Explain the Function of Two Hormones on Human Behavior

Explain the function of two hormones on human behavior A hormone is â€Å"a regulatory substance produced in an organism and transported in tissue fluids such as blood or sap to stimulate specific cells or tissues into action. † (Oxford Dictionary) One example of a hormone is Testosterone.This hormone is a function of human behavior because it is said to play a significant role in health and well being, especially in males. Wagner et al demonstrated this theory in a study in 1980. He utilized 10 seven-week-old male and female mice – the mice were placed in an apparatus with a bite target held in place by a telegraph key and the biting and/or tugging actions were observed and recorded.The experiment consisted of four conditions: (1) 5 male mice were tested first with no testosterone injection, and then were castrated; they were studied for six sessions (2) 5 male mice were treated with the same procedure as mice in group 1 respect to injection dosage, but they received s ham operations (3 and 4) each group consisted of 5 male mice, and the pattern for treatment of these mice was the same as those of groups 1 and 2, but the mice in group 3 were ovariectomized and those of group 4 received sham operations. Estrogen however, was initially given to these females rather than testosterone propionate.Estrogen injections continued for nine days and were followed by two days of vehicle injections and then by 14 days of testosterone propionate. Finally, six days of vehicle injections followed the hormone injections. The results were as expected; they found that those who were injected with testosterone propionate had a reduced behavior of aggression, and testosterone restores aggression in castrated mice. However, injecting testosterone is not sufficient to turn a previously non-aggressive mouse into an aggressive mouse – it only worked when the mouse was aggressive before the injection. Another type of hormone is Oxytocin.The hormone plays a key role in affecting social behavior; it is claimed to increase the level of trust and generosity in humans. Pinon et al displayed evidence for this claim in 2010 when he studied sixty participants (matched pairs design) who were randomly assigned to receive either Oxytocin or a placebo. They were given a questionnaire that asked them to share personal information and, although they were told that information would be kept confidential (and the results will be processed electronically on computer), they were allowed to tape and glue their questionnaires in envelopes for their privacy rights. 0% of participants with placebo glued and taped their envelopes; whereas, 60% of participants that were injected Oxytocin left their envelopes completely open to give to the researchers. This manifests that oxytocin does increase trust and that its effects extend beyond money. Specifically, participants on Oxytocin were 44 times more trusting that their privacy would not be violated than participants on placebo. To conclude, it is evident that hormones play a function in human behavior, however this does not mean there is a direct link between the two and we must consider the relationship as more of a correlation.

Write a Debate Speech in Support of Advertisements

Write a debate speech in support of advertisements. â€Å"Mr. Chairman, honorable judges, my most worthy opponents and everyone else present here today. Good afternoon. Before I begin on my main points, I would like to express my disagreement with one of the points expressed by the proposition team. â€Å"The second speaker for the proposition said that advertisements cause people to keep buying low-quality goods. Now, I feel that people generally are not so naive.Even the members of the proposition team have been able to note the various tricks and so-called brain washing maneuver. So, the tricks haven't worked, have they? Actually, few of the usual purchases that we buy are heavily advertised on television or anywhere else for that matter. For example, do you choose the most highly advertised tissue paper or toilet paper? At most, we would try a much advertised product only because it was something new. Take the Cherry Coke advertisements. Its advertising mode probably fits all t he descriptions made by the proposition team member.However, how many of us were so influenced by these advertisements that he or she has started to drink the beverage weekly, or even monthly? â€Å"Now for my first point, I would like to state the benefits of advertisements from the economic side. Advertisements can help companies to introduce their latest products to the market. If the companies are not able to inform the public about their new products, they will not have the confidence to try to produce it. It is undeniable that advertisements play a crucial role in increasing a company's sales.This may sound capitalistic, but we must remember the importance of these factories to the nation. With the increase in sales, the company can afford to give better pay to the workers and offer more jobs. â€Å"Now, another point is that it is only with proper circulation of the products made possible by advertising that the companies are able to mass-produce their products. Mass produc tion is more economical and allows the producers to lower the price of these goods! As a result, consumers can purchase these goods at reasonable prices.As you can see, millions of consumers benefit because of advertisements. â€Å"Thirdly, industries can also greatly contribute to the expansion of a company from regional to international status. Let me give a real example. One man started a small and humble cottage industry of jeans-making. Because of its increasing popularity through advertising, this industry gradually weaved its way into the market until it started to prosper. From a cottage industry, this industry grew into an international company known by both the young and old.The name of this brand of jeans is none other than Levi's. This company was able to grow due to advertisements, creating job opportunities for millions of people, not only in America but also in Levi's factories in Indonesia, the Philippines and other third world countries. â€Å"Fourthly, advertisem ents of the latest technology and inventions are also beneficial for the consumers, for it means they can find the right kind of product for themselves easily and quickly. Here is another real-life case.My grandmother used to have too many lizards crawling around her house and she is paranoid about them. Then, one day, she saw the advertisement for a lizard spray that can paralyze lizards temporarily. End of lizard problem. How could my dear grandma have found out about such a strange but useful product without advertisements? Jokes aside, through reading the advertisements in newspapers or magazines, many people find just the product required to take care of their particular problem.Estate managers can find out about the right fertilizer or pesticide; computer owners can find the best software; doctors can find out about the latest medications. Imagine all the bother one must go through to find out the product one needs amongst the rapidly expanding array of products and inventions available, without advertisements. Why, one would have to phone just about every shop in town! Nowadays, we can just flip open a newspaper or even the Yellow Pages. See how advertisements have been such a blessing!

Ancient Greek and Roman Similarities.

The ancient Greek and Roman civilizations of Europe began to progress toward a more civilized order of society. As there were no previous establishment to base their ideals on, it was understandable that there were some difficulties in their progression as a society. Although the ancient Greek and Roman governments fell, both had similar paths of creation, conquest, and destruction. Greek society began by the formation of the city-state. The city-state, based on tribal allegiances, was generally the first political association during the early stages of civilization. ( Perry, 45) This was the first step in the progression toward early self-government.   Greek city-states generally moved through four stages: rule by a king (monarchy), rule by landowning aristocrats (oligarchy), rule by one man who seized power (tyranny), and rule by the people (democracy).   (Perry, 46) Plagiarism Detection >Roman society began by the influences of surrounding cultures and quickly grew beyond the confines of a city-state status economy.   The more advanced civilizations of both Etruscans and Greeks were gradually absorbed by the Romans.   From them, Romans acquired architectural styles and skills in road construction, sanitation, hydraulic engineering (including underground conduits), metallurgy, ceramics, and portrait sculpture. (Perry, 84)   Their need for growth led them to form a republic.   As in the Greek cities, the transition from theocratic monarchy to republic offered possibilities for political and legal growth.   (Perry 85)Both Greeks and Romans tried to realize some form of democracy.   It is to Greece that we ultimately trace the idea of democracy and all that accompanies it: citizenship, constitutions, equality before the law, government by law, reasoned debate, respect for the individual, and confidence in human intelligence.   (Perry, 52)Because Rome tried to maintain a republic it had different needs compared to the Greeks.   The Romans, unl ike the Greeks, were distinguished by practicality and common sense, not by a love of abstract thought.   In their pragmatic and empirical fashion, they gradually developed the procedures of public politics and the legal state.   (Perry 88)The fall of the Greeks was a direct result of a breakdown of social theories.   When people no longer regarded the law as an expression of sacred traditions ordained by the gods but saw it as a merely human contrivance, respect for the law diminished, weakening the foundations of the society.   The results were party conflicts, politicians who scrambled for personal power, and moral uncertainty. (Perry 55) Plagiarism Detection >The Romans suffered a similar fate as a result of an unfocused administration.   Instead of developing a professional civil service to administer the conquered lands, Roman leaders attempted to govern an empire with city-state institutions, which had evolved for a different purpose.   (Perry 95)The Greek and Rom an cultures truly revolutionized the art of civilization.   They initiated new ideals for the interaction of people in a society. They both had similar paths of creation, conquest, and destruction.   They shared similar beliefs and as a result shared similar fates. Future societies can look at the mistakes made in the past and build from them, but if we are not careful, future mistakes may be built from past societies.

