A functional model explaining the dynamics of flourishing during adolescence: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

PurposeThe objectives of the study were to explore the lived experiences of adolescents for understanding the process of their flourishing and develop a functional model to explain the dynamics of flourishing during adolescence.Design/methodology/approachGuided by the qualitative approach, the authors used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore how various factors affect the process of flourishing during adolescence. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 10 adolescents to collect qualitative data.FindingsA total of eight boosters (four internal and four external) and seven barriers (five internal and two external) emerged. The results highlighted the importance of a functional model that explained the dynamics of adolescents' flourishing. Though the authors conceded that the presence of boosters and absence of barriers were instrumental in enhancing flourishing during adolescence, based on the extant literature, the authors assumed the existence and operation of other intra-individual and inter-individual factors or correlates.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, the study participants are school-going adolescents living in a supported urban family environment where expectations to study and achieve are an important cultural component. Second, the study has focussed on the participants belonging to late adolescence—a transitional phase to emerging adulthood.Practical implicationsThere are three implications of the study—theoretical (conceptualisation of a functional model), practical (construction of a new measure of flourishing) and clinical (designing intervention programmes to enhance positive living in adolescents).Originality/valueThe study has provided a deeper insight into adolescents' flourishing from insiders' perspectives using the framework of IPA and discovered and elaborated a functional model of adolescents' flourishing.

Cyprus and Sardinia at the Transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age: A Sacred Landscape Approach

In the framework of this contribution, and taking a macro-historic sacred landscapes approach, we established a comparative project analysing in parallel the development of sacred landscapes of two mega-islands, Cyprus and Sardinia, at the transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age. In both Cyprus and Sardinia, the period between the 12th and 8th centuries BC seems to have been a time when re-negotiations of individual, societal, and political identities took place, and this is clearly reflected on the construction of the sacred landscapes of the two islands. We first present our ‘landscape/macro-historic approach’; we then define the chronological horizon and the socio-historical contexts under discussion for each island, exploring at the same time how the hierarchical arrangement of ritual sites appearing at this transitional phase seems to be related with articulated social order or linked with shifting relations of power and cultural influence. Finally, we proceed to a discussion addressing the following three questions: (1) what is the relation between individual insularities and the construction of sacred landscapes on these two mega-islands?; (2) how can a ‘landscape/macro-historic approach’ assist us in better formulating microscopic approaches on both islands at the transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age?; and (3) is a comparative approach viable?

Blood Brothers: Moral Emotion, the Afro-Asian-Canadian Bloc, and South Africa’s Expulsion from the Commonwealth, 1960–1

During the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ meeting, Canada’s prime minister, John Diefenbaker, joined with his non-white partners to form an ‘Afro-Asian-Canadian bloc’ that, for all intents and purposes, expelled South Africa from the association. Drawing on American, Australian, British, Canadian, and South African documents, this article argues that Diefenbaker did so in a bid to preserve the Commonwealth to bridge global racial divides and avert a potential “race war” in the making. The Commonwealth could thus retain its integrity as an institution responsive to global South concerns and chaperon them during a transitional phase to statehood. In so doing, newly independent peoples would be rendered culturally familiar and predictable, embedding them within the liberal international order. Consequently, this study offers insight into Canadian attitudes towards African decolonization and what the Commonwealth meant to Canada beyond its strategic imperative. By examining Ottawa’s approach to apartheid from 1960 to 1961 through the intersection of race and “moral emotion,” it advances a fresh approach to conceptualizing Canadian international history.

Genetic and Epigenetic Control of Puberty

Puberty is a complex transitional phase in which reproductive capacity is achieved. There is a very wide variation in the age range of the onset of puberty, which follows a familial, ethnic, and sex pattern. The hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and several genetic, environmental, and nutritional factors play an important role in the onset of and throughout puberty. Recently, there has been significant progress in identifying factors that affect normal pubertal timing. Different studies have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that affect pubertal timing in both sexes and across ethnic groups. Single genes are implicated in both precocious and delayed puberty, and epigenetic mechanisms have been suggested to affect the development and function of the GnRH neuronal network and responsiveness of end organs. All these factors can influence normal puberty timing, precocious puberty, and delayed puberty. The objective of this review is to describe recent findings related to the genetic and epigenetic control of puberty and highlight the need to deepen the knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms of this process in the normal and abnormal context.

