Positive Stories Research Articles

Lockdown Stories: A Qualitative Assessment and Comprehensive Taxonomy of Career Resources

Career resources are receiving increasing attention in the context of career development. This paper utilizes M. E. Ford’s (1992) ten components of effective functioning to provide a comprehensive typology of factors likely to act as career resources and test this proposition in a context of career shock with a narrative design. In the weeks following the first COVID-19 lockdown, 42 participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their well-being, perceived employability, and emotional anticipation of their career future, as well as to write three stories about their experience with the lockdown. M. E. Ford’s categories were used to identify and code the resources and obstacles mentioned in the stories. Results show the relevance of such a taxonomy to classify both career resources and obstacles. Additionally, the type of story (general story, positive or negative story) in which career resources and obstacles were mentioned played a significant role in their association with the quantitative measures. Conceptual and practical implications are discussed.

A positive story of exciting opportunities offered by SANParks Cultural Heritage Management

No abstract available.

The Continuous Negative Framing of Africa in the Media: A Content Analysis of Stories sourced by the Ghanaian Times Newspaper from the BBC

This article looked at how the ‘Ghanaian Times’ newspaper, using stories sourced from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), framed Africa to the rest of the world. The study which utilized the mixed approach also employed the gatekeeping, framing and cultural imperialist theories in its attempt to find out which of the regional blocs in Africa dominated the coverage and whether the portrayal was positive or negative. The study found that the majority of the stories that the ‘Ghanaian Times’ sourced from the BBC were negative about Africa hence framing Africa as an unhealthy place for living. Out of the 154 stories the newspaper sourced from the BBC, only 52 stories focused on the positive happenings in Africa while 94 stories painted a catastrophic image about Africa. Also, political unrest and crime were the two dominant themes Africa was associated with. In all, the general image of Africa as portrayed by the newspaper was negative as the editors focused more on negative stories of Africa compared to the positives amidst the abundance of stories published by the BBC. This arguably means that Africa’s negative image could only be corrected if editors are deliberate in selecting more positive stories about Africa for publication. This work will indeed add to the literature on the framing of Africa in the media especially the contribution of the African media to the dominant negative image Africa continues to be associated with. Keywords: Africa, Images, Gatekeeping, Media Framing, BBC Stories, Regional Blocs Coverage

DIVAS for Social Justice: Building Resilience in Youth Through STEAM

DIVAS (Digital Interactive Visual Arts Sciences) for Social Justice is a STEAM-based grassroots organization that has created positive youth-led multimedia projects for the past 17 years in communities of color. The organization uses digital media and emerging technologies in the development of youth voices to tell the stories of their communities. We demonstrate how youth creating multimedia content around issues facing a community can be a vehicle for leadership development and resilience. We explore three programs: Gentrification Through the Eyes of Youth: A multimedia exhibition led by youth, ages 7-14, to address solutions to gentrification in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Laurelton.nyc: The launch of the neighborhood website to share positive stories of Southeast Queens and increase digital literacy. Forward, A Social Justice Makerspace for All: A makerspace focused on participatory action to design a community space that can lead to economic opportunities for the greater community.

Vladimir Putin on Channel One, 2000–2022

ABSTRACT Drawing on transcripts from the television network Channel One, a popular news source in Russia, this article addresses the question: “How was Vladimir Putin covered by state-controlled media while the regime became increasingly centralized?” The literature on the subject is scarce and inconclusive. Dictators create different images of themselves, and the portrayals of present-day spin dictators — those who primarily rely on the power of propaganda to persuade rather than dominate — are understudied. While some analysts point to Putin’s omnipresence in mass media, others uncover the lack of media personalization and relatively neutral coverage. Using 385,981 news transcripts from 2000–2022 and relying on techniques from natural language processing, I examine how a present-day autocrat attempts to optimize the intensity of state-controlled propaganda. I uncover three main tendencies. First, during all the years in power, the ruler has been more frequently referred to through positive stories. Second, there is only partial evidence that the relative references to Putin on Channel One have significantly increased over time. Third, during all his years in power, Putin has been more frequently mentioned in domestic news rather than in stories about foreign affairs. However, I also demonstrate that the share of news about foreign affairs and events abroad that mentions the ruler has been increasing every year since 2013. By focusing on the supply side of propaganda, this article contributes to the literature on autocratic resilience and spin dictators.

