Social Competition Research Articles

The Pressing Needs of Human Resource Management Renovation of Higher Vocational Schools in China: From the Perspective of Teacher Competency

This conceptual article explores the pressing need of Human Resource Management (HRM) renovation of Higher Vocational Education (HVE) in China, and to propose plausibly and concrete significance for HVE schools in China the impending demand of human capital utilization improvement to ensure the high-quality educational performance and eventually to meet the high-caliber talent requirements of market home and abroad. The study defines and evaluates the core concepts of teacher competency, performance and organizational support, and majorly illustrates that it is the time’s call for the HVE schools in China to face the reality that the HRM system applied in enterprises cannot be duplicated directly and the traditional HRM methods formed shall be well-renovated in order to get a better educational performance. The study utilized a desk review research approach targeting literature from a variety of references such as studies, research journals, books, online resources of reports, articles and electronic databases. A failure to strengthen the function of teacher competency in performance appraisal of HVE schools in China results in the lag development of vocational education, which eventually will influence the social and economic competitiveness of the country. The mechanism in between competency and performance is presented explicitly and a mediator as organizational support is also introduced to make the study be systematic from a different angle. Based on the discussion, it is presented that an urgent need for the HVE schools in China to be aware of the application of appropriate competency-based performance appraisal in response to the challenges of providing solid vocational human capital for the booming market, which is identified as the result of this paper.

The Influence of Sports Dance on the Physical and Mental Development of Contemporary College Students Based on Health Detection.

The healthy growth of college students is related to the future development of the country and the prosperity of the nation. Under fierce social competition, college students are faced with academic pressure and employment pressure, resulting in the failure to improve their physical and mental health and their low self-acceptance level. Faced with such a situation, it is an important subject to solve the problem of the physical and mental health development of contemporary college students. As a sport that integrates sports and art, sports dance is worthy of in-depth discussion on the physical and mental development of college students. To analyze the impact of sports dance on the physical and mental development of contemporary college students, this paper uses an intelligent health monitoring system to monitor the health status of college students before and after physical dance exercise. It analyzes the influence of sports dance on the physical and mental development of college students from the aspects of cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, flexibility, and happiness. Finally, the results are obtained by conducting experiments with 10 college students. The experimental results show that the psychological well-being of college students who take physical dance exercise increases by 7.8%. Cardiorespiratory endurance and flexibility are both improved accordingly. Physical dance exercise promotes the physical and mental development of contemporary college students.

Runaway Social Selection in Human Evolution

Darwin posited that social competition among conspecifics could be a powerful selective pressure. Alexander proposed a model of human evolution involving a runaway process of social competition based on Darwin’s insight. Here we briefly review Alexander’s logic, and then expand upon his model by elucidating six core arenas of social selection that involve runaway, positive-feedback processes, and that were likely involved in the evolution of the remarkable combination of adaptations in humans. We discuss how these ideas fit with the hypothesis that a key life history innovation that opened the door to runaway social selection, and cumulative culture, during hominin evolution was increased cooperation among individuals in small fission-fusion groups.

Adjustment to School as the Predictor of School Burnout in University Students

Abstract Introduction: Burnout emerges as a common problem during the university period when social competition and expectations from the individual increase, and daily life becomes increasingly complicated due to augmenting stress factors. The aim of this study was to examine whether the school burnout of university students can be predicted significantly by adjustment to school. Methods: This study used a correlational survey model to investigate the burnout levels of university students in terms of their adjustment to university life. The sample of the study comprised a total of 334 students, enrolled in four different faculties of a university in Turkey. The data of this research were collected by using the “Adjustment to University Life Scale (AULS)”, “The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Form (MBI-SF)” and personal information form. Results: The findings obtained in this study showed that academic, social, and personal adjustment to university life among university students negatively and significantly correlated with school burnout that students experienced. In addition, personal, social and academic adjustment variables together significantly predict each of the exhaustion, cynicism and efficacy variables. Discussion: According to these results, academic, social, and personal adjustment to university life among university students negatively and significantly correlated with school burnout that students experienced. This situation indicates that as students’ academic, social, and personal adaptation to university life increases, they will experience less emotional burnout, become less cynical of their environment, and feel less personal inefficacy. In this context, it is thought that interventions that support adaptation to university life are an important factor that will protect students from the negative effects of burnout. Limitations: The sample of this study is limited to 334 participants. In addition, the findings of the study are limited to the sincere response of the participants to the instruments of the study and the qualifications of the measurement tools. In other words, this research has no claim of generalizability. Conclusions: According to the findings of the study, students with high adjustment to university life experience less academic burnout. In this context, both individual and group work to be conducted by the guidance and psychological counseling units of universities gain importance. It will be particularly beneficial to conduct studies for adjustment to university life, such as psycho-education, group psychological counseling, or peer guidance.