Week4-4dq4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Week4-4dq4 - Essay Example There are different schools of thought on the subject. Some people feel that Open Source is actually much more dependable than conventional software, in that with more developers involved in it, there is a better chance for more perfect software. However, Gacek (2004) reports that is a fallacy and stereotype in of itself. In addition, she argues that another perceived problem is most Open Source is conceived by some hacker and it was usually mostly available for generally unpopular platforms such as Linux. The truth is, even at the time of her writing, only six years after Open Source came to be, many businesses actually employ software people to develop OS code. Moreover, since the paper, Windows based OS has overtaken Linux. One would probably say Microsoft has a vested interest in keeping Open Source off the software market. So it was interesting that one of the company’s chief engineers gave an interview with the BBC in 2006 (Marson), in which he stated that although OS has its place in society, most people consider the products substandard as compared to commercial software such as his company’s products. One of the most popular and prolific OS products today is Mozilla’s Firefox browser, a direct competitor to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, with Google’s Chrome. In a side by side comparison of the two (Smith 2011), Firefox won handily in Appearance, Interface and Add ons. For the other categories, such as reliability, performance and industry standard IE and Firefox tied. IE did not win in any category. Therefore, it appears that the engineer’s remarks are wrong and today OS can be as dependable as commercial. As with any other venture, software projects have myriad of risks associated with them. Done right and the project team will be the darling of the company. However, if they fail, not only is it embarrassing but said failure could very well result in career loss. So for the purposes of

Al Ain Distribution Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Al Ain Distribution Company - Essay Example This is under the Law 2 of 1998 on 1 January 1999 with its Head Office at Al Ain. This company is a completely owned subordinate of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority with a fully paid investment of AED Billion 1,530,000,000 (Al-Ain Distribution Company, 2012). It is the sole distributor of Water and electricity in the Eastern Area of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (Al Ain City and adjacent countryside areas). This includes the ownership, maintenance, and operation of the electricity and water  distribution, network properties, meter reading, and facilities for the supply of water and electricity. The number AADC employees at the end of 2008 financial year were around more than 1900. The Company provides services the population in the East Region of Abu Dhabi (Al Ain Region), which is currently approaching half a million people. The company has established a documented Integrated Management System, which includes an IMS Policy statement, IMS procedures, IMS Management Manual, IMS Objectives, Operating Procedures, Flow Charts, Process Maps, and IMS Records. ADDC operates in the Eastern Region only, whereas Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company (ADWEC) provide water and power distribution services in Abu Dhabi and its suburbs to approximately 216,000 customers (Abu Dhabi Water and Distribution Company, 2012). ... The company’s responsibility is to consistent, steady, and safely distribute water, electricity from Transco’s termination points to residential, commercial, agricultural, and government consumers in the Al Ain Region. The company executes the following to meet their responsibilities: Maintenance and distribution of the network of distribution assets. Secondly, the company carries out testing of water quality through its laboratory services. Lastly, the customer interfaces including billing, call center operation and revenue collection. The company uses a low cost strategy. The reason being it provides social very important social needs and, therefore all people in the region should be able to access their services. The evidence of their low cost strategy is through the low cost payments that the inhabitants make of only AED 50 (Dirham) for meter checkup fees (Abu Dhabi Water and Distribution Company, 2012). There are no addition fees the required to be paid. There are no clear employee productivity and measurement mechanisms in this company apart from the career development program. This program is offered to fresh graduates for training so that they can work in that company. Employee productivity is a very crucial aspect in terms of the achievement of company goals and objectives. One of the ways of employee productivity measurement is through the establishment of a baseline. A baseline is a standard used for measuring performance of an entity according to set goals and objectives (PM Hut, 2008). 3. FORECASTING According to the Al Ain Distribution Company, the procedures are outlined as follows. The Users connected to the Water Distribution System

Critically evaluate the view that, the global regulatory environment Essay

Critically evaluate the view that, the global regulatory environment and governance plays an important role on both the location and impact of Multinational enterprises - Essay Example Social economics puts emphasis on the dichotomous characteristic of the MNE, elaborated in the expression ‘making goods versus making money’ (Mcclintock 1999, 507) to examine the ways wherein clashes between these objectives may bring about social injustice. Usually this social disorder arouses collective action to remedy the inequality or discrimination, effectively mitigating the social harm of the MNE’s operations (Jones 2005). In this essay the role of global regulatory environment and governance on the location and impact of multinational enterprises is outlined. MNEs’ international investment and production is far-reaching. In 1997, roughly 53,000 MNEs and their foreign partners had an amassed direct foreign investment stock assessed at more than $3 trillion whilst the foreign partners’ international sales drew near to an approximated $9 trillion (Mcclintock 1999, 507). Global production has increased at a more rapid pace than global trade as suggested by sales of the foreign partners of MNEs increasing more rapidly than actual DFI investment and world exports as a share of international GDP surpassing increase in the proportion of imports and exports to GDP (Luo 2005). This globalisation of production has expanded the shared interdependence of regional and national markets. Due to the fact that transaction outlays may remain elevated in global exchange due to the incapability of attempts between private groups, such as corporate codes of conduct, or the government to achieve a ‘greater success’ in the interest of the general public, trials in supranational arbitration of conflicts have heightened (Kim, Prescott & Kim 2005). Two primary rationales for the growth of this governance are the integrative and technological necessities of contemporary life. The global technology transfer creates the demand for regulation and standardisation

Eating in restaurant or home Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Eating in restaurant or home - Essay Example Eating at restaurant is an altogether different experience as compared to eating at home. Eating at restaurant is a costly experience lacking privacy but enriched with a wide and diverse range of foods whereas eating at home is a cost-effective experience enriched with privacy and customization. The first and the foremost thing that makes eating at restaurant different from eating at home is that one is surrounded by other families in the former unlike the latter. Eating at a restaurant is a kind of social experience. People tend to eat at restaurant with their friends. The privacy of having a meal at home can only be attained at a fairly high cost at the restaurant. People frequently purchase food from the restaurant and bring that home to eat in order to enjoy food in privacy. While restaurant are visited for eating with friends, people eat with their families at home to enjoy the food in private. The quality of food at a restaurant also depends upon the type of restaurant, with the more expensive restaurants having higher quality as compared to the cheaper restaurants. Costly restaurants charge more because of the hygiene they maintain. While there is little an individual can do to alter the quality of food at a restaurant, quality of food can be adjusted in the home-cooked food as per the want of the family. People customize the flavors of standard recipes by adjusting the content of salt, sugar and such other spices depending upon their individualistic needs and preferences. Eating at restaurant proves costlier than eating at home. â€Å"Restaurants charge even simple food items exorbitantly† (â€Å"Topic No. 3†). Restaurants charge their clients the cost of service, exotic views of the restaurant, and profit in addition to the basic cost of food, whereas the cost incurred on the home-cooked food is just the cost of ingredients and cooking, which is certainly much lesser than the cost of restaurant-made food. Concluding, eating at restaurant and

Analysis paper 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis paper 2 - Essay Example The key focus areas are in the textile and clothing industries, in the entertainment field, in factory farms, and in scientific laboratories. Among the causes that it is active in include abuse of domesticated animals, cruelty in the annihilation of animals that are deemed as pests but serve a useful role in various ecologies, and other related animal issues. Its means of advocacy include campaigns of protest, legislative lobbying, investigations of cruel acts against animals, education of the general public, the rescue operations involving animals in distress, the invitation of celebrities to take part in campaigns, the holding of events that are of special significance to the movement, and research initiatives (PETA). The literature defines various language-based tactics and strategies in common use by social movements around the world, and the objective of this paper is to identify PETA’s tactics and strategies and classify them according to the categories presented in the text, by way of undertaking an analysis of the use of those tactics and strategies as they relate to PETA’s campaigns and advocacies. To wit, the different strategies and techniques of persuasion presented in the text are acts that are symbolic and not verbal; the use of new technological platforms such as the Internet and social media; obscenity; labeling; ridicule; the use of music; the use of slogans; identification; polarization; and the employ of the power language or rhetoric. Through PETA’s long history, it is reasonable to assume that the movement must have employed all of the tactics and strategies listed above in some form or other in its campaigns and programs. The goal is to be able to look at the more current literature to identify exactly what tactics and strategies are relevant to PETA’s campaigns (Stewart, Smith and Denton 167-168; PETA; Tolhurst; Saul; Burns). In a most recent protest, PETA was reported to have laid

International Trade Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

International Trade Law - Assignment Example The hunting of seals in Canada in the adjoining waters of the Arctic Ocean is believed to have begun in the 16th century. Seal hunting for commercial purposes grew into an important trade in the 1980s decade in Canada. This mainly includes the Inuit group of people, the residents of Atlantic Canada and also North Canada. The United Nations in its Declaration on the â€Å"Rights of Indigenous Peoples† has recognized this seal hunting practice as a means of livelihood for the Canadian residents. According to an estimate in 2005, about 329,829 harp seals were killed by the indigenous people of Atlantic Canada and Quebec. They also produced $ 15.43 million worth of â€Å"exports of identifiable seal products†. The extent and importance of the seal hunting trade in Canada renders it very difficult for the Canadian authorities to pronounce an end to this practice. The European Union bans Seal Products Canada was supposed to attend a summit meeting with the European Union to discuss further prospects of trade between the two countries and open up new markets. On 16 September 2009, the European Parliament and the European Communities declared a Regulation (EC) No. 1007/2009 stating a prohibition in the import and sale of all seal products manufactured from the commercial hunting of seals.... eal hunts carried out in a traditional practice by the Inuits and other indigenous communities and byproducts from similar regulated hunts, would be allowed to trade in the European Union.2 The Canadian Government expressed its disappointment on the development and vowed to take the issue to the World Trade Organization (WTO).3 Canada was of the opinion that in the case the EU imposed a restriction on seal products made out of commercial hunting, the country should be exempted from it since Canada followed strict guidelines to ensure that the seal hunting methods in the country were humane and were sustainable in the long run. The Effects of Such a Regulation According to the European Commission, the trade exchanges between Canada and the European Union are worth around EUR 70 billion or $ 93 billion in a single year. If the Canada and the European Union agreed to expand their bilateral trade, this could generate an additional trade exchange worth EUR 20 billion. However, the EU Regu lation regarding the prohibition of the import and sale of seal related products from commercial hunting, in the EU markets could have serious implications for the bilateral trade between the two countries. Once the Regulation (EC) No. 1007/2009 comes into effect, the value of seal products imported by the EU from Canada will decrease drastically, as then only the seal products made out of legitimate hunting methods will only be permissible to enter the EU market. Therefore, Canada will be compelled to turn to other countries of the world for the export of its seal products, following the decline of the EU as one of its important importers in this trade 4 Canada’s Arguments On 2 November, 2009, Canada expressed its desire to engage in a consultation with the European Communities regarding

