Social Sciences

Abstract: We compared four Large Language Models (LLMs; ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, DeepSeek) with humans on tests of cognitive development, assessing relational integration, linguistic awareness, general and domain-specific reasoning, and cognitive self-awareness to specify how LLMs compare with humans along cognitive development hierarchies. LLMs also discussed how Descartes’s Cogito applies to them and rated themselves on aspects of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Hence, we propose a novel interdisciplinary comparison between human and LLM capabilities integrating developmental, cognitive, and psychometric psychology. Overall, the structure of processes in humans and LLMs was highly similar. All LLMs attained perfect linguistic and metalinguistic performance. ChatGPT and Gemini outperformed university students in mathematics and causal reasoning. Grok performed slightly and DeepSeek considerably lower. All LLMs underperformed in visual–spatial tasks. Self-evaluation profiles broadly mirrored performance profiles: ChatGPT and Grok rated themselves high in reasoning and low in visualization, Gemini inflated visualization by reframing it as linguistic creativity, and DeepSeek consistently underrated itself. Each LLM restated Descartes’s Cogito differently, reflecting its own priorities, and denied having high AGI. Therefore, LLMs display human-like “subjective” task scaling implying algorithmic or functional metacognition, capturing their architectural gap between symbolic reasoning and visuospatial cognition, but they were modest in claiming top human intelligence. Implications for an integrated natural-artificial intelligence theory are discussed. Also, a developmental engineering model is sketched that might allow removing limitations of each LLM.

Abstract: Self-directed speech is a well-established aspect of human cognition, although its relationships with self-processes such as self-consciousness, self-rumination, mindfulness, self-concept clarity, and self-esteem remain poorly understood. The present study aimed to synthesize existing empirical findings to clarify how individual differences in self-directed speech relate to self-processes. Guided by PRISMA-informed systematic review procedures, this narrative review examined studies published between 2000 and 2025 that reported correlations between validated self-report measures of self-directed speech and selective self-processes. Relationships across 15 included studies showed low to moderate significant correlations suggesting that thinking about private self-aspects, reflecting and ruminating about the self, clarifying one’s self-concept, engaging in mindfulness, and mind wandering are associated with more or less frequent self-reported use of various forms of speech-for-self. Results also supported the notion that positive self-talk is linked to higher self-esteem and self-reflection whereas negative self-talk is connected to lower self-esteem and self-rumination. These findings are in line with the view that self-directed speech constitutes a central mechanism of self-construction and self-processing. Future research should focus on longitudinal and experimental designs, greater conceptual consistency, and broader cultural representation.

Abstract: The rapid expansion of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in higher education has intensified debates concerning misinformation, media literacy, academic integrity, higher education governance and regulatory approaches. This study develops a systematic literature review (SLR) following PRISMA 2020 guidelines to examine how recent literature and higher education governance address the relationships between GenAI, misinformation, media literacy, AI literacy and educational governance within university contexts. The review integrated empirical studies, systematic and scoping reviews, institutional documents, university policies and international regulatory frameworks through a comparative thematic synthesis and evidence-based extraction strategy. Findings indicate a persistent tension between the pedagogical opportunities associated with GenAI and the epistemic, ethical and informational risks linked to synthetic content production and informational dependency. The review also shows that media literacy, AI literacy and critical thinking emerge as recurrent educational responses to AI-mediated misinformation. Furthermore, substantial differences were identified across governance frameworks and international regulatory approaches. The conclusions suggest that GenAI governance requires integrated approaches capable of connecting higher education governance, critical pedagogies and evaluative competencies within increasingly AI-supported educational ecosystems.

