Social Mood Research Articles

COMPETITIVENESS OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS: THEORETICAL VIEWS AND APPLICATION VALUE

Among the works of domestic researchers, issues related to the assessment of the competitiveness of a particular type of goods or services are often raised, but specialized studies devoted specifically to the competitiveness of organic matter are practically absent among scientific interests. This is due to the novelty of this type of goods for the Russian consumer, an ambiguous understanding of the essence of "organic matter", difficulty in perceiving the price and quality characteristics of this product. This is also explained by the immaturity of the market itself, which is still in its infancy due to an undeveloped legisla-tive base, the lack of clear legislative and regulatory framework, and difficulties associated with bureau-cratic procedures. In the classical domestic understanding, the level of competitiveness is determined by the ability of a product to meet the requirements of the target audience, therefore, it is possible to analyze the competitiveness of products by comparing indicators of one product with indicators of other similar products, determining thereby how well one product or another is able to meet consumer needs. The competitiveness of a product is shaped by the influence of factors creating certain superiority over direct competitors, and an assessment of the level of competitiveness of environmentally friendly products will determine the future development of the organic market in the region, which contributes to the improve-ment of social well-being and consumer mood. The level of competitiveness of environmentally friendly products, due to the small number of manufacturers operating in the domestic market, can be based on an assessment of qualitative socio-demographic indicators. Therefore, methods for determining the level of competitiveness of environmentally friendly products should include an assessment of this product direct-ly from the perspective of final users, and, moreover, it will be of a subjective nature, which is associated with high individualization of organic product consumption.

The testosterone paradox: how sex hormones shape the academic mind

In my work I argue that sexual differences in the brain seem to shape the ideological gulf between the respective social groups each side represents. And most significantly, it is the male sex hormone testosterone that is the primary hormone affecting our sexual evolution. Not only does testosterone fuel the passion for reproduction and play a critical role in the length of human lives, it is an integral component to the mechanism of human civilization—its triumphs and its tragedies. In order to understand the forces that drive the life cycles of human cultures and form the engine of history, it is important to look at the most fundamental building blocks of human neuroscience. Our hormones are the impetus for our history. Hormones regulate and control the way the human mind perceives the world and forms social organizations and political order accordingly. Hormones drive waves of social mood, shaping the evolution of our social life, the fluctuations of religious doctrines, cultural crusades, and sexual norms.

The review of one country two systems of Hong Kong over two decades from the perspective of social development

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the development of one country two systems of Hong Kong over two decades and examine its challenges and prospect. One country two systems is pragmatic and compromise principle and social arrangement for Hong Kong under China sovereignty. It has served to resolve some issues related to the future of Hong Kong after the end of British Colonial rule since July 1, 1997. There are lessons to be learnt as the merits and flaws of the system have been identified in the study as perceived from the perspective of social development.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on quantitative methodology. Data of public opinion polls conducted by various local universities on the development of one country two systems of Hong Kong have been employed in the study. Based on the data obtained from the relevant survey, different aspects of social development of Hong Kong under one country two systems has been examined and explored. Data are current and up-to-date to reflect the social mood of Hong Kong people toward one country two systems over the years.FindingsThe challenges and prospect of one country two systems of Hong Kong over two decades since the change of sovereignty have been identified in this paper. Hong Kong has remained the moist free market and the third financial center in the world. However, the high degree of self-autonomy as stipulated in the Basic Law has been fading way. There is social discontent of Hong Kong people on social and political grounds and there are high sense of mistrust to both Hong Kong SAR (HKSAR) government and the Central government in Beijing. This will provide a guideline to the government for improving the situation.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on data obtained from various public opinion conducted by several local university on the development of one country two systems and how Hong Kong people feel about it. The data are current and up-to-date. However, there will be variation of findings as social mood and perception of Hong Kong people toward one country two systems may change due to the changes of social and political events. With these limitations, one needs to be careful while drawing the conclusion. Yet, the over trend of social development of Hong Kong can be seen.Practical implicationsThe study will provide an overall view and assessment of one country two systems of Hong Kong over two decades after the change of sovereignty since July 1, 1997. The findings and discussion of social mobility, quality of life, income disparity, social and political movement and ethnic identity and its changes in recent years of people in Hong Kong are rather revealing. It will provide a reality check and yardstick for people who are concerned about Hong Kong society and its people under China sovereignty.Social implicationsThe study and its findings will provide a useful guideline for people who are concerned about how Hong Kong people live under China sovereignty. Hong Kong to most of Hong Kong people is on longer a borrow place living under the borrowed time. The former British Colonial rule has been replaced by HKSAR government rule under China sovereignty. There is a high degree of mistrust toward both HKSAR government and the Central government in Beijing. People in Hong Kong keep fighting for democracy and high degree of self-autonomy. Hence, Hong Kong is still a free and open society under China sovereignty.Originality/valueThe paper contributes an original study on the development of one country two systems of Hong Kong under China sovereignty as perceived from the perspective of social development. There are important findings on social mobility, income disparity and issues of ethnic identity of Hong Kong people. The lessons of Hong Kong will provide an interesting case for people who care concerned about how people living in a former British colony has transformed the society into a thriving civil society under China sovereignty.