United States use of fossil fuel Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

United States use of fossil fuel - Research Paper Example The United States is considered amongst the largest consumers of fossil fuels, consuming 7.1 billion barrels/year of oil, 23.2 cubic feet/year of natural gas and 1.04 billion short tons/year of coal (Whitney, 2010, pg 20). The countries dependence on fossil fuel has increased over the years; with its total fossil fuel consumption increasing 20 fold in the last 4 decades.The high dependence of fossil fuels is clearly noticeable in the fossil fuel per capita consumption; that is the country consumes 20 to 30 times more fossil fuel per capita than developing nations. This high dependence on fossil fuels results in economic and environmental damage of the country. It is therefore needed that the United States adopt a reusable source of fuel that would lessen the strain on the environment and its economy. It is a well known fact that burning and consumption of fossil fuels results in release of harmful environment damaging substances. Fossil fuels mainly consist of petroleum, natural gas and coal. All three of which contribute to global warming by releasing greenhouse gases when combusted. These greenhouse gases further then contribute towards the global warming effect. Global warming is predicted to lead to other environmental disasters such as the sea level rising and major climate changes. Ultimately, the phenomenon is expected to lead the world into an ice age. The United States has established itself as one of the largest contributors towards making this phenomenon a reality. The United States expelled 6633.2 million metric tons of Carbon dioxide, which is the primary ingredient of global warming (US Environment Protection Agency, 2011, p. 2-5). The country’s economy is heavily based and dependent on fossil fuels. Though the country has its own fossil fuel reserves, it still to meet its large fuel requirements, imports fossil fuel from fossil fuel rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq becomes a necessity. This import of oil and its derivatives pus hes pressure on the economy. The high consumption of fossil fuels also poses indirect financial expenditures. Sea level rise and increase in destructive power of storms due to global warming, has put coastal cities such as New York, New Orleans and Miami in greater risk. It is estimated that damages could amount to $422 billion in the Atlantic and Gulf States between 2025 and 2100 (Environment America, 2009, p. 17). In a bid to avoid this catastrophic situation both environmentally and economically, it is essential that the United States slowly shifts its economy towards greener energy resources. The country already has installed several power plants that utilize renewable energy resources. As of 2010, renewable energy accounted for 11.4 percent of the electricity produced within the United States. The major sources of renewable fuel within the country are hydro, solar, wind, geothermal (Blackburn, 1987, p. 44). Most of these energy sources have already been developed within the cou ntry. Hydroelectric power contributes 66.8 percent of the total renewable energy and has iconic projects such as the Hoover dam and Grand Coulee dam under its belt. Solar energy plants installed within the Mojave Desert are capable of generating up to 354MW of power. The Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) consists of nine solar power plants that were commissioned between 1984 and 1991. There are more solar plants being constructed in order to increase the amount of coverage by renewable sources; of which two are the Blythe Solar Power Project and Ivanpah Solar Power Facility. Wind power is a growing source of energy within the United States. The power generated by wind farm’s currently amounts to more than 35,159MW. These farms are mostly located within ranches of Texas. The idea of wind farms for renewable source of energy is gaining popularity and wind power is expected to cover 20% of US electricity by 2030. Geothermal source of energy is the fourth largest source of r enewable energy. Geothermal plants are mostly locat

