning can be realized with the possibility of creating a shared living space and the number of sensory organs participating in learning.This current study aims to address in-depth information about the opinions of Religious Culture and Moral Ethics (DKAB) teachers in primary, secondary, and high schools regarding the subject-based classroom application. When the studies in the literature are examined, it is seen that the studies related to the subject-based classroom application have increased since 2010. However, it is clear that this research is directed towards social studies, geography, science, and mathematics courses and is based on the opinions of students, teachers, and administrators at the secondary school level. In the context of DKAB course, there has been no research including the views of teachers, students, or school administrators regarding the application of subject-based classrooms. This study is carried out revealing perspectives of DKAB teachers by examining their opinions on the subject-based classroom application and contribute to the field. The research was conducted with a case study design from the qualitative research methods. The participants consist of 8 DKAB teachers working in Ankara province. A mixed purposive sampling method was used to determine the study group. In the first stage, the teachers implementing the DKAB classrooms application were taken as criteria. In the next step, the study group was determined within the framework of the maximum diversity sampling method by considering the variables such as school level, gender, age, education level, duration of teachers' work. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview form with expert opinion. In the form, there are nine main questions and probe questions, which include questions related to subject-based classrooms application, the contribution of the application to religious education and training, the contribution of teachers to professional and personal development, the effect of teachers' belonging to the school, the effectiveness, and improvement of the application. Permission has been obtained from the Ankara Provincial Directorate of National Education and participants via consent form for the interview. The interviews were recorded in audio, 169.58-minute audio recording transcripts, and 52-page interview data obtained. The qualitative data of this research has been analyzed with both descriptive and content analysis by NVivo 10 program. In order to ensure validity and reliability in the study, credibility, transferability, consistency, and verifiability strategies have been used.When the data of the research were analyzed, the opinions of DKAB teachers about the subject-based classrooms application categorized under four themes; positive and negative opinions/problems about the practice, the contribution of the practice to religious education and teaching and practical suggestions. Under the theme of positive opinions on the application, positive aspects for the teacher, student, parents, and comparison with the classroom system were formed. According to the participants, the practice of DKAB classroom is a “facilitation” element for the teacher because of the factors such as the teacher not moving around the classroom, not carrying material, having freedom to organize the classroom, and material regularity. In this application, since the teacher has a class of his own, the teacher adopts and owns the classroom and the sense of belonging to school increases. This sense of belonging is felt so strongly that there is even a participant who plans to retire if the application is abandoned. The positive aspects of the application for the students are that; a classroom is a motivating tool, the boards and walls can be used, and the student has the opportunity to exhibit their activities. When compared with the classroom system, it was stated that as a result of the branch classroom practice, the school equipment could be better protected, class order and cleaning easier, and the success of the students would be increased.The negative views of the participants on the application were grouped under the categories of students, teachers, and parents. Not having a fixed class of their own, continually relocating and losing time in recess, staying in the classroom door when the classroom is locked, not adopting the classroom and lack of lockers constitute the negative aspects of the application for the students. The overuse of classrooms, less use of teachers' rooms, lack of communication between colleagues are the negative aspects of the application for the teachers. It was stated by (75%) most of the participants that branch classroom application contributed to the continual learning of students in religious education and teaching. To make the application more functional, DKAB teachers have proposed arrangements such as improving physical infrastructure, enriching teaching materials, and arranging school syllabus and keeping classrooms open. As a result, teachers find the application more positive than the classroom system. While it is a motivation tool for primary school students, it causes some problems for secondary and high school students, such as carrying bags, staying at the door, and wasting time. In this sense, the application is recommended to be applied in primary schools that have a sufficient number of classrooms. Also, the system should be applied in secondary and high schools where the number of students is low, or the number of classrooms is sufficiently provided that the problems experienced by the students are eliminated. School administrations and teachers need to take necessary measures to make the application effective and efficient. (shrink)

The four principles approach to biomedical ethics (4PBE) has, since the 1970s, been increasingly developed as a universal bioethics method. Despite its wide acceptance and popularity, the 4PBE has received many challenges to its cross-cultural plausibility. This paper first specifies the principles and characteristics of ancient Chinese medical ethics (ACME), then makes a comparison between ACME and the 4PBE with a view to testing out the 4PBE's cross-cultural plausibility when applied to one particular but very extensive and prominent cultural (...) context. The result shows that the concepts of respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice are clearly identifiable in ACME. Yet, being influenced by certain socio-cultural factors, those applying the 4PBE in Chinese society may tend to adopt a "beneficence-oriented", rather than an "autonomy-oriented" approach, which, in general, is dissimilar to the practice of contemporary Western bioethics, where "autonomy often triumphs". (shrink)