Analytical and folk concepts of race and ethnicity

Prejudice is found in all societies, but it is a particular problem in immigrant societies. In this article we use Bogardus's social‐distance scale to identify patterns of ethnic prejudice in Australia and test four explanations to account for it: personality, socio‐psychology, social structure, and social contact. The data are a national sample of the Australian‐born and of three immigrant groups: Maltese, Lebanese, and Vietnamese. The results show that ethnic prejudice is not unidimensional and that there are at least two dimensions, which we label social prejudice and cultural prejudice. The analyses indicate that Australians and longer‐resident Maltese emphasize the social dimension of prejudice; the newly arrived Vietnamese emphasize the cultural dimension. For Australians, prejudice is rooted in personality factors; but for immigrants, none of the four explanations is significant. The results point to the interaction between personality factors and social learning within the society as the most important determinant of ethnic prejudice.     

A Contemporary Basis for the Social-Psychological Training of Social Workers

Our domestic system for training a type of professional new to our society, namely, the specialist in social work, is faced with a number of urgent tasks, including satisfying the social demand for suitably trained social workers, the growth in the prestige of this profession, and the creation among the population of an adequate demand for social services.     

Personality and Affinities Play a Key Role in the Organisation of Collective Movements in a Group of Domestic Horses

Understanding how groups of individuals with different motives come to daily decisions about the exploitation of their environment is a key question in animal behaviour. While interindividual differences are often seen only as a threat to group cohesion, growing evidence shows that they may to some extent facilitate effective collective action. Recent studies suggest that personality differences influence how individuals are attracted to conspecifics and affect their behaviour as an initiator or a follower. However, most of the existing studies are limited to a few taxa, mainly social fish and arthropods. Horses are social herbivores that live in long‐lasting groups and show identifiable personality differences between individuals. We studied a group of 38 individuals living in a 30‐ha hilly pasture. Over 200 h, we sought to identify how far individual differences such as personality and affinity distribution affect the dynamic of their collective movements. First, we report that individuals distribute their relationships according to similar personality and hierarchical rank. This is the first study that demonstrates a positive assortment between unrelated individuals according to personality in a mammal species. Second, we measured individual propensity to initiate and found that bold individuals initiated more often than shy individuals. However, their success in terms of number of followers and joining duration did not depend on their individual characteristics. Moreover, joining process is influenced by social network, with preferred partners following each other and bolder individuals being located more often at the front of the movement. Our results illustrate the importance of taking into account interindividual behavioural differences in studies of social behaviours.     

Adolescent development and external influences

There are two different approaches to the definition of "normal" in adolescence: psychoanalytic interpretation and empirical research. They are not necessarily at odds but can complement each other if normalcy is viewed as a dependent variable. Its definition depends also on cultural rules, social values and expectancies, professional orientations, personality traits and political climate, which all determine the tolerance level for aberrance. The adolescent development including biological, cognitive and psychosocial changes is related to the existing social formations and processes. It is affected by family, peer groups, neighborhood, work and wider community. The paper describes the adolescent development in particular social contexts.     

Age separation dramatically reduces COVID-19 mortality rate in a computational model of a large population

COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global lockdown in many countries throughout the world. Faced with a new reality, and until a vaccine or efficient treatment is found, humanity must figure out ways to keep the economy going, on one hand, while keeping the population safe, on the other hand, especially those that are susceptible to this virus. Here, we use a Watts–Strogatz network simulation, with parameters that were drawn from what is already known about the virus, to explore five different scenarios of partial lockdown release in two geographical locations with different age distributions. We find that separating age groups by reducing interactions between them protects the general population and reduces mortality rates. Furthermore, the addition of new connections within the same age group to compensate for the lost connections outside the age group still has a strong beneficial influence and reduces the total death toll by about 62%. While complete isolation from society may be the most protective scenario for the elderly population, it would have an emotional and possibly cognitive impact that might outweigh its benefit. Therefore, we propose creating age-related social recommendations or even restrictions, thereby allowing social connections while still offering strong protection for the older population.     

