(2013). Modeling herding behavior and its risks. Journal of Economic Methodology: Vol. 20, Methodology, Systemic Risk, and the Economics Profession, pp. 6-18. doi: 10.1080/1350178X.2013.774843.

Herding behavior occurs when security analysts ignore their private opinions and issue public forecasts that mimic the earnings forecasts of others. Joining the consensus provides cover for analysts' reputations. We question the ethics of this practice when the motive to protect one's reputation takes precedence over the forecase accuracy motive. While seemingly predictable behavior from a self interested perspective, herding behavior has subtle but long term ramifications for the efficient pricing of securities and the preservation (...) of the public trust in the financial services profession. We call upon each individual analyst as well as the profession to exercise the moral courage necessary to cultivate a climate of personal and public integrity. Personal resistance and pro-active policies are prescribed as actions to assist analysts to become more cognizant of their motivations, as well as to promote a more ethical professional context. (shrink)

The study aimed to investigate the impact of behavioral biases on herding for Islamic financial products with the mediation of shariah literacy. An adopted questionnaire from several published studies was used to collect data. The data were collected from 410 respondents and were analyzed with SmartPLS. The results for the direct impact showed that self-attribution, illusion of control, and information availability have a positive and significant impact on herding for Islamic financial products while shariah literacy showed an insignificant (...) impact on herding. The results for mediation showed that previously significant and positive impact turned to insignificant when shariah literacy was introduced as mediating variable between the illusion of control, self-attribution, information availability, and herding. From a theoretical perspective, this study would contribute to the existing body of knowledge of financial decision making from shariah literacy point-out. On the other hand, the findings of this study may be useful for investors to avoid herding in the Islamic financial markets. The authors synthesize the contribution made by behavioral finance studies in extending the knowledge of herding behavior in Islamic financial products with a mediating role of shariah literacy. The key limitation of the study includes data that were collected from three districts of Punjab, Pakistan. (shrink)

This paper is concerned with the multivariate stochastic volatility modeling of the stock market. We investigate a DGC-t-MSV model to find the historical volatility spillovers between nine markets, including S&P, Nasdaq, SSE, SZSE, HSI, FTSE, CAC, DAX, and Nikkei indices. We use the Bayesian network to analyze the spreading of herd behavior between nine markets. The main results are as follows: the DGC-t-MSV model we considered is a useful way to estimate the parameter and fit the data well in (...) the stock market; our computational analysis shows that the S&P and Nasdaq have higher volatility spillovers to the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets; the results also show that there is a strong correlation between stock markets in the same region. (shrink)

Penguins jumping off a cliff, economic forecasters and financial advisors speculating against a currency, and farmers using traditional methods in India are all practising social learning. Such learning from the behavior of others may and does lead to herds, crashes, and booms. These issues have become, over the last ten years, an exciting field of research in theoretical and applied economics, finance, and in other social sciences. This book provides both an informal introduction and in-depth insights into the subject. (...) Each chapter is devoted to a separate issue: individuals learn from the observations of actions, the outcomes of these actions, and from what others say. They may delay or make an immediate decision; they may compete against others or gain from cooperation; they make decisions about investment, crop choices, and financial investments. The book highlights the similarities and the differences between the various cases. (shrink)

Individuals’ unverified information sharing on social media, namely, sharing information without verification, is a major cause of the widespread misinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The association between perceived information overload and unverified information sharing has been well documented in the cognitive overload approach. However, little is known about the underlying mechanism of this process. This study aims to explore the mediating role of anxiety and the moderating role of perceived herd between perceived information overload and unverified information sharing on WeChat. (...) Anxiety demonstrates people’s emotional response to the pandemic, whereas perceived herd describes a willingness to share certain information if it has been shared by many. The results of an online survey in China showed that perceived information overload was positively associated with unverified information sharing. In addition, this relationship was partially mediated by anxiety. Moreover, perceived herd positively moderated the link between anxiety and unverified information sharing, such that the indirect effect of perceived information overload on unverified information sharing via anxiety was significant in conditions where the level of perceived herd was high, whereas the indirect effect was not significant in conditions where the level of perceived herd was low. The moderated mediation model extends the cognitive overload approach and indicates that unverified information sharing is not only an individual strategy to cope with information overload but also a herding behavior to manage anxiety. Practical implications for curbing people’s tendencies toward unverified information sharing on social media are discussed. (shrink)

This study examines how investor sentiment, shaped by behavioral biases, influenced decision-making during the 2007–2009 financial crisis. Focusing on two key biases—herding behavior and loss aversion - we analyze daily return data for 30 large-cap U.S. companies. To detect herding, we apply the Cross-Sectional Absolute Deviation (CSAD) methodology, which measures how closely individual returns track the market return. Regression results confirm non-linear dispersion patterns indicative of herding, particularly during periods of extreme market movement. To investigate loss (...) aversion, we employ a GARCH (1.1) model to assess volatility clustering. The findings reveal heightened sensitivity to recent return shocks and persistent volatility, consistent with behavior driven by fear of loss. Additionally, overreaction tests using lagged-return regressions suggest investors responded irrationally to new information, leading to short-term reversals. Together, these results provide empirical support for behavioral finance theories and challenge traditional assumptions of rational investor behavior during systemic crises. (shrink)

Mathematical models of biological patterns are central to contemporary biology. This paper aims to consider what these models contribute to biology through the detailed consideration of an important case: Hamilton’s selfish herd. While highly abstract and idealized, Hamilton’s models have generated an extensive amount of research and have arguably led to an accurate understanding of an important factor in the evolution of gregarious behaviors like herding and flocking. I propose an account of what these models are able to achieve (...) and how they can support a successful scientific research program. I argue that the way these models are interpreted is central to the success of such programs. (shrink)

