scholarly journals Spatial clustering in vaccination hesitancy: the role of social influence and social selection

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucila Gisele Alvarez Zuzek ◽  
Casey M Zipfel ◽  
Shweta Bansal
Keyword(s):  
Social Influence ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Social Selection ◽  
The Social

The phenomenon of vaccine hesitancy behavior has gained ground over the last three decades, jeopardizing the maintenance of herd immunity. This behavior tends to cluster spatially, creating pockets of unprotected sub-populations that can be hotspots for outbreak emergence. What remains less understood are the social mechanisms that can give rise to spatial clustering in vaccination behavior, particularly at the landscape scale. We focus on the presence of spatial clustering, and aim to mechanistically understand how different social processes can give rise to this phenomenon. In particular, we propose two hypotheses to explain the presence of spatial clustering: (i) social selection, in which vaccine-hesitant individuals share socio-demographic traits, and clustering of these traits generates spatial clustering in vaccine hesitancy; and (ii) social influence, in which hesitant behavior is contagious and spreads through neighboring societies, leading to hesitant clusters. Adopting a theoretical spatial network approach, we explore the role of these two processes in generating patterns of spatial clustering in vaccination behaviors under a range of spatial structures. We find that both processes are independently capable of generating spatial clustering, and the more spatially structured the social dynamics in a society are, the higher spatial clustering in vaccine-hesitant behavior it realizes. Together, we demonstrate that these processes result in unique spatial configurations of hesitant clusters, and we validate our models on both processes with fine-grain empirical data on vaccine hesitancy, social determinants, and social connectivity in the US. Finally, we propose, and evaluate the effectiveness of, two novel intervention strategies to diminish hesitant behavior. Our generative modeling approach informed by unique empirical data provides insights on the role of complex social processes in driving spatial heterogeneity in vaccine hesitancy.

scholarly journals Extending Geodemographics Using Data Primitives: A Review and a Methodological Proposal

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 386
Author(s):  
Jennie Gray ◽  
Lisa Buckner ◽  
Alexis Comber
Keyword(s):  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Feature Space ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Current State ◽  
Cluster Label ◽  
Static Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Using Data

This paper reviews geodemographic classifications and developments in contemporary classifications. It develops a critique of current approaches and identifiea a number of key limitations. These include the problems associated with the geodemographic cluster label (few cluster members are typical or have the same properties as the cluster centre) and the failure of the static label to describe anything about the underlying neighbourhood processes and dynamics. To address these limitations, this paper proposed a data primitives approach. Data primitives are the fundamental dimensions or measurements that capture the processes of interest. They can be used to describe the current state of an area in a multivariate feature space, and states can be compared over multiple time periods for which data are available, through for example a change vector approach. In this way, emergent social processes, which may be too weak to result in a change in a cluster label, but are nonetheless important signals, can be captured. As states are updated (for example, as new data become available), inferences about different social processes can be made, as well as classification updates if required. State changes can also be used to determine neighbourhood trajectories and to predict or infer future states. A list of data primitives was suggested from a review of the mechanisms driving a number of neighbourhood-level social processes, with the aim of improving the wider understanding of the interaction of complex neighbourhood processes and their effects. A small case study was provided to illustrate the approach. In this way, the methods outlined in this paper suggest a more nuanced approach to geodemographic research, away from a focus on classifications and static data, towards approaches that capture the social dynamics experienced by neighbourhoods.

scholarly journals Are We Ready for the Arrival of the New COVID-19 Vaccinations? Great Promises and Unknown Challenges Still to Come

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Davide Gori ◽  
Chiara Reno ◽  
Daniel Remondini ◽  
Francesco Durazzi ◽  
Maria Pia Fantini
Keyword(s):  
Herd Immunity ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Come ◽  
Vaccination Campaigns ◽  
The Eu

