Expression Of Commitment Research Articles

Responsibility of the East African Community to Safeguard Physical Integrity and Freedom of the Citizens of its Member States

This paper looks at the responsibility that the East African Community (EAC) has in safeguarding the right of physical integrity and freedom among the citizens of the Community’s Partner States. It examines the extent in which the EAC has discharged that responsibility and what needs to be in response to any existing shortcomings. The first part of this work is the conceptual framework where the key concepts have been defined and explained. Those concepts are the right to bodily integrity and freedom. The next part is on the legal and institutional framework of the East African Community which deals with protection of the right of physical integrity and freedom. After that part, I have presented a number of incidents of violation of the right of physical integrity and freedom within the EAC region in order to use them as the basis for examining the performance of the EAC’s responsibility referred to herein. The main findings of this work are that EAC has an enormous responsibility to safeguard the right to physical integrity and freedom within its jurisdiction; and that so far, the EAC has underperformed that task. Most of what has been done is more of strategizing, planning and expression of commitments while very little work has been down on the ground. As a result, many citizens of EAC Partner States continue to suffer gross violations of their right of physical integrity as well as their freedoms both from governmental and non-governmental actors. In view of that, the paper has urged the EAC and its Partner States to be more proactive in discharging that significant responsibility.

중국어 학술지 논문에 나타난 부스터 표현에 대한 연구

The present study aims to compare and analyze the use of boosters in Chinese research articles of different disciplines and find out their similarities and differences. Boosters are the linguistic devices through which the writers or speakers express certainty about the propositional content. In research articles, the expression of commitment toward the propositional content enable writers to mark the information shared with readers, and to show authority as a member of the academic discourse community. This paper selects research articles of linguistics, sociology and biology, one of the representative disciplines of humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, respectively. By analyzing the types, frequencies, functions and distribution characteristics of boosters in journal papers, we could find out the similarities and differences in the usage of boosters in different academic fields and disciplines. We could also understand the mechanism that how boosters, as stance markers, perform interpersonal functions in academic discourse.

The Everyday Communication of Commitment: Testing an Integrated Model of Self-Construal, Cognition, Affect, Motivation and Communication

People build and sustain their relationship commitment through their everyday communication. Two studies tested an integrated motivational model exploring the multiple ways relational self-construal, cognition, affect, and goals promote commitment-related communication in romantic relationships. Mediational analyses of survey data showed that when participants had higher relational self-construal, stronger commitment, more positive commitment-related affect, and stronger relationship approach goals, they (a) expressed their commitment to their partners more frequently (Study 1, N = 405) and (b) more often monitored their partner’s expressions of commitment (Study 2, N = 154). The findings underscore the integrated, holistic nature of the everyday communication of commitment.

Odd Bedfellows: Self- and Partner-Enhancement in the Communication of Commitment

This research examined self- and partner-enhancement biases in the everyday communication of commitment. A total of 189 romantic heterosexual couples completed a survey measuring self- and partner-reports of the communication of commitment. Women self-enhanced in their perceptions of their partner’s attempts at communicating commitment, while men partner-enhanced. Further, women’s self-enhancement and men’s partner-enhancement resulted in their perceptions of each other’s expressions of commitment being more closely aligned than self-reported expressions of commitment. Taken together, rather than being a detriment, bias in the everyday communication of commitment is an important aspect of how couples sustain commitment in their relationships.

Cognitive interdependence and the everyday expression of commitment

Based on interdependence theory, this study expands the work on cognitive interdependence—viewing a relationship as a pluralistic collective—by testing the proposition that cognitive interdependence is connected with everyday expressions of commitment. A sample of 275 individuals in romantic relationships completed an online survey. Results revealed that cognitive interdependence is characterized by greater inclusion of partners into self-concepts, more positive thoughts about the relationship, and viewing the relationship as central to one’s life. Further, results showed that cognitive interdependence is a critical linchpin mechanism linking relationship commitment with everyday expressions of commitment. The findings are discussed in terms of the importance of cognitive interdependence for understanding commitment and pro-relationship behavior.

