An analysis of empirical estimates of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration

Estimates of prevalence for several categories of sexual coercion, including rape and attempted rape, were statistically aggregated across 120 studies, involving over 100,000 subjects. According to the data, almost 13% of women and over 3% of men have been raped, and almost 5% of men claim to have perpetrated rape. In contrast, about 25% of women and men claim to have been sexually coerced and to have perpetrated sexual coercion. In general, the mediating variables examined--population type, decade, date of publication, and type of operationalization--were not consistently related to rates of victimization or perpetration. Nevertheless, the extensive variation among study estimates strongly suggests the possibility of systematic sources of variation that have yet to be identified. Further analyses are called for to disentangle such sources.     

Tax evasion and emotions: An empirical test of re-integrative shaming theory

Shaming can be either of two types, shaming that becomes stigmatization of the offender and favors his exclusion from the community, or shaming that is followed by forgiveness and reintegration of the deviant. Here we test experimentally these aspects of shaming theory with a repeated tax-payment game, in which the shaming “ritual” consisted of displaying the evader’s picture in addition to charging monetary sanctions. Results show that when cheating is made public and the contravener is not successively reintegrated, the total amount of cheating is significantly increased compared to when cheating is made public but publicity is immediately followed by reintegration. The former condition is associated with more intense negative emotions related to cheating. This suggests that the employment of a social shaming mechanism may be an effective, albeit very sensitive, tool in the hands of policy makers.     

Alcohol use and strenuous physical activity in college students: A longitudinal test of 2 explanatory models of health behavior

Objective: To help clarify the effect of gender on the bidirectional relationship between alcohol use and strenuous physical activity in college students. Participants: Five hundred twenty-four (52% female) college students recruited in August 2008 and 2009 and followed up in April 2009 and April 2011, respectively. Methods: Participants reported their alcohol use and strenuous physical activity on 2 occasions (baseline and follow-up) spaced approximately 1 or 2 years apart. Results: For females, alcohol use quantity at baseline was associated with increased strenuous physical activity at 1- and 2-year follow-ups, and alcohol use frequency at baseline was associated with decreased strenuous physical activity at 2-year follow-up. For males, alcohol use frequency at baseline predicted decreased strenuous physical activity at 1-year follow-up. Conclusions: Gender differences may be explained from an eating disorders perspective such that women use physical activity as a compensatory strategy to combat potential weight gain from calories consumed during alcohol use.     

An empirical test of competing hypotheses for the annuity puzzle

This paper conducts the first empirical test of numerous rational and behavioral hypotheses for the low annuity demand observed in private markets. We designed a questionnaire based on findings from economics and psychology, enabling us to simultaneously investigate a broad range of motives that presumably constitute the reluctance to buy annuities. To address the interdependence of financial product choice and domain-specific investor sophistication, we construct and employ a novel, comprehensive measure of “annuity literacy”. The results from a representative survey among German consumers reveal that both established rational and so far untested behavioral motives are significant barriers to annuitize wealth. Furthermore, the overall level of annuity literacy is rather low, with most respondents lacking knowledge of an annuity’s core mechanics. These findings disclose promising directions for annuity suppliers, policy makers, and researchers towards resolving the annuity puzzle.     

Positive and negative sexual cognitions: Subjective experience and relationships to sexual adjustment

Some individuals appraise their sexual cognitions negatively and/or experience negative affect in association with their sexual cognitions. However, sex researchers have tended to subsume different types of sexual cognitions under the term sexual fantasy and have assumed that these cognitions are positively experienced. The purpose of this study was to clarify past research on sexual‐cognitions by exploring the distinction between sexual cognitions that are perceived as positive by individuals and those that are perceived as negative. Two‐hundred and ninety‐two (148 women and 144 men) heterosexual undergraduate students completed a 56‐item positive and negative sexual cognition checklist along with measures of sexual adjustment. Results revealed that compared to negative sexual cognitions, positive sexual cognitions were associated with more positive affect, less negative affect, more frequent subjective general physiological and sexual arousal, and less frequent self‐reported upset stomach. In addition, positively experienced sexual cognitions were experienced as more deliberate and less intrusive, and were associated with less frequent attempts to control the thought, than were negative sexual cognitions. Further, while a higher frequency of positive sexual cognitions was related to better sexual adjustment for men and women, the frequency of negative sexual cognitions was not related to sexual maladjustment. Indeed, overall the results suggest that negative sexual cognitions have little to do with sexual adjustment. Together, these findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between positive and negative sexual cognitions in research.     

