This social psychology study sought to understand how the inability of former drug addicts controlling
interpersonal conflict that occurs in the community resulted in relapse or back to their addiction. A
qualitative phenomenological approach was taken to conduct interviews with former drug addicts that
are participating in a rehab program in Cure and Care Service Centre, Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan,
Malaysia. Eight informants were consented and interviewed. Purposive sampling was used and
responses were analyzed thematically. These themes included the issue of labeling drug addicts as
convicts, isolation from the community and restricted from participating in community-based
programs. Researcher suggests related agencies to work with rehabilitation officers in restructuring the
rehabilitation learning module and improve the interpersonal conflict management module. Therefore,
it is hoped that in the future, former drug addicts would be capable to manage interpersonal conflict
and simultaneously avoid from recidivism in addiction.
This study aimed to examine the influence of the traditional leadership qualities towards to develop community cohesion in the Iban community in Malaysia. A quantitative approach was used to conduct this study, where data were collected through a self-administered survey questionnaire from 210 chiefs in the Iban longhouse at the Pakan District in Sarawak, Malaysia. A pre-tested questionaire was administrered to the respondents using a simple random sampling in the District of Pakan, Sarawak. The leadership quality was measured based on the leadership traits, leadership style, leadership behaviour, situational leadership, and trsnformational leadership; while the community cohesion was measured by a sense of belonging, social alienation, social support, rootedness, social solidarity, and social ties. The results of the correlation and regression analysis showed that the traditional leadership qualities had a significant correlation with the development of social cohesion. The findings proved that the traditional leadership is essential to increase community cohesion in the Iban community. The findings would be important guideline to the development thinkers, practitioners, community leaders, and development institutions.
Background: The increase in aged populations in Malaysia has brought unprecedented challenges to families, policy makers, scholars, and business organisations. This paper adapted the WHO 2007 framework of features of age-friendly cities to examine age-friendly environment constructs and their linkages with social connectedness from the perspective of Malaysian middle-aged and older adults caring for themselves. Methods: A face-to-face cross-sectional survey was conducted on 402 middle-aged and older adults caring for themselves across selected states in west Malaysia, selected via purposive sampling. Firstly, features of age-friendly cities were explored through exploratory factor analysis involving 82 respondents. Subsequently, structural equation modelling was performed, involving 320 respondents. Results: The results indicated that the constructs of an age-friendly environment were built environment, community support and health services, civic participation, and employment as well as communication and information. The structural model provided evidence that implementing age-friendly initiatives relating to built environment, community support and health services, civic participation and employment as well as communication and information enables the ageing population to improve their connectedness with society. These findings supported the ecological theories, agreeing that age-friendly environments help middle-aged and older adults caring for themselves to increase their adaptability and reduce perceived pressure from the environment. This result was in line with the current literature in which an age-friendly environment is a form of support and an enabling environment to cultivate positive social relationships and connectivity. Conclusions: Creating an age-friendly environment that supports active and healthy living for middle-aged and older adults caring for themselves allows them to continue to share their experiences, knowledge, and wisdom. This is helpful and beneficial for societal well-being and economic development as well as for the future generations.
The current study investigates attitudes toward one form of sex for resources: the so-called sugar relationships, which often involve exchanges of resources for sex and/or companionship. The present study examined associations among attitudes toward sugar relationships and relevant variables (e.g., sex, sociosexuality, gender inequality, parasitic exposure) in 69,924 participants across 87 countries. Two self-report measures of Acceptance of Sugar Relationships (ASR) developed for younger companion providers (ASR-YWMS) and older resource providers (ASR-OMWS) were translated into 37 languages. We tested cross-sex and cross-linguistic construct equivalence, cross-cultural invariance in sex differences, and the importance of the hypothetical predictors of ASR. Both measures showed adequate psychometric properties in all languages (except the Persian version of ASR-YWMS). Results partially supported our hypotheses and were consistent with previous theoretical considerations and empirical evidence on human mating. For example, at the individual level, sociosexual orientation, traditional gender roles, and pathogen prevalence were significant predictors of both ASR-YWMS and ASR-OMWS. At the country level, gender inequality and parasite stress positively predicted the ASR-YWMS. However, being a woman negatively predicted the ASR-OMWS, but positively predicted the ASR-YWMS. At country-level, ingroup favoritism and parasite stress positively predicted the ASR-OMWS. Furthermore, significant cross-subregional differences were found in the openness to sugar relationships (both ASR-YWMS and ASR-OMWS scores) across subregions. Finally, significant differences were found between ASR-YWMS and ASR-OMWS when compared in each subregion. The ASR-YWMS was significantly higher than the ASR-OMWS in all subregions, except for Northern Africa and Western Asia.
