Definition Of Self Research Articles

English

This study explored environmental discourses inscribed in Oromo proverbial lore. Its specific concern was with the analysis of place accorded to nature and the role of human’s relation with the physical environment. Oral literature carries values long held in the society, and divulging into folk-ideas reveals the people’s definition of self in relation to nature and their accountability towards it. To this end, proverbs were collected from elders in two zones of Oromia regional state (Guji and Eastern Hararghe). Besides, proverbs published in book volumes were used as an additional data for analyzing the indigenous environmental discourses. These proverbs were analyzed through the theoretical perspective of Ecocriticism. The analysis undertaken revealed the core beliefs and values about nature preserved in the proverbs. Four strands of thoughts (folk ideas) were identified; Nature has ‘lubbuu’/soul, and so, should be conferred an intrinsic value; Nature should be taken care of because it has instrumental value; Not all nature is equal, and some are blameworthy though useful, and finally the ignoble nature could be associated with women, and both could be considered as common targets of man’s control through the agency of entitlement. Based on the results of the study, the researcher argues that there is no one essential line of defining the Oromo folk-ideas pertaining to the issue of nature as a multiple environmental discourses are presented in the proverbs.  Key words: Proverbs, ecocriticism, Oromo, environment, nature, environmental discourse, oral literature.

Knowing One's Place in Contemporary Irish and Polish Poetry: Zagajewski, Mahon, Heaney, Hartwig

Knowing One's Place in Contemporary Irish and Polish Poetry: Zagajewski, Mahon, Heaney, Hartwig

Self and the Influence of Motility in Expressing One's Opinions

Problem StatementFor the definition of self and the capacity of individuals to express their opinions, education has a decisive role, beyond standards. All is achieved through the means of a disciplined mind, and a body fully physically prepared to obey any command received from the cortex, where the latter acts as a selective filter in shaping one's self. Purpose of StudyThis research started from the hypothesis according to which self is influenced by motor activities, and that individuals who receive a proper motor education also possess a special ability and strength in expressing freely their opinions, as compared to those who have a sedentary life or are absent from physical training for different reasons, and have no personal opinions. The group of subjects was made from 86 students of the Petroleum -Gas University of Ploieşti (boys and girls), enrolled in the same institution and having similar motor and intellectual interests. Research MethodsThe bibliographic study methods; the observation method; the enquiry method (questionnaire, discussion, enquiry, etc.); the pedagogical experiment method; the statistical-mathematical method; the observation method; the graphical method. FindingsStudents who are physically active express their opinions freely, as compared to those who have a sedentary life or are absent from physical training for different reasons, and are tolerant to various attitudes, mainly unjustified, are incapable of expressing personal opinions. This situation would modify in time, as a consequence of the implementation of certain participation rules for lessons, which implied a number of attended classes they had to have in order to promote the university year. ConclusionsAs a result of the implementation of a set of rules with a demanding-corrective character, the behaviour of sedentary or absent students suffered a positive modification, as they managed to leave the cone of shadow of “spineless people”, and had the capacity of expressing freely their opinions.

Becoming Real Together: The Parallel Discovery of Authenticity in a Traumatized Child and First-Time Therapist

This case study describes the parallel process of a patient and first-time therapist in finding their authentic selves. The treatment of a child suffering from relational trauma and early abuse is presented. The evolving relationship between patient and therapist is highlighted with an emphasis on the ways in which this relationship changed the definitions of self for both patient and therapist. The role of transference projections and the role of the “other” in the patient therapist relationship are also addressed. Finally, the training therapist's process of meaning making in supervision is explored in parallel with the development of the treatment.

Collaborative Selflessness

This collaborative inquiry reports the impact of mindfulness meditation practice in a hospital’s palliative care setting. Designed as action research, the collaborative program invited participants to investigate and deepen the benefits of the practice for themselves with others over the course of 12 weeks. Participants expressed surprise by how liberating it was to learn to notice and drop their self-centered thinking. Theorizing these findings by bringing perspectives from pragmatism and psychological perspectives on Buddhism, an experience-near understanding of the self also emerged. The article includes reflection on how the combination of action research and mindfulness is practical and useful to participants in the context of caregiving as it reports many benefits to participants. The article ends with a definition of self as “encompassing all that which can be responded to,” which also contributes a practical and useful direction for reconceptualizing the self as a more collaborative self.

