Broader Theory Research Articles

Morphological and molecular identification of biologically active endophytic fungi isolated from Dillenia indica L.

This study reported the broad spectrum endophytic variety from the elephant apple Dillenia indica L. Endophytes are microorganisms lying within the plant interior tissues, lasting as the whole or part of their life cycle without causing any conspicuous symptoms of infection to host plants. Surface sterilization of leaves and stems was the basic doing work to isolate endophytic fungi. 16 isolates were identified and grouped into 7 based on of morphological characteristics. Through morphological colony, all the isolated strains were identified up to genus level. Isolated seven fungi, 6 from the leaves part and 1 from the bark part were subjected to sequence analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene. Finally, seven well-known species named Colletotrichum Siamense, Phomopsis liquidambaris, Diaporthe perseae, Fusarium incarnatum, Colletotrichum falcatum, and Lasiodiplodia theobromae were identified compared with the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) results analysis. This study provides the broad theory of the interrelation of morphological and molecular homologies for the identification of prospective bioactive fungi for further study and experiment so that those fungus acts as a catalyst for novel thinking and the discovery of drug molecules for the welfare of mankind. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 31(2): 311-320, 2024 (December)

Clinical Work with Athletes in Transitions Based on the Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory

Although the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory is an influential theory of stress and human motivation, it has seen scant use in sports psychology. Nonetheless, as a broad psychological theory, COR theory can be useful in the theory-driven sport psychology practice. By focusing on the dynamic interplay between resource gain and loss, COR theory illuminates the processes that underlie effective coping and adaptation during athletes’ transitions. Its terminology can be translated into structured, pragmatic, and goal-oriented language that resonates with athletes undergoing transitions. This article aims to present the key concepts of COR theory, explore how it may be a suitable addition to the existing literature on athletes’ transitions, and demonstrate its relevance and applicability through a brief clinical example.

School District Discourse Coalitions and Equity-Focused Policy Innovations in Oakland, California 2020–2021

Purpose: To better understand how district leaders at urban school districts innovate and design policies, this study investigated how actors in one district, Oakland Unified School District, discussed ways to improve their education system at school board meetings during 2020 and 2021. Approach: The research used a case study approach to develop a process of inquiry, drawing on theoretical literature on innovation in social fields, empirical work on urban education reforms, and methodological considerations from critical social analysis techniques. It used a variety of qualitative methods to identify critical policy issues and policy innovations, and examined the way actors in two coalitions, each with a different approach to change, used discourse to convey their ideologies about racial equity and justice. Findings: District actors collaboratively designed and passed five innovative policies: school safety, remote learning, climate change, Black reparations, and mental health. While one group, the incumbent discourse coalition, focused attention on fiscal stability and closing underperforming schools, another, the challenger discourse coalition, conveyed strategies on improving schools and surrounding communities through new education policies. Though unexpected crises expedited innovation, the perspectives of the dominant culture were most privileged in the final designs of resolutions. Implications: By using broad theories and generalizable concepts this study shows how discourse in policymaking can be examined in other settings and illustrates ways similar school districts may innovate in their systems.

Application of Self-Determination Theory to Wildlife Disease Risk Communication

The effective response to managing wildlife-associated diseases, such as chronic wasting disease (CWD), requires meaningful cooperation between managers and affected groups. According to self-determination theory (SDT), a broad theory of motivation, communication efforts supportive of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are more likely to motivate voluntary cooperation among affected groups than efforts centered on control. In this study, we applied a conceptual framework based on SDT to analyze state agency communication strategies. We surveyed key state agency personnel about their approach to CWD communication and conducted a content analysis of communication materials. We then conducted a qualitative analysis of open-ended responses from state agency personnel to identify patterns in appeals to autonomous motivation compared to more controlled forms of individual motivation. Our analysis suggests that agency communications provide variable support for individual basic psychological needs, and we suggest guidelines that may improve future communication efforts.

Anisogamy and the Darwin-Bateman paradigm.

