GroupMe: Supporting Group Formation with Mobile Sensing and Social Graph Mining

Choir membership has been shown to improve emotional states and facilitate social connectedness. It is, however, less clear whether these benefits are unique to group singing or are shared by other social group activities that include some of the characteristics of choirs other than singing, such as music listening and social interaction. This research compares older Australians who are members of either a choir that both produces and listens to music in a social context, an exercise group that incorporates music listening and movement with social interaction, or a current events discussion group with social interaction but no music content. Participants were administered emotional state and cohesion questionnaires at two test times, just prior to and immediately after the session, to determine the short-term (60–90 minutes) effects on emotional state and social cohesion as result of different social activities containing varying levels of music engagement. A two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed significant improvements in positive affect and cohesion scores, and a decrease in negative affect and tiredness scores, over time for all groups. The choir and exercise groups were also observed by two raters who recorded observable behaviors categorized using the circumplex model of emotion. Findings revealed that both groups demonstrated significant increases in Activated Pleasant (high positive affect, high arousal) behaviors over time, but with no differences between the two groups. Taken together, these studies suggest that well-being benefits are shared by self-selected leisure social group activities, and that the effects can be observed within a very short time frame using both self-report and behavioral measures. The authors suggest that future research incorporates suitable control groups into research designs to better articulate any unique benefits that group singing may confer.

Background Patients with depression often exhibit persistent low mood, anhedonia, and social withdrawal, accompanied by reduced physical activity and impaired social functioning. These factors interact to further exacerbate symptom maintenance and relapse risk. Although pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy play a central role in clinical care, some patients still face challenges such as insufficient motivation, low social engagement, and reliance on single-intervention pathways during rehabilitation, which limit the overall nursing outcomes. In recent years, multidimensional intervention strategies integrating physical activity, structured education, and social interaction have gained increasing attention. Physical education can improve bodily arousal and emotional regulation, while social activities help alleviate feelings of isolation and enhance a sense of support. However, systematic nursing research on the synergistic effects of these two approaches remains limited. To address this, the study employs a multidimensional intervention framework, using randomization and multi-time watch evaluations to investigate the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms of nursing interventions combining physical education and social activities for depression patients. Methods The study enrolled 342 patients meeting the diagnostic criteria for depressive disorder who completed baseline assessments and were randomly assigned to one of three 12-week nursing interventions: (1) an integrated physical education and social activities intervention group (n = 116), which included structured exercise guidance, health education, and group social activities; (2) a standalone physical education nursing group (n = 112); and (3) a conventional nursing control group (n = 114). Key outcome measures included severity of depressive symptoms, emotional regulation ability, social functioning level, and subjective sense of support. These indicators were evaluated at baseline, intervention completion, and 3-month follow-up. Statistical analysis employed a mixed-effects model to compare the efficacy of different nursing strategies and used regression analysis to examine the predictive role of changes in emotional regulation and social support in symptom improvement. Results The experimental results demonstrated that, compared to the single physical education group and the conventional nursing group, the multidimensional intervention group exhibited a significant reduction in depressive symptoms at the end of the intervention (p<.001, d = 0.53), with sustained improvement maintained during the follow-up phase (p=.003). Mechanistic indicators revealed that the multidimensional intervention group showed a significant enhancement in emotional regulation capacity (p=.005, d = 0.44), along with concurrent improvements in social functioning and subjective sense of support (p=.008, d = 0.40). Further analysis revealed that enhanced emotional regulation capacity (p=.02) and increased sense of social support (p=.01) could significantly predict lower levels of depressive symptoms during the follow-up phase. This indicates that emotional regulation and social support may serve as important mediating pathways for the long-term efficacy of multidimensional nursing interventions. Discussion Multidimensional nursing interventions based on physical education and social activities can significantly improve the emotional state of patients with depression, demonstrating favorable sustained effects during follow-up. Studies indicate that multidimensional integrated interventions help compensate for the limitations of single-nursing models, serving as an important supplement to long-term care and rehabilitation management for depression. Future research could further optimize the combination ratios of different intervention elements and explore their application value in community and primary care systems.

