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American Behavioral Scientist
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.982
Citation Impact (citeScore): 2
Number of Followers: 22  
 
  Hybrid Journal Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
ISSN (Print) 0002-7642 - ISSN (Online) 1552-3381
Published by Sage Publications Homepage  [1176 journals]
  • Localizing COVID-19 Public Health Department Outreach on Digital
           Platforms: The Role of Discoverability, Reach, and Moderation for
           Illinois’ COVID-19 Vaccination Rates

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      Authors: Nikki Usher, Adrian Tai Wong, Isaiah R. Raynal, Cabral Bigman-Galimore, Ewa Maslowska
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The politicization of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States and abroad has received significant scholarly attention, particularly surrounding misinformation circulating on social media among millions of users. However there has been far less attention paid to how platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and others impact vaccine uptake within local, geographically specific communities. Local public health departments view platforms as critical communication infrastructure for outreach. Through a case study of Illinois, we examine how vaccine uptake is associated with county-level public health communication on Facebook, political regionalism, demographic variation, and digital access and reach. We ask about (a) discoverability: are individuals conducting digital searches able to find and access local public health information on their websites and social media' (b) reach: does growth in public health departments’ Facebook followers correlate to vaccination rate' and (c) practices: is there an association between discoverability, moderation policies/practices of local public health departments’ Facebook pages, and county-reported vaccination rates' We draw on original data about discoverability and local public health department’s Facebook pages in addition to secondary data on voting behavior and rurality. We find discoverability as well as moderation are positively associated with vaccination rates, while greater Facebook reach in rural Illinois is negatively correlated with vaccination rates.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-31T05:03:51Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231166884
       
  • Detecting COVID-19 Fake News on Twitter: Followers, Emotions,
           Relationships, and Uncertainty

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      Authors: Ming Ming Chiu, Alex Morakhovski, David Ebert, Audrey Reinert, Luke S. Snyder
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Fake news about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can discourage people from taking preventive measures (masks, social distancing), thereby increasing infections and deaths; thus, this study tests whether attributes of users or COVID-19 tweets can distinguish tweets of true news versus fake news. We analyzed 4,165 spell-checked English tweets with a link to 1 of 20 matched COVID-19 news stories (10 true and 10 fake), across the world during 1 year, via computational linguistics and advanced statistics. Tweets with common words, negative emotional valence, higher arousal, greater dominance, first person singular pronouns, third person pronouns or by users with more followers were more likely to be true news tweets. By contrast, tweets with second person pronouns, bald starts, or hedges were more likely to be fake news tweets. Accuracy (F1 score) was 95%. While some tweet attributes for detecting fake news might be universal (pronouns, politeness, followers), others might be topic specific (common words, emotions, hedges).
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-30T05:05:21Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231174329
       
  • Finding Self-Salvation for the Ill-Informed Society: A Summary of
           Empirical Studies

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      Authors: Jeong-Nam Kim, Homero Gil de Zúñiga
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The internet was once seen as a beacon of hope for democratizing public access to information, but scholars argue that social media has led to frustration, isolation, and pseudo-information. This volume presents empirical studies exploring paths to potentially rebuild ideal communication situations, if ever, in the digital age and cope with digital information failure. Can we salvage an ill-informed society' These studies offer insights into addressing these issues.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-25T08:26:10Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231175636
       
  • The Influence of Fact-Checking Is Disputed! The Role of Party
           Identification in Processing and Sharing Fact-Checked Social Media Posts

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      Authors: Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, Mike Schmierbach, Alyssa Appelman, Michael P. Boyle
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Social media play an important role in political communication, leading to growing concerns about the credibility of shared information. Attempts to slow the spread of misinformation by platforms such as Facebook and Twitter include adding fact-checking labels to social media posts, the effectiveness of which remains unclear. Using two experiments, we tested the credibility effects of fact-checking labels (confirmed vs. disputed) on graphical presentations of political (Democrat vs. Republican) quotes and social media news posts. Study 1 (N = 312) tested the effects of these labels on political social media posts with political quotes, and Study 2 (N = 356) replicated and extended this research to a news story post about a politician. Results indicate that the valence of verification labels on their own do not affect perceptions of the content. Instead, users find corrections of opposite-party political figures more credible and are more willing to share content when it negatively portrays opposite-party political figures. These results demonstrate potential limitations of fact-checking labels and highlight the importance of considering political ideology in correcting misinformation on social media sites.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-19T05:11:03Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231174335
       
  • This is Clearly Fake! Mis- and Disinformation Beliefs and the (Accurate)
           Recognition of Pseudo-Information—Evidence From the United States and
           the Netherlands

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      Authors: Michael Hameleers
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      To understand how beliefs about mis- and disinformation affect citizens’ (correct) classification of pseudo-information, this paper relies on an experimental survey study in the United States and the Netherlands in which we (a) measured mis- and disinformation attitudes, (b) exposed participants to a real versus fake article on immigration and criminality, and (c) compared classifications of mis- and disinformation in response to the real and fake news article. The main findings indicate that the veracity of information did not play a clear role in the attribution of mis- and disinformation. People with stronger mis- and disinformation beliefs, and people with incongruent prior attitudes, were most likely to classify information as false irrespective of the level of untruthfulness. These findings imply that beliefs about misinformation play a key role in the classification of information as false, whereas these beliefs do not contribute to the accuracy of veracity judgments.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-19T05:04:32Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231174334
       
  • User Perceptions of AI-Based Comment Filtering Technology

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      Authors: Yu Won Oh, Chong Hyun Park
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      As artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology enables the efficient processing of large volumes of comments, more companies, including news publications, are experimenting with and adopting AI moderation to manage their commenting platforms. However, the resulting user experiences have been largely underexplored in relation to these technical advances in comments section management. This study used an experiment to examine the impact of AI filters on individuals’ perceptions about comments sections (i.e., bias, credibility, positive and negative affect, and use intention). The findings indicate that AI moderation had statistically significant impacts on perceived credibility and use intention. Beyond the main effects, priming with a deceptive comment issue moderated the impacts of comment filtering on user perceptions as well.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-19T04:58:06Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231174331
       
  • From Conspiracy Orientation to Conspiracy Attribution: The Effects of
           Institutional Trust and Demographic Differences

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      Authors: Lisa Tam, Hyelim Lee
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The current post-truth era is characterized by the rapid spread of conspiracy theories which has been exacerbated by public’s lack of agreement on objective facts and presentation of unverified information without supportive evidence. Existing research has examined a myriad of factors which explain the causes of conspiratorial thinking. To extend current research, this study examines the effects of institutional trust and demographic factors (i.e., age, gender, political ideology, household income and education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM]) in explaining conspiracy orientation (i.e., the dispositional tendency to subscribe to different conspiracy theories) and conspiracy attribution (i.e., the situational tendency to subscribe to conspiracy theories about specific problematic situations). A survey dataset (N = 720) was collected in South Korea. The findings showed that institutional trust had greater effects than STEM education in explaining conspiracy orientation and attribution. On the other hand, different demographic factors had different effects on conspiracy orientation and attribution.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-19T04:54:49Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231174330
       
  • Selective Forfending on Controversial Issues Related to Large
           Corporations: An Exploration into the Public’s Acquisition and
           Transmission Characteristics by Conspiracy Orientation and Problem-Solving
           Situational Factors

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      Authors: Yuri Cha, Vishala J. Persad, SunHa Yeo
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Using the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS), this study examines the impact of closed-minded communication in the secondary digital information market in crisis situations where controversial issues about large corporations can unduly deteriorate the relationship between the business and publics. A combination model was constructed to examine the influence of the situational antecedents of STOPS and the conspiracy orientation on selective forfending. An analysis of online survey data (N = 700) revealed the influences of conspiracy orientation and factors other than problem recognition were significant among the factors for problem situations. Publics was subdivided into “non-conspiracy theorists,” “conspiracy theorists,” and “situational problem solvers” groups with the “conspiracy theorist” group performing selective forfending of business ethics issue information, engaging in the most prominent degree of acquisition and transmission of the information among the groups.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-19T04:53:11Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231174327
       
  • [De]Politicizing the Pandemic: Visually Communicating Digital Public
           Sociology

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      Authors: Laura Robinson, Juliana M. Trammel, Katia Moles
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In the context of the COVID-19 “infodemic,” we explore discourse around a highly polarized health issue: mask wearing during the pandemic. Probing ideologically charged discourse from #masks on Twitter, we examine the potential for visual tools to promote digital citizen social science. Our case study reveals the promise of visualization to make ideological discourse on social media more easily identifiable by members of the general public. This leads us to argue that accessible visualization tools are needed for the public to ethically engage as digital citizen social scientists who actively analyze their own media consumption and outputs. Doing so would potentially awaken the sociological imagination by giving digital prosumers the agency to contextualize the social structure of debate around issues of public concern. In this way, visualizations of social media may ignite the sociological imagination in the tradition of digital public sociology.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-17T12:38:26Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231156769
       
  • Analyzing the Effect of Regional Modality in Polling Surveys: A Case Study
           of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election Results in Florida

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      Authors: Eric Levy, ERIC Chiang, Ting Levy
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Pre-election polls have been conducted using different modes of data collection with varying degrees of accuracy. As media’s appetite for horserace polling increased, the demand for all types of data collection increased, raising the price of achieving a representative sample. Mixing modes of data collection have been popular due to the increased cost of polling using traditional methods such as face-to-face interviews, mail-in surveys, or live operator phone surveys. Due to technological advances in self-administered surveys, other forms of data collection provide more cost-effective solutions. Florida Atlantic University’s Business and Economics Polling Initiative conducted political polls throughout the fall of 2020 in anticipation of the general election for President of the United States. This unique dataset from polls conducted in September and October of 2020 showed interactive voice response (IVR) landline polling to be the most accurate statewide and across most regions of Florida. The survey data collected via opt-in online panels and via mobile phone text messaging exhibited results outside of the margin of error for certain regions. However, given the trend of declining landline phones and greater instances of exclusive mobile phone usage, polling by way of online and mobile phone surveys is becoming increasingly important.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-10T09:25:25Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231166879
       
  • From Political Unknown to an Unwanted Incumbent: Comparing Media Coverage
           of the 2020 and 2016 U.S. Presidential Election Within Nondemocratic Media
           

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      Authors: Robert Hinck
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In a time of declining support for democracy and intensifying rivalry between democracies and autocracies, understanding how nondemocratic nations portray U.S. elections is vital. And yet, despite the enormous attention U.S. presidential elections attract around the world, the manner in which international media makes sense of U.S. campaigns remains unclear, with only a limited number of comparative studies conducted and even fewer looking at non-Western, nondemocratic nations. Furthermore, current comparative frameworks remain biased toward Western conceptualizations of media and their role in democratic countries, with nondemocratic or transitional democracies used to support theoretical models developed elsewhere. Thus, this study offers strategic media narratives as an alternative means to understand transnational similarities and differences in election reporting emerging from four non-Western, nondemocratic nations by comparing their coverage of the 2020 and 2016 U.S. presidential campaigns. Results show substantial shifts in the nature of coverage, albeit with some similarities between campaigns. Trump remained negatively discussed in both elections, but with reporting in 2020 associating his leadership character to his policies. Whereas Clinton was negatively covered in 2016, Biden was neutrally discussed in 2020 with focus on his character and policies drawn in contrast to Trump. Both political parties were negatively covered, with Chinese, Russian, and Iranian narratives associating Republicans and Democrats as pursing confrontational relations with each nation. Most importantly, discussions of U.S. democracy were substantially more frequent and negative in 2020 compared to 2016. Taken together, the study contributes theoretically and empirically to the study of comparative election research by theorizing the role of narratives in international campaign coverage, addressing the gap in research into nondemocratic media reporting of international elections, and provides one of the few cross-time comparisons enabling insight into the drivers of how and why coverage of U.S. elections change.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-05-10T09:17:11Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231171882
       
  • COVID-19 Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, and Vaccine-Related Decision
           Making among Immigrants: A Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study

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      Authors: Parul Jain, Rukhsana Ahmed
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Immigrants are disproportionally impacted by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and of the reported positive cases and fatalities, many are from historically disadvantaged groups that face severe health inequities and suffer from health disparities. Therefore, in the current research, using cross-sectional survey of immigrants, we conduct an exploratory investigation to examine their Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) regarding COVID-19 and the vaccine. In addition, we explore the role of subjective norms and response efficacy on vaccine-related decision making. The findings reveal that most participants were knowledgeable regarding the COVID-19 infection and the vaccine and practiced important safety behaviors to contain the spread. In addition, a significant effect of social norms and response efficacy on vaccine intentions were found suggesting the importance of integrating normative, culturally informed messaging while designing health campaigns for this hard-to-reach population. Given the small sample size, due to it being a hard-to-reach population, the findings should not be generalized, and future research should extend the study to draw broader conclusions. Implications of the findings are discussed.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-28T01:12:54Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231166880
       
  • The Role of Virtual Communication in Building an Intertwined Relation
           Between Business Resilience and Community Resilience during the COVID-19
           Pandemic

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      Authors: Paloma Bernal-Turnes, Ricardo Ernst, Enric Ordeix
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The COVID-19 outbreak that emerged in December 2019 has had a dramatic impact on the global economy in which consumption, trade, and service activities have been greatly disrupted. Businesses across many sectors have experienced a severe decline in sales and jobs. But the magnitude and distribution of the pandemic greatly affected small firms, due to them being more financially constrained. This article provides a comprehensive assessment of the short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Algerian businesses. Based on a novel data set, the article shows how, beyond adjusting their labor costs and enforcing government-mandated lockdowns and social distancing, businesses could respond to the shock of COVID-19 thanks to the use of communication tools, such as the Internet and digital technologies, as well as the cooperation between companies. The article concludes that those firms that used Internet-based communication tools and those that built new ways of business cooperation and provided help to community during the lockdown showed higher survival rates after the lockdown.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-26T01:27:12Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231164043
       
  • Analysis of Emotional Responses in Political Communication: An
           Experimental Case of Interactive Advertising

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      Authors: Marc Polo López, Joan Francesc Fondevila-Gascón, Eduard Vidal-Portés, Omar Muñoz Sánchez, Sandra Vilajoana Alejandre
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The emotional reactions to interactive advertisements are a relatively new study object, attending the synchronous evolution of the natural interactive platforms. Interactivity has increased thanks to Internet usage, and it can be also attractive for political communication.In television’s case, it is a growing phenomenon whose main launcher is the implementation of the Hybrid broadcast broadband Television (HbbTV) standard. Key players of the sector (networks, media agencies, and advertisers) try to take profit from the options generated by the interaction with the audience. We have developed an experimental methodology that consists of viewing an advertising block that includes conventional and interactive advertisements in order to observe the emotions that those generate in the audience. The experiment included the view of a nine advertisement block and the analysis of face reactions linked to emotions. It is concluded that surprise emotion via humor does not make it easier to capture attention during the broadcast of a sequence of advertisements and identify the advertisement, and humor increases relatively interest in interactive advertisements.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-25T10:42:51Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231166872
       
  • News Sources, Partisanship, and Political Knowledge in COVID-19 Beliefs

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      Authors: Patrick Meirick
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This study analyzed data from a Pew survey (N = 5,681) to see how party identification, political knowledge, and use of different news sources related to two beliefs about COVID-19 promoted on the right early in the pandemic: that the virus was created in a laboratory and that a vaccine for it would be available within a few months. Republicans were more likely to hold these beliefs. The more that people used news outlets with right-leaning audiences, the more likely they were to hold those two beliefs. The more they used news with left-leaning audiences, the less likely they were to believe the virus was laboratory made, a relationship stronger among Democrats. Political knowledge appeared to discourage believing the virus was laboratory-made, again more so among Democrats. However, the more that Democrats (but not Republicans) used news with bipartisan audiences, the more likely they were to believe the virus was laboratory made. Similarly, the more that Democrats (but not Republicans) used social media for news, the more they believed a vaccine would be available soon, and right-leaning news use had a stronger relationship with the early vaccine belief among Democrats.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-21T08:52:25Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231164047
       
  • Exploring the Existential Implications of COVID-19 in Health Communication

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      Authors: Lindsey A Harvell-Bowman
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic provided an existential threat the world has rarely seen and forced Americans to make meaning in a world of uncertainty surrounding what most have taken for granted, being healthy. Reviewing data from several studies collected throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, this article uses COVID-19 as a case study to understand reasoning to follow (or not) the recommendations set forth by government agencies through understanding the effects of longitudinal death salience (i.e., long-term awareness of death). The Terror Management Health Model (TMHM) argues that death is a key component to the condition of human behavior to elongate life. If the TMHM is correct, then Americans should have widely followed government recommendations, but instead violence and a polarized America ensued. Implications for health communication and the TMHM are discussed, providing a path forward for health communication and existential psychology scholars.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-21T04:41:10Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231164052
       
  • How Motivation to Reduce Uncertainty Predicts COVID-19 Behavioral
           Responses: Strategic Health Communication Insights for Managing an Ongoing
           Pandemic

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      Authors: Sungsu Kim, Sung In Choi, Chiara Valentini, Mark Badham, Yan Jin
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      During highly uncertain times such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is vital to understand and predict individuals’ responses to governments’ crisis and risk communication. This study draws on the Orientation-Stimulus-Orientation-Response (O-S-O-R) model to examine (1) whether uncertainty reduction motivation (a pre-orientation factor) drove Americans to turn to traditional news media and/or social media (stimuli) to obtain COVID-19 information; (2) if these media preferences shaped their COVID-19 knowledge, cognitive information vetting, and trust in government communication (post-orientation factors); and finally (3) whether these factors contributed to their intended and actual behaviors (responses), such as getting vaccinated. Thus, this study explores how multiple communicative and cognitive mechanisms contribute to public compliance with government health recommendations during a pandemic. Mediation analyses showed positive indirect effects between uncertainty reduction motivation and behavioral outcomes via use of social media (in relation to traditional news media) and COVID-19 knowledge and cognitive information vetting. This study discusses theoretical and practical health communication implications of these findings.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-21T04:39:28Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231164051
       
  • Canada is No Exception: The 2022 Freedom Convoy, Political Entanglement,
           and Identity-Driven Protest

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      Authors: Jamie Gillies, Vincent Raynauld, Angela Wisniewski
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Canada has been relatively immune to grassroots-driven populist political forces in recent years despite global shifts toward a mainstreaming of nationalist identity-driven politics. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic coupled with other shifts in the Canadian and international political landscapes, have changed this dynamic. This article takes interest in the 2022 Freedom Convoy—also known as Convoi de la liberté in French—through the lens of Canadian political as well as science and health-based communication. The protesters’ actions, and the subsequent political response, suggest an increased political entanglement with both protest movements and identity-driven political communications and messaging.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-14T05:29:04Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231166885
       
  • Communicating Concerns, Emotional Expressions, and Disparities on Ethnic
           Communities on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Structural
           Topic Modeling Approach

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      Authors: Jiahui Lu, Jun Liu
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Ethnic and racial disparities in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic raise significant concerns. This study analyzes social media discourses toward four ethnic communities in the United States during the pandemic and reveals disparities in pandemic experiences among them. A total of 488,029 tweets mentioning one of the four ethnic communities, that is, Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans, were investigated by a structural topic modeling approach with emotional expressions and time as covariates in the topic model. The results demonstrate that discourses about Asian, Hispanics, and Native American communities were often induced by pandemic-related events, concerning topics beyond one’s community, and reflecting an experience of implicit racism and an adoption of technical supports from health systems. Meanwhile, discourses about Blacks were racially related, discussing topics within the community, and reflecting an experience of explicit racism and an adoption of psychological supports from ingroup. We discuss the implications of our findings on ethnic health disparities.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-13T10:47:16Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231164046
       
  • Predicting College Students’ Preventative Behavior During a Pandemic:
           The Role of the Health Belief Model, Source Credibility, and Health
           Literacy

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      Authors: Ifeoluwatobi Abiodun Odunsi, Kristen Leblanc Farris
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In this study, we examined the effects of perceived source credibility of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and college student health literacy in predicting the likelihood of enacting preventative behaviors related to mitigating COVID-19. Using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as an explanatory tool, we analyzed how perceived source credibility and health literacy levels predict college students’ likelihood to enact preventative behaviors during a public health crisis. Sample population entirely consisted of undergraduate students enrolled in a basic communication course at a large, southern university. The participants completed survey questionnaires about their perceived health literacy, health beliefs, trust in the CDC, perceptions of COVID-19, and demographic measures during the fall 2020 semester. A multiple regression analysis revealed that (a) HBM predictors, health literacy and CDC source credibility accounted for 44% of the variance in likelihood of enacting preventative health behaviors, and (b) health literacy, CDC source credibility, and perceived severity were all positive predictors of enacting preventative health behaviors, while (c) perceived barriers negatively predicted enactment of preventative health behaviors. Perceived susceptibility and perceived benefits were not significant predictors of college student risk mitigation. Our data suggests the importance of health literacy and source credibility in predicting college students’ likelihood to enact preventative behaviors during public health crises.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-12T08:40:54Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231164044
       
  • Visualizing the Pandemic: How the Front Pages of Local and National U.S.
           Media Used Images to Cover the Coronavirus Pandemic

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      Authors: Newly Paul
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This study explored how The New York Times and the Dallas Morning News used visuals on their front pages to frame the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Findings indicated that the Times was more likely to publish COVID-related images on the front page, use the threat frame in its images, and use photographs taken by staff photojournalists than sourced from wire services or freelancers. The two newspapers were equally likely to give prominence to COVID-related photos on their front pages, by publishing them above the fold. The implications of these trends are discussed.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-10T05:15:54Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231166871
       
  • Paying Attention to the Pandemic: Knowledge of COVID-19 Facts by News
           Source and Demographics

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      Authors: Molly M. King
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The structured inequalities built into our sociotechnical institutions shape access to knowledge. During the COVID-19 pandemic, knowledge acquisition was shaped by news sources, class, and race. Through analysis of nationally representative data using logistic models, this study reveals how the use of different news sources differentially shapes access to accurate knowledge about COVID-19 topics for different demographics. Those who rely on informal and local news sources have the largest knowledge gaps about these topics, while those who seek information from national or international news outlets and politicians have the most accurate knowledge. Race and class influence knowledge of government operations, public health, and science of COVID-19. In particular, Black people, people with less education, and those with lower incomes are significantly less likely to have accurate knowledge about COVID-19, all else equal. These findings have implications for knowledge dissemination that impacts public health, as well as for how news media target different audiences in an increasingly fractured landscape.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-04T05:35:27Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231156784
       
  • “Sharing Is Caring”: Participatory Storytelling and Community Building
           on Social Media Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

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      Authors: Jenny Zhengye Hou
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      While most health communication studies tend to adopt an information-based approach to unpacking the communication issues around COVID-19, scant attention has been paid to the emerging narratives from local communities as a way of sensemaking, self-representation, and creative responses to the pandemic. Especially locally driven narratives that convey positive emotions and exhibit remarkable resilience of the great majority are underexamined. To narrow this gap, this study analyzed a Facebook-based, participatory storytelling program to reveal how local communities (co-)construct humanized narrative accounts of lived experiences and context-specific knowledge about pandemic responses. Data collection involved qualitative content analysis of 245 user-generated stories, associated with comments and engagement from the group members, for a 6-month period. Results show that open and participatory storytelling on social media affords a pathway of performing togetherness even though individuals narrate their lived pandemic experiences differently. Such performing togetherness somewhat facilitated virtual community building. This study contributes to the health communication literature with a refreshing perspective of understanding the grounded, participatory storytelling as a vehicle of collective sensemaking and community spirit-lifting.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-04-01T05:05:14Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231164040
       
  • When Lockdowns Force “Everyone” to Work From Home: Inequalities in
           Telework During COVID-19 in Uruguay

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      Authors: Matías Dodel, María Julia Acosta
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Working from home (WFH) arrangements have been on the rise globally throughout the 21st century. Despite this trajectory, developing economies have trailed developed countries in adopting such arrangements. However, because of COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing measures, countries such as Uruguay, where teleworking was scarce and unregulated, were forced to adopt this practice to ensure business continuity. Under such conditions, preexisting organizational and individual disparities stratified the likelihood of WFH during the pandemic. Conventional wisdom holds that the main determinants potential-to-telework stems almost exclusively from the nature of jobs themselves. This article expands the traditional understanding of telework determinants by showing that during the first stages of the pandemic, individual features of the worker, and organizational and managerial features of the employer, were both determinative of the likelihood that a given worker would work from home. We conducted a secondary data analysis of the March 2020 wave of the Work Monitor, a web-based survey of 847 employed Uruguayan adults. We fitted several multivariate regression models predicting (a) the odds of working for a company which adopted COVID-19-related teleworking policies at least for some workers and (b) the odds of WFH as a consequence of COVID-19. As the adoption of telework was largely unplanned and abrupt, results show that disparities on organizational adoption of teleworking policies were related to pre-pandemic differences across organizations in terms of preparedness, technological investment, and management practices. Results also show that employers’ willingness to enable WFH policies was the strongest predictor, at any level, of the likelihood of individuals to telework during the national emergency. Individual disparities in terms of human capital also have a great impact on the likelihood of teleworking during lockdowns, but their effect depends on the existence of organizational teleworking policies. Findings’ implications for the present and future of telework in developing countries are discussed.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-03-18T05:26:45Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155370
       
