The Complete Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi - 944 Words

The Complete Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel that illustrates the authors unforgettable and very rough childhood while growing up in Tehran, Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The book was basically set up with events as the chapters. For example, the chapter â€Å"The Key† describes how plastic keys were handed to the young soldiers as their way to heaven when they died. This is what they were told at least. The book starts when Marji is 10 years old, which is just before Shah comes into power. When he does, the schools then become segregated. Boys were required to go to one school, while girls went to another. The students were also required to were veils because their hair was â€Å"stimulating†. The book carries on through many events and Marji is eventually sent to Austria because her parents were worried about her safety and it was easier to get an Austrian visa at that time. Then she goes to Austria and it didn’t wo rk out as expected, so she moves around a little and when she turned 18 she moved back in with her parents. The roll of women in these times was quite unpleasant to hear or talk about. These women were practically told what to wear, how to act, and what to do. I will describe three important women in this book that not only were role models to each other, but stood up for the rights of women. Marji, also known as Marjane, also known as the author of the book is a very interesting, levelheaded, determinedShow MoreRelatedThe Complete Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi Essay2019 Words   |  9 Pageslargely affected the views of Iranians by other nations. The graphic novel, The Complete Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi (Satrapi, 2003), conveys many of these events and changes through the eyes of a child growing up in the 1980s in Iran. Satrapi’s main purpose for this book is to describe how the Iranian government was corrupt, causing foreign nations to have a tainted view o f all Iranian citizens. The Complete Persepolis does so by presenting major events and changes in a manner that is directedRead MoreThe Complete Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi2268 Words   |  10 Pages Review of Literature While I will pull from other sources, the main focus of this paper will be The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Throughout this graphic novel, Satrapi tells her life story and what it was like growing up in Iran. In the opening illustrations, she describes her childhood and her transition from a secular school to one that was religious and separated by gender. At this time it had become law for a woman to wear the veil, or head scarf when in public. Iran transitionedRead MoreThe Complete Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi1552 Words   |  7 PagesThroughout The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi the idea of inequality is introduced through several examples. Marjane Satrapi uses the title to comment on inequality in all aspects of Marjane’s life, including gender, religious, economic, and racial status. Although there are several forms of inequality that the title attempts to highlight within the story, it focuses primarily on the issues of gender inequality by compa ring the issues that Marjane faces due to her gender and comparing itRead MoreThe Complete Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi903 Words   |  4 Pages In The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the genre choice of the graphic novel vividly portrays the life-experience that Satrapi herself gone through as a youth growing up in Iran back in the 1980s. Satrapi utilizes a unique drawing style to emphasize the influence that the Islamic Republic has brought to her. The recurring action of teachers implanting Islamic values in children throughout Marjane’s education in Iran is demonstrated through a set of related images, which implicitlyRead MoreThe Complete Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi1017 Words   |  5 PagesThis pepper identifies and analyses some of the highlights found in the culture narrative of a visual comic memoir titled â€Å"The Complete Persepolis† by Marjane Satrapi, and a culture storyline, â€Å"Code White† by Debra Anderson. Starting with â€Å"The Complete Persepolis† the book is about Satrapi’s experience as she transitions from a young woman into adulthood in Rasht, Ira n and Vienna, Australia during and after the Islamic and culture revolution between the periods of 1979-1995. The first publishedRead MoreThe Complete Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi1185 Words   |  5 PagesThere are certain countries that are ran through dictatorship, they abuse the power they have to the country. In the story, The Complete Persepolis written by Marjane Satrapi, she changes the view towards Iran through occurrences and eastern fundamentalist ideas. In 1979, there was the Islamic revolution in Iran. This year was the year that was going to have many changes to the country. In chapter one of the Veil, there are characters and their freedom of expression being repressed as well as theRead MoreThe Complete Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi Essay2678 Words   |  11 PagesThe Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi The Veil The reader is introduced to Marjane at 10 in Iran, 1980. She goes to school and wears a veil, just like everyone else. The women in Iran don’t want to wear a veil The new regime in Iran made it mandatory for women to wear a veil. They also segregated the schools between girls and boys Marjane says she wants to be a prophet The school thinks it’s weird that she wants to be a prophet, so they call her parents Even though she wants to be a prophetRead MoreThe Complete Persepolis Marjane Satrapi Analysis1072 Words   |  5 PagesIn her graphic novel â€Å"The Complete Persepolis,† Marjane Satrapi explores different identities and works through troubling hardships as she comes closer to who she truly is as an educated Iranian woman. Satrapi expresses the many trials and tribulations she endured while living in and out of Iran during parts of the Islamic Revolution, all whilst trying to find her identity as a child, teenager, and adult. Although she loses herself along the way, she always finds her true identity and self-worthRead MoreMarjane Satrapi s Story Of The Complete Persepolis Essay1022 Words   |  5 Pagesan unfriendly world. This is not a fictitious story. This is an actual event that happened to the author of The Complete Persepolis. Marjane Satrapi, the author of The Complete Persepolis, grew up during the 1979 Revolution. This event changed many people’s lives, e ither it was for the better or worse is hard to say. Nevertheless, it influenced Satrapi s whole life. In the book, Satrapi expresses her childhood memories through her eyes as a child. Her experiences and ancestry can be clearly shownRead MoreThe Complete Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi And I Am Nujood1495 Words   |  6 Pagesthe patriotism that the country gives. Having these ideals one can see that some Americans are even question their own culture, and are constantly changing it due to the surge of countercultures and trend setters. From the texts The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and I Am Nujood by Nujood Ali one can observe how western culture has affected people who are not raised within Iranian and Yemini cultures, and it grants a glimpse into other cultures and their beliefs. Despite the culture shock in

Letter to the Provost option Free Essays

Dear Sir/Madam: I have been studying for [] years in this school and I have always believed that the school supports and upholds students’ rights that gear towards maturity, discipline, fairness and respect.   Five people in your staff have proven my belief wrong. In pursuance of our grievance procedure as indicated in the most recent Undergraduate Bulletin, I am writing this formal complaint against the [name here], supervisor of our Computer Lab, 2 Computer Lab Assistants and 2 Security Personnel. We will write a custom essay sample on Letter to the Provost option or any similar topic only for you Order Now Last [date of incident], I, together, with a classmate was rushing to the Computer Lab to print handouts for a group presentation that shall start in 20 minutes.   Like normal, we went straight into the Computer Lab but were suddenly stopped by a Computer Lab Assistant (a girl), and who asked us to swipe our IDs.   Although there is a note outside of the door that the ID is required, they never required this of me so for the past 2 years that I have come into the lab, I didn’t think it was ever needed and since time is of the essence at this point, I didn’t think I had the time to search through the three bags I had with me for my ID. My classmate was able to find hers and she went in.   I explained the situation to the Computer Lab Girl and requested for me to just sit next to my classmate and instruct her on what to print but the girl said â€Å"No, you should sit in the corner; and you can’t sit next to your classmate.†Ã‚   I find the first statement very inappropriate but we were pressured.   I asked her to reconsider.   Another Computer Lab Assistant (also a girl) then came and started giving me an attitude.   I was forced to defend myself and answered back saying that â€Å"for two years no one ever asked me for an ID and you guys are giving me an attitude.† They didn’t respond anymore so I went in with my classmate and sat beside her as I surf through my things for my ID.   As my classmate started to type, the supervisor is suddenly there asking me what happened.   I am guessing he has already spoken with the 2 Lab Assistants because when I started to explain, he interrupted me 3 times and then he went off and called Security. A Male Security came and told me to â€Å"leave my stuff† as he escorted me outside.   I followed, with my ID, now in my hand, and once outside, [name of supervisor] started narrating the story to the security as if he was there when it happened.   I tried to butt in to explain my side but [name of supervisor] did not let me, nor was the Male Security willing to listen.   After [name of supervisor] was finished, he snatched my ID from my hand and walked away.   I started to protest and tried to explain but no one is simply, listening to my side of the story and that action was taken as a hostile behavior for they called another security. When the Female Security came, she attempted to take control of the situation by screaming at me.   [name of supervisor] was now back and told me that my name and info is in the system and he said, â€Å"You can’t use MY computer lab and library lab for the rest of the year!† He gave my ID back and since I’m already severely humiliated, ultimately late for my presentation, I told him I want to get my stuff.   [name of supervisor] said that’s not possible and that the security will get it for me.   I protested.   That was my stuff with money, gadgets and personal belongings inside and I’m supposed to trust the security guard who had treated me badly to get it for me, I think not.   [name of supervisor] gave in and the security guard escorted me to my things and out of the Computer Lab. Before leaving, I made an attempt to find out what was the [supervisor’s name]’s name and I said I wanted to file a complaint.   The male security guard utterly refused to give me the name and the Woman Security started yelling at me saying that I’m harassing [name of supervisor]. I heard they wrote a report about me and they asked my classmate who was inside the lab for proper identifying details about me. Looking at this situation, I believe: (1)  Ã‚   First and foremost, that the fact that I’m Jewish, I’m white and that I have an accent is one of the reasons why I am treated differently.   No one gave me the opportunity to explain and no one was willing to listen to me.   Even our Grievance Procedure supports two sides of the story.   There should NOT be any discrimination in this school. (2)  Ã‚   Second, that the Computer Lab Assistants are not doing their jobs.   If they were doing their job in the instance that I am complaining of, (i.e. asking us to swipe our ID), they should have consistently done it for 2 years so that people, like me are not misled.   That is technically, neglect of duty, for them, not to add the fact that majority of their time is spent on pretend typing, music playing (ipod), cellphone handling or maybe nail polishing, I don’t know.   I just know this is very unprofessional. (3)  Ã‚   Third, that the Computer Lab Supervisor should follow due process.   He approached me with prejudice and without the respect that I am due.   I do not think interrupting me while I explain, calling off security and relaying a one-sided story and grabbing my ID from my hand is respectful. (4)  Ã‚   Fourth, the Male and Female Security Staff should follow due process as well.   They do not have to be rude or worse, they should not humiliate people more than they already are. Due to the underlying circumstances, I am unable to write a formal complaint directly to the [name of supervisor], the 2 Lab Assistants and the 2 Security Personnel.   If I may reiterate, this is because: (1)  Ã‚  Ã‚   The supervisor has already humiliated me in front of everyone.   I do not think he has a problem of doing it again. (2)  Ã‚  Ã‚     The supervisor has explicitly made it clear to me that he has entered the fact that I am â€Å"banned† from using the library for one year into the system.   Such being the case, if I do swipe my card, I will automatically be kicked out and maybe, since he’s always there, he can throw me out and add to the injury he has committed. (3)  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Computer Lab Assistants never helped me before and I don’t think they will help me now. (4)  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is an issue of discrimination and even if I do follow the grievance procedure, it will fall onto deaf ears.   My only hope is to bring this up to you. Knowing that you are my final resort in this particular matter, I believe I have the right to demand for the following: (1)  Ã‚   Lifting of the computer ban that was imposed because of a SINGLE, UNFAIR, UNJUST and DISCRIMINATORY instance. (2)  Ã‚   Appropriate action, a warning or a reprimand at the very least, against the people who have mistreated me. (3)  Ã‚   Clear and specific guidelines in the use of the Computer Lab to be included in the Undergraduate Bulletin and/or disseminated through the Computer Lab Bulletin.   These guidelines should indicate all the lab rules [not just the minor ones, see sample announcements attached] specially, the PROCESS in facilitating and addressing complaints or situations such as mine; should specify the procedure to follow for people who DO NOT have their IDs yet and the sanctions for non-implementation of computer lab rules.   Both students and personnel should uphold these rules. I hope you understand where I am coming from specially as regards the Computer Lab.   This service is part of the fee I paid for when I studied here and I am gratefully maximizing this fact.   This is extremely important in my pursuance of good education. I hope you help me achieve that goal and help me rebuild the distorted image I have of this school because of my experience.   I wouldn’t want any others to experience the same thing. Thank you for your time and consideration. Read also: â€Å"Co Curricular Activities Letter† How to cite Letter to the Provost option, Essay examples

friday night lights by J. Cole free essay sample

An admirable yet inquirable musician of choice in my opinion rookie of the year J. Cole; is a very intriguing artist. And I chose to pick him as an artist to review because he differs from other artist in ways like not jus having a â€Å"gangsta† appeal. But showing his higher educated side Music, Music to me is an emotional movement that whether positive or negative has and continues to change the way people (adolescents like me specifically) feel and think, Allowing daily involuntary meditation. Therefore in my opinion to be a notable rapper you have to be able to utilize various styles of relaying a message. In order to appeal to a majority of the people who will be surrounded with your influence. And in turn being praised as â€Å"real† not just spittin or being a lyricist you have to out do the preset boundaries. And connect from a different angle. We will write a custom essay sample on friday night lights by J. Cole or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page That you have obtained the knowledge to do by living out the lyrics of your life

