Contextual Difference Research Articles

Building a Universalized Theory for Spiritual Disciplines: Beyond Denomination, Personality, and Socio-Historical Experience

This article addresses the pervasive timidity toward spiritual disciplines foreign to one’s own context for the ultimate purpose of drafting a universalized theory for engagement with spiritual disciplines that transcends socio-historical, denominational, and personality barriers. It is my belief that certain disciplines – such as contemplation, fasting, or secrecy, for example – fluctuate in popularity according to denominational biases, personality differences, and experiential eclipses. This contemporary confusion can be resolved by emphasizing the need for a more universalized, orthopraxical approach toward spiritual practices at both the individual and corporate level. While the body of this paper seeks to deconstruct certain barriers that perpetuate spiritual discipline skepticism – such as sacred-secular dualism, contextual difference, personality variations, “denominational jingoism,” and so on – through the lens of critical theory, its main thrust is toward a universalized theory for engagement with the spiritual disciplines that creates an openness to pursue any spiritual discipline that can enrich transformative encounters with the Triune God at the individual and corporate level.

Growth language mindset and willingness to communicate: Contributions of linguistic risk taking and learning experience

As various contextual and individual difference factors determine how and when mindsets may influence learning outcomes, burgeoning L2 research has recently addressed the role of growth language mindset (GLM) in different learning outcomes such as L2 Willingness to Communicate (WTC). Since little is known about the underlying mechanism through which GLM may contribute to WTC, a highly desirable goal of L2 education and an important criterion for assessing its efficiency and success, the present study addresses this gap by investigating the possible mediating and moderating roles of linguistic risk taking and L2 learning experience, respectively. The participants were 392 Iranian L2 students chosen by multi-stage cluster sampling. Findings showed that GLM predicted WTC directly and positively, and their association was mediated and moderated by linguistic risk taking (an important affective factor) and L2 learning experience (an essential motivational factor), respectively. Suggestions for future studies and implications for promoting learners' GLM, linguistic risk taking, and L2 learning experience are presented.

Haven or hell? A perspective on the ecology of offshore oil and gas platforms

Offshore oil and gas platforms (OGP) have been installed worldwide and initially with limited consideration given to the nature of their positive or negative long-term interactions with the natural marine habitats. However, as OGP reach the end of their useful life, with many being decommissioned and removed, it is timely to review the growing evidence of the association of marine biota with OGP to provide a summary and synthesis for policy makers and to give insight to decisions in increasingly crowded marine spatial plans. In the last decade, there has been rapid increase in studies concerning the ecological role of OGP. This research reveals strong contextual difference between platforms in different geographical regions, but all OGP add to local biodiversity particularly where hard substrata are introduced to areas dominated by depositional (mud and sand) habitats. This includes the attraction and increased productivity of fish, sessile invertebrates, and algae while also affecting change in the benthic habitats beneath platforms. There also evidence of the OGP changing local hydrodynamics conditions with effects on phytoplankton and local scour. In terms of the biota associated with OGP, water depth is a major driver of community type across systems. This study emphasises that while knowledge of OGP communities and species has improved, there are still significant knowledge gaps that may prevent the most environmentally beneficial decisions being made around decommissioning. There are few studies following the effect of decommissioning (topping, toppling, or removal) on the ecology of the systems as they change with time (longitudinal research) for the decommissioning event. There is also a need for more studies comparing the biodiversity and functionality of OGP system to artificial and natural reefs and habitats to better understand the ecological cost-benefit of decommissioning scenarios. Finally, commercial data is often unavailable and even when available, surveys are often conducted using varied methodology that prevents comparative analysis. By imposing/agreeing standards and sharing data around the ecological cost-benefit of decommissioning strategies, improve policy guidance concerning OGP planning, and management might emerge.