Are British urban foxes (Vulpes vulpes) “bold”? The importance of understanding human–wildlife interactions in urban areas

Human–wildlife interactions are believed to be increasing in urban areas. In Britain, numerous media reports have stated that urban foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are becoming “bolder,” thereby posing a risk to public safety. However, such claims overlook how an individual''s personality might influence urban fox behavior. Personality determines multiple aspects of an animal''s interactions with both conspecifics and its environment, and can have a significant impact on how people perceive wildlife. Furthermore, describing urban foxes as “bold” confounds two different but inter‐related behaviors, both of which influence an animal''s propensity to take risks. Neophobia affects an animal''s reaction to novelty, wariness its reaction to potential threats. Since urban wildlife frequently encounters both novel and threatening stimuli, a highly adaptable species such as the red fox might be predicted to exhibit reduced neophobia and wariness. We investigated how social status influenced both behaviors in Bristol''s fox population. Dominant foxes were significantly more neophobic and warier than subordinates, which adopt a more exploratory and risk‐taking lifestyle to meet their energetic and other needs. We found no seasonal effect on neophobia and wariness, although this may be due to sample size. The presence of conspecifics decreased neophobia for dominants, and wariness for both dominants and subordinates. We highlight the importance of considering animal social status and personality when planning management protocols, since interventions that destabilize fox social groups are likely to increase the number of subordinate foxes in the population, thereby increasing rather than decreasing the number of interactions between humans and urban foxes.     

京津冀地区城市化发展时空差异特征

随着京津冀一体化协同发展的提出,如何协调城市间城市化和产业发展的差异成为目前关注的焦点。因历史原因和政策影响,尤其在城市化发展方面地区之间存在较大差异,定量识别该区城市发展的时空差异性对于制定合理的区域协同发展政策具有重要的指导意义。基于1984—2012年社会经济统计数据,通过引入偏离度指数和变异系数,从人口、土地、社会、经济四方面研究了不同时期京津冀地区城市化发展时空差异特征。研究表明:(1)京津冀地区城市化4个方面的发展均呈整体上升趋势,尤其表现在经济和社会发展方面。整体增长幅度为:经济社会土地人口。(2)从发展速度看,京津冀地区人口与土地增速最快时期发生在2000—2004年;而社会与经济增速最快时期发生在1992—1996年;这些特征充分反映了我国阶段性政策的影响。(3)从城市化发展的驱动因子分析,京津冀地区人口与土地增长速度差异较小,发展趋势较为一致,呈现显著的正相关关系;经济、社会增长速度差异较小,发展趋势较为一致,表现出高度的正相关性;而人口与社会、人口与经济、土地与社会、土地与经济之间的相关性不显著。(4)京津冀地区城市化发展区域差异较大,不同时段各城市发展存在明显差异;在城市化进程中区域间最大差异性表现在土地的扩张,其次是人口增长,而经济和社会增长差异性相对较小。(5)人口、土地、社会、经济四项城市化驱动因子与城市生态因子的耦合协调度均不断提高。     

Individual personalities predict social behaviour in wild networks of great tits (Parus major)

Social environments have an important effect on a range of ecological processes, and form a crucial component of selection. However, little is known of the link between personality, social behaviour and population structure. We combine a well‐understood personality trait with large‐scale social networks in wild songbirds, and show that personality underpins multiple aspects of social organisation. First, we demonstrate a relationship between network centrality and personality with ‘proactive’ (fast‐exploring) individuals associating weakly with greater numbers of conspecifics and moving between flocks. Second, temporal stability of associations relates to personality: ‘reactive’ (slow‐exploring) birds form synergistically stable relationships. Finally, we show that personality influences social structure, with males non‐randomly distributed across groups. These results provide strong evidence that songbirds follow alternative social strategies related to personality. This has implications not only for the causes of social network structure but also for the strength and direction of selection on personality in natural populations.     

Characterization of microsatellite loci in the Jamaican fruit‐eating bat Artibeus jamaicensis and cross‐species amplification

Artibeus jamaicensis is one of the most common bat species in the neotropics, with a well‐defined polygynous social structure in caves. In order to study behaviour and to examine patterns of paternity and relatedness between different harem groups, we developed 14 microsatellite loci from two different enriched genomic libraries. We screened 125 individuals from two different bat colonies and found that polymorphism ranged from five to 13 alleles. Heterozygosity ranged from 63 to 95%. The primers amplified across 14 bat species, indicating their potential utility for population‐level studies in several closely related bat species.     

