Empathy as a Communication Technique Essay

The word empathy is a noun and means: Having the ability to imagine oneself in another’s place and understand the other’s feelings, desires, ideas, and actions. The use of empathy was an important part of the psychological counseling technique developed by Carl R. Rogers. (Empathy) Carl Rogers was born January 8, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois and lived until1987. Carl Rogers is best known for his contributions to therapy. Rogers felt that if a therapist was to be helpful that they must have three defining qualities: The first on should be Congruence, meaning, showing genuineness and honesty with the client. The second is having Empathy, meaning, having the ability to feel what the client feels and the third being Respect, meaning, acceptance, unconditional positive regard towards the client. Rogers says that these qualities are â€Å"necessary and sufficient: If the therapist shows these three qualities, the client will improve, even if no other special â€Å"techniques† are used. If the therapist does not show these three qualities, the client’s improvement will be minimal, no matter how many â€Å"techniques† are used. (Personality Theories). Another Psychologist was Theodor Lipps. Born 1851 in Wallhalben/Palatinate, Germany and died in Munich 1914. Theodor Lipps is known as the father of the first scientific theory of Einfuhlung (â€Å"feeling into,†) Lipps sees the unconscious process of Einfuhlung is a natural instinct. Today, empathy is described as an objective awareness of and insight into the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of another (including their meaning and significance). It has also been discussed in the context of emotional intelligence, which is defined as the awareness and management of emotions in self and others. (p89) By showing empathy you are identifying with the other persons emotions. To be able to empathize with others, you must be able to feel and own your own feelings. It is hard for a person to understand someone else’s feelings if they have never felt or dealt with that certain feeling. When a person has experience a wide range of feelings then they are the ones that have the deeps of understanding what others are experiencing. When a person cannot relate it is more than likely because they have not had the experience of what the other is talking about or going through. Experiencing a feeling is much different than just reading or hearing about the feeling. When you are alking to someone that shares what they are going through with you and you understand what they are talking about, this is a process of recall that comes to your mind and you relive your experience. You are able to use those emotions to guide you in your thoughts and actions with this person. Nature helps us to survive our own traumas and experience of life. If you are able to work through what has happened and you are aware of your own feelings when talking to someone else that is going through the same thing or close to it, then you are able to help that other person to survive and give them hope with what they are going through. Accepting a person where they are in life even if you do not agree with them shows that person that you value and support them as an individual no matter what they are going through or who they are. Many people believe that Empathy and Sympathy are the same but they are not. The difference between the two are â€Å"Sympathy is literally ‘feeling with’ – compassion for or commiseration with another person. Empathy, by contrast, is literally ‘feeling into’ – the ability to project one’s personality into another person and more fully understand that person (think of an â€Å"empath†). Sympathy derives from Latin and Greek words meaning ‘having a fellow feeling’. The term empathy originated in psychology (translation of a German term, c. 1903) and has now come to mean the ability to imagine or project oneself into another person’s position and experience all the sensations involved in that position. † (Answer) A person can learn empathy by CARE. C = Call attention to the insensitive, uncaring behavior. A = Ask, â€Å"How would you feel? † R = Recognize the consequences of the behavior E= Express and explain your disapproval of the insensitive behavior. When a person shows caring then the other person can believe and trust the person showing the empathy. As part of our lives, we find many different people who hold different viewpoints. To deal efficiently with those who have a different opinion to our own, empathy is an important communication technique to develop. Accepting another’s viewpoint, particularly one that is the opposite of yours, takes empathy and listening skills. Empathy is to understand another viewpoint so well, you could feel as if you are walking in their shoes, despite whether you agree with them or not. Although empathy is intangible, its effects can be astonishingly real. A person that is upset is that way because they might think that you have no idea how or what they are feeling or going through. Once you are able to gain their trust by letting them know that you do understand and explain to them how you know or why you know what they are going through then they become obliging and accommodating. When you understand the person’s position and not judging them for their feelings this goes a long way to keep the communication door open. On the other hand, some people can take your empathy for the unconditional support of their viewpoint. Even though you understand someone’s viewpoint, you don’t have to agree with it or like it. That remains your choice. There is a different between men and women when it comes to Empathy. Dr. Shock MD PhD article on Gender Differences in Empathy suggest that women may be more empathic than men, on average this is obviously true. The article states that females use different strategies for assessing emotions than that of men. The studies that have been done show that men use the left cognitive hemisphere in empathy and women the more emotional parts such as the mirror neurons in the right hemisphere. (Gender Differences in Empathy). There are different beliefs and values in different cultures. Much misunderstanding occurs in intercultural interactions because many are unaware of these differences. A person’s culture affects almost all of their communication behaviors. It is important for one to learn the differences of many cultures so that one is able to show empathy in the right way. If one does not know the others culture something you do or say may actually be hurtful, harmful or disrespectful. Once this happens you may lose the trust that had been there and you may never be able to show your full empathy for this other person. A person’s culture determines the way they process information and how to cope with what is going on in their lives. Concepts and objects fluctuate from culture to culture. Each culture and person sees the world they live in differently. Most of these different cultures are particularly concerned with accuracy and have different words for use, depending on whether they are being inclusive or exclusive. American culture is not as concerned with exactness and therefore we use the words we want to use and this can cause misunderstanding in more ways than not. Take for instance that if you are talking to a Native American Indian and you are looking straight into their eyes this is showing disrespect. In the Native American Indian culture if looking into the persons eyes that are talking to shows that you do not respect them. Using self-discloser when showing Empathy can be helpful and it can also be harmful. Self-disclosure is both the conscious and unconscious of revealing more about oneself to others. This may include, but is not limited to, thoughts, feelings, aspirations, goals, failures, successes, fears, dreams as well as one’s likes, dislikes, and favorites. Typically, a self-disclosure happens when we initially meet someone and continues as we build and develop our relationships with people. As we get to know each other, we disclose information about ourselves. If one person is not willing to â€Å"self-disclose† then the other person may stop disclosing information about them as well. (Self-disclosure). The part of if one person is not willing to self-disclose how can the person you are talking to really trust that you know what they are going through. By opening up the other person is able to talk freely. For example, when talking to a person that has just lost their husband they are in shock. A fog is placed over them and they seem not to know what to do next, it just happens. When talking to this person and you has gone through this process, you are able to let this person know that what they are feeling is natural. Nature places a fog around them their protection. You explain that you also lost your husband a few years back and explain to them that it takes about a year to start lifting and in time things to start making since and you can go on in life. It takes a day and sometimes minute at a time to make it through. When you open up to the person that has just lost their husband then they feel that they are not alone and can make that next step. There are sometimes that this can back fire on you when you open up. The person could be so over come with grief that they do not hear what you are saying and get angry with you thinking that you are just saying that they will get over it in time. One must walk softly when self disclosing on any subject. Reference http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/rogers.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-disclosure

Functional Areas of Business Paper Essay

The role that one should play as a manager in the functional areas of human resource management is making sure within my organization that I focus on the recruitment of the best workers they need in our organization success. I want to make sure that each person can work comfortable and safe environment. Human resource management it gives you three reasons why it is important. â€Å"First, it can be a significant source of competitive advantages as various studies have concluded. Second, HRM is an important part of organizational strategies. Finally, the way organizations treat their people has been found to significantly impact organizational performance† (Robbins & Coulter, 2012, p. 312-313). A manager in the functional area of human resource management is my responsibility to ensure the organizational objectives are fulfilled. Strategic Planning is another functional area that I am interested in. As a manager my purpose is to achieve and clarify the results of an organization. As a manager I must ensure that we work together in achieving the same goals. Strategic planning â€Å"are plans that apply to the entire organization and establish the organization’s overall goals† (Robbins & Coulter, 2012, p. 207). Which I know that strategic planning is a process where I will have to make choices and decisions to help develop the necessary approaches to achieving the organizational goals. Human resource management is very important to an organization. To help me with my statement I read a peer reviewed article that had some interested things about human resource management and why it is important. According to the article â€Å"the modern role of human resources management is recognized in the following range: newly defined aims which this scientific discipline, and practice as well, appoint as direction of relevance, redesigned processes by which it implements its activities and of course, new demands in the â€Å" palette† of managerial competencies of its experts† (à urović, 2012, p. 87). As a manager it is my duty to ensure the best for and organization. To fulfill these objectives it cannot be done alone we have to work together so we can reach those goals. Strategic planning is very important as well to a manager. I read another peer-reviewed article that I could relate and  use for my own benefits. In this article, â€Å"So good strategic planning is not about predicting the future, it is about shaping the future and developing the intellectual agility and alertness to recognize the future as it goes by in order to respond in a agile and appropriate fashion† ( Blatstein, 2012, p. 33). I know as a manager that both human resource management and strategic planning are both helpful within an organization. I cannot see why any manager would not use these functional areas too their organization advantage. Reference Page Robbins S.P., and Coulter, M. (2012). Management (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Prentice Hall. à urović, M. (2012) Human Resources Management-Strategic Aspect. Management (1820-0222). Issue 62, p83-88. 6p. Blatstein, I. M. Summer (2012) Strategic Planning: Predicting or Shaping the Future. Organization Development Journal, Vol. 30 Issue 2, p31-38. 8p. 3 Graphs.

