The partnership of educators and parents of children with developmental disabilities is important for early intervention, as an integrated and interdisciplinary system of professional services intended for children of an early age with developmental disabilities and children who may be late in starting school due to inadequacy: nutrition, chronic diseases, biological and environmental factors. The aim of the research is to examine the assessments of educators and parents about the involvement of families of children with developmental disabilities in kindergarten activities. (...) It started from the general assumption that there is a difference in the assessments of educators and parents about family involvement in kindergarten activities. The research conducted in October 2022 included 167 educators and 167 parents in the area of Kikinda and Sombor (Serbia), who assessed family participation in kindergarten activities (PP) for 167 children aged five to seven. The quality of cooperation was examined with the Subtest Parents’ involvement in kindergarten activities. This subtest forms part of the Parental Involvement Questionnaire (Fantuzzo et al, 2000) adapted for this research (a = 0,921). The research results show that there is a significant difference in the assessments of educators and parents in the area of family involvement in kindergarten activities. It was concluded that there is a need for planning guidelines and implementation of procedures that would enable parents to participate in kindergarten activities. The application of the new Program Basis in the context of cooperation between preschool institutions and parents would contribute to the improvement of project planning of learning and teaching in pedagogical practice. This would help parents better understand project-based learning and the importance of participating in kindergarten activities. (shrink)

The present study aims to identify contextual and psychological factors of proneness to radicalization and violent extremism operationalized through the Militant Extremist Mindset scale consisting of three distinct aspects: Proviolence, Vile World beliefs, and trust in Divine Power. A community sample of 271 high school students from Belgrade and Sandžak regions in Serbia completed: a 24-item MEM scale; contextual measures including a 6-item scale of family dysfunction and a 4-item composite measure capturing exposure to a harsh school environment and peer (...) abuse ; psychological measures including the 9-item Right-Wing Authoritarianism scale, the 5-item Social Dominance Orientation scale, and the 20-item UCLA Loneliness scale. A path analysis was conducted with contextual factors on the first and psychological factors on the second level of the model predicting the three factors of MEM. LON was positively predicted by FDys and HSE, SDO by HSE only, while RWA was positively predicted by FDys only. Contextual and psychological factors accounted for 27% of the variance in PV, 15% of the variance in VW, and 31% of the variance in DP. Obtained findings reveal a complex interplay of contextual and psychological drivers in the prediction of different aspects of RVE and build upon existing knowledge on risk factors associated with RVE. (shrink)

In this paper we argue that predictive processing (PP) theory cannot account for the phenomenon of affect-biased attention prioritized attention to stimuli that are affectively salient because of their associations with reward or punishment. Specifically, the PP hypothesis that selective attention can be analyzed in terms of the optimization of precision expectations cannot accommodate affect-biased attention; affectively salient stimuli can capture our attention even when precision expectations are low. We review the prospects of three recent attempts to accommodate affect with (...) tools internal to PP theory: Miller and Clark’s (2018) embodied inference; Seth’s (2013) interoceptive inference; and Joffily and Coricelli’s (2013) rate of change of free energy. In each case we argue that the account does not resolve the challenge from affect-biased attention. For this reason, we conclude that prediction error minimization is not sufficient to explain all mental phenomena, contrary to the claim that the PP framework provides a unified theory of all mental phenomena or the brain ‘s cognitive functioning. Nevertheless, we suggest that empirical investigation of the interaction between affective salience and precision expectations should prove helpful in understanding the limits of PP theory, and may provide new directions for the application of a Bayesian perspective to perception. (shrink)

