scholarly journals Mapping the Production and Mobilization Functions of Collective Action

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 237802312097772
Author(s):  
Blaine G. Robbins ◽  
Ross L. Matsueda ◽  
Steven J. Pfaff
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Individual Heterogeneity ◽  
Average Production ◽  
Intentions To Participate

Collective action is a fundamental feature of human social life. If public goods are to materialize, social norms are to emerge, and social protests are to succeed, individuals must act jointly to achieve their collective ends. But how can collective action evolve when individuals receive the benefits of a common good without contributing to its production? According to theories of the critical mass, the success of collective action hinges on the type of production function required for the provision of a common good. Production functions and mobilization functions, however, have proven difficult to observe empirically in large groups. Here, the authors report results from a factorial survey experiment administered to a disproportionate stratified random sample of undergraduate students ( n = 880) that required respondents to rate their perceptions of and intentions to participate in a hypothetical student protest. Results show that the population-average production and mobilization functions are decelerating, but individual heterogeneity is observed around the population averages. Moreover, the experiment demonstrates that latent class trajectories of production and mobilization functions, rather than population-level consensus or complete individual heterogeneity, exist in the population. The authors show that the majority of latent class trajectories are decelerating, while a minority are linear or relatively constant. The authors find that subjective interest in the common good and attitudes toward protest predict membership in latent class trajectories. Importantly, the authors provide evidence for the predictive validity of their estimates. The authors discuss the implications of these results for theories of the critical mass and for promoting collective action.

scholarly journals Mapping the Production and Mobilization Functions of Collective Action

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blaine G Robbins ◽  
Ross Matsueda ◽  
Steven Pfaff
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Individual Heterogeneity ◽  
Average Production ◽  
Intentions To Participate

Collective action is a fundamental feature of human social life. If public goods are to materialize, social norms are to emerge, and social protests are to succeed, individuals must act jointly to achieve their collective ends. But how can collective action evolve when individuals receive the benefits of a common good without contributing to its production? According to theories of the critical mass, the success of collective action depends on the type of production function required for the provision of a common good. Production functions and mobilization functions, however, have proven difficult to observe empirically in large groups. Here, we report results from a factorial survey experiment administered to a disproportionate stratified random sample of undergraduate students (N = 880) that required respondents to rate their perceptions of and intentions to participate in a hypothetical student protest. Results show that the population-average production and mobilization functions are decelerating, but that individual heterogeneity is observed around the population averages. Moreover, our experiment demonstrates that latent class trajectories of production and mobilization functions, rather than population-level consensus or complete individual heterogeneity, exist in the population. We show that the majority of latent class trajectories are decelerating, while a minority are linear or relatively constant. We find that subjective interest in the common good and attitudes toward protest predict membership in latent class trajectories. Importantly, we provide evidence for the predictive validity of our estimates. We discuss the implications of our results for theories of the critical mass and for promoting collective action.

Thinking Collectively

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Spicker
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Democratic Deliberation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Working Together ◽  
The Common

Thinking collectively is a book about the meaning, implications and value of collectivism in social policy. Collectivism is not a single, unitary idea; it covers a wide range of approaches that depend on the importance of groups and organisations in social life. Substantive collectivism is the idea that we live, not as 'individuals', but as the members of social groups, like families, neighbourhoods and communities, and that many of our actions are done together with others in organisations and social institutions. Methodological collectivism looks for explanations and patterns of behaviour not in the actions of individual human beings, but in the actions of groups. Moral collectivism begins from the premise that collective social groups - families, businesses, institutions, governments and countries - are moral agents; that they have rights and responsibilities, that groups as well as individuals can take moral action, and that the morality of their actions can sensibly be assessed in those terms. Collective action is defined, not by what is to be done, but how. The practice of collective action, and the character of provision made, tend in their turn to influence the kinds of things that people want their services to do. Democratic deliberation, voice and empowerment become the expectation and practice of public services; co-operation, working together, sharing and solidarity come to be seen as virtues in themselves. The book makes a case for a collective approach to the common weal, based on society, the common good, solidarity, stewardship, rights, equality and a sense of common enterprise.