Abstract: (1) Background: The mink farming industry was established in Ireland in the 1950s and despite a significant decline in farm numbers over subsequent decades, it remained economically important due to the employment it provided in disadvantaged rural areas. However, growing animal welfare concerns, supported by scientific reviews and advocacy from animal welfare groups and veterinary professionals, increased pressure for legislative reform. This article examines the development of the Irish mink farming industry, the factors leading to its prohibition, and Ireland's position within broader European trends concerning fur farming. (2) Methods: The article adopts a historical and legal approach, analyzing industry data, government policy, animal welfare advocacy, scientific reviews, and legislative developments from the 1950s to the enactment of the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022. (3) Results: The analysis demonstrates that mink farming declined from approximately forty producers in 1960 to three farms by 2022. Concerns about the welfare of farmed mink gained prominence, particularly following Veterinary Ireland’s call for an end to fur farming and the publication of scientific reviews challenging fur production practices. These developments informed government policy and led to legislation prohibiting the breeding and keeping of animals for fur production. (4) Conclusions: Ireland’s prohibi-tion of mink farming reflects a policy shift towards prioritizing animal welfare over a declining industry. Scientific evidence, ethical concerns, and sustained advocacy were central to this legislative change, positioning Ireland ahead of broader European Union developments in the regulation of fur farming.

Abstract: Arithmetic estimation requires maintaining numerical information while applying rule based procedures for approximate calculation, yet it remains unclear whether such estimation strategy processing depends on the working memory state in which task relevant information is maintained. This study examined whether online and offline working memory states modulate arithmetic estimation strategy processing and whether such modulation varies with estimation strategy difficulty sequence and interference modality. Across three behavioral experiments, participants completed a serial probe task requiring estimation strategy consistency judgments for rounding down, rounding up, and mixed rounding strategies. Experiment 1 manipulated presentation duration and revealed distinct temporal profiles: online state performance was highest at the shortest duration and declined thereafter, whereas offline state performance improved and then stabilized. Experiment 2 showed that visual interference did not produce a uniform impairment, but selectively modulated online estimation strategy judgments in a difficulty sequence dependent manner. Experiment 3 showed that phonological interference produced broader disruption, impairing offline performance across sequence conditions and reducing online performance in the difficult–simple sequence. These findings suggest that arithmetic estimation strategy processing is shaped by dynamic working memory states, difficulty sequence related load, and modality specific interference.

Abstract: Energy transitions increasingly depend on coordination across interdependent actors, infrastructures and practices. As electrification, sector coupling and decentralisation reshape energy systems, governance challenges have shifted from control-oriented delivery towards problems of interaction, responsibility and system coordination. Despite wide recognition of these dynamics, governance arrangements continue to struggle with persistent coordination failures across institutional contexts. This article argues that such difficulties cannot be explained as implementation problems or insufficient cooperation alone. Instead, coordination failures are conceptualised as manifestations of a mismatch between how energy systems function and how they are governed. The article distinguishes between supply-chain governance assumptions and energy systems operating as service networks, developing an analytical framework that makes this mismatch explicit. The analysis demonstrates how prevailing governance remains oriented towards linear responsibility and asset-based performance, even as outcomes increasingly depend on coordinated action and resource integration in use. Network-based governance arrangements are shown to represent partial adaptations that acknowledge interdependence without reconfiguring underlying governance logics. By foregrounding system logics rather than specific instruments, the article clarifies why coordination failures persist in sustainability transitions characterised by complex socio-technical interdependence.

Abstract: Contemporary social work continues to face a persistent tension between efforts to consolidate shared professional standards and the need to sustain epistemic plurality across diverse socio-political contexts. This tension is especially evident in organisational supports for practice research, which are often treated as neutral administrative arrangements despite their role in shaping whose knowledge is recognised, funded, translated and sustained. This paper develops polycentric indigenisation as a conceptual framework for rethinking organisational supports as epistemic infrastructures rather than merely technical supports for collaboration. Drawing on scholarship on practice research, indigenisation, epistemic justice and southern theory, the paper argues that prevailing support models remain constrained by a narrow legitimacy-participation binary. Some arrangements widen participation without redistributing epistemic authority, whilst others secure institutional legitimacy at the cost of subordinating inquiry to hierarchy, compliance or policy alignment. In response, the paper outlines a framework centred on distributed epistemic authority, situated translation, boundary critique and negotiated co-authorship. It identifies four directions for the development of organisational supports: authentic indigenisation, polycentric dialogue, contextualised critical autonomy and ethical co-creation. The paper concludes by considering implications for future research, policy and practice in international social work.