The Darwin-Bateman paradigm advanced as the central concept to explain the evolutionary origin of sex differences. However, debates regarding its theoretical underpinnings persist, particularly with respect to the role of anisogamy in sexual selection. The theoretical work presented by Lehtonen and Parker suggests that the initial split in gamete production rate drives sex differences in sexual selection but that any further variation in the degree of anisogamy is not expected to alter the strength of sexual selection in males and females. Here, I discuss the historical background of a recently emerged controversy and present empirical data that corroborate the theoretical predictions. Lehtonen and Parker's contribution refines our understanding of the Darwin-Bateman paradigm by providing a broad theory for large-scale patterns of sex differences that can be observed in nature. Further understanding of how demographic and environmental factors influence sexual selection is essential to predict the vast diversity of sex differences across the tree of life, beyond the primordial impact of anisogamy.

Re-Staging Existence: Revisiting Kierkegaard’s Theory of Life Stages

Abstract In this paper, we re-evaluate Kierkegaard’s theory of life stages (or spheres) and suggest an alternative interpretation. This alternative approach to the stages will serve as a corrective to problems arising from interpretations promoting an ethical-religious stage, or which elide distinctions between stages entirely. To support this interpretation, we will examine the role polarity plays within the stages, the necessity of respecting the boundaries Kierkegaard draws between stages, and advocate for a greater recognition and appreciation of religiousness A within the broader theory. Our hope is to reveal new avenues for understanding Kierkegaard’s ethics, while also contextualizing the pseudonyms in a way that brings greater clarity and consistency between their respective contributions and his broader oeuvre.

Metabolic and Immune Systems Are the Primary Tenets of Biological Life

A theory is much broader than a hypothesis or a conjecture if it can provide explanations for a wide range of observations while remaining robust to challenges through experimentation. There is a paucity of such theories in biology. The main motivation behind this research was to propose a broad theory of biological life and to explore whether it can be used as a framework for understanding health and disease conditions. A conceptual and theoretical approach was followed for this purpose. Extensive exploration and analysis of the biomedical literature in a non-systematic but purposeful manner were undertaken. They were then extrapolated using a top-down approach to identify the fundamental systems mediating life processes. Two attributes must exist for the survival of any biological life form, including the ability to grow and the ability to self-protect. These two functions are performed by the metabolic system and immune system, respectively. It is proposed that all other processes and every entity in a life form are involved in conducting these two fundamental functions. It is inferred that both of these functions exhibit the universal characteristics of duality and complementarity, features that cut across disciplines. A given life form may thus be biased toward one of the two processes mediated by the immune system and metabolic system at different stages in its life history. Identifying factors that confer bias might provide a better understanding of biology with direct implications for medicine. It is proposed that life and disease could be the result of the interplay of immune and metabolic systems acting complementarily. Other physiological systems lend support to the balancing act between the immune and metabolic systems in a biological life form.

Effects of Self‐Determination and Self‐Efficacy on Employees' Psychological Performance and Organizational Behaviour

Self‐determination and associated self‐efficacy are broad theories of human motivations that have grown in importance in many domains of psychology, particularly organizational psychology, during the last four decades. This has been in development for more than four decades, with the original focus on internal motivation and its antecedents and implications. This rapidly led to a study of the relationships among motivational factors, as well as the classification of extrinsic motivation kinds in terms of autonomy. The objectives of the following research are: to evaluate the private organizations had a more effective partnership between organizations and employees that ensures better job performance, to discover that private organizations encouraged employees to work hard, to discover that employees with Bachelor's degrees had more self‐determination and improved performance in an organization. The methodology adopted was Qualitative research with data collection of 300 employees belonging to 2 private and 2 public organizations in Lahore, Pakistan.