The life cycle of a star

In this physics coursework, I have been asked to carry out research of my selection and to develop it. I have selected to research the life cycle of a star, and I would conduct this by gathering the necessary information in a form of a report which explains this in detail. I have chosen to explore this particular topic firstly because I am extremely fascinated in space and the universe and secondly because I do not know much about the life cycle of a star and I deem this will help extend my knowledge. Firstly when carrying out this research before describing the life cycle of a star I need to be familiar of what a star is, and how it is formed What is a star, and how does it form? Stars are basically huge balls of hydrogen gas. Hydrogen is by far the most common element in the Universe, and stars form in clusters when large clouds of hydrogen, which naturally forms a hydrogen ‘molecule' (H+H=H2) with another atom, collapse. The hydrogen clouds collapses very slowly, although they can be speeded up by the effects of a passing star, or the shockwave from a distant supernova explosion. As the cloud collapses, it speeds up its rotation, and pulls more material into the centre, where a denser ball of gas, the ‘proto-star' forms. The proto-star collapses under its own weight, and the collisions between hydrogen molecules inside it generate heat. Eventually the star becomes hot enough for the hydrogen molecules to split apart, and form atoms of hydrogen. The star keeps on collapsing under its own weight, and getting even hotter in the core, until finally it is hot enough there (roughly 10 million degrees) for it to start generating energy, by nuclear fusion – combining hydrogen atoms to form a heavier element, helium. Energy is released from the core, and pushes its way out through the rest of the star, creating an outward pressure which stops the star's collapse. When the energy emerges from the star, it is in the form of light, and the star has begun to shine. A Star is formed from a cloud of gas, mostly hydrogen, and the dust that is initially spread over a huge volume, but which is pulled together by its own collective gravity. This gravitational collapse of the cloud creates a body of large density, and the loss of gravitational potential energy in the process is very large indeed. The result is that the original particles acquire high kinetic energy, so that the collisions between them are very violent. Atoms lose their electrons. Not only has that, collisions taken place in which electrical repulsion of nuclei is no longer strong enough to keep them apart. They can become close enough together for the strong nuclear force to take effect, so that they merge. Fusion takes place, with hydrogen as the principal key material. This begins the process of conversion of mass to energy, and much of the released energy takes the form of photons which begins to stream from the new star. Every star then exists in a state of slowly evolving stability. On the one hand there is the trend for the material to continue to collapse under gravity. On the other hand there is a tendency for the violent thermal activity and the emission of radiation resulting from fusion to blow the material apart. The more bigger star in general, the greater is the gravitational pressure and so the higher rate of energy is released by fusion, therefore bigger stars use up their supply of fusing nuclei more quickly than do smaller stars, such that bigger stars have shorter lives. The enormous luminous energy of the stars comes from nuclear fusion processes in their centres. Depending upon the age and mass of a star, the energy may come from proton fusion, helium fusion, or the carbon cycle. For brief periods near the end of the luminous lifetime of stars, heavier elements up to iron may fuse, but since iron is at the peak of the binding energy curve, the fusion of elements more massive than iron would soak up energy rather than deliver it. This links to the below graph: Fusion in stars makes energy available to create radiation, consuming mass at an amazing rate. The sun, for example loses a mass of 4.5 million tonnes every second. Also, heavier nuclei are formed from smaller ones, so that the compression of a star changes. Concluding this, as the star dies the material dependant on its size is scattered in space. The Hertzsprung – Russell Diagram This simple graph shows ways in which to classify stars. Temperature is plotted on the x-axis. This is related to the colour as cooler stars are redder, hotter stars are bluer. Relative luminosity is plotted on the y-axis. Because of the very wide range of temperatures and stellar luminosities, logarithmic scales are used. The location of an individual star on such a graph lets us establish a loose system of classification. This graph aids us to find out what star has what temperature so we can easily classify it using the relative luminosity and temperature. Here is a diagram of the graph which shows the stars in their classified points showing their rough temperature and luminosity. So how do the changes in the stars take place? Very massive stars experience several stages in their cores. o First hydrogen fuses into helium then helium to carbon creating larger nuclei. Such large stars in later life can have shells or layers with heavier nuclei towards their centres. It is not only the life expectancy of a star that depends on its mass, but also the way which it dies. o Older stars have outer layers in which hydrogen is the fuel for fusion, while the inner layers helium is the fuel, and for massive stars there may be further layers beneath. Most stars, including the sun become red giants after the end of their equilibrium phase. o This process is started by cooling in the inner core, resulting in reduced thermal pressure and radiation pressure and so causing gravitational collapse of the hydrogen shell. But the gravitational collapse provides energy for heating the shell, and so the rate of fusion in the shell increases. This makes the shell expand enormously. o The outermost surface of the star becomes cooler, and its light becomes redder, but the larger surface area means that the stars luminosity increases. o Meanwhile the gravitational collapse affects the core as well, and ultimately the process of fusion of helium in the core cause the outer shell to expand further and thin leaving the hot extremely dense core as a white dwarf. o Slowly this cools and becomes a black dwarf. o For the stars that are several times bigger then the sun, death may be even more dramatic. A core of carbon is created by fusion of helium, and once this core is sufficiently compressed then fusion of the carbon itself takes place. The rapid release of energy makes the star briefly as bright as a galaxy, as bright as 10 billion stars. o The star explodes into a supernova and its material spreads back into the space around. In even larger stars, fusion of carbon can continue more steadily, producing still larger nuclides and ultimately creating iron nuclei. The iron nuclei also experience fusion, but these are different as they are energy consuming meaning they keep it in. The central core of the star collapses under gravity. This increases temperature but cannot now greatly increase the rate of fusion, so collapse continues. Outer layers also collapse around the core, compressing it further. It becomes denser then an atomic nucleus, protons and electrons join together to create neutrons. o Meanwhile, the collapse of the outer layers heats these, increasing the rate of fusion so that suddenly the star explodes as a supernova. This spreads the material of these layers into space, leaving a small hot body behind a neutron star. o Furthermore if this supernova is big enough, its gravity continues to pull the matter towards a single point with a huge gravitational field where not even light can escape from is known as the black hole. Star pictures obtained from Internet http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy Here is an illustration of a star life cycle followed by the theory How long a star lives for and how it dies†¦ How long a star lives and how it dies, depends entirely on how massive it is when it begins. A small star can sustain basic nuclear fusion for billions of years. Our sun, for example, probably can sustain reactions for some 10 billion years. Really big stars have to conduct nuclear fusion at an enormous rate to keep in hydrostatic equilibrium and quickly falter, sometimes as fast as 40,000 years. If the star is about the same mass as the Sun, it will turn into a white dwarf star. If it is somewhat more massive, it may undergo a supernova explosion and leave behind a neutron star. But if the collapsing core of the star is very great at least three times the mass of the Sun nothing can stop the collapse. The star implodes to form an infinite gravitational warp in space, a hole. This is exemplified in a very simple diagram highlighting the consequence of each mass of the stars and what they will revolve into. Normal stars such as the Sun are hot balls of gas millions of kilometres in diameter. The visible surfaces of stars are called the photospheres, and have temperatures ranging from a few thousand to a few tens of thousand degrees Celsius. The outermost layer of a star's atmosphere is called the â€Å"corona†, which means â€Å"crown†. The gas in the coronas of stars has been heated to temperatures of millions of degrees Celsius. Most radiation emitted by stellar coronas is in X-rays because of its high temperature. Studies of X-ray emission from the Sun and other stars are therefore primarily studies of the coronas of these stars. Although the X-radiation from the coronas accounts for only a fraction of a percent of the total energy radiated by the stars, stellar coronas provide us with a cosmic laboratory for finding out how hot gases are produced in nature and how magnetic fields interact with hot gases to produce flares, spectacular explosions that release as much energy as a million hydrogen bombs The Orion Trapezium as observed. The colours represent energy; where blue and white indicate very high energies and therefore extreme temperatures. The size of the X-ray source in the image also reflects its brightness, i.e. more bright sources appear larger in size. The Life Cycle of a star: In Large Stars In hot massive stars, the energy flowing out from the centre of the star is so intense that the outer layers are literally being blown away. Unlike a nova, these stars do not shed their outer layers explosively, but in a strong, steady stellar wind. Shock waves in this wind produce X-rays; from the intensity and distribution with energy of these X-rays, astronomers can estimate the temperature, velocity and density of this wind. Medium sized Stars In medium-sized stars, such as the Sun, the outer layers consist of a rolling, boiling disorder called convection. A familiar example of convection is a sea-breeze. The Sun warms the land more quickly than the water and the warm air rises and cools as it expands. It then sinks and pushes the cool air off the ocean inland to replace the air that has risen, producing a sea-breeze. In the same way, hot gas rises from the central regions of the Sun, cools at the surface and descends again. From Red Giant To supernova Once stars that are 5 times or more massive than our Sun reach the red giant phase, their core temperature increases as carbon atoms are formed from the fusion of helium atoms. Gravity continues to pull carbon atoms together as the temperature increases and additional fusion processes proceed, forming oxygen, nitrogen, and eventually iron. As the shock encounters material in the star's outer layers, the material is heated, fusing to form new elements and radioactive isotopes. While many of the more common elements are made through nuclear fusion in the cores of stars, it takes the unstable conditions of the supernova explosion to form many of the heavier elements. The shock wave propels this material out into space. The material that is exploded away from the star is now known as a supernova remnant. The White Dwarf A star experiences an energy crisis and its core collapses when the star's basic, non-renewable energy source, hydrogen which is used up. A shell of hydrogen on the edge of the collapsed core will be compressed and heated. The nuclear fusion of the hydrogen in the shell will produce a new surge of power that will cause the outer layers of the star to expand until it has a diameter a hundred times its present value. This is called the ‘red giant' phase of a star's existence. There are other possible conditions that allow astronomers to observe X-rays from a white dwarf. These opportunities occur when a white dwarf is capturing matter from a nearby companion star. As captured matter falls onto the surface of the white dwarf, it accelerates and gains energy. This energy goes into heating gas on or just above the surface of the white dwarf to temperatures of several million degrees. The hot gas glows brightly in X-rays. A careful analysis of this process can reveal the mass of the white dwarf, its rate of rotation and the rate at which matter is falling onto it. In some cases, the matter that gathers on the surface can become so hot and dense that nuclear reactions occur. When that happens, the white dwarf suddenly becomes 10,000 times brighter as the explosive outer layers are blown away in what is called a nova outburst. After a month or so, the excitement is over and the cycle begins anew. The Supernova Every 50 years or so, a massive star in our galaxy blows itself apart in a supernova explosion. Supernovas are one of the most violent events in the universe, and the force of the explosion generates a blinding flash of radiation, as well as shock waves analogous to sonic booms. There are two types of supernovas: o Type II, where a massive star explodes o Type I, where a white dwarf collapses because it has pulled too much material from a nearby companion star onto itself. The general picture for a Type II supernova is when the nuclear power source at the centre or core of a star is exhausted, the core collapses. In less than a second, a neutron star (or black hole, if the star is extremely massive) is formed. When matter crashes down on the neutron star, temperatures rise to billions of degrees Celsius. Within hours, a disastrous explosion occurs, and all but the central neutron star is blown away at speeds in excess of 50 million kilometres per hour. A thermonuclear shock wave races through the now expanding stellar debris, fusing lighter elements into heavier ones and producing a brilliant visual outburst that can be as intense as the light of ten billion Suns. The matter thrown off by the explosion flows through the surrounding gas producing shock waves that create a shell of multimillion degrees gas and high energy particles called a supernova remnant. The supernova remnant will produce intense radio and X-radiation for thousands of years. In several young supernova remnants the rapidly rotating neutron star at the centre of the explosion gives off pulsed radiation at X-ray and other wavelengths, and creates a magnetized bubble of high-energy particles whose radiation can dominate the appearance of the remnant for a thousand years or more. Eventually, after rumbling across several thousand light years, the supernova remnant will disperse. The Neutron Stars The nucleus contains more than 99.9 percent of the mass of an atom, yet it has a diameter of only 1/100,000 that of the electron cloud. The electrons themselves take up little space, but the pattern of their orbit defines the size of the atom, which is therefore 99.9% open space. What we perceive as solid when we bump against a rock is really a disorder of electrons moving through empty space so fast that we can't see or feel the emptiness. Such extreme forces occur in nature when the central part of a massive star collapses to form a neutron star. The atoms are crushed completely, and the electrons are jammed inside the protons to form a star composed almost entirely of neutrons. The result is a tiny star that is like a gigantic nucleus and has no empty space. Neutron stars are strange and fascinating objects. They represent an extreme state of matter that physicists are eager to know more about. The intense gravitational field would pull your spacecraft to pieces before it reached the surface. The magnetic fields around neutron stars are also extremely strong. Magnetic forces squeeze the atoms into the shape of cigars. Even if a spacecraft carefully stayed a few thousand miles above the surface neutron star so as to avoid the problems of intense gravitational and magnetic fields, you would still face another potentially fatal hazard. If the neutron star is rotating rapidly, as most young neutron stars are, the strong magnetic fields combined with rapid rotation create an amazing generator that can produce electric potential differences of trillions of volts. Such voltages, which are 30 million times greater than those of lightning bolts, create deadly blizzards of high-energy particles. If a neutron star is in a close orbit around a normal companion star, it can capture matter flowing away from that star. This captured matter will form a disk around the neutron star from which it will spiral down and fall, or accrete, onto the neutron star. The in falling matter will gain an enormous amount of energy as it accelerates. Much of this energy will be radiated away at X-ray energies. The magnetic field of the neutron star can funnel the matter toward the magnetic poles, so that the energy release is concentrated in a column, or spot of hot matter. As the neutron star rotates, the hot region moves into and out of view and produces X-ray pulses. Black Holes When a star runs out of nuclear fuel, it will collapse. If the core, or central region, of the star has a mass that is greater than three Suns, no known nuclear forces can prevent the core from forming a deep gravitational damage in space called a black hole. A black hole does not have a surface in the usual sense of the word. There is simply a region, or boundary, in space around a black hole beyond which we cannot see. This boundary is called the event horizon. Anything that passes beyond the event horizon is doomed to be crushed as it descends ever deeper into the gravitational well of the black hole. No visible light, nor X-rays, nor any other form of electromagnetic radiation, or any particle, no matter how energetic, can escape. The radius of the event horizon (proportional to the mass) is very small, only 30 kilometres for a non-spinning black hole with the mass of 10 Suns.

