Agricultural production and sustainable development in a Brazilian region (Southwest, Sao Paulo State): motivations and barriers to adopting sustainable and ecologically friendly practices

The objective of this study is to identify the adoption level of practices associated with more sustainable agriculture and environmentally friendly practices. Additionally, the motivations for and barriers to the adoption of these practices by farmers are investigated. Data were collected through closed questionnaires taken by a random sample of farmers in the Southwest, Sao Paulo, Brazil, during the second half of 2013. Overall, sustainable agricultural practices recommended in the literature and analysed in this study are being not fully adopted by farmers of the studied area. The results showed that financial motivation is associated with farmers adopting new, more sustainable technology, whereas the lack of information on and lack of technical support for these technologies are significant barriers. Other results, research implications, limitations and suggestions for future research are presented.

Attacks on German public figures, 1968-2004: warning behaviors, potentially lethal and non-lethal acts, psychiatric status, and motivations

Fourteen non-terrorist attackers of public figures in Germany between 1968 and 2004 were intensively studied, with a particular focus on warning behaviors, attack behaviors, and the relationship between psychiatric diagnosis, symptoms, and motivations for the assault. A large proportion of the attackers were severely mentally ill, and most likely to be in the potentially lethal rather than the non-lethal group. A new typology of seven warning behaviors was applied to the data, and all were present, most frequently fixation and pathway warning behavior, and least frequently a direct threat. Psychiatric diagnosis could be closely linked to motivation when analyzed at the level of symptom and content of thought, often delusional. Most of the attacks were directed at political figures, and the majority occurred after 1995.

We Did It Our Way: Motivations, Satisfactions, and Accomplishments of Senior Academic Women

In a survey of senior academic women whose careers began around 1970, over half of the 98 respondents cited the desire to serve or make a difference and sought personal fulfillment in their work. Most saw men’s motivations as dissimilar, typically as more self-interested and competitive. Despite generally high satisfaction, dissatisfaction with time pressure/workload and with support was common. Satisfactions and accomplishments overlapped. Frequently mentioned were teaching, scholarship, and their discipline, especially by faculty, and programmatic accomplishments, especially by administrators. Many respondents mentioned helping women; many mentioned a collaborative, nurturing style as integral to their success and as different from their typical male colleagues. Context is provided by the metaphor of immigration (Martin, 1997, 2000), the concept of ambivalent sexism (Krefting, 2003; Glick & Fiske, 1999), and recent work on women and leadership by Eagly and colleagues (e.g., Eagly, 2005; Eagly & Carli, 2007).

Prevalence, motivations, and adverse effects of vaginal practices in Africa and Asia: findings from a multicountry household survey

Background: Women worldwide use various vaginal practices to clean or modify their vulva and vagina. Additional population-level information is needed on prevalence and motivations for these practices, characteristics of users, and their adverse effects. Methods: This was a household survey using multistage cluster sampling in Tete, Mozambique; KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; Yogyakarta, Indonesia; and Chonburi, Thailand. In 2006–2007, vaginal practices and their motivations were examined using structured interviews with women 18–60 years of age (n=3610). Results: Prevalence, frequency, and motivations varied markedly. Two thirds of women in Yogyakarta and Chonburi reported one or more practices. In Yogyakarta, nearly half ingest substances with vaginal effects, and in Chonburi, external washing and application predominate. In Tete, half reported three or four current practices, and a quarter reported five or more practices. Labial elongation was near universal, and 92% of those surveyed cleanse internally. Two third's in KwaZulu-Natal practiced internal cleansing. Insertion of traditional solid products was rare in Chonburi and Yogyakarta, but one tenth of women in KwaZulu-Natal and nearly two thirds of women in Tete do so. Multivariate analysis of the most common practice in each site showed these were more common among less educated women in Africa and young urban women in Asia. Explicit sexual motivations were frequent in KwaZulu-Natal and Tete, intended for pleasure and maintaining partner commitment. Practices in Chonburi and Yogyakarta were largely motivated by femininity and health. Genital irritation was common at African sites. Conclusions: Vaginal practices are not as rare, exotic, or benign as sometimes assumed. Limited evidence of their biomedical consequences remains a concern; further investigation of their safety and sexual health implications is warranted.

