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Publications | Faculty of Social Sciences

Publications

2020
Luolin Zhao and John, Nicholas . 2020. The Concept Of ‘Sharing’ In Chinese Social Media: Origins, Transformations And Implications. Information, Communication & Society, Pp. 1-17. Abstract
ABSTRACTIn this article we present an analysis of the concepts of fenxiang and gongxiang ? the Mandarin words for ?sharing?? in the context of Chinese social media. We do so through an interrogation of the words fenxiang and gongxiang as used by Chinese social media companies. Using the Internet Archive?s Wayback Machine, we created screenshots of 32 Chinese social network sites between 2000 and 2018 and tracked changes in the usage of fenxiang and gongxiang over time. The Mandarin translations in some ways operate like the English word, ?sharing?. Fenxiang has the meaning of participating in social media, and gongxiang refers to technological aspects of sharing, while also conveying a sense of harmony. However, the interpersonal relations implied by fenxiang, and the political order implied by gongxiang, are quite different from those conveyed by ?sharing?. Together, fenxiang and gongxiang construct a convergence of micro-level interpersonal harmony and macro-level social harmony. Thus, the language of sharing becomes the lens through which to observe the subtlety, complexity and idiosyncrasies of the Chinese internet. This article offers a new heuristic for understanding Chinese social media, while also pointing to an important facet of the discursive construction of Chinese social media. This implies a continuing need to de-westernize research into the internet and to identify cultural-specific meanings of social media.
Rachel Friedman and Rosen, Gillad . 2020. David Vs. Goliath? Leveraging Citizen Science In Israel’s Energy Debates. Energy Research & Social Science, 71, Pp. 101797.
In light of the growing unmarried demographic, this study analyzed the extent and determinants of sexual satisfaction among seven relationship-status groups: married, never married, and those who are divorced/separated, where the latter two groups are further divided into single, living apart together (LAT), and cohabiting. In addition, the study measured the levels of sexual self-esteem, sexual communication, and sex frequency for the different relationship-status groups as predictors of sexual satisfaction. Finally, this study also analyzed sexual satisfaction while accounting for overall life satisfaction. Using the ninth wave of the Pairfam data set and analyzing the responses of 3,207 respondents in total, this study suggests that marriage is not a determinant for sexual satisfaction. In fact, it can even be a negative correlate when married respondents are compared to certain unmarried groups. The only exception is that of unmarried individuals who currently have no partner. Even this situation is shown to be dependent only on less frequent intercourse, not on a lack of sexual self-esteem and sexual communication. These conclusions challenge previous research as well as the explanations of earlier scholars. Several directions for future research are discussed in light of these findings.
Roberto Danovaro, Fanelli, Emanuela , Aguzzi, Jacopo , Billett, David , Carugati, Laura , Corinaldesi, Cinzia , Dell’Anno, Antonio , Gjerde, Kristina , Jamieson, Alan J. , Kark, Salit , McClain, Craig , Levin, Lisa , Levin, Noam , Ramirez-Llodra, Eva , Ruhl, Henry , Smith, Craig R. , Snelgrove, Paul V. R. , Thomsen, Laurenz , Van Dover, Cindy L. , and Yasuhara, Moriaki . 2020. Ecological Variables For Developing A Global Deep-Ocean Monitoring And Conservation Strategy. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 4, Pp. 181-192. Abstract
The deep sea (>200 m depth) encompasses >95% of the world’s ocean volume and represents the largest and least explored biome on Earth (<0.0001% of ocean surface), yet is increasingly under threat from multiple direct and indirect anthropogenic pressures. Our ability to preserve both benthic and pelagic deep-sea ecosystems depends upon effective ecosystem-based management strategies and monitoring based on widely agreed deep-sea ecological variables. Here, we identify a set of deep-sea essential ecological variables among five scientific areas of the deep ocean: (1) biodiversity; (2) ecosystem functions; (3) impacts and risk assessment; (4) climate change, adaptation and evolution; and (5) ecosystem conservation. Conducting an expert elicitation (1,155 deep-sea scientists consulted and 112 respondents), our analysis indicates a wide consensus amongst deep-sea experts that monitoring should prioritize large organisms (that is, macro- and megafauna) living in deep waters and in benthic habitats, whereas monitoring of ecosystem functioning should focus on trophic structure and biomass production. Habitat degradation and recovery rates are identified as crucial features for monitoring deep-sea ecosystem health, while global climate change will likely shift bathymetric distributions and cause local extinction in deep-sea species. Finally, deep-sea conservation efforts should focus primarily on vulnerable marine ecosystems and habitat-forming species. Deep-sea observation efforts that prioritize these variables will help to support the implementation of effective management strategies on a global scale.
