Human Relations Research Articles

A Grounded Theory Study of Couple Caregiving: A Qualitative Study

Aim: Caregiving is fundamental to human relationships and plays a crucial role in the quality and stability of marital relationships. The present study aimed to explain the concept of couple caregiving. Methods: This qualitative research was conducted in 2021, adopting a grounded theory approach. For this purpose, ten couples residing in city of Aligudarz (Iran) were selected based on inclusion criteria and purposive sampling. The sampling continued until data saturation was reached. These individuals were examined through semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin’s (2014) method and the MAXQDA20 software. Findings: The data analysis led to the identification of 78 open codes and 13 axial codes in the form of causal conditions: life history, conscious marriage; contextual conditions: individual and couple contexts; efficient couple relationship; Intervening conditions: behavioral and cognitive facilitating factors; obstacles: personal and environmental stressors; Strategies for sustaining and improving care, and persona; outcomes for the caregiver and care recipient and couple outcomes and the central theme of “reciprocal couple caregiving” was chosen. Conclusions: The findings indicated that factors influencing couple caregiving extend to the time before marriage. Couple caregiving involves conscious marriage and proactive and constructive actions of the couple. It is an interactive and reciprocal process that enhances the insight and awareness of the couple, and the use of care-seeking and caregiving receptivity strategies significantly contributes to its continuity.

T. rex is Fierce, T. rex is Charismatic, T. rex is Litigious: Disruptive Objects in Affective Desirescapes

Abstract In this paper we present T. rex fossils as disruptive objects that can drastically influence the actions and reactions of humans that encounter them. We present a vision of the T. rex as being a key node within a web of human and object associations that ultimately produces, first, extreme desire in humans, and then a breakdown in human relationships resulting in disagreements, disputes, lawsuits, and the committing of crime. From there we bring these T. rex fossils into the concept of desirescape which sees a network of object/object and object/human reactions provoking irresistible desire in humans. We argue that this desire can push humans to violate law or social norms or, in several T. rex cases, sue each other. How then should we humans approach T. rex and other disruptive objects? Cautiously, and with the knowledge that these objects may be more powerful than we are.

Religious Education as a Platform for Pupils’ Social Development and Prevention of Internet Addiction: The Case of Slovakia

The authors present changes in the content and teaching methods of religious education (RE) in the third decade of the 21st century, as proposed by the current curricular reform of compulsory education in Slovakia. First, they analyse the reform documents in terms of social competence development as one of the RE content requirements. Second, they seek a teaching methodology that applies a balanced approach to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) while protecting RE pupils and their building of healthy human relationships from the potential threat of digital addiction. The authors based their teaching ideas on the findings from their research. To explore the relationship between addictive Internet behaviour and social intelligence, they used a questionnaire including the Internet Addiction Test and the TSIS Scale. The Mann–Whitney U test was used for statistical analysis. Data on 386 adolescent respondents revealed a statistically significant difference between males and females in social awareness, with males performing significantly better. A weak positive relationship (ρ = 0.240) was identified between social awareness and addictive Internet behaviour. In the discussion, the authors suggest teaching methods for developing social competence via RE without resisting the opportunities provided by ICT, while also avoiding an increase in the risk of online social media addiction. They suggest that even denominational RE should prioritize cultivating healthy relationships not only with God but also relationships with other people, the outside world, and oneself.

Shark Fin City: transitional marine wildlife economies in Global Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Hong Kong has historically been the epicenter of the global shark fin trade. Despite this legacy, recent public outreach campaigns highlighting the effects of consumption on marine ecosystems have precipitated shifts in the market. Fish maw and sea cucumber have emerged as substitutes in wildlife markets, marking an understudied phenomenon from urban geographical perspectives. This article investigates the transitional nature of social value systems underpinning Hong Kong's marine wildlife market through interviews with retailers, conservation organizations, and government officials, as well as visual surveys of market displays. Hong Kong's marine wildlife market, this article contends, brings into sharp relief how transitions in social value systems that substitute one type of non-fungible wildlife commodity for others can amplify biodiversity loss and reproduce expressions of social difference in urban space. The article illuminates how social value systems embedded in urban wildlife markets are related to human health, aging, gifting, and relationship building. Furthermore, it analyzes how the possession, consumption, and display of high-value wildlife commodities in cities reflects classed and gendered forms of social difference. The article further examines the challenges of regulating the market and shaping public values and actions in the face of escalating global biodiversity loss.

