arXiv subjects

Tamara van der Does

Publications and source records attributed to Tamara van der Does.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Using a Cognitive Network Model of Moral and Social Beliefs to Explain Belief Change

Scepticism towards childhood vaccines and genetically modified food has grown despite scientific evidence of their safety. Beliefs about scientific issues are difficult to change because they are entrenched within many related moral concerns and beliefs about what others think. We propose a cognitive network model which estimates the relationships, dissonance, and randomness between all related beliefs to derive predictions of the circumstances under which beliefs change. Using a probabilistic nationally representative longitudinal study, we found support for our model's predictions: Randomness of the belief networks decreased over time, for many participants their estimated dissonance related positively to their self-reported dissonance, and individuals who had high estimated dissonance of their belief network were more likely to change their beliefs to reduce this dissonance. This study is the first to combine a unifying predictive model with an experimental intervention and sheds light on dynamics of dissonance reduction leading to belief change.

cs.SI↗

arXiv2021

Falling Through the Cracks: Modeling the Formation of Social Category Boundaries

Social categorizations divide people into "us" and "them," often along continuous attributes such as political ideology or skin color. This division results in both positive consequences, such as a sense of community, and negative ones, such as group conflict. Further, individuals in the middle of the spectrum can fall through the cracks of this categorization process and are seen as out-group by individuals on either side of the spectrum, becoming inbetweeners. Here, we propose a quantitative, dynamical-system model that studies the joint influence of cognitive and social processes. We model where two social groups draw the boundaries between "us" and "them" on a continuous attribute. Our model predicts that both groups tend to draw a more restrictive boundary than the middle of the spectrum. As a result, each group sees the individuals in the middle of the attribute space as an out-group. We test this prediction using U.S. political survey data on how political independents are perceived by registered party members as well as existing experiments on the perception of racially ambiguous faces, and find support.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2020

Greetings from a Triparental Planet

In this work of speculative science, scientists from a distant star system explain the emergence and consequences of triparentalism, when three individuals are required for sexual reproduction, which is the standard form of mating on their home world. The report details the evolution of their reproductive system--that is, the conditions under which triparentalism and three self-avoiding mating types emerged as advantageous strategies for sexual reproduction. It also provides an overview of the biological consequences of triparental reproduction with three mating types, including the genetic mechanisms of triparental reproduction, asymmetries between the three mating types, and infection dynamics arising from their different mode of sexual reproduction. The report finishes by discussing how central aspects of their society, such as short-lasting unions among individuals and the rise of a monoculture, might have arisen as a result of their triparental system.

q-bio.PE↗