Compulsive Buying Behavior as a Lifestyle

Compulsive Buying Behavior as a Lifestyle Introduction On April 1900, Paris held a world trade fair, which brought together people from different consumer markets to celebrate past technological achievements and gain an insight into potential futuristic developments.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on Compulsive Buying Behavior as a Lifestyle specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The trade fair portrayed the potential of the then and future civilizations to deploy technology, creativity, and innovation to create more consumables to better the life of the future generations. The trade fair set the foundation for availing more products and services in the marketplace. Primarily, products are availed in the markets for consumers to buy and the buying behaviors are subject to various factors. The organizations’ ability to generate sales revenue is greatly influenced by their capacity to influence the consumers’ buying behavior. However, Grant, Clark e, and Kyriazis (2013) affirm that the consumer buying behavior is complex because it is influenced by internal and external factors. The academic trend in studying buying behaviors views them as personality disorders. This approach holds that consumers purchase products compulsively due to anxiety or depression associated with not buying the same products. This research takes a different approach of studying the consumers’ buying behaviors from what is in the current academic trend. Rather than studying buying behaviors as compulsive disorders, it studies them as lifestyles driven by societal pressures. Without these behaviors, people are rejected from a given societal class. Compulsive behavior varies according to various demographic differences. For example, women are highly compulsive buyers as opposed to men. However, this conclusion is based on what the society considers as abnormal or normal.Advertising Looking for dissertation on psychology? Let's see if we ca n help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For a considerable duration, some societies have conceptualized normality in terms of men’s behaviors. This perspective suggests that if compulsive buying behavior is more prevalent amongst women as compared to men, it is considered abnormal. This paper refutes such as a conclusion. This paper’s aims and objectives are three-fold. It conducts a systematic review of the current literature on personality and personality disorders literature coupled with how they contribute to the compulsive buying behaviors. The second objective entails an investigation of whether compulsive behavior is a personality disorder. Thirdly, it studies the possibility of compulsive behavior being a lifestyle as opposed to a personality disorder. The study has significant contributions to the academic research on consumer buying behaviors. The dissertation overlooks different factors increasing the prevalence of compulsive buying behavior (CBB) or aggravating it. Stressing on some of these factors is necessary since it has not been projected in previous studies of compulsive buying behavior. Therefore, it sets forth a different paradigm of understanding CBB. This aspect offers a different way for formulating policies and programs for industries for promoting their products by designing and marketing products and services to meet the lifestyles leading to purchases. Shopping is an essential component of daily life (Li, Unger Bi, 2014). However, purchasing without considering its consequences is impulsive, which may lead to anxiety and unhappiness. The main challenge arises when it becomes frequent and uncontrollable. The paper is organized into four sections. Section 1 reviews the available literature on compulsive buying behaviors and their association with personality and personality disorders. Section 2 discusses the research methodology. Section 3 presents the results and findings of the research study.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on Compulsive Buying Behavior as a Lifestyle specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Literature review Compulsive buying behavior Shopping entails an important aspect of all people coupled with the economy. While this aspect is a normal behavior, challenges emerge when people overindulge in it without paying attention to its consequences. More focus in buying behaviors has been on compulsive purchasing as it has negative consequences for individuals. Neuner, Raab, and Reisch (2005) support this assertion adding that more focus on research on compulsive purchasing behavior is due to the view that it is more prevalent among consumers of all demographic differences. Marketing research focuses on understanding the people’s shopping culture and sought after products and services so that its research and design can focus on these attributes to attract high sales. Indeed, much of the work on this topic has been conducted from marketing research perspective. Dittmar, Long, and Bond (2007) suggest that people having compulsive purchasing behavior have high probabilities of experiencing strong buying desire, which overcomes the harms of the compulsion on financial coupled with social aspects of life. Faber and O’Guinn (1992) add that such people do not possess the mechanism for differentiating between abnormal and normal buying behaviors. The question then remains as the origin of such behaviors. Some studies cite compulsive buying as a psychological problem. Traditionally, psychologists have viewed personality as a distinction criterion for people’s behaviors. Behaviorism encompasses one of the important schools of thought explaining why people engage in some behaviors and not others. The big five traits theory also explains the differences among people indecision-making.Advertising Looking for dissertation on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Experimental analysis of people’s behaviors suggests that interactions with the environment influence one’s personality. However, Goodstein and Lanyon (2009) argue that internal thinking processes coupled with feelings are critical in influencing and structuring of people’s personalities. Studying compulsive behavior from the perspective of behavioral psychology introduces some challenges depending on the psychological theoretical arguments used. For example, traditional psychologists tested how behaviors influence personality through animal experimentation. They believed that animals and people shared similarities in terms of the learning process. However, as Goodstein and Lanyon (2009) argue, human learning processes are progressive. The psychological behavioral theory explains the dynamic process of obtaining the new learning, which shapes one’s personality. After learning behaviors, Goodstein and Lanyon (2009) suggest that before inflexibility of the personality, people can experience emotional responses towards a given situation, thus causing a personality change. However, as learning continues, it slows down the personality, thus causing stabilization. This assertion implies that people experience stable responses towards a give environmental stimulus (Stricker, Widiger Weiner, 2003). Influenced by this pedagogy, marketers deploy classical conditioning to enhance the consumption of their products. This aspect explains the divergent views on how conditioning influences behaviors. Neuner et al (2005) argue that emotions do not affect operant conditioning (behaviors). Behaviors should be studied from paradigms of environmental influences. Psychological behaviorism holds that classical coupled with operant conditions play significant roles in influencing people’s behaviors (Pachauri, 2001). Several factors may contribute to people’s emotional responses. These constitute the thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions affecti ng people’s emotional responses to the specific stimulus. Physiological behaviorism links emotions demonstrated by individuals with responses to the biological and environmental stimuli. These emotions can be affirmative or negative toward different stimuli. For example, a positive pulse to a food stimulus or a negative emotion in response to the stimuli causes dislike and unwanted feeling. This aspect suggests that microtonal responses can help in increasing a purchasing behavior of a given products. Li et al. (2014) define compulsive buying behavior as chronic tendency for purchasing products and services in response to negative conditions and feelings. The behaviors encompass an unconditioned response towards desires for goods or services and feelings of depression due to anxiety. This aspect implies that the desire to purchase specific types of services or goods leads tithe development of compulsive behavior. The absence of these products or services induces stress or anx iety, which induces the compulsive buying behavior. The five-personality dimension theory may also influence people’s behaviors, viz. the compulsive purchasing behavior. Indeed, Mueller, Mitchell, Claes, Faber, Fischer, and De Zwaan (2011) believe that personality plays important roles in influencing compulsive buying behavior. Personality refers to â€Å"the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others† (Goodstein Lanyon, 2009, p.291). It is measured by the traits that people exhibit. Research on personality in an organizational context has focused on labeling various traits, which describe employees and customer behaviors. Some of the personality traits that have been established by various researches as having the ability to influence the behavior of people include ambition, loyalty, aggressiveness, agreeableness, submissiveness, laziness, assertiveness, and being extroverted among others. Kihlstrom, Beer, and Klein (2002) posit,  "Neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness comprise the big five personality traits† (p. 84). These traits can define factors characterizing consumer behavior as a personality type. Literature considering roles of big five-personality traits theory in compulsive buying theory depicts incompatibilities in their results. However, consciousness encompasses an important trait, which can explain the differences in compulsive behaviors among different consumers. Mueller et al. (2011) argue that although consciousness may be important in explaining differences in consumption behavior, which is important in predicting compulsive buying behavior, neuroticism does not relate to the behavior. Borrowing from the work of Otero-Là ³pez and Pol (2013), consumers fall into three groups, viz. high, medium, and low propensity in terms of their buying behaviors. According to Kihlstrom et al. (2002), the group â€Å"having the highest propensity possesses the hig hest levels of neuroticism and lowest consciousness† (p. 85). The group also features the highest level of neuroticism, which includes anxiety, depression, and impulsiveness. Conversely, the group has relative to medium and low compulsive buying behaviors. Propensity groups have the weakest extraversion assertiveness, positive emotions, and self-consciousness. Compulsive buying behavior: a personality disorder Compulsive purchasing behavior encompasses an excessive dysfunctional consumption behavior, which aggravates people’s lives emotionally, financially, and mentally (Koran, Faber, Aboujaoude, Large Serpe, 2006). Compulsive buying behavior manifests itself through psychological problems like depression and anxiety. This aspect makes theorists like Faber and O’Guinn (1989) to consider it as a personality disorder. Personality disorder describes perennial maladaptive ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving amongst individuals. However, Dittmar et al. (2007) arg ue that in defining compulsive buying behavior, it is critical to recognize that all disorders and perceptions of abnormality have cultural norm influences apart from considering disorders, which can be managed clinically. The 2013 version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) classifies disorders into five annexes. Personality disorders fall under annex 2 in cluster C. This group comprises disorders like depression and schizophrenia. It also entails less maladaptive disorders characterized by anxiety and dependent personality or obsessive-compulsive disorders. In the manual, compulsive buying behavior does not appear. Despite the non-inclusion of compulsive buying behavior in the list of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, many psychologists contend that it should fall under the anxiety personality category due to its characteristics of anxiety coupled with negative feelings amongst people suffering from it. However, this contention attracts controversies. For example, Li et al. (2014) argue that the behavior encompasses an obsessive-compulsive disorder since it has symptoms similar to it. Black (2001) suggests that it becomes compulsive due to lack of impulsive control. Studies like Faber and O’Guinn (1992) attempt to highlight the relationships between compulsive buying behaviors and personality traits coupled with family lifestyles. This aspect suggests that the literature on compulsive buying behavior mainly focuses on analyzing it as a personality disorder. An important gap exists in the attempt to relate the behavior with people’s lifestyles. The current research approaches the problem of compulsive buying behavior as a lifestyle problem rather than a personality disorder. In achieving this concern, it is also important to study it from the pedagogy of obsessive compulsion. Indeed, studies based on self-reports indicate that compulsive buyers experience similar symptoms to people with obses sive-compulsive disorder. This aspect includes high anxiety and stress that eventually lead to buying unneeded goods with anticipation for the reduction of negative feelings. The satisfaction of desires influences anxiety and stress levels for a limited period so that compulsive buying becomes a repeated action. This aspect suggests relationship between compulsive buying behaviors with obsessive-compulsive behaviors. People suffering from compulsive disorders have possibilities of having experienced situations in life, which led to mistrusts of their priorities coupled with their abilities. The obsessive-compulsive disorder is conceptualized from the paradigms of pursuance of eliminating the anxiety and stressful thoughts in executing certain individual acts. Similarly, experiencing anxiety, depression, and stress are typical symptoms of compulsive buying behavior leading to the development of the urge to engage in compulsive buying. Faber and O’Guinn (1992) argue that this b ehavior is an abnormal consumption behavior. It is abnormal to the extent that after purchasing to reduce stress and negative experiences, people often regret due to its repercussions like ensuing financial challenges. Black (2001) suggests that for persons with the compulsive behavior disorder, their attention and thoughts give rise to anxiety and compulsions to reduce discomforts associated with failure to purchase products and services they desire urgently. Obsessions entail negative feelings experienced by people before they engage in compulsive behavior in a bid to reduce anxieties, which encompass feeling of guilt for not engaging in a given act. Amid the established relationship between obsessive behavior and compulsive behaviors including compulsive buying behavior, Koran et al. (2006) classify it under impulsive control disorder. People become susceptible to impulsive control disorder when they cannot control different urges. Koran et al. (2001) assert that people with comp ulsive buying disorder often think about shopping as opposed to thinking about its consequences or the objective of purchasing products and services. For example, if a woman purchases cosmetics and clothing in a bid to satisfy her self-esteem, she may do so without thinking about this objective. It is also impossible to recognize that the buying behavior subjects her to vulnerabilities of suffering from compulsive buying. This aspect suggests the importance of developing an appropriate scale for measuring compulsive purchasing behavior so that individuals can know when developing the problem. Faber and O’Guinn (1989) made one of the earliest attempts to develop a scale for measuring compulsive buying behavior. The scale aimed at differentiating compulsive buyers from non-compulsive ones. Attempts have been made to improve on the scale by incorporating mechanisms for identifying the attitudes toward product categories, processes of acquisition, and post-purchase feedbacks like positive or negative emotions as remorse after spending. The most recent edition of the scale assesses the spending patterns coupled with behaviors, emotions, and feelings of people towards the desired products and process of acquisition. Indeed, finance management through cash or credit cards constitutes some of the good examples of progressive precision in conceptualizing the compulsive buying disorder. The Faber and O’Guinn (1989) scale for differentiation of compulsive buyers from non-compulsive buyers has some limitations. It entails a binary approach to measurement, which introduces challenges of measuring the propensity of the behavior. However, the scale is crucial as it forms the foundation for the development of scales for measuring people’s compulsive buying behavior. For example, Edwards (1993) developed a scale for measuring the behavior based on Faber and O’Guinn’s scale. Through the incorporation of spending behaviors as the dependent vari able, the scale permits researchers to rate compulsive buying behaviors depending on their propensity. It classifies consumption behaviors into non-compulsive, low compulsive, medium compulsive, and high compulsive (Edwards, 1993). The compulsive spending model identifies five factors related to compulsive purchasing behaviors. These are the â€Å"tendency to spend, compulsion to spend, feeling about shopping and spending, dysfunctional spending, and post-purchase guilt† (Koran et al. 2006, p. 1810). From the 1980s, there has been an incredible scholarly research on compulsive spending behavior among consumers. For instance, Koran et al. (2006) argue that more than 5 percent of Americans are dealing with compulsive purchasing behavior. Kukar, Ridgway, and Monroe (2009) reckon that the trend has now increased by about 4 percent to stand at more than 8.5 percent. However, there is no scholarly contention on factors leading to the increasing compulsive buying behavior among the Americans and other people across the globe. Almost all researches on this subject deploy personality disorder to construct their hypothesis. This aspect excludes many other factors like lifestyles, which may account for the increasing behavior. Irrespective of the improvements in the mechanisms of detecting mental disorders, the conceptualization of the disorder is incomplete (Li, Unger Bi, 2014). For example, the definition of normal and abnormal behaviors is not straightforward. Gaps remain on what amounts to a normal consumption behavior (Freshwater, Sherwood Drury, 2006). Parts of these gaps are due to the view that people’s behaviors are subject to culture and living styles, but not necessarily a mental disorder. The latest edition of the DSM-IVTR is composed of five axes for diagnosis based on the Western masculine ideals for a ‘healthy† person. It is likely to define the normal typical behavior of people, especially women, from other cultures as the abno rmal behavior (Neuner, Raab Reisch, 2005). In such cultures, their behaviors are considered as normal in all aspects as they fit within their norms and cultural value systems. This aspect suggests that what amounts to a normal