Quality of Work Life and Organizational Justice: Its Relation to Citizenship Behavior Among Staff Nurses

Context: Quality of work-life and organizational justice increasingly identified as progressive indicators of the functioning and sustainability of the organizations. It claimed to be related to citizenship behaviors and positive behaviors of nurses who have an essential role in strengthening morale and betterment and contributes to the survival of an organization. It is an expression of commitment; make the organization stable by reducing turnover, and attracting new nurses.Aim: Assess the quality of work-life and organizational justice and its relation to citizenship behavior among nurses.Methods: A descriptive correlational research design used to carry out this research. The current study conducted in all in-patient units at Benha University Hospital, AlQaluobia Governate, Egypt. A Convenient sample consisted of 310 staff nurses recruited to achieve the aim of this study. Three tools used to collect the data; organizational justice questionnaire, quality of work-life scale, and organizational citizenship behavior questionnaire.Results: The study revealed that more than three quarters (81%) of staff nurses had high perception level regarding the quality of their nursing work-life; nearly three quarters (74.2%) of staff nurses had high perception level regarding organizational justice. In addition to more than half (56.10%) of staff nurses had high perception level regarding organizational citizenship behaviors.Conclusion: A statistically significant positive correlation revealed among quality of nursing work life, organizational justice, and citizenship behaviors. The study recommended that a staff development program need to be done for nurse managers to deal effectively with new ideas and to promote organizational citizenship behavior. Nurse Managers have to pay attention to the nurses' needs for justice/fairness and professional development to tailor strategies to improve quality of work life.

From Commitment to Action: Filipino College Students' Involvement in Agriculture in Selected Provinces in the Philippines

This study determined which knowledge sharing and learning (KSL) intervention best fits agriculture and non-agriculture students in the Philippines, and documented each of the student groups' commitments to be intermediaries to farmers. Six months after the data had been gathered through survey method, the research team documented which KSL intervention each student group shared to others. The study also determined whether the students’ expressions of commitment had been concretized into action. Samples were randomly selected from higher education institutions in the Philippines, namely, Central Mindanao University in Bukidnon, Central Bicol State University of Agriculture in Camarines Sur, Father Saturnino Urios University in Agusan del Norte, and Camiguin Polytechnic State College. A total of 44 agriculture students and 59 non-agriculture students were compared. The study found that agriculture students involved themselves using their technical knowledge of information and communications technology (ICT)-based tools, whereas the other group of students employed nontechnical and practical ways to help their communities—specifically by encouraging people to save rice. Agriculture students reached more farmers than the non-agriculture students did. The results of this study could guide policymakers in developing policies that would enhance students’ involvement in agriculture.

The Two Covenants: An Interpretation of the 4Q158 Fragments

The underlying assumption of this article is that fragments 1–4 and 14 of 4Q158 represent an independent composition, not related to fragments 5–12 of 4Q158, where Exodus 19–22 in its proto-Samaritan version is copied. Identification of a common denominator for fragments 1–4 and 14 (labelled here as 4Q158b) is the main task of this article. This study shows that 4Q158b expresses a particular exegetical understanding of the biblical covenants and that its author's intentions and exegetical processes are best clarified in light of the book of Jubilees. According to Jubilees, two covenants were made by God at the creation of the world: one with humanity and another with the people of Israel. 4Q158b collects biblical passages (Gen. 31–32; Exod. 3–4; Exod. 24) in which it discerns hints of various expressions of commitment to these two covenants between the period of Abraham and the events at Sinai. The author of the text rewrites these passages with the intent of revealing to the reader these covenantal references only hinted at in the Bible.

Rigour and Recoil: Claims of Reason, Failures of Expression

This paper begins with the ‘ancient quarrel’ between philosophy and literature, which, with the subsequent splitting of logos into word and reason, comes to mark philosophy's self-conception and much other thinking besides – in the process, compartmentalizing what is understood by ‘literature’. Philosophy, thus separated becomes atemporal and abstract, preoccupied with propositions rather than statements or sentences, and, in some of its incarnations, aligning itself with science. Language, thus separated, becomes ‘literary’ – that is, it comes to be epitomized by self-consciousness about literary form and style; and a casualty of this is the ‘poetic’, a term whose origins in poiesis (production of meaning) are forgotten. But the relationship has never been as settled as it may have seemed, and examples from classical and contemporary philosophy and literature help to demonstrate this. At stake in these examples are the ways in which reason requires that one means what one says. A classic expression of commitment to this view is provided by the words of Polonius’ words to his son, in Hamlet: ‘This above all, to thine own self be true.’ The implications of this in relation to the claims of reason are developed with reference to moral education and the task of the teacher.