Successful emotional communication is crucial for social interactions and social relationships. Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients have shown deficits in emotional recognition abilities although the research findings are inconclusive. This paper presents an investigation of six emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust) of twenty non-demented (Mini-Mental State Examination score >24) PD patients and twenty Healthy Controls (HCs) using Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based Brain Functional Connectivity (BFC) patterns. The functional connectivity index feature in EEG signals is computed using three different methods: Correlation (COR), Coherence (COH), and Phase Synchronization Index (PSI). Further, a new functional connectivity index feature is proposed using bispectral analysis. The experimental results indicate that the BFC change is significantly different among emotional states of PD patients compared with HC. Also, the emotional connectivity pattern classified using Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier yielded the highest accuracy for the new bispectral functional connectivity index. The PD patients showed emotional impairments as demonstrated by a poor classification performance. This finding suggests that decrease in the functional connectivity indices during emotional stimulation in PD, indicating functional disconnections between cortical areas.
The emergence of Web 2.0 technologies has already been influential in many industries, and Web 2.0 applications are now beginning to have an impact on health care. These new technologies offer a promising approach for shaping the future of modern health care, with the potential for opening up new opportunities for the health care industry as it struggles to deal with challenges including the need to cut costs, the increasing demand for health services and the increasing cost of medical technology. Social media such as social networking sites are attracting more individuals to online health communities, contributing to an increase in the productivity of modern health care and reducing transaction costs. This study therefore examines the potential effect of social technologies, particularly social media, on health care development by adopting a social support/transaction cost perspective. Viewed through the lens of Information Systems, social support and transaction cost theories indicate that social media, particularly online health communities, positively support health care development. The results show that individuals join online health communities to share and receive social support, and these social interactions provide both informational and emotional support.
This exploratory study is part of an on-going project about digital cultures on ageism, anonymity, and gendering. An avatar is the graphical representation of the online user. The study investigates the avatars drawn by a group of 76 young adults studying in a local university. A face-to-face interview was conducted to ascertain the features drawn. Results show that the avatars are more characterized by the sexual features related to the body, face, clothes, and a major number of context elements. The females tend to represent themselves in greater detail than the males. The former created gendered identities for themselves according to their offline gender identity and social contexts. The study illustrates that the hand drawing is an effective tool that analyses the online representation in an unobtrusive way. The expressions of gendering show that gender is consciously constructed. Gendering of avatars does permeate the virtual world. This study is a valuable addition to the growing body of work on social interaction in cyberspace.
A Case Report on Gender Identity Disorder with Recurrent Depressive Disorder is presented. Individuals having this disorder often exhibit discomfort about their actual anatomic gender, and they may have wished to alter their bodies. Sex role-stereotypes adopted during childhood are the beliefs, characteristics and behaviors of individual cultures that are considered normal and appropriate for boys and girls to possess. These "norms" are influenced by one's family and friends, the mass-media, and their community. Since some cultures disapprove of cross-gender behavior, it often results in significant problems for affected individuals and those in close relationships with them. The importance of treatment is not only because of the high rate of mental-health problems, including Depression but with higher suicide rate among untreated transsexual people than in the general population. These problems are not usually related to the gender identity issues themselves, but the social and cultural responses to gender-deviated individuals. An example which classically illustrates Gender Identity Disorder is the case of a young man from Brunei Darussalam, who was seen and treated. This
contribution will highlight the cultural and religious perspective of this Disorder.
