scholarly journals Are Value Preferences and Social Cohesion Interconnected? The Case of Mexico

Author(s):  
Klaus Boehnke ◽  
Adriana Berrueto ◽  
Georgi Dragolov ◽  
Paloma Ocampo Villegas

Social cohesion, the modern version of the fraternité motto of the French revolution, has become a hot social science topic. The paper addresses it from a social-psychological perspective, asking whether individually and societally prevailing value preferences are interconnected with the level of cohesion in society. Mexico serves as the case to examine whether findings for European countries, obtained in the Bertelsmann Social Cohesion Radar, can be generalized to Latin America. Is it true also in Mexico that strong self-transcendence values (Universalism) foster social cohesion, whereas strong self-enhancement values (Power) impede it? A large random probability quota sample (N = 2,003) was gathered to answer the research question. Results showed that, largely, findings from Europe could be generalized to the Mexican context. However, the role of Security values emerged as different. Whereas in Europe such value preferences covaried with low levels of cohesion, in Mexico they were generally associated with higher levels. The authors interpret this as evidence for negative consequences of neoliberal economic policies for social cohesion. Unlike in Europe, strong support for Security values seems to serve as a safeguard against capitalist economic pressures more so than being a sign for an egoistic preservation of one’s own lot.

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-34
Author(s):  
MA Jothi Rajan ◽  
M Arul Sheeba Rani

The COVID19 pandemic poses an exceptional challenge for humanity. Because public behavior is key to curbing the pandemic at an early stage, it is important for social psychological researchers to use their knowledge to promote behaviors that help manage the crisis. Here, we identify human values as particularly important in driving both behavioral compliance to government guidelines and promoting prosocial behaviors to alleviate the strains arising from a prolonged pandemic. Existing evidence demonstrates the importance of human values, and the extent to which fellow citizens, for tackling the COVID19 crisis, share them. Individuals who attach higher importance to self‐transcendence (e.g., responsibility) and conservation (e.g., security) values are likely to be more compliant with COVID19 behavioral guidelines and to help others who are struggling with the crisis. Further, believing that fellow citizens share one's values has found to elicit a sense of connectedness that may be crucial in promoting collective efforts to contain the pandemic. The abstract nature of values, and cross-cultural agreement on their importance, suggests that they are ideally suited to developing and tailoring effective, global interventions to combat this pandemic


Author(s):  
Thomas J. Sargent

This collection of essays uses the lens of rational expectations theory to examine how governments anticipate and plan for inflation, and provides insight into the pioneering research for which the author was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in economics. Rational expectations theory is based on the simple premise that people will use all the information available to them in making economic decisions, yet applying the theory to macroeconomics and econometrics is technically demanding. This book engages with practical problems in economics in a less formal, noneconometric way, demonstrating how rational expectations can satisfactorily interpret a range of historical and contemporary events. It focuses on periods of actual or threatened depreciation in the value of a nation's currency. Drawing on historical attempts to counter inflation, from the French Revolution and the aftermath of World War I to the economic policies of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the book finds that there is no purely monetary cure for inflation; rather, monetary and fiscal policies must be coordinated. This fully expanded edition includes the author's 2011 Nobel lecture, “United States Then, Europe Now.” It also features new articles on the macroeconomics of the French Revolution and government budget deficits.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-94
Author(s):  
Colmore S. Christian

The island-nation of Dominica, 790 km2 in area, is located approximately 1126.5 km Southeast of Florida, USA. In the mid-1990s, Dominica embarked on developing the 183.5 km Waitukubuli National Trail (WNT), the first and only national trail model in the Eastern Caribbean. The 14-segment WNT, officially opened in May 2013, passes through some of the island’s most diverse landscapes. WNT was designed to link as many rural communities as possible and promote ecotourism and community socioeconomic development. Rehabilitation work continues on the WNT and the rest of Dominica, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria of 2017. This article, based primarily on a limited questionnaire survey, selected interviews, and literature review, explored the research question ‘What were the challenges faced by a small-island nation in the development of a National Trail? Five specific research objectives focused on the conceptualization, implementation challenges, partnerships fostered, national and sub-regional significance, and future outlook of the Trail were considered. Questionnaire respondents identified the island’s topography and negotiations with private landowners as significant trail construction challenges. A 100% of survey respondents anticipate that reliable funding to support timely maintenance would likely be a critical future issue. Some respondents identified marketing, public engagement, and visitor safety as potential issues. Face-to-face interviews found strong support for the WNT. The interviewees were confident that Dominica would realize sustainable socioeconomic benefits from the Trail. The article concludes with lessons learned and proposes strategies and research themes to ensure the Trail’s sustainability.


2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 1704-1716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharyn Burns ◽  
Bruce Maycock ◽  
Donna Cross ◽  
Graham Brown

Utilizing an interactionist perspective, two associated sensitizing constructs, and a combination of social psychological theory, this article reports on the influence of the peer group on individual perceptions, and its impact on initiation and persistence of bullying. The specific research question, “How does the need to conform with peers and the peer group influence the initiation and persistence of bullying others?” is investigated. Semistructured, one-on-one interviews with a purposive sample of 51 Grade 7 students (aged 12 years) were conducted during school time to investigate factors that influence students to bully others and what might help them to stop. Emerging from the theme of peer group was the need for belonging and group status, in particular social norms or the need to conform, which was influential when students described why they initiated and persisted with bullying others. The influence of labeling, the group process, and the aspiration to be like others within their group emerged as key constructs. The implications of these data for schools will be described and recommendations made.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S360-S360
Author(s):  
E. Tartakovsky ◽  
N. Rofe

