Creating a Positive Environment for Widening Participation: A Taxonomy for Socially Just Higher Education Policy and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisker, Gina; Masika, Rachel

2017-01-01

Higher education (HE) systems sustain and reproduce inequalities despite intentions to redress them. However, widening participation rooted in social justice practices increases participation in HE for marginalised under-represented groups through overt, shared and practised values in action and mobilization of HE interests and resources. Drawing…

Species richness alone does not predict cultural ecosystem service value

Treesearch

Rose A. Graves; Scott M. Pearson; Monica G. Turner

2017-01-01

Sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services are common conservation goals. However, understanding relationships between biodiversity and cultural ecosystem services (CES) and determining the best indicators to represent CES remain crucial challenges. We combined ecological and social data to compare CES value of wildflower communities based on observed...

Assessing the capacity of social determinants of health data to augment predictive models identifying patients in need of wraparound social services.

PubMed

Kasthurirathne, Suranga N; Vest, Joshua R; Menachemi, Nir; Halverson, Paul K; Grannis, Shaun J

2018-01-01

A growing variety of diverse data sources is emerging to better inform health care delivery and health outcomes. We sought to evaluate the capacity for clinical, socioeconomic, and public health data sources to predict the need for various social service referrals among patients at a safety-net hospital. We integrated patient clinical data and community-level data representing patients' social determinants of health (SDH) obtained from multiple sources to build random forest decision models to predict the need for any, mental health, dietitian, social work, or other SDH service referrals. To assess the impact of SDH on improving performance, we built separate decision models using clinical and SDH determinants and clinical data only. Decision models predicting the need for any, mental health, and dietitian referrals yielded sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy measures ranging between 60% and 75%. Specificity and accuracy scores for social work and other SDH services ranged between 67% and 77%, while sensitivity scores were between 50% and 63%. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values for the decision models ranged between 70% and 78%. Models for predicting the need for any services reported positive predictive values between 65% and 73%. Positive predictive values for predicting individual outcomes were below 40%. The need for various social service referrals can be predicted with considerable accuracy using a wide range of readily available clinical and community data that measure socioeconomic and public health conditions. While the use of SDH did not result in significant performance improvements, our approach represents a novel and important application of risk predictive modeling. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Logical Interactions in AN Expanded Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tadić, Bosiljka

Understanding the emergent behavior in many complex systems in the physical world and society requires a detailed study of dynamical phenomena occurring and mutually coupled at different scales. The brain processes underlying the social conduct of each, and the emergent social behavior of interacting individuals on a larger scale, represent striking examples of the multiscale complexity. Studies of the human brain, a paradigm of a complex functional system, are enabled by a wealth of brain imaging data that provide clues of how we comprehend space, time, languages, numbers, and differentiate normal from diseased individuals, for example. The social brain, a neural basis for social cognition, represents a dynamically organized part of the brain which is involved in the inference of thoughts, feelings, and intentions going on in the brains of others. Research in this currently unexplored area opens a new perspective on the genesis of the societal organization at different levels and the associated social values...

Values in an American Government Textbook. Three Appraisals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Novak, Michael; And Others

These critiques of a high school American government textbook, "American Government in Action," (Resnik and Nerenberg, 1973) represent the first in a series of studies designed to assess the effectiveness of social science textbooks in communicating and reinforcing Western values. The critiques are followed by a response by the authors of the…

Associations between Community Attachments and Adolescent Substance Use in Nationally Representative Samples

PubMed Central

Wray-Lake, Laura; Maggs, Jennifer L.; Johnston, Lloyd D.; Bachman, Jerald G.; O’Malley, Patrick M.; Schulenberg, John E.

2012-01-01

Purpose Social capital and social attachment theories of substance use argue that positive bonds to society and the conventional values they promote deter adolescents from substance use. Using nationally representative samples of U.S. high school seniors, we hypothesized that adolescents’ community attachments, measured by social trust, social responsibility, and religiosity, would be negatively associated with lifetime and 30-day substance use. Method We used repeated cross-sectional nationally representative high school senior data from 1976–2008 Monitoring the Future Study cohorts (weighted N = 64,246; 51.6% female). Participation rate ranged from 77% to 86% across years. A series of multiple linear and logistic regressions examined unique associations of adolescents’ social trust, social responsibility, and religiosity with lifetime and 30-day use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, hallucinogens, cocaine, amphetamines, barbiturates, tranquilizers, and narcotics. Models controlled for gender, race, college aspirations, high school grades, parents’ education, and survey year. Results Social trust, social responsibility, and religiosity showed independent negative associations with use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and six other types of drugs. After accounting for controls, community attachments related to lower lifetime and past 30-day use. Associations were consistent across measures, except social responsibility was not associated with binge drinking or lifetime illicit drugs besides marijuana. Conclusions Study strengths included the nationally representative sample, diverse substance use measures, and inclusion of controls. We extend theory by suggesting that distinct aspects of adolescents’ community attachments uniquely relate to lower substance use. Results suggest potential public health benefits of integrating promotion of community attachments with substance use prevention. PMID:22999832

Quantifying social norms: by coupling the ecosystem management concept and semi-quantitative sociological methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, D.; Xu, H.

2012-12-01

Over recent decades, human-induced environmental changes have steadily and rapidly grown in intensity and impact to where they now often exceed natural impacts. As one of important components of human activities, social norms play key roles in environmental and natural resources management. But the lack of relevant quantitative data about social norms greatly limits our scientific understanding of the complex linkages between humans and nature, and hampers our solving of pressing environmental and social problems. In this study, we built a quantified method by coupling the ecosystem management concept, semi-quantitative sociological methods and mathematical statistics. We got the quantified value of social norms from two parts, whether the content of social norms coincide with the concept of ecosystem management (content value) and how about the performance after social norms were put into implementation (implementation value) . First, we separately identified 12 core elements of ecosystem management and 16 indexes of social norms, and then matched them one by one. According to their matched degree, we got the content value of social norms. Second, we selected 8 key factors that can represent the performance of social norms after they were put into implementation, and then we got the implementation value by Delph method. Adding these two parts values, we got the final value of each social norms. Third, we conducted a case study in Heihe river basin, the second largest inland river in China, by selecting 12 official edicts related to the river basin ecosystem management of Heihe River Basin. By doing so, we first got the qualified data of social norms which can be directly applied to the research that involved observational or experimental data collection of natural processes. Second, each value was supported by specific contents, so it can assist creating a clear road map for building or revising management and policy guidelines. For example, in this case study, the final quantified data of each social norm showed highly positive correlations with their content value rather than their implementation value, which implied the final value of social norms are mainly affected by the content of social norms. And the implementation of social norms had reached a relatively high degree compare to their theoretical maxvalue (from 71.29% to 80.25%) because of the compelling force of themselves, while the content value of social norms is so weak (from 16.69% to 30.62%) that urgently need to be improved. Third, the method can be extended to quantify the social norms of other ecosystems and further contributed to our understanding of the Coupled Human and Natural Systems and sustainability research.;

Building blocks for social accountability: a conceptual framework to guide medical schools.

PubMed

Preston, Robyn; Larkins, Sarah; Taylor, Judy; Judd, Jenni

2016-08-26

This paper presents a conceptual framework developed from empirical evidence, to guide medical schools aspiring towards greater social accountability. Using a multiple case study approach, seventy-five staff, students, health sector representatives and community members, associated with four medical schools, participated in semi-structured interviews. Two schools were in Australia and two were in the Philippines. These schools were selected because they were aspiring to be socially accountable. Data was collected through on-site visits, field notes and a documentary review. Abductive analysis involved both deductive and inductive iterative theming of the data both within and across cases. The conceptual framework for socially accountable medical education was built from analyzing the internal and external factors influencing the selected medical schools. These factors became the building blocks that might be necessary to assist movement to social accountability. The strongest factor was the demands of the local workforce situation leading to innovative educational programs established with or without government support. The values and professional experiences of leaders, staff and health sector representatives, influenced whether the organizational culture of a school was conducive to social accountability. The wider institutional environment and policies of their universities affected this culture and the resourcing of programs. Membership of a coalition of socially accountable medical schools created a community of learning and legitimized local practice. Communities may not have recognized their own importance but they were fundamental for socially accountable practices. The bedrock of social accountability, that is, the foundation for all building blocks, is shared values and aspirations congruent with social accountability. These values and aspirations are both a philosophical understanding for innovation and a practical application at the health systems and education levels. While many of these building blocks are similar to those conceptualized in social accountability theory, this conceptual framework is informed by what happens in practice - empirical evidence rather than prescriptions. Consequently it is valuable in that it puts some theoretical thinking around everyday practice in specific contexts; addressing a gap in the medical education literature. The building blocks framework includes guidelines for social accountable practice that can be applied at policy, school and individual levels.

Australian Students' Democratic Values and Attitudes towards Participation: Indicators from the IEA Civic Education Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mellor, Suzanne; Kennedy, Kerry J.

2003-01-01

In September 1999, over 3000 Australian students in 115 schools representing all schooling sectors participated in the Australian component of the IEA Civic Education study. In this paper, the focus in particular is on Australian students' democratic values and on their attitudes towards participation and social action. The results suggest that…

Race and Leadership Development among College Students: The Additive Value of Collective Racial Esteem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dugan, John P.; Kodama, Corinne M.; Gebhardt, Matthew C.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this research was to contribute to the college student leadership literature through a more complex examination of the influences of race on socially responsible leadership development. Data represented 8,510 participants from 101 colleges and universities in the United States. Results provided evidence of the additive value of…

Small Historic Sites in Kansas: Merging Artifactual Landscapes and Community Values.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ambler, Cathy

1995-01-01

Small historic sites are endeavors by small communities to preserve elements of their past. The sites they choose reveal the cultural values they esteem today. The structures most frequently represented at seven museum-developed sites are schools and churches because they were agents of social order, centers of community life and ritual, and…

Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES): using GIS to include social values information in ecosystem services assessments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sherrouse, B.C.; Semmens, D.J.

2010-01-01

Ecosystem services can be defined in various ways; simply put, they are the benefits provided by nature, which contribute to human well-being. These benefits can range from tangible products such as food and fresh water to cultural services such as recreation and esthetics. As the use of these benefits continues to increase, additional pressures are placed on the natural ecosystems providing them. This makes it all the more important when assessing possible tradeoffs among ecosystem services to consider the human attitudes and preferences that express underlying social values associated with their benefits. While some of these values can be accounted for through economic markets, other values can be more difficult to quantify, and attaching dollar amounts to them may not be very useful in all cases. Regardless of the processes or units used for quantifying such values, the ability to map them across the landscape and relate them to the ecosystem services to which they are attributed is necessary for effective assessments. To address some of the needs associated with quantifying and mapping social values for inclusion in ecosystem services assessments, scientists at the Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center (RMGSC), in collaboration with Colorado State University, have developed a public domain tool, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES). SolVES is a geographic information system (GIS) application designed to use data from public attitude and preference surveys to assess, map, and quantify social values for ecosystem services. SolVES calculates and maps a 10-point Value Index representing the relative perceived social values of ecosystem services such as recreation and biodiversity for various groups of ecosystem stakeholders. SolVES output can also be used to identify and model relationships between social values and physical characteristics of the underlying landscape. These relationships can then be used to generate predicted Value Index maps for areas where survey data are not available. RMGSC will continue to develop more robust versions of SolVES by pursuing opportunities to work with land and resource managers as well as other researchers to apply SolVES to specific ecosystem management problems.

The mainstream is not electable: when vision triumphs over representativeness in leader emergence and effectiveness.

PubMed

Halevy, Nir; Berson, Yair; Galinsky, Adam D

2011-07-01

Theories of visionary leadership propose that groups bestow leadership on exceptional group members. In contrast, social identity perspectives claim that leadership arises, in part, from a person's ability to be seen as representative of the group. Integrating these perspectives, the authors propose that effective leaders often share group members' perspectives concerning the present, yet offer a unique and compelling vision for the group's future. In addition, although intergroup contexts may increase the value of representativeness, the authors predict that vision dominates representativeness in single-group situations characterized by high levels of collective stress (e.g., a natural disaster). Five studies demonstrated that visionary leaders (those who offer novel solutions to their group's predicament) attract more followers, promote group identification and intrinsic motivation, mobilize collective action, and effectively regulate group members' emotions and reactions to crises compared to representative leaders. The authors discuss when, why, and how vision triumphs over representativeness in leader emergence and effectiveness. © 2011 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc

Social-value maps for Arapaho, Roosevelt, Medicine Bow, Routt, and White River National Forests, Colorado and Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ancona, Zachary H.; Semmens, Darius J.; Sherrouse, Benson C.

2016-03-25

Executive SummaryThe continued pressures of population growth on the life-sustaining, economic, and cultural ecosystem services provided by our national forests, particularly those located near rapidly growing urban areas, present ongoing challenges to forest managers. Achieving an effective assessment of these ecosystem services includes a proper accounting of the ecological, economic, and social values attributable to them. However, assessments of ecosystem goods and services notably lack information describing the spatial distribution and relative intensity of social values—the perceived, nonmarket values derived particularly from cultural ecosystem services. A geographic information system (GIS) tool developed to fill this need, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES; http://solves.cr.usgs.gov), now provides the capability to generate social-value maps at a range of spatial scales. This report presents some of the methods behind SolVES, procedures needed to apply the tool, the first formal map products resulting from its application at a regional scale, and a discussion of the management implications associated with this type of information.In this study, we use SolVES to identify the location and relative intensity of social values as derived from survey responses gathered from residents living in counties adjacent to Arapaho, Roosevelt, Medicine Bow, Routt, and White River National Forests. The results, presented as a series of social-value maps, represent the first publicly available spatial data on social-value intensity for the southern Rocky Mountain region. Our analysis identified high-value areas for social values including aesthetic, biodiversity, and life sustaining within wilderness areas. Other values, like recreation, show high-value areas both within wilderness and throughout the general forest areas, which can be attributed to people using the forests for a diverse set of recreational activities. The economic social-value type was lower within wilderness areas, which was an expected outcome because of the restrictions inside wilderness areas that preclude resource extraction, development, and motorized or mechanized recreation.Providing spatially explicit social-value information collected from residents in counties adjacent to these national forests can assist in facilitating the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (16 U.S.C. 528) note and the 2012 Forest Service Planning Rule (36 CFR Part 219), which encourage public participation in planning and management. By making these maps available to the public, we hope to encourage exploration of potential uses of these data for resource management and planning.

Factors associated with physicians' reliance on pharmaceutical sales representatives.

PubMed

Anderson, Britta L; Silverman, Gabriel K; Loewenstein, George F; Zinberg, Stanley; Schulkin, Jay

2009-08-01

To examine relationships between pharmaceutical representatives and obstetrician-gynecologists and identify factors associated with self-reported reliance on representatives when making prescribing decisions. In 2006-2007, questionnaires were mailed to 515 randomly selected physicians in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network. Participants were asked about the information sources used when deciding to prescribe a new drug, interactions with sales representatives, views of representatives' value, and guidelines they had read on appropriate industry interactions. Two hundred fifty-one completed questionnaires (49%) were returned. Seventy-six percent of participants see sales representatives' information as at least somewhat valuable. Twenty-nine percent use representatives often or almost always when deciding whether to prescribe a new drug; 44% use them sometimes. Physicians in private practice are more likely than those in university hospitals to interact with, value, and rely on representatives; community hospital physicians tend to fall in the middle. Gender and age are not associated with industry interaction. Dispensing samples is associated with increased reliance on representatives when making prescribing decisions, beyond what is predicted by a physician's own beliefs about the value of representatives' information. Reading guidelines on physician-industry interaction is not associated with less reliance on representatives after controlling for practice setting. Physicians' interactions with industry and their familiarity with guidelines vary by practice setting, perhaps because of more restrictive policies in university settings, professional isolation of private practice, or differences in social norms. Prescribing samples may be associated with physicians' use of information from sales representatives more than is merited by the physicians' own beliefs about the value of pharmaceutical representatives.

Recommendations from Friends Anytime and Anywhere: Toward a Model of Contextual Offer and Consumption Values

PubMed Central

Shen, Xiao-Liang; Wang, Nan

2013-01-01

Abstract The ubiquity and portability of mobile devices provide additional opportunities for information retrieval. People can easily access mobile applications anytime and anywhere when they need to acquire specific context-aware recommendations (contextual offer) from their friends. This study, thus, represents an initial attempt to understand users' acceptance of a mobile-based social reviews platform, where recommendations from friends can be obtained with mobile devices. Based on the consumption value theory, a theoretical model is proposed and empirically examined using survey data from 218 mobile users. The findings demonstrate that contextual offers based on users' profiles, access time, and geographic positions significantly predict their value perceptions (utilitarian, hedonic, and social), which, in turn, affect their intention to use a mobile social reviews platform. This study is also believed to provide some useful insights to both research and practice. PMID:23530548

[Social values and addiction: applicability and psychometric properties of VAL-89 questionnaire].

PubMed

Pedrero Perez, Eduardo Jose; Rojo Mota, Gloria; Olivar Arroyo, Alvaro

2008-01-01

To study the psychometric properties of the VAL-89 questionnaire and its possible use in addict individuals who ask for treatment. Analysis of the psychometric properties of the questionnaire and its factorial structure, applying it to 792 individuals. 365 of them were substance users seeking treatment and 427 were general population. Reliability of the questionnaire is confirmed, although its factorial structure appears to be different from the original. In our study appear 12 factors, instead of the original 10. These factors are named: Power, Stimulation, Submission, Tradition, Spirituality, Self-Sufficience, Hedonism, Sociability, Universality, Convencionalism, Idealism and Self-Realization. These factors are distributed through several dimensions represented by four axis: individual-social, dominance-equality, tradition-pleasure and great values-anomie. The VAL-89 questionnaire seems to be a useful tool to explore which are the more appreciated social values, being of special interest to know which are specially selected by addict individuals.

Social Representations of Hero and Everyday Hero: A Network Study from Representative Samples

PubMed Central

Keczer, Zsolt; File, Bálint; Orosz, Gábor; Zimbardo, Philip G.

2016-01-01

The psychological investigation of heroism is relatively new. At this stage, inductive methods can shed light on its main aspects. Therefore, we examined the social representations of Hero and Everyday Hero by collecting word associations from two separate representative samples in Hungary. We constructed two networks from these word associations. The results show that the social representation of Hero is more centralized and it cannot be divided into smaller units. The network of Everyday Hero is divided into five units and the significance moves from abstract hero characteristics to concrete social roles and occupations exhibiting pro-social values. We also created networks from the common associations of Hero and Everyday Hero. The structures of these networks show a moderate similarity and the connections are more balanced in case of Everyday Hero. While heroism in general can be the source of inspiration, the promotion of everyday heroism can be more successful in encouraging ordinary people to recognize their own potential for heroic behavior. PMID:27525418

Leadership: social identity and guiding from within.

PubMed

Kerfoot, Karlene M

2009-01-01

An important field in leadership research is that of the social identity of the group and what that means for leadership. In health care, there are many different types of social identities that vary by hospital, geography, and profession. Leaders often sabotage their effectiveness when they do not consider the social values of the group. The work of leaders is to help move units and organizations to a higher level of performance. Identifying the social identity of the group is the first step. The most successful have expertise in assessing the social identity of groups and developing a commonality of a shared vision that represents the best work of the group and of the leader.

Leadership: social identity and guiding from within.

PubMed

Kerfoot, Karlene M

2007-01-01

An important field in leadership research is that of the social identity of the group and what that means for leadership. In health care, there are many different types of social identities that vary by hospital, geography, and profession. Leaders often sabotage their effectiveness when they do not consider the social values of the group. The work of leaders is to help move units and organizations to a higher level of performance. Identifying the social identity of the group is the first step. The most successful have expertise in assessing the social identity of groups and developing a commonality of a shared vision that represents the best work of the group and of the leader.

Development and Preliminary Validation of a New Measure of Values in Scientific Work.

PubMed

English, Tammy; Antes, Alison L; Baldwin, Kari A; DuBois, James M

2018-04-01

In this paper we describe the development and initial psychometric evaluation of a new measure, the values in scientific work (VSW). This scale assesses the level of importance that investigators attach to different VSW. It taps a broad range of intrinsic, extrinsic, and social values that motivate the work of scientists, including values specific to scientific work (e.g., truth and integrity) and more classic work values (e.g., security and prestige) in the context of science. Notably, the values represented in this scale are relevant to scientists regardless of their career stage and research focus. We administered the VSW and a measure of global values to 203 NIH-funded investigators. Exploratory factor analyses suggest the delineation of eight VSW, including autonomy, research ethics, social impact, income, collaboration, innovation and growth, conserving relationships, and job security. These VSW showed predictable and distinct associations with global values. Implications of these findings for work on research integrity and scientific misconduct are discussed.

The effects of social concern goals on the value of learning and on the intentions of medical students to change their majors

PubMed Central

Park, Soowon; Cho, Seunghee; Lee, Jun-Young

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: In the process of developing a professional medical expertise, goals can become a psychological impetus and act as a source of retaining an individual’s persistency. Therefore, the goals of medical students should be considered when designing a curriculum for health professions. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine relative effects of goal categories on the value of learning and intention to change one’s major. Method: Data were obtained from the Korea Education Longitudinal Study, which included 1938 representative Korean college freshmen majoring in medicine, engineering, natural science and humanities. They answered a survey questionnaire about goal categories (i.e., social concern, affiliation, self-growth, leisure, wealth, and fame), the value of learning, and intention to change one's major. Results: For medical students, social concern goals were positively related to the value of learning and negatively related to the intention to change one's major. Social concern goals decreased the intention to change one's major directly, and also indirectly through increased value of learning. Conclusion: Providing context for enhancing medical students’ social concern goals is necessary in a medical training curriculum, not only for the students’ professional development but also for improving society. Abbreviations: GCT: Goal contents theory GPA: Grade point average KELS: Korea education longitudinal study SDLA: Self-directed learning abilities SDT: Self-determination theory PMID:28580860

The effects of social concern goals on the value of learning and on the intentions of medical students to change their majors.

PubMed

Park, Soowon; Cho, Seunghee; Lee, Jun-Young

2017-01-01

In the process of developing a professional medical expertise, goals can become a psychological impetus and act as a source of retaining an individual's persistency. Therefore, the goals of medical students should be considered when designing a curriculum for health professions. The purpose of this study was to examine relative effects of goal categories on the value of learning and intention to change one's major. Data were obtained from the Korea Education Longitudinal Study, which included 1938 representative Korean college freshmen majoring in medicine, engineering, natural science and humanities. They answered a survey questionnaire about goal categories (i.e., social concern, affiliation, self-growth, leisure, wealth, and fame), the value of learning, and intention to change one's major. For medical students, social concern goals were positively related to the value of learning and negatively related to the intention to change one's major. Social concern goals decreased the intention to change one's major directly, and also indirectly through increased value of learning. Providing context for enhancing medical students' social concern goals is necessary in a medical training curriculum, not only for the students' professional development but also for improving society. GCT: Goal contents theory GPA: Grade point average KELS: Korea education longitudinal study SDLA: Self-directed learning abilities SDT: Self-determination theory.

Revitalizing communities together: the shared values, goals, and work of education, urban planning, and public health.

PubMed

Cohen, Alison Klebanoff; Schuchter, Joseph W

2013-04-01

Inequities in education, the urban environment, and health co-exist and mutually reinforce each other. Educators, planners, and public health practitioners share commitments to place-based, participatory, youth-focused, and equitable work. They also have shared goals of building community resilience, social capital, and civic engagement. Interdisciplinary programs that embody these shared values and work towards these shared goals are emerging, including school-based health centers, full-service community schools, community health centers, Promise Neighborhoods, and Choice Neighborhoods. The intersection of these three fields represents an opportunity to intervene on social determinants of health. More collaborative research and practice across public health, education, and planning should build from the shared values identified to continue to address these common goals.

36 CFR 219.36 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... species diversity or their high social, cultural or economic value. Disturbance regime: Actions, functions... environment that can affect the diversity of plant and animal communities, including species viability, and... be used as surrogates to represent ecological conditions that provide for viability of some other...

36 CFR 219.36 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... species diversity or their high social, cultural or economic value. Disturbance regime: Actions, functions... environment that can affect the diversity of plant and animal communities, including species viability, and... be used as surrogates to represent ecological conditions that provide for viability of some other...

The social cost of drugs in France in 2010.

PubMed

Kopp, Pierre; Ogrodnik, Marysia

2017-09-01

The social cost of drugs is the monetary cost of both the consequences of their trade and their consumption. In this paper, drugs considered are tobacco and alcohol, which are legal, plus those that are illegal. The social cost is the sum of the external cost: value of loss in quality of life, value of years of life lost and value of loss in productivity, plus public expenditure. Public expenditure consists of public spending on medical care, prevention, and law enforcement, minus savings from unpaid pensions and taxes levied on tobacco and alcohol. The parameters for the calculations have used the recommendations of a French governmental working group (2013) Quinet, L'évaluation socioéconomique des investissements publics [Internet], Centre d'Analyse Stratégique, 2013, http://www.strategie.gouv.fr/sites/strategie.gouv.fr/files/archives/CGSP_Evaluation_socioeconomique_17092013.pdf , and the health data were derived from the scientific literature. The social costs are €122 billion for tobacco, €118 billion for alcohol, and €8.7 billion for illegal drugs. The largest fraction of the costs (53, 56, and 31 %, respectively) derives from the number of deaths, 79,000 for tobacco, 49,000 for alcohol, and 1600 for illegal drugs, given the high cost of a year of life lost (€115,000). The external cost corresponds to 86, 97, and 68 % of the social cost, respectively, for tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs. The annual drug-related net expenditure represents €13.9, €3.0, and €2.3 billion, respectively, for tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs. The tax revenues on tobacco and alcohol, €10.4 and €3.2 billion, represent less than half of the corresponding healthcare costs, which are €25.9 and €7.7 billion.

Adopting Evidence-Based Medically Assisted Treatments in Substance Abuse Treatment Organizations: Roles of Leadership Socialization and Funding Streams

PubMed Central

Blum, Terry C.; Davis, Carolyn D.; Roman, Paul M.

2014-01-01

This paper examines the organizational adoption of medically assisted treatments (MAT) for substance use disorders (SUDs) in a representative sample of 555 US for-profit and not-for-profit treatment centers. The study examines organizational adoption of these treatments in an institutionally contested environment that traditionally has valued behavioral treatment, using sociological and resource dependence frameworks The findings indicate that socialization of leadership, measured by formal clinical education, is related to the adoption of MAT. Funding patterns also affect innovation adoption, with greater adoption associated with higher proportions of earned income from third party fees for services, and less adoption associated with funding from criminal justice sources. These findings may generalize to other social mission-oriented organizations where innovation adoption may be linked to private and public benefit values inherent in the type of socialization of leadership and different patterns of funding support. PMID:25004707

Adopting evidence-based medically assisted treatments in substance abuse treatment organizations: roles of leadership socialization and funding streams.

PubMed

Blum, Terry C; Davis, Carolyn D; Roman, Paul M

2014-01-01

This paper examines the organizational adoption of medically assisted treatments (MAT) for substance use disorders (SUDs) in a representative sample of 555 US for-profit and not-for-profit treatment centers. The study examines organizational adoption of these treatments in an institutionally contested environment that traditionally has valued behavioral treatment, using sociological and resource dependence frameworks. The findings indicate that socialization of leadership, measured by formal clinical education, is related to the adoption of MAT. Funding patterns also affect innovation adoption, with greater adoption associated with higher proportions of earned income from third party fees for services, and less adoption associated with funding from criminal justice sources. These findings may generalize to other social mission-oriented organizations where innovation adoption may be linked to private and public benefit values inherent in the type of socialization of leadership and different patterns of funding support.

Medicare & Medicaid vs. TRICARE: A Benefits and Cost Comparison

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of...Social Security Act (Government Printing Office [GPO], 2012). These percentages represent the dollar value of federal funds remunerated to state

Out of the Ivory Tower: The Impact of Wider Social Contact on the Values, Religious Beliefs and Identities of Chinese Postgraduate Students in the UK

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Daguo

2012-01-01

This article explores the impact of wider social contact on the experience of Chinese postgraduate students of adaptation to life in the UK. Focus group and individual interviews were conducted with a group of 11 Chinese students on an MA programme at a university in southern England and individual interviews with three representatives of a local…

Health and labor-power: a theoretical investigation.

PubMed

Schatzkin, A

1978-01-01

In this historical materialist analysis of health and medical care, health is defined as a component of labor-power (capacity to work). Investment in health, including provision of medical services, represents part of the cost of maintaining the labor force. The primary determined of the level of health and medical care under capitalism is the tendency toward maximization of the rate of exploitation. The absolute level of health and medical care tends to decline as unemployment rises and individual workers become more "replaceable." Health differentials by socioeconomic status are similarly explained by the easier replacement of lesser-skilled workers. Medical care services in the context of the capitalist system constitute a drain on surplus-value. In periods of economic decline, attempts are made to conserve surplus-value through reductions in medical services ("social wages"). Institutional and ideological racism yields additional surplus-value savings and weakness public resistance to medical care retrenchment. The profits of health-related industries are shown to be merely partially recouped surplus-value losses. The social epidemiology of capitalism has been characterized as social murder. "Public health" measures appropriate to this systemic pathology are suggested.

The I3I Model; Identifying Cultural Determinants of Information Sharing via C2 Information Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

Individualist cultures represent loose ties between individuals where the interests of individuals prevail over the interests of the group and the...independence of individuals is emphasized. Individual accomplishments are valued whereas in collectivist cultures the group’s well being and common...goals and objectives are valued more. Collectivist cultures are characterized by tight social networks in which individuals strongly distinguish

Worksite Training. ERIC Digest No. 109.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lankard, Bettina A.

Economic, social, and technological changes highlight the value of human resources and employee training. Acquiring the knowledge and skills demanded of today's workers represents a lifelong learning experience that must be nurtured through work-related learning activities and workplace training. For the employer, training supports organizational…

Multi-objective optimization of riparian buffer networks; valuing present and future benefits

EPA Science Inventory

Multi-objective optimization has emerged as a popular approach to support water resources planning and management. This approach provides decision-makers with a suite of management options which are generated based on metrics that represent different social, economic, and environ...

Multiple Aims in the Development of a Major Reform of the National Curriculum for Science in England

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryder, Jim; Banner, Indira

2011-03-01

In the context of a major reform of the school science curriculum for 14-16-year-olds in England, we examine the aims ascribed to the reform, the stakeholders involved, and the roles of differing values and authority in its development. This reform includes an emphasis on socioscientific issues and the nature of science; curriculum trends of international relevance. Our analysis identifies largely 'instrumental' aims, with little emphasis on 'intrinsic' aims and associated values. We identify five broad categories of stakeholders focusing on different aims with, for example, a social, individual, political, or economic emphasis. We suggest that curriculum development projects reflecting largely social and individual aims were appropriated by other stakeholders to serve political and economic aims. We argue that a curriculum reform body representing all stakeholder interests is needed to ensure that multiple aims are considered throughout the curriculum reform process. Within such a body, the differentiated character of the science teaching community would need to be represented.

The symbolic representation of community in social isolation and loneliness among older people: Insights for intervention from a rural Irish case study.

PubMed

Bantry-White, Eleanor; O'Sullivan, Siobhán; Kenny, Lorna; O'Connell, Cathal

2018-07-01

Social isolation and loneliness are common experiences of ageing in rural communities. Policy responses and interventions for social isolation and loneliness in later life are shaped by sociocultural understandings of place, relationships and social interaction. This study examined how representations of rural community in Ireland influenced the focus, relationships and activities within a befriending intervention designed to tackle social isolation and loneliness. Through a qualitative case study conducted in 2014, the symbolic meaning of the intervention was explored using interviews and focus groups with participants (8 befriended, 11 befrienders and 3 community workers) from one befriending programme in rural Ireland. Reflected in the programme was a representation of a rural community in decline with concern for the impact on older people. There was a valuing of the traditional community defined by geographical place, perceptions of similarity among its members, and values of solidarity and mutual support. The befriending intervention represented a commitment to intra-community solidarity and a desire by many for authentic befriending relationships that mirrored understandings of relationships within the traditional community. Identifying and alleviating social isolation and loneliness imply a set of normative values about community and the optimal social relationships within community. This paper proposes that there is a need to consider the role played by understandings of community in shaping context-sensitive interventions to counter social isolation and loneliness in later life. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Understanding Adolescent Contraceptive Choice: An Empirical Test.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adler, Nancy E.; And Others

Research using expectancy models has shown contraceptive choice among adults to be a rational process in that intentions and behaviors reflect an individual's beliefs, values, attitudes, and perceptions of social norms. This study examined whether such an approach could accurately represent adolescents' contraceptive decision-making. It used the…

Social media as a risk communication tool following Typhoon Haiyan.

PubMed

Cool, Christine Tiffany; Claravall, Marie Chantal; Hall, Julie Lyn; Taketani, Keisuke; Zepeda, John Paul; Gehner, Monika; Lawe-Davies, Olivia

2015-01-01

In the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative Office in the Philippines had no social media presence to share timely, relevant public health information. Risk communication is essential to emergency management for public health message dissemination. As social media sites, such as Facebook, are popular in the Philippines, these were adopted for risk communication during the response to Haiyan. The WHO Representative Office in the Philippines established Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Thirty days after these social medial channels were established, a gradual increase in followers was observed. Facebook saw the largest increase in followers which occurred as posted content gradually evolved from general public health information to more pro-active public health intervention and preparedness messaging. This included information on key health interventions encouraging followers to adopt protective behaviours to mitigate public health threats that frequently occur after a disaster. During the response to Haiyan, creating a social media presence, raising a follower base and developing meaningful messages and content was possible. This event underscored the importance of building a social media strategy in non-emergency times and supported the value of developing public health messages and content that both educates and interests the general public.

The dimensional salience solution to the expectancy-value muddle: an extension.

PubMed

Newton, Joshua D; Newton, Fiona J; Ewing, Michael T

2014-01-01

The theory of reasoned action (TRA) specifies a set of expectancy-value, belief-based frameworks that underpin attitude (behavioural beliefs × outcome evaluations) and subjective norm (normative beliefs × motivation to comply). Unfortunately, the most common method for analysing these frameworks generates statistically uninterpretable findings, resulting in what has been termed the 'expectancy-value muddle'. Recently, however, a dimensional salience approach was found to resolve this muddle for the belief-based framework underpinning attitude. An online survey of 262 participants was therefore conducted to determine whether the dimensional salience approach could also be applied to the belief-based framework underpinning subjective norm. Results revealed that motivations to comply were greater for salient, as opposed to non-salient, social referents. The belief-based framework underpinning subjective norm was therefore represented by evaluating normative belief ratings for salient social referents. This modified framework was found to predict subjective norm, although predictions were greater when participants were forced to select five salient social referents rather than being free to select any number of social referents. These findings validate the use of the dimensional salience approach for examining the belief-based frameworks underpinning subjective norm. As such, this approach provides a complete solution to addressing the expectancy-value muddle in the TRA.

More similarities than differences in contemporary theories of social development?: a plea for theory bridging.

PubMed

Leaper, Campbell

2011-01-01

Many contemporary theories of social development are similar and/or share complementary constructs. Yet, there have been relatively few efforts toward theoretical integration. The present chapter represents a call for increased theory bridging. The problem of theoretical fragmentation in psychology is reviewed. Seven highlighted reasons for this predicament include differences between behavioral sciences and other sciences, theoretical paradigms as social identities, the uniqueness assumption, information overload, field fixation, linguistic fragmentation, and few incentives for theoretical integration. Afterward, the feasibility of theoretical synthesis is considered. Finally, some possible directions are proposed for theoretical integration among five contemporary theories of social and gender development: social cognitive theory, expectancy-value theory, cognitive-developmental theory, gender schema theory, and self-categorization theory.

Involvement as inclusion? Shared decision-making in social work practice in Israel: a qualitative account.

PubMed

Levin, Lia

2015-03-01

Shared decision-making (SDM), a representation of shared knowledge and power between social workers and their clients, is gaining popularity and prevalence in social services around the world. In many senses, SDM reflects values traditionally associated with social work and service provision, such as equality and anti-discrimination. In the complex context of social problem-solving, however, the relationship between SDM, social workers and their clients is multi-faceted and deserves particular attention. The current study examined SDM and the dilemmas it entails through interviews conducted in 2012 with 77 Israeli social workers and policy makers whose responses were analysed according to the guiding principles of descriptive phenomenological content analysis and dialogical commonality. Participants' responses represent notions of hope, change, identity and choice. Findings are discussed in correspondence with current and recent trends in Israeli social services, and the social work profession in Israel. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluating social media's capacity to develop engaged audiences in health promotion settings: use of Twitter metrics as a case study.

PubMed

Neiger, Brad L; Thackeray, Rosemary; Burton, Scott H; Giraud-Carrier, Christophe G; Fagen, Michael C

2013-03-01

Use of social media in health promotion and public health continues to grow in popularity, though most of what is reported in literature represents one-way messaging devoid of attributes associated with engagement, a core attribute, if not the central purpose, of social media. This article defines engagement, describes its value in maximizing the potential of social media in health promotion, proposes an evaluation hierarchy for social media engagement, and uses Twitter as a case study to illustrate how the hierarchy might function in practice. Partnership and participation are proposed as culminating outcomes for social media use in health promotion. As use of social media in health promotion moves toward this end, evaluation metrics that verify progress and inform subsequent strategies will become increasingly important.

Job Satisfaction in the Shrimp Trawl Fisheries of Chennai, India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bavinck, Maarten

2012-01-01

Shrimp trawling represents an important fishing metier in South India, generating high levels of employment and economic value. It is also a contested metier, ostensibly contributing to environmental degradation and social inequality. This paper investigates the job satisfaction of crew members (captains and workers) on board the shrimp trawlers…

Social Network Analysis Reveals the Negative Effects of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Symptoms on Friend-Based Student Networks.

PubMed

Kim, Jun Won; Kim, Bung-Nyun; Kim, Johanna Inhyang; Lee, Young Sik; Min, Kyung Joon; Kim, Hyun-Jin; Lee, Jaewon

2015-01-01

Social network analysis has emerged as a promising tool in modern social psychology. This method can be used to examine friend-based social relationships in terms of network theory, with nodes representing individual students and ties representing relationships between students (e.g., friendships and kinships). Using social network analysis, we investigated whether greater severity of ADHD symptoms is correlated with weaker peer relationships among elementary school students. A total of 562 sixth-graders from two elementary schools (300 males) provided the names of their best friends (maximum 10 names). Their teachers rated each student's ADHD symptoms using an ADHD rating scale. The results showed that 10.2% of the students were at high risk for ADHD. Significant group differences were observed between the high-risk students and other students in two of the three network parameters (degree, centrality and closeness) used to assess friendship quality, with the high-risk group showing significantly lower values of degree and closeness compared to the other students. Moreover, negative correlations were found between the ADHD rating and two social network analysis parameters. Our findings suggest that the severity of ADHD symptoms is strongly correlated with the quality of social and interpersonal relationships in students with ADHD symptoms.

Social Network Analysis Reveals the Negative Effects of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Symptoms on Friend-Based Student Networks

PubMed Central

Kim, Jun Won; Kim, Bung-Nyun; Kim, Johanna Inhyang; Lee, Young Sik; Min, Kyung Joon; Kim, Hyun-Jin; Lee, Jaewon

2015-01-01

Introduction Social network analysis has emerged as a promising tool in modern social psychology. This method can be used to examine friend-based social relationships in terms of network theory, with nodes representing individual students and ties representing relationships between students (e.g., friendships and kinships). Using social network analysis, we investigated whether greater severity of ADHD symptoms is correlated with weaker peer relationships among elementary school students. Methods A total of 562 sixth-graders from two elementary schools (300 males) provided the names of their best friends (maximum 10 names). Their teachers rated each student’s ADHD symptoms using an ADHD rating scale. Results The results showed that 10.2% of the students were at high risk for ADHD. Significant group differences were observed between the high-risk students and other students in two of the three network parameters (degree, centrality and closeness) used to assess friendship quality, with the high-risk group showing significantly lower values of degree and closeness compared to the other students. Moreover, negative correlations were found between the ADHD rating and two social network analysis parameters. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the severity of ADHD symptoms is strongly correlated with the quality of social and interpersonal relationships in students with ADHD symptoms. PMID:26562777

A framework for the social valuation of ecosystem services.

PubMed

Felipe-Lucia, María R; Comín, Francisco A; Escalera-Reyes, Javier

2015-05-01

Methods to assess ecosystem services using ecological or economic approaches are considerably better defined than methods for the social approach. To identify why the social approach remains unclear, we reviewed current trends in the literature. We found two main reasons: (i) the cultural ecosystem services are usually used to represent the whole social approach, and (ii) the economic valuation based on social preferences is typically included in the social approach. Next, we proposed a framework for the social valuation of ecosystem services that provides alternatives to economics methods, enables comparison across studies, and supports decision-making in land planning and management. The framework includes the agreements emerged from the review, such as considering spatial-temporal flows, including stakeholders from all social ranges, and using two complementary methods to value ecosystem services. Finally, we provided practical recommendations learned from the application of the proposed framework in a case study.

Theoretical analysis and simulations of the generalized Lotka-Volterra model.

PubMed

Malcai, Ofer; Biham, Ofer; Richmond, Peter; Solomon, Sorin

2002-09-01

The dynamics of generalized Lotka-Volterra systems is studied by theoretical techniques and computer simulations. These systems describe the time evolution of the wealth distribution of individuals in a society, as well as of the market values of firms in the stock market. The individual wealths or market values are given by a set of time dependent variables w(i), i=1,...,N. The equations include a stochastic autocatalytic term (representing investments), a drift term (representing social security payments), and a time dependent saturation term (due to the finite size of the economy). The w(i)'s turn out to exhibit a power-law distribution of the form P(w) approximately w(-1-alpha). It is shown analytically that the exponent alpha can be expressed as a function of one parameter, which is the ratio between the constant drift component (social security) and the fluctuating component (investments). This result provides a link between the lower and upper cutoffs of this distribution, namely, between the resources available to the poorest and those available to the richest in a given society. The value of alpha is found to be insensitive to variations in the saturation term, which represent the expansion or contraction of the economy. The results are of much relevance to empirical studies that show that the distribution of the individual wealth in different countries during different periods in the 20th century has followed a power-law distribution with 1

Theoretical analysis and simulations of the generalized Lotka-Volterra model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malcai, Ofer; Biham, Ofer; Richmond, Peter; Solomon, Sorin

2002-09-01

The dynamics of generalized Lotka-Volterra systems is studied by theoretical techniques and computer simulations. These systems describe the time evolution of the wealth distribution of individuals in a society, as well as of the market values of firms in the stock market. The individual wealths or market values are given by a set of time dependent variables wi, i=1,...,N. The equations include a stochastic autocatalytic term (representing investments), a drift term (representing social security payments), and a time dependent saturation term (due to the finite size of the economy). The wi's turn out to exhibit a power-law distribution of the form P(w)~w-1-α. It is shown analytically that the exponent α can be expressed as a function of one parameter, which is the ratio between the constant drift component (social security) and the fluctuating component (investments). This result provides a link between the lower and upper cutoffs of this distribution, namely, between the resources available to the poorest and those available to the richest in a given society. The value of α is found to be insensitive to variations in the saturation term, which represent the expansion or contraction of the economy. The results are of much relevance to empirical studies that show that the distribution of the individual wealth in different countries during different periods in the 20th century has followed a power-law distribution with 1<α<2.

Increasing Accessibility: Lessons Learned in Retaining Special Population Students in Canada

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Clayton; Gottheil, Susan

2011-01-01

In Canada, changing demographics and increased competition--as well as social values based on equity--have inspired efforts to increase the postsecondary education (PSE) participation rates of youths from under-represented/under-served groups. Despite its population having the highest level of educational attainment among those of OECD countries,…

Malay Digital Folklore: Using Multimedia to Educate Children through Storytelling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abidin, Mohd Izani Zainal; Razak, Aishah Abd.

2003-01-01

In the early centuries of human evolution, the information to express cultures, social contents, ideas, values, and the society itself were primarily developed by means of expression. This information was represented in the form of classical, signs, figures, traditional manuscripts and performing arts. On the other hand, it becomes less important…

Examining Material Culture through American Memory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singleton, Laurel R., Ed.

2002-01-01

This publication contains teaching ideas generated by classroom teachers. For grades K-5, newsletter editor Laurel R. Singleton explains how students can explore the quilt as a metaphor used in literature to represent American values and ideals (the lesson is adaptable for all age groups). For grades 5-8, social studies teacher Claire McCaffery…

Information and Culture: Cultural Differences in the Perception and Recall of Information from Advertisements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Ji-Hyun

2012-01-01

Information in general is congruent with cultural values because a culture consists of transmitted social knowledge. Cross-cultural research demonstrates that audiences who are fostered by different cultures may have different understandings of information. This research represents a comprehensive cross-cultural study using an experimental method,…

Traditional Values/Contemporary Pressures: The Conflicting Needs of America's Rural Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunne, Faith

Rural American women number well over 25 million and represent all socio-economic and ethnic classifications, yet they share a conservative orientation towards sex roles and appropriate life styles, characteristic social and geographic isolation, and the dilemma of how to manage the traditional demands of rural culture and the contemporary…

Economic Impact of the Arts: A Sourcebook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Conference of State Legislatures, Washington, DC.

This book represents a collection of 7 works by authors arguing for the support of public spending on the arts: (1) "Introduction: The Value of Economic Reasoning and the Arts" (Harry Hillman-Chartrand), examines the changing social perception of the arts over time, and describes the interaction among the sectors of the arts; (2)…

Self-Employment after Socialism: Intergenerational Links, Entrepreneurial Values, and Human Capital

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fritsch, Michael; Rusakova, Alina

2012-01-01

Drawing on representative household data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we examine the role of an early precursor of entrepreneurial development--parental role models--for the individual decision to become self-employed in the post-unified Germany. The findings suggest that the socialist regime significantly damaged this mechanism of an…

Teaching as a Moral Practice: Defining, Developing, and Assessing Professional Dispositions in Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murrell, Peter C., Jr., Ed.; Diez, Mary E., Ed.; Feiman-Nemser, Sharon, Ed.; Schussler, Deborah L., Ed.

2010-01-01

Sometimes understood as habits of mind, "dispositions" represents a new concept in teacher education. Conversations about professional dispositions in teaching often touch on issues such as attitudes, values, moral commitment, and social justice. Based on the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education's Task Force on Teaching as a…

Social and economic value of riparian environments

Treesearch

Greg Jones

2008-01-01

Riparian areas commonly represent only a small percentage of a landscape, but typically are more structurally diverse and more productive in plant and animal biomass than adjacent upland areas. Yet, this small percentage of land area provides many benefits to society. These benefits, however, are not generally accounted for in market transactions. One exception to this...

Personal Maturity of Adopting Parents as a Condition for Preventing Social Orphanage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markova, Svetlana V.; Emelyanova, Irina D.

2016-01-01

The research conducted deals with the problem of development of personal maturity in adopting parents. The objectives of the research are to describe the content foundation of the adopting parents' personal maturity represented by motivational and value-related, emotional, cognitive and activity-related components, to prove the influence of…

Close up on Capital Punishment: Challenging Students' Ideas of Justice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Christopher W.

2012-01-01

Capital punishment, still practiced in many countries around the world, represents a highly controversial human rights issue. As citizens of the world, the existence of a diversity of death penalties challenges some of the most cherished and universal values. For social studies educators seeking to move their students toward finding their voice as…

Enhancing the effectiveness of tobacco package warning labels: a social psychological perspective

PubMed Central

Strahan, E; White, K; Fong, G; Fabrigar, L; Zanna, M; Cameron, R

2002-01-01

Objective: To outline social psychological principles that could influence the psychosocial and behavioural effects of tobacco warning labels, and to inform the development of more effective tobacco warning labels. Data sources: PsycInfo and Medline literature searches and expert guided selection of principles and theories in social psychology and of tobacco warning labels, including articles, books, and reports. Conclusions: Tobacco warning labels represent a potentially effective method of influencing attitudes and behaviours. This review describes social psychological principles that could be used to guide the creation of more effective warning labels. The potential value of incorporating warning labels into a broader public health education campaign is discussed, and directions for future research are suggested. PMID:12198266

Care for women involved with drugs: social representations of nurses.

PubMed

Rodrigues, Andreia Silva; Oliveira, Jeane Freitas de; Suto, Cleuma Sueli Santos; Coutinho, Maria da Penha de Lima; Paiva, Mirian Santos; Souza, Simone Santos

2017-01-01

analyze social representations of nurses related to the care for women involved with drugs. qualitative research founded on the theory of social representations, with 42 nurses from a public maternity ward of Salvador-BA, using identification questionnaire, test of free association of words, and semi-structured interview. We analyzed the structure of social representations and the similarity tree of free evocations, and also analyzed the content of interviews. care for women involved with drugs is represented by a set of words that shows theoretical questions and scientific techniques, but faced with experiences in the training, in the daily work and in ideas and values assigned to the consumption of drugs especially in the gravidic-puerperal period. The social representations of nurses show conflicts between social and cultural aspects around the problem of drugs and the health care provided to women involved with drugs.

Social Media Metrics and Bibliometric Profiles of Neurosurgical Departments and Journals: Is There a Relationship?

PubMed

Alotaibi, Naif M; Guha, Daipayan; Fallah, Aria; Aldakkan, Abdulrahman; Nassiri, Farshad; Badhiwala, Jetan H; Ibrahim, George M; Shamji, Mohammed F; Macdonald, R Loch; Lozano, Andres M

2016-06-01

Social media plays an increasingly important role in dissemination of knowledge and raising awareness of selected topics among the general public and the academic community. To investigate the relationship between social media metrics and academic indices of neurosurgical programs and journals. A 2-step online search was performed to identify official social media accounts of neurosurgical departments that were accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Dedicated neurosurgery and spine journals' social media accounts also were identified through an online search on SCImago Journal and Country Rank portal. Nonparametric tests were performed with bootstrapping to compare groups and to look for correlations between social media and academic metrics. We identified 36 social media accounts officially affiliated with academic neurosurgical institutions. These accounts represented 22 of 119 neurosurgical programs in North America (18.4%). The presence of a social media account for neurosurgical departments was associated with statistically significant higher values of academic impact metrics (P < 0.05). Specific social media metrics for neurosurgical department accounts, however, did not correlate with any values of academic indices. For journals, there were 11 journals present on social media and had greater academic metrics compared with journals without social media presence (P < 0.05). Social media presence is associated with stronger academic bibliometrics profiles for both neurosurgical departments and journals. The impact of social media metrics on indices of scientific impact in neurosurgery is not known. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reward and social valuation deficits following ventromedial prefrontal damage.

PubMed

Moretti, Laura; Dragone, Davide; di Pellegrino, Giuseppe

2009-01-01

Lesion and imaging studies have implicated the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in economic decisions and social interactions, yet its exact functions remain unclear. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that the vmPFC represents the subjective value or desirability of future outcomes during social decision-making. Both vmPFC-damaged patients and control participants acted as the responder in a single-round ultimatum game. To test outcome valuation, we contrasted concrete, immediately available gains with abstract, future ones. To test social valuation, we contrasted interactions with a human partner and those involving a computer. We found that, compared to controls, vmPFC patients substantially reduced their acceptance rate of unfair offers from a human partner, but only when financial gains were presented as abstract amounts to be received later. When the gains were visible and readily available, the vmPFC patients' acceptance of unfair offers was normal. Furthermore, unlike controls, vmPFC patients did not distinguish between unfair offers from a human agent and those from a computerized opponent. We conclude that the vmPFC encodes the expected value of abstract, future goals in a common neural currency that takes into account both reward and social signals in order to optimize economic decision-making.

Structural and Functional Model of Future Craftsmen Legal Competence Generation during Professional Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romantsev, Gennadij M.; Efanov, Andrei V.; Bychkova, Ekaterina Yu.; Moiseev, Andrei V.

2016-01-01

Formation of the law-governed state institutions in Russia, development of civil society, need for neutralizing the legal nihilism and generation of public legal culture, state demand for legally competent specialists, representing the public and social value, justify the relevancy of the investigated issue, on the one hand. On the other hand, it…

How Employees with Different National Identities Experience a Geocentric Organizational Culture of a Global Corporation: A Phenomenological Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plakhotnik, Maria S.

2010-01-01

A global corporation values both profitability and social acceptance; its units mutually negotiate governance and represent a highly interdependent network where centers of excellence and high-potential employees are identified regardless of geographic locations. These companies try to build geocentric, or "world oriented" (Marquardt, 1999, p.…

The Long-Term Effects of Early Parent Involvement and Parent Expectation in the USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Froiland, John Mark; Peterson, Aubrey; Davison, Mark L.

2013-01-01

Building on social-cognitive theory and the expectancy-value theory, this study indicated that early parent expectations for children’s post-secondary educational attainment have a stronger effect on 8th-grade achievement than home-based parental involvement. With a nationally representative sample of kindergarten students and their parents in the…

Morality, ethics, and law: introductory concepts.

PubMed

Horner, Jennifer

2003-11-01

The purpose of this article is to differentiate morality, ethics, and law. Morality refers to a set of deeply held, widely shared, and relatively stable values within a community. Ethics as a philosophical enterprise involves the study of values, and the justification for right and good actions, as represented by the classic works of Aristotle (virtue ethics), Kant (duty-based ethics), and Bentham and Mill (utilitarian and consequentialist ethics). Applied ethics, in contrast, is the use of ethics principles (e.g., respect for autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence, justice) in actual situations, such as in professional and clinical life. Finally, law is comprised of concrete duties established by governments that are necessary for maintaining social order and resolving disputes, as well as for distributing social resources according to what people need or deserve.

Psychosocial workload and stress in the workers’ representative

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Using a data set of works councils of trade union IG Metal, this paper investigates psychosocial stress and strain on this specific group in comparison to employees working in administration in general (leadership and non-leadership-role) and a national reference value. Methods For assessing psychosocial work factors on works councils within the sector represented by the trade union IG Metal in Germany, a research by using the German standard version of COPSOQ (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire) was performed. The instrument includes 87 single items forming 25 aspects of strain and stress. Results from the study group of works councils were compared to those from employees working in administration and to the general population mean (COPSOQ database). Statistical analysis included t-tests, analysis of variance and multiple comparisons of means. To be significant in terms of statistics, p<0.05 (two-tailed) and a minimum deviation of 5 or more points between groups′ mean values identify the relevant values. Results All in all, 309 works councils from a national survey of the German chemical and metalworking industries took part in the study. 113 were full-time works council members (exempted from the duty to perform their regular work), 196 were voluntary members (acting as employee representatives on an honorary basis alongside their normal duties). Comparison between works councils and employees working in administration (leadership roles (N=1810) and non-leadership roles (N=2970)) and for employees in general (N=35.000) showed unfavourable values for works councils for most scales. Significantly higher values indicating higher strain and stress were found for the scales: emotional demands, work-privacy conflict, role conflicts, mobbing, cognitive stress symptoms and burnout. Unfavourable results were obtained for the aspects: quality of leadership, social support, sense of community and general health. Favourable findings were found on the scales: influence at work, quantity of social relations and the partly positive values for quantitative demands and commitment to the workplace. Conclusion Compared to the reference groups, works council members perceive the psychosocial demands of working life as more exhausting for the majority of aspects. This allows several conclusions. One reason may be the extended tasks employee representatives face, an other may be that the education of most works council members does not seem appropriate to the high demands of their managerial and executive tasks. PMID:23101876

Promoting motivation with virtual agents and avatars: role of visual presence and appearance.

PubMed

Baylor, Amy L

2009-12-12

Anthropomorphic virtual agents can serve as powerful technological mediators to impact motivational outcomes such as self-efficacy and attitude change. Such anthropomorphic agents can be designed as simulated social models in the Bandurian sense, providing social influence as virtual 'role models'. Of particular value is the capacity for designing such agents as optimized social models for a target audience and context. Importantly, the visual presence and appearance of such agents can have a major impact on motivation and affect regardless of the underlying technical sophistication. Empirical results of different instantiations of agent presence and appearance are reviewed for both autonomous virtual agents and avatars that represent a user.

A comparison of positive and negative alcohol expectancy and value and their multiplicative composite as predictors of post-treatment abstinence survivorship.

PubMed

Jones, B T; McMahon, J

1996-01-01

Within social learning theory, positive alcohol expectancies represent motivation to drink and negative expectancies, motivation to restrain. It is also recognized that a subjective evaluation of expectancies ought to moderate their impact, although the evidence for this in social drinkers is problematic. This paper addresses the speculation that the moderating effect will be more evident in clinical populations. This study shows that (i) both expectancy and value reliably, independently and equally predict clients' abstinence survivorship following discharge from a treatment programme (and that this is almost entirely confined to the negative rather than positive terms). When (ii) expectancy evaluations are processed against expectancy through multiplicative composites (i.e. expectancy x value), their predictive power is only equivalent to either expectancy or value on its own. However (iii) when the multiplicative composite is assessed following the statistical guidelines advocated by Evans (1991) (i.e. within the same model as its constituents, expectancy and value) the increase in outcome variance explained by its inclusion is negligible and casts doubt upon its use in alcohol research. This does not appear to apply to value, however, and its possible role in treatment is discussed.

Annotating Atomic Components of Papers in Digital Libraries: The Semantic and Social Web Heading towards a Living Document Supporting eSciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García Castro, Alexander; García-Castro, Leyla Jael; Labarga, Alberto; Giraldo, Olga; Montaña, César; O'Neil, Kieran; Bateman, John A.

Rather than a document that is being constantly re-written as in the wiki approach, the Living Document (LD) is one that acts as a document router, operating by means of structured and organized social tagging and existing ontologies. It offers an environment where users can manage papers and related information, share their knowledge with their peers and discover hidden associations among the shared knowledge. The LD builds upon both the Semantic Web, which values the integration of well-structured data, and the Social Web, which aims to facilitate interaction amongst people by means of user-generated content. In this vein, the LD is similar to a social networking system, with users as central nodes in the network, with the difference that interaction is focused on papers rather than people. Papers, with their ability to represent research interests, expertise, affiliations, and links to web based tools and databanks, represent a central axis for interaction amongst users. To begin to show the potential of this vision, we have implemented a novel web prototype that enables researchers to accomplish three activities central to the Semantic Web vision: organizing, sharing and discovering. Availability: http://www.scientifik.info/

A "Social Bitcoin" could sustain a democratic digital world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleineberg, Kaj-Kolja; Helbing, Dirk

2016-12-01

A multidimensional financial system could provide benefits for individuals, companies, and states. Instead of top-down control, which is destined to eventually fail in a hyperconnected world, a bottom-up creation of value can unleash creative potential and drive innovations. Multiple currency dimensions can represent different externalities and thus enable the design of incentives and feedback mechanisms that foster the ability of complex dynamical systems to self-organize and lead to a more resilient society and sustainable economy. Modern information and communication technologies play a crucial role in this process, as Web 2.0 and online social networks promote cooperation and collaboration on unprecedented scales. Within this contribution, we discuss how one dimension of a multidimensional currency system could represent socio-digital capital (Social Bitcoins) that can be generated in a bottom-up way by individuals who perform search and navigation tasks in a future version of the digital world. The incentive to mine Social Bitcoins could sustain digital diversity, which mitigates the risk of totalitarian control by powerful monopolies of information and can create new business opportunities needed in times where a large fraction of current jobs is estimated to disappear due to computerisation.

