A Cross-Country Assessment of Conspiracy Beliefs, Trust In Institutions, and Attitudes Towards The Covid-19 Vaccination

Conspiracy beliefs have spread during the Covid-19 pandemic. Such beliefs are important to understand because of their potential to underpin distrust in societal institutions and vaccine hesitancy. In the present research (N = 538), we assessed the links between conspiracy beliefs, trust in institutions (e.g., government, WHO), and attitudes towards the Covid-19 vaccination across the United States, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. A moderated mediation analysis revealed the crucial role of political leaders in linking conspiracy beliefs with vaccination attitudes. Trust in the president was positively associated with conspiracy beliefs in Brazil because of its conspiracist president (Bolsonaro), which in turn was negatively associated with vaccination attitudes. In contrast, trust in the political leaders of the UK (Johnson) and USA (Biden) were negatively associated with conspiracy beliefs. In conclusion, our findings contribute to understanding the underlying mechanisms that link conspiracy beliefs with trust and vaccination attitudes

Psychoanalysis at Hawkspur Camp and other Therapeutic Communities for Antisocial Children and Young People

Psychoanalytically informed therapeutic communities constitute an important, but often forgotten, chapter in the history of applied psychoanalysis. Apart from the original experiments by analysts and educators such as August Aichhorn or Homer Lane, little is known about the vibrant and socially progressive nature of residential communities established during and in the aftermath of the Second World War. This article explores the uses of psychoanalysis in four such communities that worked with antisocial children and young people: the Hawkspur Camp, established in 1936 by David Wills and Marjorie Franklin; the Barns Hostel, a hostel for ‘unmanageable’ child evacuees from Edinburgh and Glasgow, active during the Second World War; the Reynolds House, a residential home for boys leaving approved schools who had no home to return to, started in London in 1963; and the Cotswold Community, a residential school for ‘maladjusted’ children in Wiltshire, transformed into a therapeutic community in 1967. Apart from the modifications of psychoanalytic methods made necessary by this environment, a key question posed by these communities is what constitutes healing social relationships at large, and how psychoanalysis can be instrumental in building and maintaining them

Participatory policy analysis in health policy and systems research: reflections from a study in Nepal.

Background Participatory policy analysis (PPA) as a method in health policy and system research remains underexplored. Using our experiences of conducting PPA workshops in Nepal to explore the impact of the country's move to federalism on its health system, we reflect on the method's strengths and challenges. We provide an account of the study context, the design and implementation of the workshops, and our reflections on the approach's strengths and challenges. Findings on the impact of federalism on the health system are beyond the scope of this manuscript. Main body We conducted PPA workshops with a wide range of health system stakeholders (political, administrative and service-level workforce) at the local and provincial levels in Nepal. The workshops consisted of three activities: river of life, brainstorming and prioritization, and problem-tree analysis. Our experiences show that PPA workshops can be a valuable approach to explore health policy and system issues - especially in a context of widespread systemic change which impacts all stakeholders within the health system. Effective engagement of stakeholders and activities that encourage both individual- and system-level reflections and discussions not only help in generating rich qualitative data, but can also address gaps in participants' understanding of practical, technical and political aspects of the health system, aid policy dissemination of research findings, and assist in identifying short- and long-term practice and policy issues that need to be addressed for better health system performance and outcomes. Conducting PPA workshops is, however, challenging for a number of reasons, including the influence of gatekeepers and power dynamics between stakeholders/participants. The role and skills of researchers/facilitators in navigating such challenges are vital for success. Although the long-term impact of such workshops needs further research, our study shows the usefulness of PPA workshops for researchers, for participants and for the wider health system. Conclusions PPA workshops can effectively generate and synthesize health policy and system evidence through collaborative engagement of health system stakeholders with varied roles.When designed with careful consideration for context and stakeholders' needs, it has great potential as a method in health policy and systems research

Working with the cards we’re dealt: a longitudinal study exploring the impact of intersectional and systemic factors on family mental health. Evidence from Understanding Society: UKHLS

Despite it being acknowledged that family is important when thinking about psychological distress, there is limited research in this area, particularly when also thinking about intersectionality. A systematic review highlighted some important factors in relation to psychological distress; however, included literature was relatively weak. Subsequently this research aimed to explore factors influencing psychological distress pre and during the first COVID-19 lockdown, using a systemic theory and intersectionality lens. Data was extracted from the UK Household Longitudinal Study to reach these aims. Participants included families whereby one member had started experiencing psychological distress. Participants were grouped into offspring of distressed person, spouse of distressed person, and other family members. Regression analyses were carried out exploring the relationships between intersectionality variables from timepoint one, relational variables from timepoints three and four and psychological distress from timepoints five and six. Results indicated several factors related to psychological distress, which often differed for different family members. Several factors such as sex and age were found to interact with relational factors, indirectly affecting distress over time. Factors important to psychological distress changed at the start of the pandemic, especially with regards to the relational factors, suggesting that the pandemic was a destabilising event which disrupted the equilibrium of families. The results of this research offer support to intersectionality and systemic theory, particularly in relation to family systems theory, family life cycle, triangulation, and third order systemic thinking. Recommendations are made to mental health services and policy makers in how the evidence can be used to better support families. Further research is recommended to explore intersectionality of families in greater detail and gain more specific perspectives on psychological distress in families

A Distributed Data-Driven and Machine Learning Method for High-Level Causal Analysis in Sustainable IoT Systems