A framework for examining hybridity: The case of academic explanatory journalism

Across a number of disciplines, hybridity is regularly invoked when two previously distinct elements – whether objects, concepts, frameworks, practices, models, mediums or institutions – are brought together. However, this is often done with a vague theoretical nod. Labeled a hybrid and left at the level of broad theory, scholarship has tended to ignore a critical issue: what happens when the disparate elements of a hybrid are introduced in practice? This conceptual paper takes the case of academic explanatory journalism, a nascent intentional collaborative practice between academic authors and journalist editors, in order to illustrate how the theoretical concept of hybridity plays out in practice. This particular case presents a number of opportunities and benefits within a Western democratic context. However, our examination highlights that without a more nuanced discussion of how hybridization plays out in real life, its potential benefits are compromised. We propose a five-step framework that can be applied to other examples of hybridity, across varied disciplines beyond media and communication studies. This five-step framework helps uncover the complications that might arise when disparate elements are hybridized, moving from theory into practice. The approach helps create the space and understanding needed to design solutions pre-emptively.

Konsep Ekonomi Kebijakan dalam Pemerintahan Presiden Joko Widodo

This research is a literature review of the Economic Policy Package launched by President Joko Widodo in 2015. The Economic Policy Package consists of several volumes. When it was first launched, namely Volume 1, the economic policy package aimed to stimulate the real sector and drive the economy. Volume 1 of the Economic Policy Package is one of 16 economic policy packages launched until 2018. A review of the literature related to the Economic Policy Package volume 1 was conducted to identify the latest research related to economic policy packages and provide an assessment of the effectiveness of the Government's policies related to the Economic Policy Package. There are several aspects of national economic development, such as economic growth, inflation, and fiscal and monetary policies.Literature both in the form of academic studies and opinions and public perceptions of economic policy packages are explored in depth mainly by using search engines in the form of both formal and informal studies such as mass media. This study found that the literature related to Economic Policy Package Volume I is relatively limited and the discussion tends to focus on the impact of policies on capital market reactions. In addition, research on economic policy packages is dominated by quantitative approaches. In the future, it is necessary to expand the discussion of economic policy packages with broader theories, use a qualitative approach and dig deeper into the effectiveness of the economic policy packages

Being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, or Intersex (LGBTQI) and Christian: A Scoping Review of Theories and Constructs in Psychological Research

In this study, we aimed to map theories and constructs used in psychological research to address LGBTQI and Christian belonging. Through the scoping review method aligned with PRISMA—Extension for Scoping Reviews, we revised 150 studies from the psychological field between 2012 and 2022. We found conflict/negative theories, a turning point from negative to increasingly positive frameworks, exclusively positive perspectives, and broader and challenging theories. There is a gradual shift from conflict/negative perspectives to include positive and broader theories. These findings are critical to base and expand new approaches regarding LGBTQI issues and Christianity in future research.

“Seeing Myself Through Someone Else’s Eyes”: Embodying the Perfect Nurturer in Compassion Focused Therapy

Compassion-focused chairwork has become a recent focus of empirical investigation. This study extended this area of research by exploring how participants with depression experienced the ‘compassionate other’ imagery exercise enacted via chairwork methods. Eight individuals from primary care NHS mental health services were interviewed about their experience of the practice. The resultant data were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). Three group experiential themes were identified: care that feels real, chairwork processes and encountering challenges on the road to discovery. The findings indicate that the intervention has therapeutic utility both as an intervention for cultivating compassion and as means of assessing for and identifying blocks to compassion. The results also suggest that there is potential value in enacting compassion-focused imagery techniques through chairwork methods, especially for those who have difficulty accessing mental imagery practices. The findings are contextualised within broader theory and literature, and clinical and research implications are discussed.

Introduction and Applications of the Investment Clock Theory

This paper is based on the broad asset allocation theory proposed by Merrill Lynch & Co. known as the ''Merrill Lynch Investment Clock Theory.'' Further asset allocation optimisation and decision making on the Merrill Lynch Investment Clock Theory, starting with forecasting recessions and inflation, combined with yield curve term spreads and risk premiums. Further, according to the literature, it is found that the term spread, and risk premium indices have good prediction results for recession. But simply considering these is not enough, need to introduce term spreads and risk premiums into the traditional Merrill Lynch investment clock theory to reassemble the financial investment clock portfolio, the principle is to change the traditional division of the economic cycle.

