Academic literature on the topic 'Reward and punishment theory'

This study examines the provision of rewards and punishments to ASN. The research objective was to understand how the process and impact of reward and punishment for ASN in Satpol PP and WH Bener Meriah Regency. The theoretical perspective used is the theory of public organizations, reward, and punishment, and the state civil apparatus. The research method used is qualitative. The results showed that the process of giving rewards and punishments was carried out in three stages: ASN inventory, priority scale creation, and decision making. The positive impact of giving rewards and punishments for ASNs in the Satpol PP and WH Office of Bener Meriah Regency is to increase work motivation and can help develop careers for ASNs. Whereas punishment has a positive impact on ASNs as a deterrent effect from repeating violations of duty and can improve their behavior at work which is then able to improve their performance in the future. The negative impact did not change the attitude/behavior of ASNs who were given punishment because they were annoyed at getting punished, or it could be said that ASN was not deterred by the actions of giving punishment by the leaders of Satpol PP and WH in Bener Meriah Regency.

Forest infrastructure is an important material basis for healthy forests. According to public goods theory, most forest infrastructures are quasi-public goods, with demand exceeding supply, more than one supplier, unclear responsibilities between suppliers, and a resultant free-rider problem. This study explored ways to improve the supply of goods for forest infrastructure when the government—as leader—cooperates with foresters—as followers. Experimental economics were used to explain the factors that influence the behaviour of forest infrastructure quasi-public goods suppliers; to design twelve policy scenarios by communication, information feedback, rewards and punishments, and leadership styles; and to simulate the changes in foresters’ supply behaviour in different scenarios to analyse which policies were conducive to improving the supply of quasi-public forest infrastructures. The results were as follows: communication, rewards and punishments, information feedback, and leadership style reduce foresters’ free-riding behaviour; communication, rewards, and punishment increase supply, and, furthermore, the supply of the scenario with rewards and punishment is 1.792–4.616 times that of the situation without rewards and punishment; without the constraints of rewards and punishment, only feedback information reduces the supply; and the p values of the Mann–Whitney U test for the influence of leadership style on the supply level of forest infrastructure were all greater than 0.05, which indicates that no significant difference exists between leading by words and leading by example in supply improvement. When foresters are able to communicate with each other, reward and punishment exist, and information feedback is provided; hence, the supply of foresters is higher regardless of whether the government leads by words or by example. This study provided policy suggestions on how to improve the supply of quasi-public goods for forestry infrastructure, namely, that the organizer should organize foresters to fully negotiate before raising funds for infrastructure construction; publish, when appropriate, the supply and income of foresters; and formulate appropriate reward and punishment measures.

The “multiple-interaction” model of third-party management for environmental pollution has gradually replaced the traditional “command-and-control” model and become a new trend in governance. This new governance system is accompanied by a lack of regulatory capacity, a single reward and punishment mechanism, and frequent rent-seeking behavior, and other governance problems are becoming increasingly prominent. Based on the premise of limited rationality, considering the possible rent-seeking behavior of pollution control enterprises and professional environmental testing institutions, this paper constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model with pollution control enterprises, professional environmental testing institutions, and government regulatory departments as the main bodies. The evolutionary stabilization strategy of the three-party game is analyzed according to Lyapunov’s theory, and the system is optimized through a computational experimental simulation in MATLAB. The research results show that the government can effectively regulate the behavior of pollution control enterprises and professional environmental testing institutions by appropriately increasing the rewards and punishments, but excessive rewards are not conducive to increasing the government regulators’ own performance; the existing static reward and punishment mechanism of the government regulators fails to reward and punish the behavior of governance subjects in real time, and the linear dynamic punishment mechanism greatly increases the probability of rent-seeking behavior, neither of which is a stable control strategy for the system. The non-linear dynamic reward and punishment mechanism takes into account both dynamic incentives and dynamic constraints to make the system achieve the desired evolutionary stability strategy, i.e., pollution control enterprises follow regulations, professional environmental testing agencies refuse to seek rent, and the government actively regulates the system as the final evolutionary direction. The research findings and management implications provide countermeasures and suggestions for government regulators to improve the regulatory mechanism for the third-party management of environmental pollution.

Deviant tourist behavior is destructive to both the tourist experience and tourism development. Punishment and reward are two regulation approaches that are widely used to reduce deviant tourist behavior. However, few scholars have considered why punishment and reward are occasionally ineffective. Based on reinforcement sensitivity theory, this article explored the effects of punishment and reward on reducing deviant tourist behavior intention. Following the rules of a quasi-experiment design, a scenario-based survey was conducted to test hypotheses. The results showed that both punishment and reward have negative effects on deviant tourist behavior intention. However, groups with high sensitivity and groups with low sensitivity to punishment or reward exhibited significant disparities. In addition, the awareness of the impact of tourism was found to mediate the effects of punishment and reward on reducing deviant tourist behavior intention. This study contributes to a better understanding of this phenomenon for scholars and practitioners.