The insights of descriptive decision theorists and psychologists, we believe, have much to contribute to our understanding of financial market macrophenomena. We propose an analytic agenda that distinguishes those individual idiosyncrasies that prove consequential at the macro-level from those that are neutralized by market processes such as poaching. We discuss five behavioral traits — barn-door closing, expert/reliance effects, status quo bias, framing, and herding — that we employ in explaining financial flows. Patterns in flows to mutual funds, to new (...) equities, across national boundaries, as well as movements in debt-equity ratios are shown to be consistent with deviations from rationality. (shrink)

Many computational tools for the simulation and design of emergency evacuation and egress are now available. However, due to the scarcity of human and social behavioral data, these computational tools rely on assumptions that have been found inconsistent or unrealistic. This paper presents a multi-agent based framework for simulating human and social behavior during emergency evacuation. A prototype system has been developed, which is able to demonstrate some emergent behaviors, such as competitive, queuing, and herding behaviors. For illustration, (...) an example application of the system for safe egress design is provided. (shrink)

Dairy cattle need to devote sufficient time each day to eating, drinking, ruminating, and resting to maintain good health and production. There is mounting empirical evidence that monitoring of behavior can be used to predict and identify health and welfare concerns in dairy cattle. Interest in the association between dairy cow behavior and illness is growing, particularly with an increasing availability of commercially available equipment that is readily available for the automated monitoring of dairy cow behavior. These (...) technologies provide ready access to vast quantities of accurate and repeatable measures of behavior. Thus, with such technologies, there are new opportunities for the automation detection (through identification and prediction) of health concerns in dairy cattle, potentially allowing for better prevention and treatment protocols to be implemented. This chapter reviews how various cow behaviors, in particular, eating, resting, and ruminating, have been associated with various production diseases, as well as reviews some of the technologies available and their application, both current and future, that may be used to improve cow health and welfare, at a cow and herd level. (shrink)

This first edition of this book was a broad study, drawing on a wide range of published research and historical evidence, of the enormous stock market boom that started around 1982 and picked up incredible speed after 1995. Although it took as its specific starting point this ongoing boom, it placed it in the context of stock market booms generally, and it also made concrete suggestions regarding policy changes that should be initiated in response to this and other such booms. (...) The book argued that the boom represents a speculative bubble, not grounded in sensible economic fundamentals. Part one of the book considered structural factors behind the boom. A list of twelve precipitating factors that appear to be its ultimate causes was given. Amplification mechanisms, naturally-occurring Ponzi processes, that enlarge the effects of these precipitating factors, were described. Part Two discussed cultural factors, the effects of the news media, and of "new era" economic thinking. Part Three discussed psychological factors, psychological anchors for the market and herd behavior. Part Four discussed attempts to rationalize exuberance: efficient markets theory and theories that investors are learning. Part Five presented policy options and actions that should be taken. The second edition, 2005, added an analysis of the real estate bubble as similar to the stock market bubble that preceded it, and warned that "Significant further rises in these markets could lead, eventually, to even more significant declines. The bad outcome could be that eventual declines would result in a substantial increase in the rate of personal bankruptcies, which could lead to a secondary string of bankruptcies of financial institutions as well. Another long-run consequence could be a decline in consumer and business confidence, and another, possibly worldwide, recession." Thus, the second edition of this book was among the first to warn of the global financial crisis that began with the subprime mortgage debacle in 2007. (shrink)

To have enough financial literacy, an investor must be able to make intelligent investment choices, and on the other hand, the heuristic bias, the framing effect, cognitive illusions, and herd mentality are all variables that contribute to the formation of behavioral biases, also known as illogical conduct, in the decision-making process. The current research looks specifically at behavioral biases and financial literacy influence investment choices, particularly on stock market investment. For the research, a representative sample of 450 individual investors was (...) evaluated. A structured questionnaire was designed using the Likert’s scale method to elicit the research variables, and the data acquired were analyzed using the SEM method. According to the findings, there was a statistically significant link between heuristic bias and the development of behavioral bias in decision-making. Nevertheless, cognitive illusions, the herd mentality, and the framing effect all have a deleterious impact on behavioral biases. In addition, investors often adhere to heuristic biases rather than other irrational strategies when making investment judgments. Therefore, individual investors’ financial literacy level greatly influences the choices made about investments in the stock market. (shrink)

After a crisis, broad and sweeping reforms are enacted to restore trust. Following the 2007-2008 Great Financial Crisis, the European Union has engaged in an ambitious overhaul of banking regulation. One of its centerpieces, the 2013 Fourth Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV), tackles, amongst other things, the perceived pre-crisis failings in the governance of banks. We focus on the provisions that are aimed at reshaping bank boards’ composition, functioning, and their members’ liabilities, and argue that they are unlikely to improve (...) bank boards’ effectiveness or prevent excessive risk-taking. We criticize some of them for mandating solutions, like board diversity and the separation of chairman and CEO, that may be good for some banks but are bad for others, in the absence of any convincing argument that their overall effect is positive. We also criticize enhanced board liability by showing that it may increase the risk of herd behavior and lead to more serious harm in the event of managerial mistakes. We also highlight that the push towards unfriendly boards will negatively affect board dynamics and make boards as dysfunctional as when the CEO dominates them. We further argue that limits on directorships and diversity requirements will worsen the shortage of bank directors, while requirements for induction and training and board evaluation exercises will more likely lead to tick-the-box exercises than under the current situation in which they are just best practices. We conclude that European policymakers and supervisors should avoid using a heavy hand, respectively, when issuing rules implementing CRD IV provisions with regard to bank boards and when enforcing them. (shrink)