Moderators of the Link Between Social Preference and Persistent Peer Victimization for Elementary School Children

ABSTRACT Objective Current antibullying programs can reduce overall rates of victimization but appear to overlook processes that give rise to persistent peer victimization. Needed are studies that delineate the interplay between social contextual and individual difference variables that contribute to persistent peer victimization. We examined the extent to which two individual-difference variables – internalizing symptoms (IS) and anxiety sensitivity (AS) – moderated the link between children’s average social preference score across the school year and their status as persistent victims. Method Participants included 659 4th-grade students (Mage = 9.31 years, SD = 0.50, 51.8% girls; 42.3% Latinx, 28.9% non-Hispanic White, 10.2% Pacific Islander, 7.7% Bi/Multiracial, 1.9% Black, 1.7% Asian, 1.7% Native American, and 3.4% unreported) from 10 public elementary schools in the U.S. Results As expected, higher social preference scores predicted a decreased likelihood of being persistently victimized. Conversely, IS and AS were positively linked to persistent victim status. AS significantly moderated the link between social preference and persistent victim status such that for children with high AS, compared to those with AS scores at or below the mean, the negative association between social preference and persistent victim status was attenuated. Conclusions Findings provide evidence that children who experience high levels of IS and AS are at risk for being persistently victimized by peers and that high AS could signal increased risk for persistent victimization even when children are generally liked by peers. We discuss the implications of these findings for efforts to develop focused interventions for chronically bullied children.

Experience of bilingual countries in the issue of mastering the minority language: effective borrowing into preschool pedagogy of Ukraine in order to form foreign language communicative competence in children of middle preschool age

The article addresses the relevant topic for Ukraine of developing foreign language communicative competence in preschool and, specifically, middle preschool age. The research aims to analyze and summarize the experience of bilingual countries in the formation of communicative competence in minority languages, as well as to determine practical boundaries for its adoption in Ukrainian preschool pedagogy with the ultimate goal to develop effective methodologies for children of middle preschool age to acquire foreign language communicative competence. In the research process, theoretical methods, such as literature and documentation analysis, were used, along with a set of general theoretical methods: abstraction and concretization, analysis and synthesis, comparison, contrast, structuring, induction, and deduction. As a result of the research, the experience of forming language communicative competence in minority languages in countries, such as Finland, Canada, Malta, and Israel, was analyzed and summarized. The main effective methods for developing communicative competence in the language of minorities in children of middle preschool age were identified, including the method of total immersion, the method of partial immersion based on the principle of one educator - one language, and the method of partial immersion based on the principle of one educator - two languages.The widespread use of the translanguaging approach and language mixing in the process of forming communicative competence in minority languages in the context of bilingual countries has been identified. The main conditions, under which the formation of communicative competence in minority languages occurs in bilingual countries, have been summarized, a comparison with similar conditions for developing foreign language communicative competence in children of middle preschool age in Ukraine has been made.It has been identified that the main contextual difference in Ukraine is the extensive geographical distribution of a foreign language that influences children's understanding of its practical significance and the possibility of live communication with it. A conclusion has been drawn regarding the necessity of carefully transferring the experience of bilingual countries in using the translanguaging approach during the formation of foreign language communicative competence in Ukraine, since this caution is warranted because its application may result in a decrease in the motivation of children of middle preschool age to acquire a foreign language, given the possibility of achieving communication goals through their native language. The main assets of the studied bilingual countries that can be effectively borrowed by the preschool pedagogy of Ukraine in the process of developing methods for the formation of foreign language communicative competence in children of middle preschool age are highlighted, as a normative consolidation of the method of such formation, taking into account the greater effectiveness of early and total immersion in comparison with other forms of mastery of children of middle preschool age in a foreign language, managing groups of children with different levels of foreign language speaking competence and the practice of introducing children with an insignificant level of competence in a foreign language into groups with a higher level of foreign language communicative competence

Beyond the Stereotype of Tolerance: Diversified Milieu and Contextual Difference.