Invasive Cane Toads: Social Facilitation Depends upon an Individual’s Personality

Individual variation in behavioural traits (including responses to social cues) may influence the success of invasive populations. We studied the relationship between sociality and personality in invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina) from a recently established population in tropical Australia. In our field experiments, we manipulated social cues (the presence of a feeding conspecific) near a food source. We captured and compared toads that only approached feeding sites where another toad was already present, with conspecifics that approached unoccupied feeding sites. Subsequent laboratory trials showed correlated personality differences (behavioural syndromes) between these two groups of toads. For example, toads that approached already-occupied rather than unoccupied feeding sites in the field, took longer to emerge from a shelter-site in standardized trials, suggesting these individuals are ‘shy’ (whereas toads that approached unoccupied feeding stations tended to be ‘bold’). Manipulating hunger levels did not abolish this difference. In feeding trials, a bold toad typically outcompeted a shy toad under conditions of low prey availability, but the outcome was reversed when multiple prey items were present. Thus, both personality types may be favored under different circumstances. This invasive population of toads contains individuals that exhibit a range of personalities, hinting at the existence of a wide range of social dynamics in taxa traditionally considered to be asocial.     

SOCIOCULTURAL ASPECTS OF AGING—Medical Points of View

The problems of the aged assume significance partly from the fact that numerically this segment of the population is expanding at a rapid rate, although in California their proportion of the total population is expected to decline. Further, our urban, industrial, changing society has created problems of abrupt social transition from productivity to retirement, often with an accompanying loss of role and status.Several studies have pointed out that the problems of adjustment to new social roles for the aged vary for different occupational groups. Other studies indicate that activity per se is an important element in whether a person considers himself well, despite existing physical ailments. In addition, numerous research studies of personal and social adjustments of the aged suggest that living arrangements play an important function in the social and psychological well-being of elderly persons.     

Social Dominance in a Gregarious Bird is Related to Body Size But not to Standard Personality Assays

The recent growth of research on animal personality could provide new insights into our understanding of sociality and the structure of animal groups. Although simple assays of the type commonly used to study animal personality have been shown to correlate with social aggressiveness in some bird species, conflicting empirical results do not yet make it clear when such assays, typically using isolated individuals, predict behaviour within social groups. We measured aggressiveness in groups of a very gregarious species, the common waxbill (Estrilda astrild), and performed five commonly used behavioural assays on the same individuals: tonic immobility, mirror test, novel object test, open‐field test and a variant of the latter in an enriched environment. We found that larger individuals were more dominant and that differences in aggressiveness were repeatable. None of the traditional behavioural assays were related to aggressiveness or dominance. Standard personality assays may fail to capture individual differences relevant to predict social behaviour, and we discuss biological and methodological explanations for these results, such as social behaviour being in part an emergent property of groups rather than an intrinsic property of individuals, or gregarious species being particularly sensitive to the conditions of standard personality assays that test individuals alone.     

Consistent inter‐individual differences in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) in Boldness‐Shyness,Stress‐Activity,and Exploration‐Avoidance

The study of animal personality, defined as consistent inter‐individual differences in correlated behavioral traits stable throughout time and/or contexts, has recently become one of the fastest growing areas in animal biology, with study species ranging from insects to non‐human primates. The latter have, however, only occasionally been tested with standardized experiments. Instead their personality has usually been assessed using questionnaires. Therefore, this study aimed to test 21 common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) living in three family groups, in five different experiments, and their corresponding controls. We found that behavioral differences between our animals were not only consistent over time, but also across different contexts. Moreover, the consistent behaviors formed a construct of four major non‐social personality components: Boldness‐Shyness in Foraging, Boldness‐Shyness in Predation, Stress‐Activity, and Exploration‐Avoidance. We found no sex or age differences in these components, but our results did reveal differences in Exploration‐Avoidance between the three family groups. As social environment can have a large influence on behavior of individuals, our results may suggest group‐level similarity in personality (i.e., “group personality”) in common marmosets, a species living in highly cohesive social groups. Am. J. Primatol. 78:961–973, 2016. © 2016 The Authors. American Journal of Primatology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Social groups with diverse personalities mitigate physiological stress in a songbird