Supporting clients via narrative storytelling and artificial intelligence: a practitioner guide for career development professionals

PurposeIn this practitioner-focused essay, we combine traditional narrative storytelling approaches with Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) innovative abilities to enable career development professionals to support individuals across their lifespan.Design/methodology/approachWe propose a three-phase career exploration approach, developed and tested in a real-world setting for career development professionals to support their clients to consider various career-related options as well as identify strengths and opportunities for personal development.FindingsIn phase one, the client recounts 7–10 positive narrative stories about engaging in activities they enjoyed. In phase two, the career development professional uses AI with tailored prompts to generate a personalised client report based on these narrative stories. In phase three, the report serves as the basis for further discussion and exploration with the client.Practical implicationsThe approach provides a practical guide for career development professionals to increase their capability to support their clients in response to technological advancement and the contemporary world of work. A training document incorporating a worked example of the approach is provided in “Supplementary Material Appendix 1”.Originality/valueOur approach acknowledges AI as a new actor and career development professionals as undervalued actors in supporting individuals to foster a sustainable career ecosystem.

The influence of antenatal relaxation classes on perinatal psychological wellbeing and childbirth experiences: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT Background There is growing evidence that antenatal education incorporating relaxation practices can positively influence perinatal psychological wellbeing. However, a paucity of qualitative research is evident. Gaining insight into how and why such education may influence childbearing women, can inform the design of effective educational interventions. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of women and their partners on how and why a single Antenatal Relaxation Class (ARC) might influence perinatal psychological wellbeing and childbirth experiences. Method In this descriptive qualitative study, 17 women and 9 partners participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews and the data were analysed using thematic analysis. The study was carried out in a Scottish NHS Health Board where ARC was provided to expectant parents. Findings Two themes were generated, namely: ‘the turning point’, and ‘recognition of an inner resource’. Participants perceived ARC as ‘the turning point’ when they became more confident, equipped, and less fearful and anxious towards childbirth. ‘Understanding of the psychophysiological processes of childbirth’, ‘positive stories’, and ‘practice of relaxation techniques’ were reported as the main reasons for these positive changes. Participants explained ARC had enabled them to access a deep sense of calmness as ‘an inner resource’ and motivated the use of relaxation techniques as a self-care behaviour throughout pregnancy and childbirth. Conclusion A single antenatal relaxation class has the potential to enhance perinatal psychological wellbeing and childbirth experiences. This study provides valuable insights for maternity services seeking to develop effective health-promoting antenatal education.

The propensity for negative media reporting of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in Australia

The Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) Plan, or simply ‘Basin Plan’, represents one of the world's largest returns from consumptive (irrigation) water extraction to environmental use. The Plan has been mired in controversy from when its first draft was burned by irrigators in 2010, and as such has been a source of extensive media reporting. Given the ability of journalism in both informing and influencing public debates, as well as the political deliberation process, we sought to understand the themes and representation of the Plan in media newspapers. This study analysed 6694 media articles referring to the Basin Plan, across 135 outlets, from 2008 to 2022. All articles were sentiment coded using four different natural language processing (NLP) models, with additional manual coding of randomly selected 552 articles. Three-quarters of the total articles were coded as negative using the best-fitting DistilBERT NLP sentiment analysis, while the manual coding suggested almost half were negative in tone. Both methods found that negative stories far outweighed positive stories, suggesting very little ‘balance’ in media Basin Plan reporting. A regression analysis found that rural media outlets were more likely to report negative MDB stories, and that the states of South Australia and Queensland were more likely to report positive stories. Themes of irrigator victimisation and community economic decline dominated news articles (especially negative stories); followed by Basin Plan process, outcomes and governance issues; fights between states; and environmental issues. Environmental themes were relatively less discussed, and Indigenous issues were only referred to in a tiny fraction of all media stories. The study's results provide evidence that the media plays critical roles in water policy debates, giving prominent coverage - with little critical discernment of actual economic impacts - to certain actors with clear ideological and vested interests in the outcomes. Far less media coverage was given to more complex issues such as climate change, long-term structural change for irrigation communities, ecological crises, and sharing water with those who have little.

Menumbuhkan Cinta Tanah Air Melalui Teknologi Dalam Konteks Wawasan Kebangsaan Pada Generasi Muda

The increasing use of social media in society, especially among teenagers, shows significant technological advances. The easier access to the Internet and social networks, the negative impacts of globalization especially afflict many young people who exhibit violent, pragmatic, desperate, selfish, and hopeless behavior. The cyberspace industry creates a young generation that is passive, does not think critically, is negatively reconciled, and is not creative. Positive campaigns on social media and active participation of the younger generation in sharing positive experiences and stories about their homeland can be a catalyst for building a positive atmosphere in the digital realm. In writing this article, the author used two methods, namely, interviews and literature studies. In the interview method, the author interviewed several sources to find out their knowledge and opinions about the national vision. Then by using the literature study method, the author sources his data through books, and other scientific articles related to the national vision.