Background: Participation in peer social groups could be used in health promotion programs for the elderly. The current study investigates the effectiveness of participation in a peer social support network intervention on the self-management of the elderly with type 2 diabetes. Methods: This research is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-pos-ttest design with a control group conducted in 2019. Two health centers were selected as research settings from a single district in Qom Province, Iran. From each center, 46 subjects were randomly selected. Subjects in the intervention group participated in a peer social support network for 3 months (12 sessions), and the control group received only usual care. The outcome variable was self-management. The components of this variable include the level of hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), diabetes distress (measured with Diabetes Distress Scale), awareness (measured with Davoodi’s knowledge of diabetes questionnaire), attitude (measured with diabetes attitude scale [DAS-3]), self-efficacy (measured with diabetes empowerment scale, [DES-28]), weight and blood pressure. Subjects were evaluated at baseline and at a 6-month follow-up. The obtained data were analyzed using t-test, Chi-Square, and Fisher test in SPSS software, version 22. The significance level was set at less than 0.5. Results: The change in mean HbA1C of the intervention and control groups at baseline and 6-month follow-up was -0.7 and 0.1, respectively, which was significant (P≤0.0001). Moreover, the difference in changes in the mean values of diabetes distress (P=0.008), self-efficacy (P≤0.0001), and attitude (P≤0.0001) were significant. No significant changes were found in knowledge, weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (P>0.05). Conclusion: The formation of social support groups may help control blood sugar in the elderly with type 2 diabetes. Seemingly, social groups can mainly impact through psychological factors such as distress control, attitude improvement, and self-efficacy enhancement.

Interactive music intervention is generally perceived as more effective on clinical outcomes than a receptive approach because it can better engage the people with dementia. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of the 6-week music-with-movement intervention on agitation of people with moderate dementia, music listening and social activity. A multi-centre randomized controlled trial was conducted on 165 nursing home residents with moderate dementia. The participants were randomly allocated into three groups: music-with-movement, music listening or social activities groups. Participants in the music-with-movement group listened to preferred music and moved their body parts for 45 minutes, twice a week for 6 weeks. While the participants in the music listening group only listened to their preferred music and social activity group chatted with the other group members. The agitation level was examined with the Chinese Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory - Nursing Home version. Total scores and sub-scores (physically aggressive, physical non-aggressive, verbal aggressive and verbal non-aggressive) were compared at baseline, at post-intervention and 6 weeks post-intervention. The results showed that there are no significant differences in agitation among three groups. Repeated measures univariate analyses revealed that all three groups yielded significant improvement in agitation from baseline to post-intervention, of which music-with-movement presented the largest effect size. This study showed that interactive or receptive type of music intervention or social activities may be helpful in managing agitation although there is no statistically significant difference among them.

This article reports on an agent-based simulation of public participation in decision making about sustainability management. Agents were modeled as socially intelligent actors who communicate using a system of symbols. The goal of the simulation was for agents to reach consensus about which situations in their regional environment to change and which ones not to change as part of a geodesign process for improving water quality in the greater Puget Sound region. As opposed to studying self-organizing behavior at the scale of a local 'commons', our interest was in how online technology supports the self-organizing behavior of agents distributed over a wide regional area, like a watershed or river basin. Geographically-distributed agents interacted through an online platform similar to that used in online field experiments with actual human subjects. We used a factorial research design to vary three interdependent factors each with three different levels. The three factors included 1) the social and geographic distribution of agents (local, regional, international levels), 2) abundance of agents (low, medium, high levels), and 3) diversity of preconceptions (blank slate, clone, social actor levels). We expected that increasing the social and geographic distribution of agents and the diversity of their preconceptions would have a significant impact on agent consensus about which situations to change and which ones not to change. However, our expectations were not met by our findings, which we trace all the way back to our conceptual model and a theoretical gap in sustainability science. The theory of self-organizing resource users does not specify how a group of social actors' preconceptions about a situation is interdependent with their social and geographic orientation to that situation. We discuss the results of the experiment and conclude with prospects for research on the social and geographic dimensions of self-organizing behavior in social-ecological systems spanning wide regional areas.

