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Cognitive economics uses cognitive science to understand economic decision-making. We review research streams that conceptualize both minds and markets as complex adaptive systems. Narrative theories of decision-making examine the cognitive and social representations and processes that govern decision-making under uncertainty. Agent-based cognitive models study how cognitive mechanisms at the individual level can contribute to emergent systems-level phenomena. Post-cognitivist approaches such as the Market Mind Hypothesis consider minds and markets to be one continuous complex system. Coordination Dynamics is one useful framework for analyzing this system. Cognitive economics is an emerging interdisciplinary field that uses the tools of cognitive science to study economic and social decision-making. Although most strains of cognitive economics share commitments to bridging levels of analysis (cognitive, behavioral, and systems) and embracing interdisciplinary approaches, we review a newer strand of cognitive economic thinking with a further commitment: conceptualizing minds and markets each as complex adaptive systems. We describe three ongoing research programs that strive toward these goals: (i) studying narratives as a cognitive and social representation used to guide decision-making; (ii) building cognitively informed agent-based models; and (iii) understanding markets as an extended mind – the Market Mind Hypothesis – analyzed using the concepts, methods, and tools of Coordination Dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestreaming has experienced remarkable growth in recent years, marked notably by the rise of VTubers. VTubers are face-tracking avatars capable of replacing a streamer's actual face. In order to delve deeper into this trend, this study examines how the visual representation of a streamer affects audience perception. An online experiment was conducted, involving three-group comparisons within a between-subjects design, with 413 undergraduate students in the U.S. The primary findings reveal that, in comparison to utilizing VTubers, both displaying a streamer's real face and opting not to show a face enhance the social presence of the streamer, consequently leading to more favorable perceptions of the streamer. This study underscores the mediating role of social presence in shaping audience perceptions of streamers and underscores the necessity of exploring potential non-linear relationships between a streamer's visual representation and social presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principal objective of this research is to analyse the representations of the pregnant body through the visual creativity of content creators on Instagram. This is a descriptive research project employing an analyticalsynthetic methodology and a narratological approach. The research questions addressed the type of publication, its style, and the diversity of experiences shared by future mothers. A total of 182 publications by three influencer profiles during their pregnancy stage were subjected to analysis. One of the principal findings of this study is that profiles aligned with the Realmom movement tend to share a greater number of maternal narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The openness of the political system for the representation of social or economic groups through their parties is mired in complexities. Extant scholarship has identified multiple electoral system hurdles that jointly determine the institutional opportunities for group representation: This article offers a simple metric to the institutional parts of the political opportunity structure for the electoral representation of social groups. A single variable summarizes the institutional opportunities for group representation, as determined jointly by electoral rules, the demographic structure of ethnic minority groups and their electoral geography. This new Index of Electability considers recent innovations in electoral rules, such as mixed electoral systems, legal thresholds or quotas, which occur in most contemporary democracies. Empirically, the index is applied to ethnic minority parties in 57 plural democracies worldwide. It shows that our index highlights the necessary conditions for parliamentary representation of minorities through their own parties. Contrary to widespread belief that many minority groups form ethnic parties, only one out of three ethnic minority groups worldwide which could, in principle, do so, actually form such a party. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrative medicine, need to be inoffensive, effective, and of quality (World Health Organization). In 2010, the American Society of Teachers of Family Medicine approved 19 competencies for teaching integrative medicine to residents. In 2018, the University of Rennes created a course: "Integrative Medicine and Complementary Therapies". Up until then, the only feedback from the courses was the students' opinions. We investigated the impact on medical students' social representation. We performed a sociological analysis of students' social representations before and after the course. The social representation is based on the way an individual creates his or her universe of beliefs and ideas. After hearing, "What word or group of words comes to mind when you hear people speak of integrative medicine and complementary therapies?", students were asked to provide 5 words/phrases, rank their importance, and show their attitude towards these words/phrases. The frequency and importance of these words/phrases were used to construct social representations (with central cores, and primary and secondary peripheries) before and after the course. Among the 101 students registered, 59 provided complete responses before and 63 after the course. Before, the central core comprised "hypnosis" and "alternative medicine", while after: "complementary care" and "global care". We only identified first periphery before the course: "acupuncture" and "homeopathy". 4 new contrasting elements: "integration with conventional treatment", "patient's choice", "personalisation of care", and "caring relationship of trust". This teaching course positively affected students' social representation of integrative medicine, and might promote their use during future practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recounting the events of the #NoG20 protests in Hamburg in 2017, particularly the effects of the ban of one large scale protest camp by the authorities, this paper investigates how the protest was re-organized after the ban. Within a wide variety of existing forms of social movement organization (SMO), protest camps are increasingly visible and important, occurring on all continents and with increasing frequency. It appears that making a camp can be a strategy for network-based organization to materialize spatially where formal organizing is absent or eschewed. Based on interviews with participants and document analysis, the paper analyses the emergence of alternative hospitality structures, and of a new antagonism helping to forge a collective identity of the #NoG20 mobilisation. We structure our analysis through the notion of "care for the whole," in which Rodrigo Nunes describes parameters of strategic action in networked SMO. We advance organizational thinking by extending this notion with two further dimensions: the literal caring for participants needs and its infrastructures; and the creation of a sense of community in narrative and representation. This can be applied in the analysis in any networked organization aspiring to be more democratic and open. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As population-related climate change research increases, so does the need to nuance approaches to this complex phenomenon, including issues related to cultural and linguistic translations. To explore how climate change is understood in understudied societies, a case-study approach is taken to address social representations of climate change by inhabitants of a Maore village in the French island of Mayotte. The study explores how local fishers understand the issue when considering observed environmental changes. Based on analyses of 30 interviews, the study found that social representations and related climate change discourses are not well established, except for individuals in close contact with French institutions. Issues regarding local culture and language reveal the importance of understanding the different components of climate change. Climate change communication and awareness-raising on the island are explored, as well as considerations of culturally and linguistically complex settings with a Global North/Global South interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the month-long "Freedom Convoy" protest in Ottawa (Canada), protesters were ascribed many attributes (violent, extremist, hateful, disinformed) which they refuted. Protest organizers insisted the Freedom Convoy was peaceful, loving, and included "average Canadian citizens fighting for freedom". This research is interested in the construction of this representational divide and its consequences. It analyzes the polarized social representations of the COVID-19 Freedom Convoy by using social representation theory, and more specifically, Negura and Plante's model of "naturalization". News articles (n = 516) from Canadian media and Freedom Convoy organizers' Facebook posts (n = 611) were submitted to a rhetorical frame analysis. Results show how communications from organizers and the media both contributed to the naturalization of conflicting representations by (1) associating the movement with a desirable/undesirable identity, (2) neglecting nuanced perspectives, (3) instrumentalizing their representation to justify the legitimacy/illegitimacy of the protest, and (4) validating the representation by focusing on incidents that ratified the Freedom Convoy's "goodness" or "badness". We argue that this single protest became two opposed and morally charged "objects" impossible to reconcile, which prevented dialogue. Social implications of polarized naturalizations during epidemics are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even in our highly interconnected modern world, geographic factors play an important role in human social connections. Similarly, social relationships influence how and where we travel, and how we think about our spatial world. Here, we review the growing body of neuroscience research that is revealing multiple interactions between social and spatial processes in both humans and non-human animals. We review research on the cognitive and neural representation of spatial and social information, and highlight recent findings suggesting that underlying mechanisms might be common to both. We discuss how spatial factors can influence social behaviour, and how social concepts modify representations of space. In so doing, this review elucidates not only how neural representations of social and spatial information interact but also similarities in how the brain represents and operates on analogous information about its social and spatial surroundings. This article is part of the theme issue 'The spatial–social interface: a theoretical and empirical integration'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an analysis of the French Revolution, which profoundly influenced political and social structures from the 18th century in the world, alongside the social class structures in pre-revolutionary France. The analysis employs a historical and methodological framework to examine the definitions, positions, ideologies, and political stances associated with these structures. The first focus addresses the pre-revolutionary social class structures, while the second investigates the ideological and political manifestations of these classes. Key concepts from economic, social, and political theory will be utilized to inform this examination. Furthermore, the article discusses the reasons the French Revolution is regarded as distinct compared to other revolutions within Europe's political history. By comparing the perspectives of Anglo-Saxon and French historians, the article analyzes the fundamental theses underlying these contrasting approaches. Additionally, it examines the political and ideological representations of social classes during the Revolution and explores how class tensions evolved into a revolutionary movement. The main finding of the article is that ideological and imagined assumptions regarding the French Revolution lead to a paradigm shift in the history of the French Revolution as empirical and monographic research is conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the 2015 "refugee crisis" dominated Europe's policy-making agenda, little research was actually conducted with refugees. Using focus groups, interviews and photovoice, this study explores the identity and integration processes of 20 refugees, in two German towns, in 2017. While previous scholarship has rightly emphasized the importance of secure legal status for integration, this study highlights the critical role of community support by national citizens in fostering a greater sense of belonging and integration. The study calls into question new integration policies, like Germany's, which absolve national citizens of any responsibility for integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the Indo-European principle of trifunctionality and on the medieval Three Estates imagery provide researchers with precious resources for investigating the ways and means through which social representations become loaded with sacredness, and sacredness progressively transferred from one set of social representations to another. This article focuses on the transformations undergone by the Three Estates religious substratum, first at the time of the birth of Absolutism, and second during and after the French Revolution. In the case of France (and with openings towards other contexts), it shows how trifunctionality has been attributed, alternatively or conjointly, to the bourgeoisie and to the