behavior in a multicultural context is a contentious issue. Compulsive buying behavior varies with respect to different demographic characteristics of people. For example, it varies according to gender with women having high prevalence levels for the behavior (Maraz et al., 2014). This assertion confirms the validity of an earlier study by Neuner et al. (2005), indicating higher prevalence levels for the behavior among women as compared to men. However, Koran et al. (2006) hold that compulsive purchasing transcends gender and it can be viewed as a common personality disorder affecting women and men in equal thresholds. These discrepancies may be accounted for by the perceptions of normal and abnormal behaviors. For example, masculine purchasing behavior may b e labeled normal while feminine purchasing behaviors are labeled abnormal. Methods and theories for measuring prevalence may also have prejudices in terms of what amounts to a normal behavior. Amid the discrepancies of the prevalence of compulsive buying disorder, an important interrogative explains the different prevalence levels. Eren, Eroglu, and Hacioglu (2012) suggest that women are one and a half times more likely to experience anxiety disorders as compared to men. The comorbidity of the disorder arises due to the women’s position in society, which is characterized by power imbalances. For example, discrimination against women exposes them to threats of chronic anxiety disorders. Apart from gender, inconsistency in research on compulsive buying behaviors exists based on other demographical dimensions like age and income levels. For instance, Black (2001) found a negative correlation between income and compulsive buying density. Conversely, Mueller et al. (2011) found â €Å"no relationship between income and compulsive buying behavior† (p. 1310). Compulsive buying behavior varies according to the state of people’s development. For example, Koran et al. (2006) estimated that 6% of the Americans are likely to consume compulsively. In Germany 5 to 7 percent of the population engages in compulsive buying (Mueller.et al., 2011). Does this suggest that in Eastern countries people do not buy compulsively? Arguably, inadequate research on such nations and cross-cultural differences among consumers may lead to the attribution of higher compulsive buying to Western nations than in Eastern nations like China. Indeed, the current literature on compulsive buying documents minimal research based on developing countries like those located in Asia. The few scholarly researches on this topic in developing nations deploy theories and scales used in similar studies in the Western nations like Germany and the US amid differing lifestyles and ways of doin g business. For example, Eastern nations and Western nations have differing methodologies for paying, differing approaches in making shopping decisions, and differing consumer cultures. Stemming from the arguments developed in this section, it is important to study compulsive buying behaviors depending on cultural characteristics of the population and using a specific methodology applicable to a given nation or region. Considering that the majority of the researches in this topic base their hypothesis on compulsive buying behavior as a personality disorder, this research seeks for an alternative explanation of the behavior. It studies it as lifestyle challenge facing consumers in China. Methodology Research design This research seeks to explore the compulsive buying lifestyle amongst consumers. The study’s findings will provide insight into the consumers’ purchasing behavior. Therefore, the research is exploratory in nature. Saunders, Thornhill, and Lewis (2009) accent uate that exploratory research design enable researchers to undertake preliminary investigations in areas that have not been characterized by intensive research. Subsequently, exploratory research leads to the generation of new insights on the phenomenon under investigation (Blanche, Durrhem Painter). The research study is based on a qualitative research design, which acts as the framework that guides the researcher in answering the research question. The qualitative research design was selected in order to generate adequate data from the field in order to support the research study. Moreover, the choice of qualitative research design was further informed by the grounded theory. Strang (2015) defines the grounded theory as ‘the discovery from data systematically obtained from social research with the aim of generating or discovering a theory’ (p.449). Alternatively, the grounded theory design involves a systematic and qualitative procedure that enables researchers to d evelop a practical theory that elucidates the phenomenon under evaluation at a conceptual level. By adopting the grounded theory design, the researcher will be able to understand the social and cultural factors associated with the research topic. Subsequently, the research study will be adequately enriched. Additionally, the choice of qualitative research design is further based on the need to generate gather relevant data from the field. Andrew (2004) content that ‘qualitative research process involves emerging questions and procedures, data typically collected in the participant’s settings, data analysis that builds inductively and interpretations of the meaning of the data’ (p.46). Therefore, the qualitative research design enabled the researcher to derive data from the natural setting hence improving its credibility and validity of the research findings. The concepts of validity and credibility are some of the critical determinants of the relevance of researc h findings. Population and sampling In order to improve the capacity of the research study to enhance the consumer behavior theory using the grounded theory design, the researcher appreciated the importance of effective identification of study population. The study population was comprised of individual consumers from cultural and social backgrounds. The study population was comprised of consumers of American, Iranian, Chinese and Italian consumers. The decision to select respondents from diverse cultural backgrounds was informed by the need to understand the variation with reference to consumer behavior across different cultural backgrounds. Consequently, the study’s capacity to further explain the impact of cultural and social dimensions between Westerners and Easterners consumers on compulsive buying behavior was improved considerably. The researcher recognizes cost as a major determinant in conducting the research study. In an effort to minimize the cost of conducting the research study, the researcher integrated the concept of sampling, which entails constructing a subset from the identified study population. The study sample was constructed using the simple random sampling technique in order to minimize the occurrence of bias in constructing the sample study. Using the simple random sampling technique, the researcher provided all the subjects in the identified study population an opportunity of being included in the research study. Thus, the sample was representative of the target population. Integrating the sampling technique made the study to be manageable by minimizing the amount of time and finances required to undertake the study. Furthermore, the simple random sampling technique made the study to be representative of the prevailing consumer behavior (Scott, 2011). The research sample was comprised of 14 respondents. Fourteen [14] of the respondents were Chinese, 6 female and 4 male respondents. Conversely, two of the respondents were America n men, while the others included one Iranian woman and one Italian woman. Data collection and instrumentation The researcher understands the fact that the data collected directly influences the research findings. Thus, to improve the research findings, the study is based on data collected from primary sources in order to generate research data from the natural setting. The primary method of data collection mainly involved conducting interviews on the respondents included in the study sample. The researcher selected the interviewing technique as the method of data collection in order to conduct an in-depth review of the compulsive buying behavior amongst consumers. Adopting the interviewing technique provided the researcher an opportunity to probe further on research topic hence improving the quality of the data collected. Interviews with the selected respondents were conducted through telephone in an effort to minimize the cost of the research study. The telephone interview was base d on a number of questionnaires were designed in order to guide the researcher in the interviewing process. The questionnaires were open-ended in nature. Adoption of the open-ended questionnaires provided the respondents an opportunity to answer the questions freely by providing their opinion. Moreover, the open-ended questionnaires limited the likelihood of the researcher influencing the response provided by the respondents. The researcher ensured that the open-ended questionnaires were adequately reviewed in order to improve the respondents’ ability to understand. The questionnaires acted as the data collection guide. During the interviewing process, the researcher reviewed the respondents’ demographic characteristics. This was achieved by evaluating their age, gender, disposable income, social status, and family and relationship aspects. Moreover, the researcher reviewed the respondents’ buying behavior such as their methods of payment on purchases, amount of their shopping, and the reason for shopping. In order to improve the relevance of the data collected, the researcher further assessed the respondents’ product usage behavior. This was attained by asking the respondents whether they used the products after purchasing and if not what they do with the product. By reviewing this aspect, the researcher was able to generate insight into the compulsive buying behavior amongst consumers characterized by diverse cultural and social backgrounds. For example, the researcher was able to evaluate the consumers’ decision to increase or decrease the purchase of a particular product and the motivation for such behavior. Integrating such aspects in the research process enabled the researcher to undertake an extensive comparison of the compulsive consumer behavior. A recorder was used in storing the responses obtained from the field. Data analysis and presentation The data collected from the field was analyzed qualitatively. However, t he researcher integrated different data analysis and presentation tools. The researcher adopted tabular data presentation by organizing the research data into rows and columns. The main data analysis and presentation tools adopted include graphs, charts and tables. Furthermore, the researcher also adopts the concept of textual presentation, which entails using statements comprised of numerals in order to explain the research findings effectively. By adopting the textual presentation technique, the researcher has been able to present the collected research data in the expository form. The researcher was of the view that integrating these tools would have contributed towards the effective analysis of the descriptive research data obtained from the field. Moreover, the aforementioned data presentation methods played an essential role in improving the target audience ability to understand and interpret the data collected. Ethical issues In the course of collecting data from the field, t he researcher took into account diverse ethical issues. The objective of taking into consideration such aspects was informed by the need to improve the rate of the selected respondents participating in the research study (Finlay, 2006). First, the researcher ensured that that the selected respondents were adequately informed that the research study was aimed at adding new ideas/insight to the consumer behavior theory. Thus, the purpose of the study is academically inclined. Therefore, the researcher was able to obtain informed consent in addition to eliminating any form of suspicion from the respondents. Moreover, the researcher provided respondents with an opportunity to pullout of the research study without any negative repercussions. Moreover, the researcher observed the participants’ privacy during the research. Additionally, the researcher desisted from any form of coercion during the study process. Consequently, the respondents contributed freely in the study. Results a nd findings The study showed the existence of significant differences in compulsive buying behavior amongst consumers of different cultural and social characteristics. One of the most notable issues on compulsive buying behavior is that it extends beyond culture. On the contrary, the study showed that the consumers’ compulsive buying behavior is greatly influenced by diverse demographic characteristics. Amongst the most notable factors that lead to the development of compulsive buying behavior entails the consumers age, gender, mood, and level of disposable income. The study further shows that these aspects influence the consumers’ compulsive buying behaviors irrespective of their cultural and social backgrounds. Moreover, the study showed that individuals characterized by compulsive buying behavior mainly indulge in such a behavior due to external pressures, such as the perception by the society and family members. Forty-five percent [45%] of the respondents of the re spondents interviewed were of the opinion that they engage in compulsive buying behavior in an effort to avoid being ignored and isolated by family members and the society. Conversely, 25% of the respondents were of the opinion that they engage in compulsive buying behavior in order to reduce work-related stress while 20% of the respondents said that their compulsive buying behavior has been motivated by the need to forget their financial loss or trauma. Moreover, 10% of the respondents were of the opinion that they engage in such behavior in an effort to compensate or cope with the feeling of being humiliated, powerless or having a faded role. The graph below illustrates the variation in the respondents’ opinion on their motivation towards compulsive buying behavior. Respondent opinion Rate of response To avoid feeling ignored and isolated 45% To reduce work-related stress 25% To forget financial stress and trauma 20% To cope with feeling of humiliation/powerless 10% Discussion Several studies confirm multi-dimensional aspects of compulsive purchasing behavior. Compulsive buying behavior is extensively influenced by personal and environmental characteristics. Faber and O’Guinn (1992) note that buyers can be grouped into different scales. A Canadian measurement scale for compulsive purchasing behaviors identified three main dimensions of the behavior, viz. spending tendency, reactive aspects, and guilt after purchasing. The findings of the study conducted affirm that the compulsive buying behavior is not subject to the consumers’ cultural backgrounds only. On the contrary, other individual traits are central determinants in the development of compulsive buying behavior. This shows that individuals’ personality is a critical determinant in the development of compulsive buying behavior. Traditional behavioral theories postulate that individuals’ personality is due to the interaction between an individual’s personal characteristics and the environmental influences. This finding is further supported by Faber and O’Guinn (1992) who affirm that compulsive buying behaviors mainly arise from five main personality dimensions. These dimensions include agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and imagination. The research study showed that all the respondents characterized by compulsive buying behavior have a common factor that motivates them to engage in such behavior. One of the most common factors entails avoidance. Therefore, consumers develop such behavior in an effort to avoid situations that are unpleasant to the customers. Some consumers engage in such practices in an effort to leave a potentially provoking situation. Williams (2009) emphasizes that ‘avoidance can also be a more subtle and include things like quickly leaving anxiety-provoking situations as soon as any anxiety is noticed’ (p.124). Therefore, some consumers engage in compulsive bu ying in an effort to avoid certain situations depending on their feeling. From the findings, avoidance can be categorized into three main levels, which include Active avoidance; this form avoidance is aimed at distracting an individual’s compulsive buying behavior. This form of avoidance mainly targets avoiding unwanted emotions, memories, failures, and experiences that stimulate the development of compulsive buying behavior. Compensate for control; this form of avoidance is aimed at limiting the development of compulsive purchasing behavior due to pressure from different sources such as family and workplace amongst other sources of pressure. Avoidance in an effort to cope with life problems Conclusion Understanding the consumer buying behavior comprises a vital element in organization’s marketing activities. First, understanding the buying behavior provides organizational managers insight on the most effective strategy to adopt in order to influence the consumersâ⠂¬â„¢ purchase decision-making process. Organization’s marketing managers should appreciate the existence of differences with reference to consumer buying behavior. The study shows the consumers’ buying behavior is a factor of the consumers’ personality and the influence of the external pressures. This phenomenon is well illustrated by the compulsive buying behavior. The behavior entails a compelling need to purchase a product or service in an effort to satisfy a particular need. The compulsive buying behavior may have a negative impact on the consumer’s purchasing power because the consumer engages in excessive purchase of commodities aimed at addressing psychological needs such as anxieties and avoidance of negative emotions such as humiliation and ignorance. Therefore, one can argue that the compulsive buying behavior is motivated by the need to entrench an individual’s social status or class. Compulsive buying behavior stimulates consumers to m ake purchases without considering the consequences of their behavior including post-purchase guilt. Past research conducted in Westerns nations’ settings like Germany, Canada, and the US considers it as a personality disorder. On the contrary, this research adopted a different paradigm. It studied the issue as a lifestyle problem. This goal has been achieved by comparison of purchasing behavior across consumers from Eastern countries such as China. The study underscores the existence of similarity with reference to the factors stimulating development of compulsive buying behavior across consumers characterized by varied cultural and social characteristics. One of the reasons for the existence of compulsive buying behavior entails avoidance. Consumers characterized by such practices are motivated by the need to avoid an unfavorable occurrence in their consumption patterns. In summary, understanding the compulsive buying behavior is a fundamental element in improving an organiz ation’s capacity to generate sales by exploiting the compulsive buying behavior. For example, organizations should consider integrating effective marketing strategies that influence the development of compulsive buying behavior amongst consumers. One of the fundamental aspects that marketers should take into consideration entails the consumers’ personality. References Black, D. (2001). 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Differences Between Population and Sample Standard Deviations

