Spirituality and attitudes towards nature in the Pacific Islands: insights for enabling climate - change adaptation

A sample of 1226 students at the University of the South Pacific, the premier tertiary institution in the Pacific Islands, answered a range of questions intended to understand future island decision-makers’ attitudes towards Nature and concern about climate change. Questions asking about church attendance show that the vast majority of participants have spiritual values that explain their feelings of connectedness to Nature which in turn may account for high levels of pessimism about the current state of the global/Pacific environment. Concern about climate change as a future livelihood stressor in the Pacific region is ubiquitous at both societal and personal levels. While participants exhibited a degree of understanding matching objective rankings about the vulnerability of their home islands/countries, a spatial optimism bias was evident in which ‘other places’ were invariably regarded as ‘worse’. Through their views on climate change concern, respondents also favoured a psychological distancing of environmental risk in which ‘other places’ were perceived as more exposed than familiar ones. Influence from spirituality is implicated in both findings. Most interventions intended to reduce exposure to environmental risk and to enable effective and sustainable adaptation to climate change in the Pacific Islands region have failed to acknowledge influences on decision making of spirituality and connectedness to Nature. Messages that stress environmental conservation and stewardship, particularly if communicated within familiar and respected religious contexts, are likely to be more successful than secular ones

Don’t rock the boat: The moderating role of gender in the relationship between workplace incivility and work withdrawal

Purpose: There is a vast array of literature which investigates the concept and impact of workplace incivility. Evidence suggests that compared to male employees, female employees tend to experience and put up more with workplace incivility. However, there is limited research on how this affects female employee’s willingness to complete work-related tasks. The purpose of this paper is to set out to examine whether gender moderates the role between tolerance for workplace incivility and those behaviours characterised by work withdrawal. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 317 employees from a range of business industries and governmental agencies completed a quantitative survey of measures relating to their work withdrawal behaviour and their perception of their workplaces’ tolerance for uncivil behaviours. Findings: Results revealed that when females perceived high levels of tolerance for workplace incivility, they decreased their work withdrawal behaviour. No relationship between tolerance for workplace incivility and work withdrawal was found for males. Research limitations/implications: The homogeneity of the sample, that is, the sample comprised predominantly of white-collar, White Australian workers. Practical implications: Improve managers and organisations’ knowledge and understanding about deviant workplace behaviours – especially between male and female employees. Originality/value: The paper adds to the work in the workplace incivility, diversity-gender and equity research area. Specifically, it highlights how male and female employees react when they perceive that their workplace tolerates deviant behaviours. This knowledge will inform managers and their organisations of a more effective way of managing conflict

Expectancies and mental models as determinants of adolescents' smoking decisions

Cigarette smoking has been identified as the single most preventable source of mortality and morbidity in the United States. Experimentation with tobacco typically begins in adolescence, and smoking during this period is one of the strongest and most consistent predictors of adult smoking status. In the present paper, we review several prominent decision models that have been applied to adolescent smoking, and point out important limitations of these models. We then propose a new process-oriented framework of decision-making based on the concept of mental models, and discuss the implications of this framework for developing effective smoking prevention and cessation interventions for adolescents

A comparison of the mediational properties of four adolescent smoking expectancy measures

This prospective study compared the ability of 4 smoking expectancy measures to mediate the influence of peer, parent, and current smoking on adolescents ’ cigarette use 3 months later. No evidence for mediation was found when expectancies were operationalized as unidimensional subjective expected utility (SEU), multidimensional SEU, or unidimensional SEU decomposed into probability and desir-ability main effects and their interaction. Evidence for partial mediation was found for the decomposed multidimensional SEU measure. The results suggest that (a) peer and current cigarette use may influence future smoking indirectly through adolescents ’ probability estimates that smoking will control negative emotions and (b) the relationship between current and future smoking also may be mediated by adolescents ’ beliefs about the desirability of weight control. An important assumption underlying many models of adoles-cent problem behavior is that expectancies are not only an impor-tant proximal cause of smoking, drinking, and drug use, but they also mediate more distal effects, such as temperament, community factors, family dynamics, and peer influence (Petraitis, Flay, & Miller, 1995). Although the expectancy mediation hypothesis ap-pears to be widely accepted in the literature, direct empirical tests have been rare. In the present study we investigated whether smoking expectancies mediate the effects of three factors previ-ously shown to predict adolescent smoking intentions: (a) peer smoking, (b) parent smoking, and (c) respondents ’ current smok