  • The COVID-19 Pandemic and E-Learning: The Digital Divide and Educational
           Crises in Pakistan’s Universities

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      Authors: Sadia Jamil, Glenn Muschert
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Recent advances, in information and communication technology (ICT), have significantly impacted some critical sectors of societies (such as transport, health, business, and communication) across many developed and developing countries. Nevertheless, the Internet has proliferated unequally across the world, resulting in global digital inequalities. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the dependence on online education to prevent the interruption of academic progress in schools and universities worldwide. The global pandemic further worsened the situation for Pakistan, which is neither economically strong nor is the country’s ICT infrastructure well-established to facilitate the successful accomplishment of virtual courses and classes. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the level of Internet access among the Pakistani universities’ teachers and students, and their ICT skills as they applied to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used the qualitative method of email interviews and thematic analysis to present the study’s results. This study revealed that most Pakistani students, especially those from rural and remote areas, experienced challenges because they neither had proper Internet access, nor could they use laptops and virtual learning systems. Students, who belonged to the upper and middle classes of urban areas and enrolled in private-sector universities, were not as directly affected by Pakistan’s pervasive digital divide to carryout their education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-03-17T12:10:26Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231156779
       
  • Zooming Versus Slacking: Videoconferencing, Instant Messaging, and
           Work-from-Home Intentions in the Early Pandemic

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      Authors: Jeremy Schulz, Øyvind Wiborg, Laura Robinson
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article explores key determinants of the intention to work from home (WFH) among U.S. adults in the early phase of the pandemic. Leveraging nationally representative survey data collected in the initial stages of the pandemic, it explores the role of modalities of communication alongside the more frequently studied behavioral, occupational, and sociodemographic factors in shaping WFH intentions as reported by survey respondents. Venturing beyond prior studies of remote work and remote work intentions, the study finds that the frequency of text messaging platform (e.g., Slack) usage and the frequency of videoconferencing (e.g., Zoom) exhibit diametrically opposed effects on the intentions to WFH in the future. Whereas a higher frequency of text messaging platform usage is linked to a preference for more intensive future WFH, a higher frequency of videoconferencing platform usage is associated with the opposite preference. Additionally, the effect of the intensity of respondents’ engagement with these two communication modalities on their intentions is mediated by pre-pandemic WFH experience as well as the intensity of interruptions in their WFH environment. Intensive videoconferencers (Zoomers) who work in high-interruption environments are particularly averse to future WFH. Conversely, intensive messagers (Slackers) who work from home substantially prior to the pandemic report express a preference for more frequent WFH in the future.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-03-09T11:16:06Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155364
       
  • The Perceived Impacts of COVID-19 on Users’ Acceptance of Virtual
           Reality Hardware: A Digital Divide Perspective

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      Authors: Kuo-Ting Huang, Christopher Ball, Jess Francis
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The COVID-19 pandemic has directly or indirectly impacted everyone around the globe. However, the pandemic and its long-term consequences have not been distributed evenly within societies. These disparities have in many cases intensified existing social and economic inequalities such as the uptake of novel digital technologies. This study investigates the influence of the pandemic on the acceptance of virtual reality (VR) hardware within the framework of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the digital divide/inequality scholarship. A survey was designed to examine the perceived impact of COVID-19 on the potential adoption of VR hardware. Specifically, this study included variables related to perceived ease of using VR hardware (ease of use), perceived usefulness of VR hardware (usefulness), intention to use VR hardware (use intention), and intention to purchase VR hardware (purchase intention). The predictors included two digital divide variables (material access and VR experience) and two other variables (COVID-19 and demographic variables). A total of 298 participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. The results suggest that the perceived impacts of COVID-19 positively predicted participants’ perceived usefulness of VR hardware as well as their intention to use and purchase VR hardware.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-03-02T04:56:38Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231156775
       
  • COVID-19 Communication and Media: The First Pandemic of the Digital Age

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      Authors: Jeremy Schulz, Laura Robinson, Massimo Ragnedda, Cara Chiaraluce, Oliver Kleinmann
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This issue of American Behavioral Scientist marshals case studies of online media platforms such as Zoom, YouTube, and Twitter and digital hardware systems such as virtual reality technology to assess the often unexpected interactions between the pandemic and digital technologies. The issue leads with a case study of Zoom to examine the laregely successful efforts which Zoom made in the wake of the pandemic to resolve unanticipated privacy and security problems afflicting the suddenly ubiquitous and indispensable platform. Subsequently, the issue charts the growing tensions between competing proprietary and open-source institutional logics during the pandemic. In the next section, articles consider the spread of covid-related information on YouTube and news outlets to take a comparative angle of vision both internationally and in terms of the dynamics of media production and reception in different cultural and societal environments. Variation is also key to the articles in the last section where research focuses on persistent digital usage gaps. Here the articles touch on the socioeconomic factors driving differentiated knowledge about the pandemic, as well as the relatively low uptake of digital technologies among older adults in housing facilities. Finally, we also learn about the effect of the social isolation and anxieties of the pandemic on the uptake of a new form of digital hardware, virtual reality equipment. Finally, the issue closes with an eye to visualization tools needed for the future to close this discussion of the digitization of the 100-year crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. These contributions take the measure of how the pandemic intersected with digitized communications and media in varied and, at times, unequal ways, as well as lessons applicable to future crises.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-03-02T04:53:38Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155381
       
  • Navigating Pandemic Crises: Encountering the Digital Commons

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      Authors: Sara Schoonmaker
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Since the 19th century, sociologists have grappled with understanding the dynamics of social change. In this article, I explore three key changes that emerged with the COVID-19 pandemic. First, professional workers, students, and others who could manage it used platforms like Zoom to shift their work and social activities online to minimize exposure to the virus. At the same time, this surge of online activity expanded the opportunities for corporations and governments to engage in surveillance by collecting user data. I call this the “pandemic surveillance paradox.” This paradox posed potential threats to civil liberties, and particularly the right to privacy, since many users were unaware of the nature and extent of this data collection process. Second, free software and other privacy advocates built on their prior work to educate software and Internet users about strategies to protect their privacy and encounter the digital commons. In the digital commons, all participants can access, use, modify, and share software, the Internet, scientific, educational, and cultural resources. Third, during the pandemic, open science and open education advocates made vital contributions to the digital commons. They accelerated the scientific research process to develop vaccines and treatments for the virus, and disseminated key public health information and other educational resources. Through these diverse activities, digital commoners navigated crises arising from the COVID-19 pandemic by forging alternatives to the dominant capitalist system rooted in profit and proprietary control.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-03-02T04:52:25Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155360
       
  • U.S. Nonprofit Organizations Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis: The Influence
           of Communication, Crisis Experiences, Crisis Management, and
           Organizational Characteristics

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      Authors: Ryan P. Fuller, Ronald E. Rice, Andrew Pyle
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are significant contributors culturally, socially, and economically, but little research has focused on their management of organizational crises. Research has been quickly documenting impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on different sectors, but again less so for NPOs. This is significant because research and recommendations developed in one sector (such as for-profit corporations) may not translate to others (such as NPOs). NPOs are particularly vulnerable due to their dependence on public financial support and demands on their resource during crises. We report on a unique and unfortunate opportunity to assess response dynamics from a half year before (2019) and a half year after (2020) the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We draw on a unique dataset (combining surveys at two points in time, Twitter use data, and financial information, from 578 NPOs) to develop a general model (grounded in the discourse of renewal theory) of five sources of influence (communication, organizational resources, crisis experience, crisis management, crisis impacts) on three types of strategic responses by nonprofits (retrenchment, persevering, and innovating) to COVID-19. Higher levels of communication, crisis experience, and crisis management all predicted greater tendencies for persevering and innovating in response to COVID-19. The implications for research and practice include extending crisis communication research to the nonprofit sector and demonstrating how NPOs can strengthen themselves to recover from COVID-19 or the next crisis.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-27T11:24:57Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155380
       
  • From Safety Net to Safety Trap: Informality and Telework During the
           Coronavirus Pandemic in Latin America

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      Authors: Daniela de los Santos, Inés Fynn
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In Latin America, informality has historically operated as a safety net during economic crises, by absorbing unemployed workers and providing income. However, unlike past economic crises, the 2020 crisis unleashed by the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is not only economic but has resulted from a health emergency that requires social distance and isolation. In this article we argue that, in the context of social distancing and confinement measures, informal work constitutes a safety trap instead of operating as a safety net. First, informality as an economic subsistence mechanism is limited given that working activities in the informal sector are less convertible to remote jobs. Second, even when telework may be a viable option, the home conditions of informal workers often hinder the feasibility of telework. In making this argument, we bring to bear a conceptualization of potential to telework which includes both occupational and household components, the latter an often-neglected piece of the telework puzzle. To evaluate our argument, we conduct a quantitative cross-country analysis of seven Latin American countries (Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay). The empirical analysis consists of a descriptive assessment of the potential to telework of informal workers.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-27T11:17:11Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155365
       
  • Prison, Material-Organizational Bricolage, and Precarious Frameworks of
           Normality in an Era of Disruption

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      Authors: Noah McClain
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Prison scholars have long noted prisoners’ improvisation with materials and resources at hand (or bricolage) in ways that defy the prison regime. Yet longstanding scholarly perspectives which cite such bricolage as evidence for themes like “prison culture” or “resistance” have often distracted scholars from accounting for the specific features of organizational materials and operations that prisoners leverage in their bricolage, and distracted from the rather mundane nature of the practices—like grooming, cleaning, and eating—they thus serve. Drawing from interviews with de-incarcerated persons from a U.S. state prison system, and from documents memorializing the disruption of prison routines during COVID-19 pandemic in that same state, this article investigates the specific resources prisoners enlist in bricolage projects related to making and sharing meals. Those resources, I argue, are the material and organizational products and byproducts of the complex prison undertaking. The practices prisoners achieve are precarious, with low degrees of equifinality–there are only so many ways to accomplish them in contexts of comprehensive restriction. The COVID-19 pandemic threatened those delicate arrangements not only through problems in the acquisition of raw food materials, but also through disrupted institutional routines which offer the resources necessary to coordinate, assemble, and transform those materials into meals. This pattern comes into focus when the “prison food system” is approached as a consumption system like any other, though one which operates in a strictly regulated context with minimal materials and deeply curtailed choice.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-27T11:12:51Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155378
       
  • COVID-19, Creative Conflict, and the Seven Cs: A Social Diagnosis of
           Digital Communication Platforms for Gen Z/Gen T

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      Authors: Katia Moles, Laura Robinson, Lloyd Levine, Cara Chiaraluce
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Adding to the work on creative conflict management that has been the object of organizational and management studies for the last several decades, we focus on a subset of Gen Z or “Generation Tech” (Gen T). This generation will be the first to instinctively and reflexively bring a “technology first” approach to their work practices including conflict resolution. Scholars of organizational communication identify the management of creative conflict as a prosocial process with important ramifications for organizational well-being. Taking a social diagnosis approach, we contribute to this growing literature by bringing it into dialogue with digital sociology and Gen Ters who are well-suited to use digital communication platforms (DCPs) like Teams and Slack to engage in creative conflict that benefits the well-being of organizations and their members. Our analysis shows that DCPs can encourage prosocial behaviors, when they (1) include nonsynchronous functionality, (2) associate contributions with members’ real names, and (3) make all interactions visible to all team members. Our study reveals that when organizational DCPs are governed by these parameters, they can foster the Seven Cs of Creative Conflict that we identify as clarity, candor, contribution, cooperation, challenge, courage, and collegiality. The Seven Cs foster a growth mindset feedback loop in which members learn to self-reflectively apply a social diagnostic approach to their own digitally mediated well-being, thereby potentially improving organizational communication. Therefore, the Seven Cs form a core of communication competencies that will be increasingly important for organizational success as Gen Ters continue to mature and become colleagues in a variety of organizations.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-27T11:10:11Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155372
       
  • Locked In and Locked Out: How COVID-19 Is Making the Case for Digital
           Inclusion of Incarcerated Populations

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      Authors: Bianca C. Reisdorf
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Digital inequalities have been exacerbated for many marginalized populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is no different for one of the most marginalized populations in the United States, incarcerated people. Due to the pandemic, in-person visitations as well as educational and vocational programming were, and in many cases remain, suspended across numerous correctional facilities, leaving incarcerated people even more socially isolated than before the pandemic. Although an increasing number of facilities provide prison tablets for entertainment and communication purposes, high prices for electronic messages, video visitations, books, and entertainment content leave incarcerated people and their families unable to pay for these services. As best practice examples from California, Maine, New York City, and Pennsylvania demonstrate, connecting prisons to the internet and allowing incarcerated people secure access to the internet is possible, and long overdue. The pandemic has highlighted these issues and provides an opportunity to overhaul outdated ideas about prison communication.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-27T11:08:51Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155369
       
  • Why Zoom Is Not Doomed Yet: Privacy and Security Crisis Response in the
           COVID-19 Pandemic

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      Authors: Wenhong Chen, Yuan Zou
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The COVID-19 pandemic not only fueled the explosive growth of Zoom but also led to a major privacy and security crisis in March 2020. This research examines Zoom’s response to this privacy and security crisis with the aid of a producer’s perspective that aims to direct attention to institutional and organizational actors and draws on theories of privacy management and organizational crisis communication. We primarily use data from 14 weekly Ask Eric Anything webinars from April 8 to July 15, 2020, to illustrate the strategies of Zoom’s crisis response, especially organizational representation, the contours of its analytic account acknowledging and minimizing responsibility, and patterns of corrective and preventive action for user education and product improvement. Results demonstrate the usefulness of the producer’s perspective that sheds light on how Zoom navigated the privacy and security crisis. Special attention is paid to the mobilization of networks of executives, advisors, consultants, and clients for expertise, endorsement, and collaboration. It is argued that Zoom’s response strategies have contributed to Zoom’s organizational mission and culture and reframed the crisis from a growing pain to a growth opportunity relating to privacy and security. Zoom’s nimble, reasonable, collaborative, interactive yet curated organizational response to the privacy and security crisis can be seen as an unintended consequence of its sudden rise amid a global pandemic. It offers a useful model for tech firms’ crisis response at a crucial moment for the tech industry around the world.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-27T11:07:25Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155367
       
  • Commercialization on “Sharing Platforms”: The Case of Airbnb
           Hosting

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      Authors: Mehmet Cansoy, Juliet Schor
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      An underdeveloped theme in scholars’ understanding of the personal services sector of the platform economy—also known as the “sharing economy”—is change. Most research on ride-hail, food delivery, accommodations, and other personal services has offered largely essentialist accounts. In this paper, we focus on how platforms have become increasingly “commercialized.” In labor-intensive services, commercialization occurs as a growing fraction of the work is done by a core of full-time, dedicated workers. However, platforms that rely primarily on capital may display similar dynamics, in which a small number of participants account for the majority of activity and capture the largest share of value. In this paper, we present the first comprehensive account of commercialization of a major platform. We analyze how Airbnb markets in the 10 largest short-term rental markets in the United States changed between 2015 and 2019. We find considerable evidence of commercialization, as a rising majority of properties are rented on a very frequent basis, and casual listings, while still present, are a small and falling percentage. Relying on an original database of regulations, we show that enactment of even the strictest regulations has not durably reduced the number of listings and has had limited success in altering the mix of commercialized and casual listings over this period. We also consider the impact of COVID-19 on this platform and the sharing sector. We conclude that the short-term rental market on Airbnb has become a fairly conventional one, with little of the peer-to-peer character of its earlier days.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-24T06:44:24Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155366
       
  • A Cross-National Study of Fear Appeal Messages in YouTube Trending Videos
           About COVID-19

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      Authors: Yee Man Margaret Ng
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the need for investigating the prevalence and nature of health communication on social media. Applying the Extended Parallel Process Model, this study analyzes the use of fear appeals in 2,152 YouTube trending videos across six countries (the United States, Brazil, Russia, Taiwan, Canada, and New Zealand) from January to May 2020. The findings reveal that, during the early stage of the outbreak, COVID-19-themed videos gained early attention in Taiwan but encountered a prolonged delay in the United States and Brazil. Specifically, COVID-19 videos featured the least in Brazil’s trending list. The results from a supervised machine learning coding approach further suggest that videos’ threat levels exceeded efficacy beliefs across all countries. This imbalance of threat–efficacy messages was most significant in hard-hit countries Brazil and Russia, which social media may run the risk of feeding fear to the public agenda. These findings alert content creators and social media platforms to create a threat–efficacy equilibrium, prioritizing content that promotes a sense of self- and community efficacy and increases people’s belief that effective protective actions are available.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-21T12:41:31Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155363
       
  • Digital Distance in Times of Physical Distancing: ICT Infrastructure and
           Use in Long-Term Care Facilities

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      Authors: Alexander Seifert, Shelia R. Cotten
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Although information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as smartphones, tablets, and the internet have all become increasingly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, we often forget that not everyone has access to the internet or uses ICT devices. Individuals on the wrong side of the digital divide are often older adults living in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), such as “old–old” adults, who often have various functional impairments. To shed light on the initial situation shortly before the pandemic, three data sources from Switzerland were used in this study to answer the following questions: (1) Do older adults want to have internet access if and/or when they move into a LTCF' (2) What form does ICT use take (specifically internet, smartphone, and tablet use) among LTCF residents, and what need do they have for ICT support' (3) What is the state of LTCFs’ ICT infrastructure and residents’ level of involvement in the decision-making process related to acquiring new technologies' Community-dwelling older adults in this study reported a desire to have internet access when moving into LTCFs, and 21% of LTCF residents reported using the internet just before the pandemic began. Internet access and ICT infrastructure in LTCFs, in general, are both limited, however, and LTCF managers seldom involve older adults in the ICT decision-making process. While modern ICT usage has reached the long-term care sector, the results of this study show that compensating for a lack of physical social contacts by relying on digital solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be the sole solution. The current pandemic has reminded us that a digital gap exists and that non-use of ICTs during the pandemic can produce additional feelings of social isolation.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-21T08:59:53Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155361
       
  • Gig Work, Telework, Precarity, and the Pandemic

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      Authors: Jeremy Schulz, Laura Robinson, Noah McClain, Bianca C. Reisdorf
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This issue examines technology-driven economic developments during the global COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Specifically, the articles cover the ways that gig work, the platform economy, and remote work have evolved during the course of the pandemic. The issue leads with articles that chart the interplay of the platform economy with various facets of the pandemic from the inequalities and risks faced by gig workers to market forces shaping the commercialization of hosting platforms. The following articles concentrate on the ways in which specific structural conditions—digital infrastructure as well as the structure of the economy—influence the unequal distribution of telework in Uruguay and the relationship between informality and remote work opportunities across Latin America. The last two articles explore remote work in Asia and North America. In the first of these two articles remote work in Japan is examined in order to investigate the cultural sources of resistance to the adoption of remote work. In the second and concluding article, the remote work preferences of U.S. adults are analyzed as a function of technology usage (videoconferencing versus instant messaging) as well as sociodemographic and occupational attributes.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-14T12:45:07Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155371
       
  • Organizational and Institutional Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

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      Authors: Jeremy Schulz, Laura Robinson, Maria Laura Ruiu, Apryl Williams
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This issue of American Behavioral Scientist deals with the various ways in which different kinds of organizations cope with the manifold challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, these articles map the challenges and opportunities encountered by a variety of organizations in a major public health crisis. The first section of the issue takes up the theme of adaptive crisis response in relation to two different kinds of organizations. This section begins with a comprehensive overview of U.S. nonprofit organizations’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second article expands on the theme of communication practices in organizations using digital communication platforms which facilitate constructive forms of disagreement or “creative conflict.” Both of these articles indicate the potential positive outcomes of entrepreneurial organizational response. In the next section, we turn to organizational responses hampered by digital inequalities. The first article addresses digital inequalities and eLearning during the pandemic in the country of Pakistan. The next article also uses a digital inequalities framework to probe infrastructural inadequacies faced by the criminal justice system in terms of hindrances to external communication for incarcerated populations during the pandemic. This pair of articles underscores the importance of infrastructure as a necessary element of successful crisis response. The third section of the issue continues with case studies of carceral institutions with the first article offering insight into strategies used by incarcerated people to generate a sense of normality despite pandemic disruptions. Finally, the issue closes with an article revealing the delicate balancing act which rural U.S. law enforcement carried out when competing imperatives made it extremely difficult to manage public health and public safety simultaneously.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-14T12:44:50Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642231155373
       
  • Ideological Presuppositions in Media Coverage of Corporation Tax Policy in
           the UK and Ireland: A Critical Discourse Analysis

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      Authors: Ciara Graham, Brendan K. O’Rourke
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This paper argues that the state’s capacity to tax corporations in order to fund itself is reaching crisis proportions. Following decades of trade liberalization, deregulation, and globalization, large multinational companies have been able to take advantage of tax competition between states in order to avoid taxation and offset their obligations. This crisis, arguably, has been facilitated by state actors and exacerbated by non-state actors: we explore the ways in which multi-national corporations (MNCs) manipulate their capital, assets, and supply chains to minimize their tax burdens; and we further consider the ways in which media narratives construct this issue and whether they challenge the practice or intensify it. Discourse surrounding taxation plays a huge part in what is considered acceptable. While the old adage that “death and taxes” cannot be avoided, it has become clear that large companies, helped by a tax avoidance industry do indeed manage to do just that. Discourse analysis reveals the ways in which ideology can be used to manage consensus around this potentially controversial subject and this paper seeks to explicate that by examining the frames, presuppositions and discursive formations present within the discourse structure. The argument is developed through a comparative case study research design demonstrating the different policy-based, economic and historical contexts of the two jurisdictions which offer some insight and explanation of the distinctive ideological discursive formations that are present within the discourses.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-02-14T12:41:18Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221144830
       
  • Designing For Academic Resilience in Hands-On Courses in Times of Crisis:
           Two Models for Supporting Hands-On Online Learning Drawn From the COVID-19
           Pandemic

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      Authors: Julie A. Schell
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Expanding on academic continuity planning research in higher education, this article presents two models for transitioning hands-on coursework online. Integrating precedent, case study, and autoethnography methods, the article analyzes higher education leadership and faculty decision-making within the context of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at The College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. When COVID-19 closed campuses worldwide, 98% of over 1,200 College of Fine Arts class sections were happening in-person; most of those courses required hands-on, applied learning, which is challenging to translate online. With few exceptions, these courses not only continued, but they also demonstrated academic resilience—the ability to survive, adapt, and grow. Academic continuity and planning researchers have reached consensus that institutions need to support high-quality online coursework to effectively manage disruptions; the problem presented in this article is that extant academic continuity models too often conceptualize faculty, students, and staff as a single user with a set of common characteristics and needs related to online learning. Such generalized conceptualizations lead to academic continuity planning strategies and tactics that do not account for the variegated complexities involved in online hands-on education.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-01-24T09:37:27Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118292
       
  • A Qualitative Investigation of Professionals’ Perceptions of Working in
           Senior Care Organizations During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

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      Authors: Katey A. Price
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Senior care organizations were some of the hardest hit by COVID-19 infections and deaths early in the pandemic, both for those receiving care as well as staff; 22% of COVID-19-related deaths through March, April, and May of 2020 occurred in the senior care facility population. Professionals in senior care are an important population to understand as they have had to navigate a constantly changing work environment, increasing workloads, less support to safely and effectively conduct their work, and an ever-evolving communication environment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven professionals employed by a variety of senior care organizations across the United States. Inductive thematic analysis revealed four themes related to perceptions of organizational functioning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The themes indicate that similar issues were encountered by professionals working in senior care, however, job type impacted the perceptions of those issues. Structuration theory is applied to the findings to explain how structure and agency are created and reinforced in the social systems of senior care organizations.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-01-18T09:14:52Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221145028
       
  • Deep Conventionality, or, Tracing the Meanings of Conventional Rituals

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      Authors: Hizky Shoham
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Can conventional rituals be meaningful' When and how can conventionality be part of processes of meaning-making rather than a mere obstacle that the cultural analyst must overcome' The article traces the meanings of minor rituals that populate the world of modern industrial societies and seem to have universal appeal. The article applies a Blochian regressive method to ethnological history in order to re-create the gradual process in which conventions appear, are disseminated, popularized, turned into group icons, and ritualized, and only then—and only sometimes—acquire discursive meanings that are often contested. This sequential model reveals the power of conventionality—the lack of contemplation about social conventions—in the processes of popularizing, ritualizing, and iconizing conventional acts. In the terms of Alexander’s meaning-centered performance theory, this conventionality exemplifies a “perfect” or “effortless” fusion of performers and audience. The article thus argues that the meanings of conventional rituals—and perhaps also of conventional performances of more “sacred” rituals—often lie not in symbolic significance or semiotic thickness, but in deep conventionality: meaningfulness encoded in the convention itself.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-01-18T09:06:32Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221145025
       
