scholarly journals The Character of Class: Self-Concept, Self-Control and Social Immobility

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Moullin
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Economic Outcomes ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Cognitive Dimension ◽  
The Social ◽  
British Cohort Study

The importance of "character" or non-cognitive skills to socio-economic success has received much interest from across the social sciences, and in policy. However, there is little clarity as to what the non-cognitive comprises, or how or for whom it contributes to socio-economic outcomes. I consider a range of measures of children’s self-beliefs and behaviors, and of class reproduction, in the British Cohort Study, a representative sample of Britons born in 1970. Model-based factor analysis finds there is no general non-cognitive dimension to skills. Children’s self-concept and teacher-ratings of their self-control form two distinct factors, with the latter in particular closely related to cognitive skill. Natural effect models find self-concept as well as self-control helps account for social immobility, the lower chances of attaining the middle class, and the (higher) professional-managerial class, for those from working-class, and non-elite backgrounds. Much, but not all, of the mediation role of character reflects its association with performance on cognitive tests. Non-cognitive factors thus matter to socio-economic outcomes, but in a way more consistent with Bourdieusian models of cultural capital than with economic conceptions of human capital.

scholarly journals Tracking Homo Oeconomicus: Development of the Neoliberal Beliefs Inventory

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laina Y. Bay-Cheng ◽  
Caroline C. Fitz ◽  
Natalie M. Alizaga ◽  
Alyssa N. Zucker
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Homo Oeconomicus ◽  
Three Samples ◽  
The Social ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Neoliberal Ideology

Researchers across the social sciences are beginning to note that neoliberalism’s influence is no longer restricted to macroeconomic and social policies, but can now be detected in individuals’ behaviors, relationships, perceptions, and self-concept. However, psychologists lack a means of assessing neoliberal beliefs directly. We collected data from three samples of U.S. undergraduates to develop and test a measure of neoliberal ideology, the Neoliberal Beliefs Inventory (NBI). Using first exploratory and then confirmatory factor analysis, we devised a 25-item measure that is both reliable and valid, at least within a particular demographic (i.e., U.S. traditionally-aged undergraduates). The NBI may help psychologists specify and analyze the role of neoliberal ideology in shaping human behavior and functioning.

Concluding Summary

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Figdor
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Research ◽  
Internal And External Factors ◽  
Conceptual Confusion

Chapter 10 provides a summary of the argument of the book. It elaborates some of the benefits of Literalism, such as less conceptual confusion and an expanded range of entities for research that might illuminate human cognition. It motivates distinguishing the questions of whether something has a cognitive capacity from whether it is intuitively like us. It provides a conceptual foundation for the social sciences appropriate for the increasing role of modeling in these sciences. It also promotes convergence in terms of the roles of internal and external factors in explaining both human and nonhuman behavior. Finally, it sketches some of the areas of new research that it supports, including group cognition and artificial intelligence.

A Phenomenology of Rhythm

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lexi Eikelboom
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Henri Lefebvre ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Analytical Importance ◽  
Jazz Performance

This chapter proposes a framework for approaching the theological significance of rhythm through phenomenology, prosody, and the social sciences. In accordance with the general categories of phenomenology established by Merleau-Ponty and the “rhythmanalysis” of Henri Lefebvre, the chapter investigates two experiences of rhythm: approaches to analysing the human encounter with rhythm in the reading of poetry and the role of rhythm in social interactions introduced through commonalities between rhythm in conversation and in jazz performance. These explorations establish two features of rhythm that are of analytical importance for the chapters that follow: (1) the synchronic and the diachronic as two necessary but distinct theoretical perspectives on rhythm, each of which emphasizes different features of rhythm and (2) the importance of interruption for understanding rhythm’s significance.

Indonesian Historical Writing after Independence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Historical Writing ◽  
Dutch Version ◽  
History Writing ◽  
Academic History ◽  
Artistic Representations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Military ◽  
Local Perspectives

This chapter discusses Indonesian historical writing after independence. At the time Indonesia became independent, knowledge of academic history-writing was virtually non-existent. Indonesian elites then faced the postcolonial predicament of having to adopt Western nationalistic approaches to history in order to oppose the Dutch version of the archipelago’s history that had legitimized colonial domination. Soon after independence, the military took over and dominated the writing of history in Indonesia for several decades. Challenges to the military’s view of history came from artistic representations of history, and from historians—trained in the social sciences—who emphasized a multidimensional approach balancing central and local perspectives. However, it was only after 2002 that historians could openly criticize the role of the military.

Reconsidering American Power

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
American Power ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The Social ◽  
State Sponsorship ◽  
To Come

Postcolonial studies, postmodern studies, even posthuman studies emerge, and intellectuals demand that social sciences be remade to address fundamentals of the human condition, from human rights to global environmental crises. Since these fields owe so much to American state sponsorship, is it easier to reimagine the human and the modern than to properly measure the pervasive American influence? Reconsidering American Power offers trenchant studies by renowned scholars who reassess the role of the social sciences in the construction and upkeep of the Pax Americana and the influence of Pax Americana on the social sciences. With the thematic image for this enterprise as the ‘fiery hunt’ for Ahab’s whale, the contributors pursue realities behind the theories, and reconsider the real origins and motives of their fields with an eye on what will deter or repurpose the ‘fiery hunts’ to come, by offering a critical insider’s view.

