Choice consists of the mental process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them. While a choice can be made between imagined options ("what would I do if ...?"), often a choice is made between real options, and followed by the corresponding action. For example, a route for a journey is chosen based on the preference of arriving at a given destination as soon as possible. The preferred (and therefore chosen) route is then derived from information about how long each of the possible routes take. This can be done by a route planner. If the preference is more complex, such as involving the scenery of the route, cognition and feeling are more intertwined, and the choice is less easy to delegate to a computer program or assistant.

More complex examples (often decisions that affect what a person thinks or their core beliefs) include choosing a lifestyle, religious affiliation, or political position.

Most people regard having choices as a good thing, though a severely limited or artificially restricted choice can lead to discomfort with choosing and possibly, an unsatisfactory outcome. In contrast, unlimited choice may lead to confusion, regret of the alternatives not taken, and indifference in an unstructured existence; and the illusion that choosing an object or a course leads necessarily to control of that object or course can cause psychological problems.

Types of choices[link]

There are four types of decisions, although they can be expressed in different ways. Brian Tracy, who often uses enumerated lists in his talks, breaks them down into: # Command decisions, which can only be made by you, as the "Commander in Chief"; or owner of a company. # Delegated decisions, which may be made by anyone, such as the color of the bike shed, and should be delegated, as the decision must be made but the choice is inconsequential. # Avoided decisions, where the outcome could be so severe that the choice should not be made, as the consequences can not be recovered from if the wrong choice is made. This will most likely result in negative actions, such as death. # "No-brainer" decisions, where the choice is so obvious that only one choice can reasonably be made.

A fifth type, however, or fourth if three and four are combined as one type, is the collaborative decision, which should be made in consultation with, and by agreement of others. Collaborative Decision Making revolutionized air-traffic safety by not deferring to the captain when a lesser crew member becomes aware of a problem.

Another way of looking at decisions focuses on the thought mechanism used, is the decision:

Rational

Intuitive

Recognition based

Combination

Recognizing that "type" is an imprecise term, an alternate way to classify types of choices is to look at outcomes and the impacted entity. For example, using this approach three types of choices would be:

Business

Personal

Consumer

In this approach, establishing the types of choices makes it possible to identify the related decisions that will influence and constrain a specific choice as well as be influenced and constrained by another choice.

There are many "executive decision maker" products available, such as the decision wheels and the Magic 8-Ball, which randomly produce yes/no or other "decisions" for someone who can not make up their mind or just wants to delegate.

A Ouija board is also a delegated decision.

As a moral principle, decisions should be made by those most affected by the decision, but this is not normally applied to persons in jail, who might likely make a decision other than to remain in jail. Robert Gates cited this principle in allowing photographs of returning war dead.

Choice and evaluability in economics[link]

When choosing between options one must make judgments about the quality of each option's attributes. For example, if one is choosing between candidates for a job, the quality of relevant attributes such as previous work experience, college or high school GPA, and letters of recommendation will be judged for each option and the decision will likely be based on these attribute judgments. However, each attribute has a different level of ''evaluability'', that is, the extent to which one can use information from that attribute to make a judgment.

An example of a highly evaluable attribute is SAT score. Everyone knows that an SAT score below 800 is very bad while an SAT score above 1500 is exceptionally good. Because the distribution of scores on this attribute is relatively well known it is a highly evaluable attribute. Compare SAT score to a poorly evaluable attribute, such as number of hours spent doing homework. Most employers would not know what 10,000 hours spent doing homework means because they have no idea of the distribution of scores of potential workers in the population on this attribute.