Employment-at-will: An empirical analysis

State courts differ on the employment-at-will doctrine. Most allow maximum employer discretion in employee dismissals, but a few have added significant protections against arbitrary termination of employment. Our hypothesis, tested via a probit model, is that this variation among states can be explained by a combination of statewide economic and demographic characteristics. The model correctly predicts the employment-at-will position of 47 of 50 states.     

Women's sexual working models: an evolutionary-attachment perspective

In three studies, we developed and validated a self-report measure of women's sexual working models. In a pilot study we created an initial version of the Women's Sexual Working Models Scale (WSWMS), administered it to an exploratory sample of 470 women, and identified its 5-factor structure. Study 1 confirmed the 5-factor structure in a new sample: (1) Fostering commitment; (2) Evaluating a sexual partner's suitability; (3) Promoting frequent sexual activity through positive affect; (4) Restricting sexuality through shamefulness; and (5) Negative emotions that signal incompatibility with relationship goals. In Study 2, 444 Israeli women completed the WSWMS. Confirmatory factor analysis provided cross-national evidence for the generalizability of the underlying factor structure of the WSWMS.     

An empirical test of a model of academic expectations among youth in residential care

In the last decade accumulating evidence across many countries points to the poor educational outcomes of youth formerly placed in care and their under-representation in higher education. Academic expectations in late adolescence are considered a key marker for educational attainments in young adulthood. Although these expectations were studied extensively, they have seldom been examined among youth in substitute care. The goal of the present research was to develop and test a model to predict academic expectations of Israeli adolescents placed in residential facilities. The study sample consisted of 1360 adolescents from 34 youth villages who responded to self-report questionnaires tapping their academic expectations, current academic achievements and various aspects of their family, school and facility's environment, expected to be associated with their academic expectations.Structural equation modeling indicated that parents' level of education was indirectly related to youths' expectations, an association mediated by youth's current academic achievements and parents' aspirations for their children's educational success. Higher levels of teacher and staff support were also found to contribute to higher academic expectations; however, whereas teacher support effects were mediated by youth achievements, staff support was found to have direct, as well as moderating effects, on achievement-expectations relationship.The findings suggest the importance of an integrative approach in the efforts to promote educational expectations among adolescents in residential facilities. Such an approach, encompassing the multiple adult functions responsible for youth development within such settings, could be an important step in enhancing the chances for future academic success of this vulnerable group.     

Capabilities and achievements: An empirical study

This paper contributes to the development of the capabilities approach by showing that capabilities can, counter prevailing wisdom, be measured. By operationalising the capabilities element of Sen's non-welfarist theory, the paper develops the data required by this novel approach to welfare economics and by exploring relations to life-satisfaction (happiness) it also examines new economic co-variates of experienced utility. A postal questionnaire is designed to examine elements of Sen's theory of capabilities and implemented on a random sample of English voters. Analysis of survey results includes ordinal logistic regression models of overall capabilities, rank correlations between own capabilities and views about the distribution of capabilities, rank correlations between capabilities and achievements and a set of ordered logit models explaining achievements as a function of corresponding capabilities. Furthermore, results show that it is possible to make statistically significant distinctions between different capabilities, that perceptions of others’ capabilities are sometimes related to own capabilities and that achievements appear, in general, to be related to corresponding capabilities. Finally, and in keeping with oft-found paradoxes in the happiness literature, an examination of co-variates suggests that satisfaction with capabilities might be negatively related to objective measures of opportunity.     

Union merger benefits: An empirical analysis

The incidence of union mergers is on the rise, yet the determinants of the benefits of merging have never been systematically addressed. This article reports the results of research which identifies and validates five dimensions of union merger benefits. The author thanks Gary Chaison, Bob Hinings, Royston Greenwood, Phil Kienast, John Butler, and an anonymous referee for their advice and assistance with the study.     

Contraceptive use patterns within females' first sexual relationships: the role of relationships, partners, and methods

This study used the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to assess whether characteristics of females' sexual partners, relationships, and choice of contraceptive methods were associated with contraceptive use patterns within their first sexual relationship. White, black, and Hispanic females under age 25 (N=915) provided retrospective information on sexual activity and contraceptive use for first sexual relationships that occurred between 1991 and 1995. Females with older sexual partners and with same race/ethnicity partners (among Hispanics) had reduced odds of ever using contraception and/or uninterrupted use. Longer sexual relationships were associated with higher odds of ever using contraception but lower odds of uninterrupted use. Females who were older at first sex, who used hormonal methods (among whites), or who switched to more effective methods during their first sexual relationships had higher odds of ever using contraception and/or uninterrupted use. In contrast, switching to less effective methods during a first sexual relationship was associated with reduced odds of uninterrupted use.     

