»Rural Life in Late Socialism: Politics of Development and Imaginaries of the Future« has been published by Brill as an open-access book. This is an updated version of the special issue with the same name, which was edited by Phill Wilcox, Jonathan Rigg, and Minh Nguyen. Catrina Schwendender contributed a chapter titled »A Good Life Postponed: Working in the Countryside, Retiring in the City in Contemporary China.« For more information and open access click here.

Am Mittwoch, den 28. Juni 2023, fand der Habilitationsvortrag von Dr. Christina Beckord an der Fakultät für Soziologie statt. Das Thema des Vortrags lautete "Gewaltsame Erziehung und ihre (intergenerationalen) Folgen".

Ein herzlicher Dank gebührt Dr. Beckord für ihren bereichernden Vortrag. Wir wünschen ihr alles Gute auf ihrem weiteren Weg.

A recent article published by researchers from Bielefeld University in ‚Risk, Hazard & Crisis in Public Policy‘ shows that during the pandemic in Germany multiple understandings of expertise and ethics advice existed. This explains why ethics advice was sometimes described as a technocratic and at other times as a political instrumentalization of science. Based on the concept of ‚ethical adhocracy‘, it is argued that, especially in times of crisis, these seemingly opposed claims can be explained by co-existing and temporally changing logics of how ethics advice is formulated and used to advise policy-makers. The paper is based on an analysis of policy documents and workshops with ethical experts and members of organizations relevant to the German COVID response. The aim is to understand how epistemic and ethical claims are linked, to reconstruct the underlying temporal structures, and to identify when ethical dilemmas and controversies arise. A clearer understanding of these logics is needed to improve national crisis response and governance during future crises. The article is part of the international research project ‚Expertise and Ethics beyond times of crisis‘, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK). Open Acess: https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12276 

Die gesellschaftliche Relevanz der Politikwissenschaft hat zunehmende Aufmerksamkeit erfahren, so auch ihre Rolle in der Politikberatung. Doch was beeinflusst das Ausmaß und die Formen, in denen sich Politikwissenschaftler*innen in der Politikberatung engagieren? Mit dieser Frage befasst sich ein neuer Artikel, der nun in European Political Science veröffentlicht wurde. Der Artikel basiert auf Survey-Daten aus 39 europäischen Ländern aus der COST Action ProSEPS, in der Sonja Blum (Universität Bielefeld) für Deutschland vertreten war. Die Befunde widersprechen einem Bild von Politikwissenschaftler*innen im akademischen „Elfenbeinturm“: die große Mehrheit (80%) von ihnen sind in der Politikberatung aktiv, wobei sie nicht nur Expertise, sondern auch normative Einschätzungen bereitstellen.

Sattler, S., Faber, N. Häusser, J. (2023, online first): Working with a sleep-deprived or a cognitively enhanced team member compromises motivation to contribute to group performance How Enhanced and Impaired Colleagues Affect Performance Norms and Work Motivation. European Journal of Social Psychology. ►LINK

Abstract

How does knowing another team member is cognitively impaired or enhanced affect people's motivation to contribute to the team's performance? Building on the Effects of Grouping on Impairments and Enhancements (GIE) framework, we conducted two between-subjects experiments (N_total = 2,352) with participants from a representative, nationwide sample of the working population in Germany. We found that another group member's impairment (sleep deprivation) and enhancement (taking enhancement drugs) lowered participants’ intentions to contribute to the team's performance. These effects were mediated by lowered perceived competence (enhancement and impairment) and warmth (only enhancement) of the other group member. The reason for being impaired or enhanced (altruistic vs. egoistic reason) moderated the indirect effect of the impairment on intended effort via warmth. Our results illustrate that people's work motivation is influenced by the psychophysiological states of other group members. Hence, the enhancement of one group member can have the paradoxical effect of impairing the performance of another.

The Understanding Asia Colloquium Series 2023 continues on June 14th from 16:15 to 17:45 in X-E0-200. The lecture is titled »Eldercare as Recognition in the Aftermath of Dutch Colonialism« and will be held by Olivia Killias from University of Zurich. 

You can join us in person or via Zoom. Click here for registration.