This chapter asks what guidance rules judges might use to implement the moderate rule defended thus far (individual policy) The discussion shifts from objective appraisal rules to subjective guidance rules. The chapter responds to Alan H. Goldman’s objections to rules that permit judges sometimes to deviate in suboptimal-result cases, as they attempt to optimize. The chapter defends guidance rules that permit each judge to deviate in a certain percentage of the suboptimal-result cases that she decides over the course of her (...) career. It also defends two priority rules for judges. The first rule assigns deviation priority to cases based on how suboptimal the legally required results are. The second rule assigns priority to suboptimal-rule cases over gap cases. The chapter also defends a default rule that permits judges, after they obey the priority rules, to use any morally permissible criteria as the basis for their selection of suboptimal-result cases for deviation. Finally, it addresses the question of how confident a judge must be that a result is suboptimal before deviation is warranted. (shrink)

This chapter defines insider trading (i.e., the use of material nonpublic information for trading) and market manipulation (i.e., the artificial distortion of prices/volume). In addition, the chapter explains how insider trading and market manipulation corrode fairness, transparency, and trust. The chapter surveys core legal frameworks, including the Exchange Act rules, the Insider Trading Sanctions Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and the EU’s MAR, and the roles of the SEC, FINRA, CFTC, and cross-border cooperation (IOSCO) in curbing market abuses. Through case studies, (...) the discussion illustrates spoofing, wash trading, pump-and-dump schemes, and social-media amplify herding behavior and promote fraud. The chapter describes behavioral factors associated with unethical market behavior. The chapter also presents techniques that can be used to reduce insider trading and market manipulation, including pre-clearance, restricted lists, real-time surveillance and analytics, just-in-time ethics prompts, strong documentation, training, and confidential whistleblower channels. Emerging challenges are also presented, including DeFi anonymity laundering, alternative-data pathways to material nonpublic information (MNPI), bot-driven disinformation, adversarial AI, geopolitical influence operations, and regulatory arbitrage. (shrink)

Paul Laffitte (1864–1949) was a multifaceted figure—financier, journalist, publisher, and cultural entrepreneur—active in early twentieth-century Paris. Known for his investments in cinema, theater, and publishing, he also wrote satirical reflections on finance, in his best-known work, Jéroboam ou la finance sans méningite (1920), later expanded in Les Nouveaux propos de Jéroboam (1939). The book blends humor and sharp observation, offering aphorisms like “A poor idiot is an idiot, but a rich idiot is a rich man.” Through concise, ironic commentary, Laffitte (...) exposes the vanity, herd behavior, and irrationality of financiers. He mocks financial fashions, speculative booms, and misplaced faith in statistics. He shows how numbers can seduce and mislead, and how business decisions often rely more on intuition, belief, and chance than on logic. Laffitte’s style recalls moralists and satirists, mixing wit with insight. His portrayal of “affairs” emphasizes their metaphysical, almost poetic nature rather than purely economic logic. The book was well-received for its humor and truth, praised by critics for combining entertainment with moral reflection. Though largely forgotten today, Laffitte’s work remains a unique, insider’s critique of early twentieth-century finance. (shrink)

Four main heterogeneous preferences emerged from our analysis: long-term economic outcomes, environmental factors, ethical and religious preferences, and societal welfare. The primary drivers identified were cultural values, religious values, herding bias, and selective perception bias. Our findings show significant differences in ESG motivations, especially in the weight given to ethical, religious, and societal factors, between value-based investor behavior in emerging economies and that in Central Europe.

This paper examines the enduring structural, ethical, cultural, and psychological vulnerabilities of democratic governance through the integrated perspectives of Plato, Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer. Plato’s critique highlights democracy’s susceptibility to excess liberty, factionalism, and manipulation by sophistic actors, while Nietzsche emphasizes the cultural and moral erosion arising from populist strategies, herd morality, and opportunistic political behavior. Schopenhauer contributes a deeper existential dimension, demonstrating how the cyclical, insatiable nature of human desire—the endless striving of the Will—perpetuates repetitive patterns of ambition, dissatisfaction, (...) and ethical compromise among political actors and citizens alike. By synthesizing these perspectives, this study argues that democratic fragility is not solely institutional but also ethical and psychological, shaped by human ambition, cultural dynamics, and structural incentives. Furthermore, the concept of the “identity of Will” suggests a potential path for reorienting collective striving toward shared ethical and civic objectives, offering a framework for mitigating the destructive cycles of democratic life. This integrative approach provides insights into contemporary challenges in representative democracies, including populism, factionalism, media-driven manipulation, and public disillusionment, emphasizing the necessity of combining institutional safeguards, civic education, ethical cultivation, and cultural awareness to sustain democracy and foster collective flourishing. (shrink)

Bitcoin and related cryptocurrency speculation have triggered an unprecedented global speculative frenzy. Through historical comparison, psychological analysis, real-world case studies, and socio-ecological assessment, this paper reveals that their essence is a modern-day amplification of Ponzi schemes and the South Sea Bubble. The study highlights how human greed, herd mentality, gambler psychology, and technological superstition are manipulated by capital and social media, resulting in personal financial ruin, the collapse of social trust, the degradation of civilization, and severe environmental and energy consequences. (...) By analyzing speculative culture, psychological mechanisms, illegal financial transactions, and global chain effects, this paper warns that humanity must awaken and distance itself from blind speculation and greed to safeguard personal wealth, social order, and the foundations of civilization. The purpose of this work is not academic research but moral critique and warning, delivering the harshest possible alert regarding the speculative crisis facing modern civilization. (shrink)

