Life Events and Psychiatric Disorders Essay Sample free essay sample

Life EventsResearch workers have long been interested in understanding how persons and environments affect each other. chiefly so as to depict and explicate age – related behavior and single differences. One focal point has been to analyze life events. A life event is declarative of or requires a important alteration in the on-going life forms of the person. Harmonizing to Settersten and Mayer ( 1997 ) . â€Å"A life event is a important happening affecting a comparatively disconnected alteration that may bring forth serious and long lasting effects† . It refers to the go oning itself and non to the passages that will happen because of the occurrences. Life events can happen in a assortment of spheres ( household. wellness. and work ) and may be age graded ( School. matrimony and retirement ) . history graded ( war and depression ) . or non-normative ( illness and divorce ) . Most of the stripling and grownup literature reflects a sociological tradition of measuring the impact of life events as passages between major functions. We will write a custom essay sample on Life Events and Psychiatric Disorders Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page age classs. position additions and losingss. and so forth. Turning Points A turning point is a particular life event that produces a permanent displacement in the life class flight. It must take to more than a impermanent roundabout way. As important as they are to individual’s lives. turning points normally become obvious merely as clip base on ballss ( Wheaton and Gotlib. 1997 ) . Three types of life events can function as turning points ( Rutter. 1996 ) : * Life events that either stopping point or unfastened chances. * Life events that make a permanent alteration on the person’s environment. * Life events that change a person’s self-concept. beliefs and outlooks. However. it must be remembered that the same type of life events may be a turning point for one person. household. or other collectivity. but non for another. Besides. less dramatic passages may go turning points depending upon the individual’s appraisal of its importance. Life Event StressThe Encyclopedia of emphasis defines emphasis as â€Å"real or an taken menace to physiological or psychological unity of an person that consequences in physiological and/or behavioral response. † Stress involves a procedure in which environmental demands revenue enhancement or transcend the adaptative capacity of an being ensuing in psychological and biological alterations that may put individuals at hazard for disease. Three wide traditions of measuring the function of emphasis in disease hazard may be distinguished: * The environmental tradition focuses on appraisal of environmental events or experiences that are normatively ( objectively ) associated with significant adaptative demands. * The psychological tradition focuses on individuals’ subjective ratings of their abilities to get by with the demands posed by specific events or experiences. * The biological tradition focuses on activation of specific physiological systems that have been repeatedl y shown to be modulated by both psychologically and physically demanding conditions. Life event emphasiss therefore basically follow the environmental tradition. and are concerned with situational brushs and the intending a individual may attach to such events. Nerve-racking life events are causally implicated in a assortment of unwanted effects on our public presentation and wellness ( Dohrenwend and Dohrenwend. 1997 ) . Such observation is based on two premises. First. life alterations require version on the portion of the person and are nerve-racking. Second. individuals sing pronounced life alterations in the recent yesteryear are susceptible to physical and psychiatric jobs. All life events require version. but all life events are non needfully unpleasant. Life events can either be pleasant in nature where the emphasis is called ‘Eustress’ or unpleasant in nature where the emphasis is called ‘Dystress’ ( Selye. 1974 ) . There may besides be some life events which merely move to assist keep the internal steady province or to maintain the person interested in set abouting appropriate activities. Such emphasis may be called ‘Neustress’ ( Joseph P. Auto. 1995 ) Beginning OF LIFE EVENTS RESEARCH The hypothesis that emotional struggles related to external events can precipitate mental unwellnesss was foremost officially suggested by Heinroth in 1818 in his appellation of the term ‘psychosomatic’ . Later in early portion of the twentieth century. Adolf Meyer. popularized the ‘life chart’ methodological analysis. This attack emphasized the importance of dynamic interplay among biological. psychological and societal factors such that of import life events within the person’s life became focal point of attending for analyzing wellness and disease. However. no formal graduated table or agenda for measuring life events or their impact on wellness was as yet available. In the early sixtiess. Rahe and Holmes began developing a life events agenda based upon findings over 5. 000 of Meyer’s â€Å"life charts† taken on patients at the University of Washington. Each point selected for their agenda of Recent Experience was included because it was found to hold occurred in a big figure of patients predating the oncoming of their unwellness. Holmes and Rahe ( 1967 ) besides developed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale ( SRRS ) by delegating weights for events of different judged badness from the Schedule of Recent Experience. These weights were called â€Å"life alteration units† ( LCU ) . Elevated sores on the SRRS have been associated with the oncoming of legion medical upsets ( Rahe and Arthur. 1978 ) . It has besides been used extensively in surveies of oncoming of psychiatric upsets including schizophrenic disorder. depression and self-destruction efforts. The SRRS had an tremendous impact on research on the dealingss between life events and unwellness. It besides brought frontward and strengthened the impression that the effects of stressors operate mostly though the creative activity of inordinate adaptative demands. This led users of SRRS to be more concerned with the magnitude of life alteration than with whether the alteration was positive ( e. g. . publicity ) or negative ( e. g. . or occupation loss ) . Get downing in the seventiess. a new coevals of nerve-racking life event research workers began to dispute many of the basic premises involved in the building and marking of the SRRS. Th e undermentioned new thoughts were advanced: * Persons to gauge the stressfulness of their ain experiences as a manner of bring forthing steps instead than judge’s evaluations. ( e. g. . Sarason et. Al. . 1978 ) . * Development of a life event interview in which research workers rate the importance of events while taking into history the context in which they occur. ( Brown A ; Harris. 1978 ) . * Development of newer checklists to spread out the scope of experiences evaluated. ( Dohrenwend et Al. . 1978 ) . * Development of graduated tables to measure nerve-racking life events in specific populations whose experiences might be different from those represented on the more general SRRS. These included graduated tables for kids ( e. g. . Sandler A ; Ramsay. 1980. Monaghan et Al. 1978 ) striplings ( e. g. Murrell et Al. . 1984 ) and graduated tables for different civilizations ( Singh et. Al. . 1983 ; Sanjam. 1987 ) . * Development of life event graduated tables based on a multidimensional construct of stressors that individually assessed the extent of menace. loss. danger and other facets of nerve-racking events ( Brown A ; Harris. 1978 ) . Apart from these new developments. there have been continuances of what has already been established: * A continuance of basic research to document the effects of nerve-racking events on a assortment of physical and mental wellness result s utilizing newer nerve-racking life event steps. * An involvement in analyzing the cumulative effects of sing two or more nerve-racking life events in the same short interval of clip. ( Mc Gonagle A ; Kessler. 1990 ) . * An involvement in analyzing the joint effects of sing a nerve-racking event in the context of an on-going chronic stressor in the same life sphere ( Wheaton. 1990 ) . * A considerable involvement in analyzing exposure factors. i. e. . features that make people more or less susceptible to stressor induced disease. * A motion off from an earlier tradition of concentrating entirely on the acute wellness damaging effects of distinct life events towards an probe of the long term health-damaging effects of chronic stressors. A new involvement in the cumulative effects of minor day-to-day stressors on both emotional wellness ( Bolger et al. 1989 ) and physical wellness ( Stone et al. . 1987 ) . THEORETICAL ISSUES The nature of causal relationship between psychosocial emphasis and functional mental upsets has been conceptualized by assorted theories or theoretical accounts. Although these theoretical accounts have differed in their accent on the function of emphasis in the etiology of psychiatric unwellness. they have nem con taken into consideration the impact of emphasis in both physiological and psychological domains. Crisis Theory The crisis theory of emphasis was ab initio proposed by Lindemann ( 1944 ) ; and was farther elaborated by Satiating ( 1973 ) . The theory maintains that when an person is faced with a new state of affairs ( life event ) he goes into a period of disequilibrium ( crisis ) . The result of crisis may either be adaptative or maladaptive. In the latter status. it will take to physical or psychological unwellness or decreased functional capacity. The Crisis Model has been best used to explicate the experiences of healthy persons with comparatively integral personalities and comparatively abiding coherent human relationships ( Beck A ; Worthen. 