Quality improvement is crucial for manufacturing, and existing research has paid less attention to the influence of regulatory factors and irrational factors of decision makers. Considering the impact of the reward and punishment strategy of the shared platform on quality decision-making, this paper introduces prospect theory and mental account theory into the process of multi-agent evolutionary game of shared manufacturing, constructs a co-evolutionary game model of shared manufacturing quality synergistic improvement under the dynamic reward and punishment mechanism, and analyzes the dynamic evolution law of each game agent. The research results show that: (1) The synergistic improvement of shared manufacturing quality is the consequence of the combined action of numerous interrelated and interacting factors, rather than the linear effect of a single element. (2) Although the combination of multiple incentive and punishment methods can significantly alter the effect of shared manufacturing quality synergy, there are certain effectiveness gaps. (3) The subsidy mechanism can effectively compensate for the effectiveness gap of the reward and punishment mechanism, and it can also strengthen the internal driving force of shared manufacturing quality coordination. The main management insights are as follows: (1) Consider strong external regulation to be the framework constraint, and positive internal control to be the detail specification. (2) Create a reliable reward and punishment mechanism and dynamically alter the intensity of rewards and penalties. (3) To close the effectiveness gap, strengthen the subsidy mechanism as an essential addition to the incentive and punishment mechanisms. This study can give a new reference path for quality improvement of shared manufacturing, allowing shared manufacturing to play a more constructive role in supporting the transformation and development of the manufacturing industry.

Realizing the nature of the purpose of education is our duty together. A variety of efforts in achieving the goal of education is carried out by all parties, ranging from models, devices, education/educators, and parents together. Reward and punishment is part of the model and strategy in education. A cornerstone in the application of reward and punishment found in the human psychic instincts will feel pleasure when accepting gifts and grieve while receiving punishment. In Islam, there are several verses of the Quran which explains about reward and punishment, and in the West, there is a psychological theory that explains the importance of reward and punishment. Reward aims to provide motivation and a new spirit for the children so that repetition of the conduct plus behaviour, while the punishment is given to give a deterrent effect to the child and deliver a message to other children so as not to do the violation of a rule.

Abstract. It was investigated whether sensitivity to reward and sensitivity to punishment as conceived in Gray's (1991) Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory could be measured by means of a multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) model containing method factors representing situational variance. On the basis of the similarities between sensitivity to reward and punishment with promotion- and prevention-orientation, as discussed in the organizational context, the situational contexts were mainly chosen from school and organization. A total of 347 German participants completed a 58-item questionnaire measuring sensitivity to reward and punishment in the context of the team, of supervisors/instructors, and consumption. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a factor for sensitivity to reward, for sensitivity to punishment, and three situational context factors (team, supervisor/instructor, and consumption). Thus, the situational variance could be controlled by means of the MTMM design. Moreover, some relations of sensitivity to reward and punishment with educational performance were found.

Motivation and emotion are not clearly defined and differentiated in Rolls's The brain and emotion, reflecting a widespread problem in conceptualizing these phenomena. An adequate theory of emotion cannot be based upon reward and punishment alone. Basic mechanisms of arousal, agonistic, and prosocial motives-emotions exist in addition to reward-punishment systems.

The topics treated in The brain and emotion include the definition, nature, and functions of emotion (Ch. 3); the neural bases of emotion (Ch. 4); reward, punishment, and emotion in brain design (Ch. 10); a theory of consciousness and its application to understanding emotion and pleasure (Ch. 9); and neural networks and emotion-related learning (Appendix). The approach is that emotions can be considered as states elicited by reinforcers (rewards and punishers). This approach helps with understanding the functions of emotion, with classifying different emotions, and in understanding what information-processing systems in the brain are involved in emotion, and how they are involved. The hypothesis is developed that brains are designed around reward-and punishment-evaluation systems, because this is the way that genes can build a complex system that will produce appropriate but flexible behavior to increase fitness (Ch. 10). By specifying goals rather than particular behavioral patterns of responses, genes leave much more open the possible behavioral strategies that might be required to increase fitness. The importance of reward and punishment systems in brain design also provides a basis for understanding the brain mechanisms of motivation, as described in Chapters 2 for appetite and feeding, 5 for brain-stimulation reward, 6 for addiction, 7 for thirst, and 8 for sexual behavior.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) traits and emotion dysregulation signs, including social anxiety, general anxiety, and depression in students. Methods: A total of 189 students of the public universities in Tehran were selected by convenience sampling and answered the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, and Punishment Sensitivity Questionnaire and Reward Sensitivity. Data analysis was done using SPSS v. 26 software by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Results: Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant relationship between punishment and reward sensitivity and symptoms of emotional dysregulation. Also, multiple regression analysis showed that reward and punishment sensitivity could predict emotion dysregulation. Conclusion: Punishment hypersensitivity and reward hyposensitivity were higher-order, shared factors for emotion dysregulation signs, including depression, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety. These findings emphasize the effect of behavioral activation as a technique to increase reward pursuit by the individual and suggested that this technique is able to increase reward-seeking and consequently, improve emotional regulation.

This thesis examined the extent to which individual differences, as conceptualised by the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, influenced young drivers' information processing and subsequent acceptance of anti-speeding messages. Using a multi-method approach, the findings highlighted the utility of combining objective measures (a cognitive response time task and electroencephalography) with self-report measures to assess message processing and message acceptance, respectively. This body of research indicated that responses to anti-speeding messages may differ depending on an individual's personality disposition. Overall, the research provided further insight into the development of message strategies to target high risk drivers.

