Collective Attitudes Research Articles

Actor Sensemaking and its Role in Implementation of the Decentralized Drug-Resistant TB Policy in South Africa.

South Africa has a high burden of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). A policy to decentralize DR-TB treatment from specialized central hospitals to more accessible district facilities was introduced in 2011, but to date implementation has been suboptimal, with variable pace, coverage and models of care emerging. This study explored multilevel policy implementation of DR-TB decentralization in two provinces of South Africa, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Applying interpretive policy analysis, this paper describes how actors across health system levels and geographies made sense of the DR-TB policy and how this shaped implementation. In an embedded qualitative case study, districts of the two provinces were compared, through data collected in 94 in-depth interviews, and analysed using Vickers' framework of reality, value and action judgements. Five district cases characterise variation in the pace of implementation and models of DR-TB care that emerged. Individual and collective attitudes for and against the policy were underpinned by different systems of meaning for interpreting policy problems and making decisions. These meaning systems were reflected in actor stances on whether DR-TB care needed to be specialized or generalized, nurse- or doctor-led, and institutionalized or ambulatory. Actors' stances influenced their actions and implementation strategies adopted. Resistance to decentralized DR-TB care related to perceived threats of budget cuts to and loss of authority of central facilities, and was often justified in fears of increased transmission, poor quality of care and inadequate resources at lower levels. New advances in diagnosis and treatment to address the growing burden of DR-TB in South Africa will have little impact unless implementation dynamics are better understood, and attention paid to the mindsets, interests and interpretations of policy by actors tasked with implementation. Deliberative policy implementation processes will enhance the quality of discourse, communication and cross-learning between policy actors, critical for reaching synthesis of meaning systems.

“No punishment is enough for monsters”: vindictiveness as an important political emotion in dealing with Belgian (potential) returnee men

ABSTRACT Building on the call to further integrate emotions in critical security and terrorism studies, we explore the ways emotions figure in media discourses and shape responses and policies on the returnee question. Through critical discourse analysis and thick description, we show how Belgian (potential) returnee men were subject to varying securitising discourses and emotional portrayals in media coverage over the past decade. Our argument contends that media discourse(s) on the returnee question exhibit a complex emotional landscape. We discern dominant, alternative and rising emotions that undergird the media coverage. We will illustrate how the “dominant” emotion of fear oscillated with an “alternative” emotion of vulnerability and, over the course of a decade, was accompanied by a “rising” emotion of vindictiveness. We argue that the cultivation of vindictiveness contributes to securitising narratives that portray Belgian (potential) returnee men as irredeemable monsters deserving of extreme punishments. This rising discourse undermines democratic principles and the rule of law. We speak of political emotions because emotions are deeply intertwined with power dynamics, societal structures, and political processes, which shape collective attitudes, behaviours, and policies towards (potential) returnees.

The Grammar of Emotion Verbs in the Qurʾān: A Case Study of the verb xāfa

Abstract The concept of emotions has been studied from numerous perspectives in psychology, the history of emotions and religion. This study sheds light on the linguistic devices implemented to articulate emotions in the Qurʾān by taking the emotion verb xāfa ‘to fear’ or ‘to be afraid’ (and its derivatives) as a case study. In both modern and classical dictionaries of the Arabic language as well as in Quranic exegesis, the verb xāfa is often replaced by another verb that expresses fear such as xašiya ‘to be afraid’ or ‘to be in awe’. Here it is shown that the verb xāfa occurs in certain syntactic structures and has specific meanings that are not denoted by other verbs expressing fear in the Qurʾān. Specifically, when the verb xāfa is followed by a subordinate clause that starts with the particle ‘an, it can be rendered as ‘to fear’ or ‘to be afraid’ since the cause of this fear is a probable event. When the verb xāfa is followed by the preposition ‘alā it denotes ‘to fear for [the wellbeing of] someone (e.g., a family member)’ because of a situation in which they are likely to be found. When it is followed by the noun rabb ‘Lord’ or Allāh ‘God’, the verb refers to ‘fear of God’, where fear of His punishment motivates the people to worship Him. When the verbal noun xawf has no object and is used in conjunction with the verbal noun ‘amn (‘security’) it can be interpreted as ‘insecurity about something’. Because the verb xāfa is central to the religious concept of fear of God, it is used in the Qurʾān to express a general and collective attitude of fear or awe. However, xāfa is also used to express individual experiences of fright at specific times or places.

The Cultivation of Online Rational Citizenship under the Perspective of Online Public Opinion Ecology

With the rapid development of the Internet, the flow of information and the expression of opinions in cyberspace have become an important way of expressing public opinion. As the collective attitude of the public towards various public affairs in a certain space, the influence of public opinion cannot be ignored and can profoundly affect the direction of social development. Among them, the core of the quality of public opinion lies in its rationality and accuracy. However, in the network era, the frequent emergence and spread of irrational public opinion often stems from cognitive differences and prejudices among the masses. So, it is urgent to cultivate rational citizens on the Internet. In the era of new media, it is urgent to cultivate rational citizens on the Internet and create a favorable Internet public opinion ecology.

Corelationship Between Contractor Safety Management And Safety Leadership : Systematic Review

The presence of effective safety leadership significantly impacts how workers perceive the significance of safety in the workplace. Safety environment is to the collective attitudes of employees regarding an organization's safety-related policies, practices, and procedures that indicate the importance placed on safety (Omidi et all., 2022; Omidi et all., 2021; Zohar and Luria, 2010). The contractors are responsible for upholding two specific types of safety leadership, with a particular emphasis on transformational leadership. This study use the literature review according to PRISMA guidelines. The necessity of safety leadership in construction projects, particularly in the context of contractor safety management. Safety leadership is considered as a vital aspect in persuading workers to adopt safe behaviors, decreasing accidents, and increasing overall safety performance. The studies show the positive influence of safety leadership on safety compliance, engagement, and safety outcomes, and the need of addressing the safety leadership styles of all stakeholders engaged in a construction project, including owners, contractors, and subcontractors.

PERSIST: a pre–post study to assess an educational methodology to enhance youth climate literacy and systems thinking ability

BackgroundEducation has a pivotal role in preparing society to address the forthcoming health impacts of the climate crisis. Education provides the tools necessary to instil both individual and collective attitudes for mitigating climate change, fosters the development of adaptive skills and mindsets, and promotes a critical understanding of climate change. The aim of the PERSIST project was to assess the effectiveness of a school educational intervention to strengthen literacy on the climate crisis, pro-environmental behaviours, and systems thinking in high school students (aged 14–18 years). MethodsThree meetings were carried out in a scientific high school in the suburbs of Rome (Italy) between March 21, and April 12, 2023, using complex systems models, group activities, and collective discussions. Pre-intervention and post-intervention questionnaires were administered to students to record knowledge, climate-related emotions, and pro-environmental behaviours. Questionnaires that were complete were considered valid. The anonymously collected data were processed using descriptive statistics and t test. FindingsA total of 273 students in ten different classes attending between grades 1 and 4 took part in the project. 78 (36%) participants were female, 133 (62%) were male, and four (2%) did not disclose their gender. The mean age was 15 years. We received 211 pairs of valid pre-intervention and post-intervention questionnaires. The preliminary analysis showed an average increase of 19% in correct responses to knowledge questions, a 21·2% increase in pro-environmental behaviours, and no discernible differences in climate-related emotions between pre-intervention and post-intervention questionnaires. InterpretationAn interactive approach and the use of complex systems might improve students' literacy and attitudes towards the climate crisis, without increasing negative ecological emotions. This pilot project can guide similar, repeatable programmes in other schools and countries and it represents the first measure of climate-related emotions after school intervention. FundingNone.

The CARE System in Its Importance in Dealing with Today's Crises1.

The CARE system is a gift from Mother Nature, we have it in our biological heritage; it enables us humans-as a basic gift-to help each other in a large, life-serving context, and thus also to counterbalance destruction. It is about a basic human ability, linked to typical behaviour, but also about a basic human need for connectedness. In this paper, I would like to show how the CARE system can be activated as a collective attitude. The CARE system is strengthened by positive emotions. We are currently being affected by many crises and this triggers fear. How can we deal with this better? Fear is countered with hope and the associated positive emotions such as joy, awe, kama muta and others. These emotions and feelings can be consciously encouraged and placed alongside the feelings of fear. But also, when we share the feelings of grief with each other, it triggers an attitude of CARE. We can grieve together for the various experiences of loss that we go through-but we can also imagine together how we envisage a future that is worth living for everyone. An attitude in the sense of CARING has been practised in friendship for thousands of years. It would therefore be possible to move away from an attitude of competing and outdoing, to an attitude not only of recognition, care, and solidarity in human interaction, but also in our connection with nature.