While the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues to strike and collect its death toll throughout the globe, as of 31 January 2021, the vaccine candidates worldwide were 292, of which 70 were in clinical testing. Several vaccines have been approved worldwide, and in particular, three have been so far authorized for use in the EU. Vaccination can be, in fact, an efficient way to mitigate the devastating effect of the pandemic and offer protection to some vulnerable strata of the population (i.e., the elderly) and reduce the social and economic burden of the current crisis. Regardless, a question is still open: after vaccination availability for the public, will vaccination campaigns be effective in reaching all the strata and a sufficient number of people in order to guarantee herd immunity? In other words: after we have it, will we be able to use it? Following the trends in vaccine hesitancy in recent years, there is a growing distrust of COVID-19 vaccinations. In addition, the online context and competition between pro- and anti-vaxxers show a trend in which anti-vaccination movements tend to capture the attention of those who are hesitant. Describing this context and analyzing its possible causes, what interventions or strategies could be effective to reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy? Will social media trend analysis be helpful in trying to solve this complex issue? Are there perspectives for an efficient implementation of COVID-19 vaccination coverage as well as for all the other vaccinations?

From ‘People's Struggle’ to ‘This War of Today’: Entanglements of Peace and Conflict in Guinea-Bissau

Africa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Padrão Temudo
Keyword(s):  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Ethnic Conflicts ◽  
War And Peace ◽  
Guinea Bissau ◽  
The Social ◽  
Peace And Conflict ◽  
Urban Elite ◽  
Client Relations ◽  
Partial Consensus

This article aims at contributing to our understanding of violence and warfare in contemporary West Africa by adopting a bi-focal analysis that looks both at power struggles within the urban elite and at the grassroots multi-ethnic setting in southern Guinea-Bissau. I pay close attention to the social dynamics of rural peoples' perspectives, coping strategies and inter-ethnic conflicts. Local conflicts are elucidated as an ongoing process that traverses times of war and peace. Although they are subject to manipulation by urban actors, local conflicts are also a matter of continuous negotiation and partial consensus at the grassroots. In stark contrast to this, the struggles in the ruling group are characterized by an escalating spiral of factionalism, diminishing compromises and elimination of rivals. By analysing the relationship between urban and rural actors and the role of cosmology, the article also aims to shed new light on the multiple shapes patron–client relations can assume in Africa.

scholarly journals El concepto de Pertenencia (Belonging) como marco analítico para la investigación sobre la juventud de origen inmigrante

2017 ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Concepción Maiztegui ◽  
Esther Aretxabala ◽  
Aitor Ibarrola ◽  
Pedro J. Oiarzabal
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
The Social

<p>This article describes and explores an analytical framework based on the concept of belonging, which, in turn, takes into consideration the personal, social, and performative dimensions of the integration process of young migrants. The concept of belonging is becoming one of the central pillars in current research on migration and integration, since it allows us to look into the subjective experiences of individuals and into the social environments that have an impact on the daily lives and give shape to the identity frameworks of young migrants. Approaches based on this concept also take into account the role of participation in social processes.</p><p><strong>Published online</strong>: 11 December 2017</p>

scholarly journals Colonialismo Cultural: Arte y Escritura en Al Ándalus a partir de 1492.

Anduli ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 235-251
Author(s):  
Marta Pérez-Castro
Keyword(s):  
Turning Point ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Cultural Resilience ◽  
Visual Supports ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cultural Order ◽  
The Moment

Relationships among visual signs, society and memory reveal the dominant cultural order in a given context as well as the causes that maintain it (influence and imposition) and the effects on the population where it occurs (alienation and cultural resilience). Therefore, it is possible to identify deeper social processes with a purely visual and symbolic reading. Visual signs (two-dimensional), in addition to configuring the way space is understood (three-dimensional), reflect social and political dynamics (the time factor). To have a more complete vision of the moment and context, it is necessary to interrelate art with sociology and history. In the specific case of al-Andalus, there is a turning point at which there are changes in visuality that are mainly reflected in writing (Arabic and Latin), the use of symbols (the Mudejar, the cross) and the organization of the spaces designated for art (temples, museums, exhibition halls); hence, these changes function as visual indexes of social dynamics that reach to the present day. The visual supports the social and vice versa, configuring and maintaining a certain worldview. If there is visual continuity, there is continuity in the social sphere.

Dislocation as method

2019 ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
David MacDougall
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Visual Anthropology ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
Research Questions

Research in the sciences, including the social sciences, is usually supposed to be conducted in a systematic way, working from research questions to the gathering of empirical data, to conclusions. But in an analogy drawn from the art of fencing, the author argues for an alternative approach in visual anthropology. Films look at the world differently from the ways we conventionally see, and these differences have optical, social, and structural origins. To overcome these differences, filmmakers may have to voluntarily ‘dislocate’ themselves in order to put themselves in a position to view their subject from a different perspective, and so uncover new knowledge. The argument is supported by a discussion of the realities of ethnographic fieldwork, the processes of filmmaking, and the role of play and improvisation in the arts and other human endeavours.