Dikopelo ritual and performance: The embodiment of place

Batswana (People of Botswana) traditionally celebrate the end of seasons with dikopelo musical performances. This paper discusses Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela’s dikopelo festive celebrations, an annual return of choirs to their performance grounds through the duality of home and away. The author, a performer, interrogates through participant observation in four performances from December 2015 to January 2019, the seventeen-hour performance from midnight until the following day at sunset. Her experience is conceptually framed on Van Manen’s four lifeworld existentials of lived space (grounds), lived body (performs), lived time (seventeen hours) and lived human relations (performers, family, supporters). In conclusion, she takes a reflexive position of the subjectivity of her experience in relation to her fellow performers’; the blurred boundaries of her academic/performer roles and fieldwork/post-fieldwork spaces as her dikopelo lived experience is beyond this study’s timeframe. Her reality as an ethnographer at home, is the constant negotiation of her multiple unending identities.

Water as Metaphor of Human Beings in English and Vietnamese Poems

This study aims to investigate the conceptual metaphors of water, which are metaphorically used to describe human beings, emotions, behaviours and relationships in English and Vietnamese poems. Based on the theory of cognitive linguistics and conceptual metaphors of Kövecses (2002) and Lakoff and Johnson (1980), this study examined 200 English and Vietnamese samples from a collection of poems written in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Through the application of descriptive, quantitative, and qualitative approaches and contrastive analysis, the study reveals that there are 6 categories of water images which are metaphorically used to characterize human beings. The study also finds out the similarities and differences between conceptual metaphors of water symbolizing human beings in English and Vietnamese poems. This investigation is hoped to improve our understanding of how metaphorical phenomena are interpreted across languages and enhance the process of teaching and learning English.

Validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the patient on hemodialysis resilience scale.

The study aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of the hemodialysis resilience scale (PHRS) in the Turkish population. A cross-sectional methodologic study involved 136 hemodialysis patients at two dialysis centers affiliated with a foundation university in Turkey. The updated guidelines for the Intercultural Scale Adaptation Stages, Language, and Culture Adaptation were followed. Cronbach's α of the PHRS-Tr was 0.94. A three-factor structure was extracted, namely "the pursuit of positive meaning in the present," "building the will to live through close human relationships," and "acceptance of hemodialysis as a part of daily life" explaining 66.82% of the total variance. Test-retest reliability was conducted with 50 patients within the sample 2 weeks after the first application. The correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was r = 0.680. The study results indicate that the PHRS-Tr is a valid and reliable tool for assessing resilience status in Turkish hemodialysis patients.

Relations between Totems and Humans, the Dagara of Jirapa in the Upper West Region of Ghana, and Indigenous Belief Systems and Lessons for Modern Environmental Conservation

This essay investigates how the Dagara totemic relationship with totems may be used to protect biodiversity. The Jirapa municipality, one of the municipalities in Ghana's Upper West Region, is the subject of this essay. The study looked into how the totemic connection could be used to advance biodiversity protection and conservation in the Jirapa municipality and elsewhere. It made use of a phenomenological research. No matter where they are located, people who share a totem or, for that matter, a common ancestor, have similar belief systems and take part in similar cultural rituals, according to the study. One of the most important findings of the study was that people would go to great lengths to protect and never destroy their totems, whether they were plants or animals. Because they considered it to be one of them, the people whose totem it was protected the object. This resulted in the preservation of several plant and animal species. Totems represent family, clan ties, and what people view as appropriate or wrong behavior, according to one conclusion. The participants' conversation led them to the conclusion that totems are spiritual beings that defend their human relationships. In conclusion, there are numerous ways that this link might be used to protect biodiversity. The report makes the suggestion that modern conservation organizations, agencies, and partners use indigenous cultural practices in their conservation programs. In order to increase natural resource conservation, communities where these kinds of traditional or cultural practices are still practiced should be encouraged to maintain and spread these traditions abroad. Keywords: Jirapa, Dagara, totems, symbiotic relationships, and conservation of nature

The Degree of Human Relations Practice in Leadership among Kindergarten Supervisors and Its Relationship to Job Performance in light of the Corona Crisis Management of Nannies inside the Green Line

The study aimed to discover thet degree of practicing the human relations of kindergartens’ supervisors and their relationship with job performance during the Corona crisis among nannies within the green line. The Researchers used the descriptive correlational survey methodology. The study sample consisted of (386) educators, they were randomly selected. Two questionnaires were used to collect information. The first was used to measure the degree of human relations use in leadership. It consisted of (24) items divided into (3) domains, which were (human interaction, moral stimulation, and effective communication). The second was used to measure the level of job performance. It consisted of (21) items divided into (3) domains of (planning and executing tasks, decision-making, performance, and continuity assessment). The results showed a strong relationship between kindergarten supervisors and their relationship with job performance. According to these results, the researchers recommended organizing training courses to enhance the human relations leadership of the supervisors.

