Matter Experiment Research Articles

Buddhist Approaches to Impermanence: Phenomenal and Naumenal

The doctrine of impermanence can be called the most salient feature of the Buddha’s teaching. The early Buddhist doctrine of impermanence can be understood in four different but interrelated contexts: Buddha’s empiricism, the notion of conditioned/constituted objects, the idea of dependent arising, and the practical context of suffering and emancipation. While asserting the impermanence of all phenomena, the Buddha was silent on the questions of the so-called transcendent entities and truths. Moreover, though the Buddha described Nibbāṇa/Nirvāṇa as a ‘deathless state’ (‘amataṃ padam’), it does not imply eternality in a metaphysical sense. Whereas the early Buddhist approach to impermanence can be called ‘phenomenal’, the post-Buddhist approach was concerned with naumena (things in themselves). Hence, Sarvāstivāda (along with Pudgalavāda) is marked by absolutism in the form of the doctrines of substantial continuity, atomism, momentariness, and personalism. The paper also deals with the approaches to impermanence of Dharmakīrti and Nāgārjuna, which can be called naumenal rather than strictly phenomenal. For Dharmakīrti, non-eternality was in fact momentariness and it was not a matter of experience but derivable conceptually or analytically from the concept of real. Nāgārjuna stood not for impermanence, but emptiness (śūnyatā), the concept which transcended both impermanence and permanence, substantiality and non-substantiality.

Foreign Experience of CEOs and Managerial Risk Taking

Our paper uses a multidimensional analysis to provide a better insight on the relationship between CEO foreign experience and corporate risk-taking. By decomposing the foreign experience of CEOs from developing economies such as Malaysia, we find that CEOs who have studied in OECD countries undertake higher levels of risk-taking and CEOs’ foreign working experience may have an adverse effect on risk-taking behaviour especially if the working experience is obtained from non-OECD countries. Additional analysis reveals that younger CEOs and family CEOs with foreign working experience matter in reinforcing the firms’ risk-taking activities. Overall, our findings provide implication for researchers and policymakers seeking to nurture risk-taking behaviours and innovativeness in emerging countries.

Experience matters: How user experience provided a new direction for digital asset management at Amway

In 2018, Amway’s digital asset management system was extremely customised and complex. Users were working around it or had stopped using it altogether. This case study reviews the research, recommendations and requirements that provided Amway’s digital asset management programme with a new direction and illustrates the importance of focusing on the user.

Preparation for College and University Leadership before the Age of 40

The purpose of this study was to investigate the skills and competencies needed for candidates to be hired as a college or university president before the age of 40. Using a phenomenological approach, participants who first obtained the position as a college or university president before 40 were interviewed. Using Clark’s model of professional competencies as a conceptual framework, four themes were identified from the results. The themes include little to no mentoring at all, learn by either sinking or swimming; being in the right place, at the right time, with the right credentials; having the right education and experience matter for candidates seeking a college or a university president position; and having the interpersonal skills and the ability to work with others. The results of this study will help those seeking to acquire a position as a college or university president while under the age of 40 and for all others to better prepare future leaders in higher education.

Living with Food Allergies: The Recalibratory Body

As a growing global public health concern, an increasing proportion of the UK’s population must live with and manage the chronic disease of food allergies. Through a multi-method approach of autoethnography, cognitive mapping, and interviewing, this research investigates what matters to the bodily experience of people living with food allergies. I work with the concepts of embodiment and affect to delineate a theorisation of the allergic body as recalibratory and argue that the adrenaline auto-injector (AAI)—the lifesaving medication prescribed to individuals with severe food allergies—is integral to the allergic recalibratory body. I demonstrate the multiple, dynamic ways in which those living with food allergies “affectively relate” to the AAI and what contributes to this. An account of the body as recalibratory is advanced to account for the dynamicism of the body’s affective relations. The recalibratory body becomes a valuable tool for understanding the ways that macro-issues of AAI production shortages and the tragic occurrence of allergy fatalities as well as micro-level everyday experiences matter to those living with food allergies. The essay concludes by exploring how the concept of recalibration can expand beyond allergic bodies to understand what the body—any body—can be, do, and mean.