Outlining social physics for modern societies—locating culture, economics, and politics: The Enlightenment reconsidered

PubMed Central

Iberall, A. S.

1985-01-01

A groundwork is laid for a formulation of the modern human social system as a field continuum. As in a simple material physical field, the independent implied relationships of materials or processes in flux have to be based on local conservations of mass, energy, and momentum. In complex fields, the transport fluctuations of momentum are transformed into action modes (e.g., [unk] pdq = ΣHi = H, a characteristic quantum of action over a characteristic cycle time). In complex living systems, a fourth local conservation of population number, the demographic variable, has to be added as a renormalized variable. Modern man, settled in place via agriculture, urbanized, and engaged largely in trade and war, invents a fifth local conservation—value-in-trade, the economic variable. The potentials that drive these five fluxes are also enumerated. Among the more evident external and internal physical-chemical potentials, the driving potentials include a sheaf of internal potential-like components that represent the command-control system emergent as politics. In toto, culture represents the social solvent with the main processes of economics and politics being driven by a social pressure. PMID:16593594

Screening for social phobia in medical in- and outpatients with the German version of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN).

PubMed

Sosic, Z; Gieler, U; Stangier, U

2008-06-01

To evaluate the German version of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) as a screening device and to report corresponding cut-off scores for different populations. In Study 1, 2043 subjects from a representative sample completed the SPIN. Cut-off values were established on the basis of means and standard deviations. In Study 2, different aspects of validity were examined in a clinical sample comprising 164 subjects, including social phobic individuals, individuals with other anxiety disorders and depression, and non-clinical control subjects. Internal consistency was evaluated. Convergent and divergent validity were explored using several established measures. Finally, the sensitivity and specificity of the German SPIN with regard to social anxiety classification were investigated by means of receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analyses. In Study 1, mean scores and standard deviations were used to determine cut-off scores for the German SPIN. In Study 2, excellent internal consistency and good convergent and divergent validity were obtained. ROC analyses revealed that the German SPIN performed well in discriminating between social phobic individuals on the one hand and psychiatric and non-psychiatric controls on the other. A cut-off score of 25 represented the best balance between sensitivity and specificity. Comparable to the original version, the German SPIN demonstrates solid psychometric properties and shows promise as an economic, reliable, and valid screening device.

Do Social Networks Improve Chinese Adults’ Subjective Well-being?

PubMed Central

Lei, Xiaoyan; Shen, Yan; Smith, James P.; Zhou, Guangsu

2015-01-01

This paper studies relationships between social networks, health and subjective well-being (SWB) using nationally representative data of the Chinese Population—the Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Our data contain SWB indicators in two widely used variants—happiness and life-satisfaction. Social network variables used include kinship relationships measured by marital status, family size, and having a genealogy; ties with friends/relatives/neighbors measured by holiday visitation, frequency of contacts, and whether and value gifts given and received; total number and time spent in social activities, and engagement in organizations including the communist party, religious groups, and other types. We find that giving and receiving gifts has a larger impact on SWB than either just giving or receiving them. Similarly the number of friends is more important than number of relatives, and marriage is associated with higher levels of SWB. Time spent in social activities and varieties of activities both matter for SWB but varieties matter more. Participation in organizations is associated with higher SWB across such diverse groups as being a member of the communist party or a religious organization. China represents an interesting test since it is simultaneously a traditional society with long-established norms about appropriate social networks and a rapidly changing society due to substantial economic and demographic changes. We find that it is better to both give and receive, to engage in more types of social activities, and that participation in groups all improve well-being of Chinese people. PMID:26644993

The dynamics of interaction of reflexive subjects operating with the two-valued versus many-valued logic.

PubMed

Sawa, Koji; Igamberdiev, Abir U

2017-12-01

In this paper we aim to approach a model of interacting subjects with the opposite types of reflexion that belong to the Western (W) and Eastern (E) reflexive modes according to Vladimir Lefebvre (1992). The model represents an expansion of the previously developed model of the Double Homunculus (Sawa and Igamberdiev, 2016) that describes reflexive agents as holding "the image of the self in the image of the self". A dialogue model between the two homunculus agents estimating their own reflexion in the opposite ways (generating the two-valued versus many-valued logic and loosely approximated as belonging to the W and E Lefebvre's types) is evolved. At the same time, the argument also unveils the relationship between a difference equation which is the key notion of the model and an emergence of logic. This can be a powerful tool for describing intercommunication of reflexive agents in the social environment as well as interactions between the entire social systems of different types. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The relationship between transformational leadership and social capital in hospitals--a survey of medical directors of all German hospitals.

PubMed

Hammer, Antje; Ommen, Oliver; Röttger, Julia; Pfaff, Holger

2012-01-01

The German hospital market has been undergoing major changes in recent years. Success in this new market is determined by a multitude of factors. One is the quality of the social relationships between staff and the presence of shared values and rules. This factor can be considered an organization's "social capital." This study investigates the relationship between social capital and leadership style in German hospitals using a written survey of medical directors. In 2008, a cross-sectional representative study was conducted with 1224 medical directors from every hospital in Germany with at least 1 internal medicine unit and 1 surgery unit. Among the scales included in the standardized questionnaire were scales used to assess the medical directors' evaluation of social capital and transformational leadership in the hospital. We used a multiple linear regression model to examine the relationship between social capital and internal coordination. We controlled for hospital ownership, teaching status, and number of beds. In total, we received questionnaires from 551 medical directors, resulting in a response rate of 45.2%. The participating hospitals had an average of 345 beds. The sample included public (41.3%), not-for-profit (46.9%), and for-profit (11.7%) hospitals. The data, which exclusively represent the perceptions of the medical directors, indicate a significant correlation between a transformational leadership style of the executive management and the social capital as perceived by medical directors. A transformational leadership style of the executive management accounted for 36% of variance of the perceived social capital. The perceived social capital in German hospitals is closely related to the leadership style of the executive management. A transformational leadership style of the executive management appears to successfully strengthen the hospital's social capital.

Systematic review on the prevalence, frequency and comparative value of adverse events data in social media

PubMed Central

Golder, Su; Norman, Gill; Loke, Yoon K

2015-01-01

Aim The aim of this review was to summarize the prevalence, frequency and comparative value of information on the adverse events of healthcare interventions from user comments and videos in social media. Methods A systematic review of assessments of the prevalence or type of information on adverse events in social media was undertaken. Sixteen databases and two internet search engines were searched in addition to handsearching, reference checking and contacting experts. The results were sifted independently by two researchers. Data extraction and quality assessment were carried out by one researcher and checked by a second. The quality assessment tool was devised in-house and a narrative synthesis of the results followed. Results From 3064 records, 51 studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies assessed over 174 social media sites with discussion forums (71%) being the most popular. The overall prevalence of adverse events reports in social media varied from 0.2% to 8% of posts. Twenty-nine studies compared the results from searching social media with using other data sources to identify adverse events. There was general agreement that a higher frequency of adverse events was found in social media and that this was particularly true for ‘symptom’ related and ‘mild’ adverse events. Those adverse events that were under-represented in social media were laboratory-based and serious adverse events. Conclusions Reports of adverse events are identifiable within social media. However, there is considerable heterogeneity in the frequency and type of events reported, and the reliability or validity of the data has not been thoroughly evaluated. PMID:26271492

Systematic review on the prevalence, frequency and comparative value of adverse events data in social media.

PubMed

Golder, Su; Norman, Gill; Loke, Yoon K

2015-10-01

The aim of this review was to summarize the prevalence, frequency and comparative value of information on the adverse events of healthcare interventions from user comments and videos in social media. A systematic review of assessments of the prevalence or type of information on adverse events in social media was undertaken. Sixteen databases and two internet search engines were searched in addition to handsearching, reference checking and contacting experts. The results were sifted independently by two researchers. Data extraction and quality assessment were carried out by one researcher and checked by a second. The quality assessment tool was devised in-house and a narrative synthesis of the results followed. From 3064 records, 51 studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies assessed over 174 social media sites with discussion forums (71%) being the most popular. The overall prevalence of adverse events reports in social media varied from 0.2% to 8% of posts. Twenty-nine studies compared the results from searching social media with using other data sources to identify adverse events. There was general agreement that a higher frequency of adverse events was found in social media and that this was particularly true for 'symptom' related and 'mild' adverse events. Those adverse events that were under-represented in social media were laboratory-based and serious adverse events. Reports of adverse events are identifiable within social media. However, there is considerable heterogeneity in the frequency and type of events reported, and the reliability or validity of the data has not been thoroughly evaluated. © 2015 The British Pharmacological Society.

Un champ semantique: les noms d'appartenance raciale au Honduras britannique (A Semantic Field: Names of Racial Identity in the British Honduras)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tabouret-Keller, Andree

1975-01-01

This article studies the problem of social identity among six different racial groups in the British Honduras, focusing on what the groups call themselves and what others call them, and on the semantic field of these terms, i.e. the socio-cultural values they represent. (Text is in French.) (AM)

The impact of stakeholder values and power relations on community-based health insurance coverage: qualitative evidence from three Senegalese case studies.

PubMed

Mladovsky, Philipa; Ndiaye, Pascal; Ndiaye, Alfred; Criel, Bart

2015-07-01

Continued low rates of enrolment in community-based health insurance (CBHI) suggest that strategies proposed for scaling up are unsuccessfully implemented or inadequately address underlying limitations of CBHI. One reason may be a lack of incorporation of social and political context into CBHI policy. In this study, the hypothesis is proposed that values and power relations inherent in social networks of CBHI stakeholders can explain levels of CBHI coverage. To test this, three case studies constituting Senegalese CBHI schemes were studied. Transcripts of interviews with 64 CBHI stakeholders were analysed using inductive coding. The five most important themes pertaining to social values and power relations were: voluntarism, trust, solidarity, political engagement and social movements. Analysis of these themes raises a number of policy and implementation challenges for expanding CBHI coverage. First is the need to subsidize salaries for CBHI scheme staff. Second is the need to develop more sustainable internal and external governance structures through CBHI federations. Third is ensuring that CBHI resonates with local values concerning four dimensions of solidarity (health risk, vertical equity, scale and source). Government subsidies is one of the several potential strategies to achieve this. Fourth is the need for increased transparency in national policy. Fifth is the need for CBHI scheme leaders to increase their negotiating power vis-à-vis health service providers who control the resources needed for expanding CBHI coverage, through federations and a social movement dynamic. Systematically addressing all these challenges would represent a fundamental reform of the current CBHI model promoted in Senegal and in Africa more widely; this raises issues of feasibility in practice. From a theoretical perspective, the results suggest that studying values and power relations among stakeholders in multiple case studies is a useful complement to traditional health systems analysis. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

[Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Social Adaptation Self-Evaluation Scale (SASS)].

PubMed

Akkaya, Cengiz; Sarandöl, Asli; Esen Danaci, Ayşen; Sivrioğlu, E Yusuf; Kaya, Ender; Kirli, Selçuk

2008-01-01

SASS is a new self-evaluation scale that assesses the level of social functioning in depressed patients for clinical research purposes. The aim of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of SASS. Data were obtained from 2 different sample groups that had no physical disturbances that could impair social functioning; healthy participants between the ages of 18 and 65 years (n = 66) and patients (n = 227) diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). Assessment tools used in the study were SASS, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, 17-item version, and Global Assessment of Functioning Scale. In the reliability analysis of both groups combined and the MDD group Cronbach's alpha values for the internal consistency of the scale were 0.90 and 0.87, respectively. Item-total score correlations were between 0.22 and 0.66 for both groups combined, and between 0.21 and 0.59 for the MDD group. The correlation coefficient of the scale's test-retest reliability was 0.770 (P < 0.0001) and the SASS value rose from 29.4 +/- 8.1 to 37.8 +/- 8.1 following treatment of depression (P < 0.0001). Four factors with Eigen values > 1 were obtained from the factor analysis. Factor 1, with an Eigen value of 7.169 explained 35.8% of the total variance and represented the entire scale alone. The Turkish version of SASS, as the original scale, demonstrated adequate validity and reliability for the measurement of loss of social functioning in MDD patients and demonstrated that scores changed in accordance with treatment for depression.

Computer-analyzed facial expression as a surrogate marker for autism spectrum social core symptoms.

PubMed

Owada, Keiho; Kojima, Masaki; Yassin, Walid; Kuroda, Miho; Kawakubo, Yuki; Kuwabara, Hitoshi; Kano, Yukiko; Yamasue, Hidenori

2018-01-01

To develop novel interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) core symptoms, valid, reliable, and sensitive longitudinal outcome measures are required for detecting symptom change over time. Here, we tested whether a computerized analysis of quantitative facial expression measures could act as a marker for core ASD social symptoms. Facial expression intensity values during a semi-structured socially interactive situation extracted from the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) were quantified by dedicated software in 18 high-functioning adult males with ASD. Controls were 17 age-, gender-, parental socioeconomic background-, and intellectual level-matched typically developing (TD) individuals. Statistical analyses determined whether values representing the strength and variability of each facial expression element differed significantly between the ASD and TD groups and whether they correlated with ADOS reciprocal social interaction scores. Compared with the TD controls, facial expressions in the ASD group appeared more "Neutral" (d = 1.02, P = 0.005, PFDR < 0.05) with less variation in Neutral expression (d = 1.08, P = 0.003, PFDR < 0.05). Their expressions were also less "Happy" (d = -0.78, P = 0.038, PFDR > 0.05) with lower variability in Happy expression (d = 1.10, P = 0.003, PFDR < 0.05). Moreover, the stronger Neutral facial expressions in the ASD participants were positively correlated with poorer ADOS reciprocal social interaction scores (ρ = 0.48, P = 0.042). These findings indicate that our method for quantitatively measuring reduced facial expressivity during social interactions can be a promising marker for core ASD social symptoms.

Maintaining class, producing gender: enhancement discourses about amphetamine in entertainment media.

PubMed

McKenna, Stacey A

2011-11-01

Since the 1930s, amphetamine has been used for a variety of socially and medically condoned purposes including personal and performance enhancement. In the contemporary U.S., although amphetamine and its derivatives share a history, similar chemical composition, and physiological and psychiatric effects, they are typically treated and researched as two distinct groups: illegally produced methamphetamine and prescription amphetamine. This study is an examination of the social meanings of these categories and their users as represented in popular media. To complement existing research on drug discourses in popular news media, this study analysed entertainment media: ten novels, three seasons of Breaking Bad, six television episodes, and eight movies. Media were coded inductively and deductively using tenets of critical discourse analysis and rhetorical criticism. The author identified discourses about user subject positions and ideologies pertaining to enhancement-related motivations for use. Two important themes emerged from this analysis that construct amphetamine use and users in ways that reflect, legitimize and reproduce class and gender ideologies. First, discourses illustrate that distinct meanings of methamphetamine versus prescription amphetamine are linked to expectations about the respective socioeconomic class and social status of their users. Second, the discourses reflect gendered values and ideals about productivity and sexuality. In reality, American cultural and political-economic contexts may encourage the use of amphetamine to meet a variety of social expectations and economic needs. However, many policy and prevention efforts surrounding amphetamine use disproportionately target methamphetamine users and women. Because policy and prevention efforts can be influenced as much by social values as by data, it is important to examine the many arenas in which social values are produced and disseminated. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Relative effects of educational level and occupational social class on body concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in a representative sample of the general population of Catalonia, Spain.

PubMed

Gasull, Magda; Pumarega, José; Rovira, Gemma; López, Tomàs; Alguacil, Juan; Porta, Miquel

2013-10-01

Scant evidence is available worldwide on the relative influence of occupational social class and educational level on body concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the general population. The objective was to analyse such influence in a representative sample of the general population of Catalonia, Spain. Participants in the Catalan Health Interview Survey aged 18-74 were interviewed face-to-face, gave blood, and underwent a physical exam. The role of age, body mass index (BMI), and parity was analysed with General Linear Models, and adjusted geometric means (GMs) were obtained. Crude (unadjusted) concentrations were higher in women and men with lower education, and in women, but not men, in the less affluent social class. After adjusting for age, in women there were no associations between POP levels and social class or education. After adjusting for age and BMI, men in the less affluent class had higher p,p'-DDE concentrations than men in class I (p-value=0.016), while men in class IV had lower HCB than men in the upper class (p-value<0.03). Also in contrast with some expectations, positive associations between education and POP levels were observed after adjusting for age and BMI in men; e.g., men with university studies had higher HCB concentrations than men with first stage of primary schooling (adjusted GM 153.9 and 80.5ng/g, respectively) (p-value<0.001). When education and social class were co-adjusted for, some positive associations with education in men remained statistically significant, whereas class remained associated only with p,p'-DDE. Educational level influenced blood concentrations of POPs more than occupational social class, especially in men. In women, POP concentrations were mainly explained by age/birth cohort, parity and BMI. In men, while concentrations were also mainly explained by age/birth cohort and BMI, both social class and education showed positive associations. Important characteristics of socioeconomic groups as age and BMI may largely explain crude differences among such groups in internal contamination by POPs. The absence of clear patterns of relationships between blood concentrations of POPs and indicators of socioeconomic position may fundamentally be due to the widespread, lifelong, and generally invisible contamination of human food webs. Decreasing historical trends would also partly explain crude socioeconomic differences apparently due to birth cohort effects. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethical issues when using social media for health outside professional relationships.

PubMed

DeCamp, Matthew

2015-04-01

Social media have the potential to revolutionize health and healthcare, but fulfilling this potential requires attention to the ethical issues social media may raise. This article reviews the major ethical issues arising when social media are used for research, public health, mobile health applications, and global health. It focuses on social media use outside fiduciary relationships between healthcare professionals and patients. Emphasis is given to the potential of social media in these contexts, the ethical issues relatively unique to each, and where possible how existing ethical principles and frameworks could help navigate these issues. In some cases social media create the circumstance for particular ethical issues but also facilitate managing them, such as in informed consent for research. In other cases, disagreement exists about whether social media - despite their potential - should be used for certain purposes, such as in public health surveillance (where confidentiality represents a significant ethical concern). In still others, ethical uncertainty exists about how social media will affect ethical issues, such as inequality in global health. As social media technologies continue to develop, identifying and managing the ethical issues they raise will be critical to their success in improving health while preserving fundamental ethical values.

The self as capital in the narrative economy: how biographical testimonies move activism in the Global South.

PubMed

Burchardt, Marian

2016-05-01

This article analyses and theorises the practice of biographical storytelling of HIV-positive AIDS activists in South Africa. Combining research in illness narratives, studies of emotions in social activism and analysis of global health institutions in Africa, I explore how biographical self-narrations are deployed to facilitate access to resources and knowledge and thus acquire material and symbolic value. I illustrate my argument through the analysis of the case of an AIDS activist who became a professional biographical storyteller. Based on the analysis which I claim to represent wider dynamics in human-rights-based health activism in the Global South, I propose the concept of narrative economies by which I mean the set of exchange relationships within which biographical self-narrations circulate and produce social value for individuals and organisations. © 2015 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

Incorporating Social System Dynamics into the Food-Energy-Water System Resilience-Sustainability Modeling Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Givens, J.; Padowski, J.; Malek, K.; Guzman, C.; Boll, J.; Adam, J. C.; Witinok-Huber, R.

2017-12-01

In the face of climate change and multi-scalar governance objectives, achieving resilience of food-energy-water (FEW) systems requires interdisciplinary approaches. Through coordinated modeling and management efforts, we study "Innovations in the Food-Energy-Water Nexus (INFEWS)" through a case-study in the Columbia River Basin. Previous research on FEW system management and resilience includes some attention to social dynamics (e.g., economic, governance); however, more research is needed to better address social science perspectives. Decisions ultimately taken in this river basin would occur among stakeholders encompassing various institutional power structures including multiple U.S. states, tribal lands, and sovereign nations. The social science lens draws attention to the incompatibility between the engineering definition of resilience (i.e., return to equilibrium or a singular stable state) and the ecological and social system realities, more explicit in the ecological interpretation of resilience (i.e., the ability of a system to move into a different, possibly more resilient state). Social science perspectives include but are not limited to differing views on resilience as normative, system persistence versus transformation, and system boundary issues. To expand understanding of resilience and objectives for complex and dynamic systems, concepts related to inequality, heterogeneity, power, agency, trust, values, culture, history, conflict, and system feedbacks must be more tightly integrated into FEW research. We identify gaps in knowledge and data, and the value and complexity of incorporating social components and processes into systems models. We posit that socio-biophysical system resilience modeling would address important complex, dynamic social relationships, including non-linear dynamics of social interactions, to offer an improved understanding of sustainable management in FEW systems. Conceptual modeling that is presented in our study, represents a starting point for a continued research agenda that incorporates social dynamics into FEW system resilience and management.

Axelrod Model of Social Influence with Cultural Hybridization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radillo-Díaz, Alejandro; Pérez, Luis A.; Del Castillo-Mussot, Marcelo

2012-10-01

Since cultural interactions between a pair of social agents involve changes in both individuals, we present simulations of a new model based on Axelrod's homogenization mechanism that includes hybridization or mixture of the agents' features. In this new hybridization model, once a cultural feature of a pair of agents has been chosen for the interaction, the average of the values for this feature is reassigned as the new value for both agents after interaction. Moreover, a parameter representing social tolerance is implemented in order to quantify whether agents are similar enough to engage in interaction, as well as to determine whether they belong to the same cluster of similar agents after the system has reached the frozen state. The transitions from a homogeneous state to a fragmented one decrease in abruptness as tolerance is increased. Additionally, the entropy associated to the system presents a maximum within the transition, the width of which increases as tolerance does. Moreover, a plateau was found inside the transition for a low-tolerance system of agents with only two cultural features.

Adolescent females "voice" changes can signal difficulties for teachers and administrators.

PubMed

Wren, D J

1997-01-01

This article describes the different preferences in learning styles of adolescent females and males, based on the pioneering work on adolescent values development by Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan. Since values education programs are currently considered very important, educators need to explore the philosophical, psychological, and social influences on students' learning preferences before they can introduce appropriate curricula. An indication of problems in adolescent females frequently is the occurrence of voice changes, for example, girls may express viewpoints that do not represent their true beliefs and feelings. Curricular and co-curricular suggestions are presented.

The dynamics of meaningful social interactions and the emergence of collective knowledge

PubMed Central

Dankulov, Marija Mitrović; Melnik, Roderick; Tadić, Bosiljka

2015-01-01

Collective knowledge as a social value may arise in cooperation among actors whose individual expertise is limited. The process of knowledge creation requires meaningful, logically coordinated interactions, which represents a challenging problem to physics and social dynamics modeling. By combining two-scale dynamics model with empirical data analysis from a well-known Questions & Answers system Mathematics, we show that this process occurs as a collective phenomenon in an enlarged network (of actors and their artifacts) where the cognitive recognition interactions are properly encoded. The emergent behavior is quantified by the information divergence and innovation advancing of knowledge over time and the signatures of self-organization and knowledge sharing communities. These measures elucidate the impact of each cognitive element and the individual actor’s expertise in the collective dynamics. The results are relevant to stochastic processes involving smart components and to collaborative social endeavors, for instance, crowdsourcing scientific knowledge production with online games. PMID:26174482

The dynamics of meaningful social interactions and the emergence of collective knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dankulov, Marija Mitrović; Melnik, Roderick; Tadić, Bosiljka

2015-07-01

Collective knowledge as a social value may arise in cooperation among actors whose individual expertise is limited. The process of knowledge creation requires meaningful, logically coordinated interactions, which represents a challenging problem to physics and social dynamics modeling. By combining two-scale dynamics model with empirical data analysis from a well-known Questions & Answers system Mathematics, we show that this process occurs as a collective phenomenon in an enlarged network (of actors and their artifacts) where the cognitive recognition interactions are properly encoded. The emergent behavior is quantified by the information divergence and innovation advancing of knowledge over time and the signatures of self-organization and knowledge sharing communities. These measures elucidate the impact of each cognitive element and the individual actor’s expertise in the collective dynamics. The results are relevant to stochastic processes involving smart components and to collaborative social endeavors, for instance, crowdsourcing scientific knowledge production with online games.

The dynamics of meaningful social interactions and the emergence of collective knowledge.

PubMed

Dankulov, Marija Mitrović; Melnik, Roderick; Tadić, Bosiljka

2015-07-15

Collective knowledge as a social value may arise in cooperation among actors whose individual expertise is limited. The process of knowledge creation requires meaningful, logically coordinated interactions, which represents a challenging problem to physics and social dynamics modeling. By combining two-scale dynamics model with empirical data analysis from a well-known Questions &Answers system Mathematics, we show that this process occurs as a collective phenomenon in an enlarged network (of actors and their artifacts) where the cognitive recognition interactions are properly encoded. The emergent behavior is quantified by the information divergence and innovation advancing of knowledge over time and the signatures of self-organization and knowledge sharing communities. These measures elucidate the impact of each cognitive element and the individual actor's expertise in the collective dynamics. The results are relevant to stochastic processes involving smart components and to collaborative social endeavors, for instance, crowdsourcing scientific knowledge production with online games.

Spontaneous cooperation for prosocials, but not for proselfs: Social value orientation moderates spontaneous cooperation behavior

PubMed Central

Mischkowski, Dorothee; Glöckner, Andreas

2016-01-01

Cooperation is essential for the success of societies and there is an ongoing debate whether individuals have therefore developed a general spontaneous tendency to cooperate or not. Findings that cooperative behavior is related to shorter decision times provide support for the spontaneous cooperation effect, although contrary results have also been reported. We show that cooperative behavior is better described as person × situation interaction, in that there is a spontaneous cooperation effect for prosocial but not for proself persons. In three studies, one involving population representative samples from the US and Germany, we found that cooperation in a public good game is dependent on an interaction between individuals’ social value orientation and decision time. Increasing deliberation about the dilemma situation does not affect persons that are selfish to begin with, but it is related to decreasing cooperation for prosocial persons that gain positive utility from outcomes of others and score high on the related general personality trait honesty/humility. Our results demonstrate that the spontaneous cooperation hypothesis has to be qualified in that it is limited to persons with a specific personality and social values. Furthermore, they allow reconciling conflicting previous findings by identifying an important moderator for the effect. PMID:26876773

Valuation of Life in Old and Very Old Age: The Role of Sociodemographic, Social, and Health Resources for Positive Adaptation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jopp, Daniela; Rott, Christoph; Oswald, Frank

2008-01-01

Purpose: Valuation of life (VOL) represents a construct capturing active attachment to life put forward by M. P. Lawton (e.g., 1999). As old and very old individuals may differ in terms of endorsement and with respect to what makes a life worth living, the present study investigated whether mean levels and the explanatory value of…

Britney, Beyonce, and Me--Primary School Girls' Role Models and Constructions of the "Popular" Girl

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Read, Barbara

2011-01-01

This paper looks at the ways in which the gendered social construction of the "popular girl" infuses girls' ideas as to their role models: those representing who they would like to be when they "grow up". It will look at the ways in which the gendered characteristics that are seen to be of most value to girls (often embodied by "celebrities" such…

Theta signal as the neural signature of social exclusion.

PubMed

Cristofori, Irene; Moretti, Laura; Harquel, Sylvain; Posada, Andres; Deiana, Gianluca; Isnard, Jean; Mauguière, François; Sirigu, Angela

2013-10-01

The feeling of being excluded from a social interaction triggers social pain, a sensation as intense as actual physical pain. Little is known about the neurophysiological underpinnings of social pain. We addressed this issue using intracranial electroencephalography in 15 patients performing a ball game where inclusion and exclusion blocks were alternated. Time-frequency analyses showed an increase in power of theta-band oscillations during exclusion in the anterior insula (AI) and posterior insula, the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sACC), and the fusiform "face area" (FFA). Interestingly, the AI showed an initial fast response to exclusion but the signal rapidly faded out. Activity in the sACC gradually increased and remained significant thereafter. This suggests that the AI may signal social pain by detecting emotional distress caused by the exclusion, whereas the sACC may be linked to the learning aspects of social pain. Theta activity in the FFA was time-locked to the observation of a player poised to exclude the participant, suggesting that the FFA encodes the social value of faces. Taken together, our findings suggest that theta activity represents the neural signature of social pain. The time course of this signal varies across regions important for processing emotional features linked to social information.

Societal Preferences for EQ-5D Health States from a Brazilian Population Survey.

PubMed

Viegas Andrade, Mônica; Noronha, Kenya; Kind, Paul; Maia, Ana Carolina; Miranda de Menezes, Renata; De Barros Reis, Carla; Nepomuceno Souza, Michelle; Martins, Diego; Gomes, Lucas; Nichele, Daniel; Calazans, Julia; Mascarenhas, Tamires; Carvalho, Lucas; Lins, Camila

2013-12-01

To elicit preference weights for a subset of EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D) questionnaire health states from a representative sample for the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, using a time trade-off (TTO) method and to analyze these data so as to estimate social preference weights for the complete set of 243 states. Data came from a valuation study with 3362 literate individuals aged between 18 and 64 years living in urban areas. The present study was based on quota sampling by age and sex. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in participants' own homes. A total of 99 EQ-5D questionnaire health states were selected, presorted into 26 blocks of six unique health states. Each participant valued one block together with the full health, worst health, and dead states. Each health state was evaluated by more than 100 individuals. TTO data were modeled at both individual and aggregate levels by using ordinary least squares and random effects methods. Values estimated by different models yielded very similar results with satisfactory goodness-of-fit statistics: the mean absolute error was around 0.03 and fewer than 25% of the states had a mean absolute error greater than 0.05. Dummies coefficients for each level within the EQ-5D questionnaire dimensions of health displayed an internally consistent ordering, with the mobility dimension demonstrating the largest value decrement. The values of mean observed transformed TTO values range from 0.869 to-0.235. The study demonstrates the feasibility of conducting face-to-face interviews using TTO in a Brazilian population setting. The estimated values for EQ-5D questionnaire health states based on this Minas Gerais survey represent an important first step in establishing national Brazilian social preference weights for the EQ-5D questionnaire. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Compatibility of family and medical profession].

PubMed

Bundy, B D; Bellemann, N; Weber, M-A

2011-09-01

The compatibility of family and profession is especially difficult for employees in medical professions because of shift work and overtime. It seems that in the future women are going to represent the majority of medical professionals. Hence, with the manifest lack of physicians social aspects will also play a bigger role in the choice of the place of employment. In most families the classic role model prevails although women are well educated and men also set a high value on the compatibility of family and profession and would like to take parental leave and work in flexible working hours. This represents a chance, especially for radiology.

Re-establishing an ecological discourse in the policy debate over how to value ecosystems and biodiversity.

PubMed

Spash, Clive L; Aslaksen, Iulie

2015-08-15

In this paper we explore the discourses of ecology, environmental economics, new environmental pragmatism and social ecological economics as they relate to the value of ecosystems and biodiversity. Conceptualizing biodiversity and ecosystems as goods and services that can be represented by monetary values in policy processes is an economic discourse being increasingly championed by ecologists and conservation biologists. The latter promote a new environmental pragmatism internationally as hardwiring biodiversity and ecosystems services into finance. The approach adopts a narrow instrumentalism, denies value pluralism and incommensurability, and downplays the role of scientific knowledge. Re-establishing an ecological discourse in biodiversity policy implies a crucial role for biophysical indicators as independent policy targets, exemplified in this paper by the Nature Index for Norway. Yet, there is a recognisable need to go beyond a traditional ecological approach to one recognising the interconnections of social, ecological and economic problems. This requires reviving and relating to a range of alternative ecologically informed discourses, including an ecofeminist perspective, in order to transform the increasingly dominant and destructive relationship of humans separated from and domineering over Nature. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Personal and professional values held by baccalaureate nursing students.

PubMed

Kaya, Hülya; Işik, Burçin; Şenyuva, Emine; Kaya, Nurten

2017-09-01

Values are ideals and beliefs that individuals and groups uphold and lie at the core of the diverse world of human behaviour and are expressed in every human decision and action, both consciously and unconsciously. They represent basic beliefs of what is right, good or desirable and motivate both personal and professional behaviour. In the context of nursing profession, values are essential in order to maintain high standards of the nursing care. This study was planned to examine changes in nursing students' personal and professional values between entering and graduating from an undergraduate nursing programme. Ethical considerations: Measures to protect participants included obtaining Deaconship of Nursing Faculty approval, obtaining signed informed consent and maintaining confidentiality. This study was designed as longitudinal quality. The research population included 143 students registered at a first grade of a nursing faculty for the 2009-2010 academic year. Data were collected with a Questionnaire Form, the Value Preferences Scale, the Professional Values Precedence Scale and the Nursing Professional Values Scale. According to the results, social values have statistical differences in 4-year nursing education. Nursing students in second class have higher score in terms of social values than those in third class. Also, majority of students ranked human dignity as first and justice as second and third from first to fourth classes, and they have very high scores on Nursing Professional Values Scale and its subscales and stated that all items of Nursing Professional Values Scale are very important. As a result, nursing education has vital role in acquiring and maintaining professional values.

Exploring the social dimension of sandy beaches through predictive modelling.

PubMed

Domínguez-Tejo, Elianny; Metternicht, Graciela; Johnston, Emma L; Hedge, Luke

2018-05-15

Sandy beaches are unique ecosystems increasingly exposed to human-induced pressures. Consistent with emerging frameworks promoting this holistic approach towards beach management, is the need to improve the integration of social data into management practices. This paper aims to increase understanding of links between demographics and community values and preferred beach activities, as key components of the social dimension of the beach environment. A mixed method approach was adopted to elucidate users' opinions on beach preferences and community values through a survey carried out in Manly Local Government Area in Sydney Harbour, Australia. A proposed conceptual model was used to frame demographic models (using age, education, employment, household income and residence status) as predictors of these two community responses. All possible regression-model combinations were compared using Akaike's information criterion. Best models were then used to calculate quantitative likelihoods of the responses, presented as heat maps. Findings concur with international research indicating the relevance of social and restful activities as important social links between the community and the beach environment. Participant's age was a significant variable in the four predictive models. The use of predictive models informed by demographics could potentially increase our understanding of interactions between the social and ecological systems of the beach environment, as a prelude to integrated beach management approaches. The research represents a practical demonstration of how demographic predictive models could support proactive approaches to beach management. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of social intervention on detection and efficacy of treatment for arterial hypertension. Main results of the Polish Four Cities Programme.

PubMed

Zdrojewski, Tomasz; Głuszek, Jerzy; Posadzy-Małaczyńska, Anna; Drygas, Wojciech; Ornoch-Tabedzka, Małgorzata; Januszko, Wiktor; Tykarski, Andrzej; Dylewicz, Piotr; Kwaśniewska, Magdalena; Krupa-Wojciechowska, Barbara; Wyrzykowski, Bogdan

2004-12-01

Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in the adult Polish population. Beside lipid disorders and cigarette smoking, hypertension represents the most important risk factor leading to cardiovascular complications. Representative studies conducted in Poland in 1994-2002 showed that in 2002 the number of respondents in the survey who stated they knew their own blood pressure values dropped by 3.5 million, compared with 1994. This decrease was predominantly seen in small towns and in the countryside. Preventive programmes should therefore be addressed mainly to the most vulnerable communities. Modern methods of social marketing may play a substantial role in the creation of a healthy lifestyle. The aim of the Polish Four Cities Programme (PP4M), conducted in 2000-2001, was to develop the most effective methods of detection of and improvement in treatment for hypertension among the residents of small towns and rural areas. One of the programme tasks was to compare the effectiveness of a standard medical screening intervention with a similar approach combined with the use of social marketing methods.Methods. The programme was conducted by an interdisciplinary team in three small Polish towns -- Kartuzy, Oborniki Wlkp. and Braniewo, as well as in one of the districts of a large city Łódź -- Olechów. Medical intervention combined with social marketing (community intervention) took place in Oborniki Wlkp. whereas the residents of Kartuzy and Łódź were subjected only to the traditional medical intervention. Braniewo served as a control location -- neither medical nor community intervention was implemented. Community intervention with elements of social marketing consisted of a three-month, intensive education and information campaign, initiated four weeks prior to the start of medical intervention. Epidemiological situation was assessed in all the four cities before and after the completion of the preventive interventions (screening), using representative surveys, with the objective to assess the changes in the awareness of one's own blood pressure values, detection of hypertension and knowledge concerning cardiovascular risk factors.Results. In two survey locations -- Kartuzy and Łódź - awareness of one's own blood pressure values after the medical intervention did not significantly change (61% and 67.6% at baseline versus 62.1% and 71.6% after the intervention, respectively). In contrast, social marketing activities conducted in Oborniki significantly increased this parameter from 61.5% to 79.8% (p<0.01). While medical intervention did not change the proportion of non-diagnosed hypertension in a small town (a non-significant decrease from 49% to 45% in Kartuzy), its effect in a large city was clearly visible (a decrease from 46% to 28% in Łódź). In Oborniki Wlkp. (medical intervention combined with social marketing) the effects were the most noticeable -- a reduction from 50% to 27% was achieved. The efficacy of hypertension treatment at baseline was low (4.7% in Kartuzy, 6.6% in Oborniki, and 6.5% in Łódź), but it then improved significantly (a twofold increase in Kartuzy and Oborniki, and more than twofold increase in Łódź). When the target value of blood pressure was set at 160/95 mmHg, the highest efficacy of hypotensive therapy was observed directly after the completion of medical and community intervention in Oborniki (an almost twofold increase in treatment efficacy). 1. Medical intervention combined with a community intervention and marketing campaign leads to a statistically significant improvement in self-awareness of blood pressure values among residents of small towns. 2. Medical intervention combined with community intervention brings the detection rate of hypertension in small towns up to the level observed in large cities. 3. Medical intervention, especially when combined with community intervention, improves the efficacy of the treatment of hypertension, regardless of the size of agglomeration.

Competition strength influences individual preferences in an auction game

PubMed Central

Toelch, Ulf; Jubera-Garcia, Esperanza; Kurth-Nelson, Zeb; Dolan, Raymond J.

2014-01-01

Competitive interactions between individuals are ubiquitous in human societies. Auctions represent an institutionalized context for these interactions, a context where individuals frequently make non-optimal decisions. In particular, competition in auctions can lead to overbidding, resulting in the so-called winner’s curse, often explained by invoking emotional arousal. In this study, we investigated an alternative possibility, namely that competitors’ bids are construed as a source of information about the good’s common value thereby influencing an individuals’ private value estimate. We tested this hypothesis by asking participants to bid in a repeated all-pay auction game for five different real items. Crucially, participants had to rank the auction items for their preference before and after the experiment. We observed a clear relation between auction dynamics and preference change. We found that low competition reduced preference while high competition increased preference. Our findings support a view that competitors’ bids in auction games are perceived as valid social signal for the common value of an item. We suggest that this influence of social information constitutes a major cause for the frequently observed deviations from optimality in auctions. PMID:25168161

Agreeing to disagree on climate policy.

PubMed

Heal, Geoffrey M; Millner, Antony

2014-03-11

Disagreements about the value of the utility discount rate--the rate at which our concern for the welfare of future people declines with their distance from us in time--are at the heart of the debate about the appropriate intensity of climate policy. Seemingly small differences in the discount rate yield very different policy prescriptions, and no consensus "correct" value has been identified. We argue that the choice of discount rate is an ethical primitive: there are many different legitimate opinions as to its value, and none should receive a privileged place in economic analysis of climate policy. Rather, we advocate a social choice-based approach in which a diverse set of individual discount rates is aggregated into a "representative" rate. We show that performing this aggregation efficiently leads to a time-dependent discount rate that declines monotonically to the lowest rate in the population. We apply this discounting scheme to calculations of the social cost of carbon recently performed by the US government and show that it provides an attractive compromise between competing ethical positions, and thus provides a possible resolution to the ethical impasse in climate change economics.

Leadership in elephants: the adaptive value of age

PubMed Central

McComb, Karen; Shannon, Graeme; Durant, Sarah M.; Sayialel, Katito; Slotow, Rob; Poole, Joyce; Moss, Cynthia

2011-01-01

The value of age is well recognized in human societies, where older individuals often emerge as leaders in tasks requiring specialized knowledge, but what part do such individuals play in other social species? Despite growing interest in how effective leadership might be achieved in animal social systems, the specific role that older leaders may play in decision-making has rarely been experimentally investigated. Here, we use a novel playback paradigm to demonstrate that in African elephants (Loxodonta africana), age affects the ability of matriarchs to make ecologically relevant decisions in a domain critical to survival—the assessment of predatory threat. While groups consistently adjust their defensive behaviour to the greater threat of three roaring lions versus one, families with younger matriarchs typically under-react to roars from male lions despite the severe danger they represent. Sensitivity to this key threat increases with matriarch age and is greatest for the oldest matriarchs, who are likely to have accumulated the most experience. Our study provides the first empirical evidence that individuals within a social group may derive significant benefits from the influence of an older leader because of their enhanced ability to make crucial decisions about predatory threat, generating important insights into selection for longevity in cognitively advanced social mammals. PMID:21411454

Neural substrates of social facilitation effects on incentive-based performance

PubMed Central

Chib, Vikram S; Adachi, Ryo; O’Doherty, John P

2018-01-01

Abstract Throughout our lives we must perform tasks while being observed by others. Previous studies have shown that the presence of an audience can cause increases in an individual’s performance as compared to when they are not being observed—a phenomenon called ‘social facilitation’. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this effect, in the context of skilled-task performance for monetary incentives, are not well understood. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to monitor brain activity while healthy human participants performed a skilled-task during conditions in which they were paid based on their performance and observed and not observed by an audience. We found that during social facilitation, social signals represented in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) enhanced reward value computations in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). We also found that functional connectivity between dmPFC and ventral striatum was enhanced when participants exhibited social facilitation effects, indicative of a means by which social signals serve to modulate brain regions involved in regulating behavioral motivation. These findings illustrate how neural processing of social judgments gives rise to the enhanced motivational state that results in social facilitation of incentive-based performance. PMID:29648653

A Social-Cognitive Analysis of How Young Men Become Involved in Male Escorting

PubMed Central

Smith, Michael D.; Grov, Christian; Seal, David W.; McCall, Peter

2017-01-01

This study employed a social-cognitive theoretical perspective to assess the interactions of behavioral, cognitive, and situational factors to understand better how young male sex workers (MSWs) entered the sex trade industry. As part of a larger project examining male escorts working for a single agency, MSWs (n = 38) were interviewed about their work and personal lives. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically. As predicted by a social-cognitive perspective, results supported reciprocal influences of behavior and environment, environment and cognition, and behavior and cognition. MSWs developed more self-efficacy around sex work behaviors and more positive outcome expectations with experience; moral conflict and lack of attraction to clients limited MSWs’ self-efficacy. Key variables for sex work appeared to be cognitive in nature—mostly represented by a decreased commitment to normative social-sexual values, the specific nature of which may have varied by sexual orientation. Findings support the contention that social-cognitive theory can effectively model entry of young men into sex work. Social-cognitive theory provides a broad umbrella underneath which various explanations for male sex work can be gathered. PMID:22880726

A legislative history of the Social Security Protection Act of 2004.

PubMed

Hansen, Erik

2008-01-01

Passage of the original Social Security Act in 1935, Public Law (P.L.) 74-271, represented one of the watershed achievements of social welfare reform in American history. For the first time, workers were guaranteed a basic floor of protection against the hardships of poverty. In the ensuing decades, more than 100 million beneficiaries have realized the value of this protection through the receipt of monthly Social Security payments. As this guarantee has endured and progressed, the policies and administration of such a vast and complex program have required ongoing modifications-more than 150 such revisions over the past 73 years. To some extent, these amendments can be seen as an ongoing refinement process, with the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (SSPA) being another incremental step in the development of a social insurance program that best meets the evolving needs of American society. This article discusses the legislative history of the SSPA in detail. It includes summaries of the provisions and a chronology of the modification of these proposals as they passed through the House and Senate, and ultimately to the president's desk.

Acknowledging individual responsibility while emphasizing social determinants in narratives to promote obesity-reducing public policy: a randomized experiment.

PubMed

Niederdeppe, Jeff; Roh, Sungjong; Shapiro, Michael A

2015-01-01

This study tests whether policy narratives designed to increase support for obesity-reducing public policies should explicitly acknowledge individual responsibility while emphasizing social, physical, and economic (social) determinants of obesity. We use a web-based, randomized experiment with a nationally representative sample of American adults (n = 718) to test hypotheses derived from theory and research on narrative persuasion. Respondents exposed to narratives that acknowledged individual responsibility while emphasizing obesity's social determinants were less likely to engage in counterargument and felt more empathy for the story's main character than those exposed to a message that did not acknowledge individual responsibility. Counterarguing and affective empathy fully mediated the relationship between message condition and support for policies to reduce rates of obesity. Failure to acknowledge individual responsibility in narratives emphasizing social determinants of obesity may undermine the persuasiveness of policy narratives. Omitting information about individual responsibility, a strongly-held American value, invites the public to engage in counterargument about the narratives and reduces feelings of empathy for a character that experiences the challenges and benefits of social determinants of obesity.

Acknowledging Individual Responsibility while Emphasizing Social Determinants in Narratives to Promote Obesity-Reducing Public Policy: A Randomized Experiment

PubMed Central

Niederdeppe, Jeff; Roh, Sungjong; Shapiro, Michael A.

2015-01-01

This study tests whether policy narratives designed to increase support for obesity-reducing public policies should explicitly acknowledge individual responsibility while emphasizing social, physical, and economic (social) determinants of obesity. We use a web-based, randomized experiment with a nationally representative sample of American adults (n = 718) to test hypotheses derived from theory and research on narrative persuasion. Respondents exposed to narratives that acknowledged individual responsibility while emphasizing obesity’s social determinants were less likely to engage in counterargument and felt more empathy for the story’s main character than those exposed to a message that did not acknowledge individual responsibility. Counterarguing and affective empathy fully mediated the relationship between message condition and support for policies to reduce rates of obesity. Failure to acknowledge individual responsibility in narratives emphasizing social determinants of obesity may undermine the persuasiveness of policy narratives. Omitting information about individual responsibility, a strongly-held American value, invites the public to engage in counterargument about the narratives and reduces feelings of empathy for a character that experiences the challenges and benefits of social determinants of obesity. PMID:25706743

On the almost inconceivable misunderstandings concerning the subject of value-free social science.

PubMed

Black, Donald

2013-12-01

A value judgment says what is good or bad, and value-free social science simply means social science free of value judgments. Yet many sociologists regard value-free social science as undesirable or impossible and readily make value judgments in the name of sociology. Often they display confusion about such matters as the meaning of value-free social science, value judgments internal and external to social science, value judgments as a subject of social science, the relevance of objectivity for value-free social science, and the difference between the human significance of social science and value-free social science. But why so many sociologists are so value-involved - and generally so unscientific - is sociologically understandable: The closest and most distant subjects attract the least scientific ideas. And during the past century sociologists have become increasingly close to their human subject. The debate about value-free social science is also part of an epistemological counterrevolution of humanists (including many sociologists) against the more scientific social scientists who invaded and threatened to expropriate the human subject during the past century. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2013.

Organ donation and transplantation within the Zulu culture.

PubMed

Bhengu, B R; Uys, H H M

2004-08-01

Greater knowledge and technological advancement in the field of transplantation has increased the demand for organ donation beyond the supply of organs, especially among the black communities. This imbalance arises from the few sources of organs, limitations on the techniques of organ retrieval, disparities in the allocation of organs and socio-cultural factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which Zulu cultural norms and social structures influence an individual's decision to donate an organ or to undergo transplantation. A qualitative approach using an ethno-nursing method was selected. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a transplant co-ordinator representing the professional sector, with traditional healers and religious leaders representing the folk sector, and with the general public representing the popular sector of the health care system. Both urban and rural settings were used. Conclusions arrived at showed that knowledge was lacking among Zulu speaking people about organ donation and transplantation and misconceptions about the topic were related to Zulu life patterns, beliefs about death, burial and life hereafter, and values and social structures. Recommendations with regard to the promotion of organ donation and transplantation among Zulu speaking people were made based on culture-sensitive and culture-congruent principles.

Social capital or networks, negotiations, and norms? A neighborhood case study.

PubMed

Friedman, Samuel R; Mateu-Gelabert, Pedro; Curtis, Richard; Maslow, Carey; Bolyard, Melissa; Sandoval, Milagros; Flom, Peter L

2007-06-01

"Social capital" has been critiqued as distracting attention from inequalities and policies that produce ill health. We support this critique insofar as social capital refers to the degree of trust and consensus in a locality, but find value in another dimension often included in the concept of social capital--social network ties and their associated communication patterns. We present a case study of Bushwick, a community of 100,000 people in Brooklyn NY, to suggest that the network aspect of "social capital" is useful to understand the active, on-the-ground processes by which residents of some neighborhoods beset by poverty, racial/ethnic subordination, and internal divisions (that themselves arise from inequalities and state policies) work out ways to defend their own and others' safety and health. We use a combination of population-representative survey data for young adults; sexual network survey data; and ethnography to show that Bushwick residents (including drug users and dealers) have used social network ties, communication, and normative pressures to reduce the extent to which they are put at risk by the drug trade and by drug-use-related HIV/AIDS in spite of conflicting interests, disparate values, and widespread distrust both of other community members and of dominant social institutions. This was done by "intravention" health communications, development of protective norms, informal negotiations, and other forms of adjustments within and among various groups--but it occurred in the absence of trust or consensus in this community. We conclude both (1) that social network interpretations of "social capital" might be better conceptualized in dialectic terms as collective action to survive in a harsh social order, and (2) that the social capital theory emphasis on trust and consensus as important causal factors for lowering drug-related risks at the community level may be a romanticized and erroneous perspective.

Social Capital or Networks, Negotiations and Norms? A Neighborhood Case Study

PubMed Central

Friedman, Samuel R.; Mateu-Gelabert, Pedro; Curtis, Richard; Maslow, Carey; Bolyard, Melissa; Sandoval, Milagros; Flom, Peter L.

2007-01-01

“Social capital” has been critiqued as distracting attention from inequalities and policies that produce ill health. We support this critique insofar as social capital refers to the degree of trust and consensus in a locality, but find value in another dimension often included in the concept of social capital--social network ties and their associated communication patterns. We present a case study of Bushwick, a community of one hundred thousand people in Brooklyn, NY, to suggest that the network aspect of “social capital” is useful to understand the active, on-the-ground processes by which residents of some neighborhoods beset by poverty, racial/ethnic subordination, and internal divisions (that themselves arise from inequalities and state policies) work out ways to defend their own and others' safety and health. We use a combination of population-representative survey data for young adults; sexual network survey data; and ethnography to show that Bushwick residents (including drug users and dealers) have used social network ties, communication, and normative pressures to reduce the extent to which they are put at risk by the drug trade and by drug-use-related HIV/AIDS in spite of conflicting interests, disparate values, and widespread distrust both of other community members and of dominant social institutions. This was done by “intravention” health communications, development of protective norms, informal negotiations and other forms of adjustments within and among various groups—but was done in the absence of trust or consensus in this community. We conclude both (a) that social network interpretations of “social capital” might be better conceptualized in dialectic terms as collective action to survive in a harsh social order; and (b) that the social capital theory emphasis on trust and consensus as important causal factors for lowering drug-related risks at the community level may be a romanticized and erroneous perspective. PMID:17543707

Challenges in Requirements Engineering: A Research Agenda for Conceptual Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

March, Salvatore T.; Allen, Gove N.

Domains for which information systems are developed deal primarily with social constructions—conceptual objects and attributes created by human intentions and for human purposes. Information systems play an active role in these domains. They document the creation of new conceptual objects, record and ascribe values to their attributes, initiate actions within the domain, track activities performed, and infer conclusions based on the application of rules that govern how the domain is affected when socially-defined and identified causal events occur. Emerging applications of information technologies evaluate such business rules, learn from experience, and adapt to changes in the domain. Conceptual modeling grammars aimed at representing their system requirements must include conceptual objects, socially-defined events, and the rules pertaining to them. We identify challenges to conceptual modeling research and pose an ontology of the artificial as a step toward meeting them.

Work as a cultural and personal value: attitudes towards work in Polish society.

PubMed

Skarzyńska, Krystyna

2002-01-01

The meaning of work for Poles is analyzed here from 2 perspectives: macrosocial and individual. From the macrosocial perspective work attitudes are explained by 3 factors: traditional Polish Catholicism, cultural patterns (influence of noble class tradition), and experience of "real socialism." From an individual perspective some psychological and demographic predictors of an autonomous (intrinsic) work attitude are empirically tested. The autonomous attitude towards work is understood here as treating work as an important autonomous value versus only an instrumental means for earning money. The data was collected by means of standardized interviews run on a representative random sample of adult working Poles, N = 1340.

Associative Account of Self-Cognition: Extended Forward Model and Multi-Layer Structure

PubMed Central

Sugiura, Motoaki

2013-01-01

The neural correlates of “self” identified by neuroimaging studies differ depending on which aspects of self are addressed. Here, three categories of self are proposed based on neuroimaging findings and an evaluation of the likely underlying cognitive processes. The physical self, representing self-agency of action, body-ownership, and bodily self-recognition, is supported by the sensory and motor association cortices located primarily in the right hemisphere. The interpersonal self, representing the attention or intentions of others directed at the self, is supported by several amodal association cortices in the dorsomedial frontal and lateral posterior cortices. The social self, representing the self as a collection of context-dependent social-values, is supported by the ventral aspect of the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex. Despite differences in the underlying cognitive processes and neural substrates, all three categories of self are likely to share the computational characteristics of the forward model, which is underpinned by internal schema or learned associations between one’s behavioral output and the consequential input. Additionally, these three categories exist within a hierarchical layer structure based on developmental processes that updates the schema through the attribution of prediction error. In this account, most of the association cortices critically contribute to some aspect of the self through associative learning while the primary regions involved shift from the lateral to the medial cortices in a sequence from the physical to the interpersonal to the social self. PMID:24009578

Neural mechanisms tracking popularity in real-world social networks.

PubMed

Zerubavel, Noam; Bearman, Peter S; Weber, Jochen; Ochsner, Kevin N

2015-12-08

Differences in popularity are a key aspect of status in virtually all human groups and shape social interactions within them. Little is known, however, about how we track and neurally represent others' popularity. We addressed this question in two real-world social networks using sociometric methods to quantify popularity. Each group member (perceiver) viewed faces of every other group member (target) while whole-brain functional MRI data were collected. Independent functional localizer tasks were used to identify brain systems supporting affective valuation (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, amygdala) and social cognition (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, temporoparietal junction), respectively. During the face-viewing task, activity in both types of neural systems tracked targets' sociometric popularity, even when controlling for potential confounds. The target popularity-social cognition system relationship was mediated by valuation system activity, suggesting that observing popular individuals elicits value signals that facilitate understanding their mental states. The target popularity-valuation system relationship was strongest for popular perceivers, suggesting enhanced sensitivity to differences among other group members' popularity. Popular group members also demonstrated greater interpersonal sensitivity by more accurately predicting how their own personalities were perceived by other individuals in the social network. These data offer insights into the mechanisms by which status guides social behavior.

Should physicians tell the truth without taking social complications into account? A striking case.

PubMed

Avci, Ercan

2018-03-01

The principle of respect for autonomy requires informing patients adequately and appropriately about diagnoses, treatments, and prognoses. However, some clinical cases may cause ethical dilemmas regarding telling the truth. Under the existence especially of certain cultural, social, and religious circumstances, disclosing all the relevant information to all pertinent parties might create harmful effects. Even though the virtue of telling the truth is unquestionable, sometimes de facto conditions compel physicians to act paternalistically to protect the patient/patients from imminent dangers. This article, which aims to study the issue of whether a physician should always tell the truth, analyzes an interesting case that represents the detection of misattributed paternity during pre-transplant tests for a kidney transplant from the son to the father in Turkey, where social, cultural, and religious factors have considerable impact on marital infidelity. After analyzing the concept of telling the truth and its relationship with paternalism and two major ethical theories, consequentialism and deontology, it is concluded that the value of the integrity of life and survival overrides the value of telling the truth. For this reason, in the case of a high possibility of severe and imminent threats, withholding some information is ethically justifiable.

The quality of social relationships in ravens

PubMed Central

Fraser, Orlaith N.; Bugnyar, Thomas

2015-01-01

The quality of a social relationship represents the history of past social interactions between two individuals, from which the nature and outcome of future interactions can be predicted. Current theory predicts that relationship quality comprises three separate components, its value, compatibility and security. This study is the first to investigate the components of relationship quality in a large-brained bird. Following methods recently used to obtain quantitative measures of each relationship quality component in chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, we entered data on seven behavioural variables from a group of 11 ravens, Corvus corax, into a principal components analysis. The characteristics of the extracted components matched those predicted for value, compatibility and security, and were labelled as such. When the effects of kinship and sex combination on each relationship quality component were analysed, we found that kin had more valuable relationships, whereas females had less secure and compatible relationships, although the effect of sex combination on compatibility only applied to nonkin. These patterns are consistent with what little knowledge we have of raven relationships from aviary studies and show that the components of relationship quality in ravens may indeed be analogous to those in chimpanzees. PMID:25821236

Integration: valuing stakeholder input in setting priorities for socially sustainable egg production.

PubMed

Swanson, J C; Lee, Y; Thompson, P B; Bawden, R; Mench, J A

2011-09-01

Setting directions and goals for animal production systems requires the integration of information achieved through internal and external processes. The importance of stakeholder input in setting goals for sustainable animal production systems should not be overlooked by the agricultural animal industries. Stakeholders play an integral role in setting the course for many aspects of animal production, from influencing consumer preferences to setting public policy. The Socially Sustainable Egg Production Project (SSEP) involved the development of white papers on various aspects of egg production, followed by a stakeholder workshop to help frame the issues for the future of sustainable egg production. Representatives from the environmental, food safety, food retail, consumer, animal welfare, and the general farm and egg production sectors participated with members of the SSEP coordination team in a 1.5-d workshop to explore socially sustainable egg production. This paper reviews the published literature on values integration methodologies and the lessons learned from animal welfare assessment models. The integration method used for the SSEP stakeholder workshop and its outcome are then summarized. The method used for the SSEP stakeholder workshop can be used to obtain stakeholder input on sustainable production in other farm animal industries.

[Costs of operation of an urban reinforced community health post (Senegal)].

