scholarly journals ...the idea of perfection is ridiculous but somehow there is the ideology of perfect skin... A qualitative investigation of the meaning of perfect skin for those with and without a visible difference

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Lloyd-Houldey
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Sampling Methods ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Qualitative Investigation ◽  
Ethical Approval ◽  
Skin Conditions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Level Of Agreement

This qualitative study explored the meaning of perfect skin for those with and without a visible difference. Facebook focus groups were used to collect primary data, using snowballing and opportunistic sampling methods. A heterogeneous sample of participants were recruited to ensure maximum variation (Patton, 2015), allowing the researcher to identify the most important themes across a diverse group. Participants were divided into a visible difference group (participants with skin conditions; aged 21-54; 9 women, 3 men) and a non-visible difference group (those without skin conditions; aged 18- 33; 9 women, 3 men). Once ethical approval was granted, the data was collected, and analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Four superordinate themes were identified for discussion; The importance of blending in not standing out; The appearance of the skin is the responsibility of the individual; The ideology of perfect skin; The changing importance of the skin across the lifespan. Most interesting, was the level of agreement across both groups. Future research should aim to further explore the lived experience, and stigma surrounding the skin, by including participants with an invisible difference. As well as the impact social media has on the perception of the skin.

Understanding the Experiences of Anger in the Onset and Progression of Psoriasis: A Qualitative Study Using Social Media (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Hughes ◽  
Rachael Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Psychosocial Interventions ◽  
Skin Condition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Chronic Skin ◽  
Skin Conditions ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition, which can be affected by stress. Living with psoriasis can trigger negative emotions, which may influence quality of life. OBJECTIVE This study explored the experiences of people with psoriasis with attention to the potential role of anger in the onset and progression of the chronic skin condition. METHODS Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with twelve participants (n=5 females, n=7 males) recruited online from an advert on a patient charity’s social media platforms. Data were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS Four key themes were identified: (1) ‘I get really angry with the whole situation:’ anger at the self and others, (2) the impact of anger on psoriasis: angry skin, (3) shared experiences of distress, and (4) moving past anger to affirmation. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that anger can have a perceived impact on psoriasis through contributing to sensory symptoms and unhelpful coping cycles and point to a need for enhanced treatment with more psychological support. The findings also highlight the continued stigma which exists for people living with skin conditions and how this may contribute to, and sustain, anger for those individuals. Future research could usefully focus on developing targeted psychosocial interventions to promote healthy emotional coping with psoriasis.

scholarly journals Consumer-run services research and implications for mental health care

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 410-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Segal ◽  
S. L. Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Functional Improvement ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Services Research ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Mental Health Consumers ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

Mental health consumers/survivors developed consumer-run services (CRSs) as alternatives to disempowering professionally run services that limited participant self-determination. The objective of the CRS is to promote recovery outcomes, not to cure or prevent mental illness. Recovery outcomes pave the way to a satisfying life as defined by the individual consumer despite repetitive episodes of disorder. Recovery is a way of life, which through empowerment, hope, self-efficacy, minimisation of self-stigma, and improved social integration, may offer a path to functional improvement that may lead to a better way to manage distress and minimise the impact of illness episodes. ‘Nothing about us without us’ is the defining objective of the process activity that defines self-help. It is the giving of agency to participants. Without such process there is a real question as to whether an organisation is a legitimate CRS or simply a non-governmental organisation run by a person who claims lived experience. In considering the effectiveness of CRSs, fidelity should be defined by the extent to which the organisation's process conveys agency. Unidirectional helping often does for people what they can do for themselves, stealing agency. The consequence of the lack of fidelity in CRSs to the origins of the self-help movement has been a general finding in multisite studies of no or little difference in outcomes attributable to the consumer service. This, from the perspective of the research summarised herein, results in the mixing of programmatic efforts, some of which enhance outcomes as they are true mutual assistance programmes and some of which degrade outcomes as they are unidirectional, hierarchical, staff-directed helping efforts making false claims to providing agency. The later CRS interventions may provoke disappointment and additional failure. The indiscriminate combining of studies produces the average: no effect.