This thesis details a continuing body of research investigating the contribution of personality to disordered eating and alcohol abuse in young women. There is growing evidence of high levels of reward sensitivity in women with both disorders, and high levels of punishment sensitivity in dysfunctional eating women. However, it is unlikely that personality alone accounts for the development of such dysfunctional behaviour. Two studies were conducted to further examine the contribution of reward and punishment sensitivity to these disorders. In the first study, 443 university women completed self-report measures of alcohol use, dysfunctional eating, reinforcement sensitivity, parental drinking, family environment and maternal eating. Reward and punishment sensitivity were better predictors of disordered behaviour than family factors, although maternal dysfunctional eating significantly increased the risk of daughters' dysfunctional eating. Punishment sensitive daughters of bulimic mothers reported the highest level of bulimic symptoms themselves. Punishment sensitivity also functioned as a partial pathway variable between family risk and disordered eating. Given the stronger contribution of personality to disordered behaviour, a second study was conducted in which 131 women completed behavioural tasks under conditions of reward and punishment. Performance on a computerised measure of punishment sensitivity was associated with greater levels of dysfunctional eating but not drinking. However, performance on a card-sorting task of reward sensitivity failed to correlate with self-reported reward sensitivity or disordered behaviour. It was concluded that an innate sensitivity to reward increases the risk of disorders characterised by strong approach tendencies, whilst high punishment sensitivity, perhaps due to a chaotic family, increases the risk of dysfunctional eating, particularly daughters of eating disordered mothers.

This thesis details a continuing body of research investigating the contribution of personality to disordered eating and alcohol abuse in young women. There is growing evidence of high levels of reward sensitivity in women with both disorders, and high levels of punishment sensitivity in dysfunctional eating women. However, it is unlikely that personality alone accounts for the development of such dysfunctional behaviour. Two studies were conducted to further examine the contribution of reward and punishment sensitivity to these disorders. In the first study, 443 university women completed self-report measures of alcohol use, dysfunctional eating, reinforcement sensitivity, parental drinking, family environment and maternal eating. Reward and punishment sensitivity were better predictors of disordered behaviour than family factors, although maternal dysfunctional eating significantly increased the risk of daughters' dysfunctional eating. Punishment sensitive daughters of bulimic mothers reported the highest level of bulimic symptoms themselves. Punishment sensitivity also functioned as a partial pathway variable between family risk and disordered eating. Given the stronger contribution of personality to disordered behaviour, a second study was conducted in which 131 women completed behavioural tasks under conditions of reward and punishment. Performance on a computerised measure of punishment sensitivity was associated with greater levels of dysfunctional eating but not drinking. However, performance on a card-sorting task of reward sensitivity failed to correlate with self-reported reward sensitivity or disordered behaviour. It was concluded that an innate sensitivity to reward increases the risk of disorders characterised by strong approach tendencies, whilst high punishment sensitivity, perhaps due to a chaotic family, increases the risk of dysfunctional eating, particularly daughters of eating disordered mothers.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Applied Psychology
Full Text

Features of impulsivity underlie multiple psychological disorders. The body of work examining impulsivity has largely focussed on self-report measurement and has incorporated psychological constructs without reference to the broader biological factors that may influence impulsive behaviour. Two studies were conducted to examine whether environmental stress and genetic status associated with dopaminergic and serotonergic function (DRD2, ANKK1 and 5HT2AR genotypes) were predictive of dimensions of impulsivity and risky behaviour (alcohol use). The two studies used a multi-method approach in a non-clinical community sample of young adults (aged 17-25 years). Dopamine is integral to the two leading theories of impulsive personality, Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory and Cloninger's Psychobiological model of personality. Dopamine plays a crucial role in reward reinforcement circuits in the brain. The A1 allele of the ANKK1 gene (also referred to as TaqIA of the DRD2 gene region) and the CC genotype of the C957T polymorphism of the DRD2 gene have both been associated with reduced D2 dopamine receptor density in key structures linked to brain reward. In addition, a strong body of evidence implicates their involvement in a number of clinical disorders associated with impulsivity. Serotonin function has also been associated with impulsivity in Cloninger's theory and there is also evidence of associations of two polymorphisms of the 2A serotonin receptor gene (5HT2AR T102C and -1438A/G SNPs) with impulsivity. Acute and chronic forms of stress are also important correlates of impulsive behaviour and the two studies directly examined the relationship between genotype, stress and impulsivity. Study 1 (N=180) utilised a cross-sectional design and examined interactions between these polymorphisms and chronic stress exposure on key impulsivity dimensions of reward sensitivity, Novelty Seeking and rash impulsiveness. Participants completed psychological questionnaires measuring chronic stress, dimensions of impulsivity, mood and substance use and provided mouth swab samples of buccal mucosal cells for DNA analysis. The study confirmed the association between A1 and CC allelic status and chronic stress being associated with harm avoidance and sensitivity to punishment. This suggests a role for both dopamine and background stress in impulsive behaviour. Study 2 (N=73) built upon this questionnaire research in the laboratory by utilising experimental psychological paradigms of impulsive behaviour and experimentally manipulating acute stress. Study 2 employed a mixed experimental design with a sub-sample of those studied in the cross-sectional sample. These behavioural paradigms included pre- and post- stress induction administration of the Card Arranging Reward Responsiveness Objective Test (capturing behavioural approach in the presence of reward cues, presumed to reflect reward sensitivity) and post-induction delay discounting and response inhibition measures. Study 2 confirmed the role of one of the two dopamine-related polymorphisms, with those with A1+ allelic status demonstrating lower reward responsiveness prior to rest or stress induction, which was overcome in the second administration of this task, independent of environment. A1+ allelic individuals also demonstrated significantly poorer response inhibition independent of stress, further confirming the association between A1+ allelic status and impulsivity. Those with CC allelic status showed an increase in reward responsiveness only in the stress induction condition. Together, results from the two studies inform the development of a multidimensional model of impulsivity that captures gene-environment influences on discrete aspects of impulsive personality and behaviour. Further refinement of this model may lead to the development of more effective customised prevention and treatment interventions for clinically disordered impulsivity. The implications of dopaminergic systems and stress in understanding disorders such as ADHD and substance dependence are discussed.

