Social Sciences

Abstract: This study presents a comprehensive qualitative synthesis and critical analysis of how foundational mass communication theories have been transformed across the digital media age, spanning the period from 2000 to 2025. Drawing on a systematic integrative review of 23 scholarly manuscripts that collectively engage more than 600 peer-reviewed sources, the investigation examines how ten canonical theories—Agenda Setting, Cultivation, Framing, the Two-Step Flow of Communication, the Spiral of Silence, Uses and Gratifications, Media Dependency, Gatekeeping, Diffusion of Innovation, and Technological Determinism—have evolved, converged, and been reconceptualized in response to the affordances and constraints of digital platforms, algorithmic mediation, and networked communication environments. Employing reflexive thematic analysis grounded in a critical-realist epistemology, the study identifies five overarching meta-themes: (a) the emergence of algorithmic agency as a structural force reshaping every theoretical paradigm; (b) the dialectical tension between expanded user agency and platform-imposed constraint; (c) the increasing platform specificity of communication effects; (d) the convergence and theoretical integration of formerly discrete paradigms; and (e) persistent global inequities in digital communication power structures. The findings indicate that although the core premises of classical theories retain explanatory value, their operative mechanisms, boundary conditions, and societal implications have undergone fundamental transformation. To capture this transformation, the study advances an integrative framework—the Algorithmic Communication Ecology Model (ACEM) that synthesizes insights across all ten theories to account for the recursive, multidirectional, and structurally mediated character of contemporary communication. Significant research gaps are identified, including the scarcity of longitudinal and cross-cultural scholarship, the limited investigation of emergent technologies such as generative artificial intelligence and immersive virtual environments, and the need for methodological innovation that couples computational scales with interpretive depth. The manuscript contributes to communication scholarship by offering a unified analytical lens for understanding how digital transformation has simultaneously preserved, disrupted, and reconstituted the theoretical foundations of the field.

Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between information practices, creativity, and sustainable cultural development within localized cultural ecosystems. Drawing on perspectives from cultural studies, information behavior research, and heritage studies, the study examines how culturally embedded forms of information seeking, sharing, interpretation, and reuse contribute to creative expression and the continuity of local cultural identity. Using the island of Corfu as an indicative case study, the paper investigates how informal knowledge networks, community-based cultural interactions, and heritage-centered meaning-making shape creative cultural practices. Particular attention is given to the role of everyday information interactions in sustaining local cultural memory and enabling cultural adaptation in the context of globalization and digital transformation. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative and interpretive approach based on contextual analysis and theoretically informed synthesis of existing literature on cultural ecosystems, creativity, and information practices. Rather than focusing on quantitative measurement, the paper seeks to illuminate the socially situated and culturally embedded dimensions of creativity within local communities. The analysis suggests that creativity in cultural ecosystems emerges not merely through access to information, but through participatory processes of interpretation, collaboration, and cultural reinterpretation. These practices support both the preservation and the renewal of cultural heritage, contributing to forms of sustainable cultural development that reinforce community identity and cultural resilience. By connecting information practices with cultural sustainability and local heritage dynamics, the paper contributes to interdisciplinary discussions on cultural ecosystems and offers insights for culturally responsive cultural policy, heritage management, and community-centered cultural development strategies.

Abstract: This study examines the role of smart digital systems in shaping the tourist experience, with a particular focus on perceived safety, comfort, and convenience, and their relationship with satisfaction and future intention to use digital services. The research was conducted on a sample of 104 respondents using a questionnaire and a quantitative approach. The results show that perceived comfort and convenience have the strongest impact on satisfaction with the tourist experience, while perceived safety, although significant, has a weaker effect. Satisfaction, perceived usefulness, and comfort significantly influence the intention to use smart digital services. The findings also indicate that experience with digital technologies positively affects perceived safety and comfort, while gender differences were not statistically significant. The results highlight the importance of developing simple, intuitive, and user-oriented digital solutions in tourism.

