Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the willingness to sacrifice for the environment: The Austrian case

Previous analyses of environmentally conscious intentions showed that the willingness to sacrifice for the environment decreased during the COVID-19 crisis in Austria. There is a large body of empirical research and theoretical models dealing with the explanation of environmental behavior, but these explanations have always been considered in the context of a pandemic-free society. The aim of this research note is therefore to consider the willingness to sacrifice in a crisis period. The data used for the analyses is the Austrian part of the international ‘Values in Crisis’ survey. For this purpose, more than 2000 individuals were surveyed online about their values, social orientations and their current life situation during the first COVID-19 wave (May 2020). Blockwise regression models are used to examine the influence of crisis perceptions, environmental attitudes and values on the willingness to sacrifice for the environment. The analyses show a relatively strong influence of environmental attitudes and values, but also additional effects of concerns about the COVID-19 crisis and especially its economic impact.

Social norms (not threat) mediate willingness to sacrifice in individuals fused with the nation

Identity fusion with the community has been previously found to mediate altruism in post-disaster settings. However, whether this altruistic response is specifically triggered by ingroup threat, or whether it can also be triggered by global threats remains unclear. We evaluated willingness to sacrifice in the context of the covid-19 pandemic across three surveys waves. Against expectations, participants fused with the nation (vs. non-fused) did not differentially respond to a national vs. global threat condition. Conversely, social norms decisively influenced willingness to sacrifice in this sample, with fused individuals with stronger norms about social distancing reporting the highest altruistic response during the first weeks of the pandemic. Longitudinally, after an initial peak in the altruistic response, deteriorating social norms mediated decreases in willingness to sacrifice in individuals fused with the nation (versus non-fused). Implications of these results for the development of interventions aimed to address global challenges are discussed.

The Urgency of State Defense in Enacting Leadership

UPN “Veteran” Jakarta is a university that has fulfilled the requirements on consideration of becoming a state-owned university as proposed by the Ministry of Culture and Education. Out of three considerations for the conversion of private university to a state university, the UPN “Veteran” Jakarta has fulfilled two considerations. Which is that the UPN “Veteran” Jakarta has something novel that can’t be offered by any other universities as the university based on state defense ideas. State defense is an effort by every citizen in defending its nation, where it’s realized in form of patriotism and willingness to sacrifice. Leadership in general terms are the ability or the capability to influence others in order to achieve a certain goal. It is a trait innate in every leader which constituted of: personality, capability, and willingness. Leadership is a sequence of activities done by the leader that can’t be separated from its position, style, and the attitude of said leader. As well as their interaction with the followers and the situation related to. Based on the stated background our team will resume the research by exploring further how urgent it is the value of state defense in enacting the leadership role.

Approximate Measurement Invariance of Willingness to Sacrifice for the Environment Across 30 Countries: The Importance of Prior Distributions and Their Visualization

Nationwide opinions and international attitudes toward climate and environmental change are receiving increasing attention in both scientific and political communities. An often used way to measure these attitudes is by large-scale social surveys. However, the assumption for a valid country comparison, measurement invariance, is often not met, especially when a large number of countries are being compared. This makes a ranking of countries by the mean of a latent variable potentially unstable, and may lead to untrustworthy conclusions. Recently, more liberal approaches to assessing measurement invariance have been proposed, such as the alignment method in combination with Bayesian approximate measurement invariance. However, the effect of prior variances on the assessment procedure and substantive conclusions is often not well understood. In this article, we tested for measurement invariance of the latent variable “willingness to sacrifice for the environment” using Maximum Likelihood Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Bayesian approximate measurement invariance, both with and without alignment optimization. For the Bayesian models, we used multiple priors to assess the impact on the rank order stability of countries. The results are visualized in such a way that the effect of different prior variances and models on group means and rankings becomes clear. We show that even when models appear to be a good fit to the data, there might still be an unwanted impact on the rank ordering of countries. From the results, we can conclude that people in Switzerland and South Korea are most motivated to sacrifice for the environment, while people in Latvia are less motivated to sacrifice for the environment.

