Rate Of Social Change Research Articles

Tipping points in coupled human–environment system models: a review

Abstract. Mathematical models that couple human behavior to environmental processes can offer valuable insights into how human behavior affects various types of ecological, climate, and epidemiological systems. This review focuses on human drivers of tipping events in coupled human–environment systems where changes to the human system can abruptly lead to desirable or undesirable new human–environment states. We use snowball sampling from relevant search terms to review the modeling of social processes – such as social norms and rates of social change – that are shown to drive tipping events, finding that many affect the coupled system depending on the system type and initial conditions. For example, tipping points can manifest very differently in human extraction versus human emission systems. Some potential interventions, such as reducing costs associated with sustainable behavior, have intuitive results. However, their beneficial outcomes via less obvious tipping events are highlighted. Of the models reviewed, we found that greater structural complexity can be associated with increased potential for tipping events. We review generic and state-of-the-art techniques in early warning signals of tipping events and identify significant opportunities to utilize digital social data to look for such signals. We conclude with an outline of challenges and promising future directions specific to furthering our understanding and informing policy that promotes sustainability within coupled human–environment systems. Non-technical summary. Mathematical models that include interactions between humans and the environment can provide valuable information to further our understanding of tipping points. Many social processes such as social norms and rates of social change can affect these tipping points in ways that are often specific to the system being modeled. Higher complexity of social structure can increase the likelihood of these transitions. We discuss how data are used to predict tipping events across many coupled systems.

Steven Pinker and the New Enlightenment

Can humanity save itself? Steven Pinker wrote Enlightenment Now to prove that the industrial and scientific revolutions have enormously speeded up the rate of social change since the middle of the ...

Parent Effectiveness Training to Improve Parent-Adolescent Relationships

The rate of social change in the past several decades has led to certain difficulties in the adolescent period, both for parents and their adolescent sons and daughters. Parents of Kwa-Dlangezwa, a...

The Impact of New Technologies on Musical Learning of Indigenous Australian Children

PRACTITIONERS ARE INCREASINGLY UTILISING information communication technologies (ICT) with very young children in early childhood settings. A debate is raging in the media as to the pros and cons of ‘virtual-electronic’ versus ‘material world’ active learning opportunities. However, when this scenario is played out with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian children, it is even more contentious because the technological changes have resulted in shifting responsibility for teaching and learning of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander songs, dances and cultural heritage to a new physical and social environment which may distance musical development from community life. The rate of social change has been enormous, so in many cases there has not been adequate consultation and negotiation as to how early childhood professionals are to effectively implement the national Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (DEEWR, 2009) with respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music culture. The purpose of this paper is to problematise the increasing distance of musical development away from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and to propose new methods for exploring how digital technologies may be utilised for promoting children's musical development in various contexts. The findings are applied to early childhood practitioner recommendations for future community-led music research.

Prospects of perfection of legal technique in Ukraine

In the article a legal technique is investigated as an important legal category, the necessity of observance of its rules and receptions is determined at development and systematization of normative documents. The authors make an accent on the problems which arise up in the field of legal technique in Ukraine and its tendencies. The issue of legal technique has an important place in the legal science and practice, as the rate of social change in society requires efficiently producing new legal regulations and studying current theoretical and practical issues of its improvement. The purpose of the article. Researching of the value of legal technique as a legal category, determination of the necessity to observe the rules of the legal technique for the developing and systematizing of the legal acts.

Social and Governance Changes: Rate, Principles, and Morals

This paper draws attention to two aspects of change; first, the rate of social change is a source of concern, to this is added that both the configuration of changes and the values dimension, add to those concerns. Change makes it hard to keep up, and is the generator of much stress. We need to apprehend that such a point applies strongly to all enterprises, in particular to governance issues. This article holds that the rate of change is compounded by a constantly changing configuration. To ameliorate those concerns it is held that there needs to be both an expression of agreed basic principles, and recognition that values are one of the most vital parts of that selection. In this the debate and explication of guiding principles, particularly in governance, that is crucial. The main point here is to again emphasise the complexity that results not only from the rate of change but also the configuration and moral values that it constantly tests. It is only by direct consideration that concern over such issues be reduced. It is also held that an explication of basic principles is a significant aid to coping with the source of such stress.

Modeling Livestock's Contribution to the Duration of the Village Farming Lifeway in Pre-State Societies

This study expands previous research by Carol Raish (1992) on duration and stability of village farming societies in which she argued that the presence of domesticated livestock enhances the stability of pre-state farming societies. The study uses methods developed by Lewis Binford in Constructing Frames of Reference (2001) and contributes to the growing modeling literature using environmental frames of reference to understand archaeological sequences. The 16 archaeological sequences in Raish’s study and standardized environmental variables are used to generate regression equations to project duration, while discriminant function equations are used to project presence or absence of domesticated animals for a global dataset of weather station locations. This manuscript explains the modeling strategy, demonstrates the resulting patterns, and discusses this technique’s potential for future research in archaeology. The models developed here attempt to find cross-cultural patterns to determine if rates of social change and subsistence patterns vary with specific environmental properties. The results of the models show that societies with domesticated animals persist longer without developing hierarchies or other signs associated with state-level societies. Additionally, the presence of domesticated animals correlates with decreased secondary biomass, a shorter time between the warmest and wettest months, and shorter distances to the nearest coast.

