In low- and middle-income countries like Pakistan, motorcycle use has grown rapidly due to urban expansion and limited transport options. While motorcycles offer an affordable means of travel, the increase in their number is accompanied by a rise in serious and fatal crashes, creating significant road safety and public health concerns. Although global research has explored motorcycle safety, there is a lack of region-specific studies in Pakistan, particularly on how roadway geometric features affect crash severity. This study aims to address that gap by examining factors that influence injury severity in motorcycle crashes, with a focus on road geometry, as well as temporal, weather, and crash-related conditions. A random parameters model, accounting for heterogeneity in means and variances, is utilized to analyze motorcycle crash data comprising 18,115 observations collected in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, between 1 January 2020 to 31 July 2023. Model assessment for heterogeneity in the means and variances identifies four significant variables, i.e., constant, nighttime, rainy weather, and intersection presence, which yield statistically significant random parameters, reflecting heterogeneities in effects. The findings indicate that temporal and weather attributes (e.g., COVID-19 effect, summer and winter seasons, nighttime, peak traffic hours, and rainy weather) significantly increase the risk of severe injuries in motorcycle crashes. In addition, crash-related factors (e.g., speeding, clothes stuck in motorcycle tires, and collisions with pedestrians, motorized rickshaws, other motorcycles, and heavy vehicles) were identified as major contributors to the severity of injuries. Moreover, road geometric features (e.g., primary roads, fewer lanes, horizontal and vertical curves, and narrow shoulders) were also strongly associated with more severe crash outcomes. Based on these findings, several targeted interventions, including awareness campaigns, enforcement of speed limits, management of mixed traffic, and enhancement of road conditions and geometries, are recommended to reduce motorcycle crashes and enhancing overall transportation safety.
This research investigated how COVID-19 virus information disseminated through the media affected individuals' perceptions and how those perceptions impacted their cognitive appraisals and protective behaviors. The results revealed that media exposure related to COVID-19 stimulated fear and fatigue, and high media exposure increased perceived threats and perceived efficacy about COVID-19. This study also found that high perceived self-efficacy increased one's intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Implications of these findings for cognitive appraisal and protective behaviors are discussed, and directions for future research are proposed.
This study examines the synchronization between unemployment and property crime cycles-burglary, robbery, larceny, and motor vehicle theft-in Buffalo from 2006 to 2023. Using Markov switching models and the Concordance Index, we test the hypothesis that unemployment is positively related to burglary, robbery, and larceny, but negatively related to motor vehicle theft. Results show a positive but insignificant link between unemployment and burglary, robbery, and larceny cycles, while motor vehicle theft cycles are significantly negatively correlated with unemployment. Rising unemployment significantly predicts increases in burglary and larceny, and decreases in motor vehicle theft.
In the world, declining birth rates and an ageing population have heightened the importance of developing age-friendly cities on a global scale. This study aims to identify the factors that influence older adults' satisfaction with their urban environment and to assess the impact of these factors. To gather data, a comprehensive questionnaire survey was conducted in Erzurum, T & uuml;rkiye, featuring detailed questions about the participants' sociodemographic characteristics as well as their satisfaction levels regarding various elements of age-friendly cities. The analysis used the Generalised Ordered Probit Regression model, an advanced statistical method. The results revealed that sociodemographic factors, in particular, play a significant role in shaping older adults' satisfaction with their urban environment. These findings are expected to offer valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners to develop targeted interventions to improve the well-being of this vulnerable population, drawing attention to groups that report low satisfaction with their urban surroundings.
Studies examining the intersection of gender and the death penalty have identified gender effects in case outcomes. I build upon that previous research to simultaneously consider the gender of the defendant, victim, and prosecutor in more than 14,000 capital case prosecutions in Texas. I find the most death sentence-oriented gender combination (male prosecutor, female victim, and male defendant) produces death sentences at a vastly higher rate than the least death sentence-oriented combination (female prosecutor, male victim, and female defendant). The results support a theory of masculine focal concerns that posits decision-making shortcuts and the desire to impose social dominance allows gender to shape the process. The results also speak to a central debate in death penalty jurisprudence regarding the degree to which sentencing is a product of arbitrary factors unrelated to the severity of the crime and the culpability of the accused.
The rapid growth of platform-based delivery services has raised concerns about commercial motorcycle safety, particularly regarding the interplay between occupational pressures and age-related risk factors. A critical gap remains in understanding how age moderates the relationships between occupational pressures (time pressure and fatigue) and risk-taking patterns. This study examines these relationships among commercial motorcycle riders, comparing young (under 35) and middle adult (35 and older) groups. Data from 1,884 riders across five regions of Thailand were analyzed using structural equation modeling with measurement invariance testing. Results revealed significant age-based differences: middle adult riders exhibited stronger effects of time pressure on risk-taking behaviors, whereas young adults showed a substantially stronger link between general risk-taking tendencies and comprehensive risk-taking behaviors. Time pressure's impact on fatigue was more pronounced among young riders. The findings support age-specific interventions for training, monitoring, and support systems in platform-based delivery services.