We explore whether there are value preferences of creative workers in addition to tolerance and how these value preferences vary among different occupation categories and countries. We use a dataset of 1968 and 1076 observations in China and the U.S., respectively, from the World Values Survey dataset (2017-2020, wave 7) (WVS 7), with a Structure Equation Modelling (SEM) and Multinomial Logit Model (MLM) at the micro level. The findings reveal that (1) the Chinese sample is more likely to have a balanced preference of tolerance towards migrants, religions, and homosexuality, while the American sample's preference of tolerance is much more likely to be interpreted as accepting homosexuality only; (2) the American sample also shows preferences towards responsibility, technology, work style, and political actions, while a preference for happiness and political actions is identified in the Chinese sample; and (3) with a higher level of creativity, the difference regarding understanding of tolerance is more likely to be highlighted between China and the U.S. This study provides a quite unconventional perspective for understanding the composition of preferences and, to a certain extent, reconciles the inconsistency between the theoretical advocacy of building up a selected milieu and the reality of creative workers' blended value mix.

Contextual Difference in the Drivers of Internet-of-Things-Adoption in Road, Rail, and Maritime Freight Transport

Contextual Difference in the Drivers of Internet-of-Things-Adoption in Road, Rail, and Maritime Freight Transport

The desire for side-effect information in pain treatment: an experimental analysis of contextual and individual difference factors.

Informing patients about potential side effects of pain treatment is a requirement that protects patients and aids decision making, but it increases the likelihood of unwanted nocebo side effects. If patients do not desire all side-effect information, it may be possible to ethically reduce nocebo effects through authorized concealment of side effects, whereby patients and clinicians engage in shared decision-making to regulate the disclosure of side-effect information. Currently, there is no experimental data clarifying the factors that causally influence desire for side-effect information in pain treatment. In 2 cross-sectional, between-subjects scenario experiments (experiment 1 N = 498, experiment 2 N = 501), 18 to 79-year-old community adults learned about a lower back pain treatment, and potential side-effect severity, frequency, and duration were manipulated. Individual differences in information avoidance were also recorded. In both experiments, participants reported high desire for side-effect information, but the desire was reduced when side effects were described as less severe, less frequent, and participants scored high in information avoidance. Results were not moderated by participants' level of contact with the health care system, chronic health condition, or clinical pain history. Additional analyses indicated that low side-effect severity and frequency lessen desire for side-effect information because these variables reduce belief that side-effect information will be needed in the future and lower feelings of anticipated regret. The experiments identify situational and individual-difference factors that decrease the desire for side-effect information and provide evidence on when and for whom it may be useful for physicians to engage in shared medical decision-making with the goal of reducing nocebo side effects.

Vaccination Acceptance among Indigenous Community: The Moderating Role of Tribal Leader Endorsement

Coronavirus disease 2019 cases are showing a downward trend in Malaysia but with active cases still present, the virus remains a persistent public health threat. Amid vaccination at no cost, some of the populace is refusing to get vaccinated. As getting indigenous communities vaccinated are much more difficult due to contextual and cultural difference, this study investigated whether tribal leader endorsement moderates the relationship between attitude and intention towards vaccination. Drawing from a survey of 312 indigenous from various generations of Millennials, Generation X and Generation Z, this study found that endorsement of tribal leaders does not act as a moderating factor in the association between attitude and intention to accept vaccination across generations. This study contributes to understanding whether indigenous communities require cultural-based approaches to support vaccination uptake. This study would be beneficial in supporting initiatives to curb COVID-19 disease and the right to good health among indigenous communities.

