Divisive Issues Research Articles

When, where and how should we assess professionalism in undergraduate medical education? Practical tips from an international conference roundtable discussion

The assessment of professionalism in healthcare disciplines is a challenging and nuanced topic in medical education. The literature, although continually emerging, remains in its infancy in regards to the role of the assessment of professionalism, appropriate timing for assessment, methods to assess professionalism and the benefits and implications of assessment of professionalism. With emergence of healthcare professionalism in both undergraduate and postgraduate curricula and increasing awareness of professionalism’s pertinent role in developing as a healthcare practitioner, the concept of assessing this topic is being discussed regularly in international fora, but as yet there is no consensus decision in how best to proceed. The authors have over a decade of experience researching, promoting and delivering healthcare professionalism education. They presented a roundtable discussion to an international panel of medical educators at an international conference. The attendees represented multiple healthcare disciplines. Breakout rooms and pre-determined introductory questions were used to explore the international consensus on current thinking about assessment in healthcare professionalism. This paper presents these findings as practical tips for educators who are considering introducing or extending their assessment of undergraduate professionalism, all of which were taken from the main themes of the discussion. The aim of the paper is to support educators to think about their stance on this often divisive issue, consider their approaches and focus future research to clarify the remaining unknowns.

THE IMPORTANCE OF (RE)FRAMING CONVERSATIONS IN LEADERSHIP

AbstractThe author, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, adapted his article from his recent book Habits of a Peacemaker: 10 Habits to Change Our Potentially Toxic Conversations into Healthy Dialogues. He notes that one particular habit “can be especially helpful for organizational leaders seeking to solve any number of problems. It is useful when talking about divisive policy issues, but it is just as important when talking about any of the challenges organizations face on a daily basis. It is the habit of framing and reframing conversations.” He notes that “whenever two or more people are discussing a given issue, how the topic is framed is perhaps the most important step in the process.” He first uses the example of a legal dispute, but notes how in a court of law, “strict rules force a certain level of emotional control and civility in the courtroom.” Moving to a workplace setting, he contends that “as a leader, the next time you are beginning a conversation or leading a dialogue about any topic, think first about how you want to frame it. In large measure, that will determine where the conversation goes and how productive it will be.”

Does Momentary Outcome-Based Reflection Shape Bioethical Views? A Pre-Post Intervention Design.

Many bioliberals endorse broadly consequentialist frameworks in normative ethics, implying that a progressive stance on matters of bioethical controversy could stem from outcome-based reasoning. This raises an intriguing empirical prediction: encouraging outcome-based reflection could yield a shift toward bioliberal views among nonexperts as well. To evaluate this hypothesis, we identified empirical premises that underlie moral disagreements on seven divisive issues (e.g., vaccines, abortion, or genetically modified organisms). In exploratory and confirmatory experiments, we assessed whether people spontaneously engage in outcome-based reasoning by asking how their moral views change after momentarily reflecting on the underlying empirical questions. Our findings indicate that momentary reflection had no overall treatment effect on the central tendency or the dispersion in moral attitudes when compared to prereflection measures collected 1 week prior. Autoregressive models provided evidence that participants engaged in consequentialist moral reasoning, but this self-guided reflection produced neither moral "progress" (shifts in the distributions' central tendency) nor moral "consensus" (reductions in their dispersion). These results imply that flexibility in people's search for empirical answers may limit the potential for outcome-based reflection to foster moral consensus.

Trajectory reconstruction method for spacecraft formation considering collision probability constraints

Abstract This paper introduces a trajectory reconstruction algorithm for spacecraft formation, combining collision probability and sequential convex programming algorithms. When reconstructing the trajectory of spacecraft formation, external collision avoidance constraint is added to avoid collision threats from space objects. The constraint accuracy of the external collision avoidance constraints of the BOX method and the collision probability method is analyzed. The simulation results indicate that the collision probability method has higher accuracy compared to the BOX method. It addresses the issue of inaccurate division of collision avoidance zones in the BOX method, which tends to be aggressive in the velocity direction and conservative in other directions. A reference is provided for trajectory reconstruction when formation satellites encounter non-cooperative targets.

