Framing hate: Moral foundations, party cues, and (In)tolerance of offensive speech

© 2017, PsychOpen. All rights reserved. One of the most controversial elements of political tolerance concerns support for hate speech. We argue that there are two factors that can reduce tolerance for hate speech: 1) moral foundations and 2) party cues. U.S. citizens’ tolerance of hate speech will be reduced when it is framed as a violation of a specific moral foundation, opposed by a political party, or when the morality violation is utilized by party elites. Using two survey experiments, we manipulated the target of hate speech (i.e. Muslims or the American flag), whether the speech violated a moral foundation (i.e. harm or loyalty), and which political party supported or opposed the hate speech in question. For flag burning, moral frames and party cues on their own reduced U.S. citizens’ tolerance relative to a non-political control, while moral frames and party cues were successful in reducing tolerance of anti-Muslim speech compared to a free speech appeal. Partisans were generally responsive to cues from the in-party. We also found instances of moral repackaging, where morally incongruent appeals from the in-party reduced tolerance of flag burning among Democrats. Among Republicans, harm morality decreased tolerance of anti-Muslim speech when invoked by the in-party, but increased tolerance when used by the out-party – an indication of the power of party cues to repackage moral arguments and to trigger backlash. These results provide a better understanding of what factors can affect tolerance for hate speech, providing political leaders and social justice advocates with a roadmap to alleviate this problem

The Taxonomy and Phylogeography of two Arabian gazelles

The phylogeny of the Arabian gazelles is generally not well understood (e.g., Groves 1996). Morphological traits were commonly used as a basis for classification leading to frequent misclassifications. Sister group relationships within the genus are only poorly resolved and there are still lively debates about the status of certain taxa (e.g., Wronski et al., unpublished). The aim of this project is to characterize several Arabian, African and Asian gazelle species using molecular tools while including several taxonomically unclear “species”

Endemic Farasan gazelle (Gazella gazella farasani) enhance the dispersal of invasive Prosopis juliflora on Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia

Invasive Prosopis juliflora dispersal on Farasan Kebir (Miharraq area, Wadi Matr) was investigated in relation to endozoochory by Farasan Gazelle (Gazella gazella farasani). A germination experiment was conducted to test defecated seed viability of competing P. juliflora and Acacia ehrenbergiana. It revealed that 0.0013 ± 0.0009 Acacia seeds per gram of faeces germinated, while the rate of germinating Prosopis seeds was higher (0.0053 ± 0.0022 seeds per gram of faeces). Dung middens with a Prosopis seedling (or a young tree nearby) were distinctly closer to the putative centre of Prosopis introduction (Al-Qisar and Miharraq villages) than middens without Prosopis, suggesting that gazelles whose home ranges (mean size, females: 2.07 km2, males: 0.71 km2) encompass the gardens edging the aforementioned villages contribute to the dispersal of this invasive species. Altogether, our results suggest that gazelles on the Farasan Islands contribute to the invasion success of Prosopis; it still needs to be investigated though to what extent also domestic livestock - in particular goats - contribute to Prosopis dispersal. Based on our present data it is recommended to reduce the number of Prosopis trees in the protected area around Wadi Matr by mechanical eliminatio

Let‘s talk about… different things! Communication within and among sexes in Farasan gazelles

Scent marking in localized defecation sites (latrines) has often been interpreted in the context of male territory defense. Still, latrines could have different functions in both sexes, especially where territorial males monopolize groups of females with stable social alliances. We assessed the spatial distribution of latrines within home ranges of wild ranging Arabian gazelles (Gazella arabica) on Farasan Island (Red Sea, Saudi Arabia)

Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses of African and Arabian Dorcas gazelles (Gazella dorcas)

Once common throughout the entire Sahelo-Saharan region, population sizes of Dorcas gazelles (Gazella dorcas) are nowadays decreasing dramatically. The uncertain taxonomy of this species—with a variety of described subspecies without validated status—hampers conservation efforts. In this situation, phylogenetic and phylogeographic investigations using molecular techniques are highly warranted conservation tools. Here, we investigate sequence variation of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and control region of 73 dorcas (G. dorcas) and Saudi gazelles (G. saudiya) throughout the entire distribution range

The role of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in the inhibition of bone formation induced by skeletal unloading

