Professionals' attitudes to children's participation in decision-making: dichotomous accounts and doctrinal contests

The attitude of professionals to the involvement of children in decision-making is unclear. This paper discusses a recent research study that utilized qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the views of professionals working in family support and child protection about two different aspects of children's participation in decision-making: the age at which children should make decisions and whether or not they should be involved in child protection conferences. The results showed that social workers tended to favour one of two diametrically opposed viewpoints about the age at which young people should make decisions and then in discussions with colleagues they sought to persuade others to change their perspective. Social workers who believed that young people should not make decisions until much older nevertheless thought that they should be involved in conferences whereas non-social workers did not make this distinction: for them, children who were not old enough to make decisions for themselves should not be involved in conferences. The results are discussed in the light of some of the implications for practice. The paper concludes by outlining how the results informed the design of a training pack commissioned by the Department of Health concerning the involvement of young people.     

Sex differences in attitudes toward driving: A survey

A survey of a convenience sample of 198 students at the University of Texas at El Paso was used to determine if sex differences in attitudes toward the task of driving could be detected. Males reported more behaviors than females that would put them at higher risk of collision—like driving under the influence and in vehicles with high centers of gravity. In addition, men expressed more comfort than women for driving at night, in unfamiliar territory and in bad weather. There was also some evidence of higher driving exposure for males than females. Women were more likely than men to report compliance with traffic regulations: using turn signals and obeying speed limits. Overall, it appears than men have more confidence in their driving skills than women. This confidence of males may reflect more of a belief in their superior driving skills rather than any disregard for the risks involved in operating a motor vehicle.     

Euthanasia on trial: examining public attitudes toward non-physician-assisted death

This study investigated the influence of various contextual effects on the decisions of subjects evaluating a case of nonphysician-assisted suicide. Subjects viewed a videotaped deposition of an individual emotionally or nonemotionally describing how he assisted in the death of his terminally ill wife by disconnecting her respirator or shooting her in the head. The deposition was followed by jury instructions that outlined the duties of the subject and, in some cases, was followed by a nullification instruction that informed the subjects of their right to ignore the law in this case if they felt it would culminate in an unfair verdict. After viewing the videotape, subjects were asked to rate the guilt of the individual as well as their confidence in this rating. Results indicate that the means of death and the type of instruction significantly affect guilt ratings. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Xenophobia and immigrant contact: French public attitudes toward immigration

How does the presence of immigrants in a local community affect xenophobic attitudes? Does contact with immigrants ameliorate or exacerbate anti-immigrant attitudes among citizens? Synthesizing public opinion, economic, and demographic data from France, we test hypotheses concerning the relationship between the presence of immigrant populations and xenophobic sentiments. Supportive of the contact theory, we find that larger immigrant populations decrease xenophobic attitudes. This finding challenges much of the country-level research on immigrant concentration and xenophobia and offers some hope for those who are concerned about the rise of xenophobia and the radical right in the midst of diverse European polities.     

Parents at‐risk and their children: intersections of gender role attitudes and parenting practices

Existing research demonstrates that parent and child gender may influence important aspects of family relationships; however, most research in this area has been conducted with non‐clinical samples. As clinicians, it is important to consider how gender impacts family relationships, particularly among vulnerable families. This study examined the intersections of gender role attitudes and parenting practices among 34 parents involved with the child welfare system and referred for clinical intervention. Using a mixed methods design, themes regarding gender role beliefs and parenting practices were found through qualitative interviews with parents. Findings suggested that fathers felt responsible for financially providing for their families and expressed challenges in communicating with mothers, and mothers described challenges they face because of a lack of father involvement. Parents also discussed a perceived need to monitor daughters closely while fostering the independence of their sons. Results of the qualitative analyses were supported by quantitative findings indicating significant differences in harsh and inconsistent discipline practices and clear expectations for girls compared to boys. The discussion addresses implications for clinicians, including how a feminist family therapy perspective may help promote client influence over traditional gender norms by questioning gender role attitudes and exploring alternate narratives that may impact family dynamics.     

Gender role attitudes and attitudes to abortion: Are there gender differences?

This study examines gender differences in gender role attitudes and attitudes to abortion in a sample of 141 undergraduate students. Religion and religiosity were treated as covariates. Using the short version of Spence and Helmreich's (1978) Attitudes to Women Scale (AWS) taken from Spence and Hahn [Spence, J. T., & Hahn, E. D. (1997). The Attitudes Toward Women Scale and attitude to change in college students. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 17–34] and the abortion attitudes scale developed by Stets and Leik [Stets, J. E., & Leik, R. K. (1993). Attitudes about abortion and varying attitude structures. Social Science Research, 22, 265–282], we found that females have more liberal attitudes to women and show stronger approval for women's autonomy in abortion decision-making. Given the low internal consistency of this three-item subscