Rat Race Research Articles

A Study on the Relationship Between Parents' Expectations and Junior Middle School Students' Academic Test Scores -- Taking English as an Example

In the currently prevalent “rat race” phenomenon, which is particularly acute in the field of education. When it comes to discussing the factors underlying the changes in middle school students' English academic achievements, numerous researchers have put forward their viewpoints from different perspectives. This paper summarizes four crucial dimensions that impact middle school students' English achievements and conducts a six-week teaching experiment based on these dimensions. Through the analysis of questionnaire surveys, interviews, and experimental comparisons, it is discovered that the factors influencing students' English achievements, ranked in order of importance from high to low, are: family rearing style, communication and emotional support between parents and children, parents' expectations, and family culture and values. However, while parental expectations have a direct and positive impact on adolescent children, they rank third among the major factors and have a relatively low impact. On the other hand, in the context of family rearing methods that are not suitable for children's development at this stage and incorrect family communication and emotional support, parents' expectations have indirect negative effects.

A Study on the Relationship Between Parents' Expectations and Junior Middle School Students' Academic Test Scores -- Taking English as an Example

In the currently prevalent “rat race” phenomenon, which is particularly acute in the field of education. When it comes to discussing the factors underlying the changes in middle school students' English academic achievements, numerous researchers have put forward their viewpoints from different perspectives. This paper summarizes four crucial dimensions that impact middle school students' English achievements and conducts a six-week teaching experiment based on these dimensions. Through the analysis of questionnaire surveys, interviews, and experimental comparisons, it is discovered that the factors influencing students' English achievements, ranked in order of importance from high to low, are: family rearing style, communication and emotional support between parents and children, parents' expectations, and family culture and values. However, while parental expectations have a direct and positive impact on adolescent children, they rank third among the major factors and have a relatively low impact. On the other hand, in the context of family rearing methods that are not suitable for children's development at this stage and incorrect family communication and emotional support, parents' expectations have indirect negative effects.

The Rat Race among Fans: Tracing the Token of Love

The Rat Race among Fans: Tracing the Token of Love

Avoiding the “Rat race”: Hong Kong students’ sense of belonging to a Chinese university in the Greater Bay Area

Inbound Hong Kong students constitute a substantial and growing population at mainland Chinese universities in the Greater Bay Area (the GBA). However, their university experiences and the ways in which they construct sense of belonging to Chinese universities have been under-researched areas. The qualitative interview study was conducted in one mainland Chinese university located in the GBA with ten students in years 1 and 2 of their undergraduate studies. This research challenges the homophily belonging assumption. Collected data suggest that the students made meaning of and operated university belonging counter to the institutional rat race culture on the mainland campus.

Job Portal

In the current scenario, there is a rat race in each and every professional field. It is also true for job market. A job portal is a website dedicated for online information about recruiters as well as job seekers. A job portal helps both the job seekers and recruiters finding the right organization for the employees. In the case of job seekers, according to their educational qualification, experience and their preferences, the job portal shows the list of companies to the job seeker. And, to the recruiters, provides the suitable candidates from a pool of lacks. So, a job portal is the perfect online arena, where both the job seekers and the employers find their goal in the pursuit of getting a top notch company for the suitable candidates. The web application “Job Portal” provides an easy and convenient search application for the job seekers to find their desired jobs and for the recruiters to find the right candidate. Job seekers from any background can search for the current job openings. Job seekers can register with the application and update their details and skill set. They can search for available jobs and apply to their desired positions.

Depression in the Face of Racism: A Socio-Psychological Analysis of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ’s Short Story “The Thing Around Your Neck

The short story “The Thing Around Your Neck” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie encapsulates the escapade of a migrant American Visa Lottery winner from Nigeria. A poor Nigerian, her image of America used to be influenced by some socio-cultural stereotypes promoted by Hollywood and various types of political and commercial media institutions. Soon, she finds no truth in what she used to believe about America as an economic heaven. She learns about America’s immoral give-and-take policy from her surrogate uncle who makes sexual advances towards her. She finds higher education extremely expensive and engages in the rat race to support herself as a waitress at a restaurant, a part-time student, and a breadwinner for her family in Nigeria. Constantly subjected to acute depression and loneliness, she feels stifled and suffocated in bed every night. Thanks to her white American lover, she recovers from it. Yet, so sensitive in mind, her body reacts to even the slightest emotional disappointment by getting frozen and irresponsive. Often, her dark complexion proves highly detrimental to her happiness as a black American. Although she is accepted by her lover’s parents, in her daily life, she experiences insults from both blacks and whites she meets in the streets. Such realities appear dark and negative and repulse her faith in the so-called sophistication of the American people. However, by the time she decides to visit Nigeria to commiserate with her mother bereaved by her father’s demise, her white American lover proves to be an inseparable tour de force.