Euroscepticism legitimation in the European Union as a modern trend

European Union was defined as an association of welfare and prosperity. It had to be an example of democracy, economical security and stability. States had to work for common good. These standards have changed with the expansion of the EU to the East. The EU has many obstacles that influence its development and raise a question of the expediency of the EU’s further functioning in the existing format. There are a lot of problems without any instruments to solve in the EU. All these factors led to the emergence of the Euro-skepticism ideology.The main aim of this article is to determine the reasons of the Eurosceptics popularity in the European Union. In addition, we need to analyze the perspectives of the Eurosceptics development in Europe and their ability to influence the EU’s institutes and the global changes in the EU. Euroscepticism continues to be actively discussed in a scientific and expert environment. This statement has a variety of meaning and senses. It can be rejection of any EU-program or initiative within the association.So, Euroscepticism researching nowadays is a very actual question.The EP elections will be like a cut in social mood in Europe. They can show us a real ideological portrait of the modern European agenda. Moreover, we should not exaggerate or underestimate the role of Eurosceptics. Eurosceptics can influence only some spheres We can conclude that the situation will not undergo radical changes. The main task for the EU leaders is to hear the Eurosceptics and to understand, that they try to attract the attention to the real problem.

ПАНТЕЛЕЙМОН КУЛІШ І «ЄВРЕЙСЬКЕ ПИТАННЯ» В СЕРЕДИНІ ХІХ СТ.

The author attempts to analyze the views of Panteleimon Kulish on the history, culture and everyday life of Jews who lived along with Ukrainians in the Ukrainian provinces of the Russian Empire, to determine what factors and stereotypes formed the outlook of the great writer and his attitude to the Russian imperial project of resolving the "Jewish question". With the growing of Russian imperial messianism and chauvinism, Ukrainian intellectuals appeared in a difficult situation. The tsar held assimilation policies towards both Jews and Ukrainians. At the same time, Jews additionallly suffered from manifestations of state anti-Semitism. Engagement of Ukrainian Christians in anti-Semitic actions has intensified the position of Russifikators of Ukrainian lands. The Ukrainian elite aimed to stop these manifestations of anti-Semitism by its actions. Obviously, the Ukrainian protest did not condemn anti-Semitism without reservations, because its authors suggested that Jews should partly share responsibility for anti-Semitism. The idea of protesting Ukrainian intellectuals coincided with ideas of Russian liberals who offered to consider Russian Jews as carriers of "civil autonomy and moral independence," and urged them to abandon their national-religious prejudices. While supporting the civil rights of Jews, Kulish at the same time realized that the Ukrainians themselves belonged to the oppressed nations in the Russian Empire, where, in general, social and national rights and freedoms were much less than in the constitutional states of Western Europe. Therefore, he found it impractical to move from there to Russian blindly a practice of artificial support for only Jewish nationality, because in imperial terms this meant only a change in the configuration of national unequal, and not the elimination of it at all. P. Kulish's views on the "Jewish question" of the mid-nineteenth century corresponded to the conceptions of Russian liberal intellectuals regarding the modernization of Russian society. He supports the proclaimed liberal ideas of the need to integrate Jews into imperial life. Jews must be the most interested in destroying of the traditional world of the Jewish town. Giving the Jews of secular education, adopting by them the modern values could lead to the elimination of intolerance and manifestations of anti-Semitism in the society. The Jews himself, according to P. Kulish had to go towards society and change their social mood.

The Effect of Economic Factors on Performance of the Stock Market in the Czech Republic

History has shown that the stock prices and other financial assets are important aspects of the dynamics of economic activity. Stock prices can be an indicator of social mood and are used as a leading factor in the economic activity and financial stability. This paper investigates the relationship between selected macroeconomic and microeconomic factors and stock prices of companies listed on the Prague Stock Exchange. The portfolio theory and Capital Asset Pricing Model for specification of stock market are used. Johansen and Juselius (1990) and Hansen (1982) approaches are applied to test for causal relationship. In addition, the Vector error correction model for equilibration of a potential long‑run relationship between variables is used. Selected macroeconomic and microeconomic factors provide a statistically significant relationship on stock prices during the observed period from 2006 to 2016. However, the results differ substantially among the sectors of economic activity, the industrial production, the gros domestic product and profitability ratios in particular, can explain a long‑run behavior of stock prices.

O "Polskiej pieśni niepodległej" Jana Lorentowicza

The paper presents the work of Jan Lorentowicz Polska pieśń niepodległa, published before Poland regained its independence (fragments published in 1915/1916 (no. 1–2), a separate publication of the whole – 1917). This work is among those texts written by Lorentowicz which have been forgotten. Nevertheless, it is the evidence of the critic’s erudition, literateness and passion for patriotic poetry, as well as a depiction of social mood during the Great War. According to Lorentowicz, an independence song is inspired by collective experiences – of servitude, conspiracy and national liberation uprisings – shared by subsequent generations of Polish poets and poetry readers. It is a testimony of an ‘irrepressible’ Polish spirit, the faith of the nation in regaining independence and existing against all odds; it is also a record of its fight and martyrdom.

The association between psychosocial factors and change in lifestyle behaviour following lifestyle advice and information about cardiovascular disease risk

BackgroundPhysical activity (PA) and fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) are two key modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Achieving change in these behaviours is challenging and affected by many variables including psychosocial factors. We aimed to investigate the association between social support, stress and mood, and change in PA and FVI following provision of CVD risk information and web-based lifestyle advice.MethodsSeven hundred sixteen blood donors (56% male; mean age 57 years) from the intervention arms of the Information and Risk Modification (INFORM) trial, a randomised controlled trial to assess the impact of providing CVD risk and web-based lifestyle information, were analysed as a prospective cohort. We used linear and logistic regression analyses to quantify the association between social support, stress and mood at baseline and behaviour change following the intervention. We modelled objective (average acceleration measured by Axivity AX3 wrist-worn accelerometers and plasma carotenoid levels) and subjective (self-reported recreational PA and FVI) outcomes as change between baseline and 12 weeks follow-up.ResultsThere was no clear association between social support and change in objective or subjective PA. Higher levels of stress and, to a lesser extent, depression symptoms were associated with smaller improvement in self-reported PA (β -1.53 h/week vigorous PA, 95% confidence interval (CI) -2.30 to -0.75, p < 0.001 for stress; β -1.64 h/week, 95% CI -3.50 to 0.21, p = 0.082 for little interest). Higher social support was associated with greater odds and higher stress was associated with lower odds of increasing self-reported FVI to five portions per day (odds ratio (OR) 1.33, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.69, p = 0.020 for social support; OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.76, p < 0.001 for stress). The associations between psychosocial factors and objective FVI were not statistically significant.ConclusionsHigh stress and low mood may reduce the likelihood and extent of reported change in PA and FVI following CVD risk information and advice. Greater social support may be associated with increased FVI. The role of psychosocial factors should be considered when developing, tailoring and evaluating future interventions.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN17721237. Registered 12 January 2015.

From ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ to ‘Ukonhauta’ in Nokialand: a socionomic perspective on the mood shift in Finland's popular music from 2006 to 2009

AbstractSocial mood in Finland shifted from generally positive in the spring of 2006 to generally negative by the spring of 2009. We identify this change in mood via eight indicators, including the onset of a financial and macroeconomic crisis, a decline in measures of sentiment, a rise in radical politics and the demise of an iconic business unit of one of the country's most successful firms. From the standpoint of Prechter's socionomic theory we hypothesise that this change in social mood is also evident in a greater level of pessimism in the songs on the country's pop chart in 2009 relative to 2006. To test this hypothesis, we introduce and validate a tool to measure optimism and pessimism in popular music. We apply this tool to a random sample of songs from the Finnish pop chart from 2006 and a comparable sample from 2009. Indeed, we find that the sample from 2009 in the aggregate is substantially and significantly more pessimistic than the sample from 2006. The study serves to enrich our understanding of what makes pop songs popular and how popular music is linked psychologically to broader popular culture and other domains of social expression through a shared social mood.

Identifying network structure, influencers and social mood in digital spheres: A sentiment and content analysis of down syndrome awareness

Down syndrome is a sensitive subject and one that requires efforts being made to improve conditions for individuals with Down syndrome across multiple dimensions. Social awareness is one of the important dimensions for the inclusion of individuals with Down syndrome. Online spaces, as well as offline spaces, are an important part of our daily lives and these spaces provide numerous opportunities to create, increase and sustain awareness of Down syndrome. From this perspective, this study examines the awareness of Down syndrome in online spaces. With this objective in mind, the research examined 4168 conversations from 2430 individuals that were posted in a microblogging service on World Down Syndrome Day. The research findings indicate that the Down syndrome network is distributed in time and space with diverse backgrounds. Key influencers were those who were already associated with Down syndrome. Furthermore, the social mood for Down syndrome was found to be positive.

28pAD-2 ソーシャルメディアにおける大衆感情の定量的観測(28pAD 経済物理学,領域11(物性基礎論・統計力学・流体物理・応用数学・社会経済物理))

28pAD-2 ソーシャルメディアにおける大衆感情の定量的観測(28pAD 経済物理学,領域11(物性基礎論・統計力学・流体物理・応用数学・社会経済物理))

Identifying network structure, influencers and social mood in digital spheres: A sentiment and content analysis of down syndrome awareness

AbstractDown syndrome is a sensitive subject and one that requires efforts being made to improve conditions of individuals with Down syndrome across multiple dimensions. Social awareness is one of the important dimensions for the inclusion of individuals with Down syndrome. Online spaces as well as offline spaces are an important part of our daily lives, and these spaces provide numerous opportunities to create, increase and sustain awareness of Down syndrome. From this perspective, this study examines the awareness of Down syndrome in online spaces. With this objective in mind, the research examined 4,168 conversations from 2,430 individuals that were posted in a microblogging service on WDSD. The research findings indicate that the Down syndrome network is distributed in time and space with diverse backgrounds. Key influencers were those who were already associated with Down syndrome. Furthermore, the social mood for Down syndrome was found to be positive.Keywords: Down syndrome, World Down Syndrome Day, Down syndrome awareness, social network analysis, sentiment analysis.*