As a result, evaluability can cause preference reversals between joint and separate evaluations. For example, Hsee, George Loewenstein, Blount & Bazerman (1999) looked at how people choose between options when they are directly compared because they are presented at the same time or when they cannot be compared because one is only given a single option. The canonical example is a hiring decision made about two candidates being hired for a programming job. Subjects in an experiment were asked to give a starting salary to two candidates, Candidate J and Candidate S. However, some viewed both candidates at the same time (joint evaluation), whereas others only viewed one candidate (separate evaluation). Candidate J had experience of 70 KY programs, and a GPA of 2.5, whereas Candidate S had experience of 10 KY programs and a GPA of 3.9. The results showed that in joint evaluation both candidates received roughly the same starting salary from subjects, who apparently thought a low GPA but high experience was approximately equal to a high GPA but low experience. However, in the separate evaluation, subjects paid Candidate S, the one with the high GPA, substantially more money. The explanation for this is that KY programs is an attribute that is difficult to evaluate and thus people cannot base their judgment on this attribute in separate evaluation.

Personal factors determine food choice. They are preference, associations, habits, ethnic heritage, tradition, values, social pressure, emotional comfort, availability, convenience, economy, image, medical conditions, and nutrition.

Choice and choice set size[link]

A number of research studies in economic psychology have focused on how individual behavior differs when the choice set size (the number of choices to choose from) is low versus when it is high. Of particular interest is whether individuals are more likely to purchase a product from a large versus a small choice set. Currently, the effect of choice set size on the probability of a purchase is unclear. In some cases, large choice set sizes discourages individuals from making a choice and in other cases it either encourages them or has no effect.

There is unambiguous evidence that while greater choice has the potential to improve a person's welfare, there is such a thing as too much choice. For example, in one experiment involving a choice of free soda, individuals explicitly requested to choose from six as opposed to 24 sodas, where the only benefit from the smaller choice set would be to reduce the cognitive burden of the choice. Attempts to explain why choice can demotivate someone from a purchase have focuses on two factors. One assumes that perusing a larger number of choices imposes a cognitive burden on the individual. The other assumes that individuals can experience regret if they make a suboptimal choice, and sometimes avoid making a choice to avoid experiencing regret.

Individual personality plays a significant role in how individuals deal with large choice set sizes. Psychologists have developed a personality test that determines where an individual lies on the satisficer-maximizer spectrum. A maximizer is one who always seeks the very best option from a choice set, and may anguish after the choice is made as to whether it was indeed the best. Satisficers may set high standards but are content with a good choice, and place less priority on making the best choice. Due to this different approach to decision-making, maximizers are more likely to avoid making a choice when the choice set size is large, probably to avoid the anguish associated with not knowing whether their choice was optimal.

Maximizers are less happy in life, perhaps due to their obsession with making optimal choices in a society where people are frequently confronted with choice. On the other hand, people who refrain from taking better choices through drugs or other forms of escapism tend to be much happier in life. Others argue, that there is never too much choice and that there is a difference between happiness and satisfaction: a person who tries to find more optimal decisions will often be dissatisfied, but not necessarily unhappy since his attempts at finding better choices did improve his lifestyle (even if it wasn't the ''best decision'' he will continually try to ''incrementally improve'' the decisions he takes).

Other uses[link]

''law'': the age at which children or young adults can make meaningful and considered choices poses issues for ethics and for jurisprudence.

''psychology'': see ''choice theory''

''mathematics'': the binomial coefficient is also known as the choice function.

''politics'': a political movement in the United States and United Kingdom which favors the legal availability of abortion calls itself "pro-choice".

''New Zealand English'': slang synonym for "cool", "nice" or "good". ''"That's choice!"''

See also[link]

Choice architecture

Decision making software

Example Choice

Hobson's choice

Neuroscience of free will

public choice theory, social choice theory

Sudbury Valley School

''The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less'' (book)

Will (philosophy)

List of thinking-related topics

References[link]

Hsee, C.K., Loewenstein, G.F., Blount, S., Bazerman, M.H. (1999). Preference reversals between joint and separate evaluations of option: A review and theoretical analysis. ''Psychological Bulletin'' 125(5), 576–590.

Irons, B. and C. Hepburn. 2007. "Regret Theory and the Tyranny of Choice." The Economic Record. 83(261): 191–203.

Iyengar, S.S. and M.R. Lepper. 2000. "When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?" Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 70(6): 996–1006.