Economic Significance of Social Capital

2011 ◽  
pp. 46-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Polishchuk ◽  
R. Menyashev
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Formal Institutions ◽  
Transmission Channels ◽  
Economic Significance ◽  
Bonding And Bridging ◽  
The Impact

The paper deals with economics of social capital which is defined as the capacity of society for collective action in pursuit of common good. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between social capital and formal institutions, and the impact of social capital on government efficiency. Structure of social capital and the dichotomy between its bonding and bridging forms are analyzed. Social capital measurement, its economic payoff, and transmission channels between social capital and economic outcomes are discussed. In the concluding section of the paper we summarize the results of our analysis of the role of social capital in economic conditions and welfare of Russian cities.

scholarly journals Stress and Its Impact on Academic and Social Life of Undergraduate University Students in Ghana: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-44
Author(s):  
Koawo Edjah ◽  
Francis Ankomah ◽  
Ebenezer Domey ◽  
John Ekow Laryea
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation Modeling ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Satisfaction Scale ◽  
Cross Sectional

AbstractStress is concomitant with students’ life and can have a significant impact on their lives, and even how they go about their academic work. Globally, in every five visits by patients to the doctor, three are stress-related problems. This study examined stress and its impact on the academic and social life among students of a university in Ghana. The descriptive cross-sectional survey design was employed. Using the stratified and simple random (random numbers) sampling methods, 500 regular undergraduate students were engaged in the study. A questionnaire made up of Perceived Stress Scale and Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale was used to gather data for the study. Frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), with AMOS were used for the analyses. It was found that majority of the students were moderately stressed. Paramount among the stressors were academic stressors, followed by institutional stressors, and external stressors. Stress had a significant positive impact on the academic and social life of students. It was concluded that undergraduate students, in one way or the other, go through some kind of stress during the course of their study. It was recommended that the university, through its Students’ Affairs, and Counselling Sections, continue to empower students on how to manage and deal with stress in order to enhance their academic life.

scholarly journals The Mission of the Catholic Church for the State in the Discourse of “Gosc Niedzielny” during Poland’s Interwar Period

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
Rafał Śpiewak ◽  
Wiktor Widera
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Common Good ◽  
The State ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Level Of Involvement ◽  
Historical Reflection ◽  
The Catholic Church

The essence of the Catholic Church implemented in the modern world is of crucial importance for the understanding its mission towards the state, especially when developing appropriate civil attitudes. One sources of cognition is the historical reflection made on an analytical basis of Catholic media content. This article presents the discourse analysis of Gość Niedzielny (i.e., Sunday Guest), which was one of the most important Catholic publications in Poland, during the reconstruction of the Polish statehood. The pro-state mission of the Catholic Church was an expression of responsibility for common good, was nonpartisan and was connected with the promotion of values that condition the social order. It was believed that the condition of the state is determined by the moral form of its citizens and their level of involvement in social life. Christian values were though to secure and protect also the good of non-Catholic citizens. Here, the research and discourse analysis allows us to define the conclusions regarding contemporary relations between Church and the state in Poland. The key thoughts included in the publications of Sunday Guest, have contemporary application and their message is extremely up-to-date.

Couple Religiosity and Well-Being Among Older Adults in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 089826432110421
Author(s):  
Laura Upenieks ◽  
Jeremy E. Uecker ◽  
Markus H. Schafer
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Older Couples ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Ordered Logistic Regression ◽  
Individual Trait ◽  
The Us ◽  
Married Men

Objectives: This article evaluates whether couples’ religious similarity is consequential for the health of older married men and women. Alternatively, we examine whether women’s religiosity alone is health-protective to their husbands . Methods: Using dyadic data from the US National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, a representative sample of 913 individuals ages 62–91 plus their marital partners, we perform latent-class analysis to separate older couples into classes based on religious characteristics. Ordered logistic regression models are then used to assess whether different combinations of religious (dis)similarity are associated with married men and women’s well-being. Results: We find that older women in highly religious, homogamous marriages report better mental and physical health relative to women in heterogamous and secular (non-religious) marriages. No significant associations were observed for men. Discussion: Our results emphasize that religiosity is not only an individual trait—dis/similarities within a couple have important implications for older women’s well-being.