Abstract: Physical education (PE) is commonly justified through its contributions to physical fitness, motor skill development, sport participation, and health-enhancing physical activity. These aims remain important, but they do not fully capture PE’s potential within the broader landscape of lifestyle behavior and neurobehavioral well-being. This narrative review examines PE as a curriculum-based lifestyle learning environment through which movement experiences may be linked with motivation, stress regulation, emotional regulation, resilience, sleep and recovery awareness, nutrition-related awareness, and lifestyle self-regulation in adolescents and young adults. Using a narrative review design with structured literature mapping, the review integrates evidence and concepts from PE pedagogy, physical literacy, health literacy, Self-Determination Theory, stress and emotion regulation, self-efficacy, resilience, self-regulated learning, sleep, recovery, nutrition-related education, and school and university health-promoting frameworks. The review argues that PE should not be understood only as a setting for activity delivery, fitness testing, or sport-skill instruction. Rather, PE may provide repeated educational opportunities for students to connect embodied movement experiences with everyday lifestyle regulation. The proposed framework does not claim that PE automatically improves mental health or directly produces neurobiological change. Instead, it positions PE as one distinctive educational context in which movement, reflection, social interaction, and health-related learning can be integrated to support neurobehavioral well-being. Future research should examine curriculum mechanisms, teaching strategies, transfer processes, implementation conditions, and measurement indicators for PE-based lifestyle learning.

Abstract: Economic development is a multidimensional process influenced by factors such as economic performance, human capital, urbanization, labor market conditions, and the distribution of economic outcomes. This study develops multidimensional rankings of economic prosperity and distributional outcomes for all 77 Thai provinces using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Using 2024 provincial economic statistics from the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) and Thailand’s Labor Force Survey (LFS), the analysis evaluates provincial development across multiple dimensions. The results reveal an exceptionally high degree of urban primacy, with Bangkok substantially outperforming all other provinces. Beyond the capital city itself, high levels of prosperity are concentrated in the neighboring provinces of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region and the Eastern Seaboard industrial corridor, while Phuket represents an alternative tourism-led pathway to prosperity. Favorable distributional outcomes also tend to be concentrated within this metropolitan-industrial corridor, whereas less favorable outcomes are more common in the North and Northeast. Robustness tests indicate that prosperity rankings are highly persistent over time, whereas distributional outcomes exhibit somewhat lower temporal stability. Overall, the study demonstrates the value of multidimensional ranking approaches for understanding urban–regional disparities in Thailand.

Abstract: Hypnotic hypoalgesia effectively reduces various types of pain, but its neurophysiological mechanisms remain unclear. EEG and somatosensory event-related potentials (SERPs) can help elucidate how hypnotic suggestions influence pain processing across sensory, emotional, and cognitive domains. This review synthesizes evidence on EEG oscillatory activity and SERP correlates in hypnotic pain modu-lation and interprets the findings through predictive coding and active inference frameworks. The review integrated relevant studies on EEG frequency-band oscillations, SERPs, and the modulation of pain by hypnosis, focusing on a convergent neurophysiological account of hypnotic pain modulation rather than on individual studies. Research indicates that hypnotic hypoalgesia is associated with concerted changes across multiple EEG frequency bands. Theta activity is linked to focused internal attention and the maintenance of sugges-tion-consistent representations, while increased alpha activity may indicate inhibitory sensory gating and reduced nociceptive gain. Beta oscillations enhance pain relief in cognitive and motor functions, while de-creased gamma activity indicates reduced significance of pain signals. SERP findings show that hypnotic suggestions primarily affect late evaluative components (e.g., P200/P250, P300) rather than early sensory elements, suggesting changes in salience attribution and affective-cognitive appraisal rather than uniform suppression of nociceptive input. Predictive coding and active inference explain how hypnotic suggestions change pain-related expectations and bodily perceptions. This insight is key to enhancing personalized pain management and guiding future neuroscience research.

