Social Processes Research Articles

UP-CLOSE AND SOCIAL RISKS IN DISTANCE HIGHER EDUCATION: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF EMERGENCY REMOTE TEACHING EXPERIENCES

Education is both an institutional process and a set of conscious actions. Since its institutionalization, education has been viewed not only as an act of acquiring knowledge, but also as a socialization process. The traditional understanding of education, which views socialization as the its main purpose in addition to acquiring knowledge and shapes education policies accordingly, has emerged as a multi-dimensional sphere of discussion within “distance education”, which has become almost mandatory today with Covid-19. This study aims to examine the problem areas of distance education experienced with Covid-19 by using an interdisciplinary approach in a psychological, sociological, and socio-psychological framework. To examine the subject in-depth and make analytical generalisations, the research reflects the opinions of the main actors, students, and faculty members, as well as the researchers’ observations, in addition to the experts on the subject. The data analysis was conducted through the subjective evaluation of the researchers’ own experiences and the content analysis of teacher and student opinions. The results reflect that education is not only an activity of acquiring knowledge but also a socialization process, the educational bureaucracy and environment make a significant contribution to the socialization of students, and that distance education can only be used as a supportive model. Education isolated from real life that does not contribute to the socialization processes of students may bring important psychological and social problems.

Predictor Scales of Cognitive Factors Affecting Physical Activity in Individuals Surviving Cancer: Psychometric Properties of Turkish Versions

Background: Increasing physical activity in individuals surviving cancer is crucial in reducing treatment-related side effects and recurrence. Valid and reliable measurement tools are needed that will enable the factors affecting exercise to be addressed holistically and theoretically. This study aimed to adapt the Exercise Goal-Setting Scale, Exercise Planning and Scheduling Scale, Multidimensional Outcome Expectations for Exercise Scale, and Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Scale into Turkish language and to explore psychometric properties of the Turkish versions of these scales in individuals surviving cancer. Methods: This methodologically designed research collected data from 153 participants at a hospital in Istanbul, Türkiye. The scales used in the study were adapted to the Turkish language through forward and backward translation and expert opinion. Content validity was assessed with a 2-week test-retest reliability, Cronbach’s α reliability coefficient for stability, item-total correlation, and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: The scales showed good content validity (CVI = 0.95-0.99). Internal consistencies were acceptable to excellent (Cronbach’s α = .79-.94), and moderate to good reproducibility estimates were observed (r = .67-.84). The MOEES factor structure also showed excellent fit. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the adapted scales evaluated are valid and reliable for examining physical activity based on social cognitive processes in individuals surviving cancer in Türkiye. The scales examined in the study can be used to determine the cognitive factors affecting activity and to plan effective programs when providing physical activity counseling to individuals surviving cancer in Türkiye.

Social contagion of challenge-seeking behavior.

Despite having little economic utility, people are sometimes motivated to seek challenges (i.e., proactively choosing to work on a more difficult task than an easier one). The present study investigated whether just observing others' challenge-seeking behaviors could motivate people to seek more challenging tasks-the social contagion effect of challenge-seeking. The participants were presented with pairs of options, each associated with a math word problem of a certain difficulty level. We examined whether the participants' preference for a more challenging (i.e., more difficult) option changes after observing the decisions of others who hold a challenge-seeking or a challenge-avoiding attitude. Five experiments consistently showed that, while the participants generally avoided challenging word problems, observing challenge-seeking in others increased the probability of participants choosing more challenging options. These results indicate that our motivation to seek challenges may be instilled, in part, through social processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Rethinking multi‐site studies in social and personality psychology: Can the cross‐indigenous approach remedy common cross‐cultural vulnerabilities?

AbstractThe cross‐indigenous approach is introduced as a framework for conducting multi‐site studies. The cross‐indigenous approach is a simultaneous multi‐emic approach to studying psychological and social phenomena across cultures which intends to mitigate vulnerabilities commonly found in typical cross‐cultural studies done in social and personality psychology including methodological artifacts introduced when instruments, protocols, or research design do not work as expected across target cultures, and the unrealistic expectation of construct equivalence across sites. The article discusses ways to carry out a cross‐indigenous project which aims to be a principled way of making comparisons across cultures, aiming to stake out what are unique, what are shared and what are universals across populations, to explain psychological and social processes through culture‐sensitive and naturalistic methods.

Speaker Demographics Modulate Listeners' Neural Correlates of Spoken Word Processing.

