The five levels of employee motivation

The five levels of employee motivation Title Impact of economic stability on the employees motivational levels and sustainability Aim The aim of this research is to find the strategies and theories of motivation for economic stability and sustainability of Sumudra Technologies Pvt Ltd employees and explore the effectual ways by examining the factors that employees made their decisions for their development. Introduction Motivation amplifies as employees or team members take pleasure in one another and struggle not to let each other down. For motivating employees organizations must always work to support employees for their sustainability and for their financial growth. Satisfied and happy employees about their work are motivated to work better in an organization. Other factors also play a vital role in motivating employees then pay rates. Therefore management must do best to make available an environment of work which increases employee satisfaction even if the market is in uncertain conditions. Then economic instabilities would never affect organizations employees bank. The Hawthorne study proves this point after conducting a research on the employee productivity and its effects on working environment (William M. Pride, Robert J. Hughes and Jack R. Kapoor, 2009). Motivation leads to higher productivity and longer sustainability of employees in an organization. As self motivating is crucial for empl oyees it is also necessary for organizations to ensure that their employees are motivated. To some level, a great level of motivating employees obtains from valuable management practices. Hence this research will identify the strategies in order to motivate employees under economic instability conditions. Therefore choosing this topic for conducting research will help to learn and experience the practical conditions of employees in economic crises. Example for this topic is Sumudra Technologies Pvt Ltd. Sumudra Technologies Pvt Ltd Sumudra Technologies Pvt Ltd is a service provider of web designing and development. Company believes in thoughts as the starting and ending of all creative work. This is a total creative workshop handling a to z things of internet and intranet solutions including ASP, PHP, ASP.NET, website and brochure design and development etc. It is situated in London, and servicing to provide complete end to end internet solutions to customers requirements. Major services provided by the company are web designing and development, graphic design and SEO services, to provide these services with the best technology based solutions, company has to maintain speed in terms of following latest technological changes with the support of their employees. A discussion on the Sumudra technologies pvt Ltd issue As discussed above, it is one of the best companies to provide best internet solutions to the customers in London and it also worries about its employees pay packages due to the fear of their productivity and sustainability in their company. Though, from the employees perspective over a 3years there was about 86% higher total return to shareholder for the companies which have maintained elevated levels of trust evaluated to those with low levels of trust (Watson Wyatt, 2002). Regional or global strategies of sustainability of employees should be chosen wisely by companies. Strategies chosen according to the regional requirements would give fruitful results to companies or to individuals (SAS, 2008). Hence, company should improve its strategies of motivation and sustainability to pace according to the new changing market conditions in order to overcome the hurdles of market situations. This research work will give valuable information on how company can improve its strategies to motiv ate its employees. Literature Review Motivation Motivation is a drive which leads people towards achieving their goals. Its a enthusiasm and determination with a kind of excitement that directs one to continue to achieve greater heights, whether it is personal or professional. Motivating oneself is a continuous requirement for constant growth. Kanfer (1990) says that it is a imaginary construct that cannot be seen or cannot be felt. People can observe the impacts that are indicative of various motivation levels. Another author Pinder (1998) resolves the direction, form, strength, and duration of work-related behavior. He argues that by observing these dimensions of behavior, one can make conclusions about the effects of motivation on employees behavior (Steve M. Jex, 2002). This is a crucial factor because in economic instability of the present market conditions its very important to have a workforce with high spirits of motivation. This is a factor which normally produces results that are incompatible to study the employee behavi or. It can also be defines as the quality of actions, initiation, persistence and it can be categorized with their comparative constructs, goals and strategies. Strategies are the techniques used to get the goals and therefore to assure the goals and motives are the direct objectives of specific sequences of employee behavior. It is all about an individual moving towards the goal to understand the thing that sends them into deed. Intrinsic and extracts are the two types of motivation. These two types help to achieve and develop skills of a particular species. Jere E. Brophy (2004) says that motivation is differed from its related parts called goals, approaches which are used to achieve aimed goals and objectives. It is used to boost people to initiate useful activity sequences. Motivation is considered as an important factor in making employees upbeat and down to business which results in increasing organizations output. Levels of motivation