Task-level match effects and worker productivity: evidence from pitchers and catchers

ABSTRACT The match between Major League Baseball catchers and pitchers combines characteristics of a for-profit production setting with those of a more intimate, family-type environment. We estimate the importance of these matches at the task level of getting outs and for getting strikeouts using a two-way fixed-effects strategy. We find that match effects matter almost as much as pitcher fixed effects and more than catcher effects for getting an out of any kind. For strikeouts, match effects matter more than catcher effects, if not as much as pitcher effects. We also examine influences on productive matches, showing that match effects are improved when both the pitcher and the catcher are born in the same country, are both born in predominantly Spanish-speaking countries, or as the number of shared experiences increases. All of these fit within a ‘positive assortative’ category of matches. We do not find evidence that relative experience matters for match effects.

Past and Present Intergroup Contact and Conflict Among Inhabitants of Former Mixed Villages of Cyprus: The Role of Individual and Collective Experiences in Predicting Attitudes and Trust

Positive attitudes and trust towards former adversaries facilitate reconciliation and peace building. Both historical and current intergroup experiences such as intergroup contact and conflict predict intergroup attitudes and trust, but no previous research has investigated the joint effects of these experiences. Therefore, we study the interplay of positive intergroup contact preceding conflict, negative experiences of the conflict, and positive intergroup contact following conflict. Drawing on social representations theory and using a multilevel design, we highlight the importance of both individual and collective experiences. We examine the effects of such experiences on intergroup attitudes and trust among a large sample of Greek Cypriots (N = 802) and Turkish Cypriots (N = 718) from 54 formerly ethnically mixed villages in the context of a protracted and frozen conflict in Cyprus. Present‐day individual contact related to more positive attitudes and higher trust regardless of participants’ past experiences of conflict or contact. Furthermore, past collective contact experiences predict more positive attitudes and higher trust, whereas past collective conflict experiences predicted more negative attitudes and lower trust. Finally, present‐day contact closes the gap in trust between respondents with low and high past contact. Overall, both current and historical and individual and collective experiences matter.

Equity in human adaptation-related responses: A systematic global review

Equity in human adaptation-related responses: A systematic global review

Gravity Matters: Circus as a Device. An Approach on Staging the Relationship between Human Beings and Gravity

This article aims at understanding Circus as a creative device in order to provide an alternative approach to the study of contemporary circus creation. To this effect and from a plural, multidisciplinary perspective, the article will be organised in four main parts. Justifying Circus as a device for staging the relationship between the human beings and the force of gravity; specifying why this relationship is indeed at the very core of human beings’ experience and identity matters; contextualising nouveau cirque within the evolution of artistic avant-gardes from post-modern currents to our days; and providing a series of practical examples of these first two points by studying selected works from a series of contemporary artists. Such approach evidences Circus’ aesthetics of risk as a convergence point for researches in corporeality and performativity, while allowing a parallel study on the problematic of gravity as an essential condition for human identity. From both its physical and poetic aspects, this subject evolves radically through the late 20th century to the paradigms of our present, as it is visible in the work of active artists such as Aurélien Bory, Kitsou Dubois, Maria Donata D’Urso, Chloé Moglia, Yoann Bourgeois or Inbal Ben Haim.

Does cross-cultural experience matter for new venture performance? The moderating role of socio-cognitive traits

We investigate the impact of entrepreneurs' cross-cultural experience on new venture performance. Drawing on social cognitive theory, we examine how two socio-cognitive traits, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and alertness to opportunities moderate the relationship between cross-cultural experience and new venture performance. Weadopt a multi-method approach. In Study 1, we implement an experiment on a sampleof 177 participants enrolled in an innovation and entrepreneurship program. In Study 2, we conduct a field survey of 65 entrepreneurs with varying cross-cultural experience. Our findings suggest that cross-cultural experience has a positive effect on new venture performance, and that entrepreneurial self-efficacy and alertness to opportunities bolster this relationship. Our research contributes to entrepreneurship research in a cross-cultural context and to the growing literature regarding individual cognitions in entrepreneurship.