In language comprehension, listeners expect a speaker to be consistent in their word choice for labeling the same object. For instance, if a speaker previously refers to a piece of furniture as a "couch," in subsequent references, listeners would expect the speaker to repeat this label instead of switching to an alternative label such as "sofa." Moreover, it has been found that speakers' demographic backgrounds, often inferred from their voice, influence how listeners process their language. The question in focus, therefore, is whether speaker demographics influence how listeners expect the speaker to repeat or switch labels. In this study, we used ERPs to investigate whether listeners expect a child speaker to be less likely to switch labels compared to an adult speaker, given the common belief that children are less flexible in language use. In the experiment, we used 80 pictures with alternative labels in Mandarin Chinese (e.g., yi1sheng1 vs. dai4fu, "doctor"). Each picture was presented twice over two experimental phases: In the establishment phase, participants listened to an adult or a child naming a picture with one of the labels and decided whether the label matched the picture they saw; in the test phase, participants listened to the same speaker naming the same picture by either repeating the original label or switching to an alternative label and, again, decided whether the label matched the picture they saw. ERP results in the test phase revealed that, compared to repeated labels, switched labels elicited an N400 effect (300-600 msec after label onset) and a P600 effect (600-1000 msec after label onset). Critically, the N400 effect was larger when listeners were exposed to the child speaker than to the adult speaker, suggesting that listeners found a switched label harder to comprehend when it was produced by a child speaker than an adult speaker. Our study shows that the perceived speaker demographic backgrounds influence listeners' neural responses to spoken words, particularly in relation to their expectations regarding the speaker's label switching behavior. This finding contributes to a broader understanding of the relationship between social cognition and language processing.

Sibling relational aggression: Developmental change and associations with family relationships across adolescence.

Sibling relational aggression is an understudied social and family process that is of developmental significance in adolescence, a period of interpersonal relationship development. This study examined developmental change in sibling relational aggression across adolescence and used multilevel actor-partner independence models to test its longitudinal associations with mother-adolescent, father-adolescent, and sibling relationship qualities. Participants were 196 adolescent (firstborn-secondborn) sibling pairs from predominantly White families who averaged 16.47 years (SD = .80) and 13.88 years (SD = 1.15) of age, respectively, at baseline. Data were collected separately from each sibling during home interviews at three timepoints, each spaced a year apart. Longitudinal growth modeling revealed declines in sibling relational aggression from early to late adolescence. Findings from longitudinal multilevel actor-partner independence models revealed a negative within-person (WP) effect of father-adolescent intimacy and a positive WP effect of father-adolescent conflict on sibling relational aggression: On occasions when adolescents reported lower intimacy or more conflict with their fathers than usual (compared to individuals' own cross-time averages), adolescents reported experiencing more sibling relational aggression than usual. A between-person (BP) effect of mother-adolescent conflict also indicated that the cross-time average of mother-adolescent conflict was linked positively to the cross-time average of sibling relationship aggression. Primarily at the WP level, associations also emerged between lower sibling intimacy and higher sibling conflict and sibling relational aggression. For relationships with fathers and siblings, some effects were moderated by sibling structural characteristics. Discussion highlights the interplay of family relationship dynamics, including gender dynamics, and sibling relational aggression in adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

L'housing studentesco come "costruzione per le persone". Il caso delle residenze universitarie della città di Napoli

This article addresses the issue of university student residences in terms of social infra-structure. Through the case-study of Naples, detailed data are presented on the distribution and characteristics of current public university student residences, in the light of recent territorial changes resulting from local urban regeneration policies and their implications on social infrastructure processes. The analysis also highlights the need for a critical reflection on the socio-urban function of student housing and the educational and relational needs of students. student housing, residences, urban regeneration, Naples, social infrastructure, relationships

Social presence and collaborative creativity in leaner media

As people increasingly rely on virtual spaces for both personal and professional exchanges, the dynamics of how we connect, share ideas, and work together have evolved. Online interactions often engage in modality switching where communication starts in one modality, such as talking, then switches to another, such as texting. We examined how modality switching affected creativity and social presence when collaborating using computer mediated communication. Participants first met via an audio or text modality, then switched to the other modality. They then engaged in a collaborative story creation task. Using the Social Information Processing Theory for our theoretical framework, we found that switching from text to audio benefitted creativity. We found no differences between texted and audio communication in social presence, desire for future interaction, or creativity. Replicating others’ results, we did find differences in conversational balance: Texted conversations were more balanced than audio conversations. We newly discovered that modality switching affected balance. Audio conversations were more balanced when they followed text interactions rather than preceded them. Ultimately, more balanced conversations – regardless of modality – led to greater creativity in dyads.

