Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Berthe Morisot, The PInk Dress, 1870 and YOung Woman Sitting on a Research Paper
Berthe Morisot, The PInk Dress, 1870 and YOung Woman Sitting on a Sofa, 1879 - Research Paper Example However, a woman artist also belonged to this group but was not acknowledged in the art history or by the contemporary critics. She is Berthe Morisot, with more than 400 paintings to her credit. Most of Berthe Morisotââ¬â¢s paintings apart from her landscape paintings have women in her family as the subject. There is an underlying paradox in the contemporary as well as modern view points and criticisms of Bertheââ¬â¢s works of art and Berthe as an artist. While books on art history do not list her as a major Impressionist, or associate her as a disciple or student of Manet, and her works to follow his style, feminist art and history critics look upon these as essentially patriarchal. However conflicting the views are, it should be considered that nothing else could be a better source of learning the techniques of Bertheââ¬â¢s art than her paintings themselves. The critiques are interpretations painted in different social and ideological colors. Berthe Morisotââ¬â¢s gender, social status, personal relationships had a huge influence on her as an artist, from the choice of the subject matter to the painting techniques adopted. This paper looks into Berthe Morisot painting technique and compares two of her paintings ââ¬Å"The Pink Dressâ⬠(1870) and ââ¬Å"Young Woman Seated on a Sofa (1879) to deduce the developments and changes in the latter painting from the earlier one. Also, it analyses her art from a perspective of Berthe as a woman, impressionist and a bourgeois. [Thesis statement after finishing the essay] A few have shown interest in studying the art technique and the social background of Berthe Morisot. This has happened after her works gained international reputation post-death. A close observation of the characteristics of the period in which Berthe lived would be of great help to contextualize her as a woman artist of nineteenth century. Anne Higonnetââ¬â¢s biography of Berthe Morisot is a significant work that throws light on Berthe as an individual and
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Leadership Research and Commentary Annotated Bibliography
Leadership Research and Commentary - Annotated Bibliography Example The authors have provided an insightful information regarding various ways in which leaders can develop agility which may help them in adapting to the dynamic and ever-changing external environment. The discussions provide a strong incentive to the readers to achieve higher levels of efficiency as leaders through the five levels of mastery. This book includes a revolutionary concept with regard to leadership theory and practice. The author has discussed the U theory proposed by Scharmer and Senge, et al., in extensive detail. The various discussions and theories included in the book offer a wide perspective to the readers as well as organizational leaders regarding the manner in which they can develop critical skills to foresee and judge the requirements of the industry and customerââ¬â¢s tastes and preferences. The author has included in-depth interviews of over 150 leaders from across the globe which includes prominent entrepreneurs, educators, economists, cognitive scientists as well as other leaders from diverse fields who have displayed high levels of achievement and performance in their respective areas of expertise. The inclusion of such diverse perspectives helped in approaching the issue of leadership in a manner that allows for a holistic understanding of the concept. In this article, the author has addressed the changing role of management and hence leaders. In such a highly dynamic environment leading an organization towards success is a highly tedious task. It has been observed that at times the CEOs of companies may feel reluctant to actively participate in debates and issues critical to the organizations. In order to help them to confidently confront critical issues and prevent their organizations from any damage.