Impact of Communication Infrastructure Development on Livestock Density and Forage Use under the Transhumance System in Northern Pakistan

Construction of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) connecting Pakistan with China has brought about changes in the economic, social and cultural systems of the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The authors examined the impacts of this development on pasture resource use by comparing a transect of villages connected to the KKH with a transect still relatively remote within the Gilgit–Ghizer region. Patterns of livestock density and forage use were shown to differ between individual villages, but no direct impacts of the KKH communication infrastructure development were found. It is hypothesized that, although regional communication infrastructure changes facilitate many other social changes, their impacts on livestock systems are less direct than is commonly assumed, due to individual differences in rates of social change between villages, leading to a diversity of change within the livestock systems in the region.

Britain as a container: immigration metaphors in the 2005 election campaign

This article explores how metaphors contribute to the formation of legitimacy in right-wing political communication on immigration policy in the 2005 British election campaign. It investigates the role played by metaphors in the formation of right-wing political legitimacy and the differences in how metaphor is used by the far and centre-right. The two main types identified are ‘natural disaster’ metaphors - predominantly relating to fluids - and ‘container’ metaphors concerning a build up of pressure within or outside a container. These two types are related through the notion of a bounded area protecting what is within from external danger. The container metaphor is persuasive in political communication because it merges a fourth dimension of time with spatially based concepts of two or three dimensions. It implies that controlling immigration through maintaining the security of borders (a spatially-based concept) will ensure control over the rate of social change in Britain (a time-based concept). It also heightens emotional fears associated with the penetration of a container.

Policies for an information society

We are undergoing profound technological change and countries all over the world are responding by developing policies that are intended to shape the development of information societies. The goals of these policies are remarkably similar, although it is possible to identify differences in the motivating factors. When considering the mechanisms that have been chosen to achieve the policy goals, it is possible to identify two broadly divergent models. One is based on neo‐liberal economic philosophies and emphasises the importance of market‐led solutions, exploiting private capital. This approach has been adopted by the G7 nations, the European Union and Western‐oriented economies such as Australia. The alternative model can be described as dirigiste. It is based on a much greater degree of intervention and, consequently, places more emphasis on the role of the state as a participant rather than as a facilitator. This approach is characteristic of the economies in East Asia. While it is early yet to identify the effects of the policies, it is possible to discern differences in the rates of social change and economic growth; the degree of stability and social cohesion and in what is becoming known as the cultural ecology of the information society. The broad lesson seems to be that, when dealing with a pervasive social, political, economic and cultural phenomenon, neo‐liberal policy mechanisms with their emphasis on narrow economic solutions are inadequate. The holistic approach that is characterised by the dirigiste model seems more appropriate.

Social Factors in the Personality Disorders

Personality disorders are pathological amplifications of normal personality traits. Although the form of personality pathology largely depends on underlying traits, which are under strong genetic influence, different social structures tend to reinforce some traits and discourage others. The most important social factors in the personality disorders are those risk or protective factors that influence the process by which traits are amplified. Modernity, most particularly an increasing rate of social change, is acting as a major stressor for individuals with many types of personality structure. The mechanisms most probably involve negative effects on family functioning, as well as a diminishing availability of buffering factors in the larger community.

On metrically conservative societies

In this paper, social choice theory is considered from the standpoint of social change. Various metrics (in a discrete setting) are introduced to measure changes in individual and collective preferences, and a society is said to be metrically conservative if social change does not exceed total individual changes. Arrow's IIA Axiom is found to be intimately related to a very restrictive metrical condition called metrical ultraconservatism. Strong characterization theorems are proved for metrically ultraconservative societies. A natural relaxation is the condition of metrical conservatism. We show that metrically conservative societies exist, and the number of possibilities can in fact grow exponentially with the population. But when the metrical condition is placed into the more specific socio-economic context of strict preference orderings, normative restrictions appear. One is the constitutional protection against the election of a dictator; another is the nonexistence of metrically conservative ‘stable matchings’, in the sense of Gale-Shapley. Some similar questions have been raised in continuous social choice theory, but the conclusions are quite different. We also consider the effect of an increasing population on the average rate of social change.

The Socio-Genesis of Psychological Distress in Developing Countries: Industrial Workers in Nigeria

This paper develops a basic causal model describing the effects of factors such as socialisation, rural-urban background, current occupation, perceived job stressors and locus of control as determinants of psychological distress in a sample of Nigerian factory workers. The analysis builds upon major results and theories of causation of psychological distress in African populations experiencing high rates of social change. Findings regarding perceived job stressors are similar to results found in Western samples, but the findings concerning the effects of cognitive attribution tendencies contrast with what is usually found in Western samples The ensuing discussion of the reasons for such differences emphasises basic themes in the sociogenesis of psycho logical distress in an African context.