“I am no longer part of this rat race”: student resistance to neoliberal accounting education in Pakistan

ABSTRACT Studies of accounting education have exposed the link between traditional ways of teaching accounting and neoliberal beliefs. Nevertheless, the perspectives of students are yet to attract a level of attention that is consistent with their crucial role in the accounting education system. Drawing upon Scott’s understanding of “infrapolitics” and resistance, the study investigates how students make sense of neoliberal accounting education and react. Interviews with students at five highly regarded universities in Pakistan show how the former are aware of the challenges posed by neoliberal approaches to accounting education. By investigating the under-explored context of Pakistan, this study enhances understanding of power and resistance by illuminating how accounting students perceive neoliberal values taught in higher education and resist their inculcation. The study focuses on less obvious forms of resistance, showing how allegedly passive actors as students may well be resisting neoliberal principles enshrined in accounting education in unobstructive forms.

“Rat Race” or “Lying Flat”? The effect of competition stress on psychological compensation

“Rat Race” or “Lying Flat”? The effect of competition stress on psychological compensation

Static and dynamic inefficiencies in an optimizing model of epidemics

Several externalities arise when agents shield optimally to avoid infection during an epidemic. We classify externalities into static and dynamic and compare the decentralized and optimal solutions when agents derive utility from social interaction. For low infection costs agents shield too little; for high costs they shield too much because of a “rat race to shield”: they delay social action until other agents contract the disease and society reaches herd immunity. Other externalities drive more wedges between the private and social outcomes. The expectation of a fully effective vaccine that ends the disease faster changes results, reversing excessive shielding.

Organizational Management: Quiet Quitting's Mitigation Strategies for Organizational Response

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the world economy is in a depression and has a high inflation rate, as the unemployment rate gets higher and higher, employment gets lower and lower, young people are very pessimistic about their prospects. Therefore, the employment has become a serious problem in society, which has also caused strong social discontent. Also, all of these factors may lead to a sense of anxiety among today's workers, and it's also accompanied by fatigue, pessimism and insecurity. The status quo of “the rat race” in all fields has become more and more intense under such social conditions. The word “quiet quitting” is widely used by people. The paper will analyze the impact of “quiet quitting” on individuals and organizations and come up with some solutions to reduce “quiet quitting” for organizations, such as job satisfaction and motivation, stress and strains, etc. In addition, this paper will adopt the form of a questionnaire to investigate the data and uses these data to help analyze people's attitudes and idea of the impact of “quiet quitting”.

Contracting in Peer Networks

ABSTRACTWe consider multiagent multifirm contracting when agents benchmark their wages to those of their peers, using weights that vary within and across firms. When a single principal commits to a public contract, optimal contracts hedge relative wage risk without sacrificing efficiency. But compensation benchmarking undoes performance benchmarking, causing wages to load positively on peer output, and asymmetries in peer effects can be exploited to enhance profits. With multiple principals, a “rat race” emerges: agents are more productive, with effort that can exceed the first best, but higher wages reduce profits and undermine efficiency. Wage transparency and disclosure requirements exacerbate these effects.

Education investment “rat race” in China: how income inequality shapes family investment in shadow education

Education investment “rat race” in China: how income inequality shapes family investment in shadow education

Effect of subprime crisis on financing decisions and capital structure of Indian firms: a pre- and post- crisis study using system GMM methodology