Monday, October 7, 2019
Westerhoff Book Critique Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Westerhoff Book Critique - Assignment Example (Westerhoff 1994, ix) The ideas presented in the book are logical, simple, and realistic where the professor uses a lot of examples and related life stories to explain his point. Rev. Dr. John Westerhoff, III taught at Harvard and Duke University Divinity School and was also part of the ministry first at the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA, and later became a priest in the Episcopal Church. (Bramer 2009) The professor is an author of a number of books already which are also about faith and spirituality. Spiritual Formation focuses on how living a spiritual life affects preaching and teaching in our time and the issues concerning them. In the same way that we cannot give what we do not have, the professor said in his book that the best teachers and preachers he has known were persons who taught and preached out of the depths of their own life experiences. (Westerhoff 1994, 32) Most educators I know do believe that experience is indeed the best teacher. I guess I can say they were also very good at their profession. Yet teaching and preaching in the light of spiritual formation is not achievable by the mentor alone. One word that links the sender (the preacher or the teacher) and the receiver (students and other recipients) is the word ââ¬Å"learningâ⬠. Learning is a two way process. It involves not only the participation, but also first of all the interest, more so the willingness to learn of the student. As the professor out it in his book introduction, ââ¬Å"Today, spiritua l formation is a major concern of faculty and studentsâ⬠(Westerhoff 1994, ix). He also quoted Nouwen that ââ¬Å"someone must be willing to let his or her life be a resource for the otherââ¬â¢s learning; and if there is any truth, it will break in from the outside and illuminate both the teacher and the learner.â⬠(Westerhoff 1994, 41) In this process both teacher and student learn and in this sense, Westerhoff added that the learner needs to be
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 10
Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example The information used in the construction of the argument are mainly from western nations. The interactions between the other nations and the western world are not well represented leading to a major flaw. The text looks at the social aspect of the history of the western civilizations. This book has a wide coverage since it looks at the diverse cultures that are existent in the western world. However, it has a major focus being the influence of the European nations especially the Great Britain on the development of the social orientations of the people. This book is sufficient in that it has an integrated approach to the western history. It covers the issue of gender and cultural diversity with a particularly keen intent covering all the periods that marked major changes. The writing approach used in the book is both compelling and fascinations. The details about the daily life are reduced into writing and expounded on leading to the development of a deeper understanding of the events that informed the current pleasures. The books makes enables the student to better identify with the past. The text mentioned above looks into the social history of the western civilizations using the political and cultural lenses. This is a second volume in a series by the same authors that captivates the studentsââ¬â¢ interest in the history of the major civilizations. This book focuses on the rise of England as a major world force and the aspects that could have contributed to the rise of the greatest empire ever. It also looks at the creation of the United States from the baby steps moment to its rise as the greatest nation. The politics of the rise and fall of great kingdoms is not the only issue that pervades the text. On the contrary, the book has more content on the cultural diversity. The scope of the book content is a major flaw for the book since there is a
Friday, October 4, 2019
Medical Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Medical Care - Essay Example It could be government organization, health care industry or an institution, hospital or medical laboratory, staff of physicians and nurses, therapists, psychologists, pharmacists, chiropractors and optometrists. Patients do receive medical care depending upon the urgency and priorities (WHO, 2000). b. Chronic care management- include education programme of the patients especially in the cases of diabetes, high blood pressure, lupus, multiple sclerosis and sleep apnea. The medical care unit focus on the disease management, motivation of the patient for the persistence of the therapy and also encouraging the patients psychologically to achieve speedy recovery. Various studies have been carried out to manifest is there any difference in the survival rate of a particular race (White over Black), but most of the studies state that in cases of critical illness or acute diseases like cancer, AIDS separate units and funds are formulated to provide better medical care to the hospitalized subject and there is absolutely no differentiation exist between the survival ratio of blacks and whites (Optenberg, 1995). Although health care policy formulators, management and consumers