Some Perceptions of the Implications of High Technology for Minnesota Schools

Advances in technology are accelerating the momentum for change in all sectors of society. There is at present a lag time between the actual development and implementation of new technology and the public consciousness of the issues involved. The rapid rate of social change, however, emphasizes the critical role of the educational system and the need to continually estimate and evaluate direction to best serve the common good. Forty-five influential Minnesota leaders in education, business/industry and government were interviewed on issues related to education and the changing economy.

New directions in the work of educational psychologists: closer involvement with parents∗

The people who are most severely wounded by the current rate of social change and economic depression are those who are striving to raise children. Bronfenbrenner (1979) regrets the unravelling of the social fabric, or the progressive isolation of families, schools, neighbourhoods and communities. Home and school in particular are becoming increasingly segregated, and even antagonistic. Some teachers may now be so uninformed about the problems facing parents that their efforts to help children merely add to stress which parents have to cope with in bringing up their children. Some parents may be so uninformed about teaching methods and curricula at school that their efforts to help their children at home may be counterproductive. This situation can undermine the respect of parents and teachers for the competence of the other. It can also lead to a breakdown in cooperation in helping children with learning problems. In this situation, educational psychologists are extremely important professionals, because they are among the few who have access to children both at home and at school, and because they can offer practical help in either or both contexts. However, if educational psychologists are to succeed in the task of bringing home and school together they will need to face three challenges. These are: 1. to experience the reality of being a parent in the 1980s. 2. to help parents to solve their children's learning problems. 3. to unlock the school system to parents. I shall now examine each of these challenges in turn:

Indicators of social change in rural Sweden in the late nineteenth century

Parish registers offer the student of history a wealth of information about the everyday lives of ordinary people in the past. Historical demographers in particular have made extensive use of these materials, and our understanding of the dynamics of local populations in pre-industrial Europe has increased greatly during the last twenty-five years. In addition to the basic demographic data on marriages, baptisms and burials, however, parish registers commonly contain other information which can shed light on social behaviour. Using the exceptionally rich Swedish records, this paper explores some ways in which material of this kind may be used to assess the extent and rate of social change in particular localities at particular times.

Sudden discontinuities in the rate of social change: a catastrophe model

Politieke wysbegeerte, soos Cassandra, gaan onder die vloek van Apollo gebuk. Omdat ‘sy’ haar durf verset teen die onreg wat mens teenoor mens bedryf, word ‘haar’ waarhede, juis deur diegene wat di...

A Comparative Analysis of the Psychological Consequences of Change

Both social scientists and laymen have defined the present age as one of anxiety, and many have linked that anxiety with rapid change. The present study investigates the relationships between change in individual life circumstances, perceived rate of social change, and anxiety level. These relationships are examined in two samples-one from England and one from the United States. In both societies, there is a positive correlation between both kinds of change and anxiety level, with the perceived rate of social change being more significant as a predictor of anxiety level than change in life circumstances. In both societies, the effects of rate were moderated when the change is defined as desirable. A few differences between the two societies are noted and discussed. In general, however, the data support the notion that a high rate of change generates psychological reactions which require adjustment on the part of individuals, with the reaction moderated when the changes are perceived as desirable.

Arbitrary norms and social change in high- and low-authoritarian societies.

Following Jacobs and Campbell's methodology for replacing confederates and naive subjects over 11 successive generations, this study considered the impact of authoritarianism on the rate of social change of arbitrary norms in laboratory societies. Subjects were 116 college students scoring high and low on the California F scale who participated in an autokinetic experiment either with no confederates (control), confederates who made estimates in a range of 9 to 15 inches (22.86-38.10 cm) (moderately arbitrary), or those who estimated in a range of 15 to 21 inches (38.10--53.34 cm) (extremely arbitrary). Results indicated: (a) High-F societies perpetuated arbitrary norms (both 9-15 and 15-21) for more generations than low-F societies; (b) in low-F societies, the 9-15- and 15-21-inch norms rapidly declined; and (c) in high-F societies, the 15-21-inch norms gradually declined, while the 9-15-inch norm declined very little. Overall, the results suggested that an interaction model would better described social change than do presently existing theories of social change.

Student Participation in Civil Rights Protest: A Multivariate Analysis

Abstract The relative strength of several social background factors, personality attributes, and perceptions of the social environment were tested in predicting self-reported participation in protest activity by college students. The data were obtained from a large random sample of students at Washington State University during the winter of 1969–70. Findings indicate that 20 percent of the sample participated in protest activities, a figure somewhat higher than those reported by surveys taken of universities across the country. Six variables entered the multiple regression equation, accounting for 17 percent of the variance in protest behavior. The six variables, in order of strength of contribution, were perceived injustice in state institutions, frustration in school roles, self-esteem, size of parental community, perception of rate of social change in American society, and perception of local community injustice.