Differences Between Population and Sample Standard Deviations When considering standard deviations, it may come as a surprise that there are actually two that can be considered. There is a population standard deviation and there is a sample standard deviation. We will distinguish between the two of these and highlight their differences. Qualitative Differences Although both standard deviations measure variability, there are differences between a population and a sample standard deviation. The first has to do with the distinction between statistics and parameters. The population standard deviation is a parameter, which is a fixed value calculated from every individual in the population. A sample standard deviation is a statistic. This means that it is calculated from only some of the individuals in a population. Since the sample standard deviation depends upon the sample, it has greater variability. Thus the standard deviation of the sample is greater than that of the population. Quantitative Difference We will see how these two types of standard deviations are different from one another numerically. To do this we consider the formulas for both the sample standard deviation and the population standard deviation. The formulas to calculate both of these standard deviations are nearly identical: Calculate the mean.Subtract the mean from each value to obtain deviations from the mean.Square each of the deviations.Add together all of these squared deviations. Now the calculation of these standard deviations differs: If we are calculating the population standard deviation, then we divide by n,  the number of data values.If we are calculating the sample standard deviation, then we divide by n -1, one less than the number of data values. The final step, in either of the two cases that we are considering,  is to take the square root of the quotient from the previous step. The larger the value of n is, the closer that the population and sample standard deviations will be. Example Calculation To compare these two calculations, we will start with the same data set: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 We next carry out all of the steps that are common to both calculations.  Following this out calculations will diverge from one another and we will distinguish between the population and sample standard deviations. The mean is (1 2 4 5 8) / 5 20/5 4. The deviations are found by subtracting the mean from each value: 1 - 4 -32 - 4 -24 - 4   05 - 4 18 - 4 4. The deviations squared are as follows: (-3)2 9(-2)2 402 012 142 16 We now add these squared deviations and see that their sum is 9 4 0 1 16 30. In our first calculation, we will treat our data as if it is the entire population.  We divide by the number of data points, which is five.  This means that the population variance is 30/5 6.  The population standard deviation is the square root of 6. This is approximately 2.4495. In our second calculation, we will treat our data as if it is a sample and not the entire population.  We divide by one less than the number of data points.  So, in this case, we divide by four.  This means that the sample variance is 30/4 7.5.  The sample standard deviation is the square root of 7.5.  This is approximately 2.7386. It is very evident from this example that there is a difference between the population and sample standard deviations.

