An investigation into the effects of social influence on moral behaviour using immersive virtual reality

Much of the research surrounding social influence investigates its effects in specifically non-moral situations while almost no research has looked at its effects during moral emergencies. At the same time, studies of moral psychology tend to focus on the intricacies of moral decision-making during the responses of individual participants. This thesis aims to bridge this gap between social influence and moral psychology by having participants respond to moral dilemmas while under the duress of social influence. In order to investigate the effects of social influence on moral behaviours, immersive virtual reality (IVR) was used, allowing participants to be placed in a life-like virtual simulation of events that they would normally only read about in a text-based vignette, probing their observed moral behaviours instead of just their abstract moral judgments. The benefits of using IVR include the ethical and controllable nature of questionnaires along with the verisimilitude of real-life. Another focus of this thesis is to compare moral judgments to moral behaviours. In two out of the three studies presented in this thesis, the virtual moral dilemma was replicated in a text-based questionnaire in order to compare the results from the two media. Moral judgments in response to text-based moral dilemma can miss out key contextual information such the motoric feedback of having to physically act out a movement. These factors can lead to a divergence between moral judgments and behaviours. The thesis starts with a literature review on IVR technology and moral decision-making and social influence research. After this, the three studies conducted as part of this thesis are described. The major findings from these studies include the demonstration of a preference to take action regardless of outcome only when in IVR and the inability for compliance attempts to influence specifically moral behaviour

The Role of Voluntary Corporate Governance Codes in the Interpretation and Application of the Statutory and Common Law Duties of the Company Director: A South African Perspective

It is critical that regulators ensure appropriate regimes to govern juristic persons. Of the many techniques devised to ensure good governance, the self-regulatory Code has proven extremely popular across jurisdictions. This is also the case in South Africa where a self-regulatory Code demands high standards of governance and dictates that the so-called ‘independent non-executive director’ should be a key custodian of corporate governance. The relationship between the Corporate Governance Code and what can be termed ‘black letter law’ is not yet clearly established. In the South African context, the courts have been willing to consider the principles that the codes espouse when interpreting legal duties conferred upon directors by the common law and statute. Such a step has far reaching implications for the development of this area of the law. This thesis contributes to the discourse by analysing the legality, and consequences of such an approach. It does so by focusing on the South African context which is submitted to be unique. First, a codified constitutional imperative to develop the South African common law gives local courts greater flexibility and, potentially, a remit that accommodates a more vigorous interpretation. Furthermore, the South African Corporate Governance Code is ambitious in its application and aspirational in its contents - applying not only to listed companies but to all entities and vigorously promoting a stakeholder inclusive approach to company governance. This thesis asks: what are the legal and normative boundaries when interpreting this area of corporate law and attempting to align the two sources of regulation? In answering this question, the thesis will contribute in particular to the state of knowledge of South African company law and the application of Corporate Governance Principles in relation thereto and make suggestions for legislative reform

Changing Priorities. 3rd VIBRArch

In order to warrant a good present and future for people around the planet and to safe the care of the planet itself, research in architecture has to release all its potential. Therefore, the aims of the 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture are: - To focus on the most relevant needs of humanity and the planet and what architectural research can do for solving them. - To assess the evolution of architectural research in traditionally matters of interest and the current state of these popular and widespread topics. - To deepen in the current state and findings of architectural research on subjects akin to post-capitalism and frequently related to equal opportunities and the universal right to personal development and happiness. - To showcase all kinds of research related to the new and holistic concept of sustainability and to climate emergency. - To place in the spotlight those ongoing works or available proposals developed by architectural researchers in order to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. - To underline the capacity of architectural research to develop resiliency and abilities to adapt itself to changing priorities. - To highlight architecture's multidisciplinarity as a melting pot of multiple approaches, points of view and expertise. - To open new perspectives for architectural research by promoting the development of multidisciplinary and inter-university networks and research groups. For all that, the 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture is open not only to architects, but also for any academic, practitioner, professional or student with a determination to develop research in architecture or neighboring fields.Cabrera Fausto, I. (2023). Changing Priorities. 3rd VIBRArch. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/VIBRArch2022.2022.1686

Arid ways: cultural understandings of insecurity in Fulbe society, Central Mali

This thesis deals with the ways in which the agropastoral Fulbe in the Sahel deal with ecological, social and political insecurities. It is based on field research carried out in the Hayre dryland region of central Mali, notably in the villages of Dalla and Serma, from March 1990 until February 1992. The first part of the study examines the history of natural resource management and ideologies in the Hayre (1400-1985). The second part is about the role of the past in the present. It analyses the spatial organization, ecological environment, economic organization, and division of labour in the area, as well as the normative complexes typical of Fulbe society. Part three focuses on the use and management of natural resources, paying attention to farming and herding practices, agricultural and pastoral production, the circulation of property, and land tenure. Part four is concerned with the way in which people who have been pushed out of agricultural production survive. It focuses in particular on how people manage social and cultural resources. Part five deals with the interactions of the Fulbe pastoralists with the State and the outside world in a situation of droughtASC – Publicaties niet-programma gebonde