bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Financialization of theUSEconomy
Authors: Davis Gerald (Jerry) F. , Kim Suntae
Published: May 2015

“Financialization” describes the increasing centrality of finance and financial considerations to the workings of the economy. This essay reviews the evidence that (i) creating shareholder value became a predominant concern for corporations since 1980, particularly in the United States, and (ii) the financial sector gained increasing prominence and power in the economy, with a number of consequences for the operations of corporations and the organization of society. Opportunities for future research are discussed including documenting the rise of securitization and its effect on the finance industry; understanding the emergence of new noncorporate forms of organization not tied to financial markets; finance and social movements; and finance and culture.
Four Psychological Perspectives on Creativity
Authors: Damian Rodica Ioana , Simonton Dean Keith
Published: May 2015

Creativity is a unique feature of human thinking and behavior that is essential to our species' survival, future progress, and even the rise and fall of civilizations. To understand this highly complex phenomenon, we need to adopt an interdisciplinary and multimethod approach. Because creativity happens at many different levels both intra‐ and interindividual, the psychological science of creativity currently lacks a strong paradigmatic coherence. In this essay, we review creativity research from four different scientific perspectives: cognitive, differential, developmental, and social, and attempt to provide a unified overarching picture. We present foundational and cutting‐edge research addressing the following questions: (i) What cognitive processes are involved in creative thinking; (ii) What personality traits are characteristic of the creative person; (iii) What developmental factors lead to creative achievement; and (iv) What social factors foster creativity? We identify current debate issues and propose ways to promote unity and coherence in creativity research across psychological subfields. We offer a clear definition of creativity and identify promising theoretical models that could help integrate and direct future research.
Gender, Religion, and State in the Middle East
Authors: Charrad Mounira M. , Zarrugh Amina
Published: May 2015

This essay discusses the major trends in the study of gender, religion, and state in the Middle East from colonialism to the Arab Spring. Showing how the field started as a critique of colonial representations of women in the Middle East as passive and subordinate, it reviews briefly the foundational studies. It then indicates the major frameworks that scholars have used subsequently to show the complexities of the linkages between gender, religion, and state. Diversity within Islamic law, the role of kinship and states, and the significance of women's agency are highlighted. The essay proceeds with a discussion of cutting‐edge issues raised by the Arab Spring and suggests future directions for research.
From Individual Rationality to Socially Embedded Self‐Regulation
Authors: Lindenberg Siegwart
Published: May 2015

The emerging trend is that we let go of the idea that humans are naturally endowed with “rationality” (especially in the sense of consistency and utility maximization, as in microeconomic) in favor of an evolutionary view in which the brain evolved together with the affordances and problems offered by living in larger groups. Rather than seeing humans as having evolved to pursue their self‐interest in a utility maximizing way, what is emerging is to see humans as having evolved to draw adaptive advantage from living in larger groups by a set of self‐regulatory abilities (some of which are more or less automatic and can be overridden by less automatic capabilities). The self‐regulatory abilities, in turn, can vary and are much dependent on the social environment. For example, having significant others is vital for one's self‐regulatory ability, as is the capacity to change one's environment in order to strengthen one's self‐regulatory capacity. The sociologically interesting part of all this is exactly this social dependence of self‐regulatory capacity. Rationality, if that term would still be used, is thus thoroughly a matter of person by environment interaction. This has fundamental consequences for how social science is done.
Gender and Women's Influence in Public Settings
Authors: Mendelberg Tali , Karpowitz Christopher F. , Mattioli Lauren
Published: May 2015

Does gender equality in public meetings improve as women's numbers grow? Research applying critical mass theory to the exercise of influence in public discussion and decision making reveals a complicated story. Women have made significant progress in education, employment, and the attainment of elected office; yet, they continue to lag behind their male counterparts in substantive, symbolic, and authoritative representation. Across political, nonpolitical, and experimental settings, women's participation and influence does not follow necessarily from their numerical proportion. We review previous studies of how women's lower status is manifested in group interaction, and we argue that research can better identify when and how numbers matter by attending to the group's context, institutional features, and informal norms. We describe cutting‐edge research designed to explore the effects of institutional rules and norms on women's authority. Women's increasing numbers in positions of potential influence constitutes a timely, promising, and challenging agenda for further scholarship.
Gender and Work
Authors: Williams Christine L. , Neely Megan Tobias
Published: May 2015

