Populist polarization in postcolonial Philippines: Sociolinguistic rifts in online drug war discourse

Social psychological scholarship on populism explains polarization processes in terms of individual differences and group‐level divisions. However, predominant approaches often elide wider historical contexts, implicitly assuming the structural features of Western settings. Invoking insights from postcolonial psychology, we posit that populist polarization dynamics in the Global South are structurally shaped by colonial histories. Turning to the Philippines under populist President Rodrigo Duterte, we examine polarized online constructions of his controversial war on drugs. Employing a discourse‐historical approach, we uncover a structurally bifurcated view of populist polarization. We specifically unpack sociolinguistic rifts across vernacular discourses of community security uttered in Filipino versus cosmopolitan discourses of democratic integrity uttered in English. Our findings expand prevailing scholarship by illustrating postcolonial discursive possibilities of populism from above and resistance from below. We conclude with insights for studying populist polarization at the nexus of local and global inequalities.     

Electrically-manipulable spin filter based on a novel magnetic nanostructure

In order to achieve a controllable spin-polarized source, we have applied a transverse electric field to a spin filter based on a novel magnetic nanostructure with zero average magnetic field. We have analytically calculated the transmission coefficient, conductance and spin polarization for electrons to transit the device in the presence of a transverse electric field. The results demonstrate that the transmission, the conductance and the spin polarization vary sensitively with the electric field. It is shown that the performance of the spin filter can be manipulated expediently by adjusting the transverse electric field. Thus, the spin filter can be utilized as an electrically controllable spin-polarized source for spintronics applications.     

CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE CLASH OF WORLDVIEWS: AN EXPLORATION OF HOW TO MOVE FORWARD IN A POLARIZED DEBATE

The current gridlock around climate change and how to address our global sustainability issues can be understood as resulting from clashes in worldviews. This article summarizes some of the research on worldviews in the contemporary West, showing that these (ideal‐typical) worldviews have different, and frequently complementary, potentials, as well as different pitfalls, with respect to addressing climate change. Simultaneously, the overview shows that, because of their innate reflexivity and their capacity to appreciate and synthesize multiple perspectives, individuals inhabiting integrative worldviews may have particular potentials with respect to addressing climate change. In the conclusion I argue that the policy challenge is to develop strategies that inspire the different worldview groups to actualize their potentials while mitigating their pitfalls, as well as to unite and mobilize them around a single vision that speaks to them all.     

Evangelical Elites’ Anti‐Homosexuality Narratives as a Resistance Strategy Against Attribution Effects

While attribution theory expects that beliefs about the origins of homosexuality are directly related to beliefs about the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior, we use content analysis of the popular evangelical magazine Christianity Today to show that evangelical elites have developed a series of anti‐homosexuality narratives that allow them to resist attribution effects. In particular, we find that even when evangelical elites have expressed belief in the physiological origins of homosexuality, such as the influence of genetics and/or prenatal hormones, their negative beliefs about the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior have not varied. We argue, then, that evangelical elites’ anti‐homosexuality narratives provide them with a strategy for influencing rank‐and‐file evangelicals, so that while allowing for a diversity of beliefs about the origins of homosexuality, rank‐and‐file evangelicals still have a viable mechanism for connecting these beliefs—whatever they may be—to negative beliefs about the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior. Our findings thus extend attribution theory, illuminate the potential power of moral narratives, and amplify the need for future research.     

Doping in disabled elite sport: Perceptions,knowledge and opinions from the perspective of German and UK coaches