ANALYZING THE CONTENT OF HISTORY MATERIALS IN THE 2013 CURRICULUM INTEGRATED THEMATIC BOOK FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS (SD/MI)

The content of history materials should not be ignored in learning at elementary schools. However, in reality, history has always been regarded as a second-level lesson that is not very important. One of the causes is the teacher's ignorance of the educational values contained in the content of history materias. This study aimed to analyze history content in SD/MI thematic books. The object of this study was the 2013 curriculum integrated thematic book revised edition of 2017/2018. The method in this study was content analysis. The values found in the content of history materials at elementary schools included educational, instructive, recreational, and inspirational values. These values were contained in theme 5 “my hero” at grade IV, theme 7 “events in life” at grade V, and theme 3 “figures and inventions” at grade VI. In addition,, several character values were also found including heroism, nationalism, cooperation, unyielding, vigilant, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of people. This study demonstrated the benefits of studying history for students. The 2013 curriculum integrated thematic book was very suitable to be used as a medium in studying history material at elementary school.

Spirit of Balinese Local Heroes Transformed into Puppets Show on YouTube as ELT Media for Building Students' Character

Balinese Local Heroes should be role models for all children around Bali. The spirit of the heroes is full of positive characters. Those characters are essential in building a good personality in every single kid. This study aims to analyze Balinese local heroes' effect into puppets show on Youtube as ELT media for building students' character. The research was designed as a qualitative study. The data taken from the observed interaction at the puppets showed on YouTube that students watched. The obtained data were students' and parent's data interviews and questionnaires. The study results showed that Balinese Local Heroes' spirit transformed into puppet shows on YouTube affected students accurately because the media was engaging. Some character values were affected, willingness to sacrifice, bravery, defense of truth and justice, noble, responsible, and patriotic. The social function of all of the values was essential. The values transformed into a positive attitude in social life. The student became a good helper to the people who need help. They clean the environment without any intention and have a responsibility to do their duty as a student.

External Image as a Geopolitical contour of the National Idea of Russia

Taking into account the historical features of the development of the Russian statehood, the article considers the importance of having a national idea that could spiritually unite the numerous peoples and nationalities of our country. Today, many proposals are put forward on this occasion, among which there is the idea of patriotism — a sense of love for the Motherland, a willingness to sacrifice for it. However, in this capacity, according to many experts, the feeling can not be a national idea, as a driving force in the development of society; it can only be a necessary and obligatory condition for this movement and its development. Using historical examples, the author shows that the national idea cannot exist without the state ideology — a kind of soul of the nation, the value and ideological basis of society, which forms the meaning of the existence of the state and its citizens. It is the state ideology that should form the basis of the national idea and include a whole system of unifying ideals and values that derive from the entire history and culture of the country. Since today the solution of the problem of searching for a national idea largely depends on the attitude to our country abroad, the article suggests using the external image of the country as a living, visual representation of the characteristics of a particular state in the historical, military, demographic, economic, political, recreational, tourist, etc. spheres as the geopolitical contour of the national idea. In this regard, the main directions and performers of the implementation of this proposal are specified.

Filling the Empty: An Unnoticed Pun in James 2.20-23

The style of James’s epistle receives much acclaim. Among other techniques like alliteration and rhythm, James enjoys a play on words. I propose that James puns on the concept of “filling” with three words in Jas 2.20-23: κενέ (“empty,” v. 20), ἐτελειώϑη (“be complete,” v. 22), and ἐπληρώϑη (“be fulfilled,” v. 23), to the effect that an “empty” person is told to learn from the “filled out” faith of Abraham whose willingness to sacrifice Isaac “fulfilled” the earlier pronouncement about his righteousness. This suggestion builds on discussions concerning the relationship between vv. 20, 22, and vv. 22-23. It also draws out often neglected connotations of τελειόω. This wordplay fits into a wider “completion” theme in James and may even have been picked up by the Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache.