Personality, Group Thinking and Cohesiveness as Predictor of Criminal Behavior among Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of Group thinking, cohesiveness and Personality characteristics as predictors of Criminal Behaviour. The population comprises of Three Hundred (300) students through stratified sampling technique from institutions in Ekiti State was used. A questionnaire was designed using a descriptive research design for data collection. The data was collected using questionnaire. Three hypotheses were tested in total and they are: there will be a significant relationship between group thinking, cohesiveness, personality characteristics and criminal behavior; Personality Characteristics will significantly predict criminal behavior; Group thinking and cohesiveness will have main and interaction influence on criminal behaviour; the first hypothesis was tested using regression analysis and found that there is a positive and significant relationship between criminal behaviour and group thinking with r = .194, p<0.05 and there is a negative but significant relationship between personality characteristics and group cohesiveness with r = -.123, p<0.05. the second hypothesid was tested using linear regression analysis and found that that F (299) = .000, p > 0.05 significant level and the hypothesis rejected. The thirds hypothesis was tested using one way ANOVA analysis showed that group thinking has an influence on criminal behaviour among adolescents, F(299) = 5.768, p<0.05, group cohesiveness does not have a significant influence on criminal behaviour of adolescents, F(299) = 2.124, p>0.05. the results were discussed in line with relevant empirical literature, conclusion and recommendation. The study concluded that group thinking is a major predictor of criminal behaviour among adolescents, while group cohesiveness and personality characteristics do not influence criminal behaviour among adolescents. It was recommended that there is need of adequate sensitization of adolescents on the negative consequences criminal behavior and how it can affect their future if not curtailed, Government should organize empowerment for the youth, so that it can reduce criminal act and the government introduces or organize seminar to the adolescents, to teach them how to behave in the society.

The Decision-Making Process and the Construction of Online Sociality through the Digital Storytelling Methodology

Digital storytelling (DST) is a teaching methodology (and tool) that is very widespread in different types of training: formal and informal, professional, and for adults. Presently, education is evolving and moving towards digital storytelling, starting from the models of Lambert and Olher. Today, although DST is usually used in the training that students receive for narrative learning, experimentation on the psychological and social consequences of this online teaching practice is still scarce. The literature acknowledges the widespread use of DST online, from psychology to communication and from marketing to training, providing Lambert’s and Olher’s models as references. Thus, the purpose of experimentation in this subject has been to try to mix these two models by selecting the phases of the model that focus most on creativity and narrative writing. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the experimentation conducted in the initial training of teachers to monitor the processes of negotiating content, making decisions and building a group atmosphere through the use of a narrative technique in an educational context. The sample was offered comprehension activities on narrative categories, creativity and autobiographical writing. The process in the group choice phase (negotiation) of the story was monitored through a questionnaire that includes three scales (the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire, Organisational Attitude, and Negotiations Self-Assessment Inventory). The study concluded that the standardised planning of activities that, to a greater degree of depth, promote participation and emotional involvement allows the creation of strong group thinking and affects the decision-making and negotiation processes of the activities being carried out by the participants.

Public Opinion Polling in Mid-Century British Literature

Whereas modernist writers lauded the consecrated realm of subjective interiority, mid-century writers were engrossed by the materialization of the collective mind. An obsession with group thinking was fueled by the establishment of academic sociology and the ubiquitous infiltration of public opinion research into a bevy of cultural and governmental institutions. As authors witnessed the materialization of the once-opaque realm of public consciousness for the first time, their writings imagined the potentialities of such technologies for the body politic. Polling opened new horizons for mass politics. Public Opinion Polling in Mid-Century British Literature: The Psychographic Turn traces this most crucial period of group psychology’s evolution—the mid-century—when “psychography,” a term originating in Victorian spiritualism, transformed into a scientific praxis. The imbrication of British writers within a growing institutionalized public opinion infrastructure bolstered an aesthetic turn towards collectivity and an interest in the political ramifications of meta-psychological discourse. Examining works by H.G. Wells, Evelyn Waugh, Val Gielgud, Olaf Stapledon, Virginia Woolf, Naomi Mitchison, Celia Fremlin, Cecil Day-Lewis, and Elizabeth Bowen, this book utilizes extensive archival research to trace the embeddedness of writers within public opinion institutions, providing a new explanation for the new “material” turn so often associated with interwar writing.

Meeting and Missing Minds: Children and Adults Use Alignment of Intuitions to Solve Pure Coordination Games

In pure coordination games players seek to coordinate responses with one another without communicating. Without a logically correct response, success depends upon players intuiting a response that is mutually obvious. Previous work suggests that such coordination requires a distinctive form of “group” thinking and sufficient mutual knowledge, but reveals little about the basis for the intuitive judgements themselves. Here, that question was addressed for the first time by examining the basis of coordination performance of groups whose intuitions might plausibly differ: children versus adults. Twenty-five 5-year-olds, 30 7-year-olds, and 25 adults undertook four types of coordination game, and novel metrics allowed “intuitive alignment” in responses to be evaluated within- and between-groups. All groups performed above chance, and adults showed higher levels of alignment than children, but adults and children showed different patterns in their intuitions. Implications for intergenerational understanding and mis-understanding are discussed.