The Republic Of South Africafrica Essays - , Term Papers

The Republic Of South Africafrica The Republic of South Africa By John Wendell September 27, 2000 The Republic of South Africa has had an interesting history. The country gained it's independence from Great Britain on May 10, 1910. At that time the country was a struggling agricultural nation, and now it is a semi-industrialized nation. South Africa is slightly less than twice the size of Texas and has a population of 43,421,021 person, With about 15 million economically active in the work force, the unemployment rate is about 30%. The country started of as predominately agricultural with 1,219,912 sq. km of land. They use 67% of the land as pastures, 10% is arable land, 1% is crops, and 7% is forests and woodland. The environmental hazards are that there are prolonged drought which can be very devastating to the economy and to the people because of starvation. A main natural concern is that South Africa has a lack of important rivers and lakes which require extensive water conservation and control measures. The land is rich in mineral resources such as chrome, platinum, uranium, coal, manganese, phosphates, and iron. South Africa leads the world in production of gold, gem diamonds, antimony, and vanadium. The climate of South Africa has an effect on the crops which the country can grow. The climate is mostly semiarid, and it is subtropical along the east coast. The main agricultural products are corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables. The main livestock products are beef, poultry, mutton, wool, and dairy products. The economy of South Africa is pretty good for a developing nation. The country is middle income, with an abundant supply of natural resources. The household income or consumption by percentage shows that the lower 10% account for 1.4% of the people, and the higher 10% account for 47.3% of the people. The country has a well developed legal, communications, financial, energy, and transportation section. It also has a stock exchange that ranks in the top ten largest in the world. Also it has a modern transportation infrastructure that is uses to transport goods to the many major urban centers throughout the country. The county has gone through some major industrialization over the years. The countries industrialization was fueled by the discovery of gold and then diamonds. The GDP (Gross Domestic Production) is divided such as 5% is agricultural, 35% is industrial businesses, and 60% is service businesses. South Africa exports such commodities as gold, diamonds, other metals and minera ls, machinery and equipment. Over all, South Africa has come a long way from the way it was in 1910. The standard of living is increasing and the people are doing better for themselves. Geography

Role of Future Insurance Industry in Pakistan Essays

Role of Future Insurance Industry in Pakistan Essays Role of Future Insurance Industry in Pakistan Essay Role of Future Insurance Industry in Pakistan Essay The insurance business in Pakistan and I would prefer to do describe it as a business rather than an industry is an interesting application of this paradox. Over the years, the fatalism enjoined by Islam has been underwritten by a more pragmatic mechanism, which has offered various degrees of financial protection on the assumption that whereas it may be advisable to submit unquestionably to the will of God, one should not necessarily be out of pocket as a result. Fatalism tempered by pragmatism, therefore, can be regarded as recurring attributes of the insurance business in Pakistan, even from the very first green days of our Independence. When Pakistan was established in 1947, there were 77 insurance companies in all. Today there are 52. In 1947, 70 of those 77 companies were foreign companies and/or their branches. Today there are 10. The seven local companies have 47 years later become 42, and might have been more had 32 of them not been nationalised on March 18, 1972, when their life insurance business was brought into the public sector, and consolidated under the aegis of the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan. Today, Pakistan has 52 companies conducting general business. They offer primarily Fire, Marine, Motor and Accident cover. The composition of general insurance business is Understandable, considering the lack of sophistication of our domestic environment. In 1993, Fire (including-Profits) accounted for 32. 2 per cent of the Gross Direct Premiums, Motor for 33. 1 per cent, Marine (including Hull) Premiums for 23 per cent and Accident (including Engineering) for 11. 7 per cent. The concentration of business amongst the insurers themselves presents a curiously disjointed picture. The 10 foreign companies have only a 10. 5 per cent share of the Gross Direct Premiums, and of the 41 Pakistani companies operating in the market, 35 of them share 18 per cent of the business, while only 6 companies command and control 71. per cent of the general business. What these companies share in common, though, is an obligation (an onerous one according to some) to reinsure a mandatory 20 per cant (it used to be 30%) of their insurance business with Pakistan Insurance Corporation (PIC), which was established in 1952 to provide reinsurance facilities within Pakistan and overseas, and to develop the insurance by offering technical and expert advice. PIC has grown substantially since 953, with its Gross Premium Income in the last five years being above the 1 billion mark. Its overall profitability has wavered, falling from an all time high of Rs. 119 million in 1991 to below Rs. 50 million in 1991. Apart from this obligation to reinsure with PIC, the general insurance companies are left largely to themselves and expected to be self-regulatory. Their Fire, Motor, Workmens Compensation and Marine classes of business are governed by a Tariff which is determined by themselves through their Insurance Association. Their maximum statutorily approved agency commission rates of 15 per cent for Marine business and 20 per cent for Non-Marine business have become more gentlemanly statements of intent than rigorously enforced standards. In their business, insurance companies are monitored by the Controller of Insurance, an administrative arm not of the Ministry of Industries but of the Ministry of Commerce. They are regulated by Insurance Rules of 1958, approved in the same year as the distant Martial Law coup of Ayub Khan. And they are governed by a law the Insurance Act of 1938, promulgated a year before the outbreak of the Second World War. To fatalism and pragmatism, one should perhaps therefore add the world Archaism, for no sector of Pakistans financial services market stands so deeply mired in its past, nor has as much need for deregulation and modernisation, if it is to prepare itself for the future. than the insurance business sector in Pakistan. There is no equivalent to the Companies Ordinance 1984 in the insurance sector. There is no appropriate counterpart to the Corporate Law Authority, to give an impetus to its development or to safeguard the interest of the public. The recent spectacular growth in the financial services sector, in my opinion, was no accident. It was the direct fertile result of an environment made receptive by regulated incentives and governmental initiative. Can the insurance business of Pakistan achieve the same sort of success? I cannot see why not. What than should be the direction of the insurance sector? What should be its role? An attempt was made seven years ago to answer these questions when, in 1987, a Government Commission was constituted to diagnose the malaise in the insurance sector. The report, submitted to the Government three years later, identified some of its more reprehensible practices for example, the methods used by insurance companies to obtain business particularly through banks, irregularities in settlement of claims, the indisciplined and unethical ractices of insurance surveyors, methods of rebating, commissions to agents, and discounts Whatever good that three volume report contained was interred with its bones; the evils it hoped to exercise continued to live long after it. More recently, last year in August 1993, another review took place when, in an Overview of the Insurance Industry by one of the leading brokerage houses, Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Limited, the major problems were identified as: * Excessive Government controls * Compulsory reinsurance with PI C * High capital gains tax on investment gains Higher rate of tax on dividend income than 10% * Inaccessibility to public sector business, which is the domain of the National Insurance Corporation * Poor quality of manpower and limited training facilities It would be hard to question the justification for these complaints. It would be even harder to justify why the insurance companies have done so little to assuage them. If the future role of the insurance business sector is to grow and match the expanding requirements of Pakistans economy, there are key areas in which the insurance companies must themselves take the initiative. The first must be education. No one should be allowed to forget that insurance being a customer service oriented business, its success depends heavily on the quality and calibre of its personnel. In the United Kingdom, it was once considered enough for a new entrant into the business to have five GCEO levels and then spend his life within the same organisation learning the job on the job. Today, anyone wanting to make a career in Insurance should expect to be ready to tackle very focused courses, like those conducted by the College of Insurance in London. Apart from such foundation topics as Personnel Development Skills, Surveying and Risk Management, Reinsurance, Aviation and Marine, the students at the College are also offered such specialised subjects as European Law, the Use of Annual reports and Accounts for Errors and Omission Avoidance, Insolvency Rules and Regulations, and Financial Reinsurance and Derivatives. Insurance may have been a business by men; it is rapidly becoming one managed by women. An interesting aftermath of the second income phenomenon has been that in the United Kingdom, out of a total employment in the insurance usiness of almost 400,000 employed, 49. 3 per cent have been women. Another significant feature has been that 8 per cent are the total strength is self-employed. This emphasis on education, though needs to go beyond the potential or existing employees in insurance companies. Another audience whose knowledge of the insurance business should never be presumed but whose ignorance can have damaging cons equences is that of the lawmakers themselves. It took Great Britain over a century to recognise the significance of this advantage. Only as recently as 1991 was an All Party Parliamentary Group on Insurance and Financial Services formed to act as a bridge between the lawmaking MPs and a law-abiding industry. Without a better understanding of the business of insurance, should one honestly expect legislators to be able or equipped to promulgate sound and appropriate laws? And what about the laws themselves? Can there be legislation of any adequacy without an accepted definition of such simple but crucial words in a policy as theft, or flood, accidental bodily injury or reasonable steps to safeguard any property insured? Are we ourselves clear on what we all understand by Warranties, Responsibilities for Disclosure, Misrepresentations, and the Brokers responsibilities to his or her clients? Such legislative clarity is difficult to achieve but necessary to attain, for without such a suitable legal framework, and a regulatory environment which is both sensitive to and responsive to changes, the future growth of the insurance business in Pakistan will continue as before a blind perpetuation of arcane laws and the mindless repetition of previous practices. Can Pakistan afford such an addition to history? Can our insurance Industry avoid the responsibility for developing new products more attuned to the specific needs of our economy? The future of the insurance sector must connect with the permanent features of our economy. If we are still fundamentally an agrarian society, we have to expand crop, livestock and other such agrarian insurance schemes. The 1988 National Commission on Agriculture, incidentally, makes no mention of insurance anywhere in its 644 page report. If we are gradually expanding into an urban economy, we have to consider widening schemes which provide household and personal effects insurance. If we want to build our own motor cars to speed on our own multi-lane highways, we have to fashion policies which provide cover not simply for the vehicles, its passengers, third party liability, but also anticipate the responsibilities incumbent on highway authorities regarding the condition of the roads. If we want to maximise the safer and more efficient use of our railway system, we must encourage the Pakistan Railways to obtain cover for risks which are germane to their operations. Similarly, insurance cover of transport by road should not be left to the goodwill of the transporters, many of whom regard self-insurance, like rash driving, as the best form of protection. If we are veering towards industrialisation, products coverage should have to go beyond fire insurance of the factory and stocks Loss of profits insurance, safety standards, more open disclosure of actual replacement values, a fairer participation of the premium/risk are some of the more brittle realities businessmen will have to learn to accommodate. And if we are to have a population which is refusing to stop at 120 million, and is taking longer to grow older, clinical risk management will become continuing rather than occasional features of our economic society. Health insurance will become more than simply reimbursing medical bills. It could and must in time cover risks in obstetrics and gynaecology, health care management, managing financial risks like contract clauses and indemnities, drugs cases and claims associated with environmental hazards. And if we are a nation that attaches a value to the life and well-being of our citizens, a nation which advocates the work ethic, and a nation which encourages life insurance as a means of channelling savings into productive investment, the future role of the insurance sector both of Life and General will be a translation of these responsibilities and opportunities into productive action. The largest mobiliser of funds in the insurance market has been unquestionably the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan. Since 1972, following the traumatic nationalisation of life business, SLIC has grown tremendously. Its premium income has increased from Rs. 316 million in 1973 the first year of its consolidation to Rs. 5 billion in 1994, equalling the total Gross Direct Premium of all the 52 companies in the general sector. SLICs investment portfolio grew from Rs. 1. 4 billion to Rs. 21 billion, and not surprisingly SLICs investment income has now become almost one-third of its total income. Its yield on Life Funds is about 14. 4 per cent which may explain why the new companies which have been granted permission to do life business are displaying an understandable hesitancy. Nothing is secret in the public sector, and certainly the use of SLICs funds over the years to finance Government has been no secret. SLICs portfolio consists primarily of Government securities. That in itself is not a problem. What one needs to identify is the impact on the Governments reliance upon SLIC as a resource, should SLIC be privatised to the point where its policies could be brought more in line with market imperatives and competitive investment options. It is already six years since the Insurance Reforms Commission was established. During this period, because of Deregulation and Privatisation, the whole financial services market has undergone an irreversible change. Further privatisation will bring about additional responsibilities, which means more costs, as insurance of commercial risks becomes no longer a matter of choice but an inescapable requirement. Businessmen of tomorrow will have to accept that insurance policies are not a chance talisman against calamities. Used prudently, they can be a resilient and reliable safety net, providing them and the economy with a level of confidence to take risks which are quantifiable and knowingly and prudently underwritten. In another six years Pakistan will be in the 21st century. No one would expect that all of the aspects of the insurance business whether legislative, regulatory or commercial will be in place by then. A reasonable expectation would be that significant steps would be taken to move in those directions. Talleyrand once said that war is much too serious a business to be left to military men. Similarly, perhaps, the future role of Insurance in Pakistan is too serious to be left only to insurance men. Its future lies in the hands of better informed legislators, more responsible insurance professionals, and perhaps most importantly of all, more discerning and demanding customers themselves. Collectively they can, and I am sure, will fashion the future role of the insurance sector in Pakistan.