Promoting mindfulness in education: Scientisation, psychology and epistemic capital

Mindfulness is increasingly found in many educational settings in the United Kingdom, but existing research has focused primarily on clinical efficacy or implementation issues, rather than sociological interests. This article draws on data from the ‘Mapping Mindfulness in the UK’ study to help explain the successful growth of mindfulness in education, by exploring the discursive strategies through which practitioners construct, promote and solicit support for the practice among policymakers and educational leaders. The analysis highlights the significance of certain authorities or epistemic capitals, and logics of ‘scientisation’, for positioning mindfulness as a credible and legitimate practice for educational contexts, yet also reveals competing discourses and alternative conceptualisations. In doing so, it extends theories of ‘scientisation’ by explicating the role of ‘harder’ and ‘softer’ forms of psychology within these processes. The research makes original contributions to sociological understandings of mindfulness and education, while offering new insights on broader theories concerning science and society.

INNOVATIVE TRENDS IN VOCATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION: A CAREER COUNSELOR FOR THE NEW UKRAINIAN SCHOOL

The article considers the problem of training career counselors for the New Ukrainian School as a modern innovative trend. It is updated in the context of the introduction of three-year specialized education in Ukraine. A career counselor performs the function of a mediator between a person and his or her possible choice of profession, helps him or her identify and use his or her talents and abilities to achieve significant goals. A content analysis of scientific sources on the problem are carried out, which originates at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Modern foreign scientific researchers are highlighted, for example, the theory of vocational choice, as well as other theories of career development. The analysis and systematization of research on career development made it possible for scientists to systematize five groups of theories: substantive, procedural, substantive-procedural, constructivist, and broad explanation theories. It is considered the development of Ukrainian scientists on the issues of career guidance and career counseling: a scientific thesaurus on the problem is formulated, and relevant scientific research is carried out. However, theoretical generalizations have not been implemented in practice: Ukrainian higher education institutions do not provide comprehensive systematic professional training for career specialists. The authors of the article outline some prospects for the professional training of relevant specialists; define the range of potential job responsibilities of a career counselor; present a model framework of competencies of a career counselor working in a Ukrainian general secondary education institution; and present the content of innovative educational disciplines necessary for the professional and pedagogical training of future career counselors in the New Ukrainian School.

Power and control, resistance and survival: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of the qualitative literature on intimate partner violence against transgender individuals

Transgender (trans) individuals experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at elevated levels compared to cisgender individuals. Traditional theoretical understandings of IPV as men's patriarchal domination of women, and later, broader theories in which IPV is conceptualized as the relatively privileged partner enacting domination over the relatively oppressed partner, do not fully capture the totality of IPV experiences, including how IPV is perpetrated against trans individuals. We conducted a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis of the qualitative and theoretical literatures on IPV against trans individuals (N = 37 articles and books) to generate novel IPV theory inclusive of trans individuals' experiences. We identified five major themes: (1) societal context of IPV, (2) IPV tactics and types, (3) help-seeking, (4) consequences of IPV, and (5) proposed interventions for victims. Synthesizing across themes, we offer a novel theoretical model that demonstrates how abusers can leverage structural discrimination and vulnerabilities against trans victims, regardless of the abuser's own identities. We identify individual power and control tactics abusers use, including identifying a category of IPV that we term leveraging vulnerability, which involves abusers weaponizing their own vulnerabilities to avoid accountability. Reducing IPV in trans communities requires expanding current IPV theory to include trans victims, recognition of a wider range of abuse tactics, and structural interventions that promote the respectful treatment of trans individuals. Our theoretical model of IPV "centers the margins" to make trans victims' experiences, and indeed all victims whose experiences fall outside normative scripts, more legible.