КОРПОРАТИВНАЯ СОЦИАЛЬНАЯ ОТВЕТСТВЕННОСТЬ, "ЗЕЛЁНЫЕ" ИННО- ВАЦИИ И КОНКУРЕНТОСПОСОБНОСТЬ – ПРИЧИННО-СЛЕДСТВЕННАЯ СВЯЗЬ

The literature often points to a positive relationship between CSR and competitiveness at the organizational level, but there is still little empirical evidence to support this. CSR creates an innovative culture that, through the using of social and environmental components, can create new business models, products, services or processes are improving the performance of the organization, as well as have a beneficial impact on society. The research subject is the relationship between corporate social responsibility, green innovations and competitiveness. The authors argue with the generally accepted theory of CSR, based on the hypothesis of the coincidence of the goals of firms and the interests of society, is irrelevant. In conclusion, the authors divide theories that analyze the determinants of CSR into three main categories: business ethics, business and society, and social problem management.

Blend in or stand out: social anxiety levels shape information-sharing strategies.

Although living in social groups provides many benefits for group members, such groups also serve as a setting for social competition over rank and influence. Evolutionary accounts suggest that social anxiety plays a role in regulating in-group conflict, as individuals who are concerned about social threat may choose to defer to others to maintain the hierarchical status quo. Here, we examine how social anxiety levels are related to the advice-giving style an individual adopts: a competitive influence-seeking strategy or a defensive blend-in strategy. We begin by demonstrating that similarity to others drives activity in the brain's valuation system, even during a competitive advice-taking task. Then, in three behavioural experiments, we show that social anxiety levels are related to the tendency to give advice resembling the advice given by rival advisers and to refrain from status-seeking behaviour. Social anxiety was also associated with negative social comparisons with rival advisers. Our findings highlight the role of competing social goals in shaping information sharing.

Jealousy protest to a social rival compared to a nonsocial rival in Chilean infants 10-20months' old.

Jealousy protests have been linked to the intrusion of social rivals challenging infants' exclusive access to maternal care and resources that typically accompany attachment. Previous studies revealed that the experimental presentation of social rivals evokes protest in as early as 6months old infants. This study replicated research on jealousy protests in a novel language and sociocultural context with 10-20months old infants. We compared protests of 45 children when their mothers attended to each of the rivals and controlled for attachment dimensions. As hypothesized, infants had a stronger jealousy protest to the social rival, and their response was associated with attachment avoidance. We concluded that our results contribute to evidence on jealousy protest as an evolutionary rooted phenomenon that favors the mother's attention in a social rivalry scenario over nonsocial stimuli. Attachment avoidance may be a precluding factor of jealousy when faced with a social rival scenario that deserves further research.

Research on the Application of the Dynamic Assisted Sleep Light to Smart Mobile Devices

With the rapid development of science and technology, social competition becomes more and more fierce, and work pressure becomes more and more intense. The problem of sleep has become a disease of modern civilization, and in order to alleviate sleep problems and improve sleep quality, related research methods are constantly updated, and there are more and more ways to address these problems. In this paper, we propose a dynamic assisted sleep light that adjusts the color temperature, illuminance, and frequency of change by controlling the backlight of the smart mobile device, so that the user experiences an improved quality of sleep. In this study, the methods of subjective questionnaire survey and non-subjective physiological parameter measurement were adopted for analysis. The results showed that the continuous use of the light source could continuously enhance the user’s delta energy during sleep and promote the improvement of sleep quality.

Bigger or long-winged male common crossbills exhibit redder carotenoid-based plumage coloration.

Carotenoid-based ornaments are often considered reliable (honest) individual condition signals because their expression implies physiological costs unaffordable for low-quality animals (handicap signals). Recently, it has been suggested that efficient cell respiration is mandatory for producing red ketocarotenoids from dietary yellow carotenoids. This implies that red colorations should be entirely unfalsifiable and independent of expression costs (index signals). In a precedent study, male common crossbills, Loxia curvirostra, showing a red plumage reported higher apparent survival than those showing yellowish-orange colors. The plumage redness in this species is due to ketocarotenoid accumulation in feathers. Here, we correlated the male plumage redness (a 4-level visual score: yellow, patchy, orange, and red) and the body morphology in more than 1,000 adult crossbills captured in 3 Iberian localities to infer the mechanisms responsible for color evolution. A principal component analysis summarized morphometry of 10 variables (beak, wing, tarsus length, etc.). The overall body size (PC1) and the length of flight feathers regarding body size (PC3) showed significant positive relationships with plumage redness. Plumage redness was barely correlated with bill shape measures, suggesting no constraint in acquiring carotenoids from pine cones. However, large body sizes or proportionally long flying feathers could help carotenoid acquisition via social competition or increased foraging ranges. Proportionally longer flight feathers might also be associated with a specific cell respiration profile that would simultaneously favor flying capacities and enzymatic transformations needed for ketocarotenoid synthesis. Such a phenotypic profile would agree with the hypothesis of ketocarotenoid-based colors acting as individual quality index signals.

