Predicting the effect of disability on employment status and income

Research shows that participation in employment contributes to life satisfaction for persons with disabilities [18]. Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sought to prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities in the workplace, however, the ADA's effectiveness remains controversial. This research utilizes data from the disability supplement of the 2000 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to examine the impact of disability status on predicting employment status and income. Confounding variables such as gender, age, educational level, race and marital/parental status are examined regarding their influence on results. Results from analysis utilizing zero-order correlation, linear and logistic regression analysis techniques revealed that disability status has a significant predictive effect on inability to work. Furthermore, results continue to show that despite legislation, the higher the level of disability, the lower the employment status (those employed for wages) and income. Finally, disability status, coupled with being female or decreased educational level, consistently shows significance in predicting lower employment status and income than men or non-minorities with disabilities. Future research opportunities and policy implications are discussed with regard to the results presented.     

Life satisfaction and family strengths of older couples

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between family interaction quality of married elderly and their offspring and life satisfaction of older persons. Information was obtained by means of mailed questionnaires completed by both spouses of 68 married, retired couples living in Georgia and North Carolina who were identified through churches, senior centers, and congregate housing units and through personal contacts. For the total sample, health status was the strongest predictor of life satisfaction followed by certain family strengths factors and job prestige, respectively. Males and females differed concerning which variables contributed most to explaining variance in life satisfaction. Variance in life satisfaction of males was best explained by job prestige, family strengths, and financial help given. Variance in life satisfaction of women was best explained by their perception of their health, family strengths, and job prestige.     

Cross-national variation in the subjective wellbeing of youth in low and middle income countries: the role of structural and micro-level factors

ABSTRACT

Subjective wellbeing (i.e. life satisfaction and happiness) impacts youth's social, economic and political participation. Prior studies have documented cross-national variation in subjective wellbeing of adults but there is a lack of data on the prevalence and correlates of subjective wellbeing among youth in low and middle income countries. This paper utilizes data from an international dataset – Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys to assess the influence of structural and micro-level factors on the subjective wellbeing of youth (ages 15–24) in 29 countries or regions in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. We find that within countries, global life satisfaction and happiness are associated with age, education attainment, place of residence, marital status, household wealth and exposure to mass media. Significant interactions between age, gender and education are observed. However, none of the country level development indicators account for cross-national variation in youth's SWB although there is some indication that income inequities between countries may influence youth's SWB. The findings underscore the need for objective measures of subjective wellbeing to understand the conditions in LMICs.     

Gender, social status, and emotional reliance

Past research has suggested the potential importance of considering emotional reliance, a dimension of interpersonal dependence, when addressing social and developmental risk factors for depression. Based on a probability sample of 1,393 adults aged 18-55 residing in Toronto, Canada, this paper addresses gender differences in emotional reliance and the relevance of emotional reliance in explaining the gender-depression association. We also explore link-ages between emotional reliance and status factors. Findings indicate that emotional reliance is significantly related to depression and that women report greater reliance than men, independent of social status factors like marital and parental status, education, income, and occupational prestige. Moreover, the positive association between emotional reliance and depression is greater for women. Several social status factors modify the relationship between gender and emotional reliance. Both education and occupational prestige reduce reliance, and are particularly beneficial in this regard for women. Marriage, on the other hand, increases emotional reliance, especially for men. We offer interpretations of this pattern of findings.     

THE MEANING OF OCCUPATIONAL PRESTIGE SCORES:

This research reexamines the meaning of occupational prestige scores from the social psychological perspective of identity theory. Using comparable data for Canada and the United States, it analyzes the degree to which the education and income levels of occupations influence occupational prestige judgements by evoking affective associations (feelings about the goodness, powerfulness, and liveliness of occupational identities), as well as the extent to which these social sentiments are independent determinants of prestige. There has been a longstanding controversy about the normative content of occupational prestige scores. We find that moral worthiness (as measured by the Evaluation dimension of the semantic differential) is a determinant of the prestige of occupations with low and middle but not high levels of education and income. We also find that the impact of education on prestige scores is direct and cognitive, while a considerable proportion of the total effect of income is processed through feelings about the potency of occupations. The results for the two countries are very similar. One exception is that moral worthiness is a more important determinant of prestige in the United States than in Canada. We connect this finding to the literature comparing value differences between the two countries.     