Confidence as an expression of commitment: why misplaced expressions of confidence backfire

Because communication can be abused by senders, it is not inherently stable. One way of stabilizing communication is for senders to commit to their messages. If a sender is committed to a message, she is willing to incur a cost (direct or reputational) if the message is found to be unreliable. This cost provides a reason for receivers to accept messages to which senders are committed. We suggest that expressions of confidence can be used as commitment signals: messages expressed more confidently commit their senders more. On this basis, we make three predictions: that confidently expressed messages are more persuasive (H1’, already well established), that senders whose messages were accepted due to the senders' confidence but were then found to be unreliable should incur costs (H2’), and that if a message is accepted for reasons other than confidence, when it is found to be unreliable the sender should incur lower reputational costs than if the message had been accepted on the basis of the sender's confidence (H3’). A review of the literature revealed broadly supportive but still ambiguous evidence for H2’ and no tests of H3’. In experiments 1, 2, and 3 (testing H2’) participants received the same advice from two senders, one being confident and the other unconfident. Participants were more likely to follow the advice of the confident sender, but once the advice was revealed to have been misguided, participants adjusted their trust so that they trusted the initially unconfident sender more than the confident sender. In experiments 3 and 4 (testing H3’) participants chose between either two senders differing in confidence or two senders differing in competence. Participants followed the advice of the confident sender and of the competent sender. When it was revealed that the advice was misguided, the confident sender suffered from a larger drop in trust than the competent sender. These results are relevant for communicative theories of overconfidence.

Performing work: The drama of everyday working life

In this article, a perspective on work time patterns is outlined; a perspective that emphasizes the importance of observing how work time is subject not only to task and contract agreements but also to social norms and individual needs to express identity. The article takes its starting point in Goffman's dramaturgic approach. From this perspective, the workplace is viewed as a stage where a satisfactory work performance is judged not by the actual work performance but by the performance of work; or rather, perhaps, by how a morally good working day is enacted through text, words, and gestures. Depending on social context work, time patterns can be seen as an expression of commitment, dedication, professionalism, and masculinity. The article concludes with a discussion on the potential implications of these issues regarding stress and health, as well as the possibilities of participation in the labor market under equal conditions.

Commitment and the changing sequence of cohabitation, childbearing, and marriage

Background: In the United Kingdom, standard, traditional sequences of family events have been replaced by a de-standardized life course; marriage is postponed and no longer necessary for childbearing; unmarried cohabitation has increased. New sequencing raises questions about the meaning of cohabitation and marriage in peoples’ lives. Objective: We ask whether, and to what extent, the new sequencing of life events implies a shift in commitment in cohabitation, potentially giving rise to new expressions of commitment and understandings of cohabitation. Methods: We analysed data from eight focus groups conducted in Southampton, England, by deductively following major themes outlined in the cross-national focus group guidelines, and inductively using themes raised by the respondents themselves. Results: Personal commitment is similar in cohabiting and marital relationships, although marriage is perceived to embody greater moral and structural commitment. Since marriage is no longer required as a public display of commitment, the wedding has become more important as a symbolic event. Public displays of commitment are increasingly occurring in other ways, such as childbearing and joint mortgages, demonstrating that cohabiting couples can be as committed as married couples. Although couples discussed ways in which commitment could grow over time, this progression was not necessarily talked about in relation to the timing of childbearing. Highly educated groups seem to have a greater expectation than less educated groups that childbearing will follow marriage. Conclusions: Commitment levels are no longer ascribed solely by union type, but rather by other life events and the couple's own perceived level of commitment.

Public health agendas addressing violence against rural women - an analysis of local level health services in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

This study analyses health managers' perceptions of local public health agendas addressing violence against rural women in municipalities in the southern part of the State Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. It consists of an exploratory descriptive study utilizing a qualitative approach. Municipal health managers responsible for planning actions directed at women's health and primary health care were interviewed. The analysis sought to explore elements of programmatic vulnerability related to violence in the interviewees' narratives based on the following dimensions of programmatic vulnerability: expression of commitment, transformation of commitment into action, and planning and coordination. It was found that local health agendas directed at violence against rural women do not exist. Health managers are therefore faced with the challenge of defining lines of action in accordance with the guidelines and principles of the SUS. The repercussions of this situation are expressed in fragile comprehensive services for these women and programmatic vulnerability.

