Symbolic Motives Research Articles

Teachers’ motives for learning in networks: costs, rewards and community interest

Background: This paper discusses teachers’ perspectives on learning networks and their motives for participating in these networks. Although it is widely held that teachers’ learning may be developed through learning networks, not all teachers participate in such networks.Purpose: The theme of reciprocity, central to studies in the area of learning in networks, is often approached from a rational exchange perspective. This study attempts to extend this approach with reference to the concept of symbolic interactionism. The study was guided by the following research question: What is the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of learning networks and their motives for participation or non-participation in these networks?Design and methods: In order to address this research question, semi-structured interviews among 25 teachers in secondary education in the Netherlands were carried out. The semi-structured interviews consisted of three parts: background information, perspectives on learning networks and personal experiences with those networks. Data were analysed qualitatively and analyses consisted of within-case analysis, and cross-case analysis of interview fragments. Three themes were considered: (1) perspectives on learning networks, (2) motives for participation perceived as rational exchange, (3) motives for participation perceived as related to social order.Findings: The findings are presented around these three themes. Each theme is discussed in relation to relevant aspects from the literature. Findings indicated that teachers perceived learning networks to be organised both within-school and outside school, and mostly focused around specific content knowledge. Reasons for participation or non-participation were related to rational costs and rewards (such as time, technology, self-efficacy); in symbolic motives (such as joy, sharing and mutual understanding), and also in a sense of meaning that resulted from networking activities.Conclusions: We conclude that, in addition to social exchange motives, the data suggest that symbolic aspects of communication and interaction play an important role in considerations for participation in learning networks. This may be described in terms of four ‘types’ of networking teachers: the Community focused networking teacher, the Locally focused networking teacher, the Not-yet-networking teacher, and the Non-networking teacher. It is hoped that these exploratory findings could be helpful in supporting the development of learning networks for all teachers.

Work symbolic motive scale: development and validation of a measure of affective investment at work

The general aim of this paper is to propose a conceptualisation and an operational measure for affective investment and symbolic motives at work. The work-symbolic motive scale (Work-SMS) score provides a general measure of affective investment, conceived as an endowing process of gratifying qualities to the work context, sustained by the four symbolic motives of achievement, affiliation, power and autonomy. Two studies were conducted (N = 632) suggesting a final 12-item scale with a second-order factor model. Evidence for construct and convergent validity was collected and overall good internal consistency, test-retest reliability estimates and predictive validity after one month were verified.

How do motivations for commitment in online brand communities evolve? The distinction between knowledge- and entertainment-seeking motivations

The current study used the concept of motivational hierarchy to investigate how commitment is developed in online brand communities. By examining the online brand communities of two functional (Canon and Nikon) and two symbolic brands (Coca-Cola and Starbucks), the study focused on two pragmatic motives, knowledge- and entertainment-seeking motives, that served as the members’ initial drives to participate in online brand communities. The findings suggested that different initial motives followed different hierarchical routes to form commitment. Specifically, members with knowledge-seeking motives to participate in online brand communities became committed via two routes: with or without symbolic motives. On the other hand, entertainment-seeking members became committed only via the route through symbolic motives. Pragmatic and symbolic motives were connected by satisfaction, which could be seen as a proxy whether or not the pragmatic and symbolic motives were fulfilled.

Uwagi o fikcji i fantazji w nowożytnej symbolice zwierząt

In works concerning animals fiction and fantasy have marked their constant presence from the past till the present. From these perennial themes new senses and projections stem that tap freely into the reservoir of the former times. Thanks to the state of art methods and means of forming an image erstwhile fictions assume some “real” shape in virtual art. Over the centuries the phenomenon of repossessing tradition of image creation and symbolization lead to the formation in the 15 th , 16 th and 17 th centuries of a new symbolic code. Therein as a result of fascination with the manuscript by Horapollo’s Hieroglyphica discovered in 1419, believed to be an Egyptian original, in fact an Alexandrian work dating from the 5th century A. C., the old symbolism, although compiled and supplanted with new ideas, was preserved and extended in the form of the Renaissance hieroglyphs (not identical with the Egyptian ones). Not only does this article attempt to consider modern animal symbolism, but also to investigate the issue of repossessing the attainments of the predecessors by artists whose output contributed significantly to forging this tradition, namely Andrea Alciato, considered to be the originator of emblematics, the author of Emblematum liber (1531), Pierio Valeriano the author of Hieroglyphica, the compendium of symbols (1556), Cesare Ripa the author of Iconology (1593, illustrated edition 1603). Horapollo’s manuscript (published in Greek in 1505 and Latin in 1517) contributed to elevating the rank of works combining picture with a verbal commentary and inspired with this idea modern authors. Extensive symbolic motives in the works of Valerian to a significant degree provided a prescription for presenting abstract concepts by Ripa, along with Vincenzo Cartari (not mentioned in Ripa`s book), Alciati, Horapollo and a whole cohort of ancient authors. Nowadays new mythologies relating to literary, cinematographic works and computer games have come into being. They take advantage of age-old symbolic codes and create new ones. These works do deserve the privilege to be examined since they are yet another manifestation of preserving the tradition of animal symbolism.

