As one of the most popular social media platforms in China, Sina Weibo has created an environment for the Chinese people to share opinions and post information on events they have witnessed. Thus, Weibo users can be citizen journalists, though most of them have played the role unconsciously. Although Weibo has existed for about six years, citizen journalism is still new to most Chinese people. Some scholars have studied Weibo from the perspective of public opinion or better governance rather than from its ethical demands and influence. This paper discusses the ethical problems of citizen journalism that arose in three case studies where Weibo posts were immediate sources of news and information on disasters and were considered important by mainstream media and the public, but where the posts also provided false information. In addition, a survey found that most Chinese respondents had posted news or information on Weibo, but very few consider themselves citizen journalists. Surprisingly, non-journalists are no more likely to trust citizen journalism than are journalists. Non-journalists are getting more news from citizen journalism on Weibo about national disasters, but they put more trust and credibility in mainstream media. Respondents thought witnessing events and quickly reporting on them were the biggest advantages of citizen journalists, while the biggest problems were bias, emotional reports, rumor and invasion of privacy. About two-thirds of respondents think self-restraint is the best way to handle ethical problems resulting from citizen journalists, but about half favor more legislation. In a striking difference from Western expectations, a relatively small percentage of Chinese respondents think independence from the government is an important journalistic value. Finally, the paper concludes that the public sphere concept is relevant in China in the wake economic reforms and the advent of social media. And it argues that the theory of existential journalism may offer an ethical guide for China’s citizen journalists by emphasizing both freedom and personal responsibility. Finally it suggests that mainstream media, journalists and media scholars play the main role of promoting journalistic ethical values on Weibo.

No description available.

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purpose of this existential-phenomenological study was to investigate the meaning of a romantic love experience. Six adult co-researchers discussed their romantic love experience with the researcher. The co-researchers were asked to recall the time before, during, and after the love experience. Two interviews were conducted. The initial in-depth interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were analyzed according to the method outlined by Colaizzi (1978). Twenty-two themes were explicated from the transcripts. These were written into an exhaustive description of a romantic love experience. The essential structure of the experience was culled from the exhaustive description. The transcripts, the themes, the exhaustive description and the essential structure were validated by the co-researchers. The description of a romantic love experience is a starting point both for future research and for the development of appropriate counselling techniques to be used with clients who are romantic by disposition or by situation. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This project engages the Existential Phenomenology of Hazel E. Barnes to demonstrate that in being-in-the-world, the world and engagement with others are prior to being. Barnes makes a significant contribution to Existential Phenomenology with her idea of good faith where, not naïve to human suffering, situatedness provides meaning and human relations offer opportunity for learning. After providing a biographical and philosophical background of Barnes, discussion turns to the idea of mythodology posited as an interpretive approach for studying the human condition. Myth continues as a cultural element for Existential dwellings, where group-in-fusion praxis is situated within organizations. Discussion then moves from group to Existential interpersonal relations with looking-at-the-world-together, which involves love, imagination, and communicative learning to fulfill projects and find meaning in organizations. Dwelling places and engagement with others provide a meeting of horizons where Existential leaders emerge. Ideas are put into practice with Existential education, an alternative to Humanistic education, where universities may be dwelling places for the Existential engagement of ideas. Existential education does not provide answers or prescription, but offers hope for enlarging students' existence with others in the life world. The works of Barnes demonstrate a necessity of a `communicative turn' in business ethics and leadership studies to be responsive to the demands of the historical moment. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Communication and Rhetorical Studies / PhD; / Dissertation;