Echoes of violence: experiences of Palestinian Arab students in Israeli academia during the violent events of May 2021

AbstractThis paper investigates the challenges faced by Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel (PAI) who are students in Israeli higher education institutions amidst periods of national turbulence and violence, particularly focusing on the violent events of May 2021. Using interviews with students, academics, and members of civil society organisations, the paper puts forth a constructivist grounded theory model that charts the impact of the violent events of May 2021 on PAI students. It reveals that students’ experiences of violence, in various forms, give rise to a host of emotional, social, and political processes that heighten their awareness of the structural violence of the broader Israeli-Palestinian struggle. In response, PAI students withdraw both physically and mentally from their campuses and concurrently mobilise within their communities to address unmet needs neglected by official authorities. The perceptions of PAI students regarding their institutions’ responses to political issues are marked by intense cynicism—a sentiment that is mitigated by individual supportive initiatives by faculty members. Based on the findings, the paper argues that periods of political escalation are not to be viewed as fleeting events that heighten emotions but rather as critical junctures where identities and perceptions are formed, leaving an impact that lasts long after the immediate turbulence subsides.

Multimodal imaging of the amygdala in non-clinical subjects with high vs. low autistic-like social skills traits

Recent clinical and theoretical frameworks suggest that social skills and theory of mind impairments characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are distributed in the general population on a continuum between healthy individuals and patients. The present multimodal study aimed at investigating the amygdala's function, perfusion, and volume in 56 non-clinical subjects from the general population with high (n=28 High-SOC) or low (n=28 Low-SOC) autistic-like social skills traits. Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the amygdala's functional connectivity at rest, blood perfusion by means of arterial spin labelling, its activation during a face evaluation task and lastly grey matter volumes. The High-SOC group was characterised by higher blood perfusion in both amygdalae, lower volume of the left amygdala and higher activations of the right amygdala during processing of human faces with fearful value. Resting state analyses did not reveal any significant difference between the two groups. Overall, our results highlight the presence of overlapping morpho-functional alterations of the amygdala between healthy individuals and ASD patients confirming the importance of the amygdala in this disorder and in social and emotional processing. Our findings may help disentangle the neurobiological facets of ASD elucidating aetiology and the relationship between clinical symptomatology and neurobiology.

Computational elucidation of nonverbal behavior and body language in music therapy

Abstract Music therapy has shown efficacy in serious and chronic conditions, mental disorders, and disabilities. However, there is still much to explore regarding the mechanisms through which music interventions exert their effects. A typical session involves interactions between the therapist, the client, and the musical work itself, and to help address the challenges of capturing and comprehending its dynamics, we extend our general computational paradigm (CP) for analyzing the expressive and social behavioral processes in arts therapies. The extension includes bodily and nonverbal aspects of the behavior, offering additional insights into the client's emotional states and engagement. We have used this version of the CP, which employs AI pose estimation technology, image processing, and audio analysis, to capture therapy-related psychometrics and their intra- and inter-session analysis. The CP is applied in a real-world proof-of-concept study, and the results enable us to pinpoint meaningful events and emergent properties not captured by the human eye, complementing the therapist's interpretations. The resulting data may also be useful in other scientific and clinical areas.

Accounting for the Obstructive Activity of Experience: Aspiring, Projecting and Agency Development in a Context of Adversity

ABSTRACT This article approaches the mystery of preference formation – a blind spot in the capability approach – from the angle of aspiring. I argue that aspiring – actively engaging with desirable representations of potential futures – can be helpful to analyse the social processes involved in preference formation under two conditions. Firstly, we need to clarify the conceptual confusion around aspiring that can be found in the capability literature and beyond. Secondly, we need to consider the social and temporal embeddedness of aspiring, which can be done by examining the relationships between aspiring and people’s lived experiences. Building on a critical discussion of the contribution of sociologists Alfred Schutz and Pierre Bourdieu to the study of projecting, I propose a framework to (a) analyse why aspiring may happen to lead to conceiving conservative aspirations despite adversity – thereby aligning with adaptive preferences in the sense of Sen, A. 2002. Rationality and Freedom. Cambridge, MA and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press and Elster, J. 1983. Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press – and to (b) envision the pathways along which aspiring could, alternatively, lead to emergent aspirations, i.e. geared at enhanced well-being.