Voice, Perceived Fairness, Agency Trust, and Acceptance of Management Decisions Among Minnesota Anglers

ABSTRACTAlthough researchers agree that public participation in natural resource decision making is critical to institutional acceptance by stakeholders and the general public, the processes to gain public perceptions of fairness, agency trust, and acceptance of management decisions are not clear. Using results from a mail survey of Minnesota resident anglers, we used structural equation modeling to examine how instrumental versus symbolic motives related to anglers’ perceptions of agency fairness, trustworthiness, and ultimately acceptance of fisheries management decisions. We applied laboratory research on relationships among procedural fairness, trust, and management acceptance, and then tested models incorporating anglers’ perceptions of voice for anglers and nonanglers in management decisions. Results suggested that trust fully mediated the relationship between procedural fairness and management acceptance. Angler perceptions of angler and nonangler voice both related to views of procedural fairness, but angler voice was more strongly related and was also significantly related to acceptance of management decisions.

REFLECTION OF THE AUTHOR'S INDIVIDUALITY OF A.I. SOLZHENITSYN IN THE MEDIA PUBLICISM OF 2000-2008

A. I. Solzhenitsyn‟s publicist works became a significant phenomenon in the information space of the beginning of the 21st century. Almost all of his publicist texts have factographical and historical features. The aim of the article is to describe the reflection of Solzhenitsyn‟ s authoring individuality in the media publicism in 2000-2008. The author's media texts are marked by the individual style identity thanks to the genre and compositional features, introduction of national archaic words, particular rhythm, alliterations, numerous symbolic images and motives. Solzhenitsyn is a master of shaping the informationalcommunicative fields. His author‟s intentionality is clearly read in the media texts. The topicality of the study is conditioned by the increased interest to the publicist works of A.I. Solzhenitsyn in newspapers and magazine editions in the beginning of the 21st century. The author of the article revealed the main features and stylistic means used by A.I. Solzhenitsyn in his texts. The main means of expressiveness in A. I. Solzhenitsyn‟ s media texts are experiments with the language, his own system of word formation and orthography. The artistic heritage of Solzhenitsyn-publicist, who created his works in the information space of the early XXIst century, is important for future generations, because it reflects a folk sense of Being and human self-consciousness.

Heart and mind in public transport: Analysis of motives, satisfaction and psychological correlates of public transportation usage in the Gdańsk–Sopot–Gdynia Tricity Agglomeration in Poland

Here, we present two studies (N=159 and N=164) conducted in the Gdańsk–Sopot–Gdynia Tricity Agglomeration in Poland in order to investigate satisfaction motives and psychological correlates of public transportation usage. In the first study, the satisfaction with public transportation is correlated with the perceived quality of life. This relationship was mediated by the dimension of place attachment labeled as “place discovered” (Lewicka, 2012). The second study concentrated on analyzing the role of individual motives in people’s decisions to use public transportation (vs. a car). Firstly, we examined possible motives for the use of public transportation. Similar to studies focused on car users, the results revealed that using public transportation fulfills both instrumental as well as affective–symbolic functions. These affective–symbolic motives correlated with all dimensions of place attachment, and with connectedness to nature, universalism and European identity as well. Finally, the consequences for social and environmental research are discussed.