3V3D: Three-View Contextual Cross-slice Difference Three-dimensional Medical Image Segmentation Adversarial Network

In three-dimensional (3D) medical image segmentation, it is still a great challenge to obtain the multidimensional feature information contained in voxel images using a single view for smaller segmentation targets, and the robustness of models obtained by relying solely on segmentation networks needs to be enhanced. In this article, we propose a three-view contextual cross-slice difference 3D segmentation adversarial network, in which three-view contextual cross-slice difference decoding blocks are introduced to improve the segmentation decoder’s ability to perceive edge feature information. Meanwhile, dense skip connections are used to alleviate the problem that a large amount of shallow feature information is lost in encoding and insufficient information provided by a single long skip connection during image reconstruction. The adversarial network improves the performance of the segmentation network by distinguishing true or false for each patch of the predicted image. Further, the robustness of the segmentation model is improved in the form of adversarial training. We evaluate our model on the publicly available brain tumor BraTS2019 dataset as well as the ADNI1 dataset and achieve optimal results compared to recent excellent models.

Data like any other? Sexual and reproductive health, Big Data and the Sustainable Development Goals

This article examines the possibilities and pitfalls of using Big Data to address sexual and reproductive health concerns as related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), paying particular attention to contextual difference in development settings. The global datafication of sexual and reproductive life has taken place at great speed. However, evidential deficiencies and a lack of critical engagement of the specific issues around working with sexual and reproductive health Big Data in development contexts is apparent. Informed by critical data studies, and framed by a political economy perspective which calls attention to power structures, we seek to deepen our understanding of the role and challenges that Big Data around sexual and reproductive health in the Low and Middle-Income Countries can play in addressing the SDGs. First, we explore the ways in which sexual datafication processes produce Big Data. We then consider how such Big Data could directly contribute to addressing the SDGs beyond simply monitoring and evaluating. Next, we unpick how the sensitive and stigmatised nature of sexual and reproductive health can have ramifications in data-driven contexts where significant power asymmetries exist. By doing so, we provide a more nuanced articulation of the challenges of datafication by contextualising the stigma around sexual and reproductive in a datafied context. We argue that whilst Big Data in relation to sexual and reproductive health shows potential to support the SDGs, there are specificities that must be considered to ensure that the push for data-driven approaches does no harm.

The efficacy of statutory public hearings for planning: A comparison of four Canadian jurisdictions

ABSTRACT Statutory public hearings for urban development proposals are among the oldest venues for public participation in urban planning in the U.S., Canada, and many other jurisdictions, and the most common venues for resident participation in planning. A number of scholars discuss public hearings in their work. However, such depictions are often contradictory and do not test nor examine whether public hearings allow residents to influence planning decisions. This paper tests the efficacy of statutory public hearings and examines whether institutional difference (at-large vs. ward-based councils) and contextual difference (suburban municipalities vs. their urban cores) affect residents’ ability to influence municipal councilors via public hearings. The paper finds that resident opposition to development at public hearings does not result in substantial changes to development proposals. However, contextual and institutional differences do alter how councilors respond to resident opposition.

Anxiety Sensitivity and Internalizing Symptoms: Co-Predictors of Persistent Peer Victimization in Elementary School Children

ABSTRACT Previous research suggests both social contextual and individual difference variables contribute to chronic peer victimization. We tested whether two individual difference variables – anxiety sensitivity (AS) and internalizing symptoms (IS) – predicted persistent peer victimization in elementary school children. Participants were 677 fourth-grade students (51.8% girls) from 10 public elementary schools. We hypothesized that persistent victims would report the highest levels of AS and IS. We also expected that IS would mediate the link between AS and persistent peer victimization. Results indicated that persistent victims reported significantly higher levels of AS and IS than transient or limited victims, and we found evidence that IS functioned as an intermediate variable between AS and persistent peer victimization status. Implications and directions for research are discussed.