Sivan Frenkel, Guttman, Ilan , and Kremer, Ilan . 2020. The Effect Of Exogenous Information On Voluntary Disclosure And Market Quality. Journal Of Financial Economics, 138, Pp. 176-192. Abstract
We analyze a model in which information may be voluntarily disclosed by a firm and/or by a third party, e.g., financial analysts. Due to its strategic nature, corporate voluntary disclosure is qualitatively different from third-party disclosure. Greater analyst coverage crowds out (crowds in) corporate voluntary disclosure when analysts mostly discover information that is available (unavailable) to the firm. Nevertheless, greater analyst coverage always improves the overall quality of public information. We base this claim on two market quality measures: price efficiency, which is statistical in nature, and liquidity, which is derived in a trading stage that follows the disclosure stage.
Lily Agranat-Tamir, Waldman, Shamam , Martin, Mario A. S. , Gokhman, David , Mishol, Nadav , Eshel, Tzilla , Cheronet, Olivia , Rohland, Nadin , Mallick, Swapan , Adamski, Nicole , Lawson, Ann Marie , Mah, Matthew , Michel, Megan , Oppenheimer, Jonas , Stewardson, Kristin , Candilio, Francesca , Keating, Denise , Gamarra, Beatriz , Tzur, Shay , Novak, Mario , Kalisher, Rachel , Bechar, Shlomit , Eshed, Vered , Kennett, Douglas J. , Faerman, Marina , Yahalom-Mack, Naama , Monge, Janet M. , Govrin, Yehuda , Erel, Yigal , Yakir, Benjamin , Pinhasi, Ron , Carmi, Shai , Finkelstein, Israel , Carmel, Liran , and Reich, David . 2020. The Genomic History Of The Bronze Age Southern Levant. Cell, 181, Pp. 1146-1157.e11. Abstract
Summary We report genome-wide DNA data for 73 individuals from five archaeological sites across the Bronze and Iron Ages Southern Levant. These individuals, who share the “Canaanite” material culture, can be modeled as descending from two sources: (1) earlier local Neolithic populations and (2) populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros or the Bronze Age Caucasus. The non-local contribution increased over time, as evinced by three outliers who can be modeled as descendants of recent migrants. We show evidence that different “Canaanite” groups genetically resemble each other more than other populations. We find that Levant-related modern populations typically have substantial ancestry coming from populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros and the Bronze Age Southern Levant. These groups also harbor ancestry from sources we cannot fully model with the available data, highlighting the critical role of post-Bronze-Age migrations into the region over the past 3,000 years.
Christian Baden, Kligler-Vilenchik, Neta , and Yarchi, Moran . 2020. Hybrid Content Analysis: Toward A Strategy For The Theory-Driven, Computer-Assisted Classification Of Large Text Corpora. Communication Methods And Measures, 14, Pp. 165-183. Abstract
ABSTRACTGiven the scale of digital communication, researchers face a painful trade-off between powerful, scalable computational strategies, and the theoretical sensitivity offered by small-scale manual analyses. Especially in the study of natural discourse on digital media, the interactive, ever-evolving stream of conversations across multiple platforms regularly defies efforts to obtain well-defined samples of manageable size, while their linguistic variability imposes major limitations upon the accuracy of automated tools. In this paper, we draw upon recent advances in computational text analysis to develop a hybrid approach to the deductive analysis of large-scale digital discourse, which combines the algorithmic extraction of coherent, recurrent patterns with a manual coding of identified patterns. The approach scales up to treat millions of texts at minimal added human effort, while affording researchers close control over the process of theory-guided classification. We demonstrate the power of Hybrid Content Analysis by studying polarization in a quarter of a million contributions from cross-platform interactive social media discourse about a controversial incident.
Noam Shoval, Kahani, Alon , De Cantis, Stefano , and Ferrante, Mauro . 2020. Impact Of Incentives On Tourist Activity In Space-Time. Annals Of Tourism Research, 80, Pp. 102846. Abstract
No tourism study to date, has examined the ability of incentives to shape the spatio-temporal behaviour of tourists. Data collected from the port of Palermo in Sicily (Italy), using traditional survey instruments as well as GPS technology, was employed to investigate the effect of incentives on cruise passengers' space-time activities. The results show the incentives' clear and significant impact in influencing the space-time activities of cruise passengers' while visiting the city. Understanding the movement patterns of visitors at destinations can give destination managers information that can assist in dealing with the negative effects of overtourism that are caused due to high concentrations of visitors in both space and time in relatively small and well-defined sites and areas.
