Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, adherence to epidemiological measures was proved related to the information exchanged through personal networks. However, there is still limited evidence ...on the effect of specific network properties. Using data from a randomised national sample of adults in Croatia (N = 765), we examine the role of various personal networks attributes with regard to three dependent variables: risk assessment of COVID-19, adherence to epidemiological measures and intention to avoid vaccination. We propose "pandemic discussion networks" as personal networks that encompass social contacts with whom respondents exchange pandemic-related information. Network heterogeneity in terms of the discussants' education level contributed to more protective behaviour, while network heterogeneity in terms of age contributed to an inclination towards vaccination. These associations were confirmed independently of behavioural homophily in terms of risky health behaviour, which was also found.
Bourdieu's theory of literary field - an important part of his theoretical and empirical treatment of fields - was founded on the concept of two »spaces«: the space of positions in the distributions ...of capital (inherited and acquired economic and cultural capital, and social capital) and the space of position-takings, or expressions of actors in a field. By the means of those expressions, actors attempt to influence evaluation of their and others' positions and products. Hence, Bourdieu referred to these attempts as »symbolic struggles« in the literary field. The thesis central to Bourdieu's theory is that relations of power in a field, i.e. relations of inequality in possession of different quantities and compositions of capital, determine position-taking of actors in the field. Within the literary field, selection of the objects and content of literary critique should therefore correspond to similarities and differences in the actors' endowment with capital. Verification of that thesis required conceptualisation and operationalization of the actors' interactions in literary critiques. Drawing on earlier work in reconstruction of Bourdieu's theoretical and empirical approach in the framework of social network analysis (SNA), the author aimed to show that exponential random graph models (ERGM) are appropriate for modelling hierarchy and struggles in the literary field. For that purpose, the author conducted secondary analysis of a binary network consisting of inter-individual mentions of 35 Dutch literary authors in literary essays and interviews from 1976 - the only publicly available dataset of the sort. ERGM stand out among other inferential SNA techniques by their ability to test simultaneously multiple hypotheses about 1) endogenous regularities in a network of interactions - where local and global hierarchy and struggles are formulated within theories of social networks, but are also relevant for insight into the field - and 2) exogenous covariates of interactions, i.e. similarities and differences between actors according to their attributes. In conclusion, multivariate and longitudinal application of ERGM was indicated to be appropriate for a consistent operationalization of symbolic struggles in the field. Multiple successively measured networks that are diverse in content enable the inclusion of social capital and sub-domains of interactions' meanings into the analysis, and thus the examination of the mechanisms of reproduction and transformation of the literary as well as other fields.
Bourdieu’s theory of literary field – an important part of his theoretical and empirical treatment of fields – was founded on the concept of two »spaces«:the space of positions in the distributions ...of capital (inherited and acquired economic and cultural capital, and social capital) and the space of position-takings,or expressions of actors in a field. By the means of those expressions, actors attempt to influence evaluation of their and others’ positions and products. Hence,Bourdieu referred to these attempts as »symbolic struggles« in the literary field.The thesis central to Bourdieu’s theory is that relations of power in a field, i.e.relations of inequality in possession of different quantities and compositions of capital, determine position-taking of actors in the field. Within the literary field, selection of the objects and content of literary critique should therefore correspond to similarities and differences in the actors’ endowment with capital.Verification of that thesis required conceptualisation and operationalization of the actors’ interactions in literary critiques. Drawing on earlier work in reconstruction of Bourdieu’s theoretical and empirical approach in the framework of social network analysis (SNA), the author aimed to show that exponential random graph models (ERGM) are appropriate for modelling hierarchy and struggles in the literary field. For that purpose, the author conducted secondary analysis of a binary network consisting of inter-individual mentions of 35 Dutch literary authors in literary essays and interviews from 1976 – the only publicly available data set of the sort. ERGM stand out among other inferential SNA techniques by their ability to test simultaneously multiple hypotheses about 1) endogenous regularities in a network of interactions – where local and global hierarchy and struggles are formulated within theories of social networks, but are also relevant for insight into the field – and 2) exogenous covariates of interactions, i.e. similarities and differences between actors according to their attributes. In conclusion, multivariate and longitudinal application of ERGM was indicated to be appropriate fora consistent operationalization of symbolic struggles in the field. Multiple successively measured networks that are diverse in content enable the inclusion of social capital and sub-domains of interactions’ meanings into the analysis, and thus the examination of the mechanisms of reproduction and transformation of the literary as well as other fields.
Vrnjaci su vaan izvor normativnoga pritiska u kontekstu rizicnoga ponaanja adolescenata, to se odraava u visokoj slicnosti u seksualnom ponaanju adolescenata i njihovih prijatelja. ...Psihosocijalni mehanizmi za to podudaranje jesu vrnjacki utjecaj te selekcija (sebi slicnih) vrnjaka. Istraivanja o djelovanju tih mehanizama poglavito su vezana uz adolescentsku (zlo)uporabu duhana, droga i alkohola. U ovome radu predstavljamo prvu longitudinalnu usporedbu mehanizama vrnjackog utjecaja i selekcije u kontekstu seksualne inicijacije. Koristeci se podacima prikupljenima u uzorku od 162 zagrebackih srednjokolki (prosjecne dobi = 16 godina, SD = 0,47) anketiranih online upitnikom u dva navrata (u razmaku od 18 mjeseci), metodom analize traga (model ukrienih veza) utvrdili smo znacajnost mehanizma vrnjackog utjecaja, no ne i mehanizma selekcije. Pretpostavljena moderacijska uloga vrnjackoga konformizma nije potvrdena. Rezultati nae studije govore u prilog vanosti promiljanja izravnoga i neizravnoga normativnog pritiska vrnjaka pri izradbi programa cjelovite seksualne edukacije. Kljucne rijeci: vrnjacke mree, adolescenti, mehanizmi vrnjackog utjecaja i selekcije, seksualna inicijacija, longitudinalna analiza
Although communication about sexuality is a significant pathway through which peers influence adolescent sexual development, little research has examined the role of peer networks in the use of ...sexualized media. We applied a social network approach to assess the role of close peers in adolescent pornography use and sexting in a sample of Croatian high school students. Sexual conversation networks' characteristics did not correlate with pornography use. In contrast, sexting was associated with the proportion of same gender peers, the proportion of older peers and the proportion of sexually experienced peers in the network - pointing to the role of peer influence. Participants' gender did not moderate these associations. Specific mechanisms underlying the observed associations and the role of peer selection remain important tasks for future research.