Children’s play is widely believed by educators and social scientists to have a training function that contributes to psychosocial development as well as the acquisition of skills related to adult competency in task performance. In this paper we examine these assumptions from the perspective of life-history theory using behavioral observation and household economic data collected among children in a community in the Okavango Delta of Botswana where people engage in mixed subsistence regimes of dry farming, foraging, and herding. We (...) hypothesize that if play contributes to adult competency then time allocation to play will decrease as children approach adult levels of competence. This hypothesis generates the following predictions: (1) time allocated to play activities that develop specific productive skills should decline in relation to the proportion of adult competency achieved; (2) children will spend more time in forms of play that are related to skill development in tasks specific to the subsistence ecology in which that child participates or expects to participate; and (3) children will spend more time in forms of play that are related to skill development in tasks clearly related to the gender-specific productive role in the subsistence ecology in which that child participates or expects to participate. We contrast these expectations with the alternative hypothesis that if play is not preparatory for adult competence then time allocated to each play activity should diminish at the same rate. This latter hypothesis generates the following two predictions: (1) time allocation to play should be unaffected by subsistence regime and (2) patterns of time allocation to play should track patterns of growth and energy balance. Results from multiple regression analysis support earlier research in this community showing that trade-offs between immediate productivity and future returns were a primary determinant of children’s activity patterns. Children whose labor was in greater demand spent significantly less time playing. In addition, controlling for age and gender, children spent significantly more time in play activities related to tasks specific to their household subsistence economy. These results are consistent with the assertion that play is an important factor in the development of adult competency and highlight the important contributions of an evolutionary ecological perspective in understanding children’s developmental trajectories. (shrink)

We investigate whether age profiles of ethnobiological knowledge development are consistent with predictions derived from life history theory about the timing of productivity and reproduction. Life history models predict complementary knowledge profiles developing across the lifespan for women and men as they experience changes in embodied capital and the needs of dependent offspring. We evaluate these predictions using an ethnobiological knowledge assessment tool developed for an off-grid pastoralist population known as Choyeros, from Baja California Sur, Mexico. Our results indicate that (...) while individuals acquire knowledge of most dangerous items and edible resources by early adulthood, knowledge of plants and animals relevant to the age and sex divided labor domains and ecologies (e.g., women’s house gardens, men’s herding activities in the wilderness) continues to develop into middle adulthood but to different degrees and at different rates for men and women. As the demands of offspring on parents accumulate with age, reproductive-aged adults continue to develop their knowledge to meet their children’s needs. After controlling for vision, our analysis indicates that many post-reproductive adults show the greatest ethnobiological knowledge. These findings extend our understanding of the evolved human life history by illustrating how changes in embodied capital and the needs of dependent offspring predict the development of men’s and women’s ethnobiological knowledge across the lifespan. (shrink)