nation. Triune imagery has thus contributed to shape rituals and symbols proper to civil religion in France. Additionally, this contribution draws lessons from our case study for assessing both the resilience and the power of metamorphosis proper to symbolic references once the latter are organized into patterns that nurture a community's cohesiveness by the putting into motion of images, narratives and ritual practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The post‐pandemic context has changed the modes for collecting data in sensory and consumer science. The objectives of this research were to analyze consumers' associations of food consistency and to study two virtual modes of the Free Word Association test (FWA). This test was administered to 209 consumers (180 women, 29 men, 18–45 years old) asynchronously (i.e. self‐administered) and synchronously (i.e. face to face interviews). The Cognitive Salience Index (CSI) was calculated, and the structure of the social representation was analyzed. Correspondence analysis showed that food consistency was a mixture of concepts related to structure, hardness and several aspects of auditory (e.g., Crunchy, Crispy), tactile (e.g. Smooth, Spreadable) and oral texture (e.g., Creamy, Gummy). Slightly consistent food was associated with something soft, liquid or semisolid, and very consistent food to something hard and resistant. Consistent food was more related to "very" than to "slightly consistent." The CSI depended on the stimulus presented (p < 0.05). Regarding the social representation structure, the central core had the highest CSI for all stimuli (CSI ≥ 0.13, p < 0.05). Consumers defined "very consistent, consistent and slightly consistent food" by naming more foods in the synchronous mode than in the asynchronous one. In the asynchronous mode, consumers took more time to complete the test. The virtual FWA test (asynchronous or synchronous) showed some differences in the associations of term consistency, due to the lack of spontaneity in the first minute. It is important to adjust the methodologies to standardize the times in both modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines how distrust regarding the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a catalyst for the diffusion of conspiracy theories. It discusses the nature of conspiracy theories, their relationship with institutional distrust, and their representation in the social media. The methodology used is based on the analysis of hashtags from over one million tweets to determine if certain theories act as "gateways" to others. The findings suggest that logical ties exist between distinct conspiracy theories, influenced by distrust towards specific institutions and amplified by the COVID-19 crisis. It is concluded that the combination of conspiracy theories is not random, but rather, it follows an internal logic that is based on distrust, since these theories are interconnected in an internally coherent way within the context of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural participation is an individual activity with relevant social dimensions. Democratic societies are concerned about the representation of social groups in cultural audiences and promote policies to increase participation focusing on planning aspects, such as in creative placemaking, or educational policies and social interventions targeted at some underrepresented social groups. Using the data derived from the 2017 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts from the United States, we estimate generalized entropy indexes to explore the more relevant dimensions to explain divides in cultural participation across the U.S. adult population, considering geographical and sociodemographic variables. Cultural engagement is characterized by the participation by highbrow, lowbrow, passive, active, live, and digital activities. Overall, we find that spatial and racial characteristics are not the most relevant, while education appears to be the most important source to explain access inequality. The pattern of digital participation is remarkably similar to the pattern of physical participation, thus showing some evidence that the divide and stratification of cultural practices in the real world translates to digital practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of solo self-employment has led to the emergence of increasingly broad categories of workers in search of collective representation, who find no support either in trade unions or in employer organizations. Based on the case of Redacta, an informal group founded in Italy and composed of solo self-employed (SSE) workers in the publishing industry, the article contributes to the debate on Resource Mobilization Theory and New Social Movements by showing that, along with other resources typically available to social movements and activist groups, it is mainly through the combination of institutional and symbolic-performative resources that a process of grassroots organizing—that we call socio-emotional organizing —can be successfully triggered, especially in the case of particularly underrepresented groups of workers, such as the SSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the transition between Fordism and neoliberalism in Italy employing insights from International (IPE) and Comparative Political Economy (CPE). Transitions are key periods to observe how countries tend to converge towards similar political economy developments through processes of social, political and institutional adaptation. We contribute to the literature by detailing how transformations in the 'social and political bases of political economy' influence institutional change. We understand these transformations as movements from below (changes in sociodemographic and productive compositions, and social movements) and above (agency in political parties, trade unions, business associations and elites); we name these components 'the social and productive composition' and 'the social and political representation sphere' respectively. Employing process tracing, we identify three historical periods in post-WWII Italian political economy – state Fordism (1945–78), a transitional period we name 'the long 1980s' (1979–91), and neoliberalism (1992–) – delineated by two historical ruptures: a breakup moment in 1978–9 that signalled the decline of Fordism, and a critical juncture that ushered in neoliberalism in 1992. Analytically, changes within the social and productive composition during state Fordism impacted on the social and political representation sphere, and on several reforms undertaken in different institutional domains. However, since the breakup moment 1978–9 this dynamic changed together with the international political economy context. Similar to other western countries, the main actors within the social and political representation sphere increasingly approached institutional regulation inspired by neoliberal ideas, while the pressures coming from the more active forces within the social and productive composition