Social groups often consist of diverse phenotypes, including personality types, and this diversity is known to affect the functioning of the group as a whole. Social selection theory proposes that group composition (i.e. social environment) also influences the performance of individual group members. However, the effect of group behavioural composition on group members remains largely unexplored, and it is still contentious whether individuals benefit more in a social environment with homogeneous or diverse behavioural composition. We experimentally formed groups of house sparrows Passer domesticus with high and low diversity of personality (exploratory behaviour), and found that their physiological state (body condition, physiological stress and oxidative damage) improved with increasing group-level diversity of personality. These findings demonstrate that group personality composition affects the condition of group members and individuals benefit from social heterosis (i.e. associating with a diverse set of behavioural types). This aspect of the social life can play a key role in affiliation rules of social animals and might explain the evolutionary coexistence of different personalities in nature.     

The World According to Vogue: The Role of Culture(s) in International Fashion Magazines

Anthropologists are known to work in contexts wider than academic settings, actively engaging with people from other disciplines and professions. The lecturers in the Fashion Institute where we presently work are challenged to integrate the practical knowledge and skills originating from the fashion industry into lessons, lectures and␣projects that prepare the students for their future careers. Our own task as (anthro)pology lecturers in Intercultural Communication and Culture and Globalization courses is to engrain a broader knowledge to compliment the practical competencies required in the professional settings. An example of the practical assignments is integrating the students' knowledge of minority groups or other cultures in developing certain fashion brands that would appeal to different ethnic groups or social classes within society or be marketable abroad. The deeper knowledge of segmentation, niche markets and specific target groups helps students to orient themselves in professional situations within the fashion industry. This requires an act of translation as well as transformation in order to translate the general (such as cultural theories) into the concrete (such as examples from the fashion industry) and to transform concrete examples and cases into broader theories. This article reflects on such acts of translation and transformation as evidenced in fashion magazines such as Vogue.     

Psychological Laws of the Social Development of the Personality in Ontogeny

Cultivation of the new man as an individual person is a requirement of developed socialist society. At the present stage of socialist construction, which entails a qualitatively new level of decision making [in confronting] socioeconomic and political problems, the role of the human factor in all spheres of the vital activity of society becomes especially urgent, and the importance of people's maintaining a responsible social position becomes greater. The achievements in public education, science, and culture have made it both possible and necessary to concentrate attention not only on instruction but, most importantly, on cultivating the new man, who is "not merely the bearer of a specific sum of knowledge but, first and foremost, a citizen of socialist society"[7. P. 391. The need to deal with this problem has had an impact on the main areas of reform of the general educational and vocational training school, a reform based on a new level of psychological and pedagogical knowledge, and defines the tasks of further scientific inquiry. One of the most important tasks of psychology is to intensify study of the development of the personality, to discover the psychological laws of its development, and the conditions and mechanisms for accelerating the process of personal self-determination.     

Stability of social status rankings of female cynomolgus monkeys,of varying reproductive condition,in different social groups

In order test the hypothesis that adult female macaques display a tendency to attain a certain level of social status independent of the social situation, the social status rankings of 41 wild-caught adult female Macaca fascicularis were determined in different social groups. About one-third of the females were intact and housed with vasectomized males. About one-third of the females were ovariectomized and housed with intact males, and the remaining females were intact and housed with intact males in order to allow pregnancy to occur. Within each of these experimental groups, females were housed in social groups of 4–6 females and 1 male, and the constituency of these groups was changed every 3 months for 22 months. Thus, females lived in eight different social groups. The correlations between the social status rankings of individual females while living in different social groups were positive and significant. The majority of the females were either stable dominants or stable subordinates in 75% of the groups in which they lived, which was a significant proportion of the study population. The stability of social status rankings was higher in the ovariectomized than in the pregnant and intact groups; however, this was not a significant difference. In the context of the results of previous studies, these findings suggest that the social status of an individual is the result of both the immediate social environment and some inherent characteristic(s) of the individual that promotes the likelihood that under most social circumstances an individual will display a predictable level of social status.     

