Interpersonal Communication Essay

First off, let me welcome you to a brand new world of love, care family bonds and holy matrimony. My name is Stacey Lindsey, and I am going to give you an idea of interpersonal communication is going to affect your lives, and the skills/knowledge you will need in order to find yourselves together and still happy 50 years down the road. Marriage today seems, to some, to be a fly-by-night operation. I stand here today writing you to let you know that this does not have to be the case. If you two are willing to take suggestions and follow a simple set of rules based on a healthy relationship built on proper interpersonal communication, then you have a chance to find yourself happy and in love for some time to come. Communication is the keystone to any strong relationship. In order to truly understand ourselves and our loved ones, we must first understand the way that we interact in our day to day intermingling. Explain the principles and misconceptions in effective interpersonal communications. In the text book Making Connections: Understanding Interpersonal Communication (Sole,2011), we are shown that there are six basic principles at plat regarding Human communications. First, we are told that communication is symbolic. Second, we are shown that communication is shared meaning. Third, communication is shown to be a process. Fourth, the argument is made that communication is culturally determined. Fifth, we are shown that communication occurs in context. Sixth, we are told that communication is purposeful. While these principles serve to explain the basic meanings behind how communications work, there will always be a basic misconception about how and what communication is meant to be. It is important, though, to remember that a basic set of principles guides us through understanding interpersonal communication. The use of symbols is widely believed to be what makes human language unique. A symbol can be anything that conveys a meaning, and it can be written, spoken, or non-verbal. Drawings, photographs, and music can be symbolic. Even objects such as homes, automobiles, clothing, and jewelry can be symbolic (Sole, Sn. 1.3, para 2.). Human beings have a unique ability to make almost anything stand for something, giving an almost endless ability to communicate. The fact the communication is shared meaning is the driving force behind the ability to visualize stories and information through shared language and symbols of our world. Our perception will directly affect how a story is communicated, so we must see these shared meanings as abstraction. Communication is a lifelong process by which we gain knowledge and experience, with which we sharpen our communication skills. Because this is an ongoing thing, we must continually work to maintain and build on the relationship we form. Communication is culturally determined, meaning that our cultures, or the way we eat, sleep, live and understand the world, affect the way we communicate. Many white americans idealize a dispassionate and logical mode of debating and problem-solving. In mediation this is expressed in maxims such as â€Å"separate the people from the problem† and the use of caucuses to cool down emotions (Fisher and Ury, 1981). In Black and White Styles of Conflict (Kochman, 1981) it states that African Americans construe a difference in communication style differently, and that â€Å"Blacks call this constraining mode of behavior fronting, and they generally regard negatively situations in which it is necessary to front†¦ All blacks consider fronting to be a strain†. Our ability to rationalize, our willingness to work things out, and our likely hood of finding common ground with someone we disagree with is greatly affected by our culture. Communication must be understood as a context driven subject. Where, when, and how we come to communicate is going to drive how we interact with others. Things such as our physical state, our mental well being, and the emotion surrounding a subject are sure to contribute to how we appreciate a communicated subject. It is important to remember that communication is purposeful. We do not communicate simply to make noise, but instead to share meaning and connect with others. Our needs are influenced and met through interaction with the outside world. These principles of communication guide us to understand the meaning and importance of human interpersonal communications and how we can communicate properly. There are misconceptions in interpersonal communication, though. The belief that we communicate only for our own good and that we will be unable to understand the meaning behind something without the proper context is wrong. We will find our way as we need be. Identify the barriers to effective interpersonal interactions. Competence, language, perception, and information are all barriers that can get in the way of effective interpersonal interactions. Any of these four barriers can cause an issue so great that effect communication is made impossible. All four parts must be met satisfactory if clear and concise communication is to be had. An article in the periodical Supervisory Management (1991) a situation is given that shows the proper way to get past barriers of effective interaction. â€Å"In order to make certain that you cover all aspects of a subject, you must take the time beforehand to plan what you want to say. In the case of an unsatisfactory employee, for instance, it’s not enough to know that his work has been slipping. Think about when you first noticed the problem, list examples of the problem on a piece of paper, and be prepared to explain what changes in the quality of performance you are requiring. Mentally go over the employee’s work history for the past few months to see if you can determine when they occurred. Pinpoint episodes that caused problems in the employee’s performance and prepare yourself to discuss them. Put yourself in the employee’s position and anticipate how he will react to what you are saying. Then try to prepare a proper response†. (Para. 4). All four barriers are avoided using simple tools. Competence, or having the knowledge to understand the subject, is taken care of by planning what you will say. The language section is covered by the same effect by known what you will say and how you will explain your thoughts. Your personal perception is a tough barrier to breach, but by listing examples of the particular problem on a piece of paper and taking that aspect of perception our of play, you effectively move forward. Lastly, the information that has been complied in order to present a clear and concise explanation of what is needed and how it can be done will avert any issues of this becoming a barrier. Averting the barriers that get in the way of interpersonal communication in its top form is going to give you a stronger relationship and a better avenue to share and learn about each other. Not allowing these four barriers to get in the way of your communication will leave an open line of communication to share your feelings and understandings of the world with one another. Recognize how words have the power to create and affect attitudes, behavior, and perception. Words are very powerful things. By uttering just the simplest word we can bring division and even hatred into a relationship. The miscommunication of language and can lead to misunderstandings, loss of clear communications, and at times, the end of a relationship completely. This does not have to be true. Understanding that words have power, and they can create and affect attitudes, behavior, and perception is a tool that will allow you to communicate to the best of your ability by understanding the power of your language. A word has the ability to represents can create a myriad of different emotions, feelings, and reactions. By choosing to use a word in one way, we find that we have affected another persons attitude, behavior, or even their perception of us/ ourselves. I, personally, noticed at a young age that my use of certain words in certain ways brought forth great emotion in the people around me. An example of this is the word â€Å"faggot†. I have never, and do not expect to ever, had an issue with homosexuals or their personal lifestyles. My use of the word described a person who did something extremely silly that I found myself unable to understand. Certain people would react angrily to the word, while others would accept it as funny and laugh away the misunderstanding around it. Sole (2011), tells us â€Å"Negative connotations often act s triggers to derail your interpersonal communication. We all have trigger words that create an immediate emotional reaction when we hear them† (Sect. 4.1). By understanding how we interact with one another, and how our words, and not only our actions, effect those around us as well as ourselves, we stand a chance of finding away to communicate effectively. Define emotional intelligence and its role in effective interpersonal relationships. In the text of Making Connections: Interpersonal Communications (Sole, 2011), emotional intelligence is defined as â€Å"The capacity to understand, communicate, and manage emotions and feelings and to understand and respond to the feelings of others† (Glossary), Emotional intelligence plays an integral role in effective interpersonal relationships. Without the skills mentioned we may never have a true understanding of what makes our loved one tick. We, as human beings, are a complicated lot. Our emotional make up is complicated, our ways of communicating are affected by an array of outside sources, and we can be tough to keep up with sometimes. If a husband is unable to sense a change in his wife’s emotional state due to something able to connect and communicate properly in order to find out what may be bothering her, he is doomed to fine himself alone, or worse, in an unhappy relationship. The ability to understand, communicate, and manage emotions will give a husband or wife the ability to make it through life a bit easier, as life will never be easy itself. Evaluating appropriate levels of self-disclosure is satisfying to a stable relationship. The quality and quantity of marital communication and disclosure had been linked to the level of perceived satisfaction within the marriage. Self-disclosure is one type of marital communication that has been identified as a key factor in this development. Although quality communication is defined differently from study to study, most agree that happy marriages and self-disclosure go hand-in-hand. Sharing private feelings, fears, doubts and perceptions is essential to self-disclosure and allows reductions with your mate will be. Once you mutually determine that you want to establish long-term relationship, disclosure continues and over time leads to more personal topics. Permitting one’s true self to be known can be difficult, yet to build a solid rapport in marriage it is imperative. The Risk of Self- Disclosure While self-disclosure can have many positive benefits; it can be risky, and can have negative consequences, true enough. Sharing information about yourself makes you vulnerable, and van be used to take advantage of you. However, it is the only way you can learn, feel, grow and have a meaningful, successful marriage. Broadly speaking, empathy as a form of self-disclosure, gives us the ability to feel for another person, to imagine oneself in the same situation, enduring those same experiences and emotions. Empathy is also something you both will have to learn; you must have the mental flexibility to put yourself in the shoes of the other person. Effective Interpersonal communication is often based on empathy, since interpersonal communication skills refer to how we interact with each other on a personal level. Whenever two people care about each other, as you do, they use many different interpersonal communication skills. Empathy is one of the most crucial skills that we have and can use on a daily basis. Listening with empathy can help you express yourselves and feel heard, as well. Learn to improve your self-disclosure. Empathetic listening will not only give you the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes, but also provide a supportive listening environment. Neuroscientist Jean Decety, believes that empathy is even a mirrored emotion and that empathy is one of those human impulses that defy easy explanation. It gets entangled with sympathy or compassion or commiseration; it submerges into altruism. Empathy requires emotional control-the capacity to distinguish yourself from the other person, a gift invaluable to experiencing closeness in a relationship such as marriage. Describe strategies for managing interpersonal conflicts. Conflicts are sure to arise in any good, healthy relationship. Though this may seem odd, it is part of effective interpersonal communication. We must be able to discuss our feelings and needs, and at times, we have to argue about the importance of these needs or emotional situations. By listening, understanding and communicating effectively, you will find yourself in a place of understood emotions and happy campers. As a newlywed couple you must remember that life can only be as good as you make it. If you are unable to communicate effectively, you must look at the current situation and see if it is caused by personal error or a misunderstanding of how a relationship is supposed to work. If effective interpersonal communication seems to be impossible, maybe it is time to take steps towards a better understanding of what effective communication is, and maybe it is time to reexamine your relationship as it stands. To find your selves in a relationship that is healthy, open, full of free and exciting communication is the goal here. Good luck, and good night. Reference Fisher, Roger and Ury, William (1981) Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. New York: Penguin Books, 1981 Kochman, Thomas. Black and White Styles of Conflict. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. 1981 Sachs, R. (1991). Overcoming the Obstacles to Communication. Supervisory Management. Vol. 36, Iss. 7; Pg.4 (found through ProQuest at Ashford. edu) Sole, K. (2011). Making Connections: Interpersonal Communication. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Ashford Student Library ProQuest Shared Talking Styles: Herald New Last Relationships