faltered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social imaginaries are conceived as schemes that allow us to perceive something as real, explain it and intervene operationally in what contemporary societies consider to be reality. This work seeks to infer the social representations that emanate from the advertising strategies that were produced and disseminated by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), as well as by its official sponsors, in the promotion of the women's football championship: UEFA Women's Euro 2022. The results demonstrate the social function that brands acquire when representing, legitimizing and promulgating a transnational and globalized vision of women in football and in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study was to examine how people think about problem gambling, i.e., persistent gambling despite its negative effects, through the social representations (SRs) that they share about this issue. SRs are organized collections of beliefs, opinions, and knowledge that members of a social group have in common, and past research highlighted them as significant predictors of people's behavior, and therefore valuable for public health interventions. We investigated the content of the social representation (SR) of problem gambling in a sample of Romanians and we also aimed to examine the variations in this representation according to individuals' involvement in gambling, and the relations between these variations and life satisfaction. Sex differences were also assessed. We approached the SR content using the free association technique with the inductive stimulus "individual with problem gambling" on a convenience sample of Romanians (N = 313). Results of the comparative statistical analyses indicate significant differences in the core of this SR between groups with different positions on the variables considered. They suggest several elements of social stigmatization of people struggling with problem gambling within the SRs shared by certain groups, specifically by individuals with no gambling involvement (mostly female) and by those with low life satisfaction. Our findings indicate that the SR of individuals with gambling involvement (mostly male) is as focused on the psychological dynamics that attract and keep one's involvement in gambling, but also on its risks, including that of social exclusion. Finally, our findings indicate that individuals with high life satisfaction share a more empathic perspective on the struggles confronted by people with problem gambling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Diseño y Comunicación is the property of Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Diseno y Comunicacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article analyzes public transportation as a trope for networked narrative forms in two novels by Chinua Achebe: No Longer at Ease and Anthills of the Savannah. Combining insights from mobility studies with criticism on tragedy, the present article suggests that intersections of tragedy and transportation remain understudied aspects of Achebe's fiction. While agon implies the struggle or dispute that drives literary plots in general, I argue that Achebe settles elements of the deliberative agon from classical Greek theatre within transport networks to structure agonistic exchanges amongst characters and social groups, to juxtapose forms of thinking, and to expand the idioms within his novels. As much as Achebe's novels pivot on the experiences of singular and seemingly heroic protagonists, he is deeply invested in the relations between individuals and collectives and the representation of both in novels concerned with the problems of postcolonial nations and nation-states. As such, Achebe's transportation systems facilitate fleeting modes of assembly for the exchange of ideas. Studying No Longer at Ease and Anthills of the Savannah together crystallizes the orchestrated and often ironic interplay between individual and collective insights. Achebe's representations of conviviality and agonism in public transportation thus present models of thinking and feeling collectively in the novel. Moments of transportations in Achebe's fictional worlds impart the modes of thinking animating the imagination of the nation and the machinery of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social representations in health have several consequences in influencing attitudes and behaviours, and are important factors in concepts such as health literacy and stigma. We examined how the Indian print news media portray psychiatric genomics using a mixed-method approach of content analysis. The sanguine picture of the optimism portrayed might represent an unjustified hyping in the worst cases. There was a gap between optimism showcased in the 'predicted quality of life' and the voices heard in the newspapers to corroborate the same. The prevalence of anti-stigmatizing themes hinted towards a progressive approach being disseminated to the readers. There is a visible interest in personalized medicine. The curve of psychiatric genomics leans towards precision medicine in the articles based on the themes analysed and 'pharmacogenomic testing' being mentioned. However, whether or not it will be marred by contrasting research studies and artistic depiction in movies is something to look forward to. It is reasonable to assume that a certain amount of skepticism and apprehension would be a possible reaction for those who read contradictory views about the field. This paves the way for future studies to understand public perception on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nazi regime's aggressive expansion across Europe during WWII created a landscape of suffering, resistance, and collaboration. How do lay Europeans today reconstruct their ingroup's roles during Nazi occupation, and how do different role representations relate to defensive responses aimed at protecting the ingroup from threat? We tested two theoretical predictions: Following the identity threat prediction, we expected that denying culpability but endorsing morally favorable group representations (e.g., victim‐heroism) would represent an ingroup‐defensive strategy, correlating with other defensive responses, such as victim‐directed negativity or victim‐blaming. Following the identity management prediction, we expected that precisely accepting culpability and acknowledging threatening representations (e.g., willing collaboration with Germans) would form the basis for a defensive stance and thus correlate with defensive intergroup reactions. Analyzing data from nine European samples spanning eight countries (N = 5474), we found support for the identity management prediction in six contexts: Lay representations as willing collaborators were associated with negative collective emotions and correlated with victim‐directed negativity, whereas victim‐hero representations showed no such connections. The remaining three countries revealed a mixture of the two identity accounts. We discuss implications for understanding historical representations and identity