Building Financial Knowledge Is Not Enough: Financial Self-Efficacy as a Mediator in the Financial Capability of Low-Income Families

ABSTRACT

Policymakers in many countries have taken an interest in population-level financial capability. Limited empirical work has examined how constructs that makeup financial capability relate and how they function for individuals with low incomes. Using a national sample of low-income Canadians, we investigate relationships between financial knowledge, financial self-efficacy, and savings outcomes. Overall, we find that financial self-efficacy fully mediated the relationship between objective financial knowledge and postsecondary-education saving. The association between objective financial knowledge and retirement saving and emergency saving passed through financial self-efficacy. Efforts to promote financial capability need to focus on more than objective financial knowledge.     

Measuring stewardship in public relations: A test exploring impact on the fundraising relationship

Though scholars have explored the impact symmetrical relationship maintenance strategies from interpersonal and marketing communication in public relations contexts, they have largely ignored stewardship. Explicated by Kelly [Kelly, K. S. (2001a). Stewardship: The fifth step in the public relations process. In R. L. Heath (Ed.), Handbook of public relations (pp. 279–289). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] as a core component of the ROPES process of public relations, the “S” or stewardship proposes four elements that foster relationship growth when incorporated into organization's strategic efforts. This study created original scales to measure the impact of reciprocity, responsibility, reporting, and relationship nurturing in the fundraising setting. Results indicate that donors favor these strategies, and path analysis demonstrates they have significant impact on how donors evaluate the nonprofit organization–donor relationship.     

Domestic Labor and Marital Satisfaction: How Much or How Satisfied?

Abstract

Using questionnaire data from 96 couples, we examined the relationship between respondents' domestic-labor performance, domestic-labor satisfaction, and marital satisfaction. We analytically separated the dimensions of domestic labor (i.e., household tasks, emotion work, and childcare) and ran separate analyses for men and women. We found that the amount of labor performed is associated with satisfaction with emotion work and childcare arrangements, but not the household task arrangement. Satisfaction with domestic-labor arrangements mediated the relationship between actual domestic-labor performance and marital satisfaction, and the central role of emotion work emerged in our analysis.     

Jaccard-Spline index of structural proximity in contact networks

Network analysts are increasingly being called upon to apply their expertise to groups for which the only available or reliable data is a contact network. With no opportunity to gather additional data, the merits of such applications depend on empirical studies that validate the employment of structural constructs based on contact networks. Fortunately, we possess such studies in abundance. One of the strongest research traditions in social network analysis is the development of formal constructs that may be employed in analyses of networks. I suggest that greater insight into predictive success of network constructs may be acquired by addressing the following question: what features of the contact network in which a dyad is situated allow the prediction of other relations with an accuracy that validates the imputation of the latter given data on the former? In this article, I present findings on the structural contexts of dyads in contact networks and the relationship of these contexts with two fundamental forms of cohesive cognitive relations—accorded interpersonal influence and perceived interpersonal agreement. Based on these findings, I formalize a measure of structural proximity in contact networks with values that correspond to the conditional probabilities of these two forms of cohesive cognitive relations. The substantive settings of this analysis are policy groups with members who are embedded in contact structures based on regular interpersonal communication on policy issues and cognitive structures based on perceived interpersonal agreement and accorded interpersonal influence.     

Social Capital,Knowledge, and the Environment: The Effect of Interpersonal Communication on Climate Change Knowledge and Policy Preferences

Abstract

This article contributes to the literature on social capital and the environment in two ways. First, we identify a relationship between interpersonal discussion networks and assessed and perceived individual scientific knowledge. We then examine if knowledge mediates the relationship between discussion networks and policy preferences about climate change (CC). Using nationally representative survey data, we examine the extent to which an individual’s interpersonal discussion network is related to knowledge on CC and support for CC policy. We find those who discuss climate have higher levels of perceived knowledge, but discussion is not related to individuals’ levels of assessed knowledge. We also find that knowledge does not fully mediate the relationship between discussion and policy preferences, implying that interpersonal discussion may influence CC policy preferences independent of perceived and assessed knowledge. We conclude with remarks about the importance of knowledge perception as well as offer some avenues to extend this research.     