Over the past 30 years, the US labor market has undergone fundamental structural changes. In the past, loyal and hardworking employees could expect to spend their entire careers working for a single employer. But starting in the 1980s, globalization, deregulation, and the decline of unions transformed this standard employment contract between workers and employers. Today, employment has become more precarious, unstable, and insecure. This essay reviews the limited research on how the rise of precarious employment in the United States has impacted men and women. We also analyze the gender implications of policies designed to address precariousness, and set an agenda for future research on gender inequality and precarious work.
Gender Inequalities in the Home
Authors: Drobnič Sonja , Ruppanner Leah
Published: May 2015

Gender inequalities in the home are reflected across a range of issues centering on care. In this essay, we focus on household labor which is persistent, structured by individual, couple, and structural differences and reflective of broader issues of gender inequality. Initially, we identify the theoretical approaches that serve as the foundation of empirical work on domestic arrangements: relative resources, time availability, and gender display theories. Then we discuss cutting‐edge approaches to household arrangements focusing on emerging research that expands definitions of housework, investigates existing theories for new family forms, and identifies housework as fluid by situating these divisions over the life course. Next, we discuss the methodological concerns that limit the generalizability of existing housework research. Finally, we identify remaining theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues plaguing housework research to provide further directions for future research. Ultimately, we provide a road map for emerging research on the gendered distribution of household labor.
Genetic Foundations of Attitude Formation
Authors: Kandler Christian , Bell Edward , Shikishima Chizuru , Yamagata Shinji , Riemann Rainer
Published: May 2015

Since the pioneering work of Eaves and Eysenck (1974) appeared in
Nature
some 40 years ago, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, and behavioral geneticists have investigated the effects of nature and nurture on the formation of social attitudes. It has consistently been found that manifestations of social attitudes (i.e., preferences, values, and beliefs pertaining to things such as politics, religion and the treatment of ingroups and outgroups) are genetically influenced. More recently, researchers have focused their efforts on the psychophysiological pathways between gene activity and attitudes. In particular, a broad body of research examines how personality traits may be a link between genetic factors and political orientations. The latter are typically treated as either a single left–right dimension or divided into two core aspects:
resistance to change/authoritarian conservatism
and
acceptance of inequality/social dominance orientation
. In this essay, we provide an overview of this research, present some findings from our recent international behavioral genetic study on the topic, and identify key issues for future research. We suggest that future studies treat attitude formation as a complex process in which genetic factors and the psychophysiological phenomena that stem from them are affected by the surrounding social environment and culture. Such research will require (i) international study designs capturing individual and cultural levels of variation and (ii) interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists and researchers in various fields of study such as genetics, psychology, sociology, political science, neuroscience, and human biology.
Genetics and Social Behavior
Authors: Harpending Henry , Cochran Gregory
Published: May 2015

We focus on the effects of gene differences on social and behavioral differences among individuals and among larger groups of individuals. Many specific genetic markers are known that influence aspects of personality and behavior. The focus on single genes and groups of genes is giving way to quantitative genetics, the statistical study of transmission of characteristics viewed as the outcome of the effects of very large numbers of genes. While traditional social science largely ignores the effects of genetically transmitted influences, the subject persists and grows in importance. Classical quantitative genetic methods may give much insight into human behavioral diversity and they provide the “right” way to measure and assess variation in rates of threshold traits. We discuss examples, trends, and possibilities for the incorporation of genetic data and models in the social and behavioral sciences without advocating major changes in practice.
Gestural Communication in Nonhuman Species
Authors: Pika Simone
Published: May 2015

The evolution of language remains one of science's greatest mysteries. Although first comparative investigations into language origins focused on vocal abilities of nonhuman animals, especially primates, the number of publications reporting new and fascinating results about gestural skills of nonhuman animals has notably increased. To get a better insight in this intriguing scientific field, the present essay will provide a brief overview of its history and will then pinpoint current trends and future avenues.
Globalization Backlash
Authors: Berezin Mabel
Published: May 2015