Digital Slot Machines: Social Media Platforms as Attentional Scaffolds

In this paper we introduce the concept of attentional scaffolds and show the resemblance between social media platforms and slot machines, both functioning as hostile attentional scaffolds. The first section establishes the groundwork for the concept of attentional scaffolds and draws parallels to the mechanics of slot machines, to argue that social media platforms aim to capture users’ attention to maximize engagement through a system of intermittent rewards. The second section shifts focus to the interplay between emotions and attention, revealing how online attentional capture through emotionally triggering stimuli leads to distraction. The final section elucidates the collective implications of scaffolding attention through social media platforms. The examination of phenomena such as emotional contagion and the emergence of group emotions underscores the transition from individual experiences to shared collective outcomes. Employing online moral outrage as a case study, we illustrate how negative emotions serve as scaffolds for individuals’ attention, propagate within social groups, and give rise to collective attitudes.

Organizational hubris: Its antecedents and consequences for stakeholder relationships

AbstractResearch SummaryAlthough research has explored how executive hubris shapes organizational actions, we theorize that hubris can also develop outside the executive suite. We introduce the construct organizational hubris, which we define as a durable, collective attitude marked by exaggerated pride and confidence in the organization. Organizational hubris differs from executive hubris in terms of level (individual versus collective) and target (self‐focused vs. organization‐focused). We argue that organizational hubris can develop among high‐identification organizations via an external route (positive external attributions) or an internal route (charismatic messaging from top leaders), or both. Once developed, organizational hubris affects important outcomes by shaping (1) how external stakeholders perceive the organization, (2) how insiders treat external stakeholders, and (3) the relationship among internal stakeholders—particularly between employees and top managers.Managerial SummaryAmong the many stories of corporate excess, some organizations exhibit a sense of superiority—the view that success is inevitable and failure impossible—that can shape their very nature. In this article, we depart from the idea that hubris is confined to the C‐suite and introduce the construct organizational hubris, which we define as a durable, collective attitude marked by exaggerated pride and confidence in the organization. Organizational hubris can develop from positive external attributions and/or charismatic messaging from top leaders. Once developed, organizational hubris affects important strategic outcomes by shaping (1) how external stakeholders perceive the organization, (2) how insiders treat external stakeholders, and (3) the relationship among internal stakeholders—particularly between employees and top managers.

Impact of attitude variables, Tax rate and perceptions of government fairness on Tax Compliance

This study aims to scrutinize the interconnection between attitude variables and tax compliance behavior of the taxpayers. The survey research study regarding the people’s attitude towards taxation is carried out in Hetauda Sub–Metropolitan City of Makawanpur district in June 2020. The sample size of this study encompassed 300 taxpayers selected randomly from entire population. The questionnaire involved twenty-seven five-point Likert scale questions, and seventeen categorical type questions were asked to the respondents. The study applied the logistic regression model to measure the effect of attitude on tax compliance behavior. This research study has some policy implications for encouraging the government to improve tax policy of the nation. The fairness of the tax system definitely affected the tax acquiescence behavior. The respondents doubted the fairness of the government concerning taxation based on data. The collective attitude of the taxpayers was highly negative among different taxpayers under the tax rate and government fairness. The results of the study revealed that taxation policy design and implementation mattered to taxpayers in Nepal. It further recommends the tax administration to reduce tax rates and adopt fair tax strategies for the welfare and justice of the various tax payers. A low tax compliance problem is related to low tax revenue of a particular country. The beauty of this study is to bridge the knowledge gap of emerging issue of the tax compliance behavior in several ways.

Образ права и власти как отражение правовой культуры в литературном наследии XI–XVII вв.