A Journey into the Evolution of Human Host-Oral Microbiome Relationship through Ancient Dental Calculus: A Scoping Review

One of the most promising areas of research in palaeomicrobiology is the study of the human microbiome. In particular, ancient dental calculus helps to reconstruct a substantial share of oral microbiome composition by mapping together human evolution with its state of health/oral disease. This review aims to trace microbial characteristics in ancient dental calculus to describe the evolution of the human host-oral microbiome relationship in oral health or disease in children and adults. Following the PRISMA-Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines, the main scientific databases (PubMed, Scopus, Lilacs, Cochrane Library) have been drawn upon. Eligibility criteria were established, and all the data collected on a purpose-oriented collection form were analysed descriptively. From the initial 340 records, only 19 studies were deemed comprehensive enough for the purpose of this review. The knowledge of the composition of ancient oral microbiomes has broadened over the past few years thanks to increasingly well-performing decontamination protocols and additional analytical avenues. Above all, metagenomic sequencing, also implemented by state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools, allows for the determination of the qualitative-quantitative composition of microbial species associated with health status and caries/periodontal disease. Some microbial species, especially periodontal pathogens, do not appear to have changed in history, while others that support caries disease or oral health could be connected to human evolution through lifestyle and environmental contributing factors.

Cinema and the Digital Revolution: The Representations of Digital Culture in Films

This article examines popular cinema’s interactions with digital culture, focusing on cinema and social structure. A product of technological and social developments, digital culture has introduced the creation of cyberspace, the emergence and spread of social media, and the formation of virtual communities. This article focuses on a specific period (1980 – 2010) to examine the evolution in cinema of portrayals of digital culture. The analysis includes four influential films: WarGames (1983, by John Badham), Perfect Blue (1997, by Satoshi Kon), Pulse (2001, by Kiroshi Kurosawa), and Life in a Day (2011, by Kevin Macdonald, Loressa Clisby, and Tegan Bukowski). The article provides a guide to popular cinema's interaction with and use of the possibilities offered by digital culture, revealing how the four selected films reflect digital culture themes. Each film demonstrates different aspects and dynamics of digital culture at a particular time, offering a unique look at that period's social and technological landscape through its portrayal of technological developments, human relations, cultural values, and social norms. Each film evaluates the impact of the digitization process on cinema from different perspectives, depicting how cinema adapts and responds to technological changes.

예비유아교사의 학과 적응 어려움에 대응하기 위한 선후배 멘토링 프로그램 지원 요구에 관한 연구

This study was conducted with the aim of gaining basic information for the development of seniors and juniors mentoring program to help students adapt to the department and perform their studies in the 3-year early childhood education department. The subjects of this study were 168 students in the department of three-year early childhood education at H University. Questionnaires, journal writing, and focus group interviews were conducted to find out the difficulties of early childhood education, adaptation, and academic performance, and necessary support in the mentoring program for seniors and juniors. Data analysis was not conducted after all data was collected, but both were rather done simultaneously. Primary data analysis was performed after conducting a questionnaire on difficulties and necessary support related to departmental adaptation and academic performance. Based on this, a list of questions for focus group interview was extracted, and an in-depth interview was conducted. The subjects were then asked to write a journal about their experience of the existing mentoring program. By repetitively collecting and analyzing data in this way, the data analysis results were revised and supplemented. As a result of the study, the difficulties of current students of 3-year early childhood education and demands for necessary support for them in the mentoring program were analyzed into five categories: study, human relations, time and self-management, school life, and career path. Early childhood education students’ difficulties concerning departmental adaptation diversified as they moved to the next grade. And the categories that they required help through mentoring for seniors and juniors decreased as they moved to the next grade. Based on the above results, ways to organize a mentoring program for seniors and juniors was suggested.