Previous articleNext article No AccessReview ArticlesState, Society, and Subsistence in Eighteenth-Century FranceKeith Michael BakerKeith Michael Baker Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Modern History Volume 50, Number 4Dec., 1978 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/241787 Views: 6Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1978 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Mark Goldie, Robert Wokler The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought, 22 (Mar 2008).https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521374224Keith Michael Baker Political languages of the French Revolution, (Aug 2006): 626–659.https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521374224.024

The Science of Open Spaces: Theory and Practice for Conserving Large Complex Systems. Curtin, C.G. 2015. Island Press, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 255 pp. (paperback). ISBN 9781610912051. Mountains and Plains: the Ecology of Wyoming Landscapes. 2nd edition. Knight, D.A., G.P. Jones, W.A. Reiners, and W.H. Romme. 2014. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, U.S.A. 404 pp. (paperback). ISBN 978-0-300-18592-8. Stitching the West Back Together: Conservation of Working Landscapes. Charnley, S., T.E. Sheridan, and G.P. Nabhan. 2014. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, U.S.A. 343 pp. (paperback). ISBN 978-0-226-16571-4. Wide open landscapes where sky meets Earth have fascinated many people, probably since humans first stepped out of the forests into the savannas of Africa. Since that moment, humans have been efficiently fragmenting wide open landscapes into manageable units, allocating them to different land-use systems, thereby effectively destroying natural ecosystems and limiting their integrity and connectivity. This process occurred at different times in different places on Earth in human history and relatively recently in North America. Consequently, the chances of successfully protecting the remaining wilderness and its natural values and recreating its connectivity are among the highest in the North American West. However, these tasks are much easier said than done for 2 reasons. One is that large open spaces and landscapes often are inherently complex and one type of solution will not be adequate everywhere. The second is that human use of large open landscapes and the resulting impacts have further increased the complexity of these systems; thus, humans have to be part of the solution. The three books reviewed here focus on large open landscapes, mostly of the American West, and apply widely different yet complementary approaches to conservation. Two themes they have in common are the accommodation of the current human use of the land within plans to save natural ecosystems and species and the recreation or enhancement of the connectivity and integrity of land units or ecosystems. The three books approach these themes from different angles: one is mostly theoretical, the second is mostly descriptive, and the third is mostly operational and social. In The Science of Open Spaces, Charles G. Curtin builds on a strong theoretical foundation to propose a new bottom-up approach to conservation. At the start, he rightly points out that throughout the human history, large open landscapes have been associated with or maintained by mobile or nomadic land-use systems, which is in stark contrast with current thinking on place-based, stationary land-use systems and management approaches. The author aims to present a science-based approach to developing ways to conserve complex, large open landscapes, which requires a thorough overview of many basic theories and principles ranging from thermodynamics to resilience ecology. Although this is undoubtedly useful, the selection of topics can be argued. For instance, I expected more on the application of knowledge from disturbance ecology in the design of management actions. The book continues with a demonstration of how these basic theories and principles can be used to develop locally relevant conservation approaches that can be weaved together in a bottom-up approach to reflect complexity over larger spatial scales. Of the two major case studies discussed, the Malpai Borderlands Group offers a better example for the ideas presented, whereas the Maine coastal fisheries example is more difficult to grasp, although the main concepts and analogies are clear. In the last chapters, Curtin draws general conclusions by reviewing the conceptual bases of preserving open landscapes and then provides a list and discussion of traps and threats to effective conservation of open spaces. Although the reader is left without a stunning overarching synthesis or exact definitions of concepts in “the science of open spaces,” the book defies the typical top-down thinking of conservation theorists and government agencies and effectively demonstrates that one-size-fits-all strategies do not work in complex open systems. In Mountains and Plains, David Knight and his coauthors have compiled an amazing wealth of information on the ecosystems and species of Wyoming landscapes. This is the second edition of a successful book published 20 years ago. The first edition was thoroughly updated with insights from new