Cultural conceptions of morality: Examining laypeople’s associations of moral character

Whether moral conceptions are universal or culture-specific is controversial in moral psychology. One option is to refrain from imposing theoretical constraints and to ask laypeople from different cultures how they conceptualize morality. Our article adopts this approach by examining laypeople’s associations of moral character in individualistic- and collectivistic-oriented cultures. Using correspondence analysis we found that the concept of moral character yielded widely shared associations with justice and welfare concerns. Yet, there were also clear cultural differences with individualistic-oriented samples associating more frequently rights-based features and collectivistic-oriented samples more frequently associating duty-based attributes. When matching freelisted trait categories with Schwartz’s value types, moral value hierarchies were similar across cultures and correlated significantly with explicit moral value ratings. We conclude that imposing constraints through an expert-designed category system can narrow the scope of inquiry to common moral aspects related to problem-solving, promotion of prosocial actions and control of antisocial behaviour.     

The Relationship between Workplace Climate,Motivation and Learning Approaches for Knowledge Workers

Workplace learning is becoming a central tenet for a large proportion of today’s employees. This seems especially true for so-called knowledge workers. Today, it remains unclear how differences in the quality of workplace learning are affected by differences in perception of the workplace environment and the motivation of knowledge workers to learn. Moreover, the possible role of motivation as a mediating factor between workplace climate factors and learning is underexplored. This paper therefore investigates direct and indirect links between perceptions of the workplace climate, motivation to learn and approaches to learning in the workplace. Knowledge workers (N?=?202) in one knowledge intensive organisation were questioned using existing and adapted questionnaires to measure learning approaches, motivation and workplace climate. Correlations and multivariate regression analyses were carried out to assess direct relationships amongst variables. Path analysis was carried out to assess the mediating role of motivation. Results show that both workplace climate factors and motivation directly influence employees’ approaches to learning. Some direct relationships between workplace climate factors and motivation were also uncovered. Results regarding the mediating role of motivation showed that the effect of good supervision on deep learning is completely mediated by autonomous motivation. The effect of choice independence on deep learning approach is partially mediated by the same motivational drive. A-motivation was found to partially mediate the link between good supervision and a surface disorganised approach. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Television

PLAYING DOCTOR: TELEVISION, STORYTELLING, AND MEDICAL POWER by Joseph Turow (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989—$24.95, ISBN 0-19-504490-8)

COMIC VISIONS: TELEVISION COMEDY AND AMERICAN CULTURE by David Marc (Winchester, MA: Unwin Hyman [formerly Allen & Unwin], 1989—$10.95, paper, ISBN 0-04-445285-3)

NERVOUS LAUGHTER: TELEVISION SITUATION COMEDY AND LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC IDEOLOGY by Darrell Y. Hamamoto (New York: Praeger, 1989—$39.95, ISBN 0-275-92861-6)

INSIDE GILUGANS ISLAND: FROM CREATION TO SYNDICATION by Sherwood Schwartz (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988—$29.95, ISBN 0-89950-339-X)

THE CRITICS' CHOICE-THE BEST OF TV SITCOMS by John Javna (New York: Harmony Books, 1988—$8.95, paper, ISBN 0-517-56922-1)

TELEVISION STUDIES: TEXTUAL ANALYSIS edited by Gary Bums and Robert Thompson (New York: Praeger, 1989—$39.95, ISBN 0-275-92745-8)

THE USE AND ABUSE OF TELEVISION: A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CHANGING SCREEN by J. Mallory Wober (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1988—$34.50, ISBN 0-89859-662-9)

AMERICA'S WATCHING: 30TH ANNIVERSARY 1959-1989 actually issued by the now-defunct Television Information Office, but distributed through NAB)

TELEVISION IN TRANSITION: THE VALUE OF BROADCAST TELEVISION IN A CHANGING MARKETPLACE by Philip Jursek and Norman Hecht (1989—price not given, paper, ISBN 0-89-324-067-2)

NAB GUIDE TO ADVANCED TELEVISION SYSTEMS

TELEVISION STATION OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT edited by Robert Hilliard (Stoneham, MA: Focal Press, 1989—$24.95, paper, ISBN 0-240-80027-3)

THE BEST OF SCIENCE FICTION TV by John Javna (New York: Harmony Books, 1989—$8.95, paper, ISBN 0-517-56650-8)

CATALYST IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST is the name of the 1988 CPB annual report (Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1111 Sixteenth St. NW, Washington DC 20036—free on request, paper)

EXPLORING CAREERS IN VIDEO by Paul Allman (New York: Rosen, 1989—price not given, ISBN 0-8239-1018-0)     

The Failure of Project Eyeball: A Case of Product Overpricing or Market Overcrowding?