Motivating employees would be a challenging task for management. The decision on how dedicated and committed will be an employee towards the company will totally depend on the individual employee. Here management of Sumudra technologies need to understand that applying one strategy to all employees cannot help to motivate everyone in the organization. While looking at the levels of motivation Maslows hierarchy theory of needs has helped us to guide to recognize what to look for management with their employees. Level 1: Security and safety Employees need to be assured about their safety and security at the work place; management must provide security services and create an fear free environment. Level 2: Incentives This is a level which is known by every individual. Most of the people dont work after winning a huge amount of reward. With this perception companies try to satisfy the compensation and benefits requirements of employees. Level 3: Affiliation This level discusses about the sense of belongingness. It contains being in the know and being part of the team. This is too a variance in professional and personal values can have a great affect on the motivation of employees. Level 4: Development Employees wish to have the faith that success is taking place. They feel secure, obtain all the money they want to earn and feel part of the group. But if there are no development opportunities employees think about absconding from the organization. Level 5: Life or Work Harmony Employees may have all types of rewards which are desired by them, but they will burn out closer or later if employees dont have the sufficient time to spend it on the other things they desire for (Derik Mocke, 2010). Therefore it is advisable to be aware of these five levels of motivation of employees when management employ with their employees. Company should assess what are the needs and desires of every individual employee before applying these levels in their organization. Employ with every individual and explain them about the various levels and inquire them where employees find themselves suitable on the pyramid. Engaging with greater teams and eventually with the entire company about the levels of motivation of employee etc are some points which are to be remembered when management engages these five levels with their employees. This needs a detail discussion which will be done in the research dissertation project. As there are six more steps to high levels of motivation. Thi s needs to be discussed in detail in order to understand the intensity of motivation factor when applied on employees. Theories of motivation Motivation of human beings is a study which has been carried from past many years. But none of them were not developed to explain employee behavior at workplace or were they practical enough to apply in the working environment. The following are some theories which specially explain motivation for employees. Theories of motivation are categorized into four: Require based theories explains work motivation in terms of the level to which employees satisfy their necessary needs at the place of work. Job based theories rest the resource of motivation majorly in the content of jobs that employees execute. Cognitive procedure theories highlight the decisions and choices that employees make when they distribute their attempts. Lastly behavioral approach highlights principles of learning. These will be discussed in detail in the research dissertation. Motivation and Communication Motivation is depended on having clear goals and objectives. As motivation is personal, goal is align staffs individual constrains with the companies uses in common and units in specific. Motivation can be done through communication organizational goals correctly to the employees (John Kotter, 1995). Author says to analyze how much communication of the vision is required, and then multiply that attempt with ten. He mentions that management should not limit to the meeting rooms. Actions adjoined with words are powerful communicators of the fresh ways. Here one needs to understand that transformation effort will fail if most of the employees doesnt understand, realize, commit and try to make the effort occur. The principle behind this is utilize every possible communication channel and opportunity to motivate in order to achieve the organizational goals. Teach fresh behaviors by showing the example of the guiding coalition team to the companys employees. Communication at the workplace can acquire numerous forms and has a lasting cause on motivation of employee. If employees feel that communication from organization is valuable it can show the way to feelings of employee work satisfaction, loyalty towards the company and increase trust at the workplace. This is an area of which a detail research and review is required. This will be done in dissertation part. Process of motivating employees Some standards are required to motivate the employees to achieve the objectives (quality) and to continue improvements and growth of the organization. Achievements of an organization completely depend upon the workforce and its activities so the organization will recruit the staffs who are motivated to attain the organization goals. Motivation is a key to the performance where it depends upon the environment, motivation and ability to perform the task. Motivation can be simply defined as it is an inner mental state to prompt intensity, directions and persistence. The proposed dissertation will explain about the motivation process which operates inside the individuals (Marjaana Gunkel, 2006). From the diagram motivation occurs if the employees satisfies their personal requirements and also work expectation from the company. Usually any employee can