Social Manipulation Research Articles

Trolls, bots and everyone else: the analysis of multilingual social media manipulation campaigns on Twitter during 2019 elections in Ukraine

ABSTRACT Using a mixed-methods approach, we investigate cross-language activities of both automated and nonautomated manipulation agents on Twitter in the run-up to the 2019 presidential elections in Ukraine. We find that in the Russian-language tweets, social media manipulation tactics were employed to a lesser extent compared to the Ukrainian-language tweets, highlighting a strategic use of social media manipulation that varied according to the linguistic context of the targeted audience. Our findings underscore the critical need for cross-language analysis in understanding social media manipulation, especially in multilingual contexts, revealing how manipulation campaigns' intensity and content can vary across languages, differentially affecting audiences.

The travelling and embedding of discourses on quality in early childhood education and care

ABSTRACT The present article is a meta-ethnographic analysis of 15 first-order ethnographic studies with a focus on quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The aim of the study is to investigate how neoliberal policy discourses on quality in early childhood education and care travel between global and local contexts and how they become embedded in local preschool practices. Central concepts in the analysis are institutional strategic responses, social reproduction and change in relation to how neoliberal discourses on quality become embedded in local preschool practices. The findings show how neoliberal policy discourses on quality are transformed and embedded in local preschool practices with different results and responses. The analysis uncovers five strategic, institutional responses: Acquiescence, Avoidance, Manipulation, Compromise, and Defiance. Acquiescence and Avoidance show patterns of social reproduction and Manipulation, Compromise, and Defiance reveals a potential opportunity for social change.

PRISTINA: GLOBAL EXPERTS DISCUSS THE IMPACT OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION ON THE STABILITY OF EUROPE AND THE BALKANS

The report titled “Global Experts Discuss the Impact of Russian Aggression on the Stability of Europe and the Balkans” provides a comprehensive overview of discussions held during an international conference organized by the Institute for Hybrid Warfare Studies “OCTOPUS” in Pristina. The conference gathered prominent experts, diplomats, and scholars to address the wide-ranging geopolitical impacts of Russia's war in Ukraine on both Europe and the Balkans. Key speakers highlighted the evolving threats posed by Russian aggression. Glauk Konjufca underscored the dangerous parallels between Russia’s “Russian world” doctrine and Serbia’s expansionist “Serbian world” ambitions in the Balkans. Dr. Jennifer Cassidy warned of the risk of Serbian military intervention in Kosovo, echoing Russia's tactics in Ukraine. Jason Jay Smart detailed Russia’s global destabilization strategy, including its use of proxy wars and criminal alliances to divert attention from Ukraine. Discussions on hybrid warfare featured Dr. Pekka Kallioniemi, who analyzed Russia’s use of disinformation campaigns and social media manipulation to influence global public opinion and destabilize democracies. Ihor Todorov and Pandeli Majko focused on the rise of nationalism and regional instability, stressing the need for unified European and NATO responses to these growing threats. The report captures the key points of the event, emphasizing the importance of countering Russian influence and strengthening democratic institutions in Europe and the Balkans to preserve stability and security in the face of ongoing aggression.

Design Insights for Developing Deepfakes Awareness Games for Adolescents

Around a decade ago, significant advancements in the deep learning domain like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) started to facilitate the creation of new synthetical content. The development of deepfake algorithms gained momentum due to the increase in computing power and open-source available resources which facilitated broader access to advanced deep learning methods. While initially deepfakes were created by creative pursuits in various media and marketing campaigns, they started to be misused driven by malicious purposes in various social media manipulation campaigns. These campaigns imply spreading disinformation and misinformation for discrediting individuals and creating confusion in relation to specific topics and events and are meant to altering users’ beliefs and behaviours. Such facts raised important ethical and societal concerns. Although deepfakes still represent a recent research area, a large body of studies is dedicated to, on the one hand, generation, and detection of deepfakes, and on the other hand, to understanding their implications and consequences for society. At the same time, governmental and practitioner efforts are devoted to containing their use and impact on society by proposing various strategies and programs. Nevertheless, both academic and societal efforts are in an incipient stage and often adopt a generalist perspective. This represents a crucial point in relation to the fact that many users in various social media platforms like TikTok is represented by adolescents that are known to be unaware and more vulnerable to media content in general, and deepfakes content, in particular. This represents the knowledge gap that this research aims to tackle by synthesizing design insights as requirements and guidelines that can be used when developing and deploying deepfakes awareness games for producing and/or enhancing awareness of adolescents. Accordingly, a systematic literature review is conducted and merged with previous experience in this domain by adopting a transdisciplinary research approach that merges methods and techniques from the deepfakes, AI, social media, cyber security, and gamification domains.