Understanding Car-Buying Behavior: Psychological Determinants of Energy Efficiency and Practical Implications

Consumers' adoption of fuel-efficient vehicles is crucial to saving energy in road transport. Investigating reasons for the gap between intention and revealed behavior can contribute to more effective, faster, and less costly market penetration of efficient vehicles. We compare psychological determinants of the stated importance of fuel consumption versus determinants of actual behavior. Swiss survey data of potential new car buyers and of owners of recently purchased new vehicles were used. Car-purchase behavior is represented by four different proxies. Each differently accounts for needs and resources indicated by household type and socioeconomic status. The results indicated that intention (the stated importance of fuel consumption) is explained to a lower degree than behavior; it is mainly expressed according to an inner feeling of obligation (personal norm) and influenced by symbolic motives (to express one's self and social position through the car). For revealed purchase behavior, the evaluation of less vehicle power and smaller size and perceived behavioral control added considerable explanatory power. As the intention for the next car purchase will mostly still be rather vague, it might not be influenced yet by variables that are very close to behavior. With regard to the promotion of fuel-efficient vehicles, policy measures to influence both intention and behavior are outlined.

The adoption of sustainable innovations: Driven by symbolic and environmental motives

Critical to the environmental success of sustainable innovations is the adoption by consumers. The consensus is that instrumental shortcomings of sustainable innovations inhibit their adoption. However, we argue that the adoption of sustainable innovations does not exclusively depend on their instrumental attributes. In addition, people may be motivated to adopt sustainable innovations because of their positive environmental and symbolic attributes, that is, they benefit the environment and can be used to signal positive characteristics to oneself and others. We studied the significance of instrumental, environmental and symbolic attributes for the adoption of two sustainable innovations: electric cars (Study 1) and local renewable energy systems (Study 2), following two methods. Results showed that when asked directly, participants claimed that instrumental and environmental attributes are most important for their decision to adopt sustainable innovations, while symbolic attributes were rated as less important. Interestingly, evaluations of the symbolic and environmental attributes of sustainable innovations, but not evaluations of their instrumental attributes, predicted different indicators of adoption (i.e., interest in, the acceptability of, and intention to adopt these sustainable innovations), suggesting that the significance of symbolic motives for adopting sustainable innovations may not be recognized by consumers. Moreover, favorable evaluations of symbolic attributes particularly enhanced interest in and acceptability of sustainable innovation when participants evaluated the instrumental attributes more negatively, but not when instrumental attributes were evaluated relatively positively. This suggests that the instrumental drawbacks of sustainable innovations may sometimes strengthen their positive signal, which can promote interest in sustainable innovations.

Increasing the number of bicycle commuters

The present study confirmed that commuter cyclists take on different mode-choice behaviours depending on whether they have experienced leisure cycling prior to becoming a commuter cyclist. In a survey conducted for the present study, about 57% of the sampled commuter cyclists had experience as a leisure cyclist. The remaining individuals were inexperienced at leisure cycling. A discrete mode-choice model, which has been widely used in mode-choice studies, was applied separately for each commuter-cyclist group, based on the stated preference data with the conventional explanatory variables (i.e. individual- and alternative-specific variables). The results showed that the model for inexperienced commuter cyclists exhibited a higher goodness-of-fit compared with the experienced cyclists. In order to address the attitudinal differences between the two groups, a binary logit model was applied again to examine the factors that may cause the difference. The extra variables associated with the previous commuting mode and the current conditions of cycling to work were put into the binary logit model. In particular, seven latent factors were derived from 28 questions by using principal component analysis. Several variables, such as distance to work, previous commuting mode, sensitivity to the environment, and symbolic motives for driving a car, were statistically significant and decisive in accounting for the differences between experienced and inexperienced commuter cyclists. Therefore, it is recommended that targeting experienced cyclists would be the optimal approach to promote the use of bicycles and reduce the use of motorised vehicles. The results of the present study could also provide policy makers with valuable background information about commuter cyclists.

Psychological determinants of fuel consumption of purchased new cars

With regard to reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of road transport consumers' adoption of fuel-efficient vehicles is crucial. However, facing the ongoing trend of increasing car size and power, fuel consumption is apparently of lesser importance to most buyers. For the design of effective measures to change behavior and promote fuel-efficient cars, psychological factors should be considered. Drawing from psychological research on environmental behavior, we propose a model which integrates psychological variables to explain the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles by private consumers. This model is tested with survey data from 302 Swiss respondents whose households have bought a new car since 2002. SEM analyses confirm valence of less power and smaller size, and perceived behavioral control as direct predictors of the purchase of a fuel-efficient vehicle. Problem awareness, symbolic motives, and response efficacy influence the respective behavior indirectly via affecting the direct predictors. The design, implementation and evaluation of measures aimed at changing car choice behavior with respect to fuel consumption should account for these factors.