Doomscrolling evokes existential anxiety and fosters pessimism about human nature? Evidence from Iran and the United States

The media's adherence to “if it bleeds, it leads” has resulted in global dominance of negative news (e.g., stories of corruption, fraud, shootings, terrorism, and war). The appetite for negative news is fueled by negativity bias, which compels people to prioritize negative over positive stories. This cross-cultural study, inspired by media effect theories such as Cultivation Theory, explored the links between problematic consumption of negative news (doomscrolling), existential anxiety, pessimistic views about human nature, and belief about a just world in two distinct cultures. Participants included convenience samples of Iranian (n = 620) and American (n = 180) university-student social media users. Doomscrolling was associated with elevated levels of existential anxiety in both samples. Additionally, misanthropy was positively associated with doomscrolling only in the Iranian sample. Aligned with the Media-induced PTSD Hypothesis and the Shattered Assumption Theory, our findings suggest that prolonged exposure to negative news can contribute to the development of existential anxiety. Current news framing with its overemphasis on negativity could fuel doomscrolling-inspired existential concerns.

The Union Army's Surgical Handbook and the Positive Story of Civil War Surgery.

Western armies have relied on surgical field manuals to help physicians deal with unfamiliar combat medical conditions from the Napoleonic wars to the present day, but there has been little discussion of whether these handbooks have been used or improved outcomes. Recent research shows that the Union Army's American Civil War (1861-1865) surgical case fatality rates improved as the war progressed, much like the US Army's experience in later wars, and were generally superior to comparable European results. These positive Civil War outcomes have been attributed to field experience, adoption of best practices, and enhanced communication, without consideration of New York surgeon Stephen Smith's widely-used Hand-Book of Surgical Operations. The Army of the Potomac added Smith's pocket-sized Hand-Book to its supply table in 1862. Northern medical journals applauded it, and Smith's contemporaries documented its wide use. Smith's handbook explained and demonstrated surgical techniques that were adopted as the war progressed, such as the use of general anesthesia and limb-sparing resection (debridement) of gunshot wounds. It offered pithy, well-documented advice from recognized experts along with numerous illustrations, which allowed untrained physicians to visualize anatomical relationships and see contemporary best practices in a way that no other wartime publication provided, making it an exemplar of a mass-media surgical improvement change agent.

‘The boots will be on the coffin!’: multiple meanings of ageing for older people playing walking football

Abstract A narrative of decline dominates the ageing process in the Global North. At the same time, older people have shared more positive stories of ageing, particularly with respect to their leisure practices. I explore this tension by drawing on an interview-based study with people playing walking football in the United Kingdom. My contention is that older people express multiple meanings of ageing that disturb deficit-focused cultural scripts of later-life, albeit in ways that can be fraught with tensions and contradictions. First, I explore how older people cultivate an alternate identity departing from assumptions of loneliness and degradation, with walking football providing an opportunity to develop friendships and a sense of belonging. Second, older people emphasise their own (good) health and the embodied demands of walking football, yet in doing so, can reinforce ageist discourses by distinguishing themselves from the inactive and isolated (older) other. Third, older people reflect on their current and future involvement in walking football in positive ways. However, through attending to the temporal character of their experiences, I show how, whilst older people express a desire to continue participation, this is threatened by the realities of their ageing bodies in ways that align with deficit framings of later-life. I conclude by calling for recognising the multiplicity of older people's experiences and exercising caution about reproducing over-simplistic and sweeping celebrations of ageing.

Spiralling Engagement Experiences of Creativity (SEEC): A process of research-led arts creation for facilitating experiences of flourishing in participants’ lives

Research in the area of Positive Psychology typically investigates positive psychological interventions and their impact on the lives of participants, positive psychology as an approach to enhance the lives of participants, or investigations of particular populations in search of evidence of flourishing. This paper presents a research process of embodied, creative engagement to facilitate the exploration of research phenomena within community contexts. Entitled Spiralling Engagement Experiences of Creativity (SEEC), the process adapts concepts from Poetic Inquiry as the basis for exploring a phenomenon and extending participants’ engagement with that phenomenon through the facilitation of creative activities. This pilot study focused on the phenomenon of flourishing, using preliminary participant conversations to generate poetry/lyrics that tell individual, personal stories. Participants repeatedly engaged with their own positive personal stories to create an artwork that they could use to remind themselves of ways to interpret their lives. The benefit of this research process is that it prioritises participants making sense of their own lives in creative ways while exploring a phenomenon of interest. The SEEC process has the potential for use in varied contexts where the intersection of a deliberate research and arts-making framework would be helpful for exploring a phenomenon of inquiry.