Why We Need Diverse Methods for Assessing Cultural Identity: Introduction to the Special Issue

In this introduction to the special issue on diverse methods for cultural identity, we begin by addressing the evolving complexities of defining oneself amidst modern globalization and immigration. We then preview the current collection of papers, which collectively showcase the complexity of cultural identity by exploring how people, especially adolescents and young adults, navigate a plethora of cultural influences—whether through direct migration or the pervasive impact of global cultures—as they psychologically manage diverse and sometimes conflicting allegiances and worldviews. The studies featured in this issue employ a range of methodologies, from qualitative analyses to mixed-methods approaches, to expand our knowledge of the constitution of contemporary cultural identities beyond common quantitative metrics of self-categorization and group belongingness. For instance, research on Jamaican American adolescents highlights how cultural identity is formed through reciprocal socialization processes and systemic factors such as racism. Similarly, studies involving Hmong American youth and Guatemalan adolescents reveal tensions and creative harmonizations in identity management, challenging notions of a homogenized global culture. We conclude by underscoring the need for future research to take a nuanced, intersectional approach to the study of cultural identity, to explore creative measurement tools that are sensitive to local meaning-making among diverse groups around the world, and to attend to the impact of power dynamics in shaping one’s sense of self in relation to their cultural group(s).

Never eat foods that are not in season: The commodification and authentication of gastronomic identity in tourism

Gastronomic identity is an emerging concept with considerable explanatory power in understanding cultural and social dynamics. This study investigates the meaning of gastronomic identity and the cultural and social processes involved in its touristic commodification. The study was conducted in Suzhou, China, using a multi-method qualitative approach comprising participant observation, secondary document analysis, and semi-structured interviews. Analysis reveals that the essence of Suzhou’s gastronomic identity lies in seasonality, periodic changes in local food supply and demand. The commodification of this seasonal feature has transformed into a cultural allure for visitors. Stakeholders strategically leverage seasonal selections and culinary presentations to authenticate the regional gastronomic identity. However, these efforts are undermined by unethical food business practices—disregarding seasonality and engaging in premature food production—that threaten seasonal food culture’s authenticity. This study enhances our understanding of the place-based meaning of gastronomic identity and its commodification and authentication in tourism.

Social Media Use among University Students Impact on Socialization

The rapid increase in internet usage worldwide has significantly impacted various aspects of life, with social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram becoming integral parts of daily life, especially among younger generations. Social media's influence extends into educational, social, cultural, and political spheres, transforming how individuals interact and communicate. It provides students with tools to engage with peers and educators, potentially enhancing their socialization and educational experiences. This study explored the relationship between using various social media applications, online community participation, information-seeking, and socialization of BS students at public sector universities in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K). Using a proportionate random sampling technique, 300 students were selected from three public universities of AJ&K. The data was collected through a structured questionnaire survey that allowed for the systematic gathering of responses, ensuring consistency across the sample. The data was analysed using statistical analysis. The findings revealed no substantial relationship between social media use and socialization among university students in this region. An important implication of the findings of this study might be that contrary to common assumptions, social media might play a minor role in these students’ socialization process. However, caution is needed regarding the generalization of the findings, and further studies using triangulation-based designs need to be conducted to have further insights into this topic.

Conceptual Principles of Blue Growth in the Development of Natural Assets in Urban Parks of Ukraine

Introduction. For the coastal regions of Ukraine, the conceptual provisions and principles of the blue economy, which define the main approaches to the functioning of maritime industries in the context of sustainable development, have recently become particularly relevant. Harmonious development of coastal regions is impossible without considering the main components of nature management and their connection with the concept of blue growth. One of the important directions of natural use within the city, particularly on the seaside, is recreation in city parks and related activities of related sectors of the economy. Therefore, this study substantiates conceptual approaches and defines the role and place of city parks in the economy of nature use based on blue growth. Aim and tasks. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the conceptual provisions of the use of natural resources of city parks as natural assets in order to form effective strategies of sustainable development, in particular, on the principles of blue growth of city parks in accordance with their condition and the degree of influence on the development of urban space and society. Results. In the context of the study, the differences of such concepts as: “natural capital”, “natural resources”, “natural assets”, “ecosystem functions”, and “ecosystem services” are substantiated, which is revealed by taking into account the conceptual and systemic features according to the presence of the consumer and involvement in economic and social processes. Based on this, the essence of the natural resources of urban parks as assets was analysed and substantiated using the GE/McKinsey matrix. It was determined that different city parks are unequal in terms of availability of natural assets and their contribution to urban improvement and economic development. In the matrix analysis process, urban parks were typified according to the degree of involvement of their natural assets in economic and social processes, which allowed for the prediction of differences in risks that arise in the process of decision-making and organizational and economic measures regarding the functioning of parks. Conclusions. Thus, based on the improvement of conceptual provisions regarding the use of the natural assets of city parks, a conceptual basis for the study was developed in the context of sustainable development, and the peculiarities of the understanding of city parks as natural assets were determined. Based on the matrix analysis results, the types of city parks were determined according to the quality of their resources and their importance (role) to the city, and the risks that arise in their functioning were substantiated. It has been proven that tasks and priorities regarding the development of city parks should be based on natural, economic, and social factors, and that their functional dependence on the effectiveness of decision-making is substantiated.