BackgroundThe military is a stressful environment, and many service persons experience army stress. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors affecting army stress and stress resiliency.ObjectiveThe present study examines the connections between personal value preferences and army stress, applying the value congruency paradigm.MethodMale soldiers serving in three combat units in the Israeli Defense Forces participated in the study (n = 257).ResultsThe results obtained demonstrated that personal value preferences explained a significant proportion of the variance in army stress beyond the socio-demographic variables. A lower stress level was associated with a higher preference for the values of societal security, conformity, achievement, and universalism, and with a lower preference for the face and personal security values.ConclusionsThe research promotes our understanding of the relationships between general motivational goals expressed in personal value preferences and stress in the military context. In addition, the results obtained indicate the possible relevance of using values for selecting and preparing recruits who will most likely adjust well to the army framework. Finally, some value-oriented interventions that may be used for promoting the soldiers’ psychological adjustment during their army service are suggested.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Roberts ◽  
Steven L. Gordon

Fear of crime, like crime itself, is thought to be a factor that constrains efforts by government and non-state actors at promoting socially cohesive communities and a caring society. As concern  over South Africa's social fabric have mounted, increasing policy attention has been directed at perceptions of safety and nation-building. In this study, we use nationally representative survey data to examine recent theoretical models on the link between fear of crime and social cohesion within communities. The results do not offer strong support for the hypothesis that higher fear of crime is associated with lower levels of social trust, neighbouthood ties and civic cohesion, although fear does have a moderate, adverse influence on attitudes towards law enforcement.


Author(s):  
Barbara Bennett Woodhouse

Chapter four explores how the activities and relationships occurring in the spaces where microsystems overlap function as seedbeds of solidarity, generating a shared sense of identity, fostering social cohesion and transforming “other people’s children” into “our children.” The author focuses on interactions among the primary social institutions comprising children’s microsystems: family, faith community, school, peer group, and neighbourhood. Drawing on observations from the villages under study, the author illustrates the dynamic created when these social institutions cooperate, collaborate and even engage in friendly competition in support of the community’s children. The chapter highlights the role of rituals and traditions in building community identity and solidarity in both villages. It explores how village identity can endure across time and distance in migrants’ attachments to their home towns. In closing, it predicts further erosion of community identity due to global economic policies and divisive political movements.


Author(s):  
Yustika Rahmawati Pratami ◽  
◽  
Nurul Kurniati ◽  

Background: Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) plays an important role in preparing safe and productive lives of adolescents through understanding about HIV/ AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, unintended pregnancy, gender-based violence, and gender disparity. This scoping review aimed to investigate the appropriate method of sex education and information for adolescents. Subjects and Method: A scoping review method was conducted in eight stages including (1) Identification of study problems; (2) Determining priority problem and study question; (3) Determining framework; (4) Literature searching; (5) Article selec­tion; (6) Critical appraisal; (7) Data extraction; and (8) Mapping. The research question was identified using population, exposure, and outcome(s) (PEOS) framework. The search included PubMed, ScienceDirect, Wiley Online Library, ProQuest, and EBSCO databases. The inclusion criteria were English-language and full-text articles published between 2009 and 2019. A total of 460 articles was obtained from the searched database. After the review process, twenty articles were eligible for this review. The data were reported by the PRISMA flow chart. Results: Eleven articles from developing countries (Nigeria, Thailand, Iran, California, Vietnam, Spain, South Africa, Indonesia) and nine articles from developed countries (USA, England, Australia) met the inclusion criteria with quantitative (cross-sectional, quasi-experiments, cohort, RCT) and qualitative design studies. The findings discussed available sources of sex education for adolescents including peers, school, media, and other adults. Digital media (internet and TV) contributed as preferable sources for adolescents. The parents and teacher’s involvement in providing sex education remained inadequate. Inappropriate sources of sex education like invalid information from the internet and other adults caused negative consequences on the sexual and reproductive health of children and adolescents. Conclusion: Parents-school partnership strategies play an important role in delivering appropriate information about sex education for children and adolescents. Keywords: digital media, sex education, parents, schools, adolescents Correspondence: Yustika Rahmawati Pratami. Jl. Siliwangi No. 63, Nogotirto, Gamping, Sleman, Yogyakarta, 55292. Email: [email protected]. Mobile: +6282198915596. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26911/the7thicph.02.27


Author(s):  
Philip Manow

The first chapter motivates the book’s central research question: how did the German variant of capitalism emerge, and what today is its central functioning logic? The chapter argues that past and recent accounts of Germany’s economic performance and economic policy have failed to fully explain how long-term stable economic coordination could have evolved in as large a country as Germany, and that this has also translated into an often biased view of Germany’s current economic policies. The chapter sketches the basic argument of the book—namely that the German welfare state was the prime means of economic coordination for unions and employers, labor and capital—and situates it in two relevant literatures: the Varieties of Capitalism literature on the one hand and the Comparative Welfare State literature on the other. The chapter also presents an overview of the book.


2020 ◽  
pp. 20-52
Author(s):  
Kevin Duong

This chapter describes how Jacobins crafted a new language of violence during the trial and execution of Louis XVI in the French Revolution: the language of redemptive violence. The execution of the king served as a founding act of French republican democracy. It was also a scene of irregular justice: no legal warrants or procedural precedents existed for bringing a king to justice before the law. Regicide as redemptive violence helped bypass that obstacle. Although redemptive violence had roots in prerevolutionary notions of penal justice and social cohesion, its philosophical ambitions were revolutionary and modern. Analyzing that language illuminates how republican democracy weaponized a distinctive ideology of extralegal violence at its origins. It also helps explain redemptive violence’s enduring appeal during and after the French Revolution.


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