The Effect of Perceived Economic Mobility on Support for Corporate Activism

Companies are more frequently taking public stands on controversial and divisive socio-political issues. Thus, researchers have been paying a great amount of attention to the issues surrounding corporate activism such as how and why certain types draw more support from consumers and other stakeholders. The current research contributes to the literature by examining how people’s perception of economic mobility affects their tendency to support corporate activism. In particular, using two studies with different research designs and diverse participants, the current research demonstrates that perception of high (vs. low) economic mobility leads to stronger (vs. weaker) support for corporate activism, and further shows that this effect is mediated by the locus of control. With this nuanced finding, this research provides theoretical and substantive implications and various future research directions.

Should Global Brands Engage in Brand Activism?

Brand activism, taking a stance on current and divisive sociopolitical issues, has emerged as a novel means of expressing a brand's values and engaging with the firm's customer base. Yet, globally, companies lack conclusive guidance on the consequences of taking a stance. This research asks a novel question: Should global brands engage in activism? Using varying activism manipulations (e.g., statements and actions), five studies reveal consumer preference for activist global brands. More importantly, guided by schema change theory, the authors find that the positive brand activism effect is particularly strong for global brands associated with negative brand origin, irrespective of consumers’ prior attitude valence. However, brands with positive origin associations benefit from activism only when consumers’ prior attitude valence is in alignment. The authors also identify the mediating effects of self–brand connection, which has downstream consequences for behavioral intentions. Taken together, this work sheds new light on consumer perceptions of brand activism across cultures, elucidates why consumers prefer global brands that engage in activism, and offers actionable insights for global brand managers.

Are ideological and partisan affinities determining voters’ support of arms deliveries? Insights from a large-scale survey experiment in France and Germany

Abstract The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine raised for many parties the question of how to position themselves in view of urgently requested arms deliveries. Since, the topic of arms trade, which has hitherto rarely been addressed, has become a heavily politicized and divisive issue and partly even polarized public opinion. A major prerequisite for parties’ position-taking is to anticipate how voters react to such arms transfers and, more specifically, whether their respective attitudes are structured along the predominant left-right axis. Based on a large-scale survey experiment with French and German voters ( $N = 6617$ ) in the year before the Russian invasion, we are able to focus on the relationship between ideological predispositions, vote intentions, and issue attitudes in a non-politicized period. Using both vignette and conjoint experiments, we demonstrate that voters’ attitudes on military transfers can be subsumed remarkably well under the left-right scale. Differentiating the impact of normative and economic considerations, the former is stronger among the left, while the latter also affects the attitudes of rightist citizens. However, normative considerations are the most important concern along the whole political spectrum. The turn of the German Green Party in 2022 to assist countries that are being aggressively attacked (because of the Responsibility to Protect), was not reflected in our data.

Understanding reaction to corporate activism: The moderating role of polarization.

In our polarized societies, more companies are taking a stand on divisive sociopolitical issues. However, given the mixed findings from previous studies, it remains unclear whether Corporate Activism (CA) is more likely to hurt or help a company's performance and reputation, or shape the public's attitudes toward the sociopolitical issue involved. To better understand the impact of CA in polarized societies, it is valuable to study moderating factors, especially those linked to polarization. A meta-analysis of 72 scholarly works is conducted to examine the impact of CA on various outcomes (e.g. ads and social media engagement, cognitive and attitudinal reactions, public's intentions and actions, emotional reactions, social and ethical engagement, workplace, and employee perceptions) and the role of moderators (a sociopolitical issue's political leaning and controversy level, political orientation of the target audience, key demographics). The analysis reveals a positive, albeit small, effect size (0.085 [95% CI (0.0542, 0.1158)]) with the most impact on two outcomes: cognitive and attitudinal reactions, and emotional reactions. It further reveals that companies adopting liberal-leaning CAs elicit more favorable responses than those adopting conservative CAs and that liberals respond positively to CA, while conservatives are more neutral. However, when there is alignment between the CA's political leaning and the audience's political orientation, conservatives have a stronger positive response than liberals. Also, younger audiences view CA more positively. Finally, per national culture, while power distance and individualism positively moderate the reaction to CA, uncertainty avoidance has a negative effect.

