Loneliness and the use of social media to follow celebrities: A moderating role of social presence

Because social media provide users with the possibility of an easy way to communicate with celebrities in society, it has become a more common practice to follow celebrities through social media. However, there exists few studies that examine how people’s individual characteristics are related to their celebrity-following behavior. In this regard, the current study examines whether celebrity followers’ loneliness is associated with the following behavior of their favorite celebrity. Data were collected through an online survey (N = 210). Primary findings suggest that celebrity followers’ loneliness is positively related to frequent visits of their favorite celebrity’s social media, greater social-interpersonal motive for following the celebrity, and greater enjoyment of learning about personal life stories of the celebrity. Social presence is found to be a significant moderator that can intensify more favorable parasocial relationship perceptions with the celebrity.     

Children's perceptions of others' understanding of moral transgressions: who should know better and why

The present study examined children's perceptions of other children's ability to make moral judgements. Preschool, kindergarten, first- and second-grade children rated the permissibility of moral transgressions for a same-age peer, a younger child and an older child. Children also were asked why the transgressions were wrong. Preschool and kindergarten children rated transgressions equally wrong for a same-age peer, a younger and an older child, whereas first and second graders rated transgressions for a same-age peer and an older child as more wrong than for a younger child. Preschoolers stated they did not know why the transgressions were wrong for a younger child, while kindergarten children reasoned that a younger child did not know the rules. First and second graders reasoned that a same-age peer and an older child should know ‘better’, but a younger child would not know ‘better’. Results suggest that children's perceptions of others' moral knowledge is related to children's ability to coordinate domains of social knowledge when making judgements of others' moral transgressions.     

Understanding media constructions of volunteering: an Australian perspective

This paper explores the Australian public's understanding of volunteering from a media perspective. A content analysis of 137 news articles published in The Australian newspaper revealed that volunteering in Australia is framed in terms of eight perspectives by nine claim makers. Since media-led images of volunteering tend to influence peoples' decision to volunteer, the findings have several implications for organizers of social development projects involving volunteers.     

A new model of the development of deception: Disentangling the role of false‐belief understanding in deceptive ability

“Deception” is defined predominantly as the intentional attempt to create false‐beliefs in others. However, the intentionality behind early acts of deception and its relation to false‐belief understanding remain unresolved. In this article, we offer a three‐stage theoretical model of the development of deception in human ontogeny. We posit that at any age, human deception is an intentional action, but its form changes according to the level of the deceiver's intentionality. As the primary function of deception is to influence the behaviour of others, we argue that first‐stage deceptions‐in‐action involves only in the analysis of behaviours and perceptual access, not beliefs. In our view, the ability to deceive and false‐belief understanding are eventually inter‐connected, but false‐belief understanding is not essential for the earliest form of deception. Based on empirical findings, which suggest that by observing the results of early deceptions children build their knowledge of mental states as causes of human actions, we claim that the second stage of deception is representational deception. Further, as the understanding of beliefs becomes more advanced, the effectiveness of children's deception increases, and new forms of reflective deception (the third stage) emerge. Future directions for research are outlined, and limitations of the current model are discussed.     

Political science: Moral dialogues and our understanding of American politics

This commentary focuses on the connection between Etzioni’s moral dialogues conception and the concepts of social capital, civil society and the ultimate outcome to be anticipated from the election of Donald Trump in 2016. The optimist view that a progressive social movement is in the making is called somewhat into question given the well documented decline in the very institutions and trust-based norms essential for the moral dialogues in question to transpire.     

对行政诉讼举证责任的再认识

举证责任的内涵不仅包括客观说服责任,即败诉风险责任而且包括主观推进责任,它的内涵界定不应是单一的,而应是双重的.它是我国举证责任制度建立的基础,关于举证责任的分配原则与民事诉讼举证责任的分配原则表面上是对立的、倒置的,但实质上是一致的,"谁主张,谁举证"这一基本论理,在行政诉讼领域同样适用.     

The government's role in public trust of biomedical science

Public trust in biomedical research depends in large part upon public attitudes toward science, the behavior of institutions involved in conducting and supporting biomedical research, and how mass media report on biomedical research. This paper explores those aspects of public trust, particularly the responsibilities of government as the major source of support for research using public funds.     

Action theory: a tool for understanding in social work

This article presents a theoretical framework that can be used not only for understanding the client but also one's own action as a practitioner. This framework, which has its roots mainly within philosophy and social psychology, uses terms of everyday language that are given a more precise meaning in the conceptual analysis of the Finnish philosopher G. H. von Wright. The application of action theory to social work practice is briefly described. The approach can be seen as an expansion of the problem-solving method developed by Helen Harris Perlman.     

Individual Differences in Children's Understanding of the School

Following previous research (Buchanan-Barrow and Barrett, 1996) which investigated the developmental trends in children's understanding of the school, this paper reports a study which explored wider influences on children's thinking in an examination of individual differences within those broad trends. First, the role of socio-economic class, gender and birth-order were examined for possible relationship to the children's understanding. Second, the attitudes of children, parents and teachers towards their school were investigated in order to assess possible links with the children's thinking. Children, aged 5-11, from two primary schools, were interviewed, with separate questionnaires being completed by their parents and teachers. Although the findings suggested developmental trends associated with age, there were also clear indications of other patterns associated with all the social categories examined in this study. Furthermore, there was evidence of context-effects, with links between the children's attitudes and their understanding of the school and also between parental and children's attitudes. Given the extent and significance of the factors which emerged, children's social understanding would appear to be complex and liable to vary according to their social group memberships.     