A Philosophy of Beauty: Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art is an expert and deeply interesting exploration of the third Earl of Shaftesbury’s theory of beauty. Shaftesbury was an impressive figure, highly influential in his day, though eclipsed by later writers such as David Hume. Gill has done an excellent job of drawing out Shaftesbury’s views—looking not only at his publications but also at other manuscript materials such as Shaftesbury’s correspondence and diaries. I found Gill’s book informative and engaging, and (...) I strongly recommend it to scholars who are interested in the sentimentalist project. One will come away not simply with a better understanding of Shaftesbury’s own views but with an appreciation of his influence and the way in which later scholarship was shaped by his work.Gill’s approach is semibiographical. He draws upon facts about Shaftesbury’s life to account for various features of his philosophical writings. This feature of the book contributed to the enjoyment I had in reading it. It was interesting to be able to see how Shaftesbury’s philosophy developed out of questions he was asking himself about how he ought to live. Shaftesbury had a strong sense of duty. He made many decisions over the course of his life that were centered on a desire to live up to family obligations and obligations to his country. He also had a more general sense that he should be doing what he could to improve the lives of other people. One might describe this as beneficence felt as a duty. For these reasons, Gill notes that it is very likely due to Shaftesbury’s ill-health that he decided to pursue philosophy. Otherwise, his strong sense of duty would have led him to take on more public-facing roles as a means of improving the lives of others.He felt that this task could only be accomplished if people actually read and took notice of his work. Gill argues that this is at least in part what led Shaftesbury to develop such a distinctive and flamboyant writing style. Shaftesbury’s major work in ethical theory was Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, published in 1711, and anyone taking a course on the British moralists would have read parts of the Characteristicks, particularly the sections on virtue, as those sections are the ones that quite obviously fit into the sentimentalist narrative on the nature of virtue and make for interesting comparisons with later writers on the same topic, Frances Hutcheson as well as Hume. But Shaftesbury’s other works which are important sources regarding his thoughts on beauty and virtue include The Moralists and An Inquiry concerning Virtue, both of which Gill makes extensive use of in his discussion of Shaftesbury’s considered views.Gill notes the many complaints about Shaftesbury’s writing style. Gill notes that Adam Smith, for example, viewed Shaftesbury as someone whose writing is a paradigm of stylistic failure, leading him “frequently into a dungeon of metaphorical obscurity” (Smith, quoted by Gill on p. 14). However, Shaftesbury had very well-considered views on aesthetics and on aesthetically valuable writing. I especially liked how Gill’s careful reading of both Shaftesbury and his critics is further illuminated by considering some of these works that are often ignored by philosophers working on the British moralists, such as Soliloquy; or, Advice to an Author, which Gill discusses in the fifth chapter.What do beauty, nature, and virtue have to do with each other? Those familiar with the sentimentalist projects of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries know that, for the sentimentalist, morality and aesthetics are closely connected if not identical. At bottom the idea is that virtue is a kind of moral beauty, analogous to the positive aesthetic characteristics we associate with natural objects and works of art. In the case of Shaftesbury himself, one of his more famous claims is that beauty and good are identical, “one and the same.” What Shaftesbury meant in this claim, as Gill notes, is that it is a life in pursuit of beauty that is the good life for human beings. Beauty comes in many forms, and in the first chapter of his book, Gill focuses on natural beauty. Some writers viewed nature as ugly and deformed. Some, like Locke, seemed to think that the value of the wilderness was entirely instrumental. One of Gill’s claims is that Shaftesbury was responsible for changing these attitudes toward nature. Shaftesbury saw beauty in wilderness landscapes. Gill argues that Shaftesbury was to some extent interested in natural beauty because it helped solve a problem that concerned him: there is a deeply emotional aspect to worship of God, and yet it is also the case that we ought to maintain our rationality—to the extent that even scripture should be subject to critical scrutiny. Our love of God is not threatened by rational inquiry. Nature and wilderness were created by God, and by using our rational capacities we can come to appreciate the beauty in even the most disgusting aspects of nature, such as excrement. Excrement is evidence of God’s beautiful design.There is also moral beauty. Moral beauty is extensively discussed in chapter 2 of Gill’s book. Moral beauty applies to our “mental children”—and by this Shaftesbury means features of our agency, such as our feelings, emotions, principles of action, determinations of the will, and so forth. These can be beautiful as well. We perceive this beauty via our moral sense, our sense of right and wrong, which arises out of our feeling of second-order sentiments about our first-order mental states or inclinations. Virtue involves being guided by these second-order sentiments.The second chapter lays out very quickly Shaftesbury’s views on virtue, but here Gill is mainly concerned with exploring a problem that bothered Shaftesbury on a personal level. Drawing on evidence from Shaftesbury’s diaries, as well his published works, Gill argues that we can see that he was very troubled by his failure to love humanity in general. He believed this to be a flaw. However, the failure to love humanity in general arose out of an understanding of the terrible things people do to each other. How can it be a flaw in one’s character to fail to love what is not worthy of love? Shaftesbury wants to show that we do possess fine qualities that warrant love. One prong of his argument is his criticism of Hobbesian egoism as bad moral psychology. Another prong appeals to our inherent sociality. Human beings have a strong desire to be with other human beings (this is an illustration of what Gill calls ‘the herding principle’). This desire underlies much prosocial behavior and demonstrates that moral beauty, or virtue, is certainly achievable by humans. However, if not properly cultivated it can lead to partiality; that is, it can lead to tribalism or caring more about some people than others. The underlying psychology appeals to the fact that we prefer to associate with those we are more in sympathy with. This leads us to exclude others, and even try to harm them. But our capacity to display moral beauty, to be virtuous, renders us the apt objects of love.In the third chapter Gill discusses art and artistic beauty, and this chapter serves as a prelude to the final two, which consider two different forms of artistic expression: painting and writing. Art is another way in which beauty is manifested in the world. Shaftesbury argued that art was an important part of the good human life, though as Gill notes he gave varying reasons for why this was the case. Sometimes he focused on the purely instrumental: appreciating a work of art can cause one to develop dispositions important to living a good human life, those dispositions properly instances of moral beauty. On this view, art would in principle be disposable at some point in a person’s development into a good human being. Once moral beauty is attained, one no longer needs to be spurred on through artistic appreciation. However, he sometimes argues that art is important in itself—that artistic beauty is an important component of the good life for its own sake, and not simply as a spur to moral development. Gill doesn’t believe that Shaftesbury can be made fully consistent on this issue, but he offers the following as the best charitable interpretation: appreciation of beauty is a final good, but moral beauty is a final good as well and is more significant. Thus, appreciation of beauty, while still a final good, should be sacrificed if it interferes with moral beauty.In the penultimate chapter, on painting, Gill focuses on Shaftesbury’s views regarding the category of art that is morally representational—that is, art that represents morally significant content. In this category he focuses on the genre of history painting—a prominent genre at the time Shaftesbury was writing, though not well represented in Britain at that time. Here he discusses an essay Shaftesbury wrote, A Notion of the Tablature, or Judgment of Hercules, in which Shaftesbury provides a description of a painting that he would later have painted by an Italian artist, Paolo de Matteis. Here, in going over the process of conceptualizing the painting that he would commission de Matteis to produce, various important features of composition are highlighted. But the important point of such painting is to convey a moral message. The choices that the artist makes should be guided by this norm. Gill writes that Shaftesbury believed that a well-executed history painting would be able to rouse virtue in its audience and discourage vice. Gill is doubtful. He also points out that Shaftesbury’s discussion of history painting highlights Shaftesbury’s “morally archaic” view of women. It is women who are often presented as spurs to vice in men.Writing, on Shaftesbury’s view, should also inspire one to virtue. Among those writers who fail in this task are the super speculative philosophers who mistakenly believe that abstruse philosophical speculations improve the lives of people. What they need to engage in, Shaftesbury writes, is soliloquy. Here we get an analogy with the exercise of moral agency. As a writer, one needs some critical distance, some critical “self-dissection,” to improve. The same for moral agents, who must subject their first-order mental states to critical scrutiny.In this book Gill has made a very powerful case for taking Shaftesbury’s work seriously beyond the standard topics of interest to the moral sentimentalists. Shaftesbury had a tremendous influence on many areas in philosophy—metaethics, virtue theory, aesthetics, and natural religion. Gill’s book does an excellent job of showing us how Shaftesbury’s philosophical thought permeated aspects of his day-to-day life and influenced more than the work of other, subsequent, philosophers. After reading this book I came away with a better understanding of Shaftesbury the human being, as well as Shaftesbury the philosopher. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Because of the nature of preventive vaccination programs, the viability of these public health interventions is particularly susceptible to public perceptions. This is because vaccination relies on a concept of ‘herd immunity’, achievement of which requires rational public behavior that can only be obtained through full and accurate communication about risks and benefits. This paper describes how irrational behavior that threatens the effectiveness of vaccination programs – both in crisis and non‐crisis situations – can be tied to (...) public perceptions created by media portrayals of health risks. I concentrate on childhood vaccination as an exemplar of ‘non‐crisis’ preventive vaccination, and on the recent flu vaccine shortage as a ‘crisis’ situation. The paper concludes with an examination of the steps necessary to resolve these threats through better public communication. (shrink)

