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1 – 10 of over 15000Rafael Martínez and Antonio M. Díaz
Contemporary relations between the military and society in Spain can be traced back to the civil war period. Following 3 years of cruel, fratricidal combat, the victory of the…
Abstract
Contemporary relations between the military and society in Spain can be traced back to the civil war period. Following 3 years of cruel, fratricidal combat, the victory of the insurgent troops led to the Spanish republic being converted into a totalitarian regime headed by Franco. The dictatorship of Franco was not a military dictatorship, but rather the dictatorship of a military man who built up a triangular structure of power at the apex of which he felt protected and from which he controlled society from all angles: the army, the church and the single fascist party FET-JONS.1 Throughout almost 40 years of a totalitarian regime, millions of Spanish men spent a period of their lives as conscripts in military service under the orders of a fascist military and under the influence of an oppressive political power. The death of the dictator, in 1975, marked the start of the transition to democracy that represented a break with the stigmas of the past and, for the first time in Spanish history, ushered in a period of peaceful coexistence for the entire population. In the military domain, the reforms initiated by General Gutiérrez Mellado – the first Vice-President of the Government of Adolfo Suárez – are worthy of mention. It was through these that efforts were made to modernise the Armed Forces (hereafter AF) in Spain by distancing them from political power, transforming them into a military force administered to serve political structures, and reducing their size to a more coherent one in relation to the needs and threats of a democratic state surrounded by its partners in the same economic community. However, among the military, a small but still powerful nucleus existed, whose rejection of democracy and whose nostalgia for the Franco dictatorship led to a failed attempt at a coup d’état in 1981.
Macarena Torroba Diaz, Anna Bajo-Sanjuan, Ángela María Callejón Gil, Ana Rosales-Pérez and Lidia López Marfil
This study aims to build a model for the analysis of the environmental behavior of university students.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to build a model for the analysis of the environmental behavior of university students.
Design/methodology/approach
A partial least square method was adopted, and a questionnaire on intelligence, knowledge, attitude and environmental behavior was performed on 480 Spanish university students.
Findings
The results indicate that environmental intelligence positively affects university students’ environmental behavior through environmental knowledge and attitude.
Research limitations/implications
The conclusions of the present study are based on a sample drawn from Spanish university students. Therefore, new studies are needed to cover other educational institutions and cultural contexts.
Practical implications
Many university students’ environmental behavior depends on implementing educational actions that improve their environmental intelligence and knowledge.
Social implications
The study suggests that educational programs should implement strategies that maintain a sense of responsibility toward the sustainable development of university students, ensuring that future generations can live a quality life in a sustainable and safe environment.
Originality/value
The present study identifies the mechanism through which the environmental behavior of university students is formed.
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Chyi Yann Chong, Chin Xuan Tan, Meng-Che Tsai, Seok Shin Tan, Hariyono Hariyono and Seok Tyug Tan
Malaysia transitions from a pandemic to an endemic state, beginning on April 1, 2022. The dietary intake and physical activity of university students were altered during the…
Abstract
Purpose
Malaysia transitions from a pandemic to an endemic state, beginning on April 1, 2022. The dietary intake and physical activity of university students were altered during the COVID-19 pandemic confinement period, but there is limited information on this topic in the post-COVID-19 period. This cross-sectional study aims to understand gender differences in dietary intake and physical activity among university students and investigate the factors influencing their body mass index (BMI) in the post-COVID-19 period.
Design/methodology/approach
The questionnaire used in this study comprised three main segments: sociodemographic information, a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire.
Findings
Results indicated that males exhibited significantly higher (p < 0.05) mean intakes of total dietary energy and macronutrients compared to females. Compared to the Malaysian Recommended Nutrient Intakes 2017, 76.4% of males and 68.8% of females had a sufficient daily energy intake. The majority of males (52.7%) and females (46.4%) were moderately physically active. Regression analysis revealed that male university students with lower fiber intake (ß = −0.309, p = 0.002) were significantly associated with higher BMI reading after confounding adjustment. However, a similar trend was not observed in female university students.
