scholarly journals The psychological and socio-political consequences of infectious diseases: Authoritarianism, governance, and nonzoonotic (human-to-human) infection transmission

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 456-474
Author(s):  
Leor Zmigrod ◽  
Tobias Ebert ◽  
Friedrich M. Götz ◽  
Peter Jason Rentfrow

What are the socio-political consequences of infectious diseases? Humans have evolved to avoid disease and infection, resulting in a set of psychological mechanisms that promote disease-avoidance, referred to as the behavioral immune system (BIS). One manifestation of the BIS is the cautious avoidance of unfamiliar, foreign, or potentially contaminating stimuli. Specifically, when disease infection risk is salient or prevalent, authoritarian attitudes can emerge that seek to avoid and reject foreign outgroups while favoring homogenous, familiar ingroups. In the largest study conducted on the topic to date (N > 240,000), elevated regional levels of infectious pathogens were related to more authoritarian attitudes on three geographical levels: across U.S. metropolitan regions, U.S. states, and cross-culturally across 47 countries. The link between pathogen prevalence and authoritarian psychological dispositions predicted conservative voting behavior in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election and more authoritarian governance and state laws, in which one group of people imposes asymmetrical laws on others in a hierarchical structure. Furthermore, cross-cultural analysis illustrated that the relationship between infectious diseases and authoritarianism was pronounced for infectious diseases that can be acquired from other humans (nonzoonotic), and does not generalize to other infectious diseases that can only be acquired from non-human species (zoonotic diseases). At a time of heightened awareness of infectious diseases, the current findings are important reminders that public health and ecology can have ramifications for socio-political attitudes by shaping how citizens vote and are governed.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leor Zmigrod ◽  
Tobias Ebert ◽  
Friedrich Martin Götz ◽  
Jason Rentfrow

What are the socio-political consequences of infectious diseases? Humans have evolved to avoid disease and infection, resulting in a set of psychological mechanisms that promote disease-avoidance, referred to as the behavioural immune system (BIS). One manifestation of the BIS is the cautious avoidance of unfamiliar, foreign, or potentially contaminating stimuli. Specifically, when disease infection risk is salient or prevalent, authoritarian attitudes can emerge that seek to avoid and reject foreign outgroups while favoring homogenous, familiar ingroups. In the largest study conducted on the topic to date (N>240,000), elevated regional levels of infectious pathogens were related to more authoritarian attitudes on three geographical levels: across US metropolitan regions, US states, and cross-culturally across 47 countries. The link between pathogen prevalence and authoritarian psychological dispositions predicted conservative voting behavior in the 2016 US Presidential Election as well as more authoritarian governance and state laws, in which one group of people imposes asymmetrical laws on others in a hierarchical structure. Furthermore, cross-cultural analysis illustrated that the relationship between infectious diseases and authoritarianism was pronounced for infectious diseases that can be acquired from other humans (nonzoonotic), and does not generalize to other infectious diseases that can only be acquired from non-human species (zoonotic diseases). At a time of heightened awareness of infectious diseases, these findings are important reminders that public health and ecology can have ramifications for socio-political attitudes, and this can shape how citizens vote as well as how they govern and are governed.


Author(s):  
Annie McClanahan

Dead Pledges is a study of our contemporary culture of debt. Examining novels, poems, artworks, photographs, and films produced in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, this book aims to show how US cultural texts have grappled with the rise and fall of the financialized consumer credit economy. It argues that debt is such a ubiquitous yet elusive social form that we can most clearly understand it by looking at how our culture has sought to represent it. Whether popular entertainment or avant-garde art, post-crisis cultural texts allow us to map the landscape of contemporary debt: from foreclosure to credit scoring, student debt to securitized risk, microeconomic theory to anti-eviction activism. Across this range of sites, this book offers an account of the theoretical and political consequences of debt: how it affects our ideas of personhood and morality; how it deploys a language of irrational behavior and risky excess; how it transforms our relationship to property and possession. Bringing together economic history, debt theory, and cultural analysis, Dead Pledges demonstrates how our understanding of the economy can be illuminated by culture. What is at stake in our contemporary culture of debt is not just our measures of economic credibility but also the limits of our imaginative credulity; not just our account of economic character but also our literary characters; not just the money we see but also the way we see money; not just how we pay but also how we imagine getting payback.


