Model confirmation through qualitative research: social support system toward entrepreneurial desire

Entrepreneurial world is trying their best level to attract university graduates across the world. Indonesian culture is still very colonial view that the status of employment is more respectable than being an entrepreneur.In addition, people often perceive that a university degree is much better and more important than a person's ability or skill.In fact, the skill is very much needed to support a person's life economically, instead of looking for a university degree first then searching the skill or capability.This is one of the fact encountered that most of them who have a university degree but unemployed.In Indonesia, the number of scholars unemployed is getting higher statistically because most of them only rely on job vacancies, instead of becoming job creators. There is no motivation from various environments like family, friend, educational institution, etc. to build student's mentally strong with business awareness to deal with entrepreneurial issues. Yet, when someone interested in pioneering new business, they are desperately in need of an endorsement. Entrepreneurial support usually comes from a family, partner, peers and educational institutions where they can discuss the idea of becoming an entrepreneur and entrepreneurial issues further seeking best of suggestions. A study of qualitative was conducted among Indonesian universities and their social environment that identify the factors influencing social support among business graduate students to become an entrepreneur. The study follows focused group discussion, interviews, case analysis and Delphi technique to arrive at appropriate variables on social support factors among business graduates.The study observed 2 dimensions of social support that eventually suit the attitude of business graduates to become an entrepreneur. These elements were recognized by the group of professionals from various fields. This study provides an insight into the variables of social support among business graduates to become an entrepreneur in Indonesia. It is expected that the graduates later become the inspiration for others who are capable of creating jobs and giving a contribution to improve economic development in Indonesia. A business awareness and social supports are very much needed among university graduates by changing their mindset in dealing with entrepreneurship

Instrument development: Entrepreneurial Social Support Assessment Instrument (IESSA)

ABSTRACT There are many researchers contributed to study the role of social support systems in grooming young graduate to become entrepreneurs. However, these findings are topic specific not integrating varied models proposed by various authors in entrepreneurship.Many aspects like family, peer group, educational institutions, etc. have keen role in acting as a factor of social support system.It has been pointed out by Susanti (2012) that someone who dares to choose entrepreneurship as a career is a person who feels being trusted by people, feel comfortable, able to deal with any risks.Such behavior can grow and thrive in the person who receives social support. All these researchers have pointed out the importance of social support system in grooming students to become young entrepreneurs.However, there are less number of studies have been conducted in Indonesian scenario to identify which are the variables that are closely knit with the social support theme in its contribution toward entrepreneurship among young graduates. Hence, contemporarily a study needs to be conducted by examining various models, theories, and recent review of literature, contextualizing the topic into Indonesian business school.In this context, an instrument was developed to measure factors of social support and particularly focusing on individual factors, in the education sector. The process of instrument development was initially conducted through qualitative method and followed by quantitative method. The study adopted various techniques including content analysis, and personal interviews with the students, followed by focused group discussion and Delphi technique with expert. After identifying the variables through Delphi technique, the variables were tested to meet the validity and reliability through quantitative method. This study utilized content, construct and face validity to validate sub-factors and items generated in the instrument. It was finalized that there are 25 items under 2 sub-factors of entrepreneurial social support. Introduction Social support is a concept which is widely deliberated and discussed across the globe. However, there are less number of studies have been conducted in Indonesian scenario to identify which are the variables that are closely knit with the social support theme in its contribution toward entrepreneurship among young graduates.It is undeniable that social support system is pivotal for university students in Indonesia, this support can enhance their motivation to involve in entrepreneurship. However, most of the students seldom obtain such support in their environment. There is a thought that many parents expect their children become civil servants then their life would be better than to be entrepreneurs (Mustikawati & Bachtiar, 2008).This statement is really tragic if it is linked to Indonesian economy with a high rate of unemployment and lack of job opportunities.A good entrepreneurial environment and good social support, in fact, will be able to overcome this severe problem. However, it is not that simple to start a new business in Indonesia. Many people who are engaged in small business like street ventures, small shoppers, etc. are perceived as almost equal to unemployed and are not considered as good ventures by the Indonesian community.While these small businesses are extending better turnover and good return on investment to the business starters.Here, the small ventures are associated with social stigma that these entrepreneurial jobs are less prestigious as a government job.Whereas, it is obvious that when someone intends to pioneer new business, he desperately needs

The Influence of Personal, Relational, and Contextual Factors on Forgiveness Communication Following Transgressions in Romantic Relationships

The way that individuals adapt to stress in their romantic relationships plays a major role in determining how satisfied they are in those relationships. This study used the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation model as a framework to examine how individuals adapt to the stressful event of a relational transgression in their romantic relationships. This study specifically looked at the effect of individuals\u27 attachment dimensions and the equity of their relationships as factors that influenced how they used forgiveness strategies after a relational transgression occurred. The results of the study revealed that there was a significant negative relationship between the explicit strategy and dismissiveness, a significant positive relationship between the minimizing strategy and preoccupation, a significant positive relationship between the non-verbal strategy and preoccupation, a significant negative relationship between the non-verbal strategy and fear of intimacy, and a significant negative relationship between the conditional strategy and security/confidence and fear of intimacy. The results also revealed that there were significant group differences between equity groups and three of the five forgiveness strategies. The results also showed that there were significant relationships between transgression severity and four of the five forgiveness strategies. Finally, the results revealed that there was a significant relationship between relational satisfaction and three of the five forgiveness strategie

The motivational value of listening during intimate and difficult conversations

Abstract: Outcomes of conversations, including those dealing with controversial, deeply personal, or threatening disclosures, result not only from what is said but also from how listeners receive these messages. This article integrates the motivational framework of self‐determination theory (SDT) and the expanding literature on interpersonal listening to explore the reasons why high‐quality listening is so impactful during these conversations. We describe why high‐quality listening is a specific and distinguishable autonomy‐supportive motivational strategy, and argue that there is much to gain by considering that listening can satisfy basic psychological needs, in particular for autonomy and relatedness. We argue that SDT can help explain why high‐quality listening is effective, especially in reducing defensiveness, bridging divides, and motivating change. The discussion focuses on ways motivation science can build more effective interventions for behavioral change by harnessing listening as an interpersonal strategy

Overcoming Stigma with Dialogue: My Experiences as a Parent of an Opiate Addict

Opioid addiction has reached crisis levels in the United States. While as many as 20 million Americans have Substance Use Disorder (SUD), often drug addiction is seen as an immoral choice rather than a medical condition. Little research has been done from the perspective of the parent with an addicted child, and thus there is an absence of scholarly literature on how parents might negotiate the challenges faced when seeking help for a child with SUD. In this thesis, I use autoethnography as a method to tell the story of my eight-year journey with my daughter’s addiction. I reveal my painful experiences dealing with the stigma when learning about my daughter’s addiction and in seeking help and support for her addiction. Additionally, I offer my experiences with dialogue that helped maintain and rebuild the relationship with my daughter. By revealing my lived experiences, I expose the everyday ways stigma often prevents attempts to help those with SUD and reveal new ways to communicate that can build relationships between parents and their children; rather than separate and abandon them. By understanding the lived experience of stigma and by treating those struggling with SUD with respect we can generate hope for an experience that feels so hopeless

Delivering social support via online health messages: Testing the effects of stress and person-centeredness on emotional improvement, attitude and behavioral intention

This study investigated the effect of exposure to person-centered messages delivered in a mass-mediated context on individuals experiencing mild or moderate levels of stress. Person-centeredness describes “the extent to which messages explicitly acknowledge, elaborate, legitimize, and contextualize the distressed other’s feelings and perspective” (Burleson, 2003, p. 11). The study used a 3 (person-centeredness: low, moderate, high) x 2 (stress: mild, moderate) between-subjects experiment with emotional improvement, attitude toward the message, and behavioral intention as the outcome variables. Participants (N = 243) were randomly assigned to a mild (i.e., gaining three pounds) or moderate stress condition (i.e., being diagnosed with Type II diabetes because of rapid weight gain). After exposure to the stress condition, participants then read one of three versions of a health newsletter using language that represented low, moderate, or high levels of person-centeredness. Results showed that higher levels of person-centeredness led to significantly greater emotional improvement and significantly more positive attitudes toward the message, although there was no difference in behavioral intention between the person-centeredness conditions. There was also a main effect for stress, such that participants under the moderate level stress reported greater emotional improvement and more positive attitude toward the message than participants under the mild level of stress, regardless of the type of message they received. However, none of the stress x person-centeredness interactions was significant. This study provides a framework to operationalize and test the effects of person-centered messages delivered in a mass-mediated context. Understanding the effect of person-centeredness in mass-mediated communication also provides practical implications for designing media messages directed to individuals experiencing stress

DON’T WORRY, I AM FINE: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF FAMILY COMMUNICATION AND DEPRESSION IN CHINESE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN THE US

Depression and associated mental health problems are increasingly a critical health issue for Chinese international students in the U.S. (Lyubomirsky, Kasri, & Zehm, 2003; Cheung, 2011; Liu, 2009). Recent studies in different U.S. universities found a 32% to 47% rate for depression symptoms among Chinese international students (Cheung, 2011; Wei et al., 2007). The statistics suggest that Chinese students face a high prevalence of depression problems (Han et al., 2013). To address the depression problems, family communication provides substantial support for Chinese students (Liu, 2009). However, little is known about family communicative practices of this population (Wei et al., 2010). Extant studies and reviews show that there is a strong need to study depression and family communication in Chinese international students to better respond to their needs (Xing et al., 2010). This research aimed to explore the meanings of depression and parental communication practices in Chinese international students in the U.S., and find recommendations for developing family communication interventions that address depression. The participants were recruited through convenient sampling and purposive sampling method in the Chinese communities at Purdue. The data was collected by interviews and focus groups, and further transcribed and translated from Chinese into English. The software NVivo 10 was used to support data analysis, and grounded theory method was employed (Glasser & Strauss, 1967). Thematic analysis of the data developed the following themes: (1) meanings of depression: psychological, physiological and social disorder, (2) selective depression communication with parents, (3) positive and negative feedback of parents influence depression communication, (4) different communication styles of mothers and fathers, (5) childhood experiences influence depression communicative practices, (6) interdependence and conflicting expectations restrain depression communication. This study of depression communication contributes to the large field of emotion communication within the family, providing implications into family training programs, health professional practice, and university administration to better understand the needs of Chinese international students, and offer effective support to cope with depression

Sosiaalinen tuki ja supportiivinen viestintä doulan ja synnyttäjän vuorovaikutuksessa

Doula on synnytystukihenkilö, jonka tärkeimpänä tehtävänä on tukea synnyttäjää ennen synnytystä, synnytyksen aikana ja sen jälkeen. Doulan ja synnyttäjän välisen suhteen voidaan katsoa olevan pitkäkestoinen ja poikkeuksellisen intiimi professionaalinen vuorovaikutussuhde. Synnytystukihenkilönä doulan viestinnässä isossa roolissa ovat sosiaalisen tuen osoittaminen ja supportiivinen viestintä eli se, mitä tapahtuu tuen antajan ja saajan välisessä vuorovaikutuksessa. Tässä tutkielmassa tutkitaan sosiaalista tukea ja supportiivista viestintää tuen antajan näkökulmasta. Tutkielman päätavoitteena on kuvata ja ymmärtää doulien näkemyksiä ja kokemuksia supportiivisen viestinnän ja sosiaalisen tuen muodoista ja prosesseista vuorovaikutuksessa synnyttäjän kanssa. Tutkimuskohteena on myös, millaisena doulat näkevät doulan roolin ja miten se eroaa kätilön tai kumppanin roolista synnytystukihenkilönä. Tutkielma on muodoltaan laadullinen tutkimus. Tutkielman aineisto kerättiin haastattelemalla viittä kokenutta ja koulutettua doulaa. Haastattelumuotona käytettiin teemahaastattelua. Osa haastatteluista tehtiin kasvotusten ja osa puhelimitse. Haastattelut kestivät keskimäärin 80 minuuttia. Tallennetut haastattelut litteroitiin ja analysoitiin teemoittelemalla. Teemat valittiin kirjallisuuskatsauksen pohjalta. Tutkimustuloksista selvisi, että doulat tarjoavat niin emotionaalista, välineellistä kuin tiedollistakin tukea, mutta niiden määrä korostuu eri tavalla eri vaiheissa lapsensaantia. Ennen synnytystä tuen muoto on useimmiten tiedollista tukea kuten tiedon antamista synnytyksen vaiheista, synnytysasennoista ja erilaisista kivunlievitysmenetelmistä. Ennen synnytystä sosiaalinen tuki on myös emotionaalista kuten rohkaisemista ja kuuntelemista. Synnytyksen aikana tuen muoto on ennen kaikkea emotionaalista, mutta myös välineellistä. Emotionaalista tukea on muun muassa kannustaminen ja rohkaiseminen. Välineellistä tukea on esimerkiksi hierominen, fyysinen koskettaminen sekä erilaiset lääkkeettömät kivunlievitysmenetelmät. Kumppania doulat tukevat muun muassa neuvomalla, kuinka kumppani voi olla synnyttäjän tukena. Synnytyksen jälkeen korostuu jälleen tiedollinen tuki. Doulat muun muassa opastavat imetykseen, lapsen hoitoon ja äidin hyvinvointiin liittyvissä asioissa. Doulan ja synnyttäjän välinen vuorovaikutussuhde rakentuu sosiaalisen tuen ja supportiivisen ympärille. Doulat käyttävät monipuolisesti supportiivisen viestinnän muotoja. Tuen tarve lapsensaannissa on yksilö- ja tilannekohtaista. Doulan tulee tulkita millaista tukea synnyttäjä kaipaa missäkin vaiheessa. Voikin siis päätellä, että doulan vuorovaikutusosaamisen tulee olla hyvin vahva