Social well-being of regional community in a crisis

The article is devoted to a problem of modern society’s adaptation to crisis reality. As the main indicator reflecting the level of adaptation processes the category “social well-being” is used. On the basis of monitoring of the public opinion which is carried out The Institute of Socio-Economic Development of Territories of RAS (ISEDT RAS) since 1996 in the territory of the Vologda region change of social well-being of inhabitants in the region for the 2000th is analyzed. The main attention is paid to the crisis periods — 2008–2009 and also 2014–2016. It is revealed that the crisis of 2014–2016 hasn’t caused a sharp deterioration in an emotional background and mental health, as in 2008–2009 what positive dynamics in reduction of people’s share with displays of mental disorders in the form of alarm, depression, and neurosis testifies to; improvement of social mood, etc. At the same time adaptation processes differently proceeded among separate social and demographic groups, first of all depending on their welfare. A conclusion that modern specifics of society’s adaptation to the crisis phenomena is the accustoming of the population to an unsatisfactory situation because of the duration of problems social and economic character which is followed by growth at people of uncertainty in the future, a habit to live for “today”.

Data-driven Social Mood Analysis through the Conceptualization of Emotional Fingerprints

A body of knowledge shows the emerging of evidence according to a better account for the emotional spectrum is achievable by employing a complete selection of emotion keywords. Basic emotions, such as Ekman’s ones, cannot be considered universal, but are related to with implicit thematic affairs within the corpus under analysis. The paper tracks some preliminary experiments obtained by employing a data-driven methodology that captures emotions, relying on domain data that you want to model. The experimentation consists of investigating the corresponding conceptual space based on a set of terms (i.e., keywords) that are representative of the domain and the determination. Furthermore, the conceptual space is exploited as a bridge between the textual content and its sub-symbolic mapping as an “emotional fingerprint” into a six-dimensional hyperspace.

Przemoc w państwie demokratycznym

The violence in democratic state The democratic state — like any social-political system — have to contend with numerous forms of social tensions that force governments to take action in order to preserve organizational stability of the whole state. Democratic systems are characterized by having a number of tools and mechanisms to regulating system and/or to “the spreading” social mood, which makes it possible to “peaceful” resolutions of conflicts. However, even in consolidated and mature democracies there are situations where the state government resort to coercion and violence against citizens. What factors influence the making “definitive” measures? How different is the coercion between state violence? These and many other questions I will try to answer in this article.

Social support, self-rated health and low mood in people on sick leave due to heart failure: a cross-sectional study.

The aim of this study was to investigate social support in relation to self-rated health and the prevalence of low mood in people on sick leave due to heart failure. A cross-sectional design was used, and 590 individuals on sick leave due to heart failure in Sweden responded to the postal questionnaire. The questions therein concerned received and needed functional and structural support from managers, work colleagues, families and friends. Multivariate analyses were conducted. The variables of income and needed support from family contributed significantly and negatively to self-rated health. Those who perceived that they needed more support from their manager reported experiencing low mood more frequently. The results showed a negative relation between manager support and low mood. Thus, support from managers and perceptions of low mood during sick leave are negatively associated, however, we do not know anything about the causality of this association. The results also indicated that needed support from family was negatively associated with self-rated health. The results also highlighted a multidimensional frailty in people with heart failure that needs to be recognized in future research as well as in clinical practice.

THE MEDICAL SOCIAL ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ALCOHOL DEVIATION OF WOMEN AND PSYCHIC BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS IN CHILDREN

The social crisis of the end of XX century in Russia negatively impacted psycho-emotional condition of society and provoked increasing of drug addiction and alcoholism among population. The article applies inter-disciplinary position analyzing relationship between severe social psychological atmosphere of those years and mental, behavioral disorders in generation of children caused by alcohol abuse in generation of parents, especially mothers. The dynamics is presented concerning social mood of society, level of female alcoholism, nervous diseases morbidity of children. The mental and neurological disorders are discussed in the aspect of patterns of brain development during prenatal period. The biological sociological evaluation is given concerning impact of crisis of 1990s as a macro-social factor of mental and behavioral health of age group of persons born in 1990-2000s. The burden of crisis and negative emotional atmosphere in society, especially in the middle of 1990s, increasing of alcohol consumption and also dynamics of alcoholism and alcoholic psychosis morbidity of women during the same years, dynamics of nervous diseases morbidity of children aged 0-1 year in the Russian Federation with its surges, especially in 1994-1995, 1998 and 2009, permit to consider focused effect of social crisis on physical and mental health of newborns. During relative stabilization of 2010s, there is no such a concentration of negative factors. Also, certain positive circumstances are manifesting: learning of legal standards according which person is primarily responsible for one's own health, measures of struggle with alcoholism, development of perinatal medicine, etc.

