Cultural Environment Research Articles

Psychic TV: The Paranormal as Popular Culture in Japanese Television of the 1990s

NIGHT HEAD was a science fiction drama that aired on Japan’s Fuji TV between 1992 and 1993. The series arrived during a wave of interest in the paranormal, a trend that was embraced by commercial television in both dramatic programs and variety/infotainment talk shows. This boom of interest in the paranormal happened within the thriving economic and cultural environment of Japan’s Bubble Era, a period that saw a rapid expansion of television in addition to the prosperity of markets in real estate and industry. NIGHT HEAD portrays a darker vision of 90s Japan, using visual effects and moody, intense images and sounds to conjure a desperate sensibility. This article will offer an analysis of the “attractive” paranormal turn in Japan during the 1990s, using NIGHT HEAD as a case for considering the intersection of youth, visual effects, and the desire for an alternative way of understanding the world beyond rationality.

The influence of culture on the entrepreneurial behavior of women: A Review Paper

The rise of female entrepreneurs is a significant development, as they play a crucial role in driving economic growth. This is especially important in developing countries like Nepal, where it can also help to reduce unemployment. However, many women entrepreneurs need help with their cultural environment when starting or managing their businesses. This paper explores the multifaceted impact of culture on the entrepreneurial behavior of women. Entrepreneurship is a dynamic and complex phenomenon influenced by various factors, and cultural context plays a crucial role in shaping an individual’s attitudes, motivations, and decisions. The study focuses specifically on how cultural dimensions such as societal norms, gender roles, and cultural values interact to shape women’s entrepreneurial behavior. The research methodology involves a comprehensive review of the existing 50 articles on women's entrepreneurship and their sociocultural intervention on the behavior of women entrepreneurs. The findings reveal that cultural factors significantly influence women’s entrepreneurial intentions, risk perceptions, and business strategies. Societal expectations and gender norms can either facilitate or hinder women’s entry into entrepreneurship, affecting their confidence, risk-taking propensity, and access to resources. Moreover, cultural values such as collectivism or individualism impact networking patterns, collaboration tendencies, and leadership styles among women entrepreneurs.

The Retail Industry's Organizational Culture: A Special Reference to Bangalore City

This study looks at Bangalore's retail industry's organizational culture. By means of an extensive examination of business procedures, employee relationships, and leadership approaches, the study seeks to identify the fundamental components influencing the culture of the firm. The study's insights might help to clarify the distinctive cultural environment of Bangalore's retail industry, providing insightful viewpoints for both scholars and enterprises. The research on organizational culture within the retail sector in Bangalore reveals the internal environment and influences their performance, employee engagement, and overall success. In the backdrop of the bustling city of Bangalore, renowned for its vibrant economy and diverse workforce, this research examines the multi-dimensional facets of organizational culture that shape the behavior, values, and interactions of retail businesses.

Does trade openness affect migrants' marriage? Evidence from China

Based on the database of China Migrants Dynamic Survey from 2011 to 2018, this paper explores the impact of trade openness on migrants’ marriage, and reveals that trade openness increases migrants’ divorce rate significantly. The potential mechanism analysis finds that trade openness affects migrants’ divorce rate through the channel of their marriage value. Besides, the heterogeneity test indicates that the impacts of trade openness on migrants’ marriage are heterogeneous across different regions, social and cultural environments, gender groups, and migration circles. Furthermore, the moderating effect analysis reveals that Confucian culture can weaken the impact of trade openness on migrants’ divorce rate, which has a negative moderating effect on the relation between trade openness and migrants’ divorce rate. Finally, this paper provides supporting evidence for the fact that trade openness does affect migrants’ marriage and thus offers a possible explanation for the continuously increasing divorce rate in China from the perspective of trade openness.

‘Weeping at Vasermil’: players, fans and tears

ABSTRACT This paper deals with the weeping of football players and fans during a game when some unexpected or extremely emotional event occurs, such as winning the championship, or being demoted to a lower division. Several decades ago, neither players nor fans dared to express their emotions by weeping in public, nor by hugging and kissing. Football (soccer) was considered ‘a man’s game’ and men don’t cry. In victory or in failure men restrain themselves – they did not shed tears. In recent decades things changed. When an extreme event occurs on the pitch, players and/or fans express their emotions and weep in public. This behavioural change on the football pitch seems to stem from changes in the cultural environment: The macho man skin has gotten thinner. The ‘new man’, the metrosexual, has replaced the ‘old man’; he is now allowed, even encouraged, to cry. The case study for this paper is the specific event of Hapoel Beer Sheva F.C. game in May 1998, where the result would decide whether the team survives in the senior division or be demoted to the second one. The club lost in the nineteenth minute. A heavy silence descended upon the terraces. The players collapsed on the pitch, covering their faces with their hands. Suddenly a crying voice: a young boy sat and sobbed – weeping for all of us.

