Transition in action: toward a social theory of the governance of transitions.

This article explores how a re-interpretation of the socio-technical, socio-ecological and transition design approaches to transition from the point of view of Niklas Luhmann's general systems theory of society. The need to understand and promote changes that include a technological and ecological dimension has led to different approaches, such as socio-technical or socio-environmental approaches, to incorporate links with society. While these approaches often include sociological insights, they rarely offer a general understanding of how these are embedded into society. We need a new environmental sociology that helps catalyze change processes with a collectively reorganized society, empowering more radically transformative actions to change the current structures and processes that have led us to where we are today. The article offers a cross-sectional look at the socio-ecological and socio-technical systems literature, specifically for what concerns their understanding of the 'systems' in transition and how they can be governed, and re-interpret it from the theoretical lens of the deep sociological knowledge, which refers to the profound understanding of social systems and their dynamics, embedded in Luhmann's theory of social systems. From here, we suggest the second-order coupling for a sociologically grounded understanding of the interactions that comprise socio-ecological and socio-technical systems, heterogeneous and almost self-organizing assemblies of social, technical, and natural elements and processes. At the same time, third-order couplings are analyzed, focused on governance, relationships between operations, and structures mediated by a deliberate attempt to ensure coherence and coordination against the autonomy and heterogeneity of socio-techno-ecological systems. Therefore, this manuscript offers a deeper conceptual and methodological understanding of socio-techno-ecological couplings and systems in the context of sustainability transformation and gives insights into its governance.

Influences on decision-making about disclosure of HIV status by adolescents and young adults living with HIV in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Background: Adolescents and young adults living with HIV (AYA) are faced with the challenge of living with a life-long chronic condition. We investigated the influences on the decisions by AYA to disclose their HIV status to family, intimate partners and friends.Methods: Twenty AYA aged between 15 and 24 years were purposely selected through local community-based organisations in eThekwini municipality and uMkhanyakude district in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Virtual in-depth interviews were conducted between September 2020 to October 2021 using a topic guide focusing on HIV-status disclosure and the impact of stigma on decision-making capacity. An iterative thematic process was used for analysis.Results: Findings revealed the challenges that AYA experience for disclosure because of stigma and how this impacts their decision-making capacity. Family and friends influenced AYA in processing their discovery of their HIV status offering support needed to manage living with HIV. However, for some AYA disclosing to relatives, friends and intimate partners was difficult because of fears of rejection and recrimination. The act of disclosure was influenced by both internalised and external stigma and the type of relationships and interactions that AYA had with relatives, friends and caregivers.Conclusions: The decision to disclose is challenging for AYA because of the fear of rejection, along with internal and external stigma. The provision of support, whether from family or peers, is important. Enhancing the decision-making capacity of AYA is essential for developing their self-esteem as well as supporting future healthcare choices.

Oncology health professionals' perspectives of determinants of exercise by cancer patients: A socio-ecological approach.

PURPOSE: Scientific evidence has shown that practicing exercise reduced the risk of overall and cancer-specific mortality for cancer patients. Numerous studies have shown limited support has been provided by cancer and general health professionals. This present study identifies determinants of suggesting of exercise from the oncology health professionals' perspective by using a socio-ecological approach. METHOD: Health professionals from two oncology services in France were contacted, which resulted in 36 semi-structured interviews questioning elements of support for exercise, from individual to political determinants. RESULTS: intrapersonal-level findings revealed that exercise is considered complementary to treatment, not recommended at all times of the disease duration and not to all patients. For interpersonal determinants, health professionals discuss exercise based on their own sport practice and their exercise knowledge. Health professionals interchangeably use exercise, sport, or exercise. Examination of institutional determinants showed that the oncology services did not use tools to evaluate or follow up on exercise. Only one of the services had an exercise referral scheme. Examination of community determinants showed that health professionals identified a diversity of exercise providers, without the ability to differentiate exercise program quality. Public policy findings have shown that despite an exercise prescription law, health professionals do not prescribe exercise, do not know how to prescribe it, and consider that the exercise useless because of no refund system for patients. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide a systemic understanding of the determinants helping cancer patients and health professionals improve adherence to exercise.

Effect of Implicit Theory on Effort Allocation Strategies in Multiple Task-Choice Situations: An Investigation From a Socio-Ecological Perspective.