Assignment Week 6: Sleep Deprivation, Disorders, and Drugs

Any of us if not more than some have experienced some difficulty sleeping. This can happen because of a number of things: We worry about some sort of troubling thing to come or one that has passed, or there is the all too famous insomnia, which gets the best of us from time to time. There are many times in my life that I have had trouble sleeping, whether it was from one of my three children being sick, my husband being sick, me being sick, or my mind just running from here to there which happens quite frequently.The last time I recall that I had not gotten enough sleep would have been when my middle child had to have oral surgery. I don’t really know if it was because she was going under and she hadn’t been before, if it was the fact that my little girl was going to have surgery for the first time. I tried for several hours to fall asleep, but my mind would not stay still. I finally decided to get up and try to doze off to the television, after that did not work I made some coffee and worked on my assignment. When it was time to get up my husband and my little girl I was exhausted, as if I was at work all day.I drove us to where we needed to go with no problem, but as we sat in the waiting room I dozed off for a few hours. As I woke it felt as if I had not slept as all, I was still exhausted. After the surgery was over and the care plan for her was set we left for home. I had got a huge cup of coffee from a convenience store, as I drank it I felt more tired. I slept for about 30 minutes on the way home, and when I got there I felt so awake. However, as I went in and settled down for a little bit, I felt more tired than I ever had.Unfortunately though I needed to take care of my other two children, which was a very hard task at hand, even with the help of their father. I was finally able to get to sleep that night however it was a rough start to the next day. When I am unable to get to sleep I tend to sleep more than normal, and as I wake I am dra gging all day and feel as I need more sleep. As I read chapter 14 Sleep, Dreaming, and Circadian Rhythms, I am better understanding of why my body reacts the way it does if I get too much sleep or not enough sleep.When reading about the recuperation theories of sleep it made a lot of sense to me. I believe it is reasonable that we need to sleep in order for our bodies to revitalize its self, and that at some point if we were to develop a total sleep deprivation it could result in one’s death. We do know that we are in need of some sleep, however, we are still uncertain about how much sleep we much have. It is also know that many years ago people slept much more and today a person usually sleeps anywhere from seven to nine hours of sleep.According to the circadian theories of sleep, we possess an internal timing mechanism, called a circadian clock. I fully support the belief that we are programmed or have developed a habit of sleeping at night. I believe that we choose to rest and relax not only for our health, but also because we like it so much. I believe that we experience Microsleep from time to time as well. Mucrosleeps are short periods of sleep when we shut our eyes for a few seconds either while sitting or standing. I remember while I was working I had stayed up all night, when I went to work I was completely exhausted.I had to get something out of the walk in cooler, since it was a hot day out I sat on a crate and I dozed off for just a second, and ended up jerking awake. We do not know exactly how much sleep a human should sleep and exactly why it is necessary to need sleep. There are many types of sleep disorders, one in particular would be insomnia. There is insomnia that involves disorders of getting to sleep and staying asleep and hypersomnia, which includes disorders of sleeping too much. Causes that can influence insomnia are, for example, if a person is experiencing physical pain.This could influence a person when falling asleep or stayi ng asleep. There are drugs (hypnotics) that can help a person to fall and stay asleep but they have negative effects. Prescribing benzodiazepines, like valium, have side effects as a person can develop a tolerance and might have to increase the dose of that specific drug. In addition, they are also addictive. Another insomnia disorder is called sleep apnea. A person with this disorder stops breathing during sleep, which makes him or her wake up and then go right away to sleep. This disorder is very common in older or overweight people.There is also nocturnal myoclonus (a body twitches and keeps a person awake) and restless legs syndrome. In hypersomnia, narcolepsy is the most well-known disorder. A person with this disorder complains about daytime sleepiness and falls asleep almost anywhere. Another symptom of narcolepsy is cataplexy, in which a person can lose muscle tone while being awake. This can make a person sit down suddenly or in the extreme, cause a person to drop down to t he ground. Then there is sleep paralysis (unable to move when going to sleep or awakening) and hypnagogic hallucinations (dreaming while being awake).There are drugs such as stimulants and tricyclic antidepressants that might help; however, they are very addictive and can have side effects like not wanting to eat. There is also the hormone melatonin, a natural hormone produced in the brain, which is also manufactured commercially and is associated with sleeping, but the studies are still inconsistent and debatable. (Pinel, 2011) As we know we need some sort of sleep to function normally or on a normal basis, without it we could face some pretty severe consequences. If there are problems they make medication that can help with those problems, which will allow us to sleep.