  • Events and Crises: Toward a Conceptual Clarification

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      Authors: Ioana Sendroiu
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article aims for a conceptual model of how crises and events function together and apart, starting from the view that the two are not interchangeable. I therefore define events as structural transformations that can be the object of empirical knowledge, but which are not self-evident or known to all as they take place. Crisis-claims, meanwhile, are performative judgments or demands for a different future. Given that structural transformations are not self-evident in the moment, a crisis-claim, in this sense, is a guess that an event is taking place. This distinction is elucidated through a computational text analysis of U.S. media reporting on shootings, focusing on the month before and the month after George Floyd’s death. Building on this conceptual distinction, I argue that events and crises can coincide, constitute, and even modify the other. But crises can occur without reference to events, and events can take place which are not deemed to be crises.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-01-18T08:58:32Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221144843
       
  • Music Videos as Health Promotion: Juvenile’s “Vax That Thang Up” and
           the Promotion of the COVID-19 Vaccine in the Black Community

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      Authors: Deion Hawkins, Sharifa Simon-Roberts
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      COVID-19 data reveals that the disease has disproportionately affected the Black community, yet the lowest vaccination rates can be found among this demographic. A myriad of factors can explain this health disparity, but structural barriers such as availability and vaccine apprehension amongst the Black community emerge as two primary reasons. Despite targeted outreach, traditional health campaigns directed at the Black community did not yield results; many argue this was due to the community’s history of medical exploitation and rightful distrust of the medical sector. Instead, the Black community turned to popular culture as a primary means of health information. In turn, Juvenile’s classic song “Back That Thang Up” was repurposed into a vaccine anthem—“Vax That Thang Up.” The PSA, which infuses hip-hop, health promotion, and the power of music videos, sparked controversy and has over 3 million views on YouTube. These considerations serve as the basis of this study, which will interrogate the intersection of health communication and pop culture, in relation to the music video—“Vax That Thang Up.” The researchers will employ the culture-centered approach to unpack how the music video disrupted traditional aspects of health communication campaigns.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-01-12T06:56:01Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221145027
       
  • Prisons, Jails, and the Environment: Why Environmentalists Should Care
           About Mass Incarceration'

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      Authors: Dorceta E. Taylor
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article examines the relationship between mass incarceration and environmental inequalities. The United States incarcerates more people than any other country, and incarceration is highly racialized. The article discusses how prisons are settler colonial ecosystems that produce injustice. Prisons are located close to hazardous sites and in areas prone to extreme weather events. Food insecurity is also commonplace in jails. The article introduces concepts such as carceral food justice and carceral food sovereignty to recognize the unique circumstances that inmates experience in their quest to acquire healthy, affordable, adequate, and culturally desirable food.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-01-06T04:53:23Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221142206
       
  • A Vanishing Food Infrastructure: The Closure of Food Outlets in Flint in a
           Pandemic Era

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      Authors: Ashley Bell, Dorceta E. Taylor
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Most food access studies focus on large cities, examine traditional grocery stores, and only consider operational food outlets. This siloed approach exposes a gap in food access literature. Therefore, as a part of our assessment of Flint’s food landscape, we examined closed food outlets in the city and surrounding townships. We investigated the relationship between the racial composition of census tracts and the number and type of defunct food outlets identified. We used Data Axle to collect and verify data on open and closed food outlets between September 2020 and December 2021. We made a final verification of the food outlet closures in June 2022. We used ArcGIS 10.8.1 and SPSS Version 28 to map and analyze the data. We used negative binomial regression models to determine differences in the likelihood of having an additional closed food outlet in census tracts with low and high percentages of Black residents. We also investigated the relationship between a census tract’s median income and the likelihood of having an additional closed food outlet. There were 173 closed food outlets; 81 were in Flint, and 92 were in surrounding townships. The most frequently closed food outlets were restaurants; they accounted for 45.1% of the closures. The mean number of closed food venues in census tracts where less than 40% of the residents were Black was 1.5. The mean was similar in census tracts where 40% or more of the residents were Black; it was 1.6. This difference was not significant. However, the median income of a census tract was a significant predictor of the likelihood of having an additional closed food outlet. Every one-thousand-dollar increase in median income resulted in a 2% less likelihood of having an additional closed food outlet. The results of this study show that there is more to the food landscape of a city than its operational food outlets. Focusing exclusively on active food outlets does not accurately depict a city's food infrastructure.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2023-01-06T04:47:26Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221142202
       
  • Quality Assessment and Biases in Reused Data

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      Authors: Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol, Andrea Rosales
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article investigates digital and non-digital traces reused beyond the context of creation. A central idea of this article is that no (reused) dataset is perfect. Therefore, data quality assessment becomes essential to determine if a given dataset is “good enough” to be used to fulfill the users’ goals. Biases, a possible source of discrimination, have become a relevant data challenge. Consequently, it is appropriate to analyze whether quality assessment indicators provide information on potential biases in the dataset. We use examples representing two opposing sides regarding data access to reflect on the relationship between quality and bias. First, the European Union open data portal fosters the democratization of data and expects users to manipulate the databases directly to perform their analyses. Second, online behavioral advertising systems offer individualized promotional services but do not share the datasets supporting their design. Quality assessment is socially constructed, as there is not a universal definition but a set of quality dimensions, which might change for each professional context. From the users’ perspective, trust/credibility stands out as a relevant quality dimension in the two analyzed cases. Results show that quality indicators (whatever they are) provide limited information on potential biases. We suggest that data literacy is most needed among both open data users and clients of behavioral advertising systems. Notably, users must (be able to) understand the limitations of datasets for an optimal and bias-free interpretation of results and decision-making.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-30T06:30:34Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221144855
       
  • Hesitancy in the Home: The Relationship between Family Communication
           Patterns and Willingness to Converse about Covid-19 Vaccination

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      Authors: Chelsea E. Moss, T. Franklin Waddell, Shelby Thomas
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      While family communication has repeatedly been found to be related to health decisions and outcomes, the role of family communication within the study of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy has not received adequate attention. The present study (N = 1,005) assesses the relationship between family communication patterns and willingness to converse about the Covid-19 vaccine with a family member, while also considering trust in government as a moderator. Findings revealed that individuals coming from high conversation-oriented homes who are also younger, unvaccinated, and imagining the vaccine conversation with their mother or father (as opposed to other family members) were more willing to converse with a family member about the Covid-19 vaccine. Conformity orientation only negatively predicted such willingness to converse when moderated by age. Surprisingly, trust in government was not found to moderate the relationship between either family communication pattern orientation and willingness to converse about the Covid-19 vaccine. Theoretical implications relevant for family and health communication scholars and healthcare professionals designing vaccine messaging are discussed.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-28T09:36:54Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221146118
       
  • Temporary Organizations in Disaster Response: Crisis, Temporality, and
           Governance

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      Authors: Malka Older
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      For most modern governments, disasters are events that are demarcated from so-called normalcy by changes in organization and temporality. As much as the changes in procedures or staffing, these new structures are distinguished by their temporality. They are explicitly temporary organizations, designed to accomplish a specific task before dissolving and returning authority to the permanent organization. The choice to change to temporary organizations in times of crisis carries a number of implications. The switch to an entity that is both a part of the government, and distinct from it and that will disappear at some unspecified but unswervingly expected point in the future when the crisis is “over” points to a distinct separation between the disaster period and “normalcy,” and indicates that the disaster period will give way to normalcy again. It allows the government to portray the crisis as exogenous and separate from on-going policies, depicting it as the result of uncontrollable natural forces that must be dealt with on an ad hoc basis and ignoring links to long-term governance in areas of education, housing, health, and other areas. This paper uses original interviews and documentary data, collected as dissertation research, to look at the formation, dissolution, and occasional failure of temporary, government-based disaster management organizations across two events: Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005, and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-28T07:10:09Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221144847
       
  • Crisis: Sovereign or Distributed'

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      Authors: Simone Polillo, André Vereta-Nahoum
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In the face of a proliferation of texts framing ongoing events and experiences in terms of crisis, a new critical literature has emerged to interrogate the political, moral, and epistemological assumptions and blind spots of this way of understanding the modern world. In this special issue, we engage with this new body of work on crisis by distinguishing between two models—sovereign and distributed. While the sovereign model of crisis fleshes out the link between crisis and political power, the distributed model points to the social fragmentation and confusion that crisis-claims can provoke when they are made outside established institutional channels—when they are distributed across disparate audiences. Understanding the relationship between crisis and sovereignty on the one hand, and between crisis-claims and their audiences on the other, sheds new light on the narrative and performative effects of crisis.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-28T07:09:01Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221144842
       
  • Traces of the Dead, Actions of the Not-Alive: A Prologue to a Theory of
           Agentification

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      Authors: Jeffrey Guhin
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The author describes how sociological and philosophical discussions of agency tend to center questions of how or why people are agentic rather than who or what is agentic. In contrast, the author poses questions about the agency of things, the agency of non-humans, and the agency of dead humans, using three examples of historical traces—Washington’s refusal of a third term, Jenner’s development of the smallpox vaccines, and Smith’s publication of The Wealth of Nations—as historical examples to examine how non-humans and non-living-humans leave traces that can experienced as agentic. The author then analyzes six theories of agency that might provide explanations for these actions (actants, affordances, switchmen, residue, repression, and ghosts) before turning to his earlier work on the concept of “external authorities.”
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-23T06:03:44Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221144854
       
  • Apps, Platforms, and Everyday Practices: How People Perceive and Care (or
           not) About the Digital Traces They Leave Online

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      Authors: Alberto Marinelli, Stefania Parisi
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The paper presents the results of an empirical research on the topic of personal data awareness, conducted through a survey of a representative sample of the Italian population. Considering five self-perceived levels of digital competence, we investigate the perception of digital footprints people leave online, how they act when apps and platforms demand to share personal data, and whether they are concerned about privacy issues. We discuss these topics and the research data in the light of theoretical frameworks regarding the emerging forms of new digital inequalities, which are broadening to include the awareness gaps, among different users, about how apps and online platforms collect and use personal data.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-23T05:54:24Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221144852
       
  • Understanding Food Access in Flint: An Analysis of Racial and
           Socioeconomic Disparities

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      Authors: Dorceta E. Taylor, Ashley Bell, Abdeali Saherwala
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The primary objective of this study was to describe the food landscape of Flint, Michigan, and the surrounding townships. We investigated the relationship between the location of food outlets and the racial composition of census tracts. We collected data from multiple sources; however, Data Axle, a repository of information on the U.S. and Canadian businesses, was our primary data source. Data were collected and verified between September 2020 and December 2021. The final fact-checking was completed in June 2022. We used ArcGIS 10.8.1 and SPSS Version 28 to map and analyze the data. We conducted negative binomial regression analyses to identify the difference in the likelihood of finding food retailers in census tracts where the percentage of Black residents was low and those where the percentage of Blacks was high. The article examines 1,137 food retailers in the study area: 407 were in Flint, and the remainder in the surrounding townships. Restaurants—especially fast food and take-out establishments—dominated the food environment. In addition, small groceries and convenience stores proliferated in the grocery store category. The racial composition of the census tracts mattered. Census tracts in which more than 40% of the residents are Black have a mean of 7.6 food outlets. In comparison, census tracts in which 40% or less of the residents are Black have a mean of 11.3 food outlets; the difference is significant. Census tracts with a high percentage of Blacks also had significantly fewer restaurants. The results of this study show Flint’s food landscape to be more complex and robust than described in earlier studies. It underscores the point that researchers should not rely solely on documenting the presence of supermarkets or traditional grocery stores when addressing food insecurity and food access. In the case of Flint, such food outlets comprise only 2.2% of the food landscape. Focusing exclusively on these food retailers misses several important types of food venues that residents rely on to secure food. This siloed approach also ignores the resilience and ingenuity of residents to respond to limited access to traditional food retailers.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-21T12:32:10Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221142201
       
  • More Than “Crumbs”: Emotional Entanglements and Situated Ethical
           Strategies in Qualitative Research

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      Authors: Ilaria Pitti
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Emotional entanglements developing between researchers and participants are an unavoidable experience in qualitative research, whose methods largely rely on emotions, intimacy, and relationships. Despite urged to exercise reflexivity, researchers rarely have the opportunity to deconstruct the emotional aspects of their investigations, which are often perceived as problems rather than as resources. Drawing on feminist methodology, this article argues that emotional entanglements should be considered neither as methodological “troubles” that must be avoided at all costs nor as strategies to gain richer data, but as important ethical moments that can help researchers reconsider, re-adjust, and update the tools they employ to collect and disseminate data. Using “confessional tales” written during qualitative studies I have conducted with young people involved in a variety of subcultural practices, I explore strategies for dealing with emotional entanglements in a meaningful and ethical way. In so doing, this article aims to add to the literature on the tensions between formal ethics and ethics in the field.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-21T09:17:07Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221145021
       
  • Brushing Society Against the Grain: Digital Footprints, Scraps, Non-Human
           Acts, Crumbs, and Other Traces

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      Authors: Francesca Comunello, Fabrizio Martire, Lorenzo Sabetta
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article explores the growing role of traces and footprints in social science, giving an outline of the main concepts and empirical questions discussed in this special issue. Remarkably, the study of traces (unobtrusive, necessarily interpretative, theory-driven and data-fueled at the same time) considers them as unwillingly insightful and strategic materials. However, the difference between information “intentionally transmitted” and information “accidentally leaked” gets fuzzy especially in online communication and social network. In this sense, by interpreting the “digital data deluge” as a social trace deluge, issues of algorithmic environments, users’ participation, datafied biases, and transparency are addressed. Finally, it is argued that traces, data exhaust, and residual information help overcoming standard dichotomies in social science (e.g., human vs. non-human realms, quantitative vs. qualitative, online vs. offline activities), both methodologically and theoretically.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-21T05:16:20Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221144844
       
  • The Role of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Other Factors in Influencing Top
           Executive Compensation in American Environmental Nonprofits

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      Authors: Dorceta E. Taylor
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The article reports the findings of a pathbreaking national study that examines executive compensation in American environmental nonprofits. This article seeks to accomplish two goals: (1) examine the gender disparities in the pay of chief executive officers (CEOs), executive directors, and presidents in environmental organizations; and (2) analyze the ethnic/racial differences in the wages of the top executive in said nonprofits. The study uses financial information from Internal Revenue Service Form 990 to examine top executive salaries in 2,703 organizations. The author collected data from tax forms filed between 2018 and 2020. The article examines how gender and race/ethnicity are associated with compensation. It also analyzes how region, organizational type, urbanization, organizational revenue, staff size, the board size, the receipt of bonuses and incentives, the size of the bonuses/incentives, and the size of the base wages are related to overall compensation. Men occupied 51.2% (1,383) and women 48.8% (1,320) of the top executive positions in the organizations studied. Whites dominate the CEO position, that is, 92% or 2,488 of the CEOs were White, and 8% (215) were people of color. The study found significant gender pay gaps. While the median compensation for men was $117,468, it was $88,568.50 for women. Hence, women CEOs earned 75.4% of what men were paid. There was also an ethnic/racial pay gap. The study found that White CEOs earned a median income of $102,801. The median wage for Asian CEOs was 97.6%, Black CEOs was 96%, Latinx CEOs was 80.8%, and Native American CEOs was 73.4% of what White CEOs earned. White men obtained the highest median compensation of all gender, and racial/ethnic groups studied. The total compensation also varied by region, organizational revenues, organizational type, level of urbanization, staff size, board size, receipt of bonuses and incentives, the size of bonuses/incentives, and size of base wages. The size of the organization’s revenue, whether a CEO received bonuses/incentives, region, the CEO’s race/ethnicity, the CEO’s gender, and size of the staff were significant factors in the multivariate regression model.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-21T04:58:41Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221142203
       
  • Pendulum or Progress' Tax Consultants in the Crisis of Legitimacy

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      Authors: Silke Ötsch
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      After a series of scandals, the focus is now shifting to tax professionals who have received little attention so far. The paper examines how tax professionals justify their professional activities in the legitimacy crisis of tax planning. Professions have a systemic role and combine commercial interest with social benefit. In the crisis, professionals need to re-legitimize themselves by addressing core societal values in order to secure the benefits associated with professional status. Building on problem-centered qualitative interviews with 45 tax professionals from Germany, Liechtenstein, and Austria with different business models, I show that these tax professionals justify their activities in the crisis via three ideal-typical norms: selective liberal values and counterattacks, elitist shaping, and the benefits for the business location. Most professionals hope for a pendulum movement as a rollback of regulation.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-16T06:06:11Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221144831
       
  • Community Gardens in Michigan: Demographic Attributes of Managers,
           Neighborhood Characteristics, and the Impacts of a Pandemic

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      Authors: Dorceta E. Taylor, Ki’Amber Thompson, Dominique Abednour-Brown, Ember McCoy, Socorro M. Daupan, Clarice Hollenquest
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Community gardens are more popular than ever, yet we know little about how leadership structure and neighborhood characteristics relate to programming. Hence, this paper analyzes how the racial/ethnic backgrounds of the community garden leaders are related to the activities the garden undertakes. What types of initiatives do gardens undertake to reduce food insecurity' The paper analyzes how the location of the garden impacts what it does. The article presents novel findings on the impact of leadership and neighborhood characteristics on community garden operations and outcomes. Hence, the essay examines how the race/ethnicity of garden managers and their sex and neighborhood characteristics, such as poverty rate, household income, and racial composition, are related to garden initiatives. Finally, the paper examines how community gardens responded to increased demands for food and services during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. We studied 53 community gardens in Michigan from the summer 2020 through the winter 2021. Whites manage 66% (35) of the gardens, while People of Color manage 34% (18). Roughly half of the gardens are managed by males and the remainder by females. The gardens, which lack paid staff, rely heavily on volunteers. Almost 53% of the gardens are in low-income census tracts (with median income of $40,000 or less). During the pandemic, 31% of the gardens reduced their staff, 51.4% had fewer volunteers than in pre-pandemic times, and 51.9% had increased amounts of people seeking food.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-14T07:07:41Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221142204
       
  • Gentrifying Force or a Force for Environmental Justice' A National
           Assessment of Brownfield Redevelopment and Gentrification in the United
           States from 2006 to 2015

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      Authors: Marisol Becerra
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Cities in the United States (U.S.) are increasingly developing sustainability initiatives to improve local economies while addressing environmental concerns. Since 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfield Revitalization Program has encouraged the remediation of postindustrial sites to create new areas for real estate development. However, previous research demonstrates that industrial areas are more likely to be in predominantly poor and racial/ethnic minority communities. A central argument favoring redevelopment is that remediation helps mitigate environmental inequality and achieve environmental justice for aggrieved communities. Still, very little research examines if and how these communities benefit from these changes. This article examines this question by reviewing the related literature and applying insights to a quasi-experimental analysis of brownfield redevelopment’s impact on racial/ethnic composition and income levels of neighborhoods. Publicly available data were acquired from the EPA Cleanups in My Community data portal and the 5-Year American Community Survey—released annually from 2006 to 2015—to examine demographic changes in neighborhoods where brownfield redevelopment occurred. The study implements a difference-in-differences model using two-way fixed effects regression models on a panel data set of 4,740 census tracts in 48 contiguous U.S. states (or Lower 48 states). This study’s findings suggest that wealthier White and Latino populations are more likely to benefit from brownfield redevelopment than Black populations in affected neighborhoods.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-09T09:43:55Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221140839
       
  • Big Shots: A Social Media Campaign to Honor Local Heroes who Promote
           COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy and Increase Vaccine Acceptance

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      Authors: Tanja Schub, Lauren Swan-Potras, Kenneth Rabin
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Big Shots is a graduate student-developed social media campaign that aims to promote COVID-19 vaccine literacy and build vaccine confidence through the power of storytelling. Here we describe the development of the partnerships underlying the campaign and detail the campaign’s achievements thus far, including its recognition and celebration (to date) of 12 individuals and groups who have broken down barriers to COVID-19 vaccination in their communities. The ongoing campaign may serve as a model to guide future “grassroots” social media campaigns aimed at addressing public health issues.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-12-01T05:22:16Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221138272
       
  • China in and out of World Anthropologies: Epistemic Politics Amidst
           Historical Ironies and Contemporary Realities

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      Authors: Yang Zhan
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Since the early 2000s, scholars have proposed the notion of “world anthropologies” to expose the pluralistic nature of anthropology, and to counter the colonial legacy embedded in knowledge production. This paper discusses how anthropological knowledge in and of China contributes to, is distant from, and challenges, such intellectual movement at both intellectual and institutional levels. First, unlike Western anthropology which shifts from colonialism to liberalism and then to postcolonialism, anthropology in China began with a progressive agenda of anti-colonialism, and then leaned toward liberalism. In the context of China’s rise, “China” has been further embroiled in a puzzle of imperialism. This reversed ideological tendency contributes to the disorientation of the critical energy in anthropology focused on China. Second, just as China has taken an active role in the competition for education and research in a globalized, yet uneven academia through discipline construction, anthropology in the West, particularly the United States, has become fff in terms of its intellectual agendas. Many of the younger generation of Chinese anthropologists have become stuck in the disjuncture, struggling to channel their critical energy through engaged scholarship, both within and beyond academic institutions. The epistemic politics in and of China, at both the intellectual and institutional levels, reveals that the post-socialist condition deserves to be reference points in world anthropologies. If decolonization posits treating plural standpoints as equal, then being counted in the decolonizing efforts necessitates subscribing to the dominant framework. Thus, more attention to the post-socialist condition, and ultimately the pluralization of the reference points of political potency, should truly pluralize, and ultimately decolonize, anthropology.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-30T06:16:14Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221134846
       
  • Are People Hesitating—Or Just Postponing—to Get the Covid-19 Vaccine'
           Vaccine Outreach in Marginalized Urban Communities

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      Authors: Lauren Kogen, Deborai A. Cai, Cornelius Pitts, Patricia Imms, Mitch Perkins, Kathleen Reeves
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Across Philadelphia, approximately 80% of adults are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. However, many zip codes in the city remain far below the city-wide vaccination rate. These zip codes correspond to marginalized sections of the city and to neighborhoods with a high proportion of residents of color and high levels of poverty. In-depth interviews were conducted with representatives from 15 community-based organizations (CBOs) that serve such communities in the city to (1) learn why people are not yet vaccinated and (2) evaluate methods for encouraging vaccination. A qualitative thematic analysis of interview transcripts was conducted to evaluate why people are not getting vaccinated. Together, the findings suggest that distrust toward the vaccine, the government, and the healthcare system, combined with a host of matters considered by residents to be more urgent—such as missing work, cost concerns, and concerns around presenting identification—result in what might be better described as vaccine postponement rather than vaccine refusal. For many, vaccination is simply not a priority. The findings from this analysis illuminate some of the lesser discussed reasons for vaccination delay and provide insights into how to promote vaccinations both for the current Covid pandemic and for future vaccination efforts.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-26T07:47:56Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221138279
       
  • Using Health Behavior Theory to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A
           Scoping Review of Communication and Messaging Interventions

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      Authors: Caroline A. Orr, Ruthanna Gordon
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Vaccine hesitancy has been among the most vexing challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, ultimately leading to maladaptive health behaviors such as vaccine delay and refusal. A variety of approaches have been employed to address this problem, including communication and messaging interventions targeting the underlying determinants of vaccine hesitancy. However, there exists no published evidence synthesis examining how such interventions are using health behavior theory to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review of health communication and messaging interventions aimed at addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and to systematically evaluate the use of health behavior theory in the design of these interventions. The review followed a five-step iterative framework proposed by Levac and colleagues. Comprehensive searches using an exhaustive list of keyword combinations were used across three online databases to identify articles to screen for inclusion. A structured, validated coding scheme was then applied to assess the use of health behavior theory. Additional study data were extracted using a separate structured form. A total of 36 articles published between January 2020 and February 2022 met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Ten studies (27.7%) did not mention or use health behavior theory at all. Most studies (n = 26) at least mentioned theory or theory-relevant constructs, with 26 different theories and 52 different theoretical constructs represented in the sample. Although theory and theoretical determinants of vaccination behavior were often mentioned, few studies used theory to specify and target causal pathways of behavior change, and only one study targeted misinformation as a determinant of vaccine hesitancy. The findings from this review provide critical insight into the state of theory-based intervention design and point to significant gaps in the literature to prioritize in future research.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-24T12:26:45Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221138274
       
  • How Communication Impacts the Right to Health: COVID-19 Seen Through a
           Lens of Vulnerability