Distributive justice revisited: A reconceptualization and an empirical test

Research on distributive justice has classified allocative standards into three distinct categories: equity, need, and equality. We empirically test the notion that equality should be further divided into two distinct constructs: absolute and bounded equality, thus leading to four distinct categories of distributive justice. Using a sample of 240 individuals (119 managers and 121 union activists), we further test for differences between managers and public and private sector unionists in their endorsement of these four standards. Results support all four of our specified hypotheses. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for distributive justice issues in the workplace, and future research directions are proposed. The authors thank John Delaney, Jean Phillips, and Linda Stroh for their comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

The unique relations between early homelessness and educational well-being: An empirical test of the Continuum of Risk Hypothesis

This study examined the Continuum of Risk Hypothesis by assessing the unique relations between early homelessness and educational outcomes while controlling for co-occurring risks. An integrated data system was used to account for multiple co-occurring early risk factors for an entire cohort of first grade students in a large urban school district and municipality (N = 8267). Multilevel linear regression models indicated that the presence of some co-occurring risk factors explained the relation between homelessness and academic engagement problems in school. However, after controlling for co-occurring risks, an experience of homelessness was found to be uniquely related to social engagement problems in first grade. These results support the Continuum of Risk Hypothesis and stress the importance of early intervention for children with an experience of homelessness to foster their social development.     

A test of uncertainty,expectations, and error response in two strike models

An information-uncertainty form of the Hicks strike model is used to test earlier work on the role of forecasts and uncertainty in determining strike activity. The expected zero coefficients for economic forecasts appear in preferred equations, but the expected positive coefficient for inflation uncertainty often appears as significantly negative. Alternative formulations and reasoning make the results appear somewhat more plausible. The performance of the Hicks model is contrasted with an updated Ashenfelter and Johnson model, which performs and predicts well without any untidy coefficients. Both models predict better than naive forecasting. Certain data and concept refinements are added to the testing of both analyses to bring them closer to the spirit of their models and to established research in wage determination and macroeconomics.     

The attraction to sexual aggression scale: Part two

In this second article of a two‐part series, data from three separate studies are presented supporting the reliability, discriminant, and construct validity of the Attraction to Sexual Aggression (ASA) scale. Higher scores on this scale were associated with attitudes supporting aggression against women, affective reactions to media portrayals of forced sex, physiological and self‐reported sexual arousal, hostility toward women, dominance motives, and antisocial personality characteristics. Based on data with low sexual aggressors, higher ASA scores were associated with greater similarity (on relevant dimensions) to high sexual aggressors, suggesting that ASA may help identify potentially sexually aggressive men at “risk” for future sexual coercion. However, caution in the use of such identification is urged. Finally, it is concluded that although the data support the usefulness of earlier work with self‐reported likelihood measures, the use of ASA is an improvement in this line of research. Directions for future development of this scale and research are also discussed.     

The challenges to intimacy and sexual relationships for gay men in HIV serodiscordant relationships: a pilot study

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and disease progression create imbalance in long-term, HIV-serodiscordant, gay male relationships, particularly in sexual relations and issues of physical and emotional intimacy. Stage of disease progression and worldview of the couple both affect the relationship and its survival. To redress imbalance, partners employ a range of coping strategies and techniques. This article explores these issues in the context of HIV serodiscordant gay couples and how they preserve their relationships in the face of these unique challenges. For workers who provide psychotherapeutic and community support for people with HIV and for their partners, the results of this study may be helpful in recognizing stress factors for couples, and tailoring support services to the needs of both partners. Overall, this study provides a basis for further work examining the dynamics of serodiscordant relationships.     

Gender and self-employment selection: An empirical assessment

This paper presents a unique assessment of the factors that influence men's and women's decisions to switch from wage employment to self-employment; virtually all studies of self-employment entry have heretofore focussed solely upon men. Using longitudinally matched data from the Current Population Survey, novel empirical patterns adduced here include: (1) the relatively strong, positive influence of fertility upon women's selection into self-employment; (2) the greater propensity of small business employees to switch to self-employment; and (3) the significant relationship between wage-sector occupation and predisposition to self-employment.     

税收、租金与治理:理论与检验

发展中国家和转型国家普遍面临着如何提高治理水平的难题。本文从财政社会学这一独特视角出发,研究了国家的财政收入汲取方式对治理水平的影响。作者首先梳理了财政社会学中存在的一个隐含的理论假设:只有税收国家才能实现好的国家治理。然后,运用非洲国家的面板数据,对这一假设进行了检验。研究发现,财政社会学的这一理论假设是成立的。一个国家税收国家的特征越强,其治理质量就越高;反之,税收国家的特征越弱,或者租金国家的特征越强,其治理质量就越低。这一发现对发展中国家包括中国的国家建设有着重要启示。