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What are the most important parts of a financial statement for an Essay

What are the most important parts of a financial statement for an investor to look at when deciding on a long-term financial investment - Essay Example If an investor buys shares of a company whose profits have been deteriorating over the years then it is likely that the impact of the falling profits will also be reflected in the price of its shares. This will erode the value of the company’s shares and the investment will result in losses. For this reason a careful analysis of the financial statements is a must before taking a long position in the shares of the company. The investors must make investments from long term point of view as this gives them the power to exercise control over their investments. An intelligent investor must not focus on the short term movements in the market rather one should concentrate on intelligent selection (Bogle & Swensen, 2009, pp.40). Ideally the return on a long term investment should be 7% (Campbell et al., 2001). Stocks generally offer best possible returns over the long term (Bodnar, 2006, pp.121). For the period 1926 to 1998 the common stocks of large companies offered an annual return of 11.2 percent. When compared with other instruments it shows that the stocks offered a risk premium of 7.2 percent annually. Even though the returns earned on large cap and small cap stocks is higher as compared to other assets classes their returns are more volatile. The return on long term bonds issued by US government is 5.3 percent per year i.e. a real return of 2.2 percent. Though the returns on such bonds are less as compared to the stocks but their returns are comparatively less volatile when compared to volatility in stock returns (Reilly & Brown, 2002, pp.92). The financial statements comprise of- Income Statement, Cash flow Statement and Balance Sheet. Income Statement is an estimation of the profits incurred or losses suffered by the business over a specified period of time. Cash Flow Statement is a summary of the net cash position of the business. Balance Sheet is a summarized statement of the assets owned by the business and the liabilities owed by it. Using these

Advertising and Guerilla Advertising Effectiveness and Comparison Literature review

Advertising and Guerilla Advertising Effectiveness and Comparison - Literature review Example In the process, there are complicated underlying theoretical constructs which play a part in the persuasive process. The message is partially dependent upon graphic design, and psychoanalytic theory is also important. Psychoanalytic theory can help explain persuasion, because it explains how the human psyche decodes and deconstructs ads. Moreover, meaning is ascribed, according to the person’s experiences and identity. Critiques of commercial art verses fine art is also relevant in this analysis, because much of advertising can really be considered to be art. However, as this paper will argue, commercial art is more relevant to society than fine art, because commercial art is more easily interpreted and decoded by society at large.Further, John Hegarty’s ideas will be fleshed out, and applied to the concepts of guerrilla marketing. The basics of advertising persuasion Advertising persuasion happens in many different ways.The use of semiotics is one persuasive devise. Se miotics consists of two parts – one is the symbol, or the signifier; the other is the connotation for the sign. So, for the Nike â€Å"swoosh† symbol, the actual â€Å"swoosh† is the signifier. The connotation is the connection that one makes when seeing the symbol, that connotation being all that Nike represents to the individual person – athleticism, celebrity spokespeople, perhaps sweatshops. Semiotics is basically a "system of signs, and can be verbal, visual, or a combination of the two. The study of semiotics would indicate that the meaning of advertisements is not found within the ad, but its meaning depends on how it operates, how signs and its ideological effect are organized internally (within the text) and externally (in relation to its production, circulation and consumption and in relation to technological, economic, legal and social relations)." (Dyer, 1982, p. 115). The audience are active participants in the decoding of the signs, bring ex perience and social background to the act of semiotic decoding. Returning to the Nike â€Å"swoosh,† how an individual interprets the sign might depend upon the background of the individual. One individual, who has Nike shoes, and love them, will decode the sign differently from somebody who has Nike shoes, and hates them. Another individual, who remembers the sweatshop scandal from years ago, might see the swoosh as a symbol of oppression. Etc. Semiotics are crucial to advertising, because this is the way that one company may differentiate itself from another company. Semiotics has not always been the vehicle for persuasion, however, as, during the 19th Century, advertising relied more upon words than semiotics. Earnest Elmos Calkins, founder of Calkins & Holden advertising agency, in New York City, changed the emphasis from words to semiotics. Calkins used modern art techniques in advertising, such as cubism and futurism, while using graphics designers and magazine illustra tors to design his ads. He was the first to understand that advertisements demand dynamic new designs, and was the first to let the designs themselves do the persuading, without the use of copy (Heller, 2001). Thus, graphic designers produce the semiotics which are used persuasively in advertising. These semiotics allow the advertisement to communicate to the audience, without using a single word. Advertising is very important to society, because of its persuasiveness, which helps goods be distributed smoothly. It is also important because it can convey messages about social issues, while persuading society about the importance of these issues (Heller, 2001). The symbol itself is just one aspect of semiotics, as

Personal Statement for college admission Essay Example for Free

Personal Statement for college admission Essay Every man has the capacity to make a difference in this world. The way to do it is by believing that all dreams can turn into reality. It also comes along with the choices that we make and the determination to work out in reaching the top. My name is (insert your name here) and I wish to continue my education in the field of Nursing at the Queens University. I have been interested in this field and I believe that by acquiring such degree, I can be of great service to people in the society. Being admitted in this university will make my dreams more attainable. I will be studying in a credible institution that recruits only the best and finest student. Moreover, this university is composed of wide array of educational resources and armed with excellent professors that will hone my expertise as a promising professional. After the said program I can go on and continue my life with full confidence because I have the necessary knowledge that can benefit other people. I will render the best service that I can so that whenever I will get recognize; it will also pay tribute to my Alma Matter. My experiences and academic standings have surpassed those of others. Looking back, I am a Technical Sgt in the USAF Delaware Air National Guard. My 8 years of service there granted me the award of being the Airman of the Quarter in 2005. The said award is for my outstanding performance as a Medical Material Specialist and at the same time doing volunteer works in Operation Enduring Freedom deployment. Aside from the aforementioned recognition I am also proud to say that I made it to dean’s list every semester because of my exemplary performance and dedication on my attendance at Delaware State University. I am a hardworking person especially when it comes to my personal and academic life. All of my achievements made me decide to attend medical school for two straight years. While I am studying as a medical student, I came to realize that my true calling is in the field of nursing. I believe that choosing to study at Queens University is one great choice because I can continue and pursue my career goals with an institution that produces nursing experts and professionals. The field of Nursing is the field that I can say as my cup of tea. I am willing to take all the risk because I am confident that I can succeed in reaching my dreams. I have the right mindset and I am determined to surpass every training and lectures that professors at Queen University will give me. I am an optimistic person who treats challenges as opportunities for me to grow. The rigorous training that I will go through will aloe me to learn more about myself, the nursing profession and how to be more disciplined in the field that I have divulged in. Life is really precious and we have to live on purpose. I realized that everyday spent is important may it be personally or academically. I should learn to give ways to others and render the best nursing service right after graduation. My quest for education will not stop after I graduated, I will find ways of sharing what I have learned to others and contribute for the benefit of healthcare in the society. By doing so, I would be able to show the world that nothing is impossible when a person puts dedication, heart and soul in everything we do. Pursuing a Nursing degree will help me build up an in-depth knowledge in most areas of medical healthcare and gain broader perspectives. I am confident that my academic journey at Queens University will prepare me for my future profession. I will learn fundamentals of nursing and more complicated subjects about it. I will also learn how to work more efficiently, overcome struggles and bring the best service to my patients. I believe that I can do everything as long as the determination is here in my heart. I am persistent enough that through my chosen field and academe, I can succeed and contribute in making this world a better place to live in.

Farewell To Arms :: essays research papers

The novel A Farewell to Arms, (1929) by Ernest Hemingway, takes place on the Italian front of World War I. Fredrick Henry is an American Lieutenant who drives an ambulance for the Italian army. On his leave time he often visits whorehouses and gets drunk. While fighting in the war, his knee gets injured and he has to go to the hospital in Milan where he meets a British nurse named Catherine Barkley and falls in love with her. During one of their many sexual affairs, Catherine gets pregnant. Fredrick greatly wants to desert the war because he is tired of seeing Italian solders killing each other. Fredrick and Catherine then escape to Switzerland by rowing across a lake. After they escape to Switzerland, Catherine has the baby, but during labor there are complications and she must deliver by having cesarean section. Other problems arise, she begins hemorrhaging, and dies. The baby also dies from the birth. Although this novel is not perfect, he uses very elaborate writing, and also sho ws how important it is to have good morals. “I loved to take her hair down and she sat on the bed and kept very still, except suddenly she would dip down to kiss me while I was doing it...inside a tent or behind a falls.'; This novel is very graphic when it comes to them having sex or while he is at the whorehouses during his leave time. Many things in this novel are inappropriate for children and adults. In more ways then one, Hemingway didn’t like women very much, one example is in chapter nine where he takes page and a half to describe how a solder dies who is not a main character in the book. But in chapter forty-one, he only uses approximately three lines to tell that Catharine dies, and she is a main character. In this novel there are a few things wrong. “The plain was rich with crops; there were many orchards of fruit trees...but the nights were cool and there was not the feeling of a storm coming.'; The elaboration and choice of diction in this book is extraordinary. Hemingway uses so many words to describe the little things in this book. “There was a great splashing and I saw the starshells go up and burst...biting his arm, the stump of his leg twitching,'; is another great example of how he uses much elaboration in the novel.

Reaction Paper to Chapter 6: Sedative-Hypnotics: the Other Depressants

Rachel Johnson Chemical Dependence: chapter reaction paper 10/24/12 (due 10/23) Chapter 6: Sedative-Hypnotics: The Other Depressants Brief Summary This chapter described sedative-hypnotics. They were said to be depressants to the central nervous system that produce a calming effect and cause sleep. This category of drug is abused because it produces pleasurable responses and because it gives a feeling of relief from stress and worry. The chapter goes into detail explaining barbiturates and how they work, and specific barbiturates that have been popularly abused in the past.This chapter also explains how some sedative-hypnotics have been found to be physically addictive while others have not. Different types of tranquilizers are described, along with others antianxiety medications and these are both explained as being drugs that people abuse and become dependent upon. Categories of inhalants including aerosols are also discussed and described as not being physically addictive, but cre ating of a drunken-like state such as is obtained from alcohol use when they are abused.What was learned In reading this chapter I learned which drugs are included in the category of those that produce sedative-hypnotic effects. I also learned about many products that are not intended for ingestion that are used as drugs such as aerosols and commercials solvents, which produce sedative-hypnotic effects. Because many sedative-hypnotic drugs are used and abused by people to produce sleep, this chapter taught me alternatives that are healthier for getting to sleep that do not involve any drug intake.Overall I also learned how these types of drugs are different from other types and what separates sedative-hypnotics into their own category. Personal insights This was another overwhelming chapter for me because I did not even really have a grasp that this was a category of drugs before reading the chapter. Now I have a better-rounded grasp of what substances are included in the world of a bused drugs.I feel frustration after reading this chapter because it added so many more types of drugs and substances that are abused to how many I have already found out about so far, and I don’t feel like I will ever be able to keep all the differences between categories and individual drugs straight. How this chapter helped me in learning to understand the disease of addiction The biggest thing I took away from this chapter that helps me to understand the disease of addiction is that not all abused substances are addictive in every way.Some drugs/substances are not physically addictive, but they can still be abused because of the good feelings obtained through their use. This is true for aerosols and commercial solvents; no physical dependence has been found to these substances when abused, but they are continuously abused by people because of the feelings of euphoria they can produce. So I understand better that some abused substances do not produce physical addiction, bu t are still abused and still have very dangerous effects.

