Households' intentions under financial vulnerability conditions: is it likely for the COVID-19 pandemic to leave a permanent scar?

PurposeThe authors draw on psychological reactance theory, collective mental programming, psychological profiles and financial vulnerability experiences to assess the possibility that the pandemic may induce transformative changes in households' behavioral intentions related to financial decisions after the pandemic is over.Design/methodology/approachUsing a unique survey data drawn from four different countries located in North America, Europe, Africa and Latin America, the authors show that the stressful conditions that accompanied the pandemic have instigated a state of financial vulnerability and stimulated instinctual defensive mechanisms among consumers.FindingsThe study results indicate that households have intentions to make defensive decisions in spending, consumption, planning and investment. Furthermore, the authors report evidence that personal psychological heterogeneity (as an individual factor) and collective mental programming (as a cultural factor) play a significant role in shaping households' postpandemic financial intentions.Research limitations/implicationsThe study findings carry important practical implications. For financial institutions, marketers and financial advisors, the authors’ work implies that individual and collective factors affect people's perception and behavioral intentions in response to financial adversities. For social planners and legislators, the authors’ work shows that they should expect not only short-term but also long-term reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/valueMost research on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on households' financial behavior focuses on transitional adjustments made during the pandemic, and little emphasis has been placed on potential postpandemic adjustments. The authors contend that it would be a mistake to analyze the pandemic-induced crisis as a temporary financial hardship.

Задачи и возможности лингвистической экспертизы в контексте лингво-когнитивной безопасности страны

Вербальные манипуляции – очень тонкий и опасный инструмент ментального программирования. Даже специалисты, в чьи компетенции входит умение различать скрытые речевые тактики и противодействовать им, не всегда могут их обнаружить. Подавляющее большинство граждан оказываются беспомощными в ситуации скрытой речевой агрессии, которая направлена на разрушение идентичности человека, развитие в нём комплекса ущербности и стыда за свою национальную принадлежность, язык, историю своей страны и её культуру. Это является серьёзной угрозой не только в лингво-когнитивной сфере, но и в военной. Эксперт, владеющий методикой лингвистического анализа, может не только определить степень опасности, заключённой в подобного рода материалах, но и предложить способ противодействовать скрытым информационным атакам. The challenges which forensic linguistics is currently facing on the global arena are predicated by the massive flow of online communications, on the one hand, and raging information controversy of rival powers, on the other. The information confrontation being harsh and unyielding, the most sophisticated instruments are in demand. Verbal manipulation – one of the most practical of all the instruments – is a very subtle and dangerous mental programming tool. The overwhelming majority of citizens find themselves helpless in a situation of latent speech aggression, which aims at destroying a person’s identity, developing a complex of inferiority and shame for their nationality, language, history of their country, and culture. It poses a serious linguo-cognitive threat and undermines national security. A qualified linguist can evaluate the amount of danger inherent in information-charged texts as well as suggest a way to counteract hidden information attacks.

Generalizations, overgeneralizations and intercultural communication: The stereotype of the Greek nation at commemorative ceremonies in schools.

This paper has a double aim: (a) to approach a stereotype of the nation as overgeneralization and obstacle to intercultural communication and (b) to suggest ways to start to “escape” from stereotypical thinking. The first aim is pursued through a comparison between two conceptualizations of the level of “programming” of the human mind: (a) Hofstede’s model of the “software” of the human mind and (b) a stereotype of the Greek nation widely used in schools, as it is presented in the literature. Both constitute theories of the patterns of thinking, feeling and potential acting among the members of nation. The first (scientific) theory is explicitly articulated on three levels: individual, group and human nature. The stereotype of the nation may be viewed as a folk theory. Meant to serve the management of everyday life, it does not have to be explicitly formulated or satisfy the requirements of a scientific theory. The school stereotype was subject to thematic analysis. The comparison suggests that this national stereotype tends to abolish the lines that, In Hofstede’s schema, keep the levels of mental programming clearly separate. As a result, the stereotype constitutes an overgeneralization. As such, it is viewed as an obstacle to successful intercultural communication. Thus, I argue for the need of critical self-examination as the means of acquiring awareness of our stereotypes. To this purpose, a few “techniques” and a brief overview of relevant literature.

At the Intersection of Identities

It is assumed that part of today’s societal difficulties, uncertainties and crisis worldwide can be attributed to the competing of multiple identities, to their intersections and their overlapping nature – on the level of nations, on the level of communities and also on the level of the individual. We aim at presenting a typology of identities that come into play in the public and in the private domain of the individual. It is hypothesized that there is a strong interdependence of cultural heritage, human values and social traditions in the competition of identities. These questions, which are interrelated and interconnected with each other through a common denominator, namely “cultural-mental programming” and “reprogramming efforts,” are going to be pondered about in the presentation. In the context of globalization the relevance of this topic is reinforced by the need to adapt to changes within the ever-intensifying shift from intercultural to multicultural environment in communities, in business and in work places. Attempts will be made to articulate some projections with respect to future trends that are to be expected: the way to go from competing identities to establishing a competitive identity (Simon Anholt). The contribution does not offer ready solutions but rather serves as fuel for further discussions.