An Analysis of The Economic Impact Potential of The Art Music Scene in Kosovo: Is It a Burden or An Additional Value for Society?

The art and music sector in Kosovo possesses considerable potential for growth and development. These institutions are essential in shaping Kosovo's cultural and economic environment by providing employment possibilities for composers, performers, and industry specialists, contributing to the expansion of the music industry, and aiding in post-conflict recovery. In recent years, Kosovo's music sector has undergone substantial growth and development, driven by technological advancements, globalization, and changing consumer preferences. This progress contrasts with the underdeveloped state of the sector in the past, a result of economic, social, and political factors that this paper will further discuss. Kosovo's music scene is characterized by a wide variety of genres, ranging from traditional folk music to modern styles including pop, rock, hip-hop, and electronic dance music (EDM). This diversified range of styles and influences caters to a broad spectrum of preferences and attracts listeners both within Kosovo and globally. The art music genre of the scene garners significant attention due to its growing popularity, diverse activities, extensive outreach, cultural enrichment, cultural diplomacy efforts, and possible economic influence. This study seeks to analyze the economic influence of the art music sector in Kosovo within the wider music business. It will conduct a thorough and systematic assessment of the sector's contributions to the country's economy, society, and cultural identity.

Principle, Entry, and Reflow: Infinite Generation of Digital Intelligence Artistic Creation Dialogue

Dialogue on Infinite Generation of Art, Digital Intelligence Art Creation is empowered by modern digital intelligence technology, and based on the “memory repository” of all human art, its basic principle is based on the intelligent generation technology of digital encoding program, as well as the in-depth learning and artistic imitation of the full database of inventory samples. Digital intelligence art creation adheres to the art concepts of specific cultural environments, combines rationality and sensibility of art creation, and opens up the way of intelligent art creation through infinite algorithms, pointing to the aesthetic progress of combining sensibility and rationality. The aesthetic reflow of digital intelligence art creation is not only manifested in the shift of the focus of the creation of “focusing on intention and shape” on the level of technical rationality, but it also begins to dissolve the creativity and transcendence of art itself, weakening the power of art creation’s “accidental” interpretation and “extraterritorial” growth. It also begins to dissolve the creativity and transcendence of art itself, weakening the power of “accidental” interpretation and “extraterritorial” growth of artistic creation.

NOTION OF TREND "PHYGITAL" IN CULTURE

In today’s rapidly changing world, new trends, technologies and no-tions, combining various aspects of the digital age, are actualized. In the cul-tural environment, an actual phenomenon is the phygital world «thrown» into everyday life as a marketing move and claiming an ideological position in fu-ture. Phygital art is becoming an important part of the creative and media in-dustry, bringing investment and aesthetic attractiveness to the creation of vir-tual concert programs, films, games and exhibitions. The purpose of the study is to generalize and fix the phenomenon «phygital» in the cultural environment and determine its mechanisms and essential characteristics.

Population Structure and Functional Diversity of Rice Landraces: A Review

Rice landraces or local varieties that have remained in cultivation on-farm are embedded within their agroecological and cultural environment. Rice landraces are genetically diverse, but with a variation that can be well structured, not random. This review examines the population structure and functional diversity revealed in the rice germplasm acquired from farmers in recent decades. Sizable areas of local varieties are found in parts of Asia with distinctive agroecological environment and cultural heritage. A tally of variety names provides a first approximation of diversity, a frequency distribution of the varieties describes a basic structure of diversity in an agroecosystem. Genetic variation is detectable by microsatellites analysis or expressed in specific functional traits, at various organizational levels of the population, even among those exhibiting uniform appearances. The population dynamics of genetically diverse landraces perpetuated by many farmers are shaped by variations in the bio-physical environment and management practices, but those relying on one or two farmers for their maintenance face a risk of extinction. Diversity in widely grown varieties may either be within the farmer’s seed cache, or among populations of the same variety maintained by different farmers. Local rice varieties or landraces continue to play a crucial role in rice farming, the economic value of some is enhanced by their unique grain quality features. Genetically diverse rice landraces that either contribute towards meeting the household’s rice requirement or those that have become commercially successful, also provide an important service in the in situ conservation of germplasm.

