641 research outputs found
Understanding personality through preferences in popular mass media: An archetypal approach
In the Digital Age, it may be possible to assess personality in ways beyond those traditionally employed by psychologists. This work examines individual preferences in popular or mass culture media and what they say about people\u27s psychological processes. For example, knowing that someone likes romantic comedy movies and jazz music arguably paints a more useful picture of personality than saying that one is high in both extraversion and openness. In such cases, a media-based self-description provides a clear and tangible metric of individual interests. Here, we hypothesize that one reason such preferences may reflect personality is because media and the arts make frequent use of prototypical or archetypal themes and characters in the stories they relate to their audiences, and that people resonate---i.e., respond affectively---to these thematic elements in specific ways that reflect their personalities.
Two studies were performed to test the general hypothesis that people\u27s tastes in popular and mass culture media largely inform their overall personalities and behaviors. In Study 1, two similar scales measuring resonance to archetypal media were compared and a five-factor model of archetypes in mass media was validated. In Study, 2, resonant media preferences were evaluated and compared with participants\u27 self-reported current concerns (including hobbies, group memberships, personal strivings, and possible selves) in order to identify possible archetypal life themes. Results supported the idea of archetypal life themes---that people\u27s mass media preferences are related to their everyday behaviors, goals, social interests, and self-concept. In the future, pop culture-based indicators of personality such as media preferences may be used more often as assessment tools; more pragmatically, they may serve to guide individuals\u27 overall personal development
Casimir Scaling from Center Vortices: Towards an Understanding of the Adjoint String Tension
We argue that the approximate ``Casimir scaling'' of the string tensions of
higher-representation Wilson loops is an effect due to the finite thickness of
center vortex configurations. It is shown, in the context of a simple model of
the Z(2) vortex core, how vortex condensation in Yang-Mills theory can account
for both Casimir scaling in intermediate size loops, and color-screening in
larger loops. An implication of our model is that the deviations from exact
Casimir scaling, which tend to grow with loop size, become much more pronounced
as the dimensionality of the group representation increases.Comment: 13 pages, including 3 eps figures, Latex2e. Two references adde
Interdisciplinary approach to disaster resilience education and research
This paper is based on the results of a survey on “Interdisciplinary working in disaster resilience” conducted by the WP4 work group of the ANDROID Network. The survey had the aim of gathering information on the state of art and practice in the field of disaster resilience and promoting co-operation and interdisciplinary methodologies in research and education. The survey has been carried out by means of a questionnaire focusing on disaster-resilience projects and on the main challenges faced in interdisciplinary working. The results of the questionnaire, which collected 57 answers from more than 20 European countries and few extra European countries as well, allow for three main considerations: i) projects involved 5 different disciplines as average and geography and sociology were present in the majority of the projects; ii) the level of interconnection between disciplines seems intermediate, meaning that information and methods are exchanged, but a full integration of methods and concepts into a common shared language and system of axioms is missing; iii) the lack of a common framework and common terminology represents a major barrier to good interdisciplinary work. The results highlight the role played in disaster-resilience design by social and cultural aspects, which are instead not often adequately considered in the practice. The establishment of an education on resilient design of urban system, which includes both social and technological aspects, emerges as a possible solution to overcome barriers to interdisciplinary work and improve the efficacy and quality of resilience design
Static SU(3) potentials for sources in various representations
The potentials and string tensions between static sources in a variety of
representations (fundamental, 8, 6, 15-antisymmetric, 10, 27 and 15-symmetric)
have been computed by measuring Wilson loops in pure gauge SU(3). The
simulations have been done primarily on anisotropic lattices, using a tadpole
improved action improved to O(a_{s}^4). A range of lattice spacings (0.43 fm,
0.25 fm and 0.11 fm) and volumes (, , and ) has been used in an attempt to control
discretization and finite volume effects. At intermediate distances, the
results show approximate Casimir scaling. Finite lattice spacing effects
dominate systematic error, and are particularly large for the representations
with the largest string tensions.Comment: Version to appear in PR
Prevalence and Properties of Dark Matter in Elliptical Galaxies
Given the recently deduced relationship between X-ray temperatures and
stellar velocity dispersions (the "T-sigma relation") in an optically complete
sample of elliptical galaxies (Davis & White 1996), we demonstrate that L>L_*
ellipticals contain substantial amounts of dark matter in general. We present
constraints on the dark matter scale length and on the dark-to-luminous mass
ratio within the optical half-light radius and within the entire galaxy. For
example, we find that minimum values of dark matter core radii scale as r_dm >
4(L_V/3L_*)^{3/4}h^{-1}_80 kpc and that the minimum dark matter mass fraction
is >~20% within one optical effective radius r_e and is >~39-85% within 6r_e,
depending on the stellar density profile and observed value of beta_spec. We
also confirm the prediction of Davis & White (1996) that the dark matter is
characterized by velocity dispersions that are greater than those of the
luminous stars: sigma_dm^2 ~ 1.4-2 sigma_*^2. The T-sigma relation implies a
nearly constant mass-to-light ratio within six half-light radii: M/L_V ~ 25h_80
M_sun/L_V_sun. This conflicts with the simplest extension of CDM theories of
large scale structure formation to galactic scales; we consider a couple of
modifications which can better account for the observed T-sigma relation.Comment: 27 pages AASTeX; 15 PostScript figures; to appear in Ap
On the Evolution of the Velocity-Mass-Size Relations of Disk-Dominated Galaxies over the Past 10 Billion Years
We study the evolution of the scaling relations between maximum circular
velocity, stellar mass and optical half-light radius of star-forming
disk-dominated galaxies in the context of LCDM-based galaxy formation models.