Anat Tchetchik, Zvi, Liat I. , Kaplan, Sigal , and Blass, Vered . 2020. The Joint Effects Of Driving Hedonism And Trialability On The Choice Between Internal Combustion Engine, Hybrid, And Electric Vehicles. Technological Forecasting And Social Change, 151, Pp. 119815. Abstract
The low penetration rate of electric vehicles (EVs) is raising concern among policy makers and car designers who face risky decisions whether to invest in EV technology and promotion. Traditionally, battery electric vehicles (BEV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) were considered successive technologies. Yet, it is becoming apparent that in the next few decades these technologies will co-exist, which revives the interest in the choice amongst them. This study focuses on normative and hedonic goals to understand the impact of innovativeness and driving hedonism and their interaction with user experience and pro-environmental attitudes of consumers choosing between conventional, hybrid and electric cars. The behavioral model challenges utility-based models of auto propulsion choices by integrating hedonic goal-framing and its interaction with product experience into Rogers’ diffusion of innovation model. In a discrete choice experiment informed by stated-preference Bayesian efficient design among 309 participants, we find that the interaction between driving hedonism and BEV 'trialability' is positively related to the adoption of HEVs rather than of BEVs. Compared to environmental consumers who lack driving hedonism, the segment of innovative-environmentalists act as BEV adoption pioneers and the segment of innovative-environmentalist-hedonists are HEV adoption pioneers.
Asaf Nissenbaum and Shifman, Limor . 2020. Laughing Alone, Together: Local User-Generated Satirical Responses To A Global Event. Information, Communication & Society, Pp. 1-18.
Reut Avinun, Israel, Salomon , Knodt, Annchen R. , and Hariri, Ahmad R. . 2020. Little Evidence For Associations Between The Big Five Personality Traits And Variability In Brain Gray Or White Matter. Neuroimage, 220, Pp. 117092. Abstract
Attempts to link the Big Five personality traits of Openness-to-Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism with variability in trait-like features of brain structure have produced inconsistent results. Small sample sizes and heterogeneous methodology have been suspected in driving these inconsistencies. Here, using data collected from 1,107 university students (636 women, mean age 19.69 ​± ​1.24 years), representing the largest sample to date of unrelated individuals, we tested for associations between the Big Five personality traits and measures of cortical thickness and surface area, subcortical volume, and white matter microstructural integrity. In addition to replication analyses based on a prior study, we conducted exploratory whole-brain analyses. Four supplementary analyses were also conducted to examine 1) possible associations with lower-order facets of personality; 2) modulatory effects of sex; 3) effect of controlling for non-target personality traits; and 4) parcellation scheme effects. Our analyses failed to identify significant associations between the Big Five personality traits and brain morphometry, except for a weak association between greater surface area of the superior temporal gyrus and lower conscientiousness scores. As the latter association is not supported by previous studies, it should be treated with caution. Our supplementary analyses mirrored these predominantly null findings, suggesting they were not substantively biased by our analytic choices. Collectively, these results indicate that if there are associations between the Big Five personality traits and brain structure, they are likely of very small effect size and will require very large samples for reliable detection.
Tobias Ebbrecht-Hartmann. 2020. Media Resonance And Conflicting Memories: Historical Event Movies As Conflict Zone. Memory Studies, Pp. 1750698020907948. Abstract
The three-part German television drama Generation War (2013) created a national and subsequently international debate about the past and present of wartime memories. While these discussions were framed nationally as intergenerational dialogue, in the context of a unified Europe that is still struggling with its own self-perception and identity, the framework of international disputes about interpretation of the war was marked by conflicting memories. As a result, and within the increasingly interdependent network of popular television, transnational media and conflicting European memories, Generation War became a televised conflict zone. This article analyses the film as a historical event movie that borrows central aspects from the docudrama genre. It argues that the extra-textual dimension of such programmes is gaining more and more importance for creating resonance effects and thereby also delineates a model of media resonance that reflects the mainly overlooked role that resonance plays with regard to memory processes.
In recent decades, the experience of non-governmental politically motivated violence became a central element of global memory culture. Motivated by several shocking attacks at the beginning of the new millennium, this commemorative culture evolved in a memory ecology, which was significantly shaped by the prosperity of global Holocaust memory. Therefore, public commemoration of politically motivated violence intersects different discursive elements, leading to multidirectional forms of memory. Based on interdisciplinary theoretical approaches, this article examines public memorials commemorating two notable cases of neo-Nazi xenophobic attacks in Germany as discursive spheres referring to the confrontation with the country?s unique past and its impact on Germany?s contemporary self-image challenged by right-wing extremism. We argue that various commemorative actors in the field adopted and appropriated Second World War and Holocaust-related iconography and terminology to shape these memory sites as instruments linking current Germany to the period of National Socialism.