Teores de Ca e variáveis meteorológicas: relações com a incidência da mancha fisiológica do mamão no Norte Fluminense Ca concetration and meteorological variables: relationships with skin freckles in papaya (Carica papaya L.) fruits

No Brasil e no mundo, o mamoeiro (Carica papaya L.) tem apresentado um distúrbio fisiológico no fruto denominado de Mancha Fisiológica do Mamão (MFM). Na literatura, pouco se conhece sobre as causas desta anomalia que afeta sensivelmente a comercialização dos frutos da espécie. Com o objetivo de se buscar informações relacionadas às causas da MFM, foi realizado um estudo, durante um ano, em um plantio comercial localizado em São Franscisco do Itabapoana (RJ), no norte fluminense. Foram feitas relações entre algumas variáveis do clima (temperatura, déficit de pressão de vapor, precipitação pluvial e radiação solar global) e os teores de Ca na planta [limbo, pecíolo, pedúnculo, epicarpo não-exposto (face do fruto próxima ao tronco) e epicarpo exposto (face do fruto oposta ao tronco)] com a incidência da MFM. Observou-se que a maior incidência de MFM foi durante setembro/2000. Em janeiro/2001, a incidência da MFM foi praticamente nula. A amplitude térmica, nos três meses que antecederam a setembro/2000, foi a variável do clima que mais se relacionou com a incidência da MFM. Em setembro, os teores de Ca em todas as partes do fruto (pedúnculo, epicarpo exposto e não-exposto) estudadas foram maiores. Na época que antecedeu o mês de setembro, as relações Ca/K e Ca/Mg foram estatisticamente maiores no epicarpo exposto e não-exposto e, nesta época, a relação Ca/P foi estatisticamente maior no pedúnculo e no epicarpo não-exposto. Os efeitos da amplitude térmica sobre a incidência da MFM são discutidos e a hipótese de que os teores baixos de Ca no fruto poderiam causar desestabilização na parede celular, o que facilitaria o extravasamento do látex e provocaria a MFM, deve ser reavaliada.<br>In Brazil and other parts of the world, papaya fruit suffer with a physiological disruption, known as skin freckles (SF). There is very little information available concerning the causes of this disruption that seriously affects the commercialization of the papaya fruit. In an attempt to discover the possible cause of SF, experiments were carried out during 12 months in a commercial plantation located in São Franscisco do Itabapoana, North of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, to measure the effect of climate on SF, such as air temperature, air vapor pressure deficit, rainfall and incoming solar radiation, as well as levels of Ca in the plants [blade, petiole, pedicel, epicarp (peel) not-exposed to sunlight (part of the fruit facing the stem) and the part o the fruit exposed to direct sunlight, related to the incidence of SF. A high incidence of SF was observed during the month of September 2000, however during the month of January 2001 no SF was detected. Thermal temperature during the three months before September was the variable that was most closely correlated to the incidence of SF. In September the levels of Ca in all parts of the fruit (exposed and non-exposed epicarp and pedicel) were higher than during other periods of evaluation. During the period before September, the ratios of Ca:K and Ca:Mg were higher in the exposed and non-exposed epicarp. Also at this time the ratio of Ca:P were higher in the non-exposed epicarp and pedicel. The effect of thermal amplitude on the incidence of SF are discussed and the hypothesis that low levels of Ca in the fruit could destabilize the cell walls, facilitating leaking of latex, provoking the symptoms of SF, will be reevaluated