Dominant Theories Research Articles

Special section introduction: epistemic politics in international and comparative political economy

ABSTRACT Economic orthodoxy has faced multiple challenges over recent years, ranging from the global financial crisis and economic populism to the Covid-19 pandemic and the spectre of stagflation. This has generated significant policy innovations, like quantitative easing and the furlough schemes, while heterodox economic ideas (briefly) gained notoriety. Yet these shifts have frequently been grafted onto pre-existing institutional and discursive templates, anchored by the assumption that they represent a temporary deviation from ‘normal’ equilibrium conditions. To make sense of these dynamics of crisis, change and continuity, this special section showcases an ‘epistemic politics’ approach that foregrounds the political life of economic knowledge. It is framed around three questions. What has been the role of economic knowledge and expertise in shaping policy and regulation over the past decade? To what extent have dominant economic ideas, theories and models been impacted by political conflicts and emergent issues? How have policy makers navigated economic crises and uncertainty through cognitive and discursive practices? This introductory paper sets out the ambition for the special section by defining our understanding of epistemic politics, before detailing the threefold contribution it makes to wider scholarship in IPE and CPE. It concludes with an overview of the five papers.

Subcortical Aphasia: An Update.

This review aims to rediscuss the leading theories concerning the role of basal ganglia and the thalamus in the genesis of aphasic symptoms in the absence of gross anatomical lesions in cortical language areas as assessed by conventional neuroimaging studies. New concepts in language processing and modern neuroimaging techniques have enabled some progress in resolving the impasse between the current dominant theories: (a) direct and specific linguistic processing and (b) subcortical structures as processing relays in domain-general functions. Of particular interest are studies of connectivity based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and tractography that highlight the impact of white matter pathway lesions on aphasia development and recovery. Connectivity studies have put into evidence the central role of the arcuate fasciculus (AF), inferior frontal occipital fasciculus (IFOF), and uncinate fasciculus (UF) in the genesis of aphasia. Regarding the thalamus, its involvement in lexical-semantic processing through modulation of the frontal cortex is becoming increasingly apparent.

Reconciling theories of dominance with the relative rates of adaptive substitution on sex chromosomes and autosomes.

The dominance of beneficial mutations is a key evolutionary parameter affecting the rate and genetic basis of adaptation, yet it is notoriously difficult to estimate. A leading method to infer it is to compare the relative rates of adaptive substitution for X-linked and autosomal genes, which-according to a classic model by Charlesworth et al. (1987)-is a simple function of the dominance of new beneficial mutations. Recent evidence that rates of adaptive substitution are faster for X-linked genes implies, accordingly, that beneficial mutations are usually recessive. However, this conclusion is incompatible with leading theories of dominance, which predict that beneficial mutations tend to be dominant or overdominant with respect to fitness. To address this incompatibility, we use Fisher's geometric model to predict the distribution of fitness effects of new mutations and the relative rates of positively selected substitution on the X and autosomes. Previous predictions of faster-X theory emerge as a special case of our model in which the phenotypic effects of mutations are small relative to the distance to the phenotypic optimum. But as mutational effects become large relative to the optimum, we observe an elevated tempo of positively selected substitutions on the X relative to the autosomes across a broader range of dominance conditions, including those predicted by theories of dominance. Our results imply that, contrary to previous models, dominant and overdominant beneficial mutations can plausibly generate patterns of faster-X adaptation. We discuss resulting implications for genomic studies of adaptation and inferences of dominance.