Supportiivisen viestinnän merkitykset viestinnän asiantuntijoille COVID-19-pandemian aikana

Keväällä 2020 Suomen hallitus julisti poikkeusolot maailmanlaajuisen COVID-19-epidemian hillitsemiseksi. Poikkeusolot tarkoittivat muun muassa valtaosan julkisten palveluiden ja tilojen sulkemista sekä fyysisten sosiaalisten kontaktien minimoimista. Viestinnän asiantuntijat siirtyivät täysipäiväiseen etätyöhön ja toimivat kriittisessä roolissa sekä organisaatioiden sisäisessä että ulkoisessa kriisinhoidossa. Maailmanlaajuinen mullistus kasvatti viestinnän asiantuntijoiden työtehtäviin liittyvää aikapainetta, lisäsi merkittävästi työn määrää ja epävarmuutta tilanteiden muuttuessa jopa päivätasolla. Tämän pro gradu -tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää supportiivisen viestinnän merkityksiä viestinnän asiantuntijoille tuona erityisenä ajanjaksona. Viestinnän asiantuntijoiden kokemusten tarkastelu on perusteltua, sillä heidän yksi tärkeimmistä tehtävistään on rakentaa ja ylläpitää yhteiskunnan jäsenten ja erilaisten sidosryhmien luottamusta (European Communication Monitor 2019). Terveyttä uhkaavan kriisin kohdalla organisaatioiden viestinnässä korostui sosiaalisen tuen viestiminen. On siis kiinnostavaa selvittää, millaista tukea supportiivista viestintää tekevät viestinnän asiantuntijat itse tarvitsivat ja saivat. Lisäksi tavoitteena on selvittää, miten tuen tarve ja saaminen muuttuivat kriisin myötä. Anttosen ja Räsäsen (2009) mukaan hyvinvoivat työntekijät ovat tehokkaampia, innovatiivisempia ja tuloksellisempia, joten on perusteltua tarkastella juuri tämän strategisesti vaikuttavan ja yhteiskunnan toimia tukevan tahon työssä jaksamista poikkeusolojen aikana. Lisäksi pohditaan viestinnän asiantuntijuuden yhteyksiä supportiivisuuden kokemukseen. Aineisto kerättiin kymmenen viestinnän asiantuntijan teemahaastattelun avulla, ja se analysoitiin yhdistäen teoriaohjaavaa ja aineistolähtöistä sisällönanalyysiä. Tuloksista havaittiin, että viestinnän asiantuntijat sekä tarvitsivat että saivat runsaasti emotionaalista, instrumentaalista ja informatiivista tukea. Terveyttä uhkaavan kriisin vuoksi korostui erityisesti emotionaalinen tuki. Työyhteisössä saatu emotionaalinen tuki jakautui vertais- ja arvonannontukeen. Mielenkiintoiseksi havainnoksi nousi työyhteisön ulkopuolisen, kuten puolison tarjoama instrumentaalisen tuen merkittävyys. Myös emotionaalista tukea tarvittiin kokonaistilanteen aiheuttaman epävarmuuden hallintaan, jonka koettiin vaikuttavan työssä jaksamiseen. Tuloksista havaittiin, että tuki saa toisinaan samanaikaisesti kaksikin funktiota niin sanotusti kaksoisfunktion vastatessaan tehtävä- ja suhdetason supportiivisiin tavoitteisiin. Viestinnän asiantuntijuuteen supportiivisuus kytkeytyi kolmitasoisesti työn sisältönä, työvälineenä ja työteonpaikkana, josta johtuen viestinnän asiantuntijat kokivat vastuuta antaa tukea työyhteisössään sekä sanoittaa omaa tuen tarvettaan voidakseen toimia siten esimerkillisesti ja rakentaa supportiivista toimintakulttuuria työyhteisössä