The Influence of Extraversion Personality, Peer Conformity, and School Climate on Relational Bullying in Boarding School Students

Relational bullying is a form of indirect bullying that often occurs in schools, involving acts of exclusion, neglect, spreading negative rumors, gossip, and social manipulation. This research aims to develop a theoretical model of relational bullying and determine the influence of extraversion personality, peer conformity, and school climate on it in boarding students. This research uses a quantitative approach. The study involved 210 madrasah tsanawiyah students boarding at Makrifatul Ilmi and Al Quraniyah Islamic boarding schools in South Bengkulu Regency. The results showed that theoretical models of influence can influence relational bullying among students. The R square value was 0.68, indicating that personality variables extraversion, peer conformity, and school climate can explain relational bullying by 68%. Extraverted personality had a positive effect on relational bullying, peer conformity had a positive effect, and school climate had a positive effect. This research contributes to the development of a more specific relational bullying theory model in psychology and suggests a holistic approach that includes guidance and counseling for teachers, collaboration between parents and the school, socialization and education for interventions to overcome relational bullying behavior.

Heterogeneous Group Consensus Method With Three-Way Decisions Based on Fuzzy Social Networks and Manipulation Behaviors Under Multiscale Information Systems

Heterogeneous Group Consensus Method With Three-Way Decisions Based on Fuzzy Social Networks and Manipulation Behaviors Under Multiscale Information Systems

Early morning hour and evening usage habits increase misinformation-spread

Social media manipulation poses a significant threat to cognitive autonomy and unbiased opinion formation. Prior literature explored the relationship between online activity and emotional state, cognitive resources, sunlight and weather. However, a limited understanding exists regarding the role of time of day in content spread and the impact of user activity patterns on susceptibility to mis- and disinformation. This work uncovers a strong correlation between user activity time patterns and the tendency to spread potentially disinformative content. Through quantitative analysis of Twitter (now X) data, we examine how user activity throughout the day aligns with diurnal behavioural archetypes. Evening types exhibit a significantly higher inclination towards spreading potentially disinformative content, which is more likely at night-time. This knowledge can become crucial for developing targeted interventions and strategies that mitigate misinformation spread by addressing vulnerable periods and user groups more susceptible to manipulation.

A cue reactivity experiment: Exposure to images of alcoholic beverages and social contexts on alcohol cravings, motivations, attitudes, approval, and behavior

The incentive-sensitization theory of addiction postulates that relevant cues can trigger alcohol cravings, tendencies, and related outcomes. Additionally, consistent with the encoding specificity principle and social impact theory, social contexts depicting people can activate pro-alcohol reactions and tendencies. This randomized experiment tested the cue reactivity effects of exposure to images depicting variations in the number of people consuming alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages on alcohol-related cravings and outcomes. The sample consisted of 594 adult alcohol users who passed manipulation checks. Participants were randomly assigned to a condition in a 2 (beverage type cue manipulation: alcoholic vs. nonalcoholic) × 3 (social context cue manipulation: beverage-only [no people] vs. solitary drinking [1 person] vs. social drinking [2 or more people]) factorial design and primed with a series of photographs. Dependent variables measured alcohol cravings, alcohol motives, alcohol attitudes, alcohol approval, and alcohol behavior. Factorial MANCOVA and ANCOVAs were performed. Main effects for the social context manipulation were found. Specifically, the social drinking condition compared to the beverage-only condition induced significantly higher pro-alcohol cravings, attitudes, and behaviors. The beverage type manipulation did not influence the dependent variables. The findings offer insights that visual cues depicting social drinking scenarios activated alcohol-related cravings and outcomes, regardless of whether the beverages shown were alcoholic or nonalcoholic. This priming experiment helps to understand the social mechanisms underlying cue reactivity and offers implications for advancing cue-based alcohol interventions.