1972 ) . Principle of Opticss Rahe et Al ( 1974 ) proposed that one’s past experience may change the significance of his recent life alteration and frequently defence mechanisms are employed which diffract away some of the life alteration events. Those which are non diffracted off. excite a battalion of physiological procedures. Prolonged unabsorbed psycho-physiological activities finally lead to organ system disfunction or assortment of psychological perturbations. Differential Consequence Brown and co workers ( 1973 ) have opined that the consequence of emphasis varies for each person. Stress may hold both triping and formative effects on mental unwellness. Triping and formative effects are opposite terminals of the same go oning instead than qualitatively different procedures. Triping events at the most trigger an unwellness. i. e. they may at the most convey the oncoming frontward by a short period of clip and possibly do it more disconnected. Formative events on the other manus. play a formative function and the oncoming of the unwellness may be either well advanced in clip by the event or brought about by it wholly. Brrown et Al ( 1973 ) have besides given the construct of â€Å"brought frontward time† . i. e. . the estimation of the mean clip from an oncoming produced by an event to the clip when a self-generated oncoming would hold occurred. had non the events intervened. If the brought forward clip is more ( i. vitamin E gt ; 12 months ) . the consequen ce is formative. if it is less. the consequence is triping. ( Brown et al. 1973 ) Cybernetic Model Cyberneticss is a survey of systemic regulative mechanisms that operate via feedback cringles. Kagan and Levi ( 1974 ) proposed that the combined consequence of psychosocial emphasis and psychobiological programme determines the psychological or physiological reactions which may take to precursor of an unwellness or the illness itself. Diathesis or Vulnerability Models Several exposure theoretical accounts have been proposed. but the initial one was proposed by Meehl ( 1962 ) and it was subsequently modified by Rosenthal ( 1970 ) . These theoretical accounts assume that people have changing grades of exposure to the development of a mental upset and that the likeliness to develop an unwellness is a map of both the extent of the biologically influenced exposure and the magnitude of emphasis that the person is meeting. Vulnerability attack postulated that a balance and antagonistic balance is maintained between exposure and the sum of emphasis that can be tolerated before the symptoms appear. This theoretical account is used basically to explicate schizophrenic disorder ( Zubin A ; Spring. 1977 ) . Psychodynamic Theories Harmonizing to the theories of Freud. Jung and Sullivan. psychological emphasis consequences in arrested development. This overburdens already strained get bying mechanisms. and triggers a sequence of internal alterations whose outward look is the development of psychotic symptoms. The emphasis itself may be more of drawn-out struggle than a individual disturbing experience or it may be objectively minor but have particular psychological deductions for the person or it might exercise its consequence by virtuousness of moving on an already unnatural personality construction. Although these theories lack the support of any believable scientific research. they have been widely and uncritically accepted for long. and they are utile in that they help clinician to understand and expect the impact of life events on the patient’s class of unwellness. TYPES OF LIFE EVENTS Life events have been classified in different ways. Some of the dichotomous categorizations of life events. which are utile in explicating the consequences of life events research. are described below: Personal Vs Impersonal Events Personal events are the events in which the person is an active participant and partially or to the full responsible for the event. This includes matrimonial or household struggles. broken battle or love matter. building of a house. acquiring married and so on. Whereas. in impersonal events. the person is non straight responsible for the events. Examples include decease of a friend. unwellness of household members. belongings harm. birth of a girl and so on ( Singh et al. . 1983 ) . Desirable Vs Undesirable EventsThe events which are consistent with the favor or desire of the person. such as acquiring married. going an officer. etc are desirable 1s. Contrarily. unwanted events imply the unwanted happening of events such as decease of partner. larceny or robbery. divorce. etc. ( Singh et al. . 1983 ) . Pleasant Vs Unpleasant Events Pleasant events are gratifying events such as traveling on pleasance trip. educational or occupational accomplishment. etc. The events which are experienced by the individual as noxious. aversive. or unsafe are unpleasant events. It is noted that all pleasant events may non be desirable and all the desirable events are non pleasant. Major Vs Minor Events The events over which the person attaches importance or values are major events while the events which are. harmonizing to the person. negligible or inconsiderable are minor events. Interestingly. a major event for one person may be minor for another and vice-versa. ( californium: Kamaranjan. 1996 ) Chronic Vs Acute Events Chronic events are emphasiss associated with mundane life. such as household. work. poorness. physical disablement and mental shortage. while acute events are emphasiss associated with mostly external or unusual alterations that are unforeseen. unsought. and uncontrolled. ( Mc Glashan and Hoffman. 2000 ) Severe and Non-severe Events Severe events are experiences of long-run or moderate long term menace to an person ( e. g. decease of partner ) . Non terrible events were experiences that are endangering merely in the short term. normally less than a hebdomad ( e. g. . a kid about hit by a auto ) ( Brown A ; Harris. 1978 ) . MEASUREMENT OF LIFE EVENTS It is nem con accepted today that exposure to daily or life clip stressors may hold an of import bearing on wellness and good being. Much of research in this country has had focused in the function of nerve-racking life events in the etiology of assorted psychiatric unwellness. The chief consideration among research workers on life events are: * What type of life events act upon psychological perturbation? * What is the differential influence of life events in assorted mental upsets? * How do life events affect mental wellness. straight. indirectly and interactively? Relationship between personality factors and life events has besides been studied by assorted research workers. ( Bhatti and Channabaravanna. 1985 ) . Harmonizing to Wethington ( 2000 ) . appraisal of life events is one of four types of realistic stressor appraisals. the other three appraisals being that of emphasis assessments. chronic stressors and day-to-day events ( or fusss ) . The differences are pointed out below: * Life events: These are exposure to out-of-the-ordinary. demanding events. such as divorce. that have the capacity to alter the forms of life or elicit really unpleasant feelings. * Stress assessments: These are self studies of sensed stressfulness and assessments of menace posed by events. Measures of appraisal focal point on the grade to which an event threatens wellbeing or threatens to overpower resources to get by. Life event graduated tables may or may non include assessment as a constituent. * Chronic stressors: These are digesting or perennial troubles and strains in an country of life. Recent research on emphasis and unwellness has turned toward stressing the function of persistent. uninterrupted. or regular exposure to stressors as of import hazard factors for the development of disease. * Fusss: These are exposure to smaller. comparatively minor. cosmopolitan and usually less emotionally eliciting events whose effects disperse in a twenty-four hours or two. The fusss paradigm focuses attending of the potentially hurtful ways in which minor stressors. even those whose effects are comparatively fugitive. can hold long-run negative effects on wellness. There are two contrasting methods of mensurating life events. which have developed over clip. viz. . * Checklist Measures * Personal Interview MeasuresChecklists are easy to administrate and are utile in carry oning big sum of explorative wellness research. Checklist method was derived from an environmental position on emphasis. proposing that the footing of experient emphasis is an event that brings about a demand for societal. physical. or psychological readjustment. The earliest of these positions was the life alteration readjustment paradigm developed by Holmes and Rahe ( 1967 ) . Other theoretical paradigms on emphasis. such as those developed by Lazarus ( 1984 ) . Dohrenwend ( 1993 ) . and Brown ( 1987 ) have augmented their attack in important ways. Some checklists measure clocking and badness of checkered event. by inquiring respondent to describe day of the month of happening. by inquiring for a brief written description. or by inquiring respondent to rate the comparative stressfulness of the event. Despite their popularity. checklist steps have been criticized on their dependability and cogenc y as steps of stressor exposure. These unfavorable judgments include: * Vagueness and generalization of the inquiries. * Inclusion of events that are confounded with experiencing provinces of psychiatric unwellness. * Recency prejudices. i. e. respondents are more likely to remember events that occur in the last few months than those that occurred a twelvemonth ago. The Personal interview steps use qualitative investigations in order to stipulate more exactly the features of life events believed to bring forth the existent hazard of unwellness and timings of life events in relationship to the results. The early development of personal interview methods for measuring life events initialized a theoretical position distinct from the alteration readjustment paradigm. which informed life event checklist. The major developer of interview methods ( George W. Brown ) proposed that societal and environmental alterations ( and expectancy of those alterations ) that threaten the most strongly held emotional committednesss are footing for experienced terrible emphasis. This position besides holds that terrible stressors. instead than minor. threaten wellness. separating it from both alteration readjustment and fusss paradigms. Interview steps are non used normally. chiefly because of their greater disbursal and complexness. Research workers tend to utilize them under the undermentioned fortunes: * Where more precise badness evaluations are required. * Where the comparative timing of stressor exposure and disease oncoming is critical to a survey. * When the happening of an event. or series of events. may be related to respondent unwellness or behavior. * Promoters of interview steps claim that they are more comprehensive. dependable and valid than checklist steps. although there is considerable argument on this point. TOOLS FOR MEASURING LIFE EVENTSSocial Readjustment Rating Scale ( SRRS ) : Developed by Holmes and Rahe ( 1967 ) . this graduated table is a milepost of life events research. This graduated table has 43 events which have been taken from the Schedule of Recent Experience. and have been assigned weights in footings of their judged badness. Each point has a â€Å"life alteration unit† ( LCU ) . The more terrible the point. the greater alteration it calls for. and so the greater is its LCU. Agenda for Life Events: Developed by Paykel et Al. ( 1975 ) this covers 64 defined life events. which are once more divided into nine classs – work. instruction. finance. wellness. mourning. migration. household and societal relationship. It is administered in the signifier of a semi-structured interview. where each event is enquired for until it clearly does non use covering a period of one twelvemonth prior to the interview. Presumptive Stressful Life Events Scale ( PSLE ) : Developed by Gurmeet Singh et Al. ( 1983 ) . it was constructed and standardized for usage in the Indian population. It is a standardisation of the SRRS. It is in the signifier of an stock list of 51 points. each point holding a leaden emphasis mark. For illustration. decease of partner = 100 ; struggle over dowry = 51 ; traveling on pleasance trip = 20. The points are farther categorized as ( I ) personal or impersonal events. ( two ) desirable. unwanted. or equivocal events. It is administered in the signifier of a semi structured interview. wherein the events are assessed to be either present or absent. British Life Events Inventory for Children: Developed by Monaghan et Al ( 1978 ) . this stock list is specially designed to measure life events of kids. Life Events Inventory for Indian Children: Developed by Sanjam ( 1987 ) . this is an Indian version of the British Life Events Inventory for Children. It comprises of 50 points with appraisal of emphasis on two clip frame parametric quantities i. e. â€Å"last one year† and â€Å"ever in life prior to last one year† . Bedford College Life Events and Difficulties Schedule ( LEDS ) : Developed by Brown and Harris ( 1978 ) . this is the most widely used personal interview method. It is a semi structured study instrument. appropriate for usage in a community sample every bit good as with patients. measuring a broad assortment of stressors. The interview consists of a series of inquiries inquiring whether certain types of events had occurred over the past 12 months ( or larger ) and a set of guidelines for examining positive responses. Structured Event Probe and Narrative Rating Method ( SEPRATE ) : Developed by Dohrenwend and co-workers. et Al. ( 1993 ) . this is an alternate life events interview and evaluation system utilizing a magnitude of â€Å"life change† evaluation system. It consists of a series of yes/no inquiries sing 84 types of events or troubles that may hold occurred and been badly nerve-racking. Neurobiology OF LIFE EVENT STRESS The biological science of life events is subsumed in the biological science of emphasis. Several physiological systems have been implicated in active and inactive header with emphasis. These include the cardinal nervous system. catecholamines. immune. endorphin – enkephalin. hypothalamico–pituitary–adrenocortical and the sympatho–adrenomedulary systems ( Baum et al. . 1982 ) . The physiological emphasis responses include chiefly the activation of autonomic nervous system and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis taking to increased blood force per unit area and tissue degrees of catecholamines and glucocorticoids. Elevations of adrenaline. noradrenaline and hydrocortisone have repeatedly been found among individuals sing chronic and acutely nerve-racking events ( Hlastala and Frank. 2000 ) . Stressors besides activate serotonergic systems in the encephalon as evidenced by increased serotonic bend over ( Kaplan and Sadock. 2000 ) . Amino acid and peptidergic neurotransmitters are besides found to be elaborately involved in the emphasis response. Surveies have shown that adrenocorticotropic hormone let go ofing factor ( CRF ) . Glutamate. and Gamma aminobutyric acid ( GABA ) – all play of import functions in the coevals of the emphasis response or in transition of other stress antiphonal systems such as dopaminergic and noradrenergic encephalon circuits ( Kaplan and Sadock. 2000 ) . The symptho – adrenomedullary system ( SAS ) is activated during active header ( fight or flight ) . which by and large. but non ever. involves physical effort. This system increases metabolic activity in response to nerve-racking state of affairss. Measures of noradrenaline and adrenaline are typically used to bespeak the activity of the SAS. There are two of import characteristics of physiological emphasis response. The first involves turning it on in sum that are equal to the challenge. The 2nd is turning off the response when it is no longer needed. Physiological mediations of the emphasis response. viz. the catecholamines and the glucocorticoids from the adrenal cerebral mantle. originate cellular events that promote adaptative alterations in cells and tissues throughout the organic structure. which in bend protect the being and promote endurance. However. excessively much emphasis or inefficient operations of the acute responses to emphasize can do wear and tear and exacerbate disease procedure. There are nevertheless. tremendous single differences in construing and reacting to what is nerve-racking. every bit good as single differences in susceptibleness to diseases. in which emphasis may play a function. LIFE EVENTS AND PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS Extensive empirical research on life events and unwellnesss has demonstrated that life events emphasis may ensue in jobs in both physical andor mental wellness ( Cohen. 1980 ) . There is turning organic structure of literature on the function of life events in bring forthing assortment of mental upsets. However. bulk of persons undergoing serious life events do non develop psychological damage. Hence. the focal point of current life events research has been to understand the conditions under which life events produce psychological disfunction and to place those individuals who are at hazard. The impressions of ‘vulnerability’ and ‘ diathesis’ are of peculiar importance in understanding the impact of life events on mental wellness. ‘Diathesis’ as described by Meehl ( 1962 ) refers chiefly to familial predispositional factors. and ‘vulnerability’ has been expanded to include predispositional environmental factors ( Zubin and Spring. 1977 ; Spring A ; Coons. 1982 ) . An single with a high sensitivity is at high hazard of developing unwellness symptoms. in the face of nerve-racking life events. Again. perceptual experience of emphasis is a subjective phenomenon. as the same life event may be nerve-racking to one person but non to another. Individual’s personality make-up influences his perceptual experience and assessment of the state of affairs and this in bend determines his reaction to the same ( Sejwal. 1984 ) . Life Events and Schizophrenia The influence of life events on the etiology and class of schizophrenic disorder has been a controversial issue. Research analyzing the relationship between life events and the oncoming of schizophrenic episodes can be divided into three groups: Type I: Some surveies have found a important addition in â€Å"independent† life events predating the oncoming of psychotic symptoms proposing that they may play a major triping function for episodes. â€Å"Independent events† are those events which are non influenced or caused by patient’s ain behavior ( e. g. decease of loved one ) . Bleuler ( 1911 ) considered life state of affairss and emotional struggles as causal factors in the oncoming of at least some instances of schizophrenic disorder. Valliant ( 1964 ) observed that 60 % of their schizophrenic patients had life events 3 hebdomads prior to onset of unwellness. Lukoff et Al. ( 1984 ) and Brown A ; Birley ( 1968 ) had besides found an addition in the frequence of life events 3 hebdomads before the oncoming of schizophrenic disorder. Type II: Other surveies have found an addition in life events before oncoming. but the happening of the life events was non independent of the influence of the patient’s behavior. Non-independent life events such as being fired from a occupation. divorce. neglecting in an test. may reflect the prodromic period of the unwellness or an on-going schizophrenic procedure. Zubin and Spring ( 1977 ) have labeled the procedures by which schizophrenic patients frequently bring an surplus of life events upon themselves as â€Å"stress prone forms of living† . Although both onset every bit good as backsliding in schizophrenic disorder has been associated with an increased study of life events. these events are largely of the non-independent types. This increases an already hyperbolic emphasis degree and so influences the timing if non chance of illness oncoming ( Rabkin. 1980 ) . Beck and Worthen ( 1972 ) had besides reported that seemingly fiddling events are idiosyncratically interpreted by these patients so that they are subjectively but non objectively nerve-racking. A survey by Serban ( 1975 ) found that chronic schizophrenics experienced maximal emphasis. wh ile acute schizophrenics experienced medium emphasis. compared to the normal population. Das et Al. ( 1997 ) had reported higher figure of life events in the one twelvemonth predating backsliding in relapsed schizophrenics as compared to stable schizophrenics. The latter two surveies are therefore. once more declarative of the function of a schizophrenic procedure in the patients’ experience of nerve-racking life events. Ventura et Al. ( 1989 ) reviewed the surveies on life events and concluded that both exposure and emphasis factors. and non merely the latter. contribute to the oncoming and class of schizophrenic disorder. Type Three: The 3rd set of surveies in the literature study no relationship between life events and the oncoming of schizophrenic episodes. ( e. g. Leff et Al. . 1973 ; Leff A ; Vaughan. 1980 ) . Comparative surveies of schizophrenic patients with other groups of psychiatric patients reveal that unwanted life events were more common in depression than in schizophrenic disorder ( Beck and Worthen. 1972 ; Jacobs et Al. . 1974 ; Martin et Al. . 1 995 ) Life Events and Mania Meynert ( 1890 ) and Westphal ( 1911 ) had ab initio suggested that exogenic factors ( romantic and psycho-reactive factors ) can play a portion in precipitation of passion. Ambelas ( 1979 ) found 28 % of patients sing life events before a frenzied episode. which was 5 times more than in control group. Similarly. Leff et Al. ( 1976 ) reported that independent events occurred shortly before an onslaught in 28 % of their instances. Singhal et Al. ( 1984 ) reported 60 % of frenzied patients as sing nerve-racking life events of assorted sorts. compared to merely 13 % of the controls. Lakhera et Al. ( 1995 ) reported life events in 54 % of their frenzied patients in the month predating their frenzied episodes. Kennedy et Al. ( 1983 ) used frenzied patients as their ain controls and observed a far higher frequence of life events in a period prior to the manic episode than during an equal subsequent period of clip. With respects to the type of life events that precede the frenzied episode. the more normally reported 1s are work A ; interpersonal troubles ( Patrick et al. . 1978 ; Dunner et Al. . 1979 ; Joseph P. Auto. 1995 ) ; decease of first degree relation. economic crises. failure in accomplishment ( Singhal et al. . 1984 ) ; and fiscal jobs. big loans. matrimonial and household struggles. harm to belongings or harvests ( Lakhera et Al. . 1995 ) . Joseph P. Auto ( 1995 ) studied life events in schizophrenics. depressives and manics and concluded that life events predating passion were more related in clip. Life Events and Depression In an early survey. Arieti ( 1959 ) concluded that typical precipitating emphasiss in terrible depressive reactions fall into three general classs –decease of loved one. failure in an of import interpersonal relationship ( normally with one’s partner ) and a terrible set back or letdown in the work or other ends to which an person has been devoted. A big organic structure of research has documented an addition in happening of life emphasis before the oncoming of major depression. ( Paykel et al. . 1969. 1994 ; Rao and Nammalvar. 1976 ; Brown and Harris. 1978. 1989 ; Chatterjee et Al. . 1981 ; Rao. 1986 ; Monroe and Depne 1991 ; Miller et Al. 1989 ; Paykel and Cooper. 1992 ; Bebbington et Al. . 1993 ; Mazure. 1998 ) . Many research workers have documented that mourning has a function in the causing of depression. Loss of partner has been reported as a important life event that precipitates depressive unwellness. ( Parkes 1964 ; Clayton et. Al. . 1968 ) . Parkes ( 1964 ) observed that the figure of patients whose unwellness followed the loss of partner was six times greater than expected. Events affecting ‘loss’ . ‘separation’ or ‘hazard’ ( Beck et. Al. . 1972 ) issues and interpersonal statements ( Jacobs et. Al. . 1974 ) have been found to predate depressive unwellness. Rao and Nammalvar ( 1976 ) identified mourning as a critical precursor of depression. Benjaminson ( 1981 ) reported that multiple events were more common in non endogenous depression compared to endogenous depression. Leff et Al. . ( 1970 ) and Thomson A ; Henrie ( 1972 ) did non happen any difference between endogenous and neurotic depression in relation to life events. Satija et Al. . ( 1982 ) reported that recent life events were found to be more responsible than chronic history of life events for the oncoming of a depressive episode. Williamson et Al. . ( 1995 ) found that down striplings had significantly more independent nerve-racking life events during the old twelvemonth than did the normal controls. Similar association between nerve-racking life events and degree of depression had been found in University pupils by O’Niel et Al ( 1986 ) . Mundt et Al. ( 2000 ) reconfirmed the function of life events for the timing of depressive episodes in a two twelvemonth prospecti ve follow up survey. Life Events and Anxiety Disorders The effects of life events either on the etiology or precipitation of neurotic upsets are ill-defined. Previous surveies of life events or specific stressors related to phobic behaviour suggest that such events may trip neurotic upset but merely in few of the patients studied ( Myers et Al. . 1971 ; Cooper and Sylph. 1973 ) . A important relationship between nerve-racking events and oncoming of anxiousness symptoms was reported by Ram and Sharma ( 1988 ) . Similarly. Takeuchi et Al. . ( 1986 ) has reported life events as playing an of import function in the origin of anxiousness upset in 118 patients with the upset. Servant and Parquet ( 1994b ) found that early and recent life events. particularly loss and separation may be a hazard factor for secondary depression in anxiousness upset. Sharma and Ram ( 1986 ) observed academic failure in scrutiny and looking for interview to be significantly more in anxiousness mental cases than in controls. during the 6 months prior to the oncoming of unwellness. Recently. Sharma and Ram ( 1987 ) investigated the relationship between life events. societal and household support. and magnitude of unwellness in 87 patients of anxiousness neuroticism and 47 controls. In comparing to controls. anxiousness mental cases had less societal and household support. One survey found a important relationship between life events and panic upset ( Fravelli et al. 1989 ) . Epidemiologic and clinical informations are consistent with the position that panic upset is significantly and strongly associated with both parental decease and separation in childhood ( Servant and Parquet. 1994b ) . In an probe of 157 patients with panic upset. Servant and Parquet ( 1994a ) found that 53 patients ( 33. 7 % ) had experienced a major loss or separation before the age of 15 old ages. and it was besides noticed that the panic group with early life events showed a significantly higher life clip prevalence of major depression than panic group who did non see early life events. Savoia and Bernik ( 2004 ) reported that the type of event and the header accomplishments used in response to them. more than the happening of nerve-racking events itself. may be associated with the onco ming of panic upset. Loss of societal support was a more common life event in panic patients compared to normal. and they tended to utilize get bying accomplishments judged as ineffective. Friedman et Al. . ( 2002 ) found in their group of panic upset patients. that a history of childhood physical or sexual maltreatment was positively correlated to clinical badness. Khanna et Al. . ( 1988 ) reported an surplus of life events in the predating to months in the OCD sample. They identified these events to be more independent. to hold significantly higher negative impact and to be more uncontrolled. Both Khanna et Al. ( 1988 ) and Mc Keon et Al. . ( 1984 ) reported a hold between peak clip of happening of events and the oncoming of OCD. Mc Keon et Al. ( 1984 ) took this delayed impact of life events to connote that a certain degree of emotional rousing is necessary before compulsions intervene. De Loof et Al. ( 1989 ) compared the life events of patients with obsessional compulsive upset and terror upsets and found that the former group did non differ from the latter in footings of figure of life events they experience during the one twelvemonth prior to the oncoming of the ir upset. However. over the entire life class. panic upset patients see more life events than obsessional compulsive upset patients. Newman and Bland ( 1994 ) compared the life events experienced by the patients with major depression. anxiousness upset and terror upsets and reported important associations between nerve-racking events and these upsets. Apart from all these surveies importance has been given to life events in ICD-10 and DSM – IV in the etiology of bulk of mental unwellnesss. for e. g. Acute and transeunt psychotic upset. Brief reactive psychosis. PTSD. Dissociative upsets. Adjustment upset etc. Drawn-out exposure to life endangering fortunes have been found to convey about digesting personality alterations. Particular accent has been given to life events for sing it as a precipitating factor in the oncoming of these mental unwellnesss. GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE RATES OF EXPOSURE TO STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS Three forms of association between gender and life event exposure are most normally seen in the literature: * Womans have a loosely higher hazard for most or all classs of nerve-racking life events. * Womans are at greater hazard for a subset of events ( e. g. Network. Interpersonal ) . * No major differences are seen between the genders in event exposure. Previous surveies have besides produced a scope of fin dings about gender differences in sensitiveness to nerve-racking life events. Most. but non all of these surveies have employed self study steps of â€Å"depression† or â€Å"distress† instead than syndromal diagnosings of major depression. DecisionLife events research has therefore been an country of huge involvement since the sixtiess. The jobs defined and the hypotheses generated are so varied in this country. that there is really small range of exhaustion. Although literature suggests that life events play an of import function in the precipitation and backsliding of psychiatric upsets. the relationship is non all that consecutive frontward. The relationship between emphasis and unwellnessvaries with pre bing exposure factors. That is. differences in societal support system. accomplishments. attitudes. beliefs. and personality features render some individuals comparatively immune to emphasize induced unwellness A ; other comparatively susceptible. Hence. future research should concentrate on placing these step ining variables and understanding their consequence on emphasis – unwellness relationship.