Motif Naga pada Hinggi Sumba Timur: Sebuah Metamorfosa Estetik

Hinggi , a traditional ikat cloth, is one of East Sumba’s foremost material culture. As a component of the East Sumbanese traditional man’s dress, hinggi is visually impressive. Its patterns display attractive motives, decorative and symbolic, that depict religious conviction, power, wealth, status, honor and gender prestige, based on local and foreign sources that comply to traditional standards of quality. Intrinsically it indicates hinggi ’s central role in social and ritual context, making it a highly prized item among the East Sumbanese, a matter that has been taken place since ancient days, and the international audience as well. Throughout its long history, the making of the hinggi came in contact with outside powers i.e. through trade, colonialism, education, and industrialization, including today’s international tourism. From a cloth that functioned to serve the internal culture of its producers, hinggi became a commodity for outsiders that consequently affected its aesthetical aspects. Hinggi ’s patterning went through changes towards new forms adjusting to external demand, especially for the past 30 years, resulting in salient differences between hinggis made for sale and those made for internal use. Significant visual changes are that of the introduction of secular designs depicting local cultural themes such as ceremonies and mock battles, conveyed in realistic expressions with smooth lines in a coinciding asymmetric configuration within a narrative set up, replacing traditional spiritual iconography which is relatively stylistic, abstract and stiff, in a diametrical symmetric setting with no expository relation. New hinggi designs principally sprung up from three main themes i.e. the papanggang, a spectacular burial ceremony carried out for personalities of high social status; the pasola, a ceremonial (in the past real) battle between opposing parties; and the palai ngandi, a folk tale about the groom’s kidnapping of his bride. The three themes are presented in numerous variations, partly in combination with traditional symbolic motives, which now play a minor role in the overall configuration, besides the many more without them. However, the new designs have no role in East Sumba’s tradition. Traditionally designed hinggis continue to exist due to their importance in the East Sumbanese internal culture.

Diffusion of Hedonic Goods: A Literature Review

The consumption of hedonic goods, such as movies or books, involves multisensory, fantasy, and emotive aspects. Hedonic products are often consumed because of symbolic motives. As experience products, hedonic goods involve a high consumption risk for consumers; furthermore, suppliers of hedonic goods face significant competition. Because of these characteristics, hedonic goods have unique diffusion patterns. To provide an overview of these patterns, this article summarizes the current state of research regarding the diffusion of hedonic goods, assesses existing proposed models, and provides guidelines regarding estimating diffusion models. Furthermore, this article explains the influences of special product characteristics on diffusion processes. Results show that flexible diffusion models outperform the well-known Bass model, although the optimal modeling approach differs according to the product. Whereas the diffusion of movies nicely fits Gamma models, the diffusion of music requires more flexible models, such as logistic hazard or mixed Weibull.

Consumer Self-monitoring, Materialism and Involvement in Fashion Clothing

This study examines the relationships between gender, age, self-monitoring, materialism, fashion clothing consumption motives and fashion clothing involvement. The study initially builds on the work of Browne and Kaldenberg (1997) and Auty and Elliott (1998) in relation to self-monitoring and involvement, however, this research uses different measures of self-monitoring and involvement. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data, resulting in 450 responses being obtained to explore the relationships between the constructs related to fashion clothing. Specifically, the model delineates the key determinants of fashion involvement and tests these relationships using Partial Least Squares (PLS). The results support the predicted relationships suggesting that the model provides a reasonable framework to understand fashion involvement. Materialism and symbolic motives were found to have a significant effect on respondents level of involvement in fashion clothing. Age and gender had differing effects on purchase decision and product involvement. However, contrary to the findings of Browne and Kaldenberg (1997) selfmonitoring was not that strongly related to both materialism and fashion clothing involvement, and self-monitoring levels did not differ by age and gender.

Materiality, symbolicity, and the rhetoric of order: “Dialectical biologism” as motive in burke

The work of Kenneth Burke has recently been critiqued for its lack of attention to the role of non‐symbolic motivation in rhetoric. However, building on a revised definition of order and using his definition of the human species as a heuristic guide, one may reconfigure Burke's contributions as a “dialectical biologism” that sets forth a system of five symbolic/material dialectics that undergird all rhetorical appeal. The potential of the system in criticism is briefly explored. The findings suggest that the most effective rhetorical strategies must integrate material and symbolic motives.