宁波市社工阅读调查研究

社区是文化的土壤,文化的孕育和传承存在于社区的社会活动和生活之中。社工是一个社区的组织者和维护者,承担着整个社区的科教文卫工作。阅读作为一种常见的知识接受形式,对社工技能的培养有着不可估量的作用,提高社工的阅读率对保证社区各项工作的正常运行有着非同一般的意义。     

论社会行动德育模式在社会工作价值观教育中的应用

价值观是社会工作的灵魂,但是中国大陆社会工作价值观教育普遍存在理论脱离实际的困境。社会行动道德教育模式提倡的以行动为本的道德教育新理念和新方法对中国大陆社会工作价值观教育具有现实的启发意义。文章最后从如何提升学生道德行动能力的角度对实施社会行动取向的社会工作价值观教育提出了几点实务经验。     

To tweet or not to tweet: Exploring the determinants of early adoption of Twitter by House members in the 111th Congress

The adoption of communication forms like Twitter presents students of congressional behavior an interesting case to examine the intersection of technology and politics. Twitter represents a social media venue that provides an immediate and direct link between the Member of Congress (MC) and constituents, which entails a benefit and a potential risk. In this paper, I examine Twitter use in the 111th Congress in order to better understand congressional early adoption of new technology. The primary question addressed is what systematic determinants shape the decision to adopt Twitter as a component of an MC's media strategy. Using data collected from MC Twitter accounts and the 2008 congressional election, I find partisan, cohort, and ideological determinants on early Twitter adoption. Republicans are more likely to use Twitter even in multivariate analysis; ideological extremism influences the use of Twitter. In contrast to past technologies, district demographics have no systematic effect on the early adoption of Twitter.     

"文明祭扫"新风尚在鄱阳悄然兴起

又是一年清明节,细心的人们不难发现,在江西省鄱阳县,一种新的祭奠方式正在这里悄然兴起.家住南昌的鄱阳人陈阿姨4月1日一大早就手捧菊花到墓园祭扫.陈阿姨说,往年她是带着纸钱来公墓祭扫的.她看见周围的人都用鲜花或是绢花进行祭扫,觉得用花代替纸钱的方式既环保又安全,而且故去的母亲也喜欢花,于是今年她也在街上买了一束绢花.     

The Role of Second-Order Belief-Understanding and Social Context in Children's Self-Attribution of Social Emotions

Children's self-attribution of social emotions was hypothesised (i) to be related to their second-order belief-understanding and (ii) to be more strongly related to social- conventional than moral rule violations. Thirty children aged between 4 and 7 years were presented with Sullivan, Zaitchik & Tager-Flusberg's (1994) second-order false belief task and with four hypothetical scenarios in which they were required to imagine that they had violated particular moral and social conventional rules. As predicted, the self-attribution of social emotions was significantly related to second-order belief understanding, primarily in social-conventional rather than moral contexts.     

论社会工作在老年思想政治教育中的应用

随着我国人口老龄化的发展,老年人群体的思想政治教育是政府和社会面临的现实课题。传统老年思想政治教育的管理取向和社会本位,使其难以有效回应社会发展与老年人发展的双重诉求。借鉴和吸纳社会工作的理念和方法,是创新老年思想政治教育的现实路径。     

数字化时代呼唤传媒的信息增值

在现代社会 ,大众传播是人们获得外界信息的主要来源 ,是实现国家和社会目标的重要手段。随着客户需求的提高和信息加工、处理技术的增强 ,在未来的社会中 ,政府、企业和个人的生存与发展都将越来越倚赖于大众传媒 ,特别是由大众传媒所提供的信息增值服务。信息增值服务必将成为传媒业未来不容忽视的一个重要经济增长点 ,也是数字化时代值得关注的一项重要社会和经济发展的课题     

北京地区大众传媒建构国家形象的策略

本文运用系统论、区域传播、全球化、资源位等理论初步探析了北京传媒塑造我国国家形象的策略,即树立传播的"球土化"意识,处理好京派文化、民族文化、世界文化这三重视域的关系,充分利用京城发生的"媒介事件",研究不同传媒资源位的不同策略,营造系统、高效、立体的传播网络。     

法治化进程中媒体监督的改革思路

强化媒体舆论监督是我国法治化进程中的一个重要环节.媒体监督改革的基本原则是在媒体自主与法律自治之间求得平衡,在新闻自由与公民权利之间求得平衡.媒体监督的法制保障大致包括促进媒体自主,扩展新闻自由;提高政府公开性,扩展公民的知情权;恰当衡量各种利益,诸如要达到新闻媒体的批评监督权与名誉权、隐私权之间的利益平衡;抑制媒体权力的滥用,保障司法的独立和公正.