Abstract: The Arousal Appraisal Model (AAM) reconceptualizes emotion as one regime within a structural-continuum model of arousal-regulated experience. Its novelty lies in treating arousal not as an episodic fight-or-flight response, but as a continuous energy-calibration process in which the nervous system samples external sensory input, interoceptive bodily condition, and memory-based meaning to determine how much mobilization is needed now. AAM specifies four graded regimes along a mobilization-capacity continuum: low-load contemplation, matched-load action, excess-load emotion, and overload collapse/freeze. When mobilization remains below the threshold for coordinated output, experience is characterized by quiet readiness and tentative inclination. When mobilization approximates available capacity and can be metabolized through throughput, it becomes coherent engagement or flow-like action. When mobilization exceeds what can be directly deployed into the available task or action pathway, surplus activation is expressed phenomenologically and behaviorally as emotion. This excess is not pathological and does not imply negative valence; it is the natural expression of mobilized energy shaped by appraisal, meaning, social context, and outcome. When exceedance persists under high constraint or blocked action, output may be restricted as collapse or freeze. The model yields testable predictions linking physiological mobilization, capacity, throughput, and appraised constraint to reports of possibility, propulsion, affective expression, or output restriction.

Abstract: In March 2022, the FAO Food Price Index peaked at 159.7 as climate shocks collided with geopolitical disruption, pushing global hunger past 735 million and exposing how deeply climate variability penetrates the economics of agri-food systems. Yet the imprint of ocean–atmosphere oscillations on global food prices—the central economic signal of the agri-food system—has never been mapped systematically in the frequency domain. This study delivers the first multi-oscillation cross-spectral analysis of the climate–food price nexus, matching seven climate indices across the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean basins with five disaggregated FAO Food Price Index sub-components over 432 monthly observations (1990–2025), verified through six robustness checks including surrogate-data testing. Four findings carry direct policy relevance. ENSO indicators lead global food prices by three to four months with a 100% surrogate-test pass rate—the cleanest actionable climate–price signal yet documented. The Indian Ocean Dipole leads prices by sixteen months, extending the early warning horizon from weeks to over a year. The apparent Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation–price correlation (r ≈ +0.60) is revealed to be a common-trend artefact. Dairy and vegetable oils emerge as the most climate-exposed commodity chains, while meat is buffered by feed-market intermediation. These results provide the empirical foundation for integrating real-time monitoring of climate oscillations into food system governance—a low-cost policy innovation that aligns economic stability objectives with climate adaptation goals, strengthens the resilience of agri-food value chains, and supports progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger).

Abstract: This paper examines the threat to academic integrity posed by students who may use contemporary technology to cheat undetectably in traditional written university examinations. The threat is a cheating pipeline formed by the convergence of three technologies: miniaturised cameras and earbuds; consumer AI smart glasses with near-invisible Heads-Up Displays; and Large Language Models capable of answering university-level questions to a passing standard or higher. The paper argues that, if used, this pipeline can compromise the integrity of closed-book, supervised examinations. Once covert assistance of this kind is feasible, the format can no longer reliably distinguish a candidate's own work from a machine's. It can therefore no longer substantiate the claim to competence that a degree makes on its holder's behalf. This is a structural problem: it concerns what the examination can certify for the cohort as a whole, not only the conduct of those who cheat. The evidence establishes that the threat is already real. Drawing on a narrative review of the academic-integrity literature (1966-2025), UK Ofqual malpractice statistics (2019-2025), and a documentary scan of commercially available AI-assisted devices (May 2026), the paper shows that device use in invigilated examinations is established and increasing in secondary education, with the conditions driving it plausibly extending to higher education, although direct sector-level evidence remains limited. It develops the ethical case that examination design and certification must be reconsidered as a matter of institutional responsibility. It concludes that what a degree certifies in the age of ambient AI cannot be left to detection technology to settle.