Hierarchy as a signal of culture and belonging: Exploring why egalitarian ideology predicts aversion to hierarchical organizations

Variation in people's ideological preference for the maintenance of inequality between social groups (i.e., social dominance orientation; SDO) predicts important sociopolitical outcomes, such as endorsement of different social policies, institutions, and belief systems. We argue that SDO may also inform people's engagement with work organizations. Specifically, we propose that SDO may impact attraction to different organizational structures. Across 6 experiments (N = 3034), we find that people with relatively egalitarian values are less attracted to organizations with much (vs. little) managerial hierarchy; this gap in attraction is attenuated for relative anti-egalitarians (Studies 1a-b). These effects are not moderated by whether dominant vs. subordinate group members occupy positions of power in hierarchical arrangements (Study 2a-b) and are driven by signals concerning likelihood of organizational belonging that egalitarians (vs. anti-egalitarians) derive from managerial hierarchy (Studies 3a-b). We discuss implications for social dominance theory and research connecting ideology to organizational attraction.

Perceptions of women’s leadership in urban governance in the communes of greater Lomé, Togo

Perceptions of women’s roles and leadership in urban governance vary from country to country and culture to culture. While women are represented and participate fully in political decision-making in some countries, in Togo women’s participation in local governance is still limited. The aim of this research is to analyse perceptions of women’s leadership in urban governance in the communes of greater Lomé. Specifically, the study of the influence of general perceptions of the role of women on the development of their leadership in the urban governance of greater Lomé (i) and the implications of these perceptions on the participation of women in the urban governance of greater Lomé (ii). Semi-structured interviews were conducted in all the town halls of the thirteen greater Lomé autonomous district communes with 222 women and 162 men, i.e., a total of 384 people. The corpus created from the interviews, which were transcribed in their entirety, was analyzed using the theory of social dominance developed by Sidanius and Pratto to explain power relations and inequalities between social groups. The results show that perceptions of women’s participation in urban governance vary and are generally associated with several significant implications. The general perception is that women are not as competent or legitimate as men in political and administrative leadership roles. However, there is a growing recognition of the value of gender diversity in urban governance, with a growing awareness of the importance of including women in decision-making processes. From the point of view of the significant implications of perceptions, positive perceptions favor increased representation of women, innovation, and creativity, strengthening legitimacy, reducing inequalities, and presenting women as positive role models in urban governance.

Kia kōrerorero tonu ai: a review of the dialogue at the interface of Indigenous oral tradition and archaeology in Aotearoa New Zealand and Oceania

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the previous theoretical interfaces of Indigenous oral tradition and archaeology in Oceania, specifically in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Historical processes of writing down kōrero, or oral histories, by amateur historians and ethnologists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, culminated in the romanticised traditions of the early Polynesian society and influenced contemporary archaeological scholarship. In response to criticisms, archaeologists attempted to validate kōrero using Western research methodologies. However, attempts often fell short and processual archaeologists of the mid‐late‐20th century considered oral tradition and archaeology as incapable of cross‐validation. Parallel ethnological scholarship focused on the symbolism in oral histories as indicators of their function in contemporary society or as legitimate forms of recounting actual historical events after critical evaluation. More recent archaeologists use kōrero about the last few centuries like any other historical source. Māori scholars have taken inspiration from previous theoretical arcs to position kōrero in a postmodern space of relative truths or to critically analyse its historical and functional values. The review concludes with how the interface of oral history and archaeology might follow Kaupapa Māori research methodologies and current materialist critiques of dominant settlement pattern theory.

Examining How Psychological Safety Consensus Emerges Over Time

Although research has provided rich data highlighting the value of team psychological safety, a common call among scholars is the need for longitudinal examinations of this construct to test implicit assumptions about time made in dominant team theories. By analyzing changes in both consensus and the average level of psychological safety over time, we respond to this need and provide insight into emergent state development. Results indicated that team psychological safety climate develops over time through consensus emergence, this process is initiated by early information sharing, and there is a decline in the average level of psychological safety over time.

Whose Fundamental Constitutions?