Norwood, F. 2006. "Less Choice is Better, Sometimes." Journal of Agricultural and Food Industrial Organization. 4(1). Article 3.

Norwood, F. Bailey, Jayson L. Lusk, Bharath Arunachalam, and Shida Rastegari Henneberry. "An Empirical Investigation Into the Excessive-Choice Effect." American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Forthcoming.

External links[link]

Category:Decision theory Category:Thought Category:Planning Category:Autonomy Category:Concepts in metaphysics Category:Free will Category:Philosophy of life Category:Article Feedback 5

ca:Elecció (tria) et:Valik fr:Choix io:Judiko it:Scelta nl:Keuze sw:Hiari pt:Escolha ru:Выбор simple:Choice sv:Val (filosofi) tl:Choice uk:Вибір zh:選擇

Name	Billy Gilman
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	William Wendell Gilman III
Birth date	May 24, 1988
Origin	Hope Valley, Rhode Island, United States
Genre	Country
Years active	1999–present
Associated acts	Ray BensonAsleep at the Wheel
Website	Official Website }}

William Wendell "Billy" Gilman III (born May 24, ) is an American country music artist. In 2000, at the age of 12, he debuted with the single "One Voice," a Top 20 hit on the ''Billboard'' country music charts and became the youngest singer to a Top 40 hit on the country music charts. An album of the same name was released later that year on Epic Records, and was certified Double Platinum in the United States. Following it was a Christmas album Classic Christmas and Dare to Dream, both of which were certified gold. He exited Epic's roster and signed to Image Entertainment in 2005 releasing Everything and More. In 2006, he released the self-titled Billy Gilman.

Biography[link]

William Wendell Gilman III was born on May 24, 1988, in Westerly, Rhode Island, he was raised in Hope Valley, Rhode Island. Gilman began singing before he was in school, and gave his first public performance at age 7. At the age of 9, Gilman was discovered by Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, who helped him record demos. Gilman was then signed to Epic Records Nashville in 2000.

Musical career[link]

On September 10, 2001, he was voted the European's most awarded new country artist, becoming the youngest contender to ever win that prize. He was also given entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the youngest singer to reach #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his debut single "One Voice" and was nominated for Best Country Song for the songwriters, Don Cook and David Malloy. That same year, he appeared in the tribute album ''Country Goes Raffi'', performing the Raffi song "Baby Beluga."

On September 7 and September 10, 2001, Gilman performed the song "Ben" at Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special in New York which was later televised. It was originally sung by Michael Jackson in 1972.

Gilman was featured on Welsh soprano Charlotte Church's album ''Dream A Dream'' and released a Christmas album in 2000 titled ''Classic Christmas'', which was certified Gold by the RIAA. In 2003, Billy released his fourth album, ''Dare to Dream'', which was also certified gold, although its singles "Elisabeth" and "She's My Girl" both fell short of Top 40 on the Billboard country singles charts.

In 2002, Gilman took part in a reading for the then Broadway-bound musical ''A Tale of Two Cities'', in which he played 'The Young Man', who is Madame DeFarge's brother.

His final album for Epic was entitled ''Music Through Heartsongs: Songs Based on the Poems of Mattie J.T. Stepanek''. These songs were based on poems written by Mattie Stepanek, a poet with muscular dystrophy who died in 2004.

Gilman signed to Image Entertainment in 2005 for the release of his fifth album, ''Everything and More''. A self-titled album followed in 2006.