The affect of Advertisements in print news in both online and print Research Paper

The affect of Advertisements in print news in both online and print editions - Research Paper Example Such type of advertising is highly cheap and convenient for businesses as well. Advertisements are placed in newspapers and online mediums so that it can attract a lot of consumers and spread the advertising message amongst a wide customer base so that more popularity can be gained for the product or service being advertised (Graydon 2003). Organizations know that all potential customers do not use all the mediums through which the advertising message can be available to them. Therefore the advertisers place their ads in different types of print mediums to attract maximum amount of customer. Job tenders and job offers are usually placed in the newspapers so that the business class target market can view the ads and then apply accordingly. These types of ads may not prove to be successful online as senior professionals do not use the internet to a large extent as compared to the younger generation. There are a large number of people in developed countries that use the internet and have their accounts in the various social networking sites available. Organizations use the online print mediums so that they can advertise their product and focus on their target market easily and cheaply. Latest fashion related products can be advertised on the various social networking websites and a lot of local and international customers can be attracted by this medium. Such advertising in newspapers may attract low customers but through online print medium, high amount of customers may be attracted. The advertisements that are specifically targeted towards young generation can prove to be highly successful if the online medium is used as teenagers are highly associated with the internet and may view the ads at one place or the other in the cyber world. Online medium is an excellent place to advertise all the latest fashion related products and

Finding God Seeking the Truth Personal Statement

Finding God Seeking the Truth - Personal Statement Example Let me elaborate my understandings by touching on the point that God wanted to establish personal relations with his special creation, the humans. The Genesis clearly manifests how a loving God created all things. But whether the detail of such creation is clearly portrayed or not in the texts doesn't matter. What matters is the reason why man was created in His likeness. He made us special because he needed a special bond with the works of His hands and this could be achieved through following His well, to obey Him, and live forever with Him. But sin had changed all these. Nevertheless, in spite of the sins of Adam, he gave him a chance because he didn't want this bond to be broken. Regardless of the sinfulness of all the people in Noah's time God redeemed his family from the great flood, because God needed to preserve the connection. He called Abraham from among the rest of the people to establish an intimate attachment with God and human. When Sodom and Gomorrah was rained with fi re he saved Lot again to preserve the link. Yet now, upon pondering this important truth I have found, it's never too late for everyone to have a special relationship with God. I realized and I am convinced that no amount of religion can reinforce such personal relationship with God but we ourselves alone. How then can we show that God is reigning in us The second apprehension I have mentioned is respect for oneself which is one of the signs I realized than can prove it. God created our body as a temple of the Spirit he gave us. I had been taught from my Catholic teachings that humans have the breath of life, the soul that instituted the direct bond to our God. I held on to this conviction and continue to understand that a part of us is immortal and would come out at the right time laid in our fate by God. The body served as the temple of the soul that needs to be nurtured. A clean body would mean a clean soul. I recalled that time when I usually recharge myself in the quiet and calm place where I can make connection with nature. Oh, what a refreshing experience it was when you sense the spirit of God hovering in nature making connection with your inner soul! But meditation is just one expression in our struggle to respect our own body. Respect for self requires both physical and spiritual nurturing. Doing away with sinful acts that ruin not only the flesh but also the soul is one way. Immoral sex, alcoholism, and other forms of wicked acts corrupt the body and weaken the bond with God. The values taught in the Kabbalah are essential ideals and guidance to make the flesh clean. Following the teaching of good values and the way to righteousness is the ultimate show of deference for oneself. The ultimate proof of a strong bond with God and respect for the self could be shown by how we deal with others. I considered this third point as strongly reinforced by the texts I have encountered. Our behaviors towards ourselves are less pronounced than our business with others. How we greet the persons next us, how we mingle wit our peers, how we act in public are greatly seen by others and are judged by them. Every individual have their own standards as far as judging other behaviors are concerned. A good attitude to one can be normal for others. A bad habit could even be worse in another's perspective. But most often the limitations of our actions are governed by human laws. There are absurd things that could be socially