Synthesis of Necessity and Opportunity Motivation Factors in Women Entrepreneurship: A Systematic Literature Review

The dichotomy of the Necessity and Opportunity motivation (Push-Pull model) has been frequently used to explain Women Entrepreneurial Motivation (WEM) unvaryingly in most situations. The literature indicates a need for clarity and precision in the context-specific conceptualization of this construct. Understanding the disparities between WEM in developed and developing nations will further clear the ambiguity. The current article addresses this gap in three stages. Systematically analyzing 103 articles published in WEM research, an exhaustive list of all WEM factors is built and categorized as necessity and opportunity motivation using Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) assisted Thematic Content Analysis (TCA). Subsequently, necessity and opportunity motivation themes are generated and the related sub-themes and their constituents are identified. Finally, the contextual differences in WEM tendencies are highlighted in the light of women entrepreneurship in developed and developing nations. The main contribution of this review, apart from the comprehensive consolidation of WEM factors, is the revelation of the clear contextual difference in the usage and connotation of certain WEM factors in developed and developing countries. These contextual insights of WEM may provide future research scholars as well as policymakers with an improved understanding of necessity and opportunity motivation factors.

무용 활동에서 청소년의 정서 경험 탐색

The purpose of this study was to explore the emotional experiences of youth in dance activities. For this purpose, nine youth participating in dance activities were selected as research participants, and the emotions of youth experienced in dance activities were explored based on phenomenological research, which is one of the qualitative research methods. Data collection consisted of open-ended questionnaire, in-depth interview, and participatory observation, and the collected data were categorized through inductive category analysis. Youth experienced experiential and relational emotions according to the breadth of emotions in dance, and the emotions was divided into surface (sensational and interpersonal emotions) and inner (existential and communal emotions) level according to the depth of emotions. Each emotion was mixed at the empirical level and revealed at the same time, making it difficult to distinguish clearly. However, classification at the logical level according to the level and depth of emotion and the contextual difference of emotion generation provided a clear discussion of the youth emotional experiences. Experiential emotions were closely related to personal experience, and relational emotions were more closely related to interpersonal relationship with the other person. In addition, the surface level of emotions acted as a key pathway for the inner level of emotional experiences, and the inner level of emotions were closely related to the educational growth of youth. Emotional experiences of youth in dance activities has educational implications in terms of the importance of 'emotional integration' in youth dance education and the necessity of practicing youth dance education through understanding the 'relationship of emotions'. Based on the results of this study, suggestions were made for the practice of dance education and follow-up research for youth emotional cultivation.

A contextual study of employee turnover intention in Vietnam F&B service sector: an integrative perspective

PurposePrevious studies on employee turnover did not explore the contextual differences of emerging markets such as Vietnam. As Vietnam is a fast-growing new tiger economy with a high inflow of foreign direct investment, contextual analysis needs to be conducted to handle rising HR issues in the region. The current study aims to analyze paths to employee turnover intention through an integrated model covering factors on individual, team, and organizational levels to understand the contextual difference in the Vietnam F&B service industry.Design/methodology/approachA mixed method was used based on quantitative and qualitative data from three organizations. For the quantitative analysis, a path model was developed and analyzed by SEM-PLS (Smart PLS) based on a sample size of 354. For the qualitative analysis, 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the contextual understanding in the regional context.FindingsAlthough the current study confirms that the paths among the three levels show the turnover factors developed in the previous study still applicable to the Vietnam context, the strengths and relationships among the team and individual levels imply that the Vietnamese context created a unique HRM environment forming different paths to reach employee turnover decisions.Originality/valueThe findings contributed to the literature on employee turnover by developing an integrated model of employee turnover encompassing the three levels, suggesting the different local contexts formed unique paths to employee turnover decisions.

