Massey Documents by Type
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294
Browse
13 results
Search Results
Item In the radiance of enlightenment: The influence of nontheistic religions on corporate default risk(Elsevier B V, 2024-06) Feng Y; Hao W; Fang J; Wongchoti UWe investigate whether religious site density around a firm's headquarters is related to corporate default risk in China. We find that public firms surrounded by a higher number of Buddhist and Taoist temples are associated with lower default risk. In contrast to the widely documented impact of Western religiosity on corporate behavior, our mechanism tests indicate that lower default risk related to religious site density is primarily driven by better corporate governance and not by a surge in corporate conservatism. Finally, we find that this default risk lowering effect is more pronounced when firms also possess greater political resources.Item Ko wai, ko wairua : narratives of wairua and wellbeing : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2022) Brittain, EleanorWairua is a fundamental, boundless, and connective aspect of Māori ways of being and the significance of wairua to wellbeing is reiterated in foundational models of health. The research sought to understand Māori narratives and meaning-making of wairua pertaining to experiences of mental distress, healing, and recovery. This entailed developing a Kaupapa Māori narrative approach, to embed the research within Māori worldviews, to draw from mātauranga, and to amplify the relevance and meaningfulness of the research processes and outcomes. Kaupapa Māori theory was the interpretive framework, determining and shaping the research foundations, narrative inquiry informed the methodology, and the research processes mirrored Māori rituals and ways of engaging. Recruitment occurred through Māori networks and used a snowball approach. Twelve Māori adults, who at some time experienced mental distress or accessed mental health services, took part in one-on-one interviews. Narrative interpretations were undertaken at an individual level and as a collection of narratives. The overarching narrative interpretation is laid out in three components, arranged around salient and meaningful metaphors. Firstly, ‘Te pō, te ao mārama’, darkness and light, emerged from the narratives as a metaphor for experiences and temporal phases. Secondly, ‘Aro atu, aro mai’ figuratively conveys a continuum of distance and closeness; it is used to illustrate and represent the qualities of the relationship with wairua. Thirdly, ‘Ko wai, nā wai’ draws on the recurrent narrative imagery of water, as a metaphor for the contextual nature of identity, focusing on the significance of Māori identity and relationships with others. Narratives of wairua entailed a retelling of experiences as Māori. Distress and despair were inevitably experiences of wairua and characteristic to healing and recovery was enriching wairua. Moreover, healing and recovery were inherently relational and enhanced through connections with whānau and collectives.Item Wairua, affect and national commemoration days : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2022) Gunn, Te RainaWairua, a Māori (indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) concept, somewhat restrictively translated as spirit or spirituality, resonates with many indigenous peoples globally. While spirit is recognised as an important human dimension, the denigration of non-western spiritual understandings means that indigenous peoples often choose to remain silent. Transferring these concerns to research approaches, we edit our voices, with a view to what we think will count as knowledge and what we choose to share with academic audiences. The aim of my study is to explore wairua and investigate how wairua might provide an analytical approach to understanding emotions and feelings evoked by Waitangi Day and Anzac Day. This project sits within a major research programme “Wairua, Affect and National Days” funded by the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society. The overall objective of the wider project was to explore wairua and the affective politics evoked as people relate, engage and grapple with observance and charged acts of remembrance around national days in Aotearoa New Zealand. Drawing on literature, qualitative in-depth interviews and haerenga kitea, an audio-visual method recording people’s experiences of national days, I arrived at several overlapping domains that provided a starting point for the development of A Wairua Approach (AWA) to research. The literature revealed wairua as a topic that appears in diverse sources but is rarely investigated in its own right; while wairua is acknowledged as central to Māori experience, and ‘in everything’, it is rarely engaged with explicitly in research. People understand and experience wairua in diverse ways, with wairua weaving in and out of everyday life for some people. However, for many Māori, living in a western society that has largely determined what is considered reality, such understandings are often discounted, marginalised and a source of discomfort. A wairua approach, when applied to haerenga kitea data was able to frame participant experiences within wider meanings, relating to diverse concepts such as identity and mana. Addressing wairua explicitly in research, was a challenging