Adversity and Its Effects in a Man for All Seasons

A Man for all Seasons is a play that was written by prolific English writer, Robert Bolt. Born in 1924, he worked as an insurance agent before joining the World War II as a Royal Air Force officer. He worked as a school teacher, after his time at the force, before embarking on writing this particular play. The same year he wrote it; it featured as a play in London and New York. It is crucial to understand the background of the play to understand it with more power. According to Kincaid, it is useful to understand that for many years in England there had been hostility to the clergy, because the Church had great worldly powers, property, and wealth, while many members of the clergy were corrupt and self-seeking. (11) With this play, Bolt wanted to bring out the strong characteristic steadiness of standing on one’s feet and owns ground in what one believes irrespective of what others think or say. The main character, Sir Thomas More, is a judge who is steadfast and firm in his beliefs. He is not easily swayed by people’s opinions, influence, threats, and intimidation. He objects to endorsing King Henry VIII’s plan of divorcing his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and marry Anne Boleyn. The King having promoted Sir Thomas to the position of Lord Chancellor of England, and Thomas being his long standing friend, will automatically guarantee Sir Thomas agreeing to support him. He wants Thomas to publicly endorse his divorce plan, but Thomas More feels Henry’s actions are not justified, and the divorce is not appropriate. This is backed by Greene when he affirms that even as Nobles, universities and the Clergy fell into line behind the King, More’s silence on the matter resounded thunderously. Despite the king’s unhappiness with More’s decision to remain silent, he stands firm and refuse to do what everybody else did even though the pressure on his family grew stronger and stronger (7). This shows his autonomy and independence in making his own informed decisions unlike the likes of Cromwell and Richard Rich who act as the King’s â€Å"yes men† doing all his bidding. Cromwell, the king’s intimate, works for the king to have More falsely persecuted and beheaded. We will develop here three main kind of adversities that More had to face: authoritarian, Family, himself. Sir Thomas More’s strong character and moral integrity are alluded to by the title of the play, A Man for all Seasons. The title is a reference to More’s never changing character and direction in life. According to Miller, More was a character with extraordinary blending of gaiety and gravity and for his flexible adaptation to company of all sorts. However, he knew how to compromise and not go out of his way; he did not bend rules, adopt or change for the sake of anyone, even King Henry VIII apart from his own God (26-27). This statement concisely puts down his beliefs and what kind of person he was. Thomas works within the boundaries of his own principles and in the end, dies for what he believes in. Lee compares Sir Thomas More with Roper. At the beginning of the play when the two of them are talking, Roper seems really devoted to his principles but as the play continues on, we learn that Roper is in fact not as true to his values as Sir Thomas More is. Lee talks about the â€Å"Romanticized† vision of a prison that Roper has compare to the reality of what More is living. When Roper visited More in prison he even encouraged More to give up when he saw the â€Å"awfulness of prison†. (319). His obstinate sense of self -righteous and defense for justice sees him earn many foes and adversaries. Just like Roper, many people pretending to be More’s friends turned out to become his enemies plotting behind his back for his downfall. His family, friends, and colleagues turn their back on him, and the adversaries from both his seniors and juniors continue swelling. The following are some of the most significant and outstanding adversaries Judge Sir Thomas More earns himself and faces off with. His many adversaries rise from his strong stands and refusal to bow down to the social order. His main and most prominent adversaries are the authorities and technocrats in the country. Upon meeting with Cardinal Wosley, then the Lord Chancellor of England; Thomas More reviews the decision by King Henry to divorce his wife Catherine and marry Anne and the subsequent decisions. He states his disapproval and says he doubts the Pope will give his assent on this divorce as it is confirmed by Greene when he describes the King’s feeling about the decision of Rome as ‘Frustrated’. The king was very disappointed with the decision of the Clergy and Henry vainly sought to increase the pressure on Rome. When that failed, Henry began to target the English Clergy. (7) It is from this particular point that Wosley declares a witch hunt on the judge, having him investigated and falsely accused of receiving bribes, and insult towards the King. These represent the authoritarian adversary, the adversaries that Sir Thomas More has to face that hold the keys of the government and have power and authority to hurt him according to the law. Although they are not following the law when they persecute him, they pretend to do so. The other adversary in the authority level that Sir Thomas encounters is King Henry VIII’s closest confidant, the recently promoted cardinal secretary, Cromwell. He is used by King Henry as a tool to fight and suppress Sir Thomas due to his stand against the King’s planned divorce. Here we are going to see the kind of adversity that was apply to More by his so-called friends in their thirst for power, they did not hesitate to step over him on their ascension to power. Cromwell plans for Thomas’ downfall by collaborating with the corruptible Richard Rich who is a low ranking functional authority. Cromwell offers Richard an opportunity to advance his career and climb the social ladder in exchange for information about Thomas and testifying falsely against him. Cromwell goes ahead and come up with a false case of how Sir Thomas received a bribe and brings to evidence: the silver cup that Sir Thomas gave Rich. At this point as readers we are already amazingly disgusted by the machinery these two people are putting together to get Sir Thomas More down. Eventually, this leads to the conviction and beheading of Thomas. On this matter, Abraham Lincoln said: â€Å"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power†. Rich was a good men, probably able to stand adversity with a good self-esteem, but when power was proposed to him, he gave up his conviction. The trut however, is that Thomas received the silver cup oblivious that it was a bribe. Yet, on realizing, he gave the cup to Richard as he did not want anything to do with it. Cromwell, goes ahead to meet with the Duke of Norfolk, another supposed friend, to get him to fix More in a bad light concerning the bribery scheme. The duke, however, proves to him that silver cup, in fact, was passed on by the judge as soon as he realized it was a bribe. Cromwell insists that the duke cooperates and participates in the grand scheme to bring Thomas down. This is because King Henry expects the duke of Norfolk to fully participate in the persecution of Thomas. Thomas woes continue pilling up when Signor Chapuys turns against him and joins the witch hunt. Signor Chapuys’ adversary towards Thomas arises from the breaking of the illusion that Chapuys was under concerning Thomas’ friendship towards the Spanish. Cengage Learning explains the relationship on Sir Thomas More with Chapuys as follow: In speaking with More, Chapuys tries to hide his true motives which are political, with flattery and references to religion. Because he is devious himself, he hears hidden meanings in what More says which leads to misunderstanding. 14) This quote explains why Chapuys did not understand More. He was trying to prove that More aleegiance to spain was no longer and so Chapuys thought that he had found an ally in Thomas to protect the interest of Catherine of whom he was cautious and concerned that she is embarrassed or insulted by King Henry as she is the aunt of the king of Spain. The Spanish ambassador states that he was unsuccessful in per suading More to support Spain saying, as it is affirmed by the sentence Chapuys uses in the play when he says, â€Å"Goodness can be difficulty† (Bolt, 62). Thomas’ refusal to accept the letter of appreciation that is sent by the King of Spain is also a possible source of the aggravated hostility from the Spanish diplomat, Signor Chapuys. All of these men are complotting against someone they knew, someone they worked with, and for some of them someone they had a close relationship with. Adversity can come from authority, friends and sometimes both. The other adversary of Thomas is King Henry VIII who is Thomas’ friend and King.. The king desires to get a son as the heir that his wife Catherine has not borne. He, therefore, plans to get a second wife to fulfill this, and it is here he seeks the support of the lord chancellor of England, Sir Thomas More. More is a devout Christian, and of strong moral standing; hence, he does not approve of this. Although he does not publicly or openly voice his displeasure, he is silently opposed to this. Johnson explains that it is probably to protect his family the best he can that he acts like that, â€Å"He is well aware of dangers on the horizon but does not want to cause them to worry by addressing the dangers directly. 7) At first, More enjoys a somewhat ‘safe zone; by remaining silent about the King’s plans. This comfort zone is trespassed when the King demands the vocal support of the wise, respect public figure. When the King visits him at Chelsea home, in London, More tells the king he will not agree to his plan. The King storms out in anger telling More that he will only leave him alone if he does not openly voice his disagreemen t for his planned divorce of Catherine and marriage to Anne Boleyn. This aggravates and worsens their relationship, which had been set on the rocks earlier. This was when Thomas More had declared he was going to resign if the Church of England Bishops were going to go along with the Parliament’s Act of Supremacy. This Notorious act puts the King as the absolute head of the Church of England, as well as the overall ruler of England State: the genesis of their conflict. This hostility towards the Judge comes to a boiling point where he flatly refuses to take an oath of allegiance in the King’s name, another creation of the King’s puppet parliament. Boughey posits that, â€Å"Henry VIII Wanted to look powerful and strong. [†¦] Henry VIII was a powerful king who was completely in charge of England. Nobody was stronger than Henry VIII, not even Parliament. (1). This is how the king was perceived in real life, probably it was the reason why he was described like that in the play and Sir Thomas More was described then stronger than the parliament and stronger than the King. This is the proof that Thomas More stood strong against the adversity even when it was his King and friend. This adversity can represent a symbol between the King and More with the king symbolically representing the monarchial absolute power and More representing civil law. Thomas’ refuses to have the King rule even his conscience. As a result, he is ready and willing to keep his honesty at all costs, even if it means losing his life. Kincaid expresses Thomas More’s willingness to die for his principles in this little paragraph: When More’s wife was sent to prison to visit him in the hope that she would persuade him to sign the Oath, she told him that he might, if he signit, have another twenty years of life. More answered with his usual wit that if she had offered him a thousand years, he might have been tempted, but twenty years in exchange for an eternity of damnation was a very poor bargain. (9). The kings tries to give More a chance but he refuses and choses to remain faithful to his principles. Thus, coming back to our symbolism, the civil law win over the absolute power meaning that absolute power in one’s hand can be lethal. Thomas’ ethics and integrity is based on a strong base. In the play, other characters appear to be good people but do not have as strong a base as the Judge. The duke of Norfolk for example seem to be a good guy. However, he does not understand More’s motivation. As Lee puts it, â€Å" The behavior of the duke of Norfolk are dictated by yet another good, the benefit of friends. The constant for Norfolk is the preservation of friendship with the people of the here and now, and thus, he cannot comprehend more’s insistence on risking those friendships for his love of a heavenly God. (313).

Tips How to Write an Interview Essay (Free Example)

Tips How to Write an Interview Essay (Free Example) Helpful Advice When You Need To Write an Interview Essay CONTENTS: How to Write an Interview Essay: Suggestions for Beginners Craft a Winning Interview Essay: 8 Helpful Tips Four Common Interview Paper Example Types Leave Your Troubles Behind and Entrust!Planning to write an interview essay? These kinds of essays can really benefit you no matter what field of work you plan to pursue after graduation. For instance, if you are hoping to become a journalist or a TV personality, you need to be able to ask thought-provoking, penetrating questions that help you gain insight. Furthermore, if your goal is to work in human resources, an interview essay is a great way to practice asking questions that you will one day ask job candidates. After all, you will need to be able to figure out which prospective employees best fit into the company culture and have the proper mindset to carry out their responsibilities. Asking appropriate questions is key to this. There are several angles that you can take, and this article will cover several of them. If you are seeking some helpful tips to write an interview essay, you have come to the right place. How to Write an Interview Essay: Suggestions for Beginners When you are a student, your professor will sometimes assign you an interview essay. As already mentioned, knowledge on how to write an interview essay will come in really handy in a variety of professions. When your professor assigns an interview essay, sometimes they will provide you with a topic, but often they will permit you to choose the topic as long as it is relevant to the class. As soon as you have decided upon your topic, do some research and seek out an expert who will allow greater insight into the topic under discussion. For instance, if you want some greater insight on a topic related to biology, you are likely to find a biology professor at your college who would be eager to answer your questions. Of course, it is essential that you give your questions a lot of thought. This means doing some homework and gaining a general understanding about the subject matter and then asking the interviewee to elaborate. After all, if you keep things too general or basic, or clearly demonstrate that you did not take the time to find some background information about the topic or even the individual being interviewed, they will likely see the interview as a waste of their time. With that in mind, here are some general decisions that you need to make: Decide who you want to interview Develop a list of questions Choose the interview essay format (narrative, career, questions-answers, etc.) Agree upon the location and date of the interview Craft a Winning Interview Essay: 8 Helpful Tips Note that writing an interview essay requires a different structure as compared to a conventional academic essay such as an expository, argumentative, etc. Four Common Interview Paper Example Types Narrative Format In this type of interview paper, you are not simply listing your questions and the interviewees answers; instead, you will write a descriptive story about your experiences of interviewing the subject and provide the reader with some personal insights as you went about the process. Thus, you might describe how you were feeling going into the interview, the mannerisms and reactions from the interviewee as they answered your questions, and what you ultimately learned based on the experience of interviewing that individual. As with typical essays you will want to include an introduction that catches the readers attention, a well-structured body consisting of between 3 and 5 paragraphs, and a conclusion that leaves the reader with a lasting impression. Leadership Essay If you have been assigned a leadership essay, your best bet is to look for somebody in the community who has proven track record. For instance, you could contact your Congressperson or a local business leader and ask if they have some time to sit down for an interview. Keep in mind that they often have a very tight schedule, so if they agree to be interviewed, be ready for them to cancel or postpone. You might also consider having a backup plan if they ultimately do not find time. While face-to-face is probably the most effective way to interview, be willing to chat on Skype or by phone. We do not recommend chatting through instant messenger as the tone could be misunderstood and it could lack nuance. Here are three possible topics that you can focus on as you conduct the interview: Ask them to define what leadership means to them Compare and contrast Social leadership vs. Business leadership Tests created to identify the level of personal leadership Career Interview Essay A career interview essay is a good way to gain insights into how successful people get hired. You could go about this from two different angles. You could interview somebody and ask them how they managed to land a particular job. In particular, you could ask what aspects of their life and career left the best impression. You could also interview a human resource manager to determine what qualities and characteristics they are looking for when they interview candidates. They might also share some of the dos and donts when interviewing for a job. Personal Interview The personal interview essay is the one for which the question-and-answer format is most appropriate. Rather than telling a story that incorporates your own insights, you are getting to the meat of the matter by asking the interviewee to discuss important events in their lives that shaped them. Childhood background information Insights on their formative teenage years College period Career experience Marriage and Family Life after retirement (if you are interviewing an older individual) You would still want to provide a bit of background about the individual before discussing the content of the interview. For instance, you should discuss why they are noteworthy and why they were chosen to be the subject of your interview. If you need a helping hand with your interview essay assignment, you can trust the professional experts at. For a reasonable price, we can put you in touch with an expert interviewer who can ask the thoughtful, penetrating questions that lead to a productive interview paper. You can read this excellent interview essay as example: Leave Your Troubles Behind and Entrust! Qualified writing experts. We have professional writers who are experts in virtually every field and know how to develop perfect interview questions. Unique academic papers. Your papers will be written based on your exact instructions and will never be plagiarized. Complete confidentiality.Your secret will always be safe with us. Neither your professor nor your university will ever know that you ordered custom papers using our services. Money back guarantee. You have nothing to lose. If your paper fails to follow your directions, you will not pay a dime.

