Watching the Watchdog: Bloggers as the Fifth Estate

This author is inclined to think that social structures which evolve through the voluntary interactions and exchanges among people, such as the blogosphere, tend in general to be more beneficial than structures created through the deliberate exercise of power, however well-intentioned, such as regulatory bureaucracies. That idea cannot be fully explored here. For our purposes, we can simply note that the blogosphere would seem to be a near-perfect instantiation of the ideal discourse

The Interrelationship between Coping Strategies and Socio-Psychological Competency of University Students’ Personality

In contemporary society characterized by socio-economic and political instability, the problem of studying the factors and mechanisms that contribute to the constructive resolution of life difficulties and counteracting their negative consequences is very important. This paper contains the results of an empirical study of the characteristics and relationships of students’ coping behavior with different levels of their socio-psychological competency. The research methods comprised the following: theoretical analysis, empirical research (testing), qualitative analysis of the obtained data, mathematical and statistical data processing (SPSS Statistics, Excel). The characteristics of indicators of socio-psychological competency were determined with the use of the technique for assessing socio-communicative competency, as well as a questionnaire that reveals the possibility of using socio-psychological skills by a person in difficult life situations. To study coping behavior, the following were used: “The ways of coping questionnaire” and “The youth coping scale”. The validity and reliability of the research results was ensured by the initial methodological positions, the use of tested tools, representativeness of the research sample, as well as mathematical processing of data with the help of software package for statistical analysis. The conclusions have been drawn that the basis of constructive mechanisms to overcome difficult life situations is a high level of formation of professional skills and abilities, introversion, motivation to achieve success, high intellectual development, moral standards, a high level of development of communication skills. It is these mechanisms that make it possible to resolve problem situations and tasks at work in a productive way. Their absence or a low level of development contributes to the dominance of situational methods of overcoming difficult life situations that impede professional formation and personal development

The impact of hypocrisy on opinion formation: A dynamic model

Humans have a demonstrated tendency to copy or imitate the behavior and attitude of others and actively influence each others opinions. In plenty of empirical contexts, publicly revealed opinions are not necessarily in line with internal opinions, causing complex social influence dynamics. We study to what extent hypocrisy is sustained during opinion formation and how hidden opinions change the convergence to consensus in a group. We build and analyze a modified version of the voter model with hypocrisy in a complete graph with a neutral competition between two alternatives. We compare the process from various initial conditions, varying the proportions between the two opinions in the external (revealed) and internal (hidden) layer. According to our results, hypocrisy always prolongs the time needed for reaching a consensus. In a complete graph, this time span increases linearly with group size. We find that the group-level opinion emerges in two steps: (1) a fast and directional process, during which the number of the two kinds of hypocrites equalizes; and (2) a slower, random drift of opinions. During stage (2), the ratio of opinions in the external layer is approximately equal to the ratio in the internal layer; that is, the hidden opinions do not differ significantly from the revealed ones at the group level. We furthermore find that the initial abundances of opinions, but not the initial prevalence of hypocrisy, predicts the mean consensus time and determines the opinions probabilities of winning. These insights highlight the unimportance of hypocrisy in consensus formation under neutral conditions. Our results have important societal implications in relation to hidden voter preferences in polls and improve our understanding of opinion formation in a more realistic setting than that of conventional voter models.Funding Agencies|European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [648693]; NKFIH-OTKA [K109215, K124438, K112929]; Szechenyi 2020 program [GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00019]</p

The Interrelationship between Coping Strategies and Socio-Psychological Competency of University Students’ Personality

In contemporary society characterized by socio-economic and political instability, the problem of studying the factors and mechanisms that contribute to the constructive resolution of life difficulties and counteracting their negative consequences is very important. This paper contains the results of an empirical study of the characteristics and relationships of students’ coping behavior with different levels of their socio-psychological competency. The research methods comprised the following: theoretical analysis, empirical research (testing), qualitative analysis of the obtained data, mathematical and statistical data processing (SPSS Statistics, Excel). The characteristics of indicators of socio-psychological competency were determined with the use of the technique for assessing socio-communicative competency, as well as a questionnaire that reveals the possibility of using socio-psychological skills by a person in difficult life situations. To study coping behavior, the following were used: “The ways of coping questionnaire” and “The youth coping scale”. The validity and reliability of the research results was ensured by the initial methodological positions, the use of tested tools, representativeness of the research sample, as well as mathematical processing of data with the help of software package for statistical analysis. The conclusions have been drawn that the basis of constructive mechanisms to overcome difficult life situations is a high level of formation of professional skills and abilities, introversion, motivation to achieve success, high intellectual development, moral standards, a high level of development of communication skills. It is these mechanisms that make it possible to resolve problem situations and tasks at work in a productive way. Their absence or a low level of development contributes to the dominance of situational methods of overcoming difficult life situations that impede professional formation and personal development

The Expressiveness of Regulatory Trade-Offs

Trade-offs between a sacred value—like human life—against a secular one—like money—are considered taboo.People are supposed to be offended by such trade-offs and topunish those who contemplate them. Yet the last decades in theUnited States have witnessed the rise of the cost-benefit state.Most major rules promulgated today undergo a regulatoryimpact analysis, and agencies monetize risks as grave as thoseto human life and values as abstract as human dignity.Prominent academics and lawmakers advocate the weighing ofcosts and benefits as an element of rational regulation. Thecost-benefit revolution is a technocratic coup, however, ifcitizens view regulatory trade-offs as a symbolic denial of thevalues they hold dear.This Article details three experiments that evaluateresponses to a cost-benefit justification for regulatory policy.Across a range of conditions, the experiments revealed noevidence of diffuse hostility toward a consequentialist approachto saving lives. The final experiment found, however, thatinforming participants that they were expected to vindicate thesanctity of life resulted in them doing so. This resultdemonstrates the malleability of norms and expectationssurrounding regulatory trade-offs.Taken together, the experiments suggest that peoplenormally do not perceive regulatory trade-offs as symbolicaffronts that call for an expressive defense of the value of life.While these results do not conclusively establish the normativedesirability of the cost-benefit paradigm, they do suggest theabsence of any broad opposition to consequentialism in public life. These findings have implications for the democraticlegitimacy of the administrative state and its institutionaldesign. They also bear on the relationship between tort andregulation as mechanisms for risk control. Insofar as tortjudgments are expressive and regulatory decisions are not,regulation that preempts the common law of torts might helptemper the tangible costs of symbolism

Culture and Social Media

博士(文学)神戸市外国語大