On-line Discrimination Research Articles

Development of emergent processes and threshold of consciousness with levels of processing.

The transition of experience from unconscious to conscious, the emergent process, is a crucial topic in consciousness studies. Three frameworks exist to explain the process: (1) consciousness arises in an all-or-none manner; (2) consciousness arises gradually; (3) consciousness arises either all at once or gradually, depending on the level of stimulus processing (low- vs. high-level). However, the development of emergent processes of consciousness remains unclear. This study examines the development of emergent processes of consciousness based on the level of stimulus processing framework. Ninety-nine children (5-12 year-olds) and adults participated in two online discrimination tasks. These tasks involved color discrimination as lower-level processing and number magnitude discrimination as higher-level processing, as well as backward masking with stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) varying from 16.7 to 266.7 ms. We measured objective discrimination accuracy and used a 4-scale Perceptual Awareness Scale (PAS) to assess subjective awareness. We fit the data to a four-parameter nonlinear function to estimate the center of the slope (threshold) and the range of the slope (gradualness, the measure of emergent process of consciousness) of the model. The results showed the threshold of objective discrimination was significantly higher in 5-6 year-olds than in 7-12 year-olds, but not of subjective awareness. The emergent process of objective discrimination in the number task was more gradual than in the color task. The findings suggest that the thresholds of subjective awareness in 5-6 year-olds and objective discrimination in 7-9 year-olds are similar to those in adults. Moreover, the emergent processes of subjective awareness and objective discrimination in 5-6 year-olds are also similar to those in adults. Our results support the level of processing hypothesis but suggest that its effects may differ across developmental stages.

Social media: A double-edged sword for LGBTQ+ youth

Social media has been described as both a safe and toxic space for LGBTQ+ youth. This mixed-methods online study examined whether differences in youth's open-ended narratives moderate associations between quantitative measures of online discrimination and mental health and substance use. Three thematic groups emerged from open-ended responses of 406 LGBTQ+ 14–18-year-old participants: social media as a source of connection, refuge, or rejection. Moderation analyses indicated that at higher levels of discrimination, youth in the connection narrative group experienced elevated associations between measures of discrimination and depression, anxiety, and substance use compared to the rejection group. The results highlight the significance of a mixed-methods approach, as narratives from LGBTQ+ youth about their social media experiences illuminated the quantitative findings. Findings also call for practices that acknowledge the dual-faceted nature of social media and promote connections within LGBTQ+ communities to increase LGBTQ+ youth's mental health resilience against online discrimination.

Mrežna diskriminacija u Hrvatskoj

In light of growing research on online misogyny and sexism, this study investigates the online discrimination faced by the first woman president of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who served from 2015 to 2020. Specifically, it examines the Facebook communication of the three leading Croatian news sites, as well as related readers’ comments, pertaining to two events that got excessive media coverage: Grabar-Kitarović’s appearance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and an educational video of the President reading Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking to Croatian children in Sweden. In both cases, Grabar-Kitarović ventured beyond the safety of political discourse and entered what is often seen as a »slippery« territory for women politicians - a space of emotions and celebrity politics. An analysis of the media content established that the analyzed media outlets resorted to ridicule, sexism, and insults to report about Grabar-Kitarović on both occasions. A content analysis of related readers’ comments showed that she was the target of sexist discrimination and aggressive, even violent insults. However, discrimination was overall less present in the readers’ comments than in the media texts. Readers were generally less critical and more appreciative towards Grabar-Kitarović’s display of spontaneity and emotions than the media. This suggests that the informal setting of social media discussions may provide a less hostile environment for women to display their femininity, emotions and private persona compared to traditional media.

On the Relationship Between Online Heterosexist Discrimination and Mental Health and Substance Use Among LGBTQ+ Young Adults.