Aristotle slavery

Aristotle believes that some people are by nature slaves. What Is his argument for that claim? Do you agree with Aristotle that a slave-holding society can be democratic? According to Aristotle, a slave is the property of its master, and that any piece of property can be regarded as a tool enabling a man to live. The slave, therefore, is a living tool of the master, whose purpose is to allow the master to live well. A slave belongs to a master, but a master doesnt belong to a slave. The rule of a master over a slave, then, is exercised with a view to the masters and the slaves goals or nterests. He represents slaves as a tool in his definition of slavery. Aristotle continues his definition of slave by explaining that those people who are slaves are naturally born as slaves and they are naturally the property of some one else. Those who are as different [from other men] as the soul from the body or man from beast and they are in this state if their work is the use of the body, and if this is the best that can come from them are slaves by nature. For he is a slave by nature who is capable of belonging to another which is also why he belongs to another nd who participates in reason only to the extent of perceiving it, but does not have it. Slaves are tools but they are alive and they belong to their masters. But when he widens his explanations about slavery, he states that all slavery instituted by human convention Is not compatible with Justice by saying the distinction between slave and free Is one of convention only, and In nature there Is no difference, so that this form of rule Is based on force and Is therefore not Just. Therefore, If someone Is not naturally born as a slave, it is unjust to refer him as a slave in his opinion. This critic of Aristotle means that if the slavery is built up my laws or is enforced by some particular communities; these are unjust because they are unnatural and they have no equivalency in nature. In his arguments, the people the laws treat as slaves and those they treat as free which coul d Justify the legal difference are indistinguishable. So, when Aristotle claims are scrutinized it is obvious to see that in some points Aristotle seems as accepting that some in fact, some legal methods which make people slaves are unjust. But he defends some dfferences between people and these differences make slavery Just. If legal slavery represents these Inherent differences It Is Just, but If It Is contrary to his then It Is totally unjust. Aristotle also states In Polltlcs that: the one strong for servile labor, the other upright, and although useless for such services, useful for political life in the arts both of war and peace. But the opposite often happensthat some have the souls and others have the bodies of freemen. And doubtless if men differed from one another in the mere forms of their bodies as uch as the statues of the Gods do from men, all would acknowledge that the inferior class should be slaves of the superior. It is clear, then, that some men are by nature free, and others slaves, and that for these latter slavery is both expedient and right. and this claim takes us to the point that distinguishing the differences among people. Also, there are some natural differences between people and these differences can Justify slavery or being someones living tool. Human beings are divided into groups according to different categorizations. The first partnerships among human eings would have been between persons who cannot exist without one another. There are two groups of people in this case; male and female for the sake of reproduction. and he continuous this discrimination by explaining the second partnership:the naturally ruling and ruled, on account of preservation. First, the ones who have less knowledge and who have more knowledge to manage with life. First group cannot properly exercise the practical virtues on their own and they have less chance to achieve the happiness. So, to treat someone as a living tool as Aristotle did, is not a complication to achieve the happiness. Furthermore, it is better to do so in order to give him the best possible use of that entity for the happiness. Where then there is such a difference as that between soul and body, or between men and animals, the lower sort are by nature slaves, and it is better for them as for all inferiors that they should be under the rule of a master. For he who can be, and therefore is, anothers and he who participates in rational principle enough to apprehend, but not to have, such a principle, is a slave by nature. By looking all these things Aristotle indicates about slavery, still it is not valid to defense the existence of slavery no matter what. Because in Aristotle arguments he defends that to be a natural slave is better for a slave, but to decide such an important in a human beings life is not possible, therefore not valid or ethic. Because it is unknown that if someone really unable to sustain his life and achieve the happiness especially for a short time of period. People may give their whole life to achieve the happiness and they can reach this aim maybe at the end of their lives, nd die as a happy human being without being treated as a slave by someone elses orders. Aristotle claims that natural slaves are people Whose condition is such that their function is the use of their bodies and nothing better can be expected of them. But by saying that he does not exactly mean not able to think or understand. Because if it was so that would be impossible for masters to expect all those things that slaves virtue is. But they are not the only one who are incapable to understand it, it is the majority of the society. Thus, if that would be an acceptable argument that, it would be necessary to agree that most people are incapable of true virtue and therefore they are all slaves which is impossible and completely absurd . Also another issue can be changed in a contrary way to what Aristotle claims. He distinguishes people as slaves and non-slaves, or the ruled ones and the rulers. But this grouping method can be collected in one group by using some techniques such as education. Even assuming that to be natural slave is natural and Just;it is quite logical to give a ualified education to group which includes the slaves and elevate them to the identical level as the rulers are. It is much beneficial to look for solutions rather than just categorizing people and treat them by some criteria without even questioning their rationality. Although the basic claims Aristotle makes, he is unable to explain not explain why some people are both weak and also have lack of knowledge and why some people are both strong and capable of knowledge. His arguments are also weak about why the children of natural slaves appears like natural rulers and how someone can ecome a slave even that not being captured in a war r how one can become a slave while he or she is the child of a natural master. When it is looked from different perspectives and from the society that we live in, all these reasons given above makes us to stand Just opposite to Aristotles thoughts and believing that it is unjust to enslave someone no matter what. Nobody is capable enough to decide whether someone has enough knowledge or not; or unable to sustain their lives and achieve the happiness, therefore it does not make any sense to try clarify the slavery is Just in todays conditions.

Personal statement of UC application Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Of UC application - Personal Statement Example Although I still consider myself a young person, I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to spend an entire summer interning for my father’s real estate firm in mainland China; performing the job responsibilities of an accountant. While in China, I was able to learn the rudimentary elements of basic business accounting while at the same time becoming accustomed to the Chinese laws that governed its implementation. There is no doubt that I have a great deal of further knowledge to be gained in this field by pursuing a major in accounting; furthermore, I am intrigued by the ways in which the lessons I learn from my education will be amenable to better performing accounting with relation to Chinese firms or American firms. Likewise, what intrigued me about this particular line of work was the precision that it involved. As opposed to many career choices I could make, accounting provides me with the rare opportunity to leverage my superior skills and intuition with mathematics alongside my interest in the law and how it governs financial regulation and actions within a firm or organization. Additionally, while working during my internship I noticed that I had the unique ability to concentrate and focus in a way that allowed me to handle complex levels of information. Additionally, once back within the United States, I began to work in my father’s Tea Shop managing the accounts and keeping the books for the business. Although this is the epitome of a small business and not nearly as complex as the skills that I will learn with relation to the degree I am pursuing, this experience has also taught me the overall importance of precision and certainty when dealing with the financial aspects of management as they relate to accounting. Although I have been fortunate to have a father that has entrusted me with such important tasks, I would very much like to grow beyond this and master the skills

What is ethnicity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

What is ethnicity - Essay Example Certainly, they often co-exist and it is hardly uncommon that the latter be invoked by the former but, both contemporary and historical events evidence the fact that nationalism can be independent from the nation.2 Not only may feelings of nationalism precede the geo-political realization of the nation, as in the case of Palestine or Kurdistan but it often survives the demise of the nation, as in the case of Armenia, to name but one example. While some scholars have disputed the separation between nationalism and the nation, others have maintained it to be an undeniable reality which is influenced by the ethnic roots of nationalism. Pending the presentation of definitions for both the nation and nationalism, through reference to several examples, this essay will show that nationalism is more ethnic-based than it is nation-based. Some political scientists maintain that nationalism and the nation are inseparable contrasts, wherein the one cannot exist without the other. This is precisely the argument forwarded by Seymour (1999), a political scholar. As he argues, defining the concept of nationalism without first defining that of the nation is nothing other than a futile and impossible undertaking. The nation must first be defined and to this end, Seymour proposes the following definition: "a sovereign state founded upon the will of the people," and an area which a people of specific ethnic origin claims to be theirs and are prepared to defend this claim against any aggression.3 The nation, in other words, is defined in specific geopolitical terms and refers to a well-defined geographic space. That space invokes nationalism, or feelings of pride, often even defensiveness when real or imagined threats are perceived. When invoked by real or imagined threats, whether internal, as in emanating from within that spac e, or external, as in emerging from without it, nationalism tends to assume an ethnic undertone. In such instance, the nationalism becomes ethno-nationalism, leading to the redefinition of the nation in ethnic terms.4 The implication here is that not only are the concepts of the nation and nationalism inextricably linked but that the invocation of nationalist sentiments, of nationalism, is dependant upon the existence of the nation. Should one reflect upon Seymour's definition and argument, however, one will find that it is somewhat self-contradictory. On the one hand, it maintains that nationalism can only be invoked by the nation, following which it proceeds to define the nation as a concrete geopolitical entity. On the other hand, however, it argues that when the nation, that concrete geopolitical entity, is exposed to threat, not only does nationalism become ethno-nationalism but that the nation itself is redefined along ethnic lines. The implication here is that the core of nationalism is not the nation but is ethnicity which, at the same time, is the center-force of the nation. This is precisely the argument forwarded by May, Modood and Squires (2005). As may be inferred from their argument, nations are formed by ethnic communities and are founded upon ethnicity, wherein nationalism becomes the celebration of a particular ethnic or religious group and the nation the space which protects and sustains this g roup. 5 Israel is a case in point. As Yiftachel (2006) points out, Jewish nationalism, sometimes referred to as Zionism, preceded formation of the Jewish nation and, indeed, the nation was predicated upon pre-existing nationalism6 and not, as Seymour (1999) argues,

Trifles by Susan Glaspell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Trifles by Susan Glaspell - Essay Example Trifles, I believe, is feminist in the most true sense of that word: it does not seek to speak only about injustice or the place of women in a society which undervalues their importance; it goes deeper than this. Glaspell seeks to understand and, consequently, show how attitudes and perspectives shape these social constructs, and thus, when individuals are appreciated or cheapened in particular societal contexts. To elaborate on this point, consider the lines when the women decide to protect Mrs. Wright. Glaspell wants to focus upon the minds of the individuals involved; although some would like to interpret the women’s actions (to protect Mrs. Wright) as motivated by a shared gender or social status, the truth of their decision lies in what Mrs. Peters succinctly summarized by â€Å"the law is law†. That is, her motivation for helping Mrs. Wright does not consist of purely traditional feminist notions of womanhood, but of a concern for truth and objectivity. The women find evidence at Mrs. Wright’s home, gathered with an open-mind and interpreted fairly. When law enforcement—the Sherriff and the County Attorney—interpret this same evidence, they will do so differently. This, as Glaspell wishes to suggest, is a matter of epistemological difference, and not of the metaphysical difference which many feminists like to suppose exists between the different realm s of male and female. Centrally, Trifles is a work centered around the two separate stories, one male and one female, combined into one in the setting of a commonplace American location. To illustrate the separate perspectives between the different genders involved in the place, following the murder, the law enforcement, male-oriented crowd sees the scene as a place where a grievous crime was committed, whereas the female-oriented crowd sees the scene as a home, or as somewhere that they