How Do Women Vote: What Women Post About Home Birth Versus Hospital Birth on Popular Social Media Platforms.

The rates of home birth have been increasing; reliance on social media as a source of medical advice and support for patients has also been increasing. This is the first study that directly evaluates birthing people's perceptions, attitudes, and advice about planned home births expressed in public posts and comments on two popular social media platforms - Reddit and TikTok. Posts on each platform were searched from January 2017 through July 2022 using the terms "home birth" and "home vs. hospital birth". Included posts were from the United States written in English, with at least 10 comments and 10 upvotes or likes. Up to five themes were collected per post or comment and were categorized as supportive, opposing, or neutral. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) determined that the project did not include human subjects. Collectively, 777 posts and 47,452 comments wereevaluated for inclusion; 257 posts and 2,408 comments met the inclusion criteria for analysis. In posts, 69% supported, 20% opposed, and 11% were neutral toward home birth (n = 257). Similarly, in comments, 53% supported, 28% opposed, and 19% were neutral (n = 2,408). Supportive themes included concerns about the safety of hospital delivery and reassurance about home birth safety, enhanced patient control with home deliveries, positive personal stories reinforcing home birth, concerns about excessive interventions in hospital birth, and advice about preparing for home birth. Opposing themes included concerns about risks of home birth, negligence of those attempting it, reassurance that hospital birth does offer women control, greater financial costs of home birth and that medical interventions can be lifesaving. These results can help physicians recognize some of the women's concerns about hospital births and what information they may find on social media guiding them as they formulate their birth plans. Overall, this information helps with the goal of balancing patient safety with the need to respect patient autonomy.

Ticking Two Boxes, Fighting Two Battles: Intersectional Experiences of Ethnic Minority Women Councillors in UK Local Government

Abstract When the analytical lens of intersectionality was first applied to descriptive representation, it documented the increased level of disadvantage for those belonging to more than one underrepresented group. Although ethnic minority women have been slow to benefit from drives to boost ethnic minority or women’s representation, increasingly, political parties seeking to diversify see them as “ticking two boxes,” resulting in a new positive story of relative representational success in many countries and legislatures. However, we argue that the two narratives coexist: intersectional group membership mars the experience of ethnic minority women politicians despite their increased electoral success. Conceptualizing intersectional disadvantage beyond examining differential outcomes, we focus instead on how the mechanisms leading to those outcomes are experienced by ethnic minority women local councillors, from their selection to their working conditions and extra representative burdens. Using 85 interviews with ethnic minority women and men UK local councillors, we demonstrate how gender and racial inequalities leave ethnic minority women fighting two (or more) battles.

Us versus them: The role of national identity in the formation of false memories for fake news.

People are prone to forming false memories for fictitious events described in fake news stories. In this preregistered study, we hypothesized that the formation of false memories may be promoted when the fake news includes stereotypes that reflect positively on one's own nationality or negatively on another nationality. We exposed German and Irish participants (N = 1,184) to fabricated news stories that were consistent with positive or negative stereotypes about Germany and Ireland. The predicted three-way interaction was not observed. Exploratory follow-up analyses revealed the expected pattern of results for German participants but not for Irish participants, who were more likely to remember positive stories and stories about Ireland. Individual differences in patriotism did not significantly affect false memory rates; however, higher levels of cognitive ability and analytical reasoning decreased false memories and increased participants' ability to distinguish between true and false news stories. These results demonstrate that stereotypical information pertaining to national identity can influence the formation of false memories for fake news, but variations in cultural context may affect how misinformation is received and processed. We conclude by urging researchers to consider the sociopolitical and media landscape when predicting the consequences of fake news exposure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Are private placements associated with more active media management than public offerings? Evidence from Taiwan

PurposeThis study investigates the media activities of firms issuing private equity placements and seasoned equity offerings in Taiwan, as firms have incentives to manage media coverage to influence their stock prices during private equity placement.Design/methodology/approachWe collect a corpus of news stories and transform the news into term sets based on the part of speech. Then, we refer to Cecchini et al. (2010) to classify the news terms into positive, negative, and usual categories. Next, we employ the SVM algorithm to perform the classification tasks and the term frequency method to perform the text mining task. In last, we use a multiple regression model to verify the hypotheses.FindingsWe determine that issuing firms in a private placement have substantially more positive news stories and fewer negative news stories than those in public offerings. Furthermore, we evidence that the media management effects of postequity issues are more active than those of preequity issues. Finally, our results demonstrate that the timing and content of financial media coverage among different equity issuance methods may be biased by firm management. According to previous studies, they may attempt to manipulate stock prices to increase the number of highly profitable insider stakeholders.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate that if private placement will associate with more active media management than the public offerings. According to our results of the difference-in-means test, the public offerings market may control news coverage; however, this result is inconsistent with that of the regression results. The private placements market may also exercise media management in the “before announcement day” and “after announcement day” periods by increasing positive news and reducing negative news.