How Individual Beliefs About Illness Affect Health and Treatment Essay

How Individual Beliefs About Illness Affect Health and Treatment - Essay Example Psychology is used to study the mental processes and behavior of individuals, and differs from subjects such as biology, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, and neuroscience in many ways. Mainly - and perhaps most importantly - it differs in that it is primarily concerned with not only the biological or neural processes, but more so with the interaction of mental processes and behavior and the overall processes of a system. Psychology can be framed in terms of two particular theories: phenomenological and information processing. An understanding of the brain and its functions are also included in the psychological theory and practice, and the idea of psychology is connected with a vast amount of subjects in the general society of today. Health psychology is similar to basic psychology in many ways, but the differences are more crucial; it is the use of psychological principles to promote health and prevent illness. Health psychology seriously considers the biological, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social, psychosomatic and environmental factors and how they relate to health and illness. The objective of this form of psychology is to determine the connections between psychological factors and how they relate to a person's health. There are specific behaviors which may lead a person to illness, ... The objective of this form of psychology is to determine the connections between psychological factors and how they relate to a person's health. There are specific behaviors which may lead a person to illness, and the primary purpose of health psychology is to determine these causations and to attempt to understand why a person would behave in this way. "There are many examples of this. Smoking, diet, and regular exercise all contribute to the formation of disease. Individuals with thrill seeking personalities are more likely to drive fast, making them more likely to injure themselves in car accidents." ("Wikipedia", 2006). How can Individual Beliefs About Illness Affect Health and Treatment In the health and treatment of a person, there are many factors which are undeniably involved. The psychology of a person and the matter in which it affects their well being is a crucial factor in this discussion, and must be properly understood and addressed. The Health Belief Model (HBM) was originally developed by Godfrey Hochbaum, Stephen Kegels and Irwin Rosenstock, and its initial purpose was to be "a systematic methodusedto explain and predict preventive health behavior." (McCormack Brown, 1999). In rather relative terms, the HBM focused on the relationship of health behaviors, practices and the utilization of health services. It was a rather intricate tool at the time it was created, but as of then has been revised to include general health motivation for the purpose of distinguishing illness and sick-role behavior from health behavior. In other words, the HBM studies the being of a person's motivation to undertake a health behavior and all the categories which this includes: individual perceptions, modifying behaviors, and

Dada Vs. Surrealism Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dada Vs. Surrealism - Term Paper Example The essay "Dada Vs. Surrealism" discusses dada movement and surrealism movement. Phantasmagorical is characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtapositions. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines phantasmagoria as â€Å"an exhibition of optical effects and illusions; a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined; a bizarre or fantastic combination, collection or assemblage†. Artists emerging in this period used disjunctive and bizarre comparisons and contexts to try to break through to a cultural subconscious creating new approaches to art. In the course of making their art, they wanted to expose the hypocrisy that lay at the heart of what they considered to be a decadent, bourgeois world that only they truly understood. The Dada and Surreal movements that emerged in this period were both influential in their own right. Dada began as a movement against the way art was appreciated by others while Surrealism, originally a literally movement, grew and engulfed Dada and became the most eminent movement other than Cubism at that time. Being that Surrealism is a reflection more defined by Dada, it quickly immersed Dada and thus became more influential. The Dada movement in art is roughly traced to the beginning of the First World War. It was essentially a protest carried out through the visual arts, literature, theatre and graphic design. The movement stood against what the literati considered the bourgeois nationalist and colonialist interests that led to war.