Skeletal unloading results in osteopenia. To examine the involvement of vitamin D in this process, the rear limbs of growing rats were unloaded and alterations in bone calcium and bone histology were related to changes in serum calcium (Ca), inorganic phosphorus (P sub i), 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D), 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (24,25(OH)2D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D. Acute skeletal unloading induced a transitory inhibition of Ca accumulation in unloaded bones. This was accompanied by a transitory rise in serum Ca, a 21% decrease in longitudinal bone growth (P 0.01), a 32% decrease in bone surface lined with osteoblasts (P .05), no change in bone surface lined with osteoclasts and a decrease in circulating (1,25(OH)2D. No significant changes in the serum concentrations of P sub i, 25-OH-D or 24,25(OH)2D were observed. After 2 weeks of unloading, bone Ca stabilized at approximately 70% of control and serum Ca and 1,25(OH)2D returned to control values. Maintenance of a constant serum 1,25(OH)2D concentration by chronic infusion of 1,25(OH)2D (Alza osmotic minipump) throughout the study period did not prevent the bone changes induced by acute unloading. These results suggest that acute skeletal unloading in the growing rat produces a transitory inhibition of bone formation which in turn produces a transitory hypercalcemia

Age-dependent mating tactics in male bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)

Intra-specific variation in mating behaviour has been described for a number of taxa including arthropods, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the various mating behavioural variations observed in mammals. For example, an individual’s behaviour may be constrained by its condition or status (making-the- best of-a-bad-job strategy) or an alternative phenotype may be maintained by frequency-dependent selection influencing a genetic polymorphism (alternative strategies). In the majority of ungulates, variation in mating tactics is most likely maintained as a conditional strategy influenced by multiple internal factors like age, health or body size, as well as external factors such as population density, number of competitors and social dominance rank. In the present study, we investigated male mating tactics in a cryptic, bush-dwelling antelope from tropical Africa, the bushbuck, Tragelaphus scriptus (Figures.1, 2). Different mating strategies are expected to emerge, if variation in mating tactic is maintained as a conditional strategy influenced by age and / or body size: 1) Defending a territory when old and strong, what allows the owner to associating more frequently with females within the combined territory and home-range area. 2) No territory defence when young and weak, thereby associating with females less frequently and therefore sneak-mating with them

Neumann’s enigmatic gazelle (Gazella erlangeri) Threatened taxon or domesticated gazelle?

One of the most challenging questions in regard to Arabian gazelles is the status of G. erlangeri Neumann, 1906 (Fig. 1). Gazelles currently kept in captivity at King Khalid Wildlife Research Centre in Saudi Arabia and Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation in Qatar (Fig. 2) show the described combination of diagnostic features, and thus, were considered to represent G. erlangeri, even though the exact provenance of these gazelles remains obscure. However, captive ‘G. erlangeri’ may have also originated from eastern Oman and could be therefore assigned to G. muscatensis (Fig. 3). Both taxa are considered ‘extinct in the wild’ by the IUCN Red List. Past conservation efforts have been plagued by confusion about the phylogenetic relationship among various—phenotypically discernable—populations (e.g., G. erlangeri, G. muscatensis), and even the question of species boundaries was far from being certain. This lack of knowledge had a direct impact on conservation measures, especially ex situ breeding programmes, hampering the assignment of captive stocks to potential conservation units

Dark grey gazelles Gazella (Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae) in Arabia: Threatened species or domestic pet?

True gazelles (genus Gazella) are a prime example of a mammalian group with considerable taxonomic confusion. This includes the descriptions of several dark grey taxa of questionable validity. Here, we examined captive dark grey putative Neumann’s gazelle Gazella erlangeri. Our concerted efforts to retrieve mitochondrial sequence information from old museum specimens of two dark grey gazelles, putative G. erlangeri and putative Muscat gazelle G. muscatensis, were unsuccessful. We did, however, find the mtDNA haplotypes of extant putative G. erlangeri to be nested within the haplotype variation of the Arabian gazelle G. arabica. The observed population genetic divergence between G. arabica and putative G. erlangeri (based on 11 nuclear microsatellites) was driven by genetic impoverishment of putative G. erlangeri. These results, along with morphological signatures of domestication (e.g., reduced brain case size), suggest genetic bottle necks and domestication effects as a consequence of prolonged captive breeding. Three hypotheses are discussed: (a) G. erlangeri and/or G. muscatensis are valid species but are now extinct; (b) one or both taxa represent phenotypic variation within G. arabica and, therefore, are synonyms of G. arabica; and (c) captive stocks, exhibiting the effects of domestication and inbreeding, are the sources for the descriptions of G. erlangeri and G. muscatensis. As concerns the conservation of gazelles, based on current knowledge, we strongly advise against using putative G. erlangeri for any introduction initiative but recommend the continued captive management of putative G. erlangeri