seeking medical benefits are always concerned about the access to medical care but various programs are being implemented like Medicaid, Medicare, National Health insurance, health education and nutrition programs, various paramedical training programs and HMOs aim to provide equal access to medical care for large group of population. Constant evaluation is desired for measuring the accessibility of the consumer (patient) (Aday, 1974). Argument against: Disparity in health services are observed in American health system due to racial prejudice and distinction in patient admittance to care, insurance condition, sociodemographic and clinical attributes and also handling inclinations. Those who were uninsured, or whose concern is sponsorship mostly from hospital limitations, such alterations could potentially affect either access to hospital care or the excellence of care after the patients admittance to hospitals (Vollpp, 2006). Opinion: Aspects of medical care be such that equal priority and benefit must be availed to the patients carrying similar illness, moreover utilization of various medical care services should be for the better health and recovery of the patient and to the satisfaction of the patient. No discrimination should be promoted as humanity is above all and medical care must set the paradigm for this by counting humanity over economy. References 1. Aday, L., A., Andersen, R., 1974, A framework for the study of Access to Medical Care. Health Ser.Res. Fall; 9(3): 208-220. 2. Optenberg, S., A., Thompson, I., M., Friedrichs, P., Wojcik, B., Stein, C., R., Kramer, B., Race, treatment, and long-term survival from prostate cancer in an equal-access medical care delivery system, 1995, JAMA vol 274, 20. 3. Vollpp, K., G., M., Epstein, A., J., Williams, S., V., 2006. The Effect of Market Reform
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Decreasing Fossil Fuels Essay Example for Free
Decreasing Fossil Fuels Essay Over the past century America has continuously used its own fossil fuel resources and paid handsomely for additional supplies, in the race to stay current with modern technology and life .The possession of this resource has made the United States a very prosperous and powerful nation. The same fossil fuels thatââ¬â¢s has made America such a powerhouse are the same that are damaging the environment and economy they have enabled. It is imperative that we decrease our dependency on fossil fuels, or it is inevitable that our economy and environment will suffer tremendously. With these fuels being such a crucial and essential part of Americas livelihood and status, it brings us to the question .What are fossil fuels? According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Science: Fossil fuels are buried deposits of petroleum, coal, peat, natural gas, and other carbon-rich organic compounds derived from the dead bodies of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. Over long periods of time, pressure generated by overlaying sediments and from within the Earth has concentrated and modified these materials into valuable energy sources for it human purpose. Fossil fuels currently provide about 90 % of all technological energy used in the world. They provide the power to move vehicles, heat living spaces, provide light, cook our food, transmit and process information and carry out a wide variety of industrial processes (Thomson). There are countless marvels and miracles that we can list that came from the dawn of industrialization in the 21st century that the abundan ce of fossil fuels has provided. If the flow of fossil fuels to the United States were ever cut off, the economy would come to a halt. There would be no way to transport the products that factories produce. There would be no way for people to drive to work. The whole economy, and in fact the whole of western society, currently depends on fossil fuels (Graetz 198). Fossil fuels are the leading source of our economic advancement and can eventually be the downfall. With the great dependency that our economy has on these fuels it is important that we talk about the economic issues and threats that this unhealthy dependency causes. Each day the United States spends about $2 billion buying oil and loses another $4 billion indirectly to the macroeconomic cost of oil dependence, the microeconomic cost of oil price volatility ,and the cost of keeping military forces ready for intervention (Lovins). This dependency to foreign oil supplies is causing unstable security threats for the nation. We are competing with other importing counties that are expanding their economies which put us at a great risk for conflict in the Persian Gulf and terrorism. If the oil rich countries that we depend on wanted to raise their prices we would have no choice but to comply or it could but a halt to our economy .This kind of dependency is extremely unhealthy for our nation and our economy. This creates economic risk because we do not have control over the supply and we depend on it almost exclusively for our productivity. Doing business with politically unstable countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, can make us vulnerable to terrorism and threats from other nations. This continuing dependency on fossil fuels has the potential to put a halt to our economy .This unhealthy dependency can also cause security threats like terrorism