Discusstion Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discusstion - Case Study Example Most of the businesses these days are using information technology to expand their origins and this is where cyber crime comes into play. It has been found that cyber crime poses a threat of 2.4 billion to the businesses operating in the United Kingdom. Similarly it was also found that this crime brought upon a loss of $67.2 billion to the companies operating in the United States (Marsillac et al 2010). Considering the high numbers of these crimes, it is estimated that cyber crime is further increasing over time and it needs to curbed as soon as possible. Different regulatory organizations have been formed all over the world to overlook the issue of cyber crime. This essay revolves around the severity of cyber crime as it is found in the world and resorts to an option that would help to limit the crime in totality. It was found that Cyber Crime went up by 10.4 % in the year 2014 from the previous year which clearly shows a growth in the pattern of cyber crimes. In accordance to the costly cyber crimes it was found that insiders, service denials and internet attacks formed an important part of the paradigm (Kassner 2015). Discerning from the research it can be said that the most suitable policy to thwart cyber crime should revolve around the threat from the inside of the company. These insiders are the ones who know most about the company and they can easily access the information with the appropriate information. If these insiders are stopped from committing the crime, the rate can be drastically reduced. The role of managers in curbing the crimes cannot be emphasized enough but the organization should also make sure that they are following the principles of strategic survival in the market. The managers can make sure of this by affirming legitimacy to the firm which forms an utmost part of it s dealing with the competitors.

The Rise and Fall of LTCM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Rise and Fall of LTCM - Essay Example On the other hand, there are differences between hedge and mutual funds, whereby the hedge funds are managed more aggressively compared to the mutual funds, hence making it possible to take speculative positions in derivative securities like decisions to short sell stock. Moreover, this increases leverage and risk of the funds hence are making it possible for the funds to gain profits when the market is declining. On the other hand, mutual funds are not allowed to be involved in highly leveraged positions; hence, they are considered safer than the hedge funds. Main sources of LTCM initial success The main sources of success for LTCM were associated with a complex mathematical model that the company had established in order to benefit from fixed income arbitrage deals within the bonds of U.S.A, Japanese and European governments (Dunbar, 5). They applied the fundamental idea of the changes in the values of the long dated bonds issued a short time apart, which becomes similar. Neverthel ess, the bonds were approached at a different rate, and they were more traded bonds like the US Treasury bonds, whereby the long-term prices are approached more effectively, though they are less heavily traded and liquid. The other main of success factor was the financial transactions, which related to purchasing cheaper bonds, short selling them more expensive and liquid, hence generating profit from the difference in the value of the bonds. In fact, their capital grew, and they were willing to invest the capital somewhere; hence, they run out of outstanding bond-arbitrage bets leading to LTCM to apply strategies that were beyond their expertise (MacKenzie, 349). Nonetheless, their trading strategies were nonmarket directional, whereby they did not depend on the overall market interest rates or fluctuations of stock prices, since they had no convergence trades. Main reasons for LTCM collapse The success of the LTCM in the financial markets occurred within a short period, and this w as attributed to informational asymmetries by the fund managers, hence resulting to a downfall before the establishment of the East Asian financial crisis, in 1997. The downfall began with a reduction noted on the net returns in 1998 for the period between May that had 65% and June, 10.4%, resulting to a reduction of their capital by $461 million, in fact, when the Salomon Brothers withdrew from the arbitrage business in July 1998, the downfall was escalated. The losses were accentuated by crisis experienced in Russia during the month of August and September in 1998, when the bonds were defaulted in Russia by their government, leading to investors’ decision to sell European and Japanese bonds in order to purchase the treasury bonds in U.S.A due to their worries. Profits anticipated as the value of the bonds purchased in U.S.A resulted to losses due to convergence of bonds while their value diverged; consequently, the LTCM had incurred losses worth 1.85 billion dollars by the end of August. LTCM could no longer provide investors with annual returns of 40%; instead they were they went through a Flight–to-Liquidity, and in the beginning of September, their equity reduced from 2.3 billion dollars to 600 million dollars with no dwindling portfolio, and this resulted to a further increase in

Political science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Political science - Essay Example The first approach to public policy process is the focus on real social powers and institutions. This entails the social institutions within a country that are important in the formulation of public policies within a country. These institutions play important roles in public policy advocacy, promotion of citizen participation and providing the oversight role in public policy formulation (Danziger, 2013). The second approach to public policy process is the approach by formal elected leaders who form the primary axis of representation. This involves the congressional representatives who formulate public policies in the congress. Legislative bodies are effective and successful when they focus on public policies for instance those that align the goals of the community with those of the local government structures. They represent the objectives, goals and needs of the community. The third approach entails the consideration of the dynamics of different groups of pressure popularly understood as interest groups. Interest groups utilize the litigation that can achieve public policy objectives. The influence of the interest groups is a key aspect of decision-making process in public policy process (Danziger, 2013). The fourth is the historical social conditions and trends of political needs. In public policy formulation processes, these conditions and needs are considered to ensure that the public policies that are formed represent the needs of the current population but also reflect the historical social conditions in a country. The fifth and last approach is the external and internal political and economic conditions that are considered social domestic factors in the sense that they are of interest to the public within a country. These issues are therefore considered in public policy formation process because they directly

Relationships in working with young people Essay

Relationships in working with young people - Essay Example Many organisations have been on the forefront in ensuring this is a prevalent occasion as it cements the functionality of the same organisation. For instance, this project was developed to assist the youth in the working environment (The factory sequence 3: Paul’s perspective, 3’00’’). This was to improve their working environment and ensure they are comfortable with what was offered. In making this a reality, the project manager approached working youth and engaged the youth in lengthy talks. This was initiated to get information on what they needed and how they wanted it. Therefore, it openly states that communication was an ideal aspect in getting to know what the youth need in the working environment. There are many issues youth have to deal with, including employment. This is an issue that is affecting a number of families in the society. To save the situation, youths have to look for other avenues of looking for employment. This includes the informal sector, where youths have to start working to support their families. Aggressive and creative youths have to look for employment in supporting their younger siblings. This includes fending for their food, clothing, and getting enough cash to send them to school. In most cases, youths of age 16 and 17 have to look for employment to get more resources. ... In some instances, youths save enough cash and pursue their higher education later in life. This means that all is not lost, especially when youths have networks and can make strong relationships in the informal sector. Building a relationship with the youth does not cost a lot in terms of money. When building a relationship with the youth, you only need to engage in dialogue, talk about issues and make lasting friendship (The factory sequence 2: Kawsar’s perspective, 00’04’’). This is done on a frequent basis where the youth meet, exchange ideas and make decisions. This does not involve use of resources as it is a social activity. However, the issue of resources chips in when they have to make a project from their ideas. In such a case, the only resource that is spent is time. The youth have to spare enough time to relate, talk, dialogue and exchange ideas with other youth. As much as a project is in the offing, the youth will have a stronger bond and rel ationship. In making a strong relationship with the youth in the streets and factories, the project initiators engaged in frequent talks. These lively talks made a concrete bond between the youth and the project initiators. Since they communicated on a frequent basis, they gathered substantial information that could be used in developing the project. The relationship between the youth and the project initiators was enhanced by an agreement point. This is where the project initiators respected the needs of the youth and had to make better ways of giving the youths what they need. In continuous interaction with the youth, the project initiators discovered that the youth had wider perspectives