Pros and Cons of Prison Privatization Essay

Prisons are institutions that have specifically been designed to handle the members of the society who are under conviction of different crimes. The people who reside in the prisons are referred to as inmates or prisoners and the time they spend in the prisons depends on the imprisonment period. This period is dependent of the intensity of the crime committed. Once in the prisons, the inmates undergo rehabilitation, incapacitation, retribution and deterrence which are elements for considered appropriate for the provision of justice to the society. In the past, it has been the responsibility of the government to manage these institutions on behalf of the society. The increased debate on the privatization of different institutions has seen a debate being launched in regard to the privatization of prisons. This implies that the main purposes of these institutions to the society are shifting from not just maintenance of justice but also as a source of financial wealth. The new advancement is directed at allowing the straightening out of the contemporary faults that exist within the public prisons such as recidivism and overcrowding but there are some people who are opposed to this due to some possible negative results. In short, the process of privatizing the prison industry has both negative and positive effects and this paper seeks to address some of the pros and cons of this exercise. Privatization though a new concept to be applied in prison department in most of the countries across the globe, there are a few countries who used it in the past. For example during the mid 18th century, the United States government entered into a treaty with a number of private investors to manage a number of its institutions and these investors went ahead to contract inmates to some of their private enterprises as a source of labor. Some of the institutions that were contracted included ‘New York Auburn and Louisiana’ penal colonies. However, this did not last for long based on the fact that there was rampant corruption that was carried out as well as vicious resistance from other businesses who termed this as some kind of ‘unfair’ competition that was caused by these workers who were unpaid. Contemporary private prisons are however not the same as these because they operate on new models that are more promising. The Pros on the Prison Privatization Industry One of the major benefit that privatization of prisons would bring about is cost saving. The cost of crime depends upon relative increase in the rate of crime. The government in different countries spends billions of dollars every year on construction of prisons so as to be able to handle the increasing rates of crime. This is not the only cost based on the fact that guards to guard these inmates need to be recruited as well as other expenses that include; administration, food, health and education costs. It is argued by the majority of proponents of this idea that private companies can operate the prisons at a cost that is far much low than what the government uses and still maintain the quality services that are required. Some of the major reasons that these proponents give in regard the reduced cost are the elimination of bureaucracy, red tape, and the numerous laws that usually makes the costs of managing the prisons to rise in the case of public prisons. Allowing the private sector to manage these institutions will imply that some of the costs that are involved in learning the jail will not be generated from the tax payer’s contribution directly and as a result the money may be diverted to other government projects. This will facilitate better utilization of the government’s funds to develop the areas that are in serious need of development. Due to the issue of competition privatization there will be increased productivity as well as reduced waste in terms of resources. Studies have revealed that the boarding cost in the private owned prison to reduce to half that of the government owned prisons. There have been other studies some institutions saved more than twenty percent of the cost incurred in terms of the construction expenses and management costs reducing by 5-15% Sloane, 1996). The cutting down on cost is something that has been criticized heavily by the lobby groups who think that this will lead to the deteriora tion of the conditions inside these prisons. This is an economical plan that aims at giving back to the society as it serves to preserve justice to the community. According to the economic theory, the problem of financial support towards the running of the prison facilities would go down if there are more available, renting and selling prison cells, the challenges in terms of the funding and efficient allocation of prison space. Privatization of prisons is based on this factor of trying to exploit the opportunities by the introduction of factories adjacent to bars, cost reduction of the costs and give the prisoners the freedom to earn some pay as they give back to the society through the provision of labor. By this, they will be making peace with the society that they infringed some pain in the initial time through committing of crime. Though the public prisons try as much to carry out this exercise, this cannot be compared to the private sector that expresses this in a more profound manner. One way of demonstrating this is what was demonstrated in the United States sometimes ago. There was a time when there were more than one hundred private firms that with more than two thousand prisoners in the manufacturing industry. These inmates used to manufacture goods with the range of bird feeders, circuit boards, and other related equipments and from the money that was earned through this method, about 56% of it was used to cater for the room and boarding facilities, restitution of the victim, and support of the family. The process also left the inmates with some acquired skills that they could use during their re-integration process that welcomed them back to the society. Having some skills that they could use to earn a living put them in a better position in the society based on the fact that these people were liable of being treated by the community as ex-convicts that may rerun back into crime. It is also worth noting that the process of privatization may lead to some other new methods of criminal control other than the use of jail to detain people there by denying them freedom. One method can involve methods of detaining criminals within their dwelling by the use of new technology such as surveillance through small devices worn on the body such as bracelets or the electronic monitoring. It is however worth to note that such methods would cause some greater concern of the general public based on the fact that some would question whether the method would be effective in ensuring that crime is contained in the society. In short the privatization of the prison industry would have a lot of benefits as mentioned in the points that have been stated above. The financial benefits, well being of the prisoner, security gains, and answerability among other factors might be used by the proposers of this system to ensure that the majority of the prisons are privatized so as to improve this important institution that ensures the execution of justice in a given country. The concept of privatization is indeed a very bright idea that has so many advantages though the issue needs to be put under more scrutiny to be able to get to the bottom of some of the positive features that have been mentioned in this paper. This is a concept that has the potential of flourishing if given the attention it deserves to ensure that the social interests come before the urge to maximize profits by the corporations that have been contracted to set up the private institutions. It is also worth noting that each of the positive points that have been presented in favor of privatization, an equal amount of disproof as a means of counteract or frustrate this should be expected as it is the case for the public prisons. This is because in each debate regarding an issue that will touch on the welfare of the society there are those who are behind its implementation and there are those who solidly oppose such an issue; this is a good example of this kind of a topic. The Cons on the Prison Privatization Industry It is obvious that the main motive behind privatization is the profit. This is one of the major issues that can lead to a conflict of interest. It should be noted that prisons not only serve to separate the criminal from the rest of the society and give them punishment, it is also the duty and responsibility of the people in charge of the prisons to ensure that the criminals go through a rehabilitation process to ensure that that the recidivism rate is highly reduced based on the fact that it is very risky to relapse to the earlier behavior. Though the private prisons are cheaper than the public, they are not as efficient based on the fact that obtaining profits through the management of a prison would mean that rehabilitation programs, medical care, food and the hiring costs will be reduced at the expense of the welfare of the inmates. As a result, there high chances that the inmates will be underfed, experience poor living conditions, lack the rehabilitation guidance and be supervised by inexperienced and unskillful officers. James Austin who was an analyst conducted a survey in regard to the welfare of the inmates in some of these prisons and the results he obtained spoke volume of the kind of experiences that the inmates had to cope up with. One of the discoveries he made was that there was 49% more assaults on inmates by staff and 65% more assaults by inmates in the private run facilities than in the facilities that were learn by the government. This is one of factor that indicates that these private prisons are not that efficient when it comes to their performance. Another report that was conducted in England indicated that that the privatized prisons had bad scores in terms of the security and management based on the fact that there was failure in containing drugs, severe assaults and intentional criminal act ivity in the prisons. In addition, there are poor payments as well as working conditions in the private prisons as compared to the public prisons and this is the reason why there is high turnover in the public prisons as compared to the private prisons. It is also worth noting that privatization brings about lack of transparency in the prisons department. Public prisons have high degrees of transparency as compared to the private prisons. Despite having low transparency, the private prisons are also hard to legalize, scrutinize and bleaching of the contractual agreements are common and hard to detect and resolve. In short, the public prisons can be scrutinized easily by the public unlike the private prisons where public scrutiny cannot be assured due to the operation contracts that are usually confidential causing a serious failure in terms of accountability. Finally, this issue that seems to contradict the traditions that have been used for a long time by different countries in regard to the state respon sibility. There are functions that have been known for a long time to belong to the government and not to private developers since they are considered to belong to the class of the state responsibility to its citizens and one of this is the national defense. This is one thing that goes hand in hand with the protection of the public against crime and one of the major methods of doing this is the prison department and as a result, this department should be managed by the government of the particular country. Furthermore the act of administering punishment needs to be delivered by a body with high authority for it to be effective and this can only be the government towards is citizens who have indulged into criminal activities. As a result the ruthlessness of the punishment impacted by imprisonment or the denial of freedom needs to be executed by the government which is the sole representative of the society and not some individuals from the private sector. Privatization has also received some critics in regard the issue of ‘low-balling’. This is a system or a trick that played by contractors on the government. They under bid their fellow competitors with the aim of winning the tender and once they have won the tender, the costs are increased to very outrageous figures. The worst thing is that the competitors stand a chance of learning into bankruptcy, a situation that can leave the government in a positional that does not have any correctional capability. If this is introduced in the prison sector, this would mean that such an important section of the ensuring justice in the country would have some technical hitches and provision of poor facilities, a thing that would make this body loose its purpose. Despite the system having some advantages, there are a good number of disadvantages that may hinder the process of privatization in a given country. Some of the arguments presented by a section of scholars may not hold water but there are some arguments against privatization that should really be put into consideration for the sake of the welfare of the citizens who should be the first priority of any government (Sloane, 1996). Morality is a very important virtue and based on the fact that there are some aspects of privatization that undermine this value, it is a matter that needs to be deliberated deeply. It is also questionable as to whether the issue of morality and the society peer responsibility as well as the ultimate should be left to the hands of people whose major motive is to maximize profits and search of financial gains. This is an issue that makes the society to appear as if it is no longer guided by morals but rather by greed for money and opportunistic advocacy.