protection in groups that were both victims and perpetrators of massive intergroup atrocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The underrepresentation of the diversity of wine production around the globe, the standardization of varieties, wine styles, and taste, as well as the imbalance between grapes and place specificity, are global effects of the reproduction of the wine value(s) system. From the context of emerging winegrowing places and through a qualitative analysis of diverse experiences among the first generation of Sonoita-Elgin (Arizona, USA) wine producers, this paper explores the influence of wine value(s) system hierarchy on their practice, knowledge, and development. Despite its low representation and visibility globally, emerging wine places like Arizona are introducing new actors to the global wine scene, questioning the homogenization of varieties and styles, the efficiency of evaluation and classification programs based on geographical indication models, and the challenges of achieving collective representations and global recognition of quality. The particularities of Sonoita-Elgin wine producers facing these challenges reveal alternative perspectives and attributes of the relationship between place of origin, value, and quality. In that regard, this work illustrates how these new interpretations represent the current transformation of the practices, ideas, and meanings in the production and consumption of wine, contributing to critical debates on change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has two aims. First, it tests the psychometric properties of the Social Justice Scale in eight Spanish-speaking Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Uruguay, México, Venezuela and Honduras). Second, this study analyzes the relations and cultural differences between the dimensions of social justice with blatant and subtle prejudice towards poor people. These objectives are particularly interesting given the need for transcultural tools to evaluate social justice and the impact that it has on different variables. A sample of 4,130 adults from eight Latin-American countries who were 18 to 80 years (M = 46.89 years, SD = 15.23; 57.4% female) was selected by convenience sampling. The psychometric properties of the Social Justice Scale were adequate. Moreover, the three correlated dimensions model showed a major fit than the unidimensional model. According to the results of this study, the implementation of the scale in the Latin American context is adequate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reinforcing nature of social interactions is necessary for the maintenance of appropriate social behavior. However, the neural substrates underlying social reward processing and how they might differ based on the sex and internal state of the animal remains unknown. It is also unclear whether these neural substrates are shared with those involved in nonsocial rewarding processing. We developed a fully automated, two choice (social-sucrose) operant assay in which mice choose between social and nonsocial rewards to directly compare the reward-related behaviors associated with two competing stimuli. We performed cellular resolution calcium imaging of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurons in male and female mice across varying states of water restriction and social isolation. We found that mPFC neurons maintain largely non-overlapping, flexible representations of social and nonsocial reward that vary with internal state in a sex-dependent manner. Additionally, optogenetic manipulation of mPFC activity during the reward period of the assay disrupted reward-seeking behavior across male and female mice. Thus, using a two choice operant assay, we have identified sex-dependent, non-overlapping neural representations of social and nonsocial reward in the mPFC that vary with internal state and that are essential for appropriate reward-seeking behavior. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in both social and nonsocial reward-related behaviors, yet it is unclear if the same mPFC neurons represent both types of rewards. Combining a social-sucrose operant assay with calcium imaging and optogenetics, the authors show that largely non-overlapping neurons represent social and sucrose rewards in the mPFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines two different representations of traveling women from popular women’s magazines in 1970s developing South Korea. The two contrasting representations reveal the social construction of women’s autonomy, conventional boundaries, and moral sentiments in an authoritarian society. The Park Chung-hee government sought to regulate and naturalize various obligations for women, cultivating boundaries and moral sentiments according to a developmental compass. This is well represented in the first representation, in images of full-time housewives traveling with their husbands and children in model families. This depiction is compromised by the second imagery- images of leisure women who travel alone or with other women. While chastised by the government, male writers, and the broader society as immoral and dangerous, leisure women illuminate how women drew their own boundaries and attempted to carve their autonomous consumer subjectivity. Together, the two portrayals, among other images, provide a historical explanation for gendered dimensions of moral agency, self-determination, and mobility in developing South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I propose that the sociology of Émile Durkheim can serve as a useful foundation for a formalist cultural sociology. Durkheim's homo duplex model of human cognition directs analytic attention to the relative balance of opportunities that the moral integration of society as a system of representations affords for establishing moral unity with others, on one hand, and realizing personal autonomy, on the other. This apriority, like Simmel's forms, operates independently of any specific representational contents to produce outcomes related to solidarity, well-being, affect, and existential security. Accordingly, Durkheim provides conceptual resources for a hypothetico-deductive research program that promotes the development of testable hypotheses grounded in intuitions about how individuals phenomenologically experience formal properties of belief networks or other systems of social ideation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on political representation mainly focused on representatives but has overlooked individuals' sense of inclusion within the greater group: the nation. Building on narrative theory, we propose a novel mechanism that fosters a feeling of political representation—a similarity between individuals' personal-national stories and the collective-national metanarrative of the polity. Metanarratives are shared dominant stories that present a community with desirable social conventions. While they seek to represent the nation, metanarratives are not entirely inclusive and do not appeal to all citizens. We argue that