ObjectivesThe phenomenon of doping is rarely researched in Paralympic sport, especially from the coach perspective. This study responds directly to this gap in research by exploring coaches' doping-related perceptions, knowledge, and opinions of the current anti-doping system in order to inform future interventions specific to disabled elite sport contexts.MethodEleven coaches from Germany (n = 6) and the UK (n = 5) working across physiological (n = 7) and skill-based (n = 4) sport disciplines at an elite level (Paralympic, n = 10 and World Championship, n = 1) took part in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using abductive reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019a).FindingsFour themes were developed to capture the coaches’ perspectives. The first represents coaches’ perception that doping is an issue in Paralympic sport. The second theme shows that risk factors to dope are typically multiple and intertwined, stemming especially from financial incentives and pressure to win. Theme three captures coaches' opinion of differences in testing and education across countries due to budget, resource, or infrastructure issues. Finally, data showed that coaches prefer to refer responsibility for doping prevention to their national anti-doping organisation, rather than taking on personal responsibility for anti-doping efforts.ConclusionsAccording to the interviewed coaches, doping has the potential to be a big issue in disabled elite sport. The main risk factors of money and pressure to win (earn prize money or funding/sponsorship) are knitted together and can be additionally impacted (negatively) by a nation’s sporting system. These factors should be addressed by thinking both on an individual level (e.g., support dual careers) and a structural/policy level (e.g., aim to have minimum standards to level the global inconsistent anti-doping systems, including anti-doping education/testing). Furthermore, coaches should take their role and be proactively made aware of their responsibility in doping prevention to coach clean and protect their athletes properly.     

Secularization and the Wider Gap in Values and Personal Religiosity Between the Religious and Nonreligious

Increasing proportions of religious nonaffiliation characterize most Western societies, although the periods over which these increases have occurred and the speed in which they happen do vary. Consequently, some nations now have larger unaffiliated groups and others much smaller ones. What is less well known is if, in areas where unaffiliated groups are larger, the religious “nones” have become more distinct from the actively religious in their attitudes and behavior. In contexts of advanced secularization, to what extent is the gap greater between the actively religious and the nonreligious when it comes to their views on family life and reproduction, for example? In regards to their levels of religiosity and spirituality in their private lives? Are the unaffiliated more liberal in their attitudes and less religious in their private life? This article sheds light on these questions by analyzing data from over 200 North American, European, and Oceanic country subregions included in the 2008 International Social Survey Programme. With hierarchical linear models, I find that, in areas where the unaffiliated form a larger proportion of the population, the differences between the actively religious and the unaffiliated in family values and personal religiosity tend to be greater.     

Characterization of grain-boundary dislocation networks by a combination of large-angle convergent-beam electron diffraction and weak-beam techniques

The Burgers vector of very close intrinsic dislocations in a near-Σ = 11,{311} grain-boundary in nickel is identified using a geometrical method based on local and accurate measurements of the angular deviation from perfect coincidence Σ = 11 by large-angle convergent-beam electron diffraction and of the dislocation spacing from weak-beam images of the grain boundary.     

Infostorms

It has become a truism that we live in so‐called information societies where new information technologies have made information abundant. At the same time, information science has made us aware of many phenomena tied to the way we process information. This article explores a series of socio‐epistemic information phenomena resulting from processes that track truth imperfectly: pluralistic ignorance, informational cascades, and belief polarization. It then couples these phenomena with the hypothesis that modern information technologies may lead to their amplification so as to give rise to what are called “infostorms.” This points to the need for studying further the exact relations between information technologies and such infostorms, as well as the ways we may design technologies to avoid being misled away from what we have good reasons to believe.     

Differentiating explanations of attitude-consistent behavior: the role of perspectives and mode of perspective taking

We examined whether participants could differentiate between explanations of attitude-consistent behavior related to EU membership given from two perspectives (EU supporter and EU opponent) by means of three perspective taking modes (the explainer's own perspective, imagined in-group members' perspective, and imagined out-group members' perspective). Participants were presented with explanations provided from different perspectives and perspective taking modes, and they were asked to judge the extent to which they agreed with each explanation, to guess the attitude of the provider of each explanation, and to rate the quality of each explanation in various respects. Participants could not differentiate between explanations given by in-group members and out-group members who imagined the same perspective. They responded more favorably to explanations given from own perspective than from the imagined perspectives. The results suggest that there exists a shared understanding about how both sides should explain attitude-consistent behavior, but this understanding is measurably different from the actual explanations.