PubMed

Guèye, Dramé B; Gueye, A S; Wone, I; Sall, F L; Tal, Dia A

2007-01-01

In Senegal, the public funding in community health post is low. Resources are mainly obtained from the sale of services. The aim of this study is to analyse the operating cost of a community health post and to propose a relevant tariffing that would assure sustainable activities. We used the method of complete costs. It comes out from our study that the total cost is 20 870 920F. Wages represent 70% of total expenses, operating costs represent 27% and 4% are investment. The public funding represents a value of 12 257 325F (60% of the total) in which 88% correspond to expenses induced by civil servant wages. The health committee participates for 33% and the other participants (7%). At the end of our study, a sustainable and social tariffing, was proposed.

Social security financing.

PubMed

1980-05-01

After nearly 2 years of study, the 1979 Advisory Council on Social Security submitted its findings and recommendations in December. In February the Bulletin published the Executive Summary of the Council's report. Because of the continuing wide public interest in the future of social security financing, the Council's detailed findings and recommendations on that subject are published below. The Council unanimously reports that all current and future beneficiaries can count on receiving the payments to which they are entitled. Among the recommendations it calls for are partial financing with nonpayroll-tax revenues. Suggested changes include hospital insurance (HI) financed through portins of personal and corporate income taxes and a part of the HI insurance payroll tax diverted to cash benefits with the balance of this tax repealed. The Council also recommends that the social security cash benefits program be brought into long-run actuarial balance--with a payroll-tax rate increase in the year 2005. It rejects the idea of a value-added tax as being inflationary. Parenthetical remarks represent additional views of the Council members cited.

Limitations on the developing preterm brain: impact of periventricular white matter lesions on brain connectivity and cognition.

PubMed

Pavlova, Marina A; Krägeloh-Mann, Ingeborg

2013-04-01

Brain lesions to the white matter in peritrigonal regions, periventricular leukomalacia, in children who were born prematurely represent an important model for studying limitations on brain development. The lesional pattern is of early origin and bilateral, that constrains the compensatory potential of the brain. We suggest that (i) topography and severity of periventricular lesions may have a long-term predictive value for cognitive and social capabilities in preterm birth survivors; and (ii) periventricular lesions may impact cognitive and social functions by affecting brain connectivity, and thereby, the dissociable neural networks underpinning these functions. A further pathway to explore is the relationship between cerebral palsy and cognitive outcome. Restrictions caused by motor disability may affect active exploration of surrounding and social participation that may in turn differentially impinge on cognitive development and social cognition. As an outline for future research, we underscore sex differences, as the sex of a preterm newborn may shape the mechanisms by which the developing brain is affected.

Delinquency, Social Skills and the Structure of Peer Relations: Assessing Criminological Theories by Social Network Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smangs, Mattias

2010-01-01

This article explores the plausibility of the conflicting theoretical assumptions underlying the main criminological perspectives on juvenile delinquents, their peer relations and social skills: the social ability model, represented by Sutherland's theory of differential associations, and the social disability model, represented by Hirschi's…

Uncovering Sundanese Values by Analyzing Symbolic Meaning of Ménak Priangan Clothing (1800-1942)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karmila, M.; Suciati; Widiaty, I.

2016-04-01

This study investigates symbolic meanings found in the Sunda ethnic clothing, particularly the Menak Priangan clothing. This study aims to uncover and document those symbolic meanings found in the Menak Priangan clothing as an effort to develop Sunda cultural artefacts of West Java. This study on Menak Priangan clothing applies ethnography (visual) and aesthetic methods. The visual method is utilized in order to uncover local cultural (Sunda) values found in Menak Priangan clothing visualization, including: design, model, name, and representing colours, which then directed towards local Sundanese aesthetic concepts living within the Priangan community. Furthermore, aesthetic method is used to explore role of aesthetic values in empowering visual cultural values within certain community, particularly Sunda aesthetic values. The study results show that since the 19th century, Sunda ethnic clothing was limited to Priangan Sunda only, while traditional clothing wearing by Priangan people reflects their social strata, consisting of: a. Menak Gede (Menak pangluhurna: mayor), bearing raden title, b. Menak Leutik/Santana (mayor assistant), titles: asep, mas, agus, ujang, (Nyimas for woman), c. Somah/Cacah: ordinary people/lower class. Clothing is a cultural phenomenon within certain culture reflecting such society experiences. For Menak people, clothing and its accessories have important meanings. They wear such traditional clothing and accessories as a symbol of power they have within bureaucratic structure and as a symbol of social status they bear within traditional community structure.

Humans choose representatives who enforce cooperation in social dilemmas through extortion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milinski, Manfred; Hilbe, Christian; Semmann, Dirk; Sommerfeld, Ralf; Marotzke, Jochem

2016-03-01

Social dilemmas force players to balance between personal and collective gain. In many dilemmas, such as elected governments negotiating climate-change mitigation measures, the decisions are made not by individual players but by their representatives. However, the behaviour of representatives in social dilemmas has not been investigated experimentally. Here inspired by the negotiations for greenhouse-gas emissions reductions, we experimentally study a collective-risk social dilemma that involves representatives deciding on behalf of their fellow group members. Representatives can be re-elected or voted out after each consecutive collective-risk game. Selfish players are preferentially elected and are hence found most frequently in the `representatives' treatment. Across all treatments, we identify the selfish players as extortioners. As predicted by our mathematical model, their steadfast strategies enforce cooperation from fair players who finally compensate almost completely the deficit caused by the extortionate co-players. Everybody gains, but the extortionate representatives and their groups gain the most.

Engineering Values into Genetic Engineering: A Proposed Analytic Framework for Scientific Social Responsibility

PubMed Central

Cho, Mildred K.

2016-01-01

Recent experiments have been used to “edit” genomes of various plant, animal and other species, including humans, with unprecedented precision. Furthermore, editing Cas9 endonuclease gene with a gene encoding the desired guide RNA into an organism, adjacent to an altered gene, could create a “gene drive” that could spread a trait through an entire population of organisms. These experiments represent advances along a spectrum of technological abilities that genetic engineers have been working on since the advent of recombinant DNA techniques. The scientific and bioethics communities have built substantial literatures about the ethical and policy implications of genetic engineering, especially in the age of bioterrorism. However, recent CRISPr/Cas experiments have triggered a rehashing of previous policy discussions, suggesting that the scientific community requires guidance on how to think about social responsibility. We propose a framework to enable analysis of social responsibility, using two examples of genetic engineering experiments. PMID:26632356

The Rite of Relocation: Social and Material Transformations in the Midwest US

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Concerns of appropriate housing may arise in older adulthood. Some older adults may make life work in the place we call home; others take steps to voluntarily relocate in anticipation of health and other needs. While moving at any age can be challenging, moving from one’s home in later life also represents multiple reflections: past, present and future selves, control of one’s space and relinquishing the care of one’s space to another person or corporation, family support and family fissures, and the body’s capacities and limitations. Moving is examined as a moment where regimes of value are negotiated through competing semiotic ideologies and at times social roles are transformed. Ethnographic fieldwork occurred from January 2009–May 2012 in the Midwest United States. This paper presents experiences of relocation of material and social role transformation as older adults make this housing, and writ large, life transition. PMID:25506598

Exploring the influence of social activity on scientific career

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Zonglin; Xie, Zheng; Li, Jianping; Yang, Qian

2018-06-01

For researchers, does activity in academic society influence their careers? In scientometrics, the activity can be expressed through the number of collaborators and scientific careers through the number of publications and citations of authors. We provide empirical evidence from four datasets of representative journals and explore the correlations between each two of the three indices. By using a hypothetical extraction method, we divide authors into patterns which can reflect the different extent of preference for social activity, according to their contributions to the correlation between the number of collaborators and that of papers. Furthermore, we choose two of the patterns as a sociable one and an unsociable one and then compare both of the expected value and the distribution of publications and citations for authors between sociable pattern and unsociable pattern. Finally, we draw a conclusion that social activity could be favorable for authors to promote academic outcomes and obtain recognition.

Engineering Values Into Genetic Engineering: A Proposed Analytic Framework for Scientific Social Responsibility.

PubMed

Sankar, Pamela L; Cho, Mildred K

2015-01-01

Recent experiments have been used to "edit" genomes of various plant, animal and other species, including humans, with unprecedented precision. Furthermore, editing the Cas9 endonuclease gene with a gene encoding the desired guide RNA into an organism, adjacent to an altered gene, could create a "gene drive" that could spread a trait through an entire population of organisms. These experiments represent advances along a spectrum of technological abilities that genetic engineers have been working on since the advent of recombinant DNA techniques. The scientific and bioethics communities have built substantial literatures about the ethical and policy implications of genetic engineering, especially in the age of bioterrorism. However, recent CRISPr/Cas experiments have triggered a rehashing of previous policy discussions, suggesting that the scientific community requires guidance on how to think about social responsibility. We propose a framework to enable analysis of social responsibility, using two examples of genetic engineering experiments.

Personal values and political activism: a cross-national study.

PubMed

Vecchione, Michele; Schwartz, Shalom H; Caprara, Gian Vittorio; Schoen, Harald; Cieciuch, Jan; Silvester, Jo; Bain, Paul; Bianchi, Gabriel; Kirmanoglu, Hasan; Baslevent, Cem; Mamali, Catalin; Manzi, Jorge; Pavlopoulos, Vassilis; Posnova, Tetyana; Torres, Claudio; Verkasalo, Markku; Lönnqvist, Jan-Erik; Vondráková, Eva; Welzel, Christian; Alessandri, Guido

2015-02-01

Using data from 28 countries in four continents, the present research addresses the question of how basic values may account for political activism. Study 1 (N = 35,116) analyses data from representative samples in 20 countries that responded to the 21-item version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-21) in the European Social Survey. Study 2 (N = 7,773) analyses data from adult samples in six of the same countries (Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Poland, and United Kingdom) and eight other countries (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, and United States) that completed the full 40-item PVQ. Across both studies, political activism relates positively to self-transcendence and openness to change values, especially to universalism and autonomy of thought, a subtype of self-direction. Political activism relates negatively to conservation values, especially to conformity and personal security. National differences in the strength of the associations between individual values and political activism are linked to level of democratization. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

About Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products

MedlinePlus

... movement, or the ability the share something via social media. An icon showing an uppercase letter "X", indicating ... current element. Share An icon representing the Facebook social media site. An icon representing the Twitter social media ...

Values and religiosity as predictors of engagement in social justice.

PubMed

Torres-Harding, Susan R; Carollo, Olivia; Schamberger, Antú; Clifton-Soderstrom, Karl

2013-01-01

Some researchers have suggested that values, including religious values and motivations, might facilitate social justice work. Individuals might view social justice work as an expression of religious beliefs, values, and practices, or as an expression of their personal morals and values. The current study examined the role of religious variables and secular values to predict attitudes, intentions to engage in social justice, perceived norms around social justice, and perceived ability to engage in social justice within a culturally and religiously diverse student population. Implications of the study results for social justice education are presented and discussed.

Reconstructing Ancient Egyptian Diet through Bone Elemental Analysis Using LIBS (Qubbet el Hawa Cemetery)

PubMed Central

Al-Khafif, Ghada Darwish; El-Banna, Rokia

2015-01-01

One of the most important advantages of LIBS that make it suitable for the analysis of archeological materials is that it is a quasi-nondestructive technique. Archeological mandibles excavated from Qubbet el Hawa Cemetery, Aswan, were subjected to elemental analysis in order to reconstruct the dietary patterns of the middle class of the Aswan population throughout three successive eras: the First Intermediate Period (FIP), the Middle Kingdom (MK), and the Second Intermediate Period (SIP). The bone Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios were significantly correlated, so the Sr/Ca ratios are considered to represent the ante-mortem values. It was suggested that the significantly low FIP Sr/Ca compared to that of both the MK and the SIP was attributed to the consumption of unusual sorts of food and imported cereals during years of famine, while the MK Sr/Ca was considered to represent the amelioration of climatic, social, economic, and political conditions in this era of state socialism. The SIP Sr/Ca, which is nearly the same as that of the MK, was considered to be the reflection of the continuity of the individualism respect and state socialism and a reflection of agriculture conditions amelioration under the reign of the 17th Dynasty in Upper Egypt. PMID:26345727

Intrasectoral variation in mission and values: the case of the Catholic health systems.

PubMed

White, Kenneth R; Dandi, Roberto

2009-01-01

Catholic health systems represent a unique sector of nonprofit health care delivery organizations because they must be accountable to institutional pressures of the Roman Catholic Church, in addition to responsiveness to market pressures. Mission statements and values are purported to be the driving force of Catholic institutional identity. Central to the understanding of the Catholic health care delivery sector is the exploration of variation in mission and values statements across the homogeneous field of organizations. The purposes of this study were to identify expressed organizational identity variation-in terms of keywords in mission statements and values-of Catholic health systems in the United States by applying a methodology that integrates text and social network analytical techniques. Data were obtained from the Web site of The Catholic Health Association of the United States and the Web sites of 50 Catholic health systems in 2007. Catholic health system mission statements and values were assessed using a cross-sectional study design. Text analysis and social network techniques were employed to identify the most central words in the texts and linkages among mission statement components and values. This study identifies the components of a common mission statement and the most shared and unique values for a Catholic health system. Even with tremendous similarity, there is also evidence of intrasectoral variation between Catholic health system keywords in mission statements and values. Management implications include the consideration of word relationships developing and constructing mission and values statements to form the framework for strategic vision and management decision making, to assess potential partnership arrangements based on expressed mission statements and values, and to use in executing due diligence in mergers and partnerships.

Estimating Domestic Values for EQ-5D Health States Using Survey Data From External Sources.

PubMed

Chuang, Ling-Hsiang; Zarate, Victor; Kind, Paul

2009-02-01

Health status measures used to quantify outcomes for economic evaluation must be capable of representing health gain in a single index, usually calibrated in terms of the social preferences elicited from "the relevant population." The general problem faced in the majority of countries where social preferences are required for cost-effectiveness analysis is the absence of a value set based on domestic data sources. This article establishes a methodology for estimating domestic visual analog scale (VAS)-based values for EQ-5D health states by adjusting data sets from countries where valuation studies have been carried out. building upon the relationship between the values for respondents' real health states and hypothetical health states, 2 models are investigated. One assumes that the link between VAS scores for real and hypothetical health state is constant across 2 countries (R1), whereas the other adopts the assumption that the relationship of VAS scores for hypothetical heath states between 2 countries functionally corresponds to variation in scores for real health states (R2). Data from national UK and US population surveys were selected to test both methods. The R2 model performed better in generating estimated scores that were closer to observed values. The R2 model seems to offer a viable method for estimating domestic values of health. Such a method could help to bridge the gap between countries as well as region within a country.

Behavioural Contagion Explains Group Cohesion in a Social Crustacean.

PubMed

Broly, Pierre; Deneubourg, Jean-Louis

2015-06-01

In gregarious species, social interactions maintain group cohesion and the associated adaptive values of group living. The understanding of mechanisms leading to group cohesion is essential for understanding the collective dynamics of groups and the spatio-temporal distribution of organisms in environment. In this view, social aggregation in terrestrial isopods represents an interesting model due to its recurrence both in the field and in the laboratory. In this study, and under a perturbation context, we experimentally tested the stability of groups of woodlice according to group size and time spent in group. Our results indicate that the response to the disturbance of groups decreases with increases in these two variables. Models neglecting social effects cannot reproduce experimental data, attesting that cohesion of aggregation in terrestrial isopods is partly governed by a social effect. In particular, models involving calmed and excited individuals and a social transition between these two behavioural states more accurately reproduced our experimental data. Therefore, we concluded that group cohesion (and collective response to stimulus) in terrestrial isopods is governed by a transitory resting state under the influence of density of conspecifics and time spent in group. Lastly, we discuss the nature of direct or indirect interactions possibly implicated.

Economic value of in vitro fertilization in Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

PubMed

Mandrik, Olena; Knies, Saskia; Severens, Johan L

2015-01-01

An economic value calculation was performed to estimate the lifetime net present value of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Net lifetime tax revenues were used to represent governmental benefits accruing from a hypothetical cohort of an IVF population born in 2009 using the methodology of generational accounting. Governmental expenses related to this population included social benefits, education and health care, unemployment support, and pensions. Where available, country-specific data referencing official sources were applied. The average health care cost needed to achieve one additional birth from the governmental perspective varied from $2,599 in Ukraine to $5,509 in Belarus. The net present value from the population born using IVF was positive in all countries: for Ukraine ($9,839), Belarus ($21,702), and Kazakhstan ($2,295). The break-even costs of drugs and supplies per IVF procedure is expected to be $3,870, $8,530, and $1,780, respectively. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses based on 5,000 simulations show that the average net present value per person remains positive: $1,894±$7,619, $27,925±$12,407, and $17,229±$24,637 in Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, respectively. Financing IVF may represent a good investment in terms of governmental financial returns, even in lower-income countries with state-financed health care systems such as Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

Economic value of in vitro fertilization in Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan

PubMed Central

Mandrik, Olena; Knies, Saskia; Severens, Johan L

2015-01-01

Background An economic value calculation was performed to estimate the lifetime net present value of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Methods Net lifetime tax revenues were used to represent governmental benefits accruing from a hypothetical cohort of an IVF population born in 2009 using the methodology of generational accounting. Governmental expenses related to this population included social benefits, education and health care, unemployment support, and pensions. Where available, country-specific data referencing official sources were applied. Results The average health care cost needed to achieve one additional birth from the governmental perspective varied from $2,599 in Ukraine to $5,509 in Belarus. The net present value from the population born using IVF was positive in all countries: for Ukraine ($9,839), Belarus ($21,702), and Kazakhstan ($2,295). The break-even costs of drugs and supplies per IVF procedure is expected to be $3,870, $8,530, and $1,780, respectively. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses based on 5,000 simulations show that the average net present value per person remains positive: $1,894±$7,619, $27,925±$12,407, and $17,229±$24,637 in Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, respectively. Conclusion Financing IVF may represent a good investment in terms of governmental financial returns, even in lower-income countries with state-financed health care systems such as Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. PMID:26109873

Cognitive neuroscience of social emotions and implications for psychopathology: examining embarrassment, guilt, envy, and schadenfreude.

PubMed

Jankowski, Kathryn F; Takahashi, Hidehiko

2014-05-01

Social emotions are affective states elicited during social interactions and integral for promoting socially appropriate behaviors and discouraging socially inappropriate ones. Social emotion-processing deficits significantly impair interpersonal relationships, and play distinct roles in the manifestation and maintenance of clinical symptomatology. Elucidating the neural correlates of discrete social emotions can serve as a window to better understanding and treating neuropsychiatric disorders. Moral cognition and social emotion-processing broadly recruit a fronto-temporo-subcortical network, supporting empathy, perspective-taking, self-processing, and reward-processing. The present review specifically examines the neural correlates of embarrassment, guilt, envy, and schadenfreude. Embarrassment and guilt are self-conscious emotions, evoked during negative evaluation following norm violations and supported by a fronto-temporo-posterior network. Embarrassment is evoked by social transgressions and recruits greater anterior temporal regions, representing conceptual social knowledge. Guilt is evoked by moral transgressions and recruits greater prefrontal regions, representing perspective-taking and behavioral change demands. Envy and schadenfreude are fortune-of-other emotions, evoked during social comparison and supported by a prefronto-striatal network. Envy represents displeasure in others' fortunes, and recruits increased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, representing cognitive dissonance, and decreased reward-related striatal regions. Schadenfreude represents pleasure in others' misfortunes, and recruits reduced empathy-related insular regions and increased reward-related striatal regions. Implications for psychopathology and treatment design are discussed. © 2014 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2014 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Validating a method for transferring social values of ecosystem services between public lands in the Rocky Mountain region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sherrouse, Benson C.; Semmens, Darius J.

2014-01-01

With growing pressures on ecosystem services, social values attributed to them are increasingly important to land management decisions. Social values, defined here as perceived values the public ascribes to ecosystem services, particularly cultural services, are generally not accounted for through economic markets or considered alongside economic and ecological values in ecosystem service assessments. Social-values data can be elicited through public value and preference surveys; however, limitations prevent them from being regularly collected. These limitations led to our three study objectives: (1) demonstrate an approach for applying benefit transfer, a nonmarket-valuation method, to spatially explicit social values; (2) validate the approach; and (3) identify potential improvements. We applied Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) to survey data for three national forests in Colorado and Wyoming. Social-value maps and models were generated, describing relationships between the maps and various combinations of environmental variables. Models from each forest were used to estimate social-value maps for the other forests via benefit transfer. Model performance was evaluated relative to the locally derived models. Performance varied with the number and type of environmental variables used, as well as differences in the forests' physical and social contexts. Enhanced metadata and better social-context matching could improve model transferability.

Humanism and multiculturalism: an evolutionary alliance.

PubMed

Comas-Diaz, Lillian

2012-12-01

Humanism and multiculturalism are partners in an evolutionary alliance. Humanistic and multicultural psychotherapies have historically influenced each other. Humanism represents the third force in psychotherapy, while multiculturalism embodies the fourth developmental stage. Multiculturalism embraces humanistic values grounded in collective and social justice contexts. Examples of multicultural humanistic constructs include contextualism, holism, and liberation. Certainly, the multicultural-humanistic connection is a necessary shift in the evolution of psychotherapy. Humanism and multiculturalism participate in the development of an inclusive and evolutionary psychotherapy. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Technological Tyranny

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenwood, Dick

1984-08-01

It is implicitly assumed by those who create, develop, control and deploy new technology, as well as by society at-large, that technological innovation always represents progress. Such an unchallenged assumption precludes an examination and evaluation of the interrelationships and impact the development and use of technology have on larger public policy matters, such as preservation of democratic values, national security and military policies, employment, income and tax policies, foreign policy and the accountability of private corporate entities to society. This brief challenges those assumptions and calls for social control of technology.

Comparing spatially explicit ecological and social values for natural areas to identify effective conservation strategies.

PubMed

Bryan, Brett Anthony; Raymond, Christopher Mark; Crossman, Neville David; King, Darran

2011-02-01

Consideration of the social values people assign to relatively undisturbed native ecosystems is critical for the success of science-based conservation plans. We used an interview process to identify and map social values assigned to 31 ecosystem services provided by natural areas in an agricultural landscape in southern Australia. We then modeled the spatial distribution of 12 components of ecological value commonly used in setting spatial conservation priorities. We used the analytical hierarchy process to weight these components and used multiattribute utility theory to combine them into a single spatial layer of ecological value. Social values assigned to natural areas were negatively correlated with ecological values overall, but were positively correlated with some components of ecological value. In terms of the spatial distribution of values, people valued protected areas, whereas those natural areas underrepresented in the reserve system were of higher ecological value. The habitats of threatened animal species were assigned both high ecological value and high social value. Only small areas were assigned both high ecological value and high social value in the study area, whereas large areas of high ecological value were of low social value, and vice versa. We used the assigned ecological and social values to identify different conservation strategies (e.g., information sharing, community engagement, incentive payments) that may be effective for specific areas. We suggest that consideration of both ecological and social values in selection of conservation strategies can enhance the success of science-based conservation planning. ©2010 Society for Conservation Biology.

A qualitative multiresolution model for counterterrorism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Paul K.

2006-05-01

This paper describes a prototype model for exploring counterterrorism issues related to the recruiting effectiveness of organizations such as al Qaeda. The prototype demonstrates how a model can be built using qualitative input variables appropriate to representation of social-science knowledge, and how a multiresolution design can allow a user to think and operate at several levels - such as first conducting low-resolution exploratory analysis and then zooming into several layers of detail. The prototype also motivates and introduces a variety of nonlinear mathematical methods for representing how certain influences combine. This has value for, e.g., representing collapse phenomena underlying some theories of victory, and for explanations of historical results. The methodology is believed to be suitable for more extensive system modeling of terrorism and counterterrorism.

Public awareness of aesthetic and other forest values associated with sustainable forest management: a cross-cultural comparison among the public in four countries.

PubMed

Lim, Sang Seop; Innes, John L; Meitner, Michael

2015-03-01

Korea, China, Japan and Canada are all members of the Montreal Process (MP). However, there has been little comparative research on the public awareness of forest values within the framework of Sustainable Forest Management, not only between Asia and Canada, but also among these three Asian countries. This is true of aesthetic values, especially as the MP framework has no indicator for aesthetic values. We conducted surveys to identify similarities and differences in the perceptions of various forest values, including aesthetic values, between residents of the four countries: university student groups in Korea, China, Japan and Canada, as well as a more detailed assessment of the attitudes of Koreans by including two additional groups, Korean office workers, and Koreans living in Canada. A multivariate analysis of variance test across the four university student groups revealed significant differences in the rating of six forest functions out of 31. However the same test across the three Korean groups indicated no significant differences indicating higher confidence in the generalizability of our university student comparisons. For the forest aesthetic values, an analysis of variance test showed no significant differences across all groups. The forest aesthetic value was rated 6.95 to 7.98 (out of 10.0) depending on the group and rated relatively highly among ten social values across all the groups. Thurstone scale rankings and relative distances of six major forest values indicated that climate change control was ranked as the highest priority and scenic beauty was ranked the lowest by all the groups. Comparison tests of the frequencies of preferred major forest values revealed no significant differences across the groups with the exception of the Japanese group. These results suggest that public awareness of aesthetic and other forest values are not clearly correlated with the cultural backgrounds of the individuals, and the Korean university students' awareness could potentially be representative of the Koreans general public's opinion. We expect this research to contribute to the development of aesthetic and social indicators, and to the enhancement of balancing social with environmental and economic values within the SFM framework. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Humans choose representatives who enforce cooperation in social dilemmas through extortion

PubMed Central

Milinski, Manfred; Hilbe, Christian; Semmann, Dirk; Sommerfeld, Ralf; Marotzke, Jochem

2016-01-01

Social dilemmas force players to balance between personal and collective gain. In many dilemmas, such as elected governments negotiating climate-change mitigation measures, the decisions are made not by individual players but by their representatives. However, the behaviour of representatives in social dilemmas has not been investigated experimentally. Here inspired by the negotiations for greenhouse-gas emissions reductions, we experimentally study a collective-risk social dilemma that involves representatives deciding on behalf of their fellow group members. Representatives can be re-elected or voted out after each consecutive collective-risk game. Selfish players are preferentially elected and are hence found most frequently in the ‘representatives' treatment. Across all treatments, we identify the selfish players as extortioners. As predicted by our mathematical model, their steadfast strategies enforce cooperation from fair players who finally compensate almost completely the deficit caused by the extortionate co-players. Everybody gains, but the extortionate representatives and their groups gain the most. PMID:26948250

The Steady State Great Ape? Long Term Isotopic Records Reveal the Effects of Season, Social Rank and Reproductive Status on Bonobo Feeding Behavior

PubMed Central

Oelze, Vicky M.; Douglas, Pamela Heidi; Stephens, Colleen R.; Surbeck, Martin; Behringer, Verena; Richards, Michael P.; Fruth, Barbara; Hohmann, Gottfried

2016-01-01

Dietary ecology of extant great apes is known to respond to environmental conditions such as climate and food availability, but also to vary depending on social status and life history characteristics. Bonobos (Pan paniscus) live under comparatively steady ecological conditions in the evergreen rainforests of the Congo Basin. Bonobos are an ideal species for investigating influences of sociodemographic and physiological factors, such as female reproductive status, on diet. We investigate the long term dietary pattern in wild but fully habituated bonobos by stable isotope analysis in hair and integrating a variety of long-term sociodemographic information obtained through observations. We analyzed carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in 432 hair sections obtained from 101 non-invasively collected hair samples. These samples represented the dietary behavior of 23 adult bonobos from 2008 through 2010. By including isotope and crude protein data from plants we could establish an isotope baseline and interpret the results of several general linear mixed models using the predictors climate, sex, social rank, reproductive state of females, adult age and age of infants. We found that low canopy foliage is a useful isotopic tracer for tropical rainforest settings, and consumption of terrestrial herbs best explains the temporal isotope patterns we found in carbon isotope values of bonobo hair. Only the diet of male bonobos was affected by social rank, with lower nitrogen isotope values in low-ranking young males. Female isotope values mainly differed between different stages of reproduction (cycling, pregnancy, lactation). These isotopic differences appear to be related to changes in dietary preference during pregnancy (high protein diet) and lactation (high energy diet), which allow to compensate for different nutritional needs during maternal investment. PMID:27626279

Analysing the Correlation between Social Network Analysis Measures and Performance of Students in Social Network-Based Engineering Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Putnik, Goran; Costa, Eric; Alves, Cátia; Castro, Hélio; Varela, Leonilde; Shah, Vaibhav

2016-01-01

Social network-based engineering education (SNEE) is designed and implemented as a model of Education 3.0 paradigm. SNEE represents a new learning methodology, which is based on the concept of social networks and represents an extended model of project-led education. The concept of social networks was applied in the real-life experiment,…

Neural mechanisms tracking popularity in real-world social networks

PubMed Central

Zerubavel, Noam; Bearman, Peter S.; Weber, Jochen; Ochsner, Kevin N.

2015-01-01

Differences in popularity are a key aspect of status in virtually all human groups and shape social interactions within them. Little is known, however, about how we track and neurally represent others’ popularity. We addressed this question in two real-world social networks using sociometric methods to quantify popularity. Each group member (perceiver) viewed faces of every other group member (target) while whole-brain functional MRI data were collected. Independent functional localizer tasks were used to identify brain systems supporting affective valuation (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, amygdala) and social cognition (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, temporoparietal junction), respectively. During the face-viewing task, activity in both types of neural systems tracked targets’ sociometric popularity, even when controlling for potential confounds. The target popularity–social cognition system relationship was mediated by valuation system activity, suggesting that observing popular individuals elicits value signals that facilitate understanding their mental states. The target popularity–valuation system relationship was strongest for popular perceivers, suggesting enhanced sensitivity to differences among other group members’ popularity. Popular group members also demonstrated greater interpersonal sensitivity by more accurately predicting how their own personalities were perceived by other individuals in the social network. These data offer insights into the mechanisms by which status guides social behavior. PMID:26598684

Exploring areas of consensus and conflict around values underpinning public involvement in health and social care research: a modified Delphi study

PubMed Central

Snape, D; Kirkham, J; Preston, J; Popay, J; Britten, N; Collins, M; Froggatt, K; Gibson, A; Lobban, F; Wyatt, K; Jacoby, A

2014-01-01

Objective There is growing interest in the potential benefits of public involvement (PI) in health and social care research. However, there has been little examination of values underpinning PI or how these values might differ for different groups with an interest in PI in the research process. We aimed to explore areas of consensus and conflict around normative, substantive and process-related values underpinning PI. Design Mixed method, three-phase, modified Delphi study, conducted as part of a larger multiphase project. Setting The UK health and social care research community. Participants Stakeholders in PI in research, defined as: clinical and non-clinical academics, members of the public, research managers, commissioners and funders; identified via research networks, online searches and a literature review. Results We identified high levels of consensus for many normative, substantive and process-related issues. However, there were also areas of conflict in relation to issues of bias and representativeness, and around whether the purpose of PI in health and social care research is to bring about service change or generate new knowledge. There were large differences by group in the percentages endorsing the ethical justification for PI and the argument that PI equalises power imbalances. With regard to practical implementation of PI, research support infrastructures were reported as lacking. Participants reported shortcomings in the uptake and practice of PI. Embedding PI practice and evaluation in research study designs was seen as fundamental to strengthening the evidence base. Conclusions Our findings highlight the extent to which PI is already embedded in research. However, they also highlight a need for ‘best practice’ standards to assist research teams to understand, implement and evaluate PI. These findings have been used in developing a Public Involvement Impact Assessment Framework (PiiAF), which offers guidance to researchers and members of the public involved in the PI process. PMID:24413356

Preferences for long-term care services: willingness to pay estimates derived from a discrete choice experiment.

PubMed

Nieboer, Anna P; Koolman, Xander; Stolk, Elly A

2010-05-01

Ageing populations increase pressure on long-term care. Optimal resource allocation requires an optimal mix of care services based on costs and benefits. Contrary to costs, benefits remain largely unknown. This study elicits preferences in the general elderly population for long-term care services for varying types of patients. A discrete choice experiment was conducted in a general population subsample aged 50-65 years (N = 1082) drawn from the Dutch Survey Sampling International panel. To ascertain relative preferences for long-term care and willingness to pay for these, participants were asked to choose the best of two care scenarios for four groups of hypothetical patients: frail and demented elderly, with and without partner. The scenarios described long-term care using ten attributes based on Social Production Function theory: hours of care, organized social activities, transportation, living situation, same person delivering care, room for individual preferences, coordination of services, punctuality, time on waiting list, and co-payments. We found the greatest value was attached to same person delivering care and transportation services. Low value was attached to punctuality and room for individual preferences. Nursing homes were generally considered to be detrimental for well-being except for dementia patients without a partner. Overall, long-term care services were thought to produce greatest well-being for the patients 'without a partner' and those 'with dementia'. Individuals combining these two risk factors would benefit the most from all services except transportation which was considered more important for the frail elderly. The results support the notion that long-term care services represent different value for different types of patients and that the value of a service depends upon the social context. Examination of patient profiles confirmed the notion that physical, mental and social vulnerability affect valuation of the services. Policy-making would profit from allocation models in which budgetary requirements of different services can be balanced against the well-being they produce for individuals. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Valuation of life in old and very old age: the role of sociodemographic, social, and health resources for positive adaptation.

PubMed

Jopp, Daniela; Rott, Christoph; Oswald, Frank

2008-10-01

Valuation of life (VOL) represents a construct capturing active attachment to life put forward by M. P. Lawton (e.g., 1999). As old and very old individuals may differ in terms of endorsement and with respect to what makes a life worth living, the present study investigated whether mean levels and the explanatory value of sociodemographic, social, and health predictors for VOL differ between young-old and old-old individuals. We presented a sample of 356 community-dwelling individuals aged 65 to 94 years with Lawton's Positive Valuation of Life Scale and established measures to assess predictors of VOL. Mean levels of VOL decreased from the third to the fourth age. Zero-order correlations showed significant relations between sociodemographic (i.e., age, gender, marital status, education), social (i.e., social contacts, phone calls, volunteering, contact with youth), and health (i.e., mobility, vision, hearing, activity restrictions, activity of daily living [ADL], instrumental ADL [IADL]) indicators. Regression analyses for the domain-specific predictors reduced the number of significant predictors to age, education, grandchildren, vision, and IADLs. When combining all sets of predictors, health explained twice as much variance in VOL compared to social indicators; sociodemographic indicators including age made no independent contribution. Separate analysis for young-old and old-old participants revealed age-differential prediction patterns. For the young-old, the role of health factors was especially strong, whereas specific social factors became more important in the old-old group. Age-differential predictive values of the resources seem to indicate positive adaptation to aging. Taking into account such prediction patterns may help to design specific interventions for young-old and old-old individuals.

Physical objects as vehicles of cultural transmission: maintaining harmony and uniqueness through colored geometric patterns.

PubMed

Ishii, Keiko; Miyamoto, Yuri; Rule, Nicholas O; Toriyama, Rie

2014-02-01

We examined how cultural values of harmony and uniqueness are represented and maintained through physical media (i.e., colorings of geometric patterns) and how individuals play an active role in selecting and maintaining such cultural values. We found that colorings produced by European American adults and children were judged as more unique, whereas colorings produced by Japanese adults and children were judged as more harmonious, reflecting cultural differences in values. Harmony undergirded Japanese participants' preferences for colorings, whereas uniqueness undergirded European American participants' preferences for colorings. These cultural differences led participants to prefer own-culture colorings over other-culture colorings. Moreover, bicultural participants' preferences acculturated according to their identification with their host culture. Furthermore, child rearers in Japan and Canada gave feedback about the children's colorings that were consistent with their culture's values. These findings suggest that simple geometric patterns can embody cultural values that are socialized and reinforced from an early age.

On the value of endangered and other species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagoff, Mark

1996-11-01

This paper describes two frameworks—utilitarian and Kantian—society uses to make decisions concerning environmental management and, in particular, species protection. The utilitarian framework emphasizes the consequences of choices for prior preferences. A perfectly competitive market, on this model, correctly values environmental resources. The Kantian approach identifies rules appropriate to recognized situations given the identity of the decision maker. It relies on democratic political processes and institutions to provide the means by which citizens determine the identity of their community—its moral character and aspirations—and match appropriate rules to recognized situations. This paper argues that markets do not fail in any general way in measuring the economic value of plants and animals. Market prices, in general, correctly represent the marginal or exchange value of species. If society legislates against extinction, this must be understood as an exercise in Kantian decision making in view of the moral value of species, not as an attempt to “correct” a market failure or to promote social welfare or utility.

Are personal values of importance in the stigmatization of people with mental illness?

PubMed

Norman, Ross Mg; Sorrentino, Richard; Windell, Deborah; Manchanda, Rahul

2008-12-01

To investigate the relation of responses to the Schwartz Value Scale to preferred social distance to a person with either schizophrenia or depression. The influence of personal value priorities on discrimination has been investigated in several contexts, but seldom with reference to social distance towards those with mental illness. University students (n = 200) completed the Schwartz Value Scale, as well as a measure of beliefs about mental illness and preferred social distance with reference to a vignette describing a person with either schizophrenia or depression. Consistent with past findings, respondents indicated a preference for greater social distance for schizophrenia than depression, and beliefs about likelihood of socially inappropriate behaviour and danger were correlated with social distance. Self-transcendence value orientation was a significant independent predictor of preference for less social distance. These findings were not influenced by a social desirability bias. Value orientation makes a significant contribution to the prediction of social distance towards those with mental illness. Evaluation of value-based interventions to reduce such discrimination appears warranted.

Social values for ecosystem services (SolVES): A GIS application for assessing, mapping, and quantifying the social values of ecosystem services-Documentation and user manual, version 1.0

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sherrouse, Benson C.; Riegle, Jodi L.; Semmens, Darius J.

2010-01-01

In response to the need for incorporating quantified and spatially explicit measures of social values into ecosystem services assessments, the Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center, in collaboration with Colorado State University, has developed a geographic information system application, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES). SolVES can be used to assess, map, and quantify the perceived social values of ecosystem services. SolVES derives a quantitative social values metric, the Value Index, from a combination of spatial and nonspatial responses to public attitude and preference surveys. SolVES also generates landscape metrics, such as average elevation and distance to water, calculated from spatial data layers describing the underlying physical environment. Using kernel density calculations and zonal statistics, SolVES derives and maps the 10-point Value Index and reports landscape metrics associated with each index value for social value types such as aesthetics, biodiversity, and recreation. This can be repeated for various survey subgroups as distinguished by their attitudes and preferences regarding public uses of the forests such as motorized recreation and logging for fuels reduction. The Value Index provides a basis of comparison within and among survey subgroups to consider the effect of social contexts on the valuation of ecosystem services. SolVES includes regression coefficients linking the predicted value (the Value Index) to landscape metrics. These coefficients are used to generate predicted social value maps using value transfer techniques for areas where primary survey data are not available. SolVES was developed, and will continue to be enhanced through future versions, as a public domain tool to enable decision makers and researchers to map the social values of ecosystem services and to facilitate discussions among diverse stakeholders regarding tradeoffs between different ecosystem services in a variety of physical and social contexts.

A GIS application for assessing, mapping, and quantifying the social values of ecosystem services

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sherrouse, Benson C.; Clement, Jessica M.; Semmens, Darius J.

2011-01-01

As human pressures on ecosystems continue to increase, research involving the effective incorporation of social values information into the context of comprehensive ecosystem services assessments is becoming more important. Including quantified, spatially explicit social value metrics in such assessments will improve the analysis of relative tradeoffs among ecosystem services. This paper describes a GIS application, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES), developed to assess, map, and quantify the perceived social values of ecosystem services by deriving a non-monetary Value Index from responses to a public attitude and preference survey. SolVES calculates and maps the Value Index for social values held by various survey subgroups, as distinguished by their attitudes regarding ecosystem use. Index values can be compared within and among survey subgroups to explore the effect of social contexts on the valuation of ecosystem services. Index values can also be correlated and regressed against landscape metrics SolVES calculates from various environmental data layers. Coefficients derived through these analyses were applied to their corresponding data layers to generate a predicted social value map. This map compared favorably with other SolVES output and led to the addition of a predictive mapping function to SolVES for value transfer to areas where survey data are unavailable. A more robust application is being developed as a public domain tool for decision makers and researchers to map social values of ecosystem services and to facilitate discussions among diverse stakeholders involving relative tradeoffs among different ecosystem services in a variety of physical and social contexts.

Factors related to low birth rate among married women in Korea

PubMed Central

Song, Ju-Eun; Lee, Sun-Kyoung; Roh, Eun Ha

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors influencing low birth rate among married women using the National Survey data in Korea. We compared the different influences on women’s first and subsequent childbirths. This study was a secondary analysis using the “National Survey on Fertility and Family Health and Welfare”, which was a nationally representative survey conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. We analyzed the data of 3,482 married women (aged between 19 and 39 years) using SPSS 20.0 program for descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and binary and ordinal logistic regression models. The factors influencing women’s first childbirth included perceptions about the value of marriage and children and their education level. The factors influencing their subsequent childbirths included multifaceted variables of maternal age during the first childbirth, residential area, religion, monthly household income, perceptions about the value of marriage and children, and social media. It is necessary to improve women’s awareness and positive perceptions about marriage and children in order to increase the birth rate in Korea. Moreover, consistently providing financial and political support for maternal and childcare concerns and using social media to foster more positive attitudes toward having children may enhance birth rates in the future. PMID:29558506

Factors related to low birth rate among married women in Korea.

PubMed

Song, Ju-Eun; Ahn, Jeong-Ah; Lee, Sun-Kyoung; Roh, Eun Ha

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors influencing low birth rate among married women using the National Survey data in Korea. We compared the different influences on women's first and subsequent childbirths. This study was a secondary analysis using the "National Survey on Fertility and Family Health and Welfare", which was a nationally representative survey conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. We analyzed the data of 3,482 married women (aged between 19 and 39 years) using SPSS 20.0 program for descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and binary and ordinal logistic regression models. The factors influencing women's first childbirth included perceptions about the value of marriage and children and their education level. The factors influencing their subsequent childbirths included multifaceted variables of maternal age during the first childbirth, residential area, religion, monthly household income, perceptions about the value of marriage and children, and social media. It is necessary to improve women's awareness and positive perceptions about marriage and children in order to increase the birth rate in Korea. Moreover, consistently providing financial and political support for maternal and childcare concerns and using social media to foster more positive attitudes toward having children may enhance birth rates in the future.

A model for cross-cultural reciprocal interactions through mass media.

PubMed

González-Avella, Juan Carlos; Cosenza, Mario G; San Miguel, Maxi

2012-01-01

We investigate the problem of cross-cultural interactions through mass media in a model where two populations of social agents, each with its own internal dynamics, get information about each other through reciprocal global interactions. As the agent dynamics, we employ Axelrod's model for social influence. The global interaction fields correspond to the statistical mode of the states of the agents and represent mass media messages on the cultural trend originating in each population. Several phases are found in the collective behavior of either population depending on parameter values: two homogeneous phases, one having the state of the global field acting on that population, and the other consisting of a state different from that reached by the applied global field; and a disordered phase. In addition, the system displays nontrivial effects: (i) the emergence of a largest minority group of appreciable size sharing a state different from that of the applied global field; (ii) the appearance of localized ordered states for some values of parameters when the entire system is observed, consisting of one population in a homogeneous state and the other in a disordered state. This last situation can be considered as a social analogue to a chimera state arising in globally coupled populations of oscillators.

The M-C-M' cycle and social capital.

PubMed

Hean, Sarah; Cowley, Sarah; Forbes, Angus; Griffiths, Peter; Maben, Jill

2003-03-01

Social capital has become a popular term over the past two decades amongst researchers, policy makers and practitioners from varied disciplines. This popularity, however, has resulted in a great deal of confusion over the nature and application of social capital in different contexts. This confusion has made it difficult to identify and measure social capital within the evaluation of specific social and health programmes, one of the aims of which may be to stimulate social capital. This paper identifies a theoretical model that seeks to capture the dynamic nature of social capital to assist in the development of research methods that will facilitate its measurement and exploration within such programmes. The model reported in the paper identifies the key components of social capital and expresses the relationship between those components in a dynamic system based on Marx's description of the process of capital (economic) exchanges expressed in the M-C-M' cycle. The M-C-M' cycle is the transformation of money (M) into commodities (C), and the change of commodities back again into money (M') of altered value. The emphasis within the paper is on the capital element of the concept and its transactional nature with the aim of avoiding the pitfall of attributing social capital in relation to social behaviours in isolation of context and interaction. Importantly, the paper seeks to distinguish the central elements of social capital from some of the antecedent factors and outcomes often attributed to and confused with social capital adding to the problem of providing valid measurement. The model is presented as the basis for the measurement of social capital within a transactional process involving the investment of social resources in a cyclical process, which may result in net gains or losses. This process is described as the R-C-R' cycle following Marx's model of economic capital, with the focus being on the transfer of social resources (R) rather than money (M). R represents an internal resource held by individuals, C the external resource or commodity they obtain from the network and the R' the internal resource of altered value. The possibilities of the model in assisting in the measurement of social capital specifically in assessing formal networks are explored.

Meaning That Social Studies Teacher Candidates Give to Value Concept and Their Value Rankings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aysegül, Tural

2018-01-01

This work determines the role that value education plays in shaping people's personal and social life. This research aims to put forward meaning that social studies teacher candidates give to value concept and its value ranking. To achieve this aim, the opinions of 12 social studies teacher candidates were obtained. During the data collection…

Healthcare resource allocation decisions affecting uninsured services

PubMed Central

Harrison, Krista Lyn; Taylor, Holly A.

2017-01-01

Purpose Using the example of community access programs (CAPs), the purpose of this paper is to describe resource allocation and policy decisions related to providing health services for the uninsured in the USA and the organizational values affecting these decisions. Design/methodology/approach The study used comparative case study methodology at two geographically diverse sites. Researchers collected data from program documents, meeting observations, and interviews with program stakeholders. Findings Five resource allocation or policy decisions relevant to providing healthcare services were described at each site across three categories: designing the health plan, reacting to funding changes, and revising policies. Organizational values of access to care and stewardship most frequently affected resource allocation and policy decisions, while economic and political pressures affect the relative prioritization of values. Research limitations/implications Small sample size, the potential for social desirability or recall bias, and the exclusion of provider, member or community perspectives beyond those represented among participating board members. Practical implications Program directors or researchers can use this study to assess the extent to which resource allocation and policy decisions align with organizational values and mission statements. Social implications The description of how healthcare decisions are actually made can be matched with literature that describes how healthcare resource decisions ought to be made, in order to provide a normative grounding for future decisions. Originality/value This study addresses a gap in literature regarding how CAPs actually make resource allocation decisions that affect access to healthcare services. PMID:27934550

The social value of clinical research.

PubMed

Habets, Michelle G J L; van Delden, Johannes J M; Bredenoord, Annelien L

2014-09-05

International documents on ethical conduct in clinical research have in common the principle that potential harms to research participants must be proportional to anticipated benefits. The anticipated benefits that can justify human research consist of direct benefits to the research participant, and societal benefits, also called social value. In first-in-human research, no direct benefits are expected and the benefit component of the risks-benefit assessment thus merely exists in social value. The concept social value is ambiguous by nature and is used in numerous ways in the research ethics literature. Because social value justifies involving human participants, especially in early human trials, this is problematic. Our analysis and interpretation of the concept social value has led to three proposals. First, as no direct benefits are expected for the research participants in first-in-human trials, we believe it is better to discuss a risk- value assessment instead of a risk - benefit assessment. This will also make explicit the necessity to have a clear and common use for the concept social value. Second, to avoid confusion we propose to limit the concept social value to the intervention tested. It is the expected improvement the intervention can bring to the wellbeing of (future) patients or society that is referred to when we speak about social value. For the sole purpose of gaining knowledge, we should not expose humans to potential harm; the ultimate justification of involving humans in research lies in the anticipated social value of the intervention. Third, at the moment only the validity of the clinical research proposal is a prerequisite for research to take place. We recommend making the anticipated social value a prerequisite as well. In this paper we analyze the use of the concept social value in research ethics. Despite its unavoidable ambiguity, we aim to find a best use of the concept, subject to its role in justifying involving humans in first-in-human research.

Social values for ecosystem services (SolVES): Documentation and user manual, version 2.0

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sherrouse, Benson C.; Semmens, Darius J.

2012-01-01

In response to the need for incorporating quantified and spatially explicit measures of social values into ecosystem services assessments, the Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center (RMGSC), in collaboration with Colorado State University, developed a geographic information system (GIS) application, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES). With version 2.0 (SolVES 2.0), RMGSC has improved and extended the functionality of SolVES, which was designed to assess, map, and quantify the perceived social values of ecosystem services. Social values such as aesthetics, biodiversity, and recreation can be evaluated for various stakeholder groups as distinguished by their attitudes and preferences regarding public uses, such as motorized recreation and logging. As with the previous version, SolVES 2.0 derives a quantitative, 10-point, social-values metric, the Value Index, from a combination of spatial and nonspatial responses to public attitude and preference surveys and calculates metrics characterizing the underlying environment, such as average distance to water and dominant landcover. Additionally, SolVES 2.0 integrates Maxent maximum entropy modeling software to generate more complete social value maps and to produce robust statistical models describing the relationship between the social values maps and explanatory environmental variables. The performance of these models can be evaluated for a primary study area, as well as for similar areas where primary survey data are not available but where social value mapping could potentially be completed using value-transfer methodology. SolVES 2.0 also introduces the flexibility for users to define their own social values and public uses, model any number and type of environmental variable, and modify the spatial resolution of analysis. With these enhancements, SolVES 2.0 provides an improved public domain tool for decisionmakers and researchers to evaluate the social values of ecosystem services and to facilitate discussions among diverse stakeholders regarding the tradeoffs among different ecosystem services in a variety of physical and social contexts ranging from forest and rangeland to coastal and marine.

Social Skills and Social Values Training for Future K-Workers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sail, Rahim M.; Alavi, Khadijah

2010-01-01

Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to determine the extent of acquisition of knowledge on social skills and social values by trainers of institutes and coaches of industries in training of trainers (ToT) programmes. It has been ascertained that social skills and social values can and must be taught to apprentices to enhance their…

Dead infants and unmarried women--from forensic pathology reports 1910-12.

PubMed

Alfsen, G Cecilie; Hernæs, Lotte

2013-12-10

The lack of access to contraceptives and poor control over their own pregnancies represented a major problem for women 100 years ago. An unwanted pregnancy could lead to social exclusion and loss of paid work, and clandestine births and infanticide thus posed a social problem. A review of the archives of the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine in the period 1910 to 1912 shows that one-fifth of all expert opinions were related to infants and pregnancy. Autopsies performed on children constituted over one-third of all forensic autopsies during this period. Although the reports provide a timely reminder of the value of hard-earned rights in Norway, the lack of control over their own sexuality and unwanted pregnancies are unfortunately still the reality for a large proportion of the world's women.

Protecting indigenous rights. Guatemala.

PubMed

1996-01-01

Guatemala's recent ratification of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention regarding indigenous and tribal peoples (1989, No. 169) represents a commitment to guarantee the rights of the country's majority Mayan population. Ratifying governments are obligated to respect the traditional values and land rights of tribal and indigenous peoples and to consult with them on any decisions affecting their economic or social development. Ratification of this Convention was a key element in an eight-part UN-sponsored negotiation aimed at ending the civil war in Guatemala. Efforts are underway to promote dialogue between organized civil society and government. Negotiations in May 1996, conducted with ILO assistance, resulted in a socioeconomic agreement under which Guatemala will increase social investment in education, undertake agrarian reform, and institute tripartite consultation on all major social and economic issues. However, two key issues in the peace negotiations--the role of the army in civil society and constitutional reform--remain unresolved. The final global peace accord is expected to be signed in September 1996. UN organizations are already working to mobilize international support for transforming these agreements into political and social realities for the Guatemalan people.

The structure of a bottlenose dolphin society is coupled to a unique foraging cooperation with artisanal fishermen.

PubMed

Daura-Jorge, F G; Cantor, M; Ingram, S N; Lusseau, D; Simões-Lopes, P C

2012-10-23

Diverse and localized foraging behaviours have been reported in isolated populations of many animal species around the world. In Laguna, southern Brazil, a subset of resident bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) uses a foraging tactic involving cooperative interactions with local, beach-casting fishermen. We used individual photo-identification data to assess whether cooperative and non-cooperative dolphins were socially segregated. The social structure of the population was found to be a fission-fusion system with few non-random associations, typical for this species. However, association values were greater among cooperative dolphins than among non-cooperative dolphins or between dolphins from different foraging classes. Furthermore, the dolphin social network was divided into three modules, clustering individuals that shared or lacked the cooperative foraging tactic. Space-use patterns were not sufficient to explain this partitioning, indicating a behavioural factor. The segregation of dolphins using different foraging tactics could result from foraging behaviour driving social structure, while the closer association between dolphins engaged in the cooperation could facilitate the transmission and learning of this behavioural trait from conspecifics. This unique case of a dolphin-human interaction represents a valuable opportunity to explore hypotheses on the role of social learning in wild cetaceans.

The validity and value of inclusive fitness theory

PubMed Central

Bourke, Andrew F. G.

2011-01-01

Social evolution is a central topic in evolutionary biology, with the evolution of eusociality (societies with altruistic, non-reproductive helpers) representing a long-standing evolutionary conundrum. Recent critiques have questioned the validity of the leading theory for explaining social evolution and eusociality, namely inclusive fitness (kin selection) theory. I review recent and past literature to argue that these critiques do not succeed. Inclusive fitness theory has added fundamental insights to natural selection theory. These are the realization that selection on a gene for social behaviour depends on its effects on co-bearers, the explanation of social behaviours as unalike as altruism and selfishness using the same underlying parameters, and the explanation of within-group conflict in terms of non-coinciding inclusive fitness optima. A proposed alternative theory for eusocial evolution assumes mistakenly that workers' interests are subordinate to the queen's, contains no new elements and fails to make novel predictions. The haplodiploidy hypothesis has yet to be rigorously tested and positive relatedness within diploid eusocial societies supports inclusive fitness theory. The theory has made unique, falsifiable predictions that have been confirmed, and its evidence base is extensive and robust. Hence, inclusive fitness theory deserves to keep its position as the leading theory for social evolution. PMID:21920980

The validity and value of inclusive fitness theory.

PubMed

Bourke, Andrew F G

2011-11-22

Social evolution is a central topic in evolutionary biology, with the evolution of eusociality (societies with altruistic, non-reproductive helpers) representing a long-standing evolutionary conundrum. Recent critiques have questioned the validity of the leading theory for explaining social evolution and eusociality, namely inclusive fitness (kin selection) theory. I review recent and past literature to argue that these critiques do not succeed. Inclusive fitness theory has added fundamental insights to natural selection theory. These are the realization that selection on a gene for social behaviour depends on its effects on co-bearers, the explanation of social behaviours as unalike as altruism and selfishness using the same underlying parameters, and the explanation of within-group conflict in terms of non-coinciding inclusive fitness optima. A proposed alternative theory for eusocial evolution assumes mistakenly that workers' interests are subordinate to the queen's, contains no new elements and fails to make novel predictions. The haplodiploidy hypothesis has yet to be rigorously tested and positive relatedness within diploid eusocial societies supports inclusive fitness theory. The theory has made unique, falsifiable predictions that have been confirmed, and its evidence base is extensive and robust. Hence, inclusive fitness theory deserves to keep its position as the leading theory for social evolution.

Social capital, income inequality and the social gradient in self-rated health in Latin America: A fixed effects analysis.

PubMed

Vincens, Natalia; Emmelin, Maria; Stafström, Martin

2018-01-01

Latin America is the most unequal region in the world. The current sustainable development agenda increased attention to health inequity and its determinants in the region. Our aim is to investigate the social gradient in health in Latin America and assess the effects of social capital and income inequality on it. We used cross-sectional data from the World Values Survey and the World Bank. Our sample included 10,426 respondents in eight Latin American countries. Self-rated health was used as the outcome. Education level was the socioeconomic position indicator. We measured social capital by associational membership, civic participation, generalized trust, and neighborhood trust indicators at both individual and country levels. Income inequality was operationalized using the Gini index at country-level. We employed fixed effects logistic regressions and cross-level interactions to assess the impact of social capital and income inequality on the heath gradient, controlling for country heterogeneity. Education level was independently associated with self-rated health, representing a clear social gradient in health, favoring individuals in higher socioeconomic positions. Generalized and neighborhood trust at country-level moderated the effect on the association between socioeconomic position and health, yet favoring individuals in lower socioeconomic positions, especially in lower inequality countries, despite their lower individual social capital. Our findings suggest that collective rather than individual social capital can impact the social gradient in health in Latin America, explaining health inequalities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Senior citizen's physical activity and welfare].

PubMed

Santana, Maria da Silva; Chaves Maia, Eulália M

2009-01-01

This work analysed senior citizens' perception of needs and social values involved in taking physical activity for their own benefit. This study's main aim was to investigate social representations of 3rd age physical activity. This was a cross-sectional, interdisciplinary qualitative study, underpinned by theoretical-methodological social representation theory. A convenience, non-probabilistic, census-dependent method was used for obtaining the sam-ple of 62 people aged 50 to 78 from north-eastern Brazil. The data were collected by using the free word association technique and analysed by EVOC/2000 software. Analysing the replies led to three types of elements being identified which were related to the social representation of physical activity as attributed by the elderly: a psychological dimension (represented by happiness, well-being), a social dimension (dancing) and a biophysical dimension (gymnastics, water-gymnastics and health). The term 'happiness' stood out most in the word recall tests. When relating old age to the sample's social representation of physical activity, the study showed that physical activity assumed a preponderant role in the life of the elderly through cyclical appreciation-depreciation, social representation simultaneously and gradually acquiring 'life having more health and quality' from social representation. The subjects reported a positive association between physical activity, social interaction and well-being. The elderly also believed in physical activity's effects on physical-motor aspects and health. The social representation of physical activity by the group being studied was close to the physical activity's biopsychosocial dimension.

Social Values for Ecosystem Services, version 3.0 (SolVES 3.0): documentation and user manual

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sherrouse, Ben C.; Semmens, Darius J.