Expatriate adjustment over time among foreign service employees: the role of cross-cultural experience

PurposeDrawing on social learning theory (SLT), this study aims to investigate how previous cross-cultural work experience influences individual adjustment in a foreign environment over time. For this purpose, the authors study foreign service employees who are characterized by permanent high mobility and frequent rotations.Design/methodology/approachTwo cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2011 (analytical sample N = 1,097) and 2019 (analytical sample N = 1,431) amongst German Foreign Service (GFS) employees are used to analyse employees' adjustment, measured by self-perceived quality of life (QOL) and its development over time based on four time points. Locational adjustment trajectories serve as robustness checks.FindingsYounger and therefore less experienced employees fit J-shaped patterns of adjustment, while more experienced employees show rather flat adjustment curves. Accordingly, work experience matters and “one curve fits all” approaches do not suffice to explain adjustment over time. Moreover, neither more nor less experienced employees experienced U-trajectories as proposed by previous literature on business expatriates.Research limitations/implicationsThe study findings are based on cross-sectional surveys, but longitudinal designs should be preferred in future research.Practical implicationsSending institutions may develop special support systems for inexperienced expatriates prior to departure to weaken the negative impacts of culture shock.Originality/valueExisting literature only sparsely analysed adjustment and QOL for foreign service employees/diplomats so far. To the authors’ knowledge, no study analysed trajectories of adjustment over time for this population. This study profits from the analysis across two surveys. Both samples benefit from a high diversity, among others, regarding gender, age, education and host countries.

Analysis of quality control outcomes of grass pollen identification and enumeration: experience matters

Analysis of quality control outcomes of grass pollen identification and enumeration: experience matters

Does prior experience matter? A meta-analysis of the relationship between prior experience of entrepreneurs and firm performance

ABSTRACT Drawing on human capital theory and the knowledge-based view, our meta-analysis integrates the results from 85 independent samples spanning 2009–2020 (572,888 total observations). Our findings provide empirical evidence for the small, but significant, correlation between entrepreneurs’ prior experience and firm performance (r = 0.095). In addition, several moderators are identified: type of experience (that is, specific vs generic), entrepreneurs’ characteristics (that is, education), type of business created (that is, self-employed vs small- and medium-sized enterprises), and the cultural context in which entrepreneurs are embedded (that is, level of uncertainty avoidance). Implications for research and practice are discussed and avenues for future studies about entrepreneurs’ prior experience and their role in the entrepreneurship process are outlined.

First-/last-mile experience matters: The influence of the built environment on satisfaction and loyalty among public transit riders

Public transit authorities have enhanced the travel experience to promote ridership and customer loyalty. Previous studies about satisfaction and loyalty of transit riders, however, give less attention to out-of-vehicle environments such as walking/biking routes, transfer comfort, and traffic and crime safety conditions. The first-mile and last-mile problem—distance traveled before and after using transit—is a well-known barrier of transit use, but an empirical study about how people experience it is lacking.Thus, this study aims to explore how transit riders experience out-of-vehicle environments—access, transfer, and egress—and how their experience is related to overall satisfaction and loyalty to transit service. We conducted a questionnaire survey of people (n = 445) living in areas served by the Utah Transit Authority and analyzed the responses through an Importance-Satisfaction analysis and a path analysis, a type of structural equation modeling. A descriptive analysis demonstrates complex first-mile travel patterns: driving is the most common mode to start a transit-involved trip (68.5%), and one-third of transit riders transfer more than once before riding on a transit (e.g., driving → walking → transit). Results from the Importance-Satisfaction analysis highlight both traffic and crime safety concerns at transit stops and walking routes as a critical out-of-vehicle element most in need of improvement. A path analysis result confirms that out-of-vehicle environments—in particular, safety and transfer experience—influence customer satisfaction and loyalty more than in-vehicle and system-related factors do. This paper concludes with practical suggestions for multiple agencies (e.g., public transit, transportation, and urban planning), including urban design strategies, land use-transit integration, and multi-modal integration.

Performance Shortfall, Decision Makers’ Cognition, and the Directions of Problemistic Search

The problemistic search literature has recently inquired the directions of search, i.e., when and why performance shortfall leads to one type of search rather than the other. While extant studies suggest that factors such as slack resources, experience, and environmental contexts matter for the directions of search, they implicitly assume almost equal priority of different types of search for firms to choose ex ante. We argue that firms may assess the priorities of different types of search differently ex ante. As firm behavior is goal oriented, a particular type of search (e.g., R&D search) is driven by a specific organizational goal (e.g., R&D goal), and the priority of the specific goal is further determined by decision makers’ belief in the efficacy of the specific goal in achieving the primary goal of the firm (e.g., profitability). We focus on two types of search represented by R&D intensity and philanthropic donation intensity, which are mapped to the R&D and CSR goal, respectively. Based on data from publicly listed firms in China (2009-2018), we find that negative performance feedback leads to greater extent of R&D intensity, but has a non-significant relationship with donation intensity. However, the latter relationship is strengthened by decision makers’ belief in the linkage between CSR ratings and profitability.

