Not All Social Capital Is Equal: Conceptualizing Social Capital Differences in Cities

Social capital is the basis of community-based action and constitutes an important resource for the poor in urban areas. However, social class, age, ethnicity and gender play an important role in shaping social capital outcomes. This article provides a literature-based framework for the qualitative analysis of the differences in social capital between social groups. This study defines and distinguishes social capital functions and resources and highlights the importance of taking negative effects of social capital and social capital needs into account. To test the framework, the social capital portfolios of two exemplary social groups, namely young people and ethnic minorities in urban areas, are presented. The analysis shows that the social capital resources and functions of the different groups as well as the specific needs vary in quality. The study provides a conceptual enhancement to the concept of social capital and recommends that strategies aiming at improving social capital must acknowledge the differences in social capital according to specific groups and environments

Don’t worry, be hungry? : Assessing the relationship between pro-environmental behaviour and eco-anxiety using Climate-Friendly Food Systems labels

Eco-anxiety has previously been associated with increased pro-environmental behaviour, while higher situational control has previously been associated with lower levels of worry. The present study sought to identify whether presenting participants with a specific highly controllable pro-environmental behaviour - the use of climate-friendly food systems (CFFS) labels to inform food choice - would lead individuals with higher levels of eco-anxiety to embrace the behaviour to a higher degree. The traffic-light-style CFFS labels, where level of greenhouse gas emissions was indicated by a green, yellow, or red label, were implemented in a survey-based shopping task, as well as in a university dining facility. In the survey, eco-anxiety level was assessed after the introduction of CFFS labels. Exploratory data including climate concern, pro-environmental intent, race, gender, and age were also collected in the survey. In the dining facility, the labels were added to the facility’s menu after a period of baseline data collection, and a poster featured at the dining facility described the meaning of the labels to customers. An Instagram marketing campaign was also used to promote understanding of the labels. The survey study found that on the shopping task, food choice was significantly impacted by the CFFS labels. A small positive and marginally significant relationship was found between the pro-environmental behaviour of individual change in food choice and eco-anxiety. In assessing the relationship between pro-environmental behaviour and the secondary variables, no relationships were found. However, a moderate positive and significant relationship was found between eco-anxiety and both pro-environmental intent and climate concern. It is possible that, because the shopping task was hypothetical, a different relationship may have been found between pro-environmental and eco-anxiety in a real-world setting, where the impact of the labels may not have been as large. In the university dining facility, the food labels were related to a significant increase in red item sales, a significant decrease in yellow item sales, and no change in green item sales compared to baseline sales data. Though these results may be due to a genuine relationship between the presence of CFFS labels and a decrease in pro-environmental food choices, these results may also be related to the fact that baseline data and intervention data were collected in different seasons and during periods associated with different levels of stress. The discrepancy between label-informed change in food choice on the survey and at the dining facility indicates the need for further research on demonstrated rather than self-reported pro-environmental behaviour. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofUnreviewedUndergraduat

Sacred and Profane Love in the Early Work of Titian

The famous canvas in the Galleria Borghese known commonly as Sacred and Profane Love is merely one work among many in which Titian sought to explore the moral nature of love. His preoccupation with this theme manifests itself, I believe, in several works of his early maturity – works whose puzzling and unprecedented formal characteristics have yet to be adequately interpretated. After introducing my argument with a brief look at two highly problematic pictures, the Sacred and Profane Love itself and the so-called Three Ages of Man in the National Gallery, Edinburgh, I focus on two of Titian’s works that articulate the relation between divine and earthly love particularly clearly: the Noli me tangere in the National Gallery, London, and the Assumption of the Virgin in the Frari, Venice. The Noli me tangere contrasts the divine love of Christ with the human love of the Magdalen, whose inappropriately sensuous state of mind is figured in the pastoral landscape round about. Similarly, the Assumption of the Virgin is carefully composed in order to draw out a contrast between the intesely spiritual love of the Virgin, which fuels her visionary ascent, and the earth-bound affections of the apostles. The paper thus traces the imprint of the idea of sacred and profane love on the formal qualities of these two compositions, initiating a line of interpretation that may further illuminate Titian’s work in general