Decolonization Example

Decolonization Example Decolonization – Coursework Example work AS and A-Level, Other Topic: Decolonization At the Berlin conference 1884-1885, the Europeans divided the African soil into various partitions with the exception of some areas including Ethiopia and Liberia. As a result of colonization, Africa suffered a lot in terms of its natural resources as well as economic and cultural disparities. A number of factors led to the colonization of Africa and made it easier for Europeans to take hold of the African lands. After the end of World War II, it was difficult for the European powers to control their colonies. The Africans started a freedom movement and they wanted to free themselves from European control. Another major factor was the shortage of a number of minerals as well as rubber due to conquests in the Far East. As a result, Africa was forced to compensate for this shortage and this proved to be an advantage for the country. This gave a boost to the industries in Africa and resulted in creation of new towns and communities. The u rban community also grew and there was an increase in the quantity of trade unions. Most importantly, however, it resulted in a higher literacy rates in Africa. In 1941, a discussion on the post world war resulted in the Atlantic charter which gave autonomy to colonies. After the war, the African states were given little importance and status and by 1930, there was a struggle of independence by some self determined, educated leaders including Kenyatta, Nkrumah, Senghor etc. The ideology of Pan-Africanism was also promoted which involved the unity and support of all Africans as they not only shared a common history but also a common destiny. :"Decolonization of Africa."Â  Saylor organization. N.P., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2013. .

The impact on countries & companies of sanctions against Russia Assignment

The impact on countries & companies of sanctions against Russia - Assignment Example The literature suggests that the use of sanctions increases risk in a country. Several studies have indicated that sanctions in most cases fail to bring the desired outcome. Sanctions on Russia were imposed to solve conflicts by using alternative strategies other than military actions. Russia’s economic and political conditions were aggravated with the sanctions. There had been several negative effects which not only affected Russia, but also other countries like the United States and the European Union were affected. Many companies in the United States who had investment plans in Russia had to suffer losses due to restrictions on business activities. The sanctions would be effective only if there is cooperation and collaboration in business activities among the nations. The Russian Government should change its outlook towards the actions taken in Ukraine in the coming five years. The government should emphasis on portfolio diversification in not only the energy sector, but al so other financial sectors. The government should rely on peaceful negotiations with the superpowers like Europe and the United States to sustain growth in the long run. The business environment should be enhanced and trade situations have to be improved. Restrictions on free trade have to be removed so that imports and exports are encouraged. These are the principal steps that the Russian government should seek to achieve in the next five years in order to ensure balanced growth trends in the economical situation.

Globalization and Healthcare Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Globalization and Healthcare - Assignment Example The research paper â€Å"Globalization and Healthcare† highlights the importance of the healthcare policy as a general aspect in nursing. Nursing as a career offers a wide range of options, hence allowing nurses to work in a variety of settings such as in the emergency rooms, outpatient clinics, voluntary counseling centers in the military as well as in the schooling institutions and work places. This means that nurses are needed everywhere since they can work within any organization which does not need to be a hospital. The nursing career also offers a variety of roles that nurses can take, which includes anesthetists, midwifery, practitioners, researchers and educators. The nursing career offers one a chance to venture into entrepreneurship by starting personal clinics after receiving the Registered Nursing License. It is essential to ensure that the policy of the country of practice provides a flexible environment to ensure easy application. Health care administration invol ves taking care of the sick whether from home or from long term community placement. Health care administration is more of a calling than a career; this is because health care providers deal with different types of patients ranging from pediatrics to the psychics in mental hospitals. Health care providers watch over these patients and give them the care that they need by ensuring that they have taken their medication and that they are comfortable. It is critical though to look at health care administration from a career perspective.... My concept of nursing is that all patients should access medical attention regardless of their financial statuses. This is a concept that advocates for caring of the family members of the patients since they play a vital role on how the patient will respond to treatment and medication. The policy of a country may state otherwise. The verdict may be to treat only patients that are able to pay or the ones covered with insurance schemes. As nurses help patients through recovery, they are offered a unique chance to adapt and grow professionally (Dutton, 2007). This is undertaken with reference to the rules and regulations that are placed at the setting. The policy of a country requires understanding the religion aspects to be considered as one handles patients. Nursing requires an understanding of health belief systems that are carried by people from different cultural backgrounds. A nurse is likely to meet a patient from different cultures. Caring for the patient requires an analysis of what health systems the patient perceives, and how will the patient react to the health system (Dutton, 2007). Religion as an aspect of culture is highly variable. In nursing, one is required to understand the different religions and what policies they hold in relation to health care. Language is also an aspect of cultural diversification. It is indispensable to ensure that a nursing student communicates with given patients that he or she will be giving care. Many cultures across the globe hold different beliefs, some of which go as far as defying medical reasoning. In nursing, one is likely to meet a patient who holds such beliefs and the ability to handle such a patient determines the outcome of the patient (Dutton, 2007). The policy of the country may refer to cultural

Supprting and assessing learning in practice settings Essay

Supprting and assessing learning in practice settings - Essay Example My role as a preceptor is to ensure that Tom achieved the standards and competencies required in his new position, to act as a role model to him and facilitate him to gain knowledge and skills (Gopee 2008). In review of the various recommended best practices in Training of professional writers, there is a strong emphasis at present in personalisation. Even group experiential trainers note that a core priority in the training of clients is to prompt growth, hence tapping into potential talents and skill which lay dormant beneath the surface of every individual (Colley 2003, Gibbs 1988, and Gopee 2008). In every conflict within the workplace, there is an ethical solution. However, perhaps the biggest challenge for managers is the effect that decisions can make not only on the bottom line or the team, but in regard to their own reputation. Indeed, one critical mistake or mismanagement of a situation, and especially in response to team conflict where decision making is connected to the livelihood of others, can lead to the dissolution of an entire professional history, or at least temporarily so. According to Thill and Bovà ©e’s (2005) Excellence in Business Communications, gauging the mind-set of the people whom you work with is half the battle in resolving team conflict constructively. Mere assertion of authority is generally not enough to resolve destructive behaviors regarding a decision. In fact, as Thill & Bovà ©e argue, win-win strategies require managers to 1) express understanding; 2) make people aware of their resistance; 3) evaluate others’ objections fairl y; and 4) hold their own arguments until the other people are ready for them. Patience is not always easy in these situations, as managers may become side-tracked from thoroughly grappling with fundamental problems taking place within team dynamics, and in doing so, ethical and precise responses to challenges may go unmet, reduce morale,

Consumers decisions: Product attributes and branding

