True Opinion Research Articles

Why Twitter Sometimes Rewards What Most People Disapprove of: The Case of Cross-Party Political Relations

Recent evidence has shown that social-media platforms like Twitter (now X) reward politically divisive content, even though most people disapprove of interparty conflict and negativity. We document this discrepancy and provide the first evidence explaining it, using tweets by U.S. Senators and American adults’ responses to them. Studies 1a and 1b examined 6,135 such tweets, finding that dismissing tweets received more Likes and Retweets than tweets that engaged constructively with opponents. In contrast, Studies 2a and 2b (N = 856; 1,968 observations) revealed that the broader public, if anything, prefers politicians’ engaging tweets. Studies 3 (N = 323; 4,571 observations) and 4 (N = 261; 2,610 observations) supported two distinct explanations for this disconnect. First, users who frequently react to politicians’ tweets are an influential yet unrepresentative minority, rewarding dismissing posts because, unlike most people, they prefer them. Second, the silent majority admit that they too would reward dismissing posts more, despite disapproving of them. These findings help explain why popular online content sometimes distorts true public opinion.

Opinion Instability and Measurement Errors: A G-Theory Analysis of College Students

ABSTRACT This study examines opinion instability among individuals from different ethnic groups (White, Latino, and Asian Americans) by analyzing measurement errors in survey measures. Using a multi-wave panel dataset of college students and employing generalizability theory, the study uncovers significant patterns. The results reveal that White students exhibit higher attitude reliability, characterized by larger variances in true opinions and smaller measurement errors. In contrast, Latino and Asian American students display lower attitude stability, with lower variances in true opinions and higher variances in both item-specific and measurement errors. Disparities in political socialization and issue concerns contribute to the observed attitude instability among Latino and Asian American students. Moreover, Asian American and Latino respondents require a greater number of survey items to mitigate measurement error compared to their White counterparts. However, the impact of multiple waves of surveys on improving reliability is limited for Latino and Asian American students compared to White students. These findings deepen our understanding of attitude stability across ethnic groups and underscore the importance of further research in this area.

Концепция современного социального государства через призму делиберативного конституционализма

the Russian Federation, there is a need to formulate the concept of a modern social state in order to respond to current challenges (globalization, technological development, aging population), but this focus does not necessarily mean its complete dismantling, since it is the main balancing mechanism between the state and society. Therefore, embedding the formation of this concept into the system of deliberative constitutionalism can restore public trust through a revitalized narrative of the welfare state, simply because simple slogans about social justice are not enough to solve the main problems that society faces, structured discussions on current social problems are also needed in this area , which will identify the multidimensional expectations and needs of citizens and propose viable solutions. The author focuses on the fact that the discussion of the basic indicators of the social state with interested parties should be based on the principle of expert accessibility, which makes it possible to identify the true opinion of the public as a whole on social issues for constitutionally significant purposes for the subsequent formation of a popular model of the social state.

Dynamic analysis and control measures of rumor propagation model considering true individuals and public opinion individuals

In order to better describe the mechanism of rumor propagation, suppress rumor propagation. This paper examines the influence of true information disseminators on individuals and rumor spreaders who are affected by the public opinion environment. It is found by comparing those who have true information and those who do not have true information in the population. When there are true information disseminators in the crowd, it can effectively control the turn of individuals affected by the public opinion environment to the spread of rumors, and increase the turn of individuals affected by the public opinion environment to the true information disseminators. In addition, this paper analyzes the problems related to the optimal control of the rumor propagation model, and proposes some policies to increase the number of true information disseminators and reduce the number of rumor propagators, so as to better control the spread of rumors. Finally, numerical simulations verify the inhibitory effect of true information disseminators on the spread of rumors. It can be seen from the figure that the earlier the true information disseminator appears, the greater the number of true information disseminators, and the more obvious the inhibitory effect on the spread of rumors.

Dress Code in Chinese High Schools: A Preliminary Design towards its Sociological Impacts

The dress code is enforced at several high schools in China, mandating that students adhere to certain guidelines. These guidelines prohibit the wearing of braces, skirts that are deemed too short, and anything that is considered attention-grabbing. It is intriguing to note that clothing codes often impose greater restrictions on women as compared to males. Certain educational institutions require their students to adhere to a dress code that mandates the wearing of complete ensembles daily. The independence of several pupils is constrained by intricate and stringent regulations, which also reinforce the notion of gender differentiation between boys and girls. Numerous attires exhibit a lack of comfort, hence impeding students' ability to effectively engage in learning and perform optimally. Individuals are often informed that these regulations are implemented to mitigate the impact of their attire on fellow members inside the institution, therefore potentially impeding their ability to engage in learning and professional activities. The objective of the rigorous experiment is to assess its efficacy. The occurrence of social desire bias may arise when both individuals involved in a trial possess an awareness of its proceedings. This phenomenon occurs when individuals provide responses that are widely embraced by society, but fail to accurately reflect their true beliefs and opinions. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is used to ensure the validity of the experiment. By using this preliminary experimental design, further analyses, and investigations might use more dependable data to examine the whole of the matter.