Abstract: The biases in Large Language Models’ (LLMs) outputs remain inadequately theorised, particularly from the perspective of the Global South. This article reports on a small-scale exploratory study in which identical prompts were submitted to four major LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Copilot), firstly, prompting for stories using names suggestive of specific racial and gender communities, and secondly asking questions about ‘development’. Drawing on critical AI scholarship and postcolonial theory, we argue that LLM outputs are patterned in ways that reproduce racial hierarchies, gender asymmetries, and Western-centric epistemic frameworks. We argue that these biases are insidious: they operate below the threshold of both obvious error and overt prejudice, and instead are subtly embedded in narrative structure and emotional template. Simply put, women, in LLM narratives have rich interior lives, while men make plans. Black people face hardships while white people navigate the world with agency. And explanations as to the economic world order fail to consider Southern explanations. The models perform plausibility while reproducing dominance. We conclude that universities require structural critique of these technologies rather than unreflective adoption, and that critical AI literacy must engage seriously with questions of whose knowledge systems are reproduced and legitimated, or marginalised and undermined.

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between social-emotional skills (SES) and perceptions of school violence among middle school students, considering both associations and heterogeneity in social-emotional profiles. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used, with a sample of 311 students aged 8 to 15 (M = 10.65, SD = 1.69). SES were assessed across four dimensions (stress management, adaptation, sense of safety, and expectations), while perceptions of school violence included verbal, physical, relational, digital, and teacher-perpetrated acts. The results show that all dimensions of SES have significant inverse associations with perceptions of violence, with moderate magnitudes, suggesting their role as cognitive-emotional resources. Likewise, three distinct SES profiles (high, medium, and low; n = 151, 134, and 26, respectively) were identified, with the profile exhibiting the highest levels generally reporting lower perceptions of school violence. However, differences between profiles do not follow a strict, linear pattern, suggesting a possible threshold pattern. Nevertheless, no differences in the perception of violence were found based on gender, despite evident differences in SES. The results indicate that SES operate as situated functional systems that modulate the interpretation of violence. It is concluded that understanding school violence requires integrating variable- and profile-centred approaches and considering the interaction between individual resources and school contexts.

Abstract: This integrative review traces the evolution of journalism in Saudi Arabia from its origins in early state communication to a contemporary, digitally networked media ecosystem. Drawing on peer-reviewed scholarships, official documentation, and verifiable industry data, the study situates the Kingdom’s media transformation within the wider programme of socio-economic reform associated with Vision 2030 and interrogates the interaction among regulatory governance, cultural continuity, economic diversification, and technological innovation. Using Whittemore and Knafl’s (2005) integrative method and a comparative media-systems lens (Hallin & Mancini, 2004, 2012), the analysis synthesises historical milestones, current connectivity indicators, and market estimates, and it corrects several errors that recur in secondary accounts—most notably the dating of the first radio (1949) and television (1965) services and the institutional lineage of contemporary media regulation. By January 2025, internet and social-media penetration had reached approximately 99% of the population (Kemp, 2025), reshaping production, distribution, and consumption of news, while female labour-force participation rose from 23.2% in 2016 to roughly 35% by 2023, surpassing the Vision 2030 target ahead of schedule (World Bank, 2026). The findings describe a model of managed modernisation in which media reform is deliberately sequenced to align with national development while preserving social cohesion. The review contributes to scholarship on media development in non-Western contexts and offers evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, media organisations, educators, technology developers, and international partners.

Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is recognized as one of the most urgent global health threats, demanding coordinated, multisectoral responses under the One Health frame-work. Among the multidisciplinary tasks aimed at collectively tackling the AMR crisis, surveillance, research and education stand as major priorities. Education is a strategic pillar of the World Health Organization Global Action Plan, yet a comprehensive synthe-sis of educational initiatives explicitly grounded in One Health remains limited. This re-view analyzes the educational landscape of AMR, focusing on formal and informal edu-cational programs targeting students, professionals, and communities, and integrating human, animal, and environmental dimensions through a One Health approach. It also examines the pedagogical strategies used to promote AMR awareness, prevention, and responsible antimicrobial use. School-based programs (e.g., e-Bug, ISGlobal initiatives, Ambientech); public awareness and community education via national strategies such as PRAN; programs for university students; professional tranining, and continuing education (e.g., ESCMID, AMR EDU-Care); and international online platforms including FAO e-learning programs and the One Health Workforce Academy were examined. Programs were analyzed according to target population, pedagogical approach, sectoral integration, and evaluation methods. Active and experiential methodologies, such as service-learning (e.g., Tiny Earth, MicroMundo) game-based learning, gamification, and interdisciplinary and systems thinking–based learning, consistently enhance knowledge acquisition, systems thinking skills, and awareness of cross-sectoral AMR transmission pathways. Despite all these initiatives, studies on knowledge, perceptions and attitudes about AMR point to clear errors and deficiencies. Key gaps, such as inconsistent curriculum integra-tion, limited integration of environmental dimension and scarce rigorous impact evalua-tions, persist. Strengthening One Health-oriented AMR education requires policy-level curriculum in-clusion, cross-sector collaboration, standardized competencies, and robust evaluation frameworks. Embedding education within national AMR strategies is essential to foster sustained behavioral change and preserve antimicrobial effectiveness across human, an-imal, and environmental systems.

Abstract: Background. Archive studies have primarily conceptualized archives as documentary repositories and memory institutions, whereas territorial studies have examined territorialities as processes through which social groups produce, signify, and contest space. Despite their shared concern with the social production of meaning, the relationship between archives and territorialities remains insufficiently theorized. Problematization. This article proposes understanding the archive as a relational configuration composed of three dimensions: a Mode of Differential Documentation (collections), a Territorial System of Site (spatial infrastructures and locations), and a Condensed Informational Potential (contents). Together, these dimensions constitute the archive as an institution embedded in territorial processes of meaning production. Development. The relationship between territorialities and archives from an anthropological perspective, advancing the hypothesis that this relationship shapes the political-cultural construction of territories. Archives do more than preserve documents. By organizing and rendering traces of the past intelligible, they articulate memories, places, and identities, generating shared horizons of territorial interpretation. In this sense, the archive operates as a Regime of Expansibility of its Implicit Territoriality. Implications and Conclusion. Territories not only produce archives; archives also produce territories by organizing, circulating, and legitimizing meanings. This framework opens new avenues for empirical research on archival practices and territorial construction.

Abstract: This study analyzes the relationship between patterns of artificial intelligence (AI) use and university students’ academic goals, also incorporating a reflection on educational sustainability and the responsible use of digital technologies in higher education. Through cluster analysis, ANCOVA, correlations, and structural equation modeling (SEM), three AI usage profiles (low, balanced, and high) were identified, along with their association with learning, achievement, and social reinforcement goals. The re-sults show significant differences between profiles, as well as positive relationships between AI support dimensions (educational, informational, and emotional) and aca-demic goals. The structural model explains between 29% and 47% of the variance, evi-dencing a functional differentiation of AI as a cognitive and socio-emotional resource. Likewise, the findings suggest that a balanced and ethical use of AI can contribute to the development of more sustainable educational practices by fostering learning per-sonalization, resource optimization, and the promotion of responsible digital compe-tencies aligned with sustainability objectives in education. The results are discussed in light of Self-Determination Theory, Achievement Goal Theory, and current approaches to educational AI and sustainability.