Abstract: This study analyzes climate vulnerability and adaptive capacity in Mozambique, Malawi, and Madagascar from a gender perspective using survey data from 2,662 households. The Household Vulnerability Index was constructed using Principal Component Analysis. Cross-country and gender-group differences were assessed using ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc tests, revealing significant cross-country disparities (p < 0.001). Mozambique exhibits the highest vulnerability severity and dispersion, driven by compound environmental exposure, elevated sensitivity, and constrained adaptive capacity. In contrast, Malawi — despite high physical exposure — presents the lowest overall vulnerability among the three countries, as stronger adaptive capacity offsets environmental risk. Madagascar occupies an intermediate position, with households clustered within the moderate vulnerability category, reflecting chronic sensitivity and limited adaptive capacity. While aggregated mean HVI scores are statistically identical between gender groups (F < 0.01; p = 0.980), categorical and variance analyses reveal heterogeneous distributions: male-headed households face direct occupational risk, whereas female-headed households contend with severe structural barriers to accessing adaptive resources. Agricultural extension services, institutional support, targeted training, climate-smart agriculture, and livestock assets constitute the primary drivers of resilience. These findings demonstrate that mean-based analyses mask gender disparities in vulnerability and highlight the need for context-specific, gender-responsive adaptation policies in Southern Africa.

Abstract: Introduction: Sexual consent is a multidimensional construct involving both internal willingness and external communication, yet validated French-language instruments assessing these dimensions remain scarce. Objective: This study aimed to validate French versions of the Internal and External Consent Scale (IECS-FV) and examine their associations with sociodemographic and intimate relationship variables. Methods: A sample of 649 French-speaking emerging adults (18–25 years) completed translated versions of the ICS and ECS, alongside measures of relationship characteristics and sociodemographic factors. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), gender invariance testing, reliability analyses, ANOVAs, and correlational analyses were conducted. Results: The revised ICS-FV demonstrated excellent psychometric properties with a 19-item four-factor structure: Physical Response/Arousal, Agreement/Wantedness, Safety/Comfort, and Readiness. The ECS-FV showed satisfactory psychometric properties with a refined 15-item five-factor structure: Non-verbal behavior, Passive behavior, Communicative/Initiator behavior, Borderline Pressure, and Non-response Signals. All factors demonstrated good internal consistency (α ≥ .70). Gender invariance was supported for the ECS-FV but not for the ICS-FV. Positive internal and external consent dimensions were significantly associated with higher sexual satisfaction, romantic relationship satisfaction, sexual frequency, and relationship commitment, whereas non-response and passive behaviors were linked to less favorable outcomes. Conclusion: The IECS-FV are reliable and valid tools for assessing multidimensional sexual consent in French-speaking emerging adults. These instruments offer valuable resources for research, prevention, and clinical interventions targeting sexual health, relational functioning, and sexual violence prevention.

Abstract: Trunk rotator training is important for performance, stability, and injury prevention, but the intensity of anti-rotation exercises is difficult to quantify precisely. Break-tests may provide a practical method to assess maximal anti-rotation strength and its dependence on body posture. This study determined the intra- and inter-session reliability of a break-test for quantifying maximal anti-rotation trunk strength during a cable woodchop exercise, and examined differences and relationships across common postural configurations. Twenty-two physically active men completed two testing sessions separated by one week. Maximal isometric break force was assessed in seated, kneeling, half-kneeling, staggered-stance, and parallel-stance positions. Force was progressively applied by an evaluator within a standardized time window until posture was lost. Reliability was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and typical error (TE), while between-position differences and relationships were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA and Pearson’s correlations. The break-test demonstrated excellent intra-session reliability (ICC = 0.90–0.97; TE = 0.4–1.0 kg) and robust inter-session reliability (ICC = 0.78–0.90; TE = 0.8–1.4 kg). Maximal anti-rotation strength was posture-dependent (p < 0.001): half-kneeling produced the highest forces, whereas seated and staggered-stance positions constrained performance. Correlations between positions were moderate to high (r = 0.59–0.84), suggesting shared and position-specific strength characteristics. These findings support the break-test as a reliable and practical method for quantifying maximal anti-rotation trunk strength, helping standardize assessment and guide position-specific load prescription.