Did Descartes Read Sextus’s Outlines of Pyrrhonism? A Preliminary Study

ABSTRACT This article is an attempt to answer the question whether Descartes had read Sextus Empiricus’s Outlines of Pyrrhonism. At first glance, the question seems trivial. This question, however, is of historico-philosophical significance in that it reveals, even if only partially, what Descartes, who is regarded as the father of early modern philosophy, inherited from his earlier intellectual legacy in formulating his own philosophy. I first compare statements from Sextus’s Outlines with corresponding statements from Descartes’s writings to identify their similarities in terms of content. This comparison focuses on their views regarding four subjects: the syllogistic, moral guidelines, the use of definitions, and true opinions. I then analyse and discuss whether the degree of similarity between these sets of statements is sufficient to conclude that the particular work of Descartes is based on Sextus’s arguments. This preliminary study can only provide indirect evidence that Descartes had read Sextus, for a thorough clarification of whether he read anything other than the works he himself stated that he had read (e.g., Cicero, Suárez), would require further circumstantial evidence, however weak it may be.

Scientific foundations of assessment of future social pedagogue�s willingness to pedagogical activity

Relevance. The relevance of the research is conditioned upon the need to assess the compliance of social pedagogues� training programmes in Kazakhstan with modern professional challenges. Purpose. This research is designed to identify the content of educational programmes and to identify the relationship between the level of training of future social pedagogues and their effectiveness in pedagogical activities. Methodology. The leading method of research on this problem was a survey and interviews. In addition, the following methods were used: system analysis, logical analysis, method of comparison, synthesis, deduction and classification. Results. The research presents the theoretical foundations that disclose the essence and significance of social pedagogy for modern society. It provides information about the training of social pedagogues in Kazakhstan and describes the most important aspects of training students in this specialty. It also reveals the specific features of social pedagogues' work in Kazakhstan, including the multicultural environment, the development of a professional network, adaptation to changing social situations, and cooperation with other professionals. Additionally, the research identifies and justifies various approaches to defining the profession. Conclusions. The research disclosed the true attitudes, opinions and experiences of students of social pedagogy, and obtained valuable feedback from experienced specialists in this field. The materials of the research can be used to improve the educational programmes of educational institutions in Kazakhstan that train specialists in the field of social pedagogy. Keywords: quality of higher education; professional competences; didactics; innovative teaching methods; education actualisation; educational programmes

The Role of Political Factors, Leadership and Human Resource Quality on Budgeting Conflict Management in Local Government

Abstract: This study aims to provide empirical evidence of the influence of political factors, leadership and the quality of human resources on budgetary conflict management. The population in this study were all members of the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) and the Regional Government Budget Team (TAPD). This research was tested using multiple linear regression analysis. The results of the study indicate that Political Factors affect budgeting conflict management in the local government and the Quality of Human Resources has an effect on Budgeting Conflict Management. However, leadership has no effect on Budgeting Conflict Management in the local government. The limitation of this research is that in the data collection process, the information provided by respondents through questionnaires sometimes does not show the true opinion, where the results of the study are highly dependent on the results of the questionnaires distributed which allow the tendency for bias to still exist.

All mouth and trousers? Use of the Devil’s Advocate questioning protocol to determine authenticity of opinions about protester actions

We examined the Devil’s Advocate lie detection method which is aimed at detecting lying about opinions. In this approach, participants give reasons for why they hold an opinion in the eliciting-opinion question and counter-arguments to their opinion in a devil’s advocate question. Truth tellers (n = 55) reported their true opinion about protestor actions, whereas lie tellers (n = 55) reported the opposite of their true opinion. Answers were coded for number of arguments and plausibility, immediacy, clarity and scriptedness. Data were analysed with analyses of variance with veracity being the sole factor. Supporting the hypothesis, truth tellers provided more pro-arguments than lie tellers and to all eliciting-opinion questions their answers sounded more plausible, immediate and clear than lie tellers’ answers. The opposite pattern was predicted for the devil’s advocate question but not found, likely caused by the simplification of the question. Neither was being scripted a diagnostic veracity indicator.