Ethics and rule breaking in a vulnerable society: some challenges

Scientific and procedural rationality becomes compatible with subjectivism, increasing the modern ethical void. In this work I will show how that void impact in disruptive behavior. First, I shortly describe the general problem of our moral culture making dialogue one of the most important contemporary moral philosophers, Enmanuel Levinas and the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, who has made the main critical contribution to the moral culture. Second, I will make some observations in the sphere of art, where it is specially notorious how the crisis of ethics due to the evolution of the culture of individualism affects to the behavior erasing limits -v.g. Proof-Of-Authority-, extending the beliefs that all is possible, that anyone can do anything, everything can happen, and, so that, rules and forecast are perceived more relatives that never. In a third step, I will focus the attention on the multidisciplinary field of Criminology -rule breaking, deviance-, because it is the main place where can be proof the failure of norms which lead society to both, problems for coexistence, and ability to predict insecurity. The formulas invented by social scientist to understand “normal” as well “deviant” behaviour, seems to fail more than ever. That should make us consider two kinds of challenges. How can we reinforce the ethical side of the norms under a cultural environment secularized and liquid, and physically threatened? How can we manage the self-criticism in social sciences so that we not all in the pessimism apparently propitiated by Cancel Culture?

Enhancing Rural Revitalization Through Optimized Landscape Planning and Design: Insights from Beijing's Surrounding Villages

With the rapid economic development and the proposal of rural revitalization policies, the development of rural planning and construction has also received more and more attention, and the content of rural planning and construction practice is gradually expanding, but what follows is the integration of the regional cultural environment and the natural ecological environment is not high enough, and the phenomenon of disappearing village atmosphere, incomplete agricultural industrial chain, weakened functions, and incompatible ecological development has repeatedly occurred. Gradually, the village living environment has also been threatened, and the landscape planning and design of the rural living environment conveyed by different artistic modes and meanings has brought new opportunities for the realization of the rural revitalization strategy. This research takes the optimization of random forest algorithm as the core, and deeply explores the new ideas and methods of art mode and landscape planning and design of rural human settlements. This study mainly takes the surrounding villages of Beijing as an example and uses the moving window method to calculate the two-dimensional and three-dimensional landscape indices in this rural area. The multi-scale relationship of the living environment was analyzed. The power function fitting results of the window variation coefficient of the landscape index show that the optimal window size for studying the relationship between art patterns and three-dimensional landscape patterns is about 700 M.

CORRELATION ANALYSIS OF THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF ECONOMY'S INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY INDICES

Creativity and the generation of innovative solutions are means of solving the problems of slow economic development and resistance to instability that have been observed in recent years. The key role of creativity of individuals and groups of workers as a defining feature of modern economic life is increasingly recognised. There is a consensus that people, as a source of creativity, are now a critical resource of the new era. In the new model of economic development, creativity, knowledge and free access to information are seen as powerful drivers of development and catalysts of globalisation. The subject of the research is to study the relationship between innovation and creativity in the economic sphere. In particular, the article examines how the creativity of various economic subjects affects the level of innovative indicators, which synthetically reflect the possibilities of achieving the goals of innovative development. The research methodology includes the use of global reports on innovation and creativity indices, as well as scientific sources on this topic. The study uses the methods of critical analysis of scientific papers and international rankings, comparison and correlation of interdependent indicators. The purpose of the research is to assess the relationship between creativity and the level of innovative indicators, which synthetically show the possibilities of achieving the goals of innovative development. Creativity of business entities and mechanisms for generating innovative solutions are determining factors of success of modern post-industrial societies. In most developed countries, long-term economic growth is supported by innovation and creativity of various economic entities. To create the research algorithm, the authors defined the chain of concepts "sustainable development – innovation – creativity". To assess and analyse creativity, the study uses methodological tools that can be applied in global and local contexts. The most well-known indices are the Global Innovation Index (GII), the Global Creativity Index (GCI), the City Creativity Index (CCI), and the Hong Kong Creativity Index (HKCI). The general correlation coefficients between the global innovation index and the creativity indices of some countries have been calculated. According to the results of the calculations, the correlation coefficients of creativity and innovation are very positive. They are closely related and belong to the group of significantly correlated indicators. This means that there is a very high correlation between innovation and creativity in the economies studied. Conclusions. The positive correlation between innovation and creativity indices confirms, in general and in specific terms, a close relationship between innovation and creativity in the economies of different countries. This may indicate that countries or regions with a higher level of economic development have higher rates of creativity and vice versa. The research demonstrates the importance of innovation for the development of creativity in the economy. Understanding this interaction can serve as a basis for designing strategies and policies aimed at promoting innovative development and the growth of creative potential. The economies of Poland, Bulgaria and Ukraine, which were studied in detail, are not innovative enough. The countries studied represent different levels of economic development and are in the phase of post-industrial development, which requires effective innovation policies and measures to support creativity. In order to increase the level of innovation and creativity, it is necessary to involve national governments and organisations (especially the European Union) that can contribute to this. The conclusions point to the need to develop comprehensive approaches to support innovation and creativity in the economies of the countries studied. This may include not only effective strategies to stimulate research and development, but also policies aimed at the cultural environment, education and other areas.