Societal dynamics and increased public demands on education have produced adverse stressful classroom situation that have led to increase emotional and physical disabilities among teacher. The main objective of this descriptive study was to identify the causes of occupational stress amongst secondary school teachers. This study also conducted in order to determine the suitable ways and strategies at helping teachers to cope with the work related pressures that have increased during the past decade. The samples of this study were 100 teachers from four secondary schools in Dungun District, Terengganu. The data were descriptively analyzed based on the responds on a set of questionnaires, checklist and 20 interview sessions conducted for exploration of coping strategy with 20 out of 100 teachers. Based on the finding, it can be concluded that interpersonal relations, physical conditions and job interest contribute towards workrelated stress among teachers. Also discussed the 10 most frequently used coping strategies by teachers. Therefore, there are suggesting measures, which teachers may take to help them cope more effectively with potentially stressful situations at school.
Introduction : Shift work is practised in manufacturing industry to increase production capacity up to three times compared to the normal daily eight hours working system and able to optimize the utilization of machine and equipment. However, shift work has negatif effects on human social interaction, health and safety.
Methodology : The study was conducted to evaluate production workers’ perception on the effects of working at night shift. The respondents of the study were production workers in Company X in Kuala Lumpur. The Data was collected using self administered questionnaires. The study objectives was to study the work schedule design, to find out their perceptions on the effects of night shift and to study on personal factors, employees’ level of acceptance on the work schedule design and personal factors that cause safety and health disruption.
Result : A total of 200 production workers participated in the study. The result of the study shows 61% of production workers took sick leave and 43.5% were absent between 1 and 2 times a month. In terms of health and safety disruption, 77% of respondents agreed that they faced lack of focus with family and friends, 75.5% of them did not have enough sleep and 76.5% felt sleepy during working time. Regarding the work schedule and workstation design, 81.5% said they felt uncomfortable because they were required to stand during working and 77% felt that the resting period provided by the factory was too short and inadequate. More than 70% of the respondents proposed the rest period should be extended from the current 40 minutes to one hour. More than 80% of respondents agreed they would feel comfortable if standing at work is changed to sitting work system.
Conclusion : To minimize the unwanted effect of night shift among the production.
A plural society existence due to economic policy is an outcome of foreign colonization. Due to the
British economic policy, Malaya saw the influx two foreign ethnic; Chinese and Indian, working in tin
mining and rubber estates respectively. Early conflict involving the Malays and these foreign workers
is inevitable which is evident during both the Japanese intervention and the British colonization. The
objective of this paper is to review the role and responsibilities of Communities Liaison Committee in
pioneering social cohesion between the three main ethnics in Malaya during the crucial time of
Japanese intervention, British colonization, communist threat and the declaration of emergency. Before
CLC, a cooperation was initiated by AMCJA-PUTERA coalition but was short lived due to the absence
of support from the British and lack of bargaining between Malays and Non-Malays. CLC received a
full patronage of the British as the pioneer of social cohesion in Malaya, especially when it was able to call upon the three main ethnic in its discussion of bargaining and negotiation or what is widely known
as the social contract, as well as practicing political power sharing.
This study addresses lhe association between loneliness and psychological well-being among university students in Malaysia. The study used a multistage cluster sample consisting of 1,467 students who came from five Malaysian universities. Psychological well-being variables in this study were measured through the 12-item General Health Questionnaire scale (GHQ-12) by Golberg (1978). The loneliness variables were measured by using the 14- item Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale by Russell, Peplau and Cutrona (1980). The'cut-off point 5/6' for the GHQ-12 was used to determine the level of psychological well-being among the respondents. Correlation and one-way ANOVA analyses were also done. Generally, the main results showe that about 65.6% of university students in Malaysia indicated a good level of psychological well-being and about 34.4% of university students reported having some psychological problems. In addition, about 59.6% of university students reported having a moderate level of loneliness. Based on the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale scale, a moderate level of loneliness means these students had a moderate level of satisfaction in interpersonal relationships. Other results of significant tests were obtained. Implications of results are also discussed.
Introduction: There are increasing trend in using information and communication technology to enhance the deliverance of reminiscence work for people with dementia. Thus this study aimed to explore the feasibility of Digital Memory Album (DMA) to support reminiscence work and subsequently evaluate the psychosocial benefits of the DMA system for older adults with dementia living in community. Method: This was an exploratory case study involved five participants with mild to moderate dementia and their primary caregivers. Each participant had an opportunity to review their own life history using Life Review Experience Form (LREF) with the researcher for 8 consecutive weeks in which subsequently facilitated in development of a personalised digital life story. Caregivers provided additional information to support the development of DMA. The whole process was audio recorded. The digital life story was presented in multimedia format and displayed using the DMA. The DMA was given to the participants for review. Qualitative data was collected using semi structure questions with the participants and caregivers immediately after the completion of DMA and 6 weeks after having the DMA as a gift. Results: Analysis of the audio-records and interview data indicated that DMA promoted psychosocial wellbeing which included enjoyment, comfort, stimulate long term memory and enhanced communication and social interactions with family members and friends. Caregivers expressed the DMA helped them in recollecting the past and better understanding of their loved ones. It also reoriented their focus on their loved ones from their disability to the remaining strength. Conclusion: For the first time, this study demonstrates the feasibility of using DMA in improving the psychosocial wellbeing for people with dementia in Malaysia.
ocial appearance is common among university students in Malaysia. In this study, we examine the reliability and validity of the SAAS in a sample of university students in Malaysia. This study aims to examine internal consistency and to validate the social appearance anxiety scale for Malaysian university students. Using a systematic random sampling, a set of questions was distributed to 400 academic college residents of a public university in Malaysia with a response rate of 86%. The student participants completed the social appearance anxiety scale, the social interaction anxiety scale, the brief fear of negative evaluation scale, and the general health questionnaire. The internal consistency of questions within the social appearance anxiety scale was 0.92. The social appearance anxiety scale had good convergent validity with the social interaction anxiety scale (r=0.55), the brief fear of negative evaluation (r=0.69, p
This study examined the effects of group art therapy on self-concept and peer relationships among adolescents using a mixed-method approach. Twelve recruited adolescents from a high school in Northern Taiwan attended weekly 2-h group art therapy sessions for 8 weeks. Through a discovery-oriented approach incorporating focus group interviews and individual interviews, qualitative results revealed that the participants started getting to know themselves better and were able to explore their inner selves while noticing their own emotions. Their self-concept also became more positive along with reduced negative self-concept, increased positive self-concept, and clearer visions towards future goals. Furthermore, the therapy modified adolescents' negative peer relationships by reducing their social anxiety and adjusting their complicated experiences. Participants were found to experience trustable, allied, and compassionate positive peer relationships while having reduced loneliness and improved social skills at the same time. Besides, the participants answered self-concept and peer relationship scales at pre- and post-interventions as well as a 12-month follow-up thereafter. Friedman test on the longitudinal data showed participants reporting consistently higher self-concept and peer relationship at post-intervention and 12-month follow-up than at the pre-intervention stage. Taken together, the findings duly support art therapy in boosting adolescents' self-concept and peer relationships.
This study aimed at determining the factors that influence family planning practice among rural women of Pankshin district in Plateau state, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study using a simple random sampling method was conducted from October to December 2019. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection among 302 respondents. Among respondents, 48.3% had practised family planning and the most popular family planning method ever practised was injectables (57.5%). The determinants of family planning practice were age group 29-39 and 40-49 years old (AOR=4.373, p <0.001; AOR=5.862, p <0.001), discussion with partner (AOR=9.192, p <0.001) and partner's approval (AOR=2.791, p=0.007). Findings showed an encouraging family planning prevalence with the main determinants involving male partners. Further efforts need to be made to promote family planning practice among male partners and to empower women of all reproductive age groups by providing them with relevant information that is needed for them to make informed decisions.
