IIUM Journal of Human Sciences (IJOHS)
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Sociable Scholarship and Its Impact on Public Interest in Medical Information in Malaysia
Get PDFAlthough social media are commonly used among medical-related public figures and organizations, its utilization among other agents of social change such as medical scholars and practitioners is often overlooked. Sociable scholarship, which refers to public engagement on social media among scholars and practitioners, is vital to facilitate the change in public health. Current study aims to investigate the trend of sociable scholarship among medical scholars and practitioners specifically on Facebook and its impact on public interest in medical information specifically in Malaysia. Secondary data were obtained and analysed using content analysis. The findings revealed that there is a positive trend of sociable scholarship among medical scholars and practitioners in Malaysia. It was also shown that among medical information that gain the public interest are kidney-health and illegal health products. These findings were further discussed and presented with possible explanations. The current study provides a glimpse of this phenomena by using Facebook as a data-source. To gain better understanding on sociable scholarship, it is suggested to use other sources and extend to other population in future research
The The Effect of Grit on Work Performance, Psychological Wellbeing and its Relationship with other factors: A Review of Literature
No full textThis article aims to review the empirical investigations on the construct of grit in various socio-cultural settings and its implications, and how does it contribute or correlate with other psychosocial factors. Since most of the grit literatures focused more on the academic setting, no studies from this particular setting are included in this review. A total of 17 studies were identified for this article with exclusion criterions of academic settings and qualitative studies. We focus on the effect of grit on the work performance of various target populations such as medical doctors, military officers, and sportsmen. In addition, we have also reviewed the impact of grit on individual’s’ psychological wellbeing such as depression, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, successful wellbeing, and basic needs satisfaction. Important issues concerning grit and its implications are identified. Suggestions on the directions of future research are also highlighted to fill in the gaps and limitations from previous studies to ensure a more comprehensive understanding on grit concept
Personalised Campaigns in Party-Centred Politics: Facebook and Instagram as Arena for Political Communication
Get PDFSocial media like Facebook and Instagram place the focus on the individual politician rather than the political party, thereby expanding the political arena for increased personalised campaigning. The need to use social media to communicate a personal image as a politician and to post personalised messages online seems less obvious in a party-centred system of Malaysian politics. Within this framework, the personalised and dialogical aspects of social media may be contradicted with the political parties’ structural communication strategies. The study uses data from content analyses of eight Malaysian politicians’ Facebook and Instagram accounts during the 14th General Election in Malaysia. The study adopts quantitative approach by presenting descriptive and exploratory analyses. The findings show that politicians’ depended more on Facebook as their personal media platform and used Instagram as an image booster. The study explains that different features offer by Facebook and Instagram serve as a determinant for politicians’ decision in using them. The study concludes that both Facebook and Instagram push for personalisation in political communication that requires private exposure and individual initiatives. Overall, the study shows that like other world leaders, Malaysian politicians are keeping abreast with the technology in reaching out various segments of the society for political communication on social media
Islamic and Western Ethics in Advertising
Get PDFEthical advertising and Islamic advertising appear dissimilar as the former refers to Western ethics and the latter Islamic ethics. The question of whether ethical advertising should be used in place of Islamic advertising is raised in the paper. This discussion is significant as selecting an apt concept for advertising to Muslims is essential. This is supported by Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that claims a person’s conception of the world is dictated by language. When the concept of Islamic advertising is used, Islamic ethics and not Western ethics is brought to the foreground. The article springs a surprise of whether there is indeed the demarcation between Western and Islamic ethics or not. Western categories of normative ethics have been used by Muslim scholars with the difference being the prerequisite for adapting Western ethics using the main sources of the Qur’an and the Sunnah from the Islamic perspective
The Fading Birth Practice: Urban Malay Mothers in Malaysia Negotiating Confinement Practices
Get PDFMalay mothers’ postpartum experiences often include a period of confinement, similar to other Asian parallel practices of “doing the month”. This confinement period comprise of a set of beliefs, rules, and practices based on traditional eastern medicinal knowledge. Cultural practices of postpartum confinement, or berpantang, among urban mothers in Malaysia is competing with modern western medicine in the contemporary setting. The data for this presentation is from a phenomenological study utilising twelve open-ended interviews of couples and two focus group discussions with mothers on their experience of berpantang. Even though it is still widely performed, the elements within berpantang are handpicked by these mothers. According to these mothers, the traditional practices are thought to be inadequate or inferior when compared to the authority of western biomedicine. In events where medical practitioners give opposing advice, all mothers chose to adhere to, and accept biomedicine’s explanations and justifications over the traditional practice. The former cultural figure head, the bidan (midwife), is no longer a part of the birthing process in these urban settings. Urban mothers today rely on or refer to their maternal mothers for knowledge and guidance on berpantang. Urban mothers who practise berpantang describe the main reason for their practise was to maintain familial peace. This paper seeks to highlight social and cultural implications this hegemony has particularly on challenging the continuity in the chain of traditional knowledge
The Methodology of Ali Shari’ati: A Comparison with Durkheim’s and Weber’s Sociology of Religion
Get PDFAli Shari’ati was an ideologue par excellence, who through his writings and fiery speeches was able to attract the young intelligentsia of Iran and prepare them for the cataclysmic movement that took place in 1979. The methodology adopted by Ali Shari’ati in his study of religion was different from two classical sociologists. The objective of this paper is to highlight how Ali Shari’ati differed in his sociology of religion from sociologists, such as Emilé Durkheim and Max Weber. Through thematic content analysis, the works of the authors were reviewed to understand their methodology. The findings of this paper outline the methodology adopted by Ali Shari’ati, which was different, both, in its approach and the tools used to analyze religion. Though there was a shift in methodology when compared to classical sociologists, this paper agrees that the methodology of Ali Shari’ati was the best suited to study a deeply religious Asian society such as Iran. 
Asiyah, Maryam and Khadijah as Role Models for Contemporary Muslim Women
Get PDFoai:ojs2.journals.iium.edu.my:article/13Islam envisions a society built upon individual contribution and mutual cooperation towards a greater goal. Its aim is the achievement of piety at personal level and the establishment of the creed of Islam at a societal level. Thus, in a Muslim society success is not defined by the exploits and worldly achievements of a particular person, man or woman. Rather it is about the role of individuals towards creating a harmonious society where men and women evaluate each other, encourage one another and help and support themselves to establish the Deen of Allah in the land. This is the example of the role of the individual we receive from the Quran, the Ahadith of our Prophet (S) and from the women we meet in the Seerah of our Prophet Muhammad (S). This article strives to highlight the examples of three women from various periods of the history of Islam who played crucial roles at critical moments to provide support and shelter to three major prophets. The three ladies are Asiyah Bint Muzahim, Maryam Bint Imran and Khadijah Bint Khuwailid. The first was the wife of the Pharaoh of Egypt, the second was the first and only mother to give birth to a child without any male intervention, the third a powerful businesswoman of Makkah. But their stature and honour in Islam is not based on their personal positions or achievements. It is due to their roles in protecting and nurturing three prophets of the highest caliber – Musa (A), Isa (A) and Muhammad (S) respectively. They epitomized how women can utilize their full potential not only for personal gain but also to create a better environment in the world in conjunction with their male counterparts. Their examples can provide a guideline for modern women as to how Muslim women today may achieve individual spirituality while contributing effectually towards the betterment of the society they live in
Development of Indigenous Malay Work-based Personality Inventory using the Malay Personality Taxonomy: A Preliminary Finding
Get PDFBackground: The expression of personality in work context may differ in general context and the transportation of western-based personality measures to non-western cultures have been found problematic in terms of their psychometric soundness. Objective: This research was conducted with the aim to develop an indigenous work-based personality inventory using the indigenously explored Malay personality taxonomy (Nefarious, Emotionality, Virtues, Indulgence, eXtraversion, and Accommodative factors; abbreviated as NEVIXA). Methods: The test was developed using American Psychological Association (APA) Standards of Educational and Psychological Testing’s (2014) four main phases of test development: (1) Test conceptualization, (2) Test construction, (3) Test tryout and item analysis, and (4) Test validation. This preliminary finding, however, discussed results up to Phase 3 of the test development—test tryout and item analysis phase. Results: Item response theory (IRT) analysis using Samejima’s graded response model (GRM) of IRT for polytomous items recorded a total of 286 items (143 English items and 143 Malay items) with appropriate item discrimination index and reliability values, namely, the Cronbach alphas and Equivalence coefficients. Conclusion: Further efforts are needed to validate the items for a full development of an indigenous work-based personality test that can be used for work-related applications.
Keywords: test development, work-based personality, psycholexical approach, Malay personality taxonomy, item response theor
Psychological Distress among Adolescents of Different Ethnic Groups in Malaysia
Get PDFAdolescence is a stage in human life where children seek autonomy and identity, are more prone to peer influence and deviant behaviour and frequently experience unstable emotional feelings. These changes experienced by all adolescents and how they react to the changes highly depend on their culture, context and religious values. As a result, adolescents, regardless of their ethnic origin, are likely to experience psychological disturbance in the process of making adjustment. In relation to this, this study aims to investigate whether psychological distress experienced by adolescents differ across ethnic groups. Five hundred and seventy-one adolescents (Malay, Chinese and Indian) were recruited from secondary schools in several states in Malaysia. A set of questionnaire that consists of demographic questions and statements from the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) that measure psychological distress was given to each participant. Based on the one-way analysis of variance, there is a significant different in the score of GHQ across ethnic groups. The mean score of Malay adolescents is significantly different from the mean score of Chinese adolescents. The mean score of Indian adolescents however, is not significantly different from the mean scores of the Malay and Chinese adolescents. These findings provide new knowledge for school counselling services regarding ethnic differences and future research in the field of adolescent psychology.