LGBTQ+ individuals experience disproportionately higher rates of mental health and substance use difficulties. Discrimination is a significant factor in explaining these disparities. Meyer's (2003) minority stress theory (MST) indicates that proximal group-specific processes mediate the relationship between discrimination and health outcomes, with the effects moderated by other social factors. However, online discrimination has been understudied among LGBTQ+ people. Focusing on LGBTQ+ young adults experiencing online heterosexist discrimination (OHD), the current study aimed to investigate the effect of OHD on mental health outcomes and explore whether the effect was mediated by proximal factors of internalized heterosexism, online concealment, and acceptance concerns and moderated by social support. Path analysis was used to examine the effects. A total of 383 LGBTQ+ young adults (18-35) from an introductory psychology subject pool, two online crowdsourcing platforms, and the community completed a questionnaire assessing these constructs. OHD was associated with increased psychological distress and cannabis use. Two proximal stressors (acceptance concerns and sexual orientation concealment) mediated the relationship between OHD and psychological distress. Sexual orientation concealment also mediated the relationship between OHD and cannabis use. There was no evidence that online social support from LGBTQ+ peers moderated any of the relationships. MST is a viable guiding framework for exploring OHD. Acceptance concerns and online concealment are important constructs to consider and may be potential treatment targets for individuals experiencing psychological distress or engaging in cannabis use due to OHD.

Gender Inequality in the Digital Field and Potential Remedial Measures

This paper examines the phenomenon of gender inequality in digital spaces and explores potential remedial measures. Through an analysis of historical cases of online discrimination, gendered experiences on the internet, and current landscape of discriminatory behavior, it is clear that women are frequently exposed to cyber bullying and other forms of abuse. Strategies for promoting gender equity in digital spaces include self-regulation, education and awareness, state legislation, and industry practices. Surveillance capitalisms impact on gender equity is also discussed, as data collected through this practice can be used to profile individuals based on their gender identity or sexuality. The paper concludes by stating that research into the efficacy of self-regulation, education and awareness approaches as well as state legislation in shielding women from online discrimination is necessary. Additionally, industry practices targeting those who battle discrimination should be further investigated. By utilizing such methods, one can move towards an equitable digital space where all individuals are respected regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Adolescent experiences with online racial discrimination: Implications for prevention and coping.

Online aggression represents a wide range of negative experiences, including online discrimination targeting individuals based on race, but adolescent perspectives are not well-represented. We interviewed 15 adolescents regarding their experiences with online racial discrimination. After a phenomenological analysis, four main themes emerged: types of online racial aggression, processes supporting online racism, personal coping, and strategies to prevent online racial aggression. These themes provided insights into adolescent experiences, including feelings about targeted online racial discrimination, intersectionality with sexual harassment, and comfort through processing with friends. This study highlights adolescents' thoughts regarding advocacy, education, and social media reform to prevent online racial aggression. Future research should ensure that youth voices from minoritized racial backgrounds are integrated into efforts to address these critical social issues.

Этническая дискриминация в сети и самооценка представителей этнического большинства: медиативная роль этнической ориентации в сети

Online experiences of ethnic discrimination may constitute major stressors not only for self-esteem of ethnic minority, but also for the self-esteem of ethnic majority, with the growing involvement of the planet's population in information and communication technologies. Today, research has increasingly begun to raise the question that discrimination, acculturation and intercultural orientation of ethnic majorities have hardly been studied, since almost all attention was directed to the study of these phenomena among ethnic minorities. This study fills this gap by examining the association between online ethnic discrimination and self-esteem of Russian majority members, taking into account the potential mediating factor of ethnic online orientation expressed in involvement in ethnic online networks and the manifestation of ethnic online activism. A cross-sectional study was undertaken among 229 ethnic majority members based in the Moscow region of Russia. The research included methods designed to identify the level of online ethnic discrimination, self-esteem, involvement in online ethnic networks and online ethnic activism. The path analysis shows that perceiving online ethnic discrimination is associated with the preference of ethnic online orientation, which in turn results in the growth of selfesteem. At the same time, the negative direct effect of online discrimination on self-esteem remains. The results of the study are discussed through the prism of the acculturation of the ethnic majority in the online environment.