from politically unstable nations. With these disastrous effects of fuel dependency it is clear that something must be done .It is imperative that we decrease our d ependency on fossil fuels, or it is inevitable that our economy will suffer tremendously. The economic threats are not the only factors that warrant for immediate reduction of the fuel usage environmental factors play an overwhelming hazardous proportion. It has been recognized worldwide that the utilization of an enormous amount of fossil fuels has created various adverse effects on the environment. Every day in America we take for granted the fresh drinking water, fresh air to breathe and the beauty of nature. We will lose these natural blessings with the continuing use of fossil fuels. These fuels are having jeopardous effects on our ecosystem. The extraction of these fuels on land degrades the land .It destroys the habitat .The process of drilling, extracting and processing fossil fuels is not entirely efficient and creates waste .This sometimes results in harmful by-products entering the ground. (Rabl and Spadaro).It can make it unsustainable .It destroys the habitat of animals that live on the sites. Land extraction is not worse of two evils. Extraction in marine or wetland environments has had severe impacts (Cleveland, Hall and Kaufmann 357).Oil spilled on water spreads out and is carried out by water currents. This contaminated water can be ingested by animals or worse maybe even humans. It has the propensity to clog appendages, body coverings and membranes of marine animals. Transporting fossil fuels can cause damage as well. Pipelines carrying oil, for example, can rupture and spread pollutants over a large area of land. In areas of chemical spills, vegetation can be killed and unable to be grown for many years. Toxins contaminating the ground may directly affect crops and the habitats of animals (358). Another effect of the fuel usage is air pollution. According to Ayhan Demirbas air pollution can cause health problems and it can also damage the environment and property. One of the main air pollutants that helps exceed the air quality standard or AQS is Carbon monoxide or (CO).Co is produced by the incomplete burning of carbon-based fuels including petrol and diesel which are produced by fossil fuels. Nitrogen oxide or (NOx) can cause smoke and acid rain. Nitrogen oxide can also make children susceptible to respiratory diseases. The acid rain occurs when the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen from the burning fuels combine with water vapor in the atmosphere and fall as rain, snow or fog (Lovins). The acid rain causes extensive damage to water, forests, soil resources, human health and it can also corrode buildings .The international scope of the problem has led to the signing of international agreement s on the limitation of nitrogen dioxide emissions (Kunstler). The burning of coal from human activities have led to increased atmospheric concentrations of a number of greenhouse gases ,including carbon dioxide ,methane, nitrous oxide ,CFCââ¬â¢s ,and ozone in the lower part of the atmosphere( Demirbas ). These gases have opened the door for all kinds of health problems like respiratory diseases, damage to kidneys, cardiovascular and nervous system. ââ¬Å"Most scientists consider it likely that if the atmospheric concentrations of C02 and other so-called greenhouse gases continue to rise, the earthââ¬â¢s climate will become warmerâ⬠(Cline) .These gases add to the naturally already occurring atmospheric gases increasing the overall temperature of earth. An increasing temperature on the planet can have disastrous effects in the long term. Widespread changes to earthââ¬â¢s climate would be expected to cause extreme weather and storms, massive ecological changes, and the extinction of many species. Reducing the amount of fossil fuels would considerably reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced, as well as the level of pollutants which causes acid rain. The extensive use of fossil fuels has caused such catastrophic damages to our environment. With all of these overwhelming hazardous effects they create it is imperative that we decrease out dependency on fossil fuels, or it is inevitable that our environment will suffer tremendously. The current dominance of fossil fuels as an energy source reflects their convenience of use and relative ease of production in comparison with other energy sources (Lincoln). No other energy sources, match fuels for power, versatility, transportability or ease of storage. James Howard Kunstler describes our continual use of these fuels best in his book The Long Emergency when he said: Oil is an amazing substance. It stores a tremendous amount of energy per weight and volume .It is easy to transport .It stores easily at regular air temperature in unpressurized metal tanks, and it can sit there indefinitely without degrading â⬠¦. . It is flammable but has proven to be safe to handle with a modest amount of care by people with double digit IQs .It can be refined by straightforward distillation into many grades of fuel. There are many reasons why we continue to use fossil fuel .It is more affordable and cheaper to use, they pack more energy, it is easy to transport, it is easy to use and has many uses and it is readily available. Even with all of these more efficient reasons to