The super engagers of freemium gamified services: using multimethod approach to examine why highly interactive consumers become paying consumers

PurposeOnline services are increasingly utilizing gamification techniques to encourage consumer loyalty and engagement. However, the majority of the gamified services fail to be financially sustainable. Existing freemium and gamified services literature provides scant knowledge on behavioral predictors of in-app purchases in freemium gamified services. The research examines highly interactive consumers' in-app behaviors using competition-based motivational affordances, daily usage behavior and social competition motivation that convert them into super engagers.Design/methodology/approachThe authors applied a multimethod approach by using Multivariate Logistic Regression (n = 685) to analyze in-app behavioral data and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (n = 94) to examine survey and in-app behavioral data of highly interactive consumers of a freemium gamified service to explain paying behaviors.FindingsResults reveal highly interactive consumers that elicit heavy daily usage of the application or excel at in-app challenges are less likely to convert to super engagers. Among super engagers, some are socially competitive, and their inability to advance in the leaderboard corresponds to in-app purchases, while non-socially competitive consumers make purchases to collect extrinsic rewards. Additionally, highly interactive consumers who possess more knowledge about the gamified service become super engagers to increase their chances to be socially competitive.Originality/valueThis research examines in-app behaviors of highly interactive consumers of a freemium gamified service that lead to in-app purchases following varying levels of daily usage behavior and social competition motivation. The authors contribute to the previous literature by defining and examining a new consumer segment – super engagers – that is financially beneficial for freemium services because of their in-app purchases. The authors provide insight on in-app behaviors that convert highly interactive consumers to super engagers and demonstrate that the reason for highly interactive consumers to make in-app purchases is a function of acquiring specific internal and external rewards based on their level of social competition.

Why do We Play? Towards a Comprehensive Player Typology

The video games industry has been growing constantly for the past several decades, but there is no empirically validated industry standard for measuring motivation of play. Although there have been a number of player typologies, they display sizable deviations in the player types described, many of which are insufficiently supported by validation studies. The literature thus far lacks an attempt to test these deviations by bringing differences in the specifics on the same scale. A survey ( n = 1090) across 440 different games using an 80-item questionnaire found eleven motivations of play: Social, Social Competition, Challenge, Escapism, Role-Playing, Power Fantasy, Creation, Exploration, Completion, Griefing, and Competitive Team-Play. These results map onto some established types, add some new ones that are not as embedded in the literature, and re-contextualize others such as immersion which, while highly present in the literature, were not found to be distinct motivations of play.

Sensitivity to line-of-sight in tolerant versus despotic macaques (Macaca sylvanus and Macaca mulatta).

Complex social life is considered important to the evolution of cognition in primates. One key aspect of primate social interactions concerns the degree of competition that individuals face in their social group. To examine how social tolerance versus competition shapes social cognition, we experimentally assessed capacities for flexible gaze-following in more tolerant Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) and compared to previous data from despotic rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Monkeys experienced one of two possible conditions. In the barrier condition, they observed an actor look upwards into an overheard barrier, so they could not directly see the target of the actor's gaze without reorienting. In the no barrier condition, they observed an actor look upwards without a barrier blocking her line-of-sight, so they could observe the target of the actor's gaze by also looking upwards. Both species (N = 58 Barbary macaques, 64 rhesus macaques) could flexibly modulate their gaze responses to account for the demonstrator's line of sight, looking up more often when no barrier was present, and this flexible modulation declined with age in both species. However, neither species preferentially approached to look inside the barrier when their view of the target location was obscured, although rhesus macaques approached more overall. This pattern suggests that both tolerant and despotic macaques exhibit similar capacities to track other's line of sight and do not preferentially reorient their bodies to observe what an actor looks at in this situation. This contrasts with other work indicating that competitive primates are especially adept at some aspects of theory of mind. Thus, it is important to understand both the similarities and differences in the social-cognitive abilities of primates with different social styles. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Implikasi Alih Fungsi Lahan menjadi Destinasi Wisata di Sekitar Cafe Sawah Desa Pujon Kidul