Backlash against globalization has become a defining feature of the first decade of the twenty‐first century, from the Seattle riots in fall 1999 to the recent riots and strikes within Europe to protest government austerity measures. The global financial crisis has exacerbated nascent backlash and contributed to its spread. Backlash against globalization within global power centers takes two forms: a left leaning collective public protest against global capitalism and a right leaning defense of national sovereignty. The left variation occurs outside of standard political institutions, which is often, but not exclusively, NGO (nongovernmental organization) driven and usually involves expressive public demonstrations and disruption; the right variant occurs within institutions, particularly nationalist political parties and electoral systems. The right and the left share a mutual animus toward globalization and progress narratives. The left variant receives more media attention; the right is more durable as it is embedded within national political systems. Scholars acknowledge “globalization backlash.” Yet, the phenomenon has been under‐theorized as well as under‐empiricized and covers a range of disparate issues. A first step in a research agendavis‐a‐visthe concept would be to establish the parameters of the phenomenon. What forms of social action might we attribute to the cultural, social, economic, and political forces of globalization, and which actions have other causes? The second issue is to identify the differences between institutional and extra‐institutional backlashes. The former is potentially more enduring, whereas the latter opens the door to iterations of public violence.
Globalization of Capital and National Policymaking
Authors: Hall Steven R.
Published: May 2015

Through a combination of economic, political, and technological changes, capital has become increasingly mobile across borders. This globalization of capital markets has created constraints on national policymaking. Fearing the loss capital inflows and the destabilizing effects of capital outflows, governments have incentives to avoid enacting policies that investors dislike. Applied across countries, this creates pressure for governments to compete for capital inflows by progressively reducing regulatory and tax burdens. Ultimately, this could lead to a race to the bottom that ends in complete deregulation. Yet, scholarship shows that while this pressure on governments exists, there has not been complete convergence of policy across countries. Instead, there remains persistent divergence as states do maintain some autonomy across a number of policy choices. This essay explores how recent research explains this interaction between the globalization of capital and national policymaking autonomies. Financial crises in the United States and Europe have challenged our understanding of how systemic risk can and should be managed in a world of mobile capital. Moving forward, scholars must build on the lessons from these crises.
Grandmothers and the Evolution of Human Sociality
Authors: Hawkes Kristen , Coxworth James E.
Published: May 2015

We differ from the great apes in so many ways. Yet they all belong to our hominid family, and some are even more closely related to us than they are to each other. One distinctive human feature is our much great longevity, a difference that the Grandmother Hypothesis might explain. Grandmothering not only helps account for our long life spans but also changes childrearing in ways that may explain why distinctly human capacities for social engagement and mutual understanding evolved in our lineage. We review the background to this Grandmother Hypothesis and summarize it and related findings from evolutionary modeling and empirical measurements of both grandmother effects and social capacities of human infants. Then, we point to questions arising for social development, discriminating grandmothers, future mathematical modeling, and social strategies of men, as well as the physiology of human aging.
Group Identity and Political Cohesion
Authors: Huddy Leonie
Published: May 2015

This entry examines the conditions under which group identities become politicized, the psychology underlying this process, and the consequences of political identities for political cohesion and engagement. The political consequences of membership in various demographic and religious groups played a central role in the earliest voting studies and these findings have been theoretically and empirically enriched by an active research focus on social identities within social psychology. Foundational research has identified the underpinnings of cohesive group political behavior in the existence of chronic strong group identities, an established link between the group and politics, and the emergence of group norms fostering a distinct political outlook and political action. Recent research has focused on dynamic aspects of group political cohesion, including threats to the group's status, the convergence of distinct identities, and factors that arouse strong emotions likely to foster collective action. Numerous questions remain unanswered about the conditions under which group political cohesion emerges. One set of questions concerns the origins of chronically strong identities in personality factors such as agreeableness and extraversion. Another set of questions touches on the origins of group identity in situational contexts that promote uncertainty. Finally, the degree to which group leaders can elicit cohesion and conformity, and the situational elements that promote such influence, is a very promising avenue for future research.
Heterarchy
Authors: Crumley Carole L.
Published: May 2015

Heterarchy addresses the diversity of relationships among elements in a system and offers a way to think about change in spatial, temporal, and cognitive dimensions. Definitions of heterarchy are remarkably consistent across a variety of disciplines and while the work they do is extraordinarily diverse, taken together they permit a concise definition. A general‐purpose definition that suits a variety of contexts is the relation of elements to one another when they are unranked, or when they possess the potential for being ranked in a number of different ways, depending on systemic requirements. Heterarchy does not stand alone but is in a dialectical relationship with hierarchy (where elements are ranked). The concept of heterarchy offers an arena for examining the potential of a system, organization, or structure for diversity and change. In general, heterarchical relationships are sources of difference and dynamism, and they may be spatial, temporal, or cognitive. This essay outlines the convergent origins of the concept, examines the evidence for the ubiquity of heterarchy in human societies and in mathematical and biophysical contexts, explores its application in the social sciences, and advances understanding of how heterarchical thinking can help envision the human future.
Heuristic Decision Making
Authors: Carmines Edward G. , D'Amico Nicholas J.
Published: May 2015