Shtetls, Taverns, and Baptisms

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellie R. Schainker
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Religious Toleration ◽  
Local Elites ◽  
Imperial Russia ◽  
Conversion Narratives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Intimate Knowledge

Chapter 3 explores the social dynamics of religious toleration and the confessional state from below by examining the spaces of Jewish conversion. The chapter presents a range of conversion narratives which locate interfaith encounters at the local tavern as the springboard for migrating to a different confessional community. It analyzes daily social interactions among Jewish and neighboring Polish, Lithuanian, Belorussian, and Ukrainian communities, and how these encounters nurtured intimate knowledge of other confessional lifestyles, facilitated interfaith relationships, and provided access to the personnel and institutions of other faiths. By taking a geographical approach, the chapter presents the western provincial towns and villages of imperial Russia as interreligious zones wherein conversion was predicated on interconfessional networks, sociability, and a personal familiarity with Christianity via its adherents. In exploring forms of encounter, the chapter highlights the role of the local godparent—often local elites or civil/military personnel—in facilitating confessional transfers.

Viewpoint from Sociolinguistics and Contact Linguistics: On the Role of Dialectology in Modern Linguistics

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-210
Author(s):  
Anna María Escobar
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Complex Field ◽  
Contact Linguistics ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
The Social ◽  
Traditional Sense

Abstract In the latter decades of the 20th century, historical, typological, dialectological, and sociolinguistic research all contributed to demonstrating the limitations of focusing exclusively on language-internal synchronic data, and these and other disciplines that share a bottom-up perspective acquired respectability as participants in theorybuilding. In the 21st century, there is a renewed appreciation of the potential for such research to address questions that are central to linguistic theory. Dialectology is today a field in which the social changes occurring in human societies are naturally taken into consideration, and includes not only the study of dialects in the traditional sense but also the study of social dialects and second-language varieties. Dialectology has thus evolved into a rich and complex field which is ideally positioned to make important contributions to the process of building theories of language that are firmly based on empirical data.

scholarly journals Anticipated embarrassment due to social presence withholds consumers from purchasing products that feature a lucky charm

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 1612-1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Wang ◽  
Harmen Oppewal ◽  
Dominic Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Social Influence ◽  
Impression Management ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Purchase Decisions ◽  
Product Selection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Superstitious Beliefs

Purpose Several studies have shown that superstitious beliefs, such as beliefs in “lucky” product attributes, influence consumer purchase behaviour. Still, little is known about how social influence, in particular mere social presence, impacts consumer superstition-related purchase decisions. Drawing on impression management theory, this paper aims to investigate the effect of social presence on consumer purchase decisions of products featuring lucky charms including the role of anticipated embarrassment as a mediator of the social presence effect. Design/methodology/approach In three studies, participants select products that feature or do not feature a lucky charm. They make these selections under varying conditions of social presence, as induced by the shopping setting in the scenario or through the use of confederates or fellow participants observing them make a real product selection. Participants are students from Australia and China. Findings The studies show that social presence makes consumers less likely to select products that feature a lucky charm. This suppressing effect is mediated by the consumers’ anticipated embarrassment. Research limitations/implications The study investigates the effect of social presence but does not investigate different parameters of social presence such as the number of people present and their familiarity. The study investigates effects for purchase settings but does not include effects of usage and neither does it look into differences across product types or lucky charm types. Practical implications Marketers should be careful to not make lucky charms too publicly salient. Online settings are more suitable than mortar-and-brick settings for selling products featuring a lucky charm. Originality/value The present research is the first to investigate consumer purchase behaviour for a product featuring a lucky charm. It is also the first to investigate the impact of social influence on superstition-based decision-making.

The role of the mPFC in the social influence of majority and expert opinion

2021 ◽  
pp. 107951
Author(s):  
Yuzhen Li ◽  
Xinbo Lu ◽  
Wanjun Zheng ◽  
Jun Luo
Keyword(s):  
Social Influence ◽  
Expert Opinion ◽  
The Social
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