Implicit theories refer to two assumptions that people make about the malleability of one's ability. Previous studies have argued that incremental theorists (who believe that ability is malleable) are more adaptive than entity theorists (who believe that ability is fixed) when facing achievement setbacks. In the present research, we assumed that the adaptive implicit theory would be different when people could choose from a wider range of tasks. It was hypothesized that incremental theorists would sustain their efforts in the first task even when it was difficult, whereas entity theorists would try to find the most appropriate task. In a pair of laboratory experiments, participants had to maximize their outcomes when allowed to choose a task to engage in, from two options. When participants were allowed to practice the two tasks (Study 1), incremental theorists tended to allocate their effort solely to the first task, whereas entity theorists tended to put equal effort into both. When participants were informed that they could switch from the assigned task (Study 2), incremental theorists tended to persist in the first task regardless of its difficulty, whereas entity theorists tended to switch more quickly if the task was difficult. These results supported our hypothesis of two effort allocation strategies and implied that, in certain situations, entity theorists could be more adaptive than incremental theorists. Based on these findings, we conducted a social survey on the difficulty of switching tasks with a real-life setting as an environmental factor that determines the adaptive implicit theory (Study 3). It was revealed that the academic performance of incremental and entity theorists was moderated by the difficulty of switching tasks in their learning environment at school. Cultural differences in implicit theories may be explained by differences in the difficulty of switching tasks in education and career choices in each society.

Greening Sport for Development and Peace: A Socio-Ecological Approach.

The global "sport for development and peace" (SDP) sector uses sport as a field of social activity to promote diverse types of non-sport social development. In this short perspective article, I critically examine and advocate the engagement of SDP with environmental issues. I argue for the adoption of a "socio-ecological" approach, to enable a greening of SDP that promotes both environmental and social justice. To that end, the article is organized into four main parts. First, I situate the discussion with respect to key literature on SDP and the environment. I then outline some of the main contextual factors that need to be considered on sport, development, and the environment. Third, I set out several core principles that should underpin the socio-ecological greening of SDP. Fourth, I examine how these principles may be implemented within SDP.

Relationship Seekers Versus Relationship Selectors: Influence of Residential Mobility on How to Evaluate Others.

The present study examined the effect of residential mobility on impression formation. In the study, participants were first engaged in a residential mobility priming task where they were asked to imagine and describe either frequent moving life (high-mobility condition) or less frequent moving life (low-mobility condition). They then evaluated their attitudes toward four types of target persons: competent vs. incompetent and warm vs. cold. As a result, in the high-mobility condition, the effect of competence was observed only when participants evaluated a warm person, whereas in the low-mobility condition, it appeared only when participants evaluated a cold person. The potential influence of individual residential mobility on the relationship formation is also discussed.

Societal-level utility value strengthens the relationship between student-level utility value and achievement: A person-culture fit perspective.

BACKGROUND: Expectancy-value theory posits that higher levels of utility-value yield better achievement outcomes. Much of the existing research on utility value has focused on the individual as the unit of analysis. Person-culture fit theory, however, suggests that it is also important to consider the fit between the person and the broader society one is embedded in. The greater the fit, the more optimal outcomes ensue. However, to our knowledge past studies have not examined utility value from a person-culture fit perspective. AIMS: This study aimed to examine whether person-culture fit in utility value, defined as the match between the student's and the society's utility value perceptions, is associated with more optimal outcomes. More specifically, we examined (1) how utility value predicted achievement and (2) whether societal-level utility value changed the magnitude of the relationship between student-level utility value and achievement. SAMPLE: We used the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 data provided by 502,261 15-year-old students from 73 countries/societies. METHODS: Multilevel random-slopes structural equation modelling was used. RESULTS: Across all societies, students with higher utility value had better achievement. Moreover, in societies where schooling is highly valued, students' utility value was a stronger predictor of achievement in reading, math, and science confirming our person-culture fit hypothesis. CONCLUSION: These findings signify the importance of person-culture fit in utility value. It also has important implications for motivation research by demonstrating the need to take the broader societal context into account and moving beyond an exclusive focus on the individual student as the unit of analysis.

Socio-Ecological Hypothesis of Reconciliation: Cultural, Individual, and Situational Variations in Willingness to Accept Apology or Compensation.

The main goal of the present research is to examine socio-ecological hypothesis on apology and compensation. Specifically, we conducted four studies to test the idea that an apology is an effective means to induce reconciliation in a residentially stable community, whereas compensation is an effective means in a residentially mobile community. In Studies 1, 2a, and 2b, American and Japanese participants (national difference in mobility; Study 1) or non-movers and movers (within-nation difference in mobility; Studies 2a and 2b) imagined the situations in which they were hurt by their friends and rated to what extent they would be willing to maintain their friendships upon receipt of apology or compensation. The results showed that compensation was more effective in appeasing residentially mobile people (i.e., Americans and movers) than stable people (i.e., Japanese and non-movers), while apology was slightly more effective appeasing residentially stable people than residentially mobile people (significant in Study 1; not significant in Studies 2a and 2b). In Study 3, by conducting an economics game experiment, we directly tested the hypothesis that mobility would impair the effectiveness of apology and enhance the effectiveness of compensation. The results again partially supported our hypothesis: In the high mobility condition, compensation increased one's willingness to continue the relationship with the offender, when compared to willingness in the low mobility condition. The importance of socio-ecological perspective on the forgiveness literature is discussed.