Italian translation and cultural adaptation of the Agitated Behavior Scale (ABS-I) in patients with acquired brain injuries.

The objective of this study was to produce a cross-cultural adaptation in Italian of the Agitated Behavior Scale (ABS), originally developed in English, as the first of two stages that also include cross-cultural validation and allow a clinical scale to be used in the proper setting such as rehabilitation units. In order to adapt the ABS scale to a different cultural environment, five consecutive steps were performed: (1) forward translations (n = 8), (2) synthesis of the 8 forward translations to obtain a first shared italian version (ABS_I_trial), (3) back translations (n = 3), (4) creation of an expert committee to evaluate forward and back translations and finally (5) the cognitive debriefing. After the five steps, including forward translations and back translations, the process of committee verification and judgement and the evaluative step of cognitive debriefing, high comprehensibility of all items was found, resulting in an Italian translation version of ABS suitable for application in a clinical setting. ABS translation was produced by means of a standardized procedure aimed at minimizing cross-cultural gaps. The expert committee evaluated the version produced as highly understandable in Italian. Further steps, such as the subsequent validation of its psychometric properties, are needed to employ this translation in a clinical setting.

Experiences in global mental health.

Participating in Global Mental Health program development and education and training efforts is rewarding and exciting work. The author describes several global experiences he has engaged in over the past 30 years, which has focused on teaching and encouraging family therapy and mental health care that support human rights and promote human development as innovated and promoted by the Global Alliance for Behavioral Health, formerly the American Orthopsychiatric Association. The author learned through participation that merely presenting mental health information and treatment approaches through lecture presentation was not adequate to help professionals and advocates in low- and middle-income countries to build sustainable mental health care systems in their home regions. The author engaged in several collaborative program development efforts with local professionals at their invitation. These programs, consisting of multiyear partnerships based on the needs and culture of the home region, will be described in the article. The programs, based on relationships between local professionals and a U.S. team of experts in child mental health care, had long-term positive effects and were highly rewarding. The basis for these programs was an invitation by local professionals, followed by collaboration in setting the agenda for the U.S. professionals' visits, an on-going relationship in which local professionals trusted that the visitors want and need to understand the local cultural environment, and improvements that will be most helpful and sustainable. In this process, the author learned about the cultures he worked in and was a part of extremely meaningful and enlightening relationships and experiences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of the local environment in selecting and determining architectural standards for buildings

The study aims to demonstrate the role of the local environment as a decisive factor in architecture design. It plays an important role in determining the form and function of buildings, from the presence of the landscape to its reflection in the architectural fabric. What constitutes the physical features of the local environment, such as terrain, climate, and availability of natural resources, by imposing environmental standards of measurement that are consistent with global environmental standards. Where the idea of sustainability in buildings was addressed. We decided to use the analytical approach in the study, as well as the inductive approach, to derive some standards in the research process. Four basic elements were identified that are relied upon in society through its social, cultural, and human environment, in addition to studying global and regional environmental standards, which are: LEED standards, which in turn also affect the integrated building strategy from an environmental standpoint, in terms of the functional performance of activities, environmental conditions, social needs, and the human aspect. The results of the environmental classification according to the research procedure showed that it gave results close to the LEED scale, which was between the normal and gold classification, and in the green cod classification, that matches the LED scale. Keywords: Local environment, design considerations, evaluation criteria, LED scale.