Consumers decisions: Product attributes and branding In this research, instant coffee purchasing is selected to study the buying decision of consumers. Three blind taste tests are experimented and proofing that participant tended to choose the popular brand of coffee. Surprisingly, people made different choices in each of the test. The result tells us that without knowing the brand name, their buying decisions are different when comparing with knowing the brand name. In conclusion, brand has a strong influence in consumers decisions. To better understand the blind taste tests, we executed a questionnaire survey immediately. As a result, the survey tells us taste is the most important factor in affecting their buying decisions whereas their second consideration would be price, brand, and influenced by advertisement. This giving an idea that except for the brand and taste, there are many factors should affecting the consumers buying decision. Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Literature Review 2 2.1. Brand name 2 2.2. Brand Image 4 2.3. Linking brands to consumer perceptions of product 5 2.4. Consumer buying behavior and decision making 6 2.5. Customer satisfaction and loyalty 9 2.6. Product attributes 10 3. Research Methodology 12 3.1. Pilot study 15 4. Findings and discussions 16 4.1. Participants 16 4.2. Relationship of brand, taste and decision 17 4.3. Post-tests evaluation 20 4.4. Buying behavior 23 4.5. Discussions 26 5. Conclusion 28 5.1. Recommendations 28 5.2. Conclusion 29 6. References 30 7. Appendix 33 7.1. Annex: The Blind Test and Questionnaire 33 Lists of Tables and Diagrams Table 4.1 Years of being Nescafe supporters 16 Table 4.2 The participants preference of instant coffee in Test A 17 Table 4.3 The participants preference of instant coffee in Test B 18 Table 4.4 The participants preference of instant coffee in Test C 19 Table 4.5 The No. of people continuing to purchase Nescafe coffee after trying the blind taste tests 20 Table 4.6 The recommendation of coffee to friends after trying the blind taste tests 21 Table 4.7 Satisfaction of Nescafe before the blind taste tests 22 Table 4.8 Satisfaction of Nescafe after the blind taste tests 23 Table 4.9 The factors affecting consumers buying decision of instant coffee 24 Keywords Branding, Brand image, Brand equity, Consumer buying behavior, Consumer buying decision, Customer satisfaction and loyalty, Product attributes Introduction Over the past few decades, a considerable number of studies have been made on the relationship of branding and consumer buying behavior (Fournier, 1994; Keon, 1983), i.e. how the consumer buying behavior affected by branding. Many companies devote lots of money and manpower to build up images for their brands. That is the reason why many studies have focused on this field. In this research will be figured out which factor, brand name or product attributes, plays a critical role in affecting consumer buying decision. In the economists normal approach, price is used as the main tool to explain the consumer buying behavior (Becker, 1996). We carry out blind taste tests and also conduct a questionnaire to find out the impact of branding on consumers preferences. . Literature Review This literature review is going to analysis what has been done in investigating the relationship among brand, consumer buying decision and product attributes. Such information will be digested and modified to be applied to instant coffee purchasing in the Hong Kong market. Brand name In recognition of the growing coffee culture that is sweeping Hong Kong, different tastes of coffee have been rolled out on the market. For example, Nescafe has newly released a new series of coffee Latte in which the image is totally different from the original Nescafe coffee. Old Town coffee has introduced a new series called white coffee. Why do they give new brand names for the new products? Why do they have different images? Is there any advantage for them to do so? According to Armstrong and Kotler (1999), brands can be described as a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of these, which identifies the maker or seller of a product or service. Later, Olins (2000) gives a supplement to the definition of brand. He suggests that brand is a device that helps differentiating products from different sellers, without clear branding, in some fields, we literally could not tell one product or service from another. By using brand names, consumers can easily distinguish products from different sellers. Brand Image In the words of Keller (1998), marketers can build up an image for the product to draw customers attention so as to induce more sales (Keller, 1998). Randall (1997) says Brand image is the whole image of the brand existing in the minds of consumers. It is the total information that the consumers have received about the brand. Some scholars think that the brand image can influence consumers buying decisions. Furthermore, Ogilvy (1983) suggests that consumers do not buy products; rather they buy products with a personality. Ogilvy (1983) also suggests the fact that a brand can have a personality or image reflecting that people not only want the basic function offered by the product, but also psychological benefits. If a brand image matches with an individuals image, he/she will purchase that product and may stick to that brand in future (brand loyalty) (Levine, 2003). From the above statements, it seems that consumers are concerned more about the brand image rather than product attribu tes. In the research, we will use the product of instant coffee to test the validity of the above statements. After reviewing the sections of 2.1 and 2.2, we can say that there is an intimate relationship among brand name, brand image and the consumers. Linking brands to consumer perceptions of product In the research, we will investigate how consumers make buying decisions. Perception of a product is crucial in making the buying decision; therefore, it is necessary to find the linkage between brand and consumer perceptions. Olins (2000) suggests that people can have a relationship with a brand: they have an immense emotional content and inspire loyalty beyond reason. Besides, Keller (1998) suggests that what distinguishes a brand from its unbranded commodity is the sum of consumers perceptions and feelings about the products attributes and performance, brand name and what it stands for and the company associated with the brand. In the past, there were only a few instant coffee brands available in the market. In recent yeas, a lot of new instant coffee brands appear in the market, such as Indocafe and Old Town coffee. The traditional branding strategy which has emphasized on product offerings and associated functional and utilitarian benefits is no longer workable in the market. People are now paying more attention to the brand (Levine, 2003). Therefore, it is no wonder many companies create a strong and distinctive brand image for their products so as to differentiate himself from other competitors (Keller, 1998). Advertising is widely used by the companies to build up a brand image. In Hong Kong, many coffee brands have been advertised on TV and in magazine, such as Maxwell house, Nescafe and Mr. Brown. Most studies have found that there are inter-relationships among brand, advertisement and consumers buying decisions (MacKenzie et al., 1986). Besides, that the affective and cognitive-based attitudes towar ds the brand can affect the consumers buying decisions (Homer et al., 1992). Advertising is the primary device used to build the image of a brand and most of the customers usually rely on advertising messages when they make an infrequent purchase for an unfamiliar product (Dowling, 2001).Well-established brands attract increased preference and usage (East, 1997), produce greater emotional ties (Biel, 1993), and boost trust and loyalty (Fournier, 1994). If the statement is true, it indicates that customers perception of products derive from marketing effort such as brand images and brand differentiation in addition to the physical characteristics of the product. What about the product quality? Can product quality influence the perception of product? Consumer buying behavior and decision making In our study, consumer buying decision is our key focus. We will focus on how the consumers make their buying decisions in purchasing instant coffee. We want to know which factors, brand or product attributes, influences most in the process of buying decision making of consumers. Therefore, we must understand the consumer buying behavior and how they make the buying decisions. In the past, consumers were more concerned with a products function- efficiency, reliability, value-for-money, durability and convenience todays customers are prepared to pay more for a stylish product as they become more affluent and visually sophisticated (Henley Centre, 1989). It is no wonder companies put much effort on packaging, product design and advertising. In the words of Bayley (1989), the ambience, the layers of imagery, the texture, the decoding- all of these are vested interests leading to the only rationale: a purchase. Consumer buying behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers, individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumption (Armstrong et al., 1999). Consumers have to make decisions when there is more than one choice. However, how do the consumers make their buying decisions? Foxall (1980) suggests that consumers will make the buying decisions according to perception, personality, motivation and attitudes. He says that consumer behavior is a process of learning and it depends on how you perceive the product. The process is modified according to the customers past experience and the objectives he or she has set (Foxall, 1980). Besides, Foxall (1980) also suggests that consumers personality and self-image is important in studying consumer buying decision as he believes that consumers only choose products that are consistent with their perceptions of themselves. By using Foxalls (1980) idea, it is not difficult to understand the relationship between brand and consumer buying decision. Once the brand image and consumers image is matched, consumer will purchase that product. Besides, Foxall (1980) also claimed that consumer buying decision is motivated by something more than awareness. It depends on the consumers needs and drives, his tastes and aspirations, plus his attitudes, personality and social environment (Foxall, 1980). Furthermore, Foxall (1980) says that attitudes and buying decision are related and each may influence the other, however, they are not