UAE School Learning System Essay Example for Free

UAE School Learning System Essay The education structure of UAE was formalized in 1953, with establishment of government funded public school system. Since then, this structure has been implemented across all the seven Emirates. Today, there are 780 public schools with approximate strength of 3 hundred thousand students across the entire UAE. The pattern of school system is formulated on standard western approach that consists of primary and secondary schools (Samaha and Shishakly, 2008). Students start their educational journey by enrolling in primary schools, which takes five years complete. The second stage spans over four years followed by the secondary schools that take another three years to complete. During the same phase, the emphasis of education has also shifted underwent a profound change to reflect the advances made in recent years in fields of information technology, shared learning, collaborative participation and leadership development among students. This paper focuses on these changes experienced by UAE education system that have helped to keep it robust and synchronized with evolving concept of education and pedagogy world wide (Felner et al. 1997). Reasons for Change in UAE School System With the advent of information technology, the former isolated model of education faced challenges that have stimulated it to transform side by side with events of rapid globalization, information technology, knowledge-driven economy, international change towards sustainable social and community developments, increased level of international interaction, competition and collaboration (Samaha and Shishakly, 2008).. Under the immense impact of these changes the UAE educational system also felt the need to incorporate numerous educational reforms and to keep it up to date and upgrade. The efforts of UAE policy-makers and educators to reform education and prepare next generations for meeting challenges of the future must be seen and understood in this context. (Cheng, 2003a, b; Hirsch Weber, 1999; Kogan Hanney, 2000; Mingle, 2000). Consistent with this approach in change is also the understanding that in a fast hanging era that educational reforms can not limit themselves to mere incorporation of information technology in its static form, but that they must absorb the philosophy of continuous action learning, creativity enhancement, and multiple intelligence development as the key elements for continued development of entire student community in view of information technology and evolution of a knowledge-based economy ((Samaha and Shishakly, 2008). Therefore, the concepts of organizational learning, collaborative partnership, shared experience, knowledge management and institutional intelligence are being inculcated the institutional level to oversee their effective transformation from confines of board room to class room(Langer, Colton, Goff, 2003). Another important facet of latest educational reforms is emphasis on creativity and lateral thinking, which are believed to be instrumental in setting up platform for lifelong accumulation of learning, action learning and continued development of intelligence. It is believed that through assimilation of these new approaches, students could be better equipped to meet with the challenges of globalization and technological changes. As a matter of fact, the major thrust of educators, both in policy and implementation, is towards action learning which is construed as fundamental in increasing the learner’s capacity to take a higher learning curve, both from intelligence and knowledge point of view (Felner et al. 1997). Schools as Learning Communities The concept of schools as learning communities has gained ground internationally where educators have come forward with idea of creating a system that would include a focus on academic achievements along with wholesome development of children, covering their emotional, analytical and personality development to help them attain a productive role in the society (Felner et al. 1997). These ideas have come forward from learning form former educational system, whose curriculum, educators felt, created a gap between intellectual, emotional and interpersonal needs of students and academic education. Thus, it impeded their learning and preparatory abilities for adulthood, along introducing a degree of vulnerability against rapid pace of global technical changes. Collaborative Learning: From the experience gained from various models of teachings practiced around the world, educators have learned that collaborative learning is among the most effective tool for imparting effective and lasting teaching to children. The premises behind collaborative learning is that students learn best when they learn together through active collaboration and participation (Felner et al. 1997). Class room research has shown that collaborative learning, which inspires students to learn in small groups is much more effective than any other form of instruction in helping them understand and retain the content. It also imparts greater degree of satisfaction to students. Adult Learning Theory: Understanding the encompassing role of education, educators have also focused on evolving new models of adult learning, in recognition of the fact that maturity and understanding level of adults sits in a completely different zone as compared to children. According to the rules set by Malcom Knowles, adult learning approaches takes in cognizance of that fact that adults are autonomous and self directed and hence the teachers need to create an expansive environment where adults are able to appreciate their own independent role in directing their course of study. Thus participation, leadership and delegation of responsibilities become effective strategies in course of adult learning models, all which aiming to provide maximum degree of self control and reliance (Langer, Colton, Goff, 2003). Meanwhile, educators have also learned to take in the life experience and knowledge factor of adults to further the goals of learning. One of the great benefit with adult teaching is that each adult has, at one point or other, something relevant to share with others, drawn out by his/her own experience pool and knowledge. Thus, the learning gets more effective and comprehensive. Also, adults are very goal oriented and practical (Samaha and Shishakly, 2008).. The time they are investing in education is either their productive time or time away from their family and hence they want maximum utilization and returns for their efforts. Educators, who have learned to appreciate these facts, have truly provided a very meaningful angel to concept of adult learning philosophy (Felner et al. 1997). Community: The present educational model lays a heavy emphasis on concept of community and shared learning. Information technology and internet has played fundamental role in furthering the concept of community where people with similar interest areas, like thinking and shared concepts get together to felicitate each other’s learning in a collaborative approach. Community is a inclusive approach in educational field where one to one instructional approach is replaced by learning through group interaction and active participation and sharing of knowledge among the members of the community. Even the role of educator, at times is not more than a member of the community. Community is an extremely useful concept in field of adult learning, specially for young adults who have high degree of familiarity with informational technology tools. Leadership: Modern educators have shed the ideas of passive education and pedantic teaching. The dynamics of global change have impressed them with creating leadership potential in every student. While certainly, there are no definite copy-book rules to construct a leader (Langer, Colton, Goff, 2003). The difficulties, complexities, and challenges associated with a situation give impetus to leadership qualities in otherwise ordinary people who believe in themselves that they are capable of rising up to the difficulties as well as helping others out of it. Therefore although it might be difficult to ‘teach’ a person quality of good leader, yet one can expect to inculcate leadership qualities by observing styles and principles of successful leaders. Leadership is then about inspiration, motivation, encouragement and direction that pulls people to accomplishments that they would not had managed if left alone (Felner et al. 1997). However, effective leadership is a very challenging domain as it requires some impeccable personal and organizational traits that can be developed and realized through considerable experience, knowledge and self- discipline. There are no fixed guidelines, set of rules and laws that exactly prescribe the traits, qualities and attributes of a successful leader. Quite often the leadership is situational and the leader is required to act purely through intuition and circumstantial requirements. However there are certain essential skills and characteristics that are rather mandatory for effective leadership are (Day and Halpin, 2004)