Practical implications
Understanding the gender differences in dietary intake and physical activity can provide insights into the development of effective gender-specific health promotion strategies and the formulation of policies aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles among university students in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.
Originality/value
This study provides insights into the gender differences in the dietary and physical activity habits of university students, as well as the factors influencing their BMI in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.
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Xiaofang Yao, Xiyue Wu and Dan Long
This paper aims to explore the impact mechanism of Chinese university students’ perceived entrepreneurial environment on their entrepreneurial tendency in the context of Chinese…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the impact mechanism of Chinese university students’ perceived entrepreneurial environment on their entrepreneurial tendency in the context of Chinese economic transition. In particular, the paper provides a reference for relevant departments to make policies and entrepreneurship educators to perfect the pedagogical design and curriculum development in entrepreneurship education programs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used questionnaires to collect data in Chinese universities via random sampling, and gained 729 valid questionnaires. Results from principal component analysis indicate that the scales have a good reliability. In particular, entrepreneurial attitude had three components. The hypotheses are tested by using Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression; the level of statistical significance of F-test was less than 0.05. Hence, multiple linear regression can be used in the analyses.
Findings
The study found that university students’ perceived social environment and economic environment have a positive influence on their entrepreneurial tendency, and entrepreneurial attitude is partially playing a mediating role between students’ perceived entrepreneurial environment and entrepreneurial tendency. However, students’ perceived policy environment has no significant impact on entrepreneurial tendency.
Originality/value
Environmental factors are often viewed as“gap fillers” in related studies, and mostly concentrated in the Western developed countries. This study attempts to fill the gaps in the context of Chinese economic transition.
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Ahmet Maslakcı, Harun Sesen and Lütfi Sürücü
Globalisation has made higher education increasingly multicultural. Although multicultural university students' attitudes and interactions with different cultures affect their…
Abstract
Purpose
Globalisation has made higher education increasingly multicultural. Although multicultural university students' attitudes and interactions with different cultures affect their academic success as well as entrepreneurial intentions, only a few studies have analysed this topic. Therefore, this study examined the assumption that positive psychological capital (PsyCap) mediates the relationship between attitudes towards multiculturalism and entrepreneurial intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
A model was proposed and empirically tested 564 university students in Northern Cyprus. Data were analysed using SPSS 23 and AMOS 18 using the PROCESS Macro and Bootstrap methods.
Findings
The results indicated that improving university students' attitudes towards multiculturalism will have a beneficial effect on their entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, PsyCap is a mediator variable on the relationship between multicultural attitudes and entrepreneurial intentions.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the literature by theoretically and empirically examining how attitudes towards multiculturalism and PsyCap impact university students' entrepreneurial intentions. Its limitations can be overcome through future research.
Practical implications
The study's findings are valid in two areas: (1) assisting policymakers, researchers and academics to better understand the critical influence of university students' attitudes towards multiculturalism on their entrepreneurial intentions, particularly since this topic had not been extensively studied; (2) advancing theoretical discussions by examining the positive effects of internal factors such as PsyCap in terms of multicultural attitudes and entrepreneurial intentions.
Social implications
The study provides empirical evidence that academics and university administrators should pay attention to multicultural attitudes to increase university students' entrepreneurial intentions. Hence, it focused on the relationship between multicultural society, entrepreneurial intentions, and PsyCap.
Originality/value
Attitudes towards multiculturalism influence students' entrepreneurial intentions through PsyCap. The context of cultural values and multiculturalism determines the premises of entrepreneurial intentions. This study is unique and innovative as it brings a new focus to academic literature.
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Bishnu Sharma, Maria Raciti, Rebecca O'Hara, Karin Reinhard and Fiona Davies
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived susceptibility to alcohol retailers' sales promotion strategies and young, female university students'…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived susceptibility to alcohol retailers' sales promotion strategies and young, female university students' intention to buy alcohol and attitude towards alcohol consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from a convenience sample of three universities in three OECD countries with high alcohol consumption per capita: Australia (n=305), Germany (n=323) and Wales (n=361). A self‐administered survey approach was used to collect data from female university students between the ages of 18 and 24 years in one university in each country. The four alcohol sales promotion strategies of interest were price reductions, quantity specials whereby the more you buy the less you pay on a pro rata basis, bulk purchasing of alcohol, and purchasing from more than one store to take advantage of low prices.