individuals who do internalize the metanarrative feel more represented. To demonstrate our theoretical expectations, we use election surveys and constitutive texts to capture national stories and metanarratives. We find that indeed respondents whose national story is closer to a nation's metanarrative feel more represented by the political system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizenship as an object of study goes beyond the mere recognition of formal rights and responsibilities and includes cultural and social practices in different spheres. In this sense, the exercise of citizenship is linked to different forms of political participation. Recent studies show that young people are distanced from traditional political participation and prefer alternative civic practices. Within this framework, the present study aims to investigate the social representations of citizenship of Argentinean adolescents (N = 32) aged between 16 and 18. To this end, participants were asked to elaborate a narrative about their experiences with citizenship in the framework of semi-structured interviews guided according to the Piagetian clinical method. The results obtained allow the construction of four analytical categories intended to describe how these adolescents represent citizenship: civic engagement, rights, nationality and voting. It is concluded that there is a plurality of social representations of this object, and it is necessary to elucidate their development, maintenance and transformation processes in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Electrónica de Enseñanza de las Ciencias is the property of Revista Electronica de Ensenanza de las Ciencias and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: The Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) provides automatic access to subsidized dental care for eligible Australian children, but uptake is low. As cost is not a factor, socially constructed perceptions, which may be subscribed to without personal experience, were explored as potential barriers. Methods: Two studies with parents (child <18 years) were conducted. In Study one (N=317) participants completed a free‐response task eliciting socially constructed perceptions about the dentist. These were factor‐analysed in Study two (N=231), and the salience of these perceptions in relation to uptake was measured for the 113 eligible to access the CDBS participants. Results: In Study one, similar positive, negative, procedural and time words were elicited across conditions. Study two revealed Negative, Positive and Hassle perception factors associated with the dentist and that 61% of eligible participants had accessed the CDBS. Generalized Structural Equation Modelling with eligible participants revealed Positive and Negative perceptions were negatively correlated, Negative perceptions were positively correlated with Hassle, and, as Hassle increased, the probability of parents accessing the CDBS significantly decreased. Conclusions: Confusion around eligibility to access CDBS is still an issue. Low CDBS uptake may be associated with perceived hassle associated with the dentist, which may reflect parental negative perceptions. © 2024 Australian Dental Association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Beytulhikme: An International Journal of Philosophy is the property of Beytulhikme: An International Journal of Philosophy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

"Solar Politics" by Oxana Timofeeva explores the concept of solarity as a way to rethink value in relation to the economy, environment, and human nature. The book argues against both the fear of the sun's excessive light and the attempt to dominate nature, proposing a politics centered around otherness, solidarity, and cooperation. Timofeeva draws on the ideas of Georges Bataille to construct a solar economy that celebrates excess and rejects the violence of capital. The book also discusses the potential application of solar politics in addressing global crises and the need for a clearer vision of the political form that would emerge from these principles. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the first dispute under the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement Labor Mechanism, which allows one state party to enforce the domestic labor law of another party against a specific worksite in that second state. The dispute involved a mine in Zacatecas, Mexico, where the U.S. alleged labor rights violations. However, a panel established under the Mechanism found that it did not have jurisdiction over the dispute due to the timing of the alleged events and the specific requirements of the agreement. This decision may impact future disputes and the effectiveness of the Mechanism as intended. [Extracted from the article]

The recognition of the importance of work and the worker in the context of sustainability and social responsibility led the International Labor Organization (ILO) to construct the central concept of this research. This study aims to analyze the work environment in police organizations from the perspective of the concept of work that the ILO has termed Decent Work. The questionnaire was constructed based on the literature and validated by experts. Subsequently, it was made available through Google Forms® and submitted to the respondents. The research was based on ILO indicators (employment opportunities; adequate income; decent working hours; reconciliation of work, personal, and family life; stability and security at work; equal opportunities and treatment in employment; safe working environment; social dialogue; representation of workers and employers), and involved the participation of 704 respondents. The main pieces of evidence include: partial compliance with the indicators of decent work, with a negative emphasis on the working environment, where 59.39% classified it as unsafe, followed by evidence of low institutional concern for employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: The 2019 Senate hearings on the proposed anti-LGBT + discrimination legislation in the Philippines re-ignited the 20-year-long debate on LGBT + protection in a country both known as a "gay-friendly nation" (Kohut in Pew Research Center, 2013; Manalastas et al., 2017) and "the last bastion of conservative Catholicism in Asia" (Bloomer et al. in Policy Press, 2020). Prior studies have looked at various positions on the bill and how it was constructed to lobby for or oppose its passage. The present study contributes to the existing literature by looking at how LGBT + people are socially represented in these legislative debates—highlighting how public talk in political spaces has social and material consequences on LGBT + people. Method: The current study used archived livestream recordings of the 2019 Philippine Senate hearings and social representations theory (SRT) to explore how LGBT + people are socially represented by groups who are positioned as pro- and anti-SOGIE Equality Bill. Results: The results of this study show how the pro-Bill speakers focused on