法学最新文献

This research note discusses one underexplored aspect of the study of polygyny, namely, the extent to which the practice remains viable from a purely demographic standpoint. Using data from the United Nations World Population Prospects 2022 covering 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), I evaluate a simple indicator-gamma-for capturing the "demographic potential" of polygyny, that is, the fraction of men who can have two wives with no other man pushed out of the marriage market. I estimate how this indicator has evolved between 1950 and 2021 across regions of SSA and show how the measure correlates with polygyny estimates from available men's and women's Demographic and Health Surveys. Gamma shows inverted U-curve patterns aligned with stages of the demographic transition, from modestly low levels to high levels during periods of rapid population growth and then declining again. Recent declines are starkest in South SSA, while potential remains moderate elsewhere. Gamma correlates positively with polygyny estimates from Demographic and Health Surveys-particularly in Central and South SSA-and can explain up to 50‒70% variation in polygyny, albeit not everywhere. Findings primarily hold within regions, suggesting this is one of manifold factors at play. I conclude by outlining fruitful directions for the study of polygyny.

In the 21st Century, geopolitical confrontation between the Eurasian continental powers and the sea powers works to divide Asia. The US-Japan alliance has transformed itself from Japanʼs asymmetrical security dependence of the Cold War period into a mutual and more integrated partnership today. Japan is doing more in collective security to ensure US commitment to the alliance through its own enhanced utilities to the United States. Japan leads emmeshing of the US-Japan bilateral alliance into the growing network of security partnerships, transforming the “hub-and-spoke” security architecture of East Asia at least partly into a NATO-like multilateral security arrangement. Yet Asian economic dependence on China and the uncertain prospects of the US commitment to Asian security and geopolitical realignment at the level of international system allow Japan to pursue hedging on its own and Asian behalf.

Background: Harms associated with gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) use have increased recently in Australia. However, research predominantly focuses on the experience of GHB use among LGBTQ + populations. Non-prescribed GHB use has not been well described in heterosexual populations. Research to examine the experience of heterosexual people, including motivations for use, experiences of harms, and utilisation of harm reduction practices, can inform public health messaging.

Methods: We recruited 26 participants at least 18 years of age, reporting three or more occasions of GHB use in the past 12 months, via a national social media campaign and snowball methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via video conference, and analysed using a thematic framework analysis.

Results: Nineteen women (73%) and seven men (27%), mean age 29 years (standard deviation 7 years) completed interviews. Participants described three distinct patterns of occasional, regular, or daily GHB use. Across these patterns, four key themes emerged: (1) Escapism: participants used GHB to manage mental health symptoms, counteract stimulant effects of methamphetamine, enhance self-confidence, and facilitate sex. Women described using GHB to alleviate body consciousness/dysmorphia. (2) Diverse understandings and experiences of overdose: participants described a spectrum from mild to life-threatening toxicity. Notably, dosing GHB to achieve unconsciousness (intentional overdose) was a theme that dovetailed with boundary play in our sample. Misconceptions included using stimulants to counter GHB toxicity. Fear of police involvement delayed or prevented help seeking. (3) Stigma: Participants reported stigma from peers who use and do not use drugs. (4) Gendered harm reduction practices: A set of practices centred on women protecting women from harms associated with GHB use emerged, with narrations of heightened vigilance and protective behaviours to reduce risks of sexual violence.

Conclusion: In our heterosexual sample of people who use GHB in Australia, we identified novel aspects of GHB use characterised by escapism, intentional risk-taking, and gendered harm reduction strategies, while stigma featured alongside GHB use. Findings highlight gaps in public health education, particularly regarding intentional dosing towards unconsciousness, misconceptions about overdose management, and barriers to help seeking. Targeted, context-specific harm reduction and mental health interventions responsive to these experiences are required.

Despite growing public knowledge of false confession cases, research with students and community members continues to find that people assume confessions indicate guilt. The present research explored the implications of belief perseverance: the tendency to maintain a belief even when confronted with compelling contradictory evidence. Across two studies (vignettes in Study 1; video interrogation footage in Study 2), students' pre-existing beliefs regarding confessions led them to assume suspects who confessed were more guilty, and were interrogated more justly, than suspects who did not confess. Further, although being presented with post-conviction DNA evidence tempered participants' views, pre-existing beliefs about confessions continued to impact both suspect and interrogation perceptions in Study 1, and interrogation perceptions in Study 2. The implications of students exhibiting these biases and current legal safeguards focusing on confession voluntariness, rather than veracity, are discussed.

Depictions of visual sexual stimuli are changing with the advent of computer-generated imagery (CGI), hyper-realistic and idealized images created by artificial Intelligence (AI), and artistic styles such as hentai, that depict a diverse range of sexual situations and characteristics. Here we assessed the subjective realism, aesthetic value, subjective sexual attractiveness, and valence (pleasantness) of images depicting natural or surgically enhanced naked women taken from real photographs or in formats created by CGI, AI, or as dolls or hentai. Self-identified gynephilic males and females (N = 649) participated in a nationwide online survey about the perception of visual sexual stimuli. Although the real and AI-generated nudes were rated as significantly more realistic than the other categories, with the real images rated significantly more real than the others, AI-generated nudes were found more aesthetically appealing, sexually attractive, and pleasant than the other categories, with men rating nearly all categories higher than women (men and women found AI and CGI images equally aesthetically pleasing). There was a significant correlation of age, such that older participants found the real and AI-generated nudes more aesthetically appealing, sexually attractive, and pleasant than younger participants. In contrast, younger participants rated hentai significantly higher in these measures than older participants. These data suggest that AI-generated erotic material is superior to even real photographs in generating aesthetic appeal, positive valence, and ratings of sexual attractiveness, although both real and AI-generated nudes produced higher ratings in all measures compared to enhanced nudes, or those created by CGI, or as dolls or hentai.

Research on whether asexual individuals desire (romantic) relationships and, if so, how they picture their ideal relationship has been growing in the past few years. However, less is known about the preferred attributes of an ideal partner in such relationships and whether these partner(ship) preferences are different from what heterosexual individuals want. The goal of the present study was to compare the types of preferred relationships and the ideal characteristics of a long-term partner of self-identified asexual and heterosexual women. Additionally, we examined differences in characteristics of asexual and heterosexual women using self-evaluations of the same attributes used for the partner preference ratings. We used data from the Ideal Partner Survey, a large-scale, multinational online study. Of 51,775 participants, 51,328 identified as heterosexual (M_age = 25.13 years) and 447 identified as asexual (M_age = 24.03 years). To create comparable samples for analyses, each asexual person was matched with a heterosexual person using propensity score matching (relationship options sample = 646, partner preference sample = 780, self-rating sample = 772). Compared to heterosexual women, asexual women were less interested in purely sexual relationships and more interested in emotionally romantic and alternative types of committed relationships as well as not being in any relationship ("single"). Asexual women placed less importance on all partner preference attributes, except educated and intelligent. They also consistently rated themselves lower on all attributes than heterosexual women. These findings suggest distinct differences between asexual and heterosexual women in their relationship interests, partner preferences, and self-perceived characteristics.