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      Authors: Timothy Affonso
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the global community in a sudden and unpredictable manner. As such, it becomes essential that States engage in immediate effective communication of public health messaging to ensure that persons are aware of the ways in which they can protect themselves from contracting the virus. In this vein, guidance has been offered to States on how to effectively engage in public health communication strategies by the international human rights regime which sets out the standards for right to health. These standards recognize that the right to health includes a dimension for health communication. However, the vulnerabilities, which exist in some groups in society, make generic health communication ineffective in achieving the goal of protection from COVID-19. Furthermore, the pandemic highlighted the lack of compliance by States with their right to health obligations. It is this disconnect between the de jure human rights obligations and the de facto compliance by States with those obligations that will be explored in this paper. The paper will set out the different formulations of the right to health in specific international human rights treaties and compare the text of the treaties with the actual health messaging initiatives by States during the pandemic. There will also be an identification of ways in which States may more appropriately tailor their communications strategies to align with the international standards for the right to health. This exercise will highlight the connection between effective public health communication and improved health outcomes for the public and the important role the international human rights framework plays in this paradigm. The paper will demonstrate the need for a tailored approach to health communication when dealing with socially vulnerable groups using the guidance which can be offered by the international human rights treaties in realizing the right to health for the public.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-14T07:25:46Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221138277
       
  • Rescuing Public Health From the Global Capitalist Regime: The Public
           Health Liberation Movement in Taiwan

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      Authors: Chengpang Lee, Meei-Shia Chen
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In the past, scholars of academic dependency have tended to focus their discussions on social sciences while treating other fields as separate. They suggest that in order to escape dependency, alternative discourse and autonomy should be developed. In this paper, we examine the Public Health Liberation (PHL) movement in Taiwan and theorize on the marketization and medicalization of the healthcare system since the 1980s as a dependency syndrome. The PHL was initiated by a group of public health scholars—with the second author of this paper being one of its key protagonists—and frontline public health practitioners after the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003. Inspired by the mass mobilization model in public health in Asian and Latin American countries, particularly China, the Philippines, and Nicaragua, PHL trains grassroots public health educators, nurtures critical research, and has built a network of activists for radical public health reform in Taiwan. Based on participatory action research, this paper analyzes the emergence of this influential public health movement and situates it within the global context of neoliberal health reforms.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-14T07:22:36Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221134845
       
  • Contested Sinicization in the Tianxia All-Under-Heaven: Civilization Envy
           in Vietnam’s “Principal Graduates of the Two Kingdoms” Literary
           Trope, the 15th Century to the Present

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      Authors: Yufen Chang
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      A rising China has upended the academia in many fronts. One of the challenges has been the reinvented ideal of Tianxia All-Under-Heaven, which first appeared in the eighth century BCE and has been offered by China as the alternative to the Westphalia system of nation-states on the basis that it will bring peace and harmony to the war-ridden international world. Nevertheless, ongoing international controversies regarding the “forced Sinicization” of the Uyghurs, the Tibetans, and the Mongols under its rule has given rise to the questions of the nature of both Tianxia and Sinicization. Analyzing a famous Vietnamese literary trope of the “principal graduates of the two kingdoms” that emerged no later than the 15th century, this essay proposes a concept of civilization envy to discuss the nuances of Sinicization. Civilization envy is a competitive mentality that desires to prove one’s civilizational parity with or even superiority over China, the center of Tianxia. This mentality of civilization envy continues to modern era, and the “principal graduates of the two kingdoms” have been promoted to national heroes to show that Vietnam is a “Domain of Literature.” The evolution of the trope shows that China and Vietnam had different understanding of civilizing missions. For China, it involved transforming mores and customs of the peoples under its direct control. For Vietnam, when dealing with China, it involved acquiring literary competence, especially the skills in mastering Sinitic script and poetry composition.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-14T07:18:46Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221134841
       
  • Information Exposure and Information Overload as Antecedents of Crisis
           Communicative Responses and Coping: A Cross-Country Comparison

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      Authors: Chih-Hui Lai, Tang Tang
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This study examines information exposure as the antecedent of different types of crisis response outcomes as well as the moderating influence of message quality and information overload in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that the pandemic has impacted the countries worldwide, we conducted a cross-country, two-wave survey in the United States and Taiwan. The results identified three types of media users based on their differential patterns of crisis information exposure—selective users, inclusive users, and cravers. Compared to selective users, inclusive users and cravers were more likely to engage in different types of communicative responses (i.e., information seeking and sharing, and information sharing without verification [ISWV]), which then helped them with support-seeking coping. In addition, information overload was the condition that influenced the extent to which inclusive users engaged in information seeking and sharing, and the subsequent coping. Cross-country differences were found such that information overload and ISWV played important roles in influencing crisis outcomes in the United States and Taiwan, respectively.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-05T07:28:43Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132805
       
  • In the Mode. . .Text-to-Web Survey Data Collection: An Exploratory Study
           in Preelection Polling of the U.S. Presidential Election

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      Authors: Spencer Kimball, Isabel Holloway
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      As our society rapidly employs new forms of communication, new modes of data collection are challenging the best practices developed over years of polling. Preelection polling must simultaneously evolve, as new modes have emerged in the past few decades, including computer-mediated communication, mobile texting, and the use of touch tone keypads to communicate information. A tension exists between traditional and novel means of interpersonal communication, and researchers are struggling to determine which traditional methods of data collection still have a place in the modern industry. This study examined three relatively new modes of preelection poll data collection, online, mobile, and IVR (interactive voice recognition) to determine what relationships exist, if any, between the mode of data collection and the composition of a sample across eight demographic variables: age, education, gender, political affiliation, race, region, 2016 Vote History, and 2020 Vote Intention. Twenty-six preelection polls were used in the study, with each poll ranging in collection dates between August 30 and October 31, 2020. The total combined sample size for this study is n = 19,886; 49% were IVR respondents (n = 9,795), 25% was collected from online panels (n = 5,039), and 25% was collected from short message service (SMS)-to-web respondents (n = 5,052). A χ2 (chi-square) test for association was conducted using a significance level of p < .05 and a 95% confidence interval (CI) and found a significant difference between each mode of data collection across the eight aforementioned variables. A significant difference between political party affiliation/registration and mode of data collection was attributed to the educational attainment of individuals participating in each preelection polls based on the mode of data collection. This study suggests that underlying variables within the sample composition of different modes of data collection can have an impact on the accuracy of preelection polls.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-05T07:22:43Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132801
       
  • Mobilizing During the Covid-19 Pandemic: From Democratic Innovation to the
           Political Weaponization of Disinformation

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      Authors: Cristina Flesher Fominaya
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Political scholars express concern for the continued resilience of democracy in the face of multiple crises. In times of crisis, social movements articulate grievances and make demands of political leaders and policymakers. In contrast to the wave of pro-democracy movements following the 2008 global financial crash where protesters demanded accountability from elites, mobilization during the COVID-19 pandemic has defied expectations in several key ways. First, the expectation for protesters to mobilize primarily online in the face of the restrictions and risk associated with large gatherings has not been upheld. Instead, we have witnessed widespread “offline” mass protests. Second, despite high mortality rates and significant disparities in the effectiveness of national public health responses, we have not witnessed widespread mobilizations demanding governments do better to protect citizens from the virus. Instead, we have seen two radically different responses: At one extreme, veterans of “pro-democracy” movements have “pivoted,” using their skills and experience to either make up for weak government responses to COVID-19 (Hong Kong) or to reinforce government efforts to contain it (Taiwan). At the other extreme, “antidemocratic” and predominantly far right-wing movements have mobilized against public health measures, circulating COVID negationist and conspiracy messages. Indeed, the political weaponization of disinformation has been a notable feature of pandemic mobilization. I analyze these contrasting trends, highlighting the challenges they pose for the effective handling of the pandemic, and their broader implications for democratic legitimacy and resilience. In so doing, I call attention to the ways that mobilization during the pandemic challenges scholars to revisit some of our assumptions about the dynamics of social movements in times of crisis, and how they can foster or erode democracy. The analysis also suggests that scholars analyzing the impact of information disorders on democracy need to pay careful attention to offline protest as well as online transmission.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-05T07:17:23Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132178
       
  • Risk Governance in the Early Pandemic: Governance Roles and Coleman’s
           Taxonomy of Social Actors

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      Authors: Jeremy Schulz
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article takes the ongoing conversation around risk governance in the context of the early stages of the COVID pandemic in a new direction. It does so by connecting public health risk governance to James Coleman’s formulation of social actorhood in the contemporary US. Risk governance across a variety of social settings can be fruitfully conceptualized according to Coleman’s taxonomy of natural and constructed social actors. Unveiling the risk governance schemes operating within distinct social settings is a matter of teasing out the governance roles played by the three primary types of social actor introduced by Coleman: natural persons, agents/principals, and citizen-sovereigns. The parts played by these types of actors are examined within distinct meso-level settings such as households, employment settings, public-facing retail settings, and colleges. In this way, the study is able to distinguish specific governance schemes in terms of how they mobilize particular kinds of social actors characterized according to Coleman’s taxonomy. The study represents a step toward developing an account of risk governance which can accommodate a wide variety of actors, settings, and dynamics within a coherent theoretical framework. In carrying out this exercise, this study applies sociological theories to open a window into crucial aspects of risk governance during the pandemic era.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-05T07:14:24Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132175
       
  • Seeing Like a Native Anthropologist: A Post-Postcolonial Reflection on the
           Native Turn in Asian Academia

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      Authors: Jinba Tenzin
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article aims to delve into the “native turn” emerging in anthropology and broad academia in Asia and the Global South in the last two decades, represented by their growing momentum in decolonization, autonomy, and “indigenization.” There, however, exists a tendency in anthropology, especially among non-Western and “mixed” anthropologists, to dismiss the idea of native(s) or native anthropologists and sometimes replace it with the amorphous notion of “halfies.” I contend that many of the “halfies” scholars, informed by postcolonial and postmodern thoughts, tend to misread the de facto postcolonial conditions in which the West continues to dominate in the existing world-systems. I argue that it is vital to acknowledge the native turn as an ethnographical fact because this recognition is closely associated with the prospect of decolonizing anthropology and Western-dominated knowledge production. Next, I use my experience of the native turn(s) to Tibetan and Chinese sociocultural institutions and political sensibilities to better contextualize and exemplify the examined broad native turn in anthropology and social science in Asia. Furthermore, I propose a multifaceted view of natives or nativeness as a necessary step to engage more constructively with the idea of native(s) and the native turn. In so doing, I advocate a post-postcolonial critique to make a timely and necessary intellectual intervention.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-02T09:27:59Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221134844
       
  • Dependency as Situated Knowledge: A Reflexive Politics of Location on the
           Positionalities of Chinese Feminist Scholars

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      Authors: Ling Han
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      While feminist knowledge has historical roots in China, the academic knowledge production about women’s and gender studies (WGS) as situated knowledge has always been a contestation between opposing forces. The Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, marked the critical discursive and organizational moment for grounding the feminist concept of gender as an analytical and action framework. Since then, WGS have flourished, but the label of feminism has been ambivalent. To examine the complicated state of academic dependency and the politics of location in this interdisciplinary academic field, I interrogate researchers’ positionalities in some recent publications on feminism and gender studies about China by pointing out the interplay of diasporic and domestic positionalities in English and Chinese publication outlets. This article argues that for an interdisciplinary program like WGS, with its inextricable connection to the political state of China and socialist state feminism, the theory of academic dependency cannot adequately capture the often contested, strategic, and situated standpoints of feminist scholars. While diasporic and domestic scholars are deeply aware of their own positionalities in the channel of publications that grant them voices, they are also caught in the current hegemonic political economy of knowledge. This article interrogates the contested positionalities of overseas and domestic feminist scholars in creating a feminist academic field about China.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-02T09:22:38Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221134843
       
  • Syncretism of Tradition and Modernity in Education: A Case Study of a
           Tibetan Vocational School in Qinghai

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      Authors: Rouzhuo (Rigdrol) Jikar
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The notion of educational development has merit in defining the nature of Tibetan school education in China, which operates under the Chinese centralized educational model. However, it would be simplistic to see all types of schools in Tibetan regions operating in a single dependency relationship regarding the educational content, teaching mode, and school management. Consequently, the author proposes considering the more complex situation of a syncretism of Tibetan and Chinese education systems. His proposition derives from his long-time participation, observation, and extensive interviews with school teachers, students, and administrators in a Tibetan private vocational high school in Amdo (Qinghai). This school has pioneered experimentation with a syncretic education model to resolve the tension and seek a balance between cultural continuity and social change by capitalizing on its interdependency situation. His research shows that promoting this syncretic education model in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country like China is worthwhile.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-02T09:19:18Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221134839
       
  • Growth Communication Strategies in the Digital Age

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      Authors: Patricia Coll-Rubio, Josep Maria Carbonell
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article analyzes growth strategies in the context of digital transformation in all political, social, and economic scopes that were accelerated by the pandemic. The article also focuses on the specific case of digital native brands which have emerged in a disruptive way. The study was carried out by using electronic surveys from April 2020 to November 2021 of 50 professionals in leading technology companies and startups. The study takes into account the results obtained in research carried out during the last 8 years by combining both the methods of in-depth interviews and documentary analysis in tracking the strategies of technology companies. The results show that growth strategies in digital economy are focused on decision making based on data combined with creative actions such as digital content, influencer marketing, media, events, and newsjacking. This growth strategy is applicable to all areas, especially politics.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-02T09:15:38Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132798
       
  • Attitudinal and Emotional Reactions to the Insurrection at the U.S.
           Capitol on January 6, 2021

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      Authors: Jennifer Anderson, Kathryn D. Coduto
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article reports on two online surveys concerning reactions to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Study 1 occurred between January 8 and 11, 2021; Study 2 took place between July 8 and 15, 2021. In both studies, both Trump and Biden voters reported negative attitudes toward the rioters, but those attitudes became significantly more positive from Study 1 to Study 2 in both groups. As expected, in both studies, Trump/Pence voters had less confidence in, and satisfaction with, the election results, which correlated with more positive attitudes toward the rioters and the president. Biden/Harris voters held more positive beliefs about the election, which correlated with more negative attitudes toward the rioters and the president. In both studies, Biden voters were more likely to report feeling fear, disgust, anger, and sadness than Trump voters, who were more likely to report feeling joy and surprise. Unexpectedly, across all voters and within voting groups, more people in Study 2 reported feeling each emotion, compared with Study 1.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-02T09:09:58Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132796
       
  • Rethinking Dependency and Knowledge Production Amid China’s Rise

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      Authors: Jinba Tenzin, Chengpang Lee
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      There remains a serious lack of a comprehensive examination of academic dependency, decolonization, and indigenization in China and East Asia. Our special issue is intended to fill this gap by situating this issue in the Chinese context, thanks to China’s extraordinary leaps in its economy and higher education and enhanced indigenizing movements. In particular, we hope to open a new dialog on the dynamic relationship between the rise of China, academic (and other) dependency, and global knowledge production. Our findings show that China’s rise complicates and enriches our understanding of dependency. For instance, despite the state-orchestrated indigenization in Chinese academia and China’s potential role as a new global hub of knowledge production, its academia, especially social science, is still highly dependent upon the Western academic center for ideas and recognition. This is partly exemplified by the fact that Chinese universities attach great importance to Western-acknowledged academic excellence through the global university rankings. However, we argue that the existing academic dependency theory fails to capture and explain this complex situation. In so doing, we call for a paradigm shift in rethinking academic dependency by placing it in the multilayered and multi-domain dependency circumstances and conditions. In advancing this agenda, we advocate a field-grounded and cross-disciplinary approach.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-01T10:58:29Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221134842
       
  • Health Messaging During a Pandemic: How Information Type and Individual
           Factors Influence Responses to COVID-19 Messages

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      Authors: Elisabeth Bigsby, Ethan Morrow
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Traditional approaches to public health messaging suggest successful COVID-19 messages should communicate about the health threat and present effective protective behaviors. However, as the pandemic continues, how individual factors affect audience responses to such messages needs to be explored. We surveyed 224 U.S. residents (equal distribution among age group, education level, and gender) in a 2 (health threat information: high versus low) × 2 (self-efficacy information: present versus absent) × 2 (response efficacy information: present versus absent) experimental design. Variations in message information did not influence mask wearing and handwashing behavioral intentions. Instead, participant responses followed reactance theory predictions. Feelings of fear about COVID-19 and reactance proneness predicted a perceived freedom threat. Perceiving a freedom threat predicted reactance to the COVID-19 message, which was associated with decreased intentions to wear a mask and handwash. Political ideology was also associated with behavioral intentions. The more conservative a person identified, the less likely they were to intend to engage in COVID-19 protection behaviors. Our findings call into question the effectiveness of traditional health messaging during a pandemic and demonstrate the implications of politicizing health behaviors.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-01T10:56:09Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132797
       
  • Brokered Dependency, Authoritarian Malepistemization, and Spectacularized
           Postcoloniality: Reflections on Chinese Academia

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      Authors: Yao Lin
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This paper calls for a paradigm shift in studying academic dependency, toward the paradigm of brokered dependency. Using Chinese academia as an example, I demonstrate how the neocolonial condition of academic dependency is always mediated through blockage-brokerage mechanisms. The two most salient blockage-brokerage mechanisms of dependency in the Chinese context are linguistic barrier and authoritarian malepistemization, and the effects of the latter consist of three layers: institutional, informational, and incorporational. On top of their domestic impacts, those mechanisms jointly exacerbate spectacularized postcoloniality in anglophone-hegemonic global academic publishing. The paradigm of brokered dependency not only represents a more nuanced approach to the study of academic dependency, but also underscores the fact that the dismantling of the neocolonial condition cannot be conceived and pursued in isolation from comprehending and confronting the authoritarian condition, especially when the latter pertains under the disguise of anticolonialism.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-01T10:53:09Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221134840
       
  • Theories and Politics of COVID-19

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      Authors: Jeremy Schulz, Noah McClain, Laura Robinson, Juliana Maria Trammel
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This issue brings theoretically driven analyses to bear on the COVID-19 pandemic, a development which shines a singularly revealing light on some of the most significant political, cultural, and social trends of the 21st century. Leading off with three explicitly theoretical treatments of the pandemic, this issue directs several complementary theoretical lenses at the early stages of the pandemic as it unfolded in the US and Europe. The initial contributions grapple explicitly with the ways in which social conflicts, social solidarities, and social traumas have been refracted—and in many cases magnified—by the pandemic in terms of moral cultures and forms of communication. The focus then shifts to how risk governance during the pandemic operates in different levels and domains of the social architecture as conceptualized in theoretical treatments of social actorhood pioneered by James Coleman. In the second part of the issue, the theme of politic. The upsurge of politically distinctive protests in the United States related to pandemic restrictions—as well as social and racial inequalities rendered visible by the pandemic—is the subject of the first piece. The final article explores the historical specificity of the many popular mobilizations in relation to the pandemic across the globe and across the political spectrum. In this article, we see how the popular mobilizations vary not only in terms of their political orientation, but in their general orientation toward information and authority—increasingly crucial issues in a world facing a trust deficit.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-01T10:50:29Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132808
       
  • A Social Diagnosis of Digitally Mediated COVID-19 Trauma

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      Authors: Cara Chiaraluce, Katia Moles, Laura Robinson, Julie B. Wiest
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Using a social diagnosis approach to COVID-19-related trauma, this research bridges the fields of sociology of medicine, disaster response, digital sociology, and digital divides. Bringing these literatures into dialogue, we problematize the digitally mediated trauma ensuing from COVID-19. We unpack two emergent media pathways or channels to a social diagnosis of trauma specific to sharp increase in reliance on digital media occasioned by the pandemic. The research advances the theoretical concept of the digital media trauma paradox in which trauma ensues from both oversaturation from toxic digital content and exclusion from digital resources. In either case, digital media engagements may act as a social determinant of health, particularly digital inequalities to co-occur with other forms of disadvantage. The research closes by arguing that social diagnosis approaches are an excellent tool to understand the complexities of disaster response in the digital age.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-01T10:41:29Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132185
       
  • Between Online and Offline Solidarity: Lessons Learned From the
           Coronavirus Outbreak in Italy

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      Authors: Maria Laura Ruiu, Massimo Ragnedda
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This paper focuses on four e-initiatives that were precipitated by the coronavirus outbreak in Italy. These experiences played a relevant role in developing multilevel solidarity (from the local to the global level) both online and offline. They are represented by the hashtags “#iorestoacasa” (I stay at home) and “#andràtuttobene” (everything will be alright), “performances on the balcony,” “influencers’ campaigns,” and “altruism and e-parochialism.” These experiences represent revealing examples essential to understand the benefits that a mediated form of solidarity can produce. This is particularly important given the challenges that solidarity faces due to the technological acceleration imposed by the pandemic, which is likely to influence social relationships even in the post-pandemic era. Four lessons can be learned from these expressions of e-solidarity related to the capacity of Information and Communication Technologies to (1) promote unconditioned altruism; (2) fight “parochialism” when the same disadvantaged condition is shared; (3) their capacity to develop a multilevel sense of community by connecting the local experience to the global dimension; and (4) to mediate between institutional sources and people, and connect family members, friends, vulnerable people with neighbors, and the global community. This last point suggests that the pandemic has offered fertile ground for both mechanical and organic forms of solidarity to emerge. On the one hand, it created a collective conscience based on shared vulnerabilities and interdependence. On the other hand, it is based on individualization and diversity. Indeed, these examples of Durkheimian collective effervescence show the paradox of a form of collective individualized and mediated solidarity, which is typical of contemporary society.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-11-01T10:39:29Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132177
       
  • Disintegration in the Age of COVID-19: Biological Contamination, Social
           Danger, and the Search for Solidarity

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      Authors: Seth Abrutyn
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Like any disaster, COVID-19 laid waste to infrastructure and the ability for a community to do community. But, unlike a tornado or nuclear meltdown, COVID-19 laid waste to social infrastructure in unique ways that only a disease can do. On the one hand, a pandemic brings biological dangers that, in turn, make all individuals—loved ones, too—into potential threats of biological contamination. On the other hand, the efforts to contain diseases present social dangers, as isolation and distancing threatens mundane and spectacular ritualized encounters and mask-wearing heighten our awareness of the biological risk. By exploring the link between disasters and disease, this paper leverages the contamination process, beginning first with the barriers it presents to making and remaking the self in everyday life. Constraints on ritualized encounters, both in terms of delimiting face-to-face interaction and in determining that some spaces have contaminative risks, reduces collective life to imagined communities or shifts to digitally mediated spaces. The former intensifies the sense of anomie people feel as their social world appears as though it were disintegrating while the latter presents severe neurobiological challenges to reproducing what face-to-face interaction habitually generates. Finally, these micro/meso-level processes are contextualized by considering how institutions, particularly polity but also science, manage collective risk and how their efficacy may either contribute to the erosion of solidarity or provide a sense of support in the face of anomic terror. Using the US to illustrate these processes, we are able to show how an inefficacious State response weakens the already tenuous connective tissue that holds a diffuse and diverse population together, while also exposing and intensifying existing political, economic, and cultural fissures, thereby further eroding existing solidarity and the capacity to rebuild post-pandemic cohesion.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-10-29T08:46:31Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132176
       
  • Protest During a Pandemic: How Covid-19 Affected Social Movements in the
           United States

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      Authors: Deana A. Rohlinger, David S. Meyer
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This paper explores how a global health crisis affects the causes and consequences of social movements. Drawing on media coverage, press releases, emails, and other available primary data sources, we examine how the pandemic changed the opportunities and conditions for activists on the right and left and those they challenge. We begin by considering the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the concomitant government response, which alters the structure of political opportunities activists face. We then look at the development of a range of protest campaigns that have emerged in response, assessing changes in opportunities for activists to reach and mobilize target constituencies, the construction of grievances, nature of alliances, as well as innovation in tactics and organization. Finally, we consider the potential outcomes of these protests during the pandemic and extending afterward.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-10-25T07:25:14Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221132179
       
  • Optimizing Temporal Capital: How Big Tech Imagines Time as Auditable

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      Authors: Ingrid Erickson, Judy Wajcman
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The belief that technology can be profitably employed to control and manage time has a long history. In this article we show how electronic calendaring systems have become emblematic of the contemporary vision of mastering time, codifying a distinctive quantitative orientation to time. Drawing on interviews with calendar designers at four prominent software development companies, we explore the quest among knowledge workers in Silicon Valley to embed a culture of temporal optimization through the use of calendaring software. Their collective response to this issue reveals that there is a specific kind of technoscientific world being developed: one fixated with solving the problem of time scarcity in contexts organized around maximizing productivity. Furthermore, this world is increasingly embracing the power of predictive data analytics and artificial intelligence. Yet, rather than being the progressive act that many Silicon Valley designers believe they are engaging in, this move toward automating time is the latest in a series of long-standing moral attempts to subject time to a particular brand of rationalization. This orientation to, and valorization of, the fast-paced, full life requires incessant performance on our part and the relentless pursuit of self-enhancement. In other words, positing that time has now become fodder for pattern recognition, we argue that calendaring software configures time events as auditable data that is ripe for accounting in the service of both old and new forms of socially-constructed optimization. We conclude by drawing out the implications of treating time as auditable data, most importantly, that it reinforces asymmetrical relations of power and devalues relations of care.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-10-17T08:06:49Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221127243
       
  • The Company You Keep: How Network Disciplinary Diversity Enhances the
           Productivity of Researchers