“All Is Fair in… Meme!” How Heterosexual Users Perceive and React to Memes, News, and Posts Discriminating against Sexual Minorities

Digital discrimination against sexual minorities is becoming prevalent. It increasingly spreads through discriminatory content that mixes text and images (e.g., memes), thus, making online discrimination more difficult to detect. The present survey study focused on digital content that is discriminatory towards sexual minorities, aiming to analyze whether a sample of heterosexual social network users (65.2% female; Mage = 27.13) perceived different forms of discriminatory content (i.e., memes, news, and posts) as equally offensive and to what extent such different forms elicited the same online behavioral reactions. Furthermore, we considered how individuals’ online network heterogeneity could influence their perception of digital discrimination. Results showed that individuals perceived memes as less offensive when compared to both news and posts. Accordingly, we also found that individuals took less time to react to posts when compared to the other forms of content. In addition, those who declared that they had a heterogenous online network perceived memes as more offensive than those who did not. Finally, regarding reacting behaviors, overall results showed that memes elicited few proactive behaviors and more acquiescent and ignoring behaviors than news and posts. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Research on Adaptive Prescribed Performance Control Method Based on Online Aerodynamics Identification

Wide-speed-range vehicles are characterized by high flight altitude and high speed, with significant changes in the flight environment. Due to the strong uncertainty of its aerodynamic characteristics, higher requirements are imposed on attitude control. In this paper, an adaptive prescribed performance control method based on online aerodynamic identification is proposed, which consists of two parts: an online aerodynamic parameter identification method and an adaptive attitude control method based on the pre-defined parameters of the control system. The aerodynamic parameter identification is divided into offline design and online design. In the offline design, neural networks are used to fit nonlinear aerodynamic characteristics. In the online design, a nonlinear recursive identification method is used to correct the errors of the offline fitted model. The adaptive attitude control is based on the conventional control method and updates the control gain in real time according to the desired system parameters to enhance the robustness of the controller. Finally, the effectiveness of the offline neural network and online discrimination correction is verified by mathematical simulations, and the effectiveness and robustness of the adaptive control proposed in this paper are verified by comparative simulation.

Study finds online microaggressions strongly impact disabled users

A new study conducted by Cornell University researchers found that online microaggressions have a strong impact on users with disabilities. The researchers interviewed 20 volunteers who were active on social media platforms and self‐identified as having disabilities. The researchers then asked participants to describe online discrimination and ableist microaggressions that had impacted their lives. The findings of the study are recorded in a paper entitled “Nothing Micro about It: Examining Ableist Microaggressions on Social Media.”

Online discrimination and mental health outcomes: The moderating roles of ethnic identity and immigrant generation among Latinx young adults.

Online discrimination and mental health outcomes: The moderating roles of ethnic identity and immigrant generation among Latinx young adults.

The role of ethnic enclaves in Arab American Muslim adolescent perceived discrimination

AbstractThis study aimed to investigate the role of ethnic enclaves in perceived discrimination among Arab American adolescents. Little research has investigated what specific risk and protective factors play a role in perceived discrimination within ethnic enclaves; and which of these factors may be the most salient to Arab American adolescents. The study used a phenomenological approach, using semi‐structured interviews, journals, and parent interviews to collect and triangulate the data. Member checking and peer debriefing were also used to check for validity. A ‘protective’ theme, described as ‘living in a bubble’ and two ‘risk’ themes described as ‘cracks’ (i.e., within‐group discrimination) and ‘pores’ (i.e., online discrimination) were identified. Although ethnic enclaves appeared to protect adolescents from out‐group discrimination, it also appeared to be porous, with risk factors, such as online discrimination, ‘seeping’ into the community.

Are Virtual Reference Services Color and Gender Blind? Service Equality Revisited

ABSTRACTFollowing the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020, there has been an increased focus on racial equality in library services, including recent modifications of the ALA Code of Ethics. Online library services may eliminate race‐based service discrimination by obscuring the racial identity of the patron. However, racial assumptions based on patrons' names can lead to online discrimination. While prior research shows mixed results, we examine if there is evidence of racial bias in virtual reference in American academic libraries. Initial findings based on content analysis of 946 responses from 255 libraries suggest that Tyrone Jackson received better service than others did.