Tweeting India’s Nirbhaya protest: a study of emotional dynamics in an online social movement

Abstract

Previous research has recognized the role of emotions in protests and social movements in the offline world. Despite the current scenario of ubiquitous social media and ‘Twitter revolutions,’ our knowledge about the connections between emotions and online protests still remains limited. In this study, we examine whether online protest actions follow the same emotional groundwork for supporting and nurturing a social movement as in the offline world, and how these emotions vary across various stages of the social movement. Through a computer-assisted emotion analysis of 65,613 Twitter posts (tweets), posted during the Nirbhaya social movement (movement against the Delhi gang-rape incident) in India, we identified a strong resemblance between online emotional patterns and offline protest emotions as discussed in literature. Formal statistical testing of a range of emotions (negativity, positivity, anger, sadness, anxiety, certainty, individualism, collectivism, and achievement) demonstrates that they significantly differed across stages of the social movement; as such, they influenced the course of the online protest, resonating parallels with offline events. The findings highlight the importance of anger and anxiety in stirring the collective conscience, and identify that positive emotion was pervasive during the protest event. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Decrypting cultural nuances: using drama techniques from the theatre of the oppressed to strengthen cross cultural communication in social work students

ABSTRACT

Despite widening participation in social work education in the UK, social work students from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds can find that they have less positive experiences on social work courses than their counterparts. This can happen when courses do not equip students to navigate the subtle rules of communication with service users that are premised on dominant UK values. As a consequence BME students can be assessed as having poor interpersonal skills and poor skills in engaging service users. However, the issue is often more one of cultural differences and high expectations of cultural integration than one of incompetence.

This paper reports on a drama workshop using techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed to foster awareness of the complexities of cross cultural communication that BME students may face. The workshop facilitates insight into the nuances of culturally informed values that differ from dominant UK values.

Drawing on student workshop evaluations, the authors highlight the positive use of techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed as a pro-active pedagogical approach to equipping BME students with insight and skill to circumnavigate cross cultural communication in practice and develop awareness of empowering strategies to combat negative paradigms about BME cultures.     

Age Similarities in Interpersonal Perception and Conversation Ability

Older adults tend to perform worse on emotion perception tasks compared to younger adults. How this age difference relates to other interpersonal perception tasks and conversation ability remains an open question. In the present study, we assessed 32 younger and 30 older adults’ accuracy when perceiving (1) static facial expressions, (2) emotions, attitudes, and intentions from videos, (3) and interpersonal constructs (e.g., kinship). Participants’ conversation ability was rated by coders from a videotaped, dyadic problem-solving task. Younger adults were more accurate than older adults perceiving some but not all emotions. No age differences in accuracy were found on any perception task or in conversation ability. Some but not all of the interpersonal perception tasks were related. None of the perception tasks predicted conversation ability. Thus, although the literature suggests a robust age difference in emotion perception accuracy, this difference does not seem to transfer to other interpersonal perception tasks or interpersonal outcomes.     

Redefining sewardship: Examining how Fortune 100 organizations use stewardship with virtual stakeholders

Although Kelly's (2001) stewardship strategies have been discussed conceptually in public relations literature, they have not been examined through scholarly inquiry outside the fundraising realm despite repeated suggestions in relationship management literature. Through content analysis of the Fortune 100 organizations’ websites, this study examines how the four stewardship strategies are used by for-profit corporations. Results indicate that the current conceptualization of stewardship strategies for virtual behavior may be a better representation of relationship cultivation strategies than relying on the adaptation of interpersonal communication strategies to organizations.     

A Report on Student Health Services

Abstract

Objective: Stress impacts college students, faculty, and staff alike. Although meditation has been found to decrease stress, it is an underutilized strategy. This study used the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) to identify beliefs underlying university constituents’ decision to meditate. Participants: N = 96 students, faculty, and staff at a large midwestern university during spring 2012. Methods: A survey measured the RAA global constructs and elicited the beliefs underlying intention to meditate. Thematic and frequency analyses and multiple regression were performed. Results: Quantitative analyses showed that intention to meditate was significantly predicted (R² = .632) by attitude, perceived norm, and perceived behavioral control. Qualitative analyses revealed advantages (eg, reduced stress; feeling calmer), disadvantages (eg, takes time; will not work), and facilitating circumstances (eg, having more time; having quiet space) of meditating. Conclusions: Results of this theory-based research suggest how college health professionals can encourage meditation practice through individual, interpersonal, and environmental interventions.     

