scholarly journals Some people just want to watch the world burn: the prevalence, psychology and politics of the ‘Need for Chaos’

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1822) ◽  
pp. 20200147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Arceneaux ◽  
Timothy B. Gravelle ◽  
Mathias Osmundsen ◽  
Michael Bang Petersen ◽  
Jason Reifler ◽  
...  

People form political attitudes to serve psychological needs. Recent research shows that some individuals have a strong desire to incite chaos when they perceive themselves to be marginalized by society. These individuals tend to see chaos as a way to invert the power structure and gain social status in the process. Analysing data drawn from large-scale representative surveys conducted in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, we identify the prevalence of Need for Chaos across Anglo-Saxon societies. Using Latent Profile Analysis, we explore whether different subtypes underlie the uni-dimensional construct and find evidence that some people may be motivated to seek out chaos because they want to rebuild society, while others enjoy destruction for its own sake. We demonstrate that chaos-seekers are not a unified political group but a divergent set of malcontents. Multiple pathways can lead individuals to ‘want to watch the world burn’. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The political brain: neurocognitive and computational mechanisms’.

2021 ◽  
pp. 223386592110248
Author(s):  
Yooneui Kim ◽  
Youngwan Kim

Are international organizations autonomous actors in global politics? This paper investigates whether and how major powers influence the World Bank’s official development assistance policies. Despite the World Bank’s attempts to maintain independence from its member states, we argue that major powers are still influential. Testing this expectation with the data of official development assistance provisions between 1981 and 2017, we find that the World Bank provides a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipient countries that receive a higher amount of such assistance from the major powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. In addition, the World Bank is prone to provide a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipients that have a similar preference to the major powers. This study sheds light on the relations between major powers and international organizations.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2110223
Author(s):  
Adrienne M. Davidson ◽  
Samantha Burns ◽  
Delaine Hampton ◽  
Linda White ◽  
Michal Perlman

Many children in Canada and the United States experience poor-quality child care on a regular basis. Under the rubric of “parent choice,” governments continue to permit a variety of licensed care providers (centers and homes) as well as unlicensed home child care providers. Research suggests, however, that parents are not well-informed consumers about child care services, unaware of even the basic characteristics of their child’s care. In this study, we provide findings from a latent profile analysis based on a conjoint survey conducted in Toronto, Canada to better understand the factors that influence parents’ decisions in selecting child care services. Based on responses from over 700 parents, we identify five classes of parents that reflect a range of preferences in selecting child care. However, most groups show a strong preference for licensed early childhood education and care (ECEC) options. Limitations of this study and implications for policy are discussed.


Author(s):  
Yi-Tui Chen

Although vaccination is carried out worldwide, the vaccination rate varies greatly. As of 24 May 2021, in some countries, the proportion of the population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has exceeded 50%, but in many countries, this proportion is still very low, less than 1%. This article aims to explore the impact of vaccination on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the herd immunity of almost all countries in the world has not been reached, several countries were selected as sample cases by employing the following criteria: more than 60 vaccine doses per 100 people and a population of more than one million people. In the end, a total of eight countries/regions were selected, including Israel, the UAE, Chile, the United Kingdom, the United States, Hungary, and Qatar. The results find that vaccination has a major impact on reducing infection rates in all countries. However, the infection rate after vaccination showed two trends. One is an inverted U-shaped trend, and the other is an L-shaped trend. For those countries with an inverted U-shaped trend, the infection rate begins to decline when the vaccination rate reaches 1.46–50.91 doses per 100 people.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052199795
Author(s):  
Yoonsun Han ◽  
Shinhye Lee ◽  
Eunah Cho ◽  
Juyoung Song ◽  
Jun Sung Hong

This cross-national research investigated nationally representative adolescents from South Korea and the United States, explored similarities and differences in latent profiles of bullying victimization between countries, and examined individual- and school-level variables that predict such latent profiles supported by the Social Disorganization Theory. The fourth-grade sample of the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study from South Korea ( N = 4,669) and the United States ( N = 10,029) was used to conduct a latent profile analysis based on eight items of the bullying victimization questionnaire. Multilevel logistic regression was conducted using latent profiles as dependent variables. Independent variables include individual-level (material goods, school absence, academic interest, school belonging) and school-level (concentration of affluent families, school resources, the severity of delinquency, academic commitment) factors. More similarities existed than differences in the latent groups of bullying victimization between South Korea ( rare, low-moderate, verbal-relational-physical, and multi-risk) and the United States ( rare, low-moderate, verbal-relational, and multi-risk). Evidence for school-level variables as predictors of bullying victimization profiles was stronger for adolescents in the United States, with a concentration of affluent families and severity of delinquency being significant in four of the six models. For the South Korean sample, the severity of delinquency predicted bullying victimization in only one model. Examination of both individual- and school-level factors that predict unique bullying victimization experiences grounded in Social Disorganization Theory may be informative for addressing key areas of intervention—especially at the school-level context in which victimization primarily takes place and where anti-bullying intervention programs are often provided.