Features of impulsivity underlie multiple psychological disorders. The body of work examining impulsivity has largely focussed on self-report measurement and has incorporated psychological constructs without reference to the broader biological factors that may influence impulsive behaviour. Two studies were conducted to examine whether environmental stress and genetic status associated with dopaminergic and serotonergic function (DRD2, ANKK1 and 5HT2AR genotypes) were predictive of dimensions of impulsivity and risky behaviour (alcohol use). The two studies used a multi-method approach in a non-clinical community sample of young adults (aged 17-25 years). Dopamine is integral to the two leading theories of impulsive personality, Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory and Cloninger's Psychobiological model of personality. Dopamine plays a crucial role in reward reinforcement circuits in the brain. The A1 allele of the ANKK1 gene (also referred to as TaqIA of the DRD2 gene region) and the CC genotype of the C957T polymorphism of the DRD2 gene have both been associated with reduced D2 dopamine receptor density in key structures linked to brain reward. In addition, a strong body of evidence implicates their involvement in a number of clinical disorders associated with impulsivity. Serotonin function has also been associated with impulsivity in Cloninger's theory and there is also evidence of associations of two polymorphisms of the 2A serotonin receptor gene (5HT2AR T102C and -1438A/G SNPs) with impulsivity. Acute and chronic forms of stress are also important correlates of impulsive behaviour and the two studies directly examined the relationship between genotype, stress and impulsivity. Study 1 (N=180) utilised a cross-sectional design and examined interactions between these polymorphisms and chronic stress exposure on key impulsivity dimensions of reward sensitivity, Novelty Seeking and rash impulsiveness. Participants completed psychological questionnaires measuring chronic stress, dimensions of impulsivity, mood and substance use and provided mouth swab samples of buccal mucosal cells for DNA analysis. The study confirmed the association between A1 and CC allelic status and chronic stress being associated with harm avoidance and sensitivity to punishment. This suggests a role for both dopamine and background stress in impulsive behaviour. Study 2 (N=73) built upon this questionnaire research in the laboratory by utilising experimental psychological paradigms of impulsive behaviour and experimentally manipulating acute stress. Study 2 employed a mixed experimental design with a sub-sample of those studied in the cross-sectional sample. These behavioural paradigms included pre- and post- stress induction administration of the Card Arranging Reward Responsiveness Objective Test (capturing behavioural approach in the presence of reward cues, presumed to reflect reward sensitivity) and post-induction delay discounting and response inhibition measures. Study 2 confirmed the role of one of the two dopamine-related polymorphisms, with those with A1+ allelic status demonstrating lower reward responsiveness prior to rest or stress induction, which was overcome in the second administration of this task, independent of environment. A1+ allelic individuals also demonstrated significantly poorer response inhibition independent of stress, further confirming the association between A1+ allelic status and impulsivity. Those with CC allelic status showed an increase in reward responsiveness only in the stress induction condition. Together, results from the two studies inform the development of a multidimensional model of impulsivity that captures gene-environment influences on discrete aspects of impulsive personality and behaviour. Further refinement of this model may lead to the development of more effective customised prevention and treatment interventions for clinically disordered impulsivity. The implications of dopaminergic systems and stress in understanding disorders such as ADHD and substance dependence are discussed.

L’étude de la sanction du comportement du contractant fait l’objet d’un intérêt particulier à l’heure où la loi de ratification du 21 avril 2018 introduit un mouvement de consécration de la notion. Cet élan se traduit principalement par une volonté politique de renforcer l’attractivité des contrats et la sécurité juridique. Notion polysémique, la sanction revêt une acception incertaine malgré son omniprésence. Est-ce une réaction ? Une punition ? Une réparation ? Elle est tantôt envisagée comme un remède, tantôt caractérisée par sa fonction préventive, réparatrice ou encore punitive. La tâche entreprise consiste à délimiter les contours de la sanction du comportement afin de la définir et d’explorer sa mise en œuvre. Il s’agit de montrer pourquoi elle n’est pas un remède, pourquoi elle n’est pas uniquement une punition et pourquoi elle ne doit pas être seulement envisagée à travers le passé, le présent ou le futur, mais plutôt dans chacune de ces dimensions temporelles. Par une approche tant normative que volontariste, la sanction du comportement apparaît comme un véritable instrument d’orientation justifiant la proposition d’un régime spécifique
The study of the sanction of the behavior of the contractor is of particular interest at a time when the law of ratification of 21 April 2018, introduces a movement of consecration of the concept. This momentum is mainly reflected in a political will to strengthen the attractiveness of contracts, and legal certainty. However, despite its omnipresence, the sanction of behavior remains a polysemic notion whose meaning is uncertain. Is it a reaction? A punishment? A reparation? It’s sometimes considered as a remedy, sometimes characterized by its preventive, restorative or punitive function. Therefore, the task undertaken is to delineate the contours of the sanction of behavior, in order to define it, and to explore its implementation. It’s a question of showing why it’s not a remedy why it’s not only a punishment and why it should not be considered only in the past, the present, or the future, but rather in each of these temporal dimensions. Through both a normative and proactive approach, the sanction of behavior appears as a real guidance instrument justifying the proposal of a specific regime

