Suchergebnisse

An onto-epistemological integration of symbolic and biological being -- Emotions as distributions of fuzzy complexes -- A resonant script for angry public rhetoric -- Osama bin Laden's righteous anger -- President Bush's national anger -- Susan Sontag's angry howl -- What should we do next?

In 2012, the World Health Organization not only condoned the creation of "super-flus" (high lethality strains with heightened transmissibility), but also urged greater dispersal of these strains among research facilities around the globe. This essay analyzes that decision process using an updated theory of logos and pathos that incorporates contemporary understandings of emotion and the human brain into prescriptions for public deliberative decision-making processes. That analysis shows that, because the decision process was necessarily executed through the affective reasoning processes of the 22 narrowly-selected individuals invited to the meeting, it could not provide an optimal decision process. The essay therefore proposes that the World Health Organization should adopt an on-line, open-access discussion process for deliberating about major decisions about world health policies. The basis for the decision in affect (pathos) rather than in ostensible logos is demonstrated by textual and contextual evidence produced by the participants.

AbstractFor over two decades, scholars in the humanities and social sciences have attended warily and thoughtfully to the growing influence of biological and especially genetics‐based explanations of human behavior. Concern about genetic determinism has formed a focal point of this attention, because it was presumed to provide a lynchpin for discriminatory effects arising from genetics technologies. Substantial empirical research has now demonstrated that genetic determinism is in fact linked to discriminatory attitudes including prejudice, Social Dominance Orientation, sexism, and racism. Fortunately, however, the research has also indicated that most lay people's deployment of genetic determinism is both limited and strategic, primarily serving self‐interests such as protecting valued behaviors (which are not health conducive) or avoiding blame. The disjunction between predictions based on existing social theories of discourse and empirical research on individual‐level practices highlights the need for a theoretical integration of biological biases, individual actions, and social structures in future social theories, especially theories about health behaviors, science studies, and public understanding of science.

To guide communication with lay people about levels of genetic risk, this exploratory study employs a written survey to assess whether different levels of perceived risk were associated with varying the terminology used to describe the nature of risk associated with genes and several diseases. Results indicate that for lay participants (N = 243), there is a statistically significant difference in the level of risk associated with the terminology "has a gene that causes" as compared to the lower risk attributed when the terminology "has a family history of" is used. Participants attributed a higher level of risk to family history for heart disease than family history for diabetes. Implications of the findings for science communication associated with the severity and susceptibility of individuals for disease linked to genes are discussed.

Intro -- Contents -- Preface: Toward Consideration of the Rhetorical Culture of Equality -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction: The Story of Equality -- Part One: The Rhetorical Foundations of American Equality -- 2. The British Rhetoric of Revolt, 1760-1774 -- 3. The Anglo-American Revolutionary Rhetoric, 1774-1789 -- 4. The African-American Rhetoric of Equal Rights, 1774-1860 -- Part Two: Rhetorical Integrations -- 5. Separate But Equal, 1865-1896 -- 6. Integrated Equality, 1896-1960 -- 7. The New Equalities, 1960-1990 -- Afterword -- Research and Bibliography Essay -- Appendix: Reference List of Newspapers and Magazines -- Notes -- Index.

We conducted an experiment to determine whether a conservation film increased support for conservation and whether transportation and emotion were correlated with shifts in conservation support. Viewers of short and feature-length versions of the conservation film exhibited greater alignment with story-centric beliefs and conservation behavior interest than individuals who viewed a control film. Transportation was correlated with conservation belief alignment and behavior interest; emotion was correlated with behavior interest. This study indicates that even short conservation films can be engaging and persuasive and are potentially powerful tools for generating conservation support among audiences not previously aligned with this topic.

<b><i>Background/Aims:</i></b> National guidelines endorse using evidence-based tools to identify those at risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC). This study aimed to evaluate whether women deemed not to be at increased risk of being a <i>BRCA</i> mutation carrier; the majority of those screened, recall, understand and accept the implications of these results for breast cancer risk. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We conducted an online survey with women (<i>n</i> = 148) who screened negative on a brief HBOC screener. <b><i>Results:</i></b> While women tended to accept HBOC screener as accurate (range 9–45; mean 32, SD 5.0), less than half (43%) accurately recalled their result. Only 52% understood that they were at low risk of carrying a mutation, and just 34% correctly understood their breast cancer risk. African American women were less likely to recall (33 vs. 53% respectively, OR 0.5, <i>p</i> = 0.03), understand (42 vs. 63% respectively, OR 0.4, <i>p</i> = 0.02), and accept (mean 31 vs. 33 respectively, β –2.1, <i>p</i> = 0.02) the result compared to Whites. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Our findings show that those at low risk of carrying a <i>BRCA1/2</i> mutation had limited understanding of the distinction between mutation risk and breast cancer risk. Theory-based communication strategies are needed to increase the understanding of the implications of being at low risk for hereditary cancers.