Diverse Positions Research Articles

Discourses on Public Participation in Protected Areas Governance: Application of Q Methodology in Poland

Effective public participation in decision-making concerning protected areas requires supportive legal provisions, practices and narratives. While there has been a wide interest in organisational aspects of participation in protected areas, discursive questions concerning the attitudes toward participation among stakeholder have received relatively little attention. Using Q methodology we investigated attitudes of 53 respondents, representing key stakeholder groups (local communities, NGOs, scientists, protected area staff, foresters, public officials, general public), toward the involvement of local communities in managing various forms of biodiversity conservation in Poland. We found three main discourses (1) positive toward participation and recognizing the conservation and development goals of protected areas; (2) sceptical toward participation and nature-centred; (3) cautiously open to participation and developmental goals of protected areas but highlighting organisational difficulties. There were diverse attitudes toward participation within stakeholder groups signalling potential for compromise among them. All three discourses opt for a mixed model of governance balancing central and local influence, which diverges from traditional centralized practices. They differ over barriers to participation, highlighting either insufficient capacity of administration or lack of knowledge and interests of local people. These differences indicate wider socio-political tensions that should be acknowledged during participation.

A Study on Contemporary Culture in Indonesia Through Semiotics Perspective

Cultural phenomena are the most prolific field for developing semiotic studies. Study on philosophy of signs in contemporary culture is a set of irresistible logics to deepen our understanding on semiotic studies. This paper propos the philosophical analysis, in particular analytical philosophy on semiotics itself pinpointing progress towards the logic of meaning, various rules of the game in the philosophy of signs, also multiple contemporary cultural phenomena, such as: hypertextuality, hypersemiotics, and hypereality. Logics of meaning still holds an important role in accordance with Logical Atomism and Logical Positivism’s views, but plurality of meanings also developed in various contemporary cultural discourses. Every human action in culture is a reflection of signs and disclosure of whole individual dimension involving diverse attitudes and behaviors as signs of community’s sustain life dynamics. Contemporary cultural phenomena in Indonesia from semiotic perspective based on the notion of signs would be discussed in this writing.

Self-evacuation archetypes in Australian bushfire

Australian householders respond to bushfire in diverse and complex ways according to their circumstances and characteristics. They tend not to simply make a binary decision to evacuate from or remain at their property, or simply to ‘wait and see’ what happens before they decide. Seven self-evacuation archetypes displaying universally recognisable, fundamentally human characteristics were identified through cluster and discriminant function analysis of data from 457 householders who had recently experienced a bushfire. These seven archetypes characterise the diverse attitudes and behaviour of typical groupings of householders faced with making a protective decision during a bushfire. The archetypes comprise those who deny a threat exists (Threat Denier), who do not believe that they are responsible for themselves (Responsibility Denier) or are unable to take responsibility for their safe evacuation (Dependent Evacuator). They include those who are determined to safely evacuate (Considered Evacuator), those who look to advice and guidance from their community (Community Guided) and those who make considerable efforts to remain but are concerned they lack the experience to do so successfully (Worried Waverers). Some, who are experienced with bushfire, self-reliant and well prepared are committed to remaining (Experienced Independents) but in unfavourable circumstances may evacuate. Bushfire safety policy and programs should not treat these householders as simply stereotypical ‘evacuators’ or ‘remainers’ but accommodate the diversity of these archetypes to effectively meet their educational and engagement needs.

Host perceptions of music festival impacts: time and space matter?

ABSTRACTMusic festivals are growing phenomena worldwide. How a festival is perceived, interpreted and understood is an essential part of public response and attitudes toward the phenomena. Understanding dynamic and diverse host perceptions and attitudes toward the festival impacts can help planners ensure the effectiveness of the event planning and management. The study aims to monitor host perceptions of impacts of Beijing Strawberry Music Festival in time and space using longitudinal and comparative data. The findings suggest that there are both significant changes and consistencies in positive and negative perceptions of the music festival impacts over time; findings also suggest that residents from three distant zones share similar perceptions of the impacts over time in a local-wide area. The study offers a holistic insight into tourism impact research, and has practical implications for event management and planning.

Categorising the money management behaviour of young consumers

PurposeYoung consumers represent a significant purchasing group, but little is known about how they make money management decisions. This study aims to identify and classify different approaches to money management that may impact purchasing behaviour.Design/methodology/approachData from focus groups with 40 respondents between 18 and 24 years were recruited via campus notices across three campuses in a university in Melbourne, Australia.FindingsBased on how respondents accommodated economic, social and psychological influences in their money management approach, the authors identified three distinct approaches to money management: conservative money managers, creative money managers and entrepreneurial money managers.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on a small sample consisting of 40 individuals in Australia.Practical implicationsYoung consumers share common traits as a group but have diverse attitudes and approaches to money management. The authors identify three distinct approaches to money management based on respondents’ management of factors affecting their money management. Companies must consider these differences to effectively approach millennial consumers.Social implicationsThe indebtedness of young consumers is a common concern in society. Analysis of their approaches to money management offers an opportunity for organisations to support responsible individual money usage amongst young consumers.Originality/valueWhile exploratory, the current study is the first to consider how differences in money management behaviour in young generations may impact consumer decision-making.

Reconfiguring Orientalism: Japan and Korea as Depicted by Early Twentieth-Century French Orientalist Literature

This essay investigates the nature of western knowledge of Japan and Korea by examining French Orientalist literature in the early twentieth century. The point of departure is the idea that as Japan and Korea cannot be lumped together under an umbrella term such as “the Orient”, the diverse attitudes Europeans exhibited towards them cannot be uniformly branded with Eurocentrism founded upon the East–West dichotomy. The process in which westerners formed knowledge of Asia was not monolithic, in that they employed not a single but multiple conceptual repertoires in order to make sense of their experience of the two countries. Nor was it unilateral, in that they made use of local knowledge they encountered there rather than imposing their conceptual frameworks upon the experience. The examination will show the following. First, the dichotomy between East and West was visibly registered in western discourse of both Japan and Korea, where they were often reduced to the uncivilized Other. But the binary framework was not the only conceptual repertoire with which French Orientalists made sense of their experience and observations of the two countries. Other ones, such as cultural relativism, are seen to have been adopted, which contributed to alleviating the reductive effects of the dichotomous view. Second, the diverse conceptual repertoires, however strongly they challenged the binary model, themselves constituted another layer of epistemic alienation; they were employed in a discriminatory manner, like the relativist attitude being shown towards one (Japan) more frequently than the other (Korea), thereby facilitating the establishment of a hierarchy within the conception of the Orient. Lastly, western engagement with local knowledge was highly selective and did not always end up with eroding the multiple layers of alienation. For this reason, Orientalism is defined as an interactive epistemic process with multiple structures of alienation in it.

Building Inclusive Community by Bridging Worldview Differences: A Call to Action From the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS)

Adapted from a keynote address delivered at the 2017 Dalton Institute on College Student Values, this article introduces findings from the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS), a national study aimed at identifying the high-impact practices most conducive to students’ interfaith learning and engagement. Informed by data collected from more than 20,000 first-year students attending 122 diverse colleges and universities, the article addresses how higher education leaders can build community, cooperation, and trust on campus in an era of intensified religious, ideological, and political conflict.

Informed stakeholder support for managing invasive Hydrilla verticillata linked to wildlife deaths in a Southeastern reservoir

ABSTRACTFouts KL, Poudyal, NC, Moore R, Herrin J, Wilde, SB. 2017. Informed stakeholder support for managing invasive Hydrilla verticillata linked to wildlife deaths in a Southeastern reservoir. Lake Reserve Manage. 00:1–10.Public opinion surveys prior to implementing management actions provide managing agencies with a detailed understanding of stakeholders' attitudes and help inform the general public on the complexity of potential management actions. Like many other Southeastern U.S. reservoirs, J. Strom Thurmond (JST), on the border of Georgia and South Carolina, has been infested with nonnative hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata). Avian Vacuolar Myelinopathy (AVM), a fatal wildlife disease linked to a neurotoxic cyanobacterial species growing on hydrilla, has been documented on this 28,733-ha reservoir since 1998, when the hydrilla acreage first exceeded 350 ha. As of 2016, 90 bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) mortalities and hundreds of waterfowl deaths have been attributed to AVM disease on JST. To assess and compare the diverse stakeholders' attitudes toward aquatic vegetation, knowledge of AVM, and support for management actions to remove hydrilla, a mail survey was conducted targeting various JST user groups (anglers, boaters, campers, waterfowl hunters, and shoreline property owners). Generally, respondents were overwhelmingly in favor of reducing hydrilla density on JST, but shoreline permit holders (homeowners) were significantly more supportive of hydrilla management than boaters. Similarly, all user groups supported management actions to remove aquatic vegetation, including stocking triploid sterile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). Support for removing hydrilla was found to be significantly higher among users knowledgeable of AVM, suggesting that outreach activities educating the public on the effects and prevention of the disease would help enhance stakeholder support for hydrilla removal and management in public reservoirs.