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      Authors: Tsahi Hayat, Dimitrina Dimitrova, Barry Wellman
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The Covid-19 pandemic has affected most organizations’ working environment and productivity. Organizations have had to make arrangements for staff to operate remotely following the implementation of lockdown regulations around the world, as the pandemic has led to restrictions on movement and the temporary closure of workplace premises. The purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of the effect of this transition on productivity during the pandemic, by studying a distributed network of research who collaborate remotely. We examine how the productivity of researchers is affected by the distributed collaborative networks in which they are embedded. Our goal is to understand the effects of brokerage and closure on the researchers’ publication rate, which is interpreted as an indicator of their productivity. We analyze researchers’ communication networks, focusing on structural holes and diversity. We take into account the individual qualities of the focal researcher such as seniority. We find that disciplinary diversity among researchers’ peers increases the researchers’ productivity, lending support to the brokerage argument. In addition, we find support for two statistical interaction effects. First, structural holes moderate diversity so that researchers with diverse networks are more productive when their networks also have a less redundant structure. Diversity and structural holes, when combined, further researchers’ productivity. Second, seniority moderates diversity such that senior researchers are more productive than junior researchers in less diverse networks. In more diverse networks, junior researchers perform as well as senior researchers. Social capital and human capital are complementary. We conclude that the benefits of diversity on researchers’ productivity are contingent on the qualities of the researchers and on network structure. The brokerage/closure debate thus needs a more nuanced understanding of causal relationships.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-10-17T07:31:49Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221127242
       
  • Automating Expert Labor in Medicine: What Are the Questions'

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      Authors: Daniel A. Menchik
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      I argue that the contemporary organization of professional work indicates the limits of answering typical questions about automation and technology in work to understand the practices of experts. Examining the case of automation in medicine, specifically Stereotaxis technology, I analyze a colligation of data on decisions about the uptake of this robotic technology among United States surgeons. I examine data including: procedure efficiency over time, the technology’s affordances for the preservation of surgeons’ bodily capital, changes in the profession’s demographic profile, physician social networks, and clinical researchers’ published assessments. The data suggest that automation of a central task can support and enhance the work of individual experts. They also show that using robotics does not improve efficiency. This case thus challenges the assumption that automation displaces work, at least in the case of professionals. And so, because Stereotaxis becomes more of a complement to surgeons’ work as opposed to a substitute, this case points towards the importance of focusing attention less on job automation than on task automation. The case also highlights that users of the technology (physicians) value it differently than do purchasers (administrators). In addition, it identifies the differing considerations motivating their decisions to adopt or not adopt the technology. And in light of the finding that robotics use is more common among the rank-and-file than the elite, it may be that some professionals perceive automation to afford mobility opportunities. Based on these findings I propose new questions for scholarship on medicine, work, and automation, including those around “expert” versus “unskilled” labor, the body, and workplace divisions of labor.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-10-12T12:50:49Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221127248
       
  • News Consumption, Corruption Perception, and Institutional Trust Among
           Kenyans—A Moderated Mediation Analysis

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      Authors: Tao Sun, Gregory Payne
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Based on a sample of 2,400 Kenyans from the Afrobarometer survey in 2019, the study tested a moderated mediation model in which news consumption had a positive impact on corruption perception, which in turn had a negative influence on institutional trust. The relationship between new consumption and corruption perception was moderated by support for press freedom. Specifically, news consumption’s positive impact on corruption perception was significant only among those who believe in press freedom, but not significant among those who agree with government censorship of media. This study makes a contribution to the literature of cultivation theory in the context of Kenyan respondents. Limitations and future research implications are discussed.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-10-12T12:42:30Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221126092
       
  • The Acceptance of Driverless Cars: The Roles of Perceived Outcomes and
           Technology Usefulness

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      Authors: Gustavo S. Mesch, Matias Dodel
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The accelerating development of autonomous vehicles is expected to have important effects on society such as reducing the number of traffic accidents, preventing the disabilities and deaths attributed to car accidents, and reducing pollution. However, their adoption depends on the willingness of the population to accept this innovation and incorporate it in their everyday activities. This study investigated the association between socio-demographic factors, political ideology, and attitudes toward technology and its perceived potential impact on society on support for driverless cars. We conducted a secondary analysis of a large sample of employees in the United States (n = 2,470). Based on conceptual frameworks relevant to the study of technology adoption such as the self-interest hypothesis, the usefulness of the technology, ideological orientation, and socio-demographic gaps in attitudes toward technology, our results indicate that perceived social outcomes of driverless cars are strongly associated with their support. Age and gender are negatively associated with support for autonomous vehicles. In contrast, perceived positive outcomes of the introduction of technology in the workplace are positively associated with them. Individuals with a consistently conservative ideology are also less likely to be supporters of autonomous vehicles. Our findings indicate that the centrality of the expected societal impact of autonomous vehicles implies the need to provide the public with accurate facts about their expected effect. Doing so is critical to increasing the public’s willingness to adopt the technology and support its production. People must also be reassured that regulations and product designs will be created to ensure their safety.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-10-10T10:05:50Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221127250
       
  • Future Shocks: Automation Meets the Pandemic

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      Authors: Jeremy Schulz
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article surveys the effects of what can be called two confluent agents of economic and societal transformation, digitally enabled automation and the covid-19 pandemic, on the contemporary economy. Examining shifts in work, occupations, labor markets, and consumption, the article ventures some conjectures on the consequences of this confluence, particularly across developed economies. The article contends that, while long-term automation tends to disrupt jobs and occupations which involve screen-facing work and, to a lesser extent, object-facing work, person-facing work is most exposed to the reallocation shocks precipitated by the covid crisis. Where consumption is concerned, both automation and pandemic-driven shocks lead to mutually reinforcing shifts. Seen together, automation and the pandemic phenomena can be regarded as intertwined socioeconomic stressors which will likely lead to even more divergent trajectories between the winners and the losers in the new economy.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-10-01T05:14:24Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221127235
       
  • The Role of Fatigue in a Campus COVID-19 Safety Behaviors Campaign

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      Authors: Lijiang Shen, James Price Dillard, Xi Tian, Shannon Cruz, Rachel A. Smith
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Message fatigue is the aversive motivational state that results from excessive exposure to campaign messages or similar information over an extended period of time. When fatigued, individuals become less attentive, less responsive, and more resistant to campaign messages and related information. Thus, understanding the bases and functioning of fatigue in persuasive health campaigns has obvious value. Despite considerable interest in this important topic, major questions remain under-studied. One such question hinges on the observation that campaigns are implemented in social systems, not laboratories. Apart from any direct effects that a campaign might produce, there is the potential for secondary exposure via individuals or other media that can yield distinct influences. How do these multiple sources work together to influence fatigue' Second, as explicated, message fatigue is the consequence of repeated exposure to campaign messages over time. With few exceptions, however, fatigue research has employed only cross-sectional designs, which preclude conclusions about the dynamic behavior of fatigue. How does fatigue change over the course of a campaign' Finally, the bases of fatigue are not entirely clear. Whereas fatigue is defined as a subjective judgment of excessive exposure, little is known about the affective processes underlying that judgment. How do emotional responses to a campaign amplify or attenuate fatigue' We examined these questions in the context of a campus COVID-19 safety behaviors campaign.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-30T04:41:58Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221124668
       
  • Digital Automation and AI: Trajectories and Cultures in and Outside the
           Workplace

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      Authors: Jeremy Schulz, Laura Robinson, Barry Wellman
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This issue of the American Behavioral Scientist brings together seven contributions that explore different facets of the two overarching themes connected to digital automation. The first section of the issue delves into the complex ways in which digital automation interacts with preexisting social and economic institutions, specifically professions, markets, and formal organizations. The second section includes contributions that explore the cultural side of digital automation in terms of time and humanness. The issue concludes with an examination of the complex entanglement of digital automation and the covid-19 pandemic as they reshape the post-automation/post-pandemic economic landscape, including labor markets, jobs, consumption, and economic growth.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-28T12:15:56Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221127245
       
  • Constructing What Counts as Human at Work: Enigma, Emotion, and Error in
           Connective Labor

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      Authors: Allison J. Pugh
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The rationalization of human life in work, feeling, and relationships is amplified by artificial intelligence (AI), apps and automation, challenging interpersonal workers not only in how and whether they do their work, but also how they understand themselves as human. Given these trends, how do interpersonal workers interpret the humanness of their work' To answer this question, I focus on the interactive service work I call “connective labor,” relying on 80+ in-depth interviews and 300+ hours of ethnographic observations with teachers, therapists and primary care physicians in the San Francisco Bay Area and mid-Atlantic United States, as well as with less advantaged practitioners such as sex workers, hairdressers, and home health care aides. I found that these interpersonal workers differentiated themselves from AI, automated agents, and robots in three ways: (1) by describing and defending their work as not rote, (2) taking pains to prove that they were not robots, and (3) justifying their judgments as safe, unique, and worthwhile. Much of their case rested on the unpredictability of humans, in terms of feelings, secrets, and mistakes. These findings have implications for race, class, and gender inequality, as advantage shaped how people were able to demand, perform, or experience their humanness in the ways that the proliferation of algorithmic technologies made salient.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-26T05:30:51Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221127240
       
  • Identifying Alternative Occupations for Truck Drivers Displaced Due to
           Autonomous Vehicles by Leveraging the O*NET Database

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      Authors: Jenna A. Van Fossen, Chu-Hsiang Chang, J. Kevin Ford, Elizabeth A. Mack, Shelia R. Cotten
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Automation continues to be a disruptive force in the workforce. In particular, new automated technologies are projected to replace many mid-skill jobs, potentially displacing millions of workers. Career planning agencies and other organizations can help support workers if they are able to effectively identify optimal transition occupations for displaced workers. We drew upon the 24.2 Occupational Information Network (O*NET) Database to conduct two related studies that identify alternate occupations for truck drivers, who are at risk of job loss due to the adoption of autonomous vehicles. In Study 1, we statistically compared the jobs that we identified based on different search methods using O*NET classifications based on their similarity to the knowledge, skills, values, and interests held by truck drivers. In Study 2, we conducted a survey of truck drivers to evaluate their perceptions of the occupations identified as objectively similar to their occupation. Results indicate that optimal transition occupations may be identified by searching for occupations that share skills as well as the same work activities/industry as a given occupation. These findings hold further implications for career planning organizations and policymakers to ease workforce disruption due to automation.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-26T05:29:32Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221127239
       
  • Addressing COVID-19 Misinformation and Resiliency Among Latinos Living
           With HIV: Formative Research Guiding the Latinos Unidos Microgame
           Intervention

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      Authors: Victoria Orrego Dunleavy, Regina Ahn, Daniel Mayo, Lindsay D. Grace
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Besides the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) itself, the indirect and unprecedented effects of mitigation strategies including shelter-in-place orders and social distancing combined with the widespread COVID “infodemic” disseminated by media interacted synergistically to worsen already compromised mental health outcomes of Latino people living with HIV (PLWH). This funded project directly addresses the sources of health disparity in Miami Dade County: mental health and misinformation by developing a culturally tailored resilience and media literacy intervention for Latinos living with HIV. Extant research on resilience strategies and media literacy skills have documented their effectiveness in assisting individuals make realistic appraisals and informed decisions that could benefit their health outcomes and improve health-related challenges. We utilized a community-based approach by collaborating with two local community partners (Open Arms and Borinquen) and conducting 27 qualitative interviews with Latino PLWH, infectious disease providers, and community health workers who directly informed content of the Latino Unidos microgame intervention. This article describes the formative research process guiding the Latinos Unidos microgame intervention—a three-module gamified intervention. Study outcomes provide the foundation for media and educational strategies that increase adherence to health guidance and enhance mental health responses to adversity as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-20T05:03:16Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221124660
       
  • Framing Effects on US Adults’ Reactions to COVID-19 Public Health
           Messages: Moderating Role of Source Trust

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      Authors: Sarah E. Vaala, Matthew B. Ritter, Deepak Palakshappa
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Increasing politicization of health guidance and fluctuating trust in public health institutions have challenged effective coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health communication in the United States. Applying the extended parallel process model, this research reports findings from two online survey experiments conducted at different points in the pandemic regarding two advocated risk reduction behaviors. Analyses test US adults’ emotional and argument strength reactions to experimental tweets attributed to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention which vary with regards to advocated behavior (social distancing; vaccination), emotional appeal, wellbeing orientation (individual vs. collective), and content frame (health vs. economic outcomes). Trust in the CDC is treated as a potential moderator. Results of path analyses indicated that emotional appeal and content frame had little impact on emotional or cognitive responses to the social distancing tweets, though unvaccinated adults with low trust in the CDC experienced greater hope and fear responses to tweets emphasizing collective benefits of vaccination. Hope reactions in both studies predicted greater perceived response efficacy for the advocated behavior, particularly among those with low CDC trust, while message annoyance undermined efficacy among low trust participants. Particularly among adults with low trust in the CDC, fear reactions led to reduced efficacy. Perceived efficacy of vaccination predicted greater intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, controlling for prior intention. Messages which inspire hope with regards to risk reduction behaviors and include sound arguments may be more motivating than fear-appeal messages, particularly among individuals with low levels of trust in public health institutions.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-17T06:24:01Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221124664
       
  • How Campus Alienation Exacerbated International Students’ Difficulties
           in Accessing Campus Services Remotely During COVID-19: Notes on Policy and
           Programming

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      Authors: Anil Lalwani, Wendy M. Green, Karla R. Hamlen Mansour
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The declining trend of international student enrollment in the United States has been investigated from the standpoint of social discrimination, and more recently, by accounting for the compounding effects of COVID-19-based campus closures and remote learning operations. The purpose of this study was to explore whether experiences of campus alienation are related to difficulties international students faced while accessing campus services remotely. A survey was developed and validated for the study. It was completed by 417 international students attending US postsecondary institutions. A canonical correlation was conducted to evaluate the multivariate shared relationships between campus exclusion, COVID-19 racism, and country of origin as one set of variables, and difficulties accessing campus services remotely (DASCR) and international travel difficulties as the other set. Results revealed one significant canonical function; this model explained 27% of variance shared between the two variable sets. Indicators of shared variance provided evidence for significant relationships between experiences characterizing campus alienation and DASCR. Implications are drawn in light of policy and program development, and practical examples are provided for postsecondary educators on how to offer pertinent outreach to their international students and advocate for inclusive campus policies in managing international student engagement remotely during campus closure.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-17T06:21:26Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118257
       
  • Pathways to Political Persuasion: Linking Online, Social Media, and Fake
           News With Political Attitude Change Through Political Discussion

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      Authors: Homero Gil de Zúñiga, Pablo González-González, Manuel Goyanes
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      There is a vast research tradition examining the antecedents that lead people to be politically persuaded. However, political opinion and attitude change in social media has received comparatively scarce attention. This study seeks to shed light on this strand of the literature by theoretically advancing and empirically testing a structural equation model linking online social media, and fake news exposure, with political discussion and political persuasion in social media. Drawing on autoregressive causal tests from two waves of US survey panel data collected in 2019 and 2020, our results indicate that online, social media fake news, and political discussion are all positive predictors of individual political attitude change. Furthermore, structural equation tests reveal that online and social media news lead individuals to be exposed to fake news, which, in turn, predict higher levels of political discussion, ultimately facilitating political persuasion in the social media realm. Limitations and further suggestions for future research are also included in the study.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-13T09:03:55Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118272
       
  • Intertwined Crises: California’s Public Universities’ Responses to
           COVID-19 and Anti-Asian Animus, January 2020 to June 2021

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      Authors: Andrés Castro Samayoa, Bach Mai Dolly Nguyen, Marisa Lally, Brittney Pemberton
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      COVID-19 ravaged everyday life for individuals across the globe, but its impact was especially harmful to Asian Americans who suffered both a notably high risk of infection and hospitalization, as well as a sharp rise in anti-Asian racism. In this article, we take these intertwined issues—a synergistic interaction between a novel virus and the deeply rooted racism rendering Asian Americans as perennial foreigners—to interrogate whether and how organizations’ early responses to COVID-evidenced communicative strategies that acknowledged the crises that unraveled throughout 2020. Through the framings of Situational Crisis Communication Theory and Racialized Organizations, this study considers what repertoire of crisis communication strategies do public institutions employ to address COVID-19 and what do these responses reveal about racialized inequality in higher education' The findings draw from an original archive of 2,723 public community messages across 31 public institutions in the University of California and California State University systems and demonstrate a deprioritization of responsiveness to anti-Asian animus amid the multiple issues emergent from COVID-19; rather than taking the opportunity to foreground universities’ capacity to respond to this crisis, institutions often redirected their responsibility. Such evidence reveals that universities are racialized organizations that employ management strategies that remain ill-prepared to not only manage racialized inequality throughout the crises of the COVID-19 syndemic but also to interrupt racism’s durability.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-07T05:27:00Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118266
       
  • A Comparison of Covid-19-Related Tweets Disseminated by the Centers for
           Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization During
           the Initial Months of the Pandemic

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      Authors: Lisa Huddleston, Mehroz Sajjad
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) that plagued the world in 2020 also brought with it the need to rapidly disseminate information to the public to encourage health-related behavior change. This study examines Covid-19-related Twitter messaging disseminated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization from February 29 to September 22, 2020. The research examined tweets from four constructed weeks, with the first 2 weeks representing days prior to President Donald Trump’s announcement of U.S. withdrawal from WHO, and the second 2-week period after the announcement. The Health Belief Model was used as the theoretical foundation for this study. Frequencies and chi-square analyses revealed less of an overall focus on barriers but no significant differences in messages for tweets related to consequences, benefits, and barriers. Significant differences (p < .01) were found in engagement messaging for the second 2-week period.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-02T05:46:50Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118296
       
  • Constructive Roles of Organizational Two-Way Symmetrical Communication:
           Workplace Pseudo-Information Gatekeeping

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      Authors: Loarre Andreu Perez, Narae Kim, Valentina Martino, Sihyeok Lee
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Misinformation, misunderstanding, and rumors are not foreign to organizations. The cost of pseudo-information can be critical for the organization in terms of profit, stakeholder relationships, and reputation. For those reasons, organizations should make efforts to detect and prevent the spread of pseudo-information. This piece of research proposes and finds support in a model to gatekeep pseudo-information in the workplace, in which two-way symmetrical communication is an essential element for the model, predicting employees’ gatekeeping behaviors, and mediating the relationship between quality of the employee–organization relationship and gatekeeping behaviors. Then, the cultivation of relationships with the employees and the adherence to two-way symmetrical communication are cost-effective methods for the organization. Loyal and satisfied employees voluntarily debunk and combat pseudo-information.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-02T05:41:19Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118294
       
  • How Constructions of Interpersonal Responsibility Shape Undergraduate
           Student Networks in Times of Social Distancing

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      Authors: Michael Brown, Rachel A. Smith, Robert Reason, Kevin Grady, Stephanie Sowl
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Since Spring 2020, college students have experienced rapid and unpredictable shifts in their social and academic worlds. As institutions implemented social distancing policies, students had to navigate unstable norms related to peer interaction while negotiating what it meant to act responsibly to ensure their own safety and help their communities. Drawing on a network-based approach to pro-social behavior, we conducted a study of undergraduate students’ frequent interaction networks at one research university during Fall 2020 to better understand how students constructed and were influenced by their peer relationship patterns. We observed a typology of student relationship patterns based on the structure and physical location of relationships. This typology had important implications for how students assessed risk and expressed care. While students engaged in different behaviors related to social distancing, they all believed they were making a concerted effort to keep their frequent contacts safe.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-02T05:39:59Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118291
       
  • Campus Reopening in Fall 2020: Linked More to Political Leadership and
           Institutional Characteristics than to COVID-19 Pandemic Severity

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      Authors: Samuel Snideman, Daniel Collier, Dan Fitzpatrick, Chris Marsicano
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The COVID-19 pandemic forced higher education institutions to reexamine their modes of instruction for the Fall 2020 semester. Some institutions chose to reopen for in-person instruction, others chose online or hybrid modalities. Leveraging data for 2,458 colleges and universities, we examined how political, epidemiological, economic, and institutional characteristics correlated with Fall 2020 reopening plans. We found no discernible relationship between county-level or state-level COVID-19 case counts and reopening plans. Campus demographics (such as White student enrollment) and state political characteristics were related to campus mode of instruction decisions for Fall 2020. The findings highlight the continued, and perhaps increasing, relevance of sociopolitical factors to higher education leaders’ decisions.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-02T05:37:02Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118273
       
  • Values, Contexts, and Realities: Senior Student Affairs Officers’
           Decision-Making During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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      Authors: Ann M. Gansemer-Topf
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs), whose primary responsibility is the health, safety, and well-being of students, were at the forefront of leading their campuses through the COVID-19 crisis. In Fall 2020 a diverse group of 23 SSAOs was interviewed to understand the contexts and issues that influenced decision-making during the pandemic. A focus on students, alignment with institutional contexts, and financial realities were consistently identified as key influencers of decision-making. Effective decision-making often entails a balancing act of several factors. The implications of this study can be used to inform student affairs practice and the professional development of graduate students and future and current SSAOs.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-01T10:17:24Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118275
       
  • Intervening Troubled Marketplace of Ideas: How to Redeem Trust in Media
           and Social Institutions From Pseudo-Information

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      Authors: Homero Gil de Zúñiga, Jeong-Nam Kim
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Today’s public sphere is largely shaped by a dynamic digital public space where lay people conform a commodified marketplace of ideas. Individuals trade, create, and generate information, as well as consume others’ content, whereby information as public space commodity splits between this type of content and that provided by the media, and governmental institutions. This paper first explains how and why our current digital media context opens the door to pseudo-information (i.e., misinformation, disinformation, etc.). Furthermore, the paper introduces several concrete empirical efforts in the literature within a unique volume that attempt to provide specific and pragmatic steps to tackle pseudo-information, reducing the potential harm for established democracies that today’s digital environment may elicit by fueling an ill-informed society.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-01T08:37:51Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118279
       
  • Student Trust in Higher Education Institutions: How the Pandemic
           Influenced Undergraduate Trust

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      Authors: Shannon M. Calderone, Kevin J. Fosnacht
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article examines trust perceptions among college/university students before and after COVID-19 campus closures in spring 2020. Using a special NSSE set of trust items, we measured students’ trust in key campus actors and social institutions. Our interests included examining trust level differences across student subgroups and the impact of these shifts in sentiment on their relationship with their campus and sense of belonging. We found a trivial change in trust in colleges and social institutions before and after the pandemic. However, this overall result masks important differences between student subgroups. We offer recommendations for educational scholars and practitioners.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-09-01T08:36:02Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118263
       
  • Global Sport Protest Activism Is Exclusive to the Global Elite: A Case
           Study of #boycottqatar2022

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      Authors: Tal Samuel-Azran, Tsahi (Zack) Hayat, Yair Galily
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Toward better understanding the nature of sport global protest, this article examines the profiles of users of the #boycottqatar2022 (N = 111,172), a global initiative calling to boycott the 2022 World Cup on grounds of Qatar’s alleged breach of human rights. A social network analysis identified that 82% of users of the hashtag were from North America and Western Europe, that 88% of the uses of the hashtag were on Twitter (and a minority on Facebook and Instagram), and that the users’ political inclination was mostly liberal in comparison to random users. Overall, the findings indicate that the hashtag was used almost exclusively by activists from the so-called Global North on the more elitist Twitter platform, thus portraying a picture as an act of the global elite rather than a truly inclusive and overarching global initiative. We discuss further theoretical and practical implications of the findings.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-30T06:35:40Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118299
       
  • Sport Prosumer Networks: Capital and Value of American Sports During
           Covid-19

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      Authors: Alexander J. Bond
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Prosumption capital is underexplored within social media sites, especially within sports. This article explores how the Covid-19 disruptions were used to extract prosumption capital from Twitter. Adopting an economic sociology perspective to measure prosumption capital, 2.3 million tweets were analyzed across the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer sports properties. This article applies social network analysis measures, indegree, domain, and proximity prestige to measure prosumption capital and shows how media organizations and other public figures capitalized on the Covid-19 disruptions. It also shows how the structure and those capitalizing through prosumption on Twitter are similar across the sports properties.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-30T06:32:40Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118293
       
  • “And Then People Are Surprised That Disasters Befall Us From All
           Directions”: Sport Fans’ Responses to Israel’s First Transgender
           Soccer Referee Sapir Berman

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      Authors: Ilan Tamir
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The current study focuses on sport fans’ attitudes toward the presence of the first transgender soccer referee in an elite league in Israel, and largely reflects the broader discourse on gender diversity and inclusion in general. Soccer referee Sapir Berman’s announcement of her gender transition may have been exceptional, but it joins the broad debate on the role of transgender individuals in sport. Research findings indicate that fans expressed ambivalent reactions to the announcement. Although many responses reflected impressive open-mindedness and support for the referee and her decision, a wide range of opposition strategies was also identified, including disgust, ridicule, violence, and concerns of an existential threat caused by changes in the traditional gender order. The fact that the announcement was made during the COVID-19 pandemic also affected the nature and the contents of fans’ responses.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-30T06:30:19Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118290
       