Do they get what they expect?: The connection between young adults' future expectations before leaving care and outcomes after leaving care

This study examines the future expectations of young people in out-of-home placements in the last year before leaving care and the association between those expectations and their outcomes after leaving care. The study examines the hypothesis that care leavers with higher future expectations will have better outcomes in the areas of housing, educational achievements, economic status, adjustment to military service, and life satisfaction. The study was conducted through 277 interviews with the young adults at their last year in care and 236 interviews a year after they left care. Higher future expectations while in care were positively correlated with satisfaction in accommodation, economic status and educational achievements and adjustment to required military service after leaving care. These findings emphasize the role of future expectations as a source of resilience and motivation. They also illustrate the importance of designing programs that address care leavers' self-perception and future outlook and offer preparation in concrete areas as the youth transition to adult life.     

Socioeconomic,sociodemographic and attitudinal correlates of the tempo of divorce

The association between sociodemographic, demographic, and attitudinal measures and the timing or tempo of marital dissolution over a 14-year time span is examined. Separation is considered equivalent to divorce. Early and late divorce are differentiated by whether the event occurred before or after the average number of years married prior to divorce. Data were obtained on husbands and wives within childbearing years (up to 39 years) in the 1st years of the 1st marriage. A random stratified sample of 610 couples was drawn from records of marriages in a midwestern county between 1972-77. Reinterviews were conducted on 544 couples in April 1985. socioeconomic variables included educational attainment, occupational prestige, wife's employment status, wife's future work plans, husband's attitude to wife's future work plans, total family income, and level of satisfaction with current financial status. Demographic variables are age at marriage, number of children in 1985, marital duration, and desired family size. Attitudinal items were religiosity and gender role orientations (traditionalism, modernism, egalitarianism). Exposure to divorce was not equitably distributed for the 108 who divorced, but this was not statistically significant. The results indicate that those divorced earlier were wives who worked outside the home, worked at more prestigious jobs, planned to be employed throughout married life, and whose father had a higher level of educational attainment. This finding is not consistent with prior research which has shown that favorable socioeconomic conditions lower the probability of divorce. The timing of divorce was affected by the presence of children. Those married at younger ages divorced earlier and couples with children delayed divorcing longer than couples without children. These findings were consistent with earlier research. Catholic wives delayed divorce longer than non-Catholic wives. Males lower in sexual satisfaction divorced earlier. Divorce was postponed longer for husbands with traditional values and wives who had higher scores on egalitarianism. Wives with scores on modernism had earlier divorces than wives scoring lower on modernism. The tempo of divorce was in multiple classification analysis predicted best by wife's employment status and number of children. Cross-classification was not possible.     

Employee participation and assessments of support for organizational policy changes

We examine the effects of participation, profit sharing, and participation program structure on managerial assessments of employee support for policy changes. Evidence suggests that managers perceived greater support from employees covered by participation or profit-sharing programs than from other employees. Findings also suggest that managers perceived greater support where a larger percentage of employees were involved in the participation program, where employees had input on a larger number of issues, and where employees had a greater amount of authority to implement their recommendations.     

青年白领移民社会信心及影响因素

当前,中国青年白领移民群体的数量和规模逐年递增,其对迁入地社会结构的变更和城市建设的推进等方面的影响越来越大。但从当前青年白领移民的成长现状来看,表面光鲜的背后是白领们日益繁重的压力、焦虑与愤懑的社会事实,众多白领身不由己地从白领沦为“白奴”似乎已成常态,由此必会引发青年白领移民群体社会心态的浮动。对1046名白领的研究发现．年龄和收入显著正向影响青年白领移民社会信心的变化．社会信心在性别上的差异性与其拥有社会支持的程度紧密相关;生活压力方面：自购房、自身健康压力及社会信任度显著影响青年白领移民社会信心;社会参与、情感性支持和社交陪伴是显著影响青年白领移民社会信心的社会支持因素。     

Life satisfaction,income and personality

We use personality traits to better understand the relationship between income and life satisfaction. Personality traits mediate the effect of income on life satisfaction. The effect of neuroticism, which measures sensitivity to threat and punishment, is strong in both the British Household Panel Survey and the German Socioeconomic Panel. Neuroticism increases the usually observed concavity of the relationship: individuals with a higher neuroticism score enjoy extra income more than those with a lower score if they are poorer, and enjoy extra income less if they are richer. When the interaction between income and neuroticism is introduced, income does not have a significant effect on its own. To interpret the results, we present a simple model based on Prospect Theory, where we assume that: (i) life satisfaction is dependent on the gap between aspired and realized income, and this is modulated by neuroticism and (ii) income increases in aspirations with a slope less than unity, so that the gap between aspired and realized income increases with aspirations. From the estimation of this model we argue that poorer individuals tend to over-shoot in their aspirations, while the rich tend to under-shoot. The estimation of the model also shows a substantial effect of traits on income.     