Women express statistically significantly greater climate change concern than men in a number of countries, but this gender gap is not universal around the world. We use multilevel models with cross-level interactions to analyze how the individual-level effects of gender on climate change concern and perceived seriousness are influenced by three macro-level contextual factors: national affluence, climate risk, and gender equality. We find that gender differences in climate change views are statistically significant only in relatively affluent countries, the differences are larger at higher levels of affluence, and greater climate risk amplifies the difference in concern but not perceived seriousness. The effect of gender on climate change views does not statistically significantly vary by level of gender equality.
This study explores how transnational social media communication - particularly via social media shapes Latinx Americans' political attitudes toward U.S. democracy. Using 2023 national survey data, it finds that frequent engagement with people or media in Latin America correlates with lower trust in democratic norms, greater acceptance of authoritarianism, and higher tolerance for political violence. These relationships are moderated by both nativity and gender: The effects are stronger among immigrants than U.S.-born respondents and among men compared to women and non-binary individuals. The findings suggest that exposure to heritage-country narratives through transnational networks can erode confidence in U.S. democratic governance, depending on individuals' embeddedness in these information environments. The study highlights how cross-border digital media flows shape democratic attitudes within diaspora communities and offers recommendations for policymakers, civic organizations, and media platforms to strengthen democratic engagement and resilience in transnational contexts.
Known as digital self-harm or self-cyberbullying, fictitious online victimization (FOV) refers to anonymously sharing online negative information about the self. The current study examined correlates of FOV as well as the dimensionality of a measure of the phenomenon. Three hundred forty-six adult respondents (59.3% female, 72.0% White, and 78.9% heterosexual; Mage = 36.69; SD = 14.24) completed a questionnaire. Positive correlations were observed between composite FOV scores and anxiety, depression, loneliness, shame, guilt, stress, anti-mattering, traditional bullying perpetration, and both cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. Negative relationships emerged between FOV and self-esteem and self-compassion. Factor analytic results of the FOV measure revealed a three-factor solution: Pretend FOV, Reactive FOV, and Disseminating FOV. Patterns of relationships of each factor with other measures were not uniform, highlighting the multi-dimensionality of FOV. The findings support the formative nature of the FOV construct at the factor, but not the individual, level, and highlight where prevention/intervention efforts might be directed.
Prior research has found that measures of welfare state generosity and social class are, at best, unevenly related to individual redistributive attitudes. We suggest that these uneven relationships are at least partially due to a methodological misspecification prevalent in much of the existing literature, as well as a theoretical shortcoming of the rational choice assumptions undergirding the supposed link between economic self-interest and redistributive attitudes. Using a cross-national sample and multi-level modeling, we illustrate that the effect of income on subjective perceptions of economic well-being differs greatly depending on the generosity of the welfare state. Individuals perceive their class position differently depending on the welfare state context. Thus, we argue that the welfare state moderates the effect of class on redistributive attitudes, not just mediates it, as much of the existing literature assumes. We illustrate this moderating effect systematically using a battery of redistributive attitudes.
Drawing on a national survey conducted before the U.S. presidential election in 2020, this study examines how social media communication activities shape the public's beliefs in foreign interference. The results indicate that intentional news exposure weakens foreign interference beliefs while incidental news exposure strengthens such beliefs. Both like-minded and cross-cutting discussions are likely to enhance the beliefs in foreign interference. Moreover, social media news exposure and political discussion are found to interact with each other in influencing foreign interference beliefs. This study also investigates the impact of such beliefs on people's voting intentions. Individuals who believe the existence of foreign interference tend to have higher voting intentions; however, people are unwilling to vote if they believe there are many countries interfering in the election. Implications are discussed in terms of the roles social media play in shaping political beliefs and affecting political engagement.
Construction apprenticeship programs involve significant classroom instruction and on-the-job training to develop highly skilled and broadly trained workers. Data from the state of Nevada, USA indicate that the typical apprentice who completes a program can expect to earn 56% more than the expected wage elsewhere in the economy for similar amounts of formal education. Potential earnings premiums are even higher for those with less educational attainment. One obstacle for completion is macroeconomic volatility, which under recessionary conditions, reduces apprentices' opportunities to obtain on-the-job learning hours. Our study shows that economic fluctuations, which were particularly severe in Nevada before and during the Great Recession, especially affected less-educated workers, who stood to benefit the most from completing an apprenticeship. Findings also indicate that completion rates for underrepresented demographic groups were typically more cyclically sensitive compared to white, male, non-veteran apprentices with a high school degree.
How can social scientists advance discussions around public policy in a world characterized by increasing political polarization? I examine how Social Identity Theory (SIT) and its extensions, subconstituency theory, meritocracy theory, and the SMB model, motivate a scientific and practical interest in universal basic income (UBI) as a necessary policy response to the human capacity for social categorization. I offer a novel theoretical and empirical contribution by integrating SIT with public attitudes toward UBI, framing these discussions through broader economic and political ideologies. Unlike class- or race-based redistributive policies, strong UBI treats everyone equally, a novelty. To structure discussions around public policy and basic incomes, I provide scientific and ideological frameworks for interdisciplinary research on novel policies like UBI. Finally, I present data from a 2022 Congressional Election Study survey experiment to demonstrate that Americans' policy preferences are motivated by a norm of equal treatment, consistent with classical liberalism.