Expressions of commitment and independence: Exploring men’s emotional responsibility in heterosexual couple relationships

This paper examines men’s contributions to the division of emotional labour in heterosexual couple relationships by exploring the dimensions of commitment and independence, and how couples deal with challenges. The study is based on individual interviews with each of the partners in ten urban middle-class couples in Norway. The results indicate diversity in middle-class men’s approaches to emotional responsibility, which is expressed through three models. The model of shared responsibility implies that the man’s contributions in the relationship represent expressions of responsive commitment. The man finds a balance between giving priority to his personal interests and considering shared interests; a pattern we refer to as collaborative independence, and he shares the responsibility for coping with challenges with his partner. The model of gendered responsibility implies that the man’s contributions in the relationship are characterized by non-responsive commitment. The man gives priority to his personal interests in a way we refer to as conflicting independence, and refrains from sharing the responsibility for coping with challenges with his partner. Finally, a third model, termed partial responsibility, is also evident in the data. This model is a combination of collaborative independence and non-responsive commitment, and may represent a phase of transition towards collaboration on an equal basis. A discussion of interpretations of the diversity in men’s approaches to commitment and independence concludes the paper.

Expressions of commitment and independence: Exploring men’s emotional responsibility in heterosexual couple relationships

This paper examines men’s contributions to the division of emotional labour in heterosexual couple relationships by exploring the dimensions of commitment and independence, and how couples deal with challenges. The study is based on individual interviews with each of the partners in ten urban middle-class couples in Norway. The results indicate diversity in middle-class men’s approaches to emotional responsibility, which is expressed through three models. The model of shared responsibility implies that the man’s contributions in the relationship represent expressions of responsive commitment. The man finds a balance between giving priority to his personal interests and considering shared interests; a pattern we refer to as collaborative independence, and he shares the responsibility for coping with challenges with his partner. The model of gendered responsibility implies that the man’s contributions in the relationship are characterized by non-responsive commitment. The man gives priority to his personal interests in a way we refer to as conflicting independence, and refrains from sharing the responsibility for coping with challenges with his partner. Finally, a third model, termed partial responsibility, is also evident in the data. This model is a combination of collaborative independence and non-responsive commitment, and may represent a phase of transition towards collaboration on an equal basis. A discussion of interpretations of the diversity in men’s approaches to commitment and independence concludes the paper.

Constructing Commitment in Intimate Relationships

By its very nature, relationship commitment is generated in the context of a relationship and becomes relational when it is communicated in some way to the other. This study investigated how expressions of commitment and commitment-related perceptions are interdependently connected among romantic partners. The authors derived and tested a dyadic cyclical model of the everyday expressions of commitment with a sample of 189 romantically involved couples. Results revealed that individual’s level of commitment are associated with her or his own expressions of commitment, those expressions of commitment are noticed by the partners, and the partner’s level of commitment is associated with those perceptions of the other’s expressions of commitment. The research sheds light on the complex ways intimate couples experience and express commitment in their everyday lives.

Costly signaling, ritual and cooperation: evidence from Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion

The apparent wastefulness of religious ritual represents a puzzle for rational choice theorists and evolutionary scholars. In recent years, it has been proposed that such rituals represent costly signals that promote intragroup cooperation precisely because of the effort and resources they require. This hypothesis was tested over the course of a 14-month long ethnographic study in the northeast of Brazil. The research focused on adherents of Candomblé, an African diasporic religion organized in autonomous congregations primarily located in low-income urban areas. Individuals who reported higher levels of religious commitment behaved more generously in a public goods economic game and revealed more instances of provided and received cooperation within their religious community. This suggests that ritual as a costly signaling may effectively predict willingness to cooperate with other group members and that the signaler may accrue benefits in the form of received cooperation. Socioeconomic variables are also shown to mediate religious signaling. This raises the possibility that signalers strategically alter their expressions of commitment as their needs and circumstances change.