Effects of Manipulating Individual Identity

Effects of Manipulating Individual Identity Abstract: This study examined how changing the perception of social distance changed the way in which subjects interacted in the Trust Game specifically looking into the social preferences they displayed. A discussion of both economic and sociological research demonstrates the inherent variability of social identity and social distance and the interconnected nature these concepts have with social preferences. A two-stage experiment involving subjects of different nationalities and genders was carried out with a different identity focus in each stage. Findings show that subjects exhibit greater social preferences when interacting with those of a similar focused identity yet the degrees of these preferences displayed vary in accordance to the identity focus. Results suggest that social distance, although easily manipulated, is a powerful force in interactions. The results are consistent with previous studies into group membership, identity, nationality, gender and social preferences. Given this studys far-reaching implications it should be viewed as the premise for future study of this topic. Introduction The concept of social distance as elucidated by Akerlof (1997) is profoundly linked with social identity and social preferences. It is the differences in individuals social identities, including for example, race, gender, class and status, that determine the benefits of interaction and to what extent of social preferences are displayed. Yet when individuals are not entirely familiar with each other, the perception of social identities is based on very few observations and is therefore not entirely accurate. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine whether or not variations in the perception of social identity, and thus social distance, will affect the extent to which social preferences are manifested. Studies on the effect of identity are in no way new. Akerlof and Kranton (2000) studied its relevance and magnitude with regards to gender discrimination in the workplace, poverty and social exclusion, and the household division of labour. Akerlof (1997) also studied the effect of social distance, asserting that the social identity of individuals can substantially affect their interactions. What has not been tested, however, is to what extent identity is merely a perception. Individuals can and do possess multiple identities varying in dominance from situation to situation. The hypothesis of this paper is that social preferences are relevant in experimental games, but these are dependent on how each player perceives the others social identity, a perception that is inherently variable. Players react with varying degrees of self-interest according to the identity they perceive, even when identical character profiles are involved. Recent economic studies fail to sufficiently incorporate current sociological thinking as to the nature of social identity and although this study will give evidence for the relevance of social distance in determining degrees of social preferences, it will attempt to shed light on individuals inconsistent perception of the distance between them. In order to add weight to this position, an experiment was organised in which participants of various profiles were invited to play the Trust Game. Each game was played face-to-face with no verbal communication. The experiment was divided into two stages, a nationality focused stage and a gender focused stage. Each participant played the game twice and never with the same opposing player. Before each game, participants were assigned to certain rooms in which video clips were played depending on the identity focused on. In the first stage, participants were split into three rooms, one for each nationality present: Scottish, English and Chinese. After one play of the Trust Game, the experiment commenced its second stage and participants were split into two rooms, one for each gender, and again asked to play the game. The results show that there is significant variation in the degrees of social preferences displayed depending on the identity being focused on hereafter referred to as the focused identity. When nationality was the focused identity, those with this common identity exhibited greater social preferences than those of differing nationalities, regardless of gender. When gender was the focused identity, those with this common identity exhibited greater social preferences than those of differing gender, regardless, to some extent, of nationality. This lack of consistency shows that the perception of social distance is not a constant through both stages and yet it is still proves to be a determining factor in how players interact. The following content of this paper is arranged into four sections. Section 2 will address the relevant literature with regards to social preferences and identity, showing their relevance, interconnected nature and inherent variability, discussing the application of various theories in the context of this study. Section 3 will describe the design and implementation of the experiment used in this study with the results, analysis and comparisons to similar studies presented in Section 4. An interpretation of these results and further conclusions will be offered in Section 5. Theories of Preferences and Identity To clearly understand the argument presented, a holistic discussion of current theories must be embarked upon. The relevance of social preferences and the forms of their analysis through experimental games will be examined in this section to create the context in which this study is placed. The concepts of identity and how they shape perceptions and interactions will then be considered before discussing their relationship with social preferences. Social Preferences The assumption that man is motivated by self-interest is one that has dominated economic theory and is indeed fundamental to the very ideology of the vast majority of economists. As Adam Smith (1910:13) suggests, It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. Inherent in this analogy is the implication that self-interest is the primary motivator in our economic interactions, and it is through this impulse that equilibria are formed. In Game Theory, the Nash Equilibrium is obtained by each player assuming the other possesses purely selfish motives. This assumption, however, is not always consistent with reality. Many factors influence an individuals decisions and it is evident that the maximisation of material gain is not always a dominating motivation. Some of the factors influencing an individuals decisions can relate to social status, group membership, inequity aversion, reciprocity, s pite, envy, altruism and identity. These factors form a preference set, referred to in this study as social preferences. Although the theory of self-interest has been ingrained in traditional economics, modern economists have increasingly questioned this supposition. In fact the traditional authors of this theory were also wary of its realism. Even though Edgeworth (1881:16) writes that the first principle of Economics is that every agent is actuated only by self-interest, he concedes that Man is, in reality, for the most part an impure egoist, a mixed utilitarian, (Edgeworth 1881:104). It is evident that we are influenced by unselfish motives in our interactions with others and it follows that these interactions will in many circumstances involve material profit and loss. This is the realm of social preferences. Amartya Sen (1977:336), in his seminal paper on the irrationality of traditional preference theory states that the purely economic man is indeed close to being a social moron. He argues that theories that do not encompass the influence of sympathy and our commitment to it are incomplete. It is the result of this basic emotion that our social norms, laws and codes of conduct are formed and without which no society would be feasible (Johansen 1977). In various studies into social preferences, it is seen that they are comprised of multiple aspects. Reciprocity, inequity aversion, altruism and trust are all basic components of this preference set (Andreoni et al. 2002). When kindness or animosity is shown, the impulse exists to reciprocate in like manner. When inequity exists, the urge exists to rebel against it. Altruism is the virtue that depends on no form of expected gain or reciprocity, the purest form of good will. Trust is the confidence in the future actions of another and is arguably the most variable of the social preferences and one that will be revisited in this study. Each of these attributes are far from abstract philosophical concepts, exert great influence on our economic interactions. Agell and Lundberg (1995) discovered that as a result of workers being influenced by fairness and equity customs, wage cuts were often unprofitable, with workers objecting to an unfair action. This can have a direct impact on the extent that a company vertically integrates, with out-sourcing often being far more viable given the reciprocal attitude of workers. Bewley (1999) also noted that a firms policy can affect worker morale and as such companies must take into account the perceived fairness of their policies. The extent of tax evasion has also been correlated to how fair it is perceived, and in fact the entire structure of tax systems are thoroughly debated and altered according to the principles of equity and merit (Seidl and Traub 2002). The perception of unreciprocated generosity has been one of the causes of the general reduction in support from the US w elfare state. People are disinclined to support welfare structures that give the impression that they are helping a poor segment of society that refuse to help themselves, content to live off the goodwill of others (Bowles and Gintis 2000). Fukuyama (1995) also correlates economic prosperity with higher levels of trust, suggesting that social preferences are a very powerful force even in the current global economic system. Sequential games Although the examples given are wide-ranging in scope, involving relatively large economic issues, social preferences have also been proven to have a significant effect on individual interactions. Previously experimental games have been used to prove the dominating forces of self-interest, the equilibria of these experiments being calculated by assuming that all agents were exclusively self-interested (Fehr and Schmict, 2001). Recently, economists have carried out several experiments involving non-cooperative games that contradict this presumption. Guth, Schmittberger and Schwarze (1982) were among the first to create a game that did just this. It is called the Ultimatum Game. There are two players in the game, one a Proposer and one a Responder. The Proposer must divide an amount of money X between the two players, offering the Responder any amount Y = X. If Responder accepts, the Proposer receives the remaining money X – Y, if they reject, both receive nothing. Under self-interested preferences, the efficient equilibrium is the one in which the Proposer gives the least amount possible to the Responder, who will accept any amount. In reality however, offers of less than a fifth of X are rejected about half time and Proposers anticipating this generally offer around 30 to 50 percent of X (Hoffman et al. 1996). This result clearly shows that factors other than self-interest are at play. It would be reasonable to assume that altruism and reciprocity both play a part in the decision-making process of both players. The Proposer may be influenced by a code of morals and a concept of fairness to offer more than the standard equilibrium distribution. The P roposer must also take into account the Responders sense of reciprocity and animosity towards a seemingly unfair distribution. Although the Responder is under no monetary incentive to reject a low offer, yet his social preferences mean that he is able to achieve some utility by spiting the Proposer, thereby valuing a certain amount of reciprocity over monetary value. Given the fact that the Proposers actions may be driven only by the fear of reciprocity and no sense of altruism, it is worthwhile to look into the Dictators Game first introduced by Kahneman et al. (1986) and refined by Forsythe et al. (1994). In this game, the Responder, now called the Recipient, is not given the option to accept or refuse the amount given by the Proposer. If the Proposer is motivated by self-interested alone, they will offer nothing to the Recipient but as many experiments have shown, this is not always the case. Henrich et al. (2001) find that in most dictator game experiments there is a primary mode offer of zero percent of the Proposers total wealth and a secondary mode offer of 50 percent. Some groups show a primary mode offer of 20 percent and a secondary mode of 50 percent providing strong evidence of inequity aversion. In addition to supporting the notion that man is not exclusively self-interested, studies also confirm that fear of reciprocity is present i n the Ultimatum Game and that Proposers apply backwards induction with average offers being lower in the Dictator Game (Roth et al. 1991). The Trust Game, developed by Berg et al. (1995) is a game that can be used to test the presence of altruism, inequity aversion, reciprocity and its namesake, trust. The game is played with an Investor and a Trustee, with the former being given an initial endowment of X and the latter given nothing. The Investor is then able to give any amount Y between 0 and X. The amount the Trustee receives will be tripled, amounting to 3Y. The Trustee is then given the option to give any amount Z between 0 and 3Y back to the Investor thereby making the payoffs of the Investor and the Trustee X – Y + Z and 3Y – Z respectively. The Trustee is under no monetary incentive to return any amount and as such, under strictly self-interested preferences the Investor will predict this and give the Trustee nothing but, as with the Ultimatum and Dictator Games, studies show that many players of the Trust Game deviate from this equilibrium. Berg et al. (1995) find that almost all Investors give so me amount of money to the Trustee and that a substantial number of Trustees return at least the same amount and that a third even returned more than they received. The amount returned also increases with the amount given thus supporting the theory that reciprocity is an integral part of many preference sets. Investors and Trustees are able to display inequity aversion by choosing to give or return amounts that will equalise final payoffs. Trustees can also display altruism by returning anything over and above the amount needed to equalise payoffs. It is interesting to note that there is substantial variation in the amounts given, with no clear average amount entrusted. The variation is not unsurprising, however, given the inherent inconsistency in levels of trust that individuals demonstrate in their interactions with various individuals. In society, trust placed in an individual is dependent on who that individual is or, in other terms, trust placed is dependent on the perceived id entity of the individual in question. Identity Identity, at its most fundamental level, is at the base of all human interaction. For an individual to interact with another, the individual must have a clear concept of both himself and of the other. It is in the consideration of these two concepts that decisions are made. Descartes (1912:167) famously stated †¦I think, therefore I am, and in doing so sparked off the philosophical debate on what truly directs our thoughts and actions. Hume (1888) further develops this by exploring our perception of ourselves, our identity. It was his belief that we can only perceive ourselves, and build our identity, by categorisation in the light of selected characteristics and never perceive our true reality in objective terms. It is out-with the bounds of this study to discuss in depth the sociological and psychological complexities of this topic, yet it is worth-while bringing to light some key concepts to further the understanding of the interactions between this studys participants. An identity is a tool of recognition. It allows us to recognise individuals, categories, groups and types of individuals, Wiley (1994:130). More than this, it is also a tool of categorisation and emotional cues. It implies a conscious awareness by members of a group, some positive or negative emotional feelings towards the characteristics which members of a group perceive themselves as sharing and in which they perceive themselves as differing from others, Mennell (1994:177). Goffman (1968) further expounds these aspects of recognition by dividing identity into three sections: the personal identity, the ego identity and the social identity. The personal identity is the unique identification that each individual possesses to differentiate themselves technically, legally and realistically from all others. The ego identity is a purely subjective observation that is built from a multitude of social experiences and is a sense of ones own particular state and nature. The social identity pr ovides a way of categorising people and connects each person with a set of attributes and characteristics thought to be in keeping with the members of their respective categories. Individuals that possess commonalities in the form of thought, action, nature, experience or lifestyle can all be grouped into various social identities. Examples of social identities are nationality, gender, music-taste, age, profession and political views. It is important to stress that while individuals may only hold one personal and ego identity, they are able to juggle multiple social identities which have varying degrees of focus from situation to situation. Akerlof and Kranton (2000) put forward the theorem that our perception of our ego identity can have a significant influence on our decisions and actions. Their theorem sheds light on a number of seemingly irrational choices. Actions that are of apparent detriment to an individual can be viewed as a form of behaviour that it used to create a more unique self identity. Similarly, steps may be taken to symbolise the assumption of a particular identity or the membership of a certain group, be they conscious or otherwise. Men do not generally wear dresses, and as such this behavioural code is unconsciously subscribed to by the majority of men. Any behaviour to the contrary poses a challenge not merely to the social norm, but to the identity of manhood itself. Attempts to manipulate an individuals decisions can be based on the notion of identity. In order to influence people to buy their products, companies create advertisements that often show a stylised form of a particular identity that people may aspire to. Finally, as identity can play such a large role in determining our economic decisions and behaviour, and assuming that individuals can choose their own identity, Akerlof and Kranton (2000) conclude that identity choices can be a major factor in a persons overall economic well-being, a conclusion strengthened by the theory of role-identities. It is difficult to determine to what extent our identity is prescriptive or descriptive in relation to our own actions, but nevertheless the dual concepts of identity and role are deeply interconnected. Lyman and Scott (1970:136) clarify this link by stating that roles are identities mobilised in a specific situation; whereas role is always situationally specific, identities are trans-situational. By assuming an identity, we also assume a role. Despite that the fact that this role varies from situation to situation, it is at all times consistent with the assumed identity. It is from this notion that expectations and metaperspectives are formed. Laing et al. (1966) pioneered the belief that it is not I but you that is important. More specifically they claimed that we are all deeply influenced by considering our view of others view of ourselves and in such a way develop a role-performance that conforms to the expectation others have of our behaviour so as to receive positive feedback o r avoid negative feedback. In order to assess these expectations and act accordingly, we must first judge what these expectations are. With strangers, this is problematic, and as such we orient ourselves toward them in terms only of the ill-specified contours of their social roles, (McCall and Simmons, 1978:70). In this respect, we are only able to form rough estimations of a persons true identity and thereby rely on our perception of how they fit into vague boundaries of social identities. When we perceive people this way, our perception of the attributes they possess as ascribed by their social identity is often completely arbitrary when viewed in the context of an objective character analysis. The perception and reality can at times be poles apart, decreasing in accuracy with increasing social distance. Identities and Social Preferences Akerlof (1997) defined social distance as a measure of social proximity between individuals. The model he created summarises that people gain benefits from interacting to those socially closer to themselves, with these benefits decreasing with isolation. This model is supported by empirical evidence that suggests that trust and reciprocity are linked with social connection and that members of the same nationality and race exhibit greater degrees of these attributes towards one another (Glaeser et al. 1999). A common method of analysing social distance is through the construction of groups in experiments and many studies of this kind have provided quite significant results. Studying the effects of group membership on cooperation, Orbell et al. (1988) find that subjects are far more likely to cooperate with in-group members than out-group members, with 79% of participants showing cooperation with the former and only 30% showing cooperation with the latter. Through using a variation on the dictator game, Frey and Bohnet (1997) also showed how group membership affects social preferences. The experiment observed that in-group members were allocated far more of the total endowment than out-group members suggesting some correlation with membership and altruism and inequity aversion. An important finding of the literature on the topic of group membership is that subjects react to membership in a very subjective manner, disregarding objective considerations. Billing and Tajfel (1973) observe that the even most minimal connections within a group still give rise to in-group positive discrimination. Although subjects realised that the basis of group composition wa s entirely random, they still discriminated toward their fellow members in a very significant way. The fact that the weakest bonds are able to create positive in-group interaction is an important consideration when examining the relation between perceptions of social identity and expressions of social preferences. While group membership is a powerful force, transnational studies have shown that the cooperation inducing group mentality is not a universally consistent attribute. Buchan, Croson and Johnson (1999) find that subjects from the U.S. are more trusting when paired with in-group members but that this is not the case for subjects from China and Japan, who are more trusting in general, regardless of whom they were paired with. Buchan and Croson (1999) also find variations across genders observing that although participants trust men and women equally, women are seen to reciprocate more than men in Trust Games and are more generous in Dictator Games, findings that are consistent internationally. Another consistency that was found across nationalities in this study was the effect that communication between players had on trust and reciprocation levels, a conclusion also mirrored in other experiments. Roth (1995) found that even simple, seemingly irrelevant conversations significantly increa sed the levels of these social preferences. Regardless of variations across nationality, gender and communication levels, it is apparent that there is a clear connection between identity and social preferences. As we categorise individuals into social categories, we not only presume they possess certain qualities and attributes but we also predict how they react. In the same way we use metaperspectives to shape our own actions based on vague notions of the social identities of others, we also use these imperfect images to form inherently imperfect expectations of future interactions. The perception and reality can at times be irreconcilable and yet any initial interaction uses this as its basis. McCall and Simmons (1978) put forward the idea that any interaction that takes place is solely based on images that are constructed in the minds of those interacting. Taking into account the inaccuracy of these constructs when strangers interact, we can see how this translates into the laymans term of prejudice, a concept closely linke d with trust. The concept of trust, as mentioned earlier is based on confidence and at the heart of confidence is a deep reliance on predictions and expectations which are in turn based on the rough identities that we perceive others to possess. This results in great variance in trust levels which, although proven in studies referred to above, is readily seen in everyday life. Trust can be unquestioned with interactions with family members and friends but displayed with lesser and lesser extents to strangers and those who we perceive as untrustworthy. Just as signalling is used in the employment markets, so it is in our trust-dependant interactions. One may ask a well-dressed, polite and friendly stranger to watch over some personal belongings in a library but may be loath to leave anything unattended when in the presence of hooded youth. The hood can be seen as a signal that the wearer is dangerous and cannot be trusted. It is perceived as the expression of an identity, the perception of which ca n influence our attitudes and behaviour. The studies above also show that identity can greatly affect reciprocity, inequity aversion and altruism. Experiments based around group membership, however minimal, show the great influence groups have on these social preferences. One explanation of this is the concept of metaperspectives, in that individuals are more generous in experimental games because they believe that their counterpart expects them to be. Akerlofs (1997:1008) model of social distance also sheds some light on this by theorising that individuals benefit from lesser amounts of social distance between them and thus have the incentive to conform to expectations, what he labels The Conformist Model. A reduction of social distance between players can also be achieved by perceived acts of kindness and so experimental game players may be willing to sacrifice monetary gains so as to achieve social gains with another player. This incentive however, is again based on social distance and those players who feel socially far apart may feel no need to become socially closer, a feeling that is ultimately merely based on their perception of the current social distance and social identities. Two significant ways in which individuals identify themselves and others is by their nationality and gender. At the outset of mankinds evolution, gender has been a universal divider of the human race, preceding all other identities. Rooted in our biology, gender is the simplest form of classification, but its implications are far more wide-reaching than simple physiology. To the opposite sex, gender implies certain generalised roles, attitudes, commitments, experiences and lifestyles. The source of such clear social stereotypes is only in part biological and many academics are of the belief that behavioural and psychological differences are created and perpetuated by unbalanced power and privilege structures in society (Flax 1990). The amplification of social distance is caused by the notion that qualities are gender specific, with masculinity and femininity being attributes in themselves, and the fact that men and women are commonly associated with their relative positions in both f amily life and work life. Lockheed (1985) supposes that women are conceived as compliant followers and men dominant leaders only because of the common minority and majority balance that is common in social and work situations. The large disparity between the social identity and actual realities of members of the opposite sex provides a good opportunity to explore to what extent interaction is based on unqualified perceptions and to map the effect of variations in this perception. Unlike gender identities, nationalism is a relatively new force in the world (Smith 1995). It can be seen as a group identity that has transcended some cultures, as seen in the ethnically diverse nations such as India and Russia, but divided others as seen in the cases of North and South Korea and the Taiwanese and Chinese separation and is manifested in positive discrimination towards fellow nationals and negative discrimination towards foreigners (Macesich, 1985). Breton (1964:378) notes that governments utilise nationalistic instruments†¦ for the purpose of increasing the share of assets in a given assets in a given territory owned by the nationals of that territory. Breton (1964) also observes that nationalistic redistribution of investment and capital results in a lower rate of return than would be realised if resources were allocated efficiently, an observation that draws parallels with the nature of social preferences on a much larger scale. The practice of promoting thes e nationalistic policies that are not beneficial to certain population segments is centred on the formation of a nation-wide group identity that promotes solidarity in the same way that smaller scale groups do. The membership of these nation-groups is defined according to several commonalities. Members share an economy, a historic territory, myths and memories, a public culture, and a set of legal rights (Smith 1991). What is clear from this definition is the lack of consistent personal characteristics, illustrating that members of a nation-group vary considerably in their social and personal identities. The minimal nature of the nation-group is accepted by many academics, some seeing nationalism as an ironic tool that encourages members to appreciate things that are national for the mere fact that it is national (Breton 1964). Karl Deutsch (1969:3) aptly described a nation as a group of people united by a common error about their ancestry and a common dislike of their neighbours, evoking the notion that national identity is a predominately social construct inaccurately perceived to be connected to common characteristics, descent and preferences. (Smith 1996) stresses that the perception of ones own nationality and that of others is inherently only emotional, implying a subjective disregard for objective considerations that results in large social distances between foreigners and nationals, and smaller social distances between nationals. However erroneous, the very substantial influence nationality exerts can be seen through the stereotypical actions of distrusting of foreigners and supporting fellow country-men, making nationality another excellent candidate identity to examine how variations in perceived identity cause variations in the social preferences displayed. Experimental Design and Implementation It is social identity and its inherently variable quality that is at the heart of this study. It is this studys aim to discover in what way the perception of this identity can affect the extent that social preferences are displayed and whether or not a shift of focus from one form of social identity to another will cause a change in degree of social preferences manifested. Given its ability to expose these preferences, an extension of the Trust Game is used Effects of Manipulating Individual Identity Effects of Manipulating Individual Identity Abstract: This study examined how changing the perception of social distance changed the way in which subjects interacted in the Trust Game specifically looking into the social preferences they displayed. A discussion of both economic and sociological research demonstrates the inherent variability of social identity and social distance and the interconnected nature these concepts have with social preferences. A two-stage experiment involving subjects of different nationalities and genders was carried out with a different identity focus in each stage. Findings show that subjects exhibit greater social preferences when interacting with those of a similar focused identity yet the degrees of these preferences displayed vary in accordance to the identity focus. Results suggest that social distance, although easily manipulated, is a powerful force in interactions. The results are consistent with previous studies into group membership, identity, nationality, gender and social preferences. Given this studys far-reaching implications it should be viewed as the premise for future study of this topic. Introduction The concept of social distance as elucidated by Akerlof (1997) is profoundly linked with social identity and social preferences. It is the differences in individuals social identities, including for example, race, gender, class and status, that determine the benefits of interaction and to what extent of social preferences are displayed. Yet when individuals are not entirely familiar with each other, the perception of social identities is based on very few observations and is therefore not entirely accurate. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine whether or not variations in the perception of social identity, and thus social distance, will affect the extent to which social preferences are manifested. Studies on the effect of identity are in no way new. Akerlof and Kranton (2000) studied its relevance and magnitude with regards to gender discrimination in the workplace, poverty and social exclusion, and the household division of labour. Akerlof (1997) also studied the effect of social distance, asserting that the social identity of individuals can substantially affect their interactions. What has not been tested, however, is to what extent identity is merely a perception. Individuals can and do possess multiple identities varying in dominance from situation to situation. The hypothesis of this paper is that social preferences are relevant in experimental games, but these are dependent on how each player perceives the others social identity, a perception that is inherently variable. Players react with varying degrees of self-interest according to the identity they perceive, even when identical character profiles are involved. Recent economic studies fail to sufficiently incorporate current sociological thinking as to the nature of social identity and although this study will give evidence for the relevance of social distance in determining degrees of social preferences, it will attempt to shed light on individuals inconsistent perception of the distance between them. In order to add weight to this position, an experiment was organised in which participants of various profiles were invited to play the Trust Game. Each game was played face-to-face with no verbal communication. The experiment was divided into two stages, a nationality focused stage and a gender focused stage. Each participant played the game twice and never with the same opposing player. Before each game, participants were assigned to certain rooms in which video clips were played depending on the identity focused on. In the first stage, participants were split into three rooms, one for each nationality present: Scottish, English and Chinese. After one play of the Trust Game, the experiment commenced its second stage and participants were split into two rooms, one for each gender, and again asked to play the game. The results show that there is significant variation in the degrees of social preferences displayed depending on the identity being focused on hereafter referred to as the focused identity. When nationality was the focused identity, those with this common identity exhibited greater social preferences than those of differing nationalities, regardless of gender. When gender was the focused identity, those with this common identity exhibited greater social preferences than those of differing gender, regardless, to some extent, of nationality. This lack of consistency shows that the perception of social distance is not a constant through both stages and yet it is still proves to be a determining factor in how players interact. The following content of this paper is arranged into four sections. Section 2 will address the relevant literature with regards to social preferences and identity, showing their relevance, interconnected nature and inherent variability, discussing the application of various theories in the context of this study. Section 3 will describe the design and implementation of the experiment used in this study with the results, analysis and comparisons to similar studies presented in Section 4. An interpretation of these results and further conclusions will be offered in Section 5. Theories of Preferences and Identity To clearly understand the argument presented, a holistic discussion of current theories must be embarked upon. The relevance of social preferences and the forms of their analysis through experimental games will be examined in this section to create the context in which this study is placed. The concepts of identity and how they shape perceptions and interactions will then be considered before discussing their relationship with social preferences. Social Preferences The assumption that man is motivated by self-interest is one that has dominated economic theory and is indeed fundamental to the very ideology of the vast majority of economists. As Adam Smith (1910:13) suggests, It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. Inherent in this analogy is the implication that self-interest is the primary motivator in our economic interactions, and it is through this impulse that equilibria are formed. In Game Theory, the Nash Equilibrium is obtained by each player assuming the other possesses purely selfish motives. This assumption, however, is not always consistent with reality. Many factors influence an individuals decisions and it is evident that the maximisation of material gain is not always a dominating motivation. Some of the factors influencing an individuals decisions can relate to social status, group membership, inequity aversion, reciprocity, s pite, envy, altruism and identity. These factors form a preference set, referred to in this study as social preferences. Although the theory of self-interest has been ingrained in traditional economics, modern economists have increasingly questioned this supposition. In fact the traditional authors of this theory were also wary of its realism. Even though Edgeworth (1881:16) writes that the first principle of Economics is that every agent is actuated only by self-interest, he concedes that Man is, in reality, for the most part an impure egoist, a mixed utilitarian, (Edgeworth 1881:104). It is evident that we are influenced by unselfish motives in our interactions with others and it follows that these interactions will in many circumstances involve material profit and loss. This is the realm of social preferences. Amartya Sen (1977:336), in his seminal paper on the irrationality of traditional preference theory states that the purely economic man is indeed close to being a social moron. He argues that theories that do not encompass the influence of sympathy and our commitment to it are incomplete. It is the result of this basic emotion that our social norms, laws and codes of conduct are formed and without which no society would be feasible (Johansen 1977). In various studies into social preferences, it is seen that they are comprised of multiple aspects. Reciprocity, inequity aversion, altruism and trust are all basic components of this preference set (Andreoni et al. 2002). When kindness or animosity is shown, the impulse exists to reciprocate in like manner. When inequity exists, the urge exists to rebel against it. Altruism is the virtue that depends on no form of expected gain or reciprocity, the purest form of good will. Trust is the confidence in the future actions of another and is arguably the most variable of the social preferences and one that will be revisited in this study. Each of these attributes are far from abstract philosophical concepts, exert great influence on our economic interactions. Agell and Lundberg (1995) discovered that as a result of workers being influenced by fairness and equity customs, wage cuts were often unprofitable, with workers objecting to an unfair action. This can have a direct impact on the extent that a company vertically integrates, with out-sourcing often being far more viable given the reciprocal attitude of workers. Bewley (1999) also noted that a firms policy can affect worker morale and as such companies must take into account the perceived fairness of their policies. The extent of tax evasion has also been correlated to how fair it is perceived, and in fact the entire structure of tax systems are thoroughly debated and altered according to the principles of equity and merit (Seidl and Traub 2002). The perception of unreciprocated generosity has been one of the causes of the general reduction in support from the US w elfare state. People are disinclined to support welfare structures that give the impression that they are helping a poor segment of society that refuse to help themselves, content to live off the goodwill of others (Bowles and Gintis 2000). Fukuyama (1995) also correlates economic prosperity with higher levels of trust, suggesting that social preferences are a very powerful force even in the current global economic system. Sequential games Although the examples given are wide-ranging in scope, involving relatively large economic issues, social preferences have also been proven to have a significant effect on individual interactions. Previously experimental games have been used to prove the dominating forces of self-interest, the equilibria of these experiments being calculated by assuming that all agents were exclusively self-interested (Fehr and Schmict, 2001). Recently, economists have carried out several experiments involving non-cooperative games that contradict this presumption. Guth, Schmittberger and Schwarze (1982) were among