Why do directors need to have their duties spelled out in statute Essay

Why do directors need to have their duties spelled out in statute - Essay Example directors must promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members rather than benefiting other group’s interests, but in the same way, have to observe the interests of other groups that contribute to the success of the company such as suppliers. Enshrining the regulations as law in spelling the director’s duties, is meant to formulate a favourable corporate legal environment that offer ease of access to the corporate form, minimum interference with the company management and appropriate investor protection for the overall success of the company (Companies Act 2006, Section 170-177). Advantages The codification of directors’ duties provides a clear working ground that promotes a patent definition of their roles in ensuring that the company achieves greater heights of prosperity and growth. Right from management roles and integrating issues within the market under which the company competes the law provides that directors as trustees should act in the interest of the company’s success. They should have regard to all relevant considerations and highlighting areas of particular importance that will steer the company in heights of growth. Integrating and widening the enterprise culture is an increasing major policy that is upcoming in the United Kingdom. This however is enshrined in coming up with suitable legislation that will govern the directors of business companies in their exercise for the duties. This will help in providing a successful platform for initiatives in businesses to elevate the UK business environment into global standards and making it the best place to do business. The modernization of the company law is a significant drive to facilitate and enhance the UK business enterprises to be competitive in the entire Europe and around the world appropriate investor protection and managerial freedom Directors as Managers of the companies in the UK are expected to ensure that the proposed intervention legislation are modelled to

Multicultural Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Multicultural Society - Essay Example To begin with, I would define a multicultural society as a society with the coexistence of numerous cultures, trying to overcome racism, sexism, and other forms of cultural discrimination. At the same time, in the true democratic multicultural society different cultures should not live separately, they should communicate in the area of a culture meeting. The role of communication in a multicultural society is extremely high, because members of different societies have the only chance to understand each other through open dialog. Communication is very important for negotiations in such areas as business, education, medicine and others where definite rules should be fulfilled not depending on cultural belonging of individual. From my experience, most problems in a multicultural society arise due to lack of communication. For example, both local inhabitants and immigrants come across difficulties in the construction of a multicultural society. The greatest conflicts arise particularly in cities, because cities are where cohabitation between diverse cultural groups mostly occurs when different communities compete for material welfare. Taking all these points into consideration, I would say that the world achieves great success in building of a multicultural society, especially in developed countries.

History of Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of Planning - Essay Example (National Planning Policy Framework), housing strategy and Localism Act were introduced leading to more compliance with environmental justice, availability of government incentives for home planners and builders (Bryson & Bryson, 2004). Civil War and the subsequent industrial revolution resulted to changes in U.S settlement and other social aspects. New technologies emerged and led to growth of industries, huge cities, and escalation in industrial workers. Disparagingly, cities grew with petite planning. Choices regarding construction and land use were in the hands of builders, developers, individual landowners who were out to make huge profits and consequently left little open space for expansion. Environmental degradation upsurged while developers simply focused on economic development at the expense of the existence of a sustainable environment. By the closing of the frontier a unique American society had been created. Americans became resourceful, established strength and craggy individualism that nurtured democracy. Instead of succumbing to urban problems in the collusive cities, the poor considered moving to the west which they perceived to be safe. People started living close to nature and sanitize it of civ ilization’s corruption (Bryson & Bryson, 2004). The primeval wilderness ominously improved. Due to increased land demand, Americans planned to explore cyberspace and outer space and John F. Kennedy was committed to resolve the planning issues facing Americans while leaders such as Chief Joseph, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and Geronimo strived to resist such changes. Cases over the best planning and utilization of land have always existed. For instance, in the case of Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co, Euclid formulated a zoning ordinance that divided the land into sections that were to be used for particular purposes (Bryson & Bryson, 2004). While Euclid had the right to control and use the property, it violated Ambler’s 14th Amendment provision

Nativism and Immigration Restriction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nativism and Immigration Restriction - Essay Example However, the year 1882 would become a turning point in our nation's history with the passage of the federal Chinese Exclusion Act that prohibited immigration based on race and ethnicity. The next four decades would continue to affect the country's perception of immigration and would culminate with the passage of the National Origins Act in 1924. Our national views and policies towards immigration continue to be shaped by the nationalism, fears, and nativism that were spawned in California over a century ago. By the middle of the 19th century the residents of California were openly expressing their resistance to Chinese immigrants and these feelings were being exhibited through worker demonstrations and violent outrages. Advocates of the open door policy clashed with anti-immigrant forces over immigration policy for one of the first times in our nation's history. The working men in California had begun to believe that the immigrant Chinese were taking jobs from them and suppressing wages. By 1876, the Chinese were working in gold mines, manufacturing, and in agriculture. A New York Times article of the era contends that, "In all these vocations, as a rule, they [the Chinese] work for lower wages than are usually paid to white men."1 The outward displays of discrimination against the Chinese workers would often force them out of the white dominated workplace and into lower paid occupations. Because there was a shortage of women in California at this time the Chinese men often turned to be coming domestic servants, cooks, housekeepers, or laundry attendants.2 This forced the Chinese workers into the lower wage positions and fulfilled the perception that they were willing to work for less money. The Chinese were also the subject of intense racism in the press and in the public debates over the employment issue. These emotions prompted the federal government to consider passing the Chinese Exclusion Act, which would ban Chinese immigration and prevent Chinese workers from attaining citizenship. A newspaper of the era argued that the white worker should "be excused if he is impatient with the competition of a laborer who lives on the cheapest food, lives in a dry goods box, has no more interest in the State than a bird of the air, and returns to his own land as soon as he accumulates a little money."3 Though these were the prevailing attitudes toward the Chinese, there was a small oppositional viewpoint. As the Chinese Exclusion Act was being debated nationally, the merchants and businessmen warned of taking such extreme action aimed at a single country and race. Their interest was in increasing trade with China that was just beginning to open up to American products. The merc hants warned, "The Chinese government would be perfectly justified in retaliating upon us, if we commit such a base act of international treachery as that contemplated by this act."4 The issue that had begun as a labor dispute in California had risen to the level of a national debate as Congress considered the Act. In the emotionally charged political debate, the voice of reason and truth was often obscured by the polarization of emotions. Professor Wells Williams of Yale College, a leading Social Scientist of the period, published a paper in 1879 after studying Chinese immigrati

