Abstract Archaeological study of the social structure of the Jomon period has advanced through discoveries about the relative positions of graves, the presence or absence therein of accessories and ...grave goods, head orientations of corpses, types of tooth extraction, and so on. In recent years, research using anthropological information - both physical and biological - obtained from excavated human bones has begun to elucidate the social structures of that time. This approach is called bioarchaeology. In the analysis of the social structure of the Jomon period, bioarchaeology has three principal uses : to reconstruct burial subgroups by 14C dating of human bones ; to estimate genetic relationships between adjacent human bones ; and to estimate the proportion of migrants in the overall population. Here, I review the analysis of the cemetery of the Odake shell-mound as an example of bioarchaeological research while touching on the history of archaeological research of Jomon social structure.
Archaeological study of the social structure of the Jomon period has advanced through discoveries about the relative positions of graves, the presence or absence therein of accessories and grave ...goods, head orientations of corpses, types of tooth extraction, and so on. In recent years, research using anthropological information—both physical and biological—obtained from excavated human bones has begun to elucidate the social structures of that time. This approach is called bioarchaeology. In the analysis of the social structure of the Jomon period, bioarchaeology has three principal uses: to reconstruct burial subgroups by 14C dating of human bones; to estimate genetic relationships between adjacent human bones; and to estimate the proportion of migrants in the overall population. Here, I review the analysis of the cemetery of the Odake shell-mound as an example of bioarchaeological research while touching on the history of archaeological research of Jomon social structure.
Calls for greater contextualization have been powerful in motivating research and knowledge creation about entrepreneurship. However, unless counter-balanced with attempts to identify the field’s ...conceptual core, these efforts have the potential to devolve into hyper-contextualization, exposing the field to fragmentation, loss of consensus, and possible disintegration. We identify five elements of entrepreneurial agency common across eight subcommunities of entrepreneurship but emphasized differently in each. By conceiving of entrepreneurship as structural transformation, we explain why some agents succeed at transforming social structures via entrepreneurial action. We conclude with some first steps toward the development of a unified theory of entrepreneurial agency.
We review the bourgeoning literature on ethno-racial diversity and its alleged effects on public trust and cohesion in the context of the evolution of the concept of social capital and earlier claims ...about its manifold positive effects. We present evidence that questions such claims and points to the roots of civicness and trust in deep historical processes associated with race and immigration. We examine the claims that immigration reduces social cohesion by drawing on the sociological classics to show the forms of cohesion that actually keep modern societies together. This leads to a typology that shows "communitarianism" to be just one such form and one not required, and not necessarily ideal, for the smooth operation of complex organizations and institutions. Implications of our conclusions for future research and immigration policy are discussed.
Elevated risk of disease transmission is considered a major cost of sociality, although empirical evidence supporting this idea remains scant. Variation in spatial cohesion and the occurrence of ...social interactions may have profound implications for patterns of interindividual parasite transmission. We used a social network approach to shed light on the importance of different aspects of group-living (i.e. within-group associations versus physical contact) on patterns of parasitism in a neotropical primate, the brown spider monkey (Ateles hybridus), which exhibits a high degree of fission–fusion subgrouping. We used daily subgroup composition records to create a ‘proximity’ network, and built a separate ‘contact’ network using social interactions involving physical contact. In the proximity network, connectivity between individuals was homogeneous, whereas the contact network highlighted high between-individual variation in the extent to which animals had physical contact with others, which correlated with an individual's age and sex. The gastrointestinal parasite species richness of highly connected individuals was greater than that of less connected individuals in the contact network, but not in the proximity network. Our findings suggest that among brown spider monkeys, physical contact impacts the spread of several common parasites and supports the idea that pathogen transmission is one cost associated with social contact.
Many independent studies in social robotics and human-robot interaction have gained knowledge on various factors that affect people's perceptions of and behaviors toward robots. However, only a few ...of those studies aimed to develop models of social robot acceptance integrating a wider range of such factors. With the rise of robotic technologies for everyday environments, such comprehensive research on relevant acceptance factors is increasingly necessary. This article presents a conceptual model of social robot acceptance with a strong theoretical base, which has been tested among the general Dutch population (n = 1,168) using structural equation modeling. The results show a strong role of normative believes that both directly and indirectly affect the anticipated acceptance of social robots for domestic purposes. Moreover, the data show that, at least at this stage of diffusion within society, people seem somewhat reluctant to accept social behaviors from robots. The current findings of our study and their implications serve to push the field of acceptable social robotics forward. For the societal acceptance of social robots, it is vital to include the opinions of future users at an early stage of development. This way future designs can be better adapted to the preferences of potential users.
Social grouping is omnipresent in the animal kingdom. Considerable research has focused on understanding how animal groups form and function, including how collective behaviour emerges via ...self-organising mechanisms and how phenotypic variation drives the behaviour and functioning of animal groups. However, we still lack a mechanistic understanding of the role of phenotypic variation in collective animal behaviour. Here we present a common framework to quantify individual heterogeneity and synthesise the literature to systematically explain and predict its role in collective behaviour across species, contexts, and traits. We show that individual heterogeneity provides a key intermediary mechanism with broad consequences for sociality (e.g., group structure, functioning), ecology (e.g., response to environmental change), and evolution. We also outline a roadmap for future research.
Phenotypic variation is selectively maintained in populations and pervades animal social systems.Considerable evidence shows that phenotypic differences among grouping animals drive the behaviour, structure, and functioning of animal groups.This individual heterogeneity may thus be a key intermediary mechanism that regulates collective behaviour.We lack a unified understanding to explain and predict the role of individual heterogeneity across different species, contexts, and traits.An objective quantification of individual heterogeneity in physiological, cognitive, and behavioural components provides a common framework for understanding individual heterogeneity and its social, ecological, and evolutionary consequences.
Social scientists appeal to various “structures” in their explanations including public policies, economic systems, and social hierarchies. Significant debate surrounds the explanatory relevance of ...these factors for various outcomes such as health, behavioral, and economic patterns. This paper provides a causal account of social structural explanation that is motivated by Haslanger (2016). This account suggests that social structure can be explanatory in virtue of operating as a causal constraint, which is a causal factor with unique characteristics. A novel causal framework is provided for understanding these explanations–this framework addresses puzzles regarding the mysterious causal influence of social structure, how to understand its relation to individual choice, and what makes it the main explanatory (and causally responsible) factor for various outcomes.
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