use these fuels it is still does not outweigh the harm that they cause to the environment or threats to the economy. The cause a wide range of problems like acid rain, global warming and security threats the list goes on .We must cut down on the tremendous volumes of use. Fossil fuels are natural substances made deep within the Earth from remains of animals and plants over time, heat and pressure turned these decomposing remains into fuels which release energy when burned. These fuels have taken hundreds and millions of years to make this are not a slow process. We are using such a large amount of this energy as if the supply is never ending .One day these supplies are going to be exhausted, and there will be a need for an alternative source if our economy and environment are going to survive. One possible solution to decrease the fossil fuel damage is to look into renewable resource like hydrogen energy is one possible choice. Hydrogen is harvested by a process called electrolysis, which separates the hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms in water. Hydrogen energy could be an endless resource once a more economical way of producing the hydrogen gas is discovered. When using hydrogen fuel cell energy the only byproduct would be water. Hydrogen clearly provides the potential for huge energy and environmental improvements. Engineer Harry T. Roman states: If fuel cells could be used in our homes with hydrogen, Imagine the possibility of being able to generate both your Electricity and heating needs right in your basement, with Little or no pollution. And are there some bonuses, like no More electric power outages when storms come blowing Through, no fuel delivery interruptions, and no potential terrorist Threats to our utility systems? While other alternative energies provide short-term solutions, only hydrogen presents long-term benefits that will reduce pollution and U.S. dependence on foreign oil. With the possibility of cleaner air, fewer security threats because they would be produced in the U.S. and the supply would be endless and readily available it seems that this could be a potential alternative. It is imperative that we decrease our dependency on fossil fuels, or it is inevitable that our economy and environment will suffer tremendously. The uses of these fuels have caused security threats from dealing with politically unstable nations. It also puts our economy under the control of these foreign nations. If they would chose to increase their prices it could put a halt to our economy and way of life. Large use of these fuels has also had devastating effects on the environment. The burning of these fuels has created acid rain, global warming, contamination of water supplies and various human illnesses. If this new modern lifestyles of technology mobility, and industrial efficiency is to be sustained there will have to be changes in our energy consumption and source. One proposed alternative is hydrogen energy. This energy source is made from a process called electrolysis. It emits virtually no pollution and is renewable so the supply is unlimited. It will be produced locally so the terrorist threats would be diminished.
Theories of Adolescent Risk Taking
Theories of Adolescent Risk Taking Adolescence is seen as a period when an individual is unable to competently assess risk. There is a general belief that adolescents believe that they are invulnerable to risk thereby unable to perceive certain behaviors. Because of this, adolescents are adjudged to be less aware of risk. This provides the reason the reason why there are legal limitations on adolescentsââ¬â¢ right (Bellotti, 1979, Gardner, Scherer Tester, 1989). On the other hand, some view adolescents as having the capability to making informed and competent decisions as adults (Melton, 1984). This means that some see adolescents as seeing themselves as invulnerable. This idea is supported by Elkindââ¬â¢s theory (1967, 1978). In this theory, Elkind argues that people become cognitively egocentric when they first enter into formal operations. Because of this, adolescents believe that they are unique and special making them immune to certain things. They see themselves as invulnerable to harm. This geocentricism and invulnerability are expected to reduce as the individual moves from middle to late adolescents. But some believe that this theory on geocentricism is not associated with adolescence transition into formal operations, and that it is not limited to adolescence alone (Frankenbreger, 2000, Gray Hudson, 1984). In addition, research has not found any positive correlation between geocentricism and perception of invulnerability (Dolcini et al., 1989). Social researches on adolescence have not been helpful in resolving the debate between adolescentsââ¬â¢ perception of invulnerability to risk and adolescentsââ¬â¢ competence. There are numerous inconsistent studies on this issue. There are factors that may be responsible for these inconsistencies. According to Millstein and Halpern-Felsher (2002), these inconsistencies maybe due to the methods used to measure risk perception. Some researchers used probabilistic assessment, that is, the chance that an outcome will occur (Quadrel et al., 1993, Gochman Saucier, 1982) while other researchers like Finn and Brown (1981, Cohn, Macfarlane et al. (1995) examined adolescentsââ¬â¢ perception about