Induced negative affect hinders self-referential belief updating in response to social feedback.

When people receive feedback from others, this is an opportunity for them to update their self-views. People with mental health problems (e.g., depression), however, often have difficulty using social feedback to update negative beliefs about themselves. To better understand when and how difficulties with integrating social feedback manifest, we investigated how current affect influences social feedback processing. Our preregistered hypothesis was that negative affect hinders change in participants' self-views in response to social feedback. In a nonclinical sample of little diversity (N = 117) in 2023, participants were invited to a laboratory examination in groups of three-five people. After indicating how they thought about themselves in terms of a number of personality traits (e.g., friendly), participants played a popular parlor game together for 45 min. Subsequently, they indicated how they perceived the other players in terms of their personality. Before receiving anonymous feedback, suggesting that the others perceived them as a highly likeable person, participants underwent the induction of negative versus positive affect versus a neutral control procedure. The results show that the induction of negative affect before receiving social feedback hindered its integration into participants' self-views, relative to the induction of positive affect. Changes in participants' self-views remained relatively stable also 1 day later, except for the control group, in which it slightly declined. These findings confirm that negative affect can indeed hamper the integration of (positive) social feedback. Since negative affect is prevalent in many mental disorders, this might contribute to their problems with social feedback processing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Шахматы как отражение культурного пространства Арабского халифата

The article examines the phenomenon of chess culture in the era of the Arab caliphate. It is shown that the golden age of shatranj (the Arabic version of chess) coincided with the rapid development of Arabic culture and science, thus reflecting the socio-cultural realities of that time. It is revealed that the treatise “The ethics of Chess” by the Arab thinker Raghib Ishafani demonstrates philosophical ideas in relation to the game of chess. The popularity of shatranj, which was demonstrated by the interest of state leaders and the holding of the first chess competitions in history, is noted, and attention is focused on the reason for its widespread use. The similarity of the rules of chess and the religious beliefs of the mutazilites, manifested in the concept of freedom of choice, is demonstrated. The reasons preventing the further development of the shatranj in the Arab caliphate are explained. It is shown that this fact was due to the religious mentality of the Arab-Islamic type of culture and the slow nature of the development of the social institutions of the East. It is noted that the further filiation of ideas from the Arab world to Europe led to the development of chess not only as a game, but also as a model reflecting the cultural and social processes taking place in society.

Подкасты в информационном пространстве московских студентов-журналистов: материалы эмпирического исследования

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in interest in podcasting. Young people are becoming not only media consumers of this type of media, but also active producers of it. This is especially true for journalism students who are involved in the process of mass communication both as an audience and as media professionals. Their life-world turns out to be closely connected with the process of media socialization, which is typical for other groups of “digital youth”. The article presents the materials of a representative survey of students of the Faculty of Journalism at Lomonosov Moscow State University. The study was conducted at the stage of modeling an artistic and educational podcast about science and considers students as media consumers and active participants in the process of mass communication. Based on the data obtained, the authors reflect on the possibilities of using elements of expressive techniques and elements of radio drama in the creation of popular science podcasts, the use of non-verbal components of media content to convey more information and meanings, taking into account the preferences of students. The results show that journalism students “care” about their own lifeworlds, but have an extramural respect for others' lifeworlds and the bigger picture of the world. The characteristics of the scientific and educational podcast for representatives of the “digital youth” presented in the article, compiled on the basis of the opinions of this socio-demographic group, can be used in the implementation of projects related to youth policy to promote youth education and career guidance. The local nature of the study does not allow us to draw conclusions about the opinions and moods of the student body as a whole, but gives grounds to formulate assumptions about the situation in the community of holders of special knowledge in the field of journalism and mass communications.

Intergroup Biases in Assessing Political Risk: The Role of National Identity

Geopolitics are back as a subject of inquiry in international business and have increased the threat of political risk for MNEs and domestic firms globally. However, firms may struggle to assess political risk accurately due to the social identity processes within top management teams that influence information seeking and processing. This article offers a brief introduction to an intergroup bias which can harm political risk assessments, namely managers filtering risk through a national identity lens. Focusing on the consequences of identity bias, we suggest ways in which political risk assessment may be made more effective for managers – and accurate.