representing "LGBT + as human," particularly as "normal humans," "God's creation," "marginalized humans," "exemplary marginalized humans," and "productive members of society." Meanwhile, anti-Bill speakers represented "LGBT + as wrong," specifically as "just feelings, not fact," "disordered condition," "wrong lifestyle choice," "harmful foreign ideology," "social problem," and "respectable without their LGBT + identities." Conclusion: Public talk in a political setting can (de)humanize LGBT + people, legitimizing both inclusionary and exclusionary social practices. Policy Implications: Anchoring on social representations can direct how to shift future talks toward supporting the SOGIE Equality Bill and delegitimizing exclusionary practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In France, many social representations refer to gifted children who describe them as hypersensitive, curious, and creative. Although sometimes inaccurate, these representations can be conveyed in media intended for children and contribute to an erroneous transmission of characteristics of children with particularities. The objective of this study was to identify the social representations of gifted characters in French children's literature. For this, we used a coding grid to analyze a corpus of 23 French books. The grid was designed based in the emotional and creative characteristics and their associated behaviors. Results showed that the representations of the gifted characters in the books studied were stereotypical, particularly in terms of their emotional characteristics. Applications and perspectives for future studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research was initiated out of concern for the lack of knowledge that education students have regarding the concepts of emotion and culture. The specific objective was to investigate the social representations of education students in the region of La Araucaní a, Chile, regarding the concepts of emotion and culture. The method is based on the theory of social representations, so it is descriptive with a non-experimental crosssectional design. The participants were 129 higher education students from a university in the Araucaní a region, selected under a nonprobabilistic and intentional criterion. The results indicated that the words with the highest semantic weight in the core of emotion were feeling, joy, happiness, and calmness. In the case of culture, the highest semantic weight was given to custom, tradition and diversity. It is important to note that most students showed an understanding of the links between culture and emotion in their social representations, the former being a mediating element in the processes of emotional regulation. These findings support the potential of intercultural education to deconstruct the instrumental discourse of education in Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the role of social media platforms in the visual representation of the Bucha massacre perpetrated by Russian forces during the aggression against Ukraine in 2022. By considering the interconnectedness of the online and offline spheres, the authors explore the impact of social media on the coverage of the massacre. The study focuses on a comprehensive analysis of 6,185 images disseminated on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram between 29 March and 15 September 2022. Through an analysis of the intricate dynamics between war crimes, visual representations and social media platforms, the article invites contemplation on how digital artifacts shape our collective understanding of historical atrocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of international entrepreneurship, there are increasing calls for the study of cognition in its social context. In this regard, this article draws on social representations theory to explore and better understand the cognition of entrepreneurs. The objective of the present study is to explore the social representation of legitimacy among different social groups and show how these collective images vary depending on the context in which entrepreneurs operate. By applying social representations theory to data gathered from a sample of 150 French entrepreneurs, we construct a framework that elucidates social development and the changes that influence entrepreneurs' decision-making. In addition, this article reveals a new avenue of study in relation to legitimacy from a collective perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The body carries culture, with cultural concepts emerging from the dynamic interplay between the body and its environment. By integrating social representation theory and embodied cognition, we explored the use of embodied spatial metaphors in representing cultural tightness–looseness across three studies. In Study 1, 84 participants were randomly assigned to either a tight or loose culture group and tasked with placing cultural words within a spatial context. Participants positioned culturally compatible words closer to themselves and incompatible words farther away, illustrating the use of spatial distance metaphors to represent cultural tightness–looseness. Study 2 used an implicit task, demonstrating that people from both tight and loose cultures exhibited greater accuracy in judging culturally compatible concepts (vs. incompatible concepts) when these words were close to themselves. Study 3 unveiled distinct patterns of embodied spatial metaphors between tight and loose cultures when comparing cultural and irrelevant words. Notably, metaphors depicting nearness for culturally compatible words and farness for irrelevant words emerged exclusively in tight cultures, while such patterns were absent in loose cultures. Overall, our findings empirically support the notion that social representations are embodied, and provide embodied evidence for understanding and representing concepts related to cultural tightness–looseness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractResilience, the process of successful adaptation to adverse circumstances, is traditionally studied as an individual characteristic. However, more recent multisystem perspectives underline the interrelatedness of systems, within and outside of the individual, in shaping coping and adaptation processes. This challenges the assumption that pathways to resilience are the same across the world, given the diversity in people’s contexts globally. In light of the preponderance of resilience research being conducted in higher-income countries, this study taps pathways to resilience in survivors of the 2018 earthquake-tsunami-liquefaction disaster in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Guided by a social representations approach and using a novel free association technique, forty caregiver-adolescent dyads (N = 80) who survived the disaster were interviewed regarding their subjective experiences of coping and adaptation. Thematic analysis of their narratives demonstrated that survivors focused on mutual support, religious beliefs and intrapersonal psychological resources of seeking