In 2005 The Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory has undertaken a reputed interview, based on identical methodology but on a reduced sample in six towns in Serbia. The objective was to examine how citizens see the circumstances in society today, five years after the October turn, and what conditions their attitudes towards: the policy of new democratic powers, of democratic parties and those of the ex-regime, as well as towards the problems they are confronted with, and whether the initial (...) optimism has gone and why. The results obtained by this interview show that after five years of experience with democratic transition the interviewees are more critical regarding the actual democratic policy, and more likely to forget the reasons created by the former regime as obstacles to a successful democratic transition. For this reason, disappointment has grown, and an initial optimism gives its place to pessimism, with vanishing of the hope in the possibility of radical democratic change. This makes it possible to give a chance to the Radical Party in a future election. But, in spite of current confusion among citizens produced by the examined state of affairs, as well as the ambiguities in certain attitudes, this inquiry suggests that the interviewees have provided a quite realistic evaluation of the actual conditions in Serbian society today, and that their criticism, which arises from disappointment, does not completely cancel a positive attitude towards democratic transition, since their criticism results from dissatisfaction with the unrealized democratic principles and values after October 5th. Institut za filozofiju i drustvenu teoriju je obavio 2005. ponovljeni intervju, radjen istom metodologijom, ali na skracenom, desetoprocentnom uzorku i u sest gradova Srbije, sa ciljem da se proveri sta se promenilo u vidjenju gradjana o politici u drustvu posle pet godina od oktobarskog prevrata i sta uslovljava njihove stavove prema: politici demokratskih vlasti, prema strankama bivseg rezima i problemima sa kojima se suocavaju, kao i da li je nestao pocetni optimizam i zasto. Rezultati pokazuju da su posle petogodisnjeg iskustva ispitanici kriticniji prema politici demokratskih vlasti, skloniji da zaborave razloge koje je proizveo bivsi rezim kao prepreke za demokratski preobrazaj drustva, te da je poraslo razocaranje i nezadovoljstvo postignutim, a pocetni optimizam sve vise ustupa mesto pesimizmu i gubljenju nade u mogucnost radikalnijih demokratskih promena, sto uslovljava i stav o mogucem davanju sanse radikalima na sledecim izborima. Ali i pored zbunjenosti gradjana zbog nastale nepovoljne situacije i ambivalentnosti izvesnih stavova, istrazivanje sugerise da su ispitanici realnije procenili aktualno stanje drustva i da kriticnost, koja proizlazi iz nezadovoljstva zbog neostvarenih obecanja, ali i zbog neartikulisanih ciljeva razvoja, ne potire u potpunosti pozitivni stav prema demokratskoj transformaciji, buduci da se kritika uglavnom pokazuje kao rezultat razocaranja sto se ne ostvaruju demokratski principi posle 5. oktobra. (shrink)

The anthropological approach to the concept of identity is needed because “identity” is not naturally “given”, but it is culturally defined and constituted, for human beings live in cultural settings as “a second nature of man”; so they are humanly conditioned and conceptualised in different “ways of peoples’ lives”. Being that culture makes an essential context of social life and of the personality foundation, it provides the pattern of the common way of living and thinking of the communal experiences as (...) a value-referential framework upon which definitions and interpretations of identities rely. Thereby, cultural paradigm enables researches to understand what identity expresses in different socio-historical conditions and ideological connotations, assuming that this concept is dynamic vs. the other one, e.g. national pattern of identity which is narrow as well as exclusive; and as a static category, it does not suppose possibility of change. In the paper a traditionally oriented conceptualisation of identity in Serbia will be also treated, together with its influence upon the slow changes within a democratic transition during the new millennium. (shrink)

Der anthropologische Ansatz zum Identitätskonzept wird benötigt, da die „Identität“ nicht von Natur aus „gegeben“ ist, sondern für Menschenwesen kulturell definiert und konstituiert ist, die in dem kulturellen Rahmen als der „anderen Natur des Menschen“ leben; so existieren sie menschlich bedingt und konzeptualisiert in verschiedenerlei „menschlichen Lebensarten“. Diese Kultur zu durchleben bildet den essenziellen Kontext des Soziallebens wie auch der Persönlichkeitsgründung, es liefert die Muster der gemeinschaftlichen Lebens- und Denkweise der kollektiven Erfahrung, und zwar als wertmäßig-referenzielles Gerüst, woran sich die (...) Definitionen und Interpretationen der Identitäten anlehnen. Aufgrund dessen befähigt das kulturelle Paradigma die Erforscher zum Verständnis, welche Identität sich in diversen sozialhistorischen Gegebenheiten sowie ideologischen Konnotationen offenbart, vorausgesetzt, dass dieses Konzept im Vergleich zum anderen dynamisch ist, wie zum nationalen Identitätsentwurf, welcher sowohl begrenzt als auch abschließend wirkt und als statische Kategorie keinerlei Änderungsmöglichkeiten duldet. In dem Artikel wird ebenso die traditionell ausgerichtete Identitätskonzeptualisierung in Serbien behandelt und ihre Einwirkung auf die Wandelträgheit innerhalb der demokratischen Transition im neuen Millennium. (shrink)