According to recent studies, the number of schools that have severely limited or eliminated recess and free-play opportunities is on the rise across the nation. School officials cite the increasing levels of state and federal pressure to perform on standardized tests as the primary reason for this shift away from the playground. The threat of lawsuits and safety concerns are also listed as factors in this change of policy. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the perceptions of directors of schools, supervisors, principals, assistant principals, teachers, and students regarding recess and free play in three East Tennessee school systems. Representative schools were chosen from each system and examined. In addition, results from standardized test scores as provided by the state of Tennessee were examined for the selected schools. The findings of this study revealed that directors, supervisors, principals, teachers, and students were in favor of recess and stated that offering recess and free-play opportunities provided some benefit to students. Even so, two schools in the study had chosen to limit recess and free-play opportunities to varying degrees whereas the third school maintained a policy of recess breaks. In examining the test data, the two schools that had limited recess were found to have lower test scores than the school that had maintained the integrity of recess. Other factors could attribute to the lower scores. The findings did reveal that limiting recess appeared to offer no significant gain in scores just as providing recess did not appear to cause any decrease in test scores. Stakeholders interviewed expressed the perception that the benefits of having recess outweighed any potential threat of time lost in the classroom. Recommendations for further research include repeating this study in other school settings on a larger scale to see if the same results are realized.

