📄 social science

Configurational paths of the impact of local negative public opinion from an information ecology perspective: An extended NCA and fsQCA analysis with evidence from Qingdao, China

Drawing on an information ecology perspective and utilizing extended NCA and fsQCA methods on 18 cases from Qingdao, China, this study identifies the specific configurational paths and dynamic mechanisms that drive both the escalation and suppression of local negative public opinion to propose full-cycle governance strategies for enhancing urban digital governance.

Liu Chun, Jiakun Wang, Tian Qu2026-08-31
📄 social science

Resilience in Precarity: A Contiguum Approach to Understanding the Non-Linear Lived Trajectories of Afghan and Eritrean Refugee Families

Drawing on biographic-narrative interviews with Afghan and Eritrean refugees in Germany, this article argues that refugee trajectories should be understood as non-linear "contiguums" where structurally produced precarity and active resilience are continuously reconfigured across overlapping institutional and biographical domains, rather than as distinct stages of displacement.

Samuel Zewdie Hagos, Lukas M. Fuchs2026-08-31
📄 social science

Institutional Design and Normative Authority in the Effectiveness of the IAEA Nuclear Security Mandate

By integrating liberal institutionalist and constructivist perspectives, this paper argues that the IAEA's effectiveness in nuclear security stems from its "expert authority"—the synergy of technical standards and normative socialization—while revealing that this advisory model succeeds only when state interests align, failing when strategic conflicts override internalized norms.

Nasser Ali AlHassani, Mohd Mizan2026-08-31
📄 social science

How ProSocial AI Can Catalyze Quality of Life and Positive Social Change at Scale: Double Literacy and the ProSocial AI Index

This conceptual article introduces the ProSocial AI-Quality of Life Catalyst Model (PAI-QOL), a multilevel framework defining ProSocial AI as technology designed to generate fair, multidimensional quality-of-life gains through four conversion pathways and enabling conditions like Double Literacy, ultimately offering a disciplined approach to expanding human agency and social value within planetary limits.

Cornelia Walther2026-08-31
📄 social science

A quantitative study of AI supported gamification learning motivation and perceived language learning improvement in Greater Bay second language courses

This quantitative study of university language courses in the Greater Bay Area reveals that AI-supported gamification significantly enhances perceived language learning improvement primarily by fostering students' learning motivation, which fully mediates the relationship between gamification attitudes and learning outcomes.

Miao Zhang2026-08-31
📄 social science

A sequential framework for analysing students’ knowledge organisation through concept maps in health professions education

This study introduces and illustrates a sequential analytical framework that integrates morphological structure, proposition quality, and semantic characteristics to provide a comprehensive assessment of students' knowledge organization in health professions education, overcoming the limitations of using isolated analysis methods.

Séverine Mateu Ramis, Asmaâ Sadki, Gaëtane Leloup, Mariane Frenay2026-08-31