Potreba za antropološkim pristupom pojmu identiteta javlja se zbog prirode kako osobnog tako i kolektivnog identiteta, budući da nije riječ o fenomenima koji su »prirodno dani«, već o kulturno definiranim i konstituiranim formama ljudskog života u kulturnoj sredini kao »drugoj prirodi«, koja na ljudski način uvjetuje i konceptualizira različite »načine života« pojedinaca i naroda. Budući da kultura predstavlja bitan kontekst ljudskog socijalnog i individualnog života, ona osigurava obrazac zajedničkog načina života i načina mišljenja kolektivnog iskustva, kao vrijednosno-referentni okvir na koji (...) se oslanjaju definicije i interpretacije identiteta. Stoga kulturna paradigma omogućuje istraživačima da razumiju što znači identitet u različitim društveno-povijesnim uvjetima i ideološkim konotacijama, pretpostavljajući dinamičan koncept nasuprot nacionalnog obrasca identiteta koji se vezuje za etničke grupe i postaje ekskluzivan te isključuje mogućnost promjene. U tekstu će se razmatrati i tradicionalno orijentirana konceptualizacija identiteta u Srbiji i njen utjecaj na sporost promjena u demokratskoj tranziciji u novom tisućljeću i ukazati na probleme i dileme u tom kontekstu. (shrink)

Freedom as an authentic and willed process, characteristic of man as a human rational being, enables the individual to act in accordance with the principles of morality, since the individual can choose between good and evil, and in this way to get out of the sphere of the given to which the rest of the living world is limited. We should recall the forgotten Marx and his famous text on the essential difference between the animal world and humanity as a (...) genus: "The animal is immediately united with its vital activity. It does not differ from it. It is vital activity. Man makes his own vital activity the subject of his will and consciousness. He has conscious vital activity. This is not a determination with which he merges immediately. Conscious vital activity distinguishes man directly from animal vital activity. It is exactly in this way alone that he is a generic being. Or a conscious being, i.e. his own life is a subject for him precisely because he is a generic being. It is only for this reason that his activity is free activity...". In other words, while animals live just the life of their species and cannot choose anything else, since the choice has been made by the fact of their belonging to a species, man can choose the world in which to live, overcoming in this way the natural givens. Here lies the core of the anthropological explanation of the principle of morality, inconceivable without man's ability to be an authentic free being. Sloboda kao autenticni voljni proces, svojstven coveku kao ljudskom umnom bicu, omogucuje individui da postupa u skladu sa nacelima moralnosti, buduci da individua moze da bira izmedju dobra i zla i da na taj nacin izadje iz sfere datosti na koju je ogranicen ostali zivi svet. Podsetimo se zaboravljenog Marxa i cuvenog teksta o sustinskoj razlici izmedju sveta zivotinjskih vrsta i coveka kao roda:?zivotinja je neposredno jedinstvena sa svojom zivotnom delatnoscu. Ona se od nje ne razlikuje. Ona je zivotna datost. Covek cini samu svoju zivotnu delatnost predmetom svoga htenja i svoje svesti. On ima svesnu zivotnu delatnost. To nije odredjenost s kojom se on neposredno stapa. Svesna zivotna delatnost razlikuje coveka neposredno od zivotinjske zivotne delatnosti. On je upravo samo na taj nacin genericko bice. Ilije samo svesno bice, tj. njegov vlastiti zivot mu je predmet upravo zato sto je genericko bice. Samo zato je njegova delatnost slobodna delatnost...". Drugim recima, dok zivotinjski svet zivi samo zivotom svoje vrste i ne moze da izabere nista drugo, on je srastao sa vrstom kojoj pripada, covek moze da bira svet u kojem ce ziveti prevazilazeci na taj nacin prirodnu datost. Ovde je sadrzana bit antropoloskog objasnjenja principa moralnosti, koji se bez sposobnosti coveka da bude autenticno slobodno bice ne bi mogao pojmiti.. (shrink)