Author(s):  
Dennis C. Spies

The chapter summarizes the New Progressive Dilemma (NPD) debate, identifying three arguments from comparative welfare state and party research likely to be relevant to the relationship between immigration and welfare state retrenchment: public opinion, welfare institutions, and political parties. Alignment of anti-immigrant sentiments and welfare support varies considerably between countries, especially between the US and Europe, leading to different party incentives vis-à-vis welfare state retrenchment. The chapter introduces insights from comparative welfare state and party research to the debate, discussing inter alia, political parties in terms of welfare retrenchment, immigrants as a voter group, and cross-national variation of existing welfare institutions. It addresses the complex debates around attitudinal change caused by immigration, levels of welfare support, voting behavior, and social expenditures. Combining these strands of literature, a common theoretical framework is developed that is subsequently applied to both the US and Western European context.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0739456X2110442
Author(s):  
Stephan Schmidt ◽  
Wenzheng Li ◽  
John Carruthers ◽  
Stefan Siedentop

This paper examines how national planning frameworks differ from each other and how those differences relate to patterns of urban development using an international cross section of metropolitan regions. We construct a composite index to measure institutional planning frameworks through objective criteria—restrictive versus permissive; binding versus nonbinding; nationally versus locally oriented—that enables comparison between (not within) countries. We also estimate a series of models to evaluate the relationship between institutional frameworks and patterns. The evidence suggests that a more centralized and coordinated planning framework produces more compact development, whereas a more decentralized and uncoordinated planning framework results in less compact development.


2020 ◽  
pp. 107-119
Author(s):  
Frederika Lučanská ◽  
◽  
Oľga Orosová ◽  
Vihra Naydenova ◽  
Jozef Benka ◽  
...  

The objective of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between well-being, rootedness and emigration plans (EP) among university students in Slovakia and Bulgaria. It also explored the mediation effect of rootedness in the relationship between well-being and EP. The data were collected throughan online survey (SLiCE 2016). The research sample consisted of 361 university students (M=22.4 years, SD=3.8) from Slovakia (141, 86.5% female) and Bulgaria (220, 69.1% female). Based on their emigration plans, the respondentswere dividedinto two groups;those who do not plan to leave (n=218, 60.4%) and those who plan to leave in the long term (n=143, 39.6%) after they finish university. ForSlovakia, all factors were significantly related toEP. Furthermore, the association between well-being and EP was fully mediated by two dimensions of rootedness with different psychological mechanisms. For Bulgaria, only well-being and onedimension of rootedness,desire for change,were significantly related to EP. It was also found that the association between well-being and EP was partially mediated by only one dimension of rootedness –desire for change. This study highlightsthat rootedness hasa different relationship with other examined factorsin different countries and also that it is necessary to respect the cultural and socio-economic featuresof acountry.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Melvanda Gisela Putri ◽  
Roedi Irawan ◽  
Indri Safitri Mukono

