Corruption is illegal and universally shameful. Persons who engage in corrupt practices tend to be discreet. This study offers an analysis of metaphors in corruption language based on positive and avoidance contingencies of reinforcement. Our data show that parties to corrupt practices use expressions that accentuate this discreet behavior, whether demanding or offering bribes. Our findings indicate that corruption language can be topographically similar to other verbal utterances, but functionally different when understood in context. Both officials and clients use metaphors to avoid prosecution and social embarrassment. The verbal behavior of the public servant is positively reinforced because he gets a bribe, and the verbal behavior of the client is positively reinforced because he/she receives service or favorable answer to application promptly. However, the payment of money denotes punishment. KEYWORDS: avoidance; corruption; Ghana, corruption; metaphors, disguised mands, positive reinforcement "What do 'beans for the kids' in Kinshasa, 'a glass of wine' in Paris and 'little carps' in Prague have in common"? According to Henig (2013), the phrases do not only indicate something about local cuisines, but they are also euphemisms for bribes (p. 1). The use of corruption language is a common phenomenon associated with the demand and supply sides of corrupt behavior (Vian, Gryboski, Sinoimeri, & Clifford, 2004). Quite a number of works have discussed the nature and role of corruption language in Africa (Adjei, 2009;Hasty, 2005;Polzenhagen & Wolf, 2007). In this article, we explore language associated with soliciting or offering bribes in Ghana. Corruption language is a figurative language of metaphors and euphemisms (as when a speaker uses a disguised mand) associated with soliciting and offering a 1 Author Note: We extend our appreciations to the Ph.D. Group of the Cultural Selection and Behavioral Economics Lab of the Department of Behavioral Science for their feedbacks on earlier versions of the paper. We thank Michael F. Valdez for proofreading and comments. We also wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for their critical, constructive and supportive comments. This article was presented as a paper at ABAI Congress in San Antonio, May 22-26, 2015, under Wittink (2011), figurative terminologies are common, frequent and pervasive in our verbal behavior. A metaphor (a derivative of the Greek word "metapherein" meaning to transfer), is a "figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable" (Metaphor, n.d.). A metaphor describes one thing in terms of another (Knowles & Moon, 2006). A synecdoche is a form of metaphor in which a part of a thing signifies the whole or the whole signifies the part. For example, in the Lord's Prayer "Give us this day our daily bread," bread will mean food taken each day (Cuddon & Preston, 1998, p. 890). A metonymy, also a form of metaphor, uses the name of an attribute or a thing to substitute the thing its...
Tagging is a kind of graffiti that involves writing one's name using markers or spray paints. In Brazil, the tagging behavior has spread all over the country and especially in the big cities. Aspects of the culture deserve careful attention by behavioral scientists. This article describes possible variables controlling the behavior of members of tagging cultures of Brazil, based on a behavior analytic framework. We performed an ethnographic study in which the researcher accompanied the taggers in all their normal activities as a participant observer of their culture; in addition, he conducted interviews. Our findings identified at least four different properties of the cultural practices: (i) The transmission of symbolic communication characterizing the cultural unit as distinguished from the rest of society. (ii) The shaping of increasingly sophisticated expression and artistic proficiency. (iii) The high visibility-high risk-high impact paradox. (iv) The hierarchical organization and status distribution. Having identified these cultural properties and the related behaviors, we discuss the contribution of a behavior analytic conceptual framework both for the purpose of tracing the possible contingencies of reinforcement and to suggest possible strategies for intervention that could result in alternative prosocial behaviors to replace tagging.
For at least two decades, politicians, academics and other stakeholders have advocated cooperation across sectors, administrative layers and other institutionalised boundaries to achieve objectives of what are called ‘learning regions’ and the ‘lifelong learning perspective’. Boundaries between geographical, institutional and sectors are becoming more porous. Regions and cities may be seen as complex adaptive systems (CAS), and hence do not necessarily follow the logic of formal institutions. While formal institutions have innate interests in regulating interaction and communication between their members, networks develop according to evolutionary or selectionist dynamics, in that the processes of change can be seen as analogous to natural (Darwinian) selection. Networks may be seen as the architecture of complex systems. Research on networks has been relatively extensive in the last 20 to 30 years in mathematics, sociology, anthropology, and biology. There is an emerging science of networks that studies the structure and function of systems. There is also substantial research on the features in the interconnectedness or interdependencies within the system that contribute to explaining the functionality of that system. In this perspective, we may view a learning region as a web of learning opportunities.
This study explores the effects of feedback on cooperation in the iterated prisoner’s dilemma game (PDG). Four sources of feedback were identified: peer, buyer, market and cultural feedback. Peer and buyer feedback were intrinsic to the PDG, for they were analyzed, but not manipulated. Market and cultural feedback comprised independent variables and their effects were measured on players’ and group cooperation (dependent variables). Twenty-seven participants played a PDG, divided in 9 groups of 3 players each. Cooperation was measured as rates of individual players’ cooperative X choices, and as aggregate products within groups. At the molecular (moment-to-moment) level, there was a significant within-subjects main effect of the market feedback F(1, 28) = 6.50, p = .02, ?p2 = .19. At the molar level, there was no significant effect of the market feedback, nor of the cultural feedback. It was not possible to establish a metacontingency between recurrent group cooperation and positive contingent group consequences. Players displayed sub-optimal choice behavior, seeking to maximize relative earnings within their group (defecting) over absolute earnings (cooperating). These results are discussed in light of how the source of feedback may sustain cooperation or defection in the PDG, and their implications in organizational settings. Reinforcing cooperative behaviors can be key to the maintenance and development of any organization, for informative performance feedback may not suffice. This study contributes to the understanding of economic decisional behavior in groups from a cultural selectionist perspective.Keywords: choice, cooperation, feedback, metacontingency, prisoner’s dilemma game
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.