  • A Post-Pandemic Exploration of International Student-Athlete Personal
           Branding and Fan Interaction via Social Media

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      Authors: E. Su Jara Pazmino, Simon M. Pack
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The population of international student-athletes (ISAs) at the collegiate level has dramatically impacted the sporting landscape in North America. Whereas a passionate group of fans is vital to the success of a sports team, the development of that athlete–fan relationship has grown due to the increased media attention on athlete personal branding and social media presence. The present study explores ISAs’ perceptions of social media use for personal branding, the challenges they face, and the extent to which they interact with fans through social media in a post-pandemic context. Athletes have pivoted more recently from personal appearances and other face-to-face interactions to more virtual means of interacting with fans. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with ISAs from various sports within Divisions I and II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Four main themes emerged: (1) social media consumption versus content creation, (2) effects of name, image, and likeness regulations, (3) personal brand building on social media, and (4) fan interaction on social media for ISAs. The study aims to inform various collegiate athletics stakeholders on the potential value of ISAs’ personal branding for fan interaction and how this has been impacted by current name, image, and likeness restrictions.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-30T06:27:57Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118289
       
  • Misfires and Surprises: Polling Embarrassments in Recent U.S. Presidential
           Elections

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      Authors: W. Joseph Campbell
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The 2020 elections in the United States brought another round of embarrassment to leading polling organizations whose the final preelection surveys underestimated popular support for President Donald Trump and many down-ticket Republicans. While not necessarily a debacle, the 2020 outcome marked the sixth polling surprise of some variety in the past seven presidential elections. Despite its unenviable recent record, election polling is hardly doomed. This essay addresses why, while offering an overview of major polling failures in U.S. presidential elections since 1996.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-29T07:06:01Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118901
       
  • Sport Fanship at the Age of the Pandemic: Preliminary Thoughts in Times of
           (Global) Change

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      Authors: Yair Galily, Tal Samuel-Azran, Tsahi Hayat
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Sport fanship is immeasurable and represents one of society’s most universal leisure activities. The current collection of research on the fanship phenomena is truly global: 25 scholars from 4 continents (including North and south America, UK, Australia, Norway, Netherland, and Israel) looked closely at various dimensions of sport fanship. The ongoing COVID pandemic presents both spectators on and off the field with various challenges side to unique opportunity to rethink the way sport fans consume and interact. Thus, the aim of this double special issue with 13 papers was to assemble both applied or theoretical research from experts within fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, political science, economy, media, and gender studies.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-29T07:03:40Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118298
       
  • Credibility of the Official COVID Communication in Thailand: When People
           Stop Believing the Government

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      Authors: Pavel Slutskiy, Smith Boonchutima
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      One of the challenges of health communication during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been maintaining the credibility of official sources of information. Netizens constantly questioned the authorities’ messaging for inconsistencies in official narratives, which led to the dissemination of what came to called fake news that just happened to occasionally to be true. COVID skepticism affected countries around the world including Thailand, where social media users were regularly suspicious of the government narratives presented to the general public. The question arose of how people can factcheck official messaging that appears to be questionable, and the subject remains an issue more than 2 years later: Who should be the ultimate arbiter of truth in the COVID debate, and when does one turn to this arbiter' This paper follows Thailand social media discourse in an examination of discursive frames with the aim of identifying the correlations between public approval of Thai government disease control efforts and public skepticism of the official messages. The analysis demonstrates that the Thai public was generally accepting of the government’s messaging as long as the government’s efforts generally appeared to be successful but that public skepticism increased as approval of government actions decreased. Netizens in Thailand turned to Western sources of information such as the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control in searches for accurate information. This example of the Thai public’s COVID-19 discourse during the pandemic illustrates how credibility can be a function of approval rather than of truthfulness and transparency.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-29T07:01:26Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118297
       
  • Health Challenges and Community College Student Outcomes Before and During
           the COVID-19 Pandemic

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      Authors: Alyse C. Hachey, Claire Wladis, Catherine A. Manly, Katherine M. Conway
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This study details the prevalence of community college students’ reports of serious health events both before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. Survey responses from a representative sample of students within the largest community college at the City University of New York highlighted serious health challenges. Findings indicated that serious health challenges (including illness/injury/disability/mental health) were a significant factor in predicting students’ outcomes during the spring 2020 term. However, health-related events that occurred prior to the onset of the pandemic had a substantially and significantly larger correlation with course outcomes than those that occurred after the onset of the pandemic. This suggests that serious health issues may be a major barrier to student progress at community colleges, even outside of the conditions of a global pandemic, and that the pandemic may have only exacerbated this significant but often overlooked preexisting issue.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-29T06:58:46Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118295
       
  • Higher Education Stakeholders’ Early Responses to the COVID-19
           Crisis

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      Authors: Rebecca Natow, Ane Turner Johnson, Catherine A. Manly
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a swift and dramatic shift in how higher education teaching, learning, and other operations occurred. In the months that followed, higher education stakeholders endured major transitions and unexpected challenges. Higher education leaders, policymakers, students, faculty, and staff were influenced by the pandemic in a variety of ways. There is much to be learned from the experiences of higher education stakeholders during the early months of the pandemic. This article introduces the two-part special issue on Higher Education Stakeholders’ Early Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis, situating the research presented in the special issue within the broader context of high-stakes decision-making during a period of global uncertainty, stress, and conflict. The first part of the special issue presents research on the responses of institutional leaders and policymakers to the COVID-19 crisis. The second part of the special issue examines student and “classroom” experiences during the early months of the pandemic. Studies such as these on the responses of higher education stakeholders to the COVID-19 crisis enhance important understanding about how institutional leaders, policymakers, and other stakeholders made sense of and took steps to address the challenges presented by the pandemic.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-29T06:56:36Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118288
       
  • Production and Correction of Misinformation About Fine Dust in the Korean
           News Media: A Big Data Analysis of News From 2009 to 2019

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      Authors: Daemin Park, Hyelim Lee, Se-Hoon Jeong
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Based on framing theory and attribution theory, this research examines how the Korean news has framed and attributed the causes of fine dust in terms of external factors (i.e., China-responsibility) or internal factors (e.g., Korea-responsibility). We conducted a large-scale big-data analysis such as natural language processing and semantic network analysis to examine how news about fine dust in the Korean news had been produced and corrected. We used search terms, such as “fine dust” and “China,” to collect 21,222 articles from 54 media outlets over 11 years from 2009 to 2019. Fine dust reporting could be divided mainly into two stages of (a) producing misinformation and (b) correcting misinformation. In the phase of producing misinformation (before 2015), the Korea Meteorological Administration appeared as a major source of information and emphasized “fine dust from China” in its weather forecast. In the phase of correcting misinformation (after 2015), environmental and civic groups appeared as major sources of information. They urged the Korean government to initiate policies rather than blame China. Another important group, the scholars, denied China-responsibility and started to talk about Korea-responsibility. The government also emphasized on cooperation of Northeast Asian countries and initiating eco-friendly domestic policies based on LTP results (Long-range Transboundary Pollutants). Overall, misinformation was produced in the process of “climate,” → “socialization,” → “politicization,” and misinformation was corrected through “scientification,” → “Asianization” internationally, and “Korea-responsibility” → “eco-friendly policymaking” domestically.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-27T05:26:49Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118287
       
  • Online Football-Related Antisemitism in the Context of the COVID-19
           Pandemic: A Multi-Method Analysis of the Dutch Twittersphere

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      Authors: Jasmin Seijbel, Jacco van Sterkenburg, Ramón Spaaij
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This paper examines online expressions of rivalry and hate speech in relation to antisemitic discourses in Dutch professional men’s football (soccer), with specific attention devoted to how this has developed within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study analyses football-related antisemitic discourses in the Dutch-speaking Twittersphere between 2018 and 2021. Assuming that during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic fan activity has moved increasingly toward the online domain, we specifically examine whether and how the past pandemic years have influenced football-related antisemitic discourses on Twitter. Tweets were scraped using the Twitter application programming interface and 4CAT (a capture and analysis Toolkit), producing a dataset of 7,917 unique posts. The authors performed thematic analysis of the Tweets and a selection of the Tweets was analyzed in depth using narrative digital discourse analysis. The findings show how these Tweets, while seemingly targeted exclusively at football opponents, contribute to wider exclusionary discourse in football and society that may have become more aggravated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-27T05:24:43Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118286
       
  • Information Environments and Support for COVID-19 Mitigation Policies

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      Authors: Andrew J. Anderson, Joshua M. Scacco
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This research assesses how the environment for coronavirus disease (COVID) information contributed to the public’s willingness to support measures intended to mitigate the spread and transmission of the virus in the early stages of the pandemic. A representative sample of 600 Floridians was surveyed in April 2020. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, COVID anxiety, and knowledge about the virus, we find that components of the information environment mattered for public opinion related to mitigation policies. Television news sources, including local and national network news, center-left cable news (i.e., CNN, MSNBC), and Fox News, contributed to shaping policy support. The results highlight the importance of televised news coverage in shaping public opinion toward healthcare-related policies.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-27T05:23:26Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118285
       
  • The Twitter Following For the Beijing Winter Olympics and the
           Russian–Chinese Fans’ Alliance: A Social Network Analysis

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      Authors: Tsahi (Zack) Hayat, Yair Galily, Tal Samuel-Azran
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The current study examines the extent to which mega sport events play a role in connecting people from different countries, using the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics as its case study. The analysis examines social connection (on Twitter) between Chinese and Russians and whether these connections are more likely to occur among the followers of the @Beijing2022 Twitter account, if compared with Twitter users in these countries who do not follow this account. The choice of the Russians and the Chinese also stems from their countries’ united front against those Western countries whose diplomats boycotted the games. The analysis reveals that, in cases where two people follow @Beijing2022, the likelihood of there being a connection between them increases by 8%, as compared with those people who do not follow this account, while controlling for other relevant variables. The findings indicate that mega sport events which take place under a boycott have the ability to be enhancers of international social connections.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-27T05:22:06Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118281
       
  • Perceived Exposure and Concern for Misinformation in Different Political
           Contexts: Evidence From 27 European Countries

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      Authors: Federico Vegetti, Moreno Mancosu
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Political misinformation is becoming an increasingly central topic in both public and academic debate. The main normative concern is that the diffusion of false political news might lead to distorted perceptions of the social and political reality. Indeed, existing research largely focuses on the determinants of public misinformation and the spread of false news. However, the mere awareness of the diffusion of fake news might have important implications, by reducing the public trust in the information environment. This study aims at explaining the contextual variation in citizens’ perceived exposure to false information and their concerns for the impact of false information on society and democracy. We focus on two properties of the context: party polarization, as a proxy for the degree of political conflict, and media accuracy. We provide empirical evidence for our claims using a mix of data from Eurobarometer, the European Election Studies, the European Media System Survey, and Freedom House. We find that polarization and media accuracy are not related to the citizens’ self-assessed exposure to false information, but they are significantly associated with their concerns. We also find that citizens’ perceived exposure to false news is better explained by the degree of media freedom in the country.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-27T05:20:34Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118255
       
  • Innoculating Fandom: Riding the Roller Coaster of Sports During the
           Pandemic

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      Authors: Walter Gantz, Lawrence Wenner
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Using a critical events theoretic analytic lens, we argue that the Covid-19 pandemic had the disruptive power to shake the foundation of sports fanship, much as it affected all aspects of contemporary life across the globe. We conducted a survey of 613 adults in the United States, all of whom self-identified as sports fans. Sports fanship avidity dipped during the height of the pandemic when games, matches, and seasons were cancelled or conducted in protective bubbles without fans in the stands. That dip was temporary. With sports back in full-throttle mode, fanship avidity returned to pre-pandemic levels. Those who identified as strong fans appeared to cherish its return, some even more avid than before. The impact of the pandemic on sports fanship was most acute among those who were not ardent sports fans to begin with—and its impact appears to have extended over time.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-26T05:51:47Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118276
       
  • The Real-Time Social and Academic Adaptations of First-Generation College
           Students During the Global Pandemic

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      Authors: Jeffrey K. Grim, Emma Bausch, Steven Lonn
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In March 2020, during the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic in the US, institutions of higher education abruptly pivoted to a completely online experience that resulted in massive changes in experiences for faculty, staff, and students. As with other facets of society, the global pandemic has disproportionately impacted those who are already underserved including first-generation college students (FGCS). While we now have more understanding about some outcomes of FGCS from the pandemic, less is known about how FGCS navigated the first weeks of the abrupt transition. This study captures in real time how 54 FGCS from one institution navigated the evolving pandemic and university experience. Themes revealed how students managed an evolving information deluge, cared for their peers, managed online coursework, and dealt with increased financial and familial pressures. Our study concludes with implications for preparing for future abrupt disruptions to higher education.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-26T05:46:19Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118260
       
  • Correcting What’s True: Testing Competing Claims About Health
           Misinformation on Social Media

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      Authors: Emily K. Vraga, Leticia Bode
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This study expands on existing research about correcting misinformation on social media. Using an experimental design, we explore the effects of three truth signals related to stories shared on social media: whether the person posting the story says it is true, whether the replies to the story say it is true, or whether the story itself is actually true. Our results suggest that individuals should not share misinformation in order to debunk it, as audiences assume sharing is an endorsement. Additionally, while two responses debunking the post do reduce belief in the post’s veracity and argument, this process occurs equally when the story is false (thereby reducing misperceptions) as when it is true (thus reinforcing misperceptions). Our results have implications for individuals interested in correcting health misinformation on social media and for the organizations that support their efforts.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-26T05:45:05Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118252
       
  • Framing the Catalan Conflict: A Decade of el procés in the
           International Media

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      Authors: Cristina Perales-García, Carles Pont-Sorribes, David Meseguer-Mañá, Enric Xicoy-Comas
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Since 2010 the Catalan secessionist movement has been reported on extensively in the global media. Beginning with the 2010 demonstrations against the decision of the Spanish Constitutional Court to reject a new Catalan statute of autonomy, and covering subsequent events such as the unofficial self-determination referendum in 2017, the trial and imprisonment of Catalan political leaders, and the violent protests against the verdicts; the events in the region have all featured heavily on the front pages of the international press. This study analyzes how US and UK newspapers have covered the Catalan independence movement during the period from 2010 to 2019. To do so, this study focuses on two US newspapers (The New York Times and The Washington Post) and two from the UK newspapers (The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian) and observes how the positions of the Spanish and Catalan governments are represented through the analysis of the frames used to construct the newspapers’ coverage, as well as the overall tone and the sources used by the journalists. To detect the dominant framework, a framing analysis is undertaken from a communicative and deductive perspective, applying Semetko and Valkenburg’s classification. In-depth interviews are also conducted with the newspapers’ Spanish-based foreign correspondents which allows the analysis to include the correspondents’ views on the difficulties faced by them during their time spent while covering the conflict. The study’s primary conclusion is that the international press downplays the significant role played by social movements and civil society in the secession movement, with a strong preference shown by journalists to rely on representatives of official sources as the most valid spokespersons for the movement. Secondly, the study finds that media attention follows closely the flash-points of the conflict with more coverage appearing at the moments of greater political tension between the Spanish and Catalan governments. This suggests that civil society mobilizations attract less interest from the media that instead prefers to focus on developments in the political sphere.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-25T05:25:16Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118540
       
  • How War-Framing Effects Differ Depending on Publics’ Conspiracy Levels:
           Communicating the COVID-19 Vaccination

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      Authors: Jarim Kim, Jinha Baek, Jiyeon Lee, Jaeyeon Kim
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Public conspiracy beliefs prevent various social institutions including governments from communicating effectively. Fostering effective communication with high conspiracy belief individuals, who often disregard important public health messages, is crucial. This study investigated whether war framing could be used to effectively communicate with highly suspicious individuals. Specifically, it used an online experiment with 398 Korean citizens to examine how war-framing effects vary based on individual differences in general conspiracy and government-related conspiracy beliefs in the COVID-19 vaccination context. The results generally showed that literal messages were more effective for low conspiracy belief individuals while war-framed messages were more effective for those with high conspiracy beliefs. Additional analysis indicated that general conspiracy and government-related conspiracy beliefs were negatively associated with individuals’ vaccination attitudes and intentions. This study concludes by discussing the practical implications of its findings for health communication involving highly suspicious individuals.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-25T05:20:56Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118283
       
  • Learning From COVID-19: Unchanging Inequality and Ideology in Higher
           Education

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      Authors: Ryan S. Wells
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Articles in this two-issue series have done an excellent job showing how higher education stakeholders responded to a rapidly changing postsecondary context due to COVID-19. In this concluding essay, I reflect on some of that work and take a moment to also focus on what has not changed. As many others have noted, the pandemic amplified already-existing aspects of societal inequality. This was due in part to decisions, policies, and institutional practices grounded in unchanging logics that accept, maintain, or exacerbate inequitable systems and processes. As more people recognize the injustices in our postsecondary system that COVID-19 has helped to reveal, the time is right for a new progressive research agenda. Building on the work authors have contributed to these issues, the agenda must include new ways of thinking and investigating questions that often remain unasked. It must come from a place of seeing a possible transformation for higher education. As part of this agenda, racism, ableism, neoliberalism, and related ideologies must be analyzed, scrutinized, and ultimately transformed if higher education is to address the continuation of the COVID-19 crisis and be ready for the next ones.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-25T05:17:16Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118278
       
  • State Higher Education Funding during COVID-19: Exploring State-Level
           Characteristics Influencing Financing Decisions

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      Authors: Paul G. Rubin, Meredith S. Billings, Lindsey Hammond, Denisa Gándara
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Building on research examining state financing for higher education, our qualitative comparative case study investigates state policymakers’ decisions for funding public higher education during the COVID-19 crisis in California and Texas. These states were purposively selected based on the size of their postsecondary sector, state partisanship, and higher education funding responses during the pandemic. Moreover, these states represent two of the largest public postsecondary enrollments nationally and serve a racially and ethnically diverse student population. Guiding our study is the Hearn and Ness (2018) framework investigating the ecology of state higher education policymaking, which offers four contextual categories that influence state policy decisions: socioeconomic context, organizational and policy context, politico-institutional context, and external context. This framework suggests underlying factors influencing the state funding process, while also providing an opportunity to expand on this theory through the unique COVID-19 context. We used deductive and inductive techniques to analyze 28 interviews with a range of actors, including state elected officials, state government staff, and higher education officials. We also examined 69 documents (state budgets, news articles, and state executive orders) to triangulate and verify our interview data. Two areas served as key events that ultimately influenced higher education funding decisions in California and Texas: (1) the preference of certain higher education institutions and (2) the availability and application of federal dollars. Furthermore, the organizational and policy context and the politico-institutional context, as defined by the Hearn and Ness framework, provided additional state-level factors that resulted in distinct responses. This study offers practical and theoretical contributions to higher education policy and practice, including highlighting the decision-making and prioritization processes of state policymakers when facing an unprecedented pandemic and crisis, and discussing common and unique factors influencing higher education policymaking in two different state contexts.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-25T05:12:20Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118270
       
  • From “Angry Mobs” to “Citizens in Anguish”: The Malleability of
           the Protest Paradigm in the International News Coverage of the 2021 US
           Capitol Attack

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      Authors: Volha Kananovich
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This study tests the robustness of the “protest paradigm”—a routinized, predominantly negative pattern in covering social protest—by examining the news coverage of the 2021 US Capitol attack in eight countries that vary in the nature of their political regime and geopolitical standing, with democratic US allies United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Australia on one side, and authoritarian adversaries Russia, China, and Iran on the other. Based on a computer-assisted analysis of 3,579 news articles, the study shows that rather than operating as a rigid template, the protest paradigm offers national media a malleable set of journalistic devices that can be appropriated to construct the meaning of disruptive global events in a way that reproduces dominant domestic ideologies and advances the ruling elites’ geopolitical interests. In addition to theoretical contribution, the study offers a novel empirical finding to the literature on protest coverage by providing evidence of national media not simply deviating from, but explicitly violating the protest paradigm. As demonstrated by the analysis of the Russian press, rather than delegitimizing the January 6 attackers by making light of their agenda and emphasizing their unruly behavior—which could be expected from coverage consistent with the protest paradigm—the Russian state-owned media trivialized the brutality of the attack by opting for cues with less violent connotations and elevated the legitimacy of the protesters’ actions by framing them as valid demands by politically minded citizens unjustly prosecuted for concerns about the integrity of electoral process.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-24T06:06:43Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118265
       
  • The Effect of COVID-19 on Home Advantage in Women’s Soccer: Evidence
           From Swedish Damallsvenskan

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      Authors: Alex Krumer, Vetle A. O. Smith
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Most studies of the effect of COVID-19 restrictions on home advantage have been conducted on men’s soccer, with the women’s game lacking scientific attention. The present study fills this gap by investigating games in Swedish Damallsvenskan women’s soccer league. Comparing games in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, we find a slight, but not statistically significant reduction in home advantage in games without crowds in terms of goals scored and points achieved. However, unlike in most studies on men’s soccer, we find that away teams received significantly more yellow cards in games without crowds compared to games with crowds. We discuss our results in the context of the findings in men’s soccer.JEL Classification: D00, J71, L00, Z13, Z20.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-24T06:01:23Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118259
       
  • An Afterthought: Staff of Color and Campus Wellness Within Higher
           Education Responses to COVID-19

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      Authors: Katherine S. Cho, Lauren Brassfield
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      While higher education has continued to adjust to COVID-19, which has included moving to virtual platforms and supporting students’ mental health, what is absent from these conversations is the campus staff enacting the rapidly changing university context. These professionals in academic and student affairs, residential life staff, and advising staff have had to readjust roles, responsibilities, and programs, all while facing ambiguous threats of budget cuts and struggling with their own wellness. Through a qualitative study at a midwestern university using Critical Race Theory, this study focuses on both the pandemic as well as the endemic concerns of racism Staff of Color experience at their higher education institutions. Findings reveal disconnects between university values and communication with the (lack of) financial prioritization and care. While many seek a return to the pre-COVID-19 campus, the strategies, execution, and prioritization of staff hold much longer ramifications regarding campus retention, inclusion, and equity.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-24T05:52:58Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118254
       
  • Identifying the Drivers Behind the Dissemination of Online Misinformation:
           A Study on Political Attitudes and Individual Characteristics in the
           Context of Engaging With Misinformation on Social Media

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      Authors: Sophie Morosoli, Peter Van Aelst, Edda Humprecht, Anna Staender, Frank Esser
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The increasing dissemination of online misinformation in recent years has raised the question which individuals interact with this kind of information and what role attitudinal congruence plays in this context. To answer these questions, we conduct surveys in six countries (BE, CH, DE, FR, UK, and US) and investigate the drivers of the dissemination of misinformation on three noncountry specific topics (immigration, climate change, and COVID-19). Our results show that besides issue attitudes and issue salience, political orientation, personality traits, and heavy social media use increase the willingness to disseminate misinformation online. We conclude that future research should not only consider individual’s beliefs but also focus on specific user groups that are particularly susceptible to misinformation and possibly caught in social media “fringe bubbles.”
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-23T05:33:10Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118300
       
  • Beyond Cheering: Football Fandom as a Form of Human Play

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      Authors: Felix Lebed, Elia Morgulev
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Lebed formulated play as “other being,” a unique state of escape from reality. If football fans are also “players” and not just spectators, then their interactions with the club are characterized by play-like behaviors. To test this premise, we delivered questionnaires to 488 respondents who identified themselves as football followers or fans. We revealed that the most emotionally involved fans (“hot”) tend to playful behaviors significantly more than others, whereas less involved fans were more inclined to influence their team’s “life.” The obtained results shed light on additional motivations and priorities of fans, motivations that can be overlooked in literature where fans are being considered as “ordinary” customers. Consequently, this realization may assist decision-makers to address the specific groups of fans with adequately designed strategies.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-23T05:29:10Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118261
       
  • Understanding Active Communicators on the Food Safety Issue:
           Conspiratorial Thinking, Organizational Trust, and Communicative Actions
           of Publics in China

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      Authors: Myoung-Gi Chon, Linjia Xu, Jarim Kim, Jiaying Liu
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      As misinformation is common in the digital media environment, it has become more important to understand risk communication in the context of communicative behaviors of publics that affect public opinion and policymaking. Focusing on food safety issues such as genetically modified food and food additives in China, this study aims to understand the communicative action of publics and the role of organizational trust in the conspiratorial thinking of publics and their perceptions of food safety issues. Using a national sample of 1,089 citizens living in China, this study examines situational theory of problem solving (STOPS) to understand when and how publics become active in communicative actions to take, select, and transmit information regarding food safety issues. In addition, this study tests the role of organizational trust in the food industry between conspiratorial thinking of publics and their situational perceptions, which are antecedent variables to increase communicative action of publics in problem solving. The results demonstrate that STOPS can be applied to the food safety issue to predict communicative actions of publics, and organizational trust plays a vital role in reducing individuals’ concerns about the food safety issue.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-22T05:12:24Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118284
       
