1

HAGAKURE

葉隠By bringing shame to a person how could one expect to make him a better man?

2

SYDE261 - W2011

Social Context and Social Values

3

Relevant Readings

Social Identity

Technology and Society

Social Values

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_and_society

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_(personal_and_cultural)

SOCIAL IDENTITY

4

Social identity is the primary method within social psychology of defining individuals when it is important to distinguish between different levels or types of identity. For instance when looking at an individual's various group identities as separate from their personal identity.

[Wikipedia]

SOCIAL IDENTITY

5

Group Identity Personal Identity

Your social identity is a mix of your:

- the characteristics and values of the social group you belong to

- your own personal characteristics and values

- These two are not always the same... think of how a group mentality can take over a crowd! - Do you act differently in front of your parents than you do in front of your friends?- Are there aspects of who you are (interests and beliefs) that you mostly keep to yourself?

SOCIAL IDENTITY

6

Elaborated social identity modelThe elaborated social identity model describes how group actions can influence and change the identities of individuals involved in them.[8] Research in the area has found three ways group actions can influence individuals. Firstly, if there are other people acting with an individual, the support and increased feeling of efficacy the other people are providing will make the individual more aware of the shared identity involved in being part of the situation. It will also make them more aware of the power of being a part of that shared identity. Secondly, how an outgroup treats the ingroup involved in a collective action will influence the members of the ingroup. If an outgroup treats those taking part in a collective action in a particular way (for instance assuming that all members of a group are criminals and treating them like criminals) then it will serve to unify members of that ingroup and make the behaviour they are displaying more extreme. This also influences members of the ingroup who did not display extreme behaviour initially.[23] Finally, the experiences of being part of a group and taking part in group actions reinforce a sense of group identity.

[Wikipedia]

SOCIAL IDENTITY

7

How do you create your social identity?

http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2004/art/IDENTITY-MIND-MAP.jpg

Objects CreationsChoices

Values

Beliefs

Appearance

Ethnicity

Interests

Family

Work Habits

Social IdentitySocial

Groups

SOCIAL IDENTITY

8

So how many Facebook curators do we have ?

Curator (from Latin cura, care), means manager, overseer.Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution (e.g., gallery, museum, library or archive) is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections. The object of a traditional curator's concern necessarily involves tangible objects of some sort, whether it be inter alia artwork, collectibles, historic items or scientific collections. More recently, new kinds of curators are emerging: curators of digital data objects, and biocurators.

SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY

9

Technology in society or technology and culture refers to cyclical co-dependence, co-influence, co-production of technology and society upon the other (technology upon culture, and vice-versa). This synergistic relationship occurred from the dawn of humankind, with the invention of simple tools and continues into modern technologies such as the printing press and computers. The academic discipline studying the impacts of science, technology, and society and vice versa is called (and can be found at) Science and technology studies.

[Wikipedia]

SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY

10

Cyclical Co-dependanceComputers - faster, better computers allow even faster and better programs, which in turn push the envelope of what can be done with an existing platform- a simple example is web-video - from animated gifs to AppleTV- video game consoles are also a good example of this

11

SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY

12

Cyclical Co-dependance

Cars - we want faster, more powerful cars...but this is dangerous so then we need safer cars. With safer cars we then think we can go faster again...

SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY

13

These are issues related to changing cultural values and fashion.

One of the biggest current trends is “levelling up” in some sense...we are obsessed with “the new” and our product design is typically focussed on fashion and specs, not longevity and long-term quality.

Raises the question of what do we really NEED?

What are the social and environmental effects of this never-ending upgrade process?

http://www.kylebean.co.uk/portfolio/#mobileevolution

SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY

14

LifestyleIn many ways, technology simplifies life.■The rise of a leisure class■A more informed society■Sets the stage for more complex learning tasks■Increases multi-tasking (although this may not be simplifying)■Global networking■Creates denser social circles■Cheaper prices■Greater specialization in jobs [Wikipedia]

SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY

15

In other ways, technology complicates life.■Pollution is a serious problem in a technologically advanced

society (from acid rain to Chernobyl and Bhopal)■The increase in transportation technology has brought

congestion in some areas■Technicism (although this may not be complicating)■New forms of danger existing as a consequence of new forms

of technology, such as the first generation of nuclear reactors■New forms of entertainment, such as video games and

internet access could have possible social effects on areas such as academic performance■Increased probability of some diseases and disorders, such

as obesity■Social separation of singular human interaction. Technology

has increased the need to talk to more people faster.■Structural unemployment■Anthropogenic climate change [Wikipedia]