Division and spin-off as legal forms of disaggregation of economic organizations

The article highlights the issues of division and spin-off as legal forms of disaggregation of economic organisations, provides legal regulation of these forms in Ukraine, the EU, foreign countries (Germany, Poland) and the relevant analysis of court practice. The author identifies the general (common) features of division and spin-off of economic organisations according to the following criteria: subject composition, purpose, legal form of disaggregation, basis for legal relations; documentation of property transfer, rights and obligations; universal legal succession; and subsidiary liability. The author distinguishes special (distinctive) features of division and spin-off of economic entities according to the following criteria: legal result; legal consequences; and the moment of procedure completion. It is substantiated that it is advisable to regulate the basic concepts and essential characteristics of disaggregation of economic organisations by means of division and spin-off in the Commercial Code of Ukraine or, in the future, in the Economic Code of Ukraine. In this regard, the author provides the wording of the relevant definitions of division and spin-off, which is proposed to be enshrined in parts 4 and 5 of Article 59¹ ‘Termination of an Economic Organization by Reorganisation’. It is found that the analysis of court practice regarding the essence of reorganisation in the form of spin-off shows a difference in approaches, which are fundamentally opposite in nature, when: (1) spin-off is not recognised as a type of termination or reorganisation of a legal entity; (2) spin-off is defined as a form of reorganisation of a legal entity. The author proves that such ambiguity of court practice affects the consideration of a case on the merits, in particular, when changing the subject composition in land lease agreements in the event of a lessee's reorganisation by way of spin-off. The author proposes, taking into account the legislation of foreign countries (Germany and Poland) and EU law, to introduce the following legal forms and constructions into the current legislation of Ukraine: (1) ‘division by acquisition’ (simultaneous use of the forms of division and accession), (2) ‘spin-off by acquisition’ (simultaneous use of the forms of spin-off and accession); (3) ‘separation’ (for JSC, LLC, ALC) - by the formation of a new company and by acquisition.

Reclaiming Voices: We Sent Women First

“We sent women first” could well describe Australian Baptist mission history. Australian Baptist State associations were formed in the crucible of 19th-century history, shaped by divisive issues of their British Baptist heritage and the colonial influences as each pursued an independent identity. Mission work in Bengal, India, inspired by William Carey, the BMS and BZA traditions, was the common factor, and in the six independent Australian Baptist Missionary Societies, women were sent first, starting with two from South Australia in 1882. The first man (also from South Australia) joined eleven of these women for their first ‘Convention’ in 1888.

The truth or your truth: polarization in Arctic climate change on X (Twitter)

ABSTRACT Political polarization is increasingly undermining citizen trust. As authorities and science lose legitimacy due to the intensification of polarization, the barriers to finding policy solutions, particularly on divisive issues like climate change, become more daunting. Exacerbating this problem, by drawing on diverse sources of validation, including scientific findings and traditional and social media, opposing sides construct their own ‘truth,’ often fueled by misinformation and misperceptions. This phenomenon, known as factual belief polarization, is exacerbated by selective exposure within echo chambers on social media, where individuals are insulated from alternative perspectives. This paper examines polarization in public debate on climate change in the Arctic, focusing on the role of social media via X (Twitter). Through an analysis of top retweets between the period of May 2021 to April 2022, key themes related to climate change are identified and the degree of polarization assessed. In combination with an overview of the content of the tweets, the paper elucidates whether polarization is similar to general debates over climate change and what type of argumentation is made by both climate change advocates and deniers.