Marketing Communications Models and Their Application to Adidas Research Paper

Marketing Communications Models and Their Application to Adidas - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that Adidas Company deals with sports shoes and clothing. It is a maker and a designer of sports ware. The company has its headquarters in Germany.   The company’s acquisition of Reebok was fundamental for its operations. This is because the acquisition gave the company a competitive advantage. The company managed to acquire a considerable market share. The company is responsible for the sale of products used in a variety of sporting activities including cricket, basketball, football and other activities. The products offered by the corporation are availed in all countries of the globe. The company employs strategic marketing, with an objective of improving the brand strength, acquiring a competitive advantage and raising its performance in terms of finances. The subsidiaries in other countries receive management information from the headquarters in Germany. Statistics on sports apparel usage indicate a possibility of an increase i n sports equipment market value. From 2008 to present, the market value has been rising, an implication that Adidas can benefit from the market growth by attracting customers through appropriate marketing plans. Situation analysis involves the analysis of the company by considering political, economic, social and technological factors. The analysis takes into account both the strengths plus weaknesses of Adidas. One of the current strengths of the company is the political stability that exists in the United Kingdom. This enables the company to performs well as the political environment plays a significant role in business operations. Political challenges that Adidas might face is the influence of regime policies on the purchase of goods. The company is subject to both the challenges and strengths that relate its economic environment. The company has already established a strong economic base thus; it is possible to maintain its status through adequate strategic management. Adidas en counters challenges in cases of unstable interest rates likely to result in inflation. The company benefits from the high population that exists in towns.

PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY PAPER Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY - Research Paper Example Therefore, this basis directs the thesis that the church as an organization evolution today is deviating from the core purpose and failing as the expectation of Christ would be2. The organization structures, the leadership and pastors’ role in the church, in addition to the family involvements, and challenges in the ministry are causes to the deviation evident today. The ultimate calling of the pastor originates from their intimacy with Jesus Christ, the spirit and the Father. To the pastor, their source of joy, faithfulness and fruitfulness draws from their obedience in Lord Jesus Christ. The exemplary leadership of Jesus to the church remains he mentor to the establishments of pastors’ foundations. Christ in his leadership example, teachings and living, he commanded respect from his foundation of taking the yoke and doing the will of the father3. Therefore, this realistic example of leadership is what defines the expectation of the role of pastor in leading the congregation. The ministry philosophy edges from the commandment of love, in which Christ showed his example by taking the yoke of the sinners because he loved them. When the pastor accepts the responsibility to the call, to lead people, they acknowledge the expectation to take the yoke of the people, and live in ramification of the love Christ4. Therefore, a pastor’s life is more that what we see on every Sunday morning at the cathedral gatherings. For a pastor, the ability to see beyond the personal needs and expectations of oneself and into the heart of others develops a Christ-like image within the pastor. Therefore, to achieve a successful relationship with Christ, and live an exemplary life imitating the imagery of Christ, love must abide within the heart of a pastor. It is a choice that pastors must make, to love and help others as they lead them. When a person accepts the calling to pastor, he gives the

Integer Programming Problem Formulation Essay Example for Free

Integer Programming Problem Formulation Essay This approach is advantageous compared to SVMs with Gaussian kernels in that it provides a natural construction of kernel matrices and it directly minimizes the number of basis functions. Traditional approaches for data classi? cation , that are based on partitioning the data sets into two groups, perform poorly for multi-class data classi? ca- tion problems. The proposed approach is based on the use of hyper-boxes for de? ning boundaries of the classes that include all or some of the points in that set. A mixed-integer programming model is developed  ¤Computer Scientist, Defence RD Org. , Min of Defence, Delhi-110054. email:[emailprotected] drdo. in, dhamija. [emailprotected] com, a k [emailprotected] com. Home- page:www. geocities. com/a k dhamija/ for representing existence of hyper-boxes and their boundaries. In addition, the relationships among the discrete decisions in the model are represented using propositional logic and then converted to their equivalent integer constraints using Boolean algebra. Image Contrast Enhancement and Image Recon- struction are being used for extracting knowledge from satellite images of the battle? ld or other terrains. This method has already been described in LP problem formulation in I semester assignment. Keywords: Integer linear Programming ,Pattern Classi? cation ,Multi Class data classi? cation , Image Reconstruction ,radial basis function (RBF) classi? ers , sigmoid function , SVM , Kernel and propositional logic 1 Pattern Classification Via Integer linear Programming Given the space in which objects to be classi? ed are represented, a classi? er partitions the space into dis- joint regions and associates them with di ®erent classes. If the underlying distribution is known, an optimal artition of the space can be obtained according to the Bayes decision rule. In practice, however, the underlying distribution is rarely known, and a learning algorithm has to generate a partition that is close to the optimal partition from the training data. The RCE network (1) is a learning algorithm that constructs a set of regions, e. g. , spheres, to represent each pattern class. It is easy to see that, with only a few spheres, there is a great chance that the training error will be high. With an excessively large number of spheres, however, the training error can be reduced, but at the expense of over? ting the data and degrading the performance on future data. Similar problems also exist in the radial basis function (RBF) networks and multi-layer sigmoid function networks. Therefore, a good learning algorithm has to strike a delicate balance between the training error and the complexity of the model. Existing Methods Used Various existing methods like Simulated Annealing , Neural Networks , Genetic algorithms and other classi- ?cation methods of supervised as well as unsupervised learning are being used. 1. 2 Proposed Method : ILP Problem Formulation Given a set of training examples, the minimum sphere overing approach seeks to construct a minimum num- ber of spheres (3) to cover the training examples cor- rectly. Let us denote the set of training examples by D = f(x1; y1); :::; (xn; yn)g where xi 2 Rd and yi 2 f? 1; 1g: For notational simplicity, we only consider the binary classi? cation problem. The task is to ? nd a set of class-speci? c spheres S = S1; :::; Sm such that xi 2 [ y(Sj)=yi Sj and xi =2 [ y(Sj )6=yi Sj ; 8i = 1; :::; n (1) where each sphere Si is characterized by its center c(Si), its radius r(Si) and its class y(Si). An exam- ple xi is covered by a sphere Sj , i. e. , xi 2 Sj , if d(xi; c(Sj))  · r(Sj ). A set of spheres S that satis? es the conditions in Eqn. (1) is called a consistent sphere cover of the data D. A sphere cover is minimal if there exists no other consis- tent sphere cover with a smaller number of spheres. We restrict ourselves to constructing a consistent sphere cover with spheres that are centered on training ex- amples, although in general spheres do not have to be centered on the training examples. In order to mini- mize the number of spheres in the sphere cover S, each sphere in S should cover as many training examples as possible without covering a training example belonging to a di ®erent class.