Analysis of the correlation between intelligence and social mood for children with expressive language disorder

Objective To explore the characteristics and correlation of intelligence development and socioemotional development in 1~3 years old children with expressive language disorder, and provide a basis for early intervention. Methods 125 cases with expressive language disorder(language disorder group) and 126 normal children (normal group) are evaluated in two parts (intelligence and social mood) with 0~6 years old neuropsychological development diagnosis scale and Chinese version of urban infant-toddler social and emotional assessment . Results (1)The scores in language disorder group were lower than normal group in the area of free movements (81.60±10.40 vs 89.62±7.94), adaptability (81.48±10.95 vs 91.25±8.89), language (67.46±7.20 vs 89.13±8.24), social behavior (76.61±9.73 vs 90.12±8.13) and total developmental quotient (80.17±6.39 vs 91.15±6.05) (P<0.05). (2) There were significant differences between language disorder group and normal group in the area of externalizing behavior(56.28±10.15 vs 53.57±7.91), deregulation (56.45±10.61 vs 51.11±9.32) and capabilities(46.79±9.08 vs 51.25±7.47) (P<0.05). The boys’ scores in internalizing behavior were lower than the girls’ (49.19±10.76 vs 54.71±9.90) (P<0.05). (3) The scores of gross motor had positive correlation with externalizing behavior (r=0.220, P<0.05). The scores of language had negative correlation with externalizing behavior and deregulation(r=-0.650, P<0.05; r=-0.470, P<0.05). The scores of social behavior had negative correlation with externalizing behavior (r=-0.208, P<0.05). There was also a negative correlation between total development and deregulation (r=-0.184, P<0.05). (4) Multiple stepwise linear regression results showed that the externalizing behavior domain and mothers’ education could predict 44.1% of variances in the language area. Conclusion The children with expressive language disorder not only show backward in level of language development, but also in the development of other areas, and also bad social behavior and emotional problems. Individualized parenting interventions should be adopted to promote these children’s intelligent development in an all-round way. Key words: Language disorder; Development quotient; Intelligence; Socioemotional

Sound, Space and Bodies: Building Relations in the Work of Invisible Flock and Atelier Bildraum

In this article, I discuss sounds potential to construct fictional spaces and build relations between bodies using two performance installations as case studies. The first is Invisible Flock’s 105+dB, a site-specific sound work which transports crowd recordings of a soccer match to alternative geographical locations. The second is Atelier Bildraum’s Bildraum, an installation performance using live photography, architectural models and ambient sound. By writing through these two works, I question how sound builds relations between bodies and across space as well as questioning the role of site within sound installation works.

A pilot randomized study on use of oral acetazolamide in patients with refractory dysuria.

Assessment of daily oral acetazolamide in treatment of refractory dysuria. Forty-one patients were randomly allocated to either be treated with acetazolamide (250mg twice daily) or to receive placebo. The irritative voiding symptoms and urinary pH were recorded before and after treatment. The quality of life indices including the impact of voiding symptoms on daily and social activities, mood disturbance and sleep disorders were also measured by a questionnaire. Urinary pH was increased in the group taking acetazolamide (P<0.001). They also reported alleviation of dysuria (P<0.001), frequency (P=0.039) and urgency (P=0.016). However, nocturia was not improved in the study group. No change was observed in the aforementioned parameters in the placebo group. Daily personal life, social activities and the quality of sleep were improved by 52, 38 and 33%, respectively. Oral acetazolamide can reduce the irritative voiding symptoms and improve the quality of life which is concomitant with an increase in urinary pH.