Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2025
08:04
Conditions Affecting Social Space in Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: November 5, 2015
12.3K
Egalitarian Attitudes and Activity Spaces in Chitwan, Nepal
Anna E Shetler1, Scott T Yabiku1
1Department of Sociology and Criminology, Population Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, 512 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Spatial Demography
|March 6, 2023
Summary
Social attitudes are influenced by the people encountered in an individual's activity space, not just their neighborhood. Exposure to diverse individuals in activity spaces can foster more egalitarian social attitudes.
Area of Science:
- Sociology
- Geography
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Sociodemographic characteristics and social attitudes are widely studied.
- Research on spatial patterns and attitudes is limited, often focusing only on residential locations.
- Spatial experience outside residential neighborhoods is under-researched.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between individuals' activity space (AS) and their social attitudes.
- To test if attitudes of others within an individual's AS influence their own attitudes.
- To examine how exposure within AS affects gender and caste attitudes, particularly for privileged groups.
Main Methods:
- Utilized innovative spatial data from Nepal.
- Measured multiple dimensions of activity space (AS).
- Employed linear regression models to analyze associations.
Main Results:
- Individuals' gender and caste attitudes align with those in their AS.
- Privileged individuals (males, Chhetri/Brahmin caste) exposed to diverse groups in their AS show more egalitarian attitudes.
- Activity space, beyond residential areas, significantly relates to social attitudes.
Conclusions:
- Social attitudes are shaped by the social composition of an individual's entire activity space.
- Exposure to diverse social groups within broader activity spaces promotes egalitarianism.
- This study highlights the importance of non-residential spatial experiences in attitude formation.
Related Concept Videos
04:49Robbers Cave
14.3K
During the 1950s, the landmark Robbers Cave experiment demonstrated that when groups must compete with one another, intergroup conflict, hostility, and even violence may result. At the Oklahoman summer camp, two troops of boys—termed the Rattlers and the Eagles—took part in a week-long tournament. During this time, their negativity culminated in derogatory name-calling, fistfights, and even vandalism and destruction of property. However, this work also revealed that such tension...
14.3K
02:02Ecological Niches
24.1K
All organisms have a position within an ecosystem. The complete set of living and nonliving factors—including food resources, climate, and terrain—that define the position of a given organism are collectively referred to as the organism’s ecological niche.
24.1K
02:55Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
90.4K
Humans are very diverse and although we share many similarities, we also have many differences. The social groups we belong to help form our identities (Tajfel, 1974). These differences may be difficult for some people to reconcile, which may lead to prejudice toward people who are different. Prejudice is a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one’s membership in a particular social group (Allport, 1954; Brown, 2010). Prejudice is common against people who...
90.4K
00:57Inclusive Fitness
36.3K
Most altruistic behavior—in which one animal helps another at a cost to themselves—occurs between relatives. Scientists think these altruistic behaviors evolved because they increase the inclusive fitness of the animal providing help.
36.3K
01:24Biodiversity and Human Values
13.3K
Human civilization relies on biodiversity in many ways. Sudden changes in species biodiversity result in environmental changes that can modify weather patterns and therefore human civilizations.
13.3K
02:31Habitat Fragmentation
17.7K
Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.
17.7K