The article deals with the problem of traditional values and attitudes for the Russian legal consciousness that were formed during the formation of the Russian state. The authors focus on the image of law and power as a reflection of the characteristics of legal culture in the public legal consciousness. Using the example of the study of the literary heritage of the XI–XVII centuries, represented in such genres as hagiography, word, prayer, etc., having socio-political, socio-legal, historical and cultural content, the main factors and features of those problems of legal culture, which were in the center of public discussion, are shown. The author reveals such traditional features of the Russian legal culture as the dominance of religious and ethical principles (based on Christian values and norms), collectivist attitudes in matters of responsibility of the people and the authorities for peace and order in society and the state, appeal to the ideal of justice and truth as the natural-legal princi-ples of Russian legislation, the ideals of brotherhood and unity of the people in the face of external threats, pa-ternalistic guidelines in matters of trust in the current government, implemented in the image of a ruler – a god-fighter and defender for the people. The significance of invariant foundations for the Russian legal culture as the leading guidelines of modern state policy and legal ideology is actualized.

Promoting gender diversity in the editorial boards of major otorhinolaryngology journals: A call for inclusion and equal representation

AbstractObjectivesThe aim of our study was to investigate the representation of women in the editorial boards of otorhinolaryngology journals indexed in the Science Citation Index‐Expanded (SCIE) database.MethodsWe examined the gender distribution of editors‐in‐chief, editorial board members, and associate/section editors in otorhinolaryngology journals indexed in the Web of Science SCI‐E core collection. We also analyzed the number of years the journals have been publishing, their categories (general otorhinolaryngology, otology‐audiology, phoniatrics, rhinology‐allergy), the country and continent of publication, the Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) 2021 values, 2‐year and 5‐year impact factors (IF), H‐index, and quartile rank of the journals.ResultsOut of the 54 editors‐in‐chief included in our study from a total of 44 journals, only 6 (11.1%) were women. Women constituted 21.6% of the editorial board members and 35.1% of the associate/section editors. The proportion of women in the editorial boards of journals with a 5‐year impact factor >3.0 was significantly higher compared to others. As the 5‐year impact factor of the journals increased, the number of women in the boards showed a linear increase. When evaluated based on journal categories, phoniatrics journals had higher representation of women in both editorial board membership and associate/section editor roles compared to other categories.ConclusionThe representation of women in the editorial boards of otorhinolaryngology journals is still inadequate. To rectify this situation, it is important for the entire academic community to exhibit a collective attitude rather than individual efforts.Level of Evidence2.

Exploring Empathy In A Dentist-Patient Relationship. Conclusions From Qualitative Exploratory Research Of Practicing Dentists

Objective: This study explored the factors influencing the development of empathy in a dentist-patient relationship.
 Design: An exploratory qualitative study.
 Place and duration of the study: Khyber Medical University KPK, Pakistan October 2019 to April 2020.was conducted during 2019-2020
 Methodology: This exploratory qualitative study was conducted during 2019-2020. It was conducted on 12 dental surgeons, recruited from four major dental clinical specialties. A purposive sampling technique was used. In-depth interviews were conducted through a semi-structured format. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed, using the thematic analysis framework.
 Results: Three themes were extracted from data. 1) Institutionalization of empathy, indicating a need for incorporating empathy in undergraduate and postgraduate dental curriculum, 2) Barriers in the path of empathetic attitude, including a variety of factors hampering the development of empathy in a dentist-patient relationship and 3) Cultivating a Culture of empathy for better health care provision, indicating a need for changing the collective attitude of all health care professionals, administrative staff, and students. The participants of the study observed that development of empathy in a dentist-patient relationship includes a wide range of factors, ranging from curricular, personal, social, organizational, and cultural. These factors elaborate that empathy is a multidimensional phenomenon with roots deeply entrenched in professional and personal domains.

Quantifying cultural change: Gender bias in music.