Studi Deskriptif Nilai Moral Dalam Cerita Rakyat "Singaran Pati Raja Sungai Hitam” Sebagai Sumber Belajar

This study aims to describe the moral values contained in the Bengkulu folklore "Singaran Pati King Of Black River" and describe the suitability of the story as a learning resource for fourth grade students at SDN 105 Bengkulu City. This type of research is descriptive qualitative research using discourse content analysis method. The research subject was the Bengkulu folklore book "Singaran Pati King Of Black River". The main instrument in this research is the researcher herself while the supporting instrument is the Bengkulu folklore analysis table. Data is collected by reading, tagging, collecting, and entering into data analysis tables. The results showed that the Bengkulu folklore “Singaran Pati King Of Black River” includes all moral values according to the theory of Nurgiyantoro and Jayanti, namely there are 25 dimensions of moral values spread over four moral value relationships. The twenty-five moral values are divided into 11 moral values of human relations with oneself, 10 moral values of human relations with other human beings, 2 moral values of human relations with nature and 2 moral values of human relations with God. In addition, the Bengkulu folklore book “Singaran Pati King Of Black River” is suitable to be used as a learning resource for elementary school students because this storybook uses child-friendly language, in accordance with the characteristics of children's literature and contains a lot of positive moral values that can be applied by students, both in the home, school and community environment.

Visual Preference for Socially Relevant Spatial Relations in Humans and Monkeys.

As a powerful social signal, a body, face, or gaze facing toward oneself holds an individual's attention. We asked whether, going beyond an egocentric stance, facingness between others has a similar effect and why. In a preferential-looking time paradigm, human adults showed spontaneous preference to look at two bodies facing toward (vs. away from) each other (Experiment 1a, N = 24). Moreover, facing dyads were rated higher on social semantic dimensions, showing that facingness adds social value to stimuli (Experiment 1b, N = 138). The same visual preference was found in juvenile macaque monkeys (Experiment 2, N = 21). Finally, on the human development timescale, this preference emerged by 5 years, although young infants by 7 months of age already discriminate visual scenes on the basis of body positioning (Experiment 3, N = 120). We discuss how the preference for facing dyads-shared by human adults, young children, and macaques-can signal a new milestone in social cognition development, supporting processing and learning from third-party social interactions.

The Impact of Covid-19 on Urban Planning of Port Harcourt City, Nigeria

Background: Coronavirus disease is a communicable and contagious respiratory disease that has not only affected human social lives, interactions and relationships but equally changed other significant patterns of people’s normal lives, and there is need for a robust urban planning to meet the emerging changes. This study sought to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the inhabitants of Port Harcourt City and its implications on urban planning in Port Harcourt City, Nigeria. This study examined how the COVID-19 pandemic affected human interactions and business activities, and its implication on urban planning in Port Harcourt city. Methods: The study adopted descriptive survey design with questionnaire used for data collection. Port Harcourt inhabitants aged 18 years and above were studied using four major clusters in Port Harcourt city. Purposive sampling technique was used to select participants from five most affected COVID-19 business areas in each cluster in the year 2020. A total of 400 participants assessed on people’s economic activities and welfare attributes using Likert-scale. Data were analysed using simple percentages, mean and standard deviation. Results: Major findings revealed that COVID-19 negatively affected the lives of people, closure of markets and other economic centres, lack of face-to-face communication and interaction, change in people’s social welfare and lifestyle, to halt in education and academic activities, restriction in movement and transportation, and household welfare challenges. It is suggested that policymakers should intensify efforts to ensure coronavirus is eradicated by providing COVID-19 drugs to all Nigerians.  Conclusion: The study underscores the urgent need for comprehensive measures to mitigate the multifaceted impacts of COVID-19 in Nigeria, emphasizing equitable access to essential medications as a crucial strategy for combating the pandemic's adverse effects on society. Novelty: This research offers novel insights into the broad-ranging impacts of COVID-19 on various aspects of life in Nigeria, highlighting the imperative of equitable access to medications as a pivotal solution.

Mother Pampa in Salman Rushdie’s Victory City

Erich Neumann's The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype provides a profound and comprehensive analysis of the mother archetype, delving into its deep-rooted significance in the human psyche. Neumann explores how this universal representation of motherhood represents not only life, nourishment, and protection but also encompasses broader themes of creation, sustenance, and empowerment. By examining its manifestations across diverse cultures, myths, and religions, he uncovers the far-reaching impact of this archetype on both individual and collective consciousness. Neumann's analysis of the mother archetype particularly emphasises the mother’s role in shaping human experiences, relationships, and cultural narratives. The writer examines Salman Rushdie’s novel Victory City based on these aspects of matriarchy leading to the complex interplay between the personal and collective unconscious, highlighting how the mother archetype influences understandings of femininity, masculinity, and the dynamics of power.