Abstract: Scholarship has noted the ambiguity of new transport modes, such as e-scooters or cargo bikes, that often struggle to fit in within mobility systems organised around established categories of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. However, this is not a new phenomenon: Dutch mopeds have been persistently framed as ‘not fitting in’ since the 1950s, despite regulatory and technological changes. Drawing on STS and mobilities studies, this paper conceptualises this condition as residuality, to examine how mobility systems position certain modes and practices at the margins of dominant transport categories. The study asks: How has the residuality of mopeds persisted over time and what does this say about mobility systems? We analyse readers’ letters to Dutch newspapers (1950-1975 and 2010-2024) alongside policy documents. Findings indicate that residuality is shaped by institutional, material and cultural elements. Regulatory adaptation around mopeds has not eliminated residuality but contributed to its reconfiguration within the mobility system, displacing it towards fatbikes. Our article contributes to mobilities studies by introducing residuality as a framework for understanding how mobility systems produce and stabilise mobilities that ‘do not fit’. It also shows the value of a long-term perspective to understand contemporary challenges around (micro)mobility modes.

Abstract: Introduction:Opposition to gender ideology has become a socially and politically salient phenomenon, yet there is still a lack of validated instruments capable of capturing its multidimensional structure in a systematic way. The present research aimed to develop the Gender Ideology Belief Scale (GIBS), a new measure designed to assess negative attitudes toward gender ideology as a coherent ideological construct.Methods:Across two studies involving Italian participants (total N = 595), the GIBS was developed through a multi-phase process including literature review, analysis of public anti-gender discourse, item generation, expert evaluation, and psychometric testing. In Study 1 (N = 332), exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the most suitable items and examine the latent structure of the scale, whereas in Study 2 (N = 263), confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the factorial structure and assess reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity.Results:The exploratory factor analysis supported a three-factor solution reflecting conspiratorial beliefs, resistance to gender-inclusive education, and adherence to traditional family values. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a second-order structure in which these three dimensions loaded onto a broader gender ideology factor, and the final version of the scale demonstrated acceptable reliability and associations with right-wing authoritarianism, sexual prejudice, and conspiracist beliefs.Discussion:The GIBS provides researchers with a new instrument for examining opposition to gender ideology as an organized belief system rather than as an isolated attitude. By offering a multidimensional measure of anti-gender beliefs, this scale may support future research on cultural backlash, ideological resistance to social change, and the psychological dynamics underlying contemporary conflicts over gender and diversity.

Abstract: This working paper offers a compact academic statement of the CIRIT conceptual framework — a pentagonal geometry of five civilisational poles of Greater Eurasia (China, India, Russia, Iran, Türkiye) organising the outer contour of the Eurasian architecture, with five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) constituting the inner core. The paper justifies the abbreviation through a dual etymology (the Turkic equestrian game cirit, inscribed by UNESCO in 2017, and the Sanskrit kirīṭa, meaning "crown"), establishes the structural properties of the proposed geometry (a complete nuclear-threshold contour, strategic ambivalence, an operational C5 × CIRIT core), and positions the concept against existing Eurasian frameworks (SCO, EAEU, OTS, BRICS). The paper develops the framework through five analytical dimensions: definitional and etymological grounding; structural properties of the geometry; comparative positioning against extant formats; historical and civilisational underpinnings of each pole; and implications for Central Asian agency. This preprint registers conceptual priority on the terminology and geometry for subsequent extended publication.

Abstract: People seek happiness by engaging in or avoiding activities that affect their well-being, which is also shaped by political, social, and economic contexts. This study explores how macro-social variables (democratic quality and social progress) relate to individual self-reported happiness. Using data from 167 countries, regression and mediation analyses were conducted, drawing on secondary sources such as The Economist's democracy index, Fehder et al. social progress index (2018), and Helliwell et al. happiness index (2023). The hypothesis on the democratic quality of a country predicting its happiness, -mediated by social progress-, has received partial support up to date. However, we fond significant statistical associations for government functioning and, to a lesser extent, for political participation, thereby identifying democratic dimensions that influence happiness and underscoring their importance for advancing research and guiding policy design.