Cultural items (e.g., songs, books, and movies) have an important impact in creating and reinforcing stereotypes. But the actual nature of such items is often less transparent. Take songs, for example. Are lyrics biased against women, and how have any such biases changed over time? Natural language processing of a quarter of a million songs quantifies gender bias in music over the last 50 years. Women are less likely to be associated with desirable traits (i.e., competence), and while this bias has decreased, it persists. Ancillary analyses further suggest that song lyrics may contribute to shifts in collective attitudes and stereotypes toward women, and that lyrical shifts are driven by male artists (as female artists were less biased to begin with). Overall, these results shed light on cultural evolution, subtle measures of bias and discrimination, and how natural language processing and machine learning can provide deeper insight into stereotypes, cultural change, and a range of psychological questions more generally. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Conceptualization of the ideas of prosociality in the Russian humanitarian thought of the 19th century

Introduction. The relevance of the study is determined by the demand for prosocial values while maintaining and developing the unity and cohesion of Russian society, as well as by the need to refer to the Russian historical experience, including aspects that have not attracted sufficient attention from researchers. This study aims to consider the genesis, evolution, and content of prosocial ideas in the Russian humanitarian thought of the 19th century. Materials and methods. The study used data from an extensive list of pedagogical, psychological, journalistic, philosophical, and other works of a number of prominent representatives of Russian humanitarian thought. The methodological base of the study included the principles of historicism, objectivity, connection, and continuity of phenomena and processes. The authors of the study analyzed the content of the ideas of prosociality in the Russian humanitarian thought of the 19th century from the standpoint of intellectual history. The study used such special methods of historical research as textological analysis, historical-genetic and historical-comparative methods. Results. The authors of the study traced the crystallization and comprehension of such prosocial categories as goodness, charity, kindness, altruism, social service, and others, as well as their role in the formation of a moral personality. In addition, the ideological origins and specific historical conditions for the development of prosocial ideas among the progressive public of the 19th century were revealed. Special attention was paid to the analysis of their views on the system of educating a person with developed prosocial qualities, which included not only theoretical aspects but also quite specific practical proposals. The study concluded that in the 19th century, against the background of the development and flourishing of social thought, there was an active and very fruitful theoretical understanding of a wide range of prosocial concepts. The ideological basis of these reflections were Orthodox values and traditional collectivist attitudes common in Russian society. Conclusion. As a result of the study, the concepts of “welfare”, “goodness”, “altruism”, “love”, and “social service” were for the first time systematically identified in the works of Russian intellectuals in the humanities of the 19th century as structural components of prosociality. The presence in the Russian intellectual tradition (cultural tradition) of the concept of goodness, being the theoretical basis for the introduction of prosociality into modern helping practices and behavior, was revealed. The presence of this concept predetermined the readiness of the Russian enlightened community of the 19th century to perceive the humanistic ideas of prosociality through its cultural code. For the first time, continuity between the Russian pre-revolutionary and modern traditions of the formation of prosociality in humanitarian thought was proven. It was identified that in the Russian public thought of the 19th century, the concept of goodness was understood as an active principle associated with broad social service in a wide variety of areas.

The Text of Minangkabau Collective Riddles: Format, Figurative Language, and Social Function for the Collective Owners

This research article aims to describe the format, figurative language, and social function of the traditional oral texts of Minangkabau collective riddles in West Sumatra, Indonesia. This research is based on the theory of folklore where riddles are categorized as a significant part of oral tradition that grows and develops orally and traditionally within the Minangkabau collective. The description of the research findings will explain the following points. First, how the format of riddles, consisting of descriptions or questions (descriptive) and answers (referent), is used by the Minangkabau collective. Secondly, it explains how the Minangkabau collective oral style uses figurative language to compose the format of descriptions or questions (descriptive) riddles that they ask to be answered by their listeners. Thirdly, it describes the Minangkabau collective attitude of the owners of the oral tradition, and it explains the importance of the riddles in their social life. This finding is in line with the theory about the social function of oral tradition for the collective owner.