the first to create a game that did just this. It is called the Ultimatum Game. There are two players in the game, one a Proposer and one a Responder. The Proposer must divide an amount of money X between the two players, offering the Responder any amount Y = X. If Responder accepts, the Proposer receives the remaining money X – Y, if they reject, both receive nothing. Under self-interested preferences, the efficient equilibrium is the one in which the Proposer gives the least amount possible to the Responder, who will accept any amount. In reality however, offers of less than a fifth of X are rejected about half time and Proposers anticipating this generally offer around 30 to 50 percent of X (Hoffman et al. 1996). This result clearly shows that factors other than self-interest are at play. It would be reasonable to assume that altruism and reciprocity both play a part in the decision-making process of both players. The Proposer may be influenced by a code of morals and a concept of fairness to offer more than the standard equilibrium distribution. The P roposer must also take into account the Responders sense of reciprocity and animosity towards a seemingly unfair distribution. Although the Responder is under no monetary incentive to reject a low offer, yet his social preferences mean that he is able to achieve some utility by spiting the Proposer, thereby valuing a certain amount of reciprocity over monetary value. Given the fact that the Proposers actions may be driven only by the fear of reciprocity and no sense of altruism, it is worthwhile to look into the Dictators Game first introduced by Kahneman et al. (1986) and refined by Forsythe et al. (1994). In this game, the Responder, now called the Recipient, is not given the option to accept or refuse the amount given by the Proposer. If the Proposer is motivated by self-interested alone, they will offer nothing to the Recipient but as many experiments have shown, this is not always the case. Henrich et al. (2001) find that in most dictator game experiments there is a primary mode offer of zero percent of the Proposers total wealth and a secondary mode offer of 50 percent. Some groups show a primary mode offer of 20 percent and a secondary mode of 50 percent providing strong evidence of inequity aversion. In addition to supporting the notion that man is not exclusively self-interested, studies also confirm that fear of reciprocity is present i n the Ultimatum Game and that Proposers apply backwards induction with average offers being lower in the Dictator Game (Roth et al. 1991). The Trust Game, developed by Berg et al. (1995) is a game that can be used to test the presence of altruism, inequity aversion, reciprocity and its namesake, trust. The game is played with an Investor and a Trustee, with the former being given an initial endowment of X and the latter given nothing. The Investor is then able to give any amount Y between 0 and X. The amount the Trustee receives will be tripled, amounting to 3Y. The Trustee is then given the option to give any amount Z between 0 and 3Y back to the Investor thereby making the payoffs of the Investor and the Trustee X – Y + Z and 3Y – Z respectively. The Trustee is under no monetary incentive to return any amount and as such, under strictly self-interested preferences the Investor will predict this and give the Trustee nothing but, as with the Ultimatum and Dictator Games, studies show that many players of the Trust Game deviate from this equilibrium. Berg et al. (1995) find that almost all Investors give so me amount of money to the Trustee and that a substantial number of Trustees return at least the same amount and that a third even returned more than they received. The amount returned also increases with the amount given thus supporting the theory that reciprocity is an integral part of many preference sets. Investors and Trustees are able to display inequity aversion by choosing to give or return amounts that will equalise final payoffs. Trustees can also display altruism by returning anything over and above the amount needed to equalise payoffs. It is interesting to note that there is substantial variation in the amounts given, with no clear average amount entrusted. The variation is not unsurprising, however, given the inherent inconsistency in levels of trust that individuals demonstrate in their interactions with various individuals. In society, trust placed in an individual is dependent on who that individual is or, in other terms, trust placed is dependent on the perceived id entity of the individual in question. Identity Identity, at its most fundamental level, is at the base of all human interaction. For an individual to interact with another, the individual must have a clear concept of both himself and of the other. It is in the consideration of these two concepts that decisions are made. Descartes (1912:167) famously stated †¦I think, therefore I am, and in doing so sparked off the philosophical debate on what truly directs our thoughts and actions. Hume (1888) further develops this by exploring our perception of ourselves, our identity. It was his belief that we can only perceive ourselves, and build our identity, by categorisation in the light of selected characteristics and never perceive our true reality in objective terms. It is out-with the bounds of this study to discuss in depth the sociological and psychological complexities of this topic, yet it is worth-while bringing to light some key concepts to further the understanding of the interactions between this studys participants. An identity is a tool of recognition. It allows us to recognise individuals, categories, groups and types of individuals, Wiley (1994:130). More than this, it is also a tool of categorisation and emotional cues. It implies a conscious awareness by members of a group, some positive or negative emotional feelings towards the characteristics which members of a group perceive themselves as sharing and in which they perceive themselves as differing from others, Mennell (1994:177). Goffman (1968) further expounds these aspects of recognition by dividing identity into three sections: the personal identity, the ego identity and the social identity. The personal identity is the unique identification that each individual possesses to differentiate themselves technically, legally and realistically from all others. The ego identity is a purely subjective observation that is built from a multitude of social experiences and is a sense of ones own particular state and nature. The social identity pr ovides a way of categorising people and connects each person with a set of attributes and characteristics thought to be in keeping with the members of their respective categories. Individuals that possess commonalities in the form of thought, action, nature, experience or lifestyle can all be grouped into various social identities. Examples of social identities are nationality, gender, music-taste, age, profession and political views. It is important to stress that while individuals may only hold one personal and ego identity, they are able to juggle multiple social identities which have varying degrees of focus from situation to situation. Akerlof and Kranton (2000) put forward the theorem that our perception of our ego identity can have a significant influence on our decisions and actions. Their theorem sheds light on a number of seemingly irrational choices. Actions that are of apparent detriment to an individual can be viewed as a form of behaviour that it used to create a more unique self identity. Similarly, steps may be taken to symbolise the assumption of a particular identity or the membership of a certain group, be they conscious or otherwise. Men do not generally wear dresses, and as such this behavioural code is unconsciously subscribed to by the majority of men. Any behaviour to the contrary poses a challenge not merely to the social norm, but to the identity of manhood itself. Attempts to manipulate an individuals decisions can be based on the notion of identity. In order to influence people to buy their products, companies create advertisements that often show a stylised form of a particular identity that people may aspire to. Finally, as identity can play such a large role in determining our economic decisions and behaviour, and assuming that individuals can choose their own identity, Akerlof and Kranton (2000) conclude that identity choices can be a major factor in a persons overall economic well-being, a conclusion strengthened by the theory of role-identities. It is difficult to determine to what extent our identity is prescriptive or descriptive in relation to our own actions, but nevertheless the dual concepts of identity and role are deeply interconnected. Lyman and Scott (1970:136) clarify this link by stating that roles are identities mobilised in a specific situation; whereas role is always situationally specific, identities are trans-situational. By assuming an identity, we also assume a role. Despite that the fact that this role varies from situation to situation, it is at all times consistent with the assumed identity. It is from this notion that expectations and metaperspectives are formed. Laing et al. (1966) pioneered the belief that it is not I but you that is important. More specifically they claimed that we are all deeply influenced by considering our view of others view of ourselves and in such a way develop a role-performance that conforms to the expectation others have of our behaviour so as to receive positive feedback o r avoid negative feedback. In order to assess these expectations and act accordingly, we must first judge what these expectations are. With strangers, this is problematic, and as such we orient ourselves toward them in terms only of the ill-specified contours of their social roles, (McCall and Simmons, 1978:70). In this respect, we are only able to form rough estimations of a persons true identity and thereby rely on our perception of how they fit into vague boundaries of social identities. When we perceive people this way, our perception of the attributes they possess as ascribed by their social identity is often completely arbitrary when viewed in the context of an objective character analysis. The perception and reality can at times be poles apart, decreasing in accuracy with increasing social distance. Identities and Social Preferences Akerlof (1997) defined social distance as a measure of social proximity between individuals. The model he created summarises that people gain benefits from interacting to those socially closer to themselves, with these benefits decreasing with isolation. This model is supported by empirical evidence that suggests that trust and reciprocity are linked with social connection and that members of the same nationality and race exhibit greater degrees of these attributes towards one another (Glaeser et al. 1999). A common method of analysing social distance is through the construction of groups in experiments and many studies of this kind have provided quite significant results. Studying the effects of group membership on cooperation, Orbell et al. (1988) find that subjects are far more likely to cooperate with in-group members than out-group members, with 79% of participants showing cooperation with the former and only 30% showing cooperation with the latter. Through using a variation on the dictator game, Frey and Bohnet (1997) also showed how group membership affects social preferences. The experiment observed that in-group members were allocated far more of the total endowment than out-group members suggesting some correlation with membership and altruism and inequity aversion. An important finding of the literature on the topic of group membership is that subjects react to membership in a very subjective manner, disregarding objective considerations. Billing and Tajfel (1973) observe that the even most minimal connections within a group still give rise to in-group positive discrimination. Although subjects realised that the basis of group composition wa s entirely random, they still discriminated toward their fellow members in a very significant way. The fact that the weakest bonds are able to create positive in-group interaction is an important consideration when examining the relation between perceptions of social identity and expressions of social preferences. While group membership is a powerful force, transnational studies have shown that the cooperation inducing group mentality is not a universally consistent attribute. Buchan, Croson and Johnson (1999) find that subjects from the U.S. are more trusting when paired with in-group members but that this is not the case for subjects from China and Japan, who are more trusting in general, regardless of whom they were paired with. Buchan and Croson (1999) also find variations across genders observing that although participants trust men and women equally, women are seen to reciprocate more than men in Trust Games and are more generous in Dictator Games, findings that are consistent internationally. Another consistency that was found across nationalities in this study was the effect that communication between players had on trust and reciprocation levels, a conclusion also mirrored in other experiments. Roth (1995) found that even simple, seemingly irrelevant conversations significantly increa sed the levels of these social preferences. Regardless of variations across nationality, gender and communication levels, it is apparent that there is a clear connection between identity and social preferences. As we categorise individuals into social categories, we not only presume they possess certain qualities and attributes but we also predict how they react. In the same way we use metaperspectives to shape our own actions based on vague notions of the social identities of others, we also use these imperfect images to form inherently imperfect expectations of future interactions. The perception and reality can at times be irreconcilable and yet any initial interaction uses this as its basis. McCall and Simmons (1978) put forward the idea that any interaction that takes place is solely based on images that are constructed in the minds of those interacting. Taking into account the inaccuracy of these constructs when strangers interact, we can see how this translates into the laymans term of prejudice, a concept closely linke d with trust. The concept of trust, as mentioned earlier is based on confidence and at the heart of confidence is a deep reliance on predictions and expectations which are in turn based on the rough identities that we perceive others to possess. This results in great variance in trust levels which, although proven in studies referred to above, is readily seen in everyday life. Trust can be unquestioned with interactions with family members and friends but displayed with lesser and lesser extents to strangers and those who we perceive as untrustworthy. Just as signalling is used in the employment markets, so it is in our trust-dependant interactions. One may ask a well-dressed, polite and friendly stranger to watch over some personal belongings in a library but may be loath to leave anything unattended when in the presence of hooded youth. The hood can be seen as a signal that the wearer is dangerous and cannot be trusted. It is perceived as the expression of an identity, the perception of which ca n influence our attitudes and behaviour. The studies above also show that identity can greatly affect reciprocity, inequity aversion and altruism. Experiments based around group membership, however minimal, show the great influence groups have on these social preferences. One explanation of this is the concept of metaperspectives, in that individuals are more generous in experimental games because they believe that their counterpart expects them to be. Akerlofs (1997:1008) model of social distance also sheds some light on this by theorising that individuals benefit from lesser amounts of social distance between them and thus have the incentive to conform to expectations, what he labels The Conformist Model. A reduction of social distance between players can also be achieved by perceived acts of kindness and so experimental game players may be willing to sacrifice monetary gains so as to achieve social gains with another player. This incentive however, is again based on social distance and those players who feel socially far apart may feel no need to become socially closer, a feeling that is ultimately merely based on their perception of the current social distance and social identities. Two significant ways in which individuals identify themselves and others is by their nationality and gender. At the outset of mankinds evolution, gender has been a universal divider of the human race, preceding all other identities. Rooted in our biology, gender is the simplest form of classification, but its implications are far more wide-reaching than simple physiology. To the opposite sex, gender implies certain generalised roles, attitudes, commitments, experiences and lifestyles. The source of such clear social stereotypes is only in part biological and many academics are of the belief that behavioural and psychological differences are created and perpetuated by unbalanced power and privilege structures in society (Flax 1990). The amplification of social distance is caused by the notion that qualities are gender specific, with masculinity and femininity being attributes in themselves, and the fact that men and women are commonly associated with their relative positions in both f amily life and work life. Lockheed (1985) supposes that women are conceived as compliant followers and men dominant leaders only because of the common minority and majority balance that is common in social and work situations. The large disparity between the social identity and actual realities of members of the opposite sex provides a good opportunity to explore to what extent interaction is based on unqualified perceptions and to map the effect of variations in this perception. Unlike gender identities, nationalism is a relatively new force in the world (Smith 1995). It can be seen as a group identity that has transcended some cultures, as seen in the ethnically diverse nations such as India and Russia, but divided others as seen in the cases of North and South Korea and the Taiwanese and Chinese separation and is manifested in positive discrimination towards fellow nationals and negative discrimination towards foreigners (Macesich, 1985). Breton (1964:378) notes that governments utilise nationalistic instruments†¦ for the purpose of increasing the share of assets in a given assets in a given territory owned by the nationals of that territory. Breton (1964) also observes that nationalistic redistribution of investment and capital results in a lower rate of return than would be realised if resources were allocated efficiently, an observation that draws parallels with the nature of social preferences on a much larger scale. The practice of promoting thes e nationalistic policies that are not beneficial to certain population segments is centred on the formation of a nation-wide group identity that promotes solidarity in the same way that smaller scale groups do. The membership of these nation-groups is defined according to several commonalities. Members share an economy, a historic territory, myths and memories, a public culture, and a set of legal rights (Smith 1991). What is clear from this definition is the lack of consistent personal characteristics, illustrating that members of a nation-group vary considerably in their social and personal identities. The minimal nature of the nation-group is accepted by many academics, some seeing nationalism as an ironic tool that encourages members to appreciate things that are national for the mere fact that it is national (Breton 1964). Karl Deutsch (1969:3) aptly described a nation as a group of people united by a common error about their ancestry and a common dislike of their neighbours, evoking the notion that national identity is a predominately social construct inaccurately perceived to be connected to common characteristics, descent and preferences. (Smith 1996) stresses that the perception of ones own nationality and that of others is inherently only emotional, implying a subjective disregard for objective considerations that results in large social distances between foreigners and nationals, and smaller social distances between nationals. However erroneous, the very substantial influence nationality exerts can be seen through the stereotypical actions of distrusting of foreigners and supporting fellow country-men, making nationality another excellent candidate identity to examine how variations in perceived identity cause variations in the social preferences displayed. Experimental Design and Implementation It is social identity and its inherently variable quality that is at the heart of this study. It is this studys aim to discover in what way the perception of this identity can affect the extent that social preferences are displayed and whether or not a shift of focus from one form of social identity to another will cause a change in degree of social preferences manifested. Given its ability to expose these preferences, an extension of the Trust Game is used