U tekstu se raspravlja o različitim interpretacijama koncepta globalizacije te se naglašava nedostatak njenog filozofskog utemeljenja. Razmatraju se moguće ideološke konotacije u dominantnom društvenom kontekstu u kojem je dana presudna važnost ekonomskoj racionalnosti. Prezentiraju se stavovi istaknutih autora s ciljem razumijevanja ovoga kompleksnog fenomena te njegovih kontroverzi i dilema.

Der Artikel erörtert den anthropologischen Ansatz bei der Erforschung der Rolle, die die Kultur im Humanisierungsprozess des Menschen spielt: Was sind die Vorteile des modernen Zeitalters, und welche Probleme melden sich in der postindustriellen und immer noch technologischen Zivilisation? Was hat sich im Hinblick auf die fundamentale Rolle der Kultur in der Welt des Menschen verändert, als: a) die Kultur zu einem Industrieerzeugnis im Sinne von „Massenkultur” wurde; und b) sie unter den Einfluss des postmodernen Relativismus fiel ? Die Verfasserin (...) analysiert die Folgen dieser Wandel unter dem Gesichtspunkt substanzialer menschlicher Potenziale wie Kreativiät und Imagination, den L ebenssinn betreffende Referenzgrundlagen, multidimensionale Struktur des menschlichen Charakters, Freiheit der Persönlichkeit im Gegensatz zum vulgarisierten Individualismus usw. Die abschließende Fragestellung lautet: Ist die Kultur hinter den Ökonomismus oder die Politik zurückgetreten, statt deren Grundlage zu sein? (shrink)

Predmet rasprave bit će antropološki pristup mjestu kulture u procesu humanizacije čovjeka: koje su dobrobiti razvoja modernoga doba i koji se problemi javljaju u postindustrijskoj i još uvijek tehnološkoj civilizaciji? Što se promijenilo s obzirom na fundamentalnu ulogu kulture u ljudskom svijetu: a) kad je kultura postala industrijski proizvod u smislu »masovne kulture«, i b) pod utjecajem postmodernog relativizma ? Posljedice tih promjena analizirat će se s gledišta supstancijalnih ljudskih mogućnosti kao što su kreativnost i imaginacija, osnove referenci koje se (...) tiču smisla života, multidimenzionalna priroda strukture ljudskoga karaktera, sloboda ličnosti naspram vulgariziranog individualizma, itd. Postavlja se zaključno pitanje: je li kultura postala potčinjena ekonomizmu ili politici, umjesto da bude njihova osnova? (shrink)

La discussion portera sur l’approche anthropologique de la place que la culture occupe dans le processus d’humanisation de l’homme : quels sont les bienfaits du développement du monde moderne et quels problèmes apparaissent au sein de la civilisation postmoderne, toujours technologique ? Qu’a-t-il changé à l’égard du rôle fondamental de la culture dans le monde humain : a) lorsque la culture est devenue un produit industriel en termes de « culture de masse » ; b) sous l’influence du relativisme postmoderne (...) – qui marginalise les valeurs universelles et la moralité au lieu de se concentrer sur les « préférences » et le discours narratif ? L es conséquences de ces changements seront analysées du point de vue du potentiel essentiel de l’homme dont font partie la créativité et l’imagination, les références concernant le sens de la vie, le caractère multidimensionnel de la structure de la nature humaine, la liberté de la personnalité par opposition à l’individualisme banalisé etc. En conclusion, la question suivante est posée : la culture est-elle désormais soumise à l’économisme et à la politique au lieu d’être leur fondement ? (shrink)

Problemi savremene teorije ličnosti -- Porodica kao ljudska zajednica -- Samorealizacija čoveka jednakošću i slobodom -- Kultura kao most između utopije i stvarnosti.