1951 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 416-416

A meeting of the International Sugar Council was held in London, June 26 to July 20, 1950. The meeting was attended by delegates of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, France, Haiti, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Peru, Philippine Republic, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Yugoslavia, and the United States. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the world situation in sugar and the proposal for a new international sugar agreement. The council adopted a protocol which extended the international sugar agreement of 1937 one year from August 31, 1950. During 1950, the council created a special committee to 1) study the changing sugar situation as it related to the need or desirability for negotiating a new agreement, and 2) report to the council, as occasion might arise, on its findings and recommendations as to the possible basis of a new agreement. The special committee prepared a document which set forth certain proposals in the form of a preliminary draft agreement. The draft agreement included six fundamental bases: 1) the regulation of exports, 2) the stabilization of sugar prices on the world market, 3) a solution to the currency problem, 4) the limitation of sugar production by importing countries, 5) measures to increase consumption of sugar and 6) the treatment of non-signatory countries. The draft was then considered by the council at its meeting on July 20 at which time the council decided to submit it to member and observer governments for comments and to transmit such comments for consideration at a meeting of the special committee.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-49
Author(s):  
Mahdi FAWAZ ◽  
Jean BELIN ◽  
Hélène MASSON

This article presents the first results of a statistical analysis of the ownership links between the major European and American defence contractors. This approach, centred on the shareholders and subsidiaries of these companies, enables us to explore the depth of the national links (company and country of origin) and the density of the ownership cooperation that exists within Europe, as well as with the rest of the world, particularly the United States. Information about defence contractors’ ownership links is difficult to obtain and precautions must be taken in the interpretation of the results.  In terms of defence contractor shareholders, it would appear first that the national link is strong for Sweden, Spain and France, less so for Germany and Italy, and particularly weak for the United Kingdom. Next, in European terms the links are concentrated on Airbus, MBDA and KNDS and are little developed in other companies. Finally, we observe asymmetrical links with the USA and a significant presence of American investment funds.


Author(s):  
Aneta Ejsmont

Building own business is a long-term and laborious process. A person who leads a startup tries to start with building own business by taking first steps toward financial independence. Analyzing conditions in Poland, on average every second startup sells its services abroad, admittedly it is good news, although half of them do not export at all. Half of the startups which export their services and goods generates more than 50% of their revenues outside Poland. Very interesting is the fact that 60% of exporters have conducted their foreign sale since the moment of establishing their business. On which markets do they sell their services? It turns out that the most popular are markets in the European Union (54%), including the United Kingdom 14% and Germany 9%. Only about 25% of Polish startups exports their products and services to the United States. Taking the United States into consideration, in 2008 the USA lost their leading position in the number of startups which are newly created and achieving success in business. Currently in terms of the number of new startups the USA is on a quite distant place after Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Hungary, New Zealand, Israel or Italy. In short, more companies were closed than created, so it was, as a matter of fact, like in Poland. Therefore, the condition to improve the development of startups both from Poland and other countries all the world is to increase cooperation and coopetition.


Author(s):  
Christopher M Seitz ◽  
Muhsin M Orsini ◽  
Meredith R Gringle

This study investigated the video sharing website www.youtube.com for the presence of instructional videos that teach students how to cheat on academic work. Videos were analysed to determine the methods of cheating, the popularity of the videos, the demographics of viewers and those uploading the videos, and the opinions of viewers after watching these types of videos. A total of 43 videos were included in this study. Those featured in the videos taught viewers how to cheat on exams, homework, and written assignments using modern and traditional technologies. The far majority of those featured in the videos, and their viewers, were males within the age range of those who attend middle school, high school, and college. Videos were watched by people from several different nations, including the United States (US), Canada, Australia, India, and the United Kingdom (UK). The study's results suggest that instructional cheating videos are popular among students around the world. Positive viewer feedback indicates that the videos have educated and motivated students to put the methods of cheating found in the videos to use. Educators should consider YouTube as a resource in order to become familiar with various methods of cheating.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Guerrero ◽  
Joel Barnes ◽  
Mark Tremblay ◽  
Laura Pulkki-Råback

Abstract Objective: The purpose of the current study was to use latent profile analysis to identify family typologies characterized by parental acceptance, parental monitoring, and family conflict, and to examine whether such typologies were associated with the number of movement behavior recommendations (i.e., physical activity, screen time, and sleep) met by children. Methods: Data for this cross-sectional observational study were part of the baseline data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Data were collected from September 1, 2016 to September 15, 2018, across 21 study sites in the United States. Participants included 11,875 children aged 9 and 10 years. Results: Results from latent profile analysis showed that children were meaningfully classified into one of five family typologies, ranging from ideal (high acceptance, high monitoring, and low conflict) to poor (medium acceptance, low monitoring, and high conflict) functioning. Children from good (OR= 0.54; 95% CI, 0.39-0.76), average (OR=0.28; 95% CI, 0.20, 0.40), fair (OR=0.24; 95% CI, 0.16, 0.36), and poor (OR=0.19; 95% CI, 0.12-0.29) functioning families were less likely to meet all three movement behavior recommendations compared to children from ideal functioning families. The odds of meeting all recommendations progressively decreased as family functioning worsened. Similar findings and pattern of results were found for meeting ≥2 recommendations and ≥1 recommendation. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of the family environment for promoting healthy movement behaviors among children.


1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 81-89
Author(s):  
Richard Lee Storch ◽  
William Hills

Shipbuilders throughout the world are continuing to move toward computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems as a means of improving productivity, quality and competitiveness. Implementation of such systems provides unique challenges to all shipbuilders. One of the critical issues involves the choice of new versus existing computer systems (hardware and software), the pace of change, and the timing of implementation of new parts or totally new systems. These challenges and potential solutions are not only different for each shipyard, but are also significantly different for large and small shipyards. Surveys of current uses and needs of small shipyards in the United States and the United Kingdom were conducted to evaluate current systems and to make recommendations for potentially successful approaches to future implementation. The focus was on three major areas: design (design, drafting, engineering, and lofting); production management (planning, estimating, material control, scheduling, purchasing, production/cost control, and quality control); and administration (payroll, time charging, and billing). Based on this work, recommendations concerning systems for implementation and a framework for integration are presented.


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