Tag: Climate Change Disinformation

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems are diverse and provide essential global functions, supporting biodiversity conservation, economic growth, and human welfare. However, they are under threat from human activities such as overexploitation, coastal degradation, and anthropogenic impacts. The present study aimed to explore the level of public awareness and understanding of coastal ecosystems in four coastal cities in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka namely Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, and Mannar. A three-part questionnaire survey was administered to respondents (n = 641) chosen using a systematic sampling method across four coastal cities in the North from April to November 2022. A key highlight from the study is that approximately 75% of the respondents demonstrated significant awareness and knowledge regarding the degradation of the coastal ecosystem in their respective local areas and 81% reported observing an increase in the trend. The influence of social media for awareness was found in nearly half of the respondents followed by mass media (21%). Encouragingly, there is a positive trend among the respondents in recognizing the roles and responsibilities of the government and local community (58%) in addressing coastal ecosystem degradation and promoting conservation efforts. Overall, respondents from Jaffna and Mannar demonstrated a comparatively higher awareness of coastal ecosystems and their degradation than those from Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. Given their role as transitional zones between terrestrial and marine environments, their intricate socio-ecological dynamics, and the requirement for integrated planning and management strategies, it becomes evident that gaining insight into the level of public awareness of coastal ecosystems is of utmost importance.

Political polarization leads to distrust. In universities, this can lead to conflict or silence in classes and hinder learning and engagement. Faculty members and leaders can promote depolarization by encouraging constructive dialogue in and out of class, cultivating viewpoint diversity within boundaries and expanding civic spaces.

Political polarization leads to distrust. In universities, this can lead to conflict or silence in classes and hinder learning and engagement. Faculty members and leaders can promote depolarization by encouraging constructive dialogue in and out of class, cultivating viewpoint diversity within boundaries and expanding civic spaces.

Abstract

Background

Previous initiatives concerning adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education in Low-or-Middle Income Countries (LMICs) have been limited by cultural norms and misinformation perpetuated within families. Responding to the paucity of research on the implementation of SRH interventions in LMICs and limited knowledge regarding their mechanisms, this study undertakes a process evaluation of a parent-focused intervention to promote parent-adolescent communication about SRH in Uganda.

Methods

This paper explores the implementation, contextual factors and mechanisms of impact of the intervention, using the Medical Research Council (MRC) guidelines for process evaluations. Implementation was evaluated through indicators of dose, fidelity and adaptations, acceptability and feasibility. The contextual factors and mechanisms of impact were evaluated to refine the intervention’s causal assumptions. Data was collected during April - October 2021 in South-Western Uganda using a mixed-methods approach, including document analysis, intervention observations, interviews, focus group discussions and most significant change stories.

Results

The acceptability of the intervention was related to its community engagement, the strong rapport with delivery agents, and individual characteristics of participants. Five contextual factors influencing implementation were highlighted; (i) cultural norms, (ii) perceptions about youth SRH, (iii) poverty, (iv) Covid-19 pandemic, and (v) prior research projects in the community. When considering the intervention’s mechanisms of impact, four causal pathways were identified; (i) Awareness of SRH needs helped parents overcome stigma, (ii) Parenting skills training improved SRH communication, (iii) Group learning stimulated shared parenting, and (iv) Group learning improved co-parenting.

Conclusion

The paper presented three key learnings and corresponding recommendations for future research. Firstly, implementation success was credited to meaningful community engagement which improved acceptability and uptake. Secondly, the complex influences of contextual factors highlighted the need for contextual analysis in research studies to inform intervention design. Finally, this evaluation recognised the interplay between mechanisms of impact and suggested further research consider such combined impacts when designing intervention content.

Abstract

General epistemic polarization arises when the beliefs of a population grow further apart, in particular when all agents update on the same evidence. Epistemic factionalization arises when the beliefs grow further apart, but different beliefs also become correlated across the population. I present a model of how factionalization can emerge in a population of ideally rational agents. This kind of factionalization is driven by probabilistic relations between beliefs, with background beliefs shaping how the agents’ beliefs evolve in the light of new evidence. Moreover, I show that in such a model, the only possible outcomes from updating on identical evidence are general convergence or factionalization. Beliefs cannot spread out in all directions: if the beliefs overall polarize, then it must result in factionalization.