Young novice drivers - that is, drivers aged 16-25 years who are relatively inexperienced in driving on the road and have a novice (Learner, Provisional) driver's licence - have been overrepresented in car crash, injury and fatality statistics around the world for decades. There are numerous persistent characteristics evident in young novice driver crashes, fatalities and offences, including variables relating to the young driver themselves, broader social influences which include their passengers, the car they drive, and when and how they drive, and their risky driving behaviour in particular. Moreover, there are a range of psychosocial factors influencing the behaviour of young novice drivers, including the social influences of parents and peers, and person-related factors such as age-related factors, attitudes, and sensation seeking. Historically, a range of approaches have been developed to manage the risky driving behaviour of young novice drivers. Traditional measures predominantly relying upon education have had limited success in regulating the risky driving behaviour of the young novice driver. In contrast, interventions such as graduated driver licensing (GDL) which acknowledges young novice drivers' limitations - principally pertaining to their chronological and developmental age, and their driving inexperience - have shown to be effective in ameliorating this pervasive public health problem. In practice, GDL is a risk management tool that is designed to reduce driving at risky times (e.g., at night) or in risky driving conditions (e.g., with passengers), while still enabling novice drivers to obtain experience. In this regard, the GDL program in Queensland, Australia, was considerably enhanced in July 2007, and major additions to the program include mandated Learner practice of 100 hours recorded in a logbook, and passenger limits during night driving in the Provisional phase. Road safety researchers have also continued to consider the influential role played by the young driver's psychosocial characteristics, including psychological traits and states. In addition, whilst the majority of road safety user research is epidemiological in nature, contemporary road safety research is increasingly applying psychological and criminological theories. Importantly, such theories not only can guide young novice driver research, they can also inform the development and evaluation of countermeasures targeting their risky driving behaviour. The research is thus designed to explore the self-reported behaviours - and the personal, psychosocial, and structural influences upon the behaviours - of young novice drivers This thesis incorporates three stages of predominantly quantitative research to undertake a comprehensive investigation of the risky driving behaviour of young novices. Risky driving behaviour increases the likelihood of the young novice driver being involved in a crash which may harm themselves or other road users, and deliberate risky driving such as driving in excess of the posted speed limits is the focus of the program of research. The extant literature examining the nature of the risky behaviour of the young novice driver - and the contributing factors for this behaviour - while comprehensive, has not led to the development of a reliable instrument designed specifically to measure the risky behaviour of the young novice driver. Therefore the development and application of such a tool (the Behaviour of Young Novice Drivers Scale, or BYNDS) was foremost in the program of research. In addition to describing the driving behaviours of the young novice, a central theme of this program of research was identifying, describing, and quantifying personal, behavioural, and environmental influences upon young novice driver risky behaviour. Accordingly the 11 papers developed from the three stages of research which comprise this thesis are framed within Bandura's reciprocal determinism model which explicitly considers the reciprocal relationship between the environment, the person, and their behaviour. Stage One comprised the foundation research and operationalised quantitative and qualitative methodologies to finalise the instrument used in Stages Two and Three. The first part of Stage One involved an online survey which was completed by 761 young novice drivers who attended tertiary education institutions across Queensland. A reliable instrument for measuring the risky driving behaviour of young novices was developed (the BYNDS) and is currently being operationalised in young novice driver research in progress at the Centre for Injury Research and Prevention in Philadelphia, USA. In addition, regression analyses revealed that psychological distress influenced risky driving behaviour, and the differential influence of depression, anxiety, sensitivity to punishments and rewards, and sensation seeking propensity were explored. Path model analyses revealed that punishment sensitivity was mediated by anxiety and depression; and the influence of depression, anxiety, reward sensitivity and sensation seeking propensity were moderated by the gender of the driver. Specifically, for males, sensation seeking propensity, depression, and reward sensitivity were predictive of self-reported risky driving, whilst for females anxiety was also influential. In the second part of Stage One, 21 young novice drivers participated in individual and small group interviews. The normative influences of parents, peers, and the Police were explicated. Content analysis supported four themes of influence through punishments, rewards, and the behaviours and attitudes of parents and friends. The Police were also influential upon the risky driving behaviour of young novices. The findings of both parts of Stage One informed the research of Stage Two. Stage Two was a comprehensive investigation of the pre-Licence and Learner experiences, attitudes, and behaviours, of young novice drivers. In this stage, 1170 young novice drivers from across Queensland completed an online or paper survey exploring their experiences, behaviours and attitudes as a pre- and Learner driver. The majority of novices did not drive before they were licensed (pre-Licence driving) or as an unsupervised Learner, submitted accurate logbooks, intended to follow the road rules as a Provisional driver, and reported practicing predominantly at the end of the Learner period. The experience of Learners in the enhanced-GDL program were also examined and compared to those of Learner drivers who progressed through the former-GDL program (data collected previously by Bates, Watson, & King, 2009a). Importantly, current-GDL Learners reported significantly more driving practice and a longer Learner period, less difficulty obtaining practice, and less offence detection and crash involvement than Learners in the former-GDL program. The findings of Stage Two informed the research of Stage Three. Stage Three was a comprehensive exploration of the driving experiences, attitudes and behaviours of young novice drivers during their first six months of Provisional 1 licensure. In this stage, 390 of the 1170 young novice drivers from Stage Two completed another survey, and data collected during Stages Two and Three allowed a longitudinal investigation of self-reported risky driving behaviours, such as GDL-specific and general road rule compliance; risky behaviour such as pre-Licence driving, crash involvement and offence detection; and vehicle ownership, paying attention to Police presence, and punishment avoidance. Whilst the majority of Learner and Provisional drivers reported compliance with GDL-specific and general road rules, 33% of Learners and 50% of Provisional drivers reported speeding by 10-20 km/hr at least occasionally. Twelve percent of Learner drivers reported pre-Licence driving, and these drivers were significantly more risky as Learner and Provisional drivers. Ten percent of males and females reported being involved in a crash, and 10% of females and 18% of males had been detected for an offence, within the first six months of independent driving. Additionally, 75% of young novice drivers reported owning their own car within six months of gaining their Provisional driver's licence. Vehicle owners reported significantly shorter Learner periods and more risky driving exposure as a Provisional driver. Paying attention to Police presence on the roads appeared normative for young novice drivers: 91% of Learners and 72% of Provisional drivers reported paying attention. Provisional drivers also reported they actively avoided the Police: 25% of males and 13% of females; 23% of rural drivers and 15% of urban drivers. Stage Three also allowed the refinement of the risky behaviour measurement tool (BYNDS) created in Stage One; the original reliable 44-item instrument was refined to a similarly reliable 36-item instrument. A longitudinal exploration of the influence of anxiety, depression, sensation seeking propensity and reward sensitivity upon the risky behaviour of the Provisional driver was also undertaken using data collected in Stages Two and Three. Consistent with the research of Stage One, structural equation modeling revealed anxiety, reward sensitivity and sensation seeking propensity predicted self-reported risky driving behaviour. Again, gender was a moderator, with only reward sensitivity predicting risky driving for males. A measurement model of Akers' social learning theory (SLT) was developed containing six subscales operationalising the four constructs of differential association, imitation, personal attitudes, and differential reinforcement, and the influence of parents and peers was captured within the items in a number of these constructs. Analyses exploring the nature and extent of the psychosocial influences of personal characteristics (step 1), Akers' SLT (step 2), and elements of the prototype/willingness model (PWM) (step 3) upon self-reported speeding by the Provisional driver in a hierarchical multiple regression model found the following significant predictors: gender (male), car ownership (own car), reward sensitivity (greater sensitivity), depression (greater depression), personal attitudes (more risky attitudes), and speeding (more speeding) as a Learner. The research findings have considerable implications for road safety researchers, policy-makers, mental health professionals and medical practitioners alike. A broad range of issues need to be considered when developing, implementing and evaluating interventions for both the intentional and unintentional risky driving behaviours of interest. While a variety of interventions have been historically utilised, including education, enforcement, rehabilitation and incentives, caution is warranted. A multi-faceted approach to improving novice road safety is more likely to be effective, and new and existing countermeasures should capitalise on the potential of parents, peers and Police to be a positive influence upon the risky behaviour of young novice drivers. However, the efficacy of some interventions remains undetermined at this time. Notwithstanding this caveat, countermeasures such as augmenting and strengthening Queensland's GDL program and targeting parents and adolescents particularly warrant further attention. The findings of the research program suggest that Queensland's current-GDL can be strengthened by increasing compliance of young novice drivers with existing conditions and restrictions. The rates of speeding reported by the young Learner driver are particularly alarming for a number of reasons. The Learner is inexperienced in driving, and travelling in excess of speed limits places them at greater risk as they are also inexperienced in detecting and responding appropriately to driving hazards. In addition, the Learner period should provide the foundation for a safe lifetime driving career, enabling the development and reinforcement of non-risky driving habits. Learners who sped reported speeding by greater margins, and at greater frequencies, when they were able to drive independently. Other strategies could also be considered to enhance Queensland's GDL program, addressing both the pre-Licence adolescent and their parents. Options that warrant further investigation to determine their likely effectiveness include screening and treatment of novice drivers by mental health professionals and/or medical practitioners; and general social skills training. Considering the self-reported pre-licence driving of the young novice driver, targeted education of parents may need to occur before their child obtains a Learner licence. It is noteworthy that those participants who reported risky driving during the Learner phase also were more likely to report risky driving behaviour during the Provisional phase; therefore it appears vital that the development of safe driving habits is encouraged from the beginning of the novice period. General education of parents and young novice drivers should inform them of the considerably-increased likelihood of risky driving behaviour, crashes and offences associated with having unlimited access to a vehicle in the early stages of intermediate licensure. Importantly, parents frequently purchase the car that is used by the Provisional driver, who typically lives at home with their parents, and therefore parents are ideally positioned to monitor the journeys of their young novice driver during this early stage of independent driving. Parents are pivotal in the development of their driving child: they are models who are imitated and are sources of attitudes, expectancies, rewards and punishments; and they provide the most driving instruction for the Learner. High rates of self-reported speeding by Learners suggests that GDL programs specifically consider the nature of supervision during the Learner period, encouraging supervisors to be vigilant to compliance with general and GDL-specific road rules, and especially driving in excess of speed limit. Attitudes towards driving are formed before the adolescent reaches the age when they can be legally licensed. Young novice drivers with risky personal attitudes towards driving reported more risky driving behaviour, suggesting that countermeasures should target such attitudes and that such interventions might be implemented before the adolescent is licensed. The risky behaviours and attitudes of friends were also found to be influential, and given that young novice drivers tend to carry their friends as their passengers, a group intervention such as provided in a school class context may prove more effective. Social skills interventions that encourage the novice to resist the negative influences of their friends and their peer passengers, and to not imitate the risky driving behaviour of their friends, may also be effective. The punishments and rewards anticipated from and administered by friends were also found to influence the self-reported risky behaviour of the young novice driver; therefore young persons could be encouraged to sanction the risky, and to reward the non-risky, driving of their novice friends. Adolescent health programs and related initiatives need to more specifically consider the risks associated with driving. Young novice drivers are also adolescents, a developmental period associated with depression and anxiety. Depression, anxiety, and sensation seeking propensity were found to be predictive of risky driving; therefore interventions targeting psychological distress, whilst discouraging the expression of sensation seeking propensity whilst driving, warrant development and trialing. In addition, given that reward sensitivity was also predictive, a scheme which rewards novice drivers for safe driving behaviour - rather than rewarding the novice through emotional and instrumental rewards for risky driving behaviour - requires further investigation. The Police were also influential in the risky driving behaviour of young novices. Young novice drivers who had been detected for an offence, and then avoided punishment, reacted differentially, with some drivers appearing to become less risky after the encounter, whilst for others their risky behaviour appeared to be reinforced and therefore was more likely to be performed again. Such drivers saw t

