Norm (mathematics)

Detoxifying masculinity: How men’s groups reshape attitudes

Retrieved on:

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Men, for instance, have higher mortality rates, lower life expectancy, and are more likely to die by suicide.

Key Points:

Men, for instance, have higher mortality rates, lower life expectancy, and are more likely to die by suicide.
While there has been progress to reduce stigmatization when it comes to seeking help with mental health, the intersectionality of mental health is complex.
In our own studies evaluating mindfulness training in workplace settings, we noticed we were attracting disproportionate samples of women.

Men’s groups

Even when men are conscious of the psychological dysfunctionality of traditional masculinity, straying from these roles is difficult due to fear of social condemnation.
Men’s groups, where men can be genuinely transparent and gather to discuss the challenges they face, provide a social learning context to be authentic and develop their emotional processing skills in a safe container free from the risk of ostracization.
To understand how these kinds of groups can change attitudes, we partnered with Owen Marcus, who has created programming designed to help men develop their emotional awareness, and EVRYMAN, a contemporary men’s group based in the United States.

Reshaping attitudes

The men were able to reshape their attitudes towards masculinity through three main stages.
First, they began to identify their discontent with how social norms prevented them from being able to express weakness and the notable toll this took.
Many participants, for instance, recounted how experiences with their fathers or with other men led them to keep their hardships to themselves.
The next time someone courageously discloses that they’re struggling, instead of changing the subject, ask them to tell you more.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Understanding AI outputs: study shows pro-western cultural bias in the way AI decisions are explained

Retrieved on:

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Diagnosis, Intelligence, Risk, Headache, Citizenship, Human, Light, Research, Artificial intelligence, AI, Systematic review, Norm (mathematics), Fever, Literature, European, Medical device

If you were affected, you might want an explanation of why an AI system produced the decision it did.

Key Points:

If you were affected, you might want an explanation of why an AI system produced the decision it did.
Yet AI systems are often so computationally complex that not even their designers fully know how the decisions were produced.
Explainable AI systems help AI engineers to monitor and correct their models’ processing.
We wanted to see to what extent researchers indicated awareness of cultural variations that were potentially relevant for designing satisfactory explainable AI.

Cultural differences in explanations

The other is externalist, citing factors like social norms, rules, or other factors that are outside the person.
However, such explanations are not obviously preferred over externalist explanations in “collectivist” societies, such as those commonly found across Africa or south Asia, where people often view themselves as interdependent.
If people from different cultures prefer different kinds of explanations, this matters for designing inclusive systems of explainable AI.
Our research, however, suggests that XAI developers are not sensitive to potential cultural differences in explanation preferences.

Overlooking cultural differences

Moreover, when we checked the cultural background of the people tested in the studies, we found 48.1% of the studies did not report on cultural background at all.
This suggests that researchers did not consider cultural background to be a factor that could influence the generalisability of results.
Of those that did report on cultural background, 81.3% only sampled western, industrialised, educated, rich and democratic populations.
Yet, out of the studies that reported on cultural background, 70.1% extended their conclusions beyond the study population – to users, people, humans in general – and most studies did not contain evidence of reflection on cultural similarity.

Why the results matter

To address this cultural bias in XAI, developers and psychologists should collaborate to test for relevant cultural differences.
As AI is being used worldwide to make important decisions, systems must provide explanations that people from different cultures find acceptable.
As it stands, large populations who could benefit from the potential of explainable AI risk being overlooked in XAI research.

‘Ask Viamo Anything’ Combines AI with Basic Mobile Calls to Bring Next Billion Online

Retrieved on:

Friday, March 15, 2024

By bringing the latest iteration of AI to some of the world’s poorest and most remote communities, ‘Ask Viamo Anything’ heralds the fastest democratisation of technology to date.

Key Points:

By bringing the latest iteration of AI to some of the world’s poorest and most remote communities, ‘Ask Viamo Anything’ heralds the fastest democratisation of technology to date.
“Generative AI shouldn’t just help lawyers in LA do their job 10% better,” says David McAfee, the CEO and Cofounder of platform provider Viamo.
By using basic voice calls as the interface, the Viamo platform is accessible to more people than can currently log onto Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.
“Combining AI and mobile is the necessary solution to bring the next billion people online,” says McAfee.

Tackling the causes of crime, not sending more people to jail, is the only way to fight it

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

It requires becoming not “tough on crime,” but “smart on crime” before it happens.

Key Points:

It requires becoming not “tough on crime,” but “smart on crime” before it happens.
This approach requires governments to invest in enough proven prevention measures to greatly reduce injuries, trauma and loss of life stemming from violent crime.
The city’s community safety plan diagnosed the risk factors and focused proven prevention initiatives on those most vulnerable to violence.