Gender Differences in the Evaluation of Prestige

This study examines the prestige accorded to male and female incumbents in occupations. Respondents were asked to rate the prestige of occupations and the prestige of male and female incumbents in those occupations. Two main findings are discussed in this paper. First, the prestige of male and female incumbents often differs substantially. The size of these differences is strongly related to the sex com-position of the occupations. Second, the sex composition of occupations has a significant effect on the prestige of sex-atypical jobholders, even after the effects of perceived income and education are accounted for. The implications of these findings for theories and research on occupational prestige are discussed.     

Further evidence on education and job satisfaction

Regression analysis of data from recent U.S. national surveys was used to estimate, for white men and women separately, the total effect of amount of education on job satisfaction and the effect net of extrinsic rewards (money, prestige, authority, and autonomy). We reasoned that education which does not lead to extrinsic rewards would lead to dissatisfaction with work by producing unfulfilled expectations and aspirations, and thus we hypothesized that the estimated effect of education on job satisfaction net of extrinsic rewards would be negative. The hypothesis was not supported for women and was only weakly supported for men, and thus the findings of this study do not suggest that any increase in overeducated workers will have a major negative impact on job satisfaction., The indicated total effect of education is positive for both sexes but is considerably stronger for women than for men.     

Are pregnant women happier? Racial and ethnic differences in the relationship between pregnancy and life satisfaction in the United States

This paper examines the relationship between pregnancy and life satisfaction for US women of childbearing age using a large sample from the 2005 to 2009 waves of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The results show strong differences by race and ethnicity. Pregnancy has a significant positive correlation with happiness for Whites and Hispanics, but no relationship for Blacks. This differential in the marginal effect of pregnancy is in addition to a general decrease in satisfaction for Black women, independent of being pregnant. The results cannot be explained by differences in other demographics such age, income, education, or physical health status. Within each racial/ethnic group, the results are consistent across different categories for all these characteristics. Racial and ethnic differences in the effects of pregnancy on support from others can partly explain this result. For Whites and Hispanic women, pregnancy increases their feelings of social and emotional support from others, while pregnant Black women report lower levels of social and emotional support than non-pregnant Black women.     

Altruism and culture as social products

The historical core of the independent sector is comprised of churches, charitable organisations and higher education. What distinguishes these and other independent sector organisations from the governmental and commercial sectors is the fact that participation in the independent sector is free from state compulsion and not for the purpose of monetary gain. The independent sector is a modern development which could not have occurred without the disestablishment of religion. Disestablished churches have given rise to secular charities, higher education and other independent sector organisations in the United States. The independent sector is the arena in which cultural production and altruistic activities with a distinctive moral quality take place. Participation in the independent sector is the only mechanism for status legitimation in a democractic society with no compulsory state religion or traditional forms of authority.     

When money does not buy happiness: The case of “frustrated achievers”

An increase in real per capita income is generally expected to be associated with nonnegative variations in life satisfaction. The alternative (association with negative changes) is generally defined as “frustrated achievement” [Graham, C., Pettinato, S., 2002. Happiness and Hardship: Opportunity and Insecurity in New Market Economies. The Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C.].We investigate the determinants of “frustrated achievement” in the German socioeconomic panel on more than 30,000 individuals collected between 1992 and 2004. We observe a parallel reduction in self-declared life satisfaction corresponding to almost one-third of yearly increases in (equalised) real household income.Our econometric findings show that the lack of a full-time job, health deterioration, relative income effects, marital status shocks and poorer social life are the main factors associated with this phenomenon.     