Forms and frequency of vicarious racial discrimination and African American parents’ health

BackgroundAfrican Americans often witness or learn about others’ racial discrimination experiences (i.e., vicarious racial discrimination). Vicarious racial discrimination may contribute to adverse physical and psychological health outcomes for African Americans. We examined relations between four types of vicarious racial discrimination and depressive symptoms and self-rated health among African American parents. MethodsPath analyses were conducted to examine the linkage between each type of vicarious racial discrimination and both depressive symptoms and self-rated health. Chi-square difference tests were conducted to determine if the four forms of vicarious racial discrimination significantly differed in their relations to both depressive symptoms and self-rated health. ResultsWitnessing or learning about their children's racial discrimination experiences was significantly related to higher parental depressive symptoms. Witnessing or learning about a racial discrimination experience of a stranger through the news or social media was significantly related to lower self-rated health. ConclusionsThe findings highlight the importance of examining the health implications of vicarious racial discrimination. Different types of vicarious racial discrimination experiences matter concerning depressive symptoms and self-rated health.

Travel experience matters: Expected personal mobility impacts after simulated L3/L4 automated driving

Automated vehicles (AVs) are expected to change personal mobility in the near future. Most studies on the mobility impacts of AVs focus on fully automated (SAE L5) vehicles, but the gradual development of the technology will probably bring AVs with more limited capabilities to begin with. This stated-preference study focused on the potential mobility impacts of conditionally automated (L3) and highly automated cars (L4). We investigated personal mobility impacts among 59 participants who experienced automated driving repeatedly in a driving simulator. Half of them drove with an L3 and half with an L4 motorway function. After the first and final drive they answered questions on their travel experience and how automated vehicles could change their mobility. After the drives, participants in both groups were willing to accept 30–50% longer travel times for a 30 min trip if they did not need to drive the whole trip themselves. This translates into savings of around 30% for the perceived value of travel time on routes where automation is available. There were no statistically significant differences between L3 and L4 in the accepted travel times. Most participants did not expect to make more trips with automated cars, but around half of them anticipated making longer trips. The amount of car travel may increase more with L4 than with L3 automation, possibly due somewhat to changes in the experienced travel quality. The results suggest that the mobility impacts of automated driving may increase with a higher level of automation.

Does experience matter? The relationship between nephrologist characteristics and end stage kidney disease patient outcomes.

Nephrology offers the unique opportunity to directly link patients to providers, allowing the study of patient outcomes at the provider level. The purpose of this analysis was to determine whether nephrologist experience, defined as years in nephrology practice, was associated with clinical outcomes. Physician data contained within the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Masterfile was combined with patient and Medicare claims data from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) for the calendar year 2012, with follow up extending through June 30, 2014. Associations with important healthcare outcomes including mortality in patients receiving maintenance renal replacement therapy (RRT), waitlisting for kidney transplantation, and receipt of a kidney transplant were determined with broad adjustment for both patient and provider level variables, with attention on tertile of provider time in practice. We identified 256,324 patients on maintenance RRT cared for by 6193 nephrologists. Nephrologists with the least experience were more likely to be female, reside in a region with ≥1,000,000 people, have a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree, and have a listed maintenance of certification status as "yes." Overall, 30.2% of the cohort died at a mean follow up of 1.99 years. Compared to those with the 0-10 years of experience, receipt of care from nephrologists with more experience was associated with lower mortality (AHR 0.97 CI 0.94-0.99 for nephrologists with 11-20 years) and increased listing for kidney transplantation (AHR 1.10; CI 1.01-1.21 for nephrologists with >21 years experience). Experience level did not result in a difference in kidney transplantation rates. Receipt of maintenance RRT from nephrologists with greater experience was associated with decreased mortality and increased listing for kidney transplantation, an effect that remained significant after multiple adjustments for important patient and nephrologist variables.

Dynamic Form: How Intermediality Made Modernism

Dynamic Form: How Intermediality Made Modernism

Technical expert CEOs and corporate innovation

We analyze the effect of CEOs with science and engineering backgrounds on corporate innovation using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2015. In line with theoretical prediction, managers with science and engineering backgrounds have a positive influence on corporate innovation. However, technical expertise appears to come at the cost of poor operating and stock performances. Furthermore, non-technical expert CEOs in SOEs have horizon problems associated with a lower return on assets in the future. This study extends prior literature by providing new evidence that managerial training and work experience matter for corporate innovation.