Leadership in military combat units and business organizations

Notes that the relationship between leader and led may involve four types of process ‐ transactional processes wherein the leader conducts rewarding motivational transactions with his/her people; projective processes wherein the leader serves as a “screen” for transferential projections to authority figures; attributional processes, in which the leader is the focus of attributions of order, direction and a clear path; and symbolic processes, in which the leader represents and recruits the collective symbolic motives of “worthiness” and doing “worthy things”. Argues that the combat unit is a unique organizational system in which intensive attributional and projective processes take place, processes that are much more intensive than in business organizations. These processes affect expectations with regard to the leadership role, function and images. Discusses the psychological implications of this argu

Social Hierarchy and the Death Penalty: A Social Dominance Perspective

This study examines the social factors related to use of the death penalty. In Study 1, the number of executions in each of the 50 states of the United States since 1976 was predicted from: (1) degree of social hierarchy, (2) Old Confederacy status, (3) political conservatism, (4) degree of violent crime, (5) income, (6) population size, (7) population density, (8) degree of education, (9) proportion of population which is white, and (10) proportion of whites murdered. Social hierarchy and conservatism were consistently and significantly related to use of executions. Study 2 predicted execution use in 147 countries from: (1) degree of social hierarchy, (2) number of murders, (3) size of government, (4) area, (5) education, (6) gross national product, and (7) population size. The degree of social hierarchy and number of murders were significantly related to execution use. While some of these results were predicted by the symbolic motives model or the deterrence model, it is argued that social dominance theory offers a more comprehensive explanation of the results as a whole.

The role and impact of formal strategic planning in public hospitals.

In recent years, formal strategic planning methods originally developed for private business have been increasingly adopted by health care institutions, including publicly funded hospitals. Yet, as a technocratic management process, formal planning may seem at first sight to run counter to the natural mode of strategy formation in these organizations where negotiation and mutual adjustment between powerful groups of professionals, managers and government agencies traditionally control decision-making. This article describes an exploratory study aimed at understanding how formal strategic planning has become integrated and adapted into the management practices of a group of 23 Canadian hospitals. The context, processes and impact of planning are first examined over the entire sample of hospitals (descriptive analysis), and an attempt is then made to explain different planning outcomes in terms of a variety of contextual and process design characteristics (comparative analysis). The descriptive analysis shows that in practice formal strategic planning is easily absorbed into the political process: political and symbolic motives often drive the initiation of planning, the processes themselves are highly participative and the resulting plans often reflect the difficulties of obtaining consensus on goals in these complex organizations. The comparative analysis suggests that in general, contextual factors (eg, stimuli behind planning) appear to be more significant than process design factors (eg, extent of participation) in determining outcomes. In conclusion, it is noted that the confrontation between technocratic rationality and professional bureaucracy gives rise to a number of paradoxes that make both the use and the subsequent evaluation of formal strategic planning a difficult task in these organizations.

Primitive Religious Art 1

WE have on several occasions directed attention to works by American ethnologists dealing with investigations on the meanings of the designs and patterns of aboriginal decorative art. This fruitful and interesting field of inquiry is by no means exhausted, and two papers on the subject have recently been published by the American Museum of Natural History which merit the careful attention of students. Dr. Clark Wissler has made a valuable study of the decorative art of the Sioux Indians which is a model of clear and concise expression and of adequate illustration. As he truly states, the investigation becomes psychological, because it is necessary to know what ideas the artists have of their designs, and what motives lead to their execution. The assumption that all primitive decorative designs are executed with consciousness that they symbolise some definite object or relation in nature1 is fairly supported by the facts so far accessible, but does it follow that these symbolic designs were produced by a gradual transition from the realistic representation? That some of them were so produced has been satisfactorily demonstrated; but is this the law of growth for decorative art? It appears, among the American Indians, that the more abstract the idea, the simpler and more geometric the design. On the other hand, it is obvious that a vigorous conventionalisation of representative forms must tend to reduce them all to a few simple geometric designs. In such an event, confusion as to the symbolic aspect of similar designs must arise in the minds of the artists, necessitating re-interpretation or creation of new symbols. Thus any given interpretation need have no certain relation to the origin of the design itself; indeed, the association of the symbol and the idea can be shown in some cases to be quite secondary. Amongst the Sioux there are two main kinds of decorative art—realistic painting and conventional bead- or quill-work; the former is done by the men and the latter by the women, and there is every reason for assuming that the pictographic mode.is on the whole the older. One sex has often appropriated the designs used by the other to express divergent ideas, and thus we see how even within the same tribe two or more modes of expressing symbolic motives may make simultaneous use of the same graphic designs.