Personal life[link]

Gilman lives in Hope Valley, Rhode Island with his parents Bill and Fran Gilman and his younger brother Colin, frequently flying back to Nashville to write and record.. He is also a Celebrity Ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions				! width="45"	! width="45"
		''[[One Voice (Billy Gilman album)		* Release date: June 20, 2000		Epic Nashville">Music recording sales certification
! width="45"	! width="45"	! width="45"
''[[One Voice (Billy Gilman album)		* Release date: June 20, 2000	Epic Nashville	2	22	—		Recording Industry Association of America>US: 2× Platinum	Canadian Recording Industry Association>CAN: Gold
! scope="row"		* Release date: May 8, 2001	* Label: Epic Nashville	6	45	—		* US: Gold
! scope="row"		* Release date: April 15, 2003	* Label: Epic Nashville	15	109	—
! scope="row"		* Release date: May 3, 2005	* Label:	39	—	17
! scope="row"		* Release date: September 6, 2006	* Label: Image Entertainment	55	—	29

Holiday albums[link]

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions				! width="45"	! width="45"
		! scope="row"		* Release date: October 17, 2000		* Label: Epic Nashville	4	42	5		* US: Gold

Singles[link]

Year	Single	Peak chart positions				Album
		! width="45"	! width="45"	! width="45"	! width="45"
	"[[One Voice (Billy Gilman song)	20	38	29	84
! scope="row"	33	63	—	—
	"There's a Hero"	—	—	—	—
"She's My Girl"	50	—	—	—
"Elisabeth"	56	—	—	—
	"Everything and More"	—	—	—	—
"Hey, Little Suzie (The Cause of All That)"	—	—	—	—
	"Gonna Find Love"	—	—	—	—
"Southern Star"	—	—	—	—
2007	! scope="row"	—	—	—	—
2008	"When You Come Home"	—	—	—	—

Other charted songs[link]

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album
		! width="60"
2000	"Warm and Fuzzy"	50

Music videos[link]

! Year	Video	! Director
	"One Voice"
"Oklahoma"
"Warm and Fuzzy"	David McClister
	"There's a Hero"
"She's My Girl"
"Elisabeth"	[[Shaun Silva">Music recording sales certification
! width="45"	! width="45"	! width="45"
! scope="row"		* Release date: October 17, 2000	* Label: Epic Nashville	4	42	5		* US: Gold

Singles[link]

Year	Single	Peak chart positions				Album
		! width="45"	! width="45"	! width="45"	! width="45"
	"[[One Voice (Billy Gilman song)	20	38	29	84
! scope="row"	33	63	—	—
	"There's a Hero"	—	—	—	—
"She's My Girl"	50	—	—	—
"Elisabeth"	56	—	—	—
	"Everything and More"	—	—	—	—
"Hey, Little Suzie (The Cause of All That)"	—	—	—	—
	"Gonna Find Love"	—	—	—	—
"Southern Star"	—	—	—	—
2007	! scope="row"	—	—	—	—
2008	"When You Come Home"	—	—	—	—

Other charted songs[link]

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album
		! width="60"
2000	"Warm and Fuzzy"	50

Music videos[link]

! Year	Video	! Director
	"One Voice"
"Oklahoma"
"Warm and Fuzzy"	David McClister
	"There's a Hero"
"She's My Girl"
"Elisabeth"	[[Shaun Silva
2003	"I Am (Shades of Life)"
	"Everything and More"
"Hey, Little Suzie (The Cause of All That)"
2012	"The Choice" (Billy Gilman & Friends)	Sean Thomas

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

Category:1988 births Category:American child singers Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Rhode Island Category:People from Hopkinton, Rhode Island Category:Epic Records artists

es:Billy Gilman eo:Billy Gilman fa:بیلی گیلمن fr:Billy Gilman id:Billy Gilman it:Billy Gilman hu:Billy Gilman nl:Billy Gilman ja:ビリー・ギルマン pl:Billy Gilman pt:Billy Gilman ru:Гилман, Билли fi:Billy Gilman vi:Billy Gilman

Name	George Jones |
Background	solo_singer |
Birth name	George Glenn Jones |
Alias	No Show JonesThe Possum |
Birth date	September 12, 1931
Birth place	Saratoga, Texas, USA |
Origin	Vidor, Texas, USA |
Instrument	acoustic guitarvocals |
Genre	Country |
Occupation	singer-songwriter |
Years active	1954–|label StardayMercuryUnited Artists MusicorEpicMCA Nashville AsylumBandit
Associated acts	Tammy Wynette | Merle Haggard |
Website	www.GeorgeJones.com | }}

George Glenn Jones (born September 12, 1931) is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette.