Findings
The study found that except for retailer price reductions, the association between Welsh university students' intentions to buy alcohol and their susceptibility to the remaining retailers' sales promotions was greater than that of university students in Australia and Germany, respectively. Significant differences between the countries were found in terms of the salience of perceived susceptibility to retail sales promotion strategies and their correlation with students' attitude towards alcohol consumption.
Originality/value
The paper's findings provide insights particularly for upstream, legislative strategic interventions to combat the issue of alcohol drinking of young female university students.
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Sizong Wu and Lingfei Wu
The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between Chinese university students' higher educational background and their entrepreneurial intentions.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between Chinese university students' higher educational background and their entrepreneurial intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The TPB model was adopted and tested for the formation of Chinese university students' entrepreneurial intentions using structural equation modeling. Data were collected from students of Tongji University in Shanghai, China.
Findings
The main results of this empirical research suggest that diversity of educational background offers plausible explanations on the difference of entrepreneurial intentions of Chinese university students. Higher educational institutions should develop more flexible approaches with focus on different groups of students in accordance with their various educational backgrounds.
Practical implications
In response to the change of graduate labour market and the quest for sustainable competitive advantage in China, higher educational institutions have to integrate the change of mindset, skills and abilities about entrepreneurship in their general academic education in order to nurture university students' entrepreneurial intentions in China.
Originality/value
The paper provides comprehensive empirical evidence about the impact of higher education on entrepreneurial intentions of university students in mainland China and thus fills an important gap in the entrepreneurship literature.
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Carlos Ramos-Galarza, Pamela Acosta-Rodas, Mónica Bolaños-Pasquel and Nancy Lepe-Martínez
The purpose of this paper is fourfold: first, to analyse the relationship between executive functions and academic performance; second, to identify the level of prediction…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is fourfold: first, to analyse the relationship between executive functions and academic performance; second, to identify the level of prediction executive functions have on academic performance; third, to determine the correlation between executive functions and academic performance; and fourth, to compare executive functions based on the level of academic performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample composed of 175 university students aged between 18 and 36 years (M=21.49, SD=3.22). The EFECO scale, the average student grade and a scale based on the diagnostic criteria for ADHD were used as measurement instruments.
Findings
Difficulties in executive functions: Difficulties in working memory (r=−0.30, p=<0.01) and difficulties in conscious supervision of behaviour (r=−0.29, p⩽0.01) have an inversely proportional relationship to academic performance (the greater the deficit of executive functions, the lower the academic performance). The regression analysis showed that executive functions explain 31 per cent of the variance of academic performance (χ2(25)=43.81, p <0.001). The study found that there is a relationship between all the executive functions and students’ behaviour in a medium to large magnitude.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of this study was the size of the sample as it is not representative of the country. Nevertheless, the correlation among the variables studied here has the necessary magnitude for the proposed correlations to be found. Nonetheless, it is necessary that we perform a study with a larger number of participants in order to achieve adequate extrapolation of the results.
Practical implications
Data found in this study suggest that low academic performance of university students is related to a lower functionality of their executive functions.
Originality/value
The originality of the research lies in relating specific concepts of neuropsychology to explain the academic performance of university students. The research findings allow us to project new studies to improve the executive functions for the benefit of the university student.
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Imran Ali, Murad Ali and Saeed Badghish
Unlike previous studies that examine the role of different entrepreneurial ecosystem factors in predicting entrepreneurial intentions. The purpose of this study is to explain the…
Abstract
Purpose
Unlike previous studies that examine the role of different entrepreneurial ecosystem factors in predicting entrepreneurial intentions. The purpose of this study is to explain the direct effects of entrepreneurial ecosystem factors effecting entrepreneurial intentions and configurational combinations of entrepreneurial ecosystem factors that cause high or low entrepreneurial intentions among female university students in Saudi Arabia.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used structured survey-questionnaire based data collected from 310 female students enrolled in different universities in Saudi Arabia. The study used symmetric analysis using structural equation modeling technique, whereas asymmetric analysis is performed using the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, necessary condition analysis is also used to identify the role of different entrepreneurial ecosystem factors in increasing and/or decreasing entrepreneurial intentions among young Saudi women.