research and describes changes in ecosystems and their constituent species as well as in conservation policy; climate change is the new overarching theme. The first chapter presents valuable information on the history of Wyoming landscapes and a brief overview of the current major threats. The next three chapters offer well-organized, adequately illustrated and referenced and easy-to-read information on major ecosystems, wetlands, plains and intermountain basins, foothills, and mountains. One particularly useful addition is the fifth chapter, a description of landscapes of special interest. Some of these landscapes (e.g., the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem) are at the forefront of current conservation research, and this chapter provides a comprehensive source about these areas and ecosystems that goes beyond the primary literature. In all, the book is a well-researched synthesis of the major ecosystems of not only Wyoming but also of the Rockies and adjacent intermountain areas. As a rare synthesis, the book is fundamental for anyone aiming to understand these ecosystems of the American West and to gain knowledge on the current conservation status of ecosystems and species, their trends, and threats to biodiversity both for research and for natural resource use and management. Stitching the West Back Together provides an overview of the amazing variety of social partnerships, coalitions or organizations (termed “community-based collaborative conservation groups” [CBCCs] in the book), and conservation approaches that aim to save working landscapes of the American West. The volume, professionally edited by Susan Charnley and coeditors, presents numerous cases studies, written by a wide array of experts, which have two aims in common. The first aim is to preserve working landscapes in the ranching and forestry industries and the second aim is to facilitate the conservation of endangered species and the connectivity of their habitats (the order is important here). The case studies are introduced through a discussion of the importance and brief history of conserving working landscapes. The second part provides information on the causes and conditions that typically lead to the formation of CBCCs and on their modes of operation. The third part presents case studies from working forests, and the fourth part is on working ranches. The final part summarizes the case studies, presents further innovative approaches that allow the coexistence of conservation and for-profit business, and concludes with several important guidelines. These guidelines are nowhere near surprising; however, they demonstrate that there are a myriad of ways to achieve conservation goals in working landscapes. One of the greatest merits of the book is that it proves that the fundamental conflict over land use between conservationists and local stakeholders (ranching and forestry) can be turned around for the benefit of all stakeholders (local people, civil organizations, government agencies, scientists, etc.). This result requires long-term partnerships, reasonable agreements, and innovative solutions. The book does not solely focus on success stories. It presents several programs and initiatives that broke down upon meeting significant challenges, often unforeseen in the first years. Despite the breadth of the topic and the variety of local CBCCs and their conservation activities, the book is easy to follow, thanks to an organization that really works. For example, brief bullet points introduce each chapter and the conclusions or lessons learned are summarized at the end of each chapter. These books are relevant at different levels of conservation and thus will be interesting to a wide readership. Science of Open Spaces presents many theory-based ideas and concepts relevant to conservation but is short on practical guidelines that can be derived from these theories. Mountains and Plains presents a wide body of ecological knowledge on Western ecosystems but says little about management or conservation. Finally, Stitching the West Back Together is strong on how conservation of working landscapes operates in the American West but is less effective at linking social organization and conservation action to ecological impacts or conservation benefits. Nevertheless, these books nicely complement each other. Plenty of overlaps in ecological background, conservation aims and efforts, and social action and organization are evident. For example, the case of the Malpai Borderlands Group is discussed in two of the three books. Furthermore, these books will be very useful to anyone interested in learning more about large open landscapes and particularly about the ecosystems and conservation of the American West. The target audience is students new to the area, professors guiding students in research, government and agency personnel, and experts working for nongovernmental organizations. Each book will thus be a valuable source of ideas and motivation for conservationists working at a wide range of institutions. I wish I had access to any of these books 23 years ago when I first came to admire the breath-taking vastness and big skies of the American West. Should you also happen to be an admirer, the best you can do is to skip the 20-year wait.