Wild cattle, in some cases ancestors of domestic cattle, exhibit differences in behavior and appearance between species, but also share important similarities, including large horns and a muscular body structure, social herding and defense strategies against large carnivores, aggressive behavior against threatening intruders, and apex or near apex status compared to carnivores and other herbivores. The relationship between wild cattle and large carnivores is an important backdrop to the relationship between these carnivores and domestic cattle, which are (...) typically smaller, less aggressive, and smaller horned and are therefore easier to kill than their wild counterparts. However, few studies have compared the status of wild cattle and their domesticated offspring in terms of their strength and ability to compete with large carnivores in increasingly human-dominated landscapes. This chapter presents relevant information on all existing wild cattle species and identifies differences and similarities between species and with natural predators. Geomatics technology, which has recently emerged as a leading method for environmental assessment, is also discussed as a tool for habitat and species analysis and predictive modeling. Although the largest species of wild cattle are generally hunted only by the largest apex predators such as brown bears, tigers, and lions, comparatively smaller species of cattle and younger specimens of the large species can be killed by medium-sized predators such as leopards, cougars, wolves, and the smaller Asian and American bears. All wild cattle are social or semi-social and cooperate in defense. Some are highly intelligent in such methods and have strategic defensive measures such as teamwork in rescue efforts and guarding, as well as defending less powerful herd members. Dominance hierarchies can exist between wild and domestic cattle, with the former generally being dominant over the latter and better able to defend themselves against large carnivores. However, the behavioral characteristics of wild cattle can also be seen in domestic cattle. These questions contribute to understanding the interactions between domestic cattle and large carnivores. (shrink)

Rates of violence in the American South have long been much greater than in the North. Accounts of duels, feuds, bushwhackings, and lynchings occur prominently in visitors’ accounts, newspaper articles, and autobiography from the 18th Century onward. According to crime statistics these differences persist today. In their book, Culture of Honor, Richard Nisbett and Dov Cohen argue that the South is more violent than the North because Southerners have different, culturally acquired beliefs about personal honor than Northerners. The South was (...) disproportionately settled by Protestant Scotch-Irish, people with an animal herding background, whereas Northern settlers were English, German and Dutch peasant farmers. Most herders live in thinly settled, lawless regions. Since livestock are easy to steal, herders seek reputations for willingness to engage in violent behavior as a deterrent to rustling and other predatory behavior. Of course, bad men come to subscribe to the same code, the better to intimidate their victims. As this arms race proceeds, arguments over trivial acts can rapidly escalate if a man—less often a woman—thinks his honor is at stake, and the resulting “culture of honor” leads to high rates of violence. Nisbett and Cohen support their hypothesis with an impressive range of data including, laboratory data, attitude surveys, field experiments, data on violence, and differences in legal codes. (shrink)

Big cats (especially lions and tigers), wolves, and brown bears are the main predators of adult wild cattle, while smaller carnivores such as medium-sized cats (leopards, jaguars, and cougars) and smaller canids (Indian dholes, American coyotes, African wild dogs) may also prey on young cattle and calves. Both wild cattle and their predators have developed strategies in this regard, which are mostly based on social and individual defense and attack behavior. The relationship between wild cattle and large carnivores is (...) also changing in response to increased human and domestic livestock presence, human actions such as hunting, and human-induced changes to habitat-dominated landscapes. The latter relationships are increasingly the main factors for the survival of wild cattle. This chapter takes an inter- and intra-continental approach to studying the relationships between wild cattle and carnivores and also examines newer research techniques based on the methods of geomatics that have recently increased the research rigor of ecological studies. Asia has the largest wild cattle, namely, gaur, wild water buffalo, wild yak, and banteng, and the largest number of species, while Europe, North America, and Africa each have one species of large wild cattle. In Asia, North America, and Africa, there is only one species of big cat capable of killing at least medium-sized wild cattle, with the lion’s social behavior exaggerating its predatory influence on large wild cattle. The second largest bear, the brown bear, is found in Asia, North America, and Europe, while medium-sized black bears are also found in North America and Europe. Smaller carnivores such as leopards, cougars, wolves, and the smaller Asian and American bears can kill younger, smaller cattle. All wild cattle are social or semi-social and cooperate in defense. Some are highly intelligent in such methods and have strategic defensive measures such as teamwork in rescue operations and guard posts, as well as defending less powerful herd members. Dominance hierarchies may also exist between wild and domestic cattle, with the former generally dominating the latter and being better able to defend themselves against large carnivores. The behavioral characteristics of wild cattle can also be found in domestic cattle. In most cases, these large carnivores share similar habitats with large wild cattle, and their ecological relationships are close, providing materials for geomatic research applications to habitat analysis, predictive modeling, and project evaluation. These questions contribute to understanding the interactions between domestic cattle and large carnivores. (shrink)