Abstract: Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often encounter significant challenges in social interaction and communication. The integration of portable devices (e.g., mobile phones and tablets) into educational frameworks could transform the support landscape for students with ASD, facilitating the implementation of innovative and high-ly effective instructional strategies. The objectives of this review are threefold: (a) to synthesize internationally recognized peer-reviewed research regarding the use of portable devices to enhance social skills in children with ASD; (b) to evaluate and analyze the efficacy of these digital interventions; and (c) to identify current limitations in the literature while providing evidence-based recommendations for practitioners, educators, and future research. The article selection process was carried out in strict adherence to the PRISMA (Pre-ferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, ensuring methodological rigor and transparency in the systematic review process. A systematic search was conducted using the following electronic databases: (a) PsycINFO, (b) Educa-tion Resources Information Center (ERIC), (c) Scopus, and (d) Web of Science. Fourteen studies were selected, and data on intervention components, implementation strategies, and outcomes were extracted. The results suggest that the use of portable devices as in-tervention tools can have a positive effect on the social skills of children with ASD. Future research should prioritise rigorous designs, including studies with larger samples and long-term follow-up to assess the sustainability of outcomes.

Abstract: This study examines whether AI-powered chatbot training was associated with changes in university students’ facial and vocal emotional reaction time during simulated job interviews. A one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was conducted with 54 third- and fourth-year students enrolled in a Human Talent Management course at a private Latin American university. The study was implemented in an Applied Neuroscience Laboratory using iMotions-supported facial expression recognition, eye-tracking, and vocal tone analysis technologies. Participants first completed a baseline simulated interview, followed by three chatbot-based training sessions using HR-expert-validated questions, real-time scoring, and qualitative feedback. A final simulated interview was then conducted to compare pre- and post-training emotional indicators. Facial emotional reaction time was analyzed through aggregate indicators and specific emotions, including joy, surprise, anger, sadness, disgust, fear, and contempt. Vocal emotional reaction time was examined through happiness, sadness, anger, and neutrality. Pre-post differences were assessed using paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Results showed a significant increase in positive facial emotional reaction time, from 3.52% to 14.75%, and in joy, from 2.38% to 10.10%. Vocal happiness also increased from 2.79% to 10.71%. Several negative and neutral indicators decreased after training, although some of these changes were supported mainly by the Wilcoxon test and should be interpreted cautiously. Overall, the findings suggest that chatbot-based interview training may support emotional expressiveness and vocal modulation in simulated job interview settings, offering a complementary tool for employability training in higher education.

Abstract: This article examines social vulnerability (SV) as a necessary component of landslide risk assessment in the urban area of Quito, Ecuador. Landslide susceptibility identifies where slope instability is more likely, but it does not explain which populations have fewer resources to anticipate, cope with, or recover from such events. Using 2010 census-tract data, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to derive interpretable factors of SV. The most robust factor—structural socioeconomic precariousness—combines precarious occupational conditions, lack of access to social security or private insurance, and limited access to new technologies. This factor was combined with a previously developed landslide susceptibility map (LSM) based on events recorded between 2005 and 2017 and aggregated to census tracts. The Comparative Environmental Risk Index (CERI) was then used to interpret whether socially vulnerable groups are disproportionately located in areas of higher landslide susceptibility. Results reveal a comparatively safer and socially advantaged populations axis from the center-north toward the eastern valleys, while high-risk and socially vulnerable areas concentrate in the south and selected peripheral zones. The study provides a historical and methodological baseline and contributes a quantitative, spatial, urban approach to landslide risk inequity in an Andean city.