Virtual reality (VR) has recently seen significant development in interaction with computers and the visualization of information. More and more people are using virtual and immersive technologies in their daily lives, especially for entertainment, fitness, and socializing purposes. This paper presents a qualitative evaluation of a large sample of users using a VR platform for dancing (N=292\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$N=292$$\\end{document}); we study the users’ motivations, experiences, and requirements for using VR as an inclusive platform for dancing, mainly as a social or physical activity. We used an artificial intelligence platform (OpenAI) to extract categories or clusters of responses automatically. We organized the data into six user motivation categories: fun, fitness, social activity, pandemic, escape from reality, and professional activities. Our results indicate that dancing in virtual reality is a different experience than in the real world, and there is a clear distinction in the user’s motivations for using VR platforms for dancing. Our survey results suggest that VR is a tool that can positively impact physical and mental well-being through dancing. These findings complement the related work, help in identifying the use cases, and can be used to assist future improvements of VR dance applications.

In order to attain significative advance in almost any area in modern-day scientific research, it is often necessary to think out-of-the-box. That is, if we want to catch something fresh and new, we need to abandon traditional paradigms and preconceived ways of reasoning. In this sense, the paper by Bisson et al. (2012) in this special issue results quite enlightening, for it seems that, their way of thinking out of the box is based on their ability to think inside many boxes at a time. In this paper, the authors discuss about group formation in leeches, and the way that extrasynaptic neuromodulation affects this phenomenon. Group formation is shown to be facilitated by body injection of serotonin (5-HT). It is also mentioned how the level of endogenous 5-HT is elevated in leeches belonging to a large group. To test the role of 5-HT neuromodulation in group formation, leeches were injected with 5-HT antagonists that prevented them from joining a large group. Sensilla ablation and supraesophageal ganglion disconnection also prevented group formation. It is discussed the role that neurochemicals may have on social decision making in leeches, resembling the case in human interactions. Interesting parallels were thus sketched between social group formation in leeches and in humans. For instance, the authors revealed the presence of social reinforcement dynamics as a feature of group formation. Social reinforcement is known to play an important role in human social interactions (Cattuto et al., 2009; Stehle et al., 2010). It is also shown that before socializing on a permanent basis, leeches first “get acquainted with each other” as the authors argue in the beginning of the subsection Properties of group formation, recalling that groups formed in the first hour are not stable. The findings and conclusions of this paper are thus very appealing and intriguing. However, no less riveting result the methods used to reach such conclusions. Apart from the obvious display of ability in the methods of experimental neurobiology; the group, headed by Professor Vincent Torre, embarked upon a research project that combines ethology (by studying leech behavior), social network dynamics (e.g., reinforcement dynamics), imaging and image processing (image acquisition, discretization techniques), computational geometry (contour-tracing and polygon-filling algorithms), mathematical optimization (constrained quadratic programming), and an overall view from the standpoint of complex systems science; all of this, without abandoning their neurobiological foundations. The scope of studies of this kind, as well as their outreach possibilities, is large. Such disparate areas of research as social network epidemiology (Christakis and Fowler, 2008, 2012), flocking and swarming (Miramontes and De Souza, 2008; Aldana et al., 2009; Nagy et al., 2010), collective neural computation (Hopfield, 1982; Colorni et al., 1992), and of course, physiology and neuroscience, may be influenced by the ideas and methods combined in this study. Last but not least we may mention another feature of this paper that, while it should be a rule on scientific inquiry, it results somehow dismissed in many instances nowadays, likely due to publication pressure. We refer to the role that alternative hypothesis testing should have in research. In order to prove their point about the role that 5-HT may have in the dynamics of group formation in leeches, the authors injected leeches with both, the neurotransmitter and its antagonists, tested the medium for chemotaxis, ablated the Sensilla and disconnected the supraesophageal ganglion to physically block the effects of 5-HT. They also probed about the influence of illumination and seasonal variability for the possible impact on their results. Overall: a gripping, novel – yet somehow risky-analysis, on a quite outstanding series of experimental results that seem to suggest a non-trivial relation between extrasynaptic signaling and social behavior.

Because of support groups and studies on death, a new type of care for bereaved parents has been crafted over the past several decades. Support groups and medical professionals are key to this type of care. For medical professionals this job is difficult at times since individual needs may differ. But by following some basic guidelines, medical professionals can help the parents start the recovery process for they are the ones in contact with the parents at the time of death. The guidelines include giving the families complete medical information, reassurance and a chance to talk. Also, importantly, this care includes treating the baby and family with dignity and acknowledging the magnitude of the loss. In Japan most bereaved parents still go completely unassisted at the time of their baby's death. Formation of support groups and a greater awareness by medical professionals on how to care for these families will solve this problem.

The forwarding activities of Pocket Switched Network (PSN) under social scene has attracted increasing attention, which are deeply affected by the social features of PSN nodes, especially the social network structure and characteristics of selfishness among nodes that jointly construct their behavior model under an opportunistic forwarding environment. Through both analysis and simulation, we investigate how social network structure and node selfishness influence data forwarding activities of PSN nodes based on our proposed contact-and-cooperative model. Simulation results obtained by PROPHET algorithm show that PSN forwarding performance, including delay time and packet delivery ratio, are improved by the introduction of social network structure. Further, the differentiation of node selfishness according to nodes' relationships on social structure level also displays intrinsic benefit in network performance in the presence of the node selfish behavior that is inevitable in real world. The results also show that hub nodes in the network, which undertake heavy relay mission, may play a more important role in forwarding activities under our model with social selfishness compared with unconditionally cooperative cases.