Personal Leadership Development Plan Education Essay

Personal Leadership Development Plan Education Essay The scientific analysis of leadership began by focusing on leaders themselves. The trait theory of leadership, as it is often called, was originally grounded in the assumption that some people are simply natural leaders by virtue of the fact that they have been endowed with certain characteristics not possessed by others. Since traits appeared to have little analytical or predictive value, leadership researches shifted their emphasis in the late 1940s and early 1950s from leader traits to leader behaviors as the basic unit of analysis. The investigation of leader traits has been more productive because researchers have constructed more appropriate theories, used better measures of traits, included more relevant traits, and used longitudinal data. Consequently a variety of personal attributes, such as energy level and emotional maturity have now been linked to effective leadership (e.g. Bass, 1990). Further, traits associated with socialized or learned motivational patterns, such as t he need for power and the need for achievement, have been empirically connected with effective managers. In addition, different types of skills, that is, interpersonal skills, technical skills, and cognitive skills appear to be relevant to managerial success. The cumulative traits in an individual make him/her decide the best for his future and lead for him the path of glory. The same goes for me as well as there lies some unrigged traits in me that drives me towards the development of a specific leadership plan for me, according to my inherited features. The trait of making people come to a common conclusion inherits in me, which gives me an insight as to being a strong leader. Though this trait is not dominant in me yet, but with the growth of my mind and body, I would want to work on this trait of mine to utilize the positives. Also, the art of misleading people at times, in order to get the work out, is not visibly seen in me. Therefore, the specific nuances that are required to become a complete leader is missing in my overall personality. The positives would be taken by me in all its valid respects, and the negatives would be scrolled out viciously. LEADERSHIP STYLES The path-goal model identified four distinct types of leader behaviors: 1. Supportive leadership Leaders with this style show concern for the well being and personal needs of subordinates. 2. Directive leadership Leaders with this style provide specific guidance for subordinates by setting standards of performance, scheduling and coordinating work efforts, and asking subordinates to follow rules and regulations. 3. Achievement-oriented leadership This style of leadership involves setting challenging goals, seeking improvements in performance, emphasizing excellence in performance, and showing confidence that subordinates will achieve high levels of performance. 4. Participative leadership Leaders with this style solicit suggestions and advice from subordinates and take this information into account when making decisions. The most prominent leadership style in me is of Participative. This is because the instinct of participation has always been dominant in me, which has further encouraged me to take various decisions. The art of listening to others patiently and finalizing my own opinions yet has been firmly rooted within me. Contrary to this, stands the authoritative style of leadership. This style lies on the harsher side of an individual, and therefore, an individual like me is refrained from such a style. Moreover, if there lies any possibility of me getting prone to this leadership style, I shall make sure that I utilize it to the best of my ability, without making it a bane for anyone. LEADERSHIP SKILLS Developing leadership skills is a continuous process which needs to be sharpened throughout a persons career. In order to develop my leadership skills, I will first need to take stock of my existing leadership skills, strengths and weaknesses. While doing this, what would be required of me is the consideration of the difference between leadership and management. Though the leadership skills incorporate the elements of charisma, dependability, flexibility, judgment, integrity, courage, individual consideration etc, I would like to inculcate some of the dominant skills while framing my personality plan. These skills would include the element of intellectual stimulation, charisma and individual consideration. Charisma to be quoted in a single sentence, can be defined as ones ability to entrust respect, trust and faith, which according to me, is the most required. Another pertinent leadership skill that I would like to imbibe is intellectual stimulation. It is the ability to make others working in the organization make use of facts and logic so as to extract new ways of solving problems. These elements shall make my plan of personality a worth while option. TEAM BUILDING Another trait of leadership is team building, which can prove to be a success or a failure of a leader. Team building is a catch all term for a whole list of techniques aimed at improving the internal functioning of work groups (Kreitner et al., 2002). Whether conducted by company trainers or outside consultants, team building workshops strive for greater cooperation, better communication, and less dysfunctional conflict. Experiential learning techniques such as interpersonal trust exercises, conflict-handling role play sessions, and interactive games are common. Rote memorization and lectures/discussions are discouraged by team-building experts who prefer this sort of active versus passive learning. Greater emphasis is placed on how work groups get the job done than on the job itself. Team building generally is carried out in the name of organization development (OD). The extensive use of team building appears to be justified. The element of team building is something which I personally appreciate in any individual and therefore, talking about me, the imbibing of this very power would be addressed by me further. In order to be strong leaders and in order to develop a personal leadership plan, my emphasis would be on building and leading groups. This way a sense of team would be visible in my skills, in turn making me a perfect leader. COMMUNICATION The issue of communication is vital for the successful functioning of any organization. All organizations normally establish formal mechanisms and processes of vertical and lateral lines or channels of communication to provide the means by which information, facts, ideas, proposals, emotions, feelings, opinions and problems can be exchanged. According to Kelly, the term Communication may be defined as the field of knowledge which deals with the systematic application of symbols to acquire common information regarding an object or event. Communication and information feed the quality of all human relations in organizations. Good communications underlie good relations and exchange the general quality of working life, motivation and morale. Bad and inadequate communications lead to frustration, and enhance feelings of alienation and lack of identity and unity. Choosing the right kind of communication is crucial in forming a leadership plan and it depends a lot on the culture of a region. My communication style depends partly on whether the addressees make a high or low contribution in the communication process. My communication style is more participative as I belong to a culture in which there is more of a democratic style of functioning. The style of communication also depends on whether a culture is individualistic or collective. Since there are some traits of collective culture, therefore, my emphasis is more on the group achievement, rather than on the individual achievement. The leadership skills primarily incorporate the element of communication, which in turn exhibit the vital ingredients that are necessary to be referred while communicating with an individual. I would certainly like to acquire some of the pertinent communication skills that would make me a jack in the field of leadership. These skills would incorporate the tinge of activeness and vigor to impress the one standing on the other side. Another important communication skill that I would like to imbibe is the ability to convince the other. This would make several doors open for me while planning my steps in the development of the leadership plan. II. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES My utmost and peripheral strength is my ability to work hard. Hard-work and perseverance are considered the most vital elements for gaining an upper hand on the other individual. While developing the leadership development plan, the foremost thing that I shall adhere to is gathering my strengths together and making the best possible use of it in my career. My ability to lead shall make me more eligible for succumbing to the development of my leadership development plan. The only way to lead in life is therefore, to accumulate all the hidden strengths and wave off all the imbibed weaknesses, which spoils the entire plan in a go. Being a bit of short tempered, I tend to lose my patience at times. This can prove to be a very negative trait of mine while developing my leadership plan. Therefore, in order to become a successful leader, I would have to eradicate this flaw or weakness of mine and work on the further inevitability of the same. This shall make the whole process of developing a plan reach the set targets. Patience is said to be the key of success, therefore, this trait would be duly inculcated by me in its set limits. III. PERSONAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTENT THEORIES OF MOTIVATION The earliest content theory of scientific management was pioneered by Frederick W. Taylor, Frank Gilbreth and Henry L. Gantt. The scientific management theory of motivation considered money to be the only incentive. Subsequent theories began to consider factors such as working conditions and work security to be incentives. Still later, the possibility of satisfying higher level needs or motives also came to be considered as incentives. Examples of such needs are: the needs for esteem and self- actualization, identified by Maslow; responsibility, recognition, achievement and advancement as proposed by Herzberg; and growth and personal development as identified by Alderfer. The most popular extension and refinement of Maslows theory of needs is the one proposed by Alderfer (1972). While Maslows model was not developed specifically for work organizations, Alderfers theory attempted to establish a conceptualization of human needs that are relevant to organizational settings. In extending Maslows theory Alderfer argued that the need categories could be grouped into three more general classes: Existence, Relatedness and Growth. Under the content theories of motivation, Maslows hierarchy of needs goes best with my actual self. The five step needs are essential for any individual to survive. In order to form a leadership development plan, the scope of motivation must be wide and diverse. To begin with, the physiological and safety needs are the foundation that makes me stand stiff towards the commencement of leadership plan. Furthermore, the love, esteem and self actualization needs stand erect in strengthening my base and applying such a theory in my practical life to grow higher. Also, Alderfers ERG theory of motivation plays a great role in growing higher and leading high. This will help in developing a synchronized plan of leadership for me. PROCESS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION There are three process theories of motivation namely Equity Theory, Vrooms Expectancy Theory and The Porter-Lawler Model. First proposed by Stacey Adams, the equity theory is completely based on the basic ground that people aspire to get treated fairly. The theory propounds that equity is nothing better than a belief that states that we are being treated equally as compared to the others. It also defines that inequity is just a belief that we are being treated unfairly in comparison to others. Adams describes the equity comparison process in terms of input/outcome ratios. Inputs are an individuals contributions to the organization, such as education, experience, effort and loyalty. Outcomes are what he or she receives in return, such as pay, recognition, social relationships and intrinsic rewards. Speaking about the Vrooms Expectancy Theory, Vroom (1964) presented the first systematic formulation of expectancy theory developed specifically for work situations. According to Vroom (1964) employees rationally evaluate various work behaviors. Put another way, employees will decide to apply effort to those tasks that they find attractive and that they believe they can perform. The attractiveness of a particular task depends upon the extent to which the employee believes that its accomplishment will lead to valued outcomes. Porter and Lawler extended the highly known Vrooms (1964) expectancy model. They agreed with Vroom that employee effort is jointly determined by the valence that employees place on certain outcomes and the degree to which people and their efforts will lead to the attainment of these rewards. However, Porter and Lawler emphasize that effort may not necessarily result in performance. Furthermore, they contend that the relationship between valencies and expectancies, on the one hand, and effort or motivation, on the other, is more complicated than Vrooms model suggests. When it comes on which process theory suits me, I think the Porter- Lawler method suits me the best. It webs my efforts, performance, rewards and satisfaction in a systematic queue that enhances my work motivation and makes me a more worthwhile individual. It is generally said that a happy worker is a productive worker and I personally desire to inherit the same within me. The how of motivation is explained under the process theory of motivation. The deep down cognitive antecedents are subdued in my personality, making my ladder of career taller and taller. My desire to perform in every field and extract wonderful results boosts me to apply certain elements of process theories of motivation in my very self. 5 FACTOR PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE The five factors that I espouse to inhibit within me in its complete respect are the elements of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness and agreeableness. The quality of extraversion is deep seated in my personality but as and when I am progressing towards the overall grooming, I am quite inquisitive to form such a leadership development plan that brings out my inner talent and positive qualities. I would certainly go by the factors of agreeableness and conscientiousness too. This would in turn strengthen my plan in totality. LEADERSHIP THEORIES AND CONCEPTS There are many different leadership theories that have been developed. The first one is Leader Traits. The scientific analysis of leadership began by focusing on leaders themselves. The trait theory of leadership, as it is often called, was originally grounded in the assumption that some people are simply natural leaders by virtue of the fact that they have been endowed with certain characteristics not possessed by others. Since traits appeared to have little analytical or predictive value, leadership researches shifted their emphasis in the late 1940s and early 1950s from leader traits to leader behaviors as the basic unit of analysis. The investigation of leader traits has been more productive because researchers have constructed more appropriate theories, used better measures of traits, included more relevant traits, and used longitudinal data. Consequently a variety of personal attributes, such as energy level and emotional maturity have now been linked to effective leadership (e .g. Bass, 1990). Further, traits associated with socialized or learned motivational patterns, such as the need for power and the need for achievement, have been empirically connected with effective managers. In addition, different types of skills, that is, interpersonal skills, technical skills, and cognitive skills appear to be relevant to managerial success. The apparent failure of trait approaches to the study of leadership, by the end of the 1940s, led researchers to adopt a new focus for their work during the 1950s. Instead of personal attributes, investigators began to concentrate on leader behaviors as explanatory variables. This approach compares the behaviors of effective leaders with those of ineffective ones. Two major research projects investigating leader behaviors were initiated at about the same time. One was a research effort conducted at Ohio State University. The other was a program undertaken at the University of Michigan by Likert and his colleagues. Leadership theories though are self explanatory and inviting to plan a better development plan of leadership, yet my development plan focuses on the trait theory of leadership. This gives an insight to the different traits that are present in every individual differently, irrespective of its form and format. The leadership traits that I found to be the most tempting are leadership motivation, which implies having a desire to lead but not being hungry for power at the same time. The drive, honesty and integrity are other related traits in the trait theory of leadership, but out of all these traits, the best suited for me is the drive and cognitive ability. It insinuates me to lead in a better way, no matter how hard a circumstance I am being put in. Drive is a force that incorporates energy, initiative, achievement, ambition and tenacity and I feel all these traits are present in me, somewhere or the other, but are not yet prominent. But I shall nourish these traits within me, without any hustle and bustle. IV. CONCLUSION Hence my leadership development plan would be such that it makes me an overall groomed individual, inhibiting the leading traits of empathy, patient listener, leadership motivation, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Also, since I inherit features like extraversion, cognitive antecedents and strong determination, I would aspire to go smooth on the path of success, by droving along the aforementioned inhabitants. Group achievement is another aspect that I would be dealing with in order to form a strong place for myself in the dynamic world of leadership. My plan of leadership development would therefore be inclusive of all the positive traits and skills quoted by me above and would exclude most of the unwanted features.