Horner recommendations

Thirty years ago, Bob Horner, a staunch Conservative and former RCMP officer, chaired a parliamentary committee on crime prevention in Canada.
He was blunt: “If locking up those who violate the law contributed to safer societies, then the United States should be the safest country in the world.” But Horner did not just criticize, he made recommendations on how to prevent crime.
He correctly called for an official at a senior level to be solely tasked with putting effective prevention into action.
Horner also called for an annual investment in crime prevention equivalent to five per cent of the expenditures spent on policing and criminal justice.

Preventing violence

That evidence is publicly available from various sources, including the United States Justice Department’s Crime Solutions platform.
As part of our analysis, we examined Crime Solutions and several similar platforms to explain to decision-makers how these programs are proven to stop violence and how to implement them.
Key components of these proven solutions include: • Hiring and training social workers and mentors to reach out to young men prone to involvement in violence and to assist with trauma; • Recruiting case workers to join surgeons in hospital emergency rooms to ensure that victims of violence do not make repeat appearances; • Helping young men with problem-solving skills and emotional regulation to control the anger that can lead to injuries to others; • Providing opportunities for job training, mentoring and jobs in areas where the violence originates; • Participation in courses that prevent sexual violence by shifting social norms about consent in schools and encouraging students to take action as bystanders at universities.

Community safety planning

Ontario changed the name of its policing law in 2019 to the Community Safety and Policing Act with a new section that requires municipalities to develop community safety and well-being plans.
Ottawa must also develop professional community safety planners, raise awareness nationally about proven solutions and provide tools to achieve and track results.

Irvin Waller made a donation to the federal Greens and Ontario NDP in 2023. Jeffrey Bradley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Princess of Wales photo controversy shows we’ve been thinking about edited images the wrong way

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Fading Away, AI, Norm (mathematics), Photography, Journalism, Prevalence, Health, System, Princess, Kensington Palace, Suggestion, Software, Prince

Experts have warned of a coming “infocalypse”, and of the consequences for this year’s bumper crop of elections.

Key Points:

Experts have warned of a coming “infocalypse”, and of the consequences for this year’s bumper crop of elections.
Yet the biggest story about photographic manipulation so far in 2024 is that the Princess of Wales manually edited a family portrait.
The response to this controversy can help us think about the wider challenge of manipulated images and video.

A royal history of faked photographs

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were early enthusiasts, first sitting for photographs in the 1840s.
During this time, composite images – which combine multiple exposures into one image – were widespread, owing to the limitations of photographic technology.
Some of these composite photographs, such as Henry Peach Robinson’s image Fading Away, were controversial, because of both their subject matter and technique.

Before it became possible to directly print photographs in newspapers in 1880, there was a widespread practice of copying photographs into drawings, embellishing them by adding colour and improving the composition.
When half-tone printing was introduced, journalists continued to tweak their photographs, with one editor of a photography magazine in 1898 boldly stating that “everybody fakes”.

Solving a social problem

Outside of journalistic contexts, we don’t have strong social norms against adding colour to photographs.
The problem here isn’t that photo editing software fundamentally undermines our trust in photographs.
But the fact that we have those standards, and press organisations were able to respond accordingly, shows we have the tools to manage this problem.
But this is a social, not just a technological, problem.

Joshua Habgood-Coote has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 818633).

Fraser Institute News Release: Women face less sexism in countries with greater economic freedom

Retrieved on:

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Bias, Bangladesh Technical Education Board, Public policy, Woman, Education, Norm (mathematics), Government, Economic freedom, Texas Christian University, School, Fraser Institute, Politics, Society, Male, Workforce, Gender, Nursing

“International Women’s Day is an opportune time to consider the relationship between economic freedom and those social norms that prioritize men over women in schools, the workforce and politics,” said Rosemarie Fike, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute, economics instructor at Texas Christian University, and author of Economic Freedom and Gender Norms.

Key Points:

“International Women’s Day is an opportune time to consider the relationship between economic freedom and those social norms that prioritize men over women in schools, the workforce and politics,” said Rosemarie Fike, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute, economics instructor at Texas Christian University, and author of Economic Freedom and Gender Norms.
The study uses data from the Fraser Institute’s annual Economic Freedom of the World Index.
Specifically, in countries with greater levels of economic freedom, people are less likely to agree with the following three statements:
1) "When jobs are scarce, men have more right to a job than women."
“The evidence is clear—countries that embrace economic freedom are more likely to have gender norms that treat men and women more equally,” Fike said.

From Deadheads on bulletin boards to Taylor Swift ‘stans’: a short history of how fandoms shaped the internet

Retrieved on:

Thursday, February 15, 2024

In this series, our academics dive into fan cultures: how they developed, how they operate, and how they shape the world today.