ABSTRAKLatar Belakang: Stunting merupakan suatu istilah yang menggambarkan kondisi pertumbuhan tinggi badan kurang berdasarkan umur disesuaikan dengan Z-Score (<-2SD). Stunting pada balita dapat diakibatkan oleh kurangnya asupan zat gizi yang diperlukan bagi pertumbuhan anak. Penelitian dilakukan untuk mengetahui hubungan suplementasi vitamin A, pemberian imunisasi dan riwayat penyakit infeksi yakni diare dan ISPA terhadap kejadian stunting.Tujuan: Mengetahui hubungan suplementasi vitamin A, pemberian imunisasi, dan penyakit infeksi terhadap stunting pada anak usia 24-59 bulan di Puskesmas Mulyorejo, Surabaya.Metode: Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian analitik observasional dengan metode cross sectional. Besar sampel adalah 107 anak usia 24-59 bulan di Puskesmas Mulyorejo, Surabaya. terdiri dari 25 anak kelompok stunting dan 82 anak kelompok non- stunting. Cara pengambilan data melalui data sekunder posyandu dan wawancara langsung orang tua anak dengan pengisian kuisioner. Data dianalisis menggunakan uji Chi-Square, Fisher Exact, dan Mann Whitney.Hasil: Penelitian ini menunjukkan hasil terdapat hubungan suplementasi vitamin A dengan stunting (p=0,000), tidak ada hubungan antara pemberian imunisasi terhadap stunting (p=0,332). Dalam riwayat penyakit infeksi, frekuensi diare dan ISPA ditemukan tidak ada hubungan dengan  stunting (p=0,053 dan p=0,082), begitu pula pada lama diare dan lama ISPA tidak berhubungan dengan stunting (p= 0,614 dan p=0,918).Kesimpulan: Suplementasi vitamin A berhubungan signifikan dengan stunting yang diamati pada anak usia 24-59 bulan di Puskesmas Mulyorejo, Surabaya. Kata kunci: kejadian stunting, vitamin A, imunisasi, penyakit infeksi, anak usia 24-59 bulanABSTRACTBackground: Stunting is a term that describes condition of lower height-for-age Z-Score (<-2SD). Stunting among children can be caused by a lack of nutrients needed for children's growth. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between vitamin A supplementation, immunization and a history of infectious diseases, namely diarrhea and ARI to the incidence of stunting.Objectives: To determine the relationship between vitamin A supplementation, immunization, and history of infectious disease with the incidence of stunting in children aged 24-59 months at Puskesmas Mulyorejo, Surabaya.Methods: This study was an observational analytic study with cross sectional method. The sample size was 107 children aged 24-59 months at Puskesmas Mulyorejo, Surabaya. This study consisted of 25 children in the stunting group and 82 children in the non-stunting group. The method of data collection was through secondary data from posyandu and direct interviews with parents by filling out questionnaires. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test, fisher exact, and Mann Whitney.Results: The results of this study indicated that there was a relationship between vitamin A supplementation and with stunting (p = 0.000). There was no relationship between immunization and stunting (p = 0.332). In the history of infectious diseases, the frequency of diarrhea and ARI was found to have no relationship with stunting (p = 0.053 and p = 0.082), as well as the duration of diarrhea and duration of ARI there was no association with the stunting (p = 0.614 and p = 0.918).Conclusion: Vitamin A supplementation has significant relationship with stunting in children aged 24-59 months at Puskesmas Mulyorejo, Surabaya.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng Yang ◽  
Xi Luo ◽  
Hepeng Jia

A large body of research has found that people’s beliefs in conspiracy theories about infectious diseases negatively impacts their health behaviors concerning vaccination. Conspiracy belief-based vaccination hesitancy has become more rampant after the global outbreak of COVID-19. However, some important questions remain unanswered. For instance, do different versions of conspiracy theories—particularly conspiracy theories about the origin of the epidemic (e.g., that the SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a Wuhan virology laboratory or that the virus was of foreign origin) and the general theories about vaccine conspiracies (e.g., pharmaceutical companies covered up the danger of vaccines or people are being deceived about the effectiveness of vaccines)—have the same effect on vaccination intentions? Through a national survey adopting quota sampling in China, the current study tested the relationship between people’s conspiracy beliefs and their intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. The findings show that people’s embrace of conspiracy theories did indeed affect their intention to take COVID-19 shots. However, only conspiracy theories related to vaccines had a significant impact, while belief in more general theories about COVID-19 did not significantly affect vaccination intentions. People’s knowledge of vaccines (vaccine literacy) played an important role in this relationship. People with lower beliefs in vaccines conspiracy theories and higher levels of vaccine literacy were more likely to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 227
Author(s):  
Omar David Moreno Cárdenas ◽  
Andréa Máris Campos Guerra