Annette Lareau: Annotated Bibliography

Annette Lareau: Annotated Bibliography Critical Annotated Bibliography of key texts focused on  Annette Lareaus reserach Social researchers have stressed the importance of understanding the social stratification and its impact on children and parents as a whole (Lareau A, 1999). Annette Lareau is a professor of Sociology at University of Pennsylvania. She achieved her PhD in Sociology from University of California, Berkley.   Her ground- breaking research involves, investigating questions like the influence of social stratification on families.   She has done substantial fieldwork examining the lives of American people. She has focused on the impact of social structural forces, parenting styles like concerted cultivation, educational inequalities and if they participate towards shaping vital aspects of childrens lives.   She has written many books and articles stressing on how class can make or break families present and future. Her work contributes to broaden our understanding towards the class system. The body of Annette Lareaus work that I have chosen assesses vital issues in American society, which effects children, parents and families as a whole.   It discusses vital issues like the role of class system in middle class, working class and poor families in raising their children, their daily lives, varying parenting styles and their role in childrens present and future prospects. Lareau, A., 2011. Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. University of California Press. Annette Lareaus book Unequal Childhoods with an update a decade later is a step forward in comprehending the importance of learning and understanding the impact of class system on family lives and parenting styles in African American and White families and is an excellent effort to fill in the gap in relevant research studies. She investigated how parental practices differ among White, Black, middle class, working class and poor families and the role it plays in shaping childrens future conclusively. Annette showed that class system plays a vital role in American families lives and uncovered the practices involved in reproduction of inequalities in the society. The author performed in-depth studies with 12 different families using participant observation as her studying approach providing detailed information about the families. Children participating in the study were aged 9-10 years old.   As part of the research, the author with the support of her assistants spent about one month with the families and gathered detailed information about them.   The research involved following the participants to afterschool activities, doctors visit and spent time at their homes. A key point that Lareaus ethnographic study showed is a particular parenting approach called concerted cultivation.   While visiting participant families, she observed that Black and White middle class families are very much involved in facilitating their children to achieve their goals.   They encourage, inspire and monitor their childrens academic achievements and play an active role in their lives. These parents were always interested in listening to their childrens voice and did not discourage them to show their opinions.   As a result, these children became more confident in speaking their minds, which helped them to develop their overall confidence, self-esteem and development.   In contrast, the rearing style of children belonging to working class and poor families in both Black and White families were limited due to lack of resources.   They relied on schools to take care of their children and gave their children extra time to play.   She contrasted these two parenting approaches and discovered that both of these parenting styles were beneficial, but children belonging to middle class were more successful in schools. She argues that African American families face racial discrimination in many areas e.g. employment and live in racially segregated neighbourhoods but interestingly,   White and African-American middle class families follow the same parenting style and there was no observation of racial discrimination. An exclusive point that Lareau observed was the conversational differences between parents and children e.g. children from middle class families were mostly involved in engaging conversations with adults, which helped these children to gain confidence.   Whereas, the parents of children from working and poor families showed authority and the children mostly showed compliance and rarely participated in engaging conversations with adults.   These differences show how middle class children acquire confidence and grasp the ability to demand whereas working class children are not very demanding. In conclusion, this study showed that class matters more than race but provided limited discussion on the impact of race in childrens lives and their future and lacks the information on the role of extended families in middle class young adults. Lareau recognises that there is a gap in studying the effects of class in childrens lives, positive parenting strategies and inequality due to class and therefore calls for   in-depth research in this field. Lareau has performed a review on her study by visiting the families again.  Ã‚   Children involved in the study are now young adults.   She interviewed these young adults their siblings and parents.   Lareau discovered that the importance of social class, she had observed when these children were younger (10yrs) old developed with time. Middle class parents kept playing an active role in their childrens lives despite them moving away from their homes.   These young adults continued seeking parents guidance. Their parents were massively involved in handling situations to increase their growth potential. On the contrary, parents belonging to working class and poor families considered their children now grown ups and the young adults agreed to this view.   Extended families play an important role in shaping children belonging to working class and poor family children. In conclusion, middle class children accomplished more educational achievements than the working class and poor family kids. Parenting styles shape childrens lives as they grow into young adults to prepare them for independent successful lives. Overall, an excellent and enlightening study. Lareau, A., 2002. Invisible inequality: Social class and childrearing in black families and white families. American sociological review, pp.747-776. This research studies the effects of social class, culture, race and their interaction by investigating the function and contribution of social class system in children ages of 7-10 years old. Using an ethnographic data, Lareau aims to study the associations and connections among Black and White parents, their children and distinctions in childrearing techniques.   She found that class differences are more noticeable than racial differences and that parenting styles are a way to reproduce class-based advantages. Lareau compares two different parenting approaches to learn and report their benefits and disadvantages. Middle class parents encouraged their children to be highly involved in extracurricular activities using a concerted paradigm to stimulate and develop their talents and capabilities. On the contrary, working class parents used the childrearing method called accomplishment of natural growth paradigm.   This method involves providing, love and care for the children, givi ng them a lot of freedom and unregulated recreation time and space. As a result, Lareau observed that middle class children found it easy to adapt to the school environment, as they followed the same expectations and structured activities at home. These parents encouraged, praised and respected their childrens wishes and these positive elements were an ongoing feature of middle class families. Lareau argues that the range of activities influence family lives. The importance of structured activities results in weak family and social bonds. The author points out that as middle class children were so busy participating in after school activities they barely had any time to visit their extended families. However, this study involved limited; discussion about childrens relationship with extended families e.g. grandparents. Another important point that Laruea raised in this research is the use of language. She observed that middle class children engaged in healthy discussions with their parents and other professionals whereas, working class and poor families did not involve in continued discussions frequently with their parents.   All parents and children were involved in having conversations with professionals, but middle class children were more skilful in holding conversations with others.   The study shows that socioeconomic status can influence social connections. Children from working and poor family background has a wider range of social connections in compare to the middle class children. The author showed, that race does not seem to have a great impact in shaping childrens lives.   Although Black parents were increasingly worried about their childrens lives outside due to racial problems. In conclusion, this is an enlightening ethnographical study, with expressive and illuminative data, but as it is concentrated on a small sample therefore; it is very difficult to generalise the results to public. Lareau, A., 2000. Social class and the daily lives of children, A study from the United States. Childhood, 7(2), pp.155-171. Laurae strived to explore the social class differences by designing and performing a detailed and comprehensive study in comparison to studies performed in the past where childrens research was limited to the contexts of schools and families.   Childrens out of school activities have a significant influence on middle class parents lives.   The author provides a detailed account of how parents felt when they had to make time to take their children to participate in out of school activities. This article aims to investigate the function of social class in moulding and forming daily lives of children. This study discusses three main issues, what shapes childhood, rhythm and pace of life and to what extent parents and childrens lives interact with each other. The author collected detailed ethnographic data of children aged 7-10 years old.   Eighty children participated in this study from African American or White families over the period of 3 years.   The author aimed to observe the associations between children and parents in their daily lives. The study took place in North-eastern metropolis and Midwestern community in a white working class neighbourhood. The study involved interviews from all mothers and most fathers and childrens classroom observations. While observing children from middle and working class families, Lareau found that their lives are very different from each other.   Middle class boys occupied themselves in structured activities arranged by their parents/carers and focused on developing new skills.   Whereas, working class boys spent their time participating in informal activities e.g. free play, visiting kin and hanging out. Working class boys were much more social then middle class boys.  Ã‚   She revealed that both parenting approaches has benefits and drawbacks.   This research-studied boy in more detail than girls and some gender differences were observed e.g. girls were encouraged to participate in gymnastics rather than football.   The author states that covering aspects of race, gender and class can also show us if there is any link between these categories. The research reports that African American people has a fear of being subject to discrimination from White people and encouraged their children to be friends with black children which confirms the racial inequalities in the society. The result showed that children from middle class families spent time in structured activities organised by adults.   The foundations of these activities are skill development and public performances, which may result in knowledge enhancement.   The structures of these activities were very similar to school activities; therefore, attending school was a similar but not exclusive experience for these middle children. Observing the working class children shows a different picture.   These children do not follow a structural system in their lives; they do find organised and structured activities somewhat difficult. They liked to hang out and visit their extended families.   Lareau claims that race does not play a sufficient role but the role of class differences are clear in the daily lives of children. Overall, this is a fantastic detailed ethnographical study, which uses only a small sample of participants from limited sides of community and the author did not mention the methods employed to examine the collected data set.   Weininger, E.B., Lareau, A. and Conley, D., 2015. What Money Does not buy: Class Resources and Childrens Participation in Organized Extracurricular Activities. Social Forces, 94(2), pp.479-503. In this study Lareau et al, aimed to examine an important question of significance, which is class position in the society and its effects on childrens lives. In the past researchers have concentrated on family resources and school characteristics.   The authors stepped up this research by moving towards how children spent their time in after school activities and whether race and class differences influence childrens lives.   They concentrated on the belief that middle class parents involvement in their childrens lives encourages them to participate in structured afterschool activities, which consequently leads to future success. This research deployed a large national data set to analyse the influence of class.   The sample is restricted to Black and White children.   The children participated in this study were only chosen from private or public schools.   The author employed longitudinal survey data and time diaries collected in 2002-2003 in order to get comprehensive list of childrens activities within the course of 24-hour periods. Lareau et al aimed to investigate class differences and stated that parents from all social groups consider childrens participation in extracurricular activities vital, but some parents face challenges and constraints for example transportation or lack of time. Another key point that they revealed in this study is that parents approaches to childrearing are different due to social class.   Middle class parents practice concerted cultivation parenting style and encourage their children to participate in after school activities to support them to enhance their academic and career goals and aspirations. Observing the working class and poor families revealed that they prioritise their focus on their childrens protection and let them participate in informal play and give them space.  Ã‚   The study-employed good confound control to get robust results. The Lareau et al argues that average American children are spending approximately 4 hours weekly engaging in extracurricular activities, but children from middle class engage in a lot more activities.   Their mothers are more educated and they have resources to support their children to participate in more extracurricular activities.   The study showed that childrens engagement in extracurricular activities are related to positive results in education and employment. The authors explored the question, whether it is just the class inequalities, which differentiates families decision for their children to participate in extracurricular activities or is there a link with cultural values, as well? The authors identifies that socioeconomic status of families has a direct impact on how children spend their time after school. Due to high expenditures childrens participation in afterschool activities varied for e.g. people living in small cities and rural areas spent less money on childrens extracurricular activities less than families living in larger cities. The results of this study states that it is not just the materialistic resources, which matters maternal education, demographic characteristics e.g., gender, age, race other factors like work, labour market and cultural aspects they are all important.   The study does not discuss whether atypical childrens participation in extracurricular activities was any different from typically developing children. The study is restricted to Black and White American families. The study reveals that socioeconomic status matters, but just removing these barriers is not a guarantee that children will enrol in extracurricular activities.   Cultural aspects also influences how much time and money parents spend on children to participate in these activities. Weininger, E.B. and Lareau, A., 2009. Paradoxical pathways: An ethnographic extension of Kohns findings on class and childrearing. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(3), pp.680-695. Class division is a vital topic of research in family studies.   A few studies have focused on its influence on family lives.   Reflecting on detailed interviews the authors aimed to extend Melvin Kohns study on childrearing standards by investigating parental responsibilities to autonomy and conformity. The study provided effective theoretical and empirical background of Melvin Kohns research studies on social stratification.   Using a secondary data, which involved 88 children aged 8-10 years old selected randomly. The participants were children from two elementary school classrooms.   The study-involved even number of American Black and White children but only involved a small number of Hispanics and Asians.   Although, it would have been useful to employ even number of all races as Hispanics and Asians are important part of American society. Lareau et al found that parents from middle class families encouraged their children to have self-control and self-direction and the results are consistent with Kohns research. It is difficult to conclude a general connection between class, self-direction and conformity The author raised the issue of variation in parental values on extracurricular activities for children. The author observed variation in values across different economic class of the families.   Middle class families were keen to expose their children to successful life chances and options while keeping them under supervision, which enhanced childrens self-esteem, self-confidence, self-worth and helped them to do well in their present and future.   Working and poor class families on the other hand did not give much importance to send their children for leisure activities.   They used their resources to provide and protect their children and they let their children develop naturally. The study shows a complicated picture of child rearing and emphasizes the need to understand parental values and parental behaviours in detail. It will be a step forward to continue to study the influence of social stratification on families. Conclusion: Annette Lareau has contributed immensely in the field of sociology.   She has ingrained herself researching American families in order to investigate how social inequality continue to sustain itself and is passed on generation after generation. The key texts are current and are grounded in sociology and psychology. The common thread in these studies are the impact of class and the role of parenting in childrens lives. There are commonalities among the texts such as middle class parents use concerted parenting styles by providing opportunities, supervised learning experiences to their children for their best interest, and do well. She has worked hard with American, families to show how class differences and children rearing techniques differ from working class to middle class and poor families and the impact of these differences on childrens future prospects. She showed that parenting is not as simple as saying that bad parents raise their children ineffectively and good parents raise children who are successful in their lives. It is much more complex. While investigating the class inequalities in American families Lareau study regarding working-class families is very influential.   Her research with working class reveals that class reflects cultural and economic variations.   Lareaus approaches of researching with children and families are very ambitious and effective.   She employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches in her research for the results to be robust.   Her research helps us to understand the effects of class and race on children in middle, working and poor class families. These studies show new light to sociologists, social scientists, and anthropologists, a new direction towards learning how race, culture and parenting fuse together and play a role in shaping childrens lives.   The author identifies the importance of both parenting styles but the author does not describe which one is more effective, when it interacts with race. These studies raise an important question. Do middle class parents work harder in supporting their children in school and teach them how to deal with racism than working and poor families?   Race and class inequalities can make childrens lives much more difficult and their future insecure. Social scientists can carry her research forward by focusing on which parental approach is more beneficial for children and how class and race interacts. Bibliography: Lareau, A., 2011. Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. Univ of California Press. Lareau, A., 2002. Invisible inequality: Social class and childrearing in black families and white families. American sociological review, pp.747-776. Lareau, A., 2000. Social class and the daily lives of children, A study from the United States. Childhood, 7(2), pp.155-171. Lareau, A. and Horvat, E.M., 1999. Moments of social inclusion and exclusion race, class, and cultural capital in family-school relationships. Sociology of education, pp.37-53. Weininger, E.B., Lareau, A. and Conley, D., 2015. What Money Does not buy: Class Resources and Childrens Participation in Organized Extracurricular Activities. Social Forces, 94(2), pp.479-503. Weininger, E.B., and Lareau, A., 2009. Paradoxical pathways: An ethnographic extension of Kohns findings on class and childrearing. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(3), pp.680-695. http://currents.ucsc.edu/05-06/11-28/lareau.asp Education and Stratification in Developing Countries: A Review of Theories and Research Annual Review of Sociology Vol.27:1-504 (Volume publication date August 2001) DOI: 10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.77 Education and Stratification in Developing Countries: A Review of Theories and Research Annual Review of Sociology Vol.27:1-504 (Volume publication date August 2001) DOI: 10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.77