How working environment can impact on motivation Essay Example for Free

How working environment can impact on motivation Essay (A) Describe, with examples, how working environment can impact on motivation and contribute to an effective workplace in travel and tourism, covering:- * Job location In travel and tourism, the holiday atmosphere at resort contributes to a sense of well-being. Customers are happy to be on holiday and it is relatively easy to have a positive attitude to work. Whereas if you were working in a call centre where you are office bound and have to spend most of the talking to customer on the telephone. The organisation has to consider how this poorer environment can be improved so that staff remains motivated. * Working conditions and Hours of work Hours of work vary tremendously throughout the industry- some people are happy to work unsocial hours because it fits in with their lifestyle or they wish to have time off when everyone else is working. However, the overall number of hours per week should not exceed 40. * Health and safety Safety and security factors must be considered in the workplace, and legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 must be adhered to. Specific regulations also apply where food is served or where the chemical hazards, for example in a swimming pool. All these requirements are important. For some organisations a lapse in safety procedures can mean the collapse of the business and even a prosecution. Companies that organise activity holidays for children, for example must make health and safety a priority. Health and safety is important for both customers and employees. Employees need to know that they can go about their work in a safe environment and work together to ensure their customers are safe. * Equipment and Resources Sate-of-the-art equipment and a pleasant environment are important to motivate staff. * Social event Most companies have a Christmas party or social outgoing for staff. These are useful events to create camaraderie amongst staff and build teams. * Theories of motivation The motivation and commitment of employees is key to success of a team and therefore to the company. Several theorists have come up with models of motivation. The two of that we will look at are Maslow and Herzberg. 1. Maslow Abraham Maslow was an American who in the 1940s developed a theory of motivation. The theory is valid still for understanding how people are motivated in the workplace. Employers can use it to provide conditions that fulfil peoples needs at the different levels. Maslow theory is displayed as a pyramid because employees can only move up the levels once the lower levels are fulfilled. So, an employee cant achieve level 4 at work if they are having problems in their personal life or working with colleagues (level 3). Similarly, if they have just been made homeless (level 1) their concern will be finding shelter not performing at work. 2. Herzberg Herzbergs theory is also known as the hygiene theory. Herzberg identified characteristics which make people satisfied with their jobs and those which make them dissatisfied: satisfiers and dissatisfiers. The satisfiers are factors which give people long-term motivation and enable them to enjoy their work: * The type of work * Promotion prospects * Having responsibilities * Sense of achievement * Personal development * Gaining recognition This dissatisfiers or hygiene factors need to be operating well in an organisation but according to Herzberg do not ultimately motivate people. These are: * Salary * Working conditions * Relationships with others- colleagues and managers * Company policy (B) Describe, with examples, how working relationships can impact on motivation and contribute to an effective workplace in travel and tourism, covering:- * Management style Management is about motivating people to act in certain ways so that the team can achieve its common goal. A good manager must inform, motivate and develop the team. The four types of manager/management I will be talking about are:- 1. An autocratic manager An autocratic manager makes all the decisions and announces them to the team. This person is the boss and so has full control. The main advantage of this kind of leadership is that decisions are made quickly, as no consultation is involved. Its other advantages include:- * Where there is a need for urgent action the autocrat will take control * Some team members gain security from being told what to do. Disadvantages include:- * Team members may become frustrated at their lack of control * There may not be room for the team to express creativity * There may be over-dependence on the leaders Autocratic management belongs in a traditional hierarchical structure. 2. Consultative management With consultative management, the leader still makes the decisions but discusses them with the team. The advantages include:- * The team is informed of what is going on * Open discussion is encouraged * The manager spends time with the team The disadvantages are that the team feel involved but frustrated by having no real power. 3. Democratic management With democratic management, the decision-making is shared among the team. The advantages include:- * Ideas are encouraged from everyone * There is greater involvement and commitment from team members * The team is likely to be supportive of the leader * The team is fully informed The disadvantages include:- * Some team members may not be able to cope with being involved in decision-making * The democratic process can take too long * The leader may not agree with the decisions of the team * Powerful team members may take over 4. Laissez-faire management With laissez-faire management the team is left to sort itself out and get on with its work. The manager does not get involved and therefore is not leading the team. The advantages include:- * Highly motivated and skilled people are able to get on with their tasks * The team is empowered The disadvantages include:- * New team members will be uninformed * The team may be left with little or no direction * Teamwork Teamwork skills are essential in the workplace. You must be able to work with other people in a team even if you dont happen to like them. A team is a group of people who are working together to achieve common objectives. Even when you are not physically with other members of your team, you can work together by contributing to a sequence of activities with a common aim. If you were working as a resort representative in Spain, you would still be working in a team with colleagues in head office in the UK. 1. Team roles Good teams achieve synergy; that is, together they can achieve more than the members could individually. More ideas, energy and resources are generated as a group because:- * The team solves problems and makes decisions together * The team focuses on the priorities, with everyone working towards the same aim * The team provides a sense of belonging and a sense of status * The team provides a support network Not everyone in a team is the same- each person has their own strengths and weaknesses. If each person had the same weaknesses, the team could not work; there needs to be a balance of skills. A method of recognising individuals strengths and weaknesses is needed in order to build an effective team. The management expert R.Meredith Belbin has outlined nine team roles necessary for a successful team. One person can represent more than one role, as most people have strengths in more than one area. Belbins roles:- Chairperson/ co-ordinator = The group leader, likely to be relaxed and extrovert, also likely to be a good communicator. They will build on the strengths of team members and give them encouragement. Plant = The ideas person in the team, a person who is creative in looking for solution to problems, but not always good at details, and so may make careless mistakes. Shaper = The task leader, who unites ideas and effort. Needs to be dominated and extrovert in order to make things happen. Monitor/ evaluator = The team analyst, who is not so good at ideas but pays attention to details, thus keeping the team directed towards its target. Implementer = The organiser of the team, who is able to make the ideas of the plant and shaper and turn them into manageable and realistic tasks. A practical, stable and disciplined person. Resources investigator = The person who is outgoing and will explore and report on ideas and developments outside the group; is sociable and enthusiastic and good under pressure. Team worker = A very people-oriented person, sensitive to others needs. The team worker has good communication skills and will be good at motivating other. A natural mediator, who will deal with any conflict within the team, this person is very good to have around in a crisis. Finisher = A person who sticks to deadlines and likes to get on with things. Will probably be irritated by the more relaxed members of the team. Specialist = This person is single-minded and a self-starter and provides knowledge and skills in specialist areas each of Belbins roles acquires a different level of important according to the objectives of the team and the stage in the teams life. 2. team development Formal teams are part of the structure of an organisation and are planned in order to meet that organisations objectives. The formal team will follow rules and regulations and may meet on a pre-arranged schedule and complete administrative procedures. Examples in travel and tourism includes sales teams and marketing teams Informal teams work within or outside formal teams. They are sometimes based on personal relationships between members rather than on work roles. When you complete group work for assignments, you often choose the colleagues you wish. You choose to work with people you like and ones you know will be as committed as you are to the work. This is an informal team. There are several theories of team structure and development, which will help you to understand the effectiveness of teams. Bruce Tuckman (1965) identified four main stages of team development:- * Forming at this stage, team members form their first impressions of each other and establish identities. They are sounding each other out and finding out what is expected of them. * Storming- the team members have, by now, become more used to each other. Members are prepared to put forward their ideas forcibly and openly; they are also prepared to disagree and so there may be some conflict and hostility. * Norming the team now begins to establish co-operation. Conflict is controlled, views are exchanged and new standards introduced. * Performing the team is now working together; it begins to arrive at solutions and achieve objectives. There can also be a fifth stage, called adjourning or mourning, where the team has disbanded and the members miss being part of the team. * Job roles and lines of responsibility An organisation chart shows the structure of the company and how the work is divided into different areas. It also shows the lines of responsibility between staff, so that it is apparent who is responsible to whom. An employee studying a chart will find the possible promotions routes. The chart may show a hierarchical structure or line relationship. This is a very traditional structure and shows a chain of command with each person responsible to the person above them. It is sometimes referred to as a pyramid structure. Many organisations today would be depicted in a chart with a flatter structure. There are fewer layers of management, and each manager has a broader span of control. Restructuring of organisations often involves getting rid of middle managers, hence the flattened structure. * Channels of communication Open communication must be encouraged and ideas should be freely expressed in the workplace. There should be trust and support between team members. An effective leader can encourage good communication and shape the way the team works. * Verbal Verbal communication is the process of sending and receiving messages with words, including writing and there are different ways a person can do verbal communication 1. Telephone 2. Word of mouth 3. Video conference 4. Face to face 5. Presentation 6. Walkie-talkie 7. Meetings 8. Bluetooth/ headset (mobile phone) 9. Radio 10. Sign language * Written Written communication guarantees that everyone concerned has the same information and it provides a long-lasting record of communication for future such as 1. Books 2. Brochures/ leaflets, newspaper 3. E-mail 4. Text (written + electronic + verbal) 5. Fax (written + electronic) 6. Notice boards 7. Minutes of meetings * Electronic Electronic communication means any method used to convey a message that has been transmitted via electronic means such as e-mail, video conferencing, radio, TV, mobile phone, internet, fax etc. * Equal opportunities Legislation exists to ensure that personal receive equal opportunities and that there is no discrimination. The arts of parliament that you should be aware of are:- * Race relations Act 1976 This act makes discrimination on racial grounds unlawful in employment, training, education and the provision of goods, facilities and services. The two main type of discrimination involved in this Act are:- 1. direct