  • Old Rules for New Times: Sportswomen and Media Representation in the
           COVID-19 Pandemic

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      Authors: Brent McDonald, Fiona McLachlan, Ramón Spaaij
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      During the first few months of the pandemic, professional sport around the globe stopped, as competitions and leagues were cancelled, postponed, or went into hiatus while sport administrators scrambled to work out ways to reboot their product in a COVID-19 world. Sport media outlets were faced with the task of reporting on sport and filling the void for fans in the absence of any live content. This article is concerned with the content, both in quantity and quality that fans of women’s sport could consume in those first months. In the context of the current “boom” in women’s professional sports, we draw on the analysis of two online sport media sites to consider the narratives of female athletes that fans had access to. The findings suggest that during the beginning of the pandemic sport stories about women were largely erased and replaced by those appealing to a very different fan market.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-22T05:09:40Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118280
       
  • The Next Best Thing: How Media Dependency and Uses and Gratifications
           Inform Esport Fandom During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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      Authors: Andrew Billings, Sai Datta Mikkilineni
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      COVID-19 ushered new forms of media engagement when traditional sporting events and league play were suspended. Subsequently, certain sections of the audience moved online to fill their needs typically satisfied via traditional sport consumption. Esport is one such form of digital entertainment that significantly altered the ways in which sport fans can immerse themselves in related content. To examine how those audience obtained gratifications, we surveyed traditional sport fans who have either increased or initiated esports media consumption during the pandemic, doing so through the lens of media dependency theory. Results from 155 sports fans demonstrate three key findings. First, gratifications for traditional sports were significantly higher than those of esports. Secondly, ascending esports consumers maintained significantly more intense gratifications than did new users. Finally, media dependency was a significant, positive predictor of all 12 of the traditional sports motivations and 9 of the 12 esport motivations.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-22T05:08:32Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118277
       
  • Understanding How Student Support Practitioners Navigated Ideal Worker
           Norms During COVID-19: The Role of Job-Crafting

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      Authors: Genia M. Bettencourt, Lauren N. Irwin, Joseph A. Kitchen, Zoë B. Corwin
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Student support practitioners (SSPs) play a key role in supporting at-promise (low-income, first-generation college, and/or racially minoritized) students in higher education. However, delivering such support can lead to stress and burnout when practitioners do not receive commensurate support and flexibility to do their jobs. In this study, we examined how SSPs supported students while fulfilling their needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data collected during 2020 to 2021 as part of a longitudinal study of a comprehensive college transition program at three midwestern universities, we examine how SSPs engaged in job crafting during the pandemic. Our findings reveal that job crafting largely perpetuated and expanded ideal worker norms during the pandemic. Implications from this research suggest the need to consider how to institutionally support job crafting in ways that center the needs of SSPs.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-22T05:05:20Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118274
       
  • A Comparative Analysis of Social Media Fan (Community) Engagement in a
           European and a North American Pro-Sport League and Their Reaction to
           Industry-Wide Disruptions

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      Authors: Gidon Jakar, Jeff Carr
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Professional and amateur sport throughout the world experienced an industry-wide disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial stage of the pandemic required the postponement of leagues and games, until athletic events were resumed without fans. This disruption required the sport industry to adapt and supply substitute products to engage users without the access to the primary product, live sport. In this study, we compare how a North American league (National Basketball Association) and a European league (English Premier League) adapted to these changes using social media to engage with fans. We examine changes in the volume of Tweets and engagements with official team Twitter posts. Our data contain categorical control variables accounting for different stages of the pandemic. This includes when games were canceled for health and safety reasons, when play was resumed in a bubble format, in-season periods, and offseason periods. Examining social media engagement during these periods is a unique opportunity to compare team (supply) strategies and fan reactions (demand) to a disruption, and to explore the longer-term implications such as expanded engagement after the disruption has ended or when its effects have lessened.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-22T05:03:59Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118269
       
  • The 21st Century Globetrotters’ Fans: The Case of Israeli Transnational
           Football Supporters’ Communities Before and During the Pandemic

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      Authors: Orr Levental, Tal Laor, Yair Galily
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In the modern era of commercialized, mediated, and global football, there is a decline in the importance of the local aspect of sports fandom. Nowadays, through television broadcasts, the Internet, and especially social networks, a fan continuously follows elite football clubs from around the world, which provide an alternative to local clubs. This has created a growing trend of football fan communities known as “transnational fans”—fans of sports clubs from other countries. Contrary to traditional definitions of fandom, the transnational fans are not close to the home stadium and therefore do not take part in the ceremonial ritual of actively supporting the club from the stands. Because of this, they are not seen as part of the club’s traditional fans. This means that transnational fans are forced to redefine the image of the football fan and to place special emphasis on an active community and loyalty to the team as markers of devotion. Contributing to the study of the psychology of fandom, this article discusses the characteristics of those fans’ communities in Israel and seeks to present an analysis of the construction of their members’ social and personal identity. To this end, an anthropological approach was adopted, which involved attending community gatherings throughout an entire gaming season and also included a series of in-depth interviews with community members. The findings of the study illustrate two main premises: the use of personal and community resources for self-determination, and the community and its place in the modern fan typology. Each theme attempts to redefine the individual’s role in the social setting and present a dynamic image of football fandom as it will take shape in coming decades.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-22T05:01:59Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118268
       
  • College Presidents’ Public Messaging During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An
           Analysis of Published Opinion Pieces as Crisis Communications

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      Authors: Rebecca Natow
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      During the Spring and Summer of 2020, college presidents across the United States undertook the difficult task of determining how best to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. An important aspect of leading through a crisis is messaging—that is, communicating about how the crisis is impacting one’s organization and how the needs of organizational constituents are being addressed. The purpose of this study was to analyze short opinion articles (op-eds) published by college presidents regarding higher education and the COVID-19 pandemic to understand how those publications functioned as public crisis communications. This study involved a content analysis of 40 op-eds that were authored or coauthored by college presidents between March and August 2020. Findings indicate that college presidents discussed their organizations’ implementation of public health matters, the importance of togetherness in a crisis, and how their institutions were helping the community during the public health emergency. College leaders’ desire to attain much-needed resources was also evident in many op-eds. This study illuminates how college presidents used public messaging via opinion pieces to communicate publicly during the early months of the pandemic and to attempt to secure resources for their organizations.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-22T04:58:39Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118267
       
  • The Amplification of Exaggerated and False News on Social Media: The Roles
           of Platform Use, Motivations, Affect, and Ideology

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      Authors: Andrew Chadwick, Cristian Vaccari, Johannes Kaiser
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      We use a unique, nationally representative, survey of UK social media users (n = 2,005) to identify the main factors associated with a specific and particularly troubling form of sharing behavior: the amplification of exaggerated and false news. Our conceptual framework and research design advance research in two ways. First, we pinpoint and measure behavior that is intended to spread, rather than correct or merely draw attention to, misleading information. Second, we test this behavior’s links to a wider array of explanatory factors than previously considered in research on mis-/disinformation. Our main findings are that a substantial minority—a tenth—of UK social media users regularly engages in the amplification of exaggerated or false news on UK social media. This behavior is associated with four distinctive, individual-level factors: (1) increased use of Instagram, but not other public social media platforms, for political news; (2) what we term identity-performative sharing motivations; (3) negative affective orientation toward social media as a space for political news; and (4) right-wing ideology. We discuss the implications of these findings and the need for further research on how platform affordances and norms, emotions, and ideology matter for the diffusion of dis-/misinformation.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-08-22T04:57:44Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221118264
       
  • Revisiting the White Boys From Portland to Ukraine: Anomie and Right-Wing
           Extremism

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      Authors: Randall Blazak
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo, New York that targeted black grocery shoppers followed a now-familiar pattern. A white male, radicalized by online disinformation campaigns, including the narrative that whites are being systematically “replaced” in society, engaged in an act of domestic terrorism to further the cause of white nationalism. This article charts the ways that right-wing extremism has evolved in the first two decades of the twentieth-first century. This recent history begins with the racist skinhead and patriot militia movements that dominated the literature 20 years ago and moves through the rise of the alt-right, lone-wolf attacks, the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, and finally, situates a globalized movement in a pandemic era of de-globalization that has both direct and indirect connection to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The theoretical theme throughout is Emile Durkheim’s concept of anomie and how white males have responded to the rapid pace of social change. Conclusions are drawn from a wide variety of interviews, from Proud Boys in Portland, Oregon to Ukrainian soldiers, stationed on the Ukraine–Poland border.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-07-06T12:54:35Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221108940
       
  • The Impact of 9/11 on Money Laundering

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      Authors: Izhar Haq, Islam El Shahat, Michael Abatemarco, Christopher Bates
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article examines money laundering and terrorist financing from both a conceptual framework as well as the regulations that attempt to combat its use. A historical perspective of money laundering provides context on its origins, evolution, and anti-money laundering efforts. After a review of the money laundering process, anti-money laundering efforts in the United States are examined through the end of the twentieth century as well as the rise of international terrorism. The impact of September 11, 2001 on anti-money laundering efforts is then examined along with identifying links between human and drug trafficking with terrorist financing. The article concludes with emerging technologies that may have a significant impact on both money laundering and anti-money laundering efforts as they apply to the threat of terrorism.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-07-04T04:31:41Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221108943
       
  • Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Personal Reflection

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      Authors: Jonathan R. White
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article contains a personal reflection of experiences in terrorism research over the past few decades. It begins by discussing early academic struggles to recognize the legitimacy of terrorism research, especially in the field of criminal justice. This is followed by a selective description of events where the author correctly predicted events as well as those where he was blindsided by surprises. It closes with an appeal to both the academy and the American public to move beyond ideology and populist understandings of terrorism to grapple with the multiple forms and complexities of terrorist violence.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-07-01T01:40:12Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221108946
       
  • Terrorism in America in the Twenty-First Century: Revisiting My
           Prognostications

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      Authors: Harvey W. Kushner
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In this article, I analyze the warnings I gave prior to the new millennium concerning the possibility of terrorism visiting American soil. The sources of the problem are discussed in detail. These warnings were not showcased in academic journals gathering dust on some university library shelve. They were given to a variety of governmental agencies as well as discussed in the mainstream media. My sources are revealed for all to see. Unfortunately, my prognostications proved accurate when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-06-22T10:15:14Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221108938
       
  • My Back to the Future Moment for Terrorism

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      Authors: Larry C. Johnson
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article, with the benefit of hindsight, analyzes the accuracy (and inaccuracy) of my February 2001 article in the American Behavioral Scientist seeking to answer, “what is the future of terrorism'” I discovered that Shakespeare had it right, “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, But in ourselves if we are underlings.” There are two major factors that produce and sustain international terrorism—state sponsorship of individuals and groups that carry out terrorist acts and the actions of nation states that create an aggrieved class that is inspired to use violence to try to achieve political objectives or simply to avenge a perceived wrong. The conclusion reached in 2001 remains valid—Prevention and preparation can pay important dividends in deterring terrorism. But a government’s response must be tempered with reason and prudence. Security and law enforcement policies must reflect the values and the vision that protect and uphold freedom.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-06-22T10:09:56Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221108937
       
  • Editor’s Introduction

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      Authors: Harvey W. Kushner
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.

      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-06-22T10:06:25Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221108942
       
  • Assessing the Academic Study of Counterterrorism Since 9/11 in
           Understanding and Preventing Terrorism

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      Authors: Joshua Sinai
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article assesses the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in the discipline of counterterrorism studies since al-Qaeda’s catastrophic attacks against the United States on 9/11 along 10 dimensions: defining terrorism, group and lone actor typologies, causes of terrorism, terrorist psychologies, radicalization and recruitment, organizational dynamics, modus operandi, incident chronology databases, forecasting and predicting terrorism, and countering terrorism.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-06-22T10:01:01Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221108945
       
  • The Network Society Revisited

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      Authors: Manuel Castells
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The theory of the network society, in my own version, was originally elaborated in the book that, under the title The Rise of the Network Society, I published in 1996. It was revised and updated in the 2000 and 2010 editions. However, the significant social change that has taken place on a global scale in the last decade provides an opportunity to reassess its heuristic value. Therefore, in this text, I will attempt to consider the currency of the theory of the network society when confronted with these changes.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-06-08T11:46:36Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221092803
       
  • Derailed by the COVID-19 Economy' An Intersectional and Life Course
           Analysis of Older Adults’ Shifting Work Attachments

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      Authors: Phyllis Moen, Joseph H. Pedtke, Sarah Flood
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This paper addresses the uneven employment effects on older Americans (aged 50–75) of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on monthly Current Population Survey data from January through December 2020, we take an intersectional and life course approach to study the labor market effects of COVID-19 on older Americans. First, we chart monthly labor force states throughout 2020 for older adult subgroups defined by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. We then examine transitions out of and into work from one month to the next. We find gendered age-graded declines in employment, increases in unemployment, and increases in the proportions of people in their 50s reporting they are not in the labor force for other reasons (NILF-other), most dramatically for Asian and Hispanic women. There is little change in age-graded retirement from before to during the pandemic, regardless of gender or race/ethnicity, though there are education-level effects, with those without a college degree more likely to retire in the face of COVID-19. White men with a college degree are the most apt to retain their work engagement.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-06-06T11:41:16Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211066061
       
  • Breakdown 2.0' Systemic Blockages in Late-Stage Statism and Late-Stage
           Liberal Capitalism

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      Authors: Felix Stalder
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Castells’ analysis of the breakdown of Soviet statism is possibly more relevant now than when it was written. By identifying systemic blockages to necessary societal transformation—then from industrialism to informationalism—he offers a framework to analyze the contemporary crisis of liberal democracy. Then and now, the challenges are caused by the system’s inability to organize the complexity created by itself which creates more and more internal contradictions. Two current challenges threatening the stability of the liberal democracy are rising social inequality and the crossing of geophysical boundaries of the earth as an ecological system. The inability to address these challenges is related to systemic blockages within liberal democracies. Parallels to the late Soviet Union are drawn without predicting outcomes.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-28T12:20:50Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221092799
       
  • The Network and the Society: Structure and Agency in Castells’
           Theory

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      Authors: Andrea Miconi
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The aim of the article is to explore the theoretical tension between structure and agency as laid out by Manuel Castells, from The Rise of the Network Society (1996) to Networks of Outrage and Hope (2012). With agency and structure recognized as the two main axes around which general social theory rotates, Castells’ work appears to be affected by discontinuity rather than continuity. The first part of his theory mainly deals with structure and with the “pre-eminence of social morphology over social action”, while the second is rather based on agency, and namely on the role played by grassroots movements. I will retrace his theoretical evolution while also stressing the point that network and society are not one and the same. Therefore, any all-embracing theoretical perspective is destined to miss the target, considering that technical, political, and social affairs follow different rules and patterns.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-27T12:22:24Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221092805
       
  • Storytelling and Deliberative Play in the Oregon Citizens’ Assembly
           Online Pilot on COVID-19 Recovery

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      Authors: Laura W. Black, Anna W. Wolfe, Soo-Hye Han
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article draws on the deliberative play framework to examine empirical examples of storytelling in an online deliberative forum: The Oregon Citizen Assembly (ORCA) Pilot on COVID-19 Recovery. ORCA engaged 36 citizens in deliberation about state policy through an online deliberative process spanning seven weeks. Drawing on literature on small stories in deliberation, we trace stories related to a policy proposal about paying parents to educate children at home. Our analysis demonstrates that storytelling activities accomplish aspects of deliberative play through introducing uncertainty, resisting premature closure, and promoting an “as if” frame that allows groups to explore the scope and implications of proposals. Forum design influences interaction and our analysis suggests that technology use and timing are key design features that can facilitate or inhibit deliberative play.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-23T08:58:50Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221093591
       
  • The Network Society Today

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      Authors: Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol, Ramon Ribera-Fumaz
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      2021 marked the 25th Anniversary of Manuel Castells’ The Rise of the Network Society, the first volume of the Information Age trilogy. The Trilogy immediately became one of the most influential works to understand the societal change in the wake of the digital revolution. More than two decades later, many of the emerging processes theorised and analysed in the Trilogy have reached full maturity, if not evolved in unexpected ways. Also, several theoretical and epistemological trends have developed or consolidated in the social sciences that have either been influenced by or challenged the Trilogy position. In this scenario, is the Network Society Theory still relevant for understanding today’s digitalised society' How should we develop the Network Society approach now' This special issue aims to answer these questions. In particular, in this collection of papers, we identify three interrelated dimensions: new developments in the evolution or disruption of the Network Society, the articulation between network logics and other spatial forms, and the relation of the Network Society with recurrent topics in Castells’ work beyond the Information. The papers are a selection of the contributions to the online workshop The Network Society Today: (Revisiting) the Information Age Trilogy (November 2–30, 2020), in which Prof. Castells also participated. This volume brings together a wide range of established and emerging scholars from a diversity of Social Sciences disciplines with plural theoretically informed papers tackling rich empirical case studies across the world, spanning throughout America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Contributions conclude with a reflection by Manuel Castells on them and his work.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-23T08:53:49Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221092800
       
  • To Play Is the Thing: How Game Design Principles Can Make Online
           Deliberation Compelling

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      Authors: John Gastil
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This essay draws from game design to improve the prospects of democratic deliberation during government consultation with the public. The argument begins by reviewing the problem of low-quality deliberation in contemporary discourse, then explains how games can motivate participants to engage in demanding behaviors, such as deliberation. Key design features include: the origin, governance, and oversight of the game; the networked small groups at the center of the game; the objectives of these groups; the purpose of artificial intelligence and automated metrics for measuring deliberation; the roles played by public officials and nongovernmental organizations during the game; and the long-term payoff of playing the game for both its convenors and its participants. The essay concludes by considering this project’s wider theoretical significance for deliberative democracy, the first steps for governments and nonprofit organizations adopting this design, and the hazards of using advanced digital technology.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-21T10:24:30Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221093592
       
  • Facilitating Deliberative Play

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      Authors: Leah Sprain
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Craig (2022) offers deliberative play as a communicative practice that advances deliberative goals even though it is not per se deliberative. This playful interaction includes indeterminacy or uncertainty of outcome, to-and-fro movement, and an as-if ontology that can be either cooperative or competitive. I draw on the concept of deliberative play and interaction from deliberative events to generate practical theory to guide deliberative facilitators. The analysis demonstrates metacommunicative cues of the deliberative play frame, particularly even-if questions. It also contributes this to the theoretical development of deliberative play by suggesting that some of the instrumental concerns of facilitators (e.g., maintaining engagement and active participation in the creation of new meanings and actionable knowledge) might productively be considered part of deliberative play to help distinguish when to-and-fro movement stops contributing to deliberative goals. This practical theory provides facilitators ways to recognize nondeliberative interaction that can advance deliberative ends.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-21T10:20:49Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221093590
       
  • Freedom of Discussion versus Predetermined Futures in Deliberation
           Processes

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      Authors: Anna Przybylska, Marta Bucholc, Shin Mazur
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Methods of deliberative consultations usually propose expert information materials to increase knowledge among lay citizens about the considered subject. These materials sometimes also include alternative scenarios for action presented with pros and cons. In our study, we pose the following research questions: (1) Do the participants tend to use predetermined scenarios or diverge from them and generate their reference structures for the deliberation’s indeterminate outcomes' (2) How do the scenarios intervene in the “loping to-and-fro form of movement” in the interactions' (3) How is the knowledge about the preexisting scenarios reflected in the “as if” ontology of thought and action' We introduce play and game as two ideal types of deliberation processes emphasizing the opposition of freedom and pre-determination of outcomes. The analysis used empirical material from online group discussions about various aspects of studying at Warsaw universities. The results showed that regardless of the situation in groups, predefined scenarios are the focus of discussions and anchoring points for the “loping to-and-fro form of movement.” However, participants demonstrated some selectivity, and they did not consider all alternatives. Moreover, they introduced some modifications and new proposals. At the same time, participants tended to diverge more from briefing materials in argumentation. Experiential arguments prevailed, and the pros and cons of each scenario appeared rarely across groups. Interestingly, stricter moderation did not necessarily intervene here, and the group with the highest level of own proposals in some instances followed the game rules more accordingly than other groups. Finally, the language of listening and understanding is frequent, regardless of the number of predefined scenarios discussed by groups, which strengthened the “as if” ontology of thought and action.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-21T10:17:38Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221093585
       
  • “The Big Lie”: How Fact Checking Influences Support for
           Insurrection

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      Authors: David Lynn Painter, Juliana Fernandes
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This experimental investigation explores the influence of election fraud fact-checking and cognitive processing styles on participants’ confidence in the 2020 U.S. presidential election’s legitimacy and characterizations of the January Sixth Capitol Hill Attack. The results indicate fact-checking, accuracy motivated reasoning, and systematic processing exerted positive effects on participants’ legitimacy levels, especially among Republicans. We also found that participants’ systematic processing, affiliation with the Democratic Party, and negative attitudes toward Donald Trump were associated with their characterizations of the January Sixth Capitol Hill Attack as violent and extreme. Overall, these results support both motivated reasoning and dual process models, but partisan motivated reasoning exerted the greatest effects. Further, these findings suggest Republican and pro-Trump participants who rely on heuristic processing may find violent, extra-political actions acceptable means of attempting to achieve their goals.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-18T08:05:19Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221103179
       
  • Privilege and the Legacy of an Insurrection: Critical Race Theory, January
           6th, and Preserving Black Resistance

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      Authors: Deion Hawkins, Sharifa Simon-Roberts
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The right to protest and freedom of expression are core principles of democracy; however, on January 6th, 2021, the right to protest spiraled into a full-fledged assault on American ideals. While the smoke was still smoldering, millions were left dumbfounded—the actions were way beyond a traditional protest, instead, the attack on January 6th was classified as an insurrection. Months prior, during the Summer of 2020, then President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to curb the mostly peaceful Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. Thus, a clear paradox emerges. On one hand, an unjustified insurrection was met with minimal force, but on the other hand, peaceful protests against state-sanctioned murder were quelled almost immediately. To hypothesize about the insurrection of January 6th without examining the racism and racial privilege embedded in the actions would be immoral; this is especially true considering the historical importance of slave insurrections in advancing Black liberation. Thus, we argue that advancing the narrative of the January 6th insurrection as justified is a disservice to the legacy of protests, rebellions, and insurrections. Utilizing Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a framework, the article analyzes and compares the BLM protests against the insurrection of January 6th and draws attention to ways in which race served as a tool of oppression. The insurrection of January 6th, along with the rhetorical construction and justification of the events that unfolded that day, is steeped in privilege and white supremacy—luxuries that were not afforded to racial justice protests.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-16T10:08:28Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221091195
       
  • How Spain’s International Status Was Enhanced After the Withdrawal
           of Its Troops From Iraq

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      Authors: Jordi Xuclà
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This paper researches how and why the decision to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq between March and April 2004 was taken. The new Spanish president, José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero, took this decision in the period between the day after his electoral victory, on 14 March, and the day that his government took office, on 18 April. The decision was made possible by the previous work of informal diplomacy carried out by Zapatero’s future minister of defence, José Bono, and his future minister of foreign affairs, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, who were holding discreet contacts with several international leaders of the military coalition present at the time in Iraq. This fact had a strong impact on the prestige of the new government in the eyes of Spanish public opinion and on the strengthening of alliances with European countries opposed to the invasion. On the contrary, it brought Spain to have one of the worst relations periods of all times with the US administration.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-16T10:08:04Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221091196
       
  • New England Town Meeting and the Cultivation of Deliberative Play

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      Authors: Rebecca M. Townsend, Trudy Milburn
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Participants of New England town meeting must follow protocols to participate in this direct democratic process. Over the past 200 years, the protocols have been enacted and adapted by participants in small towns across the region. Within annual meetings, one can find small breaches that could be interpreted as playful acts. In this paper, we use the comic frame as a theoretical lens to interpret instances of such play within the rhetorical deliberation of one New England town meeting. We analyze two instances where speakers playfully use recognized parts of town meeting to achieve their rhetorical ends. We conclude with a discussion of the way play can help accomplish identification in public discourse.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-11T09:18:50Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221093588
       
  • Interpersonal Communication in the Information Age: Opportunities and
           Disruptions

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      Authors: Loredana Ivan
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Starting from the interpersonal communication theories that have incorporated the use of information and communication technologies (Walther, 2007, 2011, 2017) and the perpetual interconnectedness to understand human behavior in interaction with others (Walther et al., 2015), the current paper approaches challenges brought by the network society in the way we bridge our online and offline self. Castells’ concepts are primarily used to explain macro-phenomena, for example, social movements (Castells, 2015), political and socio-economic transformation around the world (Castells, 2017), and to a lesser extent in discussing meso-phenomena, such as social isolation, exhaustion, the commodification of human interactions and interpersonal conflicts arise as part of individual’s adaptation to the Information Age. The current paper creates links between Castells’ main concepts of the network society theoretical framework and three meso-theories used in the interpersonal communication field to explain people’s online behavior in interaction by focusing on the characteristics of the communication medium: The social presence theory, Media richness theory, and the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE). Sharing Castells’ optimism on how network society creates efficiency and innovation in human interactions, we draw attention to less optimistic aspects related to the constant pressure of constructing relationships through virtual reality.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-11T09:18:22Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221092801
       