To Be Woke or Not to Be Woke? An Exploration of the Moral Foundations of Conservative Rejection of Brand Activism

Brand activism has become a powerful way to communicate a brand’s values and attract consumers who expect stances on divisive issues, but it can also lead to backlash. Thus, in the current study, we examine the #GoWokeGoBroke movement, an online-based media campaign that is gaining traction, to serve as a starting point for brands and advertisers to decide whether to engage in or avoid brand activism. Our findings, based on moral foundations theory, suggest that each moral foundation is associated with various metrics of online engagement, but not others. Brand activism choices that trigger responses that reference unfairness or undue authority are linked to higher retweet rates and a wider spread, which suggests that evoking those foundations may be particularly dangerous. This study offers implications for understanding the #GoWokeGoBroke movement, as well as for the study of the moral foundations of online movements for brands. The results can help brands mitigate pushback against activism choices as well as consider strategies for using moral foundations to join online brand activism conversations.

Social Learning and Content Quality Under Polarization

Problem definition: This paper studies how polarization influences content consumption and production on digital platforms that monetize consumer engagement. Specifically, we consider a content that advocates a particular position on a divisive issue. Consumers with polarized preferences toward the content’s position are sequentially exposed to the content. Initially, consumers are uncertain about the content quality, but they have the opportunity to learn about it using aggregate consumption metrics and other informative signals provided by the platform. Methodology/results: Using a stylized model, we find that under polarization, social learning based on consumption metrics can mislead consumers to perceive low-quality content as higher quality, even in the long run. Consequently, content providers may decrease their effort to improve content quality. These effects are amplified for more polarizing issues, especially when the content’s position is “mainstream” (i.e., aligned with the majority of the population). Our results thus provide a potential explanation for the proliferation of low-quality, polarizing content on platforms. Managerial implications: We offer normative guidance for content platforms seeking to enhance content quality, including offering consumers information to aid the social learning mechanism and appropriately selecting audience to mitigate the echo-chamber effect. Additionally, we propose payment schemes based on content popularity as an effective means to encourage content providers to improve quality. Funding: This work was supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council [General Research Fund 16502920]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0533 .

A Gradient Dynamics-Based Singularity Avoidance Method for Backstepping Control of Underactuated TORA Systems.

In this paper, a gradient dynamics-based control method is proposed to directly tackle the singularity problem in the backstepping control design of the TORA system. This method is founded upon the construction of an energy-like positive function, which includes an auxiliary variable in terms of the intermediate virtual control law. On this basis, a gradient dynamics is created to obtain a new virtual control command, which is capable of making the auxiliary variable gradually approach zero, thereby mitigating the issue of division by zero. The core innovation is the integration of the gradient dynamics into the recursive backstepping design to overcome the singularity problem and stabilize the system at the equilibrium quickly. In addition, it rigorously proves that all the signals in the closed-loop control system are uniformly ultimately bounded, and the tracking errors converge to a small neighborhood around zero through a Lyapunov-based stability analysis. Comparative simulations demonstrate that the proposed approach not only avoids the singularity issue, but also achieves a better transient performance over other methods.

Characterizing social conflict over wolf reintroduction in Colorado: A theoretical model of intergroup conflict

Abstract Context: Wolf restoration is a highly divisive issue in the American West, with stakeholder conflict driven by value and identity‐based disagreements. Research suggests that such conflicts require reconciliation to repair intergroup relations before negotiations to address the issue can begin, yet, in the conservation and natural resource management fields, stakeholder processes about divisive issues typically focus only on negotiations. There is a gap in the literature on how to identify and target the drivers of value and identity‐based conflicts. Approach: We interviewed stakeholders highly engaged in the issue of proposed wolf reintroduction in Colorado to gain insight on the drivers of the conflict and to inform reconciliation interventions. We pulled from conflict and peace‐building theories to frame our analysis, specifically suggestions that conflict is fueled by four categories of perceptions, including perceptions of: the group one is in conflict with, one's own social group, the relationship between groups, and the nature of the conflict. Key Findings: We found that all interviewees discussed perceptions that can fuel conflict within each of these four categories. However, interviewees who identified as 3rd parties to the conflict primarily discussed the relationships between those in conflict and engaged in thoughtful perspective‐taking, an activity that can help reduce conflict. Conversely, both those strongly in support of reintroduction and strongly opposed to reintroduction most commonly described negative perceptions about individuals they are in conflict with and positive perceptions about themselves and their social group. For example, when discussing others, both groups described each other as acting in unjust and unfair ways, as being incapable of or unwilling to change, and as misinformed. When describing positive perceptions of themselves, both those in support and those in opposition viewed their own goals as just and themselves as victims of outgroup members’ actions. Synthesis and applications: Based on our findings, we suggest various reconciliation interventions that may assist wildlife managers in reducing the conflict about wolf reintroduction in Colorado. These recommendations may also be applicable to wildlife managers working on other issues with high stakeholder conflict. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