On the Character Image of Lu Xun 's Li Shui Da Yu Starts Here: Centered on the hero 's fall and its practical significance

Based on the myths and legends of Dayu 's flood control, Lu Xun created a new image of Dayu in a mixed way of ancient and modern times, skillfully criticized and satirized the cultural environment at that time, and praised the ' Chinese backbone ' hero. At the same time, as a ' Chinese backbone ' hero, he was finally assimilated by the common people and fell into degeneration. Through a comprehensive analysis and deconstruction of the image of Dayu, this paper reveals its practical significance, understands the humanistic feelings contained in the works, and encourages the current actions in China.

Development of art journalism in Kazakhstan through the introduction of the experience of American art media

ABSTRACT In the modern world, art and culture occupy a special place in the formation of personality and public opinion, determining the importance of the development of art journalism as an integral part of the media. The purpose of the study is to analyse Kazakh and American media materials on the topic of culture and art, taking into account the use of various creative tools and digital approaches. To achieve research goals, the following methods were used: generalization, survey, content analysis, comparative analysis, as well as various works of researchers studying cultural journalism in its various aspects and interpretations. The results of the work determined that the translation of international art journalism experience into the Kazakh media industry plays an important role in enriching the country’s cultural environment and increasing the quality of art historical materials. According to a survey of art-journalistic experts, it was found that, on average, for 90% of respondents, this area has positive development trends and is the basis for the introduction of technological and digital capabilities. However, for the effective functioning of arts journalism, it is worth taking into account a number of challenges that journalists face in the course of their professional activities.

Understanding the impact of national culture differences on customers’ online social shopping behaviours

The growth of social media (SM) has contributed to the retail industry. Academics and professionals are specifically intrigued by how the fusion of SM might address the issue of establishing a relationship between consumers and sellers. By integrating insights drawn from the Informational Social Influence Theory (ISIT) and the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM), our study developed a model to comprehend factors affecting customers' online social shopping behaviours across various cultural environments. Our study utilised SEM/PLS to analyse data collected from 2305 respondents in four different countries. Findings revealed that the ISIT can be used to understand customers’ online social shopping behaviours. Our study indicated that normative social influence (NSI), informational social influence (ISI), utilitarian value (UTV), perceived member familiarity (PMF), and perceived information quality (PIQ) are key drivers of customers social behaviours in the developed societies, while hedonic value (HDV), perceived member closeness (PMC), perceived member similarity (PMS), and perceived member expertise (PME) are key drivers of customers social behaviour in the developing societies. The results demonstrated that a “one-size fits-all” paradigm is inadequate to capture the heterogeneity of customers social behaviour through various cultures. The theoretical and managerial implications were demonstrated.

Effects of parental childhood cultural health environment on children’s influenza and COVID-19 vaccination status

Most studies examining factors associated with pediatric influenza (flu) and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination uptake focus on parental demographics. We examined whether the childhood cultural health environment (CHE) of parents (measured by self-reported regular attendance at doctor and dentist visits during childhood) was associated with flu and COVID-19 vaccination of their children. Using 2023 survey data from 397 US parents and causal inference methods, we estimated the average causal effect of parental CHE on flu vaccination rates (0.16 [95 % confidence interval: 0.06,0.27]) and COVID-19 (0.14 [95 % confidence interval: 0.04,0.24]), indicating that if all parents had attended regular doctor/dentist visits as children, flu and COVID-19 vaccination rates in children would be 16 % and 14 % higher, respectively, than if none had. Our findings suggest that early life exposure to medical and dental care has significant and lasting effects on the health of individuals and families.

Culture: A Journey Through Diversity in Language Learning

Culture has an important role in language teaching. Students from different backgrounds come from different cultural environments and have their own unique understanding of language learning. Language is not only a concrete expression of culture, but culture can also be expressed through language, and the two are mutually unified, so there is an inseparable link between culture and language. The purpose of this study is to discuss the influence of culture on language teaching and learning, analyze the significance of culture, and the role of culture, and then compare and contrast the performance of Chinese and Western students in language learning in many aspects, and analyze the influence of cultural differences on language learning from both sides, and give some suggestions and measures. In the results of the study, language learners can see that culture is beneficial to language learning, and emphasizing culture can effectively promote language learning. At the same time, cultural differences can also bring some challenges, including cultural conflicts and communication difficulties, etc. In order to mitigate the effects of these challenges, educators need to take steps to improve the situation. Overall, the benefits of culture for language learning outweigh the drawbacks, and by understanding and responding to the challenges, cultures are well-positioned to meet the needs of learners and facilitate intercultural communication.