Al-Harizi’s Translation of Guide of the Perplexed II,25 and the Philosophical Implications for the Question of Creation

This article focuses on the various translations of an important chapter regarding the question of creation in Maimonides’s Guide II,25. I will try to explain the differences between the original Judeo-Arabic text and the R. Ibn Tibbon translation on the one hand, and the Al-Harizi translation and the Latin translation on the other hand, and account for some of the differences of interpretation. The first part of the article will describe the original meaning of the chapter and the internal tension between the different arguments that Maimonides explores. These internal tensions and contradictions can be interpreted as an indication that Maimonides was hiding his true esoteric eternalist opinion. In the second part of the article, I will analyze Al-Harizi’s translation and show that he made the text more coherent and more supportive of the creationist interpretation of Maimonides.

Asynchronous Expressed and Private Opinion Dynamics on Influence Networks

In this paper, we consider an asynchronous discrete-time opinion dynamics model for a social influence network, which consists of a population of interacting individuals, each holding a private and expressed opinion. At each time instant, a single individual activates and updates both her expressed and private opinions simultaneously. While an individual's new private opinion is shaped by her private opinion, the expressed opinions of her neighbors and attachment to an existing prejudice, her expressed opinion is instead a trade-off between her true private opinion and a “public opinion”, representing the current norm or standard opinion from the perspective of the individual. We show that the expressed and private opinions of all individuals converge to the same value exponentially fast when no individual holds an existing prejudice, with the lower bound on the convergence speed based on a general assumption on the network topology. If there are individuals who hold an existing prejudice, then the final opinions of every individual lie between the minimum and maximum value of those constant prejudices. Our results are also extended to consider the case where two or more individuals activate and update their opinions at each time instant. Simulations are provided to illustrate the results.

La forja de una opinión pública: Leer y escribir en Buenos Aires, 1800–1810

La forja de una opinión pública: Leer y escribir en Buenos Aires, 1800–1810

Plato’s Statesman: A Philosophical Discussion

<i>Plato’s Statesman: A Philosophical Discussion</i>

Statecraft and Self-Government: On the Task of the Statesman in Plato’s Statesman

In this paper I argue that, according to Plato’s Statesman, true statesmen directly control, administer, or govern none of the affairs of the city. Rather, administration and governance belong entirely to the citizens. Instead of governing the city, the task of the statesman is to facilitate the citizens’ successful self-governance or self-rule. And true statesmen do this through legislation, by means of which they inculcate in the citizens true opinions about the just, the good, the fine, and the opposites of these.

The Impact of CKM and Customer Satisfaction on Customer Loyalty in Saudi Banking Sector: The Mediating Role of Customer Trust

This study aims to explore the role of customer knowledge management (CKM) and satisfaction as antecedents of customer trust, and the mediating function of customer trust in the knowledge–loyalty and satisfaction–loyalty in the Saudi banking sector. This study intends to provide light on the significance of CKM and the ways in which it can support consumer trust, loyalty, and satisfaction. Data came from 600 consumers who responded to an online survey. By using regression analysis and descriptive statistics, seven hypotheses were created and tested. The findings exhibited that customer trust has a major impact on loyalty and that customer trust is positively impacted by CKM and satisfaction. Additionally, trust partially mediates the relationship between knowledge, loyalty, and satisfaction. The study contributes to the literature by examining the factors that influence customer loyalty, CKM engagement, satisfaction, and trust in the context of the Saudi banking industry. These research findings are helpful for managers and strategists in figuring out how to create customer loyalty programs that are a fit for their target market. The study is limited to the Saudi banking sector and may not be generalizable to other industries. Additionally, the study is based on self-reported data from customers, which may not accurately reflect their true opinions and behaviors.

ACR Presidential Address: Rheumatologists-Folks You Can Trust.

ACR Presidential Address: Rheumatologists-Folks You Can Trust.

Virtual Technology (VR) Attractiveness Attributes in Influencing House Buyers’ Intention to Purchase

This study aims to investigate the response from selected potential buyers on the marketing communication channel by using the application of virtual reality (VR) in new housing schemes. The objective of this study is to test the hypothesis relating to the channel attributes and potential buyers' purchase intentions through a within-subject design with 100 prospective house buyers. Data were analysed using correlation analysis in IBM SPSS software. It was found that the channel attributes are related to the house purchase intention as indicated by correlation values of 0.793, which indicates strong correlations. As the study uses a quantitative survey method, the data obtained may not be as precise as data obtained using a qualitative research method. Respondents can only select a few options, making it harder for them to express their true opinions. As a contribution to the housing industry, this study emphasizes the importance of VR house models in marketing communication by providing useful empirical results and recommendations based on the research results. The study integrates the current knowledge derived from the research conceptual framework to develop a smart real estate marketing strategy using VR.