Mob Lynching and Vigilantism in India: Analyzing Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Lynching in the US, especially after Reconstruction, symbolises racial injustice and white domination. Lynching was not limited to African Americans, although they were disproportionately targeted. Lynching began as frontier justice during the Revolutionary War but became a tool of racial terror and social manipulation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In lynching analysis, the "frustration-aggression" hypothesis suggests that economic hardship, demographic shifts, and political discontent may exacerbate mob violence. When people or organisations are irritated by perceived threats to their social or economic status, they may behave aggressively, including lynching. The term "lynching" comes from Revolutionary War Virginia colonel Charles Lynch. Lynch and other local landowners created an informal court system to combat governmental power breakdown and protect their communities from theft and other crimes. Under "Lynch's law," criminals were captured, prosecuted, and punished without due process. Lynch's law expanded to include other forms of extrajudicial vengeance in the US. Vigilance committees, popular in areas without strong law enforcement, sought to quickly impose extralegal vengeance.

SEMANTIC SPACE OF THE UNIVERSAL MORAL AND ETHICAL CONCEPT ЖАЛІСТЬ/SYMPATHY

The paper deals with the study of the concept ЖАЛІСТЬ/SYMPATHY in Ukrainian and English languages which can be considered rather relevant for the present-day political, economic, social and educational situation in Ukraine because it is the universal, moral and ethical emotion concept which is utilised as the element of war professional propaganda via specific formats and technologies to deliver social and political impact and manipulation on the existing system of social and political views and outlooks. The concept was selected as the basic unit for the analysis because it is defined as the operational memory unit, the mental entity, the result of knowledge objectivisation. Moreover, as the concept functioning relates to specific national context and particular conditions of society existence, it can express its semantic potential and adapt it in accordance with the existing value priorities at a particular stage of society development and cause purposeful influence or even manipulation on its members. The comparison of the semantic spaces of the universal moral and ethical concept ЖАЛІСТЬ/SYMPATHY in Ukrainian and English languages has revealed the fact that this mental unit is determined as important in moral and ethical paradigms in the both languages because it it is stipulated for the basic human antithesis "good/evil". In Ukrainian it relates, to more extent, to emotional feature of moral, ethical value of both humans and any living creatures implying the desire to introduce not only love, pity, weal for others and even an element of empathy. In English it also expresses spontaneous irrational emotional response to any misfortune or disaster, but, at the same time, implies the pragmatic decision-making to render some practical assistance. The results of the study can be used for teaching semiotics, cognitive linguistics or PR technologies.

Independent effects of transcranial direct current stimulation and social influence on pain.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive neuromodulatory technique with the potential to provide pain relief. However, tDCS effects on pain are variable across existing studies, possibly related to differences in stimulation protocols and expectancy effects. We investigated the independent and joint effects of contralateral motor cortex tDCS (anodal vs cathodal) and socially induced expectations (analgesia vs hyperalgesia) about tDCS on thermal pain. We employed a double-blind, randomized 2 × 2 factorial cross-over design, with 5 sessions per participant on separate days. After calibration in Session 1, Sessions 2 to 5 crossed anodal or cathodal tDCS (20 minutes 2 mA) with socially induced analgesic or hyperalgesic expectations, with 6 to 7 days between the sessions. The social manipulation involved videos of previous "participants" (confederates) describing tDCS as inducing a low-pain state ("analgesic expectancy") or hypersensitivity to sensation ("hyperalgesic expectancy"). Anodal tDCS reduced pain compared with cathodal stimulation (F(1,19.9) = 19.53, P < 0.001, Cohen d = 0.86) and analgesic expectancy reduced pain compared with hyperalgesic expectancy (F(1,19.8) = 5.62, P = 0.027, Cohen d = 0.56). There was no significant interaction between tDCS and social expectations. Effects of social suggestions were related to expectations, whereas tDCS effects were unrelated to expectancies. The observed additive effects provide novel evidence that tDCS and socially induced expectations operate through independent processes. They extend clinical tDCS studies by showing tDCS effects on controlled nociceptive pain independent of expectancy effects. In addition, they show that social suggestions about neurostimulation effects can elicit potent placebo effects.