Cooperation in food acquisition is a hallmark of the human species. Given that costs and benefits of cooperation vary among production regimes and work activities, the transition from hunting-and-gathering to agriculture is likely to have reshaped the structure of cooperative subsistence networks. Hunter-gatherers often forage in groups and are generally more interdependent and experience higher short-term food acquisition risk than horticulturalists, suggesting that cooperative labour should be more widespread and frequent for hunter-gatherers. Here we compare female cooperative labour networks of Batek hunter-gatherers of Peninsular Malaysia and Tsimane forager-horticulturalists of Bolivia. We find that Batek foraging results in high daily variation in labour partnerships, facilitating frequent cooperation in diffuse networks comprised of kin and non-kin. By contrast, Tsimane horticulture involves more restricted giving and receiving of labour, confined mostly to spouses and primary or distant kin. Tsimane women also interact with few individuals in the context of hunting/fishing activities and forage mainly with spouses and primary kin. These differences give rise to camp- or village-level networks that are more modular (have more substructure when partitioned) among Tsimane horticulturalists. Our findings suggest that subsistence activities shape the formation and extent of female social networks, particularly with respect to connections with other women and non-kin. We discuss the implications of restricted female labour networks in the context of gender relations, power dynamics and the adoption of farming in humans. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cooperation among women: evolutionary and cross-cultural perspectives'.
The process by which women came to use internet-facilitated peer-to-peer shared milk was explored via a written questionnaire administered to 41 peer milk recipients from five countries. Respondents were universally unable to provide some or all of the milk their infants required. Twenty-nine dyads had a medical condition that could have affected their ability to breastfeed. Many respondents had had great difficulty in finding health workers who could assist them with their breastfeeding challenges. Before obtaining peer-shared milk, respondents had tried to increase their own milk supply, used infant formula or sought donor milk from personal contacts. Health workers dealing with breastfeeding women require greater training in the recognition and treatment of conditions that adversely affect breastfeeding including a physiological incapacity to fully breastfeed. Peer-to-peer milk recipients appear to be very satisfied with the solution milk sharing provides to their problem of being unable to fully breastfeed their infants.
The present study investigated the associations between social skills, friendship quality, and happiness, and tested a mediational model positing that friendship quality would mediate the relationship between social skills and happiness among American and Malaysian college students. Although American students reported significantly higher levels of psychosocial well-being than Malaysian students, the study variables were positively associated with each other in both cultures. More importantly, findings supported the proposed model in both groups. Results suggest that part of the reason why social skills are associated with positive psychological well-being is because of friendship experiences. Overall, the findings of the present study reinforce, extend and cross-culturally generalize the presumed benefits of social skills in positive well-being elaborated by Segrin and Taylor (2007). The authors also provided suggestions for future research.
A longitudinal study evaluated the success of a contact-based nation-building intervention (the Malaysian National Service Programme) in promoting various facets of national unity. The study assessed how post-test measures of quality of intergroup contact, outgroup evaluations, and levels of identification changed compared to their respective pre-test levels, for both National Service and control group participants. The intervention did not lead to a worsening of any of the constructs related to intergroup relations, which is noteworthy given the novelty for many participants of mixing in a multi-ethnic setting. Furthermore, all rater groups (Malays, Chinese, and Indians) maintained their ethnic identity, even in the presence of high levels of national identity, which we discuss with respect to past research on the effects of positive intergroup contact on minority group identification. However, the changes associated with the intervention yielded only small effect sizes, and, on the whole, National Service participants did not show significantly greater improvement than that experienced by control participants. We discuss the value of intergroup contact in this novel setting, considering various features of this programme that may have limited its effectiveness and discuss how such interventions can more successfully meet their goals.