harm, that is ââ¬Å"the amount of harm that could be caused(p. 401). This has the ability to cause disparity between the studies and also questions the validity of these findings. Another cause of this disparity is failure of researchers to consider behavioral experiences across ages and control for it. While some of the earlier studies that focused on adolescentsââ¬â¢ age group and those that compared adolescents and adults found a significant difference in awareness of and consideration of risks (Ambuel Rappaport, 1992, Chassin et al., 2001), some others found few differences. One of the studies that did not support the idea of adolescentsââ¬â¢ invulnerability is the one conducted by Millster and Halpern-Felsher (2002). In their studies, they took into account the above identified problems in studying adolescents and young adults risk perception. While other researchers used participantsââ¬â¢ parents to measure comparison between adolescents and adults risk perception, these researchers use unrelated childless adult to eliminate this problem. Their reason for using unmarried young childless adults was because those with children may have a greater awareness of risk because of their positions as parents compared to childless and non parent/unmarried young adults.This is because using adolescent participantsââ¬â¢ parents may create problem of non independence between the groups. They used 433 adolescents and 144 young adults between the ages of 20 30 as comparison group from racially diverse population and from geographically and demographically similar area. They tried to find out age differences in risk judgement and if adolescents risk judgment differ from those of adults, and if vulnerability perceptions to harm are more prevailed in adolescents than adults. In the result, they found a significant difference between young adultsââ¬â¢ and adolescentsââ¬â¢ risk judgment. Also, there was a significant age group differences between older adolescents and younger adolescents. Older adolescents assessed probability of negative outcome to be lower than younger adolescents. The study challenges the general belief that due to adolescentsââ¬â¢ developmental status, they view themselves as invulnerable as well as underestimate risk. Adolescents donââ¬â¢t see themselves as invulnerable, though they may fail to perceive specific risk related to a specific behavior, and at the same time, may over estimate the benefit of such behavior. Even after controlling for behavioral experiences, younger adolescents perception of risk was greater than older adolescents, and adolescents perceived greater risk that young adults. Because younger adolescents have been taught that engaging in risky behavior results in significant risk, they are likely to be lieve it (Millstein Helperin-Felsher, 2001). But with increased exposure to peer risk behavior coupled with maturation, adolescents are able to observe that not all risky behaviors have a negative outcome. The researchers observed that the participants over estimated risk. Young people already have a sense of heightened vulnerability and that continuous emphasis on the negative outcome of risk might be counterproductive, in that it might conflict with adolescentsââ¬â¢ own experiences as they might realize that not all risky behaviors result in negative outcome. The result of this study is in contrast with the popular belief that adolescents perceive risk less than adults do and that adolescents also see themselves as invulnerable. Another research that is consistent with the above finding is the work done by Baumgartner and Peter (2010). They investigated adolescentsââ¬â¢ and adultsââ¬â¢ perception of internet risk, especially online sexual risk. Previous studies on online risks founf that adolescents are vulnerable (Mitchell, Finkellor Wolak, 2001, 2007b, Yabarra, Mitchell, Finkellor, Wolak, 2007). These findings are based on the assumption that adolescents are massive internet users. There are scientific/research evidence to prove that adolescents are more vulnerable online that adults and that adolescents reported a very negative feeling such as being afraid from online sexual solicitation (Mitchell et al., 2001). Some reasons for this unwanted online sexual solicitation include the fact that due to adolescentsââ¬â¢ massive developmental changes at his stage, the need to relate to others increases thereby making them vulnerable to unwanted sexual solicitation (Singelman Rider, 2003). On the other hand, adults may not be keen on interacting with strangers, thereby decreasing the risk of unwanted sexual solicitation. Another reason for this vulnerability is that adolescents spend more time online and this may increase their chances of receiving unwanted online sexual solicitation (Jones Fox, 2009). The empirical evidence to support that adolescent take greater risk than adolescents have been inconsistent. The difference between adults and adolescents risk perception may be because adolescents today are more familiar with internet amd newer social networks compared to adults. In their study of 1765 Dutch adolescents and 1026 Dutch adults, done through online survey, Baumgartner and Peter (2010) investigated age and gender differences in unwanted online sexual solicitation. The result showed that female adolescents and young female adults are at the greatest risk of this online