The Future of Human Rights in the Digital Age: Indonesian Perspectives and Challenges

Protecting human rights in the digital age remains a significant challenge globally, including in Indonesia. Issues such as lack of regulation, censorship and surveillance, cybercrime, technological inequalities, online hate speech and misinformation, and lack of accountability continue to pose significant threats to the protection and promotion of human rights online. Addressing these challenges requires ongoing efforts to promote and defend human rights online through the development of effective legal frameworks, the strengthening of international human rights norms and standards, and efforts to bridge the digital divide and improve access to information and technologies. This research aims to find out the various challenges that arise in the digital era related to human rights by analyzing and synthesizing information obtained through literature studies. There are several important contexts that concern human rights in the digital era, namely, privacy, freedom of expression, access to information, cybersecurity, online discrimination. Challenges that arise globally and nationally are expected to be resolved by the formation of various regulations related to the digital world.

Discrimination of Chemical Oxygen Demand Pollution in Surface Water Based on Visible Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is one of the indicators used to monitor the level of pollution in surface water. To recycle agricultural water resources, it is crucial to monitor, in a timely manner, whether COD in surface water exceeds the agricultural water control standard. A diagnostic model of surface water pollution was developed using visible near-infrared spectroscopy (Vis-NIR) combined with partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS–DA). A total of 127 surface water samples were collected from Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. The COD content was measured using the potassium dichromate method. The spectra of the surface water samples were recorded using a Vis-NIR spectrometer, and the spectral data were pre-processed using four different methods. To improve the accuracy and simplicity of the model, the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) and the competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) algorithm were used to enhance model performance. The best PLS–DA model achieved an accuracy of 88%, and the SMOTE–PLS–DA model had an accuracy of 94%. The SMOTE algorithm could improve the accuracy of the model despite the sampling imbalance. The CARS–SMOTE–PLS–DA model achieved 97% accuracy, and the CARS band selection technique improved the simplicity and accuracy of the discrimination model. The CARS–SMOTE–PLS–DA model improved the discrimination accuracy by 9% over that of the PLS–DA model. This method can not only save human and material resources but is also a new way for real-time online discrimination of COD in surface water.

Do African American adolescents internalize direct online discrimination? Moderating effects of vicarious online discrimination, parental technological attitudes, and racial identity centrality.

African American adolescents have become more active users of digital media, which may increasingly expose them to direct online discrimination based on their racial and gender identities. Despite well-documented impacts of offline discrimination, our understanding of if and how direct online discrimination affects African American adolescents similarly remains limited. Guided by intersectional and ecological frameworks, we examined the association between direct online discrimination and internalized computing stereotypes in African American adolescents. Further, we explored the moderating effects of systemic and individual factors – vicarious online discrimination, parental technological attitudes, and racial identity centrality – on this association by adolescent gender. Utilizing data from 1041 African American parent-adolescent dyads, we found a positive association between adolescents’ direct online discrimination and internalized computing stereotypes. Surprisingly, greater vicarious online discrimination mitigated this association for both male and female adolescents. Further, parental technological attitudes and racial identity centrality mitigated this association only for female but not male adolescents. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the impact of media on adolescents’ online experiences from intersectional and systemic perspectives. We discuss the implications for prospective research and educational programs focused on African American adolescents’ digital media use and online experiences.

Feature selection and online discrimination for weak oxygen absorption spectrum

Real-time online discrimination of the residual oxygen concentration in pharmaceutical glass vials is drawing great attention in the pharmaceutical industry. The features of the demodulated 2nd harmonic signals in the wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) supervision system, the data basis of the inversion of oxygen concentration, are inevitably destroyed by various time-varying industrial noises. In this work, we propose an improved relief method based on the minimum redundancy (MR-Relief) to select effective features from the 2nd harmonic signal to reduce the influence of fast time-varying noise on the system. Then, the selected effective features are fed into the online adaptive updating radial basis function neural network (AU-RBFNN) to further eliminate the slow time-varying noise in the WMS supervision system. Experimental results show that the proposed framework can resist various time-varying industrial noises with an average discrimination rate of 96.17% under the discrimination speed of 300 vails/min during a long-term test.