Personal identity and social identity: two different processes or a single one? / Identidad personal e identidad social. ¿Dos procesos diferentes o uno solo?

Abstract

Personal identity, or the definition of oneself in terms of personal idiosyncratic attributes, and social identity, or the definition of oneself in terms of affiliations with different categories or groups, have often been examined as two separate phenomena in the psychosocial literature. However, there are at least two theories which have deliberately researched the relationship between the two. One of these theories has done so for almost five decades (Social Identity Theory), while the alternative approach (Identity Fusion, or the visceral sense of oneness with the group) began to be developed less than one decade ago. The purpose of this special issue is to survey how approaches grounded upon both theories have attempted to explain some individuals’ extreme behaviours for their group. It also includes studies that examine the origins of identity fusion, the processes that relate it with extreme behaviour (such as the extension of familial ties to groups or the acceptance of violence), as well as a subtle demonstration of how group identity can affect interpersonal relationships.     

Feeling the Hands of Time: Intersections of Time and Emotion

While the fields of the sociology of time and the sociology of emotion have grown exponentially, missing from the literature is explicit theorizing on the intersections of emotion and time. In this review article, we begin by examining literature that explores both how time (e.g. temporal control, perceived amount) influences emotional responses and how emotions (e.g. emotional intensity, valence) impact perceptions of time. Although such research occurs in a variety of disciplines, much of it fails to look at individuals' active manipulation of time and emotion to produce desired experiences. After discussing the established concepts of emotion work (Hochschild 1979) and time work (Flaherty 2003), we illustrate how two newer concepts – “temporal emotion work” (Lois 2010, 2012) and “emoting time” (Mullaney and Shope 2012) – serve as starting points for thinking about how individuals actively use time in emotion work and emotions in time work. Although much of the thinking to date occurs within the scholarly literature on work and family, we call for more intentional and systematic theorizing about the relationship between time and emotion.     

Why we are bored: towards a sociological approach to boredom

Abstract

The experience of boredom is strongly connected to our well-being. It can be a powerful driver toward a meaningful life and a great source of creativity. However, it can also pose a severe risk to our health. In recognition of its importance, in recent years, more and more researchers have begun to investigate the topic of boredom. However, while the psychological factors influencing boredom have been studied extensively, its social conditions are still poorly understood. The article aims to fill this research gap by providing a synthesized literature review of explicitly sociologically-inclined boredom research as well as implicit sociological ideas in the interdisciplinary field of boredom studies. On the basis of this data, we argue that boredom is not an interpersonal state, but a social emotion which is influenced by (1) cultural and (2) organizational norms/rules, (3) the individual’s position in the social structure, and (4) interaction processes.     

Response to Johnston and Kelly Critique of PAS Article

Abstract

This article is a response to Johnston and Kelly (2004), who critiqued our original article that criticized the theory and models that have utilized the non-empirically validated construct of Parental Alienation Syndrome. We acknowledge the areas of agreement with Johnston and Kelly, further explain some of our arguments that were not clear in the original article, and outline the few remaining areas where we have different opinions. These different opinions are almost exclusively in the attempts to apply the constructs of alienation to children who are exposed to domestic violence in their homes. Here we argue that the definitions must be more uniform with those used by the domestic violence field of study in order to better understand how to apply the results of Johnston and Kelly's empirical Studies that they describe.     

A/H1N1 Vaccine Intentions in College Students: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

Objective: To test the applicability of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in college students who have not previously received the A/H1N1 vaccine. Participants: Undergraduate communication students at a metropolitan southern university. Methods: In January–March 2010, students from voluntarily participating communication classes completed a hardcopy survey assessing TPB and clinically significant constructs. Hierarchical regression equations predicted variance in vaccine intentions of students who had not received a flu shot (N = 198; 70% Caucasian). Results: The TPB model explained 51.7% (p < .001) of variance in vaccine intentions. Controlling for side effects, self-efficacy and perceived comparative susceptibility predicted intentions when entered in the first block, whereas attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly contribute when entered in the second block. Conclusions: For students who have not previously received a flu vaccine, vaccine communication should utilize self-efficacy and perceived comparative susceptibility to employ the TPB to promote vaccine intentions.     

