Action

Action Theory

Action theory is based on a school of thought in philosophy, social and cognitive psychology, neurology, and organizational behavior as well as in counseling and career development. This school of thought addresses the intentional, goal-directed nature of human behavior. It has historical roots in the works of George Herbert Mead, Talcott Parsons, and Lev Vygotsky

Collective Action and Communication

Collective action may be defined as any behavior that is directed at fulfilling a goal shared by two or more people. Examples of collective action include the chants and audience waves of sports crowds, race riots, language revival movements, political election campaigns, military action, and political protests. In essence, communication scholars have been concerned with

Action Assembly Theory

Action assembly theory (AAT) seeks to explain message behavior (both verbal and nonverbal) by describing the system of mental structures and processes that give rise to those behaviors. As such, AAT is a member of the broader class of cognitive theories of message production. AAT, in turn, is itself an umbrella category for any of

Affirmative Action

Affirmative action (AA) is a public policy designed to eliminate systemic bias against members of under-represented groups in employment and education. Although the use of AA is not limited to the United States, it can be argued that it is in the United States that AA has its greatest influence on business, education, and the

Participatory Action Research

Participatory action research (PAR) is a methodological approach to research that breaks with standard social scientific practice in a number of ways. In standard practice, research into the behavior of social groups is conducted by university-trained scientists, while in PAR research is conducted by the social groups themselves with the assistance of university-trained scientists. In

Action Anthropology

Action anthropology is a scholarly enterprise based in field research, data collection, and theory building, during which the anthropologist is also committed to assisting local communities in achieving their goals and meeting specific felt needs. Rather than pursuing pure science or perusing their own agendas, action anthropologists see themselves more as tentative coexplorers who help

Affirmative Action

Just as with many phrases, affirmative action can mean different things to different people. Not only do we find a difference in definition, but we find a difference among people in how they view it. Perhaps an individual’s view of affirmative action is sometimes affected by how it personally affects that person or someone close

Affirmative Action

The term affirmative action encompasses a broad range of voluntary and mandated policies and procedures intended to provide equal access to educational and employment opportunities for members of historically excluded groups. Foremost among the bases for historical exclusion have been race, ethnicity, and sex, although consideration is sometimes extended to other groups (e.g., Vietnam veterans

Affirmative Action Policies

Affirmative action is a term applied to policies designed to redress inequalities created by historical legacies of racial, ethnic, and other types of group discrimination and disadvantage. Such policies have also been called affirmative discrimination, usually by those opposed to such measures, or positive discrimination, by proponents  of these  strategies. Like  most social action aimed

Affirmative Action for Majority Groups

Affirmative action is generally a policy to give preferential  treatment  to  minority  groups (such as women, ethnic minorities, indigenous people, and handicapped persons) who are socially vulnerable and face structural discrimination in a society through the use of measures such as quota systems to provide for equality in employment, education, and so forth. In some

Theory of Action

Chris Argyris and Donald Schon’s theory of action is a descriptive and normative framework that explains and prescribes behavior at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The intellectual roots of the theory of action are John Dewey’s theory of inquiry and Kurt Lewin’s formulations of action research. In particular, the theory of action aspires to

Health Action Process Approach

Theories  of  health  behavior  change  are  needed to   explain,   predict,   and   improve   self-regulation  of  physical  activity.  Such  theories  are  being divided  into  continuum  models  and  stage  models.  In  continuum  models,  people  are  positioned along a range that reflects the likelihood of action. Influential  predictor  variables  are  identified  and combined  within  one  prediction  equation.  The goal

Action Theory

Action theory represents a general model of work-related cognition and behavior with implications for a wide range of topics in industrial/organizational psychology. Inspired by Lewin’s field theory, American cybernetic models, and Russian and Polish approaches, German work psychologists initiated the development of action theory in the late 1960s. As the core concept of the theory

Affirmative Action

Affirmative action refers to institutional measures taken to increase the representation of women and people of color in areas of employment, government contracts, and higher education from which they have been excluded historically. The policy began as a response to the failure of businesses with government contracts to hire women, persons with disabilities, and minorities.

Affirmative Action

Affirmative action has been one of the most controversial public policies of the past 40 years. A conceptual definition of affirmative action is any measure, beyond a simple termination of discriminatory practice, adopted to correct for past or present discrimination or to prevent discrimination from recurring in the future. In practice, organizational affirmative action programs

Community-Based Action Research

Community-based action research (C-BAR) is a relatively new addition to counseling and counseling psychology research. The research and interventions, or actions, occur at the community level, rather than with individuals, families, or small groups. Community is defined as a group linked by common interests, such as young women in a teen pregnancy program, migrant workers

Action Theory

Action theory is based on a school of thought in philosophy, social and cognitive psychology, neurology, and organizational behavior as well as in counseling and career development. This school of thought addresses the intentional, goal-directed nature of human behavior. It has historical roots in the works of George Herbert Mead, Talcott Parsons, and Lev Vygotsky

Action Identification Theory

Action Identification Theory Definition People usually know what they are doing, intend to do, or have done in the past. How people achieve an unambiguous understanding of their behavior is rather remarkable when one considers the variety of ways in which any action can be identified. “Taking a test,” for example, could be identified as

Reasoned Action Theory

Reasoned Action Theory Definition The theory of reasoned action (TRA) is a model for predicting people’s behavior, which states that the best predictor of people’s behavior in any given situation is their intention to perform the behavior. Not surprisingly, the best predictor of whether people will actually do something is whether they intend to do

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