The article is based on three cases of private psychoanalytic work with successful businessmen from central and northern parts of Ukraine. The research methodology was psychoanalytic theories devoted to the unconscious meanings of money and the role of money in the psychoanalytic setting, including object theory, drive theory, psychosexual development theory, narcissism theory, Oedipus complex, transference and resistance. What presents the interest of this study are the cases when those who grew up in poverty finally obtains such a desired object — money, wealth, however, something unconscious hinders this person to get satisfied by it and even to admit obtaining it. The presented clinical work was conducted as classic psychoanalysis in person with different duration: 5, 10 and 46 months. Men were asked to tell whatever comes to mind: thoughts, memories, dreams, phantasies, feelings etc. The role of psychoanalyst was to hear specific connections between patient’s stories and to analyze them together with the patient. The cases presented highlight several psychological features of young men «millionaires» who suffer from their own success. 1. Sensitivity to Father’s (real or symbolic) acceptance of their business and financial success. 2. Activation of unconscious Oedipus complex and Complex of castration because of the risk to dethrone the Father in reality, with experiences of guilt, fear and expectation of punishment. 3. Projection of their own envy, hate, wish to avenge and killing phantasies into external objects (friends, partners, psychoanalyst) with building individual defensive strategies from them. These psychological features were associated not only with suffering and psychopathological symptoms but also with impossibility to continue business development. In addition, the cases analyzed in the article show some difficulties in building business connected with the generations gap. Fathers from the USSR or the 90s teach their sons to act in the way that is not relevant for successful careers nowadays. This latent or manifested struggle between generations may be an important factor in abovementioned psychological features.