A Literature Study About Greed And Status Psychology Essay

A Literature Study About Greed And Status Psychology Essay This literature study focuses on the link between greed and need for status. After research, it can be concluded that need for status is a relative concept. Since people only feel fortunate when they have as much or a little more than the people in their environment. Therefore, seeing what others have is one of the most powerful influences that stirs greater and greater desires. People may not just want what others have but more than others have. In order to provide the link between need for status and greed, it was necessary to find the relative factors in greed. In this study it is assumed that three facets contribute greed namely, self-interest, materialism and desire for money. All these facets appear to have relative parts. For instance, competitors are individuals who are mainly focused on maximizing their own outcome relative to others. Therefore they always prefer outcomes that are superior to those in their environment. Materialism is defined as the importance a consumer attached to worldly possessions. However, it could also be a competitive striving to have more than others. Materialistic individuals therefore have a desire for others possessions, objects, experiences or persons and resent those who own the desired possessions. The desire for money is also relative since monetary value is inherently invaluable. People do not have a scale to sense what amount is desirable and what is undesirable. Therefore, people r ely on external reference (e.g. what others in their environment receive). Based on that information, people use to judge the merit of their own achievements, whereby it is possible to conclude that monetary experience follows the relative pattern people interpret. Table of content 1. The Seven Deadly Sins The Seven Deadly Sins have provided gossip, amusement and plots for nearly fifteen centuries (Solomon, 1999). The Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, have always been popular. However, the dubious deadly have caused many speculations (Solomon, 1999: p.7 preface). Pope Gregory the First instituted the classic certification. His list of seven was confirmed and later modified by Saint Thomas of Aquinas. The list survived several centuries and now consists of the following Seven Sins: Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Lust, Envy and Gluttony (Solomon, 1999 p.2). 1.1 Introduction of the topic A recent study concluded that The Sins are still encountered in our daily lives, despite their existence for all this time (Frank, 2001). This because they are so deeply rooted in our human nature, that not only they are almost completely unavoidable but people can never seem to limit themselves (Frank, 2001). For example, pressing the snooze button once or twice in the morning before dragging oneself out of bed? Or taking a long shower without consideration for your family members? These are only harmless examples, but sins can also cause more substantial consequences. Lately, greed has been a central subject in the economical news. Amongst others parliamentarians, journalists and prominent business men have been presenting this sin as one of the main causes for the current credit crunch (Bernasek, 2010; Trouw: Economics Department, 2009; Staps, 2008). Furthermore, De Soysa (2002) even claims that greed is the primary motivating factor behind civil wars. The main question that intrigues me is: why are people greedy? As ultimately humans and not these sins are responsible for causing credit crunches and wars. According to Wenzel (1968), greed arises due to the nature of earth. He stated that the earth is cold and dry and therefore people who lack heat and humidity are exceedingly greedy. Furthermore, when we take a look at Wachtels theory (2003), greed is known as a form of self-deception. Here self-deception is a false consciousness in which what really matters is suppressed by a single-minded focus on material wealth (Wachtel, 2003). He also concluded that these days greed is stated as a form of self-interest (Wachtel, 2003). For further understanding, it is necessary to define the many concepts of greed. The following definition is therefore utilized throughout this thesis: greed is a selfish and excessive desire to acquire or possess more than one needs  [1]  . 1.2 Problem statement Despite the fact that unwanted situations like credit crunches and wars re-appear, relatively little time is devoted to greed in academic research. Wachtels psychoanalytic research (2003) is one of the few clues within the subject. Though, his research is mainly focused on the link between greed, material wealth and money. However, greed is also viewed in other respects. For instance, Frank (1999) concluded that mutual influence is another important dimension in the process of greed as well. Mutual influence means that our choices, purchases and feelings are influenced by neighbors and family (Frank, 1999). In order to explain this concept, consider the perception of what looks right in clothing. Simply by living in the society, people seem to have an automatic sense about how wide a jacket should be. But when fashion changes over time, peoples perception changes as well (Frank, 1999). Wachtel (2003) made a similar comparison. He said that the envy towards the bigger boat is not redu ced by increasing the average size of the vessels. For when all boats get larger, the average persons assets still feels like just a boat. So, apparently people continuously compare their possessions with others (Wachtel, 2003; Frank, 1999). This could be emphasized with the findings of Duesenberry (1949). He concluded that a concern for status causes people to engage in imitating the consumption standard of those above them in the income hierarchy. But why is status important for people? And what kind of effects does it have on greed? In hopes of finding, the problem definition is stated as follows: What is the effect of -need for status- on greed? 1.3 Research questions In order to answer the problem definition three research questions have been formulated: What is greed? What is status? Will status influence greed? 1.4 Conceptual model After the problem definition and the research questions the following conceptual model has been defined: Greed Need for Status Need for Status (now called status) = Ones position in the world (De Botton, 2004). Greed = A selfish and excessive desire to acquire or possess more than one needs  [2]  . 1.5 Academic relevance There have been several studies about The Seven Deadly Sins, but only a few about greed (Frank, 2001; Solomon, 1999; Wenzel, 1968; Wachtel, 2003). However, there are studies about related topics such as conspicuous consumption, money, materialism and self-interest (Arrow Dasgupta, 2009; De Botton, 2004; Khan, 2004; Krà ¤hmer, 2006; Frank, 1999; Rege, 2006; Richins, 1994; Rucker Galinsky, 2009; Veblen, 1899). In none of these studies, greed is linked to status. In my opinion status is a missing variable in the concept, which potentially could be the underlying motive for people to keep buying material goods. This makes this thesis academically relevant due to the fact that it may contribute to the further understanding of greed and the impact it potentially has on consumer behavior. 1.6 Managerial relevance This thesis attempts to contribute to the further understanding of greed. With this obtained knowledge, it is possible to counteract unwanted developments caused by greed, such as credit crunches or civil wars. It could also raise concern and put this subject on the agenda, in order to be able to protect consumers in the future. 1.7 Thesis structure In chapter 1, the research topic is introduced and explained. The problem definition, conceptual model and research questions are defined as well. Chapter 2 and 3 cover respectively the dependent variable, need for status, and the independent variable, greed. The last chapter describes the conclusions, discussion and recommendations concerning this research. After each chapter, a short conclusion is given for recapitulation and clarification. 2. Need for Status Distinction and status are amongst others the stronger motivations of human behavior (Truyts, 2010). The importance of distinction as a fundamental dynamic was underlined by Darwin (1871). He introduced sexual selection as a selection tool. He concluded that in order to spread the population, people not only need to survive in their natural and social environment but they also need to be a more attractive partner than their same sex competitors (Truyts, 2010). This is also emphasized in more recent research, for example in sociology. Pierre Bourdieu (1979) pointed social distinction as well as status as a crucial dynamic of the social life. It is known, that in traditional and mostly ancient societies, status was hard to acquire. But it was also hard to lose status (De Botton, 2004). For example, someone could not stop with being a lord, due to the fact that it is a title that has been given to someone. What mattered was the identity at the stage of birth, because in that time people did not care about ones achievement (De Botton, 2004). Currently, status rarely depends on someones identity. Instead it depends on someones performance (De Botton, 2004). But what is status precisely? According to De Botton (2004), status is known as ones position in the world. Hereby, the world refers to ones legal or professional standing within a group (e.g. married). Solely, this is a more narrow sense of status since in a broader sense it means ones value and importance in the eyes of the world (De Botton, 2004). 2.1 Biological evidence for the importance of status A range of medical and biological evidence testifies that status induces something real to happen in the human body and brain (Truyts, 2010). For example, Long et al. (1982) found in their study that test persons show a higher heart rate and blood pressure when confronted with an experimenter who bears signs of a high status such as a name tag, suit or formal language (Truyts, 2010). But also evolution-based theories suggest that the desire to be perceived as wealthy, attractive and of high status may be built into our genes (Buss, 2005). So part of the desire for status is defined by our genes and this partly suggests that we enjoy status for the sake of status itself (Truyts, 2010). But is this the only reason why people seek status? 