Social sciences Sociology

Researchers from Osaka University found that Japanese consumers prioritize transparency over performance, while still valuing performance over environmental sustainability when choosing AI assistants. Although transparency was the most important factor, cost remained a critical consideration. This study also highlighted individual differences, showing that future-oriented consumers prefer energy-efficient AI assistants, whereas those with an internal locus of control prioritize transparency. The findings suggest developers should consider these psychological traits to better meet diverse consumer preferences.

A study underscores the importance of taking into account local peoples’ everyday experiences, practices, and perceptions in establishing water quality.

It is the first study to estimate informal caregiving time and its monetary value in Singapore in the context of seniors requiring day-to-day care. Study findings highlight the need to acknowledge the contributions of informal caregivers—family members or friends providing unpaid help to seniors for their daily living activities.

A case study in post-siege Marawi City, Philippines

Scientists show the interplays in late emerging adulthood between employment status, identity development and life satisfaction

A new study from Duke-NUS Medical School has highlighted the widespread use of physical restraints among caregivers of older adults with advanced dementia living at home, revealing a need for better guidance and alternative care approaches.

Conversion to health care facilities shows correlation to population change

Fifteen years after Japan initiated efforts to attract younger people to rural areas, researchers assess its impact and the lessons it offers for global rural revitalization policies.

Aids local governments in adapting to the threats of climate change

… all while discovering how the Universe evolved, how galaxies form and where the elements come from.

A long-lived monocarpic species of bamboo, Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis, only flowers once every 120 years before it dies. The upcoming flowering event for this species does not bode well for its continued long-term survival, as most flowers are not producing viable seeds.

Greetings from JHSSR, Horizon is proud to announce the highly acclaimed publication of the latest issue of 2023, Vol. 5, Issue 1 (Jul. 2023). The issue is now live at the Journal’s webpage. You may explore our range of contributions within this Issue. Explore this issue, click the links below.

Newcastle University (UK) and the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University hosted a UK-Singapore symposium funded by the UK Government in April 2023. It aimed to foster partnerships and research for widespread electric vehicle adoption. The event featured discussions on technology, economics, and policy over three days, encouraging joint collaboration in advanced electric transport research and commercialization.

Japan’s population may be on the decline, but it is the opposite for many wildlife species. This has increased the number of human-wildlife interactions. Controversially, lethal management is sometimes employed to manage this issue. But a holistic understanding of the public’s attitude to this approach has been lacking. Now, researchers have surveyed the public’s opinion on the topic, hoping to provide data that can direct future management practices.

- Principal Researcher Jinhyo Yun’s team at the DGIST publishes a comparative study on South Korea and Italy using the commons as a business model in one of the top international journals - This work opens new prospects in sustainable capitalism

Adaption and mitigation efforts might be improved with inclusivity and transparency

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists found that Japanese and Chinese, who are considered to have high-context cultures with a high degree of reliance on information shared by the speaker and listener, are code-switching from high-context cultures to low-context cultures when communicating with people from each other’s country. Furthermore, the scientists found that the Japanese do not engage in much code-switching with Chinese students in Japan.

An Osaka University study investigated how the COVID-19 onset and media coverage affected hand hygiene compliance. Voluntary use of hand sanitizer in a hospital rose from 5% in December 2019 to 70%+ by August 2020. In the same period, TV coverage reached 7.7 hours/day on a national broadcaster. The study’s simulations found a significant relation between TV coverage and hand hygiene compliance, though no correlation between compliance and newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths.

An Osaka Metropolitan University study found that differences in culture affect when Japanese and American university students feel comfortable providing social support. The researchers found that Japanese university students were less likely than American students to offer assistance to a close friend or family member unless they had been explicitly asked for help, even when they knew that the person needed assistance. There were no differences in providing assistance between Japanese and American students when requests for help were explicitly stated.

A special issue of Horizon Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences Research (JHSSR Vol.4 (S) Oct. 20212) is now published. This issue includes papers on the Covid-19 pandemic, developments in business and digital practices, changes in social media behavior in South Asia.

A recent study conducted by Lingnan University and the University of Oxford proposes finds that university graduates retain rewards despite their diminishing scarcity as long as they possess good cognitive skills.

An international team of researchers respond to criticisms on previous work that demonstrated Mirror Self-Recognition (MSR) in the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus, by 1) successfully repeating the mark test with a larger sample size, 2) showing the MSR behaviour to be the visual result of the mark not a physical response to it, and 3) showing that MSR-trained fish do not show aggression to spatially varied mirror images of themselves. Additionally, they further demonstrate potential self-awareness in L. dimidiatus by showing that they do not demonstrate MSR behaviour when visually presented with the mark on other fish and solidify the importance of ecologically relevant marks presented in previous work by showing MSR behaviour of L. dimidiatus with brown marks, meant to resemble a main food source of the fish, as opposed to no such behaviour in fish with green or blue marks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased attention on links between public health and the planet’s health — areas traditionally addressed in separate science and policy circles. Now, an international research collaboration conducted the first comprehensive review of urban climate change responses and potential human health improvements.

Lonely older adults live at least three fewer years, in poorer health, and are less active than non-lonely peers, say ageing research experts.

A person who owns a car or who has a college education may be less vulnerable to COVID-19, according to an analysis of cases in Tehran, Iran, one of the early epicenters of the pandemic. While such variables do not inherently lower a person’s risk, they do indicate an infrastructure of protection that persists despite how densely populated a person’s district might be.

The younger generations are willing to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to sustainable living. In a study questioning both commitment to sustainable behaviors and willingness to trade better pay to work for a more sustainable-minded company, the surveyed young adults in Japan made their preferences clear.

Susanne Klien is an associate professor at Hokkaido University’s Modern Japanese Studies Program (MJSP). Having explored intangible cultural heritage across Japan, Klien has been expanding her research in area studies and anthropology on rural Japan. During her previous work for a research institute in Tokyo, she observed a unique migration pattern that has been taking place in Japan: more young people are relocating from big cities to rural areas, for example to the Tohoku area, the northeastern portion of Japan’s main island of Honshu.

Twenty-two scholars of The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) were named on Stanford University’s list of the top two per cent most-cited scientists in various disciplines, including President Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, Chair Professor of Public Policy; Professor Jim Chi-yung, Research Chair Professor of Geography & Environmental Science; and Professor Wong Ming-hung, Advisor (Environmental Science).

ARN's February newsletter features research about catalyzing plastic recycling, the mental health toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, antiperovskites and oolong tea. In honor of International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we also have tips for addressing gender bias in STEM communications, and inspirational stories about pioneering female scientists from our Giants in History series. Read on...

To celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science on Feb. 11, we are highlighting Giants in History - Asia's Women in Science, as well as tips for boosting women's voices in science communication and other organizations working to support women in research.