Engineering design motivations : a qualitative and quantitative analysis of university students

What motivates students to perform and pursue engineering design tasks? This study examines this question by way of three Learning Through Service (LTS) programs: 1) an on-going longitudinal study examining the impacts of service on engineering students, 2) an on-going analysis of an international senior design capstone program, and 3) an on-going evaluation of an international graduate-level research program. The evaluation of these programs incorporates both qualitative and quantitative methods, utilizing surveys, questionnaires, and interviews, which help to provide insight on what motivates students to do engineering design work. The quantitative methods were utilized in analyzing various instruments including: a Readiness assessment inventory, Intercultural Development Inventory, Sustainable Engineering through Service Learning survey, the Impacts of Service on Engineering Students’ survey, Motivational narratives, as well as some analysis for interview text. The results of these instruments help to provide some much needed insight on how prepared students are to participate in engineering programs. Additional qualitative methods include: Word clouds, Motivational narratives, as well as interview analysis. This thesis focused on how these instruments help to determine what motivates engineering students to pursue engineering design tasks. These instruments aim to collect some more in-depth information than the quantitative instruments will allow. Preliminary results suggest that of the 120 interviews analyzed Interest/Enjoyment, Application of knowledge and skills, as well as gaining knowledge are key motivating factors regardless of gender or academic level. Together these findings begin to shed light on what motivates students to perform engineering design tasks, which can be applied for better recruitment and retention in university programs.

Suicide Bombers in Israel: Their Motivations, Characteristics, and Prior Activity in Terrorist Organizations

This paper examines the characteristics of suicide bombers as reflected in the Israeli press during the Second Intifada in Israel. The analysis aims to determine whether there were significant differences in the characteristics of suicide bombers with religious motives versus those with nationalist motives. The findings reveal that gender, education level, and organizational affiliation correlated significantly with motives for carrying out suicide attacks. Most of the suicide bombers with religious motives were men with elementary education. In addition, the results show that most of the suicide bombers who were affiliated with the Hamas organization acted out of religious motives. No significant differences were found between suicide bombers with religious and those with nationalist motives with regard to age, marital status, and prior activity in terrorist organizations.

Push and Pull Motivations for Quitting: A three-wave investigation of predictors and consequences of turnover

We report a new analysis of data from a multi-year study, some of which were previously published in the current journal. A longitudinal sample of 380 computer specialists was followed over two years, yielding three measures each of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions, as well as actual turnover, and reasons for leaving, at Times 2 and 3. Career paths were more diverse than the classical distinction between stayers and leavers implies. Furthermore, although the largest single group of leavers cited “push” reasons, conforming to the classical withdrawal model, a sizable number were attracted to another job (“pull motivation”). In a three-wave structural equation model, job (dis)satisfaction predicted turnover, while organizational commitment exerted its influence only via its association with job satisfaction. As expected, however, attitudes predicted turnover only for participants with push motivation. Quitting, in turn, predicted an improvement in both satisfaction and commitment, indicating that it paid off for the individual. The necessity to study consequences of turnover and to distinguish between different subgroups of stayers and leavers is emphasized.

Managing Moral Motivations

Firms confront three problems: (1) shirking (sub-optimal provision of effort), (2) smooth transfer of knowledge, and (3) eliciting new knowledge. The motivations possessed by firm members are four: (a) instrumental rationality (i.e., self-interest), (b) moral motivations and integrity, (c) intrinsic motivations, and (d) fairness motivations. The trick for the firm is to manage motivations in a way that solves its particular problems. The purpose of this paper is to provide the foundations for moral motivations and moral integrity, and to discuss the kinds of problems that they can and cannot solve, particularly in context of the complex motivational mix.

Through the Eyes of Visitors: Understanding the Contexts of the Visitor Photo Study at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

This case study describes the analysis of the Visitor Photo Study, a study in which visitors to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science documented their visit through pictures. The origins, implementation, and findings of the Visitor Photo Study are considered within the contexts of the fields of Community-Based Research (Strand, Marullo, Cutforth, Stoecker, & Donohue, 2003b), Visual Studies (Marshall & Rossman, 2011; Pink, 2007), and Visitor Studies (Visitor Studies Association, 2012). This study considers the extent to which the principles and elements of each of these fields were present in the Visitor Photo Study, which elements were not fully realized or were missing from the study, and ways in which the Visitor Photo Study extends each of these fields. The value of this type of analysis and implications for museums, faculty, and students are also discussed.

John La Farge as collector of Japanese art : motivations and reflections

Throughout his lifetime, American artist John La Farge (1835-1910) amassed an enormous collection of art and books. La Farge’s study of art and culture encompassed several genres and aesthetic elements. La Farge has been credited as the first American artist — even prior to James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)— to integrate visual elements and cultural awareness of the Far East within his own Western-trained art. Although many scholars have studied La Farge’s art and life from various perspectives, including his interest in Asian art, the object of the present study is solely focused on La Farge’s collecting of Japanese art.