Attitudes and the Stalled Gender Revolution: Egalitarianism, Traditionalism, and Ambivalence from 1977 through 2016

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Scarborough ◽  
Ray Sin ◽  
Barbara Risman
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Gender Attitudes ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere

Empirical studies show that though there is more room for improvement, much progress has been made toward gender equality since the second wave of feminism. Evidence also suggests that women’s advancements have been more dramatic in the public sphere of work and politics than in the private sphere of family life. We argue that this lopsided gender progress may be traced to uneven changes in gender attitudes. Using data from more than 27,000 respondents who participated in the General Social Survey from 1977 through 2016, we show that gender attitudes have more than one underlying dimension and that these dimensions have changed at different rates over time. Using latent class analysis, we find that the distribution of respondents’ attitudes toward gender equality has changed over the past 40 years. There has been an increase in the number of egalitarians who support equality in public and private spheres, while the traditionals who historically opposed equality in both domains have been replaced by ambivalents who feel differently about gender equality in the public and private spheres. Meanwhile, successive birth cohorts are becoming more egalitarian, with Generation-Xers and Millennials being the most likely to hold strong egalitarian views. The feminist revolution has succeeded in promoting egalitarian views and decreasing the influence of gender traditionalism, but has yet to convince a substantial minority that gender equality should extend to both public and private spheres of social life

scholarly journals Diversity Scaling of Human Digestive Tract (DT) Microbiomes: The Intra-DT and Inter-individual Patterns

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongju (Daisy) Chen ◽  
Bin Yi ◽  
Qiang Liu ◽  
Xia Xu ◽  
Lin Dai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digestive Tract ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Individual Heterogeneity ◽  
Scaling Parameter ◽  
Genus Richness ◽  
Species Area ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Human Digestive Tract ◽  
Biodiversity Changes

The human gut microbiome has been extensively studied, but its diversity scaling (changes or heterogeneities) along the digestive tract (DT) as well as their inter-individual heterogeneities have not been adequately addressed to the best of our knowledge. Here we fill the gap by applying the diversity-area relationship (DAR), a recent extension to the classic species-area relationship (SAR) in biogeography, by reanalyzing a dataset of over 2000 16s-rRNA microbiome samples obtained from 10 DT sites of over 200 individuals. We sketched out the biogeography “maps” for each of the 10 DT sites by cross-individual DAR analysis, and the intra-DT distribution pattern by cross-DT-site DAR analysis. Regarding the inter-individual biogeography, it was found that all DT sites have the invariant (constant) scaling parameter—all sites possessing the same diversity change rate across individuals, but most sites have different potential diversities, which include the portions of diversity that may be absent locally but present regionally. In the case of this study, the potential diversity of each DT site covers the total diversity of the respective site from all individuals in the cohort. In terms of the genus richness, an average individual hosts approximately 20% of the population-level genus richness (total bacterial genus of a human population). In contrast, in terms of community biodiversity, the percentages of individual over population may exceed 90%. This suggests that the differences between individuals in their DT microbiomes are predominantly in the composition of bacterial species, rather than how their abundances are distributed (i.e., biodiversity). Regarding the intra-DT patterns, the scaling parameter (z) is larger—suggesting that the intra-DT biodiversity changes are larger than inter-individual changes. The higher intra-DT heterogeneity of bacteria diversity, as suggested by larger intra-DT z than the inter-individual heterogeneity, should be expected since the intra-DT heterogeneity reflects the functional differentiations of the DT tract, while the inter-individual heterogeneity (z) reflects the difference of the same DT site across individuals. On average, each DT site contains 21–36% of the genus diversity of the whole DT, and the percentages are even higher in terms of higher taxon levels.

scholarly journals The blind choreographer: evolution of social norms and correlated equilibria

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryce Morsky ◽  
Erol Akçay
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Nash Bargaining ◽  
Game Of Chicken ◽  
Nash Bargaining Game ◽  
Satisfactory Account ◽  
Environmental Events ◽  
Natural Classes

AbstractSocial norms regulate and coordinate most aspects of human social life, yet they emerge and change as a result of individual behaviours, beliefs, and expectations. A satisfactory account for the evolutionary dynamics of social norms therefore has to link individual beliefs and expectations to population-level dynamics, where individual norms change according to their consequences for individuals. Here we present a new model of evolutionary dynamics of social norms that encompasses this objective and addresses the emergence of social norms. In this model, a norm is a set of behavioural prescriptions and a set of environmental descriptions that describe the expected behaviours of those with whom the norm holder will interact. These pre-scriptions and descriptions are functions of exogenous environmental events. These events have no intrinsic meaning or effect on the payoffs to individuals, yet beliefs/- superstitions regarding them can effectuate coordination. Though a norm's prescriptions and descriptions are dependent upon one another, we show how they emerge from random accumulations of beliefs. We categorize the space of social norms into several natural classes and study the evolutionary competition between these classes of norms. We apply our model to the Game of Chicken and the Nash Bargaining Game. Further, we show how the space of norms and evolutionary stability is dependent upon the correlation structure of the environment, and under which such correlation structures social dilemmas can be ameliorated or exacerbated.

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