2.2 Signaling status According to Wright (1994) people are always looking for achieving high status in society. But, how do people reach this coveted desire? De Botton (2004) stated that people could generate high status due to their importance, achievement and income. This is also emphasized in the study of Griskevicius, Tybur and Van den Bergh (2010). They stated that high status could be achieved through either dominance or prestige (Griskevicius et al., 2010). Godoy and his colleagues (2006), concluded that nowadays, people spend time and resources in order to communicate their status to others (Godoy et al., 2006). Several researches have concluded the same thing. In relatively simple economies, people equate status using their resources on displaying their skills as providers of food (Gintis, Smith Bowles, 2001; Hagen Bryant, 2003; Hawkes Bliege Bird, 2002; Henrich Gil-White, 2001; Scaglion 1999; Sosis, 2003). This while in more industrialized economies, people associate status with earnings and they signal their potential through public displays of wealth and income (Godoy et al., 2006). This is also emphasized in several other researches. Because in order to communicate status, people rely on several strategies including producing or consuming goods and services (Bliege Bird Bird, 1997; Bliege Bird Smith, 2005; Blurton-Jones, 1984; Patton, 2005; Smith Bliege Bird, 2000; Wilson, 1998; Winterhalder, 1996). This is also emphasized in a recent paper of Heffetz (2004). He noted that, because people are members of social groups they derive satisfaction both from the direct act of individual consumption and from how others perceive their individual consumption (Godoy et al., 2006). 2.3 Status and the others Duesenberry (1949) stated that eventually everyone is looking for more status than other people in their environment. In order to test this theory, he used households as respondents. Afterwards, he concluded that households not only care about their own consumption level but also about their consumption level relative to others (Leibenstein, 1950). This because, according to De Botton (2004), Duesenberry (1949) and Leibenstein (1950), people only feel fortunate when they have as much or a slightly more than the people they grow up with, work alongside or have as a friend. For example, when all people are small they will not be troubled by the questions of size (De Botton, 2004). But if others are taller, people are eligible to feel dissatisfied (De Botton, 2004). It therefore can be concluded that people only envy members of their reference group (De Botton, 2004). Hereby, Wachtel (2003) concluded that seeing what others have is one of the most powerful influences that drives greater and greater desires. People may not just want what others have but more than others have. Or more for mores sake, regardless of any able need on their part (Wachtel, 2003: p.105). In academic research, this is referred to as relative position. 2.4 Relative position The importance of relative position has a long history in economic theory. Veblen (1899) introduced the concept conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure. This emphasized the importance of actions designed to display ones relative position in society (Veblen, 1899). Galbraith (1958) stated that most consumer demands do not stern from innate needs, but are largely determined by society. More recently, Duesenberry (1949) used the idea of the demonstration effect to explain how a familys consumption is influenced by the purchases of its neighbors. However, the most comprehensive and recent exploration about relative standing, is written by Robert Frank (1985). He concluded that position externalities occur when a persons action alters an important frame of reference for others (Frank, 1991). Hereby, the so called positional treadmill refers to the process by which each person strives to gain advantage but since all are trying to get ahead, all remain in the same relative position (Frank, 1985). People care about their relative position in society for many reasons. For example a high standing in society can yield respect, admiration and power (Solnick Hemenway, 1998). Hereby, Solnick and Hemenway (1998) stated that feeling good in society is typically more affected by the relative positions than by absolute wealth. Therefore, envy is one of the reasons why individuals care about their relative status (Solnick Hemenway, 1998). For example, Bannerjee (1990) stated that it seems unquestionable that for some people, the pleasure they get out of a particular consumption will be less if they feel that everybody around them has more than they have. However, when they feel that they are on par with the rest of their group they feel better (Bannerjee, 1990). Hereby Frank (1985) declared that someone whose close associates all earn $50.000 a year is likely to feel actively dissatisfied with his material standard of living if his own salary is only $40.000. Yet, the same person would feel good, if his closest associates would not earn $50.000 but $30.000 a year (Frank, 1985). This is also stressed in a number of literature studies, while using experiments called stated preference research. 2.5 Stated preference research Stated preference research puts respondents on a hypothetical spot and asks them to state their preference for the option they believe would maximize their own interests (Truyts, 2010). For example, Solnick and Hemenway (1998) asked their respondents to choose between two companies. A is the more relative company, in which the respondent is worse off in absolute terms but better off than the others. B is the more absolute company where a respondent is better off in absolute terms, but worse off than others. Solnick and Hemenway (1998) made the following distinction: A: Your yearly income is $50,000; others earn $25,000 B: Your yearly income is $100,000; others earn $200,000 After the experiment, it could be concluded that 80% of the respondents prefer the relative case A (Truyts, 2010). A similar experiment was attempted by Tversky and Griffin (1991). They let respondents choose between jobs at a magazine. Hereby one earns at magazine C, a salary of $35,000 and others $38,000. By magazine D one earns $33,000 and others $30,000. Tversky and Griffin report that 85% of the respondents prefer magazine C, but that in a second experiment 64% believe to be happier at magazine D. 2.6 Conclusion Part of our desire for status is defined by our genes. But there are also other reasons, why people want to achieve high status. These days, people are a part of a social group. They therefore derive satisfaction both from the individual consumption and from how others perceive their individual consumption. According to several studies, people only feel fortunate when they have as much or slightly more than the people they grow up with, work alongside or have as a friend. It therefore can be concluded that seeing what others have, is one of the most powerful influences that stirs greater and greater desires. People may not just want what others have but more than others have. Or more for mores sake, regardless of any able need on their part. 3. Greed 3.1 Avarices arise Greed is a vice, which exists for a long time (Childs, 2000). Formerly, it was known as avarice and it dates from the time of the ancient Egyptians. In 2400 B.C.E. they stated: beware an act of avarice, it is a bad and incurable disease (Childs, 2000). Of course, today people do not believe this kind of warnings. However, the declaration from the movie Wall Street (1987) is memorable. Its statement, greed is good, has become a mantra for amongst others the American lifestyle (Childs, 2000). These days, CEOs want more money and the kids want more electronic stuff. However, it is stated that greeds excess is not necessarily in the amount of money or goods acquired (Childs, 2000). Childs concluded that although, frequently such correlations may appear wealth is not always correlated with greed and greed is not always correlated with wealth (Childs, 2000). According to Childs, the excess of greed is in its excessive self-concern and excessive self-enlargement. He also stated that there a re three facets to human greed. First of all it is the excessive desire for goods and wealth. Secondly it is the inordinate desire for acquiring and hoarding money. And last but not least, it is closely related to greediness, which includes the desire for the possessions of others (Childs, 2000). 3.1 Greed and its facets Although greed exists ever since, little academic research has been done about the subject. Therefore it is necessary to stress that in academic literature, greed is mainly approached by looking at related facets. For example, Wachtel (2003) found a relationship between greed and desire for money. This while Childs (2000) found three related facets of human greed namely; desire for goods/wealth, desire for money and greediness. Though, it is also stated that greeds excessiveness lies in its self-concern and self-enlargement (Childs, 2000) which is also retrievable in the definition of greed. According to several dictionaries, greed is a selfish and excessive desire to acquire or possess more than one needs  [3]  . Based on these theories, the facets; desire for money, materialism (for desire for goods/wealth) and self-interest (for selfishness/self concern and self-enlargement) will be discussed in the upcoming chapters. Currently, it is assumed that these three facets altogether contribute greed (Wachtel, 2003; Childs, 2000). 3.3 Chapter structure This thesis mainly focuses on whether there is a relationship between greed and need for status. The literature study in chapter two already showed that status is relative concept. This implies that for reaching consistency in this thesis, it is necessary to look at the facets in a relative way. Therefore, a -status- paragraph is included in each chapter which provides the link with need for status. 