Resumo: Este artigo explora consequências epistemológicas e políticas de se realizar pesquisa de fenômenos sociais com um olhar psicanalítico dentro da universidade, tanto para a psicanálise, o campo social e a própria universidade. No início estabelecemos a relação entre ciência e psicanálise, o que nos permite refletir sobre a participação da psicanálise na universidade e as tensões clássicas desse intercambio. Em seguida, apresentamos o impasse de se pesquisar fenômenos sociais com a psicanálise face à indissociabilidade de teoria, método e clínica. Nossa chave de leitura é a teoria dos discursos da psicanálise lacaniana, indicando o potencial político dessa modalidade de pesquisa ao causar subversões nas formas de poder e dominação discursiva na universidade, nas instituições de psicanálise e no campo social.Palavras-chave: Fenômenos sociais; Pesquisa psicanalítica; Teoria dos discursos; Psicanálise; Subversão. Psychoanalytic research on social phenomena in university: political potentiality within subversion of discoursesAbstract: This paper explores the epistemological and political consequences of conducting research on social phenomena from a psychoanalytic perspective within the university, for the psychoanalysis, the social field and the university. In the beginning, we established the relationship between science and psychoanalysis, which allows us to reflect on the psychoanalysis participation in the university and the classic tensions of this exchange. Next, we present the impasse of researching social phenomena from the psychoanalysis taking in account the indissociability between theory, method and clinic. Our theoretical perspective is the discourses theory of Lacanian psychoanalysis, indicating the political potential of this research modality by causing subversions in the forms of power and discursive domination in the university, in the institutions of psychoanalysis and in the social field.Keywords: Social phenomena; Psychoanalytical research; Discourses theory; Psychoanalysis; Subversion. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veki Edizon Tuhana ◽  
Pawito , ◽  
Mahendra Wijaya ,

Abstract The process of local elections is the right of every citizen to choose their leaders directly correspond running from an independent path to meet certain requirements. Concurrent local elections 2015 in Indonesia, which is in North Central Timor with a single candidate pair. Couples candidate election time carried out. This article is the result of research exploring: 1) analyzing the relationship between political communicator (single candidate pair) to the effects (voting behavior of society); 2) analyzing the relationship between the political message to the effect (voting behavior of society); 3) analyzing the relationship between media and interpersonal channels of the effect (voting behavior of society); 4) effects (voting behavior of society); As for the type of research is quantitative research with survey method.The study population was the whole community voters in District Kefamenanu City. The conclusions ofthe research and discussion is no relationship between political communicator with effect (voting behavior of society), there is a relationship between a political message to the effect, there is a relationship between are not have a relationship with the effects. Keywords: Political communication, single candidate pair, the public voting behavior Abstrak Proses Pemilihan Kepala Daerah merupakan hak bagi setiap warga negara untuk memilih langsung pemimpinnya sesuai keyakinan dan penilaiannya terhadap calon yang diusulkan oleh masing-masing partai atau gabungan partai, atau yang mencalonkan diri dari jalur independen dengan memenuhi syarat tertentu. Pilkada serentak Tahun 2015 di Indonesia, salah satunya di Provinsi NTT, yaitu di Kabupaten Timor Tengah Utara (TTU) dengan pasangan calon tunggal. Proses pilkada pasangan calon tunggal merupakan hal yang menarik karena sepanjang sejarah demokrasi dan sistem politik Indonesia baru pertama kali dilakukan. Artikel ini merupakan hasil penelitian yang mengeksplorasi: 1) Menganalisis hubungan komunikator politik (pasangan calon tunggal) terhadap efek (perilaku memilih masyarakat);2) Menganalisis hubungan pesan politik terhadap efek (perilaku memilih masyarakat); 3) Menganalisis hubungan media dan saluran interpersonal terhadap efek (perilaku memilih masyarakat); 4) Menganalisis hubungan model pendekatan sosiologis (agama yang dianut dan jenis pekerjaan) terhadap efek (perilaku memilih masyarakat); adapun jenis penelitian yang digunakan adalah penelitian kuantitatif dengan metode survei. Populasi penelitian adalah seluruh masyarakat pemilih di Kecamatan Kota Kefamenanu. Adapun kesimpulan dari hasil penelitian dan pembahasan adalah ada hubungan antara komunikator politik dengan efek (perilaku memilih masyarakat), ada hubungan antara pesan politik dengan efek, ada hubungan antara media dan saluran dengan efek, model pendekatan sosiologis (agama yang dianut dan jenis pekerjaan) tidak mempunyai hubungan dengan efek. Kata kunci: Komunikasi politik, pasangan calon tunggal, perilaku memilih masyarakat


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