Self-stereotyping as “Evangelical Republican”: An Empirical Test

AbstractThe prominence of evangelical Christians in the electoral base of the Republican Party is a noted feature of recent American elections. This prominence is linked to a key stereotype that saturates public discourse: “born-again/evangelical Republicanism.” The stereotype fuses religious and partisan social group membership to create a composite social label. Using a social categorization approach, which challenges the assumptions and methods of existing research, the present analysis asks whether voters embrace this stereotype in their definitions of self. The article employs confirmatory factor analysis of religious and partisan identity constructs from a national internet survey, the 2008 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, and finds evidence of the presence of this religious-partisan stereotype in individual self-views, and of the backlash that it has produced, particularly among citizens that are exposed to public discourse on American elections.

Fashioning the Immunological Self: The Biological Individuality of F. Macfarlane Burnet

During the 1940s and 1950s, the Australian microbiologist F. Macfarlane Burnet sought a biologically plausible explanation of antibody production. In this essay, we seek to recover the conceptual pathways that Burnet followed in his immunological theorizing. In so doing, we emphasize the influence of speculations on individuality, especially those of philosopher Alfred North Whitehead; the impact of cybernetics and information theory; and the contributions of clinical research into autoimmune disease that took place in Melbourne. We point to the influence of local experimental and intellectual currents on Burnet's work. Accordingly, this essay describes an arc distinct from most other tracings of Burnet's conceptual development, which focus on his early bacteriophage research, his fascination with the work of Julian Huxley and other biologists in the 1920s, and his interest in North Atlantic experimental investigations in the life sciences. No doubt these too were potent influences, but they seem insufficient to explain, for example, Burnet's sudden enthusiasm in the 1940s for immunological definitions of self and not-self. We want to demonstrate here how Burnet's deep involvement in philosophical biology - along with attention to local clinical research - provided him with additional theoretic tools and conceptual equipment, with which to explain immune function.

Awakening Resilience: Recovery Within Intimate Female Friendships

A multi-ethnic female creates her own definition of self with the help of strong female role models—women of strength. The author uses a storytelling method, characteristic Native American way of relating, as a vehicle for her narration. It is a story of transitions with challenges in relationships and new beginnings that define the woman as well as the therapist.

Collective self-esteem and susceptibility to interpersonal influence: a study on Indian consumers

Individual’s self-identity is derived from group membership and associations. The current research examines influence of collective self-esteem (CSE) on Indian consumers’ susceptibility to interpersonal influence (CSII). The moderating influence of demographics on CSE in predicting CSII was studied. Results indicate that CSE and CSII scales get modified in Indian context. Membership esteem and negative self-esteem were important predictors to CSII. Age, gender, and income emerge as important factors moderating CSE’s influence on CSII. The findings can help companies in targeting Indian consumers according to their group identity and membership. The definition of self can be used for companies framing their advertising and promotional messages.

The EFIS‐EJI Ruggero Ceppellini Advanced School of Immunology Innate Immunity 2012: From Evolution to Revolution

The EFIS‐EJI Ruggero Ceppellini Advanced School of Immunology Innate Immunity 2012: From Evolution to Revolution

Participatory action research: moving beyond the mental health ‘service user’ identity

Contemporary models of involvement within statutory services pay little regard to the identity of individuals beyond the 'service user' label and in doing so unwittingly perpetuate and sustain the negative impact of mental illness. The aim of this paper is to discuss the process of a 3-year participatory action research study facilitated by a mental health nurse. It highlights the perspective of those involved as co-researchers, all having experience of accessing statutory mental health services. It identifies both the process and the impact of this type of involvement on them illustrating their move beyond an illness identity. The study involved them undertaking a series of interviews with other service users in relation to their life stories. They subsequently mapped and analysed the transcripts. In order that the people were enabled to undertake these roles the study included a process of interviewing and appointing service user researchers followed by a programme of training workshops, supervision and discussion group/peer support. The accounts provided reflect the six researchers' attempts to make sense of their experience and reveal the path of transformation through collaboration.

Hmong and American: from refugees to citizens

Farmers in Laos, U.S. allies during the Vietnam War, refugees in Thailand, citizens of the Western world -- the stories of the Hmong who now live in America have been told in detail through books and articles and oral histories over the past several decades. Like any immigrant group, members of the first generation may yearn for the past as they watch their children and grandchildren find their way in the dominant culture of their new home. For Hmong people born and educated in the United States, a definition of self often includes traditional practices and tight-knit family groups but also a distinctly Americanised point of view. How do Hmong Americans negotiate the expectations of these two very different cultures? In an engaging series of essays featuring a range of writing styles, leading scholars, educators, artists, and community activists explore themes of history, culture, gender, class, family, and sexual orientation, weaving their own stories into depictions of a Hmong American community where people continue to develop complex identities that are collectively shared but deeply personal as they help to redefine the multicultural America of today. Contributors: Mary Louise Buley-Meissner, Amy DeBroux, Jeremy Hein, Vincent K Her, Don Hones, Gary Yia Lee, Song Lee, Pao Lor, Bic Ngo, Keith Quincy, Chan Vang, Hue Vang, Ka Vang, Kou Vang, May Vang, Ma Lee Xiong, Shervun Xiong, Kao Kalia Yang, Kou Yang.