Schoolyard Bullying Essay Example for Free

Schoolyard Bullying Essay A feature article dad sues school over bully attacks published on the 14th of February 2010. which is an article on a young boy who has been repeatedly attacked by children at his primary school and nothing has been done about it, there is also a editorial Bullied teenager receives $290,000 published on the 1 lth of march 2010. this is an editorial about a young girl who has been repeatedly bullied over the years and won her case with the court. l three articles have the same contention, they want the laws to be implemented and making parents aware that bullying can become out of hand if it is not resolved. beyond the schoolyard, into the home. this case study was written by Dina Halkic, the mother of the child who committed suicide because of cyber bullying. a 17 year old teenager committed suicide by Jumping off the west gate bridge after being repeatedly bullied at school and at home over the internet and text messages. he mother of the Allem blames herself for his death as she didnt realise the dangers of yber bullying. he was in his room, in our house with us, and he was safe, or so we thought this quote shows us the regret in her voice and makes us feel sympathy for her and her husband. she follows on by saying how could someone hurt him? Just like his mobile, why didnt we check it? the reader becomes involved in her story by giving us rhetorical questions that we start to question ourselves and our family values. Dina has written a case study of her ordeal day when she found out her son nly son has committed suicide that is confronting for parents, this makes the readers aware of the potential harm that lies in cyber space. she is urging for children and teens to use their computers in the open, where parents can see. the family dont want other children to go through what their son did, this is an informative piece that is confrountating. the parents are also trying to implement the laws for cyber bullying, there has been no case in australia to date where an individual has ben put to trial for cyber bullying. his case will play a role in toughing the laws against cyber bullying. this article is disturbing and sympathetic towards Allem and his parents this appeals to family safety. the newspaper has set out the article with the photos and the text at equal value, they have been placed in a certain way for the readers eyes to move through the photos going through the victim, who seems confiden t before his death. The victims parents, looking confused and sad, and then the victims friends crying, this shows the impact his death has done to the people around him who love him.

Critique of the National Cirriculum in Britain :: Education Policy

Critique in a policy document During this essay I am going to look at one area of our educational system and discuss in detail the features of this policy. I have chosen to look at, in detail the National Curriculum, which was progressively introduced into the Britain in 1989. I want to get an insight into the way the National Curriculum has changed and the ways in which it now gives pupils an extra advantage at getting the best out of their education. The National Curriculum delivers the information pupils need to know in a balanced and manageable way, but at the same time it is hard enough to challenge them. I am going to also look at Japan?s Educational policy and see what advantages they give to pupil?s, I will then compare the two policies. The National Curriculum is split up into stages, these stages are determined by age groups, key stage 1 ranges from ages 5-7 which is the year group 1 and 2, then there is key stage 2 which ranges in ages 7-11 this is year groups 3-6. Key stages 3 and 4 are secondary stages, so at key stage 3 the pupils are 11-14. At the final stage of the pupils development through the National Curriculum, key stage 5 they are 14-16, at this stage they get more choice in which areas of the curriculum they want to continue in. However some subjects which are part of the National Curriculum such as, english, maths and science are compulsory. At each stage expectations are set as to pupils performance levels. Targets are laid out for programmes of study for pupils. The national curriculum helps the school create a working relationship, not only with the pupils but also with the parents. The curriculum is a way to create many more opportunities for all levels of achievement. It can help with building on certain strengths in a pupils ability. When we consider the different structures to which the curriculum can take on we must look at the way in which the information set out through the curriculum is put across to the pupils through content and organization. David Scott a Professor of Educational Leadership and Learning at the University of Lincoln?s International Institute for Educational Leadership. He is an expert in curriculum studies, David Scott identifies and depicts six curriculum ideologies. These are Foundationalism, Conventionalism, Instrumentalism, Technical Rationality, Critical Pedagogy and Post-modernism.