Differential Effect of Positive Emotion within the Team and Self Efficacy on Relational Cohesion and Diversity Attitude

본 연구는 금융업, 제조업, 서비스업에 종사하는 761명의 설문조사를 토대로 팀 내에 느끼는 구성원들의 긍정감정과 자기효능감이 관계적 응집성과 다양성 태도에 미치는 영향력을 검증하고 이것이 역할 외 행동에 미치는 효과성을 검증하고 있다. 특히 긍정감정과 자기효능감이 특정 결과변수에 차별적인 영향력을 미치는지를 이론적 및 실증적으로 규명함으로써 관계적 응집성과 다양성 태도에 대한 이해의 폭을 넓히는데 일조하고자 한다. 팀원들과 협력적이고 단합되어 있다고 인식하는 정도를 보여주는 관계적 응집성은 팀원들 간의 교환관계를 통해 긍정적인 감정이 수반되어야 서로의 관계를 지속하고자 하는 동기가 생길 수 있다는 점에서 자기효능감 보다는 긍정감정에 의해 영향을 더 많이 받을 것으로 예측하였다. 긍정감정은 자발적인 행동의 충전소이자 자발적인 에너지를 만들어내는 중요한 요인이기 때문이다. 반면, 특성 및 배경이 자신과 상이한 팀 동료들을 긍정적으로 받아들이는 다양성 태도는 다양성의 긍정적인 잠재력을 활용할 수 있다고 하는 의식적이고 인지적인 프로세스라는 점에서 자기효능감의 영향력을 더 많이 받을 것이라는 가설을 설정하였다. 자신의 능력에 대한 믿음이 높아짐에 따라 업무에 대한 자신감이 다른 사람들과의 관계형성에 대한 자신감으로 전이될 수 있다는 점에서 다양성이 가지는 긍정적인 측면에 초점을 맞출 수 있기 때문이다. 또한, 관계적 응집성과 다양성 태도가 궁극적으로 강제성이 없는 역할 외 행동에 긍정적인 영향을 미칠 것으로 보았다. 역할 외 행동은 직무수행과의 직접적인 연관성은 낮지만 조직유지에 반드시 필요한 맥락적 성과라는 점에서 중요한 결과변수의 역할을 할 수 있다고 보았다. 실증분석을 실시한 결과, 예측대로 관계적 응집성에 대한 긍정감정의 영향력이 자기효능감의 영향력보다 더 강한 것으로 나타났다. 하지만 다양성 태도에 미치는 긍정감정과 자기효능감의 영향력 차이는 통계적으로 유의하지 않은 것으로 규명되었다. 즉, 긍정감정과 자기효능감 모두 다양성 태도에 강한 정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 마지막으로 팀에 대해 느끼는 관계적 응집성과 다양성을 받아들이는 긍정적인 태도는 모두 구성원들의 자발적인 행동을 보여주는 역할 외 행동에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 규명되었다. 따라서 조직생존에 반드시 필요한 역할 외 행동을 촉진시키기 위해서는 구성원들의 정서적인 측면과 인지적인 측면 모두 중요한 요인임을 시사하고 있다. 이와 같은 연구결과를 바탕으로 조직과 팀 성과에 기여할 수 있는 구성원들의 긍정감정과 자기효능감의 역할이 갖는 실무적 함의점에 대해 논의하였다.

The Fortress and the Frontier: Mobility, Culture, and Class in Almaty and Astana

As the seat of the Kazakh government and a booming city since 1998, Astana has attracted hundreds of thousands of migrants. As a cultural and financial capital, Almaty has also continued to boom, drawing comparable numbers of migrants from different regions of Kazakhstan. However, varying historical trajectories and historically constructed notions of the urban and rural, as articulated by the cultural elites and policy-makers, as well as different preparedness of the government for migration flows in the 1990s and the 2000s in Almaty and Astana respectively, have resulted in quite diverse attitudes toward mobility and different perceptions about how urban order should be achieved.