2015-01-01

The geographic information system (GIS) tool, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES), was developed to incorporate quantified and spatially explicit measures of social values into ecosystem service assessments. SolVES 3.0 continues to extend the functionality of SolVES, which was designed to assess, map, and quantify the social values of ecosystem services. Social values—the perceived, nonmarket values the public ascribes to ecosystem services, particularly cultural services, such as aesthetics and recreation—can be evaluated for various stakeholder groups. These groups are distinguishable by their attitudes and preferences regarding public uses, such as motorized recreation and logging. As with previous versions, SolVES 3.0 derives a quantitative 10-point, social-values metric—the value index—from a combination of spatial and nonspatial responses to public value and preference surveys. The tool also calculates metrics characterizing the underlying environment, such as average distance to water and dominant landcover. SolVES 3.0 is integrated with Maxent maximum entropy modeling software to generate more complete social-value maps and offer robust statistical models describing the relationship between the value index and explanatory environmental variables. A model’s goodness of fit to a primary study area and its potential performance in transferring social values to similar areas using value-transfer methodology can be evaluated. SolVES 3.0 provides an improved public-domain tool for decision makers and researchers to evaluate the social values of ecosystem services and to facilitate discussions among diverse stakeholders regarding the tradeoffs among ecosystem services in a variety of physical and social contexts ranging from forest and rangeland to coastal and marine.

Social equality in the number of choice options is represented in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

PubMed

Aoki, Ryuta; Matsumoto, Madoka; Yomogida, Yukihito; Izuma, Keise; Murayama, Kou; Sugiura, Ayaka; Camerer, Colin F; Adolphs, Ralph; Matsumoto, Kenji

2014-04-30

A distinct aspect of the sense of fairness in humans is that we care not only about equality in material rewards but also about equality in nonmaterial values. One such value is the opportunity to choose freely among many options, often regarded as a fundamental right to economic freedom. In modern developed societies, equal opportunities in work, living, and lifestyle are enforced by antidiscrimination laws. Despite the widespread endorsement of equal opportunity, no studies have explored how people assign value to it. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the neural substrates for subjective valuation of equality in choice opportunity. Participants performed a two-person choice task in which the number of choices available was varied across trials independently of choice outcomes. By using this procedure, we manipulated the degree of equality in choice opportunity between players and dissociated it from the value of reward outcomes and their equality. We found that activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) tracked the degree to which the number of options between the two players was equal. In contrast, activation in the ventral striatum tracked the number of options available to participants themselves but not the equality between players. Our results demonstrate that the vmPFC, a key brain region previously implicated in the processing of social values, is also involved in valuation of equality in choice opportunity between individuals. These findings may provide valuable insight into the human ability to value equal opportunity, a characteristic long emphasized in politics, economics, and philosophy.

Reconfiguring Social Value in Health Research Through the Lens of Liminality.

PubMed

Ganguli-Mitra, Agomoni; Dove, Edward S; Laurie, Graeme T; Taylor-Alexander, Samuel

2017-02-01

Despite the growing importance of 'social value' as a central feature of research ethics, the term remains both conceptually vague and to a certain extent operationally rigid. And yet, perhaps because the rhetorical appeal of social value appears immediate and self-evident, the concept has not been put to rigorous investigation in terms of its definition, strength, function, and scope. In this article, we discuss how the anthropological concept of liminality can illuminate social value and differentiate and reconfigure its variegated approaches. Employing liminality as a heuristic encourages a reassessment of how we understand the mobilization of 'social value' in bioethics. We argue that social value as seen through the lens of liminality can provide greater clarity of its function and scope for health research. Building on calls to understand social value as a dynamic, rather than a static, concept, we emphasize the need to appraise social value iteratively throughout the entire research as something that transforms over multiple times and across multiple spaces occupied by a range of actors. © 2017 The Authors Bioethics Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Transmission of Cultural Values among Mexican American Parents and their Adolescent and Emerging Adult Offspring

PubMed Central

Perez-Brena, Norma J.; Updegraff, Kimberly A.; Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J.

2015-01-01

The integration of the U.S. and Mexican culture is an important process associated with Mexican-origin youths’ adjustment and family dynamics. The current study examined the reciprocal associations in parents’ and two offspring’s cultural values (i.e., familism and respect) in 246 Mexican-origin families. Overall, mothers’ values were associated with increases in youths’ values five years later. In contrast, youths’ familism values were associated with increases in fathers’ familism values five years later. In addition, developmental differences emerged where parent-to-offspring effects were more consistent for youth transitioning from early to late adolescence than for youth transitioning from middle adolescence to emerging adulthood. Finally, moderation by immigrant-status revealed a youth-to-parent effect for mother-youth immigrant dyads, but not for dyads where youth were U.S.-raised. Our findings highlight the reciprocal nature of parent-youth value socialization and provide a nuanced understanding of these processes through the consideration of familism and respect values. As Mexican-origin youth represent a large and rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population, research that advances our understanding of how these youth develop values that foster family cohesion and support are crucial. PMID:25470657

Health-Related Quality of Life, Gender, and Culture of Older People Users of Health Services in the Multicultural Landscape of the City of Ceuta (Spain): A Cross-Sectional Study.

PubMed

Olmedo-Alguacil, Maria Milagrosa; Ramírez-Rodrigo, Jesús; Villaverde-Gutiérrez, Carmen; Sánchez-Caravaca, Maria Angeles; Aguilar Ferrándiz, Encarnación; Ruiz-Villaverde, Alberto

2016-11-01

Perceptions of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are influenced by sociodemographic variables and by cultural-religious concepts of health, disease, and old age, among others. To assess the HRQOL of older people in a population with a long history of multiculturalism, the city of Ceuta (Spain), and to compare the results with Spanish reference values. A total of 372 individuals (55.4% females) were interviewed using the Spanish version of the Short Form-36 questionnaire. The subjects' mean age was 70.9 (SD = 5) years: 253 were Christians, 93 Muslims, and 26 Jews, representing the proportions in the overall population of these cultural-religious groups. HRQOL differs according to the cultural-religious affiliation, which specifically affects social and psychological dimensions. All groups obtained lower social function scores than the reference values, especially the Muslim and Jewish groups. Health care providers may consider integrating culturally sensitive interventions to improve HRQOL. © The Author(s) 2015.

Likes Attract: The Sociopolitical Groupthink of (Social) Psychologists.

PubMed

Redding, Richard E

2012-09-01

Inbar and Lammers (2012, this issue) contribute to the growing empirical evidence of discrimination against conservative (i.e., right-of-center) people and ideas not only in social and personality psychology, but within the academy generally. Because sociopolitical values are often a core component of self-identity that significantly impact our interpersonal relationships, sociopolitical discrimination is difficult to overcome. There is a tendency to marginalize the sociopolitical "other," along with a groupthink that implicitly presupposes that this form of discrimination is acceptable (e.g., because conservatives are self-interestedly motivated, conservative ideas are incorrect, or conservatism is well represented elsewhere in society and thus need not be in the academy). Yet discrimination must be overcome because sociopolitical diversity is vital for scholarly inquiry, pedagogy, and for ethical professional practice. Recent research suggests that the assumptions underlying psychology's value system of promoting racial, ethnic, gender, or sexual orientation diversity-that is, that doing so recognizes people's personal identities, ameliorates discrimination, and has educational benefits-may be all the more compelling with respect to sociopolitical ideas. © The Author(s) 2012.

Nursing professional identity: an infant or one with Alzheimer

PubMed Central

Yazdannik, Ahmadreza; Yekta, Zohreh Parsa; Soltani, Aliasghar

2012-01-01

Background: Each group or profession has its own discourse. Discourses create identity, support institutions and reproduce power relationships. Professional identity of Iranian nurses, which has recently had the opportunity to represent itself in social arena, needs investigation. This study aimed to make internal aspect of this identity clear. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted by discourse analysis, using data of 23 semi-structured individual interviews and 4 focus group interviews with nurses and senior nursing students of Tehran and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, to evaluate their professional identity. Findings: In professional self-concept, elements like spirituality value and low financial benefits were identified as well as conflicting features of holiness and humility, identity emerging, identity escape, low professional self-confidence and justice seeking, lost professional authority and pride. Conclusions: Nursing professional identity has been formed based on cultural social structure, values and beliefs governing health system. This is a spectrum of a growing and emerging identity to a developed but forgotten identity. Although nursing discourse is subordinate in health system discourse, signs of moving toward professional maturity have emerged. PMID:23833602

Nursing professional identity: an infant or one with Alzheimer.

PubMed

Yazdannik, Ahmadreza; Yekta, Zohreh Parsa; Soltani, Aliasghar

2012-02-01

Each group or profession has its own discourse. Discourses create identity, support institutions and reproduce power relationships. Professional identity of Iranian nurses, which has recently had the opportunity to represent itself in social arena, needs investigation. This study aimed to make internal aspect of this identity clear. This study was conducted by discourse analysis, using data of 23 semi-structured individual interviews and 4 focus group interviews with nurses and senior nursing students of Tehran and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, to evaluate their professional identity. In professional self-concept, elements like spirituality value and low financial benefits were identified as well as conflicting features of holiness and humility, identity emerging, identity escape, low professional self-confidence and justice seeking, lost professional authority and pride. Nursing professional identity has been formed based on cultural social structure, values and beliefs governing health system. This is a spectrum of a growing and emerging identity to a developed but forgotten identity. Although nursing discourse is subordinate in health system discourse, signs of moving toward professional maturity have emerged.

Post-injury personality in the prediction of outcome following severe acquired brain injury.

PubMed

Cattran, Charlotte Jane; Oddy, Michael; Wood, Rodger Llewellyn; Moir, Jane Frances

2011-01-01

The aim of the study was to examine the utility of five measures of non-cognitive neurobehavioural (NCNB) changes that often occur following acquired brain injury, in predicting outcome (measured in terms of participation and social adaptation) at 1-year follow-up. The study employed a longitudinal, correlational design. Multiple regression was employed to investigate the value of five new NCNB measures of social perception, emotional regulation, motivation, impulsivity and disinhibition in the prediction of outcome as measured by the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory (MPAI). Two NCNB measures (motivation and emotional regulation) were found to significantly predict outcome at 1-year follow-up, accounting for 53% of the variance in MPAI total scores. These measures provide a method of quantifying the extent of NCNB changes following brain injury. The predictive value of the measures indicates that they may represent a useful tool which could aid clinicians in identifying early-on those whose symptoms are likely to persist and who may require ongoing intervention. This could facilitate the planning of rehabilitation programmes.

The Socialization of Culturally Related Values and Prosocial Tendencies among Mexican American Adolescents

PubMed Central

Knight, George P.; Carlo, Gustavo; Mahrer, Nicole E.; Davis, Alexandra N.

2016-01-01

The socialization of cultural values, ethnic identity, and prosocial behaviors is examined in a sample of 749 Mexican American adolescents [age 9–12 at the 5th grade; M(SD) = 10.42(.55); 49% female], their mothers, and fathers at the 5th, 7th and 10th grades. Parents’ familism values positively predicted their ethnic socialization practices. Mothers’ ethnic socialization positively predicted adolescents’ ethnic identity, which positively predicted adolescents’ familism. Familism was associated with several types of prosocial tendencies. Adolescents’ material success and personal achievement values were negatively associated with altruistic helping and positively associated with public helping, but not their parents’ corresponding values. Findings support cultural socialization models, asserting that parents’ traditional cultural values influence their socialization practices, youth cultural values, and youth prosocial behaviors. PMID:28262940

The conduct of Australian Indigenous primary health care research focusing on social and emotional wellbeing: a systematic review.

PubMed

Farnbach, Sara; Eades, Anne-Maree; Gwynn, Josephine D; Glozier, Nick; Hackett, Maree L

2018-06-14

Objectives and importance of study: Values and ethics: guidelines for ethical conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research (Values and ethics) describes key values that should underpin Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous)-focused health research. It is unclear how research teams address this document in primary health care research. We systematically review the primary health care literature focusing on Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) to identify how Values and ethics and community preferences for standards of behaviour (local protocols) are addressed during research. Systematic review in accordance with PRISMA Guidelines and MOOSE Guidelines for Meta-Analyses and Systematic Reviews of Observational Studies. We searched four databases and one Indigenous-specific website for qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method studies published since Values and ethics was implemented (2003). Included studies were conducted in primary health care services, focused on Indigenous SEWB and were conducted by research teams. Using standard data extraction forms, we identified actions taken (reported by authors or identified by us) relating to Values and ethics and local protocols. A total of 25 studies were included. Authors of two studies explicitly mentioned the Values and ethics document, but neither reported how their actions related to the document's values. In more than half the studies, we identified at least three actions relating to the values. Some actions related to multiple values, including use of culturally sensitive research processes and involving Indigenous representatives in the research team. Local protocols were rarely reported. Addressing Values and ethics appears to improve research projects. The academic community should focus on culturally sensitive research processes, relationship building and developing the Indigenous research workforce, to facilitate acceptable research that affects health outcomes. For Values and ethics to achieve its full impact and to improve learning between research teams, authors should be encouraged to report how the principles are addressed during research, including barriers and enablers that are encountered.

The Effect of the Values Education Programme on 5.5-6 Year Old Children's Social Development: Social Skills, Psycho-Social Development and Social Problem Solving Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dereli-Iman, Esra

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the Values Education Programme (developed for pre-school children) on the children's social skills, psycho-social development, and social problem solving skills. The sample group consisted of 66 children (33 experimental group, 33 control group) attending pre-school. The Values Education Programme…

"The Big WHY": Philip Morris's failed search for corporate social value.

PubMed

McDaniel, Patricia A; Malone, Ruth E

2012-10-01

We examined Philip Morris USA's exploration of corporate social responsibility practices and principles and its outcome. We analyzed archival internal tobacco industry documents, generated in 2000 to 2002, related to discussions of corporate social responsibility among a Corporate Responsibility Taskforce and senior management at Philip Morris. In exploring corporate social responsibility, Philip Morris executives sought to identify the company's social value-its positive contribution to society. Struggling to find an answer, they considered dramatically changing the way the company marketed its products, apologizing for past actions, and committing the company to providing benefits for future generations. These ideas were eventually abandoned. Despite an initial call to distinguish between social and economic value, Philip Morris ultimately equated social value with providing shareholder returns. When even tobacco executives struggle to define their company's social value, it signals an opening to advocate for endgame scenarios that would encourage supply-side changes appropriate to the scale of the tobacco disease epidemic and consistent with authentic social value.

Inequality in societies, academic institutions and science journals: Gini and k-indices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Asim; Chattopadhyay, Nachiketa; Chakrabarti, Bikas K.

2014-09-01

Social inequality is traditionally measured by the Gini-index (g). The g-index takes values from 0 to 1 where g=0 represents complete equality and g=1 represents complete inequality. Most of the estimates of the income or wealth data indicate the g value to be widely dispersed across the countries of the world: g values typically range from 0.30 to 0.65 at a particular time (year). We estimated similarly the Gini-index for the citations earned by the yearly publications of various academic institutions and the science journals. The ISI web of science data suggests remarkably strong inequality and universality (g=0.70±0.07) across all the universities and institutions of the world, while for the journals we find g=0.65±0.15 for any typical year. We define a new inequality measure, namely the k-index, saying that the cumulative income or citations of (1-k) fraction of people or papers exceed those earned by the fraction (k) of the people or publications respectively. We find, while the k-index value for income ranges from 0.60 to 0.75 for income distributions across the world, it has a value around 0.75±0.05 for different universities and institutions across the world and around 0.77±0.10 for the science journals. Apart from above indices, we also analyze the same institution and journal citation data by measuring Pietra index and median index.

Blindness and social trust: The effect of early visual deprivation on judgments of trustworthiness.

PubMed

Ferrari, C; Vecchi, T; Merabet, L B; Cattaneo, Z

2017-10-01

Investigating the impact of early visual deprivation on evaluations related to social trust has received little attention to date. This is despite consistent evidence suggesting that early onset blindness may interfere with the normal development of social skills. In this study, we investigated whether early blindness affects judgments of trustworthiness regarding the actions of an agent, with trustworthiness representing the fundamental dimension in the social evaluation. Specifically, we compared performance between a group of early blind individuals with that of sighted controls in their evaluation of trustworthiness of an agent after hearing a pair of two positive or two negative social behaviors (impression formation). Participants then repeated the same evaluation following the presentation of a third (consistent or inconsistent) behavior regarding the same agent (impression updating). Overall, blind individuals tended to give similar evaluations compared to their sighted counterparts. However, they also valued positive behaviors significantly more than sighted controls when forming their impression of an agent's trustworthiness. Moreover, when inconsistent information was provided, blind individuals were more prone to revise their initial evaluation compared to controls. These results suggest that early visual deprivation may have a dramatic effect on the evaluation of social factors such as trustworthiness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Gaucher's disease and imiglucerase in 2009/2010: what leads to a suddenly enforced prioritisation?].

PubMed

Hofstetter, K; Raspe, H; Stumpf, S; Framke, S

2015-02-01

Gaucher's disease is, when left untreated, a progressive and in some subsets even life-threatening lysosomal storage disease. It is caused by a genetically linked deficit of acid beta-glucocerebrosidase. The enzyme can be replaced by Cerezyme(®)/imiglucerase produced by Genzyme Corp. The therapy has the potential to induce remis-sion and normalise the patient's life. In June 2009 Genzyme had to announce a viral contamination of its bioreactors which led to a sudden stop of the entire production of imiglucerase. Subsequently only 50-20% of the former supply could be provided worldwide. The situation was not normalised until the beginning of the year 2011. Due to this unexpected shortage the relevant actors had to clarify quickly and unprepared which patient groups to prioritise and whom to supply with what quantities of imiglucerase. The shortly enforced prioritisation and rationing provide an opportunity to describe and analyse the spontaneously choosen prioritisation criteria and reveal value preferences shared by clinicians, patients, patient representatives, and company representatives. To reconstruct the chain of events and reactions and the revealed criteria and value preferences partly standardised interviews with representatives of the relevant stakeholder groups were conducted. Very clearly, the actors spontaneously chose to follow a medical need and a social solidarity principle. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

With you or against you: social orientation dependent learning signals guide actions made for others.

PubMed

Christopoulos, George I; King-Casas, Brooks

2015-01-01

In social environments, it is crucial that decision-makers take account of the impact of their actions not only for oneself, but also on other social agents. Previous work has identified neural signals in the striatum encoding value-based prediction errors for outcomes to oneself; also, recent work suggests that neural activity in prefrontal cortex may similarly encode value-based prediction errors related to outcomes to others. However, prior work also indicates that social valuations are not isomorphic, with social value orientations of decision-makers ranging on a cooperative to competitive continuum; this variation has not been examined within social learning environments. Here, we combine a computational model of learning with functional neuroimaging to examine how individual differences in orientation impact neural mechanisms underlying 'other-value' learning. Across four experimental conditions, reinforcement learning signals for other-value were identified in medial prefrontal cortex, and were distinct from self-value learning signals identified in striatum. Critically, the magnitude and direction of the other-value learning signal depended strongly on an individual's cooperative or competitive orientation toward others. These data indicate that social decisions are guided by a social orientation-dependent learning system that is computationally similar but anatomically distinct from self-value learning. The sensitivity of the medial prefrontal learning signal to social preferences suggests a mechanism linking such preferences to biases in social actions and highlights the importance of incorporating heterogeneous social predispositions in neurocomputational models of social behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The Social Value of Knowledge and the Responsiveness Requirement for International Research.

PubMed

Wenner, Danielle M

2017-02-01

Ethicists have long recognized that two necessary features of ethical research are scientific validity and social value. Yet despite a significant literature surrounding the validity component of this dictate, until recently there has been little attention paid to unpacking what the social value component might require. This article introduces a framework for assessing the social value of research, and in particular, for determining whether a given research program is likely to have significant social value of the kind necessary to fulfill the social value requirement. The article goes on to illustrate how this framework can provide a clearer account of the responsiveness requirement, an ethical dictum that is oft-repeated but whose content and value as a guideline in international research remains contested. Although I introduce this conception of social value in the context of the responsiveness requirement, the account offered can, and is intended to, stand alone as a tool for the assessment of the social value of research. As such it can be usefully applied to discussions about the value of comparative effectiveness trials, the assessment of the continued proliferation of me-too drugs and the research done to develop them, the demand for public access to study-generated data, and persistent deficits in the publication of negative results. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

76 FR 80241 - Revisions to Rules of Conduct and Standards of Responsibility for Representatives

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-23

... SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 20 CFR Parts 404 and 416 [Docket No. SSA-2011-0016] RIN 0960-AH32 Revisions to Rules of Conduct and Standards of Responsibility for Representatives AGENCY: Social Security.... FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Maunz, Office of the General Counsel, Social Security...

Perception of Iranian Middle-Aged Women Regarding Moral Health Concept: A Content Analysis

PubMed Central

Salsali, Mahvash; Rezaee, Nasrin; Seyedfatemi, Naimeh; Rahnavard, Zahra

2015-01-01

Introduction: The present study aimed at exploring and describing the perception of moral health from middle-aged women standpoints. Women’s decisive role in family is undeniable. In the family which is built upon tradition, faith and ethics, this is women’s principle which is represented in the moral health of the individual and the society, deals with the nature of the vice and virtue. This study attempted to identify the perception of Iranian middle-aged women about the concept of moral health. Method: The present study completed through a content analysis method. Twenty two middle-aged women were recruited through purposive sampling. Data were granted by face to face, semi-structured interview. Result: Our major categories are devotion, preserving moral values and moral challenges. Devotion category includes subcategories such as prioritizing the health of family members and trying to save marriage. Preserving moral values category includes subcategories such as respecting values and consolidating beliefs over time. Moral challenges category consists of individual and familial challenges subcategories. Conclusion: Moral health is of high importance which affects various dimensions of individual, social and familial life. The findings of the present study presented new dimensions of middle-aged women’s health regarding moral health which can finally have different consequences on familial and social moral health. PMID:25948455

Perception of Iranian middle-aged women regarding moral health concept: a content analysis.

PubMed

Salsali, Mahvash; Rezaee, Nasrin; Seyedfatemi, Naimeh; Rahnavard, Zahra

2014-11-30

The present study aimed at exploring and describing the perception of moral health from middle-aged women standpoints. Women's decisive role in family is undeniable. In the family which is built upon tradition, faith and ethics, this is women's principle which is represented in the moral health of the individual and the society, deals with the nature of the vice and virtue. This study attempted to identify the perception of Iranian middle-aged women about the concept of moral health. The present study completed through a content analysis method. Twenty two middle-aged women were recruited through purposive sampling. Data were granted by face to face, semi-structured interview. Our major categories are devotion, preserving moral values and moral challenges. Devotion category includes subcategories such as prioritizing the health of family members and trying to save marriage. Preserving moral values category includes subcategories such as respecting values and consolidating beliefs over time. Moral challenges category consists of individual and familial challenges subcategories. Moral health is of high importance which affects various dimensions of individual, social and familial life. The findings of the present study presented new dimensions of middle-aged women's health regarding moral health which can finally have different consequences on familial and social moral health.

Behind the Robot's Smiles and Frowns: In Social Context, People Do Not Mirror Android's Expressions But React to Their Informational Value.

PubMed

Hofree, Galit; Ruvolo, Paul; Reinert, Audrey; Bartlett, Marian S; Winkielman, Piotr

2018-01-01

Facial actions are key elements of non-verbal behavior. Perceivers' reactions to others' facial expressions often represent a match or mirroring (e.g., they smile to a smile). However, the information conveyed by an expression depends on context. Thus, when shown by an opponent, a smile conveys bad news and evokes frowning. The availability of anthropomorphic agents capable of facial actions raises the question of how people respond to such agents in social context. We explored this issue in a study where participants played a strategic game with or against a facially expressive android. Electromyography (EMG) recorded participants' reactions over zygomaticus muscle (smiling) and corrugator muscle (frowning). We found that participants' facial responses to android's expressions reflect their informational value, rather than a direct match. Overall, participants smiled more, and frowned less, when winning than losing. Critically, participants' responses to the game outcome were similar regardless of whether it was conveyed via the android's smile or frown. Furthermore, the outcome had greater impact on people's facial reactions when it was conveyed through android's face than a computer screen. These findings demonstrate that facial actions of artificial agents impact human facial responding. They also suggest a sophistication in human-robot communication that highlights the signaling value of facial expressions.

"Aspirations of people who come from state education are different": how language reflects social exclusion in medical education.

PubMed

Cleland, Jennifer; Fahey Palma, Tania

2018-01-24

Despite repeated calls for change, the problem of widening access (WA) to medicine persists globally. One factor which may be operating to maintain social exclusion is the language used in representing WA applicants and students by the gatekeepers and representatives of medical schools, Admissions Deans. We therefore examined the institutional discourse of UK Medical Admissions Deans in order to determine how values regarding WA are communicated and presented in this context. We conducted a linguistic analysis of qualitative interviews with Admissions Deans and/or Staff from 24 of 32 UK medical schools. Corpus Linguistics data analysis determined broad patterns of frequency and word lists. This informed a critical discourse analysis of the data using an "othering" lens to explore and understand the judgements made of WA students by Admissions Deans, and the practices to which these judgments give rise. Representations of WA students highlighted existing divides and preconceptions in relation to WA programmes and students. Through using discourse that can be considered othering and divisive, issues of social divide and lack of integration in medicine were highlighted. Language served to reinforce pre-existing stereotypes and a significant 'us' and 'them' rhetoric exists in medical education. Even with drivers to achieve diversity and equality in medical education, existing social structures and preconceptions still influence the representations of applicants and students from outside the 'traditional' medical education model in the UK. Acknowledging this is a crucial step for medical schools wishing to address barriers to the perceived challenges to diversity.

Examining the Effect of Social Values Education Program Being Applied to Nursery School Students upon Acquiring Social Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sapsaglam, Özkan; Ömeroglu, Esra

2016-01-01

This study was conducted in an attempt to develop Social Values Education Program aimed at nursery school students and examine the effect of Social Values Education Program upon the social skill acquisition of nursery school students. The effect of the education program that was developed within the scope of the study upon the social skill…

The influence of a Classroom Model of Scientific Scholarship on Four Girls' Trajectories of Identification with Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, Melissa Sunshine

This study examines the teacher's role in shaping the identity construction resources available in a classroom and the ways in which individual students take up, modify, and appropriate those resources to construct themselves as scientists through interaction with their teacher and peers. Drawing on frameworks of identity construction and social positioning, I propose that the locally-negotiated classroom-level cultural model of what it means to be a "good" science student forms the arena in which students construct a sense of their own competence at, affiliation with, and interest in science. The setting for this study was a 6th grade science class at a progressive urban elementary school whose population roughly represents the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of the state of California. The teacher was an experienced science and math teacher interested in social justice and inquiry teaching. Drawing from naturalistic observations, video and artifact analysis, survey data, and repeated interviews with students and the teacher, I demonstrated what it meant to be a "good" science student in this particular cultural community by analyzing what was required, reinforced, and rewarded in this classroom. Next, I traced the influence of this particular classroom's conception of what it meant to be good at science on the trajectories of identification with science of four 6th grade girls selected to represent a variety of stances towards science, levels of classroom participation, and personal backgrounds. Scientific scholarship in this class had two parts: values related to science as a discipline, and a more generic set of school-related values one might see in any classroom. Different meanings of and values for science were indexed in the everyday activities of the classroom: science as a language for describing the natural world, science as a set of rhetorical values, science as an adult social community, and science as a place for mess and explosions. Among school-related values, participation, cooperation, and completing work were most important. Individual students leveraged different aspects of the local cultural model of scientific scholarship to construct themselves as competent participants in the science classroom. This study extends and complicates current analyses of classroom norms by showing that to understand identity construction, we must do more than identify a list of norms operating in a classroom---we must map the relationships between norms. This analysis demonstrates how broader discourses, in this case about schooling and science, infiltrated the classroom and influenced the meaning and operation of classroom norms and individual students' efforts to position themselves in relation to the classroom model of a good student. Finally, these findings show the value in examining recognition from three interrelated lenses: self-narratives, other-narratives, and observational accounts of positioning.

Offering African Americans opportunities to participate in clinical trials research: how social workers can help.

PubMed

Mason, Susan E

2005-11-01

Historically, African Americans have resisted participation in clinical trials and other research projects because of distrust of the mostly white research establishment. Although there are legitimate reasons for refusing to join clinical trials, most notably the abuses of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, African Americans may be passing up opportunities to obtain needed medications years before they reach the market. This article analyzes 29 empirical articles from medical and mental health journals for their findings on recruiting and maintaining African Americans in clinical trials. Reasons for declining and accepting opportunities to participate are organized into themes that represent the salient findings of these reports. Suggestions for social work interventions and changes in research designs are intended to make the research process more welcoming to African Americans. Interventions are linked to the themes and incorporate social work ethics and values. The premise of this study is that African Americans should be offered realistic opportunities supported by sufficient resources to increase participation.

Charity advertising: for or against people with a mental handicap?

PubMed

Eayrs, C B; Ellis, N

1990-12-01

This research investigated whether it is possible for charity advertising campaigns to stimulate donations successfully as well as to represent people with disabilities as valued human beings. Thirty-eight subjects were required to rank 10 MENCAP posters along 15 bipolar constructs using a variation of the Q sort procedure. Constructs included feelings such as pity, guilt and sympathy, constructive helping behaviours such as giving money and time, and perceptions such as having rights, value and capabilities. Correlational, cluster and factor analyses suggest that images which elicit the greatest commitment to give money are those most closely associated with feelings of guilt, sympathy and pity and are negatively associated with posters which illustrate people with a mental handicap as having the same rights, value and capability as non-handicapped persons. The implications of these findings with regard to advertising and the principle of normalization (social role valorization) are discussed.

Representing life as opposed to being: the bio-objectification process of the HeLa cells and its relation to personalized medicine

PubMed Central

Svalastog, Anna Lydia; Martinelli, Lucia

2013-01-01

The immortal HeLa cells case is an intriguing example of bio-objectification processes with great scientific, social, and symbolic impacts. These cells generate questions about representation, significance, and value of the exceptional, variety, individuality, and property. Of frightening (a lethal cancer) and emarginated (a black, poor woman) origins, with their ability to “contaminate” cultures and to “spread” into spaces for becoming of extraordinary value for human knowledge, well-being, and economy advancements, HeLa cells have represented humanity, and emphasized the importance of individual as a core concept of the personalized medicine. Starting from the process leading from HeLa “cells” to HeLa “bio-objects,” we focus on their importance as high quality bio-specimen. We discuss the tension between phenomenological characteristic of fundamental biological research and the variety of material and methodologies in epidemiology and personalized medicine. The emerging methodologies and societal changes reflect present EU policies and lead toward a new paradigm of science. PMID:23986283

DESPERATELY SEEKING HAPPINESS: VALUING HAPPINESS IS ASSOCIATED WITH SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS OF DEPRESSION.

PubMed

Ford, Brett Q; Shallcross, Amanda J; Mauss, Iris B; Floerke, Victoria A; Gruber, June

Culture shapes the emotions people feel and want to feel. In Western cultures, happiness is an emotion that many people want to feel. Although experiencing happiness is associated with increased well-being and psychological health, recent evidence suggests wanting to feel happy to an extreme degree, or, highly valuing happiness, leads to decreased well-being. To examine whether these effects of valuing happiness might extend to clinical outcomes, we examined the hypothesis that depression is associated with highly valuing happiness. To do so, we examined the relationship between valuing happiness and depression in two U.S. samples. As hypothesized, valuing happiness was associated with increased depressive symptoms in a community sample with remitted major depressive disorder (MDD), even when controlling for social desirability and neuroticism (Study 1). Furthermore, valuing happiness was elevated in a remitted MDD sample (vs. healthy controls), even when controlling for current depressive symptoms, general affect valuation, and extreme goal pursuit (Study 2). Taken together, these findings suggest that the culturally-pervasive value placed on attaining happiness can represent a risk factor for symptoms and a diagnosis of depression. More broadly, they indicate that a cultural approach can meaningfully extend our understanding of clinical phenomena.

DESPERATELY SEEKING HAPPINESS: VALUING HAPPINESS IS ASSOCIATED WITH SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS OF DEPRESSION

PubMed Central

Ford, Brett Q.; Shallcross, Amanda J.; Mauss, Iris B.; Floerke, Victoria A.; Gruber, June

2015-01-01

Culture shapes the emotions people feel and want to feel. In Western cultures, happiness is an emotion that many people want to feel. Although experiencing happiness is associated with increased well-being and psychological health, recent evidence suggests wanting to feel happy to an extreme degree, or, highly valuing happiness, leads to decreased well-being. To examine whether these effects of valuing happiness might extend to clinical outcomes, we examined the hypothesis that depression is associated with highly valuing happiness. To do so, we examined the relationship between valuing happiness and depression in two U.S. samples. As hypothesized, valuing happiness was associated with increased depressive symptoms in a community sample with remitted major depressive disorder (MDD), even when controlling for social desirability and neuroticism (Study 1). Furthermore, valuing happiness was elevated in a remitted MDD sample (vs. healthy controls), even when controlling for current depressive symptoms, general affect valuation, and extreme goal pursuit (Study 2). Taken together, these findings suggest that the culturally-pervasive value placed on attaining happiness can represent a risk factor for symptoms and a diagnosis of depression. More broadly, they indicate that a cultural approach can meaningfully extend our understanding of clinical phenomena. PMID:25678736

A complementary marriage of perspectives: understanding organizational social context using mixed methods.

PubMed

Beidas, Rinad S; Wolk, Courtney L Benjamin; Walsh, Lucia M; Evans, Arthur C; Hurford, Matthew O; Barg, Frances K

2014-11-23

Organizational factors impact the delivery of mental health services in community settings. Mixed-methods analytic approaches have been recommended, though little research within implementation science has explicitly compared inductive and deductive perspectives to understand their relative value in understanding the same constructs. The purpose of our study is to use two different paradigmatic approaches to deepen our understanding of organizational social context. We accomplish this by using a mixed-methods approach in an investigation of organizational social context in community mental health clinics. Nineteen agencies, representing 23 sites, participated. Enrolled participants included 130 therapists, 36 supervisors, and 22 executive administrators. Quantitative data was obtained via the Organizational Social Context (OSC) measure. Qualitative data, comprised of direct observation with spot sampling generated from agency visits, was coded using content analysis and grounded theory. The present study examined elements of organizational social context that would have been missed if only quantitative data had been obtained and utilized mixed methods to investigate if stratifying observations based on quantitative ratings from the OSC resulted in the emergence of differential themes. Four of the six OSC constructs were commonly observed in field observations (i.e., proficiency, rigidity, functionality, stress), while the remaining two constructs were not frequently observed (i.e., resistance, engagement). Constructs emerged related to organizational social context that may have been missed if only quantitative measurement was employed, including those around the physical environment, commentary about evidence-based practice initiatives, leadership, cultural diversity, distrust, and affect. Stratifying agencies by "best," "average," and "worst" organizational social context impacted interpretation for three constructs (affect, stress, and leadership). Results support the additive value of integrating inductive and deductive perspectives in implementation science research. This synthesis of approaches facilitated a more comprehensive understanding and interpretation of the findings than would have been possible if either methodology had been employed in isolation.

Shapley value redistribution of social wealth fosters cooperation in social dilemmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krawczyk, Przemysław; Płatkowski, Tadeusz

2018-02-01

We consider multiplayer social dilemma games played in a large population. The members of the population interact in randomly formed coalitions. Each coalition generates a social wealth (value), which is distributed among the coalition members according to their Shapley values. Evolution of the whole population is governed by the replicator equation. We demonstrate that application of the Shapley value fosters the time asymptotic cooperation in populations for various types of multiplayer social dilemmas.

An application of Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) to three national forests in Colorado and Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sherrouse, Benson C.; Semmens, Darius J.; Clement, Jessica M.

2014-01-01

Despite widespread recognition that social-value information is needed to inform stakeholders and decision makers regarding trade-offs in environmental management, it too often remains absent from ecosystem service assessments. Although quantitative indicators of social values need to be explicitly accounted for in the decision-making process, they need not be monetary. Ongoing efforts to map such values demonstrate how they can also be made spatially explicit and relatable to underlying ecological information. We originally developed Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) as a tool to assess, map, and quantify nonmarket values perceived by various groups of ecosystem stakeholders. With SolVES 2.0 we have extended the functionality by integrating SolVES with Maxent maximum entropy modeling software to generate more complete social-value maps from available value and preference survey data and to produce more robust models describing the relationship between social values and ecosystems. The current study has two objectives: (1) evaluate how effectively the value index, a quantitative, nonmonetary social-value indicator calculated by SolVES, reproduces results from more common statistical methods of social-survey data analysis and (2) examine how the spatial results produced by SolVES provide additional information that could be used by managers and stakeholders to better understand more complex relationships among stakeholder values, attitudes, and preferences. To achieve these objectives, we applied SolVES to value and preference survey data collected for three national forests, the Pike and San Isabel in Colorado and the Bridger–Teton and the Shoshone in Wyoming. Value index results were generally consistent with results found through more common statistical analyses of the survey data such as frequency, discriminant function, and correlation analyses. In addition, spatial analysis of the social-value maps produced by SolVES provided information that was useful for explaining relationships between stakeholder values and forest uses. Our results suggest that SolVES can effectively reproduce information derived from traditional statistical analyses while adding spatially explicit, social-value information that can contribute to integrated resource assessment, planning, and management of forests and other ecosystems.

In Defense of a Social Value Requirement for Clinical Research

PubMed Central

Wendler, David; Rid, Annette

2017-01-01

Many guidelines and commentators endorse the view that clinical research is ethically acceptable only when it has social value, in the sense of collecting data which might be used to improve health. A version of this social value requirement is included in the Declaration of Helsinki and the Nuremberg Code, and is codified in many national research regulations. At the same time, there have been no systematic analyses of why social value is an ethical requirement for clinical research. Recognizing this gap in the literature, recent articles by Alan Wertheimer and David Resnik argue that the extant justifications for the social value requirement are unpersuasive. Both authors conclude, contrary to almost all current guidelines and regulations, that it can be acceptable across a broad range of cases to conduct clinical research which is known prospectively to have no social value. The present paper assesses this conclusion by critically evaluating the ethical and policy considerations relevant to the claim that clinical research must have social value. This analysis supports the standard view that social value is an ethical requirement for the vast majority of clinical research studies and should be mandated by applicable guidelines and policies. PMID:28060427

In Defense of a Social Value Requirement for Clinical Research.

PubMed

Wendler, David; Rid, Annette

2017-02-01

Many guidelines and commentators endorse the view that clinical research is ethically acceptable only when it has social value, in the sense of collecting data which might be used to improve health. A version of this social value requirement is included in the Declaration of Helsinki and the Nuremberg Code, and is codified in many national research regulations. At the same time, there have been no systematic analyses of why social value is an ethical requirement for clinical research. Recognizing this gap in the literature, recent articles by Alan Wertheimer and David Resnik argue that the extant justifications for the social value requirement are unpersuasive. Both authors conclude, contrary to almost all current guidelines and regulations, that it can be acceptable across a broad range of cases to conduct clinical research which is known prospectively to have no social value. The present article assesses this conclusion by critically evaluating the ethical and policy considerations relevant to the claim that clinical research must have social value. This analysis supports the standard view that social value is an ethical requirement for the vast majority of clinical research studies and should be mandated by applicable guidelines and policies. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Ethnic diversity and value sharing: A longitudinal social network perspective on interactive group processes.

PubMed

Meeussen, Loes; Agneessens, Filip; Delvaux, Ellen; Phalet, Karen

2018-04-01

People often collaborate in groups that are increasingly diverse. As research predominantly investigated effects of diversity, the processes behind these effects remain understudied. We follow recent research that shows creating shared values is important for group functioning but seems hindered in high diversity groups - and use longitudinal social network analyses to study two interpersonal processes behind value sharing: creating relations between members or 'social bonding' (network tie formation and homophily) and sharing values - potentially through these relationships - or 'social norming' (network convergence and influence). We investigate these processes in small interactive groups with low and high ethnic diversity as they collaborate over time. In both low and high diversity groups, members showed social bonding and this creation of relations between members was not organized along ethnic lines. Low diversity groups also showed social norming: Members adjusted their relational values to others they liked and achievement values converged regardless of liking. In high diversity groups, however, there was no evidence for social norming. Thus, ethnic diversity seems to especially affect processes of social norming in groups, suggesting that targeted interventions should focus on facilitating social norming to stimulate value sharing in high diversity groups. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Modality effects in Second Life: the mediating role of social presence and the moderating role of product involvement.

PubMed

Jin, Seung-A Annie

2009-12-01

The rapid growth of virtual worlds is one of the most recent Internet trends. Some distinguishing features of virtual environments include the employment of avatars and multimodal communication among avatars. This study examined the effects of the modality (text vs. audio) of message presentation on people's evaluation of spokes-avatar credibility and the informational value of promotional messages in avatar-based advertising inside 3D virtual environments. An experiment was conducted in the virtual Apple retail store inside Second Life, the most popular and fastest growing virtual world. The author designed a two-group (textual advertisement vs. auditory advertisement) comparison experiment by manipulating the modality of conveying advertisement messages. The author also created a spokes-avatar that represents a real-life organization (Apple) and presents promotional messages about its innovative product, the iPhone. Data analyses showed that (a) textual modality (vs. auditory modality) resulted in greater source expertise, informational value of the advertisement message, and social presence; and that (b) high product involvement (vs. low product involvement) resulted in a more positive attitude toward the product, higher buying intention, and a higher level of perceived interactivity. In addition to the main effects of product involvement and modality, results showed significant interaction between involvement and modality. Modality effects were stronger for people with low product involvement than for those with high product involvement, thus confirming the moderating effects of product involvement. Results of a path analysis also showed that social presence mediated the effects of modality on the perceived informational value of the advertisement message.

Social cues and ideology.

PubMed

Mansell, Jordan

2018-01-01

Research shows that individuals with liberal and conservative ideological orientations display different value positions concerning the acceptance of social change and inequality. Research also links the expression of different values to a number of biological factors, including heredity. In light of these biological influences, I investigate whether differences in social values associated with liberal and conservative ideologies reflect alternative strategies to maximize returns from social interactions. Using an American sample of Democrats and Republicans, I test whether information about shared and unshared social values in the form of implicit social attitudes have a disproportionate effect on the willingness of Democrats and Republicans to trust an anonymous social partner. I find evidence that knowledge of shared values significantly increases levels of trust among Democrats but not Republicans. I further find that knowledge of unshared values significantly decreases trust among Republicans but not Democrats. These findings are consistent with studies indicating that differences in ideological orientation are linked to differences in cognition and decision-making.

The importance of economic, social and cultural capital in understanding health inequalities: using a Bourdieu-based approach in research on physical and mental health perceptions.

PubMed

Pinxten, Wouter; Lievens, John

2014-09-01

In this article we adopt a Bourdieu-based approach to study social inequalities in perceptions of mental and physical health. Most research takes into account the impact of economic or social capital on health inequalities. Bourdieu, however, distinguishes between three forms of capital that can determine peoples' social position: economic, social and cultural capital. Health research examining the effects of cultural capital is scarce. By simultaneously considering and modelling indicators of each of Bourdieu's forms of capital, we further the understanding of the dynamics of health inequalities. Using data from a large-scale representative survey (N = 1825) in Flanders, Belgium, we find that each of the forms of capital has a net effect on perceptions of physical and mental health, which persists after controlling for the other forms of capital and for the effects of other correlates of perceived health. The only exception is that the cultural capital indicators are not related to mental health. These results confirm the value of a Bourdieu-based approach and indicate the need to consider economic, social and cultural capital to obtain a better understanding of social inequality in health. © 2014 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2014 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Patients' perceived level of social isolation affects the prognosis of low back pain.

PubMed

Oliveira, V C; Ferreira, M L; Morso, L; Albert, H B; Refshauge, K M; Ferreira, P H

2015-04-01

Perceived social isolation is prevalent among patients with low back pain (LBP) and could be a potential prognostic factor for clinical outcomes following an episode of LBP. A secondary analysis of an original prospective cohort study, which investigated the validity of the Danish version of the STarT Back Screening Tool (STarT), investigated whether social isolation predicts the clinical outcomes of disability, anxiety, depression and pain catastrophizing in people with LBP. Patients with LBP of any duration (N = 204) from Middelfart, Denmark, were included. Social isolation was measured at baseline using the friendship scale (score ranges from 0 to 24, with lower values meaning higher perceived social isolation), and outcomes were measured at baseline and at 6-month follow-up. Regression models investigated whether social isolation at baseline predicted the outcomes at 6-month follow-up. Some level of social isolation was reported by 39.2% of the participants (n = 80) with 5.9% (n = 12) being very socially isolated. One-point difference on social isolation predicted one point on a 100-point disability scale (adjusted unstandardized coefficient: -0.91; 95% confidence interval (CI): -1.56 to -0.26). Social isolation predicted anxiety; however, a change of one point on the social isolation scale represents a difference of only 0.08 points on a 22-point scale in anxiety (95% CI: 0.01-0.15) and is unlikely to denote clinical importance. Social isolation did not predict pain catastrophizing or depression. Patients' perceived social isolation predicts disability related to LBP. Further understanding of the role of social isolation in LBP is warranted. © 2014 European Pain Federation - EFIC®

How Are African Americans Currently Represented in Various Social Work Venues?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Briggs, Harold E.; Holosko, Michael J.; Banks, Leon; Huggins-Hoyt, Kimberly Y.; Parker, Jessica

2018-01-01

Purpose: This study explored how African Americans are currently represented in social work journals, research, and schools. Method: Journal publication content and editorship, research methods and designs, and school mission statements and course titles were examined. Results: Only 14% of publications in the top 5 social work journals targeted…

20 CFR 404.2040a - Compensation for qualified organizations serving as representative payees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

..., charitable or social welfare purposes, which is tax exempt under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code... serving as representative payees. 404.2040a Section 404.2040a Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY... responsibilities or whose mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or health care-related...

20 CFR 404.2040a - Compensation for qualified organizations serving as representative payees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

..., charitable or social welfare purposes, which is tax exempt under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code... serving as representative payees. 404.2040a Section 404.2040a Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY... responsibilities or whose mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or health care-related...

20 CFR 404.2040a - Compensation for qualified organizations serving as representative payees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

..., charitable or social welfare purposes, which is tax exempt under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code... serving as representative payees. 404.2040a Section 404.2040a Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY... responsibilities or whose mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or health care-related...

20 CFR 416.640a - Compensation for qualified organizations serving as representative payees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

..., charitable or social welfare purposes, which is tax exempt under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code... serving as representative payees. 416.640a Section 416.640a Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY... responsibilities or whose mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or health care-related...

20 CFR 416.640a - Compensation for qualified organizations serving as representative payees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

..., charitable or social welfare purposes, which is tax exempt under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code... serving as representative payees. 416.640a Section 416.640a Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY... responsibilities or whose mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or health care-related...

20 CFR 416.640a - Compensation for qualified organizations serving as representative payees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

..., charitable or social welfare purposes, which is tax exempt under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code... serving as representative payees. 416.640a Section 416.640a Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY... responsibilities or whose mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or health care-related...

20 CFR 404.2040a - Compensation for qualified organizations serving as representative payees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., charitable or social welfare purposes, which is tax exempt under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code... serving as representative payees. 404.2040a Section 404.2040a Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY... responsibilities or whose mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or health care-related...

20 CFR 416.640a - Compensation for qualified organizations serving as representative payees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., charitable or social welfare purposes, which is tax exempt under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code... serving as representative payees. 416.640a Section 416.640a Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY... responsibilities or whose mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or health care-related...

Suicidal Ideation and Attempts among Sexual Minority Youths Receiving Social Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walls, Eugene N.; Freedenthal, Stacey; Wisneski, Hope

2008-01-01

The increased risk of suicidal ideation and attempts among sexual minority youths have been documented in studies using both convenience samples and representative community samples. However, as most youths do not access social services, these studies do not necessarily represent the sexual minority youths that community-based social workers may…

Social Integration and the Mental Health of Black Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Theda; Joe, Sean; Shields, Joseph; Caldwell, Cleopatra H.

2014-01-01

The influence of family, school, and religious social contexts on the mental health of Black adolescents has been understudied. This study used Durkheim's social integration theory to examine these associations in a nationally representative sample of 1,170 Black adolescents, ages 13-17. Mental health was represented by positive and negative…

The state and health in France.

PubMed

Steudler, F

1986-01-01

The Health Service in France (as indeed must be the case in many other countries) has been affected by a new technical dimension, which now adds its weight to the two main criteria, social and economic, which influence health provision. In the technical domain, new methods in research and treatment have transformed the nature of medical practice, which is more and more prey to disruption at the sudden appearance of ever more complex technologies. Medical treatment can be said to have become fragmented in some sense, and the process of division of labour within medicine to have undergone considerable development. As a result of these modifications, but also because of changes in society as a whole (the ageing of the population, altered needs and expectations), the amounts spent on health provision are growing at a higher rate than the Gross Domestic Product. This is leading the participants who control and finance the system (the State, Social Security) to think in terms of selectivity and efficiency and the medical profession itself to be willing to consider the economic implications of its activities. Moreover, the Health Service is highly valued by public opinion, as shown by a number of polls. It is a major social priority for the population, represented by the health insurance organizations whose function is to make use of their funds, raised by obligatory contributions, to strive to ensure equal access for all to the most advanced treatments and techniques. It can be shown that the evolution of the Health Service has been shaped by three differing types of underlying logic: the professional (because the technical side is chiefly represented by the professionals who personify the scientific and technical aspects of health problems), the social and the economic. Until about 1968, the social and professional rationales prevailed. From then until the change in political majority that culminated in the arrival in power of the left in May 1981, economic criteria outweighted social, and the autonomy of the professionals was strongly curtailed. Finally, in the current phase, social factors tend to have priority over economic, though without their importance being overlooked, and there is an effort to group the professionals around projects aimed at fulfilling social needs and aspirations.

An exploratory statistical approach to depression pattern identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Qing Yi; Griffiths, Frances; Parsons, Nick; Gunn, Jane

2013-02-01

Depression is a complex phenomenon thought to be due to the interaction of biological, psychological and social factors. Currently depression assessment uses self-reported depressive symptoms but this is limited in the degree to which it can characterise the different expressions of depression emerging from the complex causal pathways that are thought to underlie depression. In this study, we aimed to represent the different patterns of depression with pattern values unique to each individual, where each value combines all the available information about an individual’s depression. We considered the depressed individual as a subsystem of an open complex system, proposed Generalized Information Entropy (GIE) to represent the general characteristics of information entropy of the system, and then implemented Maximum Entropy Estimates to derive equations for depression patterns. We also introduced a numerical simulation method to process the depression related data obtained by the Diamond Cohort Study which has been underway in Australia since 2005 involving 789 people. Unlike traditional assessment, we obtained a unique value for each depressed individual which gives an overall assessment of the depression pattern. Our work provides a novel way to visualise and quantitatively measure the depression pattern of the depressed individual which could be used for pattern categorisation. This may have potential for tailoring health interventions to depressed individuals to maximize health benefit.

Teaching for Social Values in Social Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunfee, Maxine; Crump, Claudia

A guide for teaching values in social studies takes a positive stand with regard to the importance of values education in the elementary school based on the belief that many personal and societal problems are the results of unresolved value conflicts. It is hypothesized that children who have continuing experiences in value identification,…

Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying value-based decision-making: from core values to economic value

PubMed Central

Brosch, Tobias; Sander, David

2013-01-01

Value plays a central role in practically every aspect of human life that requires a decision: whether we choose between different consumer goods, whether we decide which person we marry or which political candidate gets our vote, we choose the option that has more value to us. Over the last decade, neuroeconomic research has mapped the neural substrates of economic value, revealing that activation in brain regions such as ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), ventral striatum or posterior cingulate cortex reflects how much an individual values an option and which of several options he/she will choose. However, while great progress has been made exploring the mechanisms underlying concrete decisions, neuroeconomic research has been less concerned with the questions of why people value what they value, and why different people value different things. Social psychologists and sociologists have long been interested in core values, motivational constructs that are intrinsically linked to the self-schema and are used to guide actions and decisions across different situations and different time points. Core value may thus be an important determinant of individual differences in economic value computation and decision-making. Based on a review of recent neuroimaging studies investigating the neural representation of core values and their interactions with neural systems representing economic value, we outline a common framework that integrates the core value concept and neuroeconomic research on value-based decision-making. PMID:23898252

Social security politics: ideology and reform.

PubMed

Svihula, Judie; Estes, Carroll L

2007-03-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the distribution of dominant values, actors, and ideological advocacy coalitions influencing the Social Security debate across two presidential administrations. Through content and cluster analyses, we analyzed federal legislative hearing testimonies on Social Security reform spanning 11 years. Witnesses consistently expressed six dominant values: (a) advancing the market, (b) self-interest, (c) generational equity, (d) belief in market activity, (e) recommendations for market solutions, and (f) favoring the replacement of Social Security with private accounts. We identified three advocacy coalitions: conservative, progressive, and nonaligned. Conservatives dominated the hearings and were more consistent in their expression of market values when compared to progressives, who expressed social contract values less frequently. Congressional Democrats were inconsistent in upholding Social Security's social contract values. The distribution of testimonies paralleled historical, political, and economic events. Our research indicates that one can interpret social policies as well as policy options as sets of values, and these as ideological models. We anticipate that the coherence on one political ideological view (market) and the relative lack of consistency in another (social contract) will be highly consequential for the future of Social Security, U.S. politics, and the public.

With you or against you: Social orientation dependent learning signals guide actions made for others

PubMed Central

Christopoulos, George I.; King-Casas, Brooks

2014-01-01

In social environments, it is crucial that decision-makers take account of the impact of their actions not only for oneself, but also on other social agents. Previous work has identified neural signals in the striatum encoding value-based prediction errors for outcomes to oneself; also, recent work suggests neural activity in prefrontal cortex may similarly encode value-based prediction errors related to outcomes to others. However, prior work also indicates that social valuations are not isomorphic, with social value orientations of decision-makers ranging on a cooperative to competitive continuum; this variation has not been examined within social learning environments. Here, we combine a computational model of learning with functional neuroimaging to examine how individual differences in orientation impact neural mechanisms underlying ‘other-value’ learning. Across four experimental conditions, reinforcement learning signals for other-value were identified in medial prefrontal cortex, and were distinct from self-value learning signals identified in striatum. Critically, the magnitude and direction of the other-value learning signal depended strongly on an individual’s cooperative or competitive orientation towards others. These data indicate that social decisions are guided by a social orientation-dependent learning system that is computationally similar but anatomically distinct from self-value learning. The sensitivity of the medial prefrontal learning signal to social preferences suggests a mechanism linking such preferences to biases in social actions and highlights the importance of incorporating heterogeneous social predispositions in neurocomputational models of social behavior. PMID:25224998

How shared preferences in music create bonds between people: values as the missing link.

PubMed

Boer, Diana; Fischer, Ronald; Strack, Micha; Bond, Michael H; Lo, Eva; Lam, Jason

2011-09-01

How can shared music preferences create social bonds between people? A process model is developed in which music preferences as value-expressive attitudes create social bonds via conveyed value similarity. The musical bonding model links two research streams: (a) music preferences as indicators of similarity in value orientations and (b) similarity in value orientations leading to social attraction. Two laboratory experiments and one dyadic field study demonstrated that music can create interpersonal bonds between young people because music preferences can be cues for similar or dissimilar value orientations, with similarity in values then contributing to social attraction. One study tested and ruled out an alternative explanation (via personality similarity), illuminating the differential impact of perceived value similarity versus personality similarity on social attraction. Value similarity is the missing link in explaining the musical bonding phenomenon, which seems to hold for Western and non-Western samples and in experimental and natural settings.

Social Value and Adult Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamb, Penny

2011-01-01

An examination of the current government policy discourse on social value and the capturing of social impact leads immediately into the centre of the fast-moving and transforming public-sector reform agenda. The thinking around social value takes an individual to the heart of contracting, localism, the relationship between the public sector and…

[Governance of primary health-care-based health-care organization].

PubMed

Báscolo, Ernesto

2010-01-01

An analytical framework was developed for explaining the conditions for the effectiveness of different strategies promoting integrated primary health-care (PHC) service-based systems in Latin-America. Different modes of governance (clan, incentives and hierarchy) were characterised from a political economics viewpoint for representing alternative forms of regulation promoting innovation in health-service-providing organisations. The necessary conditions for guaranteeing the modes of governance's effectiveness are presented, as are their implications in terms of posts in play. The institutional construction of an integrated health system is interpreted as being a product of a social process in which different modes of governance are combined, operating with different ways of resolving normative aspects for regulating service provision (with the hierarchical mode), resource distribution (with the incentives mode) and on the social values legitimising such process (with the clan mode).

[Gender aspects of socioeconomic and psychosocial risk factors of cardiovascular diseases].

PubMed

Dorner, Thomas; Kiefer, Ingrid; Kunze, Michael; Rieder, Anita

2004-09-01

Socioeconomic and psychosocial factors exert influence on health as well as the development, the progression and the prevention of diseases. Social factors regarding cardiovascular diseases have been widely researched. Whilst characteristics of classic type A behaviour increase cardiovascular risk among men, characteristics of type B behaviour represent a protective value, especially among women. Depression--a disease that is particularly prevalent among women and is associated with socioeconomic factors--negatively influences the development of cardiovascular diseases, triggers cardiovascular events and influences rehabilitation. Lifestyle factors, which are positively or negatively correlated with cardiovascular disease, show a gender-specific prevalence and are related to psychosocial factors. More women than men report healthy nutrition, whereas more men report partaking in physical exercise. Obesity is--depending on the occupational group and the social level--more prevalent among women compared to men.

Dual Character Concepts in Social Cognition: Commitments and the Normative Dimension of Conceptual Representation.

PubMed

Del Pinal, Guillermo; Reuter, Kevin

2017-04-01

The concepts expressed by social role terms such as artist and scientist are unique in that they seem to allow two independent criteria for categorization, one of which is inherently normative (Knobe, Prasada, & Newman, 2013). This study presents and tests an account of the content and structure of the normative dimension of these "dual character concepts." Experiment 1 suggests that the normative dimension of a social role concept represents the commitment to fulfill the idealized basic function associated with the role. Background information can affect which basic function is associated with each social role. However, Experiment 2 indicates that the normative dimension always represents the relevant commitment as an end in itself. We argue that social role concepts represent the commitments to basic functions because that information is crucial to predict the future social roles and role-dependent behavior of others. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Developing an explicit strategy towards social responsibility in the NHS: a case for including NHS managers in this strategy.

PubMed

Merali, Faruk

2006-01-01

To explore the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the UK National Health Service (NHS) and to examine how it may be developed to positively influence the psyche, behaviour and performance of NHS managers. Primary research based upon semi-structured individual face to face interviews with 20 NHS managers. Theoretical frameworks and concepts relating to organisational culture and CSR are drawn upon to discuss the findings. The NHS managers see themselves as being driven by altruistic core values. However, they feel that the public does not believe that they share the altruistic NHS value system. The study is based on a relatively small sample of NHS managers working exclusively in London and may not necessarily represent the views of managers either London-wide or nation-wide. It is suggested that an explicit recognition by the NHS of the socially responsible commitment of its managers within its CSR strategy would help challenge the existing negative public image of NHS managers and in turn improve the managers' self esteem and morale. This paper addresses the relative lacunae in research relating to public sector organisations (such as the NHS) explicitly including the role and commitment of its staff within the way it publicises its CSR strategy. This paper would be of interest to a wide readership including public sector and NHS policy formulators, NHS practitioners, academics and students.