Le texte traite des différentes interprétations du concept de mondialisation puis souligne l’absence de son fondement philosophique. Il examine les potentielles connotations idéologiques dans un contexte de société dominée par la raison économique. Il présente les points de vue d’auteurs de référence afin de cerner ce phénomène complexe, ses controverses et ses dilemmes.

Empirijsko terensko istrazivanje obavljeno je u 20 gradova n Srbiji metodom dubinskog intervjua sa ciljem da se ispita kako su sami gradjani doziveli poslednje godine rezima Slobodana Milosevica i nastale promene posle 5. oktobra 2000. Paznja je bila usmerena na stavove ispitanika o uzrocima pada bivseg rezima, o razlozima koji su ih motivisali da se (ne)angazuju u borbi za drustvene promene, o dozivljaju 5. oktobra, o promenama nastalim posle demokratskog prevrata, pretnja novoj vlasti, kao i prema medjunarodnoj zajednici i odnosu (...) prema ratnim zlocincima, sa posebnim osvrtom na stav prema Haskom sudu. Dokumentacija koja je prikupljena bice obradjena kvalitativnom metodom koja omogucuje da se odgovori razmatraju u kontekstu svakodnevnog zivota ispitanika i sacuvaju originalni stavovi koji se razlikuju od uobicajenih shema iz dnevne stampe i zvanicnih izvestaja. (shrink)

Der Text erörtert verschiedene Interpretationen des Globalisierungskonzeptes, das – wie die Autorin unterstreicht – einer philosophischen Grundlage entbehrt. Es werden mögliche ideologische Konnotationen im herrschenden gesellschaftlichen Kontext untersucht, innerhalb dessen das Wirtschaftsdenken eine entscheidende Rolle spielt. Die Autorin präsentiert die Standpunkte renommierter Denker, um das komplexe Phänomen der Globalisierung sowie die sie begleitenden Kontroversen und Dilemmata verständlich zu machen.

Different interpretations of the concept of globalisation are discussed and the lack of its philosophical foundation is stressed. The possible ideological connotation in a dominant social context with the given primary importance to economic rationality is considered. Views of the distinguished authors are presented in order to understand this complex phenomenon, and its controversies and dilemmas.

An anthropological approach to the place of culture in the process of man’s humanization will be discussed: what are the benefits of the modern age development and which problems arise in postindustrial and still technological civilization? What has been changed as far as the fundamental role of culture in the human world is concerned: a) when culture has become an industrial product in term of “mass culture”; and b) under the influence of a postmodern relativism ? The consequences of these (...) changes are to be analyzed from the point of view of substantial human potentialities as creativity and imagination, frames of references regarding meaning of life, multidimensional nature of human character structure, freedom of personality vs. vulgarized individualism, etc. The concluding question states: whether culture has become submitted to the economism or to politics, instead of being their fundation? (shrink)

La nécessité d’une approche anthropologique du concept d’identité provient de la nature de l’identité, qu’elle soit personnelle ou collective, qui n’est pas un phénomène « donné naturellement », mais une forme, culturellement définie et construite, de la vie humaine dans un milieu culturel en tant que « seconde nature » ; celle-ci conditionne et conceptualise humainement les différents « modes de vie » des individus et des peuples. Étant donné que la culture représente le contexte essentiel de la vie sociale (...) et individuelle de l’homme, elle fournit un modèle pour un mode de vie et de pensée commun de l’expérience collective, comme cadre des valeurs de référence sur lequel s’appuient les définitions et les interprétations de l’identité. Ainsi, le paradigme culturel permet aux chercheurs de comprendre ce que signifie l’identité dans des conditions socio-historiques et des connotations idéologiques différentes, en assumant un concept dynamique inverse du modèle national d’identité, qui lui est lié aux groupes ethniques et exclut la possibilité du changement. Le texte traitera également de la conceptualisation, orientée traditionnellement, de l’identité en Serbie, ainsi que de son influence sur la lenteur des changements dans la transition démocratique en ce nouveau millénaire. (shrink)