Determinants of hookah smoking among men in the coffee houses: an application of socio-ecological approach.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoking is the second leading cause of death and is closely linked to fatal diseases. Hookah Smoking (HS) is a traditional way to smoke tobacco, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean region that is constantly rising around the world. This study aimed to evaluate the different levels of personal, interpersonal and social HS in Iranian urban men and determine the most important predictors of the levels through applying the socio-ecological approach (SEA). METHODS: This study was conducted in the coffee houses of Hashtrud and Qarah Aghaj counties in East Azerbaijan, Iran. Data collection was conducted from the entire coffee house (n = 18) from April to June 2017. Systematic sampling was employed to recruit 266 men in the coffee house. A valid and reliable instrument was used to investigate the frequency of HS and its determinants based on SEA. The SEA consists of three levels: personal (age, education, employment, income, and perceived severity and sensitivity), interpersonal (perceived reward), and social level (social support) intended to assess HS determinants. Hierarchical regression was used to determine the predictive value of SEA levels and frequency of HS. RESULTS: The mean age of daily hookah smokers (once per day and more than once per day) were (26.8) significantly lower than those (30.4) smokes weekly (once a week or more than once a week). The hierarchical logistic regression model showed that in the first step individual variables significantly predict 25.1% HS. In the second and third level interpersonal and social levels of SEA explained HS 30.1 and 30.8%, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study found that age, income, education, and perceived reward were all important factors influencing HS among men youth. Application of SEA to determine the factors associated with HS could contribute in the development of a holistic prevention program.

The background context matters: Local-scale socioeconomic conditions and the spatial distribution of wildfires in Italy.

Wildfires, a key socio-environmental challenge in Mediterranean regions, are influenced by anthropogenic factors shaping land-use and socioeconomic spatial structures. By assuming that the dominant socioeconomic structure of local districts exerts a variable impact on wildfire spatial regimes, the present study investigates 174 indicators on a municipal scale in Italy, identifying a multidimensional relationship between wildfire characteristics and socioeconomic contexts. An exploratory statistical approach was adopted to identify linear and non-linear relationships among variables assessing socioeconomic contexts and wildfire patterns. Empirical results demonstrate that characteristic wildfire attributes (frequency, intensity and severity) are systematically higher in socioeconomic contexts characterized by rural poverty, unemployment and deregulated urban expansion, especially in southern Italy. A higher fire frequency was typically observed in (i) peri-urban districts with a dynamic socio-demographic profile and (ii) in rural districts with intensive cropping systems. Joint information on socioeconomic structure/dynamics and environmental change, is crucial for a better understanding of local-scale spatial patterns of wildfires in the Mediterranean region. Integrated socio-environmental information provides a better understanding of the local communities' role in the management of wildfire-prone land, contributing to implement more effective strategies aimed at minimizing wildfire impact on land resources.

Low relational mobility leads to greater motivation to understand enemies but not friends and acquaintances.

Enemyship occurs across societies, but it has not received as much attention as other types of relationships such as friendship in previous research. This research examined the influence of relational mobility on people's motivation to understand their personal enemies by measuring different dependent variables across three studies. First, a cross-cultural comparison study found that Hong Kong Chinese, from a low-relational-mobility society, reported a stronger desire to seek proximity to enemies relative to European Canadians, from a high-relational-mobility society (Study 1). To test causality, two manipulation studies were conducted. Participants were presented with images of co-workers, including enemies, friends, and acquaintances, in a hypothetical company. The results showed that the participants who perceived lower relational mobility paid more attention to their enemies in an eye-tracking task (Study 2) and had a higher accuracy rate for recognizing the faces of the enemies in an incidental memory test (Study 3). In contrast, the influence of relational mobility on motivation to understand friends and acquaintances was minimal. Implications for research on interpersonal relationships and relational mobility are discussed.

The Rural-Urban Difference in Interpersonal Regret.

The present research examined rural-urban differences in interpersonal regret. In Study 1, participants who grew up in rural areas reported stronger interpersonal regret than those who grew up in large cities. In Study 2, we conducted an experiment and found that participants who were assigned to imagine a rural life reported greater interpersonal regret than those who were assigned to imagine an urban life. Moreover, this rural-urban difference was mediated by the degree to which participants wrote about informal social control such as gossip and reputation concerns. Finally, in Study 3, we used the pictorial eye manipulation, which evokes a concern for informal social control, and found that participants from large cities who were exposed to the eyes reported more intense interpersonal regret than those who were not exposed to the eyes. Together, these studies demonstrate that informal social control is a key to understanding rural-urban differences in interpersonal regret.