The conversion of agricultural land into a tourist destination occurred in Pujon Kidul Village, Malang Regency. These changes have occurred since the emergence of Sawah Cafe tourism, so that it has implications for the occurrence of risks in the form of land conversion from the agricultural sector to become tourist destinations (such as ATV rides, motorbikes, cafes, homestays, restaurants, parking lots and shops). In addition, it also has an impact on the pattern of community life (especially around Cafe Sawah). This study uses qualitative methods, the type of descriptive research. Data collection techniques used are observation, interviews, and document studies. The results showed that the community carried out commodification, in the form of land conversion from agriculture to tourism because the income factor was more promising and the economy increased, so it had implications for the social, economic and environmental aspects of the local community. But on the other hand it poses a risk in the form of social inequality and competition, environmental damage will occur due to increased air and water pollution, decreased quality of the surrounding environment due to garbage around tourism development areas and traffic jams.

ALIH FUNGSI LAHAN MENJADI PERKEBUNAN KELAPA SAWIT DAN PERUBAHAN SOSIAL MASYARAKAT LOKAL (Studi Kasus Masyarakat Desa Murutuwu, Kabupaten Barito Timur, Kalimantan Tengah)

This study aims to examine the processes and factors behind the conversion of land into oil palm plantation and to analyze land-use changes that affects to environmental, economic, and socio-cultural changes in local community. This research was conducted in Murutuwu Village, East Barito Regency, Central Kalimantan. This study used a qualitative approach. The number of informants as a sampel was 33 people who were determined purposively. The criteria for informants were people who clearly knew the development of the Murutuwu Village area or local communites and/or rubber farmers who transferred land ownership to become oil palm plantation. The result showed that the process of land conversion in Murutuwu Village started from 2007-2008 which was marked by the presence of oil palm plantation investors and the issuance of plantation location permits in 2009 by the local government. The community-owned rubber plantations were then converted into plantations and the construction of an oil palm processing factory. Factors that caused land-use change were externally due to government intervention and intervention from the private sector (companies), and internally due to the high flow of land sales by the community. The impact of land conversion into oil palm plantations has caused social changes which are characterized by: 1) changes in the environment, either directly (biophysical), or indirectly (demographic), 2) changes in the local community's economy including shifts and diversification of livelihoods as well as changes in income, and 3) there are socio-cultural changes in the local community including the loss of community identity as farmers,the occurrence of social competition, the erosion of community cultural values, and reduced mutual cooperation activities in the community.

Adoption of LGBT-Inclusive Policies: Social Construction, Coercion, or Competition?

Abstract Companies evaluate LGBT policy adoption in an environment with competing and often contradictory societal institutions and ethical frames. This makes the adoption process more difficult to understand when compared to new practice diffusion in less contested settings, providing an opportunity to examine diffusion in an uncertain and varying institutional environment. Herein, we develop a policy adoption model that examines both competing and reinforcing forces. Utilizing a longitudinal dataset of LGBT policy adoption by 283 firms across 1980 firm-years between 2002 and 2014 as measured by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), we find that firms respond to coercive, social constructivist, and competitive forces for and against LGBT-inclusive work policy adoption. We find that coercive forces exercised by shareholder resolutions and competitive forces driven by industry-level policy adoption lead to firm-level policy adoption. However, other forces, such as state-level anti-marriage equality constitutional amendments, are associated with LGBT-exclusive policies. We also disaggregate the overall HRC policy data into equal employment opportunity (EEO) policy, benefits, and inclusion dimensions and find similarities and differences among our hypothesized relationships.

Competing for attention on Twitter during the 2012 and 2016 U.S. presidential debates

ABSTRACT This study explores how Presidential candidates compete for Twitter attention during a televised debate using two datasets of tweets posted during the first 2012 and 2016 U.S. Presidential debates. Using a time series analysis, we find that both debates exhibited zero-sum attention dynamics such that when one candidate gained attention, the other lost attention. However, our error correction models also revealed that the attention dynamics of Romney and Obama in 2012 produced an equilibrium that neither candidate could break from, whereas in 2016, Twitter attention to Trump overwhelmed Clinton. We therefore conclude that social media attention competition in during the 2012 U.S. presidential debate was more tightly contested compared to 2016.