Marital Satisfaction in Turkish Remarried Families: Marital Status,Stepchildren, and Contributing Factors

This study aimed to compare marital satisfaction among those of different marital status (first-married, postdivorce remarried, and postbereavement remarried) based on gender; to investigate the effect of decision of divorce on marital satisfaction of postdivorce remarried individuals; to examine the effect of type of death on marital satisfaction of postbereavement remarried individuals; and to examine the effect of stepchildren on marital satisfaction of remarried individuals. It was also intended to investigate the predictive power of demographic and contextual variables on marital satisfaction in different households. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale and an information form were administered to 116 first-married and 223 remarried individuals. To test the hypotheses of the study, analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and stepwise multiple regression analysis were performed. Results revealed that there was no significant marital satisfaction difference in terms of marital status. Remarried individuals with residential stepchildren had lower marital satisfaction than those with nonresidential stepchildren and those without stepchildren. For first-married individuals, length of marriage and income predicted marital satisfaction. For postdivorce remarried individuals, gender and presence of mutual children were predictors. For postbereavement remarried individuals, length of current marriage and income were significant predictors. For those with stepchildren, only residence of stepchildren significantly predicted marital satisfaction. The findings of the study were discussed in the light of relevant literature.     

Family,marital, and occupational satisfaction for recovering pathological gamblers

This paper describes the efforts of a private gambling treatment program to conduct a retrospective study of pathological gamblers treated in a publicly supported residential program. The Johns Hopkins Center for Pathological Gambling treated approximately 100 pathological gamblers nationwide from 1979 to 1983 in its residential component. Twenty-six gamblers were assessed regarding their recovery status with specific focus on family, marital status and occupational satisfaction. It was hypothesized that the more satisfied patients would display lower frequencies of gambling and that gambling frequency was dependent upon the level of satisfaction. Thirty-one percent of these gamblers reported abstinence. Regression analyses indicated that the recovery of pathological gamblers as measured by frequency of gambling is significantly influenced by job satisfaction, and moderately influenced by marital status and family life satisfaction. Consequently, these factors should be addressed by mental health professionals in research and treatment of pathological gambling.     

Sociological Determinants of Life Satisfaction in Japan: The Roles of Gender, Family, and Work

Abstract  This is one of the first studies on causes and correlates of life satisfaction among Japanese, based on the theoretical framework of Thibaut and Kelley (1959) on satisfaction and a nationally representative sample of Japanese adults. Emphasized are the effects of such demographic variables as gender, marital status, age, and work-related characteristics on life satisfaction. It is found that Japanese women are more satisfied with their lives than are men on the average. This difference is not explained by the gender difference in employment statuses. When examined for each employment status category, women still show higher life satisfaction than men on the average, except those employed full-time.
While widowed women show lower life satisfaction, never-married and divorced men show the same pattern. The detrimental effect of divorce on life satisfaction among women disappears when economic circumstances variables are controlled for. Age is found to be strongly related to life satisfaction, particularly among men. A non-linear effect of age indicates both family responsibility and job responsibility decrease life satisfaction for Japanese men and women.
The theoretical framework presented in American literature on the subject is largely supported in the present analysis with Japanese data. Rather than absolute levels of economic and/or social indicators, the salience each person places on them is found to be critical for life satisfaction. Given the cognitive definition of satisfaction adopted here which emphasizes comparisons, these results indicate the validity of this theoretical perspective.     

Social capital and psychological distress

The author proposes a conceptual model to explain the diverse roles of social capital--resources embedded in social networks--in the social production of health. Using a unique national U.S. sample, the author estimated a path analysis model to examine the direct and indirect effects of social capital on psychological distress and its intervening effects on the relationships between other structural antecedents and psychological distress. The results show that social capital is inversely associated with psychological distress, and part of that effect is indirect through subjective social status. Social capital also acts as an intervening mechanism to link seven social factors (age, gender, race-ethnicity, education, occupational prestige, annual family income, and voluntary participation) with psychological distress. This study develops the theory of social capital as network resources and demonstrates the complex functions of social capital as a distinct social determinant of health.     

Self‐Construal,Career Decision Self‐Efficacy,and Perceived Barriers Predict Mexican American Women's Life Satisfaction

This study used the social cognitive theory of well‐being (SCTW; Lent, 2004 ) to examine the role of career decision self‐efficacy (CDSE), perceived educational barriers, and independent self‐construal on the life satisfaction of 176 Mexican American college women. A 3‐step hierarchical regression analysis indicated that independent self‐construal, CDSE, and fewer perceived educational barriers significantly predicted greater life satisfaction among Mexican American college women above and beyond the influence of socioeconomic status and generational status. These findings are consistent with SCTW and highlight the need for counselors and researchers to be aware of the role that self‐construal, CDSE, and perceived educational barriers can have on Mexican American women's life satisfaction. Implications for practice at the secondary‐school and university levels are discussed.