Wir möchten Sie herzlich zum Vortrag „On the Portability of Home across Displacement and Migration: a Conceptual Framework" von Paolo Boccagni (Universität Trient, Italien) einladen. Die Veranstaltung ist Teil des in der Arbeitsgruppe Soziologie der Transnationalisierung organisierten Kolloquiums "The Transnational Lens" im Sommersemester 2023. Der Vortrag findet am Mittwoch, dem 31. Mai 2023 von 16 bis 18 Uhr c.t. in englischer Sprache in Raum X-C3-107 statt.

Weitere Informationen

Sattler, S., Seddig, D., Zerbini, G. (2023). Die Messung von Schlafproblemen und der Beeinträchtigung der Tagesform mittels der Athens Insomnia Scale for Non-Clinical Application (AIS-NCA) in deutscher und englischer Sprache. Zusammenstellung sozialwissenschaftlicher Items und Skalen (ZIS). https://doi.org/10.6102/zis329. ►LINK

ABSTRACT: The “Athens Insomnia Scale for Non-Clinical Application (AIS-NCA)” assesses problems with sleep (4 items) and with daytime functioning (3 items). It is also possible to use all seven items for a total score. The AIS-NCA has been developed for non-clinical applications and is available in both German (AIS-NCA-G) and English (AIS-NCA-E).

Sattler, S., Maskileyson, D., Racine, E., Davidov, E., Escande, A. (2023). Stigmatization in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey Experiment Using Attribution Theory and the Familiarity Hypothesis. BMC Public Health 23: 521. ►LINK

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global health crisis, leading to stigmatization and discriminatory behaviors against people who have contracted or are suspected of having contracted the virus. Yet the causes of stigmatization in the context of COVID-19 remain only partially understood. Using attribution theory, we examine to what extent attributes of a fictitious person affect the formation of stigmatizing attitudes towards this person, and whether suspected COVID-19 infection (vs. flu) intensifies such attitudes. We also use the familiarity hypothesis to explore whether familiarity with COVID-19 reduces stigma and whether it moderates the effect of a COVID-19 infection on stigmatization.

Methods

We conducted a multifactorial vignette survey experiment (2⁸-design, i.e., N_Vignettes = 256) in Germany (N_Respondents = 4,059) in which we experimentally varied signals and signaling events (i.e., information that may trigger stigma) concerning a fictitious person in the context of COVID-19. We assessed respondents’ cognitive (e.g., blameworthiness) and affective (e.g., anger) responses as well as their discriminatory inclinations (e.g., avoidance) towards the character. Furthermore, we measured different indicators of respondents’ familiarity with COVID-19.

Results

Results revealed higher levels of stigma towards people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 versus a regular flu. In addition, stigma was higher towards those who were considered responsible for their infection due to irresponsible behavior. Knowing someone who died from a COVID infection increased stigma. While higher self-reported knowledge about COVID-19 was associated with more stigma, higher factual knowledge was associated with less.

Conclusion

Eisnecker PS, Kroh M, Kühne S (2022) The role of generalized trust in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0278854. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278854 ►LINK

Abstract

Immunization by vaccination is one of the most important tools for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet in many countries, immunization campaigns have been hampered by vaccine hesitancy within the population. Building on the idea that vaccination decisions are embedded in the broader societal context, we study the role of generalized trust—the belief that most people can generally be trusted—in vaccine acceptance. Immunization campaigns face an inherent collective action problem: As all individuals benefit collectively from high immunization rates regardless of individual contribution, especially those with a low risk of severe COVID infection have an incentive to decide against the (perceived) costs and risks of vaccination. We argue that generalized trust may help to overcome this problem by encouraging the belief that cooperation for the common good is achievable and that those who cooperate are unlikely to be exploited by others. We further argue that the positive effect of generalized trust on vaccination decisions is weaker among individuals who are at higher risk of severe outcomes from the disease, as the collective action problem is less pronounced in this group. To test our predictions, we used data from the SOEP-CoV survey, which queried a representative probability sample of Germany’s population between January and February 2021 on topics connected to the pandemic. Using multiple logistic regression models, and in line with expectations, we found a positive and robust link between generalized trust and the willingness to accept vaccination as soon as offered. However, overall, our examination of heterogeneous effects does not unequivocally support the idea that the role of generalized trust varies according to individual COVID risk.

Sample, M., Sattler, S., Racine, E., Boehlen, W. (2023): Brain-Computer Interfaces, Disability, and the Stigma of Refusal: A Factorial Vignette Study. Public Understanding of Science. (shared 1st authorship). doi.org/10.1177/09636625221141663s. ►LINK

Abstract