Cultural capital and habitus in the field of higher education: academic and social adaptation of rural students in four elite universities in Shanghai, China

ABSTRACT Referring to Bourdieu’s three-level analysis and trio concepts, the authors offer a third-level analysis of the academic and social adaptation of 32 rural students in four elite universities in Shanghai, China. Respondents with rural habitus and cultural capital had difficulties in adapting to the field of an elite university in an urban city and were disadvantaged in making themselves a competitive portfolio. But many respondents changed habitus and acquired new cultural capital, so that they looked urbane, survived academic crises and got prepared for the labour market. Nevertheless, some were not confident of securing a well-paid professional job in competitive Shanghai, and few chose to disengage from social competition. Amid a structural explanation of social reproduction, this analysis demonstrates room for agency and possibilities for social change by addressing a characteristic of the field of higher education overlooked in many Bourdieusian analyses: the transformative nature of university education.

A Comprehensive Review on Significance of Problem-Solving Abilities in Workplace

Problem solving is the procedure of characterizing an issue, locating the source of the problems, classifying, prioritizing, as well as picking viable options for a solution, as well as implementing solutions. Problem-solving and communication skills are examples of "transversal skills," which are defined as the capacity to exchange information from one context to another (such as workplace). An analysis of policymakers' studies reveals the relevance of developing transferrable skills in determining social groups' competitiveness and creativity. Each occupation has its own set of transversal abilities that are deemed vital for the development of integrated professional, social, as well as personal profiles. Those who can solve difficulties in groups are in high demand in today's settings. The outcomes of the organization for economic cooperation and development's evaluations for collaboration problem solving were used as an initial point. This study examines the problems and solutions for developing problem-solving abilities, which are essential and crucial in the workplace, with the primary goal of advancing scientific research in the context of linking workplaces. The prospects for the future employees with good problem-solving abilities can analyze problems, determine the severity of the situation, as well as weigh the pros and cons of various solutions. Employees who receive problem-solving trainings in the workplace are able to collaborate most effectively with coworkers, clients, partners, or suppliers.

‘We will show our strength!’: the independentists’ support for group-based hierarchy to guarantee and legitimate ingroup status-enhancement (‘¡Mostraremos nuestra fuerza!’: el apoyo de los independentistas a la jerarquía basada en el grupo para garantizar y legitimar la mejora del estatus del endogrupo)

ABSTRACT We propose that support for group-based hierarchy among members of low-status or subordinate groups may be boosted by beliefs in future ingroup high status. Specifically, the more individuals believe their group may hold a higher status, the more they support hierarchical intergroup relations (i.e., high social dominance orientation; SDO), by boosting ingroup favouritism. In turn, SDO should be positively associated with collective action tendencies by increasing social competition intentions. Using samples from Catalonia (N = 152) and the Basque Country (N = 262), results showed that independence supporters’ beliefs in future ingroup status enhancement reinforced participants’ SDO, through nationalist sentiments (i.e., ingroup bias) but not through patriotism in the Catalan sample, and directly in the Basque sample. In turn, SDO increased collective actions towards independence by reinforcing individuals’ motivation to compete with the opponent dominant outgroup (Madrid region), especially in the Catalan sample. We discuss the implications of considering situational and contextual factors to better understand individuals’ support for group-based hierarchies and inequality.

How experimental competition changes ovarian gene activity in free-living birds: Implications for steroidogenesis, maternal effects, and beyond

The ovary plays an important role in mediating both a female's response to her social environment and communicating it to her developing offspring via maternal effects. Past work has focused on how ovarian hormones respond to competition, but we know little about how the broader ovarian transcriptomic landscape changes, either during or after competition, giving us a narrow perspective on how socially induced phenotypes arise. Here, we experimentally generated social competition among wild, cavity-nesting female birds (tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor), a species in which females lack a socially induced rise in circulating testosterone but they nevertheless increase allocation to eggs. After territory settlement, we reduced availability of nesting cavities, generating heightened competition; within 24 h we reversed the manipulation, causing aggressive interactions to subside. We measured ovarian transcriptomic responses at the peak of competition and 48 h later, along with date-matched controls. Network analyses indicated that competing females experienced an immediate and temporary decrease in the expression of genes involved in the early stages of steroidogenesis, and this was moderately correlated with plasma testosterone; however, two days after competition had ended, there was a marked increase in the expression of genes involved in the final stages of steroidogenesis, including HSD17B1. Gene networks related to the cell cycle, muscle performance, and extracellular matrix organization also displayed altered activity. Although the functional consequences of these findings are unclear, they shed light on socially responsive ovarian genomic mechanisms that could potentially exert lasting effects on behavior, reproduction, and maternal effects.