A causal relationship forms when one event triggers another’s change or occurrence. Causality helps to understand connections among events, explain phenomena, and facilitate better decision-making. In IoT systems, massive consumption of energy may lead to specific types of air pollution. There are causal relationships among air pollutants. Analyzing their interactions allows for targeted adjustments in energy use, like shifting to cleaner energy and cutting high-emission sources. This reduces air pollution and boosts energy sustainability, aiding sustainable development. This paper introduces a distributed data-driven machine learning method for high-level causal analysis (DMHC), which extracts general and high-level Complex Event Processing (CEP) rules from unlabeled data. CEP rules can capture the interactions among events and represent the causal relation- ships among them. DMHC deploys a two-layer LSTM attention mechanism model and decision tree algorithm to filter and label data, extracting general CEP rules. Afterward, it proceeds to generate event logs based on general rules with heuristic mining (HM), extracting high-level CEP rules that pertain to causal relationships. These high-level rules complement the extracted general rules and reflect the causal relationships among the general rules. The proposed high-level methodology is validated using a real air quality dataset

Shuttle diplomacy

In practice mediation operates through shuttle diplomacy: the mediator goes back and forth between parties, meeting them in private. We model shuttle diplomacy as a dynamic procedure. The mediator helps each party to gradually discover (privately) her value from settlement and re-assess her bargaining position, while also proposing the terms of the deal. We show that shuttle diplomacy always allows parties to achieve an ex-post efficient final settlement. In contrast, this is not possible with a static mediation procedure. In addition, if parties have symmetric prior value distributions, shuttle diplomacy guarantees a fair split of the social value from settlement

Applications hosting over cloud-assisted IOT: a productivity model and method defining accessibility of data security

The Internet of Things has increased the demand for data, which has been met through the use of IoT-assisted cloud computing. However, this paradigm introduces new security complexities regarding the exchange of data between entities. In this paper, we investigate a secure strategy for managing IoT data in a cloud-assisted environment, protecting data privacy during data collection, storage, and access. Our method for mitigating the impact of IoT scalability is meticulously devised and supported by empirical evidence. Our productivity model is based on key operations, configurations, and efficiency factors. Our proposed method makes a substantial contribution to both system scalability and user data privacy, surpassing previous scale levels by a significant margin. In particular, our research investigates a secure strategy for managing IoT data in a cloud-assisted environment. We believe that our research will assist in bridging the divide between infrastructure, development, and testing teams, resulting in robust and stable productivity software. Our findings demonstrate the viability and efficacy of our proposed method, which outperforms previous models and previous research

Diversity in the study of aging and lifespan development

In psychology, authors have shined a light on a lack of ethnic/racial and cultural diversity in sampling and scholarship. These issues pertain also to the study of aging and lifespan development. This article presents examples of how diverse sampling, across ethnic/racial groups and cultures, enriches theories of aging and adult development. There remain, however, numerous theoretical insights that are yet to be uncovered by future research that seeks to further diversify this sub-discipline. Good practices and avenues to diversification are considered, including targeted sampling of minority groups in the community, online sampling with use of data screening tools, lifespan-orientated surveys initiated in non-Western countries, and a redress of the balance in the perceived value of research from different regions of the world

Corporate governance regulation in regulatory space of a developing country: actors, strategies and outcomes

Purpose This study seeks to deepen the understanding of the political process underlying the establishment and evolution of corporate governance (CG) regulations in a developing country. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on regulatory space concept (Hancher and Moran, 1989) and Oliver's (1991) typology of strategic responses, the authors identify which actor participated in and benefitted from the establishment of a new transnational CG regulation in Pakistan. Data were collected through interviews and from the published secondary sources. Findings The findings highlighted regulations are being influenced and shaped up by the political process of negotiation, bargaining, manipulation and domination between powerful and resourceful actors in a given regulatory space. National regulators and regulatees can be indeed fervent opponents to the transnational regulations when it comes to protecting their well-rooted national interests. Originality/value This study contributes to the accounting literature by illustrating political processes through which internationally recognised CG practices are resisted, negotiated and implemented in the developing countries. The regulator must pay attention that the outcome of the regulatory change process is the result of carefully crafted and conscious strategies of actors in the regulatory space

Next Gens Leadership Conundrum: the emotional experience of taking up leadership roles and claiming authority in family-owned businesses.

This study provides a systems psycho-dynamic exploration of leadership development in next generation members of family-owned businesses. Utilising biographic narrative interpretive method (BNIM) and grounded theory, it analyses five self-narrated life stories of family business successors. The research uncovers how the interplay between family dynamics, family and business systems, and societal context shapes leadership development. Key findings reveal that the family system, often reflective of the business’s emphasis on efficiency, success, and competition, profoundly influence the leadership trajectories of the next generation. Three distinct relational patterns emerge. Firstly, those who are seen as “natural successors” are required to conform to family expectations, enclose subjectivity, and renounce authorship (“the restrained”). Other patterns suggest that if an adequate facilitating environment is offered, rivalry and competition can encourage intellectual and creative capacities and foster a desire to later join the business (“self-authorised competitors”). However, if not being seen as a potential successor is seen as rejection, this may trigger unresolved feelings of envy and jealousy, which in turn spur a narcissistic need to “prove the world wrong” (“the rebellious”). These three patterns are understood as transitory states of mind, or momentary related positions, that are dynamic in nature. The concept of “virtuous betrayal” underscores the need for next generation leaders to challenge and transcend established familial norms and covert agreements, fostering personal growth, differentiation, and the development of personal authority whilst preserving a sense of interdependence amongst family members. The research suggests that successful succession and the assertion of authority by the next generation are contingent upon resolving the Oedipal complex and providing adequate reflective space within the family system. Additional findings connect leadership development to the capacity to disentangle oneself from unconscious group alliances, which enables next generations to challenge the meritocratic ideal and maintain a more realistic perspective of the wider social context