Investigating the Effect of a Group Psychoeducation Program on Test Anxiety: Implementation of the Balance Model within the Context of Positive Psychotherapy

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of a Test Anxiety Group Psychoeducation Program based on the Balance Model within the context of Positive Psychotherapy on the test anxiety scores of high school students experiencing test anxiety. The experimental group consisted of 14 students, 8 females and 6 males, attending the 11th grade in a state high school in Ankara/Türkiye, who were identified by the school guidance service as experiencing test anxiety. The students in the psychoeducation group were assigned using the purposive sampling method, a non-random sampling technique and a subset of purposeful sampling. The Test Anxiety Group Psychoeducation Program was based on the Balance Model within the context of Positive Psychotherapy and consisted of 6 sessions lasting 90 minutes each, utilizing methods mainly from positive psychotherapy, drama techniques, and stories. A Test Anxiety Inventory comprising 20 items was administered to the participants. The subscale scores of Emotionality and Worry, as well as Overall Anxiety Score were utilized. A single-group, pre-test post-test experimental design was used in the research. The outcomes showed that after participating in the Test Anxiety Group Psychoeducation Program, the experimental group’s test anxiety scores significantly decreased.

Experiences Of Foreign Tourists In The Old City Of Semarang: Evaluation Of Service Quality Foreign Languages In The Tourism Context

Research aims to evaluate the quality of foreign language services provided to foreign tourists visiting the Old City of Semarang, a tourism destination that is increasingly in demand. This research uses a qualitative approach with various methods, including case studies, indepth interviews with foreign tourists, content analysis, participant observation, document analysis and data triangulation. The research results revealed that the majority of foreign tourists were impressed with foreign language services in the Old City of Semarang. They shared positive stories about interactions with officers who tried to help in a foreign language, which made them feel welcome and comfortable. Another positive experience involves the ability to explore the culture and history of the city through smooth interactions with local residents who are fluent in foreign languages. However, a number of foreign tourists also face obstacles, especially in terms of communication, navigation and understanding cultural differences. Some of the recommendations given by foreign tourists include increasing language training for officers, providing more information materials in foreign languages, improving navigation, cultural exchange programs, use of technology, tourist feedback channels, and increasing cooperation between stakeholders. This research has important implications for improving the tourism sector and local economy. Improving foreign language services in the Old City of Semarang can increase tourist satisfaction, result in repeat visits, positive recommendations, and a positive contribution to the city's economic growth. Therefore, language training, provision of information materials, improved navigation, promotion of culture, technology, feedback channels, and cooperation between stakeholders are key steps in achieving this goal.

Examining the Impact of Digital Human Gaze Expressions on Engagement Induction.

With advancements in technology, digital humans are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with their application scope widening to include interactions with real people. However, research on expressions that facilitate natural engagement in interactions between real people and digital humans is scarce. With this study, we aimed to examine the differences in user engagement as measured by subjective evaluations, eye tracking, and electroencephalogram (EEG) responses relative to different gaze expressions in various conversational contexts. Conversational situations were categorized as face-to-face, face-to-video, and digital human interactions, with gaze expressions segmented into eye contact and gaze avoidance. Story stimuli incorporating twelve sentences verified to elicit positive and negative emotional responses were employed in the experiments after validation. A total of 45 participants (31 females and 14 males) underwent stimulation through positive and negative stories while exhibiting eye contact or gaze avoidance under each of the three conversational conditions. Engagement was assessed using subjective evaluation metrics in conjunction with measures of the subjects' gaze and brainwave activity. The findings revealed engagement disparities between the face-to-face and digital-human conversation conditions. Notably, only positive stimuli elicited variations in engagement based on gaze expression across different conversation conditions. Gaze analysis corroborated the engagement differences, aligning with prior research on social sensitivity, but only in response to positive stimuli. This research departs from traditional studies of un-natural interactions with digital humans, focusing instead on interactions with digital humans designed to mimic the appearance of real humans. This study demonstrates the potential for gaze expression to induce engagement, regardless of the human or digital nature of the conversational dyads.