Findings
The results of symmetrical analysis show that access to finance, access to physical infrastructure, and cultural factors are not significantly associated with entrepreneurial intentions, whereas government policies and regulations, government programs and support, social factors and entrepreneurship education and training are significantly associated with the development of entrepreneurial intentions among female Saudi university students. While the result of asymmetrical analysis provides 15 configurational models that explains the high levels of certain factors to predict entrepreneurial intentions among female university students in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, social support is found as necessary condition in majority of models to predict high levels of entrepreneurial intentions among female Saudi university students.
Practical implications
The results of the study provide empirical evidence to policymakers in Saudi Arabia. The study proposes that it is not mandatory that the high levels of all entrepreneurial ecosystem factors are important to predict high entrepreneurial intentions, rather in some conditions the low levels of certain factors are obligatory to predict high levels of entrepreneurial intentions.
Originality/value
Two-step mix-method approach is used in this study containing analysis of symmetric within entrepreneurial ecosystem increase or decrease entrepreneurial intentions among female university students in Saudi Arabia. There has been plenty of research that examines the role of entrepreneurial ecosystem factors in development of university students’ entrepreneurial intentions, however there is less research evident in the entrepreneurship literature that examine the configurational effects of factors within entrepreneurial ecosystem in increasing and/or decreasing entrepreneurial intentions among female university students.
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The purpose of this study is to know the effect of religious values that the Jordan Political discipline adopted and were mentioned in the Jordan political discourses (Amman…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to know the effect of religious values that the Jordan Political discipline adopted and were mentioned in the Jordan political discourses (Amman Message 2005, discourse of King Abdullah II in the European Parliament 2008 and his discourse in United Nations 2015) on the public opinion of the university students, especially their attitudes toward terrorism and extremism. Defending Islam is the responsibility of the Jordan political leadership according to Hashemite legacy and promoting Islamic values that rejected terrorism and extremism to Jordanian youth, especially tolerance and moderation values, to counter defamations and claims against Islam and correct its image in the West.
Design/methodology/approach
A political discourse analysis approach was used by analyzing the Amman Message and identifying the most important religious values contained therein. Also, a quantitative research method was used in this study. The study population consisted of university students, particularly Jordanian University students because being one of the high-bred Jordanian universities, it is characterized with gender, age, regional affiliation and family income diversities. This study depends on a purposive sample containing 350 students (175 males and 175 females). The survey was conducted in the academic year (2018-2019). A questionnaire that was reviewed by three jurors was used in data collection.
Findings
The results of the analysis of the political discourse showed that the values of tolerance and moderation are among the most valued in the Amman Message, where they were frequently repeated. Also, findings have shown that the religious values adopted by the Jordanian political system mentioned in the political discourses had an impact on public opinion of university students on terrorism and extremism causes in a large percent. When gender differed (males and females), the impact ratio of the public opinion for males was higher than that for females. When the age group differed (18-22 and 23-30 years), the effect ratio with the old age group was higher than the effect ratio for the students with the youngest age group. When regional affiliation differed (Jordanian and Jordanian of Palestinian origin), the impact ratio of the public opinion for Jordanian students was higher than that for Jordanian students of Palestinian origin. When regional family income differed (500 dinars and less, more than 500 dinars), the impact ratio of the public opinion for students with family income more than 500 dinars was higher than that for students with family income 500 dinars and less.
Originality/value
This study represents an approach to recognize the effect of religious values that were adopted by the Jordanian political system mentioned in the political discourses on public opinion of university students on terrorism and extremism causes, considering that university students represent the influential youth group in the Jordanian society.
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