The idea of decision‐making shortcuts, or heuristics, originated in psychological work explaining why individuals diverged from rational behavior. Political scientists have viewed shortcuts more positively. Applied to research on voter decision‐making processes, scholars have discovered the ubiquitous use of shortcuts by voters. These shortcuts are simplified decision‐making strategies that help voters compensate for a lack of detailed political knowledge about candidates and issues. Despite their widespread use, scholars continue to debate over whether these shortcuts are truly useful tools in helping citizens make good choices in the voting booth. Recent work has suggested that one fruitful way to resolve this debate is to consider the influence of political institutions and the ways in which they structure the decision environment. In this essay, we explore the psychological origins of heuristic research, its application to political science, and the ensuing debates over the efficacy of these shortcuts. We end with a discussion of recent research on institutions and the decision‐making environment, and how these factors might alter what scholars know about heuristic decision making.
Hierarchical Models for Causal Effects
Authors: Feller Avi , Gelman Andrew
Published: May 2015

Hierarchical models play three important roles in modeling causal effects: (i) accounting for data collection, such as in stratified and split‐plot experimental designs; (ii) adjusting for unmeasured covariates, such as in panel studies; and (iii) capturing treatment effect variation, such as in subgroup analyses. Across all three areas, hierarchical models, especially Bayesian hierarchical modeling, offer substantial benefits over classical, non‐hierarchical approaches. After discussing each of these topics, we explore some recent developments in the use of hierarchical models for causal inference and conclude with some thoughts on new directions for this research area.
Higher Education: A Field in Ferment
Authors: Richard Scott W.
Published: May 2015

Higher education in the United States is in the throes of change as existing institutions are being challenged and new forms and modes of educational delivery are appearing. To understand and examine these changes, three versions of the “organization field” perspectives are employed. The first emphasizes the forces that have created and perpetuated the existing configuration of colleges and universities. The second stresses the ways in which colleges compete for scarce resources and engage in strategic behavior to survive and gain advantage in a highly competitive and contested arena. And the third focuses attention on consumers (students) rather than providers (colleges), noting alternatives that are emerging to offer training and education outside of the conventional providers. In combination, these perspectives identify varying players and processes that collectively are shaping the future of higher education.
History and Epistemology of Anthropology
Authors: Appadurai Arjun
Published: May 2015

This essay describes the field of social and cultural anthropology. The central concern of this subfield of anthropology is the study of human variations as a defining feature of the evolution of human societies and cultures. It stands in contrast to the development of other social and behavioral science disciplines that are based on evolutionism and has a stronger affinity to the humanities than these other disciplines. The present status of theory and research in social and cultural anthropology is described and promising courses of development going forward are identified.
How Networks Form: Homophily, Opportunity, and Balance
Authors: Lewis Kevin
Published: May 2015

Owing to rapid advances in available data and methods, social network analysis has recently been propelled into a new era: Instead of documenting patterns in static network structures, we are increasingly able to pinpoint the principles governing the evolution of these structures as well as how they emerged in the first place. In this essay, I trace the contours of this new trend. First, I describe foundational research on three mechanisms of network generation that have received particular attention in the literature: homophily, opportunity constraints, and structural balance. Next, I outline cutting‐edge research that has built on this foundation. In just the past several years, scholars have broadened prior approaches into larger, encompassing analytic frameworks; disentangled the various underlying processes that give rise to observed patterns in network structures; and distinguished between attribute‐driven network change and network‐driven attribute change—all largely thanks to advances in modeling tools that have overcome prior obstacles and enabled theoretical progress. Finally, I discuss three directions for future research. While recent scholarship has revolutionized our understanding of network dynamics, our grasp of how tie‐generating mechanisms operate and interact remains comparatively shallow; counterintuitive divisions exist between major sites of relational research and there remains much room for comparative work; and for all the promise of computational social science, there is risk that this movement will return us to the descriptive techniques of prior days but on a much larger scale.
Household Economy
Authors: Lein Laura , Tillotson Amanda
Published: May 2015

Debates about poverty—the nature of poverty, the measurement of poverty, and appropriate responses to poverty—are at the core of a great deal of research, policy debate, and political discussion. Since the 1950s the prevalence of poverty in the United States has been measured against a national poverty income line that is recalculated every year. A great deal of poverty research concentrates on income levels: how these are assessed, and their implications for family and individual well‐being. Furthermore, access to a number of poverty programs is based on the poverty line or a related measure of income.