Over the past 20 years, Jones has frequently been referred to as the greatest living country singer. Country music scholar Bill C. Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarcely avoid becoming similarly involved."

Throughout his long career, Jones made headlines often as much for tales of his drinking, stormy relationships with women, and violent rages as for his prolific career of making records and touring. His wild lifestyle led to Jones missing many performances, earning him the nickname "No Show Jones." With the help of his fourth wife, Nancy, he has been sober for over 10 years. Jones has had more than 150 hits during his career, both as a solo artist and in duets with other artists. The shape of his nose and facial features have given Jones the nickname "The Possum." Jones said in an interview that he has chosen to tour only about 60 dates a year.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

George Glenn Jones was born on September 12, 1931 in Saratoga, Texas, and was raised in Vidor, Texas, with his brother and five sisters. When he was seven, his parents bought a radio and he heard country music for the first time. Given a guitar when he was nine, Jones was soon busking for money on the streets of Beaumont.

He left home at 16 and went to Jasper, Texas, where he sang and played on the radio station. He married his first wife Dorothy when he was 19, but they divorced within a year. The Korean War was underway, and he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was stationed in California for his entire service. Not long after his discharge, his music career took off.

Wild years[link]

Jones's identity was closely tied to his alcoholism. One of the best known stories of Jones' drinking days happened when he was married to his second wife, Shirley Corley. Jones recalled Shirley making it physically impossible for him to travel to Beaumont, located 8 miles away, and buy liquor. Because Jones would not walk that far, she would hide the keys to each of their cars they owned before leaving. She, however, did not hide the keys to the lawn mower. Jones recollects being upset at not being able to find any keys before looking out the window and at a light that shone over their property. He then described his thoughts, saying: "There, gleaming in the glow, was that ten-horsepower rotary engine under a seat. A key glistening in the ignition. I imagine the top speed for that old mower was five miles per hour. It might have taken an hour and a half or more for me to get to the liquor store, but get there I did."

In her 1979 autobiography, former wife Tammy Wynette recalled waking at 1 AM to find her husband gone: "I got into the car and drove to the nearest bar 10 miles away. When I pulled into the parking lot there sat our rider-mower right by the entrance. He'd driven that mower right down a main highway. He looked up and saw me and said, `Well, fellas, here she is now. My little wife, I told you she'd come after me.'"

Jones later jokingly sang of the lawn mower incident in his 1996 single "Honky Tonk Song", and parodied his arrest in the music video.

In the 1970s, a manager introduced Jones to cocaine before a show, because he was too tired to perform. His self-destructive behavior brought him close to death and he was in an Alabama psychiatric hospital by the end of the decade. Celebrated by some of his fans as the hard-drinkin', fast-livin' spiritual-son of his idol, Hank Williams, Jones missed so many engagements that he gained the nickname of "No-Show Jones." (The song "No-Show Jones" makes fun of Jones and other country singers.) He was often penniless and admits that Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash came to his financial aid during this time.

Poking fun at his past, three country music videos would feature Jones arriving on a riding lawn mower. The first was Hank Williams, Jr's "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" in 1984 while the second was Vince Gill's "One More Last Chance" in 1993. Gill's song mentioned the mower with the lines "She might have took my car keys, but she forgot about my old John Deere." At the end of Gill's video, he is leaving the golf course on a John Deere tractor and greets Jones with "Hey, possum." Jones, arriving at the golf course driving a John Deere riding lawn mower with a set of golf clubs mounted behind him, replies to Gill "Hey, sweet pea." The third is John Rich's "Country Done Come to Town" and shows George mowing grass on the rooftop on a zero turn mower.