Self-Management of Arthritis

2017 ◽  
pp. 171-196
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Brooks ◽  
Kanako Iwanaga ◽  
Fong Chan
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Counseling Services ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

Arthritis is ranked among the top causes of disability in the United States and worldwide. Despite recent improvements in medications and medical treatment, there is no known cure for arthritis. Providing evidence-based psychoeducation and counseling services to people with arthritis lessens the impact of pain-related symptoms and disability on the individual and society. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the most common arthritic conditions, co-occurring physical conditions, and psychosocial factors associated with arthritis. Barriers to self-management and existing self-management programs are also discussed along with the current state of scientific evidence. The chapter concludes with some questions for future research.

scholarly journals Poverty and Prosperity: Impact on Livelihood Assets of Billion Trees Afforestation Program in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 916
Author(s):  
Rauf ◽  
Khan ◽  
Shah ◽  
Zada ◽  
Malik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ◽  
Livelihood Assets ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Afforestation Program

In this study, we assessed the impact of the Billion Trees Afforestation Program (BTAP) on the livelihood of local household in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK). BTAP is the largest ban-logging afforestation program in Pakistan, which aims to conserve natural forests, promoting rural livelihoods and reducing poverty. Primary data from 360 local inhabitants were collected and analyzed using descriptive and econometric methodologies that include ordered logit model and ordinary least squares (OLS) respectively. In specific, a wealth index, household income, and five assets of sustainable livelihood have been considered to measure the impact of BTAP. We found that there is a strong and positive contribution of BTAP to the improvement of a rural community’s livelihood. Results showed that BTAP based households earn 4% more income and possess around 35% more assets. These findings suggest that BTAP has considerable effect on increase in livelihood assets. This study continues the discussion with several practical implications of this along with recommendations for future research.

Researching Telework

2000 ◽  
pp. 255-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole B. Ellison
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
Home Based ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

This chapter examines the state of the art in telework research. The author reviews the most central scholarly literature examining the phenomenon of telework (also called home-based work or telecommuting) and develops a framework for organizing this body of work. She organizes previous research on telework into six major thematic concerns relating to the definition, measurement, and scope of telework; management of teleworkers; travel-related impacts of telework; organizational culture and employee isolation; boundaries between “home” and “work” and the impact of telework on the individual and the family. Areas for future research are suggested.

Exploring entrepreneurial orientation and intentions among technical university students

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 718-736
Author(s):  
Swagatika Sahoo ◽  
Rajeev Kumar Panda
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intentions ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of the contextual antecedents on the individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) of university graduates, which, in turn, affects their entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected in the form of 510 valid responses from engineering students across two technical universities in India, through a structured questionnaire consisting of scales adapted from the extant literature, and the data were empirically validated in this study. The reliability and validity measures of the constructs were validated through the confirmatory factor analysis, and the proposed hypotheses were validated using structural equation modelling. Findings The results of this empirical analysis validate that the contextual antecedents have a significant positive impact on students’ entrepreneurial orientation (EO), which, in turn, has a significant positive influence on EIs. Research limitations/implications This analysis depicts the significance of EO as a perceptual driver at the individual level and substantiates that the availability of resources such as startup capital, access to business information, social networks and supportive university context significantly affects the decision-making process of an individual to venture into an otherwise uncertain occupation of entrepreneurship. Practical implications The study has the likely potential to help university administrators and policymakers to allocate resources, develop strategies and provide effective entrepreneurial learning in entrepreneurship-oriented courses aimed at honing entrepreneurial skills and self-confidence of the university students. This holistic model can be used as a tool for resource planning and prioritising in order to provide the desired contextual support essential for fostering the IEO of the university students towards adopting entrepreneurial career, thereby assisting them to achieve their career goals and the broader objective of nation-building. Originality/value This study adopts an innovative approach to empirically validate the EO construct at the individual level, which has been studied at the organisation (firm) level till today. This research explores the relevant contextual antecedents and analyses their impact on IEO as well as the explanatory capacity of IEO to explain students’ EIs in the contextual backdrop of universities in a fast transitioning economy like India.

