Cochlear Implantation,Enhancements, Transhumanism and Posthumanism: Some Human Questions

Biomedical engineering technologies such as brain–machine interfaces and neuroprosthetics are advancements which assist human beings in varied ways. There are exciting yet speculative visions of how the neurosciences and bioengineering may influence human nature. However, these could be preparing a possible pathway towards an enhanced and even posthuman future. This article seeks to investigate several ethical themes and wider questions of enhancement, transhumanism and posthumanism. Four themes of interest are: autonomy, identity, futures, and community. Three larger questions can be asked: will everyone be enhanced? Will we be “human” if we are not, one day, transhuman? Should we be enhanced or not? The article proceeds by concentrating on a widespread and sometimes controversial application: the cochlear implant, an auditory prosthesis implanted into Deaf patients. Cochlear implantation and its reception in both the deaf and hearing communities have a distinctive moral discourse, which can offer surprising insights. The paper begins with several points about the enhancement of human beings, transhumanism’s reach beyond the human, and posthuman aspirations. Next it focuses on cochlear implants on two sides. Firstly, a shorter consideration of what technologies may do to humans in a transhumanist world. Secondly, a deeper analysis of cochlear implantation’s unique socio-political movement, its ethical explanations and cultural experiences linked with pediatric cochlear implantation—and how those wary of being thrust towards posthumanism could marshal such ideas by analogy. As transhumanism approaches, the issues and questions merit continuing intense analysis.     

Climate as situational strength: Safety climate strength as a cross-level moderator of the relationship between conscientiousness and safety behaviour

Extant research on climate strength has frequently invoked situational strength in passing. Given this, it is surprising that the fundamental prediction from the situational strength literature—namely, that strong situations attenuate personality–behaviour relationships—has thus far never been tested empirically using climate strength as an operationalization of situational strength. Consequently, in the present study, we tested this fundamental prediction by positing that organizational safety climate strength moderates the relationships between employee conscientiousness and two forms of employee safety behaviour, such that those relationships are attenuated in strong climates. Using a multilevel design consisting of 964 Korean employees nested within 17 manufacturing organizations, we found support for these cross-level interaction hypotheses. These findings legitimize the frequent invocation of situational strength by climate strength researchers, contribute to the theoretical foundation underlying climate strength, and yield important implications for future research and practice.     

Elephant resource-use traditions

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) use unusual and restricted habitats such as swampy clearings, montane outcrops and dry rivers for a variety of social and ecological reasons. Within these habitats, elephants focus on very specific areas for resource exploitation, resulting in deep caves, large forest clearings and sand pits as well as long-established and highly demarcated routes for moving between resources. We review evidence for specific habitat exploitation in elephants and suggest that this represents socially learned cultural behaviour. Although elephants show high fidelity to precise locations over the very long term, these location preferences are explained neither by resource quality nor by accessibility. Acquiring techniques for exploiting specific resource sites requires observing conspecifics and practice and is evidence for social learning. Elephants possess sophisticated cognitive capacities used to track relationships and resources over their long lifespans, and they have an extended period of juvenile dependency as a result of the need to acquire this considerable social and ecological knowledge. Thus, elephant fidelity to particular sites results in traditional behaviour over generations, with the potential to weaken relationships between resource quality and site preferences. Illustrating the evidence for such powerful traditions in a species such as elephants contributes to understanding animal cognition in natural contexts.     

A Pedagogy of the Parasite

Studies in Philosophy and Education - In the South Korean film, The Parasite, the underling family, in an act of desperation, uses deceptive means to infiltrate the rich family. The term parasite...     