القيادة الأخلاقية ودورها في بناء الثقافة التنظيمية في المؤسسات التعليمية الابتدائية في منطقة الدمام

The study aimed to reveal the role of ethical leadership in building organizational culture in educational institutions in the Dammam region. To achieve the goal of the study, the descriptive analytical approach was followed, so that a stratified random sample of school leaders was selected, numbering (13) leaders, (37) educational and administrative supervisors, and (3) Department director, (41) department heads, and (79) other leadership professions. The electronic questionnaire was applied to them, and the study concluded the following: 1. There is a high degree of practicing ethical leadership among them, as well as a large degree of practicing organizational culture in primary educational institutions in the Dammam region. 2. There was also a close, statistically significant correlation at the level of (0.01) between ethical leadership and its role in the organizational culture of the educational institutions in the study sample. 3. Most of the leaders in the study strongly agreed on the degree of practicing ethical leadership with regard to the dimensions of human, personal, and professional relations behaviors. 4. Most of the leaders in the study agreed to a moderate degree on the degree of organizational culture with regard to its elements, which are values, beliefs, norms, and finally, expectations.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF BIOPHILIA TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Addressing the application of biophilia in urban areas, this article aims to analyze the effectiveness of its implementation in promoting sustainable development in its three main dimensions: environmental, economic, and social. The study proposes three specific objectives. Firstly, to highlight the intrinsic connection between humans and nature, examining how this relationship has evolved over time and how the biophilic concept reaffirms it as a fundamental core. Next, to analyze how the 2030 Agenda, a global commitment to sustainable development, relates to biophilic principles, and to assess whether Brazilian legislation is contributing to integrating these principles into urban life in the country. Finally, to investigate and understand how the different dimensions of sustainable development connect to biophilic principles and their impacts on well-being in urban areas, especially in achieving goal 11.7 of the aforementioned Agenda. Considering biophilia as one of the guiding principles of sustainable development, it is concluded that when applied in urban areas, it is a principled conception capable of reconciling urban progress and human relations with nature, providing an increase in individuals' well-being and contributing to the expansion of green areas in urban spaces, as well as collaborating with sustainable precepts. The contribution of this study lies in the need to establish a new paradigm for human interaction with the environment through development that promotes harmonious interaction with nature. To achieve the intended scope, the present research employed the hypothetico-deductive method, starting from the concept of biophilia to analyze whether its principles and guidelines can inspire sustainable actions, involving bibliographic and documentary research.

THE POLITICAL DIMENSION OF AESTHETICS: WHAT CAN PRACTICAL AESTHETICS DO FOR THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD?

The article considers the expediency of using the ideas of contemporary practical aesthetics in the political action necessary for solving the political and ecological crisis of our time. It is postulated that overcoming the exploitative attitude in human relations with the world is impossible without transforming our desires, aesthetic feelings and habits, which determine everyday actions more directly than reason or duty. As an alternative to the model of aesthetic experience accompanying the logic of consumption, it is proposed to actualise the deliberative component inherent in aesthetics itself, as well as to use the groundwork of Yuriko Saito’s “aesthetics of care”, which considers openness and compliance to life as the central aesthetic value. It is concluded that the ideas of contemporary practical aesthetics should form the basis of the grassroots political movement needed to effectively address the problems of our time.

From contact to connection: a comprehensive examination of affective touch in educational settings.

We often talk about the way we talk, and we frequently try to see the way we see, but for some reasons we have rarely touched on the way we touch. The communication we transmit with touch is perceived to be one of the most powerful means of establishing human relationships. In particular, tactile communication with parents, caregivers and teachers is particularly important for infants and students, as it helps make stronger relationships between educators or teachers and schoolers and also between students. Research has demonstrated the numerous benefits that an affective touch has on students, physically, socially and cognitively, or as has observed, touch touches deeper that just one's skin and it is a recipe for creating meaningful relations. However, in the educational context, touch is perceived to be a complex phenomenon full of tension and emotion. For years, a dilemma has arisen in educational institutions in some countries, whether teachers can touch students or not? Despite the benefits that affective touch brings to students, cases of sexual abuse and inappropriate behavior at school have alerted the education system, to such an extent that many teachers worldwide consider what is and is not appropriate when communicating affectively with their students through touch. In this perspective article, by drawing on previous literature reviews, we shall highlight the benefits that affective touch has on learners.