Meeting Learning Objectives in a Multicultural Leadership Course: Using Assessment to Inform Pedagogical Practice

It is becoming increasingly important for leaders to recognize and develop the skills needed to interact with diverse others (Karim, 2003). To this end, several leadership programs in American colleges and universities offer courses that explore the practice of multicultural leadership (Brungardt, Greenleaf, Brungardt, & Arensdorf, 2006); our institution’s leadership program is no different in its goals of preparing culturally competent leaders. The multicultural leadership course in the Staley School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University has two learning outcomes: “Understand the impact of cultural identity (Note that this manuscript uses the terms social identity and cultural identity interchangeably, which is common practice (Wren, 2002), life experiences, and world views on leadership relationships as it relates to privilege and inclusion,” and, “Practice inclusive leadership through advocacy for social change.” Such goals are desirable, but also lofty – how can we know if our course has had any effect on student learning toward these objectives? Theory-informed assessment of the effects of multicultural leadership courses can meet many pedagogical needs while answering the demands of multiple stakeholders (Fink, 2006; Wholey, Hatry, & Newcomer, 2004). Knowing what changes occur in students’ attitudes or behaviors during a multicultural leadership course would permit faculty, staff, and other practitioners to evaluate whether the experience may be able to meet desired learning goals. Future courses could be recalibrated to address deficiencies or strengthen successes. Assessment data also facilitates the sharing of the course’s effects to administrators, prospective students, parents, or donors in efforts to communicate the value of intentional, curricular student leadership development. Beyond these larger-scale needs for assessment, we have an interest in knowing to what degree the course contributes to our students’ engagement and leadership development. Assessment can help us to identify what students are learning as a result of the course. Further, we hope that sharing our assessment structure, analysis, and results can help other leadership educators strengthen a culture of assessment in their own programs, particularly concerning multicultural leadership development. To determine if we are making progress in meeting our learning outcomes, we developed an assessment tool to determine students’ change over the course of the term across two theoretical constructs: diversity attitudes, which encapsulates the first learning goal of recognizing linkages between worldview and leadership (Bennett, 2004; Karim, 2003; Komives, Longerbeam, Owen, Mainella, & Osteen, 2006); and changes in leadership behaviors and attitudes, which speaks to the second learning goal of catalyzing social change-based leadership (Komives, Wagner, & Associates, 2009). We use a pre-test / post-test design to compare students’ reported values at the beginning of the semester to their values upon completion of the class (Fink, 2006). By comparing pre-test and post-test responses to questions from the assessment instrument, we demonstrate in what ways our course might influence student leadership development and multicultural competence, as well as areas we might wish to consider fortifying in future iterations of the course to better meet learning objectives. We then reflect on the effect the results will have on learning outcomes, curricular development, and the instrument itself, illustrating the cyclical relationship between theory, practice, and assessment in multicultural leadership education. We have two aims here. Our first is to articulate what gains may be made by students who engage in our course to determine what exactly is gained by students who participate in such experiences. We believe such courses have educational value, but needed to find a way to articulate our course’s success in helping students meet our stated learning objectives. Our second aim is to illustrate both the necessity, rewards, and limitations of engaging in critical engagement with the assessment-practice cycle (Maki, 2002). Here, we reflect on what changes we or others could make to our course to better achieve our desired goals, as well as how we might continue to strengthen our assessment efforts. We hope that our analysis here provides some starting points to assess multicultural leadership programs’ efficacy in meeting student learning outcomes.

Eating in the Panopticon: Surveillance of Food and Weight before and after Bariatric Surgery

ABSTRACTIn this article, we explore the processes by which surveillance of eating and weight is coupled with popular and medical ideas about discipline, responsibility, and moral worth for individuals identified as fat/obese. We then follow these individuals through bariatric surgery and weight loss, paying attention to what discourses and practices shift and what remain unchanged. We argue that weight loss does not temper the intensity and constancy of surveillance, because it is at the core of ideas concerning good citizenship and personal responsibility. Accompanying judgments do shift, however, as the perceptions of failure at disciplined “healthy” eating associated with fatness give way to more diverse attitudes post surgery. This analysis also highlights the fact that public and clinical perceptions of “troubled eating” often rely not on eating practices but on the types of bodies that are doing the consuming.

