The ‘anti-social’ nature of prosocial research; a psychosocial critique

This article provides a critical review of recent psychological articles on prosocial behaviour. Even though it focuses on a specific section of this literature – giving to charities and prosocial responses to humanitarian disasters – the paper aims to offer a wider critique as it interrogates the epistemological and methodological underpinnings of the prosocial literature as a whole. It aims to illustrate how the problematic aspects of traditional quantitative, deductive, experimental research in prosocial behaviour in general, when applied to giving to charities, preclude a deeper and more complex understanding of a phenomenon quintessentially social and altruistic. I identify three specific issues that make mainstream approaches to prosocial behaviour problematic and limited in scope. The first relates to the insularity of mainstream psychology and the lack of contextualisation of its findings, in particular the problematic neglect of ideological and socio-historical factors in prosocial behaviour. The second relates to mainstream psychology's disregard for the role played by conflict, contradiction and ambivalence, in attitudes and decision making as well as in the emotional aspects of prosocial behaviour. The third looks at the constraints imposed by scientifically inspired methods, how they predetermine the range of participants' responses and make it hard to apply the findings to real life situations. I claim that these epistemological and methodological constraints severely limit the applicability and comprehensiveness of current research. The discussion of these issues is woven through the review and uses some specific studies to illustrate the limitations imposed by these constraints. Throughout the paper I also argue for the need to incorporate a psychosocial approach to research into prosocial behaviour

Limite ergodique de processus de diffusion infini-dimensionnels

We give a temporal ergodicity criterium for the solution of a class of infinite dimensional stochastic differential equations of gradient type, where the interaction has infinite range. We illustrate our theoretical result by typical examples

Landscapes of empathy: spatial scenarios, metaphors and metonymies in responses to distant suffering

This study re-analyses focus group data on responses to human rights abuses, to investigate how participants’ experiences in their local social and physical worlds influence empathy with distant suffering others. Metaphors, metonymies, narratives and typifying scenarios were identified in the discourse dynamics. Scenarios, metaphors and metonymies of space and place emerge as particularly significant in the dialogic co-construction of moral reasoning. Embodied experiences, specifically encounters with people begging in the street, become emblematic of perceived threats to personal space that should feel private and secure. Systematic spatial metaphors construct a landscape of empathic understanding with an optimal distance for empathy, neither too close nor too far. Faced with distant suffering others in prompt materials, participants respond with parallel reasoning on the symbolic landscape. Implications for increasing empathic understanding of distant others are discussed

Declaración medioambiental

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Effects of the passage of Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) observed by the Shallow Radar (SHARAD) on Mars reconnaissance orbiter

The close passage of Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) to Mars provided a unique opportunity to observe the interaction of cometary materials with the Martian ionosphere and atmosphere using the sounding radar SHARAD (SHAllow RADar) aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In two nightside observations, acquired in the 10 h following the closest approach, the SHARAD data reveal a significant increase of the total electron content (TEC). The observed TEC values are typical for daylight hours just after dawn or before sunset but are unprecedented this deep into the night. Results support two predictions indicating that cometary pickup O+ ions, or ions generated from the ablation of cometary dust, are responsible for the creation of an additional ion layer

Caring in crisis – why development and humanitarian NGOs need to change how they relate to the public

This post was written by Dr Shani Orgad from the Department of Media and Communications at LSE and Dr Bruna Seu, Department of Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck. Ian Birrell, a staunch critic of the humanitarian aid sector, has attacked ‘cash-swollen charities’ for focusing ‘on hitting on an outdated aid target, instead of on results’. Unfortunately, the UK public seems often to share similar sentiments of disillusionment and distrust towards humanitarian and development NGOs

'Intimacy at a distance' in humanitarian communication

While humanitarian communication has been scrutinized by practitioners and academics, the role and meanings of intimacy at a distance in this communication have been largely overlooked. Based on analysis of 17 in-depth interviews with professionals in 10 UK-based international NGOs engaged in planning, designing and producing humanitarian communications, this article explores how intimacy figures in NGOs’ thinking about and practice of humanitarian communication. Drawing on discussions of ‘intimacy at a distance’ and the ‘intimization’ of the mediated public sphere, the analysis explores three metaphors of intimacy used by interviewees to articulate the relationships they seek to develop with and between their beneficiaries and UK audiences: (1) sitting together underneath a tree; (2) being there; and (3) going on a journey. The article situates the governance of intimacy of practitioners’ thinking and practice as NGOs’ attempt to respond to criticisms from the humanitarian and international development sector, policymakers and scholars. It concludes by calling for a revisiting of the centrality of intimacy in humanitarian communication and the logic of emotional capitalism within which it is embedded, outlining its implications for both academic scholarship and practice

Liquid filled canyons on Titan

In May 2013 the Cassini RADAR altimeter observed channels in Vid Flumina, a drainage network connected to Titan’s second largest hydrocarbon sea, Ligeia Mare. Analysis of these altimeter echoes shows that the channels are located in deep (up to ~570 m), steep-sided, canyons and have strong specular surface reflections that indicate they are currently liquid filled. Elevations of the liquid in these channels are at the same level as Ligeia Mare to within a vertical precision of about 0.7 m, consistent with the interpretation of drowned river valleys. Specular reflections are also observed in lower order tributaries elevated above the level of Ligeia Mare, consistent with drainage feeding into the main channel system

Radar sounding using the Cassini altimeter waveform modeling and Monte Carlo approach for data inversion observations of Titan's seas

Recently, the Cassini RADAR has been used as a sounder to probe the depth and constrain the composition of hydrocarbon seas on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Altimetry waveforms from observations over the seas are generally composed of two main reflections: the first from the surface of the liquid and the second from the seafloor. The time interval between these two peaks is a measure of sea depth, and the attenuation from the propagation through the liquid is a measure of the dielectric properties, which is a sensitive property of liquid composition. Radar measurements are affected by uncertainties that can include saturation effects, possible receiver distortion, and processing artifacts, in addition to thermal noise and speckle. To rigorously treat these problems, we simulate the Ku-band altimetry echo received from Titan's seas using a two-layer model, where the surface is represented by a specular reflection and the seafloor is modeled using a facet-based synthetic surface. The simulation accounts for the thermal noise, speckle, analog-to-digital conversion, and block adaptive quantization and allows for possible receiver saturation. We use a Monte Carlo method to compare simulated and observed waveforms and retrieve the probability distributions of depth, surface/subsurface intensity ratio, and subsurface roughness for the individual double-peaked waveform of Ligeia Mare acquired by the Cassini spacecraft in May 2013. This new analysis provides an update to the Ku-band attenuation and results in a new estimate for its loss tangent and composition. We also demonstrate the ability to retrieve bathymetric information from saturated altimetry echoes acquired over Ontario Lacus in December 2008

The Good Samaritan and the Marketer: public perceptions of humanitarian and international development NGOs

This article reports on a nationwide study investigating public responses to humanitarian communications. Based on focus group data with members of the UK public, the paper discusses two key models through which NGOs identities and activities are understood and judged, both positively and negatively: the Good Samaritan and the Marketer. Thematic analysis of the focus groups extracts exposes the salience of these models in people's thinking, how they speak to each other and how they inform and affect the relationship between NGOs and public. The paper discusses the themes in relation to current debates on organisations' image and trust and confidence in nonprofit organisations and humanitarian NGOs. The data show deep public disillusionment and disappointment deriving from the recognition of the Marketer model being applied to and employed within the realm of humanitarianism. This suggests that NGOs' moving away from traditional notions of charity might be counterproductive and in the long-term risky