13 Ab Imperio, 3/2002 From the EDITORS RUSSIAN SOCIETY: STRUCTURES AND CULTURES In this issue Ab Imperio continues the exploration of the umbrella theme of this year of paradoxes of modernization in the Russian empire and Soviet Union, turning to social and cultural dimensions of history of empire and nation. It is well known what a complex task it is to study the evolution of social structures if approached from the longue duree and societal perspective and to what extent illusory can be the self-manifested changes in culture if taken at face value. The relationship between these two modes of scholars’ encounter with the socio-cultural world stands at the core of the general historical epistemology: on the one hand historians have to deal with the self-description of social structures (institutes, groups and actors) couched in the language of the epoch, on the other hand, there is an ever present temptation to narrate the object of historical investigation (including the process of historical change) in terms of contemporary culture. The problem of reciprocal mental projections and substitutions in the encounter of scholars with the voiceless or outspoken social and cultural phenomena is a point of intersection for all the materials of the current issue. 14 From the Editors Despite the inherent contradiction between the social (structural) and cultural (introspect) perspectives, the symbiosis of social and cultural approach have endured and proved fruitful in the past decade or so, in part due to the blurring of disciplinary boundaries as a result of which cultural and social histories have occupied areas that had long been the domain of political, diplomatic or intellectual history. The explicit dynamism of culture and “representativeness” of social structures allowed to narrate the profound changes in society (in particular, the process of modernization), charting the stages of cultural transformations in relation to the corresponding changes in constellations of social actors and factors. The advance of both social and cultural histories and the fusion thereof influenced the theories of nationalism, which came to address the modern nation formation in the framework of historically emergent linguistic and cultural homogeneity of Western European nations. However, the challenge comes when the optics of social and cultural analysis is applied to history of Central and Eastern Europe. This application invites a reflection on theoretical assumptions of 20th century paradigms of social and cultural history, for it brings about the question of relationship of Central-Eastern European history to Western Europe-tied definition of modernity and the suitability of nation-centered narratives for capturing the history of interaction and encounters in what was the multinational society of a continental empire. Indeed, the very notion of imperial society pleads for critical reflection. It is to be discussed if this category is legitimate given that the boundaries of this social formation are determined by the political frontiers. These frontiers create an ostensibly unitary space, which though includes the significant variation of the nature of social collectivities and relationship as well as different national-cultural areas. Alternatively, one may turn the critical scrutiny to the analytical categories of “society” and “culture” and pose a question to what extent the social and cultural reality behind those categories can be exhausted by the analysis of solidarity, groupness, and homogeneity. The current issue of Ab Imperio is an attempt to take stock of certain new methodological approaches, which evolved in studies of social and cultural history of the Russian empire and Soviet and post-Soviet space, and to map possible directions of modification of conventional analytical concepts necessitated, respectively, by the specific contexts of multinational Russian empire and the Stalin’s Soviet Union. The Theory and Methodology section of this issue features the sequential 15 Ab Imperio, 3/2002 attempts at reflection of relationship between the categories of social sciences and the polyvalent social and cultural reality of social collectivities and cultural solidarity. The section opens by the first publication in Russian of the seminal text by Max Weber, which laid foundations for the modern debate about the formation of social groups and ethnic communities and stressed both cognitive and structural aspects of this process. The most recent attempt to amend the essentialist implications of social and...

Linguistic forms and educational policy: the influence of Basil Bernstein

Purpose – Social capital has been identified as a valuable resource that can lead to various positive outcomes of social activities in both online and offline communities. The purpose of this paper is to argue that social capital can also be an important ingredient in the development of adverse outcomes, such as technology addiction. Design/methodology/approach – Based on social capital theory and prior research related to perceived integration, a research model that reflects the effects of online and offline social capitals as well as perceived integration on mobile social networking service (SNS) addiction was developed and empirically examined based on data collected from 458 mobile SNS users in China. Findings – The structural equation modeling analysis shows that online social interaction ties and online social supports positively affect mobile SNS addiction, whereas offline social supports and online social identification negatively affect mobile SNS addiction. In addition, perceived integration between online and offline channels by using mobile SNS positively influences online social interaction ties, offline social interaction ties, and mobile SNS addiction. Practical implications – From the practical perspective, the results of the study offer interesting implications for managing mobile SNS addiction. The study found that online social interaction ties and online social support positively influence mobile SNS addiction, whereas offline social support negatively influence mobile SNS addiction. Social implications – The mobile SNS users should invest more time to participate in offline social activities and maintain good social relationships with their family, colleagues, and friends in the real world. Originality/value – The present study has both theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical perspective, unlike many previous studies tend to regard social capital as the predictor of positive outcomes of users’ social activities, the study contributes to the extant information systems literature by exploring the potential negative consequences of social capital on users’ social lives. The results of the study indicate that social capital is a significant predictor of mobile SNS addiction.

Whom do the sparrows follow? The effect of kinship on social preference in house sparrow flocks