Ethnic Elites and Rituals of Provocation: Politicians, Pastors, and Paramilitaries in Northern Ireland

ABSTRACTProminent theories of ethnic conflict argue that instrumental ethnic elites incite violence in order to promote their own power. Yet this approach focuses primarily on political leaders and ignores other ethnic elites, meaning that we know little about how other influential actors think about provocation. In this paper, I present novel data from Northern Ireland on diverse elite attitudes toward polarising Protestant parades with a long history of sparking ethnic violence. Using original surveys of Protestant elected officials and clergy as well as interviews with ex-paramilitaries, this paper demonstrates that these elite groups have different, often competing, interests and opinions regarding contested parades: while politicians tend to support provocative parades, the others do not. By addressing elite actors that are often ignored, I present a more nuanced picture of elite-mass relations and ethnic mobilisation in conflict.

Does CSR Enhance Employer Attractiveness? The Role of Millennial Job Seekers' Attitudes

AbstractCorporate social responsibility (CSR) has become increasingly important in labor market communication. To express organizational identity, reinforcing commitment to sustainable development and stakeholder engagement, organizations report their CSR activities. The impact of a company's employer branding (EB) strategy depends on how information recipients interpret corporate messages. Therefore, we assume that job seekers may show diverse attitudes toward CSR. The extant literature has hardly explored the interplay between CSR, EB, and job seekers' attitudes, so we identify a relevant research gap to be tackled. The aim of this paper is to examine how millennial job seekers' attitudes toward CSR influence perceived CSR‐based employer attractiveness (EA). We conducted an empirical study in Poland, collecting data from a sample of Millennials – highly sensitive toward CSR issues. Our results generally confirm that individual attitudes toward CSR play a key role in understanding how job seekers perceive CSR signals and eventually impact CSR‐based EA. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Accepted monitoring or endured quarantine? Ebola contacts' perceptions in Senegal

During the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic, transmission chains were controlled through contact tracing, i.e., identification and follow-up of people exposed to Ebola cases. WHO recommendations for daily check-ups of physical symptoms with social distancing for 21 days were unevenly applied and sometimes interpreted as quarantine. Criticisms arose regarding the use of coercion and questioned contact tracing on ethical grounds. This article aims to analyze contact cases' perceptions and acceptance of contact monitoring at the field level. In Senegal, an imported case of Ebola virus disease in September 2014 resulted in placing 74 contact cases in home containment with daily visits by volunteers. An ethnographic study based on in-depth interviews with all stakeholders performed in September–October 2014 showed four main perceptions of monitoring: a biosecurity preventive measure, suspension of professional activity, stigma attached to Ebola, and a social obligation. Contacts demonstrated diverse attitudes. Initially, most contacts agreed to comply because they feared being infected. They adhered to the national Ebola response measures and appreciated the empathy shown by volunteers. Later, acceptance was improved by the provision of moral, economic, and social support, and by the final lack of any new contamination. But it was limited by the socio-economic impact on fulfilling basic needs, the fear of being infected, how contacts' family members interpreted monitoring, conflation of contacts as Ebola cases, and challenging the rationale for containment. Acceptance was also related to individual aspects, such as the professional status of women and health workers who had been exposed, and contextual aspects, such as the media's role in the social production of stigma. Ethnographic results show that, even when contacts adhere rather than comply to containment through coercion, contact monitoring raises several ethical issues. These insights should contribute to the ethics debate about individual rights versus crisis public health measures.

The willingness of conventional farmers to participate in animal welfare programmes: an empirical study in Germany