Body-surveillance is a core element of self-objectification, which has been recognized as a health hazard, particularly in female adolescents. Although the role of peers in self-objectification has ...been documented, the utility of ego-centered network approach has not been demonstrated. Using an online sample of 211 Croatian female adolescents, this study explored whether structural characteristics of self-reported networks (composed of same-sex peers one has discussed sexuality with) moderated the relationship between the use of social networking sites (SNS) and body-surveillance. Controlling for parental monitoring and accounting for self-esteem—which was negatively associated with adolescent body-surveillance—smaller network size amplified the association between SNS use and body-surveillance. Apart from confirming the overlap between offline and online peer networks in shaping adolescent body image concerns, this study’s findings suggest that adolescent women who frequently use SNS and those with fewer close friends are more vulnerable to social media-related body-objectification than their peers.
This article aims to investigate whether a statistical model known as Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with Explanatory Variables can aid better predictability of volume-weighted average ...electricity prices compared to a commonly used forecasting method. This analysis was conducted for a specific bidding area, the Denmark-West bidding area (DK1). Autoregressive integrated moving average model with exogenous variable's performance was tested on the DK1 intraday market over a two-year period starting from 1 January 2019 until 31 December 2020. An explanatory variable used to support better the accuracy of the forecast is the day-ahead price for a corresponding intraday delivery hour. To ensure the validity of the paper, a well-known forecasting methodology was applied, and the results of the analysis show superior performance over the benchmark forecasting method. The autoregressive integrated moving average model with exogenous variables model developed was found to significantly outperform other commonly used forecasting methods, with an average mean absolute percentage error of 1.5%. The model was able to accurately predict intraday volume-weighted average prices up to 24 h in advance, using only publicly available data on day-ahead prices and historical intraday prices. Energy traders and other market players may find the developed autoregressive integrated moving average model with exogenous variables model to be a useful resource when looking to make more informed decisions in the intraday market.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, adherence to epidemiological measures was proved related to the information exchanged through personal networks. However, there is still limited evidence ...on the effect of specific network properties. Using data from a randomised national sample of adults in Croatia (N = 765), we examine the role of various personal networks attributes with regard to three dependent variables: risk assessment of COVID-19, adherence to epidemiological measures and intention to avoid vaccination. We propose "pandemic discussion networks" as personal networks that encompass social contacts with whom respondents exchange pandemic-related information. Network heterogeneity in terms of the discussants' education level contributed to more protective behaviour, while network heterogeneity in terms of age contributed to an inclination towards vaccination. These associations were confirmed independently of behavioural homophily in terms of risky health behaviour, which was also found Keywords: COVID-19, discussion networks, demographic network heterogeneity, vaccination, social pressure Od pocetka pandemije COVID-19 dokazana je povezanost pridrzavanja epidemioloskih mjera s informacijama razmjenjivanim kroz osobne mreze. Unatoc tome, malo je dokaza o efektima pojedinih obiljezja osobnih mreza. Koristeci se podacima iz slucajnoga nacionalnog uzorka odraslih u Hrvatskoj (N = 765), ispitujemo odnos raznih obiljezja osobnih mreza s trima zavisnim varijablama: procjenom opceg rizika od COVID-19, pridrzavanjem epidemioloskih mjera i namjerom izbjegavanja cijepljenja. Predlazemo "pandemijske diskusijske mreze" kao osobne mreze sacinjene od sugovornica s kojima ispitanice razmjenjuju informacije ili raspravljaju o pandemiji. Obrazovna heterogenost mreza pridonijela je pridrzavanju mjera, a dobna heterogenost mreza pridonijela je sklonosti cijepljenju. Ove su povezanosti potvrdene neovisno o ponasajnoj slicnosti prema rizicnom ponasanju, koja je takoder utvrdena. Kljucne rijeci: COVID-19, diskusijske mreze, demografska heterogenost mreza, cijepljenje, socijalni pritisak
The post-World War II forming of the German Armed forces has been a global, but above all German sensitive issue, among other things because of the burden of the past that was often emphasized. ...Therefore, the army of West Germany (Bundeswehr) had to be adapted to civil democratic value system, by consensus of political structures. Opposite to the post-Cold War trend of professionalization of the armed forces, nowadays prevailing in NATO member countries, Germany sustains conscription. This article tries to show that conscription, along with the concept of "inner leadership" (Innere Fuhrung), primarily by its political legitimation represents a specific way of (democratic) "bridging" the civil-military gap in Germany. Adapted from the source document.