Fashion and art cycles are driven by counter-dominance signals of elite competition: quantitative evidence from music styles

Human symbol systems such as art and fashion styles emerge from complex social processes that govern the continuous re-organization of modern societies. They provide a signaling scheme that allows members of an elite to distinguish themselves from the rest of society. Efforts to understand the dynamics of art and fashion cycles have been based on 'bottom-up' and 'top down' theories. According to 'top down' theories, elite members signal their superior status by introducing new symbols (e.g., fashion styles), which are adopted by low-status groups. In response to this adoption, elite members would need to introduce new symbols to signal their status. According to many 'bottom-up' theories, style cycles evolve from lower classes and follow an essentially random pattern. We propose an alternative explanation based on counter-dominance signaling. There, elite members want others to imitate their symbols; changes only occur when outsider groups successfully challenge the elite by introducing signals that contrast those endorsed by the elite. We investigate these mechanisms using a dynamic network approach on data containing almost 8 million musical albums released between 1956 and 2015. The network systematically quantifies artistic similarities of competing musical styles and their changes over time. We formulate empirical tests for whether new symbols are introduced by current elite members (top-down), randomness (bottom-up) or by peripheral groups through counter-dominance signals. We find clear evidence that counter-dominance-signaling drives changes in musical styles. This provides a quantitative, completely data-driven answer to a century-old debate about the nature of the underlying social dynamics of fashion cycles

Fashion and art cycles are driven by counter-dominance signals of elite competition: quantitative evidence from music styles

Human symbol systems such as art and fashion styles emerge from complex social processes that govern the continuous re-organization of modern societies. They provide a signalling scheme that allows members of an elite to distinguish themselves from the rest of society. Efforts to understand the dynamics of art and fashion cycles have been placed on 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' theories. According to 'top-down' theories, elite members signal their superior status by introducing new symbols (e.g. fashion styles), which are adopted by low-status groups. In response to this adoption, elite members would need to introduce new symbols to signal their status. According to many 'bottom-up' theories, style cycles evolve from lower classes and follow an essentially random pattern. We propose an alternative explanation based on counter-dominance signalling (CDS). In CDS, elite members want others to imitate their symbols; changes only occur when outsider groups successfully challenge the elite by introducing signals that contrast those endorsed by the elite. We investigate these mechanisms using a dynamic network approach on data containing almost 8 million music albums released between 1956 and 2015. The network systematically quantifies artistic similarities of competing musical styles and their changes over time. We formulate empirical tests for whether new symbols are introduced by current elite members (top-down), randomness (bottom-up) or by peripheral groups through counter-dominance signals. We find clear evidence that CDS drives changes in musical styles. This provides a quantitative, completely data-driven answer to a century-old debate about the nature of the underlying social dynamics of fashion cycles

The mind in the object—Psychological valuation of materialized human expression

Symbolic material objects such as art or certain artifacts (e.g., fine pottery, jewelry) share one common element: The combination of generating an expression, and the materialization of this expression in the object. This explains why people place a much greater value on handmade over machine-made objects, and originals over duplicates. We show that this mechanism occurs when a material object’s symbolic property is salient and when the creator (artist or craftsman) is perceived to have agency control over the 1-to-1 materialized expression in the object. Coactivation of these 2 factors causes the object to be perceived as having high value because it is seen as the embodied representation of the creator’s unique personal expression. In 6 experiments, subjects rated objects in various object categories, which varied on the type of object property (symbolic, functional, aesthetic), the production procedure (handmade, machine-made, analog, digital) and the origin of the symbolic information (person or software). The studies showed that the proposed mechanism applies to symbolic, but not to functional or aesthetic material objects. Furthermore, they show that this specific form of symbolic object valuation could not be explained by various other related psychological theories (e.g., uniqueness, scarcity, physical touching, creative performance). Our research provides a universal framework that identifies a core mechanism for explaining judgments of value for one of our most uniquely human symbolic object categories

Die Rolle sprachlicher Indikatoren für Argumentationsanalysen: ein Ergebnisbericht aus der linguistischen Rhetorik

Kindt W. Die Rolle sprachlicher Indikatoren für Argumentationsanalysen: ein Ergebnisbericht aus der linguistischen Rhetorik. In: Kreuzbauer G, Gratzl N, Hiebl E, eds. Rhetorische Wissenschaft: Rede und Argumentation in Theorie und Praxis. Salzburger Beiträge zu Rhetorik und Argumentationstheorie. Vol 4. Wien [u.a.]: LIT; 2008: 147-162

Reduced corticosteroid use in adult patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia receiving romiplostim

Adult patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia requiring first-line treatment typically receive corticosteroids, which are associated with low response rates and many potential side effects. In a retrospective analysis of two 6-month, placebo-controlled, phase III trials, corticosteroid use decreased from 30 to 26% among patients treated with the novel thrombopoietin-mimetic romiplostim (n = 83) and remained above 30% for placebo-treated patients (n = 42). Moreover, compared to placebo, patients were spared 7 weeks of corticosteroid treatment for every 100 weeks of romiplostim treatment. Thereafter, corticosteroid use continued to decrease significantly, from 35 to 20%, in patients treated with romiplostim for up to 3 years in an open-label extension study (n = 101), and patients were spared a further 8 weeks of corticosteroid treatment for each additional 100 weeks of romiplostim treatment. Such reductions in corticosteroids may improve health-related quality of life in patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia

Real-world use of blinatumomab in adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in clinical practice : results from the NEUF study

Altres ajuts: Amgen (Europe) GmbHThis retrospective observational study (NEUF) included adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-cell ALL) who had received blinatumomab for the treatment of minimal residual disease-positive (MRD+) or relapsed/refractory (R/R) B-cell ALL via an expanded access program (EAP). Patients were eligible if blinatumomab was initiated via the EAP between January 2014 and June 2017. Patients were followed from blinatumomab initiation until death, entry into a clinical trial, the end of follow-up, or the end of the study period (December 31, 2017), whichever occurred first. Of the 249 adult patients included, 109 were MRD+ (83 Philadelphia chromosome-negative [Ph−] and 26 Philadelphia chromosome-positive [Ph+]) and 140 had a diagnosis of R/R B-cell ALL (106 Ph− and 34 Ph+). In the MRD+ group, within the first cycle of blinatumomab treatment, 93% (n = 49/53) of Ph− and 64% (n = 7/11) of Ph+ patients with evaluable MRD achieved an MRD response (MRD <0.01%). Median overall survival (OS) was not reached over a median follow-up time of 18.5 months (Ph−, 18.8 [range: 5.1-34.8] months; Ph+, 16.5 [range: 1.8-31.6] months). In the R/R group, within two cycles of blinatumomab, 51% of Ph− and 41% of Ph+ patients achieved complete hematologic remission (CR/CRh/CRi), and 83% of Ph− and 67% of Ph+ MRD-evaluable patients in CR/CRh/CRi achieved an MRD response. Median (95% confidence interval) OS was 12.2 (7.3-24.2) months in the R/R Ph− subgroup and 16.3 (5.3-not estimated) months in the R/R Ph+ subgroup. This large, real-world data set of adults with B-cell ALL treated with blinatumomab confirms efficacy outcomes from published studies

PVC-LOT-004-D-137

This article discusses the role of embodiment in judgment and choice to (a) attain clarity on conceptual and methodological issues by presenting a literature review of prior empirical research on embodiment, (b) gain an integrative view on the topic of embodiment in judgment and choice by proposing somatic marker theory as a unifying conceptual framework for bridging cognition and affect in terms of embodiment, and (c) discuss and clarify ideas and directions for further research on the topic

External Design for Reputation, Perspective and Exposure

This paper analyses why and how design‐centred industrial firms with internal design teams contract external designers. This research is based on an exploratory multiple case study methodology, with a sample of five highly reputable design‐centred industrial firms, operating in hypercompetitive industries. While some results challenge the mainstream literature on design management, others expand the existing literature, highlighting that not all firms extract the same benefits from external designers; neither do all external designers bring the same benefits to firms. The paper shows that firms with internal design teams contract external design for (1) reputation (external designers sign products and bring their reputation to the product and to the firm), (2) perspective (external designers bring a different perspective, especially when they come from a different industry from the firm), and (3) exposure (external designers bring exposure that enriches internal design teams)

Individual and culture-level components of survey response styles: a multi-level analysis using cultural models of selfhood

Variations in acquiescence and extremity pose substantial threats to the validity of cross-cultural research that relies on survey methods. Individual and cultural correlates of response styles when using two contrasting types of response mode were investigated, drawing on data from 55 cultural groups across 33 nations. Using seven dimensions of self-other relatedness that have often been confounded within the broader distinction between independence and interdependence, our analysis yields more specific understandings of both individual- and culture-level variations in response style. When using a Likert scale response format, acquiescence is strongest among individuals seeing themselves as similar to others, and where cultural models of selfhood favour harmony, similarity with others and receptiveness to influence. However, when using Schwartz’s (2007) portrait-comparison response procedure, acquiescence is strongest among individuals seeing themselves as self-reliant but also connected to others, and where cultural models of selfhood favour self-reliance and self-consistency. Extreme responding varies less between the two types of response modes, and is most prevalent among individuals seeing themselves as self-reliant, and in cultures favouring self-reliance. Since both types of response mode elicit distinctive styles of response, it remains important to estimate and control for style effects to ensure valid comparisons

Being oneself through time: bases of self-continuity across 55 cultures

Self-continuity – the sense that one’s past, present, and future are meaningfully connected – is considered a defining feature of personal identity. However, bases of self-continuity may depend on cultural beliefs about personhood. In multilevel analyses of data from 7287 adults from 55 cultural groups in 33 nations, we tested a new tripartite theoretical model of bases of self-continuity. As expected, perceptions of stability, sense of narrative, and associative links to one’s past each contributed to predicting the extent to which people derived a sense of self-continuity from different aspects of their identities. Ways of constructing self-continuity were moderated by cultural and individual differences in mutable (vs. immutable) personhood beliefs – the belief that human attributes are malleable. Individuals with lower mutability beliefs based self-continuity more on stability; members of cultures where mutability beliefs were higher based self-continuity more on narrative. Bases of self-continuity were also moderated by cultural variation in contextualized (vs. decontextualized) personhood beliefs, indicating a link to cultural individualism-collectivism. Our results illustrate the cultural flexibility of the motive for self-continuity