discrimination:- discrimination against colour disability, citizenship 2. indirect discrimination:- discriminating a racial group * Sex discrimination Act 1975 This act makes it unlawful to discriminating against someone on the ground of gender, marital status, Gender reassignment or sexual orientation. The act was updated in 1986 to remove restrictions on womens hours of work and then it allowed women to take h=jobs with flexible hours. This act not only covers discriminations in the workplace but in job advertisements and interviews. * Disability discrimination act 1995 This act makes discrimination against people with disabilities unlawful in respect of employment, education and access to goods, facilities, services, and premises. Employers are required to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate people with disabilities. Examples include providing specially adapted keyboards for arthritis sufferers, facilitating wheelchair access and relocating people with limited mobility to the ground floor. * Equal pay act 1970 This act was introduced to address the problem of women being paid less than men for the same work. It allows employees to claim equal value in terms of demands made on them, such as effort, skills and decisions made. There is also an EU Directive that state that for the same work or work of equal value, sex discrimination must be eliminated in all aspects of pay. * Other forms of discrimination Discrimination at work is a very serious issue and can result in large amounts of compensation being awarded following successful tribunals, not to set up policies to ensure that the workplace is free from discrimination. Measures to be taken include:- 1. Setting up a comprehensive equal opportunities policy covering all aspects of discrimination 2. Training staff in discrimination legislation and on how to implement the equal opportunities policy 3. Setting up complaints procedures for instances of discrimination * Employment rights act 1996 When someone gets a job they can aspect to receive a contract of employment. This is a legally binding agreement between the employer and the employee. Under the Employment Rights Act, the employer must give the employee a written document including the following information, in writing within 2 months of starting work:- 1. Name of employer and employee 2. Date employment began 3. Rate of pay and interval of pay 4. Hours of work 5. Holiday entitlement and pay 6. Job title and brief description of duties 7. Place of work 8. Notice entitlement and requirements 9. Sick leave entitlement and sick pay 10. Pension and pension scheme 11. Disciplinary procedures and grievance producers 12. Date of end of employment it fixed term 13. Additional details about working aboard if appropriate. * Notice board After one month of continues employment an employee is entitle to one week of notice if the employment ends. After 2 years employment they are entitle to 2 weeks notice, after 3 years, 3 weeks notice and so on. After 12 years the legal maximum 12 weeks notice is reached. A employee must also give notice of leaving to an employer. After one month of continuous employment, an employee must give a minimum of one weeks notice. Employees are entitled to normal pay during notice periods as long as they are working or available for work. * Redundancy Redundancy pay is calculated according to the employees age, length of service and salary. Employees can claim for unfair dismissal if they suspect: 1. There is no real redundancy 2. They were unfairly selected for redundancy Dismissal is treated as redundancy if the whole business is closing or a particular job disappears or requires fewer employees. An employer may offer alternative employment. If the employee unreasonably refuses it they are not entitled to redundancy pay. * EU Directives on hours and pay The European Working Time Directive was enacted in the UK through the Working Time Regulations 1998. This lays down the following: 1. A maximum 48-hours week, averaged over 17 weeks 2. at least 4 weeks paid annual leave 3. a weekly rest period of at least 24 hours in each 7-day period 4. a daily rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours between each working day 5. an in-work rest break of 20 minutes for those working hours or more per day Some sectors are excluded from the regulations; one of theses is transport. * National Minimum Wage Act 1998 This Act provides workers with a minimum hourly rate below which their wages will not fall. Those who work part time benefit most, because they are often badly paid. The Low Pay Commission advises the Secretary of State on the value of the minimum rate. A special lower rate applies to 18-to 21years-olds. * Maternity and paternity leave The Employment Relations Act 1999 provides for basic rights for maternity leave. There are three periods of maternity leave. Ordinary maternity leave is for a period of 18 weeks which coincides with the period for statutory maternity pay. This applies to all employees. Compulsory maternity leave extends to a period of 2 weeks after the birth; the employer must not permit the woman to return to work during this period. Additional maternity leave follows immediately after the original 18-weekperiod and must end within 29 weeks of the birth. Employees with at least one years service with an employer are eligible for the additional maternity leave. Under the same Act there are provisions to allow parents 3 months leave in order to care for a child. This is intended to be taken before the child is five. It is intended to be available to men and to women, in addition to maternity leave. Paternity leave is available to men to: 1. Have or expect to have responsibility for the childs upbringing 2. Are the biological father of the child, or the mothers husband or partner 3. Have worked continuously for their employer for 26 weeks ending with the fifteenth week before the baby is due. Eligible employees can choose take either 1 week or 2 consecutive weeks paternity leave (not odd days) * Statutory sickness pay An employer must pay Statutory Sick Pay to employees who become sick and who normally earn at least à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½79 per week. After 28 weeks, Incapacity Benefit or Income Support must be claimed instead. * Grievance and disciplinary procedures These must be included in the employees written statement or contract, or at least there must be a reference to where they can be found. Disciplinary producers deal with such maters as warnings to be given before dismissal. Warnings might arise from the following:- 1. Lack of capability or qualifications-although the employer has a responsibility to give training 2. Misconduct-which includes habitual lateness 3. Gross misconduct (for example, assault or theft) leads to instant or summary dismissal. Grievance procedures deal with complaints by employees who are not satisfied with aspects of their employment. Employees must be given the name of a person to whom a complaint can b made and should be informed of right of appeal. * Investors in people Investors in people is a UK quality standard development in 1990. Those companies who gain the award have proved that they invest in the training and development of their staff. This is beneficial to employees and also to customers and suppliers. The standard for Investors in people is based on four key principals: 1. Commitment from the top to develop all employees 2. Regular review of training and development needs 3. Taking relevant action to meet those needs throughout peoples careers 4. Evaluating training and development outcomes for individuals and the organisation in order to continuously improve These principals are subdivided into 24 indicators of effective practise, and the organisation provides evidence for assessment against the indicators. Once the organisation gets the award it is entitled to display the Investors in People logo on company literature. * Buddies and mentoring Mentoring schemes are growing in popularity. They offer employees a one-to one relationship with a mentor, someone with greater experience and a willingness to listen and advice. The mentor and the mentee meet regularly and discuss aspects of the mentees job, such as career development. The mentor does not act as a line manager or superior and is never judgemental, but acts as a sounding board and is able to offer ideas and a different outlook on work issues. The Hilton hotel chain runs a mentoring scheme for its staff at all levels. Its purpose is to support staff in their career development. Mentors at the Hilton chain are often colleagues of the mentees doing similar jobs, which departs from the traditional model. All of the mentors have had mentoring training. Some companies have similar, but sometimes less formal, schemes where a new member of staff is given a buddy as a source of information and help. * Job security Many contracts today are fixed term, especially in areas such as visitor attractions. This means that the period of employment is not indefinite but lasts for a period of months or a year or two. The reason for such contracts is flexibility for employers- they can lose staff on fixed contracts at the end of the period without penalty. However, such contracts are demotivating for staff as they worry about their future income and job prospects. C) Describe with examples, how incentives can impact on motivation and contribute to an effective workplace in travel and tourism including: * Remuneration Remuneration means how much you get paid. You would imagine that this is very important as a motivator. In fact, it is an important factor in attracting people to a company but research shows that it is not the most important incentive. * Performance related pay Bonuses are often based on overall profits and awarded to all employees- usually performance related. * Incentive scheme An example of an incentive scheme could be a competition that staff are invited to enter. The competitions may be based on generating new ideas within the company, or how to boost sales, customer satisfaction or commissions on sales. * Discounts Discounts may be given on holidays or travel for those working in the industry. Many who work in travel and tourism receive cheap travel, perhaps by going on standby if they work for an airline or by going on fact-finding trips to a destination if they work for a travel agent. * Holiday entitlement In the UK employees can expect around 4 weeks paid holiday per year. In the public sector more holiday is often given, but this may be balanced against lower pay. * Pension schemes A good pension scheme can act as an incentive for many people who are concerned about security in retirement. * Perks As a perk, employees in the travel and tourism industry are often provided with a uniform. They may get to travel or live aboard and be paid to live there. They may be provided with a company car. * Opportunities for promotion and progression Many employees need a challenge and if they are in the same position, doing a job they find easy, they may become bored and less efficient. Thus, opportunities to move on and face new challenges are an important incentive. Opportunities may arise within an organisation and good people are quickly promoted. You may wish to let it be known that you are interested in progression and ask to be sent on relevant training courses and conferences. D) Described, with examples, how training can impact on motivation and contribute to an effective workplace in travel and tourism including: * Training Those employers who wish o ensure an effective workplace will offer ongoing training and development to staff. There are several benefits to organisations add to their workforces. Training can: * Improve individual performance * Improve team performance * Allow staff to be better informal * Equip staff to deal with change and emergencies * Make for a more flexible workforce * Improve morale * Allow managers more time to manage through delegation of other tasks. * Induction training Employers have to provide instruction and training to ensure health and safety, and this is usually a part of induction training. The induction is the first stage of training and is given to new employees; it is important as new employees need to be made welcome and become effective in their work as quickly as possible. Induction covers: * The nature of the job * Introduction to the workplace and to staff * The lines of responsibility * Facilities such as toilets, lockers, canteen * Health and safety basics * Training opportunities * In-house training Large companies offer their own in-house training and may even write their own materials. These training courses are very beneficial as they are tailor- made to meet the needs of the company. * External courses Thousands of external courses are available. These may be specific to travel and tourism or other professional qualifications in areas such as marketing or human resource management. They may be offered by colleges, by travel associations or by private companies. Companies may allow individuals or groups to attend such courses. Some may be long term, leading to advanced qualifications, so a great deal of commitment is required on behalf of the individual.

