Dangerous World Research Articles

Iconic 21st Century Activist "T-Shirt and Tote-Bag" Combination Is Hard to Miss These Days!

Iconic 21st Century Activist "T-Shirt and Tote-Bag" Combination Is Hard to Miss These Days!

What Does Deliberate Ignorance Reveal to Us About Human Psychology?

What Does Deliberate Ignorance Reveal to Us About Human Psychology?

The good and the bad in black and white: Stories of life’s high and low points told by black and white midlife adults in America

This paper explores how Black and White Americans narrate the “highs” (emotionally positive) and “lows” (emotionally negative) of their life story. Study 1 was conducted on the life stories of 75 Black and White Americans in 1996 as a pilot study of race differences in narrative themes. In Study 2, we performed a large-scale empirical examination of thematic differences in the personal narratives of 160 Black and White Americans. As predicted, both studies found that Black participants were more likely than their White counterparts to describe a dangerous world in their experiences while White participants placed more emphasis on personal development. In Study 2, moreover, Black participants prioritized the theme of perseverance to a greater extent than did Whites.

Belief in a Dangerous World Does Not Explain Substantial Variance in Political Attitudes, But Other World Beliefs Do

Decades of research suggest a correlation between belief in a dangerous world and political conservatism. However, research relied on a scale that may overemphasize certain types of dangers. Furthermore, few other world beliefs have been investigated, such that fundamental worldview differences between liberals and conservatives remain largely unknown. A preregistered study of nine samples (N = 5,461; mostly US Americans) found a negligible association between a newly improved measure of generalized dangerous world belief and conservatism, and that the original scale emphasized certain dangers more salient to conservatives (e.g., societal decline) over others most salient for liberals (e.g., injustice). Across many measures of political attitudes, other world beliefs—such as beliefs that the world is Hierarchical, Intentional, Just, and Worth Exploring—each explained several times more variance than dangerous world belief. This suggests the relevance of dangerous world belief to political attitudes has been overstated, and examining other world beliefs may yield insights.

High Stress Levels and Trust toward the Government Are Associated with More Positive Attitudes toward COVID-19 Vaccines among French Students: A Pilot Study.

Mistrust in COVID-19 vaccines may hinder vaccination campaigns. We looked at cognitive determinants of vaccination intentions against COVID-19. We were interested in (i) the effects of stress and (ii) the effects of self-protection systems on attitudes and intentions to get COVID-19 vaccines. We conducted an online observational pilot study with 203 participants and used self-report questionnaires to assess perceived stress and vulnerability to disease, beliefs about a dangerous world, pandemic-related stressors, living conditions, attitudes and intentions toward the vaccines and trust in government management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants reporting high levels of trust in government and high levels of stress were more likely to have positive attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines, although these two effects are at least partially independent of each other. We discuss how to improve the communication around COVID-19 vaccine policies.

Ideological orientations and generalized prejudice in Turkey: Adapting the dual process motivational model

The mutually exclusive authoritarianisms (i.e., nationalist, secular, and elitist vs. religious-Islamist) in West Asia (Middle East) do not correspond to the political structures in Euro-American settings (i.e., one traditional/conservative authority). This distinction suggests that the relationships of RWA and SDO with political ideologies and generalized prejudice might differ from the predictions of the dual-process motivational model of ideology and generalized prejudice (DPM). To investigate this idea, we used the DPM’s structure with culture-sensitive hypotheses in the light of the socio-cultural work on ideologies and social dynamics in Turkey. In Study 1 (N = 259), belief in a competitive jungle positively predicted SDO, and belief in a dangerous world did not predict RWA. RWA negatively predicted left-wing and positively predicted right-wing ideology. SDO negatively predicted left-wing ideology but did not predict right-wing ideology. In Study 2 (N = 312), the relations between worldviews and attitudinal orientations replicated. Further, we developed a context-specific (i.e., Turkey) generalized prejudice measure to test the hypotheses associated with intergroup prejudice, which had a factor structure compatible with the DPM. SDO predicted prejudice toward derogated groups positively and dangerous groups negatively, and it was not relevant to the attitudes toward dissident groups in Turkey. RWA predicted prejudice toward dissident and dangerous groups positively, and derogated groups negatively. These two studies showed the importance of analyzing political ideology and intergroup prejudice from a cultural-ecological perspective by revealing the contextual characteristics constructing social relations.