Freshwater Mussels Essay -- Marine Life Mollusks Conservation Essays

Freshwater Mussels Mussels are a species of marine life that inhabits many of the bodies of water in the United States. They serve as an important aspect of the ecological system of the water in which they occupy. However, the number of mussels have been declining such that many are now considered as endangered species. There are a few reasons for the decline in population, including domination by a single species of mussels called the zebra mussel. Conservation has begun on mussels because of their strong environmental influence. The two groups interested in mussels involve parties that use the lakes for recreation and consider mussels as a threat to their gaming as well as ecologists that understand the domination of zebra mussels and attempt to protect the native mussels from the zebra mussels. Mussels are in a group of invertebrate animals called mollusks. Freshwater mussels are also referred to as clams, naiads, and unionids. Mussels spend its life anchored in rivers or lake bottom sediments. The vast majority of them are found in streams. Their movement is through either muscular feet or powerful flood currents. A mussel captures oxygen and microscopic food particles in flowing water through filtration (Vermont's Freshwater WWW). Mussels continuously pump water through their bodies. Water enters through the incurrent or branchial siphon and exits via the excurrent or anal siphon (Mussel Biology WWW). This pumping process allows the mussel to filter food from the water. The food consists of detritus, organic matter found on the stream, and plankton which are microscopic plants and animals suspended in water (Mussel Biology WWW). Mussels are long lived species with some living more than 10 years. Others have been record... ...reissena polymorpha. NAS. Prepared by the Florida Caribbean Science Center of the Biological Resources Division: http://www.nfrcg.gov/zebra.mussel/docs/sp_account.html#HDR2. Mussel Biology. http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cwe/wwwtest/mussel/Pages/introduction.html Vermont's Freshwater Mussels Uniqueness and Diversity, Now Under Siege. The Nature Conservancy of Vermont. http://tnc.org/searchtnc.html (second listing under search for mollusk). West Coast Mollusc Culture: A present and future perspective proceedings of a California Sea Grant Workshop in cooperation with the Pacific Sea Grant College Program. edited by Rosemary Amidei. La Jolla, CA California Sea Grant College Program, Institute of Maine Resources, University of California 1988: 87 pages. Zebra Mussel: Dreissena polymorpha. http://tnc.org/searchtnc.html (first listing under search for mollusk).