Global aspirations, local realities: the role of social science research in controlling neglected tropical diseases.

PubMed

Bardosh, Kevin

2014-01-01

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are both drivers and manifestations of poverty and social inequality. Increased advocacy efforts since the mid-2000s have led to ambitious new control and elimination targets set for 2020 by the World Health Organisation. While these global aspirations represent significant policy momentum, there are multifaceted challenges in controlling infectious diseases in resource-poor local contexts that need to be acknowledged, understood and engaged. However a number of recent publications have emphasised the "neglected" status of applied social science research on NTDs. In light of the 2020 targets, this paper explores the social science/NTD literature and unpacks some of the ways in which social inquiry can help support effective and sustainable interventions. Five priority areas are discussed, including on policy processes, health systems capacity, compliance and resistance to interventions, education and behaviour change, and community participation. The paper shows that despite the multifaceted value of having anthropological and sociological perspectives integrated into NTD programmes, contemporary efforts underutilise this potential. This is reflective of the dominance of top-down information flows and technocratic approaches in global health. To counter this tendency, social research needs to be more than an afterthought; integrating social inquiry into the planning, monitoring and evaluating process will help ensure that flexibility and adaptability to local realities are built into interventions. More emphasis on social science perspectives can also help link NTD control to broader social determinants of health, especially important given the major social and economic inequalities that continue to underpin transmission in endemic countries.

Effectiveness of workplace social distancing measures in reducing influenza transmission: a systematic review.

PubMed

Ahmed, Faruque; Zviedrite, Nicole; Uzicanin, Amra

2018-04-18

Social distancing is one of the community mitigation measures that may be recommended during influenza pandemics. Social distancing can reduce virus transmission by increasing physical distance or reducing frequency of congregation in socially dense community settings, such as schools or workplaces. We conducted a systematic review to assess the evidence that social distancing in non-healthcare workplaces reduces or slows influenza transmission. Electronic searches were conducted using MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, CINAHL, NIOSHTIC-2, and EconLit to identify studies published in English from January 1, 2000, through May 3, 2017. Data extraction was done by two reviewers independently. A narrative synthesis was performed. Fifteen studies, representing 12 modeling and three epidemiological, met the eligibility criteria. The epidemiological studies showed that social distancing was associated with a reduction in influenza-like illness and seroconversion to 2009 influenza A (H1N1). However, the overall risk of bias in the epidemiological studies was serious. The modeling studies estimated that workplace social distancing measures alone produced a median reduction of 23% in the cumulative influenza attack rate in the general population. It also delayed and reduced the peak influenza attack rate. The reduction in the cumulative attack rate was more pronounced when workplace social distancing was combined with other nonpharmaceutical or pharmaceutical interventions. However, the effectiveness was estimated to decline with higher basic reproduction number values, delayed triggering of workplace social distancing, or lower compliance. Modeling studies support social distancing in non-healthcare workplaces, but there is a paucity of well-designed epidemiological studies. PROSPERO registration # CRD42017065310.

Finding Value in Human Relations

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

equality is complimented by the ideal objective of social justice. Equality cannot be achieved without Finding Value in Human, 3 social justice and... social justice cannot be achieved without equality , but equality is pursued differently than social justice. The third value is regulatory fit as the...the ideal objectives of nondiscrimination, equality , and social justice. For example, diversity information is more likely to “feel right” to EOA

Re-thinking children’s agency in extreme hardship: Zimbabwean children’s draw-and-write about their HIV-affected peers

PubMed Central

Campbell, Catherine; Andersen, Louise; Mutsikiwa, Alice; Madanhire, Claudius; Skovdal, Morten; Nyamukapa, Constance; Gregson, Simon

2016-01-01

We compare two analyses of the same ‘draw-and-write’ exercises in which 128 Zimbabwean children represented their HIV-affected peers. The first, informed by the ‘New Social Studies of Childhood’, easily identified examples of independent reflection and action by children. The second, informed by Sen’s understandings of agency, drew attention to the negative consequences of many of the choices available to children, and the contextual limits on outcomes children themselves would value: the support of caring adults, adequate food, and opportunities to advance their health and safety. Conceptualisations of agency need to take greater account of children’s own accounts of outcomes they value, rather than identifying agency in any form of independent reflection and action per se. PMID:25463918

Re-thinking children's agency in extreme hardship: Zimbabwean children's draw-and-write about their HIV-affected peers.

PubMed

Campbell, Catherine; Andersen, Louise; Mutsikiwa, Alice; Madanhire, Claudius; Skovdal, Morten; Nyamukapa, Constance; Gregson, Simon

2015-01-01

We compare two analyses of the same 'draw-and-write' exercises in which 128 Zimbabwean children represented their HIV-affected peers. The first, informed by the 'New Social Studies of Childhood', easily identified examples of independent reflection and action by children. The second, informed by Sen's understandings of agency, drew attention to the negative consequences of many of the choices available to children, and the contextual limits on outcomes children themselves would value: the support of caring adults, adequate food, and opportunities to advance their health and safety. Conceptualisations of agency need to take greater account of children's own accounts of outcomes they value, rather than identifying agency in any form of independent reflection and action per se. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The Economic and Social Value of an Image Exchange Network: A Case for the Cloud.

PubMed

Mayo, Ray Cody; Pearson, Kathryn L; Avrin, David E; Leung, Jessica W T

2017-01-01

As the health care environment continually changes, radiologists look to the ACR's Imaging 3.0 ® initiative to guide the search for value. By leveraging new technology, a cloud-based image exchange network could provide secure universal access to prior images, which were previously siloed, to facilitate accurate interpretation, improved outcomes, and reduced costs. The breast imaging department represents a viable starting point given the robust data supporting the benefit of access to prior imaging studies, existing infrastructure for image sharing, and the current workflow reliance on prior images. This concept is scalable not only to the remainder of the radiology department but also to the broader medical record. Copyright © 2016 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Controversies on the values for health instruments of Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Hou, Zheng-Kun; Chang, Xiang; Liu, Feng-Bin; Xie, Nelson; Guo, Nicole; Chen, Xin-Lin

2017-02-01

Currently, there are increasing debates on the necessity of health instruments in Chinese medicine (CM) emerging in China. This study aims to reevaluate its status and values. Analyzing the causes, limits, advantages, and properties characters of health instruments in CM, it is found that weak fundamental research, incomplete self-awareness, and complicated social factors are the primary causes of debates. A comprehensive analysis showed health instruments in CM have health evaluation benefits to people from a dominant Chinese culture, meet the requirements of cultural background, and bring long-term value to Chinese instrument researches. However, its values and status should be treated differently depending on various subtypes. Although little theoretical and practical evidences proved that patients-reported health instruments in CM should be proposed independently, the doctors- and nurses-reported questionnaires are necessary. With this in mind, the study group proposes the 'Chinese cultural instruments (CCIs)' and 'health-related CCIs'. The latter one aims to evaluate the health status of people in a dominant Chinese culture. The CCIs theory represents Chinese instrument researches on a larger regional and higher level, and resolves the debates on instruments between CM and Western medicine in China. Health instruments in CM bring more scientific and social benefits for Chinese instrument researches. However, it does not include cultural demands, and lacks scientific significance. CCIs have all its virtues, and add solutions to the latter's theory bottleneck and scientific debates, thus bringing increased benefits to clinical assessment in complementary and alternative medicine researches.

Hispanic valuation of the EQ-5D health states: a social value set for Latin Americans.

PubMed

Zarate, Victor; Kind, Paul; Chuang, Ling-Hsiang

2008-12-01

Cost-effectiveness analysis has been recommended by national health agencies worldwide. In the United Kingdom, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence supports the use of generic health-related quality of life instruments such as EuroQol EQ-5D when quality-adjusted life-years are used to measure health benefits. Despite the urgent need for appropriate methodologies to improve the use of scarce resources in Latin American countries, little is known about how health is valued. A national population survey was conducted in the United States in 2002, based on a sample of 1603 non-Hispanic nonblacks and 1115 Hispanics. Participants provided time trade-off utilities for a subset of 42 EQ-5D health states. Hispanic respondents were grouped according to their language preferences (Spanish or English). Mean utilities were compared for each health state. A random-effects model was used to determine whether real population differences exist after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. A population value set for all 243 EQ-5D health states was developed using only the data from Spanish-speaking Hispanics. Mean valuations differed slightly between non-Hispanic nonblacks and English-speaking Hispanics. Spanish-speaking Hispanics, however, tended to give higher valuations than non-Hispanic nonblacks (P < 0.05) corresponding to an average of 0.034 point. A regression model was developed for Spanish-speaking Hispanics with a mean absolute error of 0.031. Values estimated using this model show marked differences when compared with corresponding values estimated using the UK (N3) and US (D1) models. The availability of a Hispanic model for EQ-5D valuations represents a significant new option for decision-makers, providing a set of social preference weights for use in Latin American countries that presently lack their own domestic value set.

Social Desirability Scale Values of Locus of Control Items

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kestenbaum, Joel M.

1976-01-01

Subjects rated each item in Rotter's I-E Scale for its social desirability value. Social desirability scale values (SDSV) of paired items were compared with one another. Results indicate that paired items are not similar in their SDSV, thus enabling subjects to respond on the basis of social desirability. (Author/DEP)

Lateralized interactive social content and valence processing within the human amygdala

PubMed Central

Vrtička, Pascal; Sander, David; Vuilleumier, Patrik

2013-01-01

In the past, the amygdala has generally been conceptualized as a fear-processing module. Recently, however, it has been proposed to respond to all stimuli that are relevant with respect to the current needs, goals, and values of an individual. This raises the question of whether the human amygdala may differentiate between separate kinds of relevance. A distinction between emotional (vs. neutral) and social (vs. non-social) relevance is supported by previous studies showing that the human amygdala preferentially responds to both emotionally and socially significant information, and these factors might even display interactive encoding properties. However, no investigation has yet probed a full 2 (positive vs. negative valence) × 2 (social vs. non-social content) processing pattern, with neutral images as an additional baseline. Applying such an extended orthogonal factorial design, our fMRI study demonstrates that the human amygdala is (1) more strongly activated for neutral social vs. non-social information, (2) activated at a similar level when viewing social positive or negative images, but (3) displays a valence effect (negative vs. positive) for non-social images. In addition, this encoding pattern is not influenced by cognitive or behavioral emotion regulation mechanisms, and displays a hemispheric lateralization with more pronounced effects on the right side. Finally, the same valence × social content interaction was found in three additional cortical regions, namely the right fusiform gyrus, right anterior superior temporal gyrus, and medial orbitofrontal cortex. Overall, these findings suggest that valence and social content processing represent distinct kinds of relevance that interact within the human amygdala as well as in a more extensive cortical network, likely subserving a key role in relevance detection. PMID:23346054

Neural evidence of motivational conflict between social values.

PubMed

Leszkowicz, Emilia; Linden, David E J; Maio, Gregory R; Ihssen, Niklas

2017-10-01

Motivational interdependence is an organizing principle in Schwartz's circumplex model of social values, which has received abundant cross-cultural support. We used fMRI to test whether motivational relations between social values predict different brain responses in a situation of choice between values. We hypothesized that differences in brain responses would become evident when the more important value had to be selected in pairs of congruent (e.g., wealth and success) as opposed to incongruent (e.g., curiosity and stability) values as they are described in Schwartz's model, because the former serve mutually facilitating motives, whereas the latter serve mutually inhibiting motives. Consistent with the model, choosing between congruent values led to longer response times and more activation in conflict-related brain regions (e.g., the supplementary motor area, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) than selecting between incongruent values. These results provide novel neural evidence supporting the circumplex model's predictions about motivational interdependence between social values. In particular, our results show that the neural networks underlying social values are organized in a way that allows activation patterns related to motivational similarity between congruent values to be dissociated from those related to incongruent values.

Social place-cells in the bat hippocampus.

PubMed

Omer, David B; Maimon, Shir R; Las, Liora; Ulanovsky, Nachum

2018-01-12

Social animals have to know the spatial positions of conspecifics. However, it is unknown how the position of others is represented in the brain. We designed a spatial observational-learning task, in which an observer bat mimicked a demonstrator bat while we recorded hippocampal dorsal-CA1 neurons from the observer bat. A neuronal subpopulation represented the position of the other bat, in allocentric coordinates. About half of these "social place-cells" represented also the observer's own position-that is, were place cells. The representation of the demonstrator bat did not reflect self-movement or trajectory planning by the observer. Some neurons represented also the position of inanimate moving objects; however, their representation differed from the representation of the demonstrator bat. This suggests a role for hippocampal CA1 neurons in social-spatial cognition. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Backtest and novelty behavior of female and castrated male piglets, with diverging social breeding values for growth.

PubMed

Reimert, I; Rodenburg, T B; Ursinus, W W; Duijvesteijn, N; Camerlink, I; Kemp, B; Bolhuis, J E

2013-10-01

Pigs housed together in a group influence each other's growth. Part of this effect is genetic and can be represented in a social breeding value. It is unknown, however, which traits are associated with social breeding values. The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate whether personality and response to novelty could be associated with social breeding values for growth in piglets. Female and castrated male piglets from 80 litters, with either an estimated relative positive or negative social breeding value (+SBV or -SBV) for growth, were individually tested in a backtest and novel environment test, and group-wise in a novel object (i.e., a feeder with feed) test and human approach test. All tests were performed during the suckling period. No differences between +SBV and -SBV piglets were found for the frequency and latency of struggling and vocalizing in the backtest (at least, P > 0.30). In the novel object test, piglets with a +SBV for growth touched the feeder faster than piglets with -SBV for growth (P = 0.01) and were more frequently present near the person in the human approach test (P < 0.01). No behavioral differences between +SBV and -SBV piglets were found in the novel environment test (at least, P > 0.40), but piglets that struggled more in the backtest walked more in this test (P = 0.02). Behavior was affected by gender in each test. Female piglets were faster than castrated male piglets to start struggling in the backtest (P = 0.047). In the novel object test, females were faster than males to touch the feeder and sample the feed. In the human approach test, they were also faster than male piglets to touch a person (all, P < 0.001). Females were also more frequently present near the feeder (P < 0.001) and person (P = 0.03). In the novel environment test, female piglets explored the floor more (P = 0.046), produced less low- (P = 0.04) and high-pitched vocalizations (P = 0.02), and defecated (P = 0.08) and urinated less than male piglets (P < 0.01). It was concluded that +SBV and -SBV piglets do not differ in their response to the backtest, and only subtle differences were found in their response to novelty. More research is warranted to identify the traits underlying SBV for growth in pigs. Moreover, castrated male piglets seemed to react more fearfully to each test than female piglets.

Transmission of cultural values among Mexican-origin parents and their adolescent and emerging adult offspring.

PubMed

Perez-Brena, Norma J; Updegraff, Kimberly A; Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J

2015-06-01

The integration of the U.S. and Mexican culture is an important process associated with Mexican-origin youths' adjustment and family dynamics. The current study examined the reciprocal associations in parents' and two offspring's cultural values (i.e., familism and respect) in 246 Mexican-origin families. Overall, mothers' values were associated with increases in youths' values 5 years later. In contrast, youths' familism values were associated with increases in fathers' familism values 5 years later. In addition, developmental differences emerged where parent-to-offspring effects were more consistent for youth transitioning from early to late adolescence than for youth transitioning from middle adolescence to emerging adulthood. Finally, moderation by immigrant status revealed a youth-to-parent effect for mother-youth immigrant dyads, but not for dyads where youth were U.S.-raised. Our findings highlight the reciprocal nature of parent-youth value socialization and provide a nuanced understanding of these processes through the consideration of familism and respect values. As Mexican-origin youth represent a large and rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population, research that advances our understanding of how these youth develop values that foster family cohesion and support is crucial. © 2014 Family Process Institute.

Measuring salient food attitudes and food-related values. An elaborated, conflicting and interdependent system.

PubMed

Hauser, Mirjam; Jonas, Klaus; Riemann, Rainer

2011-10-01

Consumer food choice behaviour in post-industrial countries is complex and influenced by a multitude of interacting variables. This study looked at the antecedents of behaviour and examined salient food-related values and attitudes. To discover personal meanings and patterns of everyday food choices across different situations we used a qualitative approach in the form of repertory grid interviews. An analysis of the personal constructs elicited from a representative sample of 100 Swiss consumers revealed elaborated value systems. The food-related values can be summarised as: authenticity/naturalness, conviviality, health, quality/indulgence, convenience, and price. The salience of these values and their negatively evaluated counterparts differed for various social eating situations and product categories. Consumers' personal values also differed significantly from their perception of current trends in eating culture. In every-day food choices interdependent food-related values compete and are thus a possible cause of ambivalence and conflicts. The findings offer explanations of discrepancies between values/attitudes and behaviour that may be due to situational constraints and habits. Implications for companies include the need for strategic realignment to regain consumers' trust by providing comprehensive value-congruent food solutions that also consider health and ethical criteria. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simple yet Complicated: U.S. History Represented in South Korean History Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

An, Sohyun; Suh, Yonghee

2013-01-01

Framing history/social studies textbooks as a social construction designed to create a public memory of a national history and history of the Other, we investigated how U.S. history is represented in South Korea's social studies textbooks and what images and ideas of the United States are encouraged for South Korean students to take. To answer…

Cross-Informant Agreement of Children's Social-Emotional Skills: An Investigation of Ratings by Teachers, Parents, and Students from a Nationally Representative Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gresham, Frank M.; Elliott, Stephen N.; Metallo, Sarah; Byrd, Shelby; Wilson, Elizabeth; Cassidy, Kaitlan

2018-01-01

This study examines the agreement across informant pairs of teachers, parents, and students regarding the students' social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies. Two student subsamples representative of the social skills improvement system (SSIS) SEL edition rating forms national standardization sample were examined: first, 168 students (3rd to…

Measurement, "scriptural economies," and social justice: governing HIV/AIDS treatments by numbers in a fragile state, the Central African Republic (CAR).

PubMed

David, Pierre-Marie

2017-04-01

Fragile states have been raising increasing concern among donors since the mid-2000s. The policies of the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis (GF) have not excluded fragile states, and this source has provided financing for these countries according to standardized procedures. They represent interesting cases for exploring the meaning and role of measurement in a globalized context. Measurement in the field of HIV/AIDS and its treatment has given rise to a private outsourcing of expertise and auditing, thereby creating a new form of value based on the social process of registration and the creation of realities produced by the intervention itself. These "scriptural economies" must be questioned in terms of the production of knowledge, but also in terms of social justice. Governing HIV/AIDS treatments by numbers in a fragile state is explored in this article through the experience of the Central African Republic (CAR) in terms of epidemiology and access to antiretroviral drugs. The unexpected effects of performance-based programs in this context underline the need for global health governance to be re-embedded into a social justice framework. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Analyzing social experiments as implemented: A reexamination of the evidence from the HighScope Perry Preschool Program

PubMed Central

Heckman, James; Moon, Seong Hyeok; Pinto, Rodrigo; Savelyev, Peter; Yavitz, Adam

2012-01-01

Social experiments are powerful sources of information about the effectiveness of interventions. In practice, initial randomization plans are almost always compromised. Multiple hypotheses are frequently tested. “Significant” effects are often reported with p-values that do not account for preliminary screening from a large candidate pool of possible effects. This paper develops tools for analyzing data from experiments as they are actually implemented. We apply these tools to analyze the influential HighScope Perry Preschool Program. The Perry program was a social experiment that provided preschool education and home visits to disadvantaged children during their preschool years. It was evaluated by the method of random assignment. Both treatments and controls have been followed from age 3 through age 40. Previous analyses of the Perry data assume that the planned randomization protocol was implemented. In fact, as in many social experiments, the intended randomization protocol was compromised. Accounting for compromised randomization, multiple-hypothesis testing, and small sample sizes, we find statistically significant and economically important program effects for both males and females. We also examine the representativeness of the Perry study. PMID:23255883

Attitudes of Social Studies Teachers toward Value and Values Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Celikkaya, Tekin; Filoglu, Simge

2014-01-01

This research was conducted to determine how social studies teachers define value and "values education" as well as reveal the problems they encountered during the implementation. The participants in this study consisted of 17 social studies teachers from 12 primary schools (selected out of 39 primary schools in the city of Kirsehir…

Transformation to a Market Economy and Changing Social Values in China, Russia, and Eastern Germany

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swader, Christopher Scott

2008-01-01

This thesis investigates the mechanisms driving changes in social values, or those values emphasizing relationships, intimate bonds, and families, in the new market economies of Russia, China, and Eastern Germany. It is hypothesized that tensions between social values and individualism, materialism, and calculative rationality have arisen as a…

The Poet as Creator of Social Values.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez, Sonia

1985-01-01

Discusses the development of social values and the birth of the poet; the first poets and the crystallization of poetic symbols, including Black and White symbols; India as a civilization conquered by poetry; African and African-American poetic resistance to imperialist social values; African combat poetry; and the Black value-setting in the…

Implementing psychophysiology in clinical assessments of adolescent social anxiety: use of rater judgments based on graphical representations of psychophysiology.

PubMed

De Los Reyes, Andres; Augenstein, Tara M; Aldao, Amelia; Thomas, Sarah A; Daruwala, Samantha; Kline, Kathryn; Regan, Timothy

2015-01-01

Social stressor tasks induce adolescents' social distress as indexed by low-cost psychophysiological methods. Unknown is how to incorporate these methods within clinical assessments. Having assessors judge graphical depictions of psychophysiological data may facilitate detections of data patterns that may be difficult to identify using judgments about numerical depictions of psychophysiological data. Specifically, the Chernoff Face method involves graphically representing data using features on the human face (eyes, nose, mouth, and face shape). This method capitalizes on humans' abilities to discern subtle variations in facial features. Using adolescent heart rate norms and Chernoff Faces, we illustrated a method for implementing psychophysiology within clinical assessments of adolescent social anxiety. Twenty-two clinic-referred adolescents completed a social anxiety self-report and provided psychophysiological data using wireless heart rate monitors during a social stressor task. We graphically represented participants' psychophysiological data and normative adolescent heart rates. For each participant, two undergraduate coders made comparative judgments between the dimensions (eyes, nose, mouth, and face shape) of two Chernoff Faces. One Chernoff Face represented a participant's heart rate within a context (baseline, speech preparation, or speech-giving). The second Chernoff Face represented normative heart rate data matched to the participant's age. Using Chernoff Faces, coders reliably and accurately identified contextual variation in participants' heart rate responses to social stress. Further, adolescents' self-reported social anxiety symptoms predicted Chernoff Face judgments, and judgments could be differentiated by social stress context. Our findings have important implications for implementing psychophysiology within clinical assessments of adolescent social anxiety.

Parenting and Adolescents' Values and Behaviour: The Moderating Role of Temperament

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Padilla-Walker, Laura M.; Nelson, Larry J.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of parenting and adolescent fearfulness on adolescents' pro-social values and pro-social and antisocial behaviour. A total of 134 adolescents (M age = 16.22, 72 girls, 62 boys) responded to questions regarding their own fearfulness, pro-social values and pro-social and antisocial behaviour, as…

Discrete but variable structure of animal societies leads to the false perception of a social continuum

PubMed Central

Rubenstein, Dustin R.; Botero, Carlos A.; Lacey, Eileen A.

2016-01-01

Animal societies are typically divided into those in which reproduction within a group is monopolized by a single female versus those in which it is shared among multiple females. It remains controversial, however, whether these two forms of social structure represent distinct evolutionary outcomes or endpoints along a continuum of reproductive options. To address this issue and to determine whether vertebrates and insects exhibit the same patterns of variation in social structure, we examined the demographic and reproductive structures of 293 species of wasps, ants, birds and mammals. Using phylogenetically informed comparative analyses, we found strong evidence indicating that not all reproductive arrangements within social groups are viable in nature and that in societies with multiple reproductives, selection favours instead taxon-specific patterns of decrease in the proportion of breeders as a function of group size. These outcomes suggest that the selective routes to sociality differ depending upon whether monopolization of reproduction by one individual is possible and that variation within and among taxonomic groups may lead to the false perception of a continuum of social structures. Thus, the occurrence of very large societies may require either complete reproductive monopolization (monogyny/singular breeding) or the maintenance of a taxon-specific range of values for the proportional decrease in the number of breeders within a group (polygyny/plural breeding), both of which may reduce reproductive conflict among females. PMID:27293796

Research 2.0: social networking and direct-to-consumer (DTC) genomics.

PubMed

Lee, Sandra Soo-Jin; Crawley, LaVera

2009-01-01

The convergence of increasingly efficient high throughput sequencing technology and ubiquitous Internet use by the public has fueled the proliferation of companies that provide personal genetic information (PGI) direct-to-consumers. Companies such as 23andme (Mountain View, CA) and Navigenics (Foster City, CA) are emblematic of a growing market for PGI that some argue represents a paradigm shift in how the public values this information and incorporates it into how they behave and plan for their futures. This new class of social networking business ventures that market the science of the personal genome illustrates the new trend in collaborative science. In addition to fostering a consumer empowerment movement, it promotes the trend of democratizing information--openly sharing of data with all interested parties, not just the biomedical researcher--for the purposes of pooling data (increasing statistical power) and escalating the innovation process. This target article discusses the need for new approaches to studying DTC genomics using social network analysis to identify the impact of obtaining, sharing, and using PGI. As a locus of biosociality, DTC personal genomics forges social relationships based on beliefs of common genetic susceptibility that links risk, disease, and group identity. Ethical issues related to the reframing of DTC personal genomic consumers as advocates and research subjects and the creation of new social formations around health research may be identified through social network analysis.

Discrete but variable structure of animal societies leads to the false perception of a social continuum.

PubMed

Rubenstein, Dustin R; Botero, Carlos A; Lacey, Eileen A

2016-05-01

Animal societies are typically divided into those in which reproduction within a group is monopolized by a single female versus those in which it is shared among multiple females. It remains controversial, however, whether these two forms of social structure represent distinct evolutionary outcomes or endpoints along a continuum of reproductive options. To address this issue and to determine whether vertebrates and insects exhibit the same patterns of variation in social structure, we examined the demographic and reproductive structures of 293 species of wasps, ants, birds and mammals. Using phylogenetically informed comparative analyses, we found strong evidence indicating that not all reproductive arrangements within social groups are viable in nature and that in societies with multiple reproductives, selection favours instead taxon-specific patterns of decrease in the proportion of breeders as a function of group size. These outcomes suggest that the selective routes to sociality differ depending upon whether monopolization of reproduction by one individual is possible and that variation within and among taxonomic groups may lead to the false perception of a continuum of social structures. Thus, the occurrence of very large societies may require either complete reproductive monopolization (monogyny/singular breeding) or the maintenance of a taxon-specific range of values for the proportional decrease in the number of breeders within a group (polygyny/plural breeding), both of which may reduce reproductive conflict among females.

Self-Concepts and Values Among Hispanic and Mainstream Navy Recruits.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-02-01

used constructs among social scientists, humanists, and the public. Even philosophers deal with values in a special subdivision of their discipline... social science research on values as ethnocentric and they -. . . --s- ~ ~ ’ . -- -2- claim that it tends to label Hispanic values as inferior. Baca...their psycho- social characteristics. Whatley (1976), for example, found significant differences in values between first, second, third and fourth

Does Enjoying Friendship Help or Impede Academic Achievement? Academic and Social Intrinsic Value Profiles Predict Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seo, Eunjin; Lee, You-kyung

2018-01-01

We examine the intrinsic value students placed on schoolwork (i.e. academic intrinsic value) and social relationships (i.e. social intrinsic value). We then look at how these values predict middle and high school achievement. To do this, we came up with four profiles based on cluster analyses of 6,562 South Korean middle school students. The four…

The representation of healthcare end users' perspectives by surrogates in healthcare decisions: a literature review.

PubMed

Shah, Syed Ghulam Sarwar; Farrow, Alexandra; Robinson, Ian

2009-12-01

The representation of end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions requires involvement of their surrogates when the end users, i.e. certain patients, elderly people, children and people with disabilities, are unable to present their views. To review critical issues, and the advantages and disadvantages of involving surrogates in representing end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions. A systematic review of literature published in peer-reviewed journals from 1990 to 2005. Findings show that surrogates are used widely in health care and that they are necessary to represent end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions when the latter are unable to do so themselves. Critical issues in using surrogates include key ethical, social, cultural, legal and medico-technological factors; ascertaining the best interest of end users; potential conflict of interest; possible biased decisions and the burden on surrogates. The key advantage of surrogate involvement in healthcare decisions is their ability to represent end users' needs, values and wishes. The main disadvantages include potential discrepancies between the decisions and conclusions of surrogates and end users; the failure of surrogates to predict end users' preferences accurately and the lack of certainty that useful information will be obtained through the surrogacy process. This systematic review has revealed that the involvement of surrogates is an additional vital way to represent end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions where for a range of reasons their opinions are unable to be effectively ascertained. However, because of the heterogeneity of surrogates and end users, the selection of appropriate surrogates and deploying surrogate decisions require particularly careful consideration of their value in individual cases; thus, subsequent decision-making must be reviewed on a case-to-case basis to seek to ensure that the best interests, needs and wishes of the end user are fully and accurately represented.

“The Big WHY”: Philip Morris’s Failed Search for Corporate Social Value

PubMed Central

Malone, Ruth E.

2012-01-01

Objectives. We examined Philip Morris USA’s exploration of corporate social responsibility practices and principles and its outcome. Methods. We analyzed archival internal tobacco industry documents, generated in 2000 to 2002, related to discussions of corporate social responsibility among a Corporate Responsibility Taskforce and senior management at Philip Morris. Results. In exploring corporate social responsibility, Philip Morris executives sought to identify the company’s social value—its positive contribution to society. Struggling to find an answer, they considered dramatically changing the way the company marketed its products, apologizing for past actions, and committing the company to providing benefits for future generations. These ideas were eventually abandoned. Despite an initial call to distinguish between social and economic value, Philip Morris ultimately equated social value with providing shareholder returns. Conclusions. When even tobacco executives struggle to define their company’s social value, it signals an opening to advocate for endgame scenarios that would encourage supply-side changes appropriate to the scale of the tobacco disease epidemic and consistent with authentic social value. PMID:22897536

The Role of Indian Caste Identity and Caste Inconsistent Norms on Status Representation

PubMed Central

Sankaran, Sindhuja; Sekerdej, Maciek; von Hecker, Ulrich

2017-01-01

The Indian caste system is a complex social structure wherein social roles like one’s profession became ‘hereditary,’ resulting in restricted social mobility and fixed status hierarchies. Furthermore, we argue that the inherent property of caste heightens group identification with one’s caste. Highly identified group members would protect the identity of the group in situations when group norms are violated. In this paper, we were interested in examining the consequence of caste norm violation and how an individual’s status is mentally represented. High caste norms are associated with moral values while the lower caste norms are associated with immorality. We predicted a ‘black sheep effect,’ that is, when high caste individuals’ group identity (caste norm violation condition) is threatened their salient high caste identity would increase, thereby resulting in devaluing the status of their fellow in-group member if the latter is perceived as perpetrator. We presented participants with a social conflict situation of a victim and a perpetrator that is ‘Caste norm consistent’ (Lower caste individual as a perpetrator and higher caste individual as a victim) and vice versa ‘Caste norm inconsistent’ condition (higher caste individual as perpetrator and lower caste individual as a victim). Then, participants had to choose from nine pictorial depictions representing the protagonists in the story on a vertical line, with varying degrees of status distance. Results showed evidence for the black sheep effect and, furthermore, revealed that no other identity (religious, national, and regional) resulted in devaluing the status of fellow in-group member. These results help us understand the ‘black sheep’ effect in the context of moral norms and status representation and are discussed in the framework of the Indian society. PMID:28408896

The Role of Indian Caste Identity and Caste Inconsistent Norms on Status Representation.

PubMed

Sankaran, Sindhuja; Sekerdej, Maciek; von Hecker, Ulrich

2017-01-01

The Indian caste system is a complex social structure wherein social roles like one's profession became 'hereditary,' resulting in restricted social mobility and fixed status hierarchies. Furthermore, we argue that the inherent property of caste heightens group identification with one's caste. Highly identified group members would protect the identity of the group in situations when group norms are violated. In this paper, we were interested in examining the consequence of caste norm violation and how an individual's status is mentally represented. High caste norms are associated with moral values while the lower caste norms are associated with immorality. We predicted a 'black sheep effect,' that is, when high caste individuals' group identity (caste norm violation condition) is threatened their salient high caste identity would increase, thereby resulting in devaluing the status of their fellow in-group member if the latter is perceived as perpetrator. We presented participants with a social conflict situation of a victim and a perpetrator that is ' Caste norm consistent' (Lower caste individual as a perpetrator and higher caste individual as a victim) and vice versa 'Caste norm inconsistent' condition (higher caste individual as perpetrator and lower caste individual as a victim). Then, participants had to choose from nine pictorial depictions representing the protagonists in the story on a vertical line, with varying degrees of status distance. Results showed evidence for the black sheep effect and, furthermore, revealed that no other identity (religious, national, and regional) resulted in devaluing the status of fellow in-group member. These results help us understand the 'black sheep' effect in the context of moral norms and status representation and are discussed in the framework of the Indian society.

Impaired Value Learning for Faces in Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Wang, Quan; DiNicola, Lauren; Heymann, Perrine; Hampson, Michelle; Chawarska, Katarzyna

2018-01-01

One of the common findings in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is limited selective attention toward social objects, such as faces. Evidence from both human and nonhuman primate studies suggests that selection of objects for processing is guided by the appraisal of object values. We hypothesized that impairments in selective attention in ASD may reflect a disruption of a system supporting learning about object values in the social domain. We examined value learning in social (faces) and nonsocial (fractals) domains in preschoolers with ASD (n = 25) and typically developing (TD) controls (n = 28), using a novel value learning task implemented on a gaze-contingent eye-tracking platform consisting of value learning and a selective attention choice test. Children with ASD performed more poorly than TD controls on the social value learning task, but both groups performed similarly on the nonsocial task. Within-group comparisons indicated that value learning in TD children was enhanced on the social compared to the nonsocial task, but no such enhancement was seen in children with ASD. Performance in the social and nonsocial conditions was correlated in the ASD but not in the TD group. The study provides support for a domain-specific impairment in value learning for faces in ASD, and suggests that, in ASD, value learning in social and nonsocial domains may rely on a shared mechanism. These findings have implications both for models of selective social attention deficits in autism and for identification of novel treatment targets. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The SAIL databank: linking multiple health and social care datasets

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background Vast amounts of data are collected about patients and service users in the course of health and social care service delivery. Electronic data systems for patient records have the potential to revolutionise service delivery and research. But in order to achieve this, it is essential that the ability to link the data at the individual record level be retained whilst adhering to the principles of information governance. The SAIL (Secure Anonymised Information Linkage) databank has been established using disparate datasets, and over 500 million records from multiple health and social care service providers have been loaded to date, with further growth in progress. Methods Having established the infrastructure of the databank, the aim of this work was to develop and implement an accurate matching process to enable the assignment of a unique Anonymous Linking Field (ALF) to person-based records to make the databank ready for record-linkage research studies. An SQL-based matching algorithm (MACRAL, Matching Algorithm for Consistent Results in Anonymised Linkage) was developed for this purpose. Firstly the suitability of using a valid NHS number as the basis of a unique identifier was assessed using MACRAL. Secondly, MACRAL was applied in turn to match primary care, secondary care and social services datasets to the NHS Administrative Register (NHSAR), to assess the efficacy of this process, and the optimum matching technique. Results The validation of using the NHS number yielded specificity values > 99.8% and sensitivity values > 94.6% using probabilistic record linkage (PRL) at the 50% threshold, and error rates were < 0.2%. A range of techniques for matching datasets to the NHSAR were applied and the optimum technique resulted in sensitivity values of: 99.9% for a GP dataset from primary care, 99.3% for a PEDW dataset from secondary care and 95.2% for the PARIS database from social care. Conclusion With the infrastructure that has been put in place, the reliable matching process that has been developed enables an ALF to be consistently allocated to records in the databank. The SAIL databank represents a research-ready platform for record-linkage studies. PMID:19149883

The SAIL databank: linking multiple health and social care datasets.

PubMed

Lyons, Ronan A; Jones, Kerina H; John, Gareth; Brooks, Caroline J; Verplancke, Jean-Philippe; Ford, David V; Brown, Ginevra; Leake, Ken

2009-01-16

Vast amounts of data are collected about patients and service users in the course of health and social care service delivery. Electronic data systems for patient records have the potential to revolutionise service delivery and research. But in order to achieve this, it is essential that the ability to link the data at the individual record level be retained whilst adhering to the principles of information governance. The SAIL (Secure Anonymised Information Linkage) databank has been established using disparate datasets, and over 500 million records from multiple health and social care service providers have been loaded to date, with further growth in progress. Having established the infrastructure of the databank, the aim of this work was to develop and implement an accurate matching process to enable the assignment of a unique Anonymous Linking Field (ALF) to person-based records to make the databank ready for record-linkage research studies. An SQL-based matching algorithm (MACRAL, Matching Algorithm for Consistent Results in Anonymised Linkage) was developed for this purpose. Firstly the suitability of using a valid NHS number as the basis of a unique identifier was assessed using MACRAL. Secondly, MACRAL was applied in turn to match primary care, secondary care and social services datasets to the NHS Administrative Register (NHSAR), to assess the efficacy of this process, and the optimum matching technique. The validation of using the NHS number yielded specificity values > 99.8% and sensitivity values > 94.6% using probabilistic record linkage (PRL) at the 50% threshold, and error rates were < 0.2%. A range of techniques for matching datasets to the NHSAR were applied and the optimum technique resulted in sensitivity values of: 99.9% for a GP dataset from primary care, 99.3% for a PEDW dataset from secondary care and 95.2% for the PARIS database from social care. With the infrastructure that has been put in place, the reliable matching process that has been developed enables an ALF to be consistently allocated to records in the databank. The SAIL databank represents a research-ready platform for record-linkage studies.

Homosexuality: representing the devil or a spiritual gift? Two opposing views in the same Marian devotion.

PubMed

Samson, Judith; Notermans, Catrien; Jansen, Willy

2013-01-01

This article analyzes opposing discourses on homosexuality forwarded by two different Catholic social actors. These are linked to the messages of the Lady of All Nations, a Marian apparition site in Amsterdam. These different actors are understood as competing moral communities ( Hunt, 2009 ), especially about the issue of what constitute European values. Both discourses can be seen as examples of the minoritizing yet universalizing view on homosexuality ( Kosofsky Sedgwick, 1990 , p. 85). The devotion to the Lady of All Nations serves as a site for promoting competing discourses ( Hermkens, Jansen, & Notermans, 2009 ).

Access, cost, and financing: achieving an ethical health reform.

PubMed

Daniels, Norman; Saloner, Brendan; Gelpi, Adriane H

2009-01-01

Three key ethical issues should inform the broader debate about health reform: (1) Why pursue universal coverage? (2) Why is cost containment an ethical issue? (3) What is fairness in financing? After examining these issues, we conclude that the core ethical values underlying each of these goals-including expanding opportunity, sharing burdens equally, and respect for persons-limit the means that can be pursued in health reform. Although national health reform will not accomplish all of the objectives of social justice, true comprehensive reform-even under conditions of political compromise-represents an important step forward.

Standard values and relationship-specific validity of the Bielefeld Relationship Expectations Questionnaire (BFPE).

PubMed

Petrowski, Katja; Berth, Hendrik; Paul, Sören; Grande, Gesine; Stöbel-Richter, Yve; Brähler, Elmar

2010-10-13

The Bielefeld Partnership Expectations Questionnaire (BFPE) is a tool to assess attachment in the romantic relationships of adults. The attachment styles are operationalized as configuration patterns of scale scores. While convergent validity has already been investigated, discriminant validity is still lacking confirmation. The present sample (n = 1509) is representative for the German population aged 18 to 50. The mean age was 34.6 years. Most of the participants lived in a relationship (77.3 %). Discriminant validity was analyzed using a marital quality questionnaire (PFB), a social support questionnaire (F-Soz-U K-14), and a life satisfaction questionnaire (FLZ). All the BFPE scales have a satisfying internal consistency between r = .79 and .86. Those individuals who showed a secure pattern, i.e. increased "Readiness for Self-Disclosure" and "Conscious Need for Care" as well as reduced "Fear of Rejection" experienced their partner as socially supportive, reported higher marital quality in all of its facets, and were more satisfied within the life-domains "family/children" and "relationship/sexuality". Standard values for each scale are presented. The BFPE has repeatedly been verified as a short, reliable, and valid instrument applicable to research practice with healthy individuals as well as within clinical contexts.

Exploring Homophobia in Tbilisi, Georgia.

PubMed

Mestvirishvili, Maia; Zurabishvili, Tinatin; Iakobidze, Tamar; Mestvirishvili, Natia

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine statistical predictors of homophobic attitudes among the residents of Tbilisi, Georgia. We analyze 2013 survey data from a representative sample of the Tbilisi adult population. Residents were asked about their attitudes, beliefs, and political and social values in the context of the May 17, 2013 attack on LGBT activists on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). Findings show that homophobia is significantly predicted by male gender, lower levels of education, acceptance of social inequality, nonliberal attitudes, and perceiving homosexuals as a "threat to national security." However, psychological perceptions and personal experiences also indirectly influence homophobic attitudes: the findings suggest that males report homophobic attitudes more often than females do and tend to be even more homophobic when they believe that homosexuality is inborn rather than acquired. The study also found that people without liberal attitudes tend to be more homophobic when they have personal contacts with homosexuals. This article highlights the need for a more comprehensive approach to education and the promotion of liberal values as well as legal equality for LGBTQ individuals to decrease the level of homophobia in Georgian society and, specifically, in Tbilisi.

Valuation of Child Behavioral Problems from the Perspective of US Adults

PubMed Central

Craig, Benjamin M.; Brown, Derek S.; Reeve, Bryce B.

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE To assess preferences between child behavioral problems and estimate their value on a quality-adjusted life year (QALYs) scale. METHODS Respondents, age 18 or older, drawn from a nationally representative panel between August 2012 and February 2013 completed a series of paired comparisons, each involving a choice between 2 different behavioral problems described using the Behavioral Problems Index (BPI), a 28-item instrument with 6 domains (Anxious/Depressed, Headstrong, Hyperactive, Immature Dependency, Anti-social, and Peer Conflict/Social Withdrawal). Each behavioral problem lasted 1 or 2 years for an unnamed child, age 7 or 10 years, with no suggested relationship to the respondent. Generalized linear model analyses estimated the value of each problem on a QALY scale, considering its duration and child’s age. RESULTS Among 5207 eligible respondents, 4155 (80%) completed all questions. Across the 6 domains, problems relating to antisocial behavior were the least preferred, particularly the items related to cheating, lying, bullying, and cruelty to others. CONCLUSIONS The findings are the first to produce a preference-based summary measure of child behavioral problems on a QALY scale. The results may inform both clinical practice and resource allocation decisions by enhancing our understanding of difficult tradeoffs in how adults view child behavioral problems. Understanding US values also promotes national health surveillance by complementing conventional measures of surveillance, survival, and diagnoses. PMID:26209476

Valuation of Child Behavioral Problems from the Perspective of US Adults.

PubMed

Craig, Benjamin M; Brown, Derek S; Reeve, Bryce B

2016-02-01

To assess preferences between child behavioral problems and estimate their value on a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) scale. Respondents, age 18 or older, drawn from a nationally representative panel between August 2012 and February 2013 completed a series of paired comparisons, each involving a choice between 2 different behavioral problems described using the Behavioral Problems Index (BPI), a 28-item instrument with 6 domains (Anxious/Depressed, Headstrong, Hyperactive, Immature Dependency, Anti-social, and Peer Conflict/Social Withdrawal). Each behavioral problem lasted 1 or 2 years for an unnamed child, age 7 or 10 years, with no suggested relationship to the respondent. Generalized linear model analyses estimated the value of each problem on a QALY scale, considering its duration and the child's age. Among 5207 eligible respondents, 4155 (80%) completed all questions. Across the 6 domains, problems relating to antisocial behavior were the least preferred, particularly the items related to cheating, lying, bullying, and cruelty to others. The findings are the first to produce a preference-based summary measure of child behavioral problems on a QALY scale. The results may inform both clinical practice and resource allocation decisions by enhancing our understanding of difficult tradeoffs in how adults view child behavioral problems. Understanding US values also promotes national health surveillance by complementing conventional measures of surveillance, survival, and diagnoses. © The Author(s) 2015.

Behind the Robot’s Smiles and Frowns: In Social Context, People Do Not Mirror Android’s Expressions But React to Their Informational Value

PubMed Central

Hofree, Galit; Ruvolo, Paul; Reinert, Audrey; Bartlett, Marian S.; Winkielman, Piotr

2018-01-01

Facial actions are key elements of non-verbal behavior. Perceivers’ reactions to others’ facial expressions often represent a match or mirroring (e.g., they smile to a smile). However, the information conveyed by an expression depends on context. Thus, when shown by an opponent, a smile conveys bad news and evokes frowning. The availability of anthropomorphic agents capable of facial actions raises the question of how people respond to such agents in social context. We explored this issue in a study where participants played a strategic game with or against a facially expressive android. Electromyography (EMG) recorded participants’ reactions over zygomaticus muscle (smiling) and corrugator muscle (frowning). We found that participants’ facial responses to android’s expressions reflect their informational value, rather than a direct match. Overall, participants smiled more, and frowned less, when winning than losing. Critically, participants’ responses to the game outcome were similar regardless of whether it was conveyed via the android’s smile or frown. Furthermore, the outcome had greater impact on people’s facial reactions when it was conveyed through android’s face than a computer screen. These findings demonstrate that facial actions of artificial agents impact human facial responding. They also suggest a sophistication in human-robot communication that highlights the signaling value of facial expressions. PMID:29740307

22 CFR 23.4 - Representative value in exchange.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Representative value in exchange. 23.4 Section 23.4 Foreign Relations DEPARTMENT OF STATE FEES AND FUNDS FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING § 23.4 Representative value in exchange. Representative value in exchange for the collection of a fee means foreign...

The Views of Prospective Social Studies and Classroom Teachers about Values and Values Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tay, Bayram

2013-01-01

When education programs are examined in Turkey, values education is observed to be included in the context of many lessons, especially in the social studies. Individuals acquire knowledge, skills, values and habits, which are necessary for the integration of individuals into the society they live in, through social studies. This study was…

Proposal for including what is valuable to ecosystems in environmental assessments.

PubMed

Campbell, D E

2001-07-15

Assessment scientists and managers depend on social values to identify the goals that will be used to guide environmental assessments. These goals are commonly identified by examining the vested interests of the various social groups that are stakeholders in a region. However, knowledge about what people value represents only part of the information needed to identify comprehensive assessment goals for environmental systems that include both economic and ecological components and processes. All parties also need to understand what is valuable to ecosystems because that determines the ecological patterns and processes that prevail in the long run. The competition among alternate system designs for available energy determines the viability of the choices that people make for their environment. Ecosystems that prevail in competition use the process of self-organization to create system designs that maximize the use of ever-changing sources of available energy. The efficacy of ecosystem designs can be evaluated using the maximum empower principle, which states that ecosystems evolve toward designs that maximize empower (energy use per unit time). Energy is an accounting quantity that normalizes the different kinds of energy developed in a system so that they may be compared. The counter-intuitive and sometimes controversial results that come from energy analyses are illustrated by examining three environmental problems on the interface between ecology and economics. A process for identifying and using social and ecosystem values to guide environmental assessments is proposed using a conceptual energy systems model that shows how these processes might interact within a region. The probability of realizing a given change in system empower production is suggested as a decision criterion that can be used by managers to evaluate the efficacy of alternatives.

Self-represented witnessing: the use of social media by asylum seekers in Australia’s offshore immigration detention centres

PubMed Central

Rae, Maria; Holman, Rosa; Nethery, Amy

2017-01-01

The act of witnessing connects audiences with distant suffering. But what happens when bearing witness becomes severely restricted? External parties, including the mainstream news media, are constrained from accessing Australia’s offshore immigration detention centres. The effect is that people seeking asylum are hidden from the public and excluded from national debates. Some detainees have adopted social media as a platform to communicate their stories of flight, and their experiences of immigration detention, to a wider audience. This article examines the ways in which social media, and particularly Facebook, has facilitated what we call self-represented witnessing. We analyse two public Facebook pages to assess how detainees use such social media networks to document their experiences, and we observe the interaction between detainees, other social media users and mainstream media. Significantly, these social media networks enable detained asylum seekers to conduct an unmediated form of self-represented witnessing that exposes human rights abuses and documents justice claims. PMID:29782576

Self-represented witnessing: the use of social media by asylum seekers in Australia's offshore immigration detention centres.

PubMed

Rae, Maria; Holman, Rosa; Nethery, Amy

2018-05-01

The act of witnessing connects audiences with distant suffering. But what happens when bearing witness becomes severely restricted? External parties, including the mainstream news media, are constrained from accessing Australia's offshore immigration detention centres. The effect is that people seeking asylum are hidden from the public and excluded from national debates. Some detainees have adopted social media as a platform to communicate their stories of flight, and their experiences of immigration detention, to a wider audience. This article examines the ways in which social media, and particularly Facebook, has facilitated what we call self-represented witnessing. We analyse two public Facebook pages to assess how detainees use such social media networks to document their experiences, and we observe the interaction between detainees, other social media users and mainstream media. Significantly, these social media networks enable detained asylum seekers to conduct an unmediated form of self-represented witnessing that exposes human rights abuses and documents justice claims.

The more it changes; the more it remains the same: a Foucauldian analysis of Canadian policy documents relevant to student selection for medical school.

PubMed

Razack, Saleem; Lessard, David; Hodges, Brian D; Maguire, Mary H; Steinert, Yvonne

2014-05-01

Calls to increase the demographic representativeness of medical classes to better reflect the diversity of society are part of a growing international trend. Despite this, entry into medical school remains highly competitive and exclusive of marginalized groups. To address these questions, we conducted a Foucauldian discourse analysis of 15 publically available policy documents from the websites of Canadian medical education regulatory bodies, using the concepts of "excellence" (institutional or in an applicant), "diversity," and "equity" to frame the analysis. In most documents, there were appeals to broaden definitions of institutional excellence to include concerns for greater social accountability. Equity concerns tended to be represented as needing to be dealt with by people in positions of authority in order to counter a "hidden curriculum." Diversity was represented as an object of value, situated within a discontinuous history. As a rhetorical strategy, documents invoked complex societal shifts to promote change toward a more humanistic medical education system and profession. "Social accountability" was reified as an all-encompassing solution to most issues of representation. Although the policy documents proclaimed rootedness in an ethos of improving the societal responsiveness of the medical profession, our analysis takes a more critical stance towards the discourses identified. On the basis of our research findings, we question whether these calls may contribute to the maintenance of the specific power relations they seek to address. These conclusions lead us to consider the possibility that the discourses represented in the documents might be reframed to take into account issues of power distribution and its productive and reproductive features. A reframing of discourses could potentially generate greater inclusiveness in policy development processes, and afford disadvantaged and marginalized groups more participatory roles in the discussion.

Medicalization, reproductive agency, and the desire for surgical sterilization among low-income women in urban Brazil.

PubMed

de Bessa, Gina Hunter

2006-01-01

This article draws on data from ethnographic fieldwork in an urban housing project to examine the social context and meanings of surgical sterilization for low-income women in Brazil. Low-income women resort to sterilization because they distrust or are unsatisfied with alternative methods and because it helps them to fulfill the requirements of modern, responsible motherhood. Although sterilization is an option among few alternatives, and one that has subjected women to greater medical management and intervention, I argue that sterilization also represents poor women's active struggle to improve their lives and to resist the burdens placed on them by unequal gender relations. This article contributes to a growing anthropological literature that demonstrates how reproduction has become a central site where social values are constituted and contested, and it details women's diverse responses to the process of medicalization.

Black Feminism: An Integrated Review of Literature.

PubMed

Love, Katie L

2016-01-01

This study presents a systematic literature review exploring the uses and potential benefits of Black Feminism in nursing research. Black Feminism may benefit knowledge development for nursing in a variety of ways, such as illuminating the multifaceted factors of Black women's identities in helping scholars move away from generalization of experiences, to improve understanding of health disparities, and making such changes by broadening the social consciousness of the nurse researchers, who are predominantly White. Discrimination in health disparities may be deconstructed if the focus is placed on asking different research questions and offering different interventions with the social structures that contributes to such actions. When Black Feminism guides the research method (including research questions and analysis), the accuracy of representing the experiences of Black women is increased. In this research, Black Feminism highlights experience, coping mechanisms, spiritual values, a tradition of strength, and a holistic view of identity.

Automatic identification of abstract online groups

DOEpatents

Engel, David W; Gregory, Michelle L; Bell, Eric B; Cowell, Andrew J; Piatt, Andrew W

2014-04-15

Online abstract groups, in which members aren't explicitly connected, can be automatically identified by computer-implemented methods. The methods involve harvesting records from social media and extracting content-based and structure-based features from each record. Each record includes a social-media posting and is associated with one or more entities. Each feature is stored on a data storage device and includes a computer-readable representation of an attribute of one or more records. The methods further involve grouping records into record groups according to the features of each record. Further still the methods involve calculating an n-dimensional surface representing each record group and defining an outlier as a record having feature-based distances measured from every n-dimensional surface that exceed a threshold value. Each of the n-dimensional surfaces is described by a footprint that characterizes the respective record group as an online abstract group.

Value orientations and social attitudes in the holistic milieu.

PubMed

Höllinger, Franz

2017-06-01

Based on a representative population survey for Germany this article investigates whether engagement in holistic activities is associated with privatized lifestyles and lack of social responsibility or with countercultural orientations and base-democratic political commitment. To analyse this question, respondents who are engaged in holistic activities are divided into three groups that are compared with each other as well as with Christians and non-religious people. The findings show that the three holistic groups are characterized by clearly different attitudinal patterns: Respondents engaged in body-mind-spirit activities have an affinity to self-directed ways of life, post-materialism and environmentalism. Holistic Christians try to combine the Christian ideal of altruism and post-materialist orientations. Those who are attracted only to magical-occult practices are primarily concerned with individualistic self-improvement and correspond more to the image of the hedonist consumer at the esoteric marketplace. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

Black Lives Matter: A Call to Action for Counseling Psychology Leaders.

PubMed

Crowell, Candice; Mosley, Della; Falconer, Jameca; Faloughi, Reuben; Singh, Anneliese; Stevens-Watkins, Danelle; Cokley, Kevin

2017-08-01

Police brutality and widespread systemic racism represent historical and current sources of trauma in Black communities. Both the Black Lives Matter movement and counseling psychology propose to confront these realities at multiple levels. Black Lives Matter seeks to increase awareness about systemic racism and promote resilience among Black people. Counseling psychology states values of multiculturalism, social justice, and advocacy. Executive leadership in counseling psychology may seek to promote racial justice, yet struggle with how to participate in Black Lives Matter movements and address racial discrimination within larger systems spontaneously and consistently. However, counseling psychology trainees and professionals are actively involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, leading the way forward. Through the framework of spontaneity in social movements, this manuscript highlights what counseling psychologists are currently contributing to Black Lives Matter and makes recommendations that build on the opportunity counseling psychologists have for further involvement in the movement.

Works of Illness and the Challenges of Social Risk and the Specter of Pain in the Lived Experience of TMD

PubMed Central

Eaves, Emery R.; Nichter, Mark; Ritenbaugh, Cheryl; Sutherland, Elizabeth; Dworkin, Samuel F.

2017-01-01

Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) represent a particular form of chronic pain that, while not outwardly debilitating, profoundly impacts interactions as fundamental to human existence as smiling, laughing, speaking, eating, and intimacy. Our analysis, informed by an expanded “works of illness” assessment, draws attention to work surrounding social and physical risk. We refer to these as the work of stoicism and the work of vigilance and identify double binds created in contexts that call for both. Conflicting authorial stances in informants’ narratives are shown to be essential in maintaining a positive identity in the face of illness. While earlier ethnographic studies report TMD sufferers’ experience of stigma and search for diagnosis and legitimacy, we present a group of individuals who have accepted diagnosis at face value and soldier through pain as a fundamental aspect of their identity. PMID:25331799

Social defense: an evolutionary-developmental model of children's strategies for coping with threat in the peer group.

PubMed

Martin, Meredith J; Davies, Patrick T; MacNeill, Leigha A

2014-04-29

Navigating the ubiquitous conflict, competition, and complex group dynamics of the peer group is a pivotal developmental task of childhood. Difficulty negotiating these challenges represents a substantial source of risk for psychopathology. Evolutionary developmental psychology offers a unique perspective with the potential to reorganize the way we think about the role of peer relationships in shaping how children cope with the everyday challenges of establishing a social niche. To address this gap, we utilize the ethological reformulation of the emotional security theory as a guide to developing an evolutionary framework for advancing an understanding of the defense strategies children use to manage antagonistic peer relationships and protect themselves from interpersonal threat (Davies and Sturge-Apple, 2007). In this way, we hope to illustrate the value of an evolutionary developmental lens in generating unique theoretical insight and novel research directions into the role of peer relationships in the development of psychopathology.

Promiscuity and the evolution of sexual transmitted diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonçalves, Sebastián; Kuperman, Marcelo; Ferreira da Costa Gomes, Marcelo

2003-09-01

We study the relation between different social behaviors and the onset of epidemics in a model for the dynamics of sexual transmitted diseases. The model considers the society as a system of individual sexuated agents that can be organized in couples and interact with each other. The different social behaviors are incorporated assigning what we call a promiscuity value to each individual agent. The individual promiscuity is taken from a distribution and represents the daily probability of going out to look for a sexual partner, abandoning its eventual mate. In terms of this parameter we find a threshold for the epidemic which is much lower than the classical SIR model prediction, i.e., R0 (basic reproductive number)=1. Different forms for the distribution of the population promiscuity are considered showing that the threshold is weakly sensitive to them. We study the homosexual and the heterosexual case as well.

Does altercentric interference rely on mentalizing?: Results from two level-1 perspective-taking tasks

PubMed Central

Gollwitzer, Anton; Santos, Laurie R.

2018-01-01

Considerable debate has focused on whether adults possess an implicit system for representing others’ mental states. Some argue that people automatically represent the perspective of others using evidence from altercentric interference—cases in which another agent’s perspective affects the speed with which one can report one’s own perspective. Others have argued that altercentric interference is not always specific to social stimuli and thus may represent a simpler process such as submentalizing. To distinguish between these positions, Study 1 developed a novel measure of altercentric interference—a “sandbox” measure—that allowed us to more sensitively assess altercentric interference across social and non-social conditions. We replicated previous findings showing that participants experience both egocentric and altercentric interference, but we found that these effects emerge equally in social and non-social conditions. To further test whether altercentric interference emerges in social perspective-taking situations, Study 2 conducted a conceptual replication of a study which used a novel “goggle” paradigm to assess whether individuals implicitly represent others’ perspectives. Although we failed to find evidence of altercentric interference in response times, participants’ accuracy reflected the possibility of interference from others’ perspectives. We argue that these findings provide support for the idea that altercentric interference in response to social stimuli (an avatar) is driven by perspective-taking mechanisms, while such interference in response to non-social stimuli (an arrow) is driven by attention-cuing mechanisms. PMID:29566019

Reforming health care financing in Bulgaria: the population perspective.