Resistance and the Shifting Power in Participatory Spaces

Research Methods Data aggregation was undertaken between June and July 2014. The survey relied on open-ended interviews with 12 Nguti community members who were actively involved in the protest mobilisation and action and legion unplanned and unstructured conversations Nguti villagers. We aimed to capture the procedures taking to forest struggle among the private sector ( Wijma ) , the military, and local administrative governments and Nguti villagers. The interviews conducted included both young persons ( eight males and two females ) and seniors ( two males and females ) of Nguti – two types of histrions that would go of import in the flowering of the events related to the Agreement in Nguti. Our efforts at gender balance in the interview procedure were overcome by the limited handiness of respondents given the sensitive nature of the capable affair. Merely respondents who could be that we could keep their namelessness agreed to take. The interviews focused on events environing struggle rela ted to the Agreement. We were besides concerned to derive penetrations into village’s economic activities and support schemes. Of peculiar involvement was to seek and understand what benefits if any, the villagers had received, which could be connected straight or indirectly to Wijma’s operations. For case, since Wijma had agreed to provide the small town with waste wood from its processing activities, as portion of the Agreement we sought to understand the grade of small town dependance on this wood and how failure to provide could interrupt their support schemes. Despite our relentless enterprises, both Wijma and local administrative histrions would non hold to be interviewed. Although their absence might impact a more rounded history of the fortunes taking to forest resource struggle, our chief aim in this paper was to depict the struggle procedure as it unfolded, including the function of the chief histrions with a peculiar focal point on the protest schemes adopte d by some of the Nguti villagers. That notwithstanding, we relied on publications from an environmental audit, including Wijma’s ain publications to derive an apprehension of the company’s place on environmental and societal duty. Through examination of the 1994 Cameroon Forest Law, we gained a deeper apprehension of State-community-private sector partnership agreements and the duties and privileges of each party as prescribed in the ordinance. Penetrations into the struggle procedure were besides gained from correspondence [ Fred Saun1 ] between Wijma and Nguti Youths every bit good as between the Youths and local administrative histrions. Discussions Resistance and the Switching Power in Participatory Spaces Gaventa ‘s ( 2006 ) typology of participatory infinites captures the switching power dealingss at drama in Nguti where it was of import to understand how and why displacements in power occurred and the conditions that gave rise to the different types of participatory infinite where this power was enacted. Additionally, what were the agencies in which Nguti villagers sought to fight for increased answerability and transparence and finally claim the power and legitimacy to give consequence to the Agreement? In short, Gaventa ‘s ( 2006 ) typology puts accent on understanding how displacements in power through participatory procedures among histrions can be understood and applied dynamically. Initially, Nguti villagers had small chance to efficaciously take part in determinations that affected them related to the wood processing undertaking, so in Gaventa ‘s words it was a, ‘closed infinite ‘ even though the Agreement in rule sought to present small town ben efit. Decisions were made by others beyond the small town with small or no engagement or even audience with villagers. Subsequently, after the decease of the original benevolent agent, self-appointed ‘shadow histrions ‘ opportunistically stepped in with clear rent-seeking purposes. There was infinite for this within the new institutionalised wood administration constructions in Cameroon. Because the Agreement was informal and negotiated behind closed doors, there was no mechanism for the villagers to name WIJMA or the other histrions involved to account to present on committednesss contained in this. This state of affairs is non alone to Cameroon. Elsewhere reexamining instances from India, the US, Russia and the Philippines, Robbins ( 2000: 424 ) argues that such ‘extralegal’ exchanges that allow unbridled entree to natural resources are more of a regulation than an exclusion, and represent an institutionalised system of nature/society interactions. To chan ge by reversal the state of affairs, NGUYOCUDA and finally the small town Elders and others mobilized and staged a inactive public protest by ordaining a traditional injunction to convey those who brokered the Agreement to account and in making so efficaciously ‘claimed infinite ‘ to prosecute their involvements through their actions. There were sedate hazards involved for the villagers in taking this public look of dissent, as evidenced by the initial military response to the small town mobilisation ( and other similar incidents in Cameroon ( see Amin 2012 for elaborate military response to youth mobilisation and protest, particularly the ill-famed February 2008 events ) . But by taking this public action, which was linked to legitimate traditional establishments, new boundaries were created which allowed villagers ‘ voices to number ( Scott 1990 ) . This ‘claimed infinite ‘ later gave manner to ‘invited infinite ‘ as Wijma realized, given the break caused by the small town injunction and the inability of the State to manage this type of rebelliousness, that they now must carry through their duties to the villagers and include them in decision-making if they are to go on to their lumber procedure operations unhindered. This alteration suggests that villager engagement had become meaningful or influential in that it led to positive alteration. Of class this ‘resolution ‘ to the administration job of the lumber processing undertaking faced by Nguti villagers is comparatively minor in footings of opening up the many closed infinites of natural resource administration that citizens are consistently excluded from in Cameroon – a point which is discussed farther below. While this public look of rebelliousness appears to hold been effectual in the Nguti instance, the ‘special conditions’ which need to be before a traditional injunction can be invoked are likely to restrict an upscaling of simi lar public protests. [ 1 ] Lack of Accountability in the Forest Law and on the Land When Cameroon’s 1994 Forest Law was created it was recognized at the clip as a landmark statute law in Sub-Saharan Africa due to its elaborate amplification of stairss to purely safeguard and esteem the societal, environmental and economic ends of the country’s forestry ( Cerutti et al. 2008 ; Assembe-Mvondo 2013 ) . One major job with the Forest Law, nevertheless, is that it was guided more by market aims intended to hike the macroeconomic potencies of the forest sector, with small attending to chiseled mechanisms that would steer and modulate the execution of private-public-community partnerships on the land. Another major job with the Forest Code arises from the deficiency of mechanisms to safeguard the involvements of communities hosting logging activities and to protect them in struggle state of affairss against the more powerful profit-driven companies. The World Bank-instituted SAP resulted in the chase by the authorities of Cameroon of high foreign grosss by pro moting increased forest development to counterbalance for diminishing universe market values for its other major exports like oil, java and chocolate ( Thomaset Al.1996 ) . The deficiency of pertinent sustainability foresight in the jurisprudence and the inability and/or involuntariness of the Government to implement its ain Torahs have led to small or no answerability in the sector on the land, with major effects for hapless rural communities. Consequences from the Nguti site show that communities populating next to commercial logging activities are frequently politically and economically weak and vulnerable to the corrupt societal and environmental patterns of powerful logging companies and rent searchers. This job is non alone to Nguti community entirely. Schwartz et Al. ( 2012 ) and Thomas et Al ( 1996 ) suggest that large-scale investings in natural resources in Cameroon by and large fail to esteem community rights in footings of audience, compensation, contractual footings and environmental protection. Furthermore, the involuntariness demonstrated by Nguti local administrative governments to step in in possible struggle state of affairss and keep logging companies to account in their legal power is farther testimony of the exposure of rural communities and the pronounced absence of answerability precautions in the private-public-community partnership agreement. Thomas et Al. ( 1996 ) besides describe similar tensenesss between logging companies and communities elsewhere in Cameroon as a consequence of the unfulfilling by these companies of their ( informal ) understandings with the villagers. In add-on, the repeated refusal by Wijma to hold to the villagers’ petition for a duologue – which is much contrary to their stated struggle bar and direction aims – and the prompt military response by local administrative governments to interrupt echt small town mobilisation for a common cause, constitute clear illustrations of deficiency of an swerability on the portion of both Wijma and local administrative governments to rural communities. The deployment of the armed forces against the peaceable small town presentation clearly resonates with the US September 11 image painted by Greenhouse ( 2005 ) in her statement that the hegemonic moves of the executive and other subdivisions of authorities in struggle state of affairss consists in repackaging subalterns in a manner that contributes to the undertakings of regulation and political capital by scapegoating them through such hegemonic mechanisms as Draconian anti-crime Torahs, which in Cameroon take the signifier of anti-protest military action. The military intercession in Nguti is besides an indicant that local authorities offices are less accountable to their citizens but more to pervert and uncompromising concern directors in order to safeguard a continued flow of gross from the private sector into authorities caissons. This state of affairs is non surprising, as it r eflects the econocentric aims that underpin and guide the 1994 Forest Law and its application as a major constituent of the World Bank-led Structural Adjustment Program of the state. The corrupt patterns of Wijma functionaries, local authorities histrions and the self-appointed agents suggest that de jure Torahs and de facto regulations barely of all time exist in sole isolation. Making a similar statement Robbins ( 2000: 427 ) Drew from institutional theory to situate that officially ( de jure ) constituted regulations frequently merge with informal ( de facto ) norms to make existent ‘operational’ regulations in resource scenes. Robbins theorizes as follows: ‘the de facto regulations that govern corrupt exchanges are forged out of the natural stuffs and societal resources supplied by de jure regulations, adapted and curved around the contours of local power’ ( pp 427 ) . Using this to the Nguti instance, we observe that the prevalence of local norms in Ng uti such as the corrupt patterns of Wijma and authorities histrions, and peculiarly the rent-seeking actions of the shadow histrions suggests less the forsaking of national ordinance in favour of de facto local systems, and more the adjustment of these local norms into loopholes that exist in the formal system. As the system of backing is profoundly rooted in local systems of power in Cameroon, instances of shadow histrions presuming the function of agents is non uncommon. Sometimes disputing this well-entrenched localised norm can turn out really hard, as evidenced by the initial refusal by Wijma – with the support of local administrative histrions – to give in to the invocations of NGUYOCUDA associating to the remotion the function of those shadow histrions in farther Wijma-NGUYOCUDA dialogues. Lack of Public Information on Land Tenure The happening of land differences in Cameroon are really high. A major ground for this relates to a general deficiency of public information on the being and localisation of land licenses and how to travel about land enrollment procedure, with serious deductions for the poorest in communities. All land that does non fall into the classs of Public Property of the State, Private Property of the State or is non capable to a private land rubric, is classified as National Land under the 1974 Ordinance set uping regulations regulating land term of office in Cameroon ( Schwartz et al. 201 ) . This means in simple footings that parts of community land that are non capable to private land rubrics are by inference National Land, even if they are occupied and/or used by locals. As a affair of general rule, the granting of land grants follows a procedure whereby a committee made of local bureaus and community representatives identify lands for the intent of avoiding overlapping rights ( Schwartz et al. 2012 ) . This is barely the instance in Nguti. The community as a whole is considered to hold usufruct rights to unoccupied community land. The community may make up one's mind to offer this land to specific persons as compensation for services rendered as is the instance with the land on which WIJMA operates. The bone of contention here lies in the fact that the land had been offered by the community to the influential Nzo Ekanghaki in gratitude for his development enterprises in the small town. Whether Ekanghaki should be able transportation such rights to a 3rd party like Wijma is what did non sit good with some sources. They felt that even though the land was granted to Ekanghaki, it was still community land in footings of customary rights while it was non being straight used or occupied by Ekanghaki, and as such WIMJA is accountable to the community ( as the customary rights holder ) . Others refrained from such ownership polemics and instead argued that WIJMA is morall y apt to the small town because of its claims as maintainers of corporate societal duty criterions or merely because of the duties agreed to. Many people do non register their land with the Ministry of Land Tenure’s cadastre. This state of affairs generates the conditions for land differences. The sources we spoke to were non certain whether the land on which Wijma operates had been punctually registered as private belongings. The feeling was that even if the land had been registered as such, it was community land and as such should non be registered without due presentment of, and permission by, the appropriate Nguti governments. A necessary measure to avoid struggles like this would be, foremost, to make public consciousness of the necessity of duly registering private land and obtaining land rubric for it. Second, by doing the procedure of granting of land grants by the small town transparent and consistent with both customary and land Torahs – as these two beginnin gs of land allotment can overlap and bring forth confusion and defeat, or even worse, diminish people’s rights. Decision Events in Nguti have revealed important land term of office overlaps between customary land rights and land Torahs, as a consequence of deficiency of sufficient public consciousness about the pertinence of both types of Torahs. This led to contradictory claims over rights and duties. Events in the instance survey have besides shed visible radiation on built-in defects in Cameroon’s wood policy reform to redistribute rights and benefits to communities through deliberative procedures in pattern. We showed how power operates in closed administration infinites to work against just, democratic and effectual policymaking. We besides revealed how disfranchised communities can efficaciously open up these closed infinites and obtain effectual engagement in procedures denied them. Penetrations from the instance suggest that answerability mechanisms both within the 1994 Forest Law and existent execution procedures have non been tailored to efficaciously reflect the present neoliberal sig nifier of resource administration. This World Bank-institutionalized signifier of administration of natural resources brought with it other major histrions in forest direction, such as powerful private logging companies. The forest company involved in this instance survey failed to listen to community concerns about the agreements that had been brokered to let them to run in Nguti. Not merely did local authorities fail to keep WIJMA to account, it injudiciously sided with the company and authorized a military intercession to quash peaceable community mobilisation against WIJMA. The purpose of those Nguti villagers mobilized was non merely to do their voices heard and thereby do the lumber processing company accountable to them. Their attempts were besides aimed at taking the function of the rent-seeking shadow histrions from the administration agreements. These shadow histrions who, encouraged by weak administration constructions and uneffective answerability mechanisms in the wood sector, had seized negociating power from the community and acted without legitimacy as small town agents. We besides emphasized that the corrupt patterns at Nguti do non connote the absence of ordinance, but instead the presence of an option, nonlegal norm that transforms the weak enforcement of ordinances into corrupt signifiers found in profoundly frozen local systems of power. Nguti is portion of a state where the authorities does non merely promote increased forest development in order to roll up foreign gross, but it is besides dying to command protests and agitations that might impede its making this end. In add-on to extinguishing these timeserving histrions, the registration by NGUYOCUDA of other institutional groupings into their protest constituted a major manner to place themselves as a major force to think with in Nguti. The pick of a traditional injunction as the chief class of action when every other scheme was turn outing unfruitful or unsafe enabled them to efficaci ously ‘claim space’ in what was ab initio a ‘closed space’ . Recognizing that their concern operations were efficaciously halted by the power of the traditional injunction entirely, WIJMA instead reluctantly settled for inclusion of the villagers in determinations impacting them and promised to go on to make so in the hereafter. At this point, the officially ‘closed space’ for participatory decision-making on affairs impacting Nguti community had been wholly transformed into an ‘invited space’ , where they had chance to claim rights antecedently denied them.