Group Dynamics Essay Example for Free

Group Dynamics Essay What is â€Å"group dynamics†? Perhaps it will be most useful to start by looking at the derivation of the word â€Å"dynamics†. It comes from a Greek word meaning force. In careful usage the phrase, â€Å"group dynamics† refers to the forces operating in groups. The investigation of group dynamics, then, consists of a study of these forces: what gives rise to them, what conditions modify them, what consequences they have, etc. The practical application of group dynamics (or the technology of group dynamics) consists of the utilization of knowledge about these forces for the achievement of some purpose. In keeping with this definition, is not particularly novel, nor is it the exclusive property of any person or institution. It goes back at least to the outstanding work of men like Simmel, Freud, and Cooley. Although interest in groups has a long and respectable history, the past fifteen years have witnessed a new flowering of activity in this field. Today, research centers in several countries are carrying out substantial programmes of research designed to reveal the nature of groups and of their functioning. The phrase â€Å"group dynamics† had come into common usage during this time and intense efforts have been devoted to the development of the field, both as a branch of social science and as a form of social technology. In this development the name of Kurt Lewin had been outstanding. As a consequence of his work in the field of individual psychology and from his analysis of the nature of pressing problems of the contemporary world, Lewin became convinced of society’s urgent need for a scientific approach to the understanding of the dynamics of groups. In 1945 he established the Research Center for Group Dynamics to meet this need. Since that date the Centre has been devoting its efforts to improving our scientific understanding of groups through laboratory experimentation, field studies, and the use of techniques of action research. It has also attempted in various ways to help get the findings of social science more widely used by social management. Much of what I have to say in this paper is drawn from the experiences of this Center in its brief existence of a little more than five years. We hear all around us today the assertion that the problems of the twentieth century are problems of human relations. The survival of civilization, it is said, will depend upon man’s ability to create social interventions capable of harnessing, for society’s constructive use, the vast physical energies now at man’s disposal. Or, to put the matter more simply, we must learn how to change the way in which people behave toward one another. In broad outline, the specifications for a good society are clear, but a serious technical problem remains: How can we change people so that they neither restrict the freedom nor limit the potentialities for growth of others; so that they accept and respect people of different religion, nationality, colour, or political opinion; so that nations can exist in a world without war, and s that the fruits of our technological advances can bring economic well-being and freedom from disease to all people of the world? Although few people would disagree with these objectives when stated abstractly, when we become more specific, differences of opinion quickly arise. These questions permit no ready answers. How is change to be produced? Who is to do it? Who is to be changed? Before we consider in detail these questions of social technology, let us clear away some semantic obstacles. The word â€Å"change† produces emotional reactions. It is not a neutral word. To many people it is threatening. It conjures up visions of a revolutionary, a dissatisfied idealist, a trouble-maker, a malcontent. Nicer words referring to the process of changing people are education, training, orientation, guidance, indoctrination, therapy. We are more ready to have others â€Å"educate† us than have them â€Å"change† us. We, ourselves feel less guilty in â€Å"training† others than in â€Å"changing† them. Why this emotional response? What makes the two kinds of words have such different meanings? I believe that a large part of the difference lies in the fact that the safer words (like education and therapy) carry implicit assurance that the only changes produced will be good ones, acceptable within a currently held value system. The cold, unmodified word â€Å"change†, on the contrary, promises no respect for values; it might even tamper with values themselves. perhaps for this very reason it will foster straight thinking if we use the word â€Å"change† and thus force ourselves to struggle directly and self-consciously with the problems of value that are involved. Words like education, training, or therapy, by the very fact that they are not so disturbing, may close our eyes to the fact that they too inevitably involve values. How can we change people so that they neither restrict the freedom nor limit the potentialities for growth of others; so that they accept and respect people of different religion, nationality, colour, or political opinion; so that nations can exist in a world without war, and so that the fruits of our technological advances can bring economic wellbeing and freedom from disease to all people of the world? The proposal that social technology may be employed to solve the problems of society suggests that social science may be applied in ways not different from those used in the physical sciences. Does social science, in fact, have any practically useful knowledge which may be brought to bear significantly on society’s most urgent problems? What scientifically based principles are there for guiding programmes of social change: In this paper we shall restrict our considerations to certain parts of a relatively new branch of social science known as â€Å"group dynamics†. We shall examine some of the implications for social action which stem from research in this field of scientific investigation. Consider first some matters having to do with the mental health of an individual. We can all agree, I believe, that an important mark of a healthy personality is that the individual’s self-esteem has not been undermined. But on what does self-esteem depend? From research on this problem we have discovered that, among other things, repeated experiences of failure or traumatic failures on matters of central importance serve to undermine one’s self-esteem. We also know that whether a person experiences success or failure as a result of some undertaking depends upon the level of aspiration which he has set for himself. Now, if we try to discover how the level of aspiration gets set, we are immediately involved in the person’s relationships to groups. The groups to which he belongs set standards for his behaviour which he must accept if he is to remain in the group. If his capacities do not allow him to reach these standards, he experiences failure, he withdraws or is rejected by the group and his self-esteem suffers a shock. Consider a second example. A teacher finds that in her class she has a number of trouble-makers, full of aggression. She wants to know why these children are so aggressive and what can be done about it. A foreman in a factory has the same kind of problem with some of his workers. He wants the same kind of help. The solution most tempting to both the teacher and the foreman often is to transfer the worst trouble-makers to someone else, or if facilities are available, to refer them for counselling. But is the problem really of such a nature that it can be solved by removing the trouble-maker from the situation or by working on his individual motivations and emotional life? What leads does research give us? The evidence indicates, of course, that there are many causes of aggressiveness in people, but one aspect of the problem has become increasingly clear in recent years. If we observe carefully the amount of aggressive behaviour and the number of trouble-makers to be found in a large collection of groups, we find that these characteristics can vary tremendously from group to group even when the different groups are composed essentially of the same kinds of people. In the now classic experiments of Lewin, Lippitt and White (1939) on the effects of different styles of leadership, it was found that the same group of children displayed markedly different levels of aggressive behaviour when under different styles of leadership. Moreover, when individual children were transferred from one group to another, their levels of aggressiveness shifted to conform to the atmosphere of the new group. Efforts to account for one child’s aggressiveness under one style of leadership merely in terms of his personality traits could hardly succeed under these conditions. This is not to say that a person’s behaviour is entirely to be accounted for by the atmosphere and structure of the immediate group, but it is remarkable to what an extent a strong, cohesive group can control aspects of a member’s behaviour traditionally thought to be expressive of enduring personality traits. Recognition of this fact rephrases the problem of how to change such behaviour. It directs us to a study of the sources of the influence of the group on its members. Within very recent years some research data have been accumulating which may give us a clue to the solution of our problem. In one series of experiments directed by Lewin, it was found that a method of group decision, in which the group as a whole made a decision to have its members change their behaviour, was from two to ten times more effective in producing actual change as was a lecture presenting exhortation to change (Lewin, 1951). We have yet to learn precisely what produces these differences of effectiveness, but it is clear that by introducing group forces into the situation a whole new level of influence has been achieved. The experience has been essentially the same when people have attempted to increase the productivity of individuals in work settings. Traditional conceptions of how to increase the output of workers have stressed the individual: * Select the right man for the job * Simplify the job for him * Train him in the skills required * Motivate him by economic incentives * Make it clear to whom he reports * Keep the lines of authority and responsibility simple and straight. But even when all of these conditions are fully met we find that productivity is far below full potential. There is even good reason to conclude that this individualistic conception of the determinants of productivity actually fosters negative consequences. The individual, now isolated and subjected to the demands of the organization through the commands of his boss, finds that he must create with his fellow employees informal groups, not shown on any table of organization, in order to protect himself from arbitrary control of his life, from the boredom produced by the endless repetition of mechanically sanitary and routine operations, and from the impoverishment of his emotional and social life brought about by the frustration of his basic needs for social interaction, participation, and acceptance in a stable group. Recent experiments have demonstrated clearly that the productivity of work groups can be greatly increased by methods of work organization and supervision which give more responsibility to work groups, which allow for fuller participation in important decisions, and which make stable groups the firm basis for support of the individual’s social needs (Coch French, 1948). It is points out future research will also demonstrate that people working under such conditions become more mature and creative individuals in their homes, in community life, and as citizens. A few years ago the Research Center for Group Dynamics undertook to shed light on this problem by investigating the operation of a workshop for training leaders in intercultural relations (Lippitt, 1949). In a project, directed by Lippitt, they set out to compare systemically the different effects of the workshop upon trainees who came as isolated individuals in contrast to those who came as teams. Six months after the workshop, however, those who had been trained as isolates were only slightly more active than before the workshop whereas those who had been members of strong training teams were now much more active. They do not have clear evidence on the point, but they are quite certain that the maintenance of heightened activity over a long period of time would also be much better for members of teams. For the isolates the effect of the workshop had the characteristic of a â€Å"shot in the arm† while for the team member it produced a more enduring change because the team provided continuous support and reinforcement for its members. What conclusions may we draw from these examples? What principles of achieving change in people can we see emerging? To begin with the most general position, we may state that the behaviour, attitudes, beliefs, and values of the individual are all firmly grounded in the groups to which he belongs. How aggressive or cooperative a person is, how much self-respect and self-confidence he has, how energetic and productive his work is, what he aspires to, what he believes to be true and good, whom he loves or hates, and what beliefs and prejudices he holds—all these characteristics are highly determined by the individual’s group memberships. In a real sense, they are properties of groups and of the relationships between people. Whether they change or resist change will, therefore, be greatly influenced by the nature of these groups. Attempts to change them must be concerned with the dynamics of groups. In examining more specifically how groups enter into the process of change, we find it useful to view groups in at least three different ways. In the first view, the group is seen as a source of influence over its members. Efforts to change behaviour can be supported or blocked by pressures on members stemming from the group. To make constructive use of these pressures the group must be used as a medium of change. In the second view, the group itself becomes the target of change. To change the behaviour of individuals it may be necessary to change the standards of the group, its style of leadership, its emotional atmosphere, or its stratification into cliques and hierarchies. Even though the goal may be to change the behaviour of individuals, the target of change becomes the group. In the third view, it is recognized that many changes of behaviour can be brought about only by the organization efforts of groups as agents of change. A committee to combat intolerance, a labour union, and employers association, a citizens group to increase the pay of teachers—any action group will be more or less effective depending upon the way it is organized, the satisfactions it provides to its members, the degree to which its goals are clear, and a host of other properties of the group.