4. Self-interest Once, Aristotle wrote the good man should be a lover of himself for he will both profit himself by doing noble acts and will benefit his fellows (Aristotle, 1987). This statement implies that only if someone loves himself, he can help others. Striking is that time changes values, opinions and assumptions. Paul, Miller and Paul (1997) concluded that nowadays the concern for ones own interest is considered a nonmoral issue, while concerns for the interest of others are considered obvious. Since, people are trying to find a proper balance between the pursuit of ones own interest and the good of others (Paul et al., 1997). Moreover, Van Dijk, De Cremer and Handgraaf (2004) claimed that in situations of social interdependence, people vary explicitly in their expressions and acts. For example, some people seldom cooperate genuinely. They only help others when it serves their self-interest (Van Dijk, De Cremer, Handgraaf, 2004). But how come, that people are so reciprocally different in th eir behavior? According to research, this is due to a persons social value orientation. 4.1 Social value orientation Social value orientation is defined as the individual difference in the way people evaluate outcomes for themselves as opposed to others (Messick McClintock, 1968). A number of social values have been identified but usually two opposing orientations are used. Namely the proself and prosocial orientation (e.g. Declerck Bogaert, 2008; Knight Dubro, 1984). In 1978, Kelley and Thibaut presented an analysis about social value orientation. They concluded that the difference between prosocial and proself is partially caused by social interactions (Kelley Thibaut, 1978). Another important difference between prosocials and proselfs is known as the triangle hypothesis. Hereby, Iedema and Poppe (1995) attempted to identify how these two groups scope the social world. Their hypothesis suggests that prosocials have a more heterogeneous scope on the social world and they assume that others can have either the same or different social value orientations (Iedema Poppe, 1995). In contrast, prose lfs tend to hold a more homogeneous scope on others. They believe that all people have the same social value orientation namely proself (Iedema Poppe, 1995). Therefore, the proselfs will make self-serving choices as they believe that the people in their environment will do the same (Iedema Poppe, 1995). Now we know that there are differences between the two orientations but what are the differences when it comes to the need for status? 4.2 Prosocials and status Research showed that status can be achieved either through dominance (e.g. force) or prestige (Griskevicius et al., 2010; Henrich Gil-White, 2001). When talking about prosocials, we focus on status achieved through prestige. Meaning that status is gained through freely conferred appreciation (Henrich Gil-White, 2001). According to several theories, prosocials always tend to maximize outcomes for both themselves and others (e.g. Van Lange, Otten, Bruin Joireman, 1997). This is also evident in their behavior because prosocials always try to minimize differences between themselves and others (Van Lange et al.,1997). Griskevicius (2010) therefore concluded that prosocial behavior can have important functional consequences (Griskevicius, 2010). For instance, engaging in environmental conservation can build a prosocial reputation (Semmann, Krambeck Milinski, 2005; Wedekind Braithwaite, 2002). Having a reputation as a cooperative and helpful group member, can be extremely valuable for that such individuals are not only seen as more trustworthy (Barclay, 2004) but they are more desirable as friends and romantic partners (Cottrel, Neunenberg Li, 2007; Griskevicius et.al 2007; Iredale, Van Vught Dunbar, 2008; Miller, 2007; Stiff Van Vugt, 2008). But also, self sacrifice for the benefit of a group of strangers has been shown to increase the individuals status in a group (Gurven, Allen-Arave, Hill Hurtado, 2000; Hardy Van Vugt, 2006; Milinski, Semmann Kranbeck, 2002). Thus, being prosocial is associated with status in a group and therefore, if individuals desire to have positions of power, prosocial behavior may be a viable strategy for attaining status (Griskevicius et al. 2010). 4.3 Proselfs and status In contrast with prosocials, proselfs tend to only maximize outcomes for themselves (Van Lange, Otten, Bruin Joireman , 1997). In most theories, the proselfs are subdivided in two categories namely; individualists and competitors (e.g. Van Lange et al., 1997). Individualists tend to maximize their own outcomes with little or no regard to others. They are only concentrated on their own goals and they do not respond well to the well-being of other people (Van Lange, Agnew, Harinck and Steemers, 1997). This appears because individualists are not interested in long-term benefits. Competitors also tend to only maximize outcomes for themselves. However, the difference with individualists is that competitors are ultimately seeking for relative advantage over others (Van Lange, Otten, et al., 1997). Therefore, they generally exhibit low levels of sacrifice and they are most concerned with not being exploited by their partners (Van Lange, Agnew et al., 1997). Competitors are also not willing to engage in prosocial behavior (Kuhlman Marshello, 1975; Sattler Kerr, 1991). Not even if they could benefit themselves in the long haul. In fact, Van Lange, Liebrand, Messick and Wilke (1992) reported that competitors may refuse to accommodate their behavior to the cooperative but punitive opponent because a tie cannot satisfy their real motive of outdoing the other (Van Lange et al., 1992). Even when this strategy has proved hopeless, competitors may fail to score as many points for oneself as they could due to the fact that they only focus on limiting their partners (Van Lange et al., 1992). So, it is possible to conclude that competitors always prefer outcomes that are superior to those in their environment (Van Lange et al., 1992). 4.3 Conclusion A number of social values have been identified, but usually two opposing orientations apply namely the proself and prosocial orientation. It may be concluded from the theory, that prosocials achieve status mostly through prestige. Their reputation can be extremely valuable because it has been shown to increase the individuals status in a group. However, it is possible to conclude that this group is not so vital for this research due to the fact that it does not fit the definition of greed. For the excess of greed lies in its excessive self-concern and self-enlargement. However, it is possible to conclude that proselfs are important for this research. These individuals are mostly focused on maximizing outcome for themselves whereas competitors fit the theory of status best. Competitors are mainly focused on maximizing their own outcome relative to others. Therefore they always prefer outcomes that are superior to those in their environment. 5. Materialism The message we receive today is that the pursuit and possession of material goods, income and wealth is the route to increase quality of life (Kashdan Breen, 2007). Even self-identity can be defined by possessions and consumption: I am what I have and what I consume (Fromm, 1976). 5.1 Possessions and the self The term materialism has several definitions. Belk (1985) defines materialism as the importance a consumer attached to worldly possessions while Bredemeier and Toby (1960) refer to materialism as the worship of things. Additionally, materialistic people are characterized by their tendency to define their successes in life by the quantity and quality of their extrinsic possessions (Kashdan Breen, 2007). However, the assumption that people regard their possessions as part of themselves is not new (Belk, 1988). William James (1890), laid the foundation for the modern conception of the self. His definition is stated as follows: A mans self is the sum total of all that he can call his, not only his body and his psychic powers, but his clothes and his house, his wife and children, his ancestors and friends, his reputation and works, his lands, and yacht and bank-account. All these things give him the same emotions. If they wax and prosper, he feels triumphant; if they dwindle and die away, he feels cast down,-not necessarily in the same degree for each thing, but in much the same way for all (p. 291-292). So, the self is not limited to objects but it also includes persons, places and group possessions (Belk, 1988). 5.2 Materialism and psychological needs Guides have similarly insisted that focusing on attaining material possessions detracts from what is meaningful in life (Kasser, 2002). However, Kasser (2002) concluded that such advice is largely drowned out by todays messages, proclaiming that material pursuits and accumulation of things provides satisfaction (Kasser,2002). He concluded that these days, newspapers headlines exalt the lottery winner and get-rich-quick books climb to the top of the best seller list (Kasser, 2002). But will the pursuit of money and possessions bring the good life? Well, for materialists it can. For instance, research found that materialists tend to value financial success significantly more than other life goals such as community (Kasser Ryan, 1993). It is also proven that there is a strong relationship between materialism and desired income (Richins Rudmin, 1994). The income that is necessary to satisfy the needs of a materialistic person is about 50 percent higher than for those low in materialism (Richins Rudmin, 1994). 5.3 Materialism and its motives Fromm (1976) stated that materialistic persons vow possessions as the essence of their lives. However it is not just about purchasing products. Richins and Dawson (1992) found a deeper motivational motive to induce materialism. According to them, materialistic people measure their own success by the number of possessions (Richins Dawson, 1992). For instance, Kashdan and Breen (2007) concluded that materialistic values were positively correlated with the meaning of life, relatedness to others, feelings of competence and gratitude. This corresponds with the results of Kasser (2002). He concluded that positive self-regard and self-acceptance is related to possessions, money, power and image to the world (Kasser, 2002). However, there is also a link between materialism and personal insecurity (Chang Arkin, 2002). For instance, it is shown that self-doubt is a significant predictor of materialistic orientations (Chang Arkin, 2002). 5.4 Materialism and status We learned that materialistic people are characterized by their tendency to define their successes in life by the qu