PurposeThe subprime crisis (SPC) (2007–2008) has severely affected the economies across the globe. The Indian economy was also troubled because the SPC led to a sharp reduction in foreign trade and investment, a rise in the exchange rate volatility and disproportionate foreign-currency reserves. The present paper analyzes the financing pattern of Indian listed companies during the SPC. This study aims to ascertain the impacts of the SPC-2008 on the long-term and short-term financing decisions of Indian listed companies using novel data set and appropriate robust methodology.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses fixed effect model autoregressive of order 1 (FEM AR (1)) and system generalised method of moments (GMM) methodology on a sample data of 1,032 Indian non-financial listed companies on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) for the period 1999 to 2019 to analyze the financing pattern during the crisis.FindingsThe study finds that the Indian firms opted for de-leveraging, shortening the maturity of debt and short-term borrowing. This significant decline in the leverage and maturity of debt indicates that the companies in India generally followed the “rat race” model of the financing mix in the crisis. After the crisis, the firms have re-leveraged and expanded the maturity of debt up to 90%. This considerable expansion in leverage and maturity implies that the Indian firms are exposed to the “rollover risk.” This re-leverage risk is asymmetrically distributed for manufacturing and services firms. Manufacturing firms are found to be more exposed to this risk. Furthermore, tangibility, free cash flows and the liquidity available within the firms are the compelling elements of the financing decision during the crisis.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has not included the private firms and unorganized sectors in India. Moreover, the study has not analyzed disasters such as the Asian liquidity crisis, the information technology (IT) bubble crisis, the euro bond crisis and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Practical implicationsThe study finds that Indian firms are exposed to higher risk during the financial crisis and this risk is further aggravated by the rollover risk. Therefore, investors and creditors should consider these additional risks in the financial decisions and take more precautions. The study suggests that the regulators should make necessary adjustments in lending policy, corporate restructuring and tax policy to deal with the menace of a financial crisis.Social implicationsIndian firms should avoid following the rate race financing model.Originality/valueThis study aims to ascertain the impacts of the SPC-2008 on the long-term and short-term financing decisions of Indian listed companies using novel data set and appropriate robust methodology.

Self-esteem and competition

This paper explores the relations between self-esteem and competition. Self-esteem is a very important good and competition is a widespread phenomenon. They are commonly linked, as people often seek self-esteem through success in competition. Although competition in fact generates valuable consequences and can to some extent foster self-esteem, empirical research suggests that competition has a strong tendency to undermine self-esteem. To be sure, competition is not the source of all problematic deficits in self-esteem, and it can arise for, or undercut goods other than self-esteem. But the relation between competition and access to self-esteem is still significant, and it is worth asking how we might foster a desirable distribution of the latter in the face of difficulties created by the former. That is the question addressed in this paper. The approach I propose neither recommends self-denial nor the uncritical celebration of the rat race. It charts instead a solidaristic path to support the social conditions of the self-esteem of each individual. The paper proceeds as follows. I start, in section 2, by clarifying key concepts involved in the discussion. In section 3, I identify ten mechanisms that support individuals’ self-esteem and impose limits on competition. I focus, in particular, on the challenges faced by people in their practices of work. In section 4, I outline prudential and moral arguments to justify the use of the proposed mechanisms. Section 5 concludes with remarks on the role of social criticism in the processes of change implementing the mechanisms.

Varieties of the rat race: working hours in the age of abundance

Abstract We ask why working hours in the rich world have not declined more sharply or even risen at times since the early 1980s, despite a steady increase in productivity, and why they vary so much across rich countries. We use an internationally comparable database on working hours (Bick et al., 2019) and conduct panel data estimations for a sample of 17 European countries and the USA over the period 1983–2019. We find that high or increasing top-end income inequality, decentralized labor relations, and limited government provision of education and other in-kind services contribute to long working hours. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that upward-looking status comparisons in positional consumption (‘Veblen effects’) contribute to a ‘rat race’ of long working hours that is more or less pronounced in different varieties of capitalism.

The Social Root and Mitigation Path of "Lying Flat" and " Rat Race " : From the Perspective of Income Distribution Equity

The Social Root and Mitigation Path of "Lying Flat" and " Rat Race " : From the Perspective of Income Distribution Equity

The Casino Syndrome: Analysing the Detrimental Impact of AI-Driven Globalization on Human & Cultural Consciousness and its Effect on Social Disadvantages

