L-worlds. The curious preference for low quality and its norms

We investigate a phenomenon which we have experienced as common when dealing with an assortment of Italian public and private institutions: people promise to exchange high quality goods and services (H), but then something goes wrong and the quality delivered is lower than promised (L). While this is perceived as ‘cheating' by outsiders, insiders seem not only to adapt but to rely on this outcome. They do not resent low quality exchanges, in fact they seem to resent high quality ones, and are inclined to ostracise and avoid dealing with agents who deliver high quality. This equilibrium violates the standard preference ranking associated to the prisoner's dilemma and similar games, whereby self-interested rational agents prefer to dish out low quality in exchange for high quality. While equally ‘lazy', agents in our L-worlds are nonetheless oddly ‘pro-social': to the advantage of maximizing their raw self-interest, they prefer to receive low quality provided that they too can in exchange deliver low quality without embarrassment. They develop a set of oblique social norms to sustain their preferred equilibrium when threatened by intrusions of high quality. We argue that cooperation is not always for the better: high quality collective outcomes are not only endangered by self-interested individual defectors, but by ‘cartels' of mutually satisfied mediocrities

The media and freedom of expression in the Arab World

Online media, global TV and social networks played a significant role in the Arab Spring and will be important factors in determining its future direction, argues this report. A positive contribution of the media to the consolidation of democratic systems requires a dismantling of the old media order, a reform of journalistic institutions, and a change of paradigm in the conception and practice of journalism. The keywords of these changes are freedom of expression, independence, public interest, ethics and excellence. The profession is divided among the heirs of the old order, the “fellow travellers” of the new [mostly Islamist] majority, and a minority of “liberals” who see the media as a watchdog on the old and new powers. International actors can play a positive role in supporting the democratic transition if they devise a long-term strategy based on the creation of a new journalistic and media culture. A selective approach is needed to focus resources on reinforcing press freedom groups; reframing training institutions; supporting key quality media; institutionalising public service broadcasting; strengthening press ethics not as an alibi for censorship, but as a lever for responsible journalism; and promoting diversity and gender equality in newsrooms and media contents. Creating a democratic media culture also requires reinforcing so-called “citizen journalism”, i.e. the media empowerment of the people, teaching media literacy especially in the school system, strengthening civil society’s communications and media skills, and setting up a state-funded but independent and impartial public information system

Challenging homophobic bullying in schools: the politics of progress

In recent years homophobic bullying has received increased attention from NGOs, academics and government sources and concern about the issue crosses traditional moral and political divisions. This article examines this ‘progressive’ development and identifies the ‘conditions of possibility’ that have enabled the issue to become a harm that can be spoken of. In doing so it questions whether the readiness to speak about the issue represents the opposite to prohibitions on speech (such as the notorious Section 28) or whether it is based on more subtle forms of governance. It argues that homophobic bullying is heard through three key discourses (‘child abuse’, ‘the child victim’ and ‘the tragic gay’) and that, while enabling an acknowledgement of certain harms, they simultaneously silence other needs and experiences. It then moves to explore the aspirational and ‘liberatory’ political investments that underlie these seemingly ‘common-sense’ descriptive discourses and concludes with a critique of the quasi-criminal responses that the dominant political agenda of homophobic bullying gives rise to. The article draws on, and endeavours to develop a conversation between, critical engagements with the contemporary politics of both childhood and sexuality

CREATIVITY IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

This paper uses social cognitive theory to investigate entrepreneurial intent among participants in graduate entrepreneurship programs. To the best of our knowledge, the paper is the first to investigate the importance of creativity in entrepreneurship education and theoretical models of entrepreneurial intentions. Specifically, we test whether students creative potential is related to their intention to engage in entrepreneurship. Theoretically derived hypotheses are tested using multiple and ordinal regression analyses. We find that high scores on a creativity test and prior entrepreneurial experiences were positively associated with entrepreneurial intentions, whereas perception of risks had a negative influence. Our theoretical predictors of entreprenurial intention received strong support, indicating that creativity should be considered in models of entrepreneurial intentions. Yet, the use of intentions as dependent variable has its know weaknesses in that we might not distinguish between 'dreamers' and 'doers'. The findings indicate that exercises in creativity can be used to raise entrepreneurial intentions of students in entrepreneurship education. Heterogeneity in creative styles among students also points to the problems of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to entrepreneurship education.Entrepreneurship education; intentions; creativity

Moral Teachings in the Holy Books, the Bible and the Quran, About the Relationship of the Human to Nature: A Macedonian Research Project

