Social Scientists Reveal Structure of AIDS Denialist Online Communities
HSE researchers examined the structure of online communities of Russian AIDS denialists – people who deny the reality of HIV and AIDS – and the manner in which they spread their ideas. The findings are published in American Behavioral Scientist.
Decision-making Rules Least Susceptible to Manipulation, According to Science
HSE researchers have used computer modelling to demonstrate the varying manipulability of decision-making procedures and to identify those least susceptible to manipulation. Their findings are published in the paper 'Manipulability of Majority Relation-based Collective Decision Rules'.
How Corporate Values Affect Bank Profits
According to international studies, values can impact corporate performance and the bottom line either directly or indirectly. In the paper 'Corporate Values and Profits of Commercial Banks: Correlation with Profits', Elena Prosvirkina and Nikolai Prosvirkin have examined the corporate values commonly declared by Russian banks and found that the widely held values of customer focus and efficiency can bring competitive advantage, but do not impact financial performance directly.
Russia’s Innovation Powerhouses
HSE released its fifth Russian Regional Innovation Ranking, based on the 2015 findings, at a press conference hosted by TASS. Almost half Russia’s regions are relatively stable in terms of innovative development: their positions in the ranking have not changed significantly.
Graduate Salary Expectations in Russia
Students of engineering and economics, undergraduates of state universities, high performers, young people from wealthier families, and those working part-time while at university tend to expect higher salaries upon graduation.
Altruism Is Changing Western Society
Altruism based on individual values is changing Western society. People in Western countries have seen a rise in individualism for quite some time, and this in turn helps to create generations of people with altruistic mindsets. Christian Welzel, Chief Research Fellow in the Laboratory for Comparative Social Research (HSE and Leuphana University of Lüneburg), teamed up with researchers from the University of Lausanne to conduct a study showing the connection between emancipative values and prosocial behaviour. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.
A View from the Outside: Hipster and the City
In their study Hipsters in Russian Capital and Provinces: Legitimation of Social Phenomenon, Leda Skobeleva and Maria Plotnikova use responses from young people interviewed in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod to construct the profile of a hipster. According to respondents in both cities, being a hipster is a fashion rather than a subculture or socio-political movement. Young people in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod were also unanimous in describing typical hipster appearances and behaviour, such as preference for eco-fashion and organic food, as well as a peculiar mixture of high-end brands and sloppy ‘bomzh-style’ clothes.
Students Examine Cybersecurity Contextualization in Russia and the United States
Students from HSE ISSEK, Stanford University, and Rice University have researched how Russia and the US cooperate in cybersecurity and explored the nuances present in the approaches that each country takes in this area, including different understandings of cybersecurity-related terms. The research was conducted in 2016-2017 as part of the Stanford US-Russia Forum (SURF), a programme dedicated to developing US-Russia cooperation. Over a period of 8 months, 30 American and Russian students and young professionals worked on their projects.
How to Prevent Lying and Drinking in Teens, According to Research
Adolescents who have a greater tendency to lie to their parents are also more likely to start using alcohol at an earlier age, while excessive parental supervision may aggravate rather than solve the problem. Both honesty and a lower risk of developing a drinking habit are usually the result of a trusting relationship between a teenager and parents, according to a joint study by New York University and HSE researchers, published at Journal of Adolescence.
Hedonism versus Harmony: Wrong Image of Happiness in Commercials
Happiness and harmony are the two mantras of most commercials. "Buy this stuff, and it'll make you happier," they promise. Yet they do not always succeed in increasing sales. One of the reasons may be that advertisers and their audiences have different views on happiness. While the former tend to reduce happiness to hedonism, pleasure-seeking and satisfying one’s desires here and now, the latter often refuse to limit happiness to simple enjoyment.