At the same time, there is increasing interest and debate concerning the construction and meaning of household expenditures—in particular, how poverty households undertake spending. While the discussion of budgets is just one part of a much larger literature on household economy, the study of household budgets and expenditures, particularly for low‐income families, illuminates how poverty incomes affect families, and how families in a consumer society cope with the implications of their low income. Key questions include the following:

Can households meet basic expenditures on poverty incomes? Are US households in poverty able to support their basic needs, and, if not, what is that gap between income and expenditure?

Do poverty incomes subject households to material hardship, and, if so, what are the experiences of hardship? To what extent overall does material hardship mark family life in the United States?

Along what dimensions do the expenditures of low‐income families vary? How do regional differences, different household needs, and other factors put pressures on impoverished US families?
The Impact of Learning Technologies on Higher Education
Authors: Pentoney Christopher S. , Halpern Diane F. , Butler Heather A.
Published: May 2015

Demand for higher education has created a need for learning technologies that can accommodate the individualized needs of an increasing number of students. Thinking, learning, and memory have been studied extensively in their own right, but additional research on these topics in conjunction with advanced learning technologies is needed. Developers of computerized tutoring systems, massive online courses, and educational games will benefit from forward‐thinking studies. Limitations are constantly being lifted, and research must increase in pace to ensure the integrity of upcoming learning technologies.
How Do Labor Market Networks Work?
Authors: Rubineau Brian , Fernandez Roberto M.
Published: May 2015

The informal seeking and sharing of job opportunity information via contacts are the dominant mechanisms for both the supply and demand sides of the labor market. Despite many decades of scholarly scrutiny, we have established little certainty about the mechanisms through which labor market networks operate. Much of this uncertainty results from single‐perspective investigations of a fundamentally triadic process. Network‐mediated job search is not merely a version of the classic two‐way matching problem with some additional network factors but is rather a three‐way matching problem with three distinct agentic decision makers: the job seeker, the job screener, and the social contact acting as a connector. This essay summarizes what is currently known about the operation and consequences of labor market networks, their mechanisms, and their contextual dependencies. We show how the perspective of a triad of actors presents new opportunities for resolving current contradictory empirical findings and areas of ongoing debate. Progress on this topic requires both careful causal research isolating mechanisms affecting a particular actor and integrative research on how these mechanisms interact among the triad of actors.
How Form Constrains Function in the Human Brain
Authors: Verstynen Timothy D.
Published: May 2015

In neural systems, form and function are intimately linked; the communication dynamics across networked areas depends on the organization and integrity of the connections between them (i.e., axons and tracts). With the growth of diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) and fiber tractography tools over the past decade, it has become possible to visualize the physical architecture of the human brain at an unprecedented resolution. This information has provided the first glimpses into the component circuitry supporting cognition, presenting a unique opportunity for cognitive neuroscientists. For the first time we can visualize the connections in the living brain, allowing us to measure individual differences in anatomical connectivity, relate this connectivity to brain function, and gain insights into the link between white matter architecture and behavior. In many ways, this technology is still in its infancy and its full potential has not yet been realized. Here, I outline the importance of understanding neuroanatomical connectivity as a hard constraint on neural computation. Beginning with an overview of the typical patterns of connectivity seen in neural systems, I go on to show how current neuroimaging tools can visualize several different types of connectivity in the brain. By highlighting recent findings showing how neuroanatomical organization and brain function are related during cognitive tasks, I emphasize the utility that structural brain mapping approaches can have for the broader social and behavioral sciences.
Peers and Adolescent Risk Taking
Authors: Chein Jason
Published: May 2015

Adolescent risk taking occurs most often when teens are in the presence of their peers. An extensive body of prior work has attempted to explain this phenomenon with respect to peer pressure, social conformity, and affiliation with deviant peers. Recent experimental work, however, suggests that peer influences on adolescent decision making may be rooted in an even more basic process by which social context alters adolescents' sensitivity to the potential rewards of risky decisions. Emerging findings from empirical studies pursuing this alternative account of peer influences on adolescent decision making are presented, along with a consideration of some key directions for future research.
Identity Fusion
Authors: Buhrmester Michael D. , Swann William B.
Published: May 2015