When lending an ear turns into mistreatment: An episodic examination of leader mistreatment in response to venting at work

Venting—an emotion‐focused form of coping involving the discharge of negative feelings to others—is common in organizational settings. Venting may benefit the self via the release of negative emotion, or by acting as a catalyst for changes to problematic work situations. Nonetheless, venting might have unintended consequences via its influence on those who are the recipients of venting from others. In light of this idea, we provide a theoretical explanation for how leaders in particular are affected by venting receipt at work. Drawing from the transactional model of stress, we theorize that venting tends to be appraised as a threat, which triggers negative emotion that, in turn, potentiates deviant action tendencies (i.e., interpersonal mistreatment). Yet, our theory suggests that not all leaders necessarily experience venting in the same way. Specifically, leaders with higher need for cognition are less influenced by surface‐level cues associated with others’ emotional expressions and find challenging interpersonal situations to be less aversive, thereby attenuating the deleterious effects of receipt of venting. In an experience sampling study of 112 managers across 10 consecutive workdays, we find support for our theoretical model. Altogether, our findings provide insight into the costs incurred when leaders lend an ear to those who vent, which can result in negative downstream consequences.     

Feeling Exhausted? Let’s Play – How Play in Work Relates to Experienced Burnout and Innovation Behaviors

Play in work, as one specific type of work designs, is regarded as the possible solution to experienced burnout and could bring the desirable outcomes to organizations. Drawing on Affective Events Theory (AET), we argued that workplace events (such as play) cause emotional reactions on the part of employees (i.e., burnout), which in turn influence workplace attitudes and behaviors (i.e., innovation behaviors). A total of 439 employees completed surveys, and the results showed that play in work positively relates to innovation behaviors. We also examined individual’s attitude toward workplace fun to further understand the impact of individual differences on the relationship between play in work and their feelings and subsequent behaviors. We found that the positive attitude toward fun moderated the indirect relationship between play in work and innovation behaviors via experienced burnout. Based on AET, our results showed that play in work could reduce employees’ experienced burnout which in turn lead to their innovation behaviors. Such an effect of play in work are stronger when an individual has more positive attitude toward fun at work. Practically, it is suggested that play in work would contribute to favorable outcomes in the workplace, but managers should pay attention to individual differences in attitude toward workplace fun to ensure the maximum benefit of play.

     

Correlates of Adolescent Cyberbullying in South Korea in Multiple Contexts: A Review of the Literature and Implications for Research and School Practice

Cyberbullying is rapidly increasing in South Korea. The present article reviews research on factors associated with cyberbullying perpetration and victimization in South Korea. Study findings suggest a number of factors within individual, family, peer, and school levels. Relations with parents, parental verbal abuse, and a lack of attachment are related to perpetration. Delinquent peer association is positively associated with perpetration and victimization, and students’ school satisfaction is negatively associated with this victimization. Adolescents’ use of social networking sites and social media and lack of rules in cyberspace are found to increase perpetration and victimization. Research and practice implications are discussed.     

The Relationship between Intimate Partner Violence and Suicidal Ideation among Young Chinese,Korean, and Vietnamese American Women

ABSTRACT

High depression and suicide rates are critical problems that have a significant impact on the lives of young Asian American women. Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been identified as a predictor of suicidality in general female samples, but no research study has examined the relationship between IPV and suicidality in a sample of 1.5 and second-generation Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese American women. We used data collected from 173 women (aged 18-35 years) who were screened for eligibility to participate in the development and efficacy study of Asian American Women’s Action for Resilience and Empowerment (AWARE). We measured the prevalence of (a) IPV, (b) lifetime suicidal ideation/intent, and (c) childhood abuse and tested the association between IPV and lifetime suicidal ideation/intent among study participants who completed the clinical screening assessments. The results indicated that seven out of 10 women in our sample experienced lifetime suicidal ideation/intent, psychological aggression was the most commonly reported form of IPV during the last six months, followed by sexual coercion, and history of physical and/or sexual partner violence had the most robust association with lifetime suicidal ideation/intent after controlling for demographic factors and childhood abuse. Our study suggests that suicide prevention and intervention programs for young 1.5 and second-generation Asian American women should not only address experiences of childhood abuse, but also incorporate culturally adapted behavioral health approaches to identify and target physical and sexual partner violence. Furthermore, any such programs need to integrate a systemic approach in addressing IPV within the context of various marginalized experiences of Asian American women.     

Correction to: Unique Contributions of Maternal Prenatal and Postnatal Emotion Dysregulation on Infant Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology -