scholarly journals Bad World: The Negativity Bias in International Politics

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 96-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic D.P. Johnson ◽  
Dominic Tierney
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Negative Information ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Negativity Bias ◽  
Positive Information ◽  
Psychological Phenomena ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
New Research

A major puzzle in international relations is why states privilege negative over positive information. States tend to inflate threats, exhibit loss aversion, and learn more from failures than from successes. Rationalist accounts fail to explain this phenomenon, because systematically overweighting bad over good may in fact undermine state interests. New research in psychology, however, offers an explanation. The “negativity bias” has emerged as a fundamental principle of the human mind, in which people's response to positive and negative information is asymmetric. Negative factors have greater effects than positive factors across a wide range of psychological phenomena, including cognition, motivation, emotion, information processing, decision-making, learning, and memory. Put simply, bad is stronger than good. Scholars have long pointed to the role of positive biases, such as overconfidence, in causing war, but negative biases are actually more pervasive and may represent a core explanation for patterns of conflict. Positive and negative dispositions apply in different contexts. People privilege negative information about the external environment and other actors, but positive information about themselves. The coexistence of biases can increase the potential for conflict. Decisionmakers simultaneously exaggerate the severity of threats and exhibit overconfidence about their capacity to deal with them. Overall, the negativity bias is a potent force in human judgment and decisionmaking, with important implications for international relations theory and practice.

Looking at the Sunny Side of Life

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 838-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Kisley ◽  
Stacey Wood ◽  
Christina L. Burrows
Keyword(s):  
Life Span ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Negative Information ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Negativity Bias ◽  
Positive Information ◽  
Positivity Effect ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Wide Range

Studies of the negativity bias have demonstrated that negative information has a stronger influence than positive information in a wide range of cognitive domains. At odds with this literature is extensive work now documenting emotional and motivational shifts that result in a positivity effect in older adults. It remains unclear, however, whether this age-related positivity effect results from increases in processing of positive information or from decreases in processing of negative information. Also unknown is the specific time course of development from a negative bias to an apparently positive one. The present study was designed to investigate the negativity bias across the life span using an event-related potential measure of responding to emotionally valenced images. The results suggest that neural reactivity to negative images declines linearly with age, but responding to positive images is surprisingly age invariant across most of the adult life span.

scholarly journals The Myth of Objectivity: Implicit Racial Bias and the Law (Part 2)

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Willem Hendrik Gravett
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Racial Prejudice ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Differential Treatment ◽  
Implicit Racial Bias ◽  
The Law

The centrality of race to our history and the substantial racial inequalities that continue to pervade society ensure that "race" remains an extraordinarily salient and meaningful social category.  Explicit racial prejudice, however, is only part of the problem.  Equally important - and likely more pervasive - is the phenomenon of implicit racial prejudice: the cognitive processes whereby, despite even our best intentions, the human mind automatically classifies information in racial categories and against disfavoured social groups. Empirical research shows convincingly that these biases against socially disfavoured groups are (i) pervasive; (ii) often diverge from consciously reported attitudes and beliefs; and (iii) influence consequential behaviour towards the subjects of these biases. The existence of implicit racial prejudices poses a challenge to legal theory and practice. From the standpoint of a legal system that seeks to forbid differential treatment based upon race or other protected traits, if people are in fact treated differently, and worse, because of their race or other protected trait, then the fundamental principle of anti-discrimination has been violated. It hardly matters that the source of the differential treatment is implicit rather than conscious bias. This article investigates the relevance of this research to the law by means of an empirical account of how implicit racial bias could affect the criminal trial trajectory in the areas of policing, prosecutorial discretion and judicial decision-making.  It is the author's hypothesis that this mostly American research also applies to South Africa. The empirical evidence of implicit biases in every country tested shows that people are systematically implicitly biased in favour of socially privileged groups. Even after 1994 South Africa – similar to the US – continues to be characterised by a pronounced social hierarchy in which Whites overwhelmingly have the highest social status. The author argues that the law should normatively take cognizance of this issue.  After all, the mere fact that we may not be aware of, much less consciously intend, race-contingent behaviour does not magically erase the harm. The article concludes by addressing the question of the appropriate response of the law and legal role players to the problem of implicit racial bias.

Ecocinema

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiu-wai Chu
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Film Criticism ◽  
Audience Studies ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Political Dimensions

This article introduces recent English scholarship in the expanding field of ecocinema studies. Often seen as a sub-branch of ecocriticism, ecocinema studies (also referred to as “green film criticism,” “eco-film criticism,” or “eco-cinemacriticism”) started to develop only slightly over the past decade or so. All books and articles cited have been published after the mid-1990s, thus revealing the field’s short history and fast expansion. This article is organized in three broad sections. The first five sections focus on the theory and practice of ecocinema studies. General Anthologies introduces edited volumes dedicated to a wide range of thematic issues and theoretical approaches in ecocinema studies. Theorizing Ecocinema: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Politics introduces film scholarship that contribute to define, conceptualize, and define “ecocinema” from ethical, aesthetic, and political dimensions. Eco-Genres: Documentary, Animation, Sci-Fi, and Horror highlights several genres that are often discussed in ecocritical scholarship. As ecocinema studies are, to a large extent, a study of the interplay among film, ecology, and the human mind, books that focus on human’s affective, cognitive, and emotive responses to ecocinema are also a major aspect in the field’s theorization, as reflected in Affect, Cognition, Emotions. Reading Beyond the Text: From Theory to Practice goes beyond a textual analysis of films and puts ecological and environmental ideologies into practice by incorporating writings on the ecological footprint of film, environmental film festivals, and audience studies, as well as pedagogical practices in ecocinema. The next sections introduce works that center around five major themes in ecocinema studies. The Environment: Landscapes and Seascapes and Wildlife, Animal Justice, and Human–Animal Relationships discuss humans’ relationships with the nonhuman world—namely, the (natural and urban) environments—and the nonhuman creatures such as animals and wildlife. The sections on Food Studies; Weather, Climate Change, and Eco-Disasters; and Pollution, Waste, and Toxicity center on those issues, highlighting the urgency of the worsening environmental issues in the contemporary world. The final sections are structured according to geopolitical territories. In addition to books and articles on Hollywood and American Independent Cinema and European Cinemas, recent scholarly works that focus on Asian and the Global Indigenous Cinemas, particularly films from the Global South, have also been introduced. Despite the hope for this entry to be as comprehensive as possible, film scholarship has not been included from neglected countries and regions that are beyond Western and East Asian contexts, such as the relatively under-discussed scholarship from Australasia, Africa, Antarctica, and other parts of the world, because of the limited availability and accessibility of works on these countries.

A Discussion of Alexander Cooley and Jack Snyder's Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool for Global Governance

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-167
Author(s):  
Bo Rothstein
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
Contemporary Practice

Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance, edited by Alexander Cooley and Jack Snyder, assembles an impressive group of political scientists to critically discuss “the important analytical, normative, and policy issues associated with the contemporary practice of ‘grading states.’” The volume addresses a topic of importance to a wide range of political scientists in comparative politics, international relations, and political theory, and raises some fundamental questions about the role of political science at the nexus of theory and practice. We have thus invited a number of colleagues to discuss the volume and its broader implications for political science inquiry.

A Discussion of Alexander Cooley and Jack Snyder's Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool for Global Governance

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-169
Author(s):  
Philippe C. Schmitter
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
Contemporary Practice

Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance, edited by Alexander Cooley and Jack Snyder, assembles an impressive group of political scientists to critically discuss “the important analytical, normative, and policy issues associated with the contemporary practice of ‘grading states.’” The volume addresses a topic of importance to a wide range of political scientists in comparative politics, international relations, and political theory, and raises some fundamental questions about the role of political science at the nexus of theory and practice. We have thus invited a number of colleagues to discuss the volume and its broader implications for political science inquiry.

A Discussion of Alexander Cooley and Jack Snyder's Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool for Global Governance

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-164
Author(s):  
Milja Kurki
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
Contemporary Practice

Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance, edited by Alexander Cooley and Jack Snyder, assembles an impressive group of political scientists to critically discuss “the important analytical, normative, and policy issues associated with the contemporary practice of ‘grading states.’” The volume addresses a topic of importance to a wide range of political scientists in comparative politics, international relations, and political theory, and raises some fundamental questions about the role of political science at the nexus of theory and practice. We have thus invited a number of colleagues to discuss the volume and its broader implications for political science inquiry.

International Relations and the Problem of Time

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew R. Hom
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Problem Of Time ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Use Of Time ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Temporal Dimensions ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Way

What is time and how does it influence our knowledge of international politics? For decades International Relations (IR) paid little explicit attention to time. Recently this began to change as a range of scholars took an interest in the temporal dimensions of politics. Yet IR still has not fully addressed the issue of why time matters, nor has it reflected on its own use of time—how temporal assumptions and ideas affect the way we understand political phenomena. Moreover, IR remains beholden to two seemingly contradictory visions of time: the time of the clock and a long-standing tradition of treating time as a problem to be solved. International Relations and the Problem of Time develops a unique response to these interconnected puzzles. It reconstructs IR’s temporal imagination by developing an argument that all times—from the rhythms of the universe to individual temporal experience—spring from social and practical timing activities, or efforts to establish meaningful and useful relationships in complex and dynamic settings. In IR’s case, across a wide range of approaches scholars employ narrative timing techniques to make sense of political processes and events. This innovative account of time provides a more systematic and rigorous explanation for all manner of temporal phenomena in international politics. It also develops provocative insights about IR’s own history, its key methodological commitments, supposedly “timeless” statistical methods, historical institutions, and the critical vanguard of time studies. This book invites us to reimagine time in theory and practice, and in so doing to significantly rethink the way we approach the study of international politics.

scholarly journals The Myth of Objectivity: Implicit Racial Bias and the Law (Part 1)

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Willem Hendrik Gravett
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Racial Prejudice ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Differential Treatment ◽  
Implicit Racial Bias ◽  
The Law

The centrality of race to our history and the substantial racial inequalities that continue to pervade society ensure that "race" remains an extraordinarily salient and meaningful social category.  Explicit racial prejudice, however, is only part of the problem.  Equally important - and likely more pervasive - is the phenomenon of implicit racial prejudice: the cognitive processes whereby, despite even our best intentions, the human mind automatically classifies information in racial categories and against disfavoured social groups. Empirical research shows convincingly that these biases against socially disfavoured groups are (i) pervasive; (ii) often diverge from consciously reported attitudes and beliefs; and (iii) influence consequential behaviour towards the subjects of these biases. The existence of implicit racial prejudices poses a challenge to legal theory and practice. From the standpoint of a legal system that seeks to forbid differential treatment based upon race or other protected traits, if people are in fact treated differently, and worse, because of their race or other protected trait, then the fundamental principle of anti-discrimination has been violated. It hardly matters that the source of the differential treatment is implicit rather than conscious bias. This article investigates the relevance of this research to the law by means of an empirical account of how implicit racial bias could affect the criminal trial trajectory in the areas of policing, prosecutorial discretion and judicial decision-making.  It is the author's hypothesis that this mostly American research also applies to South Africa. The empirical evidence of implicit biases in every country tested shows that people are systematically implicitly biased in favour of socially privileged groups. Even after 1994 South Africa – similar to the US – continues to be characterised by a pronounced social hierarchy in which Whites overwhelmingly have the highest social status. The author argues that the law should normatively take cognizance of this issue.  After all, the mere fact that we may not be aware of, much less consciously intend, race-contingent behaviour does not magically erase the harm. The article concludes by addressing the question of the appropriate response of the law and legal role players to the problem of implicit racial bias.

A Discussion of Alexander Cooley and Jack Snyder's Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool for Global Governance

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pippa Norris
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
Contemporary Practice

Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance, edited by Alexander Cooley and Jack Snyder, assembles an impressive group of political scientists to critically discuss “the important analytical, normative, and policy issues associated with the contemporary practice of ‘grading states.’” The volume addresses a topic of importance to a wide range of political scientists in comparative politics, international relations, and political theory, and raises some fundamental questions about the role of political science at the nexus of theory and practice. We have thus invited a number of colleagues to discuss the volume and its broader implications for political science inquiry.

Does Performing Other Audit Tasks Affect Going-Concern Judgments?

1999 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen E. Rau ◽  
Donald V. Moser
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Review Process ◽  
Negative Information ◽  
The Other ◽  
Positive Information ◽  
Going Concern ◽  
Staff Members

This study examines whether personally performing other audit tasks can bias supervising seniors' going-concern judgments. During an audit, the senior performs some audit tasks him/herself and delegates other tasks to staff members. When personally performing an audit task, the senior would focus on the evidence related to that task. We predict that such evidence will have greater influence on the senior's subsequent going-concern judgment. The results of our experiment are consistent with our predictions. When provided with an identical set of information, seniors who performed another audit task for which the underlying facts of the case reflected positively (negatively) on the company's viability, subsequently made going-concern judgments that were relatively more positive (negative). Our results also demonstrate that the well-documented tendency of auditors to attend more to negative information does not always dominate auditors' information processing. Subjects who performed the task for which the underlying facts reflected positively on the company's viability directed their attention to such positive information and, consequently, both their memory and judgments were more positive than those of subjects in the other conditions. Recent findings indicating that biases in seniors' going-concern judgments may not be fully offset in the review process are discussed along with other potential implications of our results.

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