The Effect of Affective Commitment, Communication and Participation on Resistance to Change: The Role of Change Readiness

Increasing globalisation, technological innovation, changing government laws and regulations, political events, and workforce characteristics constitute foremost triggers of organisational flexibility (Pfeffer, 1994), and require ongoing, often major changes in organisations. Although change has become commonplace in modern organisations, reported failure rates of change implementation range from 40% to as high as 70% (By, 2005; Isern & Pung, 2007). These statistics have prompted researchers and practitioners alike to investigate causes underlying change failure. While a myriad of factors can be ascribed to unsuccessful transformations, including pressures from business environment and inadequate organisational infrastructure, employee resistance has been identified as a primary source of change implementation failure across a range of organisations and industries worldwide (Erwin & Garman, 2010; Maurer, 1996; Reger et al., 1994; Spiker & Lesser, 1995; Waldersee & Griffiths, 1996). The extant literature suggests that employee resistance may be upshot of managerial failure to acknowledge or value employee input, to manage change-related attitudes, and to consider impact of workforce involvement on change planning, implementation and sustainability (Armenakis, Harris, & Mossholder, 1993; Courpasson, Dany, & Clegg, 2012; George & Jones, 2001; Lau & Woodman, 1995). Importantly, recent research has suggested that resistance to change may add strategic value to change planning and implementation, and should therefore be carefully discerned and managed (Downs, 2012; Ford, Ford & D'Amelio, 2008; Ford & Ford, 2010). On other hand, potential for change readiness to facilitate implementation of organisational transformations has also been underscored (Armenakis et al., 1993). Change readiness reflects process wherein employees, influenced by information received from change drivers, peers, and other contextual clues, perceive change as necessary and achievable (Armenakis et al., 1993), and display willingness to support change efforts (Miller, Johnson, & Grau, 1994; Wanberg & Banas, 2000). Although change resistance and readiness have often been positioned at different ends of same spectrum (Armenakis et al., 1993) and presumed to share similar dispositional and contextual antecedents (Oreg, 2006; Wanberg & Banas, 2000), they may represent distinct constructs. In fact, readiness for change has been proposed as the cognitive precursor to behaviours of either resistance to, or support for, a change effort (Armenakis et al., 1993, pp. 681-682), though this link has merited little attention in extant literature. Hence, purpose of this study is twofold. First, study aims to explore whether and how variables commonly advanced as contextual antecedents of change readiness and resistance, namely perceptions regarding change-related communications, opportunity for participation in change planning and implementation, and degree of affective commitment to changing organisation, relate to readiness and resistance attitudes. Second, in line with premise suggesting that readiness for change is a precursor to change resistance (Armenakis et al., 1993), readiness for change will be investigated as a mediator of relationship between contextual antecedents and resistance to change. Resistance to change Employee reactions to change can be positive (e.g., expressions of commitment and receptivity to change), or negative (e.g., expressions of resistance, stress, or cynicism regarding change) (Armenakis & Bedeian, 1999). Moreover, it is also not entirely uncommon for employees to feel ambivalent, holding conflicting emotions and cognitions about change (Piderit, 2000), and for attitudes toward change to vary over time, across different stages of change implementation. …

Everyday Expressions of Commitment and Relational Uncertainty as Predictors of Relationship Quality and Stability over Time

Although research shows that people use everyday behaviors to express their commitment, the contribution it makes over time to relationship well-being is unknown. Individuals in romantic relationships (N = 230) completed two questionnaires, 4 months apart. Results indicated that people are more positive about their relationships and stay in those relationships when they use commitment indicators more often, are more highly committed, and have lower relationship uncertainty. Commitment indicators also mediated the associations of commitment level and relational uncertainty with future relationship quality but not relationship status. The findings add to our understanding of communication which facilitates committed, stable relationships.

Learning by Interest: Experiences and Commitments in Lives with Dance and Crafts

In this article we intend to contribute to the understanding of interest-driven learning which occurs when people find and choose an interest of their own. This engagement continues over a long time and includes development and learning. The empirical material consists of 14 learning stories written by experienced and skilled informants in folk dance and different crafts. The purpose is to illuminate the diversity and complexity of learning and meaning the informants assign to dance or crafts. This is what we consider to be the perspective of learning by interest. We also argue for the importance of understanding learning by interest as embedded in cultural heritage and social and cultural changes. Theoretically, we draw on John Dewey (1913/2009; 1934/2005). Learning folk dance or crafts is largely a question of learning by doing, which makes experience important. The interest and effort involved can in our interpretation be understood as experiences where expressions of commitment are embedded. The empirical analysis highlights three emphases in this illumination of the learning process. The first considers the individual development of skill in relation to broadened learning of collective tasks. The second perspective focuses on the interplay between learning in a life course and significant learning experiences. The third concerns the interplay between personal meaning and craftsmanship. In sum, this paper contributes to the understanding of learning by interest as a useful concept. In the final discussion we expand our perspective since the contrast is obvious between learning by interest and interpretations of the contemporary society, where individualization and lack of commitment is stressed.