Resilient Consensus in Opinion Dynamics Under Adversarial Epidemics

In this paper, we discuss the opinion dynamics with bounded confidence in multi-agent systems under an infection spreading environment. The dynamics of the infection spreading processes follows the so-called susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model. Here, the infection induces faulty behaviors in the agents whose opinions may deviate from their true opinions. Cooperating with infection suppression policies and the resilient algorithm based on the mean sub-sequence reduced (MSR) approach, resilient consensus can be attained by the regular agents within a safe region. In particular, we establish sufficient conditions for resilient consensus of opinion dynamics with large bounded confidence. A numerical example is provided to verify the effectiveness of our proposed approach.

Механизм управления структурой медицинского учреждения как организационной системой массового обслуживания в условиях нестационарного потока

The task of organizing the process of repurposing medical and preventive institutions by managing the bed resource on the basis of coordination of the interests of agents in the non-stationary dynamics of diseases, in particular coronavirus infection, is considered. The relevance of the task is due to the need to make effective management decisions when limiting the temporary resource and the impossibi¬lity of using previously used approaches, in particular statistical data on incidence peaks. The solution is possible through the proposed control mechanism. Aim. The purpose of the work is to develop a mechanism for managing the composition and structure of the organizational system, which allows ensuring the rational behavior of channels with a demanded ratio of performance indicators and quality of service. These measures help to reduce patient queues, reduce the number of unmet patients by providing the necessary and sufficient bed capacity in a timely manner. Materials and methods. It is proposed to use principles of open management of systems with active elements, method of simulation modeling to describe processes of loading of departments of institution with known period of discrete accumulation of applications and process of their processing, as well as mechanism of complex evaluation and generalized median mechanisms of coordination of opinions of agents. This choice is due to the unsteady flow of applications for hospitalization and the need to make management decisions in the organizational system when limiting the temporary resource and bed capacity. These methods will allow agents to quickly make decisions and exclude factors of subjectivism. Results. A subject-oriented model was built in a separate unit using a software product represented by complex evaluation mechanisms. The importance of a comprehensive assessment reflects the significant influence of factors in the search for a rational mode of operation of the department and makes it possible to predict its timely change. The modified median scheme allows you to quickly agree on the true opinions of agents, and the graphoanalytical method in this matter makes the procedure for finding a coordinated solution visual and convenient. Conclusion. The mechanism proposed in the work allows effective management of the composition and structure of the organizational system, thereby improving the work of the medical institution in case of non-stationary processes of receipt of applications for hospitalization.

Utilizing a Digital Swarm Intelligence Platform to Improve Consensus Among Radiologists and Exploring Its Applications

Radiologists today play a central role in making diagnostic decisions and labeling images for training and benchmarking artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. A key concern is low inter-reader reliability (IRR) seen between experts when interpreting challenging cases. While team-based decisions are known to outperform individual decisions, inter-personal biases often creep up in group interactions which limit nondominant participants from expressing true opinions. To overcome the dual problems of low consensus and interpersonal bias, we explored a solution modeled on bee swarms. Two separate cohorts, three board-certified radiologists, (cohort 1), and five radiology residents (cohort 2) collaborated on a digital swarm platform in real time and in a blinded fashion, grading meniscal lesions on knee MR exams. These consensus votes were benchmarked against clinical (arthroscopy) and radiological (senior-most radiologist) standards of reference using Cohen’s kappa. The IRR of the consensus votes was then compared to the IRR of the majority and most confident votes of the two cohorts. IRR was also calculated for predictions from a meniscal lesion detecting AI algorithm. The attending cohort saw an improvement of 23% in IRR of swarm votes (k = 0.34) over majority vote (k = 0.11). Similar improvement of 23% in IRR (k = 0.25) in 3-resident swarm votes over majority vote (k = 0.02) was observed. The 5-resident swarm had an even higher improvement of 30% in IRR (k = 0.37) over majority vote (k = 0.07). The swarm consensus votes outperformed individual and majority vote decision in both the radiologists and resident cohorts. The attending and resident swarms also outperformed predictions from a state-of-the-art AI algorithm.