Does definition of self predict adopter dog breed choice?

Motivated by the fact that each year 6 to 8 million lost and unwanted dogs and cats end up at animal shelters across the U.S. and half of those animals must be euthanized, the objective of this research is to determine the influence of dog owner's definition of self on dog breed choice. The regression analyses findings assert that dog owner's behavior (temperament) has significant influence on dog owner's dog categorization and dog breed choice. Moreover, male dog owners found gender of the dog to be less important in categorizing and choosing a dog than did female dog owners. Overwhelmingly, the dog owner is found to be the primary decision maker in acquiring a dog and choosing a dog breed. The dog owner's prior experience with dogs is found to be the primary influence on decisions about whether to acquire a dog and which dog breed to choose. Practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed extensively.

Humor and Ambivalence in the Novels of Toni Morrison

Normal 0 21 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE Rarely can one find pure comedy in Toni Morrison’s novels, as humor is usually either part of a double discourse in which traumatic experiences are “confronted” through a game of perspective, or a means of emphasizing a tragically flavored situation through situating it in a context open to ambivalence. If personal or collective tragedy cannot be eliminated, at least it can be counteracted, just as power relations can be influenced through humor. Apart from being a way of diminishing the tension of trauma or oppression, humor implies freedom of thought and interpretation even when dominant ideologies and discourses aim at enforcing specific institutionalized representations and definitions of self and other. At the same time, in Toni Morrison’s novels “the comic twist” is represented as a way of displacement and a form of empowerment or healing for African Americans, even when it has to do with self-deprecation or self-irony, as pain becomes laughter and “a litany of humiliation, outrage and anger turned sickle-like back to themselves as humor” (Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon ).

Bohemians on the Bookcase: Quotations in Long Day's Journey into Night and Ah, Wilderness!

The literary allusions in act 4 of Long Day’s Journey Into Night have worried producers and commentators alike. Often pared down on stage to cut the play’s running time, they are heard as redundant, unnecessary, even as a substitute on O’Neill’s part for the hard work of writing expressive dialogue. George Steiner deplores the quotations in Long Day’s Journey, suggesting that their brilliance “burns a hole” in the fabric of the play and shows up O’Neill’s deficient writing. In response to Steiner, Laurin Porter has argued persuasively for the economy and effectiveness of these quotations. She goes through all the musical and literary allusions in the late plays, showing how they reinforce character and theme, move the plot, and create counterpoints of feeling, atmosphere, and thought. Indeed, she argues, the allusions are deeply and significantly embedded in the plays.1 In this article I would like to suggest that they serve another purpose as well. The quotations from what James Tyrone, speaking to Edmund, calls “That damned library of yours!” evoke the darkest, most radical thought of the previous century, the late-romantic nineteenth century that the characters in O’Neill’s play, set in 1912, are trying to survive without knowing how.2 The quotations from Baudelaire, Swinburne, Wilde, and Dowson suggest in their pessimism an impasse reached by the end of the romantic century, an impasse of identity. The characters in Long Day’s Journey, who have inherited their identities from the previous century, no longer know who they are. Ah, Wilderness! contains quotations also, from the same or similar nineteenth-century authors, but they are not so troubling because there are fewer of them, they are briefer, and their purpose is clear and less