exercise, but one that enabled a depth of emotions and feelings to be uncovered.Item Hyper-pluralism and the RELICS method : how religious expression via living inter-personal conceptual schemata accounts for religious diversity : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Philosophy at Massey University, Distance, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Doughty, Samuel William ConnorThis paper offers a new method for a new pluralism. The author offers an examination of John Hick’s religious pluralism and George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s conceptual metaphor theory (CMT). After detailing the amendments required for both Hick’s pluralism and Lakoff and Johnson’s CMT the author offers an updated version of the former and an amended version of the latter. In the final section a ‘hyper-pluralism’ is offered as well as a method for the account of religious diversity through religious expression via living inter-personal conceptual schemata (RELICS).Item The trip of a lifetime : journeying to the afterlife in ancient Greece : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History with a Classical Topic at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Chalklen, Rose Miriam LisaThough there has been much scholarship on various aspects of death and the afterlife in ancient Greece, there has been little attempt to view the evidence in the context of the afterlife journey as a composite whole. This thesis aims to present a comprehensive study on different aspects of ancient Greek eschatology in the context of the afterlife journey, in order to reconstruct the process of the transition. This is achieved by investigating the eschatological themes and motifs which are reflected in ancient Greek literature, iconography, and archaeological remains. The text is loosely structured on a traveller’s ‘guide’, which consists of three basic stages of the afterlife journey: preparation, transit, and arrival. Chapter One outlines the actions undertaken in preparation for the soul’s journey to the afterlife, primarily regarding the performance of proper burial rites, which were imagined in early times to directly affect the soul’s incorporation into Hades, but by the Classical period were no longer necessary for entry into the afterlife. Still, certain practices, such as the provision of grave goods, did facilitate the soul’s journey to a certain extent. Chapter Two examines how the soul’s transit from the upper to the lower world was imagined, either through flight or by foot, along with the help of mythological guides. Evidence also shows that the soul was imagined to reach the underworld by travelling to the horizon in the west, after which it was required to cross a body of water. Chapter Three explores the different afterlife destinations for the dead and their criteria for admission. Sources suggest that places of reward and punishment for ordinary souls in the afterlife emerge during the late Archaic and early Classical periods, but became more clearly established during the Classical period. Also assessed are the challenges and hazards which the soul encounters after it has arrived in the underworld, which ultimately functioned to determine the final destiny of the soul. Analysis of the primary sources shows that there was a development of afterlife beliefs during the Archaic period which led to a more complex and elaborate portrayal of the afterlife journey than what had previously been described by Homer.Item Resurgence and convergence : religion and development, with a focus on social capital among Akha in North Thailand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North Campus, New Zealand(Massey University, 2004) Pennington, Philip JThis Masters thesis research aims to contribute to the fledgling body of development industry literature that seriously considers the intersect of science, religion, and development. Religion is gaining recognition as an important aspect of development processes; previous neglect of it has been cited as one reason for the failure of many development efforts. An evolutionary framework would suggest the interaction of the large human movements of religion and the development industry would inevitably include resurgence of religion, sometimes in unfamiliar forms, along with religion's convergence with development, both among societies generally as they evolve into multiple modernities, and through interactions specific to the development industry and religion. This thesis identifies and discusses these trends and interactions with reference to improving development research and practice. Having demonstrated that religion does matter for development, I go on to show how it matters in one instance. This thesis assesses the potentials and limitations of one indigenous religion's ritual practices for creating and maintaining social capital among an indicative sample group of people who have experienced dislocation resulting from development. Fieldwork using primarily qualitative methods was among Akha hilltribe people living in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, with a focus, though not exclusively, on those living in slums. Findings indicate that among city Akha. their religious ritual has lost the primary role it previously occupied in Akha villages as a social capital generator. However, further analysis suggests