harassment. This may be because of the specific online activities that they are involved in, or may be because they are just the targets of these perpetrators. A reason for this may be because these groups of people use the internet as a means of communication rather than for entertainment, and the the use of internet for chatting increases the chance of unwanted sexual solicitation. Because one of the cha llenges during adolescence is identity formation, these adolescents may use the internet to relate to others by self disclosure or to share intimate details (Mazur Kozarian, 2010, Calvert, 2002). They also found that young girls find this undesirable and may be more emotionally and cognitively vulnerable to such messages compared to older female adult. This means that adolescent girls feel vulnerable with such behaviors, this is in contrast to the general belief that adolescents perceive some behaviors as risky. An emerging adult may cope better in such situation, but an inexperienced adolescent may be more vulnerable and may need protection than adults. There was also evidence of increased online risk for older adolescents male and adults compared to younger adolescents. This may be because as one gets older, one partakes in more risky behavior compared to when one was younger. This is evidence against the notion of adolescentsââ¬â¢ invulnerability. Another reason for this increased online sexual risk found among older adolescents and adults may be because sexual interest does not decline with age or after adolescence, and sexuality being an important part of adults, engaging in online sexual risk may help satisfy these sexual needs. Though these evidence that adolescents do not engage in more risk than adults does not mean or suggest that adolescentsââ¬â¢ behaviors should be neglected. Risk behaviors are interpreted differently by adolescents and adults (Parsons et al., 1997). It is seen as a normal thing when adults give out private information about themselves online based on the assumption that adults can handle any negative consequence from such behavior unlike adolescents, such behaviors may be frowned at because any negative outcome may be detrimental and may affect their normal development. In addition, although risk may have potential negative outcome, it also serves an important cause in adolescent development (Jessor, 1992, Igra Irwin, 1996) as it helps adolescents develop autonomy and maturity. It also helps in coping with anxiety and frustration. Online sexual risk may also help adolescents in developing their sexual identity. Hence, online sexual risk behavior should not be viewed as detrimental to adolescents, but it could also serve to facilitate healthy development. This study shows that adolescents, especially younger adolescents are risk aware, and that the fear of adults about adolescentsââ¬â¢ online sexual risk behaviors is unfounded. A study by Haase and Silbereisen (2011) linked the effect of negative affect on adolescentsââ¬â¢ risk perception. This study is in contrast to the above studies that adolescents have a higher risk perception than adults. And that this depends on the affect. That perception depends on our mood or emotion either positive or negative. Other studies have linked positive affect to lower risk perception (Johnson Tversky, 1983). This means that adolescents who are emotionally open are influenced by this. The Haase and Silbereisen (2011) study examined the effect of positive affect on adolescentsââ¬â¢ and adultsââ¬â¢ risk perception. The study involved the use of audio-visual method to induce emotion. Research has shown that negative emotion leads to a higher risk taking, because the individual tries to overcome the bad mod through engaging in activities that are rewarding in short run and can potentially have harmful effect on the long run (Tice, Bratslavsky Baumeister, 2001). Bu t from the result of the study, they found that when an individual is in a good mood, he is less likely to perceive some risky behaviors like smoking and alcohol drinking as risky. The study also examined the effect of mood across age groups. It was found that positive affect lowers risk perception across age groups, whereas negative affect led to lower risk perception among mid adolescents but did not for early adolescents and young adults. This may be because developmentally, mid adolescents have a high stress vulnerability (Spear, 2000), and a higher risk taking (Steinberg, 2008). Therefore, it has been shown that affective influences play a big role in adolescents risk taking. When adolescents are in good mood and excited, they tend to indulge in risky behaviors or they may judge some behaviors as risk free. Because previous studies have used questionnaire to assess adolescentsââ¬â¢ risk taking, using experiment showed that adolescents partake in risk behavior and that this risk taking is influenced by affect either positive or negative. This means that adolescents and adults may be more risk averse when they are faced with situations that do not give rise to great emotions, and this may not be captured in questionnaire study. This result in conflicting findings on adolescents risk taking, but using experimental design may show the real situation when the adolescents are faced with strong emotions. Feelings may alter risk perception.
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