Global consumption of sugar-sweetened foods (SSF) is high, despite being linked with obesity(1). Motivations to eat SSF may contribute to high sugar intakes(2). The herb Gymnema sylvestre (GS) may reduce SSF consumption(3), but its effects on motivations to eat SSF are unknown. This study aimed to investigate effects of GS on adult’s motivations to eat SSF. The study used a placebo-controlled randomised cross-over method, of which seven participants (mean age of 34 ± 13.8 years; two males, five females) who self-identified as having a sweet tooth agreed to interview. A placebo mint was tested three times daily in-between meals (i.e., PLAC-SYS) for 14 days, before random allocation to one of two GS treatments for a second 14-day period, crossing over GS treatments in a final 14-day period. The GS treatments were identical GS-containing mints, administered systematically three times daily in-between meals (i.e., GS-SYS); or ad-libitum up to six times daily (i.e., GS-ADLIB). Each participant completed four 30-minute interviews – at baseline and after each 14-day testing period – to capture perspectives on changes in motivations, and the effects of treatments on SSF intake. Interviews occurred on Zoom software or in person, according to participant preference. Interview transcripts were uploaded to NVivo, and themes regarding motivations to eat SSF were identified and explored to ascertain effects on participant’s behaviour during each treatment, and what influenced their motivations. Baseline motivations to eat or to avoid SSF were categorised in psychological, external, habitual, hedonistic and physiological themes (except none habitually avoided SSF). Baseline motivations to eat and avoid SSF were influenced by deliberate decisions to change lifestyles and external factors (e.g., occupations). During testing of PLAC-SYS, GS-SYS and GS-ADLIB, participants’ motivations were affected by each treatment and external factors. At all stages participants were still motivated hedonistically to eat SSF. Compared to PLAC-SYS, both GS treatments were more effective because they reduced pleasure derived from SSF more and enhanced mindful eating. Four participants preferred GS-SYS to GS-ADLIB because of taste preference, and because it was more effective at changing behaviours around eating SSF. Participants also reported self-control of SSF intake changed because of GS-ADLIB (but not GS-SYS or PLAC-SYS) and external factors. Overall, reported self-control levels varied during the study, mostly because of external factors rather than the effects of GS-ADLIB. Compared to PLAC-SYS, both GS treatments may increase motivations to avoid SSF. The herb may be useful in interventions already utilising mindful eating by increasing the time between initial motivations to eat, and actually eating SSF. External factors also affect how in control individuals feel over SSF intake; GS-ADLIB may enhance self-control. Interventions supporting navigation of changing external factors, combined with GS, could be particularly effective in reducing SSF intake.

In 2014, eight years prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian-backed separatists seized parts of the Ukrainian regions Luhansk and Donetsk. Shortly thereafter, thousands of Ukrainians voluntarily enrolled to various paramilitary battalions. Unlike the Right Sector's Volunteer Ukrainian Corps (RS VUC), almost all battalions were incorporated into Ukrainian official defence structures. Applying uncertainty-identity theory and based on interviews, observations, and documents, this study investigates the attractiveness of RS VUC prior to the 2022 war, motivating the fighters to join this organisation and to remain in it. The study found that fighters of RS VUC distrusted society, the wider population, and state authorities. RS VUC, with its high fighting morale, discipline, family-like relationships between fighters, as well as its clear ideology and boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’, were attractive to the fighters since its unambiguous group prototypes and high entitativity, reduced the fighters’ self-uncertainty regarding their social identity in an uncertain environment. The findings also revealed that the fighters’ choice to join RS VUC can be understood as a rational decision, since RS VUC's group entitativity provided the fighters with moral and emotional benefits, as well as maximised their chances of survival.

Using applications to change behaviors is a popular trend in recent years as mobiles are the easiest recording medium for users. However, few users can keep the behavior change for a long time. The aim of this study is to investigate motivations of keeping an application-tracked behavior change to provide effective and promote effective and targeted suggestions for application-tracked behavior intervention design practitioners and researchers. A 28-day self-report experiment and following “focus group” discussion have been conducted to detect the possible motivations. The results indicated 8 motivations which can affect maintaining behavior change: cooperation, competition, award, reminder and alarm, trust and willingness, relation with disease information and unplanned events. In addition, the results explore some motivations from negative data in applications or the cheating for good performance data behavior. At the same time, the study suggested the functions needed in future behavior change applications.

L’homicide pathologique survient dans un contexte psychoaffectif morbide avec des motivations toujours affectives. Les impulsions au meurtre, les crimes immotivés reste un symptôme clinique de la plus haute importance. Elle évolue par accès revêtant un caractère mixte à la fois discordant et psychopathique. Entre les accès, l’existence d’un minimum de trouble et le sujet peut souvent mener une vie proche de la normale. Il s agit de deux jeunes hommes de milieu différent ayant commis chacun un homicide sans aucun motif. Leur passage à l’acte est trop complexe pour n’être qu’un signe ou qu’un symptôme. Dans notre expertise, il est question de restituer une image la plus fidèle possible de notre compréhension de ce qui se joue sur la scène de la violence intime du sujet.

This paper explores the motivations of Western women who traveled to Syria/Iraq to support the Islamic State (IS) or Daesh. It draws on previous studies of the phenomenon, insights from practitioners and informal interviews with an individual with first-hand insights. The different motivations are categorized into three levels: macro, meso and micro. The author rebukes the intractable stereotype of the “jihadi bride” that (inadvertently) suggests that women are driven mainly by personal motivations or the prospect of marriage, and demonstrates that female Western supporters of IS/Daesh are motivated by various factors. These include ideological or religious motivations, the pull of the cause, frustration and anger over the perceived worldwide oppression of Muslims, but also the search for a purpose in life and for a sense of belonging. Women have been affected by group dynamics and experiences in their past (including sexual abuse). Some women were attracted by the prospect of a clean slate, adventure or a (religious) husband. The author underscores that, in order to tackle the phenomenon of women supporting IS/Daesh, it is essential to deepen our understanding of its appeal on women, which requires acknowledging the diversity of women who joined IS/Daesh and recognizing the complexity and multitude of their motivations.

Demonstrated economic benefits of conversion to organic agriculture, combined with solutions to technical and production-related problems, suggest that farmers in Switzerland should have converted in large numbers to organic production. However, the number of organic farms in Switzerland has remained virtually constant in the last 10 yr, so it appears there are other factors that influence the decision of whether or not to convert. Several studies have sought to identify the factors that influence the decisions by farmers whether or not to convert to organic, but have found a range of factors that appear to be context dependent, while others can be seen as context transcendent, which makes it difficult to draw generalizable conclusions. The aim of this study was to identify how Swiss farmers’ decisions reflect the interaction of perceptions, relationships, policies and economic factors, which either enable or provide barriers to conversion. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2015 with 39 farmers of mixed and arable farms in the German- (n = 24) and French-speaking (n = 15) parts of Switzerland. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed according to their content. The results show that the decision of whether or not to convert relies on belief that technical problems have been sufficiently solved, as well as a range of social factors. Farmers perceive social pressure for them to be productive, but non-organic farmers often incorrectly perceive organic farming as not being oriented toward production. Furthermore, ‘official’ advice, which could correct this misperception, is sought about how, rather than whether, to convert and typically comes after farmers have made their decision. Major barriers in an area with a low density of organic farms are the lack of supply and delivery points within an acceptable travel distance, and lack of peer networks to provide informal support. On the basis of these findings, we propose that strategies to encourage conversion should be based around two main pillars: investment to create a network of supply and delivery points in areas with low density of organic farms; and actions, such as information events, to encourage dialogue between conventional and organic farmers to counteract feelings of ‘us vs them’.

Mastitis is a major disease affecting the herds of dairy farmers worldwide. One of the indicators directly related to the widespread infection of this disease in herds is the bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC). Recent studies have shown that one of the risk factors associated with mastitis is the human factor. Therefore, understanding the influence of humans is essential to control and prevent the disease. The main goal of this study was to determine whether the motivations and barriers perceived by farmers could explain the variation in the BTSCC. This study was conducted at 75 dairy farms in southern Brazil. In the interviews with farmers, a survey based on Likert scale items was used to collect data. Structural equation models were used to explain the subjectivity in the ratio of observed variables and latent variables elucidating the possible causal relationships between the variables. The model indicated that some of the variation in the BTSCC can be explained by the farmer’s behavior, which is elucidated by his/her motivations and barriers. The correlations between motivations and the BTSCC and between barriers and the BTSCC were positive. These findings suggest that variations in the BTSCC can be explained by the motivations and barriers perceived by farmers and that the Fogg Behavior Model used in this study can be used to explain how human behaviors influence mastitis control. This study also indicates that consulting companies focused on improving milk quality should pay attention to the human factor to reduce these barriers.

As part of a long-term project investigating the relevance of phenomenology for (cognitive) linguistics we analyse two central, interrelated concepts: embodied intersubjectivity (intercorporeality) and sedimentation. With respect to the first, we spell out a number of different intercorporeal structures, emanating at the most fundamental level from the dual Leibkörper nature of the body. Further, we demonstrate that sedimentation is more than a ‘geological metaphor’ as meaning is intrinsically layered in human experience. This is first illustrated by reviewing evidence from ontogenetic semiotic development within the framework of the Mimesis Hierarchy model (Zlatev 2013). Then, we focus on the linguistic construal of situations lacking actual motion in dynamic terms through expressions of non-actual motion such as The road goes through the forest and He was uplifted by her smile. We review studies of non-actual motion in Swedish, English, French, Bulgarian and Thai extending and re-formulating previous analyses. We argue that the present analysis is more adequate than cognitive linguistic explanations in terms of ‘mental simulation’ and ‘conceptual metaphor’. We conclude by pointing out how our phenomenological investigation can help resolve a number of classical dilemmas in semantics: Is language primarily grounded in the body or in society? Is the ontology of linguistic meaning mental or social? What is the relationship between pre-linguistic experiences and linguistic conventions?