Most people in low-income countries contribute substantially to the financing of local public goods through informal revenue generation (IRG). However, very little is known about how IRG works in practice. We produce novel evidence on the magnitude and regressivity of IRG and its relationship with the state in a fragile context, Somalia. We rely on original data from surveys with over 2,300 households and 117 community leaders in Gedo region, as well as on extensive qualitative research. We first show that IRG is prevalent. Over 70 per cent of households report paying at least one informal tax or fee in the previous year, representing on average 9.5 per cent of annual income. We also find that, among households that contribute, poorer ones contribute larger amounts than richer ones, with higher incidence in relation to their income. Further, in line with theory and expectations, informal payments have inequitable community-level effects, with individuals in wealthier communities making more informal payments than in poorer ones and, correspondingly, having access to a greater number of public goods. We then consider four explanations for the prevalence of IRG. First, IRG clearly fills gaps left by weak state capacity. Relatedly, we show that IRG can bolster perceptions and legitimacy of the state, indicating that sub-national governments may actually benefit from informal taxation. Second, informal taxing authorities are more effective tax collectors than the state, with informal taxing authorities having greater legitimacy and taxpayers perceiving informal payments to be fairer than those levied by the state. Third, dispelling the possibility that informal payments should be classified as user fees, taxpayers overwhelmingly expect nothing in return for their contributions. Fourth, in contrast to hypotheses that informal payments may be voluntary, taxpayers associate informal payments with punishment and informal institutions of enforcement. Our research reinforces the importance of IRG to public goods provision in weak formal institutional contexts, to everyday citizens, and to policymakers attempting to extend the influence of the federal state in south-central Somalia. Foremost, informal tax institutions need to be incorporated within analyses of taxation, service delivery, social protection, and equity. At the same time, our findings of the complementary nature of IRG and district-level governance and of the relative efficiency of revenue generation by local leaders have important implications for understanding statebuilding processes from below. Indeed, our findings suggest that governments may have little incentive to extend their taxing authority in some fragile contexts.

Ours is an age of pervasive political turbulence, and the scale of the challenge requires new thinking on politics as well as public ethics for our world. In Western countries, the specter of Islamophobia, alt-right populism, along with racialized violence has shaken public confidence in long-secure assumptions rooted in democracy, diversity, and citizenship. The tragic denouement of so many of the Arab uprisings together with the ascendance of apocalyptic extremists like Daesh and Boko Haram have caused an even greater sense of alarm in large parts of the Muslim-majority world. It is against this backdrop that M.A. Muqtedar Khan has written a book of breathtaking range and ethical beauty. The author explores the history and sociology of the Muslim world, both classic and contemporary. He does so, however, not merely to chronicle the phases of its development, but to explore just why the message of compassion, mercy, and ethical beauty so prominent in the Quran and Sunna of the Prophet came over time to be displaced by a narrow legalism that emphasized jurisprudence, punishment, and social control. In the modern era, Western Orientalists and Islamists alike have pushed the juridification and interpretive reification of Islamic ethical traditions even further. Each group has asserted that the essence of Islam lies in jurisprudence (fiqh), and both have tended to imagine this legal heritage on the model of Western positive law, according to which law is authorized, codified, and enforced by a leviathan state. “Reification of Shariah and equating of Islam and Shariah has a rather emaciating effect on Islam,” Khan rightly argues. It leads its proponents to overlook “the depth and heights of Islamic faith, mysticism, philosophy or even emotions such as divine love (Muhabba)” (13). As the sociologist of Islamic law, Sami Zubaida, has similarly observed, in all these developments one sees evidence, not of a traditionalist reassertion of Muslim values, but a “triumph of Western models” of religion and state (Zubaida 2003:135). To counteract these impoverishing trends, Khan presents a far-reaching analysis that “seeks to move away from the now failed vision of Islamic states without demanding radical secularization” (2). He does so by positioning himself squarely within the ethical and mystical legacy of the Qur’an and traditions of the Prophet. As the book’s title makes clear, the key to this effort of religious recovery is “the cosmology of Ihsan and the worldview of Al-Tasawwuf, the science of Islamic mysticism” (1-2). For Islamist activists whose models of Islam have more to do with contemporary identity politics than a deep reading of Islamic traditions, Khan’s foregrounding of Ihsan may seem unfamiliar or baffling. But one of the many achievements of this book is the skill with which it plumbs the depth of scripture, classical commentaries, and tasawwuf practices to recover and confirm the ethic that lies at their heart. “The Quran promises that God is with those who do beautiful things,” the author reminds us (Khan 2019:1). The concept of Ihsan appears 191 times in 175 verses in the Quran (110). The concept is given its richest elaboration, Khan explains, in the famous hadith of the Angel Gabriel. This tradition recounts that when Gabriel appeared before the Prophet he asked, “What is Ihsan?” Both Gabriel’s question and the Prophet’s response make clear that Ihsan is an ideal at the center of the Qur’an and Sunna of the Prophet, and that it enjoins “perfection, goodness, to better, to do beautiful things and to do righteous deeds” (3). It is this cosmological ethic that Khan argues must be restored and implemented “to develop a political philosophy … that emphasizes love over law” (2). In its expansive exploration of Islamic ethics and civilization, Khan’s Islam and Good Governance will remind some readers of the late Shahab Ahmed’s remarkable book, What is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic (Ahmed 2016). Both are works of impressive range and spiritual depth. But whereas Ahmed stood in the humanities wing of Islamic studies, Khan is an intellectual polymath who moves easily across the Islamic sciences, social theory, and comparative politics. He brings the full weight of his effort to conclusion with policy recommendations for how “to combine Sufism with political theory” (6), and to do so in a way that recommends specific “Islamic principles that encourage good governance, and politics in pursuit of goodness” (8).