Identity fusion represents a new form of alignment with groups that motivates personally costly, pro‐group behaviors. The approach posits that fused individuals experience a visceral sense of “oneness” with a group, wherein their personal self (characteristics of individuals that make them unique) joins with a social self (characteristics of individuals that align them with groups). Research has identified several cognitive and affective mechanisms (e.g., sense of agency, invulnerability, familial ties) unique to fusion that help explain why strongly fused persons engage in pro‐group behaviors. For example, fusion robustly predicts endorsement of self‐sacrificial behaviors to save other group members' lives as well as less extreme but nonetheless personally costly acts such as donating money to needy group members. Here, we lay out the basic tenets of the fusion approach, highlight key empirical evidence for fusion theory, and discuss important issues and promising directions for future research on the topic.
Incarceration and Health
Authors: Wildeman Christopher
Published: May 2015

In this essay, I start by briefly discussing the foundational research in this area, which, similar to the study of the consequences of mass imprisonment more broadly, is mostly new. Indeed, all of the foundational research in this field (with the exception of
The Prison Community
and
The Society of Captives
), which considered the mental and physical health of current and former inmates, as well as their mortality risks, was conducted only in the past 25 years. In general, this research finds that (i) the imprisonment period appears to have negative effects on mental health but some paradoxical benefits for physical health and mortality and (ii) former inmates have more health problems and higher mortality risk than a comparison group in the free population. After reviewing this literature, I then review some new research in this area, which shows how incarceration shapes (i) the mental health of current and former inmates, (ii) the health of women connected to current and former inmates, and (iii) the health of the children of current and former inmates. This new research is unique not just because of the breadth of outcomes it considers but also because it uses much more rigorous methods to tease out causal relationships (especially for mental health). I close by discussing directions for research, focusing especially on overcoming obstacles to causal inference, considering effects on inequality, and further returning to the roots of this field, which focused on the acute effects of incarceration on the mental health of inmates.
Innovation
Authors: Jaffe Adam B.
Published: May 2015

Innovation is the creation and commercial implementation of a new product or process, often (but not necessarily) based on new technology. Innovation is a major source of private business success and competitive advantage, and is the major long‐term source in growth in per capita income in an economy. The innovation process is characterized by a high level of uncertainty, long lead times, and “spillovers” of economic benefits whereby innovators capture only a portion of the benefits created by an innovation. Intellectual property rights such as patents mitigate, but do not completely solve the problem of firms' inability to appropriate all of the benefits of their innovations. As a result, the private incentive to invest in innovation is lower than the social benefit, and so the private economy will invest too little in innovation in the absence of government intervention. Governments in developed economies support innovation both directly and indirectly.
Institutional Change in American Religion
Authors: Clevenger Casey , Cadge Wendy
Published: May 2015

This essay provides an overview of demographic and organizational changes in American religion since 1965. We focus on religious beliefs and practices, congregational life, special purpose groups, religion outside of religious organizations, and transnational and global aspects of religion. American religious institutions are increasingly diverse, reflecting the growing ethnic, linguistic, and religious pluralism of the United States. Recent immigrants to the United States are more Catholic, more Orthodox, and less Christian than adult Americans overall, and they have joined existing congregations in addition to forming their own religious organizations. A substantial number of Americans now consider themselves spiritual, but not religious, and many do not identify with organized religion at all. American Christianity itself is more politically polarized than in the past, and individuals who are religiously active across traditions tend to be more politically and socially conservative than others with tensions evident around contemporary social issues such as abortion and homosexuality. Existing religious organizations and secular organizations such as hospitals, universities, and prisons have responded to demographic and religious changes by offering new or changed services and physical spaces to meet religious and spiritual needs. We encourage future scholars to address institutional changes in American religion by considering diverse people and traditions, asking questions about religion in religious and nonreligious organizations, and situating studies of the United States in their broader global contexts.
The Institutional Logics Perspective
Authors: Thornton Patricia H. , Ocasio William , Lounsbury Michael
Published: May 2015

This essay discusses a new approach to institutional analysis—the institutional logics perspective (ILP). This perspective is a meta‐theory useful for integrating and augmenting a variety of social science theories to better understand the effects of cultural institutions on individuals, organizations, and societies. We describe the history of the development of the ILP, define its core concepts and mechanisms, and review and discuss foundational and cutting‐edge research. Prior overviews emphasize the mechanisms, variety of substantive contexts, and the cross‐level effects. We take a different approach by organizing the literature review by institutional orders. This meta‐analysis reveals a pattern of institutional change—the weakening of the professions and the spread of the market logic in many domains. We discuss implications of this finding and suggest future research.
Institutions and the Economy
Authors: Gershenson Carl , Dobbin Frank
Published: May 2015