Current rates of excessive alcohol use and abuse among young adults are recognized as a major problem by scholars across a wide variety of fields. Here, I take a social psychological approach to understanding why individuals drink to excess, examining the unique role that a specific form of social isolation called existential isolation (feeling alone in one’s experiences of the world; Yalom, 1980; Pinel, Long, Murdoch, & Helm, 2017) may play in predicting alcohol use and abuse. The relationship between existential isolation and alcohol use is explored using both correlational and cross-lagged designs. Results indicate that existential isolation predicts alcohol use above and beyond a more traditional measure of social isolation, though not in the hypothesized direction (i.e. social isolation is associated with more alcohol use, whereas existential isolation is associated with less). Further, negative emotional symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress) and racial identity emerged as significant moderators of this effect. Exploratory analyses considering a reversal of the hypothesized causal direction (i.e. alcohol use now predicting feelings of existential isolation) revealed a significant two-way interaction between current and lifetime alcohol use and a significant three-way interaction between current alcohol use, desire for existential connection, and motivations to use alcohol for social purposes. Implications of these general findings are discussed, including that 1) they identify a seemingly positive outcome of drinking that may play a role in perpetuating problematic alcohol use, and 2) conversely, they may illustrate a “dark side of sobriety.” This research serves as a first step into distinguishing between aspects of social isolation in the realm of alcohol use and abuse. Future research is necessary in order to identify the mechanisms underlying this effect and inform the development of more effective alcohol-related interventions.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty thinks that many classical theories of perception, especially reductionism, are influenced by the objective and the scientific form of thinking. Such influence is expressed in two preconceptions. The first preconception is that perception is reduced to units such as “impressions”. The meaning of these units is considered to be a representation of the world. The second preconception is that such perceptual meaning is caused by the world and the living being is passive in its relation to such constitution of meaning. In my view, the results of Merleau-Ponty’s criticism of these two preconceptions constitute his two main concepts: the phenomenal body and the perceptual meaning determined by the structural relation with the world. Despite the fact that some traces of these preconceptions can be found in the introduction of Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception, there is no straight argument that shows how he approached these two results from the rejection of these two preconceptions. My thesis is to present Merleau-Ponty’s view on the phenomenal body based on his criticism of the two preconceptions described above. In my view, Merleau-Ponty’s criticism of these preconceptions can be traced through his argument against Gestalt psychology, associationism, and behavioral associationism.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty thinks that many classical theories of perception, especially reductionism, are influenced by the objective and the scientific form of thinking. Such influence is expressed in two preconceptions. The first preconception is that perception is reduced to units such as “impressions”. The meaning of these units is considered to be a representation of the world. The second preconception is that such perceptual meaning is caused by the world and the living being is passive in its relation to such constitution of meaning. In my view, the results of Merleau-Ponty’s criticism of these two preconceptions constitute his two main concepts: the phenomenal body and the perceptual meaning determined by the structural relation with the world. Despite the fact that some traces of these preconceptions can be found in the introduction of Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception, there is no straight argument that shows how he approached these two results from the rejection of these two preconceptions. My thesis is to present Merleau-Ponty’s view on the phenomenal body based on his criticism of the two preconceptions described above. In my view, Merleau-Ponty’s criticism of these preconceptions can be traced through his argument against Gestalt psychology, associationism, and behavioral associationism.

New professional immigrants, who come to Canada with significant education and work experience, often find themselves underemployed after immigration. As a result, many immigrants undergo some form of re-training post-immigration. This study was a sub-study of a larger Canada Research Chair project exploring the career development and re-training experiences of new professional immigrants to Canada. This particular study focused on exploring such experiences from an existential perspective. Within a qualitative research framework, 10 semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with new professional immigrants to Canada. A grounded theory approach was adopted for data analysis. Several themes emerged and key findings, including participants’ relationship with the core existential concepts of death, freedom, and meaning are introduced. Results also compare how existential considerations were related to participants’ level of career satisfaction in Canada. Results have theoretical implications for career and vocational psychology and implications for practice, including professional and self-helping.

This arts-based study discusses using the horror film and monsters as a means of exploring the personification of fear in contemporary society. The paper incorporates the viewing and dissection of horror films into an artistic process to explore fears in order to further artistic expression. It additionally shows how this process can be used in an art classroom within the context of contemporary art to empower students and facilitate art criticism discussions.