Neighbourhood characteristics and bicycle commuting in the Greater London area

As the need to encourage modal shift from motorised vehicle use to active modes becomes greater, it is important to understand the key factors influencing the decision of how to travel. This paper explores the association between bicycle commuting and a range of sociodemographic and built and natural environment characteristics across wards and boroughs in Greater London, UK, with an aim to identify the key factors which influence participation. We employed a Bayesian multilevel heteroskedastic model with heterogeneity in variance, which can address dependencies in the data and unobserved heterogeneity more fully. This allowed us to account for unobserved/unmeasured covariates such as collective attitudes and the existence of cycling cultures that may differ between Greater London boroughs. We found that the propensity for bicycle commuting increases with an increase in the employment rate, the populations of white British and mixed white and black Caribbean, the proportion of terraced houses, and cycle network density. Conversely, we found that the propensity for bicycle commuting decreases with an increase in the absence of academic qualifications, the area of non-domestic buildings, the population of Indians and Pakistanis, and the number of cars per household. Our analysis also revealed important between-borough variations in the effect of key explanatory variables. Notably, the effects of the populations of Indians, Pakistanis, and mixed white and black Caribbean, and the number of cars per household all vary across Greater London boroughs. Finally, by allowing for heterogeneity in variance, we found that rates of bicycle commuting are more dispersed in Inner London and as the number of cars per household increases. Our analysis highlights the importance of cycling infrastructure in promoting bicycle commuting.

Destinations’ environmental orientation: a symbolic cluster analysis based on hotel employees’ environmental knowledge, awareness, and concern

Environmental attitudes (environmental knowledge, awareness, and concern) are important drivers of pro-environmental behaviour for key destination stakeholder groups, including tourists, tourism business staff and residents. However, limited attention has been given to how individual attitudes within each role collectively contribute to the environmental sustainability of tourism destinations.The goal of the study is to fill this gap by conceptually and empirically linking the micro- and macro-levels of analysis, respectively focused on individuals and the destination. First, the concept of Destination Environmental Orientation (DEO) is proposed to indicate the collective attitude of a touristic place or destination towards the environment having micro-foundations in individuals’ cognition, evaluation and affect. Then, focusing on local hotels’ staff as a key destination stakeholder category, the study shows the methodological potential of Symbolic Data Analysis (SDA) to measure DEO based on underlying individual-level data about environmental knowledge, awareness, and concern. Survey-based data are collected among employees in thirty-three hotels located in eleven tourism municipalities of Naples, a province in the Campania region (Italy). The research identifies three groups of tourism municipalities with significant differences in the level of environmental orientation. The findings suggest that these groups exhibit different patterns of functioning and three models are identified based on context-related factors, i.e., the level of tourism developement, the reliance of tourism areas on natural resources, and geograhical and functional proximity among tourism municipalities: the “Mature tourism destination” model, the “Island tourism destination” model, and the “Strategically positioned touristic place” model. The implications to sustainable tourism theory and practice are discussed.

Treatment of and Attitudes Towards ‘Other’ Languages in Modern Russia: Evidence from Metalinguistic Discourse

Russian Federation, being de jure and de facto linguistically diverse multilingual country, can be described, at the same time, as being under a strong influence of monolingual language ideology, with Russian totally domineering in most public spheres. Minority languages and especially languages of migrants lack official recognition and support, and their speakers often have to face prejudices and negative stereotypes. The paper aims at revealing language ideology prevailing in modern Russia through analysis of attitudes to languages other than Russian as they are expressed in discourse about language, i.e. metadiscourse. When approaching it, it is important to distinguish state discourse (manifestation of official language policy) and public discourse (collective attitudes towards certain sublanguages and their users expressed more or less directly). The analysis shows that over the past two decades, official language ideology in Russia has shifted from guaranteeing linguistic equality and diversity to having an emphasis on unity and purity and giving support to the Russian language. This reorientation is realized through status planning, corpus planning, and acquisition planning. At the level of public discourse, analysis of collective attitudes towards the languages used by non-native speakers demonstrates that a significant part of the Russian-speaking population express negative attitudes towards non-native speakers and their poor Russian language skills, which once again confirms that there is dominant monolingualism and purism in public discourse. However, language practices in Russia are gradually becoming more diverse which can become a challenge for monolingualism and purism in future.

Institutional Inversion and “Demand-Side” Versus “Supply-Side” Views of Culture

Institutional inversion occurs when collective attitudes lead to institutions that in turn lead to behaviors that are the opposite of those attitudes. We illustrate this process with the case of debt, in which antidebtor attitudes in Protestant (vs. Catholic) cultures led to institutions that fostered higher household indebtedness. We describe three factors hypothesized to make institutional inversion more likely: erroneous lay theories (particularly those that take a “demand-side” vs. a “supply-side” view of culture), moralization, and narrow construals (in terms of time, goals, and populations considered).