Does empathy promote helping by activating altruistic motivation or concern about social evaluation? A direct replication of Fultz et al. (1986).

When people experience empathy for a needy stranger, efforts to help are often not far behind. But does empathy actually cause prosocial behavior? And if so, does it activate genuine concern or more self-interested motivations? To rule out the alternative hypothesis that empathy motivates prosocial behavior by generating fear of social disapproval for acting selfishly, Fultz et al. (1986) manipulated empathy for a lonely stranger using perspective-taking instructions; they also manipulated whether subjects believed their decision to help would remain anonymous. However, Fultz et al. conducted their experiment decades ago, with few subjects, and before some potentially important cultural changes in college students' values and social lives. Here, in a preregistered replication with 280 undergraduates, we tested Fultz et al.'s key assertions. The perspective-taking and social evaluation manipulations influenced scores on the manipulation check measures mostly in theory-consistent ways but did not significantly influence helping. Consistent with theory, empathy was positively associated with prosocial behavior. We also found evidence that endorsement of the principle of care reflects genuine concern for needy strangers and that moral identity symbolization reflects a desire to help in order to avoid social disapproval. We consider these results a partially successful replication of key tenets of the empathy-altruism hypothesis, though questions remain about the conditions under which perspective-taking promotes prosocial behavior and about the generalizability of our findings to populations beyond undergraduate women circa 1986. Our results also help illuminate the motivational underpinnings of two individual differences that predicted prosocial behavior in previous research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Effectiveness and context dependency of social norm interventions: five field experiments on nudging pro-environmental and pro-social behavior.

Social norm interventions hold the potential to change people's behavior. Five field experiments (N = 1,163) examined the effects of a simple and easily realizable social norm nudge based on the social media format "Be like Bill." The nudge consisted of a stick figure named Toni that communicated descriptive and injunctive norms regarding pro-environmental or pro-social behaviors. Nudge conditions were compared to no-intervention control conditions. Experiment 1 (N = 179) focused on paper towel consumption in a women's restroom at a German university. The nudge condition used less paper towels than the control condition, d = 0.48. Experiment 2 (N = 183) replicated this result (d = 0.32) in a more diverse setting of a women's restroom at a German Christmas market. Experiment 3 (N = 250) examined differences in the effects of prescriptive (i.e., 'do-norm') versus proscriptive (i.e., 'do not-norm') social norms on paper towel consumption again in a university women's restroom. The effectiveness of both social norm nudge conditions was shown in comparison to the control condition (d = 0.46; d = 0.40), while the prescriptive and proscriptive social norm manipulations did not differ. Experiment 4 (N = 206) applied the nudging approach to the use of plastic lids in a coffee shop, where no effect was found. Finally, Experiment 5 (N = 345) focused on the pro-social behavior of mask wearing in a bakery toward the end of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions in Germany. In the nudge condition, more visitors put on face masks compared to the control group, d = 0.39. Limitations and contextual factors regarding the applicability of our social norm nudge are discussed.

Correlation Analysis of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Behavior with Childhood Abuse, Peer Victimization, and Psychological Resilience in Adolescents with Depression.

