Literature Reviews - November 2007

Chuang-tze：A Positive Psychologist in Ancient China

The positive psychological movement has played a more and more important role in the stage of psychology. Positive psychology emphasizes subject well-being and has three pillars: positive emotion, positive traits, and positive institutions. Chuang-tze was a notable thinker in the history of ancient China. His life career and his world outlook provide an important cue to the understanding of positive psychology. The unexhausted life force and lofty state of spirit in his thought strongly influence and attract people of later generation. Moreover, his brilliant exposition about value and value judgment is the vital source for us to excavate his theory of value. (more...)

 

Literature Reviews - August 2007

SPAARS Approach: Integrated cognitive model of emotion of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

SPAARS (Schematic, Propositional, Analogical and Associative Representational Systems) is the integrated cognitive model of emotion proposed by Power & Dalgleish (1997). In SPAARS, emotions are described as appraisal based against an individual’s goals and this makes the theory functional in nature. The theory proposes two routes for the generation of emotions, namely a direct one in which the appraisals have become automatized and the other where these are still not automatized. (more...)

 

Psyched out by numbers: Altruism and the dangers of methodolatry

Try to remember the last time you helped someone. It may have been a relative, a friend, or a stranger on the street. Helping may have been easy, or may have involved considerable effort. The question is: why did you help? Was it to benefit the other person, or to benefit yourself? ‘Of course I helped to benefit the other person’, most people would say. If this is what you think, you believe in altruism – a term coined by Comte (1851), referring to the motivation to help others without personal gain. But now, think again: could it be that you helped simply to avoid the consequences of refusing to help? (more...)

 

Literature Reviews - May 2007

THE ARCHETYPAL FEMALE IN MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION:

For decades, Carl Gustav Jung treated many thousands of patients and explored many of the world's mythologies and religions. His empirical and scholarly research led him to conclude that all humanity shares an instinct to produce images and concepts based on universal themes. These themes he termed archetypes, and the commonly shared instinct he called the Collective Unconscious. Of these many themes, two female archetypes, the anima and the mother, are explored in this two-part discussion. (more...)

 

Literature Reviews - February 2007

THE ARCHETYPAL FEMALE IN MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION: THE ANIMA AND THE MOTHER

This study explores, in two parts, two of these archetypal entities: the anima and the mother, and how they manifest as goddesses in the myths of various cultures and sometimes combine with each other. Part one describes the two archetypes, their characteristics and manifestations, and how they can be divided into three categories or realms: goddesses of the underworld, the earth, and the sky or celestial realm. It details the difference between the anima in male consciousness and the animus in female consciousness. Using a personal dream example and Jungian theory, it then demonstrates that the anima in dreams and mythology can be relevant to women as well as men. Focusing on the anima, it then explores the underworld – the myths and entities of this shadowy realm as an expression of the unconscious mind of the individual and whole cultures. Part two extends the exploration to the animas and mothers of the earth and sky, and how in these realms, the mother excels. (more...)

 

Literature Reviews - November 2006

The Benchmarking- Providing better Educational results on long term

The European Council in Lisbon in 2000 responded to the changing global challenge by announcing a comprehensive economic and social policy strategy: to become, by 2010, “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth, with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.” (Lisbon 2000). The responsibility put on European education and training systems by the institutionalization of this goal is immense. Education and training help to deliver what European citizens desire most – personal fulfillment, jobs, prosperity, greater social cohesion and a cleaner environment. Without first-rate education and training systems, a skilled, flexible workforce, a cohesive, participative society, research into high-value and technologically-advanced products, it will not be possible to achieve the Lisbon goals. (more...)

 

Literature Reviews - November 2006

Evolutionary Psychology Insights Regarding Human Sexuality

Evolutionary psychology has presented important insights about many areas, with human sexuality being one of the areas of important insights. Some contributions of evolutionary psychology to six areas are discussed here: Sexual Intercourse vs. Masturbation, Preference by Aging Males for Younger and Younger Females, Ovulation and Female Sexuality, Differences in Male and Female Jealousy, Waist to Hip Ratio, and Childhood Deprivation and Earlier Pregnancy. Also, the importance of realizing that many behaviors are unconsciously motivated is discussed. (more...)

 

The Degree of Uncertainty Avoidance Present in Croatian and American Undergraduate Students; a Comparative Analysis.

Abstract 25 years ago, Culture’s Consequences was published. This text, the result of analyzing over 116,000 surveys collected from within IBM, identified 4 cultural dimensions which would go on to become recognized as one of the most important set of cultural dimensions, and which would be replicated and expanded upon on a broad scale (Bass, 1990; Adler, 1997). Culture’s Consequences contained information from Yugoslavia, information that was later broken down according to the area in which it was collected, resulting in cultural scores for Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia (Hofstede, 1996, 2001). Since this original research was conducted in 1971, no further testing of Hofstede’s original findings has been carried out in Croatia. The research presented in this paper focused on one of Hofstede’s four dimensions in particular: uncertainty avoidance. Research was carried out which tested the degree of this dimension demonstrated by Croatian and American undergraduate students. In contrast to Hofstede’s original research, the American sample was found to be higher in uncertainty avoidance than the Croatian sample. (more...)

 

Literature Reviews - August 2006

Sexual Dysfunctions

In this paper, Sexual Dysfunctions are explained in terms of DSM-IV-TR criteria. Information about prevalence and occurrence rates is specified. Phases of sexual intercourse is explicated which enhance knowledge about disorders. Physiological factors such as reproductive life cycle, urinary track infections, diabetes, cardiopathies and drug side-effects and past and current psychological conditions are explained to assess the basis of sexual dysfunctions. Influence of variables on treatment is underlined with respect to different therapeutic tools, techniques and methods. Outcome and effectiveness research support evaluated. Lastly, important aspects in the course of therapy, elements and key concepts that would be beneficial for successful outcome are discussed. (more...)

 

Literature Reviews - May 2006

Project management - a practical approach for educational and scientific research funds

Projects are conceived and completed by people. People are at the beginning, at the end, and center of projects. They apply both implicit, tacit knowledge and established theories drawn from science and practical observation to perform both everyday actions and to innovate and solve technical problems. But we still seem to lack a coherent theoretical foundation that explains how leadership engages people fully and effectively. (more...)

 

Literature Reviews - February 2006

Mentoring – a Valuable Method of Practical Intervention in Need of Theoretical Grounding

The present study aims to give a general overview of the information on mentoring that already exists in the specialized literature. The aim of this necessary synthesis is to emphasize the acute need for its systematic research from a more subtle psychological perspective, one from which the psychology of learning should not miss. (more...)

 

Literature Reviews - November 2005

The Learning Process in Banking Organizations

We live in an organizational world. Organizations play a major and continuing role in our lives especially with the business and technology development. These organizations have different forms and become a necessary part of our society and serve many important needs. Organizational behavior is concerned with the study of people’s behavior matching an organization’s settings. It is necessary to understand interrelationships with other variables which together comprise the total organization. (more...)