Using data from the literature combined with new data from the DEEP2 and AEGIS
surveys we show that there is a consistent observational and theoretical
picture for the evolution of these scaling relations from z\sim 2 to z=0. The
evolution of the observed stellar scaling relations is weaker than that of the
virial scaling relations of dark matter haloes, which can be reproduced, both
qualitatively and quantitatively, with a simple, cosmologically-motivated model
for disk evolution inside growing NFW dark matter haloes. In this model optical
half-light radii are smaller, both at fixed stellar mass and maximum circular
velocity, at higher redshifts. This model also predicts that the scaling
relations between baryonic quantities evolve even more weakly than the
corresponding stellar relations. We emphasize, though, that this weak evolution
does not imply that individual galaxies evolve weakly. On the contrary,
individual galaxies grow strongly in mass, size and velocity, but in such a way
that they move largely along the scaling relations. Finally, recent
observations have claimed surprisingly large sizes for a number of star-forming
disk galaxies at z \sim 2, which has caused some authors to suggest that high
redshift disk galaxies have abnormally high spin parameters. However, we argue
that the disk scale lengths in question have been systematically overestimated
by a factor \sim 2, and that there is an offset of a factor \sim 1.4 between
H\alpha sizes and optical sizes. Taking these effects into account, there is no
indication that star forming galaxies at high redshifts (z\sim 2) have
abnormally high spin parameters.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, accepted to MNRAS, minor changes to previous
versio
The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Mean Ages and Metallicities of Red Field Galaxies at z ~ 0.9 from Stacked Keck/DEIMOS Spectra
As part of the DEEP2 galaxy redshift survey, we analyze absorption line
strengths in stacked Keck/DEIMOS spectra of red field galaxies with weak to no
emission lines, at redshifts 0.7 <= z <= 1. Comparison with models of stellar
population synthesis shows that red galaxies at z ~ 0.9 have mean
luminosity-weighted ages of the order of only 1 Gyr and at least solar
metallicities. This result cannot be reconciled with a scenario where all stars
evolved passively after forming at very high z. Rather, a significant fraction
of stars can be no more than 1 Gyr old, which means that star formation
continued to at least z ~ 1.2. Furthermore, a comparison of these distant
galaxies with a local SDSS sample, using stellar populations synthesis models,
shows that the drop in the equivalent width of Hdelta from z ~ 0.9 to 0.1 is
less than predicted by passively evolving models. This admits of two
interpretations: either each individual galaxy experiences continuing low-level
star formation, or the red-sequence galaxy population from z ~ 0.9 to 0.1 is
continually being added to by new galaxies with younger stars.Comment: A few typos were corrected and numbers in Table 1 were revise
On the relevance of center vortices to QCD
In a numerical experiment, we remove center vortices from an ensemble of
lattice SU(2) gauge configurations. This removal adds short-range disorder.
Nevertheless, we observe long-range order in the modified ensemble: confinement
is lost and chiral symmetry is restored (together with trivial topology),
proving that center vortices are responsible for both phenomena. As for the
Abelian monopoles, they survive but their percolation properties are lost.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures; discussion expanded, text compressed... to appear
in Phys. Rev. Let
The DEEP3 Galaxy Redshift Survey: The Impact of Environment on the Size Evolution of Massive Early-type Galaxies at Intermediate Redshift
Using data drawn from the DEEP2 and DEEP3 Galaxy Redshift Surveys, we
investigate the relationship between the environment and the structure of
galaxies residing on the red sequence at intermediate redshift. Within the
massive (10 < log(M*/Msun) < 11) early-type population at 0.4 < z <1.2, we find
a significant correlation between local galaxy overdensity (or environment) and
galaxy size, such that early-type systems in higher-density regions tend to
have larger effective radii (by ~0.5 kpc or 25% larger) than their counterparts
of equal stellar mass and Sersic index in lower-density environments. This
observed size-density relation is consistent with a model of galaxy formation
in which the evolution of early-type systems at z < 2 is accelerated in
high-density environments such as groups and clusters and in which dry, minor
mergers (versus mechanisms such as quasar feedback) play a central role in the
structural evolution of the massive, early-type galaxy population.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables; resubmitted to MNRAS after addressing
referee's comments (originally submitted to journal on August 16, 2011
- …