always entirely consistent. Customer satisfaction and loyalty Although our key focus of the research is how the consumers make buying decisions in purchasing coffee, customer satisfaction will also be investigated. In our study, satisfaction refers to the situation when consumers expectations are matched by perceived performance (Blackwell et al., 2001). After purchasing a product, consumers will have a post-purchase evaluation (Foxall, 1980). Consumers will continue to purchase the product if they are satisfied with it. It is called loyalty. Sometimes, they may recommend it to their relatives and friends. In the research, the blind tests will be used to find out how the consumers perceive the product, that is, to see if consumers can recognize the taste of the brand that they have chosen. Previous study has found that customer satisfaction has a positive effect on loyalty and they will repurchase the product again (Oliver, 1997; Mittal et al., 2001). If the consumers are satisfied with the taste of coffee in the blind tests but it is not the brand the consumers used to buy, we can say that brand influences consumers much and the consumers only loyal to the brand but not the product itself. Product attributes According to Armstrong and Kotler (1999), product attributes can be defined as something that can deliver the benefits offered by the product and can add value to the customers. In the words of Keller (1998), product attributes are the ingredients necessary for performing the product or service function sought by consumers. They refer to a products physical composition and are what determine the nature and level of product performance (Keller, 1998). It can be further characterized according to important and optional features, either necessary for a product to work or for allowing customization and more versatile personalized usage (Keller, 1998). In the research, we will focus on the study of instant coffee and we will regard taste as the most important attributes of coffee. Some studies have carried out in which consumers perceive the products they buy and the brands they regularly choose. Taste is used to determine the effect of brand identification on consumers reactions to and evaluations of products (Allison Uhl, 1964; Makens, 1961). The studies conclude that Participants in general did not appear to be able to discern the taste differences among the various brands, but apparently labels and their associations did influence their evaluations. To sum up the literature review, many studies (Allison Uhl, 1964; Keon, 1983; Makens, 1961) have shown that consumers are influenced by branding. However, to what extent will the consumers make their buying decisions according to product attributes? The research will find out the answer. Research Methodology I used the technique of triangulation (White, 2000) in my research in which two techniques, blind taste test and questionnaire, were used. Before conducting the actual survey, I randomly selected 82 people outside a supermarket in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong and asked them if they had the habit of buying instant coffee. 39 of them stated that they buy instant coffee regularly but 18 of them said that they do not drink instant coffee. In the 39 people, 33 (84.6%) of them said that they usually buy Nestlà ©s instant coffee, Nescafe. 4 (10.3%) of them buy Maxwell House instant coffee and 2 (5.1%) of them buy Old Town instant coffee. I invited the 33 Nescafe instant coffee buyers to do the blind taste test and questionnaire as they were the majority (84.6%) of the respondents. I believed choosing Nescafe instant coffee buyers to be the sample was more representative as they represent the majority of the coffee drinkers that I have asked. However, only 30 of them agreed to participate in the test. The 30 Nescafe instant coffee buyers were my sample population. The sample consisted of 8 males and 22 females who have the habit of buying instant coffee on their own. The blind taste test was carried out in order to find out how the consumers choose coffee. The test was divided into three parts and each part would have 10 participants. In the three blind taste tests, Tsit Wing instant coffee (TW), Maxwell House instant coffee (MH) and Nescafe instant coffee (NC) were used. I chose the three coffees as their price is more or less the same. Every participant had tried the Tsit Wing instant coffee (TW), Maxwell House instant coffee (MH) and Nescafe instant coffee (NC) before. In Test A, three cups of different coffee were given without brand labels. NC was the brand that the sample population used to buy. The participants were asked to taste the coffee and choose one that they would purchase. The data collected in the Test A would serve as a base reference. If the participants like the taste of NC, they will also choose the NC in the test. In Test B, three different cups of coffee were given. Each cup of coffee had a label showing the brand of coffee. The aim of the Test B was to see if there was any difference between Test A and Test B. If they really like the taste of NC, the results in the Test A and B would be consistent. If the results in the two tests are not consistent, it shows that brand influence consumers decision. Test C was carried out to determine if the consumer buying decision was independent of the brand name. The Test C was the same as Test B, except the name of the coffee brand were labeled wrongly. I labeled the cup of MH as TW, the cup of TW as NC and the cup of NC as MH. By comparing with the result obtained in the three tests, we hoped to find out which factors, brand or taste, has a greater influence on the consumers. If the data obtained in the Test A does not match with the data obtained in the Test B, it tells that brand has an influence on consumers decisions. The reason is in Test A, the participants only know the taste of the coffee and they can only choose the coffee according to the taste of coffee. In Test B, however, the participants know both the taste and brand. If their decisions are different, that means the brand affects their buying behavior. For the Test C, the three different coffees were used again. However, their brand names were labeled wrongly this time. Comparing the result obtained in this test to that of in the Test B, if the result has a big difference, that means the brand has a greater influence than the taste on the decision of participants. Besides, questionnaire (Annex 7.1) was also used to obtain data. The questionnaire, used immediately after the blind taste tests, consisted of five questions with choices given. Pilot study The pilot study made me realize that what I need is to observe their buying behavior which cannot be asked but observed. Therefore, I decided to do the blind taste tests and questionnaire instead of doing an interview which allowed me to focus on measuring the influence of brand and taste on the consumers decisions. Afterwards, I decided to carry a three blind taste tests with three groups of people. I enjoy to take this chance tend to do all blind taste test is they will remember the taste of the coffee in the test, and finally affect their choice in the next following tests. Findings and discussions Participants Of the total number of 30 respondents, 8 (26.7%) were males and 22 (73.3%) were females. All of them were NC consumers. More than a half people had 1 to 3 years NC purchasing experience and 70% of them had at least 1 year purchasing experience. From the data, we can assume that some participants are experienced in purchasing instant coffee and the results obtained from them are valuable to discuss and analyze. Relationship of brand, taste and decision In the research, blind taste tests were used to find out how the consumer made decisions regarding brand and taste in purchasing instant coffee. Three tests were carried out. In each test, participants were given three cups of different coffee. In Test A, three cups of coffee without brand name were given. In Test B, brand name was given to each cup of coffee. In Test C, brand names were given but placed wrongly on each coffee. In Test A, three cups of coffee without label were given to participants to taste. Surprisingly, the result was not consistent with our expectation. In other words, taste was the only reason for their choices in the Test A. The result told us that without knowing the brand name, their preferences were different when comparing with knowing the brand name. In this test, the result was changed because the participants knew the brand name when comparing with the result of the Test A. There was a 30% increase in the NC and a 30% decrease in the MH. The data showed that the brand really influenced participants when deciding the coffee. In Test C, the participants had to taste three cups of different coffee in which the brand labels were placed wrongly. The result was very close to that of Test A. That means they chose as if just chose by the taste only. It gave us a hint that with a different label on the cups, their choices were different. What we can conclude is that the brand plays an important role in affecting buying decision of participants. Post-tests evaluation After the three blind taste tests, the participants in Test A and C were told about the correct branding of the coffee they had tried. All the participants were asked if they would continue to purchase the NC after trying the tests. As shown in the Table 4 .5, only 30% of the participants would firmly say yes. Half of them had a second thought of their decisions. It told us that they started to think about their perceptions of NC coffee. It implies that the participants will also consider the taste when purchasing instant coffee. Participants were asked to choose one coffee to recommend to their friends after trying the blind taste tests. The result was shown in Table 4 .6. The result was very interesting that about half of them recommend NC to their friends while another half suggested MH, was most people voted due to the taste in the Test A. It implies that branding and taste also have a strong influence in consumers buying behavior. Participants were asked if they were satisfied with the NC. Before the blind taste test, over 40% of the participants were satisfied with the NC. However, after the blind taste tests, only 17% were satisfied with it and there was 13% of participants were dissatisfied. From the result in Fig. 4 .7 and Fig. 4 .8, we can see that the participants were influenced by the blind test. We can say that beside the factors related to the products, there are some other factors may affect our buying decision. Buying behavior In the research, participants were asked immediately after the blind taste tests about how they made the buying decision when purchasing instant coffee. Factors affecting buying decision In the research, the participants were asked to give factors they thought were influential in making the buying decision in the questionnaire. The answers were shown in the Table 4 .9. In Fig. 4 .9, it shows the most influential factor affecting buying decision. 