Depression and/or anxiety affect approximately one third of the Dutch population at least once in their lifetime. Cross-sectional research has shown the relationship between elevated depression and...Show moreDepression and/or anxiety affect approximately one third of the Dutch population at least once in their lifetime. Cross-sectional research has shown the relationship between elevated depression and/or anxiety symptoms and low scores on memory function. However, there is a scarcity of data on the effects of depression and/or anxiety on memory decline over time. Thus, Multilevel growth curve modelling was applied to assess associations between depression, anxiety and memory. We used nationally representative data from older adults in The Netherlands that participated in the LASA-study, that encompasses data on predictors and consequences of aging. The final sample included 4056 individuals, aged 55 – 86 and 51.3% female. Model B (main effects) showed a negative effect of depression on memory and a positive effect of anxiety on memory. Model C and D dealt with the rate of change and the acceleration of rate of change. Among the focal predictors, only depression and age significantly affected the staring rate of change in memory. The effect of anxiety on the initial rate of change in memory was non-significant and could not be generalized. The effect of measurement point (mp) on the starting rate of change, does not depend on the combination of values for depression and anxiety. Within model D, only age turned out to affect the (positive) starting rate of change and the de-acceleration of this starting rate of change. Relatively older people tend to start off with a somewhat lower positive rate of change in memory and are more likely to have a stronger decline of this rate of change over time. The effect of depression on the starting rate was still negative and had the same direction in model D as in model C, but depression lost its significance in model D. Also, it had a non-significant effect on the de acceleration of the rate of change. Anxiety, as in model C, did not contribute significantly to model D in any way. The interaction between depression and anxiety was non-significant and did not contribute. In conclusion, memory decline is not accelerated in people with high levels of depression and/or anxiety. Only older age and sex have effect on memory decline over time. Further research could take additional variables into account in predicting memory decline, such as dementia, since depression and anxiety are highly prevalent in patients with dementia and it is plausible that early AD is one of the most important factors in age-related memory decline. Further research could take other variables into account, such as dementia, other cognitive functions, education, lifestyle, health-risks, heart disease, diabetes. Moreover, further distinctions in the variables could be made, such as the difference in effects on memory decline between late-onset depression (LOD) and early-onset depression (EOD).Show less
Een crisis brengt tegenstrijdige problemen met zich mee. Met name de coronacrisis, die de zorgsector op zijn kop zet. Om de situatie te beteugelen zal een crisismanager zich enerzijds moeten...Show moreEen crisis brengt tegenstrijdige problemen met zich mee. Met name de coronacrisis, die de zorgsector op zijn kop zet. Om de situatie te beteugelen zal een crisismanager zich enerzijds moeten inzetten om stabiliteit te creëren in de chaos door middel van het vergroten van efficiëntie. Anderzijds brengt een crisis dusdanig veel schade aan, waardoor eerder vergaarde kennis en bewezen werkwijzen niet meer toepasbaar zijn. In dit verband wordt een crisismanager gedwongen tot improviseren om te kunnen voldoen aan de nieuwe eisen die de crisis stelt. Organisaties komen in een crisis in een paradox tussen de noodzaak om intern stabiliteit te creëren, en tegelijkertijd innovatie te stimuleren. Naar deze activiteiten wordt in de literatuur verwezen als exploitatie (stabiliseren) en exploratie (improviseren). Het doel van dit onderzoek is beter te begrijpen welke crisissituaties te onderscheiden zijn en op welke wijze deze impact hebben op de keuzes van leidinggevenden. De hoofdvraag van het onderzoek luidt als volgt: “Welke factoren uit de crisissituatie beïnvloeden leidinggevenden om te kiezen tussen stabiliserende activiteiten (exploitatie) en improviserende activiteiten (exploratie)?” Het onderzoek richt zich op leidinggevenden in de zorg tijdens de coronacrisis. In de literatuur wordt de crisissituatie getypeerd in contexten die de mate van complexiteit en turbulentie van de situatie aanduiden. De contexttyperingen zijn: eenvoudige context; gecompliceerde context; complexe context en een chaotische context. Succesvol managen binnen de dynamische en onstabiele contexten is een substantiële uitdaging voor alle organisaties. Ambidexteriteit kan hiervoor een oplossing zijn. Ambidexteriteit, en daarmee ambidexterleiderschap, gaat uit van gelijktijdig nastreven van exploitatieve en exploratieve strategieën. Exploitatie behelst het benutten van bestaande capaciteiten door middel van activiteiten zoals efficiëntie, implementatie en verfijning. Exploratie behelst pogingen om toekomstige capaciteiten te verwerven, door middel van experimenteren, creëren en innoveren. Door middel van interviews is gezocht naar de factoren die leidinggevenden in de zorg hebben beïnvloed in hun keuze tussen exploiteren en exploreren. Het onderzoeksdesign van deze scriptie is een Small-N studie. Hierbij gaat het om een klein aantal cases dat een grote hoeveelheid aan empirische observaties per casus oplevert. De interviews zijn open ingestoken met de vraag of de tien respondenten chronologisch kunnen vertellen over de coronacrisis en welke fases zich daarin hebben voorgedaan. Door naar een chronologisch verhaal te vragen, leggen respondenten uit hoe ze de situaties ervaarden, hoe ze hebben gereageerd, wat hun rol daarin was en welke afwegingen er zijn gemaakt. Het was een bewuste keuze om niet direct te vragen waarom ze zich op een bepaalde manier gedroegen, om objectiviteit te waarborgen. De factoren die de keuze van leidinggevenden beïnvloeden, die in het onderzoek naar voren kwamen, zijn de mate van complexiteit en/of turbulentie uit de crisiscontext en de volgende vijf drijvende krachten: (1) de mate van impact op het werk, (2) de mate van tijdsdruk en vraag naar acute oplossing, (3) de mate waarop kennis passend is, of de mate waarin deze makkelijk te vergaren is, (4) de mate waarin cultuur en de aard van de organisatie een rol speelt, (5) de mate van kracht en flexibiliteit van het personeel om de strategie uit te voeren. Uit deze drijvende krachten blijkt dat de keuze niet alleen gebaseerd wordt op de inhoud van het probleem, maar ook op basis van organisatorische drijfveren. De keuze op de inhoud wordt bepaald door de mate van impact op het werk, de mate van tijdsdruk en de mate waarop huidige kennis passend is/ de mate waarin deze makkelijk te vergaren is. Vervolgens wordt de strategie keuze bepaald door organisatorische drijfveren. Hieronder valt de mate in hoeverre de strategie aansluit bij de cultuur en de aard van de organisatie. Echter de belangrijkste organisatorische drijvende kracht blijkt de mate van kracht en flexibiliteit van het personeel. Als eindconclusie kan worden gesteld dat crisisbeheersing alleen tot recht kan komen wanneer het personeel de kracht en flexibiliteit heeft om de crisisstrategie uit te voeren. Dit onderzoek heeft een verkennend karakter en heeft nieuwe inzichten gegenereerd. De aanbeveling is om de externe validiteit te vergroten in toekomstig onderzoek. Daarnaast kan is het nuttig om het onderzoek breder aan te pakken, waarbij op verschillende hiërarchische niveaus onderzoek wordt verricht. Toekomstig onderzoek zou zich eveneens kunnen richten op het verder onderzoeken van de drijvende kracht van personeel in een crisis.Show less
Over the last 30 years, Somalia has experienced a civil war that has torn the country apart. Countless civilians have lost their lives, almost all public institutions have been destroyed, and large...Show moreOver the last 30 years, Somalia has experienced a civil war that has torn the country apart. Countless civilians have lost their lives, almost all public institutions have been destroyed, and large segments of the Somali society have fled abroad to seek shelter (Mohamud 2020, 115). The country experienced a Hobbesian era of anarchy that symbolized what Robert Rotberg classified as “a rare and extreme version of a failed state. (…). a mere geographical expression, a black hole [where] there is dark energy, but the forces of entropy have overwhelmed the radiance that hitherto provided some semblance of order and other vital political goods to the inhabitants (no longer the citizens)” (Rotberg 2004, 9). To end Somalia’s acute state of anarchy and its protracted inter-tribal warfare’s, international multilateral organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and Somalia’s neighbouring countries have sought to mediate relations between the contesting factions that were exercising inter-tribal politics within the country. Three major peace and reconciliation conferences sponsored by the international community have been held to resolve the Somali impasse: the first summit took place in Borama (Somaliland) in 1993, the second in Arta (Djibouti) in 2000, and the third in Mbagathi (Kenya) in 2003. The Borama conference in particular is what led to the self-determination of Somaliland, which is not the theme of this thesis. The topic of this research is to look at the differences between these peace processes. By comparing the nature of these three conferences it is possible to identify practices and models of peacebuilding for Somalia, a country that is seeking stability to this day. Despite these costly peace-making conferences as it cost the United Nations (UN) and donor countries to spend enormous sums of money and resources, Somalia remains fragmented and unstable, with the current federal government barely able to control its capital, Mogadishu (Ingiriis 2020, 10). Through a top-down peace-making approach, the so-called international community (IC) has attempted to solve disputes between powerful actors without incorporating local values, history, expertise, and the everyday experiences of the wider Somali population into the peacemaking processes and ultimately these efforts have failed to produce effective dispute resolution (Ansems 2011, 99). Given these failures, this research attempts to investigate the underlying factors that explain the UN’s liberal peacebuilding approach (which applies a predefined conceptual top-down framework that neglects Somalia’s everyday experiences) and why it failed to bring forth any genuine reconciliation (Glawion 2020, 66). Due to the disconnect between the top-down peacebuilding framework and Somalia and democracy, this paper investigates how an alternative framework called the “pragmatic peacebuilding approach” which moves beyond traditional liberal peace, can facilitate a more practical approach to peacebuilding that is sustainable, reconciliatory and context-specific. This thesis will endeavour to test the following research question and hypothesis. The research question is quite straightforward: the UN’s top-down peacebuilding process has been taking place in Somalia for more than 20 years, why then have the UN’s efforts failed to yield plausible peace results in Somalia? The answer to the research question is based on the following hypothesis: in Somalia, top-down peacebuilding has prevailed over grassroots-level peacebuilding and this is why peacebuilding in Somalia did not succeed. The hypothesis is based on both a historical account of what has happened in Somalia, including Somaliland, since the early 1990s and on the review of the literature on the Somali problem as well as on peacebuilding in general. Somaliland achieved peace vis-à-vis a grassroots model of peacebuilding, while in the rest of Somalia the UN used a top-down approach.Show less
Background - The Generalised Unsafety Theory of Stress, a novel stress explanation, considers the stress response as a default mode of the body, which is always active independently from stressors...Show moreBackground - The Generalised Unsafety Theory of Stress, a novel stress explanation, considers the stress response as a default mode of the body, which is always active independently from stressors unless it is inhibited based on perceiving safety. GUTS suggests there are compromised domains where stress is chronically released despite a lack of clear stressors, and the organism is unable to inhibit the stress mechanism mostly because of perceiving generalised unsafety around. One of these compromised domains is believed to be urban environments as they cannot provide sufficient signs of safety, and they mainly consist property of strangers. Natural environments in contrast are believed to provide signs of safety and therefore decrease stress levels. Using meta-analysis, this current research aimed to find and summarize evidence from existing studies reporting that urban environments are associated with increased levels of stress, Method - In total, 12 studies, collected from Web of Science database, were included in six meta-analyses conducted on heart rate variability (high frequency, low frequency/high frequency), saliva cortisol, blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), and heart rate data of healthy adult participants during and after exposure to urban and natural environments. Results - Statistically significant increased heart rate was found after a walk in the urban environment (g = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.20; 0.50, p <0.0001). High frequency heart rate variability was significantly lower after an urban walk(unknown baseline balance group: g = -0.33, 95% CI: -0.55; -0.11; baseline balanced: g = -2.52, 95% CI: -3.25; -1.78). Low frequency heart rate variability was significantly higher during the urban walk (unknown baseline balance group: g = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.49; 1.80; baseline balanced: g = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.78; 3.26). Subgroup analyses and funnel plots for heart rate variability showed a possible small-study effect in the baseline balanced groups. Blood pressure and cortisol measurements showed no significant effect and were ambiguous because of high heterogeneity and small number of included studies. Conclusions - Heart rate variability and heart rate measures indicated a higher stress level in urban than in natural environments providing an example of prolonged stress without stressors, explainable by GUTS. For blood pressure and cortisol no such evidence was provided. However, the results should be carefully interpreted because of high between-study heterogeneity and other limitations of these studies. Further research into stress measurements and effects of natural and urban environment on stress are required to provide reliable evidence.Show less
Many non-profit organisations employ not only volunteers, but also paid workers, to achieve their organisational objectives. This research examines whether the volunteers of a non-profit...Show moreMany non-profit organisations employ not only volunteers, but also paid workers, to achieve their organisational objectives. This research examines whether the volunteers of a non-profit organisation report appraisal and autonomous respect, job satisfaction and intent to remain a volunteer with the organisation, when they perceive that the paid workers of the organisation display self-sacrifice on behalf of the organisation and interactional justice. The research had a cross sectional survey design and the participants were volunteers working with paid workers in a non-profit organisation (a hospice; N = 52 hospice volunteers). Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses about direct effects. Among volunteers, autonomous and appraisal respect were found positively and directly related to job satisfaction. Additionally, among volunteers, interactional justice received from the paid workers of the organisation was found positively and directly related to autonomous respect, appraisal respect, and job satisfaction. Furthermore, among volunteers, perceived self-sacrifice on behalf of the organisation by the paid workers of the organisation was found directly and positively related to appraisal respect. Thereafter, a mediation regression analysis was conducted to test the hypothesis about the indirect effect. The mediation regression analysis showed that among volunteers, interactional justice received from the paid workers of the organisation relates positively and indirectly to job satisfaction through appraisal respect as a mediator. The theoretical and practical implications, as well as the limitations and suggestions for further research, are discussed.Show less
After examining an extensive collection of primary and secondary Israeli, Palestinian and international sources from organisations and institutions such as Al-Mezan, B’Tselem, the United Nations...Show moreAfter examining an extensive collection of primary and secondary Israeli, Palestinian and international sources from organisations and institutions such as Al-Mezan, B’Tselem, the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, this paper propagates the notion that throughout the Great March of Return, the Israeli military had indiscriminately killed innocent Palestinian men, women, paramedics, journalists and children with intent. Thus, this study argues that the excessive force specifically exerted by the highly-skilled Israeli snipers stationed by the separation fence near Gaza, constitutes as an act of democide.Show less
The Thesis constitutes an effort towards a comparative approach on the rhetoric and use of “Human Rights Language” of Yemeni and Syrian representatives at the United Nations General Assembly from...Show moreThe Thesis constitutes an effort towards a comparative approach on the rhetoric and use of “Human Rights Language” of Yemeni and Syrian representatives at the United Nations General Assembly from 2010 until 2019. The Theory of compliance serves as a means to explore possible explanations regarding the reason and extend to which Yemen and Syria representatives respectively, use the language of Human Rights during civil wars.Show less
In educational research, the length of questionnaires has to be considered by test developers to ensure minimal respondent burden. Efficient screeners, like computerized tests, have the potential...Show moreIn educational research, the length of questionnaires has to be considered by test developers to ensure minimal respondent burden. Efficient screeners, like computerized tests, have the potential to shorten tests without losing information. In this paper, two computerized testing methods for classification into categories are discussed: Computerized Classification Test (CCT) under Item response theory (IRT) and CCT under Stochastic Curtailment (SC). In a post-hoc simulation study, using the item scores on the School Attitude Questionnaire Internet (SAQI) of a large sample of Flemish students (N = 4211), the CCT methods were compared with respect to respondent burden, given minimized differences in proportion of correct classifications. Both CCT under IRT and CCT under SC showed the potential to reduce the respondent burden while maintaining 90% concordance with the full-length questionnaire. CCT under SC required fewer items (20% of the total item set) than CCT under IRT (37%), but in the process made larger misclassifications in terms of item ordering.Show less
Dit onderzoek heeft bestudeerd hoe Geert Wilders (PVV) en Thierry Baudet (FvD) als rechtspopulisten nationale identiteit construeren in relatie tot verschillende media. Hiervoor is gebruik gemaakt...Show moreDit onderzoek heeft bestudeerd hoe Geert Wilders (PVV) en Thierry Baudet (FvD) als rechtspopulisten nationale identiteit construeren in relatie tot verschillende media. Hiervoor is gebruik gemaakt van een kwalitatieve en kwantitatieve framinganalyse. Uit de kwalitatieve analyse blijkt dat zowel Wilders als Baudet de Nederlandse identiteit vormgeven op basis van waarderende frames die geen specifieke kenmerken voortbrengen, waardoor het Nederlanderschap berust op een gevoel, en niet op een definitie. Identiteit is in de overtuiging van beide populisten statisch, het moet beschermd worden. Dit uitgangspunt zorgt ervoor dat de invalshoek van de frames verband houden met gevaar en het terugveroveren van de controle over Nederland door het volk. Het tweede deel van dit onderzoek, de kwantitatieve analyse, laat zien hoe de Volkskrant en De Telegraaf omgaan met de frames van Wilders en Baudet. De Volkskrant als linksgeoriënteerd medium heeft een merkbare afkeer van Wilders en Baudet en zoekt de confrontatie op. De Telegraaf is een rechts kanaal dat minder moeite heeft met de ideologieën van de rechtspopulisten, de krant neemt een gematigde positie in ten opzichte van de uitingen van de politici. Opvallend is dat de FvD-leider aan het begin van de onderzoeksperiode nog een relatieve onbekende is en weinig aandacht trekt, terwijl Wilders vrijwel de gehele periode stabiel het nieuws beheerst. De bevindingen van dit onderzoek tonen aan dat de uitingen van Wilders en Baudet passen in de rechtspopulistische theorie en de werking van de hedendaagse media beide politici in staat stelt te scoren en te agenderen.Show less