In the current socioeconomic environment, brands increasingly need to portray societal and ethical commitments at a corporate level, in order to remain competitive and improve their reputation. However, studies that relate business ethics to corporate brands are either purely conceptual or have been empirically conducted in relation to the field of products/goods. This is surprising because corporate brands are even more relevant in the services sector, due to the different nature of services, and the subsequent need to provide a consistent (...) high-quality customer experience across all the brand–customer interactions and touch-points. Thus, the purpose of this article is to study, at a corporate brand level and in the field of services, the effect of customer perceived ethicality of a brand on brand equity. The model is tested by structural equations, using data collected for eight service categories by means of a panel composed of 2179 customers. The test of measurement equivalence between these categories is conducted using generalizability theory. Confirmatory factor analysis marker technique is applied in order to check for common method variance. The results of the hypothesized model indicate that customer perceived ethicality has a positive, indirect impact on brand equity, through the mediators of brand affect and perceived quality. However, there is no empirical evidence for a direct effect of customer perceived ethicality on brand equity. (shrink)

Unchosen transformative experiences—transformative experiences that are imposed upon an agent by external circumstances—present a fundamental problem for agency: how does one act intentionally in circumstances that transform oneself as an agent, and that disrupt one’s core projects, cares, or goals? Drawing from William James’s analysis of conversion and Matthew Ratcliffe’s account of grief, I give a phenomenological analysis of transformative experiences as involving the restructuring of systems of practical meaning. On this analysis, an agent’s experience of the world is structured (...) by practically significant possibilities that form organized systems on the basis of the agent’s projects and relationships. Transformative experiences involve shifts to systems of possibility, that is, changes to habitual meanings and to how an agent’s projects are situated in relation to one another. I employ the enactivist notion of sense-making to analyze how an agent rebuilds the meaning structures disrupted by a transformative experience. In an unchosen transformative experience, an agent adjusts to a significant disruption through a process of sense-making in precarious conditions. By establishing new patterns of bodily and social interaction with the world, one alters the practical meanings of one’s surroundings, and thereby reconstitutes oneself as an intentional agent. (shrink)

Unchosen transformative experiences—transformative experiences that are imposed upon an agent by external circumstances—present a fundamental problem for agency: how does one act intentionally in circumstances that transform oneself as an agent, and that disrupt one’s core projects, cares, or goals? Drawing from William James’s analysis of conversion and Matthew Ratcliffe’s account of grief, I give a phenomenological analysis of transformative experiences as involving the restructuring of systems of practical meaning. On this analysis, an agent’s experience of the world is structured (...) by practically significant possibilities that form organized systems on the basis of the agent’s projects and relationships. Transformative experiences involve shifts to systems of possibility, that is, changes to habitual meanings and to how an agent’s projects are situated in relation to one another. I employ the enactivist notion of sense-making to analyze how an agent rebuilds the meaning structures disrupted by a transformative experience. In an unchosen transformative experience, an agent adjusts to a significant disruption through a process of sense-making in precarious conditions. By establishing new patterns of bodily and social interaction with the world, one alters the practical meanings of one’s surroundings, and thereby reconstitutes oneself as an intentional agent. (shrink)

In the past few decades, a growth in ethical consumerism has led brands to increasingly develop conscientiousness and depict ethical image at a corporate level. However, most of the research studying business ethics in the field of corporate brand management is either conceptual or has been empirically conducted in relation to goods/products contexts. This is surprising because corporate brands are more relevant in services contexts, because of the distinct nature of services and the key role that employees have in the (...) services sector. Accordingly, this article aims at empirically examining the effects of customer perceived ethicality in the context of corporate services brands. Based on data collected for eight service categories using a panel of 2179 customers, the hypothesized structural model is tested using path analysis. The results show that, in addition to a direct effect, customer perceived ethicality has a positive and indirect effect on customer loyalty, through the mediators of customer affective commitment and customer perceived quality. Further, employee empathy positively influences the impact of customer perceived ethicality on customer affective commitment, and customer loyalty positively impacts customer positive word-of-mouth. The first implication of these results is that corporate brand strategy needs to be aligned with human resources policies and practices if brands want to turn ethical strategies into employee behavior. Second, corporate brands should build more authentic communications grounded in their ethical beliefs and supported by evidence from actual employees. (shrink)