The Politics of Global Health Inequalities

2019 ◽  
pp. 58-84
Author(s):  
Yusra Ribhi Shawar ◽  
Jennifer Prah Ruger
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Health Inequality ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Of Health ◽  
Political Determinants ◽  
The Social

Careful investigations of the political determinants of health that include the role of power in health inequalities—systematic differences in health achievements among different population groups—are increasing but remain inadequate. Historically, much of the research examining health inequalities has been influenced by biomedical perspectives and focused, as such, on ‘downstream’ factors. More recently, there has been greater recognition of more ‘distal’ and ‘upstream’ drivers of health inequalities, including the impacts of power as expressed by actors, as well as embedded in societal structures, institutions, and processes. The goal of this chapter is to examine how power has been conceptualised and analysed to date in relation to health inequalities. After reviewing the state of health inequality scholarship and the emerging interest in studying power in global health, the chapter presents varied conceptualisations of power and how they are used in the literature to understand health inequalities. The chapter highlights the particular disciplinary influences in studying power across the social sciences, including anthropology, political science, and sociology, as well as cross-cutting perspectives such as critical theory and health capability. It concludes by highlighting strengths and limitations of the existing research in this area and discussing power conceptualisations and frameworks that so far have been underused in health inequalities research. This includes potential areas for future inquiry and approaches that may expand the study of as well as action on addressing health inequality.

scholarly journals To sext or not to sext. The role of social-cognitive processes in the decision to engage in sexting

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 1410-1429
Author(s):  
Claire Wilson ◽  
Tommy van Steen ◽  
Christabel Akinyode ◽  
Zara P. Brodie ◽  
Graham G. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Relationship Status ◽  
Injunctive Norm ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Insight Into

Technology has given rise to online behaviors such as sexting. It is important that we examine predictors of such behavior in order to understand who is more likely to sext and thus inform intervention aimed at sexting awareness. We used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine sexting beliefs and behavior. Participants (n = 418; 70.3% women) completed questionnaires assessing attitudes (instrumental and affective), subjective norms (injunctive and descriptive), control perceptions (self-efficacy and controllability) and intentions toward sexting. Specific sexting beliefs (fun/carefree beliefs, perceived risks and relational expectations) were also measured and sexting behavior reported. Relationship status, instrumental attitude, injunctive norm, descriptive norm and self-efficacy were associated with sexting intentions. Relationship status, intentions and self-efficacy related to sexting behavior. Results provide insight into the social-cognitive factors related to individuals’ sexting behavior and bring us closer to understanding what beliefs predict the behavior.

Social Ontology and Model-Building: A Response to Epstein

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-192
Author(s):  
Nadia Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Model Building ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
Model Construction ◽  
Ontological Commitments ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social

Brian Epstein has recently argued that a thoroughly microfoundationalist approach towards economics is unconvincing for metaphysical reasons. Generally, Epstein argues that for an improvement in the methodology of social science we must adopt social ontology as the foundation of social sciences; that is, the standing microfoundationalist debate could be solved by fixing economics’ ontology. However, as I show in this paper, fixing the social ontology prior to the process of model construction is optional instead of necessary and that metaphysical-ontological commitments are often the outcome of model construction, not its starting point. By focusing on the practice of modeling in economics the paper provides a useful inroad into the debate about the role of metaphysics in the natural and social sciences more generally.

The Phantom at The Opera

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Tarrow
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Development ◽  
American Political Development ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Social

Movements and parties have given rise to two largely separates specialties in the social sciences. This Element is an effort to link the two literatures, using evidence from American political development. It identifies five relational mechanisms governing movement/party relations: two of them short term, two intermediate term, and one long-term. It closes with a reflection on the role of movement/party relations in democratization and for democratic resilience.

scholarly journals Curriculum design in theology and development: Human agency and the prophetic role of the church

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverley Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
The Social ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church

The field of theology and development is a relatively new sub-discipline within theological studies in Africa. The first formal post-graduate programme was introduced at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa during the mid-1990s. In the early years it was known as the Leadership and Development programme and since 2000, as the Theology and Development programme. Over the past twenty years, this programme has graduated over 160 BTh Honours, 100 MTh, and 15 PhD students. This article outlines the history of the programme, addresses its ideological orientation, its pedagogical commitments and preferences in curriculum design. It further argues that theological reflection on “development” must seek to understand the prophetic role of the church in responding to the complexities of the social issues facing the African continent.  Key to this discussion is the contested nature of “development” and the need for theological perspectives to engage this contestation through a social analysis of the global structures of injustice. This requires an engagement with the social sciences. It is this engagement of the social sciences with theological reflection, the essay argues, that has enabled the students who have graduated from the Theology and Development Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal to assist the church and faith-based organisations to become effective agents of social transformation.

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