Xi Li, Levin, Noam , Xie, Jinlong , and Li, Deren . 2020. Monitoring Hourly Night-Time Light By An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle And Its Implications To Satellite Remote Sensing. Remote Sensing Of Environment, 247, Pp. 111942. Abstract
Satellite-observed night-time light in urban areas has been widely used as an indicator for socioeconomic development and light pollution. Up to present, the diurnal dynamics of city light during the night, which are important to understand the nature of human activity and the underlying variables explaining night-time brightness, have hardly been investigated by remote sensing techniques due to limitation of the revisit time and spatial resolution of available satellites. In this study, we employed a consumer-grade unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to monitor city light in a study area located in Wuhan City, China, from 8:08 PM, April 15, 2019 to 5:08 AM, April 16, 2019, with an hourly temporal resolution. By using three ground-based Sky Quality Meters (SQMs), we found that the UAV-recorded light brightness was consistent with the ground luminous intensity measured by the SQMs in both the spatial (R2 = 0.72) and temporal dimensions (R2 > 0.94), and that the average city light brightness was consistent with the sky brightness in the temporal dimension (R2 = 0.98), indicating that UAV images can reliably monitor the city's night-time brightness. The temporal analysis showed that different locations had different patterns of temporal changes in their night-time brightness, implying that inter-calibration of two kinds of satellite images with different overpass times would be a challenge. Combining an urban function map of 18 classes and the hourly UAV images, we found that urban functions differed in their temporal light dynamics. For example, the outdoor sports field lost 97.28% of its measured brightness between 8: 08 PM – 4:05 AM, while an administrative building only lost 4.56%, and the entire study area lost 61.86% of its total brightness. Within our study area, the period between 9:06 PM and 10:05 PM was the period with largest amount of light loss. The spectral analysis we conducted showed that city light colors were different in some urban functions, with the major road being the reddest region at 8:08 PM and becoming even redder at 4:05 AM. This preliminary study indicates that UAVs are a good tool to investigate city light at night, and that city light is very complex in both of the temporal and spatial dimensions, requiring comprehensive investigation using more advanced UAV techniques, and emphasizing the need for geostationary platforms for night-time light sensors.
Eedan R. Amit-Danhi and Shifman, Limor . 2020. Off The Charts: User Engagement Enhancers In Election Infographics. Information, Communication & Society, Pp. 1-19. Abstract
ABSTRACTIn recent years, political discourse in digital spheres has seen a rise in the use of infographics. The paper addresses an unexplored question about this phenomenon: which characteristics are associated with higher levels of ostensive user engagement with political infographics in social media? We conceptualize ostensive user engagement as the outward-facing metrics afforded by a platform (e.g., like, share, and comment count) that serve both as means for self-presentation and shape the informational environment that others are exposed to. A corpus comprised of all infographics posted on Facebook by the four leading candidates in the 2016 US presidential campaign (N?=?252) was coded for cognitive, behavioral, and emotional characteristics. We found that two of the cognitively oriented dimensions enhanced engagement, while behavioral cues (calls to action) were, surprisingly, negatively linked. The inclusion of emotions did not show an overall association; however, a deeper look revealed a candidate-specific effect: anger was associated with greater engagement on Trump's infographics, and similarly, pleasure on Sanders?. In conclusion, we discuss the implications of our findings for understanding the informational environment shaped by engagement with infographics in light of the two seemingly opposing perceptions of internal and external authenticity.
Drorit Gassner, Gofen, Anat , and Raaphorst, Nadine . 2020. Performance Management From The Bottom Up. Public Management Review, Pp. 1-18. Abstract
ABSTRACTCurrent interest in middle-managers? compliance with performance management (PM) reforms focuses on their downward roles. To explore their understudied upward roles, this analysis draws on police chiefs? voice directed to senior management regarding the Israeli PM system as documented since its first introduction in 1999, and as reported both by chiefs and senior managers (N = 54). Unfolding four patterns of inconsistencies between PM systems? design and the operational, daily, course-of-work, close-to-the-field managers? upward roles allows us to move beyond criticism to constructive efforts, and provides new insights for reconciling the well-documented gap between policy intentions and outcomes in PM reforms.
Nicholas John and Agbarya, Aysha . 2020. Punching Up Or Turning Away? Palestinians Unfriending Jewish Israelis On Facebook. New Media & Society, 23, Pp. 146144482090825.
Marina Halac, Kremer, Ilan , and Winter, Eyal . 2020. Raising Capital From Heterogeneous Investors. American Economic Review, 110, Pp. 889-921.