Waiting in organisations

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 587-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Consumer Behaviour ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Employee Experience ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
Shed Light

Waiting is a pervasive feature of organisational life and, as such, is likely to be important for a range of individual and organisational outcomes. Although extant research has shed light on the waiting experiences of diverse groups such as those suffering from illness, waiting in detention centres or queuing, there have been no previous attempts to theorise waiting specifically from the perspective of the employee. To address this gap, we draw on theories of temporality and waiting in fields such as consumer behaviour as well as the wider social sciences to develop the notion of ‘situated waiting’ which uncovers the complexity of the lived experience of waiting from the perspective of the employee. This experience is associated with factors at the level of the individual, the wait itself, and the broader waiting context. We outline the implications for future research on this hitherto hidden domain of the employee experience.

scholarly journals Contradictory yet Coherent? Inconsistency in Performance Feedback and R&D Investment Change

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 658-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardus J. M. Lucas ◽  
Joris Knoben ◽  
Marius T. H. Meeus
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Feedback Signal ◽  
Opposite Case ◽  
Theoretical Mechanism ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

In this paper, we study to what extent inconsistent feedback signals about performance affect firm adaptive behavior in terms of changes made to research-and-development (R&D) investments. We argue that inconsistency in performance feedback—based on discrepancies between two distinct performance signals—affects the degree to which such investments will be changed. Our aim is to show that accounting for inconsistent performance feedback is necessary as predictions for the direction of change in R&D investments based on the individual performance feedback signals are contradictory. Furthermore, we contribute by proposing a holistic consideration mechanism as an alternative to the selective attention mechanism previously applied to inconsistent performance feedback. Our findings show that the impact of inconsistency depends on the exact configuration of the underlying performance feedback signal discrepancies. While consistently negative performance feedback signals would amplify their impact in stimulating increased R&D investments, inconsistent performance feedback signals created more nuanced effects. Having lower performance compared to an industry-based peer group—despite doing well compared to the previous year—made firms decrease their R&D investments. For the opposite case of inconsistent performance feedback, we did not find an effect on change in R&D investments. These findings support to a degree our contention that explaining the effects of inconsistent performance feedback requires a holistic consideration theoretical mechanism instead of one involving selective attention. In sum, these findings suggest future research should take into account the differences between distinct instances of inconsistent performance feedback.

An alternative model of self-service retail technology adoption

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 406-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arun Kumar Kaushik ◽  
Zillur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Consumer Adoption ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Intention To Adopt ◽  
Self Service ◽  
Acceptance Model ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This study aims to extend and revise the basic technology acceptance model (TAM) by analyzing the impact of trust and subjective norm (SN) on consumers’ attitude and behavioral intention toward adopting self-service technologies (SSTs) in offline retail environments. Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were collected through field and online surveys, resulting in 651 usable responses. Hypotheses involving all variables of extended TAM, and their mutual relationships, are examined in this study of offline consumer adoption behavior. Findings – The findings reveal that trust significantly affects both consumers’ attitudes and their behavioral intentions, while SN also affects intention to adopt. It is recommended that future researchers use a more comprehensive version of TAM and consider trust and SN when analyzing offline consumer adoption behavior. Research limitations/implications – All the SSTs included in this paper belong to the retail industry, which limit the generalizability of the findings to other industries. Many other limitations are also discussed. Practical implications – The practicality of our findings guides managers and designers of technological interfaces. Furthermore, the practical implications are discussed and directions for future research are also provided. Social implications – This study recommends the usage of numerous SSTs in organized retail stores. The society will also benefit from the effective implementation of such SSTs. Originality/value – Trust and SNs have been incorporated as two additional variables to analyze offline adoption behavior of retail customers. This has not been done before, as most studies have focused on adoption behavior of customers in online environments.

scholarly journals Transcriptome Analysis of Four Arabidopsis thaliana Mediator Tail Mutants Reveals Overlapping and Unique Functions in Gene Regulation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney L. Dolan ◽  
Clint Chapple
Keyword(s):  
Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽  
Global Gene Expression ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Biotic And Abiotic Stress ◽  
Expression Of Genes ◽  
Structural Relationships ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTThe Mediator complex is a central component of transcriptional regulation in Eukaryotes. The complex is structurally divided into four modules known as the head, middle, tail and kinase modules, and in Arabidopsis thaliana, comprises 28-34 subunits. Here, we explore the functions of four Arabidopsis Mediator tail subunits, MED2, MED5a/b, MED16, and MED23, by comparing the impact of mutations in each on the Arabidopsis transcriptome. We find that these subunits affect both unique and overlapping sets of genes, providing insight into the functional and structural relationships between them. The mutants primarily exhibit changes in the expression of genes related to biotic and abiotic stress. We find evidence for a tissue specific role for MED23, as well as in the production of alternative transcripts. Together, our data help disentangle the individual contributions of these MED subunits to global gene expression and suggest new avenues for future research into their functions.

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