This article uses the methods that Locke advocated in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding to evaluate manuscript evidence from five different schemes and two drafts of the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, to thereby determine what role, if any, John Locke had in writing it, and in advocating for slavery and absolutism. It focuses on the influential claims put forward by David Armitage 20 years ago, that Locke was responsible for actively promoting slavery in Carolina’s Fundamental Constitutions. It enables the reader to view, and judge, the relevant evidence. The author concludes, and invites the reader to conclude, that Armitage’s main claims lack foundation in the manuscript evidence. That evidence instead points towards the legal power of those who owned Carolina, the Lords Proprietors, and to the crown, which granted Carolina’s charter, and to the logic of a different theory of government, patriarchalism, for the rationale behind both slavery and absolutism. The central ideas behind slavery and colonization were epitomized, as Locke understood, by Sir Robert Filmer, who wrote the book to which Locke responded in his Two Treatises of Government. Filmer’s ally, Sir Henry Spelman, like Filmer a deeply committed royalist who believed in the king’s unlimited prerogatives, composed the original 1629 Carolina charter that shaped the Fundamental Constitutions. Misattributing the authorship of particular clauses to Locke is a symptom of a larger failure to distinguish the impact of momentous debates over authority and race in the seventeenth century. Locke’s theories did, in practice as well as principle, reject the theory of domination put forward by Filmer, and argued instead for human rights and democracy that were inclusive and capacious. The manuscript evidence has the potential to reshape how modern democratic theory is understood in the present.

Socioeconomic status self‐deception as a way to perpetuate classist societies

AbstractSocioeconomic status self‐deception refers to the motivated tendency to perceive oneself as having a higher subjective status than would correspond to objective conditions. This can be a powerful mechanism to legitimize the social order. We proposed that when people perceive the surrounding social environment to be classist, people tend to self‐deceive themselves by overestimating their socioeconomic status. This mechanism, in turn, would lead to justify the system to a higher extent and show less support for redistribution, and reduce relative deprivation and status anxiety. These hypotheses were tested across four pre‐registered studies on different high‐quality samples, different operationalization of the variables in our model, and both cross‐sectional and longitudinal observations. On the one hand, the results do not provide evidence of a link between perceiving a classist climate and socioeconomic status self‐deception. On the other hand, socioeconomic status self‐deception was confirmed to predict higher system justification, and lower support for redistribution, status anxiety and relative deprivation. The construct and operationalization of socioeconomic status self‐deception proposed in this research could help reconcile opposing predictions by system justification theory and social dominance theory, and understand why individuals low on socioeconomic status would oppose policies which could benefit them.

Further discussion of the inherent challenges and subsequent opportunities for developing global science communication curricula

ABSTRACT This paper responds to the framework of learning outcomes and competencies proposed by Lewenstein and Baram-Tsabari [2022. How should we organize science communication trainings to achieve competencies? International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 12(4), 289–308. https://doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2022.2136985], which provides an excellent overview of the skills underpinning all aspects of science communication. In presenting the framework, Lewenstein and Baram-Tsabari note that several people during the ‘member check’ of their framework development raised that many items may be culturally specific to Western, democratic nations. This is familiar to the discipline, which tends to be dominated by the theory developed in the ‘Global North’. The authors reiterate – rightly – that users of the framework need to develop a curriculum based on the needs of their audience and their context. However, if the dominant theories of the field are from one cultural perspective, this limits the opportunity to develop curricula in a global context. Science communication is increasingly found at the interface of attempts to address global issues like climate change, pandemics, food security and energy transition. Global solutions require global insights, meaning science communication theory and best practice need to be drawn from – and valued – from a greater variety of sources than is current practice.