The Trauma of COVID-19-Fueled Discrimination: Posttraumatic Stress in Asian American Adolescents.

With the emergence of COVID-19 in China, East and Southeast Asian American (ESEAA) students have reported increased incidents of COVID-19–fueled discrimination in online and offline (in-person) settings. Given the recency of this situation, there is a scarcity of research investigating the impact of COVID-19–related discrimination on ESEAA adolescents’ mental health, especially posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the current study, therefore, we provide evidence regarding the relations of COVID-19–fueled online and offline discrimination to PTSD symptoms in a sample of ESEAA high school students. We discuss study limitations; future recommendations; and implications for school leaders, school counselors, and other educators.

Correlates of Engagement Within an Online HIV Prevention Intervention for Single Young Men Who Have Sex With Men: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundDigital HIV interventions (DHI) have been efficacious in reducing sexual risk behaviors among sexual minority populations, yet challenges in promoting and sustaining users’ engagement in DHI persist. Understanding the correlates of DHI engagement and their impact on HIV-related outcomes remains a priority. This study used data from a DHI (myDEx) designed to promote HIV prevention behaviors among single young men who have sex with men (YMSM; ages 18-24 years) seeking partners online.ObjectiveThe goal of this study is to conduct a secondary analysis of the myDex project data to examine whether YMSM’s online behaviors (eg, online partner-seeking behaviors and motivations) are linked to participants’ engagement (ie, the number of log-ins and the number of sessions viewed).MethodsWe recruited 180 YMSM who were randomized into either myDEx arm or attention-control arm using a stratified 2:1 block randomization. In the myDEx arm, we had 120 YMSM who had access to the 6-session intervention content over a 3-month period. We used Poisson regressions to assess the association between YMSM’s baseline characteristics on their DHI engagement. We then examined the association between the participants’ engagement and their self-reported changes in HIV-related outcomes at the 3-month follow-up.ResultsThe mean number of log-ins was 5.44 (range 2-14), and the number of sessions viewed was 6.93 (range 0-22) across the 3-month trial period. In multivariable models, the number of log-ins was positively associated with high education attainment (estimated Poisson regression coefficient [β]=.22; P=.045). The number of sessions viewed was associated with several baseline characteristics, including the greater number of sessions viewed among non-Hispanic YMSM (β=.27; P=.002), higher education attainment (β=.22; P=.003), higher perceived usefulness of online dating for hookups (β=.13; P=.002) and perceived loneliness (β=.06; P=.004), as well as lower experienced online discrimination (β=–.01; P=.007) and limerence (β=–.02; P=.004). The number of sessions viewed was negatively associated with changes in internalized homophobia (β=–.06; P<.001) and with changes in perceived usefulness of online dating for hookups (β=–.20; P<.001). There were no significant associations between the number of log-ins and changes in the participants’ behaviors at the 90-day follow-up.ConclusionsDHI engagement is linked to participants’ sociodemographic and online behaviors. Given the importance of intervention engagement in the intervention’s effectiveness, DHIs with personalized intervention components that consider the individuals’ differences could increase the overall engagement and efficacy of DHIs.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02842060; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02842060.

From Bonehead to @realDonaldTrump

In many online services, we are identified by self-chosen usernames, also known as nicknames or pseudonyms. Usernames have been studied quite extensively within several academic disciplines, yet few existing literature reviews or meta-analyses provide a comprehensive picture of the name category. This article addresses this gap by thoroughly analyzing 103 research articles with usernames as their primary focus. Despite the great variety of approaches taken to investigate usernames, three main types of studies can be identified: (1) qualitative analyses examining username semantics, the motivations for name choices, and how the names are linked to the identities of the users; (2) experiments testing the communicative functions of usernames; and (3) computational studies analyzing large corpora of usernames to acquire information about the users and their behavior. The current review investigates the terminology, objectives, methods, data, results, and impact of these three study types in detail. Finally, research gaps and potential directions for future works are discussed. As this investigation will demonstrate, more research is needed to examine naming practices in social media, username-related online discrimination and harassment, and username usage in conversations.