Inappropriate Comparisons: The LGB Population's Missing Reference Group

ABSTRACT

Given that many professional organizations emphasize the need for comparing assessment results to appropriate reference groups in their codes of ethics, we consider this practice through an ecological perspective as it applies to the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) population. The purpose of norming and types of assessment bias is discussed with respect to LGB population, which frequently lack specific norming data. The authors discuss whether the LGB population has characteristics similar to other commonly normed for groups and explore how group-shared constructs such as minority stress and internalized homophobia may introduce bias and affect the validity of assessments. A social anxiety assessment as well as a personality disorder inventory are examined for bias as case examples explaining how these assessments may exhibit bias when used with the LGB population. Increases in validity and effects on treatment planning are discussed as benefits of providing LGB-specific norms. Risks of providing these norms, such as minimizing subgroup differences and possibly increasing the risk of discrimination are also addressed before providing clinicians with recommendations as to how they may minimize the risk of bias in their assessment process.     

Beyond “Just Saying No”

Summary

How can women deal with unwanted sexual advances from male dating partners in ways that are effective and that, at least initially, take the men's feelings into account? In Study 1,354 under graduate men watched videotapes in which a woman either did or did not openly communicate early during a date that she did not want to do more than kiss. Open communication decreased men's ratings of how much she wanted petting and intercourse, how likely they would be to attempt these behaviors with her, and how “led on” they would feel if they attempted these behaviors and she refused. In Study 2, 424 undergraduate men were presented with 28 responses women could make to a man's sexual advances. They rated each on its effectiveness in getting them to stop their advances and its effect on the relationship. Women can use this information when responding to unwanted sexual advances, taking into account the relative importance of stopping the advance and maintaining the relationship.     

Gender and dependency in psychotherapy

Abstract

Gender is central to our understanding of ourselves, our actions in the world, how we feel about ourselves and others, what we conceive of as being possible for ourselves, even what we believe it is likely or possible for us to feel, and how we describe what we feel. and yet its importance is something we take for granted without examination. Like the force of gravity, we live with the effects of gender without retaining much conscious awareness of how it constantly affects the way we live our lives.

In this paper I focus on the importance of incorporating into our work as psychotherapists a consciousness of how gender acquired in the early mother-child relationship constructs aspects of a girl's psychic structure. The current construction of femininity means that girls and women are highly defended against their desires desire for dependency and desire to initiate. This phenomena has implications for treatment.     

Separation,Connection, and the Ambiguous Nature of Émigré Houses in Rural Highland Madagascar

ABSTRACT

The houses that educated migrants from highland Madagascar build in their home villages are generally large in scale and modern in style. They are also usually empty and in a very poor state of repair. This article is about how these houses articulate the ambivalent relationship of migrants to their ancestral land and the family they have left behind there. The argument goes beyond analyses of émigrés' houses that simply see such constructions as ways of maintaining links to their point of origin and suggests that they also act as means of attenuating such connections. In fact, they embody and symbolize a range of contradictions and tensions typical of the migrant experience, such as presence and absence, connection and separation, individual ambition and communal obligation.     

Romaphobia and the media: mechanisms of power and the politics of representations

ABSTRACT

This special issue of Identities, entitled ‘Romaphobia and the media’, examines entrenched and ongoing media coverage of Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people across Europe. The focus is on how the media problematises the Roma, how it constructs a ‘conceptual map’ about Roma people and what this tells us about the societies we live in. This special issue includes five academic articles all examining the constructions and stereotypes used in the media in various formats and European countries. After these academic articles, this special issue then deviates from the normal journal structure by including three commentary pieces from professionals from varying Roma backgrounds to give their views and experiences on how they tackle Romaphobia and the media. The inclusion of these commentary pieces are very powerful in offering a perspective of active interventions and resistance that we should not forget amidst the depressing continued circulation of racialised stereotypes.