The impact of cultural similarity and level of acquaintance on personality

The aim of this study was to ascertain whether people’s personality appeared to change depending on how well they knew other people they were interacting with, and whether those persons were from the same culture or not. This is a challenging question for two reasons. Personality is relatively stable by its nature, and the relationship between social context and personality is not at all well understood. Until recently studies in this area have used a relatively static model of personality. Recent research in this area is moving toward a more dynamic model to explain how personality and social context may interact with each other. Ninety-two participants took part in the study. The protocol utilized a within-subject experimental design where participants were asked to rate the personality of someone they knew well, in a number of different social situations. The results indicated that people appeared to be more self-disclosing, displayed more power-seeking behaviour, and were more empathic to others who were culturally similar. People also trusted their friends and family more, and were more self-conscious with strangers. While culture similarity and level of acquaintance did affect personality at least to some degree, they did not appear to interact

Viewing the Future? Virtual Reality In Journalism

Journalism underwent a flurry of virtual reality content creation, production and distribution starting in the final months of 2015. The New York Times distributed more than 1 million cardboard virtual reality viewers and released an app showing a spherical video short about displaced refugees. The Los Angeles Times landed people next to a crater on Mars. USA TODAY took visitors on a ride-along in the "Back to the Future" car on the Universal Studios lot and on a spin through Old Havana in a bright pink '57 Ford. ABC News went to North Korea for a spherical view of a military parade and to Syria to see artifacts threatened by war. The Emblematic Group, a company that creates virtual reality content, followed a woman navigating a gauntlet of anti- abortion demonstrators at a family planning clinic and allowed people to witness a murder-suicide stemming from domestic violence.In short, the period from October 2015 through February 2016 was one of significant experimentation with virtual reality (VR) storytelling. These efforts are part of an initial foray into determining whether VR is a feasible way to present news. The year 2016 is shaping up as a period of further testing and careful monitoring of potential growth in the use of virtual reality among consumers

Informal learning evidence in online communities of mobile device enthusiasts

This chapter describes a study that investigated the informal learning practices of enthusiastic mobile device owners. Informal learning is far more widespread than is often realized. Livingston (2000) pointed out that Canadian adults spend an average of fifteen hours per week on informal learning activities, more than they spend on formal learning activities. The motivation for these learning efforts generally comes from the individual, not from some outside force such as a school, university, or workplace. Therefore, in the absence of an externally imposed learning framework, informal learners will use whatever techniques,resources, and tools best suit their learning needs and personal preferences. As ownership of mobile technologies becomes increasingly widespread in the western world, it is likely that learners who have access to this technology will use it to support their informal learning efforts. This chapter presents the findings of a study into the various and innovative ways in which PDA and Smartphone users exploit mobile device functionality in their informal learning activities. The findings suggested that mobile device users deploy the mobile, connective, and collaborative capabilities of their devices in a variety of informal learning contexts, and in quite innovative ways. Trends emerged, such as the increasing importance of podcasting and audio and the use of built-in GPS, which may have implications for future studies. Informal learners identified learning activities that could be enhanced by the involvement of mobile technology, and developed methods and techniques that helped them achieve their learning goals

When Confidentiality Is Not Essential to Mediation and Competing Interests Necessitate Disclosure

Mediation is a process where a neutral intervener helps disputing parties develop a mutually beneficial resolution. Confidentiality is an established element of mediation. In general, confidentiality furthers the ability of the parties to seek mutually beneficial outcomes to disputes that would otherwise customarily produce a win/lose result. Confidentiality encourages parties to explore their underlying interests, without fear of the repercussions of revealing such information. Arguments are asserted that mediation will not succeed without the assurance that communications will be protected by a confidentiality privilege. The Uniform Mediation Act (UMA) has attempted to clarify the various confidentiality protections afforded by individual states. No confidentiality statute that includes the UMA provision creates an absolute confidentiality privilege, and in fact all such statutes provide a number of express exceptions. One such exception exists when mediation information is sought for use in a criminal proceeding. A criminal defendant is entitled under the United States Constitution to present a complete defense and the confidentiality privilege protecting mediation can intrude on a criminal defendant\u27s constitutional rights. Mediation is now well-established, and the need for confidentiality to maintain the effectiveness and integrity of the process may not be as necessary as once thought when there is a substantial competing interest

No Do-Overs for Parties Who Agree to Limit Review of an Arbitrator\u27s Decision

Under the FAA, review of arbitration awards is limited to specific circumstances. However, in many instances, these default rules can be modified by contractual provisions including increasing or decreasing the level of review of arbitration awards. Although a broader scope of review is contrary to the main purposes of arbitration, courts have held that a contractual provision expanding judicial review is permissible. Furthermore, in some limited circumstances, courts have held that a contractual limitation on judicial review is permitted by the FAA where the restriction is clearly manifested in the contract and the process will not become unfair as a result of the limitation