Toward a Feminist Theory of Letting Go

During an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered David Greene asked Brian Henneman of the band The Bottle Rockets, “You’ve played with some pretty big names . . . you guys have become big. [But] you’re not as commercial . . . as big as Wilco. . . . I mean, what takes you to the next level?” Henneman laughed and replied, “It’s too late to go to the next level. We’re too comfortable where we’re at. Why would we want to move now if everything will just be more of a pain in the butt? So, yeah . . . this is a real awesome comfortable place, and we like it. And by golly, that’s our story, and we’re sticking to it.” Setting aside the self-conscious coda, what strikes me about this exchange is Henneman’s genuine satisfaction with his band’s level of success. You can hear it in his voice: he means it. He is okay exactly where he is, with his band and in his life. He does not want to get to the top; he does not have to be the best. In fact, he foresees only headaches (or worse) lying in wait should he strive for bigger commercial success. Surely Henneman’s social position—as a middle-aged working-class musician from the Midwest, fronting a band that has played mostly in bars for over twenty years—has shaped his aspirational goals. I fi nd it refreshing, nonetheless, to hear him say out loud and proud, “No thanks. I don’t need to reach the top. I’m okay exactly where I am.” But then there is that conditional addendum, with its self-deprecating, defensive posturing, undercutting the message that good-enough is fi ne and implying instead that one must justify, explain, or make excuses for being satisfi ed with one’s life as it is. In this paper I question the core American imperative that says we must endlessly strive to be the best. My interest in this issue is both intellectual and personal. Like many women I struggle to balance work life, home life, professional pursuits, creative endeavors, self-defi nition, and cultural mandates. I ask: Does feminism provide theoretical supports for women who want to (or must) slow down, grow quiet, and let go of striving? Can one be simultane-

A Question of Balance: Exploring the Acculturation, Integration and Adaptation of Muslim Immigrant Youth

The paper addresses criticisms of contemporary acculturation research by adopting a mixed method approach (open-ended survey responses, interviews, focus groups and projective techniques) to the study of the acculturation experiences of Muslim youth in New Zealand. The research explores: 1) the meaning, definition and achievement of success; 2) the process of negotiating multiple social identities; and 3) the graphic representation of identity. Thematic analysis indicated that young Muslims aspire to achieve success in personal, social, material and religious domains and that they seek to balance potentially competing demands from family, friends, the Muslim community and the wider society. At the same time they aspire to balance multiple identities, retaining religious and cultural elements in the definition of self while endeavoring to integrate into the wider society. The process of achieving this balance is characterized by three strategies: alternating orientations, blending orientations and minimizing differences. The findings are discussed in relation to advancing our understanding of integration as an acculturation option, and the community-based policy implications for multicultural societies are considered.

The Question of Moral Action: A Formalist Position

This article develops a research position that allows cultural sociologists to compare morality across sociohistorical cases. In order to do so, the article suggests focusing analytic attention on actions that fulfill the following criteria: (a) actions that define the actor as a certain kind of socially recognized person, both within and across fields; (b) actions that actors experience—or that they expect others to perceive—as defining the actor both intersituationally and to a greater extent than other available definitions of self; and (c) actions to which actors either have themselves, or expect others to have, a predictable emotional reaction. Such a position avoids both a realist moral sociology and descriptive-relativism, and provides sociologists with criteria for comparing moral action in different cases while staying attuned to social and historical specificity.

The geographies of religious conversion

The paper reviews the corpus of research that attempts to explain the process of religious conversion, and explores the ways in which geographers can add new perspectives to the discourse. It argues that religious conversion is a phenomenon that goes beyond the reorientation of individual belief, and is instead a process of change that involves the (re)definition of self and other. Five conceptual frames are proposed – (1) conversion of space; (2) spaces of conversion; (3) spaces of negotiation; (4) the (im)mobile convert; and (5) the (dis)embodied convert – which are used to help define the geographies of religious conversion.

Longitudinal Analysis of the Domains of Satisfaction Before and After Disability: Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of the onset of disability on life satisfaction and five different domains of satisfaction (health, household income, housing, job, leisure) for German individuals. Particular attention is paid to examining whether individuals can adapt to disability over time before and after its onset in terms of satisfaction. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) for the period 1984–2008, we estimate an innovative fixed-effects model on life satisfaction and each domain of satisfaction for working-age males (aged 21–58), which allows us to estimate lag and lead effects and thus to test the anticipation and adaptation hypotheses. Although individual obtain complete adaptation to disability in terms of global life satisfaction (5 years after the onset), this adaptation is not complete in all domains of satisfaction. For example, despite the fact that the levels of health satisfaction drop as the individual becomes disabled, after the onset it increases but the levels are lower than those reached before the onset. In contrast, the adaptation is especially faster in the terms of leisure satisfaction (3 years after the onset), household income and housing satisfaction (5 years after the onset in both cases). Our results support the findings obtained in other psychological studies that conclude that the domain of disability extends far beyond health related concerns to encompass the person’s well-being definition of self and social position. Finally, these findings may help policy makers and government to promote social and economic measures and actions lead to increase the scores of global well-being and specific domains of satisfaction of this collective.