63% of the participants regard Taste was the most influential (Table 8.1), 13% voted for Influenced by advertisement, 10% for Brand image, 7% for Price and 7% for Word-of-mouth. Nobody voted for brand in the questionnaire. Comparing to the results obtained in the blind tests, the results were inconsistent. In the blind tests, it was found that the influence of the brand was greater than the influence of the taste. In Fig. 4 .10, it shows the top three influential factors affecting buying decision regarding to instant coffee purchasing. Nearly one-third of the whole population voted for the Taste, the second one was Price (20%) and the third were Brand (13.3%) and Influenced by advertisement (13.3%). The Fig. 4 .10 shows that Price is also an important factor in making the buying decision. The data gives us an idea that beside brand and taste, there are many factors should be considered in making the buying decision. Discussions According to the three blind taste tests and the questionnaires done by the participants, we can see that the brand influence was strong to the participants. In the Test A, participants did not know the brand but the taste. They chose the coffee according to the taste. More than 50% of the NC buyers chose MH. However, when the brands were labeled on each cup of coffee in Test B, 50% of the NC buyers choose NC. In Test C, three cups of coffee were given with the wrong brand labels, the result showed that participants tend to choose coffee according to the brand name as 60% of the NC buyers chose MH which was labeled with a NC label. The three test results indicate that brand affects consumers decisions and which is supported by Olins (2000) and Keller (1998). Olins (2000) suggests that brand helps people to differentiate products from different sellers. Besides, Keller (1998) suggests that brand is an external aspect of product and it can affect the purchase or consumption procedure. Besides, the participants were asked if they were satisfied with the NC before and after the blind taste tests, Over 40% of the participants were satisfied with NC. However, after the blind taste tests, the number of satisfied people decreased and there was 13% of participants dissatisfied with the NC. From the results, we can see that the participants were influenced by the blind test and there are some other factors may affect our preferences. As we mentioned in the literature review, consumers will buy the product again if they are satisfied with the product (Foxall, 1980). From the results, we can see that the brand influences consumer buying decisions a lot. From the data in Table 4 .9, there were 63% of participants chose Taste as the most influential. However, nobody voted brand as the most important factor. Compared that to the results obtained in the blind taste tests, in which brand had a strong influence in consumers decisions, there is a contradiction. The inconsistency shows that people do not understand what influences their behavior very well. Conclusion Recommendations The result obtained from the tests and the questionnaire is not consistent in some way. If the answers from participants are truly reflecting their preferences, the obtained result should be consistent. So we should not trust the result given from the research and we should be critical in reading other research data in the future. Furthermore, if it is feasible, we may observe their actual buying behavior after trying the blind taste tests over a period of time in order to get an accurate result. Conclusion In this research, we carry out three blind taste tests and find out that participants tended to choose coffee according to the brand name. 60% of one of the instant coffee brand supporters chose another brand of coffee which is wrongly labeled as their favorite coffee brand by me. Surprisingly, 80% of them do not choose their favorite coffee brand in another test when the labels are gone. The only factor which affects their decisions if the labels are gone is the taste of the coffee. In other words, taste is the only reason for their choices if no labels are provided. The result tells us that without knowing the brand name, their buying decisions are different when comparing with knowing the brand name. The result shows us that brand had a strong influence in consumers decisions. I conduct a questionnaire immediately after the blind taste tests. The statistical result shows that taste is the most important factor affecting their buying decision while price, brand, and influenced by advertisement come second, third and fourth respectively. The data gives us an idea that beside brand and taste, there are many factors should be considered in making the buying decision. References Allison, R. I., Uhl, K. P. (1964). Influence of beer brand identification on taste perception. Journal of Marketing Research, 1, pp. 36-9. Armstrong, G.., Kotler, P. (1999). 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The Breakfast Club Essays -- Art

The Breakfast Club Almost 150 years ago, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., expressed the following sage but sad observation in his book "The Professor at the Breakfast Table": Society is always trying in some way or other to grind us down to a single flat surface. Unfortunately, this is still true today. Last week I saw the movie "The Breakfast Club" written and directed by John Hughes which expressed a similar theme. Fortunately, youth of every age "are quite aware of what they are going through" and have the ability to break the fast imposed on them by the socialization process which begins in the home and is reinforced at school, not only by students and parents but teachers like Mr. Vernon as well. In "The Breakfast Club" five disparate personalities, each secure in his identity and yet filled with insecurities, spend a lazy Saturday confined to Detention at Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois, for various and sundry school violations. Yet each character has a troubled life as foreshadowed by his very presence in Detention. Families mold, intentionally or not, their children into little reflections of themselves. School, thru peer pressure, thru the various academic and social clubs, and thru the imaginary audience, serves to enhance the socialization process begun at home. Students are labeled and are not allowed to change "their worlds". Students hang out only with people who look, dress, and live like themselves.There are nerds, freaks, cholos, etc. There's the Math Club, Prep Club, Latin Club, Physics Club for students who belong. Mr. Vernon, the teacher in charge of the students, unwittingly assigns an essay with the subject "who am I". Unwittingly because as Carl, the custodian and the "eyes and ears of the institution", reveals that the students haven't changed but that he, the teacher, has changed. Perhaps Mr. Vernon should answer the question himself. The movie then proceeds to answer the question through the actions and dialogue of the protagonists. My favorite character (and yours too) is John Bender, the criminal, as portrayed by Judd Nelson, the leader of the notorious Hollywood Brat Pack. John is the main character in the movie and functions as the catalyst or the instigator. One by one, he shocks and exposes each student's insecurities. John is living proof of the creed, "If a child lives with hostility, He learns to ... ...e plate that reads EMC 2 for energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. And when he gets an F in Shop, his self-image can't accept it. He takes a gun to school intending to shoot himself but gets caught. In the most important environment of a student's life, even one F is not allowed. The school reinforces what the parents expect. Even his little sister echos the mother's sentiments when she admonishes him to find a way to study in Detention. It is from the Brain's point of view that we realize that "you (Mr. Vernon/the school) see us as you want to see us". "We were brainwashed," he writes in the collective essay. In the end the students, by revealing their fears and expressing their emotions, overcame the limits set by family and school, the ones that "spit on them" . They realized that they are "immunized" to authority and that they can change their worlds, that they have multi-faceted personalities. And so do Holmes, Hughes, and Bowie. Even a "criminal" can win the heart of a "princess". John Bender was a better teacher than the system for he taught the Princess, the Jock, the Basketcase, and the Brain who they really were, and most importantly, who they were not.