Green skepticism: review and research agenda

PurposeDespite a growing interest in investigating green skepticism, there has been a paucity of effort in synthesizing green skepticism research. This study aims to synthesize extant green skepticism research. This study is useful in providing a comprehensive synthesis of research on green skepticism and identifying key gaps in the existing literature, thereby paving the way for future research directions. This research demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the dominant theories, contexts (i.e. countries), characteristics (i.e. key variables and their associations) and methods (i.e. research design) employed in green skepticism research.Design/methodology/approachA hybrid review method that combined an Systematic Literature Review (SLR) with lexicometric analysis was employed to present a comprehensive synthesis of the green skepticism literature.FindingsThe findings showed that many theories have been applied to green skepticism research with the theory of planned behavior and attribution theory being prominently used. The review also proposes a conceptual framework that illustrates the relationships between antecedents and consequences reported in the green skepticism literature. Lexicometric analysis identified six major themes in green skepticism research, including trust in green products, product-related attributes, environmental attributes, social responsibility, organic consumption and promotional campaigns.Research limitations/implicationsThis review included only papers authored in English. Consequently, studies conducted in other languages were not taken into account. Future research could broaden the understanding of green skepticism by incorporating studies conducted in different languages.Practical implicationsThis study provides practical implications for retailers, marketers and policymakers to combat green skepticism and encourage the purchase of green items. This study suggests integrating endorsements from authorized third-party organizations or celebrities into green marketing campaigns to reduce skepticism. Further, aligning corporate social responsibility efforts with genuine social welfare goals can build consumer trust. Finally, securing third-party endorsements for ecological claims will emphasize product credibility and drive green purchase intention.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to review the extant literature in green skepticism by integrating a systematic review approach, lexicometric analysis and the Theory-Context-Characteristics-Methodology framework. Through this approach, (1) SLR provides a detailed synthesis of green skepticism research to date, (2) Lexicometric analysis aids in the identification of key themes investigated in green skepticism research to date, and (3) the TCCM framework assists in identifying crucial avenues for future research endeavors in the realm of green skepticism.

Complicit masculinity of judges

The paper focuses on how unjust provocation reduction, regulated in Article 29 of the Turkish Penal Code, is applied in cases of violence against women, LGBTI, and transgender individuals in Turkey, also known as "masculinity sentence reduction" by feminist lawyers. In particular, I will look into case files in which the "masculinity defence" made by almost all perpetrators in femicide cases is accepted by the court as a justification for reducing the sentence of the perpetrator. I will examine how masculinity is portrayed in judicial decisions, specifically looking at provocation defences to demonstrate how jurisdiction plays a part in perpetuating masculine domination within society. Using theories of masculinity and masculine domination, I will try to reveal the contribution of judges to the "masculine legal culture" as a form of "complicit masculinity".

GENETIC MAPPING OF THREE LARGE CONSANGUINEOUS KASHMIRI FAMILIES WITH AUTOSOMAL RECESSIVE POLYDACTYLY SCREENED FOR FIVE PREVALENT GENES

Background: Polydactyly, a congenital hand defect characterized by extra digits, is more complicated than simple duplication, delicately weaving aberrant anatomical components with hypoplasia, uneven joint shapes, and unusual tendon and ligament placements. The dominant theory attributes its genesis to a group of five genes: GLI1 (chromosome 12q13.3), ZNF141 (chromosome 4p16.3), IQCE (chromosome 7p22.2), KIAA0825 (chromosome 5q15), and FAM92A (chromosome 8q22.1). The objective of this study is to identify the most prevalent genes responsible for polydactyly in the population of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Method: The microsatellite markers used for PCR amplification and subsequently testing linkage to known genes are presented below. Represent electropherograms of ethidium bromide-stained 8% non-denaturing polyacrylamide gels (PAGEs) obtained by genotyping microsatellite markers linked on chromosome 8q22.1, 5q15, 12q13.3, 4p16.3, and 7p22.3 in family A, B, C. Genetic positions (in centiMorgan) for these marker loci were obtained from Rutgers combined linkage-physical map of the human genome. Results: Screening of most prevalent genes that include GLI1 (chromosome 12q13.3), ZNF141 (chromosome 4p16.3), IQCE (Chromosome 7p22.2), KIAA0825 (chromosome 5q15) and FAM92A (8q22.1) showed heterozygosity on every locus. Already known disease loci were further narrowed down with highly polymorphic markers which failed to find any linkage. Conclusion: The previously reported genotypic-phenotypic relation was not revealed in these 3 families signifying the probable involvement of unexplored genetic segments in intricate pathogenesis of this condition, emphasizing the need for further exploration beyond the established genetic association. Pak J Physiol 2024;20(3):44–8, DOI: https://doi.org/10.69656/pjp.v20i3.1611