While past research explores ingroup favoritism toward perpetrators of domestic violence, less is known about how shared and unshared religious identities shape public blame toward victims. Using a survey experiment in Bangladesh (n = 698), this study introduces Selective Solidarity Theory to analyze how identity alignment between respondents, victims, and perpetrators influences victim-blaming attitudes. Findings reveal that victim-blaming is most prevalent when both victim and perpetrator share the respondent's religious identity, likely reflecting a desire to preserve group image. In contrast, blame is lower when only the victim shares the respondent's identity, and is also low when neither party is an ingroup member. These results highlight the conditional nature of identity-based bias in justice perceptions and the need for context-sensitive interventions in domestic violence reform.
Identity politics has shaped modern political dynamics, prompting individuals across party lines to perceive the same facts through differing lenses. Early perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic's health impact were influenced by political affiliation, but how much did ethno-racial backgrounds affect these views? Since the pandemic highlighted disparities and partisan divides, I examine whether perceptions differed systematically across groups. I leverage the Views of the Electorate Research (VOTER) Survey to assess the perspectives of Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites in early 2020. Perceptions were primarily shaped by partisanship; with this effect most pronounced among Whites. While Hispanic identity was associated with distinct perceptions, White individuals, more distant from the non-White experience of the pandemic, may have relied more on party affiliation in forming their views. Situated at the intersection of public health and identity politics, this work on perception underscores the need to explore politicized issues in the context of health disparities.
Binge-watching is a prevalent issue for college students, impacting both academic and personal lives. This study investigates an extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to ascertain college students' intentions and actual control of binge-watching behavior. The data were gathered from 441 university students via an adapted scale. Partial Least Squares SEM (PLS-SEM) validated the model, with robustness also ensured through Covariance-Based SEM (CB-SEM), AIC, and BIC statistics. The results show that intention strongly predicts behavior control, and subjective norms are the strongest predictor of intention, while perceived behavioral control most strongly predicts actual behavior control. In addition, intention to control mediates the relationship between TPB constructs and behavior control. The results provide insight into the psychological mechanisms for binge-watching among students and corroborate the wider use of TPB in online media contexts. This study educates teachers, parents, and policymakers who seek to develop effective interventions for decreasing screen time and encouraging healthier media use patterns.
For democratic institutions to thrive, citizens must use their voice and vote, as well as demonstrate civic virtues, including respecting ideological differences and electoral outcomes. Recently, deepening political divisions in the United States strain civic virtues with rising partisan animus and conflict. As the ideological gap between major political parties widens, Americans' civic empathy, or the ability to understand the feelings and experiences of others in the context of public life, deserves more attention. Are interactions across political differences more difficult than across other differences? This mixed methods study uses a survey experiment to investigate college students' perceptions of politically diverse social settings. Findings reveal that students are particularly wary of political diversity, more so than they are of other kinds of diversity. We argue that civic education should focus on developing political tolerance and civic empathy.
As host states shift positions in global capital flows, the forward and reverse interactions between domestic investment law (DIL) and international investment law (IIL), and their boundaries adjust dynamically, influenced significantly by national power. Initially, despite skepticism toward Northern-led investment protection and liberalization, Southern states, under pressure both to attract foreign capital and to respond to potential claims, passively aligned their DIL with IIL through forward compliance. Later, as traditional bilateral investment treaties (BITs) faced increasing criticism, states utilized DIL strategically for reverse interaction, adjusting boundaries to circumvent or override IIL. China exemplifies this trajectory, evolving over four decades from passive compliance as a capital-importer to proactive, bidirectional engagement. Recently, under its foreign-related rule of law (FRROL) strategy, China's DIL-IIL boundaries have become intentionally ambiguous, reflecting increased agency in "benchmarking," "connecting," and "leading" global investment governance.
The Israeli government's 2023 initiatives to accelerate constitutional reform sparked widespread debate across the media, political circles, and society, exacerbating divisions within Israeli society. This study explores the impact of this contentious debate on Israel's economic indicators throughout 2023 and its implications for the country's attractiveness to international economic institutions and foreign investors. The research methodology involves two primary approaches. First, examination of primary policy documents such as legislative proposals, government reports, and parliamentary committee protocols. Second, presentation and analysis of diverse economic indicators pertinent to the Israeli economy. The conclusions indicate that the promotion of reform-related legislation increased the level of uncertainty ascribed to the Israeli economy, manifested in a downgrading of its credit ratings, and deceleration of imports and of the inflow of foreign direct investments in 2023. Moreover, the Israel's advanced industry experienced a decline in capital raised and in investments in local high-tech companies.