Dit onderzoek heeft bestudeerd hoe Geert Wilders (PVV) en Thierry Baudet (FvD) als rechtspopulisten nationale identiteit construeren in relatie tot verschillende media. Hiervoor is gebruik gemaakt...Show moreDit onderzoek heeft bestudeerd hoe Geert Wilders (PVV) en Thierry Baudet (FvD) als rechtspopulisten nationale identiteit construeren in relatie tot verschillende media. Hiervoor is gebruik gemaakt van een kwalitatieve en kwantitatieve framinganalyse. Uit de kwalitatieve analyse blijkt dat zowel Wilders als Baudet de Nederlandse identiteit vormgeven op basis van waarderende frames die geen specifieke kenmerken voortbrengen, waardoor het Nederlanderschap berust op een gevoel, en niet op een definitie. Identiteit is in de overtuiging van beide populisten statisch, het moet beschermd worden. Dit uitgangspunt zorgt ervoor dat de invalshoek van de frames verband houden met gevaar en het terugveroveren van de controle over Nederland door het volk. Het tweede deel van dit onderzoek, de kwantitatieve analyse, laat zien hoe de Volkskrant en De Telegraaf omgaan met de frames van Wilders en Baudet. De Volkskrant als linksgeoriënteerd medium heeft een merkbare afkeer van Wilders en Baudet en zoekt de confrontatie op. De Telegraaf is een rechts kanaal dat minder moeite heeft met de ideologieën van de rechtspopulisten, de krant neemt een gematigde positie in ten opzichte van de uitingen van de politici. Opvallend is dat de FvD-leider aan het begin van de onderzoeksperiode nog een relatieve onbekende is en weinig aandacht trekt, terwijl Wilders vrijwel de gehele periode stabiel het nieuws beheerst. De bevindingen van dit onderzoek tonen aan dat de uitingen van Wilders en Baudet passen in de rechtspopulistische theorie en de werking van de hedendaagse media beide politici in staat stelt te scoren en te agenderen.Show less
There are 88.313 people in the Netherlands that are categorised as nationality unknown in the Dutch Personal Record Database. This categorisation is not the same as being stateless in the...Show moreThere are 88.313 people in the Netherlands that are categorised as nationality unknown in the Dutch Personal Record Database. This categorisation is not the same as being stateless in the Netherlands, since people with an unknown nationality are expected provide the necessary national documents to obtain the Dutch nationality. This often leaves them in a de facto stateless position, without the mechanisms in the Netherlands to determine statelessness. With this paper, the aim will be to gain insights into the lived experiences of people with a Dutch residence permit with an unknown nationality and to examine the position of being in between statuses of a residence permit and citizenship, since most of the people in this group can to a great extent (with certain limitations) participate in the Dutch society. Through semi-structured interviews, this paper concluded the pivotal role of AZCs, building a life in the Netherlands and the mechanisms of politics of belonging.Show less
Perceptions about one’s social class has social consequences on interactional decision making. Studies have shown that the social class of an interaction partner (i.e., the target) predicts how...Show morePerceptions about one’s social class has social consequences on interactional decision making. Studies have shown that the social class of an interaction partner (i.e., the target) predicts how prosocial one will be towards this target. Lower-class targets elicit greater prosociality than higher-class targets, known as the target class effect. The present study (N = 294) replicated this effect in the US with an online survey. We operationalized social mindfulness (SoMi) as a measure for prosociality, while manipulating target class with information about the target’s position on a social ladder. The objective was to explore fairness and moral perspectives as underlying explanations for the target class effect. We proposed that need-based distributive fairness preference (i.e., taking the needs of others into consideration when allocating resources) and moral identity will facilitate and attenuate the target class effect respectively. Our findings did not support these expectations. Implications, limitations, and future directions are further discussed.Show less
Why do many women feel the constant need to enhance their looks? How do they navigate their way in the beauty regime around them? With the help of interviews and a review of postcolonial feminist...Show moreWhy do many women feel the constant need to enhance their looks? How do they navigate their way in the beauty regime around them? With the help of interviews and a review of postcolonial feminist theories, this Master thesis explores the influences of the patriarchal, modern/colonial, and capitalist regimes on women's body image in Lebanon. Many women in Lebanon use beauty to get ahead since other ways of advancement are limited. The legacy of civil war, economic situation, and the state regime keep gender oppression institutionalized. Beautification is a short-term panacea helping individual women to rise to the top within the existing system, yet fails to address the roots of structural gender-based oppressions.Show less
