Reference to Self and Other in the Digital Public Sphere: The Case of Political Blogs

In this paper, we analyze how a political blog author (Spanish Alejo Vidal-Quadras) establishes the reference to self and other in his blog entries. We furthermore look into how the commentators to this blog react and establish reference to self and other in the digital public sphere. More concretely, we show that they not only take up the references established by the main blog author but also create new references. These allow, on the one hand, for profiling themselves as part of a group and, on the other hand, identifying their interlocutor among the variety of possible interlocutors in the digital public sphere. By addressing different interlocutors, the commentators turn the comments section into a dialogic space, a dimension that is lacking in the main blog entries. However, the fact that they almost invariably identify interlocutors other than Vidal-Quadras but address Vidal-Quadras without explicitly identifying him, shows that Vidal-Quadras remains the main ratified interlocutor in view of his ownership of the blog. This paper shows then how participants in the digital public sphere create a complex relationship of self and other reference in political blogs.     

Complement Anaphora in Spanish: Proportional References and Discourse Relations

Although still disputed by some authors, complement anaphora interpretations are widely accepted today. However, they are marked and subject to strict interpretation conditions. Most commonly, monotone decreasing quantifiers facilitate a salient complement set interpretation that is suitable for subsequent anaphoric reference, whereas monotone increasing quantifiers appear to block such interpretation. In this paper, I investigate the possibilities of anaphoric reference to complement sets in Spanish quantified expressions of type quantifier(A)(B) and argue that Spanish aligns with the general pattern observed cross-linguistically according to which anaphoric reference to the reference set (refset) is default regardless of monotonicity type, and that anaphoric reference to the complement set (compset) is only possible with monotone decreasing quantifiers. My claim is that the observed discrepancy can be explained in terms of the different proportions denoted by the quantifiers, and propose an explanation based on discourse relations. My approach provides additional cross-linguistic evidence in favor of the general observed pattern, and a promising path for future investigation into the refset/compset divide.     

“It’s Sort of My Calling”: The Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility of Latino Immigrant-Origin Young Adults

The aim of this study was to describe civic patterns of engagement of Latino first- and secondgeneration (immigrant-origin) young adults and to provide insights into what differentiates these patterns. Based on 58 in-depth interviews with 18- to 25-year-olds of Dominican, Mexican, and Central American origin, the authors first established variations in different levels of civic engagement profiles. The authors then analyzed the characteristics that distinguish these civic profiles, considering demographic variables (generation, gender, education level, and undocumented status) as well as motivations for civic engagement. Two thirds of first- and second-generation participants were actively engaged, though variations in patterns emerged across civic profiles; undocumented status appeared a particularly salient driver of engagement. The authors found that rather than being instrumentally and individually motivated, Latino immigrant-origin young adults were primarily motivated to be civically engaged by social responsibility as well as by social (in)justices.     

Judgments of Monkey’s (Macaca mulatta) Facial Expressions by Humans: Does Housing Condition “Affect” Countenance?

The Psychological Record - The ability to interpret facial expressions of others is one of the more important abilities possessed by humans. However, is it possible for humans to interpret the...     

The Importance of Context in the Genetic Transmission of U.S. Party Identification

In this study, we discuss one example where behavior genetic findings vary greatly across political contexts. We present original findings on how party identification is heritable around the 2008 election on a sample of twins from Minnesota. As this is in contrast with findings from the late 1980s and with how a mid‐2000 study interpreted their results, we explain how the increasing partisan ideological polarization could be responsible for these seemingly contradictory findings. In the Minnesota sample, we show a genetic correlation between party identification and ideology, a finding consistent in the political science literature. We highlight how heritability of political characteristics, like all others, is population specific and highly context dependent stressing its nondeterministic nature.