Strijbos and Slors argue against what they call the “naïve common-sense” view of self-management as taking direct control over one’s mental health conditions. Their argument consists of two steps. First, they claim that self-management is often better understood as a form of facilitation, like a drover steering the herd. The drover is not in the position to directly intervene on the course the herd is taking, but instead manipulates it by exploiting her knowledge of the context-dependency of the herd’s (...) class='Hi'>behavior. Second, even though Strijbos and Slors are critical of the “naïve common-sense” view of self-management, they do not want to throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Despite the fact that... (shrink)

In this chapter, I examine the ways that restriction of human freedom by other humans arises by looking at how dominance, aggression, and environmental factors can shape individuals into those who desire control of others. The comparison of the traits as they appear in herd animals with how they appear in humans as well as cases for why they would be beneficial are used to demonstrate that the traits are not inherently negative. From this, an exploration of the dark tetrad (...) traits is used to provide further explanation for how leaning into dominance and aggression to limit the freedom of others can become a source of pleasure for some. The chapter also peers into some of the methods used to restrict the freedom of others ranging from the more overt behaviors such as bullying and domestic abuse to more passive behaviors like obstructive bureaucracy. Finally, theories of cognitive development are used to give possible insights as to why some fall in line with the authoritarians who work to take away their freedoms. (shrink)

As philanthropic sales via live-streaming shopping have played an important role in alleviating the huge backlog of agricultural products during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper aims to study how online interaction in philanthropic marketing exerts influence on consumer impulse buying behaviors. We empirically explore four major dimensions of online interactions in philanthropic live-streaming sales, i.e., the live streamers’ image, the herd effect of consumers, the responsiveness of sellers, and the mutual trust between consumers. The results reveal that (...) the herd effect of consumers and the responsiveness of sellers could promote consumers’ empathy ability toward the growers of the products sold lively, whereas the live streamers’ image and the mutual trust between consumers have little effect on empathy promotions. Meanwhile, both the consumers’ empathy ability and the live streamers’ image positively affect consumers’ impulse buying behavior, which suggests a partial moderating role of consumers’ empathy ability. Lastly, by taking both social and business perspectives, we provide managerial implications for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of philanthropic live-streaming sales to alleviate social and economic pressure in emergencies. (shrink)

Despite the challenges associated with virtually mediated communication, remote collaboration is a defining characteristic of online multiplayer gaming communities. Inspired by the teamwork exhibited by players in first-person shooter games, this study investigated the verbal and behavioral coordination of four-player teams playing a cooperative online video game. The game, Desert Herding, involved teams consisting of three ground players and one drone operator tasked to locate, corral, and contain evasive robot agents scattered across a large desert environment. Ground players could (...) move throughout the environment, while the drone operator’s role was akin to that of a “spectator” with a bird’s-eye view, with access to veridical information of the locations of teammates and the to-be-corralled agents. Categorical recurrence quantification analysis was used to measure the communication dynamics of teams as they completed the task. Demands on coordination were manipulated by varying the ground players’ ability to observe the environment with the use of game “fog.” Results show that catRQA was sensitive to changes to task visibility, with reductions in task visibility reorganizing how participants conversed during the game to maintain team situation awareness. The results are discussed in the context of future work that can address how team coordination can be augmented with the inclusion of artificial agents, as synthetic teammates. (shrink)

We investigate how stochastic asset price dynamics with herding and financial constraints in heterogeneous agents’ decisions explain the presence of a period of financial distress (PFD) following the peak and preceding the crash of a bubble, documented by Kindleberger [2000, Appendix B] as common among most major historical speculative bubbles. Simulations show the PFD is due to agents’ wealth distribution dynamics, selling because of financial constraints after the bubble’s peak in relation to switching behavior of agents. An increase (...) in switching tendency increases the length of the PFD and decreases bubble amplitude, while increasing strength of interaction between the agents increases bubble amplitude. (shrink)

The anecdotal and historical literature describing intoxication in elephants from fermented fruit or alcoholic beverages is reviewed. Seven African elephants readily self-administered 7% unflavored alcohol solutions; the results included separation from herd groupings and changes in the frequency and/or duration of several behaviors as scored according to a quantitative observational system. Alcohol decreased feeding, drinking, bathing, and exploration for most animals. Inappropriate behaviors such as lethargy and ataxia increased for all elephants. Results are discussed in terms of stress-induced drinking and (...) intoxication. (shrink)

This paper examines the collective fraudulent behaviors taking place during the residential real estate bubble in the United States from 2002 to 2006 and the influence of others’ choices on decision making leading to a herd mentality. The antecedents of collective fraud are discussed in terms of the sociological theory behind human herding and the fraudulent behaviors during the real estate bubble are examined. Using archival witness testimony as a primary basis for analysis, this paper argues that without widespread (...) collective fraud, the bubble may not have developed and the herd mentality may have dissipated without the consequences of financial disaster. The aim of an analysis of this nature is to offer a plausible explanation of some of the preconditions to the event under study. (shrink)

Because of the nature of preventive vaccination programs, the viability of these public health interventions is particularly susceptible to public perceptions. This is because vaccination relies on a concept of ‘herd immunity’, achievement of which requires rational public behavior that can only be obtained through full and accurate communication about risks and benefits. This paper describes how irrational behavior that threatens the effectiveness of vaccination programs – both in crisis and non-crisis situations – can be tied to public (...) perceptions created by media portrayals of health risks. I concentrate on childhood vaccination as an exemplar of ‘non-crisis’ preventive vaccination, and on the recent flu vaccine shortage as a ‘crisis’ situation. The paper concludes with an examination of the steps necessary to resolve these threats through better public communication. (shrink)

Microbes perfect social interactions with intuitive logics and goal-directed reciprocity. These multilevel, cognition-resembling adaptations in Dictyostelid cellular molds enable individual-to-group viability through public/private bacterial farming and dynamic marketspaces. Like humans and animals, Dictyostelid livestock-ownership depends on environmental sensing, cooperation, and competition. Moreover, social-norm policing of cosmopolitan colonies coordinates farmer decisions, phenotypes, and ownership identities with bacteria herding, privatization, and consumption.