Wild Swans

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is a memoir of three generations of Chinese women from Imperial China through and beyond the Cultural Revolution. Chang's grandmother was a warlord's concubine. Her gently raised mother struggled with hardships in the early days of Mao's revolution and rose, like her husband, to a prominent position in the Communist Party before being denounced during the Cultural Revolution. Chang herself marched, worked, and breathed for Mao until doubt crept in over the excesses of his policies and purges. Born just a few decades apart, their lives overlap with the end of the warlords' regime and overthrow of the Japanese occupation, violent struggles between the Kuomintang and the Communists to carve up China, and, most poignant for the author, the vicious cycle of purges orchestrated by Chairman Mao that discredited and crushed millions of people, including her parents. Jung Chang has said that her intention in writing Wild Swans was to show how the Chinese people, and in particular the women in her family, â€Å"fought tenaciously and courageously against impossible odds. The book is, indeed, a testimony to the strength and determination of herself, her mother and her grandmother and their resourcefulness in recreating themselves time and again in the face of suffering, humiliation and disillusionment. Personal and historical stories interweave and the stories of these women and their families act as a lens through which we gain further insight into the turbulent history of twentieth century China. One such insight involves the treatment of women in Chinese society through the years. There are no stunning revelations here but there are many horrific reminders. The grandmother's early life reveals a litany of horrors, such as the torture which was the custom of foot binding and the slavery and hardship that was the lot of the concubine. Chang's mother endures a different kind of hardship, one born of her husband's unbending principles and her own loyalty to a warped ideology. At eighteen, and despite the fact that she is pregnant, she is forced to walk a journey of one thousand miles through five mountain passes, while her husband, a senior officer in the communist guerrilla army, rides in a jeep. He insists that she must walk lest he be accused of favouritism. The miscarriage that results does not, however, diminish the fanaticism which induced it, and it is not until his idealism has been totally shattered that he begins to realise the pain endured for its sake. This tragedy of collapsed idealism and disillusionment lies at the heart of Wild Swans. Chang's parents' dogged loyalty is rewarded by punishment and humiliation when the fear, through which control was maintained, infects the movement itself in the form of paranoia and suspicion. Jung Chang herself moves through the stages of allegiance, confusion and eventual disillusionment as the true nature of Maoism begins to reveal itself. Her father, now a victim of his own inflexibility, dies tormented, while Jung Chang and her mother find ways of using their experience to forge new lives for themselves. In fiction, such victory over evil might be considered improbable. In reality, it is nothing short of a miracle. The genre of this novel is autobiography, which is realistically and vividly told. There are some very vivid and warm insights given of human relationships and love. The need for security and family is vividly evoked and subtly rendered. It forms a very faithful record and history of some of the worst atrocities in China, a regime that showed itself to be totally self-destructive at the end. The narrative is brisk and fluid. At times the narrative verges on something similar to a journalists report. The conclusion however is optimistic. Some of the values, which are portrayed in this book, are love, family life, loyalty, courage and a belief in the essential dignity of the human being. this novel written by Jung Chang traces the life of three generations of her family. Set in China it gives us an insight into almost eighty years of the cultural history of that country, beginning in the year 1909 and moving up to the present day. The author a native Chinese now living in London builds the narrative around her own experiences and her family all of whose lives spans different cultural periods in China's history. The ‘Three Daughters' of the title are Chang herself, her mother and her maternal grandmother and the novel chronicles the events of their lives spanning a century of China's stormy history. Chang begins the story by recounting her grandmother's experiences, in the 1920s, as concubine to a powerful warlord and her eventual escape from his household. She continues with the story of her mother's involvement, during the 1940s, 50s and 60s, with the communist movement under Mao Tse Tung and her parents' fall from power and subsequent imprisonment under the same regime. She goes on the recall her own experiences with the brutal Red Guards, her â€Å"re-education† as a farm and factory worker and her eventual departure from China to Great Britain in 1978. Women's Place in Chinese Culture The early part of the novel shows the position of the woman in this culture. Women had no position or point of view on things; they were used as objects, treated as concubines and treated with disdain by society. The development of Communism is treated with realism and evokes the most gruesome aspects of Mao's regime of dictatorship. The reiterated use of physical violence becomes almost excessive at times. The destruction of Chinese culture, its seats of learning, books artistic treasures are not only mindless but also shown to be satanic at times. The death of Mao frees the country somewhat from this state of oppression. Universities are free to function, intellectuals come tot the fore again and people are free to articulate their opposition to the regime. Violence The novel reflects the depths of cruelty and unnatural behaviour, which the human being can descend. Communism All the horrors of life under Mao's regime are depicted in graphic detail, and the underlying corruption, which sparked off the Cultural Revolution, is vividly recorded. As the novel unfolds the profoundly sadistic features of Communism and especially the Cultural Revolution are exposed. Family life is slowly but systematically destroyed by suspicion and lies. Distrust and Deceit are rampant in this society and everyone is used to undermine their neighbour. It is an oppressive and stifling atmosphere sustained by brutal torture and violence, where betrayal and slander are rife. Wild Swans Jung Chang’s 1991 novel, ‘Wild Swans’ gives the reader a significant insight into a period of uncertainty and insecurity in Chinese history. From the novel the viewer is able to identify universal issues which are still prevalent today. Feminism recurs throughout the text as the women fight for respect as their society faces turmoil, using the communist rein of Mao as their opportunity for equality. Wang Yu represents the public as his own values clash with that of the communists. Due to his unswerving loyalty to the party he dismisses his own morals for that of a higher power.Grandfather Wu ‘Er-ya-tous’ attitude is echoed throughout the text as he believed that a women should suppress their emotions and to have no opinion. This is demonstrated as each women of each generation struggles against this outlook and either succumbs or fights against it. Foot binding represents submission to traditional values and conventions, a metaphor for women’s lack of rights. Women constantly modified their bodies to conform to society’s expectations, indicating their lack of dependency and individuality.Power and status is based on a man’s property such as concubines being collected. â€Å"it was good for a man in his position to have as many concubines as possible – they showed a man’s status†. This exhibits this period of Chinese history as emotional attachment is removed and women are treated as a possession which bettered her husband’s prestige. â€Å"swallowed opium to accompany him into death†. This establishes that there was no escape from the obedience which is forced upon the women by society.Women’s lives were dedicated to serving their men as they followed them into death. â€Å"seen as a means of keeping people like her contented† society wanted people such as concubines to be in a constant haze where there was no chance of critical thinking or rebellion. â€Å"T he first my grandmother knew.. † this demonstrates the grandmothers lack of participation in her own affairs. Jung Chang’s emotive writing style aims for sympathy from the reader as she is factual and brunt, hoping for the reader to connect to the situation as they apply their own emotions.The changing roles of women are significant as it demonstrates a time of change in Chinese history. As equality in wealth is fought for under Mao’s rein the women have also fought for equality in genders. The traditional saying, â€Å"Women have long hair and short intelligence† is distinguished as the women are displayed as strong and independent in the generation of De-Hong. These individuals are a contrast to their previous generation who were submissive and obedient.As three generations of women are represented in the novel the audience has a rich understanding of the lives of women in a shifting period of history. Wang Yu (Jung Chang’s father) can be consider ed a representation of the people of China as he gives his unswerving loyalty to communism. Although his personal values and the values of communism clash he continues to stand for communism and bring justice to for the cause. â€Å"Dr Xia could tell that my father was not fully convinced himself, but felt he had to defend the party†.This demonstrates Wang Yu’s uncertainty about the morals of the communism yet indicates his need for equality of the people. This could be due to his youth being surrounded by poverty while many flaunted their wealth around him. Objective language is used throughout the novel in order to shock the audience as they describe brutal events in a factual manner. The reader is able to understand the fear of the public as an example of children being forced to watch the torture of rebels is executed in order to prevent an uprising.This indicates that the people were forced into loyalty by fear. By the voice having such an unsympathetic recount of the story she has actually manipulated the audience as they feel protective over the children. This universal theme of loyalty to your country’s values is exposed in an undesirable manner in the text as many primary characters are negatively affected. De-Hong (Jung Chang’s mother) becomes embittered by her husband as he displays allegiance to the revolution before her. â€Å"One night she could not stand it anymore, and burst into tears for the first time†.This demonstrates Wang Yu’s complete dedication to communism as his strict rules come before his wife. Jung Chang criticises her father’s strict and unswerving loyalty to communism as the hardship he had enforced onto his family can be compared to the suffering caused by the corruption within the party. â€Å"Dong’s conscience was troubled, and that whenever he was due to garrotte someone, he had to get himself drunk beforehand†. The executioner displays his lack of belief in the c ause as he has to be intoxicated before killing a person.This expresses to the audience that he understands that the beliefs of Mao are wrong but due to fear he is forced to continue. Jung Chang has provided the audience of ‘Wild Swans’ a clear insight into Chinese history as major changes developed throughout three significant generations of women. Universal issues are displayed as women begin their fight for equality and the reasons for loyalty are questioned in an uncertain environment. The reader gains comprehension of these matters through Jung Chang’s representation of the events.