How the manner in which data is visualized affects and corrects (mis)perceptions of political polarization.

While the mechanisms underlying polarization are complex, scholars have consistently found a pervasive overestimation of perceptions of polarization to be a contributing factor. We argue that one mitigation strategy that can work at scale to address such misperceptions might be relatively straightforward: better data visualizations of cross-party attitudes on key issues. In a large-scale (N = 6603), international replication, we find that mode of presentation-or the manner in which data are visually presented-plays a significant role in moderating perceptions of polarization, even for longstanding, divisive issues for which partisans would likely hold strong prior beliefs. Additionally, we find the effects that different modes of presentation have on issue-specific polarization also extend to participant beliefs about overall interparty polarization, with certain modes proving capable of not only promoting less polarized views but also enabling more accurate estimates of the extent to which political groups agree. Finally, our findings also suggest that the manner in which intergroup data are visualized may also exert influence over the degree to which political groups are essentialized-a finding with implications for not only political perception but also for apolitical social psychological phenomena such as dehumanization.

The influence of management decisions on the process of procurement for public needs

The author considers the issues of defining procurement in the Russian Federation and analyzes certain scientific legal positions devoted to the genesis of the institute of procurement for public needs. The author analyzes the opinions of scientists on the issue of division into stages and classification of these stages of procurement for public needs at which management decisions are made. Based on the analysis, the author attempts to formulate a definition of procurement for public needs. The author analyzes the fact of the influence of a managerial decision on the procurement process for public needs, proposes a classification of the stages of managerial decision-making in procurement, analyzes the relationship between managerial decisions and the results of procurement. According to the results of the study, the author justified the opinion that the adoption of each of the management decisions directly affects both the implementation of the subsequent stages and the result of the procurement for public needs as a whole.

How migration really works: a factful guide to the most divisive issue in politics

How migration really works: a factful guide to the most divisive issue in politics

The Academic Question of Palestine

This article provides theoretical and contextual background to The Academic Question of Palestine. Building on the work of Edward Said, we maintain that Palestine constitutes a unique question with special status in international academic spaces, particularly in the West, because of its entanglement with other imperial and settler colonial forms of dispossession. We argue that the special place that Zionism and its defence has occupied for decades in academia has rendered Palestine one of the thorniest and most divisive issues of our time. In the new millennium, the birth of the BDS movement; the emergence of new solidarities with global anti-racist movements; the scholarly and human rights consensus that Israel constitutes a regime settler colonial apartheid; the acceleration of Zionist violence, until the Gaza genocide, have generated new forms of repression and resistance in the academic space. This Special Issue offers the tools for understanding these recent transformations of the question of Palestine.

People believe political opponents accept blatant moral wrongs, fueling partisan divides.

Efforts to bridge political divides often focus on navigating complex and divisive issues, but eight studies reveal that we should also focus on a more basic misperception: that political opponents are willing to accept basic moral wrongs. In the United States, Democrats, and Republicans overestimate the number of political outgroup members who approve of blatant immorality (e.g. child pornography, embezzlement). This "basic morality bias" is tied to political dehumanization and is revealed by multiple methods, including natural language analyses from a large social media corpus and a survey with a representative sample of Americans. Importantly, the basic morality bias can be corrected with a brief, scalable intervention. Providing information that just one political opponent condemns blatant wrongs increases willingness to work with political opponents and substantially decreases political dehumanization.