In recent years, the number of adolescents with depression has been increasing annually, with individuals often exhibiting non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behavior. The purpose of this study is to investigate the family (childhood abuse), school (peer victimization), and individual (psychological resilience) factors of adolescents with depression with or without NSSI (the Chinese version of the Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation [C-FASM] scale), and to analyze the correlation between the above psychological and social factors and the frequency of NSSI, to provide a basis for NSSI prevention and intervention in adolescents with depression. We recruited 355 adolescents with depressive symptoms to participate in this study and divided them into Group NSSI (N = 227) and Group no-NSSI (n-NSSI) (N = 128) based on the C-FASM scale. The Short-Form Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), Multidimensional Peer Visualization Scale (MPVS), and Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents (RISC) scores were compared between two groups of adolescents. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between NSSI frequency and the above scores. Emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, and total CTQ-SF score in Group NSSI were significantly higher than those in Group n-NSSI (all p < 0.001). Physical victimization, verbal victimization, social manipulation, attacks on property, and total MPVS score in Group NSSI were significantly higher than those in Group n-NSSI (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.009, p < 0.001, p < 0.001). Goal concentration, emotion regulation, positive perception, family support, interpersonal assistance, and total RISC score in Group NSSI were significantly lower than those in Group n-NSSI (all p < 0.001). The frequency of NSSI was significantly positively correlated with emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, and total CTQ-SF score (r = 0.366, p < 0.001; r = 0.411, p < 0.001; r = 0.554, p < 0.001; r = 0.220, p = 0.001; r = 0.255, p < 0.001; r = 0.673, p < 0.001). The frequency of NSSI was significantly positively correlated with physical victimization, verbal victimization, social manipulation, attacks on property, and total MPVS score (r = 0.418, p < 0.001; r = 0.455, p < 0.001; r = 0.447, p < 0.001; r = 0.555, p = 0.001; r = 0.704, p < 0.001). The frequency of NSSI was significantly negatively correlated with goal concentration, emotion regulation, positive perception, family support, interpersonal assistance, and total RISC score (r = -0.393, p < 0.001; r = -0.341, p < 0.001; r = -0.465, p < 0.001; r = -0.272, p = 0.001; r = -0.160, p = 0.016; r = -0.540, p < 0.001). Our findings highlight the importance of family (childhood abuse), school (peer victimization), and individual (psychological resilience) factors for NSSI in depressed adolescents, and these factors are closely related to NSSI frequency. Maintaining a good family environment, solving the problem of peer victimization at school, and developing corresponding measures to improve psychological resilience are of great significance for improving the mental health of depressed adolescents and reducing the risk of NSSI.

Forms of Face-to-Face Victimization as Significant Correlates of General Online Victimization and Sexual Online Victimization.

Research has shown that face-to-face victimization is a risk factor for the online victimization of adolescents, but no prior study has examined and compared four forms of face-to-face victimization (physical victimization, verbal victimization, social manipulation, and attacks on property) as significant correlates of general online victimization and sexual online victimization among adolescents. This original study involved 794 adolescents (483 males and 311 females), aged 12 to 18 years (M = 14.49, SD = 1.90) from four middle schools in Hong Kong. The participants completed a self-report questionnaire consisting of three parts: the Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale, the Online Victimization Scale, and demographic items. Verbal victimization and social manipulation were found to be significant correlates of general online victimization; in contrast, physical victimization and attacks on property were significant correlates of sexual online victimization. These findings may help professionals and educators to develop effective prevention and intervention strategies for preventing the cycle of victimization between physical and online platforms as well as reducing the suicide risk and crises among at-risk victimized adolescents.

Artificial intelligence in textile design: a mini review

This paper explores the evolving relationship between humans and technology, particularly focusing on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into daily life and its implications for human creativity. It discusses the challenges posed by sedentary lifestyles resulting from the automation of physical tasks and emphasizes the importance of maintaining reasoning abilities amidst technological advancements. Categorizing AI into machines that mimic human thought processes and those that operate rationally, the study examines the potential impact of AI on creativity and decision-making. The text highlights the increasing use of AI in wearable technology and textile design, pointing out the shift towards garments capable of autonomous decision-making. However, it raises concerns about the potential consequences of overreliance on AI, including loss of human reasoning abilities and ethical implications such as social manipulation and invasion of privacy. Drawing from various scholarly perspectives, the paper discusses the potential risks and benefits of AI, including its role in augmenting human creativity. While some researchers argue that AI can enhance creativity by providing innovative tools and workflows, others caution against the homogenization of designs and the need for regulatory frameworks to ensure responsible AI use. Ultimately, the paper concludes that AI should be viewed as a tool to augment human creativity rather than replace it entirely. It advocates for collaborative approaches where AI assists human designers in exploring new creative possibilities while upholding ethical standards and individual expression.