The closure in mid-2001 by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) of its experimental tabloid newspaper, Project Eyeball, after less than 1 year of publication, was popularly attributed to a pair of market factors: its 80-cent cover price and competition from a pair of free tabloids that entered the market hot on its heels. Although pricing and competition were doubtless important contributing factors to Project Eyeball's rapid demise, a pair of additional economic concepts emerges on closer examination of the newspaper's brief history and may provide additional clues to its failure. One is the principle of relative constancy, which held, until it was disproved in the 1980s, that the level of expenditures on media remained fairly constant as a percentage of the overall economy. The other is the influence on management practices of share prices of publicly traded newspaper companies, into which category SPH falls. Considering these factors in addition to price and competition helps to better explain the rapid demise of Project Eyeball.     

Celebrity Endorsements and Their Potential to Motivate Young Voters

Although scholars have long indicated concern regarding disaffected young voters, the 2004 presidential election tallied record turnout among this age group. This study explored how and why celebrity-endorsed, get-out-the-vote campaigns may have helped to persuade young voters aged 18 to 24 to participate in an election campaign by examining campaign influence on individual decision-making factors. During the fall semester of 2004, a convenience sample of 305 college students from introductory general education classes completed surveys assessing their political efficacy, involvement, complacency, and apathy. Findings indicated that receptivity to celebrity spokespeople predicted lower levels of complacency and higher levels of self-efficacy. Complacency had independent effects on involvement and self-efficacy. The results therefore suggest that these campaigns can potentially influence positive change in political engagement of the younger citizenry.     

Party and Candidate Websites: A Comparative Explanatory Analysis

This study provides a systematic investigation of party and candidate websites across five countries. It examines three prominent features of current online political communication (interactivity, political personalization, and mobilization). Furthermore it assesses to what extent country, party, and source characteristics explain differences in the usage of these features. In total, 63 websites and 416 pages in Germany, Romania, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Great Britain were subject to a systematic content analysis. The findings suggest that differences in party and source characteristics explain variation in levels of mobilization, interactivity, and personalization, with, for example, party websites trying to mobilize citizens while websites belonging to politicians are used as a platform for self-promotion. In general, results show that the division of countries into East and West European is less important.     

Science or graduates: How do firms benefit from the proximity of universities?

This paper examines the impact of universities on the technological performance of adjacent firms. We extend existing research by jointly analyzing, and comparing, the effects of education (graduates) and scientific research (publications) activities of universities on firms’ technological performance. Adopting the knowledge production framework, our study is conducted at the level of 101 Italian territorial areas (provinces) and four industries. Overall, fixed-effect panel data models reveal a positive effect of both university graduates and scientific publications on the technological performance of firms. At the same time, considerable industry differences are observed. While the provision of university graduates positively affects firm performance in all industries under study, additional effects for scientific research are only observed in electrical and pharmaceutical industries that are science-intensive and where the scientific knowledge base is changing rapidly over time. The observation that spillovers from academia into the industrial texture of provinces rely on education and research in an industry-specific manner is relevant to the design of appropriate research and innovation policies.     

Picturing ‘our’ heritage in the pedagogic text: layout and illustrations in an Australian and a Swedish history textbook

This paper is about re-representing the lifeworlds experienced by different participants in the 'same' physics classrooms; dissatisfied with the monolithic accounts that dominate the educational literature, we offer here an attempt to w/ri(gh)te classroom research. This paper, therefore, has a dual purpose: We exemplify how authors might want to represent different perspectives on the 'same' classroom and we build on this example to argue for w/ri(gh)ting research by drawing on literary forms that differ from traditional master narratives. W/ri(gh)ting requires reading in new ways; by skipping text, readers risk missing out on the reflexivity of our argument.     

A COURSE ON HUMANISTIC CREATIVITY IN LATER LIFE: LITERATURE REVIEW,CASE HISTORIES,AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In addition to a literature review of later-life creative activity (as a continuation of previous work or at the onset of later life), the present study provides a blueprint for a course on humanistic creativity in later life. Selected exemplars of well-known creative individuals in the humanities are provided: (1) May Sarton (literature); (2) Marcel Duchamp (painting); (3) Leo w J aná ) ek (music) (4) Martha Graham (dance), and (5) Jessica Tandy (acting). This study includes specific recommendations for the incorporation of these materials into the gerontological curriculum.     

Effects of three types of retirement preparation program: A qualitative study of civil servants in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Studies on the effectiveness of retirement planning programs are relatively scarce. Retirement preparation and planning programs may assist individuals to smooth the transition to retirement and subsequent adjustment. This qualitative study examines the effects of three retirement preparation programs on civil servants in Brazil. Theoretically, the study builds on the transtheoretical model (TTM), also called the stages of change model. Twenty civil servants (aged 53–67) working for the Brazilian government were randomly assigned to one of the three retirement planning programs entitled testimony, short, and extensive. The results of qualitative interviews, conducted 6 months after completion of the programs, show that participants on the extensive program presented a broader array of changes in retirement planning and had progressed through more stages of the TTM than participants who took part in the short and testimony programs.