AbstractIn recent years, poor farm animal welfare (FAW) has been a continual focus of public criticism and, in many European countries, large segments of society have repeatedly demanded higher FAW standards. In spite of these demands, there are hardly any products from pure animal welfare programmes (AWPs) on the market. Given this background, farmers are a very important stakeholder group for the successful implementation of such programmes, but little is known about their attitudes towards the introduction of AWPs. For this study, 657 conventional farmers in Germany were questioned about FAW and AWPs via an online survey. Three clusters (farmer groups) were identified with respect to their attitudes towards AWPs and, based on these clusters, various target groups were determined for participation in AWPs. Cluster A (the ‘sceptical animal welfare opponents’) (n = 204) is characterised by strong opposition to AWPs and higher welfare standards in livestock husbandry. Farmers in this cluster will probably not take part in AWPs, especially because they do not consider AWPs profitable. Cluster B (the ‘undecided’) (n = 229) have diverse attitudes towards AWPs. As they do not reject the enhancement of animal welfare standards, these farmers may someday become willing to participate in AWPs. Cluster C, (the ‘marketconscious animal welfare friends’) (n = 224) have the most positive attitudes of the sample towards AWPs. However, even these farmers have diverse attitudes towards the monetary effects of AWP. Overall, they constitute the most important potential target group for AWPs as they indicate the highest willingness to take part in these programmes. The empirical results have important managerial implications and provide a starting point for the design of tailor-made strategies to increase the market penetration of AWPs.

Visual accounts of Finnish and Greek teenagers’ perceptions of their multilingual language and literacy practices

AbstractThis paper uses visual methods to explore how teenagers in two different European countries (Finland and Greece) personally relate to their first language and to English, which is widely used in the everyday lives of young people in both countries. Our data comprise sets of self-made visualizations in which 14- to 16-year-old teenagers depict their personal relationship to their first language (Finnish/Greek) and to English. Theoretically and methodologically, we subscribe to socio-culturally oriented research on (foreign language) literacy and language learning and recent studies on multilingualism. Overall, by offering a detailed account of the variety of representation forms and meaning-making symbols employed by our participants in their visual products, our analysis in this paper highlights the common but also diverse perceptions, values and attitudes that young people from two different European contexts bring to their practices and their encounters with English and other languages in their lives. By revealing the personal meanings and values attached by teenagers to English, our analysis also provides indirect insights into the multiple ways English is locally encountered, appropriated and drawn upon by young people in two different countries to serve their own purposes.

Evolution of public opinions in closed societies influenced by broadcast media

Studies on opinion evolution in a closed society can help people design strategies to emancipate from the control of public opinions and prevent the diffusion of extremism. In this work, the social judgment based opinion (SJBO) dynamics model is extended to explore the collective debates in a closed system that consists of a social network and a broadcast network. The broadcast network is a group of channels through which the so-called broadcast media or mainstream media transmit the same opinion to social agents. Numerical experiments show that the broadcast media can assimilate most of the agents when contrarians are absent. Including agents’ diverse attitudes toward the broadcast media, although downsizes the supporters of broadcast media, fails to make contrarians outnumber the supporters. The dominance of broadcast media in a closed system can be overturned by introducing a small number of inflexible contrarians. Influenced by the competition between contrarians and broadcast media, few centrists survive the collective debates. The scale of supporters is maximized when agents neither have their own initial opinions nor have access to the contrarians, whereas the development of contrarians can be boosted when agents start with non-zero opinions and the repulsion to broadcast media is taken into consideration.

Cross-Country Variation in People’s Attitudes toward Citizens’ Rights and Obligations: A Descriptive Overview Based on Data from the ISSP Citizenship Module 2014

In a world of increasing democratization and global migration, questions of the access to citizenship as well as of citizens’ political, civil, and social rights and obligations play a decisive role. Whereas citizens in many countries do not make use of their democratic rights, noncitizens in many cases strive to become full members of society. The current International Social Survey Programme module on citizenship picks up diverse attitudes toward citizens’ rights and obligations as well as self-reported political interest and action. What behavior and underlying opinions constitute a good citizen in the view of people from 34 countries, and what democratic rights do they consider important? How satisfied are they with the democratic system, the political institutions and protagonists, and their opportunities to participate in politics? This contribution sheds light on fundamental cross-country variation in these questions, among citizens from diverse countries of varying legal systems and traditions of democracy.

Contempt-Where the modularity of the mind meets the modularity of the brain?

"Contempt" is proposed to be a unique aspect of human nature, yet a non-natural kind. Its psychological construct is framed as a sentiment emerging from a stratification of diverse basic emotions and dispositional attitudes. Accordingly, "contempt" might transcend traditional conceptual levels in social psychology, including experience and recognition of emotion, dyadic and group dynamics, context-conditioned attitudes, time-enduring personality structure, and morality. This strikes us as a modern psychological account of a high-level, social-affective cognitive facet that joins forces with recent developments in the social neuroscience by drawing psychological conclusions from brain biology.