PubMed

Balabanova, Dina; McKee, Martin

2004-02-01

Health financing reform in Bulgaria has been characterised by lack of political consensus on reform direction, economic shocks, and, since 1998, steps towards social insurance. As in other eastern European countries, the reform has been driven by an imperative to embrace new ideas modelled on systems elsewhere, but with little attention to whether these reflect popular values. This study explores underlying values, such as views on the role of the state and solidarity, attitudes to, and understanding of compulsory and voluntary insurance, and co-payments. The study identifies general principles (equity, transparency) considered important by the population and practical aspects of implementation of reform. Data were obtained from a representative survey (n=1547) and from 58 in-depth interviews and 6 focus groups with users and health professionals, conducted in 1997 before the actual reform of the health financing system in Bulgaria. A majority supports significant state involvement in health care financing, ranging from providing safety net for the poor, through co-subsidising or regulating the social insurance system, to providing state-financed universal free care (half of all respondents). Collectivist values in Bulgaria remain strong, with support for free access to services regardless of income, age, or health status and progressive funding. There is strong support (especially among the well off) for a social insurance system based on the principle of solidarity and accountability rather than the former tax-based model. The preferred health insurance fund was autonomous, state regulated, financing only health care, and offering optional membership. Voluntary insurance and, less so, co-payments were acceptable if limited to selected services and better off groups. In conclusion, a health financing system under public control that fits well with values and population preferences is likely to improve compliance and be more sustainable. Universal health insurance appears to attract most support, but a broader public debate involving less empowered people is needed to resolve misunderstandings and create realistic expectations.

Computational substrates of social value in interpersonal collaboration.

PubMed

Fareri, Dominic S; Chang, Luke J; Delgado, Mauricio R

2015-05-27

Decisions to engage in collaborative interactions require enduring considerable risk, yet provide the foundation for building and maintaining relationships. Here, we investigate the mechanisms underlying this process and test a computational model of social value to predict collaborative decision making. Twenty-six participants played an iterated trust game and chose to invest more frequently with their friends compared with a confederate or computer despite equal reinforcement rates. This behavior was predicted by our model, which posits that people receive a social value reward signal from reciprocation of collaborative decisions conditional on the closeness of the relationship. This social value signal was associated with increased activity in the ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex, which significantly predicted the reward parameters from the social value model. Therefore, we demonstrate that the computation of social value drives collaborative behavior in repeated interactions and provide a mechanistic account of reward circuit function instantiating this process. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/358170-11$15.00/0.

[Effects of finitude salience and social value intention on emotional responses of "kandoh" (the state of being emotionally moved) associated with sadness].

PubMed

Kato, Juri; Murata, Koji

2013-06-01

Two experiments investigated whether emotional responses of "kandoh" (the state of being emotionally moved) associated with sadness were facilitated by the factors of "finitude salience" and "social value intention". We predicted that participants who strongly intended social value would be more strongly moved by movies that portrayed social values than participants who weakly intended social value. Furthermore we predicted that this difference would increase in the finitude salience condition. In both experiments, participants assigned to the finitude salience condition subtracted the years of the person's birth from death. In the control condition, participants performed the same task in the form of simple numerical calculations. Then all participants watched a movie that portrayed family love and death in Experiment 1 (N = 88). We used another movie that described friendship and separation in Experiment 2 (N = 82). The results supported the two hypotheses that social value intention facilitated emotional responses of "kandoh" and this effect increased under finitude salience.

Advances in monitoring the human dimension of natural resource systems: an example from the Great Barrier Reef

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marshall, N. A.; Bohensky, E.; Curnock, M.; Goldberg, J.; Gooch, M.; Nicotra, B.; Pert, P.; Scherl, L. M.; Stone-Jovicich, S.; Tobin, R. C.

2016-11-01

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility and potential utility of decision-centric social-economic monitoring using data collected from Great Barrier Reef (Reef) region. The social and economic long term monitoring program (SELTMP) for the Reef is a novel attempt to monitor the social and economic dimensions of social-ecological change in a globally and nationally important region. It represents the current status and condition of the major user groups of the Reef with the potential to simultaneously consider trends, interconnections, conflicts, dependencies and vulnerabilities. Our approach was to combine a well-established conceptual framework with a strong governance structure and partnership arrangement that enabled the co-production of knowledge. The framework is a modification of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and it was used to guide indicator choice. Indicators were categorised as; (i) resource use and dependency, (ii) ecosystem benefits and well-being, and (iii) drivers of change. Data were collected through secondary datasets where existing and new datasets were created where not, using standard survey techniques. Here we present an overview of baseline results of new survey data from commercial-fishers (n = 210), marine-based tourism operators (n = 119), tourists (n = 2877), local residents (n = 3181), and other Australians (n = 2002). The indicators chosen describe both social and economic components of the Reef system and represent an unprecedented insight into the ways in which people currently use and depend on the Reef, the benefits that they derive, and how they perceive, value and relate to the Reef and each other. However, the success of a program such as the SELTMP can only occur with well-translated cutting-edge data and knowledge that are collaboratively produced, adaptive, and directly feeds into current management processes. We discuss how data from the SELTMP have already been incorporated into Reef management decision-making through substantial inclusion in three key policy documents.

The Value of Medical and Pharmaceutical Interventions for Reducing Obesity

PubMed Central

Michaud, Pierre-Carl; Goldman, Dana; Lakdawalla, Darius; Zheng, Yuhui; Gailey, Adam H.

2012-01-01

This paper attempts to quantify the social, private, and public-finance values of reducing obesity through pharmaceutical and medical interventions. We find that the total social value of bariatric surgery is large for treated patients, with incremental social cost-effectiveness ratios typically under $10,000 per life-year saved. On the other hand, pharmaceutical interventions against obesity yield much less social value with incremental social cost-effectiveness ratios around $50,000. Our approach accounts for: competing risks to life expectancy; health care costs; and a variety of non-medical economic consequences (pensions, disability insurance, taxes, and earnings), which account for 20% of the total social cost of these treatments. On balance, bariatric surgery generates substantial private value for those treated, in the form of health and other economic consequences. The net public fiscal effects are modest, primarily because the size of the population eligible for treatment is small while the net social effect is large once improvements in life expectancy are taken into account. PMID:22705389

The value of medical and pharmaceutical interventions for reducing obesity.

PubMed

Michaud, Pierre-Carl; Goldman, Dana P; Lakdawalla, Darius N; Zheng, Yuhui; Gailey, Adam H

2012-07-01

This paper attempts to quantify the social, private, and public-finance values of reducing obesity through pharmaceutical and medical interventions. We find that the total social value of bariatric surgery is large for treated patients, with incremental social cost-effectiveness ratios typically under $10,000 per life-year saved. On the other hand, pharmaceutical interventions against obesity yield much less social value with incremental social cost-effectiveness ratios around $50,000. Our approach accounts for: competing risks to life expectancy; health care costs; and a variety of non-medical economic consequences (pensions, disability insurance, taxes, and earnings), which account for 20% of the total social cost of these treatments. On balance, bariatric surgery generates substantial private value for those treated, in the form of health and other economic consequences. The net public fiscal effects are modest, primarily because the size of the population eligible for treatment is small. The net social effect is large once improvements in life expectancy are taken into account. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessing the Role of Free-Roaming Horses in a Social-Ecological System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharyya, Jonaki; Murphy, Stephen D.

2015-08-01

Management actions concerning free-roaming horses attract controversy in many areas. In the Chilcotin region of British Columbia, Canada, social and cultural values influence debates about management of free-roaming horses and perceptions of their ecological impacts. A dearth of current, empirical research on the role and impacts of horses in local ecosystems results in management decisions being informed largely by studies from other ecoregions and locations, which may not accurately represent local ecological, social, cultural, and economic influences. We initiated the first socio-ecological study of horse sub-populations, their grazing habitat, and past management approaches affecting current conditions in the ?Elegesi Qayuse Wild Horse Preserve in Xeni Gwet'in (Tsilhqot'in) First Nations' territory. This exploratory study used mixed methods including a review of literature and unpublished data, assessment of vegetation in core grazing habitat, and exploration of local ecological and cultural knowledge and perceptions. Plant community composition and abundance in core grazing habitat of the Wild Horse Preserve are consistent with a structurally sound ecosystem. Socio-cultural factors are important for managers to consider in effective decision-making concerning horse populations.

Now for Me, Later for Us? Effects of Group Context on Temporal Discounting

PubMed Central

Charlton, Shawn R.; Yi, Richard; Porter, Caitlin; Carter, Anne E.; Bickel, Warren; Rachlin, Howard

2013-01-01

Delayed rewards are less valuable than immediate rewards. This well-established finding has focused almost entirely on individual outcomes. However, are delayed rewards similarly discounted if they are shared by a group? The current article reports on three experiments exploring the effect of group context on delay discounting. Results indicate that discount rates of individual and group rewards were highly correlated, but that respondents were more willing to wait (decreased discounting) for shared outcomes than for individual outcomes. An explanatory model is proposed suggesting that decreased discount rates in group contexts may be due to the way the effects of both delay and social discounting are combined. That is, in a group context, a person values both a future reward (discounted by delay) and a present reward to another person (discounted by the social distance between them). The results are explained by a combined discount function containing a delay factor and a factor representing the social distance between the decision maker and group members. Practical implications of the fact that shared consequences can increase individual self-control are also discussed. PMID:23641123

A Generalized 2D-Dynamical Mean-Field Ising Model with a Rich Set of Bifurcations (Inspired and Applied to Financial Crises)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smug, Damian; Sornette, Didier; Ashwin, Peter

We analyze an extended version of the dynamical mean-field Ising model. Instead of classical physical representation of spins and external magnetic field, the model describes traders' opinion dynamics. The external field is endogenized to represent a smoothed moving average of the past state variable. This model captures in a simple set-up the interplay between instantaneous social imitation and past trends in social coordinations. We show the existence of a rich set of bifurcations as a function of the two parameters quantifying the relative importance of instantaneous versus past social opinions on the formation of the next value of the state variable. Moreover, we present a thorough analysis of chaotic behavior, which is exhibited in certain parameter regimes. Finally, we examine several transitions through bifurcation curves and study how they could be understood as specific market scenarios. We find that the amplitude of the corrections needed to recover from a crisis and to push the system back to “normal” is often significantly larger than the strength of the causes that led to the crisis itself.

Theory of mind and verbal working memory deficits in parents of autistic children.

PubMed

Gokcen, Sezen; Bora, Emre; Erermis, Serpil; Kesikci, Hande; Aydin, Cahide

2009-03-31

The objective of this study was to investigate the potential values of executive function and social cognition deficits as endophenotypes of autism. While theory of mind (ToM) is generally accepted as a unitary concept, some have suggested that ToM may be separated into two components (mental state reasoning and decoding). In this study, both aspects of ToM and verbal working memory abilities were investigated with relatively demanding tasks. The authors used a neurocognitive battery to compare the executive function and social cognition skills of 76 parents of autistic probands with 41 parents of healthy children. Both groups were matched for IQ, age and gender. Index parents had verbal working memory deficits. They had also low performance on a mental state reasoning task. Index parents had difficulties in reasoning about others' emotions. In contrast to findings in the control group, low performance of mental state reasoning ability was not associated with working memory deficit in index parents. Social cognition and working memory impairments may represent potential endophenotypes, related to an underlying vulnerability for autistic spectrum disorders.

Interdependencies, values and the reshaping of difference: gender and generation at the birth of twentieth-century modernity.

PubMed

Irwin, Sarah

2003-12-01

The paper explores the mutuality of values, claims and social relations in the process of social change. Values are not separable from social relations but are embedded in the shaping and reshaping of social difference and interdependence. The paper focuses on developments around the turn of the twentieth century, and analyses changes in the relative social positioning of children and adults, and women and men, shifting patterns of interdependence, and linked values and ideas about difference. The reconfiguring of generational and gender relations was integral to the first fertility decline, to transformation in family life and societal divisions of labour, and to the embedding of particular values and claims regarding gendered difference, identities and gender appropriate roles. Analysis of these developments reveals the mutuality of 'cultural' and 'material' processes and holds lessons for interpreting social change today.

Consideration of social values in the establishment of accountable care organizations in the USA.

PubMed

Keren, Ron; Littlejohns, Peter

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the new US health organizations called accountable care organizations (ACOs) which are expected to improve the quality and reduce the cost of healthcare for Medicare enrolees. It assesses the importance of ACOs, defining and articulating the values that will underpin their strategic and clinical decision making. This paper uses a social values framework developed by Clark and Weale to consider the values relevant to ACOs. It is likely that social values could be made more explicit in a US setting than they have ever been before, via the new ACOs. Social values could start to form part of a local health economy's marketing strategy. ACOs are very new. This paper identifies that they will need to be very explicit about the values relevant to them. The development of ACOs and the articulation of social values therein may even form the basis of a meaningful dialogue on the importance of assessing value for money or cost-effectiveness in the wider US health policy environment.

Cognitive and Social Values.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Machamer, Peter; Douglas, Heather

1999-01-01

Criticizes Hugh Lacey's separation of cognitive values and social values in discussions of the nature of science. Claims that attempting to distinguish between cognitive and social ignores crucial complexities in the development and use of knowledge. Proposes that the proper distinction be between legitimate and illegitimate reasons in science as…

How and when do personal values guide our attitudes and sociality? Explaining cross-cultural variability in attitude-value linkages.

PubMed

Boer, Diana; Fischer, Ronald

2013-09-01

This article examines how and when personal values relate to social attitudes. Considering values as motivational orientations, we propose an attitude-value taxonomy based on Moral Foundation Theory (Haidt & Joseph, 2007) and Schwartz's (1992) basic human values theory allowing predictions of (a) how social attitudes are related to personal values, and (b) when macro-contextual factors have an impact on attitude-value links. In a meta-analysis based on the Schwartz Value Survey (Schwartz, 1992) and the Portrait Value Questionnaire (Schwartz et al., 2001; k = 91, N = 30,357 from 31 countries), we found that self-transcendence (vs. self-enhancement) values relate positively to fairness/proenvironmental and care/prosocial attitudes, and conservation (vs. openness-to-change) values relate to purity/religious and authority/political attitudes, whereas ingroup/identity attitudes are not consistently associated with value dimensions. Additionally, we hypothesize that the ecological, economic, and cultural context moderates the extent to which values guide social attitudes. Results of the multi-level meta-analysis show that ecological and cultural factors inhibit or foster attitude-value associations: Disease stress is associated with lower attitude-value associations for conservation (vs. openness-to-change) values; collectivism is associated with stronger attitude-value links for conservation values; individualism is associated with stronger attitude-value links for self-transcendence (vs. self-enhancement) values; and uncertainty avoidance is associated with stronger attitude-values links, particularly for conservation values. These findings challenge universalistic claims about context-independent attitude-value relations and contribute to refined future value and social attitude theories. (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Decreased reward value of biological motion among individuals with autistic traits.

PubMed

Williams, Elin H; Cross, Emily S

2018-02-01

The Social Motivation Theory posits that a reduced sensitivity to the value of social stimuli, specifically faces, can account for social impairments in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Research has demonstrated that typically developing (TD) individuals preferentially orient towards another type of salient social stimulus, namely biological motion. Individuals with ASD, however, do not show this preference. While the reward value of faces to both TD and ASD individuals has been well-established, the extent to which individuals from these populations also find human motion to be rewarding remains poorly understood. The present study investigated the value assigned to biological motion by TD participants in an effort task, and further examined whether these values differed among individuals with more autistic traits. The results suggest that TD participants value natural human motion more than rigid, machine-like motion or non-human control motion, but this preference is attenuated among individuals reporting more autistic traits. This study provides the first evidence to suggest that individuals with more autistic traits find a broader conceptualisation of social stimuli less rewarding compared to individuals with fewer autistic traits. By quantifying the social reward value of human motion, the present findings contribute an important piece to our understanding of social motivation in individuals with and without social impairments. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of Successful Aging: Intergenerational Voices Value Well-Being.

PubMed

Kelly, Gina Aalgaard; Lazarus, Jennie

2015-03-01

This study explored the perceptions of successful aging from intergenerational perspectives. A total of 66 participants were interviewed from three different generations including college students, parents, and grandparents. After qualitative data collection and analyses were used, five conceptual categories emerged from the data that related to perceptions of successful aging. The five concepts include wisdom, health, financial stability, staying active, and well-being. Conceptual categories emerged from the participants of different generations, and some were interconnected across generations. Each category is representative of major thematic patterns. Well-being was the primary concept which emerged because all three generations perceived and explicitly discussed well-being as the most valued aspect of successful aging. Previous successful aging research informed the use of a bio-psycho-social theoretical lens to frame the study findings and discussion. © The Author(s) 2015.

An Argumentation Framework based on Paraconsistent Logic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umeda, Yuichi; Takahashi, Takehisa; Sawamura, Hajime

Argumentation is the most representative of intelligent activities of humans. Therefore, it is natural to think that it could have many implications for artificial intelligence and computer science as well. Specifically, argumentation may be considered a most primitive capability for interaction among computational agents. In this paper we present an argumentation framework based on the four-valued paraconsistent logic. Tolerance and acceptance of inconsistency that this logic has as its logical feature allow for arguments on inconsistent knowledge bases with which we are often confronted. We introduce various concepts for argumentation, such as arguments, attack relations, argument justification, preferential criteria of arguments based on social norms, and so on, in a way proper to the four-valued paraconsistent logic. Then, we provide the fixpoint semantics and dialectical proof theory for our argumentation framework. We also give the proofs of the soundness and completeness.

Putting it in Context: Linking Auditory Processing with Social Behavior Circuits in the Vertebrate Brain.

PubMed

Petersen, Christopher L; Hurley, Laura M

2017-10-01

Context is critical to the adaptive value of communication. Sensory systems such as the auditory system represent an important juncture at which information on physiological state or social valence can be added to communicative information. However, the neural pathways that convey context to the auditory system are not well understood. The serotonergic system offers an excellent model to address these types of questions. Serotonin fluctuates in the mouse inferior colliculus (IC), an auditory midbrain region important for species-specific vocalizations, during specific social and non-social contexts. Furthermore, serotonin is an indicator of the valence of event-based changes within individual social interactions. We propose a model in which the brain's social behavior network serves as an afferent effector of the serotonergic dorsal raphe nucleus in order to gate contextual release of serotonin in the IC. Specifically, discrete vasopressinergic nuclei within the hypothalamus and extended amygdala that project to the dorsal raphe are functionally engaged during contexts in which serotonin fluctuates in the IC. Since serotonin strongly influences the responses of IC neurons to social vocalizations, this pathway could serve as a feedback loop whereby integrative social centers modulate their own sources of input. The end result of this feedback would be to produce a process that is geared, from sensory input to motor output, toward responding appropriately to a dynamic external world. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A Generic Model of Dyadic Social Relationships

PubMed Central

Favre, Maroussia; Sornette, Didier

2015-01-01

We introduce a model of dyadic social interactions and establish its correspondence with relational models theory (RMT), a theory of human social relationships. RMT posits four elementary models of relationships governing human interactions, singly or in combination: Communal Sharing, Authority Ranking, Equality Matching, and Market Pricing. To these are added the limiting cases of asocial and null interactions, whereby people do not coordinate with reference to any shared principle. Our model is rooted in the observation that each individual in a dyadic interaction can do either the same thing as the other individual, a different thing or nothing at all. To represent these three possibilities, we consider two individuals that can each act in one out of three ways toward the other: perform a social action X or Y, or alternatively do nothing. We demonstrate that the relationships generated by this model aggregate into six exhaustive and disjoint categories. We propose that four of these categories match the four relational models, while the remaining two correspond to the asocial and null interactions defined in RMT. We generalize our results to the presence of N social actions. We infer that the four relational models form an exhaustive set of all possible dyadic relationships based on social coordination. Hence, we contribute to RMT by offering an answer to the question of why there could exist just four relational models. In addition, we discuss how to use our representation to analyze data sets of dyadic social interactions, and how social actions may be valued and matched by the agents. PMID:25826403

Albumin and all-cause mortality risk in insurance applicants.

PubMed

Fulks, Michael; Stout, Robert L; Dolan, Vera F

2010-01-01

Determine the relationship between albumin levels and all-cause mortality in life insurance applicants. By use of the Social Security Death Master File, mortality was determined in 1,704,566 insurance applicants for whom blood samples were submitted to Clinical Reference Laboratory. There were 53,211 deaths observed in this healthy adult population during a median follow-up of 12 years. Results were stratified by 6 age-sex groups: females: ages 20 to 49, 50 to 69 and 70+; and males: ages 20 to 49, 50 to 69 and 70+. The middle 50% of albumin values specific to each group was used as the reference band for that group. The mortality in bands representing other percentiles of albumin values higher and lower than the middle 50% were compared to the mortality in the reference band for each age-sex group. The highest percentile bands represent the lowest albumin values. Relative risk exceeded 150% of each age- and sex-specific reference band for all groups between the 90th and 95th percentile of albumin values. This translates into 150% risk thresholds at approximately 3.8 mg/dL for all females and for males 70+, and 4.1 mg/dL for males ages 20 to 69. Conversely, the highest 25% of albumin values were associated with approximately a 20% reduction in risk in males and a variable 10% reduction in risk in females when compared to the middle 50% of albumin values. Excluding those with total cholesterol < or = 160 mg/dL, or with AST, GGT or alkaline phosphatase elevations, had little impact on relative risk except at the lowest 0.5% of albumin values. When stratified by age and sex, albumin discriminated between all-cause mortality risks in healthy adults at all ages and across a wide range of values independent of other laboratory tests.

[Interpersonal attention management inventory: a new instrument to capture different self- and external perception skills].

PubMed

Blaser, Klaus; Zlabinger, Milena; Hinterberger, Thilo

2014-01-01

The Interpersonal Attention Management Inventory (IAMI) represents a new instrument to capture self- and external perception skills. The underlying theoretical model assumes 3 mental locations of attention (the intrapersonal space, the extrapersonal space, and the external intrapersonal space) of the other. The IAMI was studied regarding its factor structure; it was shortened and statistical values as well as first reference values were calculated based on a larger sample (n = 1089). By factor analysis, the superordinate scales could be widely validated. The shortened version with 31 items and 3 superordinate scales shows a high reliability of the global value (Cronbach's α = 0.81) and, regarding the convergent validity, a modest correlation (r = 0.41) of the global value and mindfulness, measured with the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI). Further validation studies are invited so that the IAMI can be used as an instrument for (course) diagnosis in the therapy of psychiatric disorders as well as for research in social neuroscience, e.g., in investigations on mindfulness, compassion, empathy, theory of mind, and self-boundaries.

Representation of occupational information across resources and validation of the occupational data for health model.

PubMed

Rajamani, Sripriya; Chen, Elizabeth S; Lindemann, Elizabeth; Aldekhyyel, Ranyah; Wang, Yan; Melton, Genevieve B

2018-02-01

Reports by the National Academy of Medicine and leading public health organizations advocate including occupational information as part of an individual's social context. Given recent National Academy of Medicine recommendations on occupation-related data in the electronic health record, there is a critical need for improved representation. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has developed an Occupational Data for Health (ODH) model, currently in draft format. This study aimed to validate the ODH model by mapping occupation-related elements from resources representing recommendations, standards, public health reports and surveys, and research measures, along with preliminary evaluation of associated value sets. All 247 occupation-related items across 20 resources mapped to the ODH model. Recommended value sets had high variability across the evaluated resources. This study demonstrates the ODH model's value, the multifaceted nature of occupation information, and the critical need for occupation value sets to support clinical care, population health, and research. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Cognitive regulation alters social and dietary choice by changing attribute representations in domain-general and domain-specific brain circuits

PubMed Central

Hutcherson, Cendri A

2018-01-01

Are some people generally more successful using cognitive regulation or does it depend on the choice domain? Why? We combined behavioral computational modeling and multivariate decoding of fMRI responses to identify neural loci of regulation-related shifts in value representations across goals and domains (dietary or altruistic choice). Surprisingly, regulatory goals did not alter integrative value representations in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which represented all choice-relevant attributes across goals and domains. Instead, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) flexibly encoded goal-consistent values and predicted regulatory success for the majority of choice-relevant attributes, using attribute-specific neural codes. We also identified domain-specific exceptions: goal-dependent encoding of prosocial attributes localized to precuneus and temporo-parietal junction (not DLPFC). Our results suggest that cognitive regulation operated by changing specific attribute representations (not integrated values). Evidence of domain-general and domain-specific neural loci reveals important divisions of labor, explaining when and why regulatory success generalizes (or doesn’t) across contexts and domains. PMID:29813018

Life satisfaction, QALYs, and the monetary value of health.

PubMed

Huang, Li; Frijters, Paul; Dalziel, Kim; Clarke, Philip

2018-06-18

The monetary value of a quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) is frequently used to assess the benefits of health interventions and inform funding decisions. However, there is little consensus on methods for the estimation of this monetary value. In this study, we use life satisfaction as an indicator of 'experienced utility', and estimate the dollar equivalent value of a QALY using a fixed effect model with instrumental variable estimators. Using a nationally-representative longitudinal survey including 28,347 individuals followed during 2002-2015 in Australia, we estimate that individual's willingness to pay for one QALY is approximately A$42,000-A$67,000, and the willingness to pay for not having a long-term condition approximately A$2000 per year. As the estimates are derived using population-level data and a wellbeing measurement of life satisfaction, the approach has the advantage of being socially inclusive and recognizes the significant meaning of people's subjective valuations of health. The method could be particularly useful for nations where QALY thresholds are not yet validated or established. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Development in Early Childhood.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elkind, David

1991-01-01

Reviews some of the major cognitive, social, and emotional achievements of young children and discusses some of their limitations. Divides description of development into intellectual, language, social, and emotional development. Notes that this division represents adult categories of thought and does not represent young children's actual modes of…

77 FR 13968 - Requiring Electronic Filing of Select Appeals by Certain Claimant Representatives

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-08

... SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 20 CFR Parts 404 and 416 [Docket No. SSA-2011-0094] Requiring Electronic Filing of Select Appeals by Certain Claimant Representatives AGENCY: Social Security Administration. ACTION: Revised notification of implementation of requirement. SUMMARY: We are revising the...

77 FR 4653 - Requiring Electronic Filing of Select Appeals by Certain Claimant Representatives

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-31

... SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 20 CFR Parts 404 and 416 [Docket No. SSA-2011-0094] Requiring Electronic Filing of Select Appeals by Certain Claimant Representatives AGENCY: Social Security Administration. ACTION: Notification of implementation of requirement. SUMMARY: We are announcing the requirement...

When Values and Behaviors Conflict: Immigrant BSW Students' Experiences Revealed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calderwood, Kimberly; Harper, Kim; Ball, Kellie; Liang, David

2009-01-01

This qualitative study reveals the discomfort seven immigrant bachelor of social work students reported experiencing when the behaviors expected of them as Canadian social workers conflicted with their fundamental family values. Behaviorally, participants had assimilated to Canadian and to social work cultures; however, the values they held from…

The biology of cultural conflict

PubMed Central

Berns, Gregory S.; Atran, Scott

2012-01-01

Although culture is usually thought of as the collection of knowledge and traditions that are transmitted outside of biology, evidence continues to accumulate showing how biology and culture are inseparably intertwined. Cultural conflict will occur only when the beliefs and traditions of one cultural group represent a challenge to individuals of another. Such a challenge will elicit brain processes involved in cognitive decision-making, emotional activation and physiological arousal associated with the outbreak, conduct and resolution of conflict. Key targets to understand bio-cultural differences include primitive drives—how the brain responds to likes and dislikes, how it discounts the future, and how this relates to reproductive behaviour—but also higher level functions, such as how the mind represents and values the surrounding physical and social environment. Future cultural wars, while they may bear familiar labels of religion and politics, will ultimately be fought over control of our biology and our environment. PMID:22271779

The biology of cultural conflict.

PubMed

Berns, Gregory S; Atran, Scott

2012-03-05

Although culture is usually thought of as the collection of knowledge and traditions that are transmitted outside of biology, evidence continues to accumulate showing how biology and culture are inseparably intertwined. Cultural conflict will occur only when the beliefs and traditions of one cultural group represent a challenge to individuals of another. Such a challenge will elicit brain processes involved in cognitive decision-making, emotional activation and physiological arousal associated with the outbreak, conduct and resolution of conflict. Key targets to understand bio-cultural differences include primitive drives-how the brain responds to likes and dislikes, how it discounts the future, and how this relates to reproductive behaviour-but also higher level functions, such as how the mind represents and values the surrounding physical and social environment. Future cultural wars, while they may bear familiar labels of religion and politics, will ultimately be fought over control of our biology and our environment.

Social Dynamic of Yogyakarta Citizens in Facing the Uncertainty of Traditional Value and Modernity: The Integrated Value of Social Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sridiyatmiko, Gunawan

2016-01-01

The principal issue of this study is "how does the society dynamic of Yogyakarta in facing the polemic of traditional, modernity, and social study values which can be developed in social study learning at school? The general aim of this study is to find how the society dynamic phenomenon which happened in Yogyakarta mainly in Kraton, Kauman,…

[Predictors and longitudinal changes of depression and anxiety among medical college students].

PubMed

Lee, Hyun-Ji; Jang, Eun-Young; Park, Yong-Chon; Kim, Daeho

2013-06-01

This longitudinal study was designed to examine the change in depression and anxiety and their predictors over 1 year among premedical and medical students. We compared depression and anxiety from 2 waves and determined the predictive power of personality, narcissism, social comparison, and social reward value on them. Two hundred twenty-six students at a medical school in Seoul were divided into 4 groups according to academic year and completed a questionnaire at the end of 2010 and 2011. The questionnaire included the Zung Depression Scale; Zung Anxiety Scale; scales for social comparison, narcissism, and social reward value; and Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory. Among first- and second-year medical students, depression and anxiety increased significantly over the previous year. However, irrespective of academic year, depression increased significantly after 1 year. Also, social reward value had a moderating effect. Specifically, among students with low social reward value who entered their first year of medical school, the negative impact of the tendency toward depression and anxiety was amplified compared with older students. Because the predictors of mental health differ between groups, each group must receive specific, appropriate education. Also, because social reward value is important moderating factor of mental health, education and intervention programs that focus on social reward value are needed.

Dealing with Uncertainty and Accounting for Social Value Judgments in Assessments of Orphan Drugs: Evidence from Four European Countries.

PubMed

Nicod, Elena; Berg Brigham, Karen; Durand-Zaleski, Isabelle; Kanavos, Panos

To better understand the reasons for differences in reimbursement decisions for orphan drugs in four European countries that were not readily apparent from health technology assessment (HTA) reports and operating procedures. Semistructured interviews with representatives of HTA bodies in England, Scotland, Sweden, and France were conducted. An interview topic guide was developed on the basis of findings from a systematic comparison of HTA decisions for 10 orphan drugs. Qualitative thematic data analysis was applied to the interview transcripts using the framework approach. Eight representatives from the four HTA bodies were interviewed between March and June 2015. Evidentiary requirements and approaches to dealing with imperfect or incomplete evidence were explored, including trial design and duration, study population and subgroups, comparators, and end points. Interviewees agreed that decisions regarding orphan drugs are made in a context of lower quality evidence, and the threshold of acceptable uncertainty varied by country. Some countries imposed higher evidentiary standards for greater clinical claims, which may be more challenging for orphan diseases. The acceptability of surrogate end points was not consistent across countries nor were the validation requirements. The most common social value judgments identified related to innovation, disease severity, and unmet need. Differences were seen in the way these concepts were defined and accounted for across countries. Although agreement was seen in evidentiary requirements or preferences, there were subtle differences in the circumstances in which uncertain evidence may be considered acceptable, possibly explaining differences in HTA recommendations across countries. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Authoritarian parenting attitudes and social origin: The multigenerational relationship of socioeconomic position to childrearing values.

PubMed

Friedson, Michael

2016-01-01

Support for authoritarian approaches to parenting, including corporal punishment, is known to be elevated among individuals with low current levels of socioeconomic attainment. The objectives of this study are: (1) to determine whether authoritarian parenting dispositions are related to disadvantages in one's social background, in addition to one's present socioeconomic standing; and (2) to distinguish, in this regard, between support for spanking and other authoritarian parenting dispositions. Ordered logit models, applied to General Social Survey data concerning a nationally representative sample of US adults, are used to examine relationships of authoritarian parenting dispositions to the socioeconomic positions that respondents currently occupy and in which they were raised. It is found that support for spanking (N=10,725) and valuing of obedience (N=10,043) are inversely related to the socioeconomic status (SES) of one's family of origin, and that these associations are robust to controls for one's current SES. A disadvantaged family background is found to increase support for spanking most among those with high current SES. Strong associations (robust to controls for SES indicators) are additionally found between African-American racial identity and support for authoritarian parenting. Prior research indicates that authoritarian parenting practices such as spanking may be harmful to children. Thus, if the parenting attitudes analyzed here translate into parenting practices, then this study's findings may point to a mechanism for the intergenerational transmission of disadvantages. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Health technology prioritization: which criteria for prioritizing new technologies and what are their relative weights?

PubMed

Golan, Ofra; Hansen, Paul; Kaplan, Giora; Tal, Orna

2011-10-01

To review the criteria and 'other' considerations used internationally for prioritizing new health technologies, and to demonstrate a conjoint-analysis methodology (also known as discrete choice experiments) for deriving relative weights for the criteria. We searched the literature for criteria and other considerations for prioritizing new technologies. A convenience sample of 74 respondents completed a conjoint-analysis survey involving criteria related to technologies' 'benefits'. Encompassing 11 countries and the US state of Oregon, we were able to distinguish three main groups of criteria: (a) Need, appropriateness and clinical benefits; (b) Efficiency (including cost-effectiveness); and (c) Equality, solidarity and other ethical or social values. For several countries, the quality of the clinical and economic evidence and factors related to strategic issues and procedural justice respectively are also considered. The criteria and their weights from the conjoint-analysis survey are: 'Lives saved'=0.343, 'Life-prolongation benefits'=0.243, 'Quality-of-life gains'=0.217, a criterion representing the availability of alternative treatments=0.107, and 'Other important social/ethical benefits'=0.087. The criteria represent a pluralistic combination of needs-based, maximizing and egalitarian principles, and we demonstrated a methodology for deriving the weights for criteria related to technologies' 'benefits'. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human infants' learning of social structures: the case of dominance hierarchy.

PubMed

Mascaro, Olivier; Csibra, Gergely

2014-01-01

We tested 15-month-olds' capacity to represent social-dominance hierarchies with more than two agents. Our results showed that infants found it harder to memorize dominance relations that were presented in an order that hindered the incremental formation of a single structure (Study 1). These results suggest that infants attempt to build structures incrementally, relation by relation, thereby simplifying the complex problem of recognizing a social structure. Infants also found circular dominance structures harder to process than linear dominance structures (Study 2). These expectations about the shape of structures may facilitate learning. Our results suggest that infants attempt to represent social structures composed of social relations. They indicate that human infants go beyond learning about individual social partners and their respective relations and form hypotheses about how social groups are organized.

Social Conflict: The Negative Aspect of Social Relations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abbey, Antonia; Rovine, Michael

Interpersonal relationships can be nonsupportive as well as supportive. A study was conducted to investigate the negative aspects of social relations which parallel two positive components of social relations, esteem support and affirmative support. If social support represents the positive aspects of interpersonal relationships, social conflict…

Analysis of circadian properties and healthy levels of blue light from smartphones at night.

PubMed

Oh, Ji Hye; Yoo, Heeyeon; Park, Hoo Keun; Do, Young Rag

2015-06-18

This study proposes representative figures of merit for circadian and vision performance for healthy and efficient use of smartphone displays. The recently developed figures of merit for circadian luminous efficacy of radiation (CER) and circadian illuminance (CIL) related to human health and circadian rhythm were measured to compare three kinds of commercial smartphone displays. The CIL values for social network service (SNS) messenger screens from all three displays were higher than 41.3 biolux (blx) in a dark room at night, and the highest CIL value reached 50.9 blx. These CIL values corresponded to melatonin suppression values (MSVs) of 7.3% and 11.4%, respectively. Moreover, smartphone use in a bright room at night had much higher CIL and MSV values (58.7 ~ 105.2 blx and 15.4 ~ 36.1%, respectively). This study also analyzed the nonvisual and visual optical properties of the three smartphone displays while varying the distance between the screen and eye and controlling the brightness setting. Finally, a method to possibly attenuate the unhealthy effects of smartphone displays was proposed and investigated by decreasing the emitting wavelength of blue LEDs in a smartphone LCD backlight and subsequently reducing the circadian effect of the display.

'Why can't I just not drink?' A qualitative study of adults' social experiences of stopping or reducing alcohol consumption.

PubMed

Bartram, Ashlea; Eliott, Jaklin; Crabb, Shona

2017-07-01

Alcohol is ingrained in Australian culture, playing an important role in many social occasions. This can make reducing or stopping alcohol consumption challenging, as one risks rejecting, not just a drink but also the valued social norms that drink represents. This study aimed to investigate the social experiences of adults who stop or reduce their alcohol consumption. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with people aged over 25 years who had stopped or significantly reduced their alcohol consumption for at least 3 months in the past year and were thematically analysed. Participants found themselves stigmatised for violating expectations around alcohol consumption when they tried to stop or reduce their own drinking. Although most were able to either conceal their change in alcohol consumption or present it so that it did not challenge norms around drinking, this approach was seen as a temporary measure and not one to employ with people with whom they socialised regularly. Instead, many participants sought to change their interactions with their social group to focus on activities with which alcohol consumption was not strongly associated. Reducing or stopping alcohol consumption can have positive consequences for health, yet it can also raise social challenges that individuals need to negotiate in order to maintain their social well-being. This tension suggests a need for health promotion campaigns to address the social as well as health consequences of reducing alcohol consumption. [Bartram A, Eliott J, Crabb S. 'Why can't I just not drink?' A qualitative study of adults' social experiences of stopping or reducing alcohol consumption. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;26:449-455]. © 2016 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Exploring the role of cognitive and structural forms of social capital in HIV/AIDS trends in the Kagera region of Tanzania - a grounded theory study.

PubMed

Frumence, Gasto; Eriksson, Malin; Nystrom, Lennarth; Killewo, Japhet; Emmelin, Maria

2011-04-01

The article presents a synthesis of data from three village case studies focusing on how structural and cognitive social capital may have influenced the progression of the HIV epidemic in the Kagera region of Tanzania. Grounded theory was used to develop a theoretical model describing the possible links between structural and cognitive social capital and the impact on sexual health behaviours. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were carried out to represent the range of experiences of existing social capital. Both structural and cognitive social capital were active avenues for community members to come together, empower each other, and develop norms, values, trust and reciprocal relations. This empowerment created an enabling environment in which members could adopt protective behaviours against HIV infection. On the one hand, we observed that involvement in formal and informal organisations resulted in a reduction of numbers of sexual partners, led people to demand abstinence from sexual relations until marriage, caused fewer opportunities for casual sex, and gave individuals the agency to demand the use of condoms. On the other hand, strict membership rules and regulations excluded some members, particularly excessive alcohol drinkers and debtors, from becoming members of the social groups, which increased their vulnerability in terms of exposure to HIV. Social gatherings (especially those organised during the night) were also found to increase youths' risk of HIV infection through instances of unsafe sex. We conclude that even though social capital may at times have negative effects on individuals' HIV-prevention efforts, this study provides initial evidence that social capital is largely protective through empowering vulnerable groups such as women and the poor to protect against HIV infection and by promoting protective sexual behaviours.

The Relationship between Social Capital in Hospitals and Physician Job Satisfaction

PubMed Central

Ommen, Oliver; Driller, Elke; Köhler, Thorsten; Kowalski, Christoph; Ernstmann, Nicole; Neumann, Melanie; Steffen, Petra; Pfaff, Holger

2009-01-01

Background Job satisfaction in the hospital is an important predictor for many significant management ratios. Acceptance in professional life or high workload are known as important predictors for job satisfaction. The influence of social capital in hospitals on job satisfaction within the health care system, however, remains to be determined. Thus, this article aimed at analysing the relationship between overall job satisfaction of physicians and social capital in hospitals. Methods The results of this study are based upon questionnaires sent by mail to 454 physicians working in the field of patient care in 4 different German hospitals in 2002. 277 clinicians responded to the poll, for a response rate of 61%. Analysis was performed using three linear regression models with physician overall job satisfaction as the dependent variable and age, gender, professional experience, workload, and social capital as independent variables. Results The first regression model explained nearly 9% of the variance of job satisfaction. Whereas job satisfaction increased slightly with age, gender and professional experience were not identified as significant factors to explain the variance. Setting up a second model with the addition of subjectively-perceived workload to the analysis, the explained variance increased to 18% and job satisfaction decreased significantly with increasing workload. The third model including social capital in hospital explained 36% of the variance with social capital, professional experience and workload as significant factors. Conclusion This analysis demonstrated that the social capital of an organisation, in addition to professional experience and workload, represents a significant predictor of overall job satisfaction of physicians working in the field of patient care. Trust, mutual understanding, shared aims, and ethical values are qualities of social capital that unify members of social networks and communities and enable them to act cooperatively. PMID:19445692

Sex Role Socialization in Sport.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mawson, L. Marlene

Sport values follow societal values, and, in American society, it is evident that men have determined the social, political, and economic values upon which this country has established its laws. An overview of the social influence of men in comparison to that of women in the development of American society points out how men and women have assumed…

Using Action Research to Foster Positive Social Values

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benton, Jean

2005-01-01

"Using Action Research to Foster Positive Social Values" provides teachers with a unique framework in which to consider classroom violence. It uses actual case studies and working models done through classroom research to produce more effective classrooms that foster positive social values. The author lays out a theoretical framework for: (1)…

Use of New Approaches in Teaching Sociology (Application of a Technique for Producing Idea)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eraslan, Levent

2011-01-01

Society-based research subjects are the study of sociology which is an important branch of science in the field of social science. It is a branch of studying society, social values, social groups, social classes and economical, political, social, religious, lawful institutions, population, usage, custom, value, norm, beliefs and relations and…

The Integrated Scorecard in support of corporate sustainability strategies.

PubMed

Journeault, Marc

2016-11-01

Organizations have increasingly recognized the importance and benefits of developing a sustainability strategy that incorporates environmental and social responsibilities. However, the simultaneous integration of the economic, environmental and social aspects remains a major concern for organizations. The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC) represents one of the most promising strategic tools to help organizations face these challenges and support their sustainability strategy. However, past research has provided unclear, incomplete and even contradictory SBSC frameworks while offering little knowledge about how to integrate stakeholder management as well as environmental and social performance within the balanced scorecard to successfully support a corporate sustainability strategy. The aim of this study is to address these issues and limitations by proposing the Integrated Scorecard, a specific SBSC that integrates the three pillars of sustainability performance within four different perspectives, namely environmental, social and economic performance, stakeholder management, internal business processes, and skills and capabilities. This study provides a conceptual approach to the Integrated Scorecard and illustrates, through the use of two practical illustrations, the ability of this framework to support the corporate sustainability strategy by identifying the core sustainability objectives that organizations should achieve when creating value, facilitating the understanding of the contribution of environmental and social initiatives on economic performance, allowing the monitoring and measurement of the strategy's level of achievement, and creating synergy between sustainability performance management and reporting. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Race, ethnicity, and the relevance of obesity for social integration.

PubMed

Cunningham, Solveig Argeseanu; Vaquera, Elizabeth; Long, Jeanne L

2012-01-01

To examine race and ethnic differences in the importance of obesity for social integration using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). A cross-sectional study utilizing survey-adjusted statistics and multivariate logistic and linear regression models. Models were stratified by sex and included interaction terms capturing race, ethnicity and obesity. United States of America. A nationally representative sample of 15,355 respondents grades 7 through 12 who participated in both the In-School and In-Home Wave I surveys of Add Health. Four self-reported and schoolmate-reported indicators of social integration. The consequences of obesity for social integration are greatest for White adolescents, who were selected by almost 2 fewer schoolmates as friends and had half the odds of having their friendships reciprocated compared with non-obese White adolescents. The social disadvantage of obesity was lower for non-White adolescents; though they are selected by significantly fewer schoolmates as friends and were less likely to have their friendships reciprocated, they did not face additional discrimination from being both obese and minority. There are significant differences between obese and non-obese adolescents by race and ethnicity in friendships. As friendships are among the most valued assets in adolescence, understanding the impact of obesity on access to friendships for diverse adolescents is a necessary component to understanding the complex motivations that guide health-related behavior at these formative ages.

Self-benefiting in the allocation of scarce resources: leader-follower effects and the moderating effect of social value orientations.

PubMed

van Dijk, Eric; De Cremer, David

2006-10-01

Previous research on the allocation of scarce resources suggests that people who are assigned to higher positions (e.g., leaders) are more likely to make self-benefiting allocations than people who are assigned to lower positions (e.g., followers). In this article, the authors investigated the proposition that these findings would be moderated by people's social value orientations. In two experimental studies, the authors assigned participants either to the role of leader or follower and assessed the participants' social value orientations. In agreement with predictions, the findings show that position effects are moderated by social value orientation. Social value orientations only affected the allocation behavior of the leaders: Proself leaders allocated more resources to themselves than did prosocial leaders. Additional analyses indicate that these effects are mediated by feelings of entitlement.

Endorsement of Social and Personal Values Predicts the Desirability of Men and Women as Long-Term Partners.

PubMed

Lopes, Guilherme S; Barbaro, Nicole; Sela, Yael; Jeffery, Austin J; Pham, Michael N; Shackelford, Todd K; Zeigler-Hill, Virgil

2017-01-01

A prospective romantic partner's desirability as a long-term partner may be affected by the values that he or she endorses. However, few studies have examined the effects of "values" on a person's desirability as a long-term partner. We hypothesized that individuals who endorse social values (vs. personal values) will be perceived as more desirable long-term partners (Hypothesis 1) and that the endorsement of social values will be especially desirable in a male (vs. female) long-term partner (Hypothesis 2). The current study employed a 2 (sex of prospective partner: male vs. female) × 2 (values of prospective partner: personal vs. social) × 2 (physical attractiveness of prospective partner: unattractive vs. highly attractive) mixed-model design. Participants were 339 undergraduates (174 men, 165 women), with ages varying between 18 and 33 years ( M = 19.9, SD = 3.6), and mostly in a romantic relationship (53.7%). Participants reported interest in a long-term relationship with prospective partners depicted in four scenarios (within subjects), each varying along the dimensions of values (personal vs. social) and physical attractiveness (unattractive vs. highly attractive). Individuals endorsing personal values (vs. social values) and men (vs. women) endorsing personal values were rated as less desirable as long-term partners. The current research adds to the partner preferences literature by demonstrating that an individual's ascribed values influence others' perceptions of desirability as a long-term partner and that these effects are consistently sex differentiated, as predicted by an evolutionary perspective on romantic partner preferences.

Professional Human Service Occupation Biases Represented in General Psychology Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Firmin, Michael W.; Johnson, Erica J.; Wikler, Jeremiah

2009-01-01

We examined the coverage given by General Psychology textbooks, representing 8 major commercial publishers, regarding the professions of psychology, counseling, marriage & family therapy, and social workers. Of the 24 textbooks assessed, we found substantial bias favoring the coverage of psychology. While 25% of the texts mentioned social workers,…

Social Network and Nutritional Value of Congregate Meal Programs: Differences by Sexual Orientation.

PubMed

Porter, Kristen; Keary, Sara; VanWagenen, Aimee; Bradford, Judith

2016-09-01

This study explored the associations between sexual orientation and the perceived social network and nutritional value of congregate meal programs (CMPs) in Massachusetts (N = 289). Descriptives, t tests, and chi-square tests analyzed sexual orientation differences. Linear regression tested the effects of sexual orientation on the value of CMPs. Sexual minorities (SMs) were more likely to have non-kin-based social networks and reported higher levels of loneliness compared with heterosexuals. Heterosexuals, fewer of whom have non-kin-based networks, place a stronger value on access to a social network via CMPs. Nutritional value is important for people of all sexual orientations. SMs traveled seven times the distance to attend CMPs, highlighting the need for greater access to such sites. Results of this study support the specification of SMs as a population of "greatest social need" under the Older Americans Act and the expansion of services that are tailored for their social support needs. © The Author(s) 2014.

On the deep structure of social affect: Attitudes, emotions, sentiments, and the case of "contempt".

PubMed

Gervais, Matthew M; Fessler, Daniel M T

2017-01-01

Contempt is typically studied as a uniquely human moral emotion. However, this approach has yielded inconclusive results. We argue this is because the folk affect concept "contempt" has been inaccurately mapped onto basic affect systems. "Contempt" has features that are inconsistent with a basic emotion, especially its protracted duration and frequently cold phenomenology. Yet other features are inconsistent with a basic attitude. Nonetheless, the features of "contempt" functionally cohere. To account for this, we revive and reconfigure the sentiment construct using the notion of evolved functional specialization. We develop the Attitude-Scenario-Emotion (ASE) model of sentiments, in which enduring attitudes represent others' social-relational value and moderate discrete emotions across scenarios. Sentiments are functional networks of attitudes and emotions. Distinct sentiments, including love, respect, like, hate, and fear, track distinct relational affordances, and each is emotionally pluripotent, thereby serving both bookkeeping and commitment functions within relationships. The sentiment contempt is an absence of respect; from cues to others' low efficacy, it represents them as worthless and small, muting compassion, guilt, and shame and potentiating anger, disgust, and mirth. This sentiment is ancient yet implicated in the ratcheting evolution of human ultrasocialty. The manifolds of the contempt network, differentially engaged across individuals and populations, explain the features of "contempt," its translatability, and its variable experience as "hot" or "cold," occurrent or enduring, and anger-like or disgust-like. This rapprochement between psychological anthropology and evolutionary psychology contributes both methodological and empirical insights, with broad implications for understanding the functional and cultural organization of social affect.

The dynamics of social-ecological systems in urban landscapes: Stockholm and the National Urban Park, Sweden.

PubMed

Elmqvist, T; Colding, J; Barthel, S; Borgstrom, S; Duit, A; Lundberg, J; Andersson, E; Ahrné, K; Ernstson, H; Folke, C; Bengtsson, J

2004-06-01

This study addresses social-ecological dynamics in the greater metropolitan area of Stockholm County, Sweden, with special focus on the National Urban Park (NUP). It is part of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and has the following specific objectives: (1) to provide scientific information on biodiversity patterns, ecosystem dynamics, and ecosystem services generated; (2) to map interplay between actors and institutions involved in management of ecosystem services; and (3) to identify strategies for strengthening social-ecological resilience. The green areas in Stockholm County deliver numerous ecosystem services, for example, air filtration, regulation of microclimate, noise reduction, surface water drainage, recreational and cultural values, nutrient retention, and pollination and seed dispersal. Recreation is among the most important services and NUP, for example, has more than 15 million visitors per year. More than 65 organizations representing 175,000 members are involved in management of ecosystem services. However, because of population increase and urban growth during the last three decades, the region displays a quite dramatic loss of green areas and biodiversity. An important future focus is how management may reduce increasing isolation of urban green areas and enhance connectivity. Comanagement should be considered where locally managed green space may function as buffer zones and for management of weak links that connect larger green areas; for example, there are three such areas around NUP identified. Preliminary results indicate that areas of informal management represent centers on which to base adaptive comanagement, with the potential to strengthen biodiversity management and resilience in the landscape.

Design, measures and sample characteristics of the CadeViMa-Spain survey on quality of life in community-dwelling older adults.

PubMed

Fernandez-Mayoralas, Gloria; Giraldez-Garcia, Carolina; Forjaz, Maria João; Rojo-Perez, Fermina; Martinez-Martin, Pablo; Prieto-Flores, Maria-Eugenia

2012-03-01

The survey "Quality of life in older adults-Spain" (CadeViMa-Spain) was designed to obtain information about objective and subjective determinants of Quality of Life (QoL) in old age, from a multidimensional perspective. This paper presents the overall description, methodology, sample characteristics and reliability of the measures used. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in a representative sample of 1106 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and over in Spain. The sample was obtained by a geodemographically-based proportional multistage stratified sampling. A home-based questionnaire included validated scales and questions about sociodemographic characteristics, global QoL, health, family and social networks, financial means and retirement, leisure and social participation, residential environment, and satisfaction with those issues. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted. Cronbach's α coefficients were used to assess internal consistency of the scales. This nationally representative survey furnishes information about global QoL, health-related QoL, resources availability, living conditions, and satisfaction with the assessed aspects, including life domains most valued by this group. In general, community-dwelling older adults reported positive assessments of health, living conditions, and high levels of satisfaction with the different aspects of QoL. The reliability of the measures in this population was good. This survey provides comprehensive and useful information, based on the view of older people themselves, with potential to contribute to health and social policies towards promoting active aging. The database is available for in-depth comparisons.

Three-Dimensional Medical Image Analysis Using Local Dynamic Algorithm Selection on a Multiple-Instruction, Multiple-Data Architecture

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-01-01

is represented by a number, called a Hounsfield Unit (HU), which represents the attenuation within the volume relative to the attenuation of the same...volume of water. Hounsfield Unit values range from -1000 to +3000, with a value of zero assigned to the attenuation of water. A HU value of -1000...represented by a 3D array. Each array element represents a single voxel, and the value of the array entry is the corresponding scaled Hounsfield Unit value

Social learning through prediction error in the brain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joiner, Jessica; Piva, Matthew; Turrin, Courtney; Chang, Steve W. C.

2017-06-01

Learning about the world is critical to survival and success. In social animals, learning about others is a necessary component of navigating the social world, ultimately contributing to increasing evolutionary fitness. How humans and nonhuman animals represent the internal states and experiences of others has long been a subject of intense interest in the developmental psychology tradition, and, more recently, in studies of learning and decision making involving self and other. In this review, we explore how psychology conceptualizes the process of representing others, and how neuroscience has uncovered correlates of reinforcement learning signals to explore the neural mechanisms underlying social learning from the perspective of representing reward-related information about self and other. In particular, we discuss self-referenced and other-referenced types of reward prediction errors across multiple brain structures that effectively allow reinforcement learning algorithms to mediate social learning. Prediction-based computational principles in the brain may be strikingly conserved between self-referenced and other-referenced information.

Social Work Agonistes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoesz, David

2008-01-01

Social work should be founded on a powerful network of diverse practitioners applying the social sciences to advance social welfare today. Instead, social work education operates under the guise of identity politics, reserving its highest appointments for the politically correct and members of under-represented groups, with little concern for…

Which Diagnostic Criteria are Most Useful in Discriminating Between Social Gamblers and Individuals with Gambling Problems? An Examination of DSM-IV and DSM-5 Criteria.

PubMed

Temcheff, Caroline E; Paskus, Thomas S; Potenza, Marc N; Derevensky, Jeffrey L

2016-09-01

The current study sought to identify which diagnostic criteria for gambling disorder have the greatest ability to differentiate between social and problem gamblers. This study was conducted on a sample of male and female college student athletes across the U.S. (n = 8674). Classification and regression tree analysis represents an appropriate technique when addressing the question of an item's diagnostic value, as it sequentially selects variables to isolate sets of observations with similar outcomes. The current results suggest that the item related to preoccupation ("Have there been periods in the past year where you spent a lot of time thinking about gambling?") was the DSM-5 item best able to differentiate between male and female social and problem gamblers in this sample. When considering only the nine criteria retained in the DSM-5, three criteria were identified as key for distinguishing between social and disordered gamblers among men, and one criterion was identified for distinguishing between groups of women. In addition, these results do not support the notion that the illegal acts criterion has a particularly low base rate and found that it can be an important indicator of disordered gambling in a college-aged sample.

Mass media influence spreading in social networks with community structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Candia, Julián; Mazzitello, Karina I.

2008-07-01

We study an extension of Axelrod's model for social influence, in which cultural drift is represented as random perturbations, while mass media are introduced by means of an external field. In this scenario, we investigate how the modular structure of social networks affects the propagation of mass media messages across a society. The community structure of social networks is represented by coupled random networks, in which two random graphs are connected by intercommunity links. Considering inhomogeneous mass media fields, we study the conditions for successful message spreading and find a novel phase diagram in the multidimensional parameter space. These findings show that social modularity effects are of paramount importance for designing successful, cost-effective advertising campaigns.

Potentially Reversible Social Deficits Among Transgender Youth.

PubMed

Turban, Jack L

2018-05-12

Recently, there has been increased attention to a putative relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and gender dysphoria, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) diagnosis for those whose gender assigned at birth does not match their gender identity. Studies have shown an over-representation of ASD symptoms among transgender youth. These studies, however, have used scales that are non-specific for ASD. These ASD symptoms may represent social deficits that are secondary to social stress and deprivation, as transgender youth suffer high rates of peer and family rejection. These social deficits may not represent true ASD and may be reversible as patients are affirmed in their gender identities and social stress is reduced.

Values in a Science of Social Work: Values-Informed Research and Research-Informed Values

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Longhofer, Jeffrey; Floersch, Jerry

2014-01-01

While social work must be evaluative in relation to its diverse areas of practice and research (i.e., values-informed research), the purpose of this article is to propose that values are within the scope of research and therefore research on practice should make values a legitimate object of investigation (i.e., research-informed values). In this…

Evidence-based tobacco cessation strategies with pregnant Latina women.

PubMed

Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Moran

2012-03-01

Pregnant Latina women living in the United States are a heterogeneous group represented by various countries, cultures, immigration status, and other socioeconomic factors. Although some of the literature refers to a Latina health paradox that may serve as a protective factor against smoking for recent immigrants, acculturation may increase the vulnerability of pregnant Latina women to begin smoking. Social-support treatments should be individualized based on what types of emotional, informational, or instrumental resources the woman desires. Evidence-based strategies delivered in English or Spanish by bilingual lay health educators and tailored to embrace Latina values are cost-effective and successful. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Representations of everyday life: a proposal for capturing social values from the Marxist perspective of knowledge production.