Proud to support social equality: Investigating the roles of pride, guilt, anger, and disgust in attitudes towards immigrants

Previous research has demonstrated that low social dominance orientation (social equality orientation) promotes empathy with disadvantaged group members. In three studies, we tested a model relating preference for egalitarianism to positive attitudes towards immigrants through emotional experiences (pride, guilt, moral anger/ anger, disgust). Studies 1 and 2 showed that social equality orientation was positively related to proimmigrant attitudes through increased pride in helping immigrants, controlling for participants’ gender, age, and political orientation. Such a preference for egalitarianism was unrelated to proimmigrant attitudes through guilt for not helping immigrants and moral anger concerning mistreatment of immigrants. By focusing on emotional experience concerning proimmigrant national initiatives (e.g., integrating immigrants into the labor market), Study 3 corroborated the indirect effect of social equality orientation on proimmigrant attitudes through increased pride, controlling for participants’ gender, age, political orientation, as well as competitive jungle and dangerous world beliefs. Although much weaker, we also found a positive association between social equality orientation and proimmigrant attitudes through reduced anger, while no significant association through guilt and disgust was found. Results suggest that, relative to guilt, anger, and disgust, pride is the key channel through which preference for egalitarianism is related to positive attitudes towards immigrants. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

A Horse Is a Horse

A Horse Is a Horse

THE GLIMPSES OF INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY IN THE WAKE OF THE COVID-19

The Covid 19 pandemic affected people worldwide, and its effects continue to be felt today. The pandemic's impact and consequences vary depending on one's personal and social status. COVID-19 in India was a flop. An outbreak of coronavirus illnesses and deaths in 2021 plunged India into a humanitarian crisis. In order to reduce global vaccine inequity, India needs to use its world-renowned pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities to provide COVID-19 vaccines to low-income countries. It should force India to rethink its domestic and foreign policies. With China's rise and India's national interests in a more dangerous world, the COVID-19 disaster forced India to rebuild its humanitarian reputation. This article contains in-depth information on the changes that have been implemented in India's foreign policy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Effects of Dangerous World Beliefs on COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors in Singapore: The Moderating Role of Public Health Communication

ABSTRACT This research purposes to examine the role of strategic communication, specifically the effectiveness of government's crisis communication messages at the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, on disease preventive behaviors. It employed a mixed method research approach by first carrying out a content analysis of 7128 news headlines on COVID-19 to confirm our presupposition that the media may be communicating messages that the world order is being threatened. Informed by our findings that 90% of news reports were framed to suggest a dangerous world, we surveyed 453 respondents in the main study, and tested if people's beliefs in a dangerous world (BDW) were linked to their disease preventive behaviors (DPB), and whether such a link was modulated by how effective they perceived the government's pandemic communication. As predicted, results revealed that the perceived effectiveness of the government's pandemic communication trumped the effects of beliefs in a dangerous world such that the link between BDW and DPB was significant only when the perceived effectiveness was low. Further analysis of the effects of specific communication dimensions on disease preventive behaviors suggests that public health communication needs to be strategically calibrated to offer personally relevant messages that are informative and objective. (199 words)

“This Is What's Real”: The Pathology of Black Addiction in the Hood Films of the 1990s

“This Is What's Real”: The Pathology of Black Addiction in the Hood Films of the 1990s

Psychological bases of anti‐immigration attitudes among populist voters

AbstractThe ascent of populism has been linked with economic and cultural disruptions of modernization. From this perspective, it could be implied that factors such as psychological insecurity and uncertainty are key in making voters gravitate toward the populist narrative. The present research aimed at highlighting the psychological determinants that uncertainties deriving from modernization processes may activate in populist voters. Specifically, we focused on immigration in Italy, investigating whether and how support for different populist parties relates to development of negative attitudes toward immigrants. Two samples of Italian adults (total N = 1655), who voted in the Italian general elections of March 4, 2018 took part in the research. Multigroup path analysis showed that assumption of anti‐immigration stances through the joint mediating role of Dangerous World Belief and Right‐Wing Authoritarianism was shared by different groups of populist voters. However, different populist voters differed in the strength of the path passing through Competitive Jungle World Belief and Social Dominance Orientation. Results underline the relevance of social worldviews and ideological attitudes in shaping the attitudes of the Italian populist electorate.

A dangerous world: where are all the nukes? [Weaponry - nuclear warfare

A dangerous world: where are all the nukes? [Weaponry - nuclear warfare

A Dangerous World: where are all the nukes?