The Jones Boys band[link]

George Jones has had many great musicians over the years, with many finding much success in Nashville as session players and singers. These singers include: Hank Singer, Brittany Allyn, Sonny Curtis, Ron Gaddis, Kent Goodson, Bobby Burkhead, Dan Schafer and Steve Hinson.

Marriages[link]

Jones was married twice before he was 24. His 1950 marriage to Dorothy Bonvillion lasted a year, but they had a daughter, Susan. In 1954, Jones married Shirley Ann Corley. This marriage lasted until 1968 and produced two sons, Jeffrey and Bryan. He married Tammy Wynette in 1969. They stayed married for six years and had a daughter, Tamala Georgette. As Georgette Jones, she is a country singer and has performed on stage with her father. Jones married his current wife, Nancy Sepulvado, on March 4, 1983 in Woodville, Texas. Nancy became his manager. Jones credits his wife Nancy for rescuing him from drinking and cocaine. They now live in Franklin, Tennessee.

Wives[link]

Dorothy Bonvillion (1950 – 1951) (divorced) 1 daughter

Shirley Ann Corley (September 14, 1954 – June 11, 1968) (divorced) 2 sons

Tammy Wynette (February 16, 1969 – March 13, 1975) (divorced) 1 daughter

Nancy Sepulvado (March 4, 1983 – present)

Awards and honors[link]

Jones has received many awards during his long career, from Most Promising New Country Vocalist in 1956, being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992, and being named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2008. In 2012 he was presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. At the ceremony his longtime friend Merle Haggard paid tribute to him.

He served as judge in 2008 for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Number one country hits[link]

# "White Lightning" (1959) # "Tender Years" (1961) # "She Thinks I Still Care" (1962) # "Walk Through This World with Me" (1967) # "We're Gonna Hold On" (with Tammy Wynette) (1973) # "The Grand Tour" (1974) # "The Door" (1975) # "Golden Ring" (with Tammy Wynette) (1976) # "Near You" (with Tammy Wynette) (1977) # "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (1980) # "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" (with Barbara Mandrell) (1981) # "Still Doin' Time" (1981) # "Yesterday's Wine" (with Merle Haggard) (1982) # "I Always Get Lucky with You" (1983) # "Finally Friday" (1983)

Discography[link]

See also[link]

Academy of Country Music

List of country musicians

Country Music Association

List of best-selling music artists

Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame (1992 inductee)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

''I Lived to Tell it All'', George Jones with Tom Carter, Dell Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0-440-22373-3

''In The Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music,'' Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998, ISBN 0-375-70082-X

''Country Music U.S.A.,'' Bill C. Malone, University of Texas Press, 1985, ISBN 0-292-71096-8

''Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs, 1944 to 2005'', Record Research, Inc., Menomonee Falls, WS, 2005, ISBN 0-89820-165-9

External links[link]

Official Website

A Tribute to the Greatest Country Song of All Time

Official MySpace

George Jones Country Sausage

Record Label

at the Country Music Hall of Fame

Category:1931 births Category:Living people Category:People from Hardin County, Texas Category:Baptists from the United States Category:American buskers Category:American country musicians Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Epic Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:Gold Star Records artists Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People from Beaumont, Texas Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Starday Records artists Category:United States Marines Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:United Artists Records artists

cs:George Jones da:George Jones de:George Jones (Musiker) es:George Jones fr:George Jones ko:조지 존스 ja:ジョージ・ジョーンズ no:George Jones pt:George Jones ru:Джонс, Джордж sh:George Jones fi:George Jones sv:George Jones

In the English language, black sheep is an idiom used to describe an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within a family. The term has typically been given negative implications, implying waywardness. It derived from the atypical and unwanted presence of other black individuals in flocks of white sheep.

In psychology, the ''black sheep effect'' refers to the tendency of group members to judge likeable ingroup members more positively and deviant ingroup member more negatively than comparable outgroup members.

Idiomatic usage [link]

The term originated from the occasional black sheep which are born into a flock of white sheep due to a genetic process of recessive traits. Black wool was considered commercially undesirable because it could not be dyed. In 18th and 19th century England, the black color of the sheep was seen as the mark of the devil. In modern usage, the expression has lost some of its negative connotations, though the term is usually given to the member of a group who has certain characteristics or lack thereof deemed undesirable by that group.