strength and calmness as routes for fostering psychological recovery. The results foreground group-specific aspects of such resilience: differences between caregivers and adolescents highlight how social roles and life stage shape resilience-related beliefs and practices. Moreover, the form their resilience takes is underpinned by sociocultural values of reciprocity and social cohesion. Thus, this paper points to similarities in resilience processes across contexts, but also to differences shaped by societal roles, developmental stage and cultural values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representing the mental state of the partner lays the foundation for successful social interaction. While the representation of group members has been extensively studied, it is unclear how intergroup interactions affect it. In three experiments utilizing the joint flanker task, we found that competition between groups brought about a greater joint flanker effect (Experiment 1). Such phenomenon was not due to competition per se, as competition that occurred between individuals from different groups did not enhance the joint flanker effect (Experiment 2). Using the minimal grouping method to directly manipulate group entitativity, we found that the joint flanker effect was larger when participants perceived the group as being more closely connected; conversely, when they perceived the group as less close, the joint flanker effect was attenuated (Experiment 3). These results suggested that beliefs about the group may be key to how group competition enhanced the joint flanker effect. The potential cognitive mechanisms producing this phenomenon are fully discussed. Overall, our study is the first to explore the impact of intergroup interactions on the joint flanker effect and provides a new perspective on understanding the relationship between within‐group representations and intergroup interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article analyses attempts to enact complexity in postgenomic experimentations using the case of epigenetic research on biomarkers of psychosocial stress. Enacting complexity in this research means dissecting multiple so-called biosocial processes of health differentiation in the face of stressful experiences. To characterize enactments of biosocial complexity, the article develops the concepts of complexity work and complexification. The former emphasizes the social, technical, and material work that goes into the production of mixed biological and social representations of stress in epigenetics. The latter underlines how complexity can be assembled differently across distinct configurations of experimental work. Specifically, complexification can be defined as producing, stabilizing, and normalizing novel experimental systems that are supposed to improve techno-scientific enactments of complexity. In the case of epigenetics, complexification entails a reconfiguration of postgenomic experimental systems in ways that some actors deem 'better' at enacting health as a biosocial process. This study of complexity work and complexification shows that biosocial complexity is hardly a univocal enterprise in epigenetics. Consequently, the article calls for abandoning analysis of these research practices using clear-cut dichotomies of reductionism vs. holism, as well as simplicity vs. complexity. More broadly, the article suggests the relevance of a sociology of complexification for STS approaches to complexity in scientific practices. Complementing the existing focus on complexity as instrumental rhetoric in contemporary sciences, complexification directs analytical attention to the pragmatic opportunities that alternative (biosocial) complexities offer to collective, societal, and political thinking about science in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses Generation Z's perception of work, considering the different realities and generational experiences in Brazil, a country marked by profound social inequalities. The study aims to understand the social representations of young people related to work, exploring how they reflect and are influenced by demographic and organizational transformations. Based on the literature, it is identified that employees from different generations, including Generations X, Y, Z and Baby Boomers, coexist in the workplace, each with their specific expectations, values and motivations in relation to employment. This diversity creates significant challenges for organizational management, which must mediate the varied perspectives to avoid conflicts and facilitate the adaptation and assimilation of new members. The study employs a qualitative approach, using questionnaires and the Free Word Association Technique (TALP) to collect data from young people born between 1995 and 2009. The interpretative analysis of the collected data aims to reveal the complex relationships of these young people with work, understanding how these perceptions are socially constructed and how they influence their experiences and expectations. The research is based on the Theory of Social Representations (TRS) to analyze how young people structure their social reality and how this affects their insertion and behavior in the world of work. The results seek to offer insights into the aspirations, needs and motivations of Generation Z in the Brazilian labor context, highlighting the relevance of understanding such dynamics to promote more harmonious and productive work environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human beings display the extraordinary ability of grasping and communicating abstract concepts. Yet, no standardized instruments exist to assess this ability. Developing these tools is paramount for understanding abstract representations such as social concepts, with ramifications in educational and clinical settings. Here, we developed an image database depicting abstract social concepts varying in social desirability. We first validated the image database in a sample of neurotypical participants. Then, we applied the database to test different hypotheses regarding how social concepts are represented across samples of adults and children with autism spectrum condition (ASC). Relative to the neurotypicals, we did not observe differences related to ASC in identification performance of the social desirability of the concepts, nor differences in metacognitive ability. However, we observed a preference bias away from prosocial concepts that was linked to individual autistic traits in the neurotypicals, and higher in ASC relative to the neurotypicals both in adults and children. These results indicate that abstract representations such as social concepts are dependent on individual neurodevelopmental traits. The image database thus provides a standardized assessment tool for investigating the representation of abstract social concepts in the fields of psycholinguistics, neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry, and cognitive neuroscience, across different cultures and languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]