• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.44-56
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• 2009

Impulse purchasing is defined as an immediate purchase with no pre-shopping intentions. Previous studies of impulse buying have focused primarily on factors linked to marketing mix variables, situational factors, and consumer demographics and traits. In previous studies, marketing mix variables such as product category, product type, and atmospheric factors including advertising, coupons, sales events, promotional stimuli at the point of sale, and media format have been used to evaluate product information. Some authors have also focused on situational factors surrounding the consumer. Factors such as the availability of credit card usage, time available, transportability of the products, and the presence and number of shopping companions were found to have a positive impact on impulse buying and/or impulse tendency. Research has also been conducted to evaluate the effects of individual characteristics such as the age, gender, and educational level of the consumer, as well as perceived crowding, stimulation, and the need for touch, on impulse purchasing. In summary, previous studies have found that all products can be purchased impulsively (Vohs and Faber, 2007), that situational factors affect and/or at least facilitate impulse purchasing behavior, and that various individual traits are closely linked to impulse buying. The recent introduction of new distribution channels such as home shopping channels, discount stores, and Internet stores that are open 24 hours a day increases the probability of impulse purchasing. However, previous literature has focused predominantly on situational and marketing variables and thus studies that consider critical consumer characteristics are still lacking. To fill this gap in the literature, the present study builds on this third tradition of research and focuses on individual trait variables, which have rarely been studied. More specifically, the current study investigates whether impulse buying tendency has a positive impact on impulse buying behavior, and evaluates how consumer characteristics such as the need for cognitive closure (NFCC), psychological wellbeing, and susceptibility to interpersonal influences affect the tendency of consumers towards impulse buying. The survey results reveal that while consumer affective impulsivity has a strong positive impact on impulse buying behavior, cognitive impulsivity has no impact on impulse buying behavior. Furthermore, affective impulse buying tendency is driven by sub-components of NFCC such as decisiveness and discomfort with ambiguity, psychological wellbeing constructs such as environmental control and purpose in life, and by normative and informational influences. In addition, cognitive impulse tendency is driven by sub-components of NFCC such as decisiveness, discomfort with ambiguity, and close-mindedness, and the psychological wellbeing constructs of environmental control, as well as normative and informational influences. The present study has significant theoretical implications. First, affective impulsivity has a strong impact on impulse purchase behavior. Previous studies based on affectivity and flow theories proposed that low to moderate levels of impulsivity are driven by reduced self-control or a failure of self-regulatory mechanisms. The present study confirms the above proposition. Second, the present study also contributes to the literature by confirming that impulse buying tendency can be viewed as a two-dimensional concept with both affective and cognitive dimensions, and illustrates that impulse purchase behavior is explained mainly by affective impulsivity, not by cognitive impulsivity. Third, the current study accommodates new constructs such as psychological wellbeing and NFCC as potential influencing factors in the research model, thereby contributing to the existing literature. Fourth, by incorporating multi-dimensional concepts such as psychological wellbeing and NFCC, more diverse aspects of consumer information processing can be evaluated. Fifth, the current study also extends the existing literature by confirming the two competing routes of normative and informational influences. Normative influence occurs when individuals conform to the expectations of others or to enhance his/her self-image. Whereas informational influence occurs when individuals search for information from knowledgeable others or making inferences based upon observations of the behavior of others. The present study shows that these two competing routes of social influence can be attributed to different sources of influence power. The current study also has many practical implications. First, it suggests that people with affective impulsivity may be primary targets to whom companies should pay closer attention. Cultivating a more amenable and mood-elevating shopping environment will appeal to this segment. Second, the present results demonstrate that NFCC is closely related to the cognitive dimension of impulsivity. These people are driven by careless thoughts, not by feelings or excitement. Rational advertising at the point of purchase will attract these customers. Third, people susceptible to normative influences are another potential target market. Retailers and manufacturers could appeal to this segment by advertising their products and/or services as products that can be used to identify with or conform to the expectations of others in the aspiration group. However, retailers should avoid targeting people susceptible to informational influences as a segment market. These people are engaged in an extensive information search relevant to their purchase, and therefore more elaborate, long-term rational advertising messages, which can be internalized into these consumers' thought processes, will appeal to this segment. The current findings should be interpreted with caution for several reasons. The study used a small convenience sample, and only investigated behavior in two dimensions. Accordingly, future studies should incorporate a sample with more diverse characteristics and measure different aspects of behavior. Future studies should also investigate personality traits closely related to affectivity theories. Trait variables such as sensory curiosity, interpersonal curiosity, and atmospheric responsiveness are interesting areas for future investigation.

• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.57
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• pp.91-125
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• 2018

This study aims at attempting to make a new interpretation of Mencius from the point of social welfare. The thoughts of social welfare, found from Mencius, are temporal and humanistic and near to those in nowadays. Social welfare began under the name of philanthropic work, relief work, charitable work or social work from the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century on. Welfare means the whole social activities such as satisfying the fundamental desires of the social members, ensuring the conditions of their lives, and ultimately achieving social integration and stability. It means the conditions of their lives and wellbeing. Wellbeing means the minimal physical desires and psychological stability. The realization of the economic system through concept of steady livelihood and steady mind, tax system and well-field system, proposed by Mencius, can be ensured by the whole social activities such as ensuring the stable lives of the social members, enriching and satisfying their happiness and ultimately achieving social integration and stability. The thoughts of Mencius include people-as-root idea, which regards people as most important and tries to solve the instability and inequality that are the structural vulnerabilities in modern capitalist society. His concept of Way of the king means promoting people's sense of happiness through education of morality, based upon the people-as-root idea and filial and fraternal responsibilities. The main ideas of social welfare include living like a human being, ensuring minimal physical and psychological stabilities through social welfare system and welfare policy, enriching human dignity and freedom and enhancing the quality of lives. The thoughts of Mencius include all the above ideas. In particular, he desired to establish ethically and morally stable society by economically implementing the well-field system in Zhou dynasty, based upon politically benevolent governance of the politicians. That society was the people-as-root society, the realization of which was the ideal society Mencius desired to establish, and the goal of his thoughts on social welfare. This study, among the thoughts of Mencius, investigated his ideas on social welfare and the practical ethics for applying them to real society. In addition, to understand his ideas on social welfare, not only the social and economic backgrounds and conditions but also the political ideas at that time were also investigated. This will provide the opportunity to make more in-depth research of the elements of social welfare intrinsically contained in his thoughts.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.533-544
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different types of leisure activities' on the satisfaction and psychological well-being of primary school students. The subjects of this study consisted of 467(boys=191, girls=276) primary school students. The data was analyzed by one way ANOVA, factor analysis, Chi-square analysis, correlation analysis and multi-regression analysis. The main findings of this were as follows: first, there were statistically significant differences in the kinds of activities participated in according to gender. Second, among of the subscale of leisure satisfaction, boys showed higher scores in more education and physical satisfaction than girls, and in the subscale of psychological well-being, boys indicated a higher score in flow and happiness than girls. Third, there were significant differences in leisure satisfaction and psychological well-being in the types of leisure activity. Fourth, the participation motivation of leisure activity statistically influenced psychological well-being. Fifth, leisure satisfaction partially influenced on psychological well-being. Social and environmental satisfaction significantly influenced flow. Education and social satisfaction significantly influenced happiness and psychological well-being.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.99-108
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of stress, social support, and marital satisfaction between married immigrant women living in urban areas and women living in rural areas to identify ways to improve their mental health. Methods: Two hundred married immigrant women were recruited from multicultural familysupport centers located in Daejeon City and Chungcheong Province. From July, 2009 to January, 2010, data were collected using self- administered questionnaire. Study instruments were scales for acculturative stress, housewives life stress, support from spouse, and marital satisfaction. Results: Urban married immigrant women had lower levels of acculturative stress and higher levels of support from spouse and more positive marital satisfaction compared to rural women. Both groups reported similar levels of stress in life as a housewife. Factors influencing marital satisfaction in both group were lower levels of acculturative and housewives life stress, higher levels of support from spouse, and living with parents-in-law. Conclusion: Rural married immigrant women may have more problems in adjusting to Korean culture and marriage compared to urban women. Therefore, to improve the physical and psychological wellbeing and marital adjustment of married immigrant women, development of nursing strategies according to area of residence is needed.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.153-160
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to develop an employee's stress response scale (ESRS) and examine its validity and reliability. Methods : The study was conducted as follows : item generation, and test of validity and reliability. Items were developed via literature review, review of instruments, and data acquired from email-survey of counselors in the field of Employee Assistance Program (EAP). In order to test validity and reliability, data were collected from 400 employees. Results : The result of exploratory factor analysis of ESRS suggested 4 factor structures (work-related, anger, somatization, depression & anxiety) with a total of 25 items. ESRS showed a relatively strong positive correlation with Hospital Anxiety-Depression scale (HAD), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Psychological Wellbeing Index (PWI), which showed ESRS had high convergent validity. Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ and test-retest reliability was .95 and .610 respectively. Conclusion : The ESRS is reliable and valid brief scale for measuring stress responses of employees. This scale would be useful in quantitatively evaluating job stress in workplace.

• Iberoamérica
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.159-206
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• 2019