某军校2014级与2010级新生16PF的比较分析

目的:比较某军校2014级与2010级本科新生以及14级新生内部的人格特点,为改善和提高军校的教育管理水平提供有效依据。方法:对2个年级新生进行16PF测试,对测查结果进行比较分析。结果:2014级新生在B、C、E、G、H、L、O、Q1、Q3、Q4、适应与焦虑性、内向与外向、心理健康因素、专业成就个性因素和新环境成长能力因素的得分与2010级新生得分有显著差异(P0.01)。从效果量角度分析,两级新生在A乐群性,适应与焦虑性,专业成就个性因素以及新环境成长能力因素等方面得分差异的效果量d大于0.2。2014级本科新生在A、B、C、E、I、L、M、O、Q1、Q2、Q3、Q4、感情用事与安详机警型、怯懦与果断型、心理健康因素、专业成就个性因素、创造能力个性因素以及新环境成长能力因素方面以及适应与焦虑性的得分与士官新生存在显著差异(P0.01)。从效果量角度分析,14级本科新生与士官新生在B,E,I,L,M,O,Q2,Q4,适应与焦虑性以及心理健康因素等方面得分差异的效果量d大于0.2,在数字搜索成绩,A,Q1,感情用事与安详机警型以及怯懦与果断型等方面得分差异的效果量d大于0.5。结论:14级不同身份学生存在各自特点,军对院校在对其教育管理上要注重方式方法,因材施教,合理引导,培养合格的军校学员,为我国培养优秀的军官。     

Core values and cultural identity

This article examines racial classifications on United States population census schedules between 1890 and 1990 to provide insights on the changing meanings of race in US society. The analysis uses a sociology of knowledge perspective which assumes that race is an ideological concept that can be interpreted most productively by relating its definition and measurement to the larger social and political context. Four themes are identified and discussed: (i) the historical and continuing importance of skin colour, usually dichotomized into white and non‐white, in defining race and counting racial groups; (ii) a belief in ‘pure’ races that is reflected in a preoccupation with categorizing people into a single or ‘pure’ race; (iii) the role of census categories in creating pan‐ethnic racial groups; and, (iv) the confusing of race and ethnicity in census racial classifications. Each theme demonstrates the potential or actual role of official statistics, exemplified by census racial data, in reflecting and guiding changes to the meaning and social perceptions of race. A detailed examination of racial classifications from the 1980 and 1990 Censuses shows that the influence of political interests on racial statistics is particularly important. The article concludes with a discussion of whether official statistical recorders such as population censuses should categorize and measure race, given the political motivations and non‐scientific character of the classifications used.     

Personality dimensions in adult male rhesus macaques: prediction of behaviors across time and situation

The idea that consistencies in behavior exist over time and across situations underlies human personality research. Although several studies have examined personality in nonhuman primates, there are very few data showing the predictive power of personality factors. The goal of the present study was to determine whether personality dimensions, identified in adult male rhesus monkeys living in half-acre cages, predicted behavior in situations different from the one from which the dimensions were originally derived and at time points of up to 4.5 years after the original assessments. Four personality dimensions (Sociability, Confidence, Excitability, and Equability) were identified using psychometric procedures and were correlated with behaviors recorded in several situations: the animals' natal groups, during tests of behavioral responsiveness while in individual cages, in small stable and unstable social groups, while viewing stimulus videotapes, and during stable social dyads. Results indicated substantial predictability. Sociability reflected a greater tendency to engage in affiliative interactions. Confidence correlated with more aggressive behaviors and with behaviors that suggest less attractiveness. Animals high in Excitability were somewhat inconsistent in their social behavior, perhaps reflecting hyper-responsiveness to novel circumstances and thwarted opportunities for escape. Equability appeared to be related to a less aggressive, more passive, style of interaction. Excitability and Equability appear to reflect more stylistic components of social behavior, whereas Sociability and Confidence may be more content-based dimensions. Sociability was strongly related to size of kin network in the animals' natal groups, suggesting an important role for ontogeny in this dimension. These data suggest that a limited number of personality dimensions exist in adult male rhesus macaques, and that these dimensions have predictive power that is both long-term and cross situational.