The paper aims to study the detrimental impact of Artificial Intelligence on human life and human consciousness. AI’s harmful impact can be described according to the tenets of the ‘Casino Syndrome’, which was first laid down by Anand Teltumbde in his seminal work ‘The Persistence of Caste: The Khirlanji Murders and India’s Hidden Apartheid’ (2010). Taking from the addictive and commercial components of Teltumbde’s concept, the researchers have attempted to redefine the concept in the context of AI and its detrimental impact on human life. According to the three tenets, researchers have attempted to prove that AI can pitch an individual against all others in the marketplace, leading to unemployment and creating conflicts at local, national and international levels as it creates an ‘elitist’ agenda which culminates in a ‘rat race’ and competition. It can disintegrate interpersonal relationships at home, in society and culture and in the workplace due to its extreme focus on individualism thanks to content curation and customized algorithms, and in many other ways, lastly, as a result of the first two, it can also lead to several psychological and mental health problems. The paper explores numerous methods towards creating accountability and inclusivity in AI and the Globalized world and creating resilience against the ‘Casino Syndrome’ through methods involving ethical considerations, transparency, mitigation of prejudices, accountability, education, etc.. Ultimately, this paper does not deny the obvious benefits of AI, but it highlights the possible negative consequences of uncontrolled and unscrutinised use of it, which has already begun.

Grow Old with You: Internet in the Lives of Old People In Southern Philippines

Background: The advent of the internet has brought about a profound transformation in the lifestyles of individuals, significantly shaping the perspectives and strategies adopted by older adults in addressing the complexities associated with ageing. Objective: This study aims to explore the influence of the internet on improving the quality of life of older adults. To achieve this, a narrative research design was employed. Methods: With the use of open-ended questions, the researcher conducted a 30-45-minute one-on-one interview with elderly adults from Southern Philippines who had encountered health problems and utilized the internet to maximize their access to health care services. The process of qualitative data analysis involved the meticulous examination of the narratives, followed by a comprehensive "restoring" of these accounts into a format that encapsulated the diverse stages of their experiences. Results: The results yielded a total of eight pivotal stages, namely: "The Rat Race," "In Distress, Yet Denial," "A Near Death Experience," "Discovering Life Online," "Finding Support in the Digital World," "The Internet: Friend or Foe?," "Encouraging the Non-Tech Savvy," and "The Value of the Internet in Enhancing Quality of Life.". Conclusion: These stages highlight the modifications in the living conditions and health outcomes of the respondents as they accessed and utilized the different online programs and maximized their access to health care services. The results show that the difficulties faced by older adults strongly impact their desire to use the internet's potential, which in turn improves their overall quality of life.

A Review of Bhramari Pranayama's Impact on Mental Health

Background -People's lifestyles have become very mechanical in the modern day. Everyone is in a rat race to meet their goals, which causes stress. The repercussions of this stress on a person's physical and mental health are further. The healthy development of emotional attitudes and personality that coexist peacefully with the entire society or community is what is meant by mental health. Sadvrittapalan, application of Acharrasayana, Yoga, and meditation practises are crucial for mental health prevention. Yoga consists of eight steps, and to control the sense organs called Indriyas, Pranayam is crucial. Significant and simple form of Ashtakumbhaka is Bhramari Pranayam. The humming sound of Bhramari Pranayam causes vibrations in the body that directly affect the hypothalamus of the brain, relieving tension and bringing about calmness and happiness throughout the body. In order to offer a better answer, this article discusses the function of Bhramari Pranayama in the prevention and promotion of mental health. Material & Methods:-The data used in the current investigation was gathered from primary and secondary sources, namely literature reviews of major Ayurvedic Samhitas and texts and widely disseminated research publications. Conclusions:-This study demonstrates the critical impact Bhramari Pranayama plays in both the prevention of mental illness and the treatment of mental diseases like stress, anxiety, and depression. Ayurveda claims that continuous practise of Bhramari Pranayama reduces the Raja and Tamadosha and increases Satvaguna, thereby aiding in the development of mental health.

“Lying Flat” and Rejecting the Rat Race: The Survival Anxiety of Chinese Youth

“Lying Flat” is the literal translation of the Chinese slang term “Tang Ping,” which alludes to the current youth culture of giving up and living a life without ambition. The term was coined against the backdrop of a worldwide economic downturn and reflects the mental confusion and disillusionment of young people. Multiple variables, including excessive social competition, unsuitable school education, and permissive parents, contribute to adolescents’ inactive life attitudes. This article presented some typical lying-flat cohorts, explored the underlying causes, and provided solutions for this problem in an effort to provide suggestions for encouraging the younger generation to regain hope in life and attain self-actualization.