A cross‐cultural test of competing hypotheses about system justification using data from 42 nations

AbstractSystem justification theory (SJT) is a thriving field of research, wherein the primary questions revolve around why individuals and groups are motivated to see the systems they depend on as just, fair, and legitimate. This article seeks to answer how accurate the postulates of SJT are when compared to competing self‐interest claims of social identity and social dominance theory. We addressed the ongoing debates among proponents of each theory by identifying who, when, and why individuals decide to system‐justify. We used data comprised of 24,009 participants nested within 42 countries. Multilevel models largely supported the competing claims of social dominance and social identity theories over SJT. The most robust findings were: (1) greater objective socioeconomic status (SES) was associated with greater system justification; (2) the consistent positive relationship between subjective SES and system justification was partially mediated by life satisfaction; and (3) both ends of the political spectrum were willing to system‐justify more when the political party they favored was in power. The results presented are used to discuss both the current state and the future directions for system justification research.

Protocols of Production: The Absent Factories of Digital Capitalism

Contrary to dominant theories of postindustrial society, this article advances an alternative account of digital capitalism that repositions the factory—so often associated with industrial manufacturing—as a defining yet largely overlooked feature of the internet economy. I pursue this claim by interpreting data centers and microwork platforms as digital embodiments of the factory system through a historical theory of the factory model that reconstructs the consistent mechanisms of control and extraction that have distinguished factories as consolidated infrastructures of production since their inception. I define these “protocols of production” as formal rules deployed by a combination of technological systems, spatial arrangements, and management regimes devised to fragment tasks, discipline workers, and supervise production. By probing the socioeconomic consequences of the factory’s algorithmic redeployment and adaptation to global data production, I contend that these absent factories have amplified alienation and precarity as structural social qualities of the digital labor process.

Attitudes on affirmative action targeted to help Black and Hispanic individuals: The roles of knowledge, race, and perceived discrimination

AbstractThis study explored factors affecting affirmative action attitudes. Undergraduates at a Hispanic‐Serving Institution completed measures assessing support for Black‐targeted and Hispanic‐targeted affirmative action, perceived discrimination against Blacks and Hispanics, and demographic information. Prior to completing these measures, some participants were randomly assigned to read 10 facts about current racial inequities. An ANOVA revealed a marginally significant effect of condition (with greater affirmative action support by participants who read facts about racial inequities vs. the control condition), a significant effect of participant race (with greater affirmative action support by Black and Hispanic vs. White participants), and a significant interaction between participant and target race (with greater support of Hispanic‐targeted vs. Black‐targeted affirmative action by White and Hispanic participants, but no difference in support for Hispanic‐targeted vs. Black‐targeted affirmative action by Black participants). Regression analyses revealed that affirmative action support was significantly associated with a Democrat affiliation, a Black or Hispanic race, and perceived discrimination against Blacks and Hispanics. These findings are consistent with social dominance theory (whereby group status threat may influence Hispanic affirmative action support) and the altruism‐born‐of‐suffering theory (whereby adverse discriminatory experiences of Blacks may lead to greater empathy and support for affirmative action).

Multistability of state-dependent switched neural networks with Mexican-hat-type activation functions

This paper investigates the issue of multistability in state-dependent switched neural networks (SSNNs) with Mexican-hat-type activation functions (AFs). It establishes the coexistence and stability of multiple equilibrium points (EPs). Initially, the state space is partitioned based on the geometric characteristics of the Mexican-hat-type AF, enabling to determine the positions of the EPs. Secondly, the coexistence of 9h17h25h33h4 EPs for n-neurons SSNNs under specific sufficient conditions is proved with the Brouwer’s fixed-point theorem. Next, by using diagonally dominant matrix theory and Gershgorin circle theorem, it is proven that there are 5h14h23h32h4 asymptotically stable EPs under some conditions, where h1,h2,h3 and h4 are nonnegative integers satisfying 0≤h1+h2+h3+h4≤n. Therefore, we can obtain that SSNNs can have larger storage capacity by selecting the appropriate parameters hi,i=1,2,3,4. Finally, the correctness of the results in this paper is verified through two numerical examples.

