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.     

Design of ISD-1: an instrument for social diagnosis in care homes for older persons*

This article describes the design process and main features of an instrument developed for use in the specialist area of intervention in care homes for older persons. The essential aim of ISD-1 (instrument for social diagnosis) is to permit the correct formulation of social diagnoses and to standardise and define the professional language used by social workers. Its content has been organised into 4 dimensions of social diagnosis, divided into 15 sub-dimensions containing 83 diagnostic categories. This work was performed in Spain, in the 24 care homes of the Madrid Social Care Agency of the Community of Madrid, involving the participation of the 40 social workers practising in these centres. ISD-1 is an easily understood and used tool, of potential use for social workers practising in care homes for older persons and capable of being adapted for use in other institutional environments, as well as being capable of adaptation and translation for its application in other countries.     

Changing Indigeneity Politics in Indonesia: From Revival to Projects

Through the discourse of indigeneity, rural communities around the world are joining a global network of rural justice seekers. By articulating grievances collectively, they demand state recognition while seeking support from NGOs and international development organisations. In Indonesia, the manifestation of indigenous ‘adat’ politics is no longer confined to the national struggle for the recognition of land rights, but instead, has proliferated into many localised short term ‘adat projects’. This introduction to the TAPJA special issue on adat demonstrates that both the rural poor and local elites can be the initiators or recipients of these adat projects but, at the current juncture, the latter are better positioned to benefit from such projects. The special issue shows that in Indonesia, where adat is often firmly entrenched in the state, the promotion of indigeneity claims can work in contradictory ways. Findings from across the special issue show that adat projects tend to reinforce the power of the state, rather than challenging it.     

Role of Leaders as Agents of Negotiation for Counterbalancing Cultural Dissonance in the Middle East and North Africa Region

This study provides a unique perspective in the field of cross-cultural management by exploring the relationship between “cultural dissonance”—the gap between cultural values and actual practice—and effective leadership attributes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Incorporating cultural dissonance into implicit leadership theory, the study uses measurements of dissonance on nine cultural dimensions to identify particular leadership preferences in seven MENA countries. The overall findings suggest that societies prefer leaders who counterbalance cultural dissonance by allowing space for negotiations by members of society to reduce disparities between cultural values—“the way things should be”—and actual practices—“the way things are.” The greater the disparity between cultural values and practices, the greater the citizens' desire that leaders act as agents of change by creating space for negotiation.     

对大学生加强社会危机事件教育的思考

突发性的社会危机事件是当今世界各国普遍面临的问题,我国也不例外,从罕见雪灾到汶川特大地震;从举国震惊的“毒奶粉”、“溃坝”,到歌舞厅大火、煤矿事故等。频发的社会危机事件给全国上下造成巨大的影响。如何及时有效地加强对青年大学生社会危机事件教育,是高校思想教育工作者面临的重大挑战。     

基层维稳的“人墙”模式及其反思——基于小镇在某祭祀活动中的维稳实录

维护社会稳定是基层治理中的重要工作。在节日及重大活动中保持社会秩序稳定,防止诉求者在政府认为不适当的时候,以不适当的方式对外宣泄诉求是基层治理中常规的维稳内容。文章通过描述鄂北一个小镇在某次祭祀活动中的维稳过程,试图说明,目前小镇乃至于全国多数乡镇在维持社会稳定中,惯用一种以人盯人为手段,利用很多人员构筑出多层次的"人墙",将可疑对象控制在"墙"内,最大程度限制其向外界宣泄诉求的"人墙"模式。尽管,在多道"人墙"的阻隔下,维稳效果能达到治理者的预期目的,但这种维稳模式成本过大,而且只是暂时隐藏矛盾而不能真正解决问题,从长远看,不具有可持续性。同时,采取这种方式维稳可能激发诉求者对政府的不满,暴露政府维稳工作的"软肋",甚至可能导致政府和诉求者的关系陷入恶性循环,其最终后果可能是大幅度提高政府维稳的成本和代价。     

试论农村环境保护中公众参与现状与提升策略

农民在农村环境保护中公众参与不足,总体体现为被动参与状态。这归因于农民在观念上欠缺整体性的认识,环境权利意识薄弱,农村环保公众参与的法律规定不明晰等。将农民的公众参与由被动化为主动有三大策略,包括健全农村公众参与环境保护的法律法规,提高农民的环境权利意识;加强环境信息公开,激发农民参与环境保护的主观能动性;发展农村环境保护的社会组织,丰富公众参与渠道等。     

论技术的本质与环境保护

海德格尔所说的技术"座架"本质确实是造成环境破坏的原因。这种本质不是技术本身固有的,而是在科学、政治、经济、文化价值观念等的基础上形成的。必须改变影响环境技术创新的这些因素,建构有利于环境保护的技术。     

家庭保障在我国农村社会保障中的地位和作用研究

家庭是人类自古以来形成的最基本的社会生活单位,在中国的历史长河中始终扮演着十分重要的角色,尤其在保障家庭成员的养老、医疗、生育、精神慰籍等方面以及对于社会的安定和发展方面都发挥了十分重要的作用。在目前社会保障制度化发展过程中,家庭保障也对正式的社会保障制度起到了重要的补充作用,在建立和完善农村社会保障体系过程中,其地位和作用更是值得重视。     

社会发展与"农业大省"的战略调整

“农业大省”的传统战略已经成为制约吉林省经济增长与社会发展的思想和政策障碍。在国内经济结构中,“农业大省”的自我定位实质上是自认落后;这一战略思路自然决定了农业文化的主流的地位,以小品、二人转等曲艺为主要形式的吉林地方文化成了东北文化的当下代表,并在接受者的意识里构成了单一乃至偏颇的理解;在城市建设中注重门百,忽视整体性和文化含量。