In an ever more transparent, digitalized, and connected environment, customers are increasingly pressuring brands to embrace genuine corporate social responsibility practices and co-creation activities. While both CSR and co-creation are social and collaborative processes, there is still little research examining whether CSR can boost co-creation. In addition, while previous research has mainly related co-creation to emotional outcomes, limited empirical research has related it to rational and behavioral outcomes. To address these shortcomings in the literature, this paper examines the influence of (...) CSR on customer loyalty, considering the mediating roles of co-creation and customer trust. It also investigates the influence of co-creation on customer trust. The data were collected in Spain in late 2017 using an online survey, and the sample contained 1101 customers of health insurance services brands. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships simultaneously. The results show that CSR influences customer loyalty both directly and indirectly through co-creation and customer trust. However, the indirect impact is the stronger of the two, implying that embracing co-creation activities and developing customer trust can make it easier for CSR practices to enhance customer loyalty. In addition, co-creation has a direct effect on customer trust. (shrink)

In order to be competitive in an era of ethical consumerism, brands are facing an ever-increasing pressure to integrate ethical values into their identities and to display their ethical commitment at a corporate level. Nevertheless, studies that relate business ethics to corporate brands are either theoretical or have predominantly been developed empirically in goods contexts. This is surprising, because corporate brands are more relevant in services settings, given the nature of services, and the fact that services settings comprise a greater (...) number of customer–brand interactions and touch points than goods contexts. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to empirically examine the effects of customer perceived ethicality of corporate brands that operate in the services sector. Based on data collected for eight service categories using a panel of 2179 customers, the hypothesized structural model is tested using path analysis. The generalizability theory is applied to test for measurement equivalence between these categories. The results of the hypothesized model show that, in addition to a direct impact, customer perceived ethicality has a positive and indirect impact on brand equity, through the mediators of recognition benefits and brand image. Moreover, brand heritage negatively influences the impact of customer perceived ethicality on brand image. The main implication is that managers need to be aware of the need to reinforce brand image and recognition benefits, as this can facilitate the translation of customer perceived ethicality into brand equity. (shrink)

We introduce a probabilistic extension of propositional intuitionistic logic. The logic allows making statements such as P≥sα, with the intended meaning “the probability of truthfulness of α is at least s”. We describe the corresponding class of models, which are Kripke models with a naturally arising notion of probability, and give a sound and complete infinitary axiomatic system. We prove that the logic is decidable.

Emotionally arousing events reach awareness more easily and evoke greater visual cortex activation than more mundane events. Recent studies have shown that they are also perceived more vividly and that emotionally enhanced perceptual vividness predicts memory vividness. We propose that affect-biased attention (ABA) – selective attention to emotionally salient events – is an endogenous attentional system tuned by an individual's history of reward and punishment. We present the Biased Attention via Norepinephrine (BANE) model, which unifies genetic, neuromodulatory, neural and behavioural (...) evidence to account for ABA. We review evidence supporting BANE's proposal that a key mechanism of ABA is locus coeruleus–norepinephrine (LC–NE) activity, which interacts with activity in hubs of affective salience networks to modulate visual cortex activation and heighten the subjective vividness of emotionally salient stimuli. We further review literature on biased competition and look at initial evidence for its potential as a neural mechanism behind ABA. We also review evidence supporting the role of the LC–NE system as a driving force of ABA. Finally, we review individual differences in ABA and memory including differences in sensitivity to stimulus category and valence. We focus on differences arising from a variant of the ADRA2b gene, which codes for the alpha2b adrenoreceptor as a way of investigating influences of NE availability on ABA in humans. (shrink)

A Marxist analysis of the role of politics in liberal democracies and fascist and socialist states.