Boris Lissanevitch and Nepali Tourism: History Revisited

In the transitional phase of Nepal, attaining peoples’ democracy in the 1950, the tourism and hospitality sector witnessed dynamism. The isolated Nepal was on the way of opening for tourism. This paper tries to frame a picture of the era of 1950s in Nepal when commercial tourism was introduced. An overlooked pioneer, Boris Lissanevitch, who established the international-standard Royal Hotel in Kathmandu in 1954, assisted in making key changes in the progression of tourism as visa issuance, hospitality modernization, management of royal events, sightseeing activities, accomplishing inter-continental land cruise, and introduction of European vegetables and dishes. His vision of tourism as an economic sector led Nepal attaining its golden age (of tourism) thus paving the way for other tourism and hospitality enthusiasts to establish similar businesses. This paper aims at interpreting and appreciating the efforts Boris made in the development of tourism in Nepal among tourism scholars and stakeholders

Manifestations of legislative shortcomings in the Iraqi constitution

"The period of approving the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq for the year 2005 was surrounded by a state of political turmoil that usually accompanies any transitional phase that carries many political variables through the transition from a phase of dictatorial rule to a new phase bearing the features of democracy. In its approval, the lack of clarity in the political vision and the weakness of the constitutional legal culture of its authors, as well as the way in which it was approved by a popular referendum, which is voted on by yes or no, and does not allow an opportunity to discuss its articles and articles and diagnose its shortcomings. One of the shortcomings in our constitution is that it does not refer to regulating the resignation of the Prime Minister. This position has a political nature, and an administrative nature, and its occupant has the right to decide not to continue with this position and be satisfied with working in this field for any reason, and this must be in accordance with the context Organized legal, which is known as resignation., and this is what we dealt with in this research. For the purpose of researching this topic, we asked a research question that is... How can we address the legislative shortcomings that surrounded the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq for the year 2005 and related to regulating the resignation of the Prime Minister? From this research question, we derived several secondary research questions... 1- What is the limitation of legislative shortcomings? 2- What are the reasons for the legislative deficiencies in the Iraqi constitution? 3- Does the Prime Minister have the right to resign during his tenure? 4- To whom is the resignation submitted? 5- Who is the party that decides whether or not to accept the resignation? 6- What are the procedures that follow the acceptance of the resignation? By discussing these questions, we will try to reach the possibility of developing a legislative text that deals with a complete organization of the resignation of the Prime Minister, especially since the idea of ​​amending the constitution and to this day is still valid and possible, because many political, social and economic conditions in the country have changed from the time of entry into force of this constitution, which makes the idea of ​​the amendment obligatory and necessary"

Die Nativierung des Standarddeutschen

Presently, Standard German is in the process of becoming a nativized variety of German after centuries without native speakers. Over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first century, an increasing number of speakers have acquired Standard German as a first language, marking an important transitional phase in its social history. The article first discusses this from a theoretical and socio-historical perspective before providing empirical evidence for this change: Drawing on data from an apparent time study (involving 142 participants aged 20 to 90) and an experimental elicitation (from 35 kindergartners), it documents that at the present stage two typologically distinct systems can be observed in Southern Germany: Both a non-standard suprasegmental system that allows stressed syllables to be light and the Standard German system that requires stressed syllables to be heavy exist and are used simultaneously. The analyses show an ongoing shift towards the Standard German syllable system, proving that the Standard German syllable system is indeed undergoing a nativization process. The article closes with implications for language teaching, variational linguistics and the typological assessment of German that arise from these findings.

The Contrasting Effects of Education on Fertility over Time Casalguidi, 1819–1960

Education has been frequently claimed to shape demographic outcomes. Mortality, fertility, and nuptiality have all been attested to be affected to some extent by education attainment. This article investigates the effects of education on fertility over time in a rural Italian community once controlled for potential confounders. Using individual-level data drawn from various sources, the study analyzes the role of education in shaping reproductive behaviors not only during the demographic transition (1890–1960) but also in the pretransitional period (1819–59). The results highlight the contrasting effects of literacy on fertility, which passed from a positive association in the ancien régime to a negative one in the transitional phase. Educated couples were therefore forerunners in the process of fertility decline because they were not only in the position to be the most pressed to control reproduction but also because they were likely aware of reproductive mechanisms, had the knowledge of more effective birth-control methods, had the economic possibility to get them, and had the necessary capacity to use them.