Since the end of the cold war the absolute number of nuclear weapons in the world has declined dramatically. This article gives an overview of thelocation of the remaining wepons.

Revisiting Power in a Southeast Asian Landscape – Discussant’s Comments

ABSTRACT Going back a half century to the classic essays of Benedict Anderson (‘The Idea of Power in Javanese Culture’) and Lucien Hanks (‘Merit and Power in the Thai Social Order’) shows both the value and the limitations of anthropology’s move to meaning and increasingly intensive, site-specific fieldwork. While Anderson and Hanks pioneered the study of indigenous meanings, an approach which came to dominate Southeast Asian anthropology and area studies, they did so from a broadly comparative regional perspective unlike today’s culture-specific approach and its stand-alone ethnographies. Their breadth suggests why Anderson and Hanks’s insights into just two cultures have enlightened research all across the region and beyond. Here, to build on their work, our analysis suggests Javanese and Thai notions of power are variations on a regional complex wherein Southeast Asians domesticate power to lead a safe, prosperous and moral life in an otherwise dangerous and amoral world. More broadly, Anderson and Hanks’s essays exemplify how a regional perspective can help us improve as fieldworkers and advance as theorists. In the end, better ethnography will require better ethnology and area studies.

Parents think—incorrectly—that teaching their children that the world is a bad place is likely best for them

ABSTRACT Primal world beliefs (‘primals’) are beliefs about the world’s basic character, such as the world is dangerous. This article investigates probabilistic assumptions about the value of negative primals (e.g., seeing the world as dangerous keeps me safe). We first show such assumptions are common. For example, among 185 parents, 53% preferred dangerous world beliefs for their children. We then searched for evidence consistent with these intuitions in 3 national samples and 3 local samples of undergraduates, immigrants (African and Korean), and professionals (car salespeople, lawyers, and cops;), examining correlations between primals and eight life outcomes within 48 occupations (total N=4,535) . As predicted, regardless of occupation, more negative primals were almost never associated with better outcomes. Instead, they predicted less success, less job and life satisfaction, worse health, dramatically less flourishing, more negative emotion, more depression, and increased suicide attempts. We discuss why assumptions about the value of negative primals are nevertheless widespread and implications for future research.

The Allure of Tyrannical Leaders: Moral Foundations, Belief in a Dangerous World, and Follower Gender

The Allure of Tyrannical Leaders: Moral Foundations, Belief in a Dangerous World, and Follower Gender

Beyond doubt in a dangerous world: The effect of existential threats on the certitude of societal discourse

What happens when entire populations are exposed to news of impending existential threats? In the current study, we address this question by investigating the association between existential threats and the certitude of societal discourse. According to appraisal theory, threats give rise to anxiety and perceptions of uncertainty; as such, it predicts that exposure to life-threatening events will increase expressions of uncertainty. An alternative possibility is that people will respond to threats by utilizing psychological compensation mechanisms that will give rise to greater expressions of certainty. Across two studies, we measured linguistic certainty in more than 3.2 million tweets, covering different psychological contexts: (i) the 15 major terrorist and school shooting events that took place between 2016 and 2018; (ii) the COVID-19 pandemic. Consistent with the idea of compensatory processing, the results show that levels of expressed certainty increased following intentional and natural existential threats. We discuss the implications of our findings to theories of psychological compensation and to our understanding of collective response in the age of global threats.

Sagapò e Soldatesse: la Grecia degli invasori

Among the many authors who covered the Italian military occupation of Greece (1940-1943), Renzo Biasion and Ugo Pirro still stand out as being the most influential. Their books, halfway between memoir and fiction, tell the stories of soldiers living their youth in a dreamy yet dangerous world, where all men have been deported as war prisoners, and everyday products such as gasoline display Homer’s alfabet. The antifascism of Sagapò (1953), which inspired the Academy Award-winning film Mediterraneo (1991), and Le soldatesse (1956) lays therefore in the rediscovery of a common heritage, both ancient and modern.

Mark Leonard/Jeremy Shapiro: Sovereign Europe, Dangerous World: Five Agendas to Protect Europe’s Capacity to Act. Berlin, London: European Council on Foreign Relations, November 2020.

Article Mark Leonard/Jeremy Shapiro: Sovereign Europe, Dangerous World: Five Agendas to Protect Europe’s Capacity to Act. Berlin, London: European Council on Foreign Relations, November 2020. was published on June 1, 2021 in the journal SIRIUS – Zeitschrift für Strategische Analysen (volume 5, issue 2).