Abstract: Academic discourse on artificial intelligence (AI) philosophy is produced pre-dominantly within elite institutional settings, leaving the global public’s philosophical en-gagement patterns empirically underexplored. This exploratory observational study ana-lyzes a closed 38-day behavioral analytics corpus from Human Error, a YouTube Shorts channel releasing 351 serialized philosophical episodes across 12 thematic series (16 April–23 May 2026; Nviews = 11,634; nunique viewers = 1,514; 13 countries). Per-episode YouTube Studio analytics were integrated with two-coder thematic title classification (κ > 0.81) and national-level contextual variables. Five exploratory, descriptive findings emerge. First, episodes addressing biological embodiment and grief were associated with higher aver-age views than those addressing consciousness and identity themes (series means: 366.3 vs. 43.2 views per episode, respectively); this descriptive contrast should not be interpreted causally. Second, the 38-day audience distributed across three generational cohorts—13–17 years (10.9%), 25–34 years (58.2%), 35–44 years (30.9%)—with the 25–34 cohort appearing at approximately 2.7 times the YouTube global baseline. Third, behavioral engagement was recorded organically across 13 countries, including unexpected presence from Malaysia and Bangladesh, providing preliminary evidence that challenges a narrow Western-only interpretation of interest in AI irreducibility discourse. Fourth, direct philosophical claims in episode titles were associated with substantially higher average views (M = 237) com-pared with urgency-coded titles (M = 31). Fifth, adults aged 45+ registered no measurable engagement in either analytical window; the Thumb Exclusion Cascade (TEC) is proposed as a plausible theoretical hypothesis for this pattern pending future empirical validation. Three constructs are introduced as analytical tools for future research: the Impression-to-View Conversion Ratio (IVCR), the Completion Surplus Index (CSI), and the Thumb Exclusion Cascade (TEC). All findings are interpreted as exploratory and hypothesis-generating; the observational design does not support causal inference.

Abstract: Generative AI (Gen AI) adoption increasingly recognizes the need to access and validate virtue ethics in relation to Large Language Models (LLMs) and their integration into higher education. The focus is shifting from rules- or outcomes-based towards moral character, personality traits, integrity and practical wisdom (phronesis), although much of the existing work remains towards ethical paradigms from the Global North. This paper assesses the construct validity and reliability of the Virtue Ethics Measurement Scale (VEMS) within South African and the Continent’s largest Comprehensive Open Distance eLearning (ODEL) Higher Education Institution (HEI). Guided by the positivist paradigm, a cross-sectional 36-item measuring six virtue dimensions (justice, honesty, responsibility, care, prudence, and fortitude) was administered to a sample of N = 503 undergraduate and postgraduate university students. For construct validation, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to assess four competing models: (1) single-factor, (2a) six-factor first-order baseline, (2b) refined six-factor first-order, and (3) second-order hierarchical structure. While the single-factor model demonstrated poor fit, which rejected unidimensionality, the second-order model demonstrated a comparable fit, thus supported a hierarchical structure where six specific virtues successfully loaded onto an overarching virtue ethics construct. Through its robust psychometric properties, the proposed VEMS proves to be a reliable virtue ethics assessment instrument for adoption and use of Gen AI within South African higher education ODEL environment.

Abstract: Intimate intergroup contact is considered an optimal form of contact for reducing prejudice, yet less is known about how such relationships develop among ethnic minority adolescents in the Chinese cultural context. Using convenience sampling, data were collected from 668 Tibetan adolescents in Gansu, China. Guided by self-expansion theory and intergroup contact theory, this study examined the association between self-expansion motivation and cross-ethnic intimate contact, together with its mediating and moderating mechanisms. Self-expansion motivation, cross-ethnic friendship self-efficacy, and contact behavioral intention were positively correlated with cross-ethnic intimate contact. Cross-ethnic friendship self-efficacy and contact behavioral intention formed a significant chain mediating pathway. Gender moderated the association between self-expansion motivation and cross-ethnic friendship self-efficacy, and the indirect effects involving cross-ethnic friendship self-efficacy were stronger for boys than for girls. Self-expansion motivation may foster cross-ethnic intimate contact through cross-ethnic friendship self-efficacy and contact behavioral intention. Schools may promote such contact by integrating self-expansion-oriented activities into interethnic interaction and by providing targeted support to strengthen girls’ cross-ethnic friendship self-efficacy.