CSR communication or branding strategy? Measuring the impact of CSR versus non-CSR communication on FMCG consumers in Egypt: the Theory of Reasoned Action and message-consumer congruence.

Considering changes in consumer behaviour and the emergence of new media, this thesis contributes to literature on CSR communication by comparing the effectiveness of CSR communication to non-CSR communication in Egypt among FMCG consumers. Whilst multitude of studies focused on various aspects of CSR communication in Western markets, their generalizability to markets of different sociocultural characteristics cannot be guaranteed. Coupled with the evolving nature of the sociocultural and consumption environment, the need for differentiated replications is addressed in this study. Therefore, this thesis addresses this gap and is one of the first studies that examines, in a mixed-methods design, the impact of CSR and non-CSR communication on consumers’ brand attitudes and purchase intentions in Egypt. Theoretically, this study integrates multiple theories to propose a novel and comprehensive conceptual framework from which theoretical contributions have emerged. Specifically, drawing on the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Stimuli-Organism-Response framework, and the concept of value congruence, this research explores the impact of CSR communication strategies on brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Therefore, the study contributes new knowledge on CSR brand communication effectiveness in an under-researched socio-cultural context in order to establish its applicability and effectiveness in a new market. This study employed mixed research methods by conducting 2x2 factorial survey experiments to compare the effects of CSR to non-CSR communication and to examine the role of message-respondent congruence. The final data set included responses from 474 respondents. Following that, semi-structured interviews were conducted on a smaller sample to gain deeper insights on respondents’ perceptions of CSR communication. Applying independent sample t-test, the comparisons between the groups revealed that all averages of the brand attitudes were significantly higher for consumers who were subjected to the CSR message. Based on structural equation modelling, there were direct positive effects of CSR communication on ad likeability, emotional brand attachment, brand trust and purchase intentions. Also, the qualitative data revealed a plethora of strategic suggestions for CSR communication. The theoretical application in this study revealed that this study’s theoretical contribution asserts that for TRA to be applicable to different product types, attitudes towards the brand is necessary to measure. The study provided further evidence to attest to the fact that the concepts of attitude towards brand and attitude towards ad are important variables which influence intention to buy the advertised product confirming TRA assumptions in case of CSR communication. Furthermore, the findings direct researchers to be aware that when applying TRA and SOR, some attitudes might have stronger effects on purchase intentions than others. Practically, this study offers a number of implications. First, it confirmed that CRS communication appeal is more effective than non-CSR communication appeal in Egypt for a specific brand and hence brand managers can be confident that CSR appeals are more likely to lead to more positive brand and ad attitudes which in turn influence buying intentions. Lastly, this study has some confounding variables such as prior consumer perception of the brand and price perception as they were not measured. Some questions related to other potential confounding variables were included to statistically control post data collection. Moreover, the cultural context of the study is specific to Egypt; hence, these experiments ought to be subjected to further differentiated replications in other countries to compare results between different cultures