Gender Differences in Personality

Gender Differences in Personality With relevant theory and research evidence, critically discuss the view that there are gender differences in personality One’s sex, or biological reproductive chances, can be seen as a discrete component to one’s gender, or their psychological perception of themselves used for identification (Phares, 1991). These perceptions of gender differences can be extremely influential from an early age, as seen in Rubin, Provenzano and Luria (1974) study examining the gender-role stereotype labels parents place on their children from a young age. Girls were described as ‘cute’ or ‘sweet’ whereas boys were described as ‘stronger’, both gender specific traits, even though the babies were almost identical in weight, height and activity. Gender differences can be predominantly seen in personality and have been apparent since ancient civilizations. Monuments would depict essentially feminine or masculine characteristics, females were originally viewed as ‘incomplete’ or imperfect males, and these ideologies persisted for years with reinforcement from p hilosophers such as Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas (Friedman Schustack, 2009). Personality, defined by Holt (2012), is the ‘distinct and enduring way in which we perceive and behave in life situations’. The view of differences in personality gender traits can confirm the defined enduring nature, with the female assuming an expressive role, directed towards nurturing and caring tendencies. The male takes on an instrumental role, exerting dominance and competitiveness (Parsons, 1955). However, it is reasonable to question and explore how these gender differences can be measured, the theories behind them and whether female and male traits can really be distinguished into two separate categories in today’s society. The Five Factor Model (McCrae and Costa, 2003) is a trait approach that has attempted to identify and measure gender personality traits. They distinguish women as scoring higher in neuroticism and agreeableness, whereas men scored higher on some aspects of openness and extraversion, such as openness to ideas and excitement seeking. However neither gender scored significantly on conscientiousness (Chapman, Duberstein, SÃ ¶rensen Lyness, 2007). Other trait approaches have endeavoured to classify masculine and feminine traits as multi-dimensional and overlapping. For example the Bem Sex Role Inventory classifies individuals to feminine, masculine, undifferentiated and androgynous (expressing both female and male traits) categories (Bem, 1974). Sexual behaviour and emotion has also been studied to a great extent to help further differentiate between gender differences in personality. Schmitt, Shackelford and Buss (2001) stated that men prefer short-term sexual relations with many partn ers, compared to women who prefer one stable partner over a long period of time. This can be seen in Clark and Hatfield (1989) findings where 3 out of 4 male students would enthusiastically agree to a one night stand compared to none of the women accepting the offer. Holt et al (2012) also state that when looking for a partner, men would seek a younger woman, whereas women prefer older and ‘well to do’ men. These are all gender specific differences in personality that can be explained by gender difference theories. Firstly, biological effects on sex have been suggested to have a major influence on gender personality and behaviour. In terms of genetic influence, the prenatal stage of foetus development can be manipulated to affect gender-specific traits when born, such as higher levels of aggression. Parsons (1980) exposed animal male and female embryos to androgens, the male hormone, during early prenatal development. After birth, both sexes produced higher levels of aggressive play compared to animals not exposed, which suggests the presence of male hormones had an influence on the physical development and personality of the foetus. This supports the idea that aggression can be seen to be predominantly a ‘male trait’ in Reinisch and Sanders (1986) findings. Male and female participants were asked to rate themselves on their physical and verbal aggression. Even though both sexes reported similar verbal aggression, males reported much higher demonstrations of physical aggression. Ho wever, this is not always the case, as Feshbach (1969) work describes, females largely exclude and reject newcomers compared to males, which is a form of indirect aggression, suggesting the cognitive intent of the aggression presented by females may be further internalised, compared to the outward aggressive display be males. This biological view to gender differences in personality can be related to the evolutionary perspective that males and females are genetically adapted for successful reproduction and preservation of their genes. Evolutionary pressures led to natural selection that created fundamentally different gender roles to promote survival (Shaffer, 2009). Males needed to seek as many partners as possible to ‘spread’ their gene, whilst females needed to avoid wasting their short reproductive opportunities by finding a mate that will protect and provide. This in turn created the gender roles seen today including masculine traits in their personality such as co mpetitiveness, assertiveness and aggression, compared to feminine traits such as nurturing, kindness and gentleness (Geary, 1999). Furthermore, Buss (1995) describes male superiority in visual spatial performance as skills gained from natural selection due to their advantage for hunting, killing and providing for the family. The evolutionary theory can be seen in sex differences in the personality trait jealousy, for example Buss, Larsen, Western and Semmelroth (1992) found that men portray more jealousy over the idea of their partner sleeping with another male, compared to women who present more jealousy over the idea of their partner being in love with another woman. Males don’t want the risk of providing resources for a child that may not be theirs, whilst women don’t want their mate to abandon them and leave them with nothing. However, these evolutionary differences in gender personality are not always consistent. Buss (2003) found that some women instead like to e ngage in casual sex with multiple partners because experience has resulted in securing better genes and better resources. This consistency between both sexes therefore leads to question whether females and males really do have specific differences, and suggests socialisation and learned experiences may have more of an impact on gender differences than biology. The Behaviourist approach to gender differences suggests that social learning has created gender-typed personality characteristics. Through operant learning, modelling, observation and classical learning, children develop gender- typed traits that can be used for identification and as a primary socialiser (Bandura Bussey, 2004). For example Henley (1977) describes operant conditioning in a little girl called jenny. Her mother tells jenny off for dirtying her party clothes, and praises her for showing passive and gentle characteristics, which are all reinforcements. Moreover, Peters father wrestles with peter, watches football games with him and promotes more aggressive behaviour, teaching and confirming to peter that these are the traits a male should portray. Repetti (1984) further explains how these gender traits are reflected in the types of toys children are given to play with. Girls were found to be given female orientated toys such as dolls, whereas boys were given masculine t oys such as cars or guns, reflecting the gender-typed personality traits. Also, Maccoby and Wilson (1957) studied the orientation towards same-sex role models in children. They found after the children had watched a film presenting interactions between opposite sex characters, the children recalled more information about the character that mirrored their own sex. The children’s memories had a ‘sex-linked’ quality. However, it could be suggested that socialisation is not a successful theory in determining gender differences in personality. Friedman and Schustack (2009) describe the David Reimer case, where a child, who was born a boy, was brought up and socialised to be a girl after a circumcision went wrong. David was given hormones and was taught to be caring, nurturing and take on a feminine role. However when David reached his teenage year he returned to his male identity, after what he described as an unhappy and ‘misleading’ childhood. Money and Ehrhardt (1972) insist that socialisation is still primary to gender assignment, as their research findings of androgenized girls suggest that before 18 months of age, it is possible to bring up a child as the opposite gender because the child hasn’t ‘internalised’ the gender at that age. However ‘failure’ to correctly socialise gender can still be seen today. Friedman Schucstack (2009) outline Dr. Joan Roughgarden case. She was born a boy and lived 52 years of her life as one. She was socialised to be masculine and had the biological make up of a boy, despite always seeing herself as a girl, and consequently ended up having a sex change. These findings suggest that human gender personality cannot solely be reliant on socialisation, however they do suggest that there still are differences within gender traits and socialisation advocates what traits each gender ‘should’ portray. The significance of different gender traits in gender socialisation is part of the explanation for gender schemas incorporated in the cognitive approach to gender differences. The gender schema theory suggests that culture and socialisation provide organised mental structures that help understanding of the way in which a male or female should behave and think (Bem, 1981). Gender schemas act as cognitive filters to help humans depict gender relevant material, and to use it in everyday life. For example Deaux and Major (1987) describe these cognitive filters being activated by each gender as females enter a beauty salon and males enter a car repair shop. Again, gender differences can be seen to be realistic and apparent. Nevertheless, the theories above do not explain concisely why there are female and male traits in personality. An Integrative theory could be used to see how biology, social-learning and cognitive developmental can overlap and contribute equally to gender differences. This theory suggests that different processes are important at different stages of development. As Halpern (1997) suggests, the prenatal stage consists of biological gender processes developing physically. Birth to three years consists largely of social learning about gender differences and gender schema comes in at three to six years of age. This theory shows a dynamic and interpretive way in which gender traits can be developed and distinguished. On the other hand, all these theories do not take in to account cross cultural differences, individual findings and the growing concept that gender differences all together may be disappearing. Sue and Sue (1999) suggest that African American families, compared to white American families, are observed to be matriarchal, where the mother of the family is the head decision maker. These findings suggest that what would be considered as ‘masculine’ traits can be seen presented in women. Mead (1935) observed differences between two New Guinea people, where in one group, both sexes would display certain considered ‘female traits’ of nurturing and caring, and both sexes of the other group would display certain male trait characteristics such as aggressiveness. These trait findings are opposite to what would be expected to be found in western culture and can suggest that gender traits are not as specific and defined as first thought. Research also suggests that soci al-class can affect the flexibility and ‘acceptable’ gender traits presented by men and women. For example Shaffer (2009) states that people from middle-class background have overall more acceptable views of gender trait presentation in men and women. They may feel more flexible to the idea of a male demonstrating a nurturing role, and a woman being the sole bread winner of the family, than working-class people. This can be seen as a typically modern idea, and can suggest that women and male gender personality traits are swapping, in terms of the roles they take on. This can therefore suggest that male and female gender personality traits are not so specific, but are only presented by the certain sex at certain times. This idea can be seen in Weisner and Wilson-Mitchell (1990) study where children raised in ‘countercultural’ homes, instead of traditionally at home with a mother and father, are seen to present an equal amount of male and female traits, and a re less gender-stereotyped. However, these children are still very aware of the traditional gender traits and the differences between them. Finally, this is not to suggest that cultural differences don’t mirror typical western views of gender trait differences. Williams and best (1990) carried out a longitudinal study over 30 different countries were they found overlapping traits most common found in both women and men, such as aggression and nurturing tendencies. Overall, gender differences in personality are both clearly affected by biological and behavioural influences. Males are born with an evolutionary inclination to behave aggressively, and this behaviour is encouraged by socialisation from parents and other role models. This can be seen in female evolutionary inclinations to nurture and protect their children, and socialisation such as being encouraged to play with dolls and care for them promotes these gender traits. Generally, gender traits in personality present more similarities between females and males than they do differences, but this does not mean they do not exist and are not portrayed differently over cultures and social classes. The way gender traits in personality are measured can determine to what extent male and females differ, but with modern ideas becoming the forefront of gender trait presentation, the distinguishing of gender differences in personality may be swapping over, becoming narrower, and becoming far less de fined.

The Influence Of Green Groups On The Policy Of The United States :: essays research papers

The Influence of Green Groups on the Policy of the United States Abstract: This research examines the relationship between environmental groups and the policies of the United States. The United States political system has been historically anthropocen-tric, or human centered. Environmental groups have been attempting to change this to a biocentric or ecocentric viewpoint, which includes the rights of animals and the environment. These views are nature centered instead of human centered. This study will answer the question of whether these groups have been effective at altering United States policies. This will be done through the study of views offered by both sides. Also, a survey will be used to determine whether congressmen views are consistent with environmentalist views. It will also present whether policy change has taken place, and if these changes have remained intact through the study of past congressional decisions. Research Problem 1. Research Question Have environmental groups' strategies been successful at altering the policies of the United States? 2. Rational for the Research This research will help environmental groups to identify the effectiveness of their strategies. This is necessary for these groups to effectively alter the policies of the United States, which is one of the largest polluters in the world. If their strategies are ineffective then it will be necessary for them to reassess their methods. Without the use productive methods these groups will not be able to protect the environment. Animals, plants and the entire ecosystem must have the same protection as humans have. An ecocentric viewpoint establishes the right of the environment to have legal standing. This gives people the ability to defend the right of an animal to exist with the same rights as humans. Without this protection, people will be just as negatively affected as the environment. The earth must be thought of as a living organism, if one part is hurt then the whole planet will feel the effects. Unfortunately, business and governments take the stance that the earth is more like a machine. That is, at times if a part is hurt it can be repaired, without it effecting the whole system. Literature Review The literature on environmental groups and their influence and activities is vast. Several themes concerning the groups' influence in changing United States policy exist. The American Psychological Association has done studies on ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes (Thomas, 1994). Ecocentric values have arisen recently as environmental problems have come to the public's attention. Anthropocentric values have existed much longer. They have become institutionalized into our political and economic system. The movement toward environmental awareness arose in the political activism in the 60's. Although these values have recently been declining according to

Essay on Picture of Dorian Gray: The Character of Lord Henry Wotten

The Character of Lord Henry Wotten of The Picture of Dorian Gray  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The purpose of this essay is to explore the character of Lord Henry Wotten, from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde once said: I only know that Dorian Gray is a classic and deservedly. With this in mind, this essay is aimed at looking at how Lord Henry Wotton manipulates various conversations and how he effects the story with his challenging speeches, which is the reason The Picture of Dorian Gray is a classic. Henry is such a memorable, cleverly developed character, that his influence on the text elevates the novel's value. In the conversations of Lord Henry Wotton and the behaviour of Dorian Gray [Wilde shows that] †¦. self-expression can be turned into an art. - Acroyd. Lord Henry's conversations are used to introduce humour and intelligence to a tragic story. Lord Henry has a cynical view of the opposite sex, and also to marriage or any form of relationship which involves both genders. Henry says: Men marry because they are tired, women, because they are curious: both are disappointed. Henry here is humorously analyzing marriage, and summing it up in one sentence, which is typical of his conversation. He says things quickly and sharply so the story can move on with humour arising from the conversation. In this example Henry is giving quite a bleak outlook on marriage. This theme is explored further when he says: Young men want to be faithful, and are not, old men want to be faithless, and cannot. In this example, Henry explores the driving force between the nature of old and young men, and how they relate to the opposite sex. He uses irony to demonstrate his knowledge of how males relate t... ... parallel, as Henry's influence on Dorian Gray is evident, but Dorian Gray doesn't affect Henry's character at all. The reader also gets a contrast with Basil's relationship to Henry. Basil appears to ignore the humorous speeches that Henry gives by dismissing them as being "not serious" in nature. Because of this, Henry doesn't effect Basil in a negative way, as he does Dorian. Dorian appears to hang on every word that Henry gives, whereas Basil practically ignores what Henry says. Lord Henry's influence in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray is that is gives a meaningful, ethical story a further contextual layer. Dorian Gray is a superb story, but the character of Lord Henry Wotton is what elevates the novel to its classic status. Works Cited: Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray; For Love of the King. London: Routledge/Thoemmes Press, 1993.