Academic House Style and Acknowledgement Writing: the Case of Two Ghanaian Universities

This descriptive study sought to examine the structural features of Thesis Acknowledgements (TA) from two disciplines in two Ghanaian Universities. Forty TAs were sampled from the fields of Chemistry and English. Hyland’s (2004) generic move structure was modified in analyzing the sampled TAs. The data was also examined on the basis of the two institutions’ academic style guides for conformity. The findings indicate that the structural features of TAs from the two fields differ. It also revealed that out of the seven steps identified in the obligatory Elaborative Move, DoC writers generally use three steps, and DoE writers mostly use four steps. It is further revealed that while writers from the DoC mostly acknowledged contributors for their technical support, writers from DoE acknowledged their helpers for providing materials for the research. It was revealed that the data followed the institutional style guide. The paper argues that though the contextual difference in the TAs from both fields is minimal, subtle variances and parallels still exist between the two fields. Therefore, it is suggested that these variations in linguistic forms that account for the discursive styles of the TAs should be further examined. Finally, additional analysis by corpus analytic tools applied to large data from the research context could complement this study.

An exploration of how district leaders organize to support principal supervisors for underperforming schools in mid-sized districts

The role of principal supervisor has been shifting from a focus on management to one that emphasizes support for principals. External partners can sometimes help with redesigning the role and other aspects of district organization. However, most research focuses on large urban districts with role conceptions and organizational structures that are not easily applied to midsized districts. In this study, we leverage contingency theory as a way to consider how contextual difference might matter in the use of principal supervisors to support and develop principals of underperforming schools. We interviewed district superintendents, principal supervisors, and principals in five mid-sized districts partnered with USSP, an in-service educational systems leadership provider with research evidence of impact on student achievement outcomes. We found that mid-sized districts commonly prioritized characteristics and traits regularly associated with good principal supervisors, but they were limited by district size and context in how they could initiate change. Despite some differences in how districts established the principal supervisor role, participants across levels described how principal supervisors were supported and, in turn, supported principals in intensive ways. Study results suggest that reorienting the principal supervisor's role, even in mid-sized districts, can build leadership capacity of principals leading underperforming schools.

"Changes in alcohol use during COVID-19 and associations with contextual and individual difference variables: A systematic review and meta-analysis." Correction to Acuff et al. (2022).

Following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocol, studies were gathered via PsycINFO, PubMed/MEDLINE, and preprint databases (published April 29, 2021) that examined individual-level changes in consumption during the initial COVID-19 mitigation measures (before October 2020). Next, sample proportion increases and decreases in consumption, in addition to mean change in consumption variables from pre- to during-COVID, were meta-analyzed, and contextual and individual difference variables related to consumption changes during the pandemic were summarized. One hundred and twenty-eight studies provided data from 58 countries (M n = 3,876; Mdn n = 1,092; aggregate sample n = 492,235). The average mean change in alcohol consumption was nonsignificant (Cohen's d = -0.01, p = .68); however, meta-analysis revealed that 23% of participants reported increases in consumption and 23% reported decreases. These changes were moderated by per capita gross domestic product and country. Narrative synthesis revealed multiple predictors of increased drinking, including contextual changes (e.g., children at home, income loss, working remotely), individual difference variables (being female, a young-to-middle aged adult, or Black), and mental health/alcohol-related risk factors (e.g., depression). The identified factors associated with increased alcohol consumption should be considered in planning behavioral health services during future crisis events that abruptly alter everyday environments in ways that increase stress and decrease access to naturally occurring rewards. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

When and for whom organizational identification is more effective in eliciting safety voice: an empirical study from the construction industry perspective

Safety voice (SV) is a form of voice in which employees express opinions or concerns about organizational safety. It plays an important role in preventing accidents and promoting safety performance. The purpose of this study is to reveal the emotional factors and boundary conditions behind employee engagement in SV, especially in the construction context. This study, therefore, investigated how organizational identification (OID) drove construction project participants’ SV using a three-way interaction model of perceived insider status (PIS) as an individual difference and safety climate (SC) as an organizational contextual difference. The proposed model was tested using a sample of 357 participants in different construction projects. The results showed that OID was positively correlated with SV. The interaction effect of OID and PIS on SV depended on SC, with PIS enhancing the identification–voice relationship at a low level of SC and weakening it at a high level of SC.