Four successful careers for the hopeless romantic

Four successful careers for the hopeless romantic This is the time of year when people tend to have romance on the brain. Flowers! Jewelry commercials! Ads for upscale restaurants! If you’re a hopeless romantic, it’s kind of like the Super Bowl. But what if you want to turn those lovey-dovey feelings into a career, something you can build professionally? Believe it or not, there are options out there for you. 4 careers for people who love romance1. Wedding/special event photographerIf you have a knack with a camera, being a wedding photographer gives you a front-row seat to some of the happiest days of people’s lives. Everyone’s dressed up, people are (usually) on their best behavior, and your goal is to capture the romance for posterity. Plus, being a photographer has the advantage of being a flexible career, or side business, with many weddings and special events happening outside of standard business hours.What you’ll need: High-quality cameras and related equipment, plus training on how to use it. Courses on professional photography are highly recommended.What it pays: The median salary is $32,490 per year, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.2. FloristFlorists and floral designers are usually the go-to retailers for romantic life events, with busy seasons around holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, etc. Floral designers are there for the good, the bad, and the celebratory, providing flowers and delivery to a range of customers.What you’ll need: Workers in a retail floral shop will need the basics (a high school degree and   customer service skills). If you’re looking to become a floral designer, you’ll likely need vocational courses and on-the-job training. Creativity and artistic flair are very helpful, as are good customer service skills to help your customers find the right way to say it with flowers.What it pays: The median salary for floral designers is $26,350 per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.3. Chocolatier/CandymakerIf you’re more interested in food service than flower service, you may want to consider becoming a chocolatier. This is not the most common path in food service, but what’s more romantic than high-quality chocolates to go with those flowers and gifts? Chocolatiers are artisans who create edible masterpieces, playing with flavors and structures to create the perfect bite.What you’ll need: To become a chocolatier, you’ll need a solid base in the culinary world, and may need to complete a pasty chef course. You’ll also need to meet your state’s licensing and food handling regulations, so be sure to check what your state requires.What it pays: The median salary for chocolatiers is $21,000 per year, but experienced pastry chefs can make more.4. Marriage counselorSometimes love needs a little help, and marriage counselors are licensed health care professionals who can help couples work on their relationships. This is not a job for the starry-eyed romantic who thinks all relationships are a romcom-ending away from happiness, but rather a practical career for someone who believes that therapy and hard work together can overcome challenges in love and life. Plus, health care careers are a very stable, practical bet for long-term career longevity.Marriage and family therapy in particular is a field that’s growing- the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the number of jobs in this area will grow more than 23% by 2026.What you’ll need: Marriage and family therapists typically have a master’s degree or higher, plus complete an internship or residency. Licensing requirements may vary by state, so be sure to check your own state’s requirements.What it pays: The median salary for marriage and family therapists is $48,790, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.If you love the very idea of love, there are ways to live that out in your professional life as well. Choosing a career that helps make other people happy can be a key to long-term career satisfaction. If you have the skills and the inclination to work in one of these service fields, you may find yourself with even more love to go around.

Livermorium Facts - Element 116 or Lv

Livermorium Facts - Element 116 or Lv Livermorium (Lv) is element 116 on the periodic table of the elements. Livermorium is a highly radioactive man-made element (not observed in nature). Heres a collection of interesting facts about element 116, as well as a look at its history, properties, and uses: Interesting Livermorium Facts Livermorium was first produced in July 19, 2000 by scientists working jointly at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA) and Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (Dubna, Russia). At the Dubna facility, a single atom of livermorium-293 was observed from bombarding a curium-248 target with calcium-48 ions. The element 116 atom decayed into flerovium-289, via alpha decay.Researchers at Lawrence Livermore had announced synthesis of element 116 in 1999, by fusing krypton-86 and lead-208 nuclei to form ununoctium-293 (element 118), which decayed into livermorium-289. However, they retracted the discovery after no one (including themselves) was able to replicate the result. In fact, in 2002, the lab announced the discovery had been based on fabricated data attributed to the principal author, Victor Ninov.Element 116 was called eka-polonium, using Mendeleevs naming convention for unverified elements, or ununhexium (Uuh), using the IUPAC naming convention. Once a new elements synthes is is verified, the discoverers get the right to give it a name. The Dubna group wanted to name element 116 moscovium, after the Moscow Oblast, where Dubna is situated. The Lawrence Livermore team wanted the name livermorium (Lv), which recognizes Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Livermore, California, where it is located. The city is named, in turn, for American rancher Robert Livermore, so he indirectly got an element named after him. The IUPAC approved the name livermorium on May 23, 2012. Should researchers ever synthesize enough of element 116 to observe it, its likely livermorium would be a solid metal at room temperature. Based on its position on the periodic table, the element should display chemical properties similar to those of its homologous element, polonium. Some of these chemical properties are also shared by oxygen, sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. Based on its physical and atomic data, livermorium is expected to favor the 2 oxidation state, although some activity of the 4 oxidation state may occur. The 6 oxidation state is not expected to occur at all. Livermorium is expected to have a higher melting point than polonium, yet a lower boiling point. Livermorium is expected to have a higher density than polonium.Livermorium is near an island of nuclear stability, centered on copernicium (element 112) and flerovium (element 114). Elements within the island of stability decay almost exclusively via alpha decay. Livermorium lacks the neutrons to truly be on the island, yet its heavier isotopes decay more slowly than its lighter ones. The molecule livermorane (LvH2) would be the heaviest homolog of water. Livermorium Atomic Data Element Name/Symbol: Livermorium (Lv) Atomic Number: 116 Atomic Weight: [293] Discovery:  Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2000) Electron Configuration:  [Rn] 5f14  6d10  7s2  7p4   or perhaps [Rn] 5f14  6d10  7s2 7p21/2  7p2  3/2, to reflect the 7p subshell split Element Group: p-block, group 16 (chalcogens) Element Period: period 7 Density: 12.9 g/cm3 (predicted) Oxidation States: probably -2, 2, 4 with the 2 oxidation state predicted to be most stable Ionization Energies: Ionization energies are predicted values: 1st:  723.6  kJ/mol2nd:  1331.5  kJ/mol3rd:  2846.3  kJ/mol Atomic Radius: 183 pm Covalent Radius: 162-166 pm (extrapolated) Isotopes: 4 isotopes are known, with mass number 290-293. Livermorium-293 has the longest half-life, which is approximately 60 milliseconds.   Melting Point:  637–780  K  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹(364–507  Ã‚ °C, ​687–944  Ã‚ °F) predicted Boiling Point:1035–1135  K ​(762–862  Ã‚ °C, ​1403–1583  Ã‚ °F) predicted Uses of Livermorium: At present, the only uses of livermorium are for scientific research. Livermorium Sources: Superheavy elements, such as element 116, are the result of nuclear fusion. If scientists succeed in forming even heavier elements, livermorium might be seen as a decay product. Toxicity: Livermorium presents a health hazard because of its extreme radioactivity. The element serves no known biological function in any organism. References Fricke, Burkhard (1975). Superheavy elements: a prediction of their chemical and physical properties. Recent Impact of Physics on Inorganic Chemistry. 21: 89–144.Hoffman, Darleane C.; Lee, Diana M.; Pershina, Valeria (2006). Transactinides and the future elements. In Morss; Edelstein, Norman M.; Fuger, Jean. The Chemistry of the Actinide and Transactinide Elements (3rd ed.). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer ScienceBusiness Media.Oganessian, Yu. Ts.; Utyonkov; Lobanov; Abdullin; Polyakov; Shirokovsky; Tsyganov; Gulbekian; Bogomolov; Gikal; Mezentsev; Iliev; Subbotin; Sukhov; Ivanov; Buklanov; Subotic; Itkis; Moody; Wild; Stoyer; Stoyer; Lougheed; Laue; Karelin; Tatarinov (2000). Observation of the decay of  292116.  Physical Review C.  63:Oganessian, Yu. Ts.; Utyonkov, V.; Lobanov, Yu.; Abdullin, F.; Polyakov, A.; Shirokovsky, I.; Tsyganov, Yu.; Gulbekian, G.; Bogomolov, S.; Gikal, B. N.; et al. (2004). Measurements of cross sections and decay properties of the isotop es of elements 112, 114, and 116 produced in the fusion reactions  233,238U,  242Pu, and  248Cm48Ca.  Physical Review C.  70  (6).