The objective of the article is to describe the social structure of Uruguay at the beginning of the sixties, presenting the social differences that configured the level of urban centers or localities since the beginning of the 20th century. The willing is to identify what historical processes would have intervened to have institutionalized a highly heterogeneous distribution of welfare in the territory. The sources of information are four: (i) the population censuses of 1908 and 1963; (ii) the agricultural censuses of 1908, 1951, 1956 and 1961; (iii) the work of historical demography; and (iv) the indices published by the General Directorate of Statistics and Censuses in 1971 and 1989. Due to the lack of a dictionary of the localities, the authors matched these sources. The regional configuration processes analyzed here are: the departmentalization of the territory; the agriculturization; the industrialization and the balnearización. In each case, the regional and local impact of the political, economic and social transformation is analyzed. The article dedicate a wide space to describe the changes in the entity, the legal status, the territorial distribution and the wellbeing of the localities, marking especially those under 1500 inhabitants, which make up an important micro-urbanization of the country. The foundation of 70% of the localities occurred during the reformist period that locates that project as a type of "social democratic" State with its "Bismarkian" type traits. The institutionalization of these territories is based on their precarious and very poor character, the inequality in the most elementary welfare enjoyed by the established towns and cities increases. The processes of spatialization that reconfigured the territory during this time, contributed to the urbanization and population relocation, but in a framework in the political project of the "small model country" did not plan on the territory, the state have no special attention to correct the asymmetries in local welfare distribution structures. We finished with the hypothesis that beyond the social advances of the "Battlista" period, the territorial inequality of opportunities has grown between 1908 and 1963 because the lack of a public planification.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.21-32
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• 2022

Minimalism is an increasingly popular lifestyle in which people deliberately seek to live with fewer possessions. However, little scientific research has been done to examine the relationships between minimalism, social value, and happiness. Two recent studies have investigated whether critical components of minimalism, such as subtraction and decluttering could lead to changes in social values and happiness. In Study 1, the participants were presented with pictures of unstable Lego structures for which they were asked to create ideas to resolve problems, either through adding new supports or removing the existing ones. Participants with a stronger tendency to use subtractive transformations reported higher happiness scores. In addition, higher scores in intrinsic value preferences were correlated with higher levels of happiness. In Study 2, cuing minimalism or consumerism using pictures led to changes in materialistic values, motivation for social engagement, and reported happiness scores. These results imply that minimalism as an alternative lifestyle can contribute to social wellbeing and increased happiness. Limitations and implications for future studies are discussed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.867-878
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• 2020

A significant proportion of the African continent is conducive for animal agricultural production, due to its historical experience and available resources to accommodate and nurture various indigenous and exotic animal species and breeds. With food security being a global challenge, animal products can play an important role as nutrient dense food sources in human diets, particularly in Africa. However, this does not seem to reach its full potential in practice, due to numerous reasons that have not been adequately addressed. Animal welfare reservations can be highlighted as one of the major contributing factors to the curbed progress. The consequences have been scientifically proven to affect product quality and market access. However, in the African community, the concept of animal welfare has not been fully embraced. While there are international animal welfare standards in the developed world, there are inherent factors that hinder adoption of such initiatives in most developing regions, particularly among communal farmers. These include cultural norms and practices, social ranking, socio-economic status, available resources, information dissemination and monitoring tools. Therefore, there is need to harmonize what is internationally required and what is feasible to accommodate global variability. The protocols followed to ensure and evaluate farm animal welfare require regular investigation, innovation and a sustainable approach to enhance animal productivity, efficiency and product quality. Additionally, investing in animal wellbeing and health, as well as empowering communities with significant knowledge, has a potential to improve African livelihoods and contribute to food security. This review seeks to highlight the concept of animal welfare in relation to livestock and food production in African conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.43 no.6 s.208
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• pp.145-169
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• 2005

This study aimed to evaluate Comprehensive Croup Therapy Program developed for children and mothers of divorced families. The research questions were to determine first, any differences between program participants and non-participant in the areas of life wellbeing, attitude towards divorce, self-esteem, and communication skills as a result of this program; and second the durability of these effects three months after implementation of the program. The subjects of this study were 41 children and 14 mothers of the divorced families. Among them, 18 children and 6 mothers, including 5 mother-child dyads were assigned to experimental group, while 23 children and 8 mothers, including 8 mother-child dyads, to control group. Both groups received pre-and post-test evaluation but experimental group additionally received a follow-up test. The data were analyzed by t-test, Mann-Whitney U Test, Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks Test and qualitative analysis. The results showed that therapy Program enhanced the life wellbeing of both child and mother participants significantly, and this effect lasted for at least for three months after the termination of the program. Second, though the effects were not statistically significant, child and mother participants' attitude towards divorce, self-esteem, and communication skills between mother and child changed positively after the program and these effects lasted for over three months.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.119-129
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• 2011

Purpose: This study firstly examined the pattern and prevalence of drinking. Secondly, we investigated the association between various psychosocial work environment and problem drinking among Korean male workers in different age groups. Methods: The study sample was a weighted population of 3,289 (3,289 survey samples) men aged 20 to 64 years who responded to the 2006 Korean Working Condition Survey. Social support from colleague and supervisor, work autonomy, psychological wellbeing at work, and intellectual and emotional work demand were assessed. Results: After considering sociodemographic factors, smoking, occupational characteristics and other psychosocial work environment factors, problem drinking was associated with "intellectual work demand" for the 20~34 year old group. Social support from colleague and supervisor was significantly associated with problem drinking in the 35~49 year old group. For the 50~64 year old group, problem drinking was associated with 'work autonomy'. Conclusion: The present study clarified that certain psychosocial work environmental factors relate to problem drinking, and the association varies among different age groups.