Akhas' religious experience predisposes them to conversion to access the social capital evident among Christian Akha in Chiang Mai, and that through this process is occurring a negotiation of convergence between Akha religion and modernising forces which will affect all Akha. I conclude that both the identified wider trends and context-specific example of religion- development interaction demonstrate the value in development practitioners and theorists moving towards understanding and applying a non-instrumental valuing of religion.Item Te hahi o te kohititanga marama = The religion of the reflection of the moon : a study of the religion of Te Matenga Tamati : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Religious Studies at Massey University(Massey University, 1983) Elsmore, BronwynThe Kohiti religion was a vital movement in the Wairoa area for more than thirty years. Its positive view and teaching of inclusiveness and unity brought to the believers a hope, a dream, and a promise. It arose in the last years of the nineteenth century - a time when the Maori was at his lowest ebb numerically and culturally. This, then, was also a time of great spiritual need. Te Matenga Tamati received a revelation to guide his people. As the Christian church did not provide a theological system fully acceptable to the Maori, he formulated a faith that did - being a synthesis of traditional beliefs, Old Testament teachings, and Christian values. Taking the new moon as a symbol, the Kohiti made preparations for a great new age to come. Their efforts to construct a great tabernacle to the Lord is an amazing story, and one which clearly demonstrates the belief of the Maori of this period that they were descendants of the house of Jacob. This study begins with an introductory chapter which briefly outlines the Maori response to the gospel up to the period concerned, then examines the reaction in the Wairoa area specifically. Upon this background the whole story of the Kohiti religion is told, and biblical parallels are pointed out. The phenomenology of the movement is then fully considered.Item The development of Maori Christianity in the Waiapu diocese until 1914 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University(Massey University, 1972) Prenter, Isla LIn making a study and interpreting the development of Maori Christianity in the diocese of Waiapu, this work has been confined mainly to the forms and direction assumed by the Maori section of the Anglican Church. Whilst the apparent narrowness of this study is somewhat limiting, this should not prevent its purpose being fulfilled within the given period of the study. Throughout the whole period under survey, that is until 1914, Anglicanism was the predominant Maori religion in the area covered by the diocese. Until the wars in the 1860s it had only one rival for the loyalty of the Maoris in the area, - that of Roman Catholicism, whose adherents were a distinctive minority. By 1914 the Roman Catholic, as well as the Presbyterian Church and the Salvation Army, who were now working in the area, were still minority groups concentrating mainly on various parts of the Bay of Plenty region. Whilst Maori initiative and leadership may also have been emerging here, the emphasis appears, on the surface, to be rather more on the mission aspect. After the wars the Ringatu religion emerged strongly in some areas in the Waiapu diocese, to rank second in numerical strength among the Maori Churches. It would have been impossible within the scope of this thesis to have included more than a brief comparative survey of this religion which has already been the subject of a thesis by Lyons 1 E.Lyons "Te Kooti:Priest and warrior and founder of Ringatu church" (1931, no location) as well as a study by W.Greenwood. 2 W.Greenwood The Upraised Hand. (Wellington, 1942.) Mormonism which developed strongly in the Southern Hawkes Bay area from the l880s onward, has been treated even more cursorily. However this again has been the subject of a much more recent and detailed thesis by I.Barker. 3I.Barker "The Connexion:The Mormon Church and the Maori People" (Victoria University,1967.) The predominance of Maori Anglican christianity, its longer history and more widespread nature should therefore allow sufficient scope for this type of study. Whilst avoiding too narrow a specialisation for this subject by confining it to Maori Anglican christianity, it has also kept it to manageable limits.Item Together in the light : an ethnographic exploration of the Palmerston North Quakers' sense of community and shared understandings : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2014) Keyes, IanThe Religious Society of Friends is a Christian denomination whose emergence can be traced back to the teachings of George Fox in the 1640s in England. Since that time the denomination has splintered, from which four branches of Quakerism have emerged. One of these branches is liberal Quakerism, which is the only type of Quakerism found in New Zealand. Liberal Quakers do not have any centralised doctrine or authority figures, and they take the view that practice is more important that one’s belief. This research focuses on the Palmerston North Quakers and specifically answers two sets of questions. The first is whether they have a sense of community, and if so, what gives them that sense of community. The second set of questions centres on what the Quakers shared understanding are in the context of their community boundaries, and what enables these understandings. As well as drawing on analysis from interviews with my research participants, this research also draws extensively on participant observation from Palmerston North and also from other groups in the North Island of New Zealand. All of which enables an understanding of the lived experience of being a Palmerston North Quaker. Underpinning my research is a bricolage of theoretical work. These include community theory from John Bruhn, David Minar and Scott Greer, Patricia Felkins, Susan Love Brown as well as Victor and Edith Turner’s concept of communitas, Randall Collin’s interaction ritual theory and James Fernandez’s work on consensus. The most significant theme to emerge from analysis was the importance of the Quaker’s silent meeting for worship. Whilst it may seem like an uneventful period of time to outsiders, its central importance to the community cannot be emphasised enough. Keywords: Anthropology; Communitas; Community; Consensus; Ethnography; Interaction ritual; Quakers; Religion; Religious Society of Friends; Ritual; Solidarity.Item Spiritual healing and its contribution to contemporary religious life and alternative medicine in Aotearoa-New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Religious Studies at Massey University(Massey University, 1996) Martin, Melva MaySpiritual healing spans many centuries, cultures, and health professions, yet the scientific study of spiritual healing is lacking from the literature of religious studies. There is no doubt that spiritual healing is very much a part of many religions; healing was in fact a practical foundation for the Christian religion as taught by Jesus Christ and his disciples. As a result of breakdown in religious organisations spiritual healing has become the foundation from which many movements away from conventional religions has occurred and consequently sects, cults, and practitioners of alternative medicine have gathered followers and flourished as they practise their mode of spiritual healing. The ultimate purpose of this study was to discover new knowledge about the phenomenon of spiritual healing from the viewpoint of both healer and healee, i.e., those who recognise or have experienced spiritual healing as a distinct process of healing. Phenomenology provided the philosophy and the basis for the overall design of the study which sought to discover the contribution of spiritual healing to contemporary religious life and alternative medicine in Aotearoa-New Zealand. Triangulation was the method of choice to explore the essence of spiritual healing in a primary research survey carried out in the Manawatu region of Aotearoa-New Zealand. The strength of phenomenology lies in the lived experience and understandings of people, therefore a more accurate account of the phenomenon of spiritual healing was established from experiential data acquired from the primary research study. The results from the primary research study enabled the researcher to demonstrate knowledge which was context specific and relevant to the literature about spiritual healing within the domain of religious studies. It also described the contemporary position of spiritual healing in religious life, and alternative medicine in Aotearoa-New Zealand today. One of the major procedures many healers use to effectively heal the physical, energetic or etheric levels is a hands-on approach to the patient (healee) in treatment, either through actually touching the body or holding the hands a short distance off the body. The results of my primary research demonstrates that these methods of healing confirm the literature and are practised today. Illustrated experiences of healers and healees during spiritual healing interactions, as described in chapter four, indicate that through spiritual healing physical changes occur during healing interactions. Results of biophysical changes in pulse rate, blood pressure, and cranial rhythm, as well as experiential findings, show evidence for an energy ('e') exchange between the healer ('s') and healee ('s') during the act of healing with both people being affected and indications of a higher spiritual source ('S') at work during the interaction. From this study an equation for spiritual healing is proposed as follows: 's' + 's' + 'e' = 'H'(spirit of healer) (higher Spiritual source) (energy) (healing) ln Aotearoa-New Zealand, conventional medicine, nursing and religion have failed to treat the whole person, i.e., body, mind and spirit. Although their philosophies encourage the holistic approach evidence indicates that there is limited knowledge available within the professions and some role confusion for the provision of spiritual healing. However, a 'holistic'philosophy has always been part of alternative medicine and in both Britain and America alternatives are becoming an accepted and established part of their health care systems. There is currently a growing interest in alternative medicine and natural therapies within the health professions in Aotearoa-New Zealand and units of learning are being developed for the New Zealand Qualifications 'Framework'. Indications are that spiritual healing will become a major aspect of religious life and alternative medicine over the next decade in Aotearoa-New Zealand.