Enhancing E-Collaboration Through Culturally Appropriate User Interfaces

Prior to the Internet, forms of social expression, communication, and collaborative behavior are known to be sensitive to cultural nuances. According to researcher Geert Hofstede (1991), a widely used definition of culture is proposed where “Every person carries within him or herself patterns of thinking, feeling, and potential acting which were learned through their lifetime” (p. 4). Hofstede referred to such patterns as mental programs or “software of the mind.” It is expected that such mental programming related to cultural differences will affect perceptions of the electronic medium as well (Raman & Watson, 1994). Related to the topic of this volume, culture has a place in the consideration of e-collaboration when individuals come together to work toward a common goal using electronic technologies. This may include various domains including e-business, e-learning, distributed project management, working in virtual teams of various forms, to name a few.

`What Price Respect` - Exploring The Notion Of Respect In A 21st Century Global Learning Environment

This paper evaluates the meaning of respect in a 21st century global learning environment, with a view to exploring the implications for promoting harmonious working relationships among students of culturally diverse ethnic backgrounds in the classroom. Research conducted since 2005 that investigates the understanding, meaning and experience of respect between final-year undergraduate students on a consulting to business module, provides the context for this paper. The methodology consists of the following four consulting teams of volunteer focus groups, comprising of between four and seven students each, over a two year period of the study that includes two phases (based on two focus groups per phase). Each team is made-up of students from different ethnic minorities and cultures and of mixed genders, aged between 22 and 43 years. The focus group sessions are conducted weekly or fortnightly over a 28 week period (the life of a module in an academic year) with each session lasting 30 minutes or an hour, which are also videoed. These focus groups are facilitated using a collaborative dialogue research approach which as acknowledged by Kitzinger 1995 who stated that “although group interviews are often used simply as a quick and convenient way to collect data from several people simultaneously, focus groups explicitly use group interaction as part of the method” and share stories of respect and disrespect as they emerge and affect them. I draw on the work of Prado (2006), Cohen (2001), Langdon (2007) and Noddings (2005) to explore definitions of respect research and provide a framework for discussion and analysis. I intend to disseminate findings from this research that reviews perceptions and attitudes to respect and their impact on beliefs and behaviour of the students in the study. The aim is to improve interaction and dialogue while promoting a positive approach to cultural difference. A review of historical concepts of respect is conducted to determine its influence in today’s 21st century global age. An exploration of key factors regarding the notion of respect will also be discussed. Langdon (2007) intimates that research evidence indicates that whilst acknowledgement of respect is frequently reputed to be the driving force in improving situations where there is conflict or a need for dialogue, there is limited evidence to show that its relevance and effects have been assessed. This is something I intend to do in this paper. Findings to date indicate that respect is an important shared value for members from culturally diverse learning environments. The research findings also show that respect has a common meaning for those with similar cultural upbringing. That is, those students from collectivist societies (using Hofstede 2001, `Three levels of Human Mental Programming` Values and Culture mode model). According to Hofstede, (ibid) “at the collective level, most or all of our mental programming is learned, which is shown by the fact that we share it with people who have gone through the same learning processes but who do not have the same genetic makeup”. Those from collectivist societies are therefore likely to exhibit the same or similar attitudes and behaviour towards respect such as, respect for extended family members and for members from their minority ethnic group. Initial findings suggest that these behavioural characteristics remain fairly consistent over different generations though marginal change is evident amongst second generations. This suggests that perceptions of respect are culturally situated and reinforced and can make behavioural change problematic. However, an awareness of difference based on facts, qualitative experience, rather than fiction or stereotypes are possible drivers for a positive approach to respect that can shift behaviours and mental models which Senge (2006) refers to as “internal pictures of how the world work” (pp. 163). The significance of respect from a global educational perspective is therefore crucial in society today.

The Them And Us Syndrome: Some Opportunities And Threats To Be Faced When Teachers Come From Certain Countries And Students Come From Others

Switzerland is a country with particularly strong immigration regulations, which obliges Hospitality Schools to very often restrict their recruitment for instructors to the local labour market. The students, however, mostly come from distant countries. These students naturally bring their own cultural backgrounds and mental programming, which is not necessarily compatible with those of their lecturers. This paper will study potential areas of misunderstandings and communication problems between students and teachers interacting in Swiss Hospitality Management Schools, due to their different cultural backgrounds.