An Analysis of George Orwell 's Animal Farm with Discourse Coherence Theory

Animal Farm is a political allegory that reflects the social and political issues of the Soviet Union under Stalin's regime. The narrative provides an insightful critique of the corruption and abuse of power that occurred during the communist regime. It highlights the process of social control and manipulation, the importance of language and discourse, and the effects of propaganda. The discourse coherence theory aims to explain the factors contributing to the coherence and coherence problems in texts. The theory suggests that coherence is achieved through the connections between linguistic elements, world knowledge, and situational and contextual factors. An analysis of Animal Farm from the perspective of discourse coherence theory could reveal how the language and discourse used in the narrative contribute to the coherence and the ways in which coherence is disrupted. Therefore, Animal Farm could be a suitable text for studying discourse coherence theory due to its complex narrative structure and the use of language and discourse to convey political messages.

The Pervasive Threat of Fake News and Disinformation in the Digital Age: Challenges and Solutions

In the dynamic landscape of the digital age, the proliferation of fake news and disinformation has emerged as a critical concern, casting a shadow over the foundations of public opinion and eroding trust in journalism. This short communication explores the intricate role that media plays in the dissemination of fake news, highlighting the far-reaching consequences on public perception and the integrity of journalistic practices. It delves into the definition and mechanisms of fake news, examining its propagation through social media algorithms, echo chambers, rapid dissemination, and manipulation tactics. The paper also discusses the role of both traditional media and online platforms in amplifying fake news and analyzes its consequences on public opinion, democracy, and public health. Furthermore, it explores challenges in countering fake news, including the volume and speed of information, evolving tactics of disinformation, algorithmic challenges, and ethical considerations in content moderation. Finally, the paper presents solutions and recommendations to mitigate the impact of fake news, including enhancing media literacy, promoting responsible journalism practices, implementing effective fact-checking mechanisms, leveraging technology, and advocating for regulatory measures. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of collaborative efforts across sectors to address the challenges posed by fake news and disinformation in the digital era.

Youth and COVID-19 immunization: navigating the nexus of individualism and mistrust

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to comprehensively examine the diverse discourses among unvaccinated young individuals against COVID-19 in the region of Madrid. Our aim is to gain insights into the motivations and underlying rationales they articulate to justify their decision to remain unvaccinated. To achieve this, we employ a methodological triangulation approach, encompassing in-depth interviews, urban space ethnography, and a social network analysis with a specific focus on Telegram groups. The qualitative data collected is subsequently analyzed using a combination of Grounded Theory procedures and critical discourse analysis. Ultimately, our findings reveal three fundamental discursive dimensions. These encompass the assertion of the right to individual autonomy, perceptions of social and political manipulation, and skepticism towards vaccines rooted in scientific skepticism.

Social complexity affects cognitive abilities but not brain structure in a Poeciliid fish.

Some cognitive abilities are suggested to be the result of a complex social life, allowing individuals to achieve higher fitness through advanced strategies. However, most evidence is correlative. Here, we provide an experimental investigation of how group size and composition affect brain and cognitive development in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). For 6 months, we reared sexually mature females in one of 3 social treatments: a small conspecific group of 3 guppies, a large heterospecific group of 3 guppies and 3 splash tetras (Copella arnoldi)-a species that co-occurs with the guppy in the wild, and a large conspecific group of 6 guppies. We then tested the guppies' performance in self-control (inhibitory control), operant conditioning (associative learning), and cognitive flexibility (reversal learning) tasks. Using X-ray imaging, we measured their brain size and major brain regions. Larger groups of 6 individuals, both conspecific and heterospecific groups, showed better cognitive flexibility than smaller groups but no difference in self-control and operant conditioning tests. Interestingly, while social manipulation had no significant effect on brain morphology, relatively larger telencephalons were associated with better cognitive flexibility. This suggests alternative mechanisms beyond brain region size enabled greater cognitive flexibility in individuals from larger groups. Although there is no clear evidence for the impact on brain morphology, our research shows that living in larger social groups can enhance cognitive flexibility. This indicates that the social environment plays a role in the cognitive development of guppies.