Abstract: Food insecurity and undernourishment remain persistent challenges in developing countries, particularly under conditions of economic volatility, income inequality, food price instability, and increasing pressure on food systems. This study examines the macroeconomic and structural determinants of undernourishment in developing countries within the broader framework of sustainable food systems. The analysis focuses on GDP per capita, agricultural value added, and inflation, while urbanization and trade openness are included as control variables. An unbalanced panel dataset covering 72 developing countries over the period 2010–2023 is employed. Fixed effects and random effects panel models are estimated to assess the robustness of the empirical relationships. The Hausman test does not reject the random effects specification, suggesting that the random effects estimator is statistically acceptable. Nevertheless, fixed effects results are also reported to account for unobserved country- and time-specific heterogeneity. The empirical findings show that GDP per capita has a negative and statistically significant effect on undernourishment across both model specifications, indicating that higher income levels are associated with improved food access and better nutritional outcomes. Inflation has a positive and statistically significant effect, suggesting that rising prices may weaken household purchasing power and increase undernourishment. Agricultural value added is positive but statistically insignificant, implying that agricultural expansion alone may not be sufficient to reduce undernourishment unless supported by improvements in productivity, distribution, food access, and institutional efficiency. Urbanization and trade openness generally show negative associations with undernourishment, although their statistical significance varies across model specifications. From a sustainability perspective, reducing undernourishment requires more than aggregate income growth or agricultural expansion. Policies should strengthen resilient food systems, improve agricultural productivity, enhance social protection mechanisms, stabilize food prices, and ensure equitable access to affordable and nutritious food. This study contributes to the literature by providing recent panel-based evidence on the joint role of income, agricultural structure, inflation, urbanization, and trade openness in explaining undernourishment, and by offering policy-relevant insights for designing sustainable and inclusive food systems in developing countries.

Abstract: Air transport of lithium-ion batteries has grown faster than the fire-protection systems designed to contain them. The United States Federal Aviation Administration verified a record 89 battery thermal events aboard commercial aircraft in 2024, representing a sixteen percent rise on the previous year, and an independent airline reporting programme recorded a forty percent increase in cargo-side incidents between 2021 and 2025. When a cell fails, it vents for several minutes before producing the visible smoke that current photoelectric detectors are built to catch. That vent gas is not a vague hazard but a chemically defined mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and light hydrocarbons, almost all of which falls under Class 2 of the United Nations dangerous goods scheme. This review treats that correspondence as a deliberate design starting point, positioning the Class 2 taxonomy as a sensor architecture input rather than a filing category. The experimental literature on vent gas composition is synthesised and read against the operational record of aviation incidents. An Analytic Hierarchy Process and TOPSIS decision model is then constructed to rank five candidate sensor families—electrochemical (EC), non-dispersive infrared (NDIR), tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), metal-oxide semiconductor (MOX) and photoionisation (PID)—against seven criteria covering detection limit, response time, selectivity, flight-envelope tolerance, certification maturity, power draw and cost. The electrochemical sensor ranked first (TOPSIS closeness coefficient C* = 0.741), followed by non-dispersive infrared (C* = 0.635) and tunable diode laser spectroscopy (C* = 0.586). Robustness checks confirmed that the top-three order holds under all twenty-percent single-weight perturbations and across three policy scenarios. Because no single technology covers the full Class 2 envelope, a combined architecture is recommended: an electrochemical hydrogen channel, a non-dispersive infrared channel for the carbon oxides, and a metal-oxide array for hydrocarbon classification and redundancy. This combination aligns with the chemistry-specific findings of an independent principal component analysis of 247 reported failure cases. The review closes with concrete regulatory proposals for the ICAO Technical Instructions, the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and the EASA certification basis.