SOCIAL VALUES

16

What are Social Values?A personal and/or cultural value is an absolute or relative ethical value, the assumption of which can be the basis for ethical action. A value system is a set of consistent values and measures. A principle value is a foundation upon which other values and measures of integrity are based. Those values which are not physiologically determined and normally considered objective, such as a desire to avoid physical pain, seek pleasure, etc., are considered subjective, vary across individuals and cultures and are in many ways aligned with belief and belief systems. Types of values include ethical/moral values, doctrinal/ideological (religious, political) values, social values, and aesthetic values. It is debated whether some values which are not clearly physiologically determined are intrinsic such as altruism and whether some such as acquisitiveness should be valued as vices or virtues. Values have typically been studied in sociology; anthropology; social psychology; moral philosophy and business ethics. [Wikipedia]

SOCIAL VALUES

17

What are some of your Social Values?Social Group: Group Bicycle Ride

- hold your line

- usually have a ride leader

- wear a helmet and make sure your bike is safe

- if someone is dropped you wait for them

- wheelsuckers...(fist shaking in the air)

SOCIAL VALUES

18

What are some of your Social Values?Social Group: World of Warcraft Community

Social Group: Engineering Student

- sharing a loot after killing a boss

- perform as expected

- don’t leave mid-game

- showering 3-5 times a week

- cohesion/unity

- help each other with homework/learning

SOCIAL VALUES

19

Do these values apply to everyone all the time?Of course not, but they do provide a basis for understanding how a social group functions in general.

What could go wrong?- values are subjective- values can (and will) change over time- values can be hard to describe in words- defining just who is in the social group isn’t easy

SOCIAL VALUES

20

Can we apply a scientific method to the concept of social values?

If social values are in some sense subjective, and science, for the most part, wants to deal with the objective, how can we move forward?

Any ideas?

[XKCD]

SOCIAL VALUES

21

- surveys and statistics!!

http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/The World Values Survey:

So how do we apply a scientific approach:

SOCIAL VALUES

22

The WVS questionnaire consists of about 250 questions resulting in some 400 to 800 measurable variables. A few examples are as follows:■ Happiness. Perceptions of happiness were measured

and this part of the WVS is that most widely quoted by the press.[4] The popular statistics website Nationmaster publishes a simplified world happiness scale derived from the WVS data. The WVS website allows a more sophisticated level of analysis than Nationmaster, such as comparison of happiness over time or across socio-economic groups. One of the most striking shifts in happiness measured by the WVS was the substantial drop in happiness of Russians and some other Eastern European countries during the 1990s.

■ The Inglehart–Welzel Map[5] is another of the most well-known results of the WVS survey. A number of variables were condensed into two dimensions of cultural variation (known as "traditional v. secular-rational" and "survival v. self-expression"), and on this basis the world's countries could be mapped into specific cultural regions. The WVS claims: "These two dimensions explain more than 70 percent of the cross-national variance in a factor analysis of ten indicators".[6]

■ The survey found that trust and democracy were values that crossed most cultural boundaries. The survey also showed that sex equality was one of the most significant differences between Western and other cultures.

[Wikipedia]

SOCIAL VALUES

23

Some example questions from the WVS:

http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs/articles/folder_published/survey_2005/files/WVSQuest_RootVers.pdf

V10. Taking all things together, would you say you are (read out and code one answer):1 Very happy 2 Rather happy 3 Not very happy 4 Not at all happy

V11. All in all, how would you describe your state of health these days? Would you say it is (read out):1 Very good 2 Good 3 Fair 4 Poor

SOCIAL VALUES

24

Some example questions from the WVS:

http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs/articles/folder_published/survey_2005/files/WVSQuest_RootVers.pdf

Do you agree, disagree or neither agree nor disagree with the following statements? (Read out and code one answer for each statement):V44. When jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women.V45. When jobs are scarce, employers should give priority to [British]* people over immigrants.*[Substitute your own nationality for “British”!]

Agree Neither Disagree 1 2 3

Let’s try these on Tophat...

SOCIAL VALUES

25

Surveys provide a starting point...but being aware of social trends is something that is at times somewhat more subtle...(or do we create social trends?)

Some people seem to be tuned into social change and values and others just don’t...