Abstract

This article addresses the relationship between applied behavior analysis (ABA) and the emergence of positive behavior support (PBS) in context of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the UK and Ireland. Two overarching issues that are salient in this discussion are professional training and certification. To date, there has been a lack of standardized training or statutory requirements to practice PBS despite proponents insisting that its practice should be grounded in behavior analytic principles. Furthermore, there is an undercurrent of anti-ABA bias fueled by misinterpretation and unsubstantiated anecdotal claims used to promote an alternative “value based” approach to managing behavior.

Abstract

Starting from the most current developments in the legal and political processing of Donald J. Trump’s (post)presidency, this contribution highlights the persisting challenges to the constitutional, social, and political stability of democracy in the United States (U.S.). In particular, it outlines several dimensions of an enabling environment in which Trump(ism) could thrive. A key feature of this is the thorough and ever-growing asymmetry that has come to characterize the partisan political context in the United States and that directs our attention to the conservative side of the political spectrum: the Republican Party as its major organizational embodiment, as well as broader trends of conservative (trans)formation, including those related to the electorate, policies, institutions, civil society, and the media. Thus, this contribution underlines the importance of the multiple and often longer-term influences, conflicts, institutions, and conditions conducive to current developments, including, in particular, the range of actors that have been relevant in shaping them. Asymmetric polarization, economic inequality, and nationalist and anti-government (authoritarian–populist) tendencies and movements are among the factors that together pose the most serious threat to liberal democracy in the United States—and in “the West” more broadly. The introduction illustrates the importance of studying and reflecting upon the implications of the above trends, actors, and conditions for Germany and other European states, for transatlantic cooperation, and even for the global multilateral system as a whole. It concludes with an overview of the research articles in the special issue, outlining their individual as well as overlapping analytical interests and contributions.

Abstract

Focusing on vaccine-related misinformation, this online experiment study (N = 502) examined how short-term repeated exposure of the corrective information may unexpectedly impact misinformation credibility through misinformation familiarity. The study found that repeated exposure of myths within corrective information increased the perceived familiarity about the misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. This effect, which ultimately increased misinformation credibility, was pronounced even among individuals with low and moderate levels of prior beliefs in the misinformation. Our findings suggest practical implications for minimizing the unexpected backfire effect of corrections against vaccine misinformation on social media. Debunking processes should avoid the dominant framing of original false claims within the correction and unnecessary repetitions of the correction.

Abstract

A lack of specificity exists on whether likely homebuyers utilize home energy efficiency information in future home searches. This study addresses this gap using a visual choice experiment to sample 1538 intended homebuyers in the USA, and the preference for home attributes through a simplified real estate website. Each home presented on the website featured six attributes: price, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, square footage, number of days on the market, energy efficiency, and a photo — each relative to participants’ initial specification of location, preferred price, number of bedrooms, and number of bathrooms. The respondents were assigned to one of six experimental conditions where energy information was provided as (i) estimated annual energy costs, (ii) home energy score (number only), (iii) home energy score along a continuum, (iv) estimated annual energy costs and energy score along a continuum, (v) home energy scores provided for only above average homes, and (vi) no energy information provided (control). We find that homebuyers are more likely to select energy efficient homes when presented with any form of energy efficiency information, with conditions that include home energy scores providing the greatest increase in energy efficiency. Furthermore, this preference for energy efficiency information persists even under less-than-ideal home searches. The preference for energy efficient homes is influenced by type of home and region with detached homebuyers and homebuyers in the Midwest US Census region more likely to select homes featuring higher energy efficiency scores. Finally, we find that rural homebuyers are more likely to prefer energy efficient homes over urban homebuyers.

Abstract

People often continue to rely on certain information in their reasoning, even if this information has been retracted; this is called the continued influence effect (CIE) of misinformation. One technique for reducing this effect involves explicitly warning people that there is a possibility that they might have been misled. The present study aimed to investigate these warnings’ effectiveness, depending on when they were given (either before or after misinformation). In two experiments (N = 337), we found that while a forewarning did reduce reliance on misinformation, retrospectively warned participants (when the warning was placed either between the misinformation and the retraction or just before testing) relied on the misinformation to a similar degree as unwarned participants. However, the protective effect of the forewarning was not durable, as shown by the fact that reliance on the misinformation increased for over 7 days following the first testing, despite continued memory of the retraction.