Abstract: This case study examines how archaeological heritage can inspire value‑added crafts to diversify livelihoods in marginalized rural regions while strengthening territorial identity. Focusing on Serra da Capivara (Piauí, Brazil) and Tierradentro (Cauca, Colombia), both UNESCO World Heritage Sites in predominantly agrarian territories, it explores how archaeological landscapes and material culture can underpin community‑based, heritage‑driven rural development. Methodologically, the paper adopts a qualitative comparative case study design, combining documentary analysis with rural development, territorial and creative‑industry frameworks. It analyzes Serra da Capivara’s ceramics project, which translates prehistoric rock‑art motifs into contemporary design objects linked to tourism, national markets and local employment, and then develops a project blueprint for Tierradentro. The article’s originality lies in bringing together sustainable livelihoods, territorial heritage and indigenous/community‑enterprise perspectives to design a pottery‑based diversification strategy grounded in indigenous governance and cultural rights, while proposing guidelines for reinterpreting archaeological ceramic forms and motifs under Nasa authority without commodifying sacred symbols.

Abstract: Pakistan’s approximately 36,000 to 43,000 registered religious seminaries enroll an estimated 3.5 to 4.6 million students annually, yet their internal economic architecture remains a critically understudied dimension of the country’s developmental crisis. This paper argues that a significant segment of Pakistan’s madrasa network has undergone a structural transformation evolving from an institution of religious formation into a self-sustaining economic enterprise that systematically instrumentalizes impoverished children as primary agents of revenue generation, while simultaneously violating the foundational Islamic legal principles it claims to embody. Drawing on Islamic jurisprudence, institutional economics, and ethnographic observation conducted across madrasa institutions in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2020–2025), the study identifies four interlocking mechanisms of institutional dysfunction. First, Cultivated Mendicancy wherein children are systematically conditioned through sermons, organized campaigns, and coercive incentive structures to solicit seasonal charitable contributions including grain harvests, animal hides, and monetary donations normalizing solicitation as spiritual practice in direct contravention of established Prophetic prohibitions. Second, the Tamleek Juridical Mechanism through which communally-donated assets are converted into privately-controlled institutional property, circumventing Islamic Waqf law and Zakat distribution ethics. Third, Dynastic Institutional Capture whereby hereditary succession supplants scholarly merit, and teacher appointments reflect student revenue-generation capacity rather than pedagogical qualification. Fourth, Epistemic Closure through Religious Sanction wherein alternative educational pathways are delegitimized as irreligious, and institutional accountability is systematically suppressed through the weaponization of sacred authority. The cumulative consequence is the large-scale, intergenerational production of a chronically dependent population structurally excluded from productive economic participation and conditioned toward institutionalized solicitation from childhood. Against Pakistan’s declining education expenditure of 0.8 percent of GDP and its ranking of 164th out of 193 countries on the Human Development Index, this paper contends that madrasa-mediated dependency cultivation constitutes a measurable and systematically overlooked impediment to national human capital formation. Evidence-based policy recommendations are advanced for regulatory bodies, civil society organizations, and international development institutions.

Abstract: The Golden Triangle circuit (Delhi–Agra–Jaipur) is India’s most iconic tourism product, yet it faces mounting pressure from overtourism, environmental degradation, and economic leakage. We argue that strategic management of visitor satisfaction can play a key role in transforming this high-volume circuit into a sustainable destination that delivers long-term economic growth. Drawing on expectancy disconfirmation theory (EDT), SERVQUAL, perceived value theory, social exchange theory (SET), destination competitiveness models, and a systematic classification of destination attributes, this study evaluates destination attributes and visitor satisfaction. The study assesses the importance of visitor satisfaction with the Golden Triangle and proposes a comprehensive framework for its measurement and application with destination attributes. It identifies key attributes driving tourist satisfaction in the Triangle and assesses the overall current state of the circuit. Furthermore, it identifies major challenges (harassment, congestion, leakage), and proposes actionable improvements through smart technology, community-based tourism, and real-time feedback. A comprehensive evaluation of visitor satisfaction with various destination attributes of the Golden Triangle reveals that it performs well as the outcome shows high overall satisfaction. The study also highlights that visitor satisfaction is an indirect economic lever that impacts the local economic activity by creating jobs and earning foreign currency. The Golden Triangle can serve as a replicable model for other heritage circuits in the Global South.