The universal particularism of panta ta ethne: A biblical case for the continued viability of the people group concept in mission

This article is a partial response to Lee and Park’s 2018 contribution to Missiology, “Beyond people group thinking: A critical reevaluation of unreached people groups,” and focuses on the meaning of panta ta ethne in Matthew 28:19. The author does not agree that Matthew had in mind primarily “Gentiles in distinction from Jews,” although that is indeed a common meaning of the phrase in the New Testament. Interpreting ethne as “Gentiles” obscures the dimension of particularism inherent in the way humanity is described in Scripture (as parts not just a whole). By contrast, the author submits that ethne as “nations” or “people groups” better displays this particularism of all people as they exist in diverse human groupings. The author takes a step back from Matthew 28 and first gives an overview of the way human grouping (particularism) is understood in the Old and New Testaments. He then highlights the way New Testament authors appropriated Old Testament promises related to the “nations,” showing their comprehension and continuation of that Old Testament understanding. The article then deals with the exegetical issues related to Matthew 28:19 and concludes by urging refinement of the people group concept, rather than replacement.

Why People Stand By

Bystander effect is the phenomenon that describes how, when more people are around, each individual is less likely to intervene. While the bystander effect is an integral part of studying social behaviors and group thinking, the many caveats it presents itself with must be considered. Every situation differs based on location, people, and circumstance, so the idea of the bystander effect is not valid in every scenario, as evidenced by the various counter-examples and contradictory findings researchers have discovered. However, the bystander effect is still very important to study because understanding what encourages/prevents people from helping is critical to decrease the effect of the bystander effect to promote helping behavior. In this paper, we discuss the various factors that affect the prevalence of the bystander effect: perceived physical and social harm to the helper, responsibility diffusion, and perceived helpfulness.

Diagnostic dilemma in cheek lesions in the paediatric age group: thinking beyond the expected

<p class="abstract">Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a tumour of skeletal muscle origin, is the most common soft tissue sarcoma encountered in childhood. The head and neck region is the most common site of occurrence of RMS. RMS is a highly malignant tumour with extensive local invasions and early haemorrhagic and lymphatic dissemination. Despite the advances in treatment modalities, with aggressive approaches incorporating surgery, combination chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, the outcome for children with extensive, recurrent or metastatic disease remains poor. RMS in the head and neck region can be misdiagnosed as an infective or inflammatory swelling, thereby delaying the treatment. Here, we report a case of oral RMS in a 10-year-old child and highlight the need to include sinister pathologies like RMS in the differential diagnosis when dealing with cheek swellings in the paediatric age group.</p><p class="abstract"> </p>

Interpersonal communications at core of conflicts' escalation in organization. The interplay of interpersonal communication escalation, people's habitus and psycho-sociological processes are more important than contextual factors

PurposeDevelop an integrated model to analyze conflicts at work and apply it to a case study. The core of the conceptual model is constituted by the interpersonal relationships modalities using the Palo Alto school theorization (symmetrical and complementary relations framework in people's relative positioning). This model also articulates inside this interpersonal relationships structure five other dimensions: Perception processes, Life dynamics, Habitus from Bourdieu and developed by Lahire, psychosociological processes and sociological factors (including cultural ones). We apply this model to the case study of a Community center in a French city where a serious conflict happens with the final consequence of the closure of the center.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth case study by long conversations (more than interviews) with the main protagonists of the Community center and of the conflict. These talks have been completed by secondary sources and extended review of newspaper articles.FindingsOur model revels to be pertinent to enlighten the multiple dimensions of the conflict. In particular, we show that the dynamics of interpersonal relationships is central in the conflict development and is embedded in multiple psychosociological processes (perceptions processes with deep perceptive divergences between people, personal construction of Social Identity by protagonists, group thinking, active minority construction, etc.). The sociological factors, as well of personal habitus, have an effect but are not determinants of people's behavior. People are partially conscious of the occurring phenomena but cannot be considered as omniscient, purely strategic actors.Research limitations/implications1-Application of the conceptual model is applied only on one case study. 2-More attention should be given to prospective dimension of stories and storying (antenarrative).Practical implicationsThe case analysis based on our reactional model of conflicts leads to point out several mistakes in the management of the considered organization and more precisely in the management of the conflictual relationships. Change of level 2 has been misconducted by the top manager of the Community center and we show which alternative decisions could have been made in order to avoid the burst of the conflict. More general conflict management methods can be deduced from our analysis.Originality/valueArticulation of these different concepts in an integrated model has never been previously made neither applied in a case study.

Pathogenic threat, fear, and perceived vulnerability do not predict ethnocentric orientations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

The varying trajectories of the COVID-19 pandemic in different nations present a unique opportunity to study the influences of a global stressor and local environmental pathogen levels on psychological variables, which has been proposed by theoretical frameworks such as the Parasite Model of Democratization. Previous research has postulated effects on in-group/out-group thinking: The higher the environmental pathogenic threat and the perceived vulnerability to it, the higher the ethnocentric orientation.Here, we examine participants from Austria, Poland, Spain and Czech Republic in spring 2020, as the spread of the novel coronavirus was on the rise and strict governmental measures were introduced throughout Europe. Participants were asked to fill in standardized questionnaires assessing ethnocentrism as well as questions on social interactions and fear of the virus. To investigate the relationship between ethnocentrism and these other variables, we used machine-learning models to predict ethnocentrism based on the complex interplay of interpersonal variables and environmental conditions.Our results indicate that ethnocentricity could not be predicted from these other variables, thus not supporting the hypothesis that pathogenic threat influences ethnocentric orientations. While our findings on the relation between ethnocentrism and environmental threats are not in line with previous studies, they might inspire further research on this topic during this pandemic.