  • Introduction: Deliberative Play

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      Authors: Robert T. Craig
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article introduces a special issue of the American Behavioral Scientist in which scholars of public deliberation address the theme of “Deliberative Play” from different conceptual and empirical approaches. Here I introduce the concept of deliberative play against a background of philosophical accounts of deliberative action, the theory of metacommunication, and trends in the study of public deliberation that are endeavoring to reduce the gap between normative theories and the empirical realities of deliberative democratic practice. Articles in the special issue address several aspects of deliberative play: how storytelling activities accomplish deliberative play in online forums (Black, Wolfe, and Han); how facilitators can cue and maintain the deliberative play frame during facilitated deliberative discussions (Sprain); how playful exchanges are enabled by the structure of New England town meetings and what they accomplish (Townsend and Milburn); how alternative scenarios for action presented with pros and cons by expert consultants influence deliberative play in online discussions in Poland (Przybylska, Bucholc, and Mazur); and how online discussion interfaces would benefit from applying principles of game design (Gastil). The concluding section reflects on the results of these studies and their implications for further investigations of deliberative play.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-11T09:18:09Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221093589
       
  • Mobile Communication and Urban/Rural Flows in a South African Marginalised
           Community

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      Authors: Lorenzo Dalvit
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article draws on Castells’ concept of space of flows to explore the role of mobile communication in mediating the flows of ideas, people and resources concerning Dwesa, a rural community in South Africa. While it is the site of an ICT-for-development project fifteen years in the making, Dwesa is representative of many contemporary South African rural realities in terms of lack of infrastructure, endemic poverty and urban migration. Mobile network coverage is almost universal, sustaining a bidirectional flow of people, resources and information between Dwesa and urban areas such as Cape Town. A critical review of the substantial body of research conducted in the area, as well as thematic analysis of social media texts and semi-structured interviews with community members, reveal that mobile phones play an important and nuanced role in arranging physical or virtual rendezvous, facilitating transfers of monetary and other resources, and enabling timeless communication and exchange of information across distance.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-04T12:45:17Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221092806
       
  • Does the “Platform Society” Mean the End of the “Network Society'”
           Reflections on Platforms and the Structure and Dynamics of Networks

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      Authors: Francesca Comunello, Simone Mulargia
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Scholars and journalistic accounts have devoted growing interest to the centralizing trends characterizing platforms and the “platform society.” They often oppose this model to the alleged openness, horizontality, and “equality” they attach to “networks.” Such depictions seem willing to give up on a thorough consideration of network structure, which appears nowadays less fundamental to reflect on the digital world (and society) than it was 25 years ago. Or even question whether the network society model, as proposed by Castells, is unsuitable for describing contemporary society. In our opinion, the dichotomy opposing the (alleged) openness and egalitarian nature of networks (and of the network society), to the current centralization trends characterizing the platform society, as well as the subsequent assumption that networks are an outdated heuristic tool, derive from a misunderstanding of networks’ structure and dynamics. Scholars have shown that the structure of most complex networks can be defined as “scale-free,” following a power-law distribution. Complex networks, indeed, show the tendency for some nodes to become more interconnected than others (thus becoming “hubs”). In this, the understanding of network structure proposed in Castells (1996), contrary to the rhetoric considering networks intrinsically as “egalitarian,” is still a conceptual and analytical tool of the utmost importance for understanding the so-called “platform society.” This paper focuses on networks, network models, and the network society, reviewing what was proposed in Castells (1996). We argue that the social and platform ecosystem we are witnessing today can be understood from the perspective of scale-free networks and is, indeed, consistent with the premises provided in 1996. When observing networks, we address both structure and agency, and both the macro (network morphology) and micro (networked individualism and sociability) levels
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-04T12:39:30Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221092797
       
  • In Search of ‘Truths’: South Korean Society and the Politics
           of Live Streaming

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      Authors: Ji Hyeon Kim, Jun Yu
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Despite Castells’ argument about the transformative potential of digital communication technologies for developing the networks of individuals and bringing about social and political changes, critical scholars have continued to raise vigilance against the potentially detrimental consequences of such technologies in social domains. One such issue relates to their impact on (collective) identity-making. Taking as a case study the live streaming of 2016–17 candlelight and Taegukgi rallies in South Korea, this article addresses how a digital communication technology can go further than simply permitting a large-scale mobilization and can reconfigure the meaning of participation in social movements, contributing to the emergence of what we term ‘polemical identity’. We argue that this polemical identity diverges from a more hopeful perspective found in Castells’ account, developing instead through the new semantics of participation that result in, and are triggered by, various practices of Otherizing. This includes searching for, and claiming, one’s own ‘truth’ as a means of bonding with the likeminded. In this process, we illuminate how the relationship between (collective) identity, digital communication technologies, social contexts and institutional power has become more complicated.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-04T12:39:07Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221092804
       
  • Democratic Disruption or Continuity' Analysis of the Decidim Platform
           in Catalan Municipalities

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      Authors: Rosa Borge, Joan Balcells, Albert Padró-Solanet
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Free, open-source participatory platforms like Decidim or Consul were designed by the 15M’ citizen activists in Spain. Initially implemented in Barcelona and Madrid, these platforms are spread in many countries. Castells has not examined the institutionalization of the 15M’s offspring, and thus we aim to contribute by studying the rollout of the Decidim platform in Catalan municipalities. We examine its disruptive potential along three democratic dimensions: transparency, participation and deliberation. Our study combines in-depth interviews and an online questionnaire administered to public officials in charge of the platform and analyses the levels of participation on the platform. The research shows elements of managerial continuity: the most valued goals are transparency, organisation of information and the collection of citizen proposals, rather than deliberation and transfer of sovereignty towards citizens. However, the platform forces administrations to consider individual citizens’ inputs, increases citizens’ proposals and initiatives, and brings in new participant publics. Furthermore, democratic innovation is being pushed ahead by a networkof activists and technological experts that continuously improve the platform and function as a counter-power (Castells, 2015, 2016).
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-05-04T12:37:30Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221092798
       
  • Crises Narratives Defining the COVID-19 Pandemic: Expert Uncertainties and
           Conspiratorial Sensemaking

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      Authors: Majia Nadesan
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Experts, news media, and social media commentators struggled to make sense of SARS-CoV-2 January–May 2020 as disease caused by this virus, COVID-19, circulated the globe. This paper represents a longitudinal analysis of the primary narratives produced across expert, media, and social media sources to describe the virus, its phylogenetic origins, and biological effects. High expert uncertainty coupled with amplifying representations of risk across time drove collective sensemaking and conspiratorial narratives.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-04-28T09:45:01Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221085893
       
  • How the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted the Perception of Climate Change in the
           UK

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      Authors: Gabriele Ruiu, Maria Laura Ruiu, Massimo Ragnedda
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The COVID-19 pandemic erupted during the climate change (CC) crisis, forcing individuals to adapt abruptly to a new scenario, and triggering changes in everyone’s lifestyles. Based on a sample of the UK population (N = 1013), this paper investigates how the COVID-19 pandemic invited/forced individuals to reflect upon a more sustainable way of life (which might be enhanced by the use of digital technologies for daily activities) and to (re)consider the anthropogenic impact on the environment. The results show that older individuals tend to be less sceptic around the human impact on CC. Other control variables such as income, gender and employment status have a limited impact on this attitude towards CC. Secondly, the findings indicate a clear separation between those with a minimal level of education, who support the natural origin of CC, while individuals with a higher level of education believe that CC is caused by human actions. Finally, on average, younger and more educated individuals tend to associate the COVID-19 pandemic with an opportunity to promote an eco-friendly world and to adopt an eco-sustainable approach.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-04-25T03:16:43Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221085885
       
  • Challenges and Opportunities: Asian Women in Science, Technology,
           Engineering, and Mathematics

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      Authors: Roli Varma, John Falk, Lynn Dierking
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This special issue brings selected papers from an international conference which brought a group of approximately 30 Science Technology and Society and Popularization of Science experts from nine South Asian and Southeast Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand), plus the United States. They discussed how best to enhance public awareness about the role of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). These papers show how to develop strategies for increasing the participation of women in STEM, both as STEM professionals and as informed and engaged, lifelong participants in a STEM-rich world.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-04-06T09:58:41Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221078509
       
  • Analysing Russian Reaction to 2021 U.S. Capitol Riots

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      Authors: Pavel Slutskiy, Dmitrii Gavra
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. was attacked by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump. More than 70 countries and international organisations expressed their concerns over the 2021 United States Capitol attack and condemned the violence. While governments around the world have expressed outrage and sadness over rioting that engulfed the U.S. Capitol, some media (for example, VOA) reported that ‘Russia took a different view -- namely, vindication with a bit of gloating’ under the headline ‘As US Reels From Capitol Violence, Russia Enjoys the Show’. What was Russia’s reaction to the events in Washington' Russian high-ranking politicians responses to the U.S. Capitol rioters were widely quoted in English-speaking media. But the angle offered for foreign audiences did not always coincide with the media narrative developed for domestic consumption. This paper examines media interpretation of the U.S. riots which was offered by the Russian media for Russian-speaking audiences. The paper follows the discourse of pro-Kremlin media during the period of 1 month after the protests began, analysing discursive frames which represented different interpretations of the events, particularly within the context of comparing the suppression of opposition protests in Russia with the prosecution of the U.S. Capitol rioters.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-03-29T08:26:42Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221078767
       
  • Being Asian American Women Scientists and Engineers in the United States:
           Intersection of Ethnicity and Gender

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      Authors: Roli Varma
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      A high level of educational and occupational achievements in science and engineering (S&E) in the US has changed the image of Asian Americans from the “yellow peril” to a “model minority.” Behind this new identity is the belief that Asian Americans as a group have equaled, if not surpassed, the standards of success set by White America in S&E. It is further assumed that Asian American women are advancing equally in S&E. The reality is that they are over-represented as Asian Americans but under-represented as women in S&E occupations. They experience challenges associated with both, their ethnicity and gender. They face “double bind”—a term used for women of color who simultaneously experience sexism and racism in S&E. This paper presents Asian American women’s unique situations within S&E organizations, with a particular focus on high-technology industry, where most of them are employed. It focuses on their identities and socio-cultural categorizations.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-03-22T12:12:37Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221078510
       
  • The Role of the Civil Society in the Catalan Political Process
           (2012–2021)

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      Authors: Marta Pascal
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of the civil society during the Catalan political process (2012–2021). In a context of a huge political polarization of the Catalan society, we would like to focus on the influence and role of the organized civil society in the political decisions during this period. The methodology used in this paper is based on a qualitative research using in-depth interviews with Catalan spin-doctors, participant observation, and study cases. In the paper, we can prove that the role of the organized Catalan civil society was fundamental to understand some of the decisions taken by the Catalan government, such as the consultation of ninth of November 2014; the referendum of first of October 2017; the proclaim of the Catalan Republic; the demonstrations against de verdict of the Spanish Supreme Court; the pressure of the civil society to boost pro-independence Catalan political parties to continue with a separatist agenda after the 2021 elections; and the following negotiation process with the Spanish government. As far as the findings is concerned, it is important to underline how the Catalan civil society have used different ways to organize themselves and mobilize their followers. We will comment the effectiveness of social networks; how these groups have converted themselves in actors of the political digital conversation; and how they have been able to modify the political agenda and have impacted in the media agenda setting. This paper contributes to understand more effectively the important role of the organized civil society in the Catalan political process and emphasizes its political role and influence. So do, we are able to suggest future political scenarios that could have an important impact on the political polarization that currently affects Catalonia.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-03-14T08:10:12Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221078761
       
  • Without Role Models: A Few Pioneering Women Engineers in Asia

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      Authors: Fahmida N. Chowdhury
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The importance of role models in inspiring and influencing the career paths of young people cannot be overstated, particularly in the fields where certain population segments are under-represented. However, when there are no role models, a few exceptional people become pioneers; these are people who carve out their own paths. Most research in early history of women in engineering focuses on the Western world, with relatively little information from the other parts of the globe. This paper presents the stories of a few Asian women who went against the odds, against social norms and expectations, without role models, and ventured into the field of engineering.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-03-03T03:28:59Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221078508
       
  • Impact of Socio-Economic Factors on Female Students’ Enrollments in
           Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and Workplace Challenges
           in Bangladesh

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      Authors: Nova Ahmed, Arshad M. Chowdhury, Tamanna Urmi, Lafifa Jamal
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      There is nearly equal number of male and female student enrollments in primary and secondary level of education in Bangladesh, but at the tertiary level and at the job sector, a sharp drop in the number of women is observed. This paper explores the current status of female students’ enrollment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at the tertiary education system in Bangladesh. It is followed by explorations of challenges women face in technical workplace. Quantitative data for the paper come from more than 1.18 million students at tertiary level from eight public and private universities for three academic years from 2018 to 2020. In addition, a qualitative study was conducted with 48 participants in pre- and during COVID-19 eras to understand barriers hampering women in STEM-related education and jobs. The paper provides a guideline for future policies to ensure inclusive space for growth and retention for women in STEM.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-03-02T08:38:21Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221078517
       
  • Channelling Artscience Through Fan-Fiction for Diversifying STEM
           Approaches in Participatory Learning in Malaysia

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      Authors: Clarissa Ai Ling Lee
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Fan-fiction is proposed as a participatory and discovery-learning approach to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education; communication; and collaboration through the epistemic third space afforded by artscience. The objective is to increase the affective dimension in STEM instruction by allowing STEM to enter intimately into social spaces, all the while drawing interests from girls and women. There is strong female participation in fan-fiction creation, whether in the form of textual stories or other transmedia objects, that could be used to develop more multi-dimensional STEM-based experiential and imagination-centric learning without excluding the more technical aspects of the science – in fact, the technical aspects could be weaved in as a STEM problem or project to be collectively tackled through the communal experience of creating and responding to fan-fiction. Moreover, the world-building capability of fan-fiction, with its ability to bring together multiple fandoms such as multiple works from the same creator or different creators within similar genres, means that there is ample room for using fan-fiction during interdisciplinary engagement for STEM problem-solving or research creation approaches to learning and doing. In this article, some examples of activities are taken from workshops targeted at Malaysian audiences to explore the possibility of deploying fan-fiction approaches to STEM, or STEM through the lenses of artscience, within the culture of learning and doing in Malaysia. These workshops were not originally conceived with fan-fiction as method and medium in mind and yet, were found to share certain similar traits with fan-fiction. The world-building capacity of fan-fiction could be deployed to mainstream the incorporation of indigenous and cultural ways of knowing within Malaysia into the rubrics of institutionalized STEM education. However, the convergence and compatibility between fan-fiction and participatory design, which were featured in at least three of the four workshops depicted here, are the reasons for the choice, while the fourth workshop considers the practice of fan-fiction and its relevance to more informal practices in STEM publishing and communication at a meta level.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-03-02T03:11:16Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221078511
       
  • Women in STEM in India: Understanding Challenges through Social
           Constructionist Perspective

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      Authors: Namrata Gupta
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      This article intends to understand the position of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in India and to highlight the challenges faced by them through the perspective of gender as a social construct. It argues that the social constructionist perspective helps to focus on the specific socio-cultural context, and to deepen our understanding of the barriers in career advancement for women in STEM. Based on the governmental data and research studies, it demonstrates that these constraints occur at the intersection of Indian social, organizational and institutional contexts. This perspective helps to explore solutions unique to the specific national context.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-03-02T02:33:44Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642221078518
       
  • The Death-Based Model of Organizational Learning: Accident, Pandemic, and
           Workplace Change in New York Public Transit

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      Authors: Noah McClain
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The public transportation workers of New York City lost their lives to COVID-19 at a shocking rate in the spring of 2020, likely abetted by their employer’s resistance to allow workers to wear masks until mere days before a region-wide lockdown was declared. We might see this death toll as a tragic outcome of uncertainty in the face of the unprecedented, yet the stance of the employer (the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA) was consistent with its longstanding reluctance to assimilate or pursue signals that suggest need for safety reforms — that is, until a worker dies. This article terms this pattern a “death-based model of organizational learning,” and situates the virus’ toll on transport workers from three angles: first, from workers’ experience of existential precarity in their workplaces, rooted in dangers workers readily problematize but which are not addressed by management; second, by showing how the MTA may modify rules following an employee fatality, at least when that death cannot be explained by individual failures alone; and third, by exploring the MTA’s longstanding hostility to health and safety research conducted in its physical and institutional bounds. These prior patterns articulated in the MTA’s response to COVID-19, such as in passivity in the face of general public health guidelines, disinterest in obvious founts of expertise to tailor its response to the pandemic, and in the eventual acceptance of a nascent public health role in light of the mounting death toll of its employees.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-03-01T09:13:09Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211066052
       
  • Trucking in the Era of COVID-19

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      Authors: Danielle Sperry, Amy M. Schuster, Shelia R. Cotten, Shubham Agrawal, Elizabeth Mack, Noah Britt, Jessica Liberman
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      COVID-19 resulted in health and logistical challenges for many sectors of the American economy, including the trucking industry. This study examined how the pandemic impacted the trucking industry, focused on the pandemic’s impacts on company operations, health, and stress of trucking industry employees. Data were collected from three sources: surveys, focus groups, and social media posts. Individuals at multiple organizational levels of trucking companies (i.e., supervisors, upper-level management, and drivers) completed an online survey and participated in online focus groups. Data from focus groups were coded using a thematic analysis approach. Publicly available social media posts from Twitter were analyzed using a sentiment analysis framework to assess changes in public sentiment about the trucking industry pre- and during-COVID-19. Two themes emerged from the focus groups: (1) trucking company business strategies and adaptations and (2) truck driver experiences and workplace safety. Participants reported supply chain disruptions and new consumer buying trends as having larger industry-wide impacts. Company adaptability emerged due to freight variability, leading organizations to pivot business models and create solutions to reduce operational costs. Companies responded to COVID-19 by accommodating employees’ concerns and implementing safety measures. Truck drivers noted an increase in positive public perception of truck drivers, but job quality factors worsened due to closed amenities and decreased social interaction. Social media sentiment analysis also illustrated an increase in positive public sentiment towards the trucking industry during COVID-19. The pandemic resulted in multi-level economic, health, and social impacts on the trucking industry, which included economic impacts on companies and economic, social and health impacts on employees within the industry levels. Further research can expand on this study to provide an understanding of the long-term impacts of the pandemic on the trucking industry companies within the industry and segments of the trucking industry workforce.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-02-25T08:54:04Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211066039
       
  • The Impact of News Trust and Scandal Knowledge on Political Efficacy

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      Authors: Katherine Haenschen, Jessica R. Collier, John C. Tedesco
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The Trump-era political environment in the United States is characterized by changes to our information environment, specifically discourse surrounding so-called "fake news," and knowledge of political scandals. We explore whether news trust or knowledge of Trump administration scandals impact individuals’ levels of internal, information, and external political efficacy. We find significant and surprising relationships between these measures and political efficacy outcomes. Results contribute to our understanding of how political efficacy is responsive to changes in the political environment.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-02-22T03:23:19Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211062867
       
  • Introduction: “Making Work Work During the Pandemic”

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      Authors: Jeremy Schulz, Laura Robinson, Matias Dodel, Øyvind Wiborg, Aneka Khilnani
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.

      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-02-10T10:16:52Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211066060
       
  • Pause, Pivot, and Shift: Situational Human Capital and Responses to Sudden
           Job Loss

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      Authors: Heba Gowayed, Ashley Mears, Nicholas Occhiuto
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      How, in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, do workers respond to rapid changes in the labor market' This paper mobilizes existing literature on occupational mobility and job loss to develop a theory of situational human capital in which some workers are better positioned to weather occupational transitions than others depending on the alignment between their skill sets, opportunities, and particular contexts. Previous literature looks at this in the case of “pausing,” when workers, such as women, take time off from work. Relatively less explored but equally consequential are transitions like “pivoting,” in which workers maneuver within their occupations to adjust their practices or platforms in order to keep working, and “shifting,” in which workers change their occupations altogether. Since most government unemployment benefits focus almost exclusively on workers’ pauses, they neglect to support workers as they pivot and shift during periods of labor market instability and disruption. This paper concludes by offering some policy recommendations to fill this gap.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-01-15T03:41:04Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211066043
       
  • Who Bears the Burden of a Pandemic' COVID-19 and the Transfer of Risk to
           Digital Platform Workers

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      Authors: Paola Tubaro, Antonio A. Casilli
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      In this paper, we analyze the recessionary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on digital platform workers. The crisis has been described as a great work-from-home experiment, with platform ecosystems positing as its most advanced form. Our analysis differentiates the direct (health) and indirect (economic) risks incurred by workers, to critically assess the portrayal of platforms as buffers against crisis-induced layoffs. We submit that platform-mediated labor may eventually increase precarity, without necessarily reducing health risks for workers. Our argument is based on a comparison of the three main categories of platform work—“on-demand labor” (gigs such as delivery and transportation), “online labor” (tasks performed remotely, such as data annotation), and “social networking labor” (content generation and moderation). We discuss the strategies that platforms deploy to transfer risk from clients onto workers, thus deepening existing power imbalances between them. These results question the problematic equivalence between work-from-home and platform labor. Instead of attaining the advantages of the former in terms of direct and indirect risk mitigation, an increasing number of platformized jobs drift toward high economic and insuppressible health risks.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-01-15T02:41:09Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211066027
       
  • Telework in a Land of Overwork: It’s Not That Simple or Is It'

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      Authors: Hiroshi Ono
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted labor markets around the world. Workers and corporations scrambled to adjust their workstyles to a new normal, by avoiding the commute and working remotely from their homes or elsewhere. Japan is a country that stood out for its inability to adjust to the remote work environment. Comparative statistics show that Japan reported the lowest number of people engaged in remote work among the OECD countries, as well as the lowest percentage of corporations that offered remote work policies. In this article, I investigate why telework in Japan is difficult. The lack of telework in Japan may seem paradoxical, given the country’s reputation for being technologically advanced. I argue that it is not the technological infrastructure that is lacking in the Japanese workplace, but distinct features of work embedded in Japanese culture and its collectivist roots that prevent the effective implementation of telework. I rely on recently published data from various sources, and apply key sociological theories such as implicit contracts, gift exchange, dramaturgy, and impression management to substantiate my main arguments. The paper concludes by drawing on implications for the future of work in Japan.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-01-13T11:13:34Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211066038
       
  • Gender and Candidate Communication: An Analysis of Televised Ads in the
           2020 US Senate Races

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      Authors: Mary C. Banwart, Dianne G. Bystrom
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      Recent studies of the content of television ads of female versus male political candidates have shown that women and men are increasingly similar in their communication styles and strategies, with some notable exceptions. However, few studies examining gender and political ad content have focused exclusively on US Senate races, considered the influence of the candidates’ political party, or compared the messages of women running against female versus male opponents. This study examines 236 political ads—160 from mixed-gender and 76 from female–female—U.S. Senate races in 2020 for their verbal and visual content. Results show gendered and partisan differences in the issues emphasized and the tone used. Candidates were similar in the images emphasized. Female candidates were more balanced between formal and casual attire compared to previous election cycles. And candidates in mixed-gender races used different strategies than those in female–female contests as to the issues and political actors mentioned.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-01-13T07:22:37Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211040766
       
  • Policy, Worker Power, and the Future of the American Trucker

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      Authors: Steve Viscelli
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.

      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-01-11T07:12:46Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211066049
       
  • “I Heard That COVID-19 Was...”: Rumors, Pandemic, and
           Psychological Distance

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      Authors: K. Hazel Kwon, Kirstin Pellizzaro, Chun Shao, Monica Chadha
      Abstract: American Behavioral Scientist, Ahead of Print.
      The spread of misinformation through a variety of communication channels has amplified society’s challenge to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. While existing studies have examined how misinformation spreads, few studies have examined the role of psychological distance in people’s mental processing of a rumor and their propensity to accept self-transformed narratives of the message. Based on an open-ended survey data collected in the U.S. (N = 621) during an early phase of the pandemic, the current study examines how psychological distance relates to the transformation and acceptance of conspiratorial narratives in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two instances of misinformation are examined, both of which were widely heard at the time of data collection: the role of (a) Bill Gates and (b) government during the outbreak of the pandemic. This study uses topic modeling techniques to capture distinctive topical attributes that emerged from rumor narratives. In addition, statistical analyses estimate the psychological distance effects on the salience of topical attributes of a rumor story and an individual’s propensity to believe them. Findings reveal that psychological distance to the threats of COVID-19 influences how misinformation evolves through word-of-mouth, particularly in terms of who is responsible for the pandemic and why the world finds itself in the current situation. Psychological distance also explains why people accept the message to be true. Implications for misinformation and rumor psychology research, as well as avenues for future research, are discussed.
      Citation: American Behavioral Scientist
      PubDate: 2022-01-07T04:07:57Z
      DOI: 10.1177/00027642211066026
       
 
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