HIV/AIDS Prevention Among Adolescents in South Africa :: HIV in Africa

Policy Brief: HIV/AIDS Prevention Among Adolescents in South Africa Heterosexual intercourse among adolescents is the primary method of HIV transmission in South Africa, with the majority of new infections occurring in the 21 – 25 year age group. An HIV-prevention campaign promoting abstinence among young people would seem to be an effective barrier to further infections. However, a policy promoting abstinence approaches the problem only superficially, and would not take into account all of the factors driving adolescents to engage in sexual relations, specifically unprotected sex, in the first place. Abstinence is not a viable method of HIV/AIDS prevention within the social, political, and economic context of South Africa. A more appropriate strategy would be a comprehensive program aimed at the de-stigmatization and prevention of the disease. A campaign promoting the use of condoms in all sexual encounters, backed by education and the expansion of HIV care and prevention services, and accompanied by policies addressing destructive economic conditions and gender inequality would be the most effective strategy. Countries such as Uganda and Senegal have had success when taking a direct approach to HIV prevention, we should follow their example and confront the epidemic on the terms on which it is striking our populace – through the unfettered, unprotected, and unhealthy sexual practices of our youth. Education is of primary importance in the war against HIV/AIDS. It is the most efficient preventative weapon in our arsenal. Most young adults are at risk because they lack the most basic information on HIV and how to protect themselves from infection. There is confusion about methods of transmission, cultural myths about the disease’s curability, and, perhaps most damaging, skewed perceptions of self-risk. In addition, there are high levels of denial of HIV’s prevalence in communities that have yet to experience AIDS-related deaths. This results in adolescents convincing themselves that they can filter out dangerous partners through appearance or reputation. AIDS is externalized as a disease striking only at the margins of society, and is not seen as sufficient enough of a threat to change one’s risky sexual behavior. HIV/AIDS education should be a community-wide occurrence. Scare tactics should be used to depict HIV in a realistic manner - as a disease incorporated into every community that can and will infect you if you do not take the correct precautions. Limiting education to the schools keeps HIV/AIDS as a medicinal, sterile topic, and disassociates parents who are unwilling or unable to talk to their children about issues of a sexual nature.

Shakespeare Festival

I have decided to assess Amanda Hussein's interpretation of Shakespearean well- known King Lear. Amanda transported the tragedy of this play from the eighth century before Christ, to the sass in a world where the show and performing is everything. This King Lear was introduced in a Chicago style with two actresses walking down the theatre stairs and presenting England's king. This roaring entrance shifted the audience back In time to the correct time setting, making It clear from then and onwards where this play was set.In an unknown location In the sass, King Lear (magnetically portrayed by Alluding) is deciding on which of his three daughters should have his land: Cornelia, Goner† and Reagan. The last two, are the real antagonists of the play, and when their father asks them how much they love him, they falsely herald their love for him. Cornelia, who in truth is the only daughter who truly loves him, hardly speaks explaining that there are no words to explain how she feels a bout his father. King Lear though breaks Into a rage and sends her away, thinking he now understands who deserves his lands.We then see a subplot, which assn very clear as I had difficulties connecting the dots of the two plots. Two men, whose identities I still haven't figured out, try to conspire against Gloucester and try to take his place. The play keeps jumping from one side of the plot to the other, where we see the two evil sisters Goner† and Reagan making their plans. As time passes, Cornelia keeps being loyal to both King Lear and her mean sisters, forgiving them all. The actual plot wasn't easy to grasp by the audience, as the audience most of the time was positively struck by the clear but extremely effective staging and the convincing acting.The stage was set out in a way that as soon as you entered the theatre, you immediately wondered what was going to happen, and knew that you were about to see something very unusual. The curtains were only partially open, leavi ng a space of about 5 meters which made all members of the audience focus on what was going on. This was obviously thought of and had a successful Impact on the spectators who directed their eyes where everything was happening. On the floor, three colored drapes were carefully lying parallel to the stage: magenta, blue and green.These, other than the lights, were the only colored items on stage as the actors were all wearing black suits with white shirts, with the exception of King Lear, who wore a black fedora hat. The costumes perfectly mirrored the time period, and the fedora hat, typical of the sass, was one of the many gems of this play which made It as a whole, amazing. Eight black stools were set In three rows on the drapes and near these stools is where all the acting was going to happen. The middle stool was of course reserved to King Lear.In the front row, on the sides, there were the two sisters General and Reagan, whilst in the last row, right behind Lear, there was the innocent Cornelia. On the left and right of the set, two girls and two boys stood, making the pattern pleasing to the audience. Manta's set out of the stools was very effective, because since we are In theatre, the presence of all actors on stage, which, without a doubt, made this interpretation of Shakespearean King Lear fascinating, was the use of lighting and freeze-frames.The lights were one of the main characters as they were always used. More than this, they were matching the three drapes on the floor which made it also aesthetically pleasing to the audience's eye. Since the setting of the stage was very minimalist, lights helped the audience understand what was going on, where something was happening, and highlighted the actors' emotions. For example, the use of green light when General and Reagan, the two mean sisters, were conspiring, gave importance to their feeling of new and wickedness.Also, the use of Strobe lights in one of the final scenes where King Lear becomes mad, really drew special attention to his feelings and stressed this scenario of chaos. Not only this, but the use of Strobe lights, which was undoubtedly thought f, directly included the audience which felt in the same situation of discomfort as King Lear himself. Depending so much on lights, this play had no need of special sound effects, and in fact had none. As I said, freeze-frames were abundantly (and correctly) used in the play.Amanda, thanks to the layout of the stage, afforded to have all actors on stage at all times. What happened was that when an actor had to deliver his or her lines, he or she had the freedom of using the space on the stage however they thought was appropriate (although it was clear that the director did her bob in keeping everyone where they were supposed to be). If the actors didn't happen to be in the scene that was going on at the moment, they would by frozen standing in front of the stool, heads down, hands held in front of them, silent.The only excepti on went for King Lear who sat with his head in his hand, giving to the audience a constant message of desperation and confusion which I thought was brilliant. On certain occasions though, the changing of the scene made them move. All of the actors would simultaneously walk around their stool once, grab the stool, and in reflect unison noisily place it on the ground to sit on it. Not only the unanimity of the eight actors left the theatre speechless, but the moment the stools touched the ground, the lights would change color, making this perfectly synchronized scene change sudden, but expected at the same time.All of these techniques made the actors who weren't part of the scene disappear, and made us focus on the actors acting. All actors did an outstanding Job performing this version of King Lear. Since everything was very minimalist and brought in an unknown location, it was vitally important that the actors gave the play the depth it deserved. I honestly believe that Amanda did a fantastic Job in directing everything, because you could really feel the effort that she put into every second and line of the play.Positions, lights, costumes, and acting was very well thought of, and it was clear when they all performed that all the details counted. The characters and actors which stood out the most, out of the eight, were the three sisters and King Lear. Cornelia was interpreted by Aviators, who never stepped out of character, and although had to portray a shy personality, she engaged to be heard by everyone in the audience. Her body language, as well as the other two sisters', was coherent to what she was saying and feeling from the very first scene when she â€Å"expressed† her love to her father, to the very last.General and Reagan were interpreted by Lucia and Sofia. The two actresses created a very strong bond between the two of them, and with the audience. Their acting, I feel, was very Lucia and Sofia moved around the stage, gave a clear understand ing that they fully felt what their characters were experiencing, as their emotions of envy, Jealousness and wickedness contaminated the stage. Last, but without a doubt not least, is Ludicrous performance of King Lear. I strongly believe that his whole rendition was, as I already said, magnetic.When he was talking using that deep voice he gave to his King Lear, all eyes were fixed on him and every word he said, he filled it with a deepness which the other actors honestly lacked. Ludicrous acting was charismatic, and touched everyone. One of the last scenes, when King Lear becomes mad, his body language and voice tone gave me goose bumps. This though, wasn't only because of his acting, but also due to the fact that Amanda had the brilliant idea to rate a sound blanket during the scene where Lear is going crazy, and all the actors slowly approach him chanting louder and louder â€Å"die! Ii! Die! â€Å". This, together with the acting, and the Strobe lights, is one of the scenes wh ich made this play so unforgettable to me. I was completely hypnotized by the end of it, and it took me a while to come back in the real world as the whole play was fixed in my head and Just didn't want to come out. Amanda indeed managed to communicate throughout her directing many emotions to me, and to the rest of the audience.