The subject matter of this manuscript is the separation and actualization of the thematic areas of the holy books, the Bible and the Quran, in which the human-nature relationship is elaborated, indicated or specified. The emphasis is on the moral teachings contained in the holy books, the Bible and the Quran, which, refer to the human–nature relationship and their influence on the development of ecological awareness in that context, are supported by or grounded in the holy books. The empirical research point to the conclusion is that religion is an important source or basis of morality, and it determines the attitude of humans to nature. In that sense, religious collectivities/communities can and should be much more involved in issues related to environmental protection

Punishment Reactions to Powerful Suspects:Comparing a “Corrupt” Versus a “Leniency” Approach of Power

Although the justice system punishes transgressions predominantly when an articulated rationale is provided, there are situations where people judge actors whose guilt is uncertain. In this research, we investigate how observers assign punishments to suspects depending on the suspects’ power (i.e., one’s capacity to control valuable resources and produce intended outcomes). Power, on the one hand, indicates one’s potential to inflict harm and thus increases observer’s perception of a powerful suspect as guilty (the “power corrupts” approach). On the other hand, people see powerholders in more positive terms (cf., Basking in reflected glory) and disregard negative information about them (the “power leniency” approach). If the “power corrupts” approach holds, observers should perceive powerful, as opposed to powerless suspects or suspects whose power is undefined, as more guilty. Moreover they should display punishment motives that are based on utilitarianism with the aim of incapacitating the highly threatening powerful harm-doers and prevent them from future harm. If the “power leniency” approach is true, observers should perceive powerless suspects and suspects whose power is undefined (as opposed to powerful suspects) as more guilty and should display stronger punishment motives (utilitarian, retributive, or restorative) towards those suspects. Further, in line with both approaches, we predict that observers should follow the intuitive retributivism hypothesis and assign more retributive punishments towards suspects with low or undefined power, as compared with high power suspects, with the aim to make them pay for what they did. Besides, we investigate the mediating role of recidivism and guilt likelihood in the relationship between a suspect’s power and an observer’s punishment motives. Finally, we expect that retribution will be generally assigned to a higher extent than utilitarian or restorative motives for sanctioning. Research question: Do people assign suspects retributive, utilitarian or restorative punishments depending on the suspects' power? Study methods: We will conduct a simple experimental design where we will manipulate the power possession of suspects accused of money embezzlement. Guilt likelihood and recidivism of the suspect, and motives for punishment (retributive, utilitarian, restorative) of the observer will be assessed

Managing resource learning in distributed organisations with the organisational capability approach

International audienceOrganisational capability management is a recent approach; it enables global and coordinated management of resources and facilitates future synergies within extended organisations. This paper provides a state of the art of organisational capability approach and proposes a management framework. On the one hand, an overview of the theoretical principles and the practical solutions, especially methods for standardising and transferring firms' good practices, points out the limits of their sustainable functioning. On the other hand, the framework manages organisational capabilities by following the theoretical principles and overcoming identified barriers. This proposition is structured around three kinds of processes: primary (design and transfer), support (assessment and enhancement) and management (coordination and alignment)

I am a Quiet Struggler: Conceptualizing the Identities of Muslim American High School Students within the Context of Islamophobia.

The spread of Islamophobia in the U.S. positioned Muslims as different and inferior to American society and racialized their experiences by subjecting them to narratives of prejudices and stereotypes. This postcolonial interview study examined how Muslim American high school students conceptualized and negotiated their racialized identities within the context of Islamophobia and how the negotiation processes informed their learning in school, particularly the construction of their mathematics identity. The study built on postcolonial theorists, mathematics research, and decolonizing approaches to research to interrogate and (un)settle traditional and predetermined interviewing practices. Participants included six high school students (2 males and four females) ages 15-17 years old who attended public high schools in the city of Windson (pseudonym) in the Mid-Southern region of the U.S. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), this dissertation interrogated the Eurocentric discursive practices and the dominant socio-political discourses that informed Muslim American students\u27 positionalities and their mathematics identities within the social and the educational contexts they navigated.Findings suggest the broader sociopolitical discourses inform and shape Muslim American students negotiation of their Muslim American identities. Within these negotiation processes, Muslim American youth constructed subcultures to within the spaces they inhabited to foster a sense of belonging and counter discourses of Islamophobia. Furthermore, the dominant Eurocentric educational discourses and practices in public schools that privileges Western knowledge constructed a sense of separation and further othered Muslim American youth. The instruction of Mathematics is constructed within the Western thought as a value and culture-free subject which also aided in marginalizing the Muslim American population as well as other minorities. Dominant discourses such as grading and tracking informed the construction of a fragile mathematics identity and fostered unfavorable views of mathematics