Cultural Trends

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  [Article] Society Hungers for a Dark Future with The Hunger Games

  Both A Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games reflect the larger-degree trend toward negative social mood, and both are benefiting thereby. George R.R. Martin’s Thrones is a dark and grisly medieval tale of a society fragmenting into war. Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, the first book in the trilogy, published in 2008 during an intensely negative social mood trend, paints an extremely relatable likeness of contemporary society.
   
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  [Article] Despite Isolation, Amish Succumb to Polarization Impulse

  Negative social mood trends induce conflicts between groups and within groups. The disharmony among the Amish is an extreme example of how conflict can arise even within apparently homogenous groups.
   
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  [Article] The Auto-Tune Epidemic

  Large-degree market turns tend to signal seismic shifts in popular music.
   
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  [Article] Bad Mood is Good News

  Is the popularity of news itself mood-dependent? As our preliminary study shows, the answer appears to be “Yes.”
   
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  [Social Mood Watch] Hands Down: The Hero Who Best Embodies Today’s Bear Market Mood

  Need a hint about the hero’s identity? Picture a grim, sexually voracious, revenge-seeking, anti-social, motorcycle riding, goth-dressing computer hacker…
   
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  [Social Mood Watch] Has “Enhanced Performance” Come to a College Near You?

  Schools are juicing test scores to boost academic reputation.
   
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  [Social Mood Watch] How Does a Sports Rivalry Turn Murderous?

  Democracy seemed to appear on Egypt’s horizon a year ago, yet social mood helps explain why that sun has yet to rise.
   
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  [Social Mood Watch] Did Your Wine Just Call You the “B” Word?

  Is there a way to make sense of the queen of beverages being sold as a streetwalker?
   
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  [Social Mood Watch] “What’s going to work well in tough times”?

  Paul Lee, new Chief Programmer for ABC, asked himself an unusual but strategically important question before he created a bold new lineup that appears perfectly suited to the times.
   
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  [Social Mood Watch] Are Men Finished?

  In periods of negative social mood, the public looks favorably on women as non-traditional leaders.