Professionelle Authentizitat

The idea of an authentic self is at the heart of building trust in NGO fundraising. This paper asks how personal fundraising by paid workers ( ‚dialogers‘) relates to expectations of authenticity. Building on a review of the online self-representations of NGO fundraising agencies’ and on an ethnographic study of fundraisers’ work, it traces where the concept of the authentic self becomes relevant in fundraising and how it relates to notions of neoliberal labour. A conceptual history of personal authenticity, attempts at interpretation from cultural studies and media studies, as well as reflections on authenticity in fundraising marketing serve as approaches to the research field and lead to an account of the dialogers’ narrative selves. This enables a reflection on how authenticity as a powerful discourse relates to NGOs and to neoliberal worlds of work in general. The paper aims to condense the broad theory on personal authenticity and relate it to salaried work in the context of voluntary engagement. Furthermore, the examination of this special case of professional trust work helps to review assumptions that all too quickly arise from the interpretive pattern of ‚neoliberalism‘.

Junior secondary students’ satisfaction of basic psychological needs and their achievement in physics

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is a broad theory of human development and wellness, with strong implications in education. According to SDT, three psychological needs are essential settings for self-growth, integrity and well-being viz., competence, autonomy, and relatedness (CAR). This study investigates the relations of junior secondary students’ physics achievement with the satisfaction of their Basic Psychological Needs (CAR). A mixed methods approach was used in the study and selected a convenience sample of 855 junior secondary students and 8 principals in all five educational zones in Jaffna District in the North Province, Sri Lanka. The student related quantitative data were collected using standard Korean Basic Psychological Needs Scale (K-BPNS) with four-point Likert scale and assessment test papers for each Grade. Qualitative data were gathered in interviews from eight principals to explore their views on current situation of physics teaching-learning processes according to the framework for comprehending motivation in SDT. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively using SPSS 20.0. Qualitative data were analysed in narrative analysis. The results revealed that students’ satisfaction with BPN (CAR) factors were directly correlated with their achievement in physics. Principals’ perception on Reeve’s student-teacher dialectical frame is not at a satisfactory level. Thus, this study provides essential information for policymakers on enhancing students’ physics achievement at the junior secondary school level.

Wholeness, Hypocrisy, and Leadership

Theorists on Christian leadership on a broad scale embrace servant leadership theory (Åkerlund, 2015; Bredfeldt, 2006, pp. 88–89). There is, however, also an awareness of the deficiencies of the theory in light of Christian realism. This article looks at what may be called the dark side of leadership posed by the challenge of the problem of evil in theological anthropology. There are of course several dark sides of leadership and the one which is addressed here is the problem of hypocrisy in Christian leadership. Against this backdrop, Jesus’ criticism of the hypocrisy of some Jewish religious leaders may be helpful with Matthew 23 as the central text. In this chapter which Benedict Viviano has called the least loved chapter in the gospel of Matthew (Viviano, 1990, p. 3), Jesus provides a scathing attack on the contemporary Jewish religious leaders. The criticism of the leadership gives several negative principles for Christian leadership and the overall problem may be identified as hypocrisy. This article analyzes the problem of hypocrisy in leadership in Matthew’s gospel situated within the gospel itself and the overarching theological concern. Whereas hypocrisy is identified as Matthew’s moral nightmare, the moral dream may be called wholeness, providing the consistency between the inward nature of a person which the hypocrite lacks. A distinct Matthean response to the problem of hypocrisy in Christian leadership is formulated both by way of identifying hypocrisy and by describing the path towards wholeness through repentance and God-centered living which is laid out in Matthew’s gospel.

Back to the basics: international relations, intelligence, and strategic competition

As United States foreign policy returns to a focus on great power competition, it is worth reviewing the fundamental theories associated with understanding the threat and its impact on state relations. The social science fields of international relations (IR) and security studies provide the foundational theory and associated concepts for strategic intelligence analysis in this area. The paper addresses four broad theories (realism, liberalism, economic structuralism, and constructivism) and illustrates their impact on policymakers and intelligence analysts as they craft strategy. The author argues for a more explicit inclusion of IR theories, frameworks, and methods in strategic intelligence analysis.