The idiom is also found in other languages, e.g., French, Serbian, Bulgarian, Hebrew, Portuguese, Bosnian, Greek, Turkish, Dutch, Afrikaans, Swedish, Danish, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian and Polish. The same concept is illustrated in some other languages by the phrase "white crow": for example ''belaya vorona'' (белая ворона) in Russian and ''kalag-e sefid'' (کلاغ سفید) in Persian. A variant form of black sheep, "the red sheep of the family", was used by Jessica Mitford to describe herself, a communist in a family of aristocratic fascists.

Biological origin [link]

In sheep, a white fleece is not albinism but a dominant gene that actively switches color production off, thus obscuring any other color that may be present. As a result, a black fleece in most sheep is recessive, so if a white ram and a white ewe are each heterozygous for black, in about 25% of cases they will produce a black lamb. In fact in most white sheep breeds only a few white sheep are heterozygous for black, so black lambs are usually much rarer than this. Some breeds of sheep (such as the Hebridean, Ouessant, Black Welsh Mountain and Karakul) are normally black.

Black sheep effect (Psychology) [link]

Overview [link]

In 1988, Marques, Yzerbyt and Leyens Coull, Yzerbyt, Castano, Paladino, & Leemans, 2001; Khan & Lambert, 1998; Pinto, Marques, Levine, & Abrams, 2010).

Explanations [link]

A prominent explanation of the black sheep effect derives from the social identity approach (see social identity theory, Tajfel & Turner, 1979; and self-categorization theory, Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987). Group members are motivated to sustain a positive and distinctice social identity and, as a consequence, group members emphasize likeable members and evaluate them more positve than outgroup members, bolstering the positive image of their ingroup (see ingroup bias). Furthermore, the positive social identity may be threatened by group members who deviate from a relevant group norm. To protect the positive group image, ingroup members derogate ingroup deviants more harshly than deviants of an outgroup (Marques, Abrams, Páez, & Hogg, 2001). In addition, Eidelman and Biernat (2003) have shown that personal identities are also threatened through deviant ingroup members. They argue that devaluation of deviant members is an individual response of ''interpersonal'' differentiation. Khan and Lambert (1998) Linville & Jones, 1980). Consequentely, there are several factors which influence the black sheep effect. For instance, the higher the identification with the ingroup, and the higher the entitativity of the ingroup, the more the black sheep effect emerges (e.g., Castano, Paladino, Coull, & Yzerbyt, 2002; Lewis & Sherman, 2010). Even situational factors explaining the deviance have an influence whether the black sheep effect occurs (De Cremer & Vanbeselaere, 1999).

See also [link]

Black swan theory

Glossary of sheep husbandry: see entry for "black wool".

Scapegoat

The Ugly Duckling

References [link]

External links [link]

Exploration of the etymology of the phrase "black sheep of the family"

Category:English idioms Category:Pejorative terms for people Category:Social psychology Category:Sheep

ca:Ovella negra de:Schwarzes Schaf es:Oveja negra fr:Mouton noir gl:Ovella negra it:Pecora nera pt:Ovelha negra ru:Белая ворона fi:Musta lammas sv:Svart får

name	Uriah Heep
series	David Copperfield
creator	Charles Dickens
gender	Male
occupation	Moneylender
nationality	British }}

Uriah Heep is a fictional character created by Charles Dickens in his novel ''David Copperfield''.

The character is notable for his cloying humility, obsequiousness, and insincerity, making frequent references to his own "'humbleness". His name has become synonymous with being a yes man. He is the central antagonist of the later part of the book.