Key Points:

In this series, our academics dive into fan cultures: how they developed, how they operate, and how they shape the world today.
Here is a brief history of how fan cultures shaped – and were shaped by – the internet.

Early adopters

As early as the 1970s, fans were participating in digital spaces.
In the 1990s, science-fiction fans established online repositories, using Usenet groups for fannish discussion and fan-fiction distribution.
The public nature of Twitter (now X) allowed fans to come together in large groups to start trends and campaign.

The public and the private

Fans move between private and public spaces online, negotiating different identities.
On platforms like Tumblr and LiveJournal, fans often choose a pseudonym, whereas Facebook enforces a real-name policy.
Private spaces allow for personal conversations, while fans embrace public channels for sharing fan works and campaigning, for example, for voting or fundraising.

Fan migrations

Tumblr became the place for “"fuckyeah” fansites, sharing fan works and communicating via GIFs.
While the launch of Meta’s Threads provided a possible replacement for stan participation, some fans were hesitant to migrate across.
On Twitter/X, fans expressed they were weary of the new platform, because they did not want their fan activities to be connected to their “real life”.

Transformations

Fans are known for their creative productivity, transforming and remixing their favourite cultural objects in fan-art, fan-fiction, videos, zines and music remixes. Technological advancements made creative production easier to master, and the public and networked nature of platforms has allowed fan works to be circulated to a much wider audience. Audio from fan-edits often become trending TikTok sounds.

How fans shape brands

Some brands have started to act like fans online, learning from fans’ behaviours to form an affiliation with these engaged audiences.
On TikTok, brands are participating in fan-based trends, tapping into community-specific knowledge and jokes.
Brands are also adopting fan language and tone in their captions and comments.
In my ongoing PhD research, I’ve found fans are working as social media managers for brands, leveraging their expertise to connect with fan audiences.

Kate Pattison does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Alcohol and Beverage Industry Trends: New Study Uncovers Millennial and Gen Z Consumption Patterns - ResearchAndMarkets.com

Retrieved on:

Monday, February 12, 2024

Retail, Food, Beverage, Wine & Spirits, Habit, Wine, Norm (mathematics), COVID-19, Drink, Generation Z, Millennials, Research, Gen, Alcoholism, Liquor

A groundbreaking study on beverage consumption trends among Millennials and Gen Z has been published.

Key Points:

A groundbreaking study on beverage consumption trends among Millennials and Gen Z has been published.
Covering 1,300 drinking-age consumers, the research delves into the factors driving Millennials and Gen Z's interactions with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
The study provides a deep-dive analysis into how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected wine consumption habits among younger demographics.
It suggests actionable strategies for a spectrum of businesses including alcohol brands, non-alcoholic beverage companies, wine councils, importers, and distributors.

Origin: this outstanding portrayal of India’s caste system is hugely important to Dalit people like me

Retrieved on:

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Hope, Darkness, Noise, Death, Wilkerson, Name, Trauma, Nazism, Food, Norm (mathematics), Origin, Research, Empathy

It is inspired by Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

Key Points:

It is inspired by Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.
Caste is a system of classifying society in a hierarchical order in which some people are kept inferior and others superior.
In doing so, she highlights how inhuman, unethical and unjust discriminatory practices happen irrespective of geographical location, local cultures and social norms.

Dalit stories in Hollywood

I come from a Dalit background and I research Dalit representation in film.
In the film, Wilkerson visits the Dr Ambedkar National Memorial in Delhi to learn about the lawyer and social activist’s life and work.
This is the first time that Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s fight for the rights of India’s Dalits and other deprived classes has been portrayed in a Hollywood film.
Ambedkar was a Dalit born at the very bottom of this ladder, in a group called the “untouchables”.

Origin and caste

Using extreme close-ups, DuVernay shows Wilkerson’s inner turmoil as she learns more about India’s caste system.
Origin doesn’t shy away from topics like untouchability.
Another incident shows a father in the US who, in a bid to escape the trauma and humiliation of the caste system, named his firstborn daughter “Miss”.
Despite the darkness of its subject matter, Origin doesn’t only expose the problem of marginalisation, it also offers a glimpse of hope and possibility.

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Neeraj Bunkar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

How a place’s ecology can shape the culture of the people who live there – podcast

Retrieved on:

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Theories abound about how and why differences like these between cultures emerge and, increasingly, researchers are looking to the environments people live in for answers.

Key Points:

Theories abound about how and why differences like these between cultures emerge and, increasingly, researchers are looking to the environments people live in for answers.
In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we explore what role ecological factors, including the climate, play in shaping cultural norms and behaviour.
But a growing body of evidence suggests that human culture can be shaped by key features of the environment.
The results indicate that a combination of long-term, sustained ecological conditions can explain nearly 20% of the differences between cultures.