What Approaches Described in Research Literature Enhance the Engagement of Children and Young People With Severe or Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities? A Systematic Literature Review

ABSTRACTBackgroundChildren and young people (CYP) with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities are more likely to experience difficulties engaging for long periods. Finding ways to facilitate their engagement is crucial in promoting their social and emotional development and their mental well‐being, particularly as they are more vulnerable to difficulties with mental well‐being compared to their peers.MethodsWe undertook a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify approaches described within peer‐reviewed research literature that enhance the engagement of these children. Data from seven relevant studies were qualitatively synthesised. Thematic networks were then developed to visually present global, organising and basic themes identified within data.FindingsA global theme derived from organising themes across studies indicated that the quality of space is an important consideration in enhancing engagement. This included the extent to which space adhered to prescribed knowledge or afforded practitioners with opportunities to follow their intuition and deviate from such ideas.ConclusionsQuality of space may be important to the engagement of these CYP and consequently to their mental well‐being. This may involve consideration of the extent to which formal learning environments for them are organised and informed by dominant theory and discourse (abstract space), prescribed (spatial) practice and the extent to which environments provide conditions for ‘lived spaces’ that are potentially more facilitative of their engagement and so their mental well‐being.

Individual differences in decision-making shape how mesolimbic dopamine regulates choice confidence and change-of-mind.

Nucleus accumbens dopamine signaling is an important neural substrate for decision-making. Dominant theories generally discretize and homogenize decision-making, when it is in fact a continuous process, with evaluation and re-evaluation components that extend beyond simple outcome prediction into consideration of past and future value. Extensive work has examined mesolimbic dopamine in the context of reward prediction error, but major gaps persist in our understanding of how dopamine regulates volitional and self-guided decision-making. Moreover, there is little consideration of individual differences in value processing that may shape how dopamine regulates decision-making. Here, using an economic foraging task in mice, we found that dopamine dynamics in the nucleus accumbens core reflected decision confidence during evaluation of decisions, as well as both past and future value during re-evaluation and change-of-mind. Optogenetic manipulations of mesolimbic dopamine release selectively altered evaluation and re-evaluation of decisions in mice whose dopamine dynamics and behavior reflected future value.

No evidence of altered language laterality in people who stutter across different brain imaging studies of speech and language.

A long-standing neurobiological explanation of stuttering is the incomplete cerebral dominance theory, which refers to competition between two hemispheres for 'dominance' over handedness and speech, causing altered language lateralization. Renewed interest in these ideas came from brain imaging findings in people who stutter of increased activity in the right hemisphere during speech production or of shifts in activity from right to left when fluency increased. Here, we revisited this theory using functional MRI data from children and adults who stutter, and typically fluent speakers (119 participants in total) during four different speech and language tasks: overt sentence reading, overt picture description, covert sentence reading and covert auditory naming. Laterality indices were calculated for the frontal and temporal lobes using the laterality index toolbox running in Statistical Parametric Mapping. We also repeated the analyses with more specific language regions, namely the pars opercularis (Brodmann area 44) and pars triangularis (Brodmann area 45). Laterality indices in people who stutter and typically fluent speakers did not differ, and Bayesian analyses provided moderate to anecdotal levels of support for the null hypothesis (i.e. no differences in laterality in people who stutter compared with typically fluent speakers). The proportions of the people who stutter and typically fluent speakers who were left lateralized or had atypical rightward or bilateral lateralization did not differ. We found no support for the theory that language laterality is reduced or differs in people who stutter compared with typically fluent speakers.