Sociology, political science, and economics have undergone parallel revolutions since the late 1970s, following on the heels of the behavioral revolution of the 1950s and 1960s. Four distinct institutional paradigms have emerged: sociological institutionalism, rational choice institutionalism in political science, historical institutionalism in the same discipline, and new institutional economics. Sociologists argue that economic institutions—which encompass paradigms, conventions, rules, and regulations—shape modern behavior. National institutional differences produce stable patterns of economic behavior within countries, but institutions themselves change over time. Four recent trends in sociology are reviewed: studies of the global spread of regulatory institutions; studies of the use of economic theories to support policy design and economic conventions; studies of market actors as social movements promoting economic change; and studies of the moral and cultural underpinnings of the economy.
Intergenerational Mobility
Authors: Durlauf Steve N. , Shaorshadze Irina
Published: May 2015

This essay describes basic facts about intergenerational mobility as well as some of the mechanisms that have been proposed to explain levels of mobility or persistence of socioeconomic status across generations. Limits of current research are identified.
Intersectionality and the Development of Self and Identity
Authors: Azmitia Margarita , Thomas Virginia
Published: May 2015

Intersectionality is a key theoretical, empirical, and applied construct in the social sciences and the humanities. In this essay, we review the origins of the construct and the foundational theory and research that served to cement its importance in these fields. We then present a brief overview of how intersectionality guides current theory, research, and social policy in education, feminist studies, politics, psychology, and sociology, concluding with a discussion of the key issues that need to be addressed for this construct to deliver in its promise to strengthen theory, research, and practice in the social sciences.
Intervention and Regime Change
Authors: Owen John M. , Herbert Roger G.
Published: May 2015

Regime promotion constitutes a distinct category of foreign intervention that includes any effort by an intervening state or coalition to create, preserve, or alter political institutions or governments within a target state. Although a common tool of statecraft, regime promotion has received relatively little scholarly attention. We discuss foundational and cutting‐edge research that addresses three questions: Whatcausesstates or governments to try to change or preserve domestic institutions of other sovereign states? Whatmodesor tools of statecraft do they employ? What are theconsequencesfor the intervening power, the target state, or the international system? We conclude with six recommendations for advancing regime promotion research: (i) expand research beyond its United States and great‐power focus to consider how regional actors and small states employ regime promotion; (ii) conduct comparative studies of forcible regime promotions with non‐forcible and covert means; (iii) isolate the fundamental motivations—domestic and/or systemic—that propel states to attempt regime promotion despite significant costs and risks; (iv) examine further the role of regime‐type in regime promotion; (v) increase research into the consequences of regime promotion by emphasizing long‐term efficacy as well as the comparative success of non‐democratic interveners and democracy promoters; and (vi) focus additional attention on the relation of regime promotion to international hegemony or hierarchy.
Labor Market Instability, Labor Market Entry, and Early Career Development
Authors: Gebel Michael
Published: May 2015

Many young people experience episodes of unemployment and precarious employment such as insecure temporary jobs and skill‐inadequate jobs during their school‐to‐work transition period. This essay summarizes key theoretical ideas and main previous empirical findings on the determinants and career consequences of having such a nonoptimal start into the working life. Then, this essay highlights cutting‐edge research that has advanced our knowledge by providing more detailed insights into the individual‐level career dynamics as well as the macro‐level institutional and structural determinants of cross‐country differences. This article concludes with a discussion of five key issues for future research. First, there is need for a better understanding of the institutional and structural influences on the career consequences of having a nonoptimal labor market entry. Second, the experiences during the economic crisis of 2008/2009 and its aftermath ask for a better understanding of why some countries performed better than other countries in protecting youths from that severe crisis. Third, a more detailed analysis of different forms of nonemployment and precarious employment is required in order to account for the strong variation of labor market experiences of youths. Fourth, to fully assess not only the risks but also the chances of taking up temporary jobs and skill‐inadequate jobs at labor market entry, we have to complement the standard “upward comparison” to regular employment with a “downward comparison” to the alternative of nonemployment. Finally, this entry calls for an interdisciplinary and integrative approach analysing not only the work career consequences of bad labor market starts but also the social, economic, psychological, health, and familial consequences.
Language and Thought
Authors: Goldin‐Meadow Susan
Published: May 2015