In book[link]

David first meets the 15-year-old Heep when he is living with Mr. Wickfield and his daughter Agnes, in chapter 15: :''[Uriah's face] was quite as cadaverous as it had looked in the window, though in the grain of it there was that tinge of red which is sometimes to be observed in the skins of red-haired people. It belonged to a red-haired person—a youth of fifteen, as I take it now, but looking much older—whose hair was cropped as close as the closest stubble; who had hardly any eyebrows, and no eyelashes, and eyes of a red-brown, so unsheltered and unshaded, that I remember wondering how he went to sleep. He was high-shouldered and bony; dressed in decent black, with a white wisp of a neckcloth; buttoned up to the throat; and had a long, lank, skeleton hand, which particularly attracted my attention, as he stood at the pony's head, rubbing his chin with it, and looking up at us in the chaise.''

Uriah has been employed as clerk to Wickfield for four years, since he was eleven. Uriah's father, who instilled him with the need to be humble, died when Uriah was ten, and for the first part of the novel he lives alone with his mother in their "umble abode". Copperfield takes an immediate and permanent dislike to Uriah, in spite of the latter's persistent, if insincere attempts to win his friendship. Uriah addresses Copperfield as "Master Copperfield" well into their adulthood, an indication of his true patronising view.

Uriah is repeatedly mentioned as ugly and repulsive, even in his youth - tall, lank and pale with red hair and lashless eyes. Dickens negatively emphasizes Uriah's movements as well, described as jerking and writhing; this leads some literary scholars to believe Dickens is describing a form of dystonia, a muscular disorder, to increase Uriah's snakelike character. Uriah explains in another part of the book that his ambition and greed are fueled by resentment from the double-standard of his schooling and from his treatment as a child, and by encouragement from his parents. As Uriah works for Wickfield for the next five or so years, he teaches himself law at night, and by blackmailing Mr. Wickfield, gains control over his business.

He eventually succeeds in having himself made a full partner in the business. His eventual ambition is to marry Agnes and gain control of the Wickfield fortune. Like most of Dickens' villains, greed is his main motivation. Heep is eventually stymied by Mr. Micawber and Tommy Traddles, with help from David and Agnes. Once his fraud and treachery are unmasked, he persists in hounding Micawber and Copperfield. Towards the end of the novel, he is last seen in Mr. Creakle’s prison where we find that he has returned to his "umble" ways, and puts himself forward as a model prisoner. He is said to be sentenced for transportation for life, which likely means he will eventually be sent to one of the penal colonies in Australia.

Origins[link]

Much of ''David Copperfield'' is autobiographical and some scholars believe Heep's mannerisms and physical attributes to be based on Hans Christian Andersen, whom Dickens met shortly before writing the novel. Uriah Heep's schemes and behaviour are more likely based on Thomas Powell, employee of a friend of Dickens, Thomas Chapman. Powell "...ingratiated himself into the Dickens household" and was discovered to be a forger and a thief, having embezzled £10,000 from his employer. He later attacked Dickens in pamphlets, calling particular attention to Dickens' social class and background.

The characteristics of grasping manipulation and insincerity can lead to a person being labelled "a Uriah Heep" as Lyndon Johnson is called in Robert Caro's biography. Seymour Fleming, a character in the play Babes in Arms, is also called thus. Author Philip Roth once compared President Richard Nixon to Uriah Heep. More recently, the historian Tony Judt used the term to describe Marshal Philippe Pétain of the French Vichy government. Pakistani-British historian and leftist political commentator Tariq Ali likened Pakistani dictator Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq to the character.

Film and television[link]

In film and television adaptations, the character has been played by, amongst others, Peter Paget (1934), Roland Young (1935), Colin Jeavons (1966), Ron Moody (1970), Martin Jarvis (1974), Paul Brightwell (1986), Nicholas Lyndhurst (1999) and Frank MacCusker (2000).

Cultural references[link]

The British rock band Uriah Heep is named after the character.

In the BBC television series ''Blake's 7'', the computer character Slave was described by Peter Tuddenham, who voiced it, as "...a Uriah Heep type of character...."

References[link]

External links[link]

Information, Illustrations, Analysis, Select Resources on the novel

Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1850 Heep Heep

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