be motivated if an organization recognizes his efforts and appreciation and hence they can feel like, they are the main part of an organization or team. This process also explains about the barriers which affect the motivation process like job related, goal related, fear of failures, suspect of management, not a challenging environment, little respect, no rewards, no responsibilities. So the manager has to motivate the employees by removing these barriers to achieve the organization goals. Employees can be motivated if proper training and counseling sessions should be conducted to improve the process under the controlled conditions (David Hoyle, 2000). Sumundra technologies are also providing the motivation process to increase the employee capabilities in order to enhance the business prospects. Here the employees should have proper communication skills because this organization majorly deals with the customers throughout the world so better understanding of the customer requirements is very important. So the staff should have good communication skills to interact with the various customers and they ought to know American and UK accent to understand the clients without any disappointments (David Hoyle, 2000). Culture and leadership Culture is defined as learning values, norms, symbols, beliefs, traditions which are common to the group of people. Sharing these qualities of a group will make people unique. According to gudykunst and ting Toomey (1988), culture is the way of different customs, different scripts of group and their lives. Whereas nature of the leadership itself is the complex and it can be defined as stepping forward to solve the problems by sheer force of will. It is the influenced relationship between the followers and the leaders who plan for real revolution and outcomes to replicate their shared purpose (Richard L. Daft, 2007). The main important task that the leaders can do is, managing and creating the culture in addition to this they (leader) also have the capability to understand the work with culture. Studying the organizational culture can be focused more on performance and behavior of an employee than the values. If the interaction or the communication between the employees and management is good then the organization culture could be created. If it not good then the culture of an organization has to be changed inside and outside of an organization. But changing the organizational culture is not an easy task and it takes more time through the relationship of individuals and interactions (Mary J. Davis, 2000). Proposed dissertation will give a detailed description about the culture and leadership definitions and with some examples. It also discusses about the organizational cultures and how will be the organization if it does not maintain proper leaderships and culture inside and outside the company, how it effects on the present economy will be discussed. Present sumundra technologies are maintaining proper culture and leadership qualities among themselves. This is a corporate culture and they are completely aware of how to behave, how to understand, how to manage the things, how to communicate, how to work in a team. Their managerial staff also recognizes what the present culture is expecting, and how to nurture and feed the current culture is. Here the corporate changes has been occurred and is successful because of its good team work and proper leadership. From this I can say that culture can effect on a strong leader. And if and only if the culture and leadership of an organization is maintained well then that particular organization can give best customer satisfaction and good customer service. Psychological contract levels and factors Rousseau, D.M. (1989) describes psychological contract as an entitys belief in mutual compulsions among this entity or person and another person or party, like employer. This faith is forecasted on the perception that an exchange of promises have been prepared to which the parties are vault. Tekleab (2003) in the book Supervisor Psychological Contracts Management suggests designing realistic job previews to comprise data on employee obligations and socialization agendas to contain information on companys obligations. Psychological contract levels and individual factors that influence data formation of the contract are discussed by many authors in their articles. Like in the same book Vos et al (2005), views at how work values and locus of manage or control influenced data seeking during socialization. He also agrees that individual factors influence psychological contract level developments. But these factors are of limited significance when talking about psychological contract level s which intends to indentify organizational and supervisor chances to make easy positive psychological contracts (Maida Petersitzke, 2009). A 3rd group of extra-organizational factors contains wider political, economic and legal changes that in turn form observations of the psychological contract (Neil Conway and Rob B. Briner, 2005). Psychological contracts would be operationalised from a diversity of viewpoints. A prior cut on operationalization happens with the decision whether to focus or not on the aspects of the psychological contract considered to simplify across persons and settings. And a 2nd cut on the operationalization happens with the decision of whether to concentrate upon content, characteristics, evaluations. This refers to the terms and elements which have the contract (Rousseau, D.M. and Tijoriwala, S.A., 1998). Economic Circumstances Economic conditions play a major role in motivating employees and in creating sustainability. Assessment, tax rates, revenues, municipal debt, financial assets like development charge accounts, reserve funds, complete fire protection system charges, employment and unemployment conditions, previous and present political philosophy regarding the budget up/downs, borrowing, etc, loss affect of one employer, main industry institution, barriers to rebuilding like zoning and climatic needs are some of the economic circumstances which effects the employees (Ontario, 2010). For example decreasing prices have not allowed decreasing nominal pensions in a way of prevailing monetary circumstances. So for the time being undoing the move from payment to price indexation would result in the level of pension waiting, comparative to national income, anticipated for the year 2008 was attained in 2002. This is presented by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2004). Perceptual Process Perception or awareness is a process through which people choose, systematize, understand and react to data from the world in the region of theirs. This is the data which is collected from the 5 senses like hearing, seeing, touching, tasting and smelling. It responds to the psychological process whereby people take data from the atmosphere and make sense of their particular worlds (Don Hellriegel and John W. Slocum, 2007). Perceptual process permits management to test their present level of perceptual expertise. Perception engages several sub-processes like Stimuli, attention, translation, recognition, behavior, performance and satisfaction etc are some of the things which takes place only after giving some attention to them (Perception, 2010). Sumudra Techonologies pvt ltd has to know and understand all these procedures and processes to motivate and sustain their existing employees. Conclusions According to the discussion happened above makes clear that there are some questions which have risen out from the initial literature review: There is a minute literature which examines theories of motivation. There is also a minute literature that investigates theories and processes of motivation with respect to Sumudra technologies. There is no literature that evaluates Sumudra Technologies management in detail. There is no discussion about the surveys of relationship between motivation and communication. There is no research that scrutinizes the benefits of motivating employees by Sumudra Technologies Company. There is also no literature that revises the gap of perceptual apprehension recruitment management among management and employees concurrently. There is no discussion done on the sustainability benefits which can be earned if Sumudra technologies motivate their employees in down turn economic situations too. Therefore, this proposal proposes the following objectives for the proposed dissertation: To find out the effect of economic instability on the Sumudra Technologies employees motivation levels. To identify the advantages of motivating employees in Sumudra Technologies Pvt Ltd. To examine the sustainability aspect of employees in detail. To study the various elements of motivation theories and levels in order to fulfill the proposed aim for the dissertation. To suggest Sumudra Technologies to the way that its motivational strategies are able to manage employees effectively. Hence there is need for conducting enough research on this topic to know the sustainability and motivational levels of employees to be consistent in this company. Bibliography David Hoyle (2000), Automotive quality systems handbook, A division of reed educational and professional publishing limited, Linacre house, Jordan hill. * Derik Mocke (2010), The Five Levels of Employee Motivation, [Internet] Available at URL: , [Accessed on 1st April, 2010]. Don Hellriegel and John W. Slocum (2007), Organizational Behavior, Published by Cengage Learning, ISBN: 0324377126. Jere E. Brophy, (2004), motivated students to learn, published by Routledge, pp.418. John Kotter (1995), Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail, Harvard Business Review, pp. 3. Maida Petersitzke (2009), Supervisor Psychological Contracts Management, Published by Gabler Verlag, pp. 377. Marjaana Gunkel (2006), Country-compatible incentive design: a comparison of employees performance reward preferences in Germany and the USA, Published by Springer, pp. 189. Mary J. Davis (2000), TCRP synthesis, Published by Transportation Research Board, pp. 91. Neil Conway and Rob B. Briner (2005), Understanding Psychological Contracts at Work: a critical evaluation of theory and research, Published by Oxford University Press, pp. 226. Ontario (2010), Economic Circumstances, Economic considerations, [Internet] Available at URL: , [Accessed on 5th April, 2010]. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2004), OECD Economic Surveys: Japan 2003, Published by OECD, pp. 224. Perception (2010), Elements of Perception, [Internet] Available at URL: , [Accessed on 4th April, 2010]. Richard L. Daft (2007), The Leadership experience, Published by Cengage Learning, pp. 493. Rousseau, D.M. (1989), Psychological and implied contracts in organizations, Employee Rights and Responsibilities Journal, 2, 121-139. Rousseau, D.M. and Tijoriwala, S.A. (1998), Assessing psychological contracts: Issues, alternatives, and types of measures, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 19, 679-695. SAS (2008), Sustainability across Borders, [Internet] Available at URL: , [Accessed on 30th March, 2010]. Steve M. Jex (2002), Organizational Psychology: a scientist-practitioner approach, Published by John Wiley and Sons, pp. 540. Watson Wyatt (2002), Weathering the Storm: A study of employee attitudes and opinions, [Internet] Available at URL: , [Accessed on 29th March, 2010. William M. Pride, Robert J. Hughes and Jack R. Kapoor (2009), Business, Published by Cengage Learning, pp. 627.

That Was Then :: Writing Education Essays

That Was Then ...Oh. It's you. Hi... ...O.k., well, here's the thing. I was looking at this paper that I had written a long time ago... ...Well, it seems like a long time ago. Anyway, as I was saying, I was reading this paper and I said to myself, I said self, what's up with this? I mean it was so obvious to me that I had no clue as to what to write about... ...Why is it obvious I had no clue? Well that's easy. I have no clue as to what I was trying to say and I wrote the thing. I mean I read it over a couple of times and tried to understand it, I just couldn't. The only thing I could get from the thing is that I most likely wrote it at the last minute and made it up as I went along. It's like I didn't put any thought into it at all. I mean come on - college is like a chair?... ...Why is that bad? Because I claimed to be able to sit on my college education if all else fails. What the hell did I mean by that?... ...Try to analyze it all you want. The fact remains that it even fell one paragraph short of the perfect theme paper. The only thing I can say is that it sounds like I am tired of writing papers... ...O.k. Maybe I am being a little hard on myself. After all, it was the beginning of the quarter and I had no idea as to what type of writing I could get away with. I mean, for so long now I have had to write to fit the criteria that was expected by a particular teacher/professor. I was limited as to what I could say and how I could say it. Now suddenly I'm supposed to believe that a professor is going to accept my writing in the manor in which I choose to write? Yeah right. I would guess I basically took the safe rout on that paper. I should have gone with a metaphor of Jeopardy. I know I could Have been more creative with that. It's kind of funny reading the paper again after so much time has passed. It sounds like I was trying to convince myself that I believed what I was writing along with trying to convince a professor.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Only Children Essay

Introduction Research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2006 suggests the fastest growing nuclear family unit has become the single-child household (Emma Sykes, 2011). According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics, the UK has about 7.7million families with dependent children, of which 3.7 million have just one child, compared to three million with two and 1.1 million with three children or more (Simon Edge, 2013). Additionally, in the United States, the percentage of women who have one child has more than doubled in the past 20 years up from 10% to 13% (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2011). The issue of single-child households is a contemporary issue relevant to both children and parents in today’s modern society as the number of single-child households are rapidly growing throughout the 21st century. Scope There are increasing rates in single-child households. Single child households are rapidly growing in popularity making them a contemporary issue of the 21st century. There are many factors which influence parents to raise a single child. Additionally, there are many factors which effect the child due to them being raised without the influence of siblings. These aspects are going to be explored and focused on for the purposes of this investigation. The aim is to determine: â€Å"Are there more advantages or disadvantages when having an only child?† The following guide the discussion: Why do parents choose to have an only child? What are the advantages of having an only child? What are the disadvantages of having an only child? Methodology Both primary and secondary sources were used to gain information for the purposes of this investigation. Examples of secondary sources include the internet, books and other printed medias. The internet provided an assortment of sources. For example, reliable websites with statistics and informative information which related to the topic. Additionally, videos were sourced online. They were used to provide factual information and statistics relating to the topic. Due to the fact internet sites, books and printed media are secondary sources, it was noticed that they incorporated biased views as they were second hand opinions. In order to gain information  which would assist with writing a reliable investigation and conclusion, interviews and surveys were conducted. Interviewees included: E Barbaro – Mother of four and grandmother to an only child. V Haynes – A former kindergarten teacher and mother of an only child. J Stefano – An only child. The individuals interviewed all had the ability to provide strong opinions relating to the topic of only children as they were either an only child themselves, have raised an only child and/or gave opinions towards their thoughts on having siblings. Why do parents choose to have an only child? Each individual to their own has their own beliefs relating to whether or not is beneficial to raise an only child, and that includes parents. Each parent to their own also has their own beliefs towards why they wish to raise a small family. The number of families today with just one dependent child is now 47 per cent and expected to rise to more than 50 in a decade. As the ONS confirms: â€Å"It appears that families are getting smaller† (Simon Edge, 2013). Firstly, it is believed that most parents make the decision to have an only child because it makes them happier. Professor Hans-Peter Kohler of the University of Pennsylvania is one of the many to agree with this statement. He states that the only thing that a majority of parents take into consideration is their ‘wellbeing’. According to Kohler, a parents happiness peaks at one child, and â€Å"having more makes you poorer, more tired and less content† (2013). Further evidence regarding parents raising a singular child comes from Havard psychologist; Daniel Gilbert. Gilbert supports Kohler’s views regarding the parents of singular children, and agrees that they choose to have one child as part of their personal wellbeing. Gilbert claims that â€Å"mothers are at their happiest during those moments when they are not looking after their kids. They prefer shopping, watching TV, exercising and eating† (2013). Gilbert’s studies have concluded that mothers consider interacting with their child is on a par with mopping the floor (Paul Meril, 2013). Another to agree with these statements is author; Lauren Sandler who explores the topic of parents raising only children in her book: The One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child and the Joy of Being One (2013). Sandler writes â€Å"they don’t like being parents (because they are selfish), or they care more about status – work, money, materialism – than their kid  (because they are selfish), or the parents waited too long (because they are selfish)†. Unlike psycologists, Sandler has her own perception of the issue as she is an only child herself, and the mother of an only child. She explains that she wanted to have an only child for the same reasons as her mother did and that is; â€Å"to have a happy kid, my mother figured she needed to be a happy mother, and to be a happy mother, she needed to be a happy person. To do that, she had to preserve her authentic self, which she could not imagine doing with a second child†. In order to test whether or not parents decide on raising a single child to benefit themselves, a survey was conducted by a group of mothers at a day care center who have chosen to raise an only child. Similar to what psychologists have suggested, 44% of the participants have agreed that they choose to have an only child as it beneficial to their personal wellbeing. Despite the overwhelming amount of parents that claim that having an only child is beneficial to them, there were some who had contradicting views by adding: â€Å"When we got married we always wanted to have a big family. This choice was taken out of our hands and we had to depend on IVF to conceive and carry our only 4 year old child† (2013). Social psychologist, Susan Newman states: â€Å"women are getting married later, which raises infertility issues. Many women continue their careers even after they have a child, which makes having more than one child more difficult. Add with the financial stress of raising a child, it’s no wonder some couples stop at one† (Kristy MacKaben, 2013). It costs a significant amount of money to raise a child; clothing, medical care, schooling and some parents may decide that they can’t afford to have lots of children (Emma Sykes, 2011). Parents feel that they can give that one child more in comparison to giving more childr en less. â€Å"It improves their quality of life† says Newman. What are the advantages of having an only child? After conducting a survey and asking a group of people who had siblings whether or not they would prefer being an only child, 83% of the participants replied with yes. When partipants were asked as to why they would prefer this, they claimed  that only children have more advantages. Some being mothers themselves claimed that that the biggest advantage of having one child is the money. With each child, these expenses are more. By not having to spend more money on additional children, your only child can have more costly items (Holly Doorman, 2010). The financial implications of being an only child are numerous. Parents only have one child’s education to pay for, to clothe, to feed, to enroll in lessons or to invest in their financial security. Multiple children require parents to work harder to achieve larger salaries to support their children (Joys of Parenting, 2013). Social psychologist, Susan Newman states: â€Å"if you have a middle income, you’re going to spend roughly $286,000 to get them from birth to 18. That’s kind of staggering†. Another major advantage of being an only child is the educational advantages. Only children are both the first born and the last born child. These children must assume both roles. These children tend to be more academically oriented, ambitious, conscientious, conforming, conservative and respectful of their parents (Holly Doorman, 2013). It turns out there is a significant difference when it comes to intelligence in only children and children from larger families. A landmark 20-year study showed that increased one-on-one parenting produces higher education levels, higher test scores and higher levels of achievement (Kristy Kackaben, 2013). Parents will have the money to spend on tutoring, tools, and the best schools. Parents also have the time to help with homework because you are not running after other children. With one child to give your attention to, it is much easier to find out if they are having problems in school (Holly Doorman, 2013). Newman agrees by stating: â€Å"they have all their parents financial resources to get them extra lessons, to get them SAT training but more critical is the one-on-one time at the dinner table.† This results in more reading time, more homework time and eventually better test scores. One mother stated that: â€Å"I think we felt as a family that we were able to give our son more attention and spend more time together and really focus on him† (2013). By having only one child, the child’s and parent’s privacy becomes easier. One of the main advantages of being the only child †that your parents pay attention only to you. You are the most important person in their lives. Parents do everything for you† (J Stefano, 2013). For example, if the child wishes for a new toy or some clothes, parents will simply buy  it to fufill the child’s wants. For mother of only child, V Haynes, she states that: †I generally purchase toys for my child in o rder to fufill their wants as they are lonely and do not have a sibling to bond with† (2013). Moreover, only children have everything to themselves. They will not have to share a room, the computer and any other things. What are the disadvantages of having an only child? In a 2013 study, data from from before and after the institution of China’s one-child policy has shown a causal link between being an only child and acquiring certain negative character traits. The study found that ‘onlies’ are â€Å"significantly less trusting, less trustworthy, more risk-averse, less competitive, more pessimistic, and less conscientious individuals† (Sandler, 2013). â€Å"The hardest part of being an only child is the stereotyping others create. Stereotypes make people assume that you are somebody that you are not† (J Stefano, 2013). The biggest disadvantage for only children is that they are generally percieved as ‘spoiled’ and/or ‘selfish’. Although disputed by scholars past and present (Polit & Falbo, 1987; 1988, Newman, 2011), the popular belief is that only children are self-centered, spoiled, in constant need of the spotlight, and socially inept (Stephen J Betchen, 2011). The most common statement made by survey participants when asked for their thoughts on only children was that: â€Å"they are used to thinking that they are the most important people so they must have everything only for themselves† (2013). These stereotypes have all been derived from the work of a 19th century psychologist who famously concluded that, â€Å"being an only child is a disease in itself† (Lauren Smelcher Sams, 2013). The old stereotype of spoilt and selfish does no one justice (Carmel Egan, 2009). Due to stereotyping, when someone becomes knowledgable that someone they meet is an only child, it is most likely that they will behave differently towards them. They are often perceived as loners and their actions may be misinterpreted.This makes it more difficult for only children to establish friendships. Single children do not learn social skills with other children in the household. Therefore, all of their social interactions must be gained in the world with other children (Joys of Parenting, 2013). When an only child is compared to a child that belongs to a large family, it is said that children from larger families are better off later in life since their  parents take care of their needs but not their wants. Children from larger families learn the difference between wants and needs. They learn to wait for what they want, or to work and earn it themselves. Thus they are spared the corruptive influence of instant gratification. They internalize the virtues of patience and honorable ambition. They grow to become self-reliant self-starters (Lots of Kids, 2010). According to Professor Ralph, whilst children from larger families learn these things, only children rely and become more dependent on the parent (Emma Sykes, 2011) A major topic regarding only children is loneliness. Many parents of only children deny their child freedom to explore the world in case something ‘bad’ were to happen to them (E Barbaro, 2013). There are â€Å"other children can go out when they please. For example , shopping with friends or going to a party. But being the only child means that parents put pressure on you. You have to still prove that you are the best. Instead you must focus on studies and have to maintain getting an a A for every test otherwise your parents will be disappointed with you† (J Stefano, 2013). Lastly, having an only child can be of a disadvantage to the family in later years. Bryan Caplan, author of Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids argues that it’s better to have more kids. He says â€Å"have the number of children that maximises average utility over your whole lifespan. When you’re 30, you might feel like two children is plenty, but once you’re 60, you are more likely to prefer 10 sons and daughters to keep you company and keep the grandkids coming† (2011). Conclusion The rate of single child families is rapidly increasing in today’s current society. As the world is constantly evolving, so is the way parents choose have a family. The 21st century is different from the past as mothers are not required to ultimately spend all of their time being a housewife looking after children and completing household chores. Women now have careers and are more concerned about status work and materilism. With this factor in mind, it is no surprise that single child households are becoming a contemporary issue of the 21st century. Only children are becoming more accepted by society as it is becoming more common. It is now less likely for only children to be placed into stereotypical categories, and being percieved as ‘selfish’ and ‘spoiled’. Despite this, only children are still  identified for having these traits. A reason for this is that majority of parents raising single children do spend their money on them, as they have no other priorities. Other disadvantages are loneliness and the lack of freedom, leading to possible issues when interacting with other children. Altough there are quite a few negatives, they still do not outweigh the positive aspects of being an only child. Only children do get great advantages. For example, parents can spend all of their time on the child. That child is the number one priority. They can have a close relationship with parents and they do not have to share with others. Despite this, it can lead to negative aspects where the child learns the ‘selfish’ traits and falls under stereotyping. The question: â€Å"Are there more advantages or disadvantages when having an only child?† cannot be fully supported. Who is to say whether or not there is a great advantage when having an only child, or whether it is a disadvantage. There is not enough information to fully support whether it is a good or bad thing. Every individual is different and the overall, the decision to raise an only child is ultimately up to the parents and whether their lifestyle fits one of a large or a small family. Less or more children for whatever personal reasons should just be accepted, as long as the children involved are happy. There is not one right or wrong answer. Bibliography Primary Surveys with mothers and employees of a daycare center, 2013, ‘Are there more advantages or disadvantages when having an only child?’, August 22 E Barbaro, Interview, 2013 V Haynes, Interview, 2013 J Stefano, Interview, 2013 Secondary Bellybelly.com.au. 1986. One Child Families: Advantages and Disadvantages of Having an Only Child. [online] Available at: http://www.bellybelly.com.au/child/one-child-families-advantages-disadvantages-of-having-one-child [Accessed: 27th Aug 2013]. Caplan, B. 2011. Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids. The Perseus Books Group, p. Paperback, 288 pages. Emma Sykes. Abc.net.au. 2011. Triple P Podcast: Single Children – ABC

Characteristics of Gilgamesh and Enkidu in Fosters The...

Everyone has qualities that are heroic and noble, and everyone has their flaws. No matter who they are, or how perfect others think they are, people still have some negative qualities that can hurt their heroic ones. In the book, The Epic of Gilgamesh, by Benjamin Foster, both Gilgamesh and Enkidu had positive and negative characteristics that affected the outcome of their journey and their adventures they experienced throughout their lives. Gilgamesh was considered a hero because he had many great qualities, such as loyalty, perseverance, and heroism. Although these are heroic traits, he also had his flaws and was self-righteous, selfish, and prideful. Gilgamesh was a great man and was seen as flawless and â€Å"perfect in†¦show more content†¦Because of his pride, he does not listen, which is one of his biggest flaws in the story. Furthermore, you can see Gilgamesh’s perseverance when he finds out that the outcome of his journey is not favorable, but he still continues to go after praying to Shamash (26). This shows that he would always continue with what he started and that he was not one to give up on what he says he is going to do. His loyalty to his friend, Enkidu, is also very obvious, especially after Enkidu passed away, when Gilgamesh â€Å"Slaughtered fatted [cattle] and sheep, heaped them high for his friend† (62). This shows that Gilgamesh really enjoyed and appreciated Enki du as a friend, and even after his death, he did everything possible to make sure that he was recognized and respected. But, after his death, Gilgamesh still showed his flaw of being self-righteous because he felt that he deserved eternal life because he was part god. For instance, he stated, â€Å"Enkidu, my friend whom I loved, is turned into clay! Shall I too not lie down like him, and never get up forever and ever?† (78). The idea of death really hit him after Enkidu because he realized that death is inevitable, no matter how prideful you are or how much you achieve, it is still going to happen. Gilgamesh definitely had too many heroic qualities that wereShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Epic Of Gilgamesh 1311 Words   |  6 PagesThe Epic of Gilgamesh is a very popular epic that is difficult to understand at first, which is why there is different translations of the same book. Although Foster and Sander’s translations have a lot of similar words and the stori es are basically the same, there are also a lot of differences between the two. One of which is more straightforward and easier to understand, whereas the other is more of an in depth thoughtful read for the reader. Both translations differences have their own particular