The notion that the language we speak impacts the thoughts we think is known as the Whorfian hypothesis. This hypothesis is typically tested by, first, describing two languages that differ systematically on a lexical or grammatical dimension and, second, comparing speakers of the two languages on a cognitive skill that might be expected to depend on that dimension. Whether or not we find support for the Whorfian hypothesis depends on how we define language, how we define thought, and what we take as evidence for “impact.” Another, more recent way of testing the hypothesis is to explore patterns of thought in human and nonhuman primates who do not have language––rather than compare cognition in speakers of language 1 versus language 2, we can compare cognition in individuals who have language versus those who do not. We can also explore whether language is special in the impact it has on thought by asking whether other conventional symbol systems shape cognition (e.g., does mental abacus affect thinking beyond numerical calculation? does map reading affect thinking about space more broadly?). If it turns out that the effect language has on thought is special, we need to determine which aspects of language make it special (e.g., do we need to explicitly recognize our behaviors as communicative in order for them to have an effect? do the gestures we produce when we talk shape the way we think?). There is much yet to learn about if, when, and how language shapes thought.
Latinos and the Color Line
Authors: Rodríguez Clara E. , López Nancy , Argeros Grigoris
Published: May 2015

This essay reviews the issues and current literature on how “race,” skin color, and/or phenotype operate as stratifying agents among Latinos in the United States. We review the trends and emerging issues in this area with regard to health, housing and segregation, and socioeconomic status (SES), including education and criminal justice. We do so in the context of the Census Bureau's release of its 2010 Alternative Questionnaire Experiment (AQE) study. This 5‐year study focuses on how to best ask the race question. One of the key findings of the study was that including “Hispanic/Latinos” as a race in the combined questionnaire format did not reduce the number of people identifying as Hispanic/Latino; however, it did reduce the number of Hispanics/Latinos reporting detailed information on specific national origin. The AQE also recommended further testing of the combined question format. The only time that a Hispanic origin group was included in the Census as a racial category was in 1930 when “Mexican” was included as a race. If the Census recommends the inclusion of Hispanic as a race, it would mark a significant departure from the 1997 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines and the Census' current policy of thinking of Latinos as an ethnic group, composed of many races, to a racial group similar to Whites, Blacks, or Asians in the United States. We also examine works that assess the importance of collecting data on race and ethnicity as analytically distinct concepts.
Longitudinal Data Analysis
Authors: Little Todd D. , Deboeck Pascal , Wu Wei
Published: May 2015

In this essay we review some of the emerging trends in modeling repeated measures data. Three general forms of longitudinal models are discussed: panel model designs, growth curve models, and intensive within‐person assessments. Each section discusses design elements that should be considered when using each of these types of longitudinal models, and introduces some emerging trends. In the section on panel designs, continuous time models and planned missing data models are introduced; these ideas will revolutionize the modeling and collection of panel data. In the section on growth curve models, the necessity of separately evaluating mean and covariance model fit is discussed. This section also introduces methods being used to carefully consider the time of measurements in temporal designs. Finally, the budding analysis of intensive within individual observations is considered, including recent work from mathematics that limits the generalizability of interindividual studies to individual outcomes.
Making Sense of Control: Change and Consequences
Authors: Lachman Margie E. , Agrigoroaei Stefan , Rickenbach Elizabeth H.
Published: May 2015

The concept of control in the social and behavioral sciences derives mainly from theories of motivation. Early work on control was largely descriptive, with an emphasis on individual differences in perceived control. This essay first reviews the foundational research on the development of control beliefs and their relationship to achievement and health outcomes. Next, the article summarizes more recent cutting‐edge research, which has examined trajectories of longitudinal change and the processes and mechanisms that link control beliefs with outcomes. Studies have shown that control beliefs can be a resilience factor that buffers the effects of stress and moderates social class differences in health and longevity. Suggestions for future research directions include a focus on short‐term, within‐person variability and intraindividual change processes, cultural variations in control beliefs, and the antecedents of control. The article concludes by considering some of the possible limits of a high sense of control as well as interventions to optimize control, and the policy implications of control beliefs. Future research will benefit from a biopsychosocial approach in order to understand how control beliefs develop and get under the skin to affect health and well‐being.
Mechanisms of Fear Reduction
Authors: Lancaster Cynthia L. , Monfils Marie‐H.
Published: May 2015

Over the past century, numerous theories have been advanced toward a unified account of fear reduction and have achieved various degrees of empirical support. Here, we first provide a brief overview of the basic models that account for fear acquisition, then we provide a review of several of the most prominent theories of fear reduction, and finally, we describe important cutting‐edge directions for future research.