Vaccine hesitancy persists despite vaccination’s important role in global health. As many vaccines provide social benefits through herd immunity, vaccination decisions can raise moral concerns. Two studies explored the role of moral convictions in vaccination decisions. Study 1 (N = 485) revealed higher vaccination intentions when individuals thought about vaccination in moral terms. Emotions and moral piggybacking positively predicted moral convictions. In Study 2 (N = 1,111), we evaluated the effects of emotional, moral, and scientific pro-vaccination arguments on moral convictions, (...) support for mandatory vaccination, and tolerance of dissenting views. While no group differences were observed, moral convictions were correlated with increased support for mandatory vaccination but also with a reduced tolerance of dissenting opinions. Overall, moral convictions play a small but significant role in vaccination-related decisions. While moral convictions have beneficial effects on compliance, it is crucial not to overlook the adverse consequences, which may lead to a growing societal divide. (shrink)

A recent study suggests that vaccine hesitancy amongst key demographics – including females, younger individuals, and certain ethnic groups – could undermine the pursuit of herd immunity against COVID-19 in the United Kingdom. At the same time, the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JVCI) indicated that it will not facilitate the choice between available COVID-19 vaccines. This paper reflects upon lessons from the introduction of the UK’s combined Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine strategy of the 1980s when (...) Member of Parliament Miss Julie Kirkbride argued that had parents been allowed to choose between vaccine variants, then the crisis of low herd immunity – and subsequent outbreaks – could have been avoided. This paper explores this argument, as applied to the COVID-19 vaccination strategy, by considering how three key elements of informed consent – disclosure of risk, benefit, and reasonable alternatives – may be employed to tackle vaccine hesitancy and build vaccine confidence. (shrink)

This chapter describes how ethics, psychology, and fraudulent behavior intersect in the delivery of financial products and services. Moving beyond rule compliance, the chapter explains how cognitive, behavioral, and motivational forces shape financial advisor and client decisions. In addition, the chapter explores how biases can erode a financial advisor’s duty to clients. In this chapter, classic criminological models (e.g., Sutherland’s differential association and Cressey’s Fraud Triangle of pressure–opportunity–rationalization) are presented with capability and neutralization theory to show how otherwise law-abiding (...) professionals sometimes drift into engaging in unethical behavior. The concept of corporate psychopathy is introduced to illustrate how charm, control, and rationalization among senior firm management often defeat weak internal firm controls. The chapter then shows how advisor-side biases, including overconfidence, loss aversion, confirmation, availability, herding, status quo, mental accounting, framing, and optimism, sometimes lead advisors to engage in unethical behavior. On the client side, the chapter profiles how similar biases enhance client vulnerability to fraud. The chapter describes ways to combat persuasion tactics to reduce the occurrence of fraudulent behavior. The chapter concludes by describing how organizational levers, such as tone at the top, realistic targets, whistleblowing, and capability-aware monitoring, can be integrated into a practical fraud-reduction framework. (shrink)

This is the first volume in the Amsterdam edition of the Latin texts of Erasmus of Ordo IV which comprises works on moral issues. It presents the panegyric of Philip the Fair , the father of Charles V, and the Education of Princes . Both works equally instruct princes how to behave morally. The third work in this volume treats language and praises the Word of God.

The second issue of Ordo IV of the Amsterdam edition of the Latin texts of Erasmus comprises the Querela Pacis and Erasmus’ Latin translations of some of Plutarch’s Moralia . The Complaint of Peace deals with peace and war, and the tension between love of one’s country and St. Paul’s admonishment to unity in Christianity.

In bisher einzigartiger Weise fasst dieser Band über die Grenzen der Disziplinen hinweg, aber auch Theorie und Praxis übergreifend die aktuelle Debatte zu den Emotionen in den Künsten zusammen. Die Aufsätze ermöglichen Fachleuten und interessierten Laien einen profunden Einblick in die Frage, was unter Affekt und Gefühl verstanden werden kann und wie Emotionen in den Künsten wirksam werden. Mit Beiträgen u. a. von den Architekten Peter Eisenman und Daniel Libeskind, dem Dichter und Büchner-Preisträger Thomas Kling, dem Komponisten Dieter Schnebel, den (...) Philosophinnen Agnes Heller und Brigitte Scheer, dem Psychologen Rainer Krause unddem Kunsthistoriker Werner Hofmann. Verkaufsargumente: - interdisziplinärer Sammelband, der Theorie und Praxis verbindet - bekannte Namen unter den Beiträgern, u.a. die Architekten Peter Eisenmann und Daniel Libeskind - umfassender überblick über die Debatte zu Emotionen in den Künsten, für interessierte Laien sowie für Fachleute. (shrink)

Scholars who debate the cause of and solutions for the decline in civic engagement have suggested that Americans have increasingly withdrawn from community organizations, reducing their political activity such as voting and interest in the political world, and generally failing to place the common good over individual self-interest. Their analyses are steeped in a tradition that is largely gender blind and consequently ignores care work. We infuse feminist analyses of paid labor and citizenship, which emphasize the merits and burdens of (...) care work, into the civic engagement debate. We argue that care work, predominantly performed by women, paradoxically limits, enhances, and even constitutes a vital form of civic activity. We call for a fuller slate of social policies that will both redistribute the burden of care work and reinvigorate civic engagement. (shrink)