PubMed

Soares, Cássia Baldini; Santos, Vilmar Ezequiel Dos; Campos, Célia Maria Sivalli; Lachtim, Sheila Aparecida Ferreira; Campos, Fernanda Cristina

2011-12-01

We propose from the Marxist perspective of the construction of knowledge, a theoretical and methodological framework for understanding social values by capturing everyday representations. We assume that scientific research brings together different dimensions: epistemological, theoretical and methodological that consistently to the other instances, proposes a set of operating procedures and techniques for capturing and analyzing the reality under study in order to expose the investigated object. The study of values reveals the essentiality of the formation of judgments and choices, there are values that reflect the dominant ideology, spanning all social classes, but there are values that reflect class interests, these are not universal, they are formed in relationships and social activities. Basing on the Marxist theory of consciousness, representations are discursive formulations of everyday life - opinion or conviction - issued by subjects about their reality, being a coherent way of understanding and exposure social values: focus groups show is suitable for grasping opinions while interviews show potential to expose convictions.

The neural basis of human social values: evidence from functional MRI.

PubMed

Zahn, Roland; Moll, Jorge; Paiva, Mirella; Garrido, Griselda; Krueger, Frank; Huey, Edward D; Grafman, Jordan

2009-02-01

Social values are composed of social concepts (e.g., "generosity") and context-dependent moral sentiments (e.g., "pride"). The neural basis of this intricate cognitive architecture has not been investigated thus far. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging while subjects imagined their own actions toward another person (self-agency) which either conformed or were counter to a social value and were associated with pride or guilt, respectively. Imagined actions of another person toward the subjects (other-agency) in accordance with or counter to a value were associated with gratitude or indignation/anger. As hypothesized, superior anterior temporal lobe (aTL) activity increased with conceptual detail in all conditions. During self-agency, activity in the anterior ventromedial prefrontal cortex correlated with pride and guilt, whereas activity in the subgenual cingulate solely correlated with guilt. In contrast, indignation/anger activated lateral orbitofrontal-insular cortices. Pride and gratitude additionally evoked mesolimbic and basal forebrain activations. Our results demonstrate that social values emerge from coactivation of stable abstract social conceptual representations in the superior aTL and context-dependent moral sentiments encoded in fronto-mesolimbic regions. This neural architecture may provide the basis of our ability to communicate about the meaning of social values across cultural contexts without limiting our flexibility to adapt their emotional interpretation.

Food choice patterns among frail older adults: The associations between social network, food choice values, and diet quality.

PubMed

Kim, Chang-O

2016-01-01

Social network type might affect an individual's food choice because these decisions are often made as a group rather than individually. In this study, the associations between social network type, food choice value, and diet quality in frail older adults with low socioeconomic status were investigated. For this cross-sectional study, 87 frail older adults were recruited from the National Home Healthcare Services in Seoul, South Korea. Social network types, food choice values, and diet quality were assessed using The Practitioner Assessment of Network Type Instrument, The Food Choice Questionnaire, and mean adequacy ratio, respectively. Results showed that frail older adults with close relationships with local family and/or friends and neighbors were less likely to follow their own preferences, such as taste, price, and beliefs regarding food health values. In contrast, frail older adults with a small social network and few community contacts were more likely to be influenced by their food choice values, such as price or healthiness of food. Frail older adults who tend to choose familiar foods were associated with low-quality dietary intake, while older adults who valued healthiness or use of natural ingredients were associated with a high-quality diet. The strength and direction of these associations were dependent on social network type of frail older adults. This study explored the hypothesis that food choice values are associated with a certain type of social network and consequently affect diet quality. While additional research needs to be conducted, community-based intervention intended to improve diet quality of frail older adults must carefully consider individual food choice values as well as social network types. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring quality of care and social inequalities related to type 2 diabetes in Hungary: Nationwide representative survey.

PubMed

Nagy, Attila; Kovács, Nóra; Pálinkás, Anita; Sipos, Valéria; Vincze, Ferenc; Szőllősi, Gergő; Csenteri, Orsolya; Ádány, Róza; Sándor, János

2018-06-01

The study aimed to launch a T2DM adult cohort that is representative of Hungary through a cross-sectional study, to produce the most important quality indicators for T2DM care, to describe social inequalities, and to estimate the absolute number of T2DM adult patients with uncontrolled HbA1c levels in Hungary. A representative sample of the Hungarian T2DM adults (N=1280) was selected in 2016. GPs collected data on socio-demographic status by questionnaire, and on history and laboratory parameters from medical records. The process and outcome indicators used in the international monitoring practice were calculated. The socio-economic status influence was determined by multivariate logistic regression models. Target achievement was 61.66%, 53.48%, and 54.00% for HbA1c, LDL-C, and blood pressure, respectively, in the studied sample (N=1176). In Hungary, 294,534 patients have above target HbA1c value out of 495,801 T2DM adults. The education-dependent positive association with majority of process indicators was not reflected in HbA1c, LDL-C, and blood pressure target achievements. The risk of microvascular complications and requirement of insulin treatment were higher among less educated. According to our observations, the education-independent target achievement for HbA1c and LDL-C is similar as, for blood pressure is less effective in Hungary than in Europe. Copyright © 2017 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Education effects on authoritarian-libertarian values: a question of socialization.

PubMed

Stubager, Rune

2008-06-01

Over the past decades an authoritarian-libertarian value dimension has become increasingly important to electoral behaviour across western countries. Previous analyses have shown that education is the most important social antecedent of individuals' positions on this value dimension; high education groups tend towards the libertarian pole and low education groups tend towards the authoritarian pole. It remains an open question, however, what aspects of education cause this relationship. The article examines a range of explanatory models: a psychodynamic, a cognitive, a socialization, and an allocation effects model. The results strongly favour the socialization model in which the relationship between education and authoritarian-libertarian values is explained as a result of differences in the value sets transferred to students in different educational milieus. The value differences between the educational groups should thus not be seen as reflecting economic differences between the groups but rather as the result of a more fundamental value conflict.

Understanding the effects of different social data on selecting priority conservation areas.

PubMed

Karimi, Azadeh; Tulloch, Ayesha I T; Brown, Greg; Hockings, Marc

2017-12-01

Conservation success is contingent on assessing social and environmental factors so that cost-effective implementation of strategies and actions can be placed in a broad social-ecological context. Until now, the focus has been on how to include spatially explicit social data in conservation planning, whereas the value of different kinds of social data has received limited attention. In a regional systematic conservation planning case study in Australia, we examined the spatial concurrence of a range of spatially explicit social values and land-use preferences collected using a public participation geographic information system and biological data. We used Zonation to integrate the social data with the biological data in a series of spatial-prioritization scenarios to determine the effect of the different types of social data on spatial prioritization compared with biological data alone. The type of social data (i.e., conservation opportunities or constraints) significantly affected spatial prioritization outcomes. The integration of social values and land-use preferences under different scenarios was highly variable and generated spatial prioritizations 1.2-51% different from those based on biological data alone. The inclusion of conservation-compatible values and preferences added relatively few new areas to conservation priorities, whereas including noncompatible economic values and development preferences as costs significantly changed conservation priority areas (48.2% and 47.4%, respectively). Based on our results, a multifaceted conservation prioritization approach that combines spatially explicit social data with biological data can help conservation planners identify the type of social data to collect for more effective and feasible conservation actions. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Trust and mindreading in adolescents: the moderating role of social value orientation.

PubMed

Derks, Jeffrey; Van Scheppingen, Manon A; Lee, Nikki C; Krabbendam, Lydia

2015-01-01

In adolescence, aspects of cognition that are required to deal with complex cooperation situations, such as mentalising and social value orientation, are still in development. In the Trust Game, cooperation may lead to better outcomes for both players, but can also lead to exploitation by the trustee. In the present study, we explore how mindreading, a crucial aspect of mentalising, and social value orientation (whether someone is prosocial or proself) are related to trust. In a group of 217 students (51% girls, Mage = 15.1) social value orientation, mindreading and trust (using the Trust Game) were measured. The result show that social value orientation moderates the relation between mindreading and trust. In the group of prosocials, we find no correlation between mindreading and trust. In the group of proselfs, mindreading is negatively correlated to trust, indicating that proselfs use their mentalising skills to assess that the trustee is likely to exploit them.

The Conforming Brain and Deontological Resolve

PubMed Central

Pincus, Melanie; LaViers, Lisa; Prietula, Michael J.; Berns, Gregory

2014-01-01

Our personal values are subject to forces of social influence. Deontological resolve captures how strongly one relies on absolute rules of right and wrong in the representation of one's personal values and may predict willingness to modify one's values in the presence of social influence. Using fMRI, we found that a neurobiological metric for deontological resolve based on relative activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) during the passive processing of sacred values predicted individual differences in conformity. Individuals with stronger deontological resolve, as measured by greater VLPFC activity, displayed lower levels of conformity. We also tested whether responsiveness to social reward, as measured by ventral striatal activity during social feedback, predicted variability in conformist behavior across individuals but found no significant relationship. From these results we conclude that unwillingness to conform to others' values is associated with a strong neurobiological representation of social rules. PMID:25170989

Social Cohesion as the Goal: Can Social Cohesion Be Directly Pursued?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koonce, Kelly A.

2011-01-01

This article establishes an understanding of social cohesion in general and discusses organizations and activities that are known to promote social cohesion before introducing organizations that claim to work toward social cohesion as one of their main priorities. The Council of Europe's Directorate General of Social Cohesion represents a…

The Effect of Social Network "Snapchat" on the Emergence of Some Negative Social Values (Social Hatred) Based on the Perspectives of Qassim Female Students: A Survey Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hussein, lawaheth M. T.

2016-01-01

The present study aims at detecting the effect of social media "Snapchat" on the emergence of some negative social values (social hatred ) based on the perspectives of female students enrolling at Qassim University, College of Science and Arts at ArRass, the academic year 2015/2016. The researcher has utilized the Descriptive Method…

Social responsibility: conceptualization and embodiment in a school of nursing.

PubMed

Kelley, Maureen A; Connor, Ann; Kun, Karen E; Salmon, Marla E

2008-01-01

This paper describes how a school of nursing has conceptualized and embodied social responsibility in its core values, curricular design, admission standards, clinical practice, and service learning opportunities. The school's engagement in the process of practicing social responsibility and clarifying its meaning and application has made apparent the natural linkage between social responsibility and professionalism and the deep and complex relationship between social responsibility and nursing itself. It has also revealed how a commitment to social responsibility impacts and determines for whom nurses care. Claiming social responsibility as a core value and working to refine its meaning and place has increased the school's commitment to it, concomitantly impacting education, practice, and recruitment and evaluation of faculty and students. The school views the conceptualization of social responsibility as a deepening and unfolding evolution, rather than as a formulaic understanding, and expects that its ongoing work of claiming social responsibility as a core value will continue to be enriching.

Work motivation among healthcare professionals.

PubMed

Kjellström, Sofia; Avby, Gunilla; Areskoug-Josefsson, Kristina; Andersson Gäre, Boel; Andersson Bäck, Monica

2017-06-19

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore work motivation among professionals at well-functioning primary healthcare centers subject to a national healthcare reform which include financial incentives. Design/methodology/approach Five primary healthcare centers in Sweden were purposively selected for being well-operated and representing public/private and small/large units. In total, 43 interviews were completed with different medical professions and qualitative deductive content analysis was conducted. Findings Work motivation exists for professionals when their individual goals are aligned with the organizational goals and the design of the reform. The centers' positive management was due to a unique combination of factors, such as clear direction of goals, a culture of non-hierarchical collaboration, and systematic quality improvement work. The financial incentives need to be translated in terms of quality patient care to provide clear direction for the professionals. Social processes where professionals work together as cohesive groups, and provided space for quality improvement work is pivotal in addressing how alignment is created. Practical implications Leaders need to consistently translate and integrate reforms with the professionals' drives and values. This is done by encouraging participation through teamwork, time for structured reflection, and quality improvement work. Social implications The design of the reforms and leadership are essential preconditions for work motivation. Originality/value The study offers a more complete picture of how reforms are managed at primary healthcare centers, as different medical professionals are included. The value also consists of showing how a range of aspects combine for primary healthcare professionals to successfully manage external reforms.

Comparing oral health care utilization estimates in the United States across three nationally representative surveys.

PubMed

Macek, Mark D; Manski, Richard J; Vargas, Clemencia M; Moeller, John F

2002-04-01

To compare estimates of dental visits among adults using three national surveys. Cross-sectional data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and National Health Expenditure surveys (NMCES, NMES, MEPS). This secondary data analysis assessed whether overall estimates and stratum-specific trends are different across surveys. Dental visit data are age standardized via the direct method to the 1990 population of the United States. Point estimates, standard errors, and test statistics are generated using SUDAAN. Sociodemographic, stratum-specific trends are generally consistent across surveys; however, overall estimates differ (NHANES III [364-day estimate] versus 1993 NHIS: -17.5 percent difference, Z = 7.27, p value < 0.001; NHANES III [365-day estimate] vs. 1993 NHIS: 5.4 percent difference, Z = -2.50, p value = 0.006; MEPS vs. 1993 NHIS: -29.8 percent difference, Z = 16.71, p value < 0.001). MEPS is the least susceptible to intrusion, telescoping, and social desirability. Possible explanations for discrepancies include different reference periods, lead-in statements, question format, and social desirability of responses. Choice of survey should depend on the hypothesis. If trends are necessary, choice of survey should not matter however, if health status or expenditure associations are necessary, then surveys that contain these variables should be used, and if accurate overall estimates are necessary, then MEPS should be used. A validation study should be conducted to establish "true" utilization estimates.

Problematic Social Media Use: Results from a Large-Scale Nationally Representative Adolescent Sample

PubMed Central

Bányai, Fanni; Zsila, Ágnes; Király, Orsolya; Maraz, Aniko; Elekes, Zsuzsanna; Griffiths, Mark D.; Andreassen, Cecilie Schou

2017-01-01

Despite social media use being one of the most popular activities among adolescents, prevalence estimates among teenage samples of social media (problematic) use are lacking in the field. The present study surveyed a nationally representative Hungarian sample comprising 5,961 adolescents as part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). Using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and based on latent profile analysis, 4.5% of the adolescents belonged to the at-risk group, and reported low self-esteem, high level of depression symptoms, and elevated social media use. Results also demonstrated that BSMAS has appropriate psychometric properties. It is concluded that adolescents at-risk of problematic social media use should be targeted by school-based prevention and intervention programs. PMID:28068404

Problematic Social Media Use: Results from a Large-Scale Nationally Representative Adolescent Sample.

PubMed

Bányai, Fanni; Zsila, Ágnes; Király, Orsolya; Maraz, Aniko; Elekes, Zsuzsanna; Griffiths, Mark D; Andreassen, Cecilie Schou; Demetrovics, Zsolt

2017-01-01

Despite social media use being one of the most popular activities among adolescents, prevalence estimates among teenage samples of social media (problematic) use are lacking in the field. The present study surveyed a nationally representative Hungarian sample comprising 5,961 adolescents as part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). Using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and based on latent profile analysis, 4.5% of the adolescents belonged to the at-risk group, and reported low self-esteem, high level of depression symptoms, and elevated social media use. Results also demonstrated that BSMAS has appropriate psychometric properties. It is concluded that adolescents at-risk of problematic social media use should be targeted by school-based prevention and intervention programs.

Assessment of Social Vulnerability Identification at Local Level around Merapi Volcano - A Self Organizing Map Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S.; Maharani, Y. N.; Ki, S. J.

2015-12-01

The application of Self-Organizing Map (SOM) to analyze social vulnerability to recognize the resilience within sites is a challenging tasks. The aim of this study is to propose a computational method to identify the sites according to their similarity and to determine the most relevant variables to characterize the social vulnerability in each cluster. For this purposes, SOM is considered as an effective platform for analysis of high dimensional data. By considering the cluster structure, the characteristic of social vulnerability of the sites identification can be fully understand. In this study, the social vulnerability variable is constructed from 17 variables, i.e. 12 independent variables which represent the socio-economic concepts and 5 dependent variables which represent the damage and losses due to Merapi eruption in 2010. These variables collectively represent the local situation of the study area, based on conducted fieldwork on September 2013. By using both independent and dependent variables, we can identify if the social vulnerability is reflected onto the actual situation, in this case, Merapi eruption 2010. However, social vulnerability analysis in the local communities consists of a number of variables that represent their socio-economic condition. Some of variables employed in this study might be more or less redundant. Therefore, SOM is used to reduce the redundant variable(s) by selecting the representative variables using the component planes and correlation coefficient between variables in order to find the effective sample size. Then, the selected dataset was effectively clustered according to their similarities. Finally, this approach can produce reliable estimates of clustering, recognize the most significant variables and could be useful for social vulnerability assessment, especially for the stakeholder as decision maker. This research was supported by a grant 'Development of Advanced Volcanic Disaster Response System considering Potential Volcanic Risk around Korea' [MPSS-NH-2015-81] from the Natural Hazard Mitigation Research Group, National Emergency Management Agency of Korea. Keywords: Self-organizing map, Component Planes, Correlation coefficient, Cluster analysis, Sites identification, Social vulnerability, Merapi eruption 2010

The value "social responsibility" as a motivating factor for adolescents' readiness to participate in different types of political actions, and its socialization in parent and peer contexts.

PubMed

Schmid, Christine

2012-06-01

Based on a sample of tetrads (N = 839), including 16 year-old adolescents, their mothers, fathers, and same-sex friends, it was analyzed in which way the value social responsibility is related to adolescents' readiness for different types of political participation. Results showed that social responsibility was positively linked to readiness for participation in legal protest actions. No relationships with readiness for participation in federal elections or with readiness for participation in illegal protest actions occurred, and a negative relationship with readiness for participation in political violent actions was found. In a second step, the socialization of the value social responsibility in the parents and peer context was the focus. Value similarities between adolescents, their parents and friends, as well as other contextual factors were considered. Multiple regression analyses revealed differential effects for male and female adolescents. In male adolescents, authoritative parenting and political discussions with parents were positively linked to social responsibility. Furthermore, peer-group membership had a negative impact. For female adolescents, significant value similarities with their parents, especially with their mothers, occurred. Value similarities with their friend were found in both gender groups, but appeared to be higher in the female group. Also, in both gender groups, a positive parent-child relationship quality was linked to higher social responsibility. In sum, findings show that parents as well as peer contextual factors were contributing to the adolescents' value acquisition. Copyright © 2012 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social values and health priority setting in Australia: an analysis applied to the context of health technology assessment.

PubMed

Whitty, Jennifer A; Littlejohns, Peter

2015-02-01

To describe the role of social values in priority setting related to health technology assessment processes and decision-making in Australia. The processes and decision criteria of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Benefits Advisory Committees are described based on literature and policy sources, and analysed using a framework for identifying social values in priority-setting. Transparency and accountability of processes are apparent. Participation balances inclusiveness and effectiveness of decision-making, but presents an opportunity to enhance priority setting processes. Clinical and cost-effectiveness are important content considerations. Social values related to justice/equity are considered, without quantification of criteria weights for equity relative to other factors. HTA processes support solidarity through subsidising approved technologies for all Australians, whilst retaining autonomy by permitting non-subsidised technologies to be accessed privately, leading to possible tension between the values of solidarity, autonomy and equity. Priority setting related to health technology subsidy incorporates a range of inter-related social values in the processes and content of decision-making. Participation in decision-making could arguably be improved if a patient and public engagement policy were to be formulated alongside more widespread changes across processes to assess social values using approaches such as the Citizens' Jury. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Second Modernity, (In)equality, and Social (In)justice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clay, John; George, Rosalyn

2016-01-01

It is important to realize that the economic climate since the banking crisis in 2007 has seen the rate of income and wealth inequality accelerate. This has reached the point where concerns for political, economic, and social stability have been raised by those representing the pillars and foundations of institutions that represent the market…

Examining Digital Literacy Practices on Social Network Sites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buck, Amber

2012-01-01

Young adults represent the most avid users of social network sites, and they are also the most concerned with their online identity management, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. These practices represent important literate activity today, as individuals who are writing online learn to negotiate interfaces, user agreements,…

Sexual Stratification and Sex-Role Socialization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

VanFossen, Beth Ensiminger

1977-01-01

Data on sex-role values of a sample of college women are examined to ascertain the effect of family structure, social class, and religion on sex-role values, and to support a structural theory of sex-role socialization. (Author)

Relation between social network and psychological distress among middle-aged adults in Japan: Evidence from a national longitudinal survey.

PubMed

Fu, Rong; Noguchi, Harkuo; Tachikawa, Hirokazu; Aiba, Miyuki; Nakamine, Shin; Kawamura, Akira; Takahashi, Hideto; Tamiya, Nanako

2017-02-01

It is widely documented that psychological distress is negatively associated with social networks involvement. However, despite the theoretical postulations that social networks are crucial for alleviating psychological distress, no study has yet empirically confirmed the causality of this relationship. Thus, we used the random-effects generalized least squares method to investigate the effect of one- and two-year lagged values for involvement in social networks on psychological distress. Nine years of longitudinal data were extracted from a nationally representative survey in Japan ("The Longitudinal Survey of Middle-aged and Older Persons"). We utilized the Kessler 6 (K6) score to measure psychological distress among 15,242 respondents aged 50-59 years in the baseline year (2005), and stratified participants into three layers of social networks: inner (well-established friendship ties and participating in hobby activates), intermediary (neighborly ties), and outer (involvement in community activities). We found highly significant and negative associations between all three layers and K6 scores, with the strongest association being for the inner layer. We further observed that one-year lagged involvement in the inner and intermediary layers led to significantly lower K6 scores. However, the protective influences of social networks generally diminished over time. In addition, the protective influences of social network involvement on psychological distress were stronger for women than for men. Furthermore, involvement in social networks was especially important for improving mental health among people with psychological distress. These findings would be important for policymaking to prevent mental health deterioration among middle-aged adults in Japan. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Canadian Cultural Materialism: Personal Values and Television Advertising.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Surlin, Stuart H.; Squire, Larry A.

A study examined the relationship between social and material values and attitudes toward television advertising. Using the Rokeach Value Survey Form E, 157 Canadian college students ranked the 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values in order of their importance as guiding principles for life. The values were classified as either material, social,…

Is the P-Value Really Dead? Assessing Inference Learning Outcomes for Social Science Students in an Introductory Statistics Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane-Getaz, Sharon

2017-01-01

In reaction to misuses and misinterpretations of p-values and confidence intervals, a social science journal editor banned p-values from its pages. This study aimed to show that education could address misuse and abuse. This study examines inference-related learning outcomes for social science students in an introductory course supplemented with…

An Exploration into the Influence of Academic and Social Values, Procrastination, and Perceived School Belongingness on Academic Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennedy, Gary J.; Tuckman, Bruce W.

2013-01-01

The results of a structural equation model showed that a tendency to procrastinate, assessed early in college students' first term, was positively related to social values, assessed as concerns over social exclusion, but was negatively related to academic task values and grade goal-setting. The results suggest that procrastination may be a…

Values in the Curricula of Religious Education and Social Studies in Primary Schools in the Context of Local-Universal Dilemma

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaymakcan, Recep; Meydan, Hasan

2012-01-01

This study aims to identify the approach of teaching curricula of primary courses of religious education and social studies values and to determine the weight of values found in these programs with regard to various aspects such as being open to novelty-conservatism, individualism-being social, nationalism-universalism, self-expansion-self…

Examining the Relation between Social Values Perception and Moral Maturity Level of Folk Dancers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dogan, Pinar Karacan

2018-01-01

The purpose of the present study is to examine the relation between social values perceptions and moral maturity levels of folk dancers, and evaluate this relation in terms of some variables. The relational screening model was used in the study. The "Multi-dimensional Social Values Scale," which was developed by Bolat (2013), and the…

Measuring Social Return on Investment for Community Schools: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez, Laura; Hayes, Cheryl D.

2013-01-01

Social return on investment (SROI) offers a new strategy to measure and communicate the value of outcomes achieved by programs that provide social, health, and education services to children and their families. It can be a powerful tool for demonstrating the monetary value of programs and services and for communicating that value in a way that can…

Nurturing "Critical Hope" in Teaching Feminist Social Work Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson-Nathe, Ben; Gringeri, Christina; Wahab, Stephanie

2013-01-01

Despite the congruence between critical feminist values and the cardinal values of the social work profession, feminist research in social work has lagged behind its feminist cousins in the social sciences, particularly in terms of critical uses of theory, reflexivity, and the troubling of binaries. This article presents as praxis our reflections…

The Functions of Mass Media in the Political Socialization of Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adoni, Hanna

1979-01-01

Suggests that the mass media serve as socializing agents by providing direct linkage to media and contents which are essential for the development of political values, and by contributing to the structuring of social contexts in which adolescents may exercise such value orientations and reinforce ties with primary socializing agents. (JMF)

Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) Environments: Market Segments and Risk.

PubMed

Rockloff, Matthew; Moskovsky, Neda; Thorne, Hannah; Browne, Matthew; Bryden, Gabrielle

2017-12-01

This study used a marketing-research paradigm to explore gamblers' attraction to EGMs based on different elements of the environment. A select set of environmental features was sourced from a prior study (Thorne et al. in J Gambl Issues 2016b), and a discrete choice experiment was conducted through an online survey. Using the same dataset first described by Rockloff et al. (EGM Environments that contribute to excess consumption and harm, 2015), a sample of 245 EGM gamblers were sourced from clubs in Victoria, Australia, and 7516 gamblers from an Australian national online survey-panel. Participants' choices amongst sets of hypothetical gambling environments allowed for an estimation of the implied individual-level utilities for each feature (e.g., general sounds, location, etc.). K-means clustering on these utilities identified four unique market segments for EGM gambling, representing four different types of consumers. The segments were named according to their dominant features: Social, Value, High Roller and Internet. We found that the environments orientated towards the Social and Value segments were most conducive to attracting players with relatively few gambling problems, while the High Roller and Internet-focused environments had greater appeal for players with problems and vulnerabilities. This study has generated new insights into the kinds of gambling environments that are most consistent with safe play.

Effectiveness of a poverty simulation in Second Life®: changing nursing student attitudes toward poor people.

PubMed

Menzel, Nancy; Willson, Laura Helen; Doolen, Jessica

2014-03-11

Social justice is a fundamental value of the nursing profession, challenging educators to instill this professional value when caring for the poor. This randomized controlled trial examined whether an interactive virtual poverty simulation created in Second Life® would improve nursing students' empathy with and attributions for people living in poverty, compared to a self-study module. We created a multi-user virtual environment populated with families and individual avatars that represented the demographics contributing to poverty and vulnerability. Participants (N = 51 baccalaureate nursing students) were randomly assigned to either Intervention or Control groups and completed the modified Attitudes toward Poverty Scale pre- and post-intervention. The 2.5-hour simulation was delivered three times over a 1-year period to students in successive community health nursing classes. The investigators conducted post-simulation debriefings following a script. While participants in the virtual poverty simulation developed significantly more favorable attitudes on five questions than the Control group, the total scores did not differ significantly. Whereas students readily learned how to navigate inside Second Life®, faculty facilitators required periodic coaching and guidance to be competent. While poverty simulations, whether virtual or face-to-face, have some ability to transform nursing student attitudes, faculty must incorporate social justice concepts throughout the curriculum to produce lasting change.

Masculinity, Educational Achievement and Social Status: A Social Network Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lusher, Dean

2011-01-01

This study utilises a quantitative case study social network approach to explore the connection between masculinity and scholastic achievement in two secondary, all-boys schools in Australia. In both schools two social networks representing social status are explored: the "friendship" network as a measure of status that includes…

The Implications of Social Neuroscience for Social Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McPartland, James C.; Pelphrey, Kevin A.

2012-01-01

Social disability represents a unifying feature in the diverse group of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Social neuroscience is the study of brain mechanisms supporting interpersonal interaction. In this paper, we review brain imaging studies of the social brain and highlight practical applications of these scientific insights.…

Role of Social Performance in Predicting Learning Problems: Prediction of Risk Using Logistic Regression Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Del Prette, Zilda Aparecida Pereira; Prette, Almir Del; De Oliveira, Lael Almeida; Gresham, Frank M.; Vance, Michael J.

2012-01-01

Social skills are specific behaviors that individuals exhibit in order to successfully complete social tasks whereas social competence represents judgments by significant others that these social tasks have been successfully accomplished. The present investigation identified the best sociobehavioral predictors obtained from different raters…

Educational Values in Different Social-Economic Status--A Study Case of Six Families in Maros Regency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jabaruddin; Alimuddin; Manda, Darman

2016-01-01

This research aims at determining educational values in families by describing the priority of the values selected in the educational value, the role of parents, and the socialization of values that were used by parents in educational values. This research is a case study with a qualitative approach. The subjects of the research were selected…

Values on Paper, in the Head, and in Action: On Max Weber and Value Freedom Today.

PubMed

Betta, Michela; Swedberg, Richard

2017-11-01

This article starts out with a summary of Weber's views on value freedom, by emphasizing: (1) that value freedom constitutes a special constellation of values; and (2) that value freedom makes it possible for the social scientist to theorize on the basis of new and more extensive knowledge than if she had simply stated her own values and focused the analysis around these. The latter point emerges most clearly in Weber's instructions for how a social scientist should proceed when carrying out an analysis of her own preferred social policy. After the section on Weber's views on value freedom, an attempt is made to update his views. This is done by arguing that the impact of values (and value freedom) differs, depending on where these can be found: on paper, in the head of the social scientist, or in her actions. "Actions," in the context of value freedom, refer to the research process and especially to the element of theorizing. Value freedom helps to guide the research into new and fruitful directions and to steer it clear of propaganda. © 2017 Canadian Sociological Association/La Société canadienne de sociologie.

Self-Esteem Depends on the Beholder: Effects of a Subtle Social Value Cue

PubMed Central

Weisbuch, Max; Sinclair, Stacey A.; Skorinko, Jeanine L.; Eccleston, Collette P.

2009-01-01

The idea that self-esteem functions as a gauge or “sociometer” of social value (Leary & Baumeister, 2000) is supported by research on direct social feedback. To examine if the sociometer model is relevant to more subtle social value cues, the implicit self-esteem of women was assessed a week after an interaction with an experimenter. Consistent with the sociometer model, Week 2 self-esteem depended on a subtle social value cue encountered during Week 1. When the Week 1 experimenter wore a t-shirt celebrating larger bodies (i.e., “everyBODY is beautiful”), heavier women had higher self-esteem than lighter women in Week 2. As hypothesized, this effect was relationship-specific, occurring only when the same experimenter administered Week 1 and 2 sessions. PMID:20047001

Social Phobia and Subtypes in the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement: Prevalence, Correlates, and Comorbidity

PubMed Central

Burstein, Marcy; He, Jian-Ping; Kattan, Gabi; Albano, Anne Marie; Avenevoli, Shelli; Merikangas, Kathleen R.

2011-01-01

Objective Social phobia typically develops during the adolescent years, yet no nationally representative studies in the United States have examined the rates and features of this condition among youth in this age range. The objectives of this investigation are to: (1) present the lifetime prevalence, sociodemographic and clinical correlates, and comorbidity of social phobia in a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents; (2) examine differences in the rates and features of social phobia across the proposed DSM-5 social phobia subtypes. Method The National Comorbidity Survey Replication-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A) is a nationally representative face-to-face survey of 10,123 adolescents aged 13–18 years in the continental U.S. Results Approximately 9% of adolescents met criteria for any social phobia in their lifetime. Of these adolescents, 55.8% were affected with the generalized subtype and 44.2% exhibited non-generalized social phobia. Only 0.7% met criteria for the proposed DSM-5 performance only subtype. Generalized social phobia was more common among female adolescents and risk for this subtype increased with age. Adolescents with generalized social phobia also experienced an earlier age of onset, higher levels of disability and clinical severity, and a greater degree of comorbidity relative to adolescents with non-generalized forms of the disorder. Conclusions This study indicates that social phobia is a highly prevalent, persistent, and impairing psychiatric disorder among adolescent youth. Results of this study also provide evidence for the clinical utility of the generalized subtype and highlight the importance of considering the heterogeneity of social phobia in this age group. PMID:21871369

Moral concepts set decision strategies to abstract values.

PubMed

Caspers, Svenja; Heim, Stefan; Lucas, Marc G; Stephan, Egon; Fischer, Lorenz; Amunts, Katrin; Zilles, Karl

2011-04-01

Persons have different value preferences. Neuroimaging studies where value-based decisions in actual conflict situations were investigated suggest an important role of prefrontal and cingulate brain regions. General preferences, however, reflect a superordinate moral concept independent of actual situations as proposed in psychological and socioeconomic research. Here, the specific brain response would be influenced by abstract value systems and moral concepts. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying such responses are largely unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a forced-choice paradigm on word pairs representing abstract values, we show that the brain handles such decisions depending on the person's superordinate moral concept. Persons with a predominant collectivistic (altruistic) value system applied a "balancing and weighing" strategy, recruiting brain regions of rostral inferior and intraparietal, and midcingulate and frontal cortex. Conversely, subjects with mainly individualistic (egocentric) value preferences applied a "fight-and-flight" strategy by recruiting the left amygdala. Finally, if subjects experience a value conflict when rejecting an alternative congruent to their own predominant value preference, comparable brain regions are activated as found in actual moral dilemma situations, i.e., midcingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Our results demonstrate that superordinate moral concepts influence the strategy and the neural mechanisms in decision processes, independent of actual situations, showing that decisions are based on general neural principles. These findings provide a novel perspective to future sociological and economic research as well as to the analysis of social relations by focusing on abstract value systems as triggers of specific brain responses.

Moral Concepts Set Decision Strategies to Abstract Values

PubMed Central

Caspers, Svenja; Heim, Stefan; Lucas, Marc G.; Stephan, Egon; Fischer, Lorenz; Amunts, Katrin; Zilles, Karl

2011-01-01

Persons have different value preferences. Neuroimaging studies where value-based decisions in actual conflict situations were investigated suggest an important role of prefrontal and cingulate brain regions. General preferences, however, reflect a superordinate moral concept independent of actual situations as proposed in psychological and socioeconomic research. Here, the specific brain response would be influenced by abstract value systems and moral concepts. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying such responses are largely unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a forced-choice paradigm on word pairs representing abstract values, we show that the brain handles such decisions depending on the person's superordinate moral concept. Persons with a predominant collectivistic (altruistic) value system applied a “balancing and weighing” strategy, recruiting brain regions of rostral inferior and intraparietal, and midcingulate and frontal cortex. Conversely, subjects with mainly individualistic (egocentric) value preferences applied a “fight-and-flight” strategy by recruiting the left amygdala. Finally, if subjects experience a value conflict when rejecting an alternative congruent to their own predominant value preference, comparable brain regions are activated as found in actual moral dilemma situations, i.e., midcingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Our results demonstrate that superordinate moral concepts influence the strategy and the neural mechanisms in decision processes, independent of actual situations, showing that decisions are based on general neural principles. These findings provide a novel perspective to future sociological and economic research as well as to the analysis of social relations by focusing on abstract value systems as triggers of specific brain responses. PMID:21483767

Effects of emotional preferences on value-based decision making are mediated by mentalizing not reward networks

PubMed Central

Evans, Simon; Fleming, Stephen M.; Dolan, Raymond J.; Averbeck, Bruno B.

2012-01-01

Real-world decision-making often involves social considerations. Consequently, the social value of stimuli can induce preferences in choice behavior. However, it is unknown how financial and social values are integrated in the brain. Here, we investigated how smiling and angry face stimuli interacted with financial reward feedback in a stochastically-rewarded decision-making task. Subjects reliably preferred the smiling faces despite equivalent reward feedback, demonstrating a socially driven bias. We fit a Bayesian reinforcement learning model to factor the effects of financial rewards and emotion preferences in individual subjects, and regressed model predictions on the trial-by-trial fMRI signal. Activity in the sub-callosal cingulate and the ventral striatum, both involved in reward learning, correlated with financial reward feedback, whereas the differential contribution of social value activated dorsal temporo-parietal junction and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, previously proposed as components of a mentalizing network. We conclude that the impact of social stimuli on value-based decision processes is mediated by effects in brain regions partially separable from classical reward circuitry. PMID:20946058

Farmers' assessment of the social and ecological values of land uses in central highland Ethiopia.

PubMed

Duguma, Lalisa Alemayehu; Hager, Herbert

2011-05-01

Often in land use evaluations, especially those in developing countries, only the financial aspect receives serious attention, while the social and ecological values are overlooked. This study compared the social and ecological values of four land use types (small-scale woodlot [SSW], boundary tree and shrub planting [BTP], homestead tree and shrub growing [HTG] and cereal farming [CF]) by a criteria-based scoring approach using a bao game. The impacts of local wealth status and proximity to a forest on the value the community renders to the land use types were also assessed. The value comparison, assessed by relative scoring, was accompanied by farmer's explanations to reveal the existing local knowledge about land use values. It was found that HTG ≥ SSW > BTP > CF for both social and ecological values. Though this trend applies for the medium and rich households, the poor ones chose SSW as the most valuable. With increasing distance from a forest, the social and ecological values of land uses increased. The accompanying scoring justifications indicated the existence of in-depth ecological knowledge, which conform to contemporary scientific reports. Generally, this study showed that social and ecological values, besides financial values, strongly influence farmer's decision in implementing various practices related to the land use types. Thus, such values are worth considering for a holistic understanding of the diverse benefits of land uses. Finally, the strong preference for tree and shrub-based land use types is a good opportunity for enhancing tree and shrub growing to minimize the major environmental problems (e.g., soil degradation, wood shortage and deforestation) in the central highlands of Ethiopia.

Farmers' Assessment of the Social and Ecological Values of Land Uses in Central Highland Ethiopia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duguma, Lalisa Alemayehu; Hager, Herbert

2011-05-01

Often in land use evaluations, especially those in developing countries, only the financial aspect receives serious attention, while the social and ecological values are overlooked. This study compared the social and ecological values of four land use types (small-scale woodlot [SSW], boundary tree and shrub planting [BTP], homestead tree and shrub growing [HTG] and cereal farming [CF]) by a criteria-based scoring approach using a bao game. The impacts of local wealth status and proximity to a forest on the value the community renders to the land use types were also assessed. The value comparison, assessed by relative scoring, was accompanied by farmer's explanations to reveal the existing local knowledge about land use values. It was found that HTG ≥ SSW > BTP > CF for both social and ecological values. Though this trend applies for the medium and rich households, the poor ones chose SSW as the most valuable. With increasing distance from a forest, the social and ecological values of land uses increased. The accompanying scoring justifications indicated the existence of in-depth ecological knowledge, which conform to contemporary scientific reports. Generally, this study showed that social and ecological values, besides financial values, strongly influence farmer's decision in implementing various practices related to the land use types. Thus, such values are worth considering for a holistic understanding of the diverse benefits of land uses. Finally, the strong preference for tree and shrub-based land use types is a good opportunity for enhancing tree and shrub growing to minimize the major environmental problems (e.g., soil degradation, wood shortage and deforestation) in the central highlands of Ethiopia.

[Variations of time perspective by social deprivation, what are the effects on smoking cessation?].

PubMed

Merson, F; Guillon, C; Arvers, P; Underner, M; Perriot, J

2012-10-01

Smoking represents a major public health problem because of its high morbidity and mortality rates. Nearly half of the deaths in the lower class are caused by smoking. The socially deprived are physically and psychologically vulnerable. The instability of their situation increases the difficulty to invest in smoking cessation and certain time orientations linked to this social deprivation represent negative factors in the prognosis. Socially deprived populations do not understand the consequences of smoking unless they are in denial of the risks. The motivation to stop is essentially financial. The perception of smoking cessation is taken as a deprivation of pleasure. Independently of the social deprivation factors, taking into account the time perspective conveys necessary information of appropriate care.

Reinforcement Learning Models and Their Neural Correlates: An Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Kumar, Poornima; Eickhoff, Simon B.; Dombrovski, Alexandre Y.

2015-01-01

Reinforcement learning describes motivated behavior in terms of two abstract signals. The representation of discrepancies between expected and actual rewards/punishments – prediction error – is thought to update the expected value of actions and predictive stimuli. Electrophysiological and lesion studies suggest that mesostriatal prediction error signals control behavior through synaptic modification of cortico-striato-thalamic networks. Signals in the ventromedial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex are implicated in representing expected value. To obtain unbiased maps of these representations in the human brain, we performed a meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that employed algorithmic reinforcement learning models, across a variety of experimental paradigms. We found that the ventral striatum (medial and lateral) and midbrain/thalamus represented reward prediction errors, consistent with animal studies. Prediction error signals were also seen in the frontal operculum/insula, particularly for social rewards. In Pavlovian studies, striatal prediction error signals extended into the amygdala, while instrumental tasks engaged the caudate. Prediction error maps were sensitive to the model-fitting procedure (fixed or individually-estimated) and to the extent of spatial smoothing. A correlate of expected value was found in a posterior region of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, caudal and medial to the orbitofrontal regions identified in animal studies. These findings highlight a reproducible motif of reinforcement learning in the cortico-striatal loops and identify methodological dimensions that may influence the reproducibility of activation patterns across studies. PMID:25665667

From waste to (fool's) gold: promissory and profit values of cord blood.

PubMed

Haw, Jennie

2015-12-01

According to biomedical discourse, cord blood has been transformed from 'waste' to 'clinical gold' because of its potential for use in treatments. Private cord blood banks deploy clinical discourse to market their services to prospective parents, encouraging them to pay to bank cord blood as a form of 'biological insurance' to ensure their child's future health. Social scientists have examined new forms of (bio)value produced in biological materials emergent with contemporary biotechnologies. This paper contributes to this literature by examining the social and technical production of value in cord blood units collected for private banking. Value, in this paper is defined as a socio-cultural concept in which an object is made meaningful, or valuable, through its relations with social actors and within specific regimes of value. I draw on in-depth interviews with women who banked cord blood and key informants in private banks in Canada, to analyze how social actors produced cord blood as a valuable biological object. I show that a cord blood unit holds promissory value for women who bank and profit value for private banks and that these values are folded into each other and the biological material itself. Analyzing how specific cord blood units are made valuable provides insight into the multiple and possibly competing values of biological materials and the tensions that may arise between social actors and forms of knowledge during the valuing process.

Computational social network modeling of terrorist recruitment.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berry, Nina M.; Turnley, Jessica Glicken; Smrcka, Julianne D.

2004-10-01

The Seldon terrorist model represents a multi-disciplinary approach to developing organization software for the study of terrorist recruitment and group formation. The need to incorporate aspects of social science added a significant contribution to the vision of the resulting Seldon toolkit. The unique addition of and abstract agent category provided a means for capturing social concepts like cliques, mosque, etc. in a manner that represents their social conceptualization and not simply as a physical or economical institution. This paper provides an overview of the Seldon terrorist model developed to study the formation of cliques, which are used as the majormore » recruitment entity for terrorist organizations.« less

The Socialization of Culturally Related Values and Prosocial Tendencies among Mexican-American Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knight, George P.; Carlo, Gustavo; Mahrer, Nicole E.; Davis, Alexandra N.

2016-01-01

The socialization of cultural values, ethnic identity, and prosocial behaviors is examined in a sample of 749 Mexican-American adolescents, ages 9-12; M (SD) = 10.42 years (0.55); 49% female, their mothers, and fathers at the 5th, 7th, and 10th grades. Parents' familism values positively predicted their ethnic socialization practices. Mothers'…

Shared Values and Socio-Cultural Norms: E-Learning Technologies from a Social Practice Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Patti; Velan, Gary M.; Shulruf, Boaz

2017-01-01

From a perspective of social practice, learning is a socially constituted practice that is imbued with socio-culturally significant meanings and shaped by the values and norms shared within a community of learners. This focus group study examines the role of e-learning technologies in mediating the social practice of learning among coursework…

Integrating Social Justice across the Curriculum: The Catholic Mission and Counselor Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calley, Nancy G.; Pickover, Sheri; Bennett-Garraway, Jocelyn M.; Hendry, Simon J.; Garraway, Garbette M.

2011-01-01

Counselor education and the Catholic faith share an important core value: social justice. As a counselor education program within a Jesuit and Sisters of Mercy institution, the construct of social justice is a unifying value that is rooted in academic preparation and practice. To promote a lifestyle of social justice, the counselor education…

Signature Pedagogies for Social Foundations: Negotiating Social Foundations Teaching Practices in the Field of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Sandra B.

2010-01-01

The conflicts arising between the pedagogical preferences of the fields of instructional design and technology (IDT) and social foundations of education are substantial. This conflict is primarily one of pedagogical values separating the Social Foundations with its emphasis on critical and creative thinking and the presumption of value and theory…

Social media, social avatars and the psyche: is Facebook good for us?

PubMed

Brunskill, David

2013-12-01

This paper aims to explore how social media users represent themselves online, and to consider whether this process has inherent potential to impact upon the psyche of the individual. Advanced thinking around social media may exist on an organizational level, but on an individual level there exists a need to catch up, as the psychological dimensions of going online are significant and deserve consideration. Inherent to the experience of using social media is the self selection of favorable material to represent the individual. This process is cumulative, and effectively creates a socially-derived and socially-driven, composite online image ('social avatar'). Humans notably select their best aspects for presentation to others and the social avatar reflects this tendency, effectively facilitating the creation of a 'gap' between online image (representation) and offline identity (substance). The creation of a social avatar should therefore be an important and conscious consideration for all users of social media, not just those individuals already struggling with the task of integrating the multiple facets which make up modern personal identity. Social avatars appear to be an important factor in understanding the inherent potential for social media to affect the psyche/contribute to psychopathology within the individual.

Parental Cultural Socialization of Mexican American Adolescents’ Family Obligation Values and Behaviors

PubMed Central

Tsai, Kim M.; Telzer, Eva H.; Gonzales, Nancy A.; Fuligni, Andrew J.

2015-01-01

The current study examined how parents’ cultural socialization efforts contribute to adolescents’ family obligation values and behaviors and how these processes may depend upon the relational climate at home. Utilizing survey and daily diary methodologies, 428 Mexican American adolescents (50% males; MAge=15 years) and their parents (83% mothers; MAge=42 years) participated in the study. Adolescents reported on their family obligation values and engagement in family assistance tasks across 14 days. Parents reported on their cultural socialization practices. Results indicated that parental cultural socialization was associated with adolescents’ family obligation values and behaviors when parent-child relationships were low in conflict and high in support. Findings suggest that the transmission of cultural values and practices is best facilitated through positive parent-child relationships. PMID:25726966

An individual-based model of rabbit viral haemorrhagic disease on European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fa, John E.; Sharples, Colin M.; Bell, Diana J.; DeAngelis, Donald L.

2001-01-01

We developed an individual-based model of Rabbit Viral Hemorrhagic Disease (RVHD) for European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.), representing up to 1000 rabbits in four hectares. Model output for productivity and recruitment matched published values. The disease was density-dependent and virulence affected outcome. Strains that caused death after several days produced greater overall mortality than strains in which rabbits either died or recovered very quickly. Disease effect also depended on time of year. We also elaborated a larger scale model representing 25 km2 and 100,000+ rabbits, split into a number of grid-squares. This was a more traditional model that did not represent individual rabbits, but employed a system of dynamic equations for each grid-square. Disease spread depended on probability of transmission between neighboring grid-squares. Potential recovery from a major population crash caused by the disease relied on disease virulence and frequency of recurrence. The model's dependence on probability of disease transmission between grid-squares suggests the way that the model represents the spatial distribution of the population affects simulation. Although data on RVHD in Europe are lacking, our models provide a basis for describing the disease in realistic detail and for assessing influence of various social and spatial factors on spread.

Are the components of social reciprocity transdiagnostic across pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders? Evidence for common and disorder-specific social impairments.

PubMed

Sturm, Alexandra; Rozenman, Michelle; Chang, Susanna; McGough, James J; McCracken, James T; Piacentini, John C

2018-06-01

Deficits in social communication are a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet significant social problems have been observed in youth with many neurodevelopmental disorders. In this preliminary investigation, we aimed to explore whether domains of social reciprocity (i.e., social communication, social cognition, social awareness, social motivation, and restricted and repetitive behaviors) represent transdiagnostic traits. These domains were compared across youth ages 7-17 with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; N = 32), tic disorders (TD; N = 20), severe mood dysregulation (N = 33) and autism spectrum disorder (N = 35). While the ASD group was rated by parents as exhibiting the greatest social reciprocity deficits across domains, a high proportion of youth with severe mood dysregulation also exhibited pronounced deficits in social communication, cognition, and awareness. The ASD and severe mood dysregulation groups demonstrated comparable scores on the social awareness domain. In contrast, social motivation and restricted and repetitive behaviors did not appear to be transdiagnostic domains in severe mood dysregulation, OCD, or TD groups. The present work provides preliminary support that social awareness, and to a lesser extent social communication and cognition, may represent features of social reciprocity that are transdiagnostic across ASD and severe mood dysregulation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Behavioural profiles are shaped by social experience: when, how and why.

PubMed

Sachser, Norbert; Kaiser, Sylvia; Hennessy, Michael B

2013-05-19

The comprehensive understanding of individual variation in behavioural profiles is a current and timely topic not only in behavioural ecology, but also in biopsychological and biomedical research. This study focuses on the shaping of behavioural profiles by the social environment in mammals. We review evidence that the shaping of behavioural profiles occurs from the prenatal phase through adolescence and beyond. We focus specifically on adolescence, a sensitive phase during which environmental stimuli have distinctive effects on the modulation of behavioural profiles. We discuss causation, in particular, how behavioural profiles are shaped by social stimuli through behavioural and neuroendocrine processes. We postulate a central role for maternal hormones during the prenatal phase, for maternal behaviour during lactation and for the interaction of testosterone and stress hormones during adolescence. We refer to evolutionary history and attempt to place developmental shaping into broader evolutionary historical trends. Finally, we address survival value. We argue that the shaping of behavioural profiles by environmental stimuli from the prenatal phase through adolescence represents an effective mechanism for repeated and rapid adaptation during the lifetime. Notably, the adolescent phase may provide a last chance for correction if the future environment deviates from that predicted in earlier phases.

Health Inequalities in Global Context

PubMed Central

Beckfield, Jason; Olafsdottir, Sigrun

2017-01-01

The existence of social inequalities in health is well established. One strand of research focuses on inequalities in health within a single country. A separate and newer strand of research focuses on the relationship between inequality and average population health across countries. Despite the theorization of (presumably variable) social conditions as “fundamental causes” of disease and health, the cross-national literature has focused on average, aggregate population health as the central outcome. Controversies currently surround macro-structural determinants of overall population health such as income inequality. We advance and redirect these debates by conceptualizing inequalities in health as cross-national variables that are sensitive to social conditions. Using data from 48 World Values Survey countries, representing 74% of the world’s population, we examine cross-national variation in inequalities in health. The results reveal substantial variation in health inequalities according to income, education, sex, and migrant status. While higher socioeconomic position is associated with better self-rated health around the globe, the size of the association varies across institutional context, and across dimensions of stratification. There is some evidence that education and income are more strongly associated with self-rated health than sex or migrant status. PMID:29104292

Behavioural profiles are shaped by social experience: when, how and why

PubMed Central

Sachser, Norbert; Kaiser, Sylvia; Hennessy, Michael B.

2013-01-01

The comprehensive understanding of individual variation in behavioural profiles is a current and timely topic not only in behavioural ecology, but also in biopsychological and biomedical research. This study focuses on the shaping of behavioural profiles by the social environment in mammals. We review evidence that the shaping of behavioural profiles occurs from the prenatal phase through adolescence and beyond. We focus specifically on adolescence, a sensitive phase during which environmental stimuli have distinctive effects on the modulation of behavioural profiles. We discuss causation, in particular, how behavioural profiles are shaped by social stimuli through behavioural and neuroendocrine processes. We postulate a central role for maternal hormones during the prenatal phase, for maternal behaviour during lactation and for the interaction of testosterone and stress hormones during adolescence. We refer to evolutionary history and attempt to place developmental shaping into broader evolutionary historical trends. Finally, we address survival value. We argue that the shaping of behavioural profiles by environmental stimuli from the prenatal phase through adolescence represents an effective mechanism for repeated and rapid adaptation during the lifetime. Notably, the adolescent phase may provide a last chance for correction if the future environment deviates from that predicted in earlier phases. PMID:23569292

The inequalities of medical pluralism: Hierarchies of health, the politics of tradition and the economies of care in Indian oncology.

PubMed

Broom, Alex; Doron, Assa; Tovey, Philip

2009-09-01

India has an eclectic health system that incorporates biomedical as well as traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM). Our understanding of the co-existence of these therapeutic modalities in this diverse, postcolonial and developing nation is extremely limited, and in the context of cancer care, to our knowledge no sociological work has been carried out. Contemporary Indian oncology represents a fascinating site for examining the interplay and articulation of forms of tradition/modernity, economic progress/structural constraint and individual beliefs/cultural norms. In a context of an increase in the prevalence and impact of cancer in an ageing Indian population, this paper reports on a qualitative investigation of a group of oncology clinicians' accounts of 'pluralism' in India. The results illustrate the embeddedness of patient disease and therapeutic trajectories in vast social inequalities and, indeed, the intermingling of therapeutic pluralism and the politics of social value. We conclude that notions of pluralism, so often espoused by global health organisations, may conceal important forms of social inequality and cultural divides, and that sociologists should play a critical role in highlighting these issues.

The prevalence of dental caries and fissure sealants in 12 year old children by disadvantaged status in Dublin (Ireland).

PubMed

Sagheri, D; McLoughlin, J; Clarkson, J J

2009-03-01

The aim was to record dental caries levels and the presence of fissure sealants in 12-year-old schoolchildren whose domestic water supply had been fluoridated since birth in Dublin (Ireland). Cross-sectional study. Participants A representative, random sample of 12-year-old schoolchildren in north-west Dublin. Dental caries levels were recorded using WHO criteria and fissure sealant was recorded when sealant was detectable on a permanent molar tooth. Medical card ownership, as a surrogate for disadvantage, was recorded by use of a questionnaire. Three-hundred and thirty-two (332) children were examined. The mean DMFT was 0.80 (SD 1.24). Analysis (Mann-Whitney U test) based on stratification of the sample according to medical-card status revealed no statistically significant difference between DMFT median scores of children of medical-card holders (i.e., social disadvantage background) and non medical-card holders (p-value = 0.23). However, the data revealed a social gradient in the presence of at least one fissure sealant. Approximately 10% more children in the group of medical-card holders had no fissure sealants present. Fisher's exact test was used to examine the association between the absence of fissure sealants and at least one fissure sealant between the two groups and was considered to be statistically significant (p-value = 0.04). This study demonstrated a social gradient in the presence of fissure sealants, but no such gradient in dental caries levels. This demonstrates the importance of population-based measures in the prevention of dental caries, such as water fluoridation, in reducing oral health inequalities.

Assessing Social Participation of Students with Special Needs in Inclusive Education: Validation of the Social Participation Questionnaire

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koster, Marloes; Minnaert, Alexander E. M. G.; Nakken, Han; Pijl, Sip Jan; van Houten, Els J.

2011-01-01

This study addresses the convergent validity of a new teacher questionnaire to assess the social participation of students with special needs in regular primary schools. The Social Participation Questionnaire (SPQ) consists of four subscales representing four key themes of social participation: friendships/relationships, contacts/interactions,…

The Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development: Commitment to Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Journal of Social Work Education, 2012

2012-01-01

This Global Agenda is the product of a three-year collaborative initiative undertaken by three international organisations representing social work practice, social work education, and social development. All three of these international bodies were founded in 1928 and have held formal consultative status for many decades with the United Nations…

Leader-follower value congruence in social responsibility and ethical satisfaction: a polynomial regression analysis.

PubMed

Kang, Seung-Wan; Byun, Gukdo; Park, Hun-Joon

2014-12-01

This paper presents empirical research into the relationship between leader-follower value congruence in social responsibility and the level of ethical satisfaction for employees in the workplace. 163 dyads were analyzed, each consisting of a team leader and an employee working at a large manufacturing company in South Korea. Following current methodological recommendations for congruence research, polynomial regression and response surface modeling methodologies were used to determine the effects of value congruence. Results indicate that leader-follower value congruence in social responsibility was positively related to the ethical satisfaction of employees. Furthermore, employees' ethical satisfaction was stronger when aligned with a leader with high social responsibility. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Continental-scale quantification of landscape values using social media data.

PubMed

van Zanten, Boris T; Van Berkel, Derek B; Meentemeyer, Ross K; Smith, Jordan W; Tieskens, Koen F; Verburg, Peter H

2016-11-15

Individuals, communities, and societies ascribe a diverse array of values to landscapes. These values are shaped by the aesthetic, cultural, and recreational benefits and services provided by those landscapes. However, across the globe, processes such as urbanization, agricultural intensification, and abandonment are threatening landscape integrity, altering the personally meaningful connections people have toward specific places. Existing methods used to study landscape values, such as social surveys, are poorly suited to capture dynamic landscape-scale processes across large geographic extents. Social media data, by comparison, can be used to indirectly measure and identify valuable features of landscapes at a regional, continental, and perhaps even worldwide scale. We evaluate the usefulness of different social media platforms-Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram-and quantify landscape values at a continental scale. We find Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram data can be used to quantify landscape values, with features of Instagram being especially suitable due to its relatively large population of users and its functional ability of allowing users to attach personally meaningful comments and hashtags to their uploaded images. Although Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram have different user profiles, our analysis revealed similar patterns of landscape values across Europe across the three platforms. We also found variables describing accessibility, population density, income, mountainous terrain, or proximity to water explained a significant portion of observed variation across data from the different platforms. Social media data can be used to extend our understanding of how and where individuals ascribe value to landscapes across diverse social, political, and ecological boundaries.

Continental-scale quantification of landscape values using social media data

PubMed Central

van Zanten, Boris T.; Van Berkel, Derek B.; Meentemeyer, Ross K.; Smith, Jordan W.; Tieskens, Koen F.

2016-01-01

Individuals, communities, and societies ascribe a diverse array of values to landscapes. These values are shaped by the aesthetic, cultural, and recreational benefits and services provided by those landscapes. However, across the globe, processes such as urbanization, agricultural intensification, and abandonment are threatening landscape integrity, altering the personally meaningful connections people have toward specific places. Existing methods used to study landscape values, such as social surveys, are poorly suited to capture dynamic landscape-scale processes across large geographic extents. Social media data, by comparison, can be used to indirectly measure and identify valuable features of landscapes at a regional, continental, and perhaps even worldwide scale. We evaluate the usefulness of different social media platforms—Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram—and quantify landscape values at a continental scale. We find Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram data can be used to quantify landscape values, with features of Instagram being especially suitable due to its relatively large population of users and its functional ability of allowing users to attach personally meaningful comments and hashtags to their uploaded images. Although Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram have different user profiles, our analysis revealed similar patterns of landscape values across Europe across the three platforms. We also found variables describing accessibility, population density, income, mountainous terrain, or proximity to water explained a significant portion of observed variation across data from the different platforms. Social media data can be used to extend our understanding of how and where individuals ascribe value to landscapes across diverse social, political, and ecological boundaries. PMID:27799537

Using a social entrepreneurial approach to enhance the financial and social value of health care organizations.

PubMed

Liu, Sandra S; Lu, Jui-Fen Rachel; Guo, Kristina L

2014-01-01

In this study, a conceptual framework was developed to show that social entrepreneurial practices can be effectively translated to meet the social needs in health care. We used a theory-in-use case study approach that encompasses postulation of a working taxonomy from literature scanning and a deliberation of the taxonomy through triangulation of multilevel data of a case study conducted in a Taiwan-based hospital system. Specifically, we demonstrated that a nonprofit organization can adopt business principles that emphasize both financial and social value. We tested our model and found comprehensive accountability across departments throughout the case hospital system, and this led to sustainable and continual growth of the organization. Through social entrepreneurial practices, we established that both financial value creation and fulfilling the social mission for the case hospital system can be achieved.

Examining the reinforcing value of stimuli within social and non-social contexts in children with and without high-functioning autism.

PubMed

Goldberg, Melissa C; Allman, Melissa J; Hagopian, Louis P; Triggs, Mandy M; Frank-Crawford, Michelle A; Mostofsky, Stewart H; Denckla, Martha B; DeLeon, Iser G

2017-10-01

One of the key diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder includes impairments in social interactions. This study compared the extent to which boys with high-functioning autism and typically developing boys "value" engaging in activities with a parent or alone. Two different assessments that can empirically determine the relative reinforcing value of social and non-social stimuli were employed: paired-choice preference assessments and progressive-ratio schedules. There were no significant differences between boys with high-functioning autism and typically developing boys on either measure. Moreover, there was a strong correspondence in performance across these two measures for participants in each group. These results suggest that the relative reinforcing value of engaging in activities with a primary caregiver is not diminished for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Social cognition and the anterior temporal lobes: a review and theoretical framework

PubMed Central

McCoy, David; Klobusicky, Elizabeth; Ross, Lars A.

2013-01-01

Memory for people and their relationships, along with memory for social language and social behaviors, constitutes a specific type of semantic memory termed social knowledge. This review focuses on how and where social knowledge is represented in the brain. We propose that portions of the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) play a critical role in representing and retrieving social knowledge. This includes memory about people, their names and biographies and more abstract forms of social memory such as memory for traits and social concepts. This hypothesis is based on the convergence of several lines of research including anatomical findings, lesion evidence from both humans and non-human primates and neuroimaging evidence. Moreover, the ATL is closely interconnected with cortical nuclei of the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex via the uncinate fasciculus. We propose that this pattern of connectivity underlies the function of the ATL in encoding and storing emotionally tagged knowledge that is used to guide orbitofrontal-based decision processes. PMID:23051902

Context of the beginning of tobacco use in different social groups

PubMed Central

Panaino, Edina Ferreira; Soares, Cássia Baldini; Campos, Célia Maria Sivalli

2014-01-01

Objective analyze contextual aspects of the beginning of tobacco use in different social groups, from everyday representations about the act of smoking. Methods five focus groups were conducted to promote discussion about the context of beginning of tobacco use, with groups of people who represented different patterns of social reproduction. The data analysis was based on the theory of social representations, which contextualizes how each group presents the tobacco consumption. Results the contexts of the beginning of tobacco use were diverse, according to patterns of social reproduction; there were common representations to all groups, but there were also unique representations of each social group. Tobacco is represented as indispensable for groups in unstable social reproduction situations, and as an instrument of pleasure and stress relief for those who can access other material assets. Conclusions the study contributed to exposing the concepts on tobacco consumption that are socially disseminated, which can serve as an instrument to planning programs and health actions. PMID:25029047

KSC-2014-2076

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-14

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Social media representatives photograph the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon Capsule on Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA Social participants are given the same access as news media in an effort to align the experience of social media representatives with those of traditional media, including the opportunity to view a launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, tour NASA facilities at Kennedy Space Center, speak with representatives from both NASA and SpaceX, view and take photographs of the SpaceX launch pad, meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media and meet members of SpaceX and NASA's social media teams. Scheduled for launch at about 4:58 p.m. EDT April 14, Dragon will be making its fourth trip to the space station. The SpaceX-3 mission, carrying almost 2.5 tons of supplies, technology and science experiments, is the third of 12 flights under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract to resupply the orbiting laboratory. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/index.html Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

KSC-2014-2074

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-14

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Social media representatives photograph the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon Capsule on Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA Social participants are given the same access as news media in an effort to align the experience of social media representatives with those of traditional media, including the opportunity to view a launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, tour NASA facilities at Kennedy Space Center, speak with representatives from both NASA and SpaceX, view and take photographs of the SpaceX launch pad, meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media and meet members of SpaceX and NASA's social media teams. Scheduled for launch at about 4:58 p.m. EDT April 14, Dragon will be making its fourth trip to the space station. The SpaceX-3 mission, carrying almost 2.5 tons of supplies, technology and science experiments, is the third of 12 flights under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract to resupply the orbiting laboratory. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/index.html Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

KSC-2014-2073

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-14

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Social media representatives photograph the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon Capsule on Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA Social participants are given the same access as news media in an effort to align the experience of social media representatives with those of traditional media, including the opportunity to view a launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, tour NASA facilities at Kennedy Space Center, speak with representatives from both NASA and SpaceX, view and take photographs of the SpaceX launch pad, meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media and meet members of SpaceX and NASA's social media teams. Scheduled for launch at about 4:58 p.m. EDT April 14, Dragon will be making its fourth trip to the space station. The SpaceX-3 mission, carrying almost 2.5 tons of supplies, technology and science experiments, is the third of 12 flights under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract to resupply the orbiting laboratory. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/index.html Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

Diversifying natural resources value measurements: The Trinity River study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Taylor, J.G.; Douglas, A.J.

1999-01-01

An interdisciplinary team set out to establish the economic and social values of the Trinity River in northern California. This information was intended to support the Secretary of the Interior's decision on allocation of Trinity River flows. This team set out to measure the values of Trinity River flows, fishery resources, and recreation amenities in several different ways. A survey was mailed to users of the Trinity River. This single instrument included economic measures (willingness-to-pay and costs incurred in visiting) and social-psychological measures (importance, satisfaction, and water allocation preferences). A closely related survey measured several of these same values among west coast regional households. The results of these surveys were compiled, and the measured economic and social values were compared. We found that integrating economic and social value information provides a greater depth of understanding of the resource's value. In addition, this integration provides a more in-depth understanding through the quantitative and qualitative results that emerge.

Computer models of social processes: the case of migration.

PubMed

Beshers, J M

1967-06-01

The demographic model is a program for representing births, deaths, migration, and social mobility as social processes in a non-stationary stochastic process (Markovian). Transition probabilities for each age group are stored and then retrieved at the next appearance of that age cohort. In this way new transition probabilities can be calculated as a function of the old transition probabilities and of two successive distribution vectors.Transition probabilities can be calculated to represent effects of the whole age-by-state distribution at any given time period, too. Such effects as saturation or queuing may be represented by a market mechanism; for example, migration between metropolitan areas can be represented as depending upon job supplies and labor markets. Within metropolitan areas, migration can be represented as invasion and succession processes with tipping points (acceleration curves), and the market device has been extended to represent this phenomenon.Thus, the demographic model makes possible the representation of alternative classes of models of demographic processes. With each class of model one can deduce implied time series (varying parame-terswithin the class) and the output of the several classes can be compared to each other and to outside criteria, such as empirical time series.

The Role of Values in Attitudes towards Violence: Discrimination against Moroccans and Romanian Gypsies in Spain.

PubMed

Álvaro, José Luis; Morais de Oliveira, Thiago; Torres, Ana Raquel Rosas; Pereira, Cicero; Garrido, Alicia; Camino, Leoncio

2015-08-25

The first objective of this study was to investigate whether police violence is more tolerated when the victim is a member of a social minority (e.g., Moroccan immigrants and Romanian Gypsies in Spain) than when the victim is a member of the social majority (e.g., Spaniards). The second objective was to use Schwartz value theory to examine the moderating role of values on attitudes towards tolerance of police violence. The participants were 207 sociology and social work students from a public university in Madrid. Overall, in this study, police violence was more accepted when the victim was a member of a social minority; F(2, 206) = 77.91, p = .001, ηp 2 = 0.433, and in general, values moderated this acceptance. Thus, greater adherence to the conservation and self-promotion values subsystems would strengthen support for police violence towards a social minority member. On the other hand, greater adherence to the openness to change and self-transcendence subsystems diminish this support.

[Asymmetric effect of in-group social values on identity with common-identity and common-bond in-groups].

PubMed

Nakashima, Ken'ichiro; Isobe, Chikae; Toshihiko, Souma; Ura, Mitsuhiro

2013-06-01

Moderating effects of group type on the relationship between in-group social values and group identity were investigated. Previous research has indicated that values attached to the in-group, such as its status, privileges, and power, lead to increased group identity. However, these studies have not investigated the role of the type of in-groups on this effect. We conducted an experiment that manipulated the in-group type. In the common-identity type of in-group condition, formation of in- and out-groups on the basis of social categorization was established. In the common-bond type of in-group condition, interactions between the group members were conducted. Results indicated that in the former condition, the degree of in-group social values affected group identity; however, this effect was not found in the latter condition. These results suggest that social values of the in-group have an asymmetric effect on group identity, depending upon the in-group type as a common-identity or common-bond group.

Culture and Demography: From Reluctant Bedfellows to Committed Partners

PubMed Central

Bachrach, Christine A.

2015-01-01

Demography and culture have had a long but ambivalent relationship. Cultural influences are widely recognized as important for demographic outcomes, but are often “backgrounded” in demographic research. I argue that progress towards a more successful integration is feasible and suggest a network model of culture as a potential tool. The network model bridges both traditional (holistic and institutional) and contemporary (tool kit) models of culture used in the social sciences and offers a simple vocabulary for the diverse set of cultural concepts such as attitudes, beliefs and norms, and quantitative measures of how culture is organized. The proposed model conceptualizes culture as a nested network of meanings which are represented by schemas that range in complexity from simple concepts to multifaceted cultural models. I illustrate the potential value of a model using accounts of the cultural changes underpinning the transformation of marriage in the U.S. and point to developments in the social, cognitive and computational sciences that could facilitate the application of the model in empirical demographic research. PMID:24338643

Personality Development during Teacher Preparation.

PubMed

Corcoran, Roisin P; O'Flaherty, Joanne

2016-01-01

Objective: The purpose of this 3-year longitudinal study was to examine pre-service teachers' personality trajectories as measured by the IPIP Big-Five factor markers during teacher preparation. The relationship between students' personality traits, social desirability, and prior academic attainment was also examined. Method: This 3-year longitudinal study invited participants from the first year of a 4-year undergraduate (UG) pre-service teacher education program, the class of 2017. The sample consisted of 305 students. Results: The results suggest that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience were best represented by a non-significant longitudinal change in means. Results also suggest that social desirability predicts agreeableness and emotional stability with small to moderate effect sizes. Conclusion: The study concludes that no value is added to pre-service teachers' personality traits during 3 years of tertiary education. Furthermore, the data presented does not support the view that academic attainment is a good predictor of personality traits. Implications for educational research, theory, and practice are considered.

Personality Development during Teacher Preparation

PubMed Central

Corcoran, Roisin P.; O’Flaherty, Joanne

2016-01-01

Objective: The purpose of this 3-year longitudinal study was to examine pre-service teachers’ personality trajectories as measured by the IPIP Big-Five factor markers during teacher preparation. The relationship between students’ personality traits, social desirability, and prior academic attainment was also examined. Method: This 3-year longitudinal study invited participants from the first year of a 4-year undergraduate (UG) pre-service teacher education program, the class of 2017. The sample consisted of 305 students. Results: The results suggest that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience were best represented by a non-significant longitudinal change in means. Results also suggest that social desirability predicts agreeableness and emotional stability with small to moderate effect sizes. Conclusion: The study concludes that no value is added to pre-service teachers’ personality traits during 3 years of tertiary education. Furthermore, the data presented does not support the view that academic attainment is a good predictor of personality traits. Implications for educational research, theory, and practice are considered. PMID:27877143

The Feminisation of Iranian Higher Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shavarini, Mitra K.

2005-07-01

The number of women attending institutions of higher education in Iran has been steadily increasing since 1989. Growing enrollment rates for women in colleges and universities have sparked wide social and political debates in that country. The basic question of why young Iranian women might even choose to pursue tertiary education, however, has not been adequately addressed in the critical literature. This study gives voice to young women who explain for themselves why they are interested in higher education. It reveals that college or university studies represent for female students many things: a sphere of hope, a refuge, and a place to experience limited freedom beyond restrictive family environments; an asset that can increase a woman's value in the marriage market; a right that may make possible financial independence; and a vehicle that can earn respect for women. On the whole, the desire for higher education illuminates the challenges facing women in Muslim nations and the ways in which Muslim women are using this institution to change their social status.

Culture and demography: from reluctant bedfellows to committed partners.

PubMed

Bachrach, Christine A

2014-02-01

Demography and culture have had a long but ambivalent relationship. Cultural influences are widely recognized as important for demographic outcomes but are often "backgrounded" in demographic research. I argue that progress toward a more successful integration is feasible and suggest a network model of culture as a potential tool. The network model bridges both traditional (holistic and institutional) and contemporary (tool kit) models of culture used in the social sciences and offers a simple vocabulary for a diverse set of cultural concepts, such as attitudes, beliefs, and norms, as well as quantitative measures of how culture is organized. The proposed model conceptualizes culture as a nested network of meanings represented by schemas that range in complexity from simple concepts to multifaceted cultural models. I illustrate the potential value of a model using accounts of the cultural changes underpinning the transformation of marriage in the United States and point to developments in the social, cognitive, and computational sciences that could facilitate the application of the model in empirical demographic research.

The culture of academic medicine: faculty perceptions of the lack of alignment between individual and institutional values.

PubMed

Pololi, Linda; Kern, David E; Carr, Phyllis; Conrad, Peter; Knight, Sharon

2009-12-01

Energized, talented faculty are essential to achieving the missions of academic medical centers (AMCs) in education, research and health care. The alignment of individuals' values with workplace experiences are linked to meaningfulness of work and productivity. To determine faculty values and their alignment with institutional values. A qualitative hypothesis-generating interview study to understand the professional experiences of faculty and organizational approach in five AMCs that were nationally representative in regional and organizational characteristics. Analysis was inductive and data driven. Using stratified, purposeful sampling, we interviewed 96 male and female faculty at different career stages (early career, plateaued, senior faculty and those who had left academic medicine) and diverse specialties (generalists, medical and surgical subspecialists, and research scientists). Dominant themes that emerged from the data. Faculty described values relating to excellence in clinical care, community service (including care for the underserved and disadvantaged), teaching, intellectual rigor/freedom and discovery, all values that mirror the stated missions of AMCs. However, many faculty also described behaviors that led them to conclude that their AMCs, in practice, undervalued excellence in clinical care, and their social and educational missions. Themes were seen across gender, career stage, race and discipline, except that female leaders appeared more likely than male leaders to identify incongruence of individual values and organizational practices. In this study of five diverse medical schools, faculty values were well aligned with stated institutional missions; however, many perceived that institutional behaviors were not always aligned with individual faculty values.

Social Media and Rating Sites as Tools to Understanding Quality of Care: A Scoping Review

PubMed Central

Van de Belt, Tom H; Engelen, Lucien JLPG; Schoonhoven, Lisette; Kool, Rudolf B

2014-01-01

Background Insight into the quality of health care is important for any stakeholder including patients, professionals, and governments. In light of a patient-centered approach, it is essential to assess the quality of health care from a patient’s perspective, which is commonly done with surveys or focus groups. Unfortunately, these “traditional” methods have significant limitations that include social desirability bias, a time lag between experience and measurement, and difficulty reaching large groups of people. Information on social media could be of value to overcoming these limitations, since these new media are easy to use and are used by the majority of the population. Furthermore, an increasing number of people share health care experiences online or rate the quality of their health care provider on physician rating sites. The question is whether this information is relevant to determining or predicting the quality of health care. Objective The goal of our research was to systematically analyze the relation between information shared on social media and quality of care. Methods We performed a scoping review with the following goals: (1) to map the literature on the association between social media and quality of care, (2) to identify different mechanisms of this relationship, and (3) to determine a more detailed agenda for this relatively new research area. A recognized scoping review methodology was used. We developed a search strategy based on four themes: social media, patient experience, quality, and health care. Four online scientific databases were searched, articles were screened, and data extracted. Results related to the research question were described and categorized according to type of social media. Furthermore, national and international stakeholders were consulted throughout the study, to discuss and interpret results. Results Twenty-nine articles were included, of which 21 were concerned with health care rating sites. Several studies indicate a relationship between information on social media and quality of health care. However, some drawbacks exist, especially regarding the use of rating sites. For example, since rating is anonymous, rating values are not risk adjusted and therefore vulnerable to fraud. Also, ratings are often based on only a few reviews and are predominantly positive. Furthermore, people providing feedback on health care via social media are presumably not always representative for the patient population. Conclusions Social media and particularly rating sites are an interesting new source of information about quality of care from the patient’s perspective. This new source should be used to complement traditional methods, since measuring quality of care via social media has other, but not less serious, limitations. Future research should explore whether social media are suitable in practice for patients, health insurers, and governments to help them judge the quality performance of professionals and organizations. PMID:24566844

Social media and rating sites as tools to understanding quality of care: a scoping review.

PubMed

Verhoef, Lise M; Van de Belt, Tom H; Engelen, Lucien J L P G; Schoonhoven, Lisette; Kool, Rudolf B

2014-02-20

Insight into the quality of health care is important for any stakeholder including patients, professionals, and governments. In light of a patient-centered approach, it is essential to assess the quality of health care from a patient's perspective, which is commonly done with surveys or focus groups. Unfortunately, these "traditional" methods have significant limitations that include social desirability bias, a time lag between experience and measurement, and difficulty reaching large groups of people. Information on social media could be of value to overcoming these limitations, since these new media are easy to use and are used by the majority of the population. Furthermore, an increasing number of people share health care experiences online or rate the quality of their health care provider on physician rating sites. The question is whether this information is relevant to determining or predicting the quality of health care. The goal of our research was to systematically analyze the relation between information shared on social media and quality of care. We performed a scoping review with the following goals: (1) to map the literature on the association between social media and quality of care, (2) to identify different mechanisms of this relationship, and (3) to determine a more detailed agenda for this relatively new research area. A recognized scoping review methodology was used. We developed a search strategy based on four themes: social media, patient experience, quality, and health care. Four online scientific databases were searched, articles were screened, and data extracted. Results related to the research question were described and categorized according to type of social media. Furthermore, national and international stakeholders were consulted throughout the study, to discuss and interpret results. Twenty-nine articles were included, of which 21 were concerned with health care rating sites. Several studies indicate a relationship between information on social media and quality of health care. However, some drawbacks exist, especially regarding the use of rating sites. For example, since rating is anonymous, rating values are not risk adjusted and therefore vulnerable to fraud. Also, ratings are often based on only a few reviews and are predominantly positive. Furthermore, people providing feedback on health care via social media are presumably not always representative for the patient population. Social media and particularly rating sites are an interesting new source of information about quality of care from the patient's perspective. This new source should be used to complement traditional methods, since measuring quality of care via social media has other, but not less serious, limitations. Future research should explore whether social media are suitable in practice for patients, health insurers, and governments to help them judge the quality performance of professionals and organizations.

Parents' Views Regarding the Values Aimed to be Taught in Social Studies Lessons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tay, Bayram; Yildirim, Kasim

2009-01-01

This study aimed at learning parents' ideas about the values aimed to be taught in Social Studies lessons in the 4th and 5th grades of the primary education and about values education. Study data were collected by administering "the Values Education I" and "Values Education II" questionnaire forms developed by the researchers.…

The Effects of Social Position, Race, and Sex on Work Values of Ninth Grade Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Hollie B.

This study investigated the effect of social class, race, and sex on the work values of ninth-grade students in a large metropolitan area. Measures of work values were obtained using Super's (1970) Work Values Inventory. Results indicated that race and sex have differential effects on the development of work values. Significant differences between…

The Detection of Individual and Group Values in Young People: Relevant Methodological Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geger, A. E.

2011-01-01

Life values, value orientations, social attitudes, and other corresponding social collisions have been the object of many studies. Research on the values of youth in Russia is marred by methodological problems that have not been adequately addressed, and more careful approaches show that there may not be a finite list of values that are held and…

Prospective Relations between Social Comparison Orientation and Weight Loss Outcomes.

PubMed

Arigo, Danielle; Butryn, Meghan L

2018-06-26

Maintenance of weight loss after behavioral intervention tends to be poor, and there is need for an improved understanding of factors that are associated with successful maintenance. Social comparison is known to be a powerful influence on treatment outcomes for group-based behavioral weight loss programs, but little is known about the role of individual differences in social comparison orientation (i.e., tendency to value comparison information) in this context. The goal of this study was to examine prospective relations between social comparison orientation and long-term weight loss outcomes (percent weight loss, aerobic-intensity physical activity) among participants in behavioral weight loss treatment. Participants (n = 161, M Age = 54, M BMI = 34.4░kg/m 2 ) completed a measure of social comparison orientation at pre-treatment baseline. Height and weight were measured in the research center and aerobic-intensity physical activity was assessed via accelerometer at baseline, mid- and end-of-treatment, and at 6 and 12 months post-treatment (representing maintenance). Multilevel models tested prospective relations between comparison orientation and treatment outcomes over time, with emphasis on differences during the post-treatment maintenance phase. Stronger (vs. weaker) general comparison orientation was associated with better maintenance of aerobic-intensity physical activity. However, stronger (vs. weaker) orientation toward comparisons with better-off others (i.e., upward comparison) was associated with less weight loss success during and after treatment. Social comparison orientation thus shows meaningful relations with long-term maintenance of key outcomes in group-based behavioral weight loss treatment, and warrants further investigation in this context.

Social Presence and Use of Internet-Delivered Interventions: A Multi-Method Approach

PubMed Central

Crutzen, Rik; Cyr, Dianne; Larios, Hector; Ruiter, Robert A. C.; de Vries, Nanne K.

2013-01-01

Objective Internet-delivered interventions can effectively change health risk behaviors and their determinants, but adherence to intervention websites once they are accessed is very low. This study tests whether and how social presence elements can increase website use. Methods A website about Hepatitis A, B, and C virus infections was used in a preparatory lab-based eye-tracking study assessing whether social presence elements attract participants' attention, because this is a prerequisite for affecting website use. In the following field study, 482 participants representative of the Dutch population were randomized to either a website with or a website without social presence elements. Participants completed a questionnaire of validated measures regarding user perceptions immediately after exposure to the website. Server registrations were used to assess website use. Results Participants in the experimental condition focused on the social presence elements, both in terms of frequency (F(1, 98) = 40.34, p<.001) and duration (F(1, 88) = 39.99, p<.001), but did not differ in website use in comparison with the control condition; neither in terms of the number of pages visited (t(456) = 1.44, p = .15), nor in terms of time on the website (t(456) = 0.01, p = .99). Conclusions Adding social presence elements did not affect actual use of an intervention website within a public health context. Possible reasons are limited attention for these elements in comparison with the main text and the utilitarian value of intervention websites. PMID:23437310

School Desegregation as an Instrument of Social Policy: Notes Toward a Sociology of the Sociology of Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mornell, Eugene S.

Pointing out that education is clearly one of society's most basic instruments for achieving social conformity, and socialization in the schools is clearly designed to perpetuate the dominant values of the present social system, the author asks whether it does not seem reasonable that those who most precisely articulate these dominant values are…

Well-Being in a Globalized World: Does Social Work Know How to Make It Happen?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gamble, Dorothy N.

2012-01-01

This article explores the ubiquitous uses of the term "well-being" in social work codes, values, and literature. It reviews international concepts of well-being as well as those within social work to consider a deeper exploration of the meanings of well-being. Dimensions of well-being that resonate with social work values include eliminating…

Faithful but Different: Clinical Social Workers Speak Out about Career Motivation and Professional Values

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradley, Carolyn; Maschi, Tina; O'Brien, Helen; Morgen, Keith; Ward, Kelly

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe licensed clinical social workers' (LCSWs) professional motivation to pursue a social work career and the decision to enter clinical practice. It used a probability sample of 245 New Jersey LCSWs and the Social Work Values Survey as part of an anonymous self-administered mail survey. Descriptive analyses…

Social Position Influencing the Water Perception Gap Between Local Leaders and Constituents in a Socio-Hydrological System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haeffner, Melissa; Jackson-Smith, Douglas; Flint, Courtney G.

2018-02-01

How well city leaders represent their constituents and meet their needs are key concerns in transitioning to local sustainable water governance. To date, however, there is little research documenting the influence of social position between elected leaders who make policy, career staff water managers who design and operate systems and implement policies, and the members of the public whose individual water use behaviors are important drivers of water sustainability outcomes. In this study, we ask: "How does social position explain variation in water perceptions and concerns between different actors in a socio-hydrological system?" Using a mixed method approach with survey and interview data, we explore the ways that positioning within the governance system, geographic context, and citizen engagement in local government mediate perceptions of the urban water system. Regardless of local biophysical water supply conditions, residents showed most concern about future water shortages and high water costs, while their leaders were consistently most concerned about deteriorating local water infrastructure. Further, constituents who received water-related information directly from public utility mailings or served on community committees and boards had perceptions that were more aligned with leaders' concerns. The importance of social structure over natural and built environments in shaping water issue perceptions underscores the value of social analysis in socio-hydrology studies. Further, practitioners looking to increase consensus for a transition to sustainable water governance might work to develop institutional mechanisms to increase opportunities for water user involvement in local water system governance.

Social Justice and School Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nastasi, Bonnie K.

2008-01-01

Despite attention in other social sciences and within other areas of psychology, social justice has received minimal attention in school psychology literature. The two studies by Shriberg et al. (2008) and McCabe and Rubinson (2008) represent significant developments in exploring school psychology's commitment to social justice. In this…

Social Connectedness among International Students at an Australian University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenthal, Doreen Anne; Russell, Jean; Thomson, Garry

2007-01-01

A representative sample of undergraduate and postgraduate international students at a large Australian university (n = 979, 64% females) completed a mail-back survey examining their perceptions of social connectedness. Four aspects of social connectedness were investigated: (1) connectedness in Melbourne, (2) social mixing and interaction with…

[Turnover of Non-medical Staff in Outpatient Oncology Practices: Is Building Social Capital a Solution?].

PubMed

Gloede, T D; Ernstmann, N; Baumann, W; Groß, S E; Ansmann, L; Nitzsche, A; Neumann, M; Wirtz, M; Schmitz, S; Schulz-Nieswandt, F; Pfaff, H

2015-11-01

While a lot is known about potential and actual turnover of non-medical hospital staff, only few data exist for the outpatient setting. In addition, little is known about actual instruments which leaders can use to influence staff turnover in physician practices. In the literature, the social capital of an organisation, which means the amount of trust, common values and reciprocal behaviour in the organisation, has been discussed as a possible field of action. In the present study, staff turnover as perceived by outpatient haematologists and oncologists is presented and analysed as to whether social capital is associated with that staff turnover. In conclusion, measures to increase the social capital of a practice are presented. The present study is based on data gathered in a questionnaire-based survey with members of the Professional Organisation of -Office-Based Haematologists and Oncologists (N=551). The social capital of the practice was captured from the haematologists and oncologists using an existing and validated scale. To analyse the impact of the practice's social capital on staff turnover, as perceived by the physicians, bivariate correlations and linear regression analyses were calculated. In total, 152 haematologists and oncologists participated in the study which represents a response rate of 28%. In the regression analyses, social capital appears as a significant and strong predictor of staff turnover (beta=-0.34; p<0.001). Building social capital within the practice may be an important contribution to reducing staff turnover although the underlying study design does not allow for drawing causal conclusions regarding this relationship. To create social capital in their practice, outpatient physicians may apply measures that facilitate social interaction among staff, foster trust and facilitate cooperation. Such measures may already be applied when hiring and training new staff, but also continuously when leading employees and when organising work tasks, e.g., by establishing regular team meetings. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Social Values Priorities and Orientation towards Individualism and Collectivism of Greek University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Papastylianou, Dona; Lampridis, Efthymios

2016-01-01

The study aimed to explore the value priorities of Greek young adults and their orientation towards individualism and collectivism and to investigate for possible relationships between value types and individualism and collectivism. Greek undergraduate students (n = 484) completed the Social Values Survey, the Auckland's Individualism and…

Values, inter-attitudinal structure, and attitude change: value accessibility can increase a related attitude's resistance to change.

PubMed

Blankenship, Kevin L; Wegener, Duane T; Murray, Renee A

2015-12-01

Accessibility is one of the most basic structural properties of an attitude and an important factor to consider in attitude strength. Despite its importance, relatively little work has examined the role of attitude accessibility in an inter-attitudinal context, particularly as it relates to the strength of related attitudes in the network. The present research examines accessibility as a property of one attitude (toward an abstract goal or end-state, that is, a value) that might influence the strength of a different but related attitude (toward a social policy conceptually related to the value). In Study 1, a highly accessible evaluative component of a value increased resistance to change of attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a social policy related to that value. Similarly, a manipulation of value accessibility (Studies 2 and 3) led to increased resistance of attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a social policy related to that value. Implications for the role of accessibility in inter-attitudinal strength are discussed. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Social phobia and subtypes in the national comorbidity survey-adolescent supplement: prevalence, correlates, and comorbidity.

PubMed

Burstein, Marcy; He, Jian-Ping; Kattan, Gabriela; Albano, Anne Marie; Avenevoli, Shelli; Merikangas, Kathleen R

2011-09-01

Social phobia typically develops during the adolescent years, yet no nationally representative studies in the United States have examined the rates and features of this condition among youth in this age range. The objectives of this investigation were to: (1) present the lifetime prevalence, sociodemographic and clinical correlates, and comorbidity of social phobia in a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents; and (2) examine differences in the rates and features of social phobia across the proposed DSM-5 social phobia subtypes. The National Comorbidity Survey Replication-Adolescent Supplement is a nationally representative face-to-face survey of 10,123 adolescents 13 to 18 years of age in the continental United States. Approximately 9% of adolescents met criteria for any social phobia in their lifetime. Of these adolescents, 55.8% were affected with the generalized subtype and 44.2% exhibited nongeneralized social phobia. Only 0.7% met criteria for the proposed DSM-5 performance-only subtype. Generalized social phobia was more common among female adolescents and risk for this subtype increased with age. Adolescents with generalized social phobia also had a younger age of onset, higher levels of disability and clinical severity, and a greater degree of comorbidity relative to adolescents with nongeneralized forms of the disorder. This study indicates that social phobia is a highly prevalent, persistent, and impairing psychiatric disorder among adolescent youth. Results of this study also provide evidence for the clinical utility of the generalized subtype and highlight the importance of considering the heterogeneity of social phobia in this age group. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attachment, Social Value Orientation, Sensation Seeking, and Bullying in Early Adolescence

PubMed Central

Innamorati, Marco; Parolin, Laura; Tagini, Angela; Santona, Alessandra; Bosco, Andrea; De Carli, Pietro; Palmisano, Giovanni L.; Pergola, Filippo; Sarracino, Diego

2018-01-01

In this study, bullying is examined in light of the “prosocial security hypothesis”— i.e., the hypothesis that insecure attachment, with temperamental dispositions such as sensation seeking, may foster individualistic, competitive value orientations and problem behaviors. A group of 375 Italian students (53% female; Mean age = 12.58, SD = 1.08) completed anonymous questionnaires regarding attachment security, social values, sensation seeking, and bullying behaviors. Path analysis showed that attachment to mother was negatively associated with bullying of others, both directly and through the mediating role of conservative socially oriented values, while attachment to father was directly associated with victimization. Sensation seeking predicted bullying of others and victimization both directly and through the mediating role of conservative socially oriented values. Adolescents’ gender affected how attachment moderated the relationship between sensation seeking and problem behavior. PMID:29535668

Attachment, Social Value Orientation, Sensation Seeking, and Bullying in Early Adolescence.

PubMed

Innamorati, Marco; Parolin, Laura; Tagini, Angela; Santona, Alessandra; Bosco, Andrea; De Carli, Pietro; Palmisano, Giovanni L; Pergola, Filippo; Sarracino, Diego

2018-01-01

In this study, bullying is examined in light of the "prosocial security hypothesis"- i.e., the hypothesis that insecure attachment, with temperamental dispositions such as sensation seeking, may foster individualistic, competitive value orientations and problem behaviors. A group of 375 Italian students (53% female; Mean age = 12.58, SD = 1.08) completed anonymous questionnaires regarding attachment security, social values, sensation seeking, and bullying behaviors. Path analysis showed that attachment to mother was negatively associated with bullying of others, both directly and through the mediating role of conservative socially oriented values, while attachment to father was directly associated with victimization. Sensation seeking predicted bullying of others and victimization both directly and through the mediating role of conservative socially oriented values. Adolescents' gender affected how attachment moderated the relationship between sensation seeking and problem behavior.

Dynamical Behaviors in Complex-Valued Love Model With or Without Time Delays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Wei; Liao, Xiaofeng; Dong, Tao

2017-12-01

In this paper, a novel version of nonlinear model, i.e. a complex-valued love model with two time delays between two individuals in a love affair, has been proposed. A notable feature in this model is that we separate the emotion of one individual into real and imaginary parts to represent the variation and complexity of psychophysiological emotion in romantic relationship instead of just real domain, and make our model much closer to reality. This is because love is a complicated cognitive and social phenomenon, full of complexity, diversity and unpredictability, which refers to the coexistence of different aspects of feelings, states and attitudes ranging from joy and trust to sadness and disgust. By analyzing associated characteristic equation of linearized equations for our model, it is found that the Hopf bifurcation occurs when the sum of time delays passes through a sequence of critical value. Stability of bifurcating cyclic love dynamics is also derived by applying the normal form theory and the center manifold theorem. In addition, it is also shown that, for some appropriate chosen parameters, chaotic behaviors can appear even without time delay.

Cost-benefit analysis of ambulance and rescue helicopters in Norway: reflections on assigning a monetary value to saving a human life.

PubMed

Elvik, Rune

2002-01-01

This paper reports the results of a cost-benefit analysis undertaken in 1996 for a public commission set up to plan the future operation of state-owned ambulance and rescue helicopters in Norway. The analysis indicates that the benefits of ambulance missions flown by helicopters exceeds the costs by a factor of almost six. To do this analysis it was necessary to assign a monetary value to human life. Traditionally this has not been done in medicine, and may be widely regarded as inconsistent with medical ethics. The results of the cost-benefit analysis serve as the starting point to a more general discussion surrounding the economic value of activities designed to reduce human mortality. It is concluded that human preferences for the provision of health care or other life-saving interventions are probably too complex to be adequately represented by means of a single monetary value expressing the benefits of life-saving. The task of developing an inclusive framework for a normative approach to priority setting in injury prevention is daunting, and may be insoluble. It is important to assess the extent to which current value-of-life estimates depend on study methods and social context.

Analysis of circadian properties and healthy levels of blue light from smartphones at night

PubMed Central

Oh, Ji Hye; Yoo, Heeyeon; Park, Hoo Keun; Do, Young Rag

2015-01-01

This study proposes representative figures of merit for circadian and vision performance for healthy and efficient use of smartphone displays. The recently developed figures of merit for circadian luminous efficacy of radiation (CER) and circadian illuminance (CIL) related to human health and circadian rhythm were measured to compare three kinds of commercial smartphone displays. The CIL values for social network service (SNS) messenger screens from all three displays were higher than 41.3 biolux (blx) in a dark room at night, and the highest CIL value reached 50.9 blx. These CIL values corresponded to melatonin suppression values (MSVs) of 7.3% and 11.4%, respectively. Moreover, smartphone use in a bright room at night had much higher CIL and MSV values (58.7 ~ 105.2 blx and 15.4 ~ 36.1%, respectively). This study also analyzed the nonvisual and visual optical properties of the three smartphone displays while varying the distance between the screen and eye and controlling the brightness setting. Finally, a method to possibly attenuate the unhealthy effects of smartphone displays was proposed and investigated by decreasing the emitting wavelength of blue LEDs in a smartphone LCD backlight and subsequently reducing the circadian effect of the display. PMID:26085126

Analysis of circadian properties and healthy levels of blue light from smartphones at night

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Ji Hye; Yoo, Heeyeon; Park, Hoo Keun; Do, Young Rag

2015-06-01

This study proposes representative figures of merit for circadian and vision performance for healthy and efficient use of smartphone displays. The recently developed figures of merit for circadian luminous efficacy of radiation (CER) and circadian illuminance (CIL) related to human health and circadian rhythm were measured to compare three kinds of commercial smartphone displays. The CIL values for social network service (SNS) messenger screens from all three displays were higher than 41.3 biolux (blx) in a dark room at night, and the highest CIL value reached 50.9 blx. These CIL values corresponded to melatonin suppression values (MSVs) of 7.3% and 11.4%, respectively. Moreover, smartphone use in a bright room at night had much higher CIL and MSV values (58.7 ~ 105.2 blx and 15.4 ~ 36.1%, respectively). This study also analyzed the nonvisual and visual optical properties of the three smartphone displays while varying the distance between the screen and eye and controlling the brightness setting. Finally, a method to possibly attenuate the unhealthy effects of smartphone displays was proposed and investigated by decreasing the emitting wavelength of blue LEDs in a smartphone LCD backlight and subsequently reducing the circadian effect of the display.

It's NOT rocket science: rethinking our metaphors for research in health professions education.

PubMed

Regehr, Glenn

2010-01-01

The health professional education community is struggling with a number of issues regarding the place and value of research in the field, including: the role of theory-building versus applied research; the relative value of generalisable versus contextually rich, localised solutions, and the relative value of local versus multi-institutional research. In part, these debates are limited by the fact that the health professional education community has become deeply entrenched in the notion of the physical sciences as presenting a model for 'ideal' research. The resulting emphasis on an 'imperative of proof' in our dominant research approaches has translated poorly to the domain of education, with a resulting denigration of the domain as 'soft' and 'unscientific' and a devaluing of knowledge acquired to date. Similarly, our adoption of the physical sciences''imperative of generalisable simplicity' has created difficulties for our ability to represent well the complexity of the social interactions that shape education and learning at a local level. Using references to the scientific paradigms associated with the physical sciences, this paper will reconsider the place of our current goals for education research in the production and evolution of knowledge within our community, and will explore the implications for enhancing the value of research in health professional education. Reorienting education research from its alignment with the imperative of proof to one with an imperative of understanding, and from the imperative of simplicity to an imperative of representing complexity well may enable a shift in research focus away from a problematic search for proofs of simple generalisable solutions to our collective problems, towards the generation of rich understandings of the complex environments in which our collective problems are uniquely embedded.

Impacts of casinos on key pathways to health: qualitative findings from American Indian gaming communities in California.

PubMed

Kodish, Stephen R; Gittelsohn, Joel; Oddo, Vanessa M; Jones-Smith, Jessica C

2016-07-22

Three decades ago, casino gaming on sovereign American Indian lands was legalized with differential economic and social implications. While casinos have improved the incomes of tribal communities, there have been both positive and negative findings in relation to health impacts. We sought to understand the perceived pathways by which casinos impact individual and community health through voices of the community. We conducted semi-structured, interviews with tribal leaders (n =12) and tribal members (n =24) from tribal communities (n = 23) representing different regions of California. We inductively analyzed textual data drawing from Grounded Theory, first using line-by-line coding to identify analytic categories from emergent themes in consideration of the study objective. Then, focused codes were applied to identify salient themes, which we represented through exemplar quotes and an overall conceptual framework. Data were managed and coded using Dedoose software. American Indian-owned casinos are perceived to influence the health of tribal communities through three pathways: 1) improving the tribal economy 2) altering the built environment, and 3) disrupting the the social landscape. Forming these pathways are a series of interrelated health determinants. Improvement of the tribal economy, through both job creation for tribal members and improved tribal cash flow, was perceived by participants to both influence health. Specifically, improved cash flow has resulted in new wellness programs, community centers, places for recreation, and improved social services. Higher disposable incomes have led to better financial stability, increased access to healthy food, and more opportunities for physical activity. Yet, higher disposable incomes were perceived to also contribute to negative health behaviors, most notably increased drug and alcohol abuse. Casinos were also perceived to alter built environments, resulting in increased availability and access to unhealthy food. And to a lesser extent, they were perceived to disrupt the social landscape of communities with impacts on tribal community value systems. Casino environments improve economic conditions of tribal communities, but present important social and public health challenges. Policy makers at federal, state, and tribal levels should consider the perceptions of tribal members and leaders when determining policies in light of casino development.

Intensity Maps Production Using Real-Time Joint Streaming Data Processing From Social and Physical Sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kropivnitskaya, Y. Y.; Tiampo, K. F.; Qin, J.; Bauer, M.

2015-12-01

Intensity is one of the most useful measures of earthquake hazard, as it quantifies the strength of shaking produced at a given distance from the epicenter. Today, there are several data sources that could be used to determine intensity level which can be divided into two main categories. The first category is represented by social data sources, in which the intensity values are collected by interviewing people who experienced the earthquake-induced shaking. In this case, specially developed questionnaires can be used in addition to personal observations published on social networks such as Twitter. These observations are assigned to the appropriate intensity level by correlating specific details and descriptions to the Modified Mercalli Scale. The second category of data sources is represented by observations from different physical sensors installed with the specific purpose of obtaining an instrumentally-derived intensity level. These are usually based on a regression of recorded peak acceleration and/or velocity amplitudes. This approach relates the recorded ground motions to the expected felt and damage distribution through empirical relationships. The goal of this work is to implement and evaluate streaming data processing separately and jointly from both social and physical sensors in order to produce near real-time intensity maps and compare and analyze their quality and evolution through 10-minute time intervals immediately following an earthquake. Results are shown for the case study of the M6.0 2014 South Napa, CA earthquake that occurred on August 24, 2014. The using of innovative streaming and pipelining computing paradigms through IBM InfoSphere Streams platform made it possible to read input data in real-time for low-latency computing of combined intensity level and production of combined intensity maps in near-real time. The results compare three types of intensity maps created based on physical, social and combined data sources. Here we correlate the count and density of Tweets with intensity level and show the importance of processing combined data sources at the earliest time stages after earthquake happens. This method can supplement existing approaches of intensity level detection, especially in the regions with high number of Twitter users and low density of seismic networks.

Exploring Muslim Diaspora Communities in Europe through a Social Movement Lens: Some Initial Thoughts

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-05-01

institutions performing similar functions indigenous to the diaspora community . Such phenomena perhaps represents a hybridization of withdrawal and...Exploring Muslim Diaspora Communities in Europe through a Social Movement Lens: Some Initial Thoughts Strategic Insights, Volume IV, Issue...represent an amalgamation of loosely or tightly coupled networks of system- challenging actors. Similarly, diaspora communities are sometimes described as

What Explains Socioeconomic Differences in the Speed of Heart Rate Recovery to Postural Challenge?

PubMed

McCrory, Cathal; Berkman, Lisa F; Moore, Patrick V; Kenny, Rose Anne

2017-11-09

Much recent work has focused on the value of heart rate recovery (HRR) as a marker of cardiovascular health and a predictor of mortality. This article explores socioeconomic variation in HRR following exposure to a potent physiological stressor. The sample involved a nationally representative cohort of 4,475 community-dwelling older persons aged 50 years and older participating in the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Participants completed an active stand (ie, vertical stand from a supine position) as part of a detailed clinic-based cardiovascular health assessment. Beat-to-beat HRR to standing was monitored over a 2-minute time horizon using a finometer. Highest level of educational achievement served as the indicator variable for socioeconomic status and mediation analysis was undertaken to explore the pathways through which social inequality comes to affect the speed of HRR using the extensive array of covariates available in TILDA. Participants with primary level education were characterized by a significantly slower HRR after standing compared with the tertiary educated (B = -1.15 bpm, CI95 = -1.78, -0.52; p < .001). Mediation analysis revealed that lifetime smoking accounted for a sizeable proportion (40.4%) of the educational differential. Adjustment for other objectively measured markers of lifestyle measured during the clinic visit accounted for only a small proportion (5.2%) of the difference. Smoking may represent a major pathway through which the social environment becomes biologically embedded in the tissues and organs of the body precipitating earlier vascular ageing among more socially disadvantaged groups, emphasizing the need to address the causes of these inequalities. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Legal decisions on access to medicines in Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil].

PubMed

Stamford, Artur; Cavalcanti, Maísa

2012-10-01

To analyze decisions from the legal system concerning the population's access to medicines within the Brazilian Public Health System through judicial channels, with regard to decision-making criteria and possible political and economic pressure. This was a descriptive retrospective study on documents with a quantitative and qualitative approach. Data were gathered from the State of Pernambuco Superintendency for Pharmaceutical Care, and the data sources used were 105 lawsuits and administrative reports between January and June 2009. It was ascertained which medications have a patent or patent request in the database of the Brazilian Patent Office (INPI), in order to identify the frequency with which patents feature in lawsuits. The data obtained were classified according to Anatomical and Therapeutic Chemical System. To analyze the judicial decisions, the theory of autopoietic social systems was used. There were lawsuits involving 134 medications, with an estimated value of R$ 4.5 million for attending the treatments requested. 70.9% of the medications had a patent or a patent request and they were concentrated in three therapeutic classes: antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents; digestive tract and metabolism; and sensory organs. Six central ideas within judges' decision-making criteria were identified (the federal constitution and medical prescriptions), along with pressure between the legal, economic and political systems concerning access to medications. The analysis on judicial decisions based on the theory of autopoietic social systems made it possible to identify mutual stimulation (dependency) between the legal system and other social systems in relation to the issue of citizens' access to medications. This dependency was represented by the federal constitution and intellectual property. The federal constitution and medical prescription were identified as decision-making criteria in lawsuits. Intellectual property represented possible political and economic pressure, especially in cases of launching medications into the market.

Neighborhood disorder and telomeres: Connecting children’s exposure to community level stress and cellular response

PubMed Central

Theall, Katherine P.; Brett, Zoë H.; Shirtcliff, Elizabeth A.; Dunn, Erin C.; Drury, Stacy S.

2013-01-01

Our objective was to explore the utility of salivary telomere length (sTL) as an early indicator of neighborhood level social environmental risk during child development. We therefore tested the hypothesis that sTL would be associated with markers of social stress exposure in children. Children age 4–14 from 87 neighborhoods were recruited through five urban schools in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. Data were collected at the level of the child, family/household, and neighborhood. DNA was obtained from saliva using commercially available kits and sTL was determined for 104 children using quantitative PCR. Analysis was performed on 99 children who had complete data including sTL, social environmental stress, and additional covariates. The mean sTL value was 7.4 T/S (telomere signal/single copy signal) ratio units (± 2.4, range=2.5–18.0), and 4.7% of the variance in sTL was attributed to differences across neighborhoods. Children living in neighborhoods characterized by high disorder had an sTL value 3.2 units lower than children not living in high disordered environments (p<0.05) and their odds of having low relative sTL (defined as < 1 standard deviation below standardized z score mean) values was 3.43 times that of children not living in high disorder environments (adjusted OR=3.43, 95% CI=1.22, 9.62). Our findings are consistent with previous studies in adults demonstrating a strong link between psychosocial stress and sTL obtained from peripheral blood, consistent with previous studies in youth demonstrating an association between early life stress and sTL obtained from buccal cell DNA and offer increased support for the hypothesis that sTL represents a non-invasive biological indicator of psychosocial stress exposure (i.e., neighborhood disorder) able to reflect differences in stress exposure levels even in young children. PMID:23540366

Stakeholders understanding of the concept of benefit sharing in health research in Kenya: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Lairumbi, Geoffrey M; Parker, Michael; Fitzpatrick, Raymond; Mike, English C

2011-10-03

The concept of benefit sharing to enhance the social value of global health research in resource poor settings is now a key strategy for addressing moral issues of relevance to individuals, communities and host countries in resource poor settings when they participate in international collaborative health research.The influence of benefit sharing framework on the conduct of collaborative health research is for instance evidenced by the number of publications and research ethics guidelines that require prior engagement between stakeholders to determine the social value of research to the host communities. While such efforts as the production of international guidance on how to promote the social value of research through such strategies as benefit sharing have been made, the extent to which these ideas and guidelines have been absorbed by those engaged in global health research especially in resource poor settings remains unclear. We examine this awareness among stakeholders involved in health related research in Kenya. We conducted in-depth interviews with key informants drawn from within the broader health research system in Kenya including researchers from the mainstream health research institutions, networks and universities, teaching hospitals, policy makers, institutional review boards, civil society organisations and community representative groups. Our study suggests that although people have a sense of justice and the moral aspects of research, this was not articulated in terms used in the literature and the guidelines on the ethics of global health research. This study demonstrates that while in theory several efforts can be made to address the moral issues of concern to research participants and their communities in resource poor settings, quick fixes such as benefit sharing are not going to be straightforward. We suggest a need to pay closer attention to the processes through which ethical principles are enacted in practice and distil lessons on how best to involve individuals and communities in promoting ethical conduct of global health research in resource poor settings.

Geo-spatial aspects of acceptance of illegal hunting of large carnivores in Scandinavia.

PubMed

Gangaas, Kristin E; Kaltenborn, Bjørn P; Andreassen, Harry P

2013-01-01

Human-carnivore conflicts are complex and are influenced by: the spatial distribution of the conflict species; the organisation and intensity of management measures such as zoning; historical experience with wildlife; land use patterns; and local cultural traditions. We have used a geographically stratified sampling of social values and attitudes to provide a novel perspective to the human - wildlife conflict. We have focused on acceptance by and disagreements between residents (measured as Potential Conflict Index; PCI) towards illegal hunting of four species of large carnivores (bear, lynx, wolf, wolverine). The study is based on surveys of residents in every municipality in Sweden and Norway who were asked their opinion on illegal hunting. Our results show how certain social values are associated with acceptance of poaching, and how these values differ geographically independent of carnivore abundance. Our approach differs from traditional survey designs, which are often biased towards urban areas. Although these traditional designs intend to be representative of a region (i.e. a random sample from a country), they tend to receive relatively few respondents from rural areas that experience the majority of conflict with carnivores. Acceptance of poaching differed significantly between Norway (12.7-15.7% of respondents) and Sweden (3.3-4.1% of respondents). We found the highest acceptance of illegal hunting in rural areas with free-ranging sheep and strong hunting traditions. Disagreements between residents (as measured by PCI) were highest in areas with intermediate population density. There was no correlation between carnivore density and either acceptance of illegal hunting or PCI. A strong positive correlation between acceptance of illegal hunting and PCI showed that areas with high acceptance of illegal hunting are areas with high potential conflict between people. Our results show that spatially-stratified surveys are required to reveal the large scale patterns in social dynamics of human-wildlife conflicts.

A crowdsourced valuation of recreational ecosystem services using social media data: An application to a tropical wetland in India.

PubMed

Sinclair, Michael; Ghermandi, Andrea; Sheela, Albert M

2018-06-12

Online social media represent an extensive, opportunistic source of behavioral data and revealed preferences for ecosystem services (ES) analysis. Such data may allow to advance the approach, scale and timespan to which ES are assessed, mapping and valued. This is especially relevant in the context of developing regions whose decision support tools are often limited by a lack of resources and funding. This research presents an economic valuation tool for recreational ES, suitable at wide spatial scales, relying on crowdsourced metadata from social media with a proof of concept tested on an Indian tropical Ramsar wetland. We demonstrate how geotagged photographs from Flickr can be used in the context of a developing country to (i) map nature-based recreation patterns, (ii) value recreational ecosystem services, and (iii) investigate how recreational benefits are affected by changes in ecosystem quality. The case-study application is the Vembanad Lake in Kerala, India, and the adjacent backwaters. Geographic Information Systems are implemented to extract 4328 Flickr photographs that are used to map hot spots of recreation and infer the home location of wetland visitors from within Kerala state with good accuracy. An individual, single-site travel cost demand function is generated and estimated using both Poisson and Negative Binomial regressions, which results in mean consumer surplus estimates between Rs. 2227-3953 ($34-$62) per visit and annual domestic recreation benefits of Rs. 7.53-13.37 billion ($115.5-$205 million) in the investigated wetlands. Improvement in water quality to a level that supports wildlife and fisheries is projected to result in a Rs. 260 million ($4 million) annual increase in recreational benefits, while restoring previously encroached lake area would result in almost Rs. 50 million ($760,000) in yearly value increase. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Stakeholders understanding of the concept of benefit sharing in health research in Kenya: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The concept of benefit sharing to enhance the social value of global health research in resource poor settings is now a key strategy for addressing moral issues of relevance to individuals, communities and host countries in resource poor settings when they participate in international collaborative health research. The influence of benefit sharing framework on the conduct of collaborative health research is for instance evidenced by the number of publications and research ethics guidelines that require prior engagement between stakeholders to determine the social value of research to the host communities. While such efforts as the production of international guidance on how to promote the social value of research through such strategies as benefit sharing have been made, the extent to which these ideas and guidelines have been absorbed by those engaged in global health research especially in resource poor settings remains unclear. We examine this awareness among stakeholders involved in health related research in Kenya. Methods We conducted in-depth interviews with key informants drawn from within the broader health research system in Kenya including researchers from the mainstream health research institutions, networks and universities, teaching hospitals, policy makers, institutional review boards, civil society organisations and community representative groups. Results Our study suggests that although people have a sense of justice and the moral aspects of research, this was not articulated in terms used in the literature and the guidelines on the ethics of global health research. Conclusion This study demonstrates that while in theory several efforts can be made to address the moral issues of concern to research participants and their communities in resource poor settings, quick fixes such as benefit sharing are not going to be straightforward. We suggest a need to pay closer attention to the processes through which ethical principles are enacted in practice and distil lessons on how best to involve individuals and communities in promoting ethical conduct of global health research in resource poor settings. PMID:21961798

Social Competence at the Playground: Preschoolers during Recess

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veiga, Guida; de Leng, Wendy; Cachucho, Ricardo; Ketelaar, Lizet; Kok, Joost N.; Knobbe, Arno; Neto, Carlos; Rieffe, Carolien

2017-01-01

Social interactions at the playground have been represented as a rich learning opportunity to hone and master social skills at preschool years. Specifically, all forms of social play (fantasy, role, exercise or rough-and-tumble) have been related to children's social competence. The main goal of this study was to examine whether it is a certain…

Corporate social policy - problems of institutionalization and experience of Russian oil and gas companies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nekhoda, E.; Kolbysheva, Yu; Makoveeva, V.

2015-11-01

The article examines a range of problems related to the process of institutionalization in the corporate social policy, characterizing the social responsibility of business and representing a part of the general strategy of corporate social responsibility. The experience of the social policy implementation in oil and gas companies is analyzed.

Ontology-Based Approach to Social Data Sentiment Analysis: Detection of Adolescent Depression Signals.

PubMed

Jung, Hyesil; Park, Hyeoun-Ae; Song, Tae-Min

2017-07-24

Social networking services (SNSs) contain abundant information about the feelings, thoughts, interests, and patterns of behavior of adolescents that can be obtained by analyzing SNS postings. An ontology that expresses the shared concepts and their relationships in a specific field could be used as a semantic framework for social media data analytics. The aim of this study was to refine an adolescent depression ontology and terminology as a framework for analyzing social media data and to evaluate description logics between classes and the applicability of this ontology to sentiment analysis. The domain and scope of the ontology were defined using competency questions. The concepts constituting the ontology and terminology were collected from clinical practice guidelines, the literature, and social media postings on adolescent depression. Class concepts, their hierarchy, and the relationships among class concepts were defined. An internal structure of the ontology was designed using the entity-attribute-value (EAV) triplet data model, and superclasses of the ontology were aligned with the upper ontology. Description logics between classes were evaluated by mapping concepts extracted from the answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) onto the ontology concepts derived from description logic queries. The applicability of the ontology was validated by examining the representability of 1358 sentiment phrases using the ontology EAV model and conducting sentiment analyses of social media data using ontology class concepts. We developed an adolescent depression ontology that comprised 443 classes and 60 relationships among the classes; the terminology comprised 1682 synonyms of the 443 classes. In the description logics test, no error in relationships between classes was found, and about 89% (55/62) of the concepts cited in the answers to FAQs mapped onto the ontology class. Regarding applicability, the EAV triplet models of the ontology class represented about 91.4% of the sentiment phrases included in the sentiment dictionary. In the sentiment analyses, "academic stresses" and "suicide" contributed negatively to the sentiment of adolescent depression. The ontology and terminology developed in this study provide a semantic foundation for analyzing social media data on adolescent depression. To be useful in social media data analysis, the ontology, especially the terminology, needs to be updated constantly to reflect rapidly changing terms used by adolescents in social media postings. In addition, more attributes and value sets reflecting depression-related sentiments should be added to the ontology. ©Hyesil Jung, Hyeoun-Ae Park, Tae-Min Song. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 24.07.2017.

Ontology-Based Approach to Social Data Sentiment Analysis: Detection of Adolescent Depression Signals

PubMed Central

Jung, Hyesil; Song, Tae-Min

2017-01-01

Background Social networking services (SNSs) contain abundant information about the feelings, thoughts, interests, and patterns of behavior of adolescents that can be obtained by analyzing SNS postings. An ontology that expresses the shared concepts and their relationships in a specific field could be used as a semantic framework for social media data analytics. Objective The aim of this study was to refine an adolescent depression ontology and terminology as a framework for analyzing social media data and to evaluate description logics between classes and the applicability of this ontology to sentiment analysis. Methods The domain and scope of the ontology were defined using competency questions. The concepts constituting the ontology and terminology were collected from clinical practice guidelines, the literature, and social media postings on adolescent depression. Class concepts, their hierarchy, and the relationships among class concepts were defined. An internal structure of the ontology was designed using the entity-attribute-value (EAV) triplet data model, and superclasses of the ontology were aligned with the upper ontology. Description logics between classes were evaluated by mapping concepts extracted from the answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) onto the ontology concepts derived from description logic queries. The applicability of the ontology was validated by examining the representability of 1358 sentiment phrases using the ontology EAV model and conducting sentiment analyses of social media data using ontology class concepts. Results We developed an adolescent depression ontology that comprised 443 classes and 60 relationships among the classes; the terminology comprised 1682 synonyms of the 443 classes. In the description logics test, no error in relationships between classes was found, and about 89% (55/62) of the concepts cited in the answers to FAQs mapped onto the ontology class. Regarding applicability, the EAV triplet models of the ontology class represented about 91.4% of the sentiment phrases included in the sentiment dictionary. In the sentiment analyses, “academic stresses” and “suicide” contributed negatively to the sentiment of adolescent depression. Conclusions The ontology and terminology developed in this study provide a semantic foundation for analyzing social media data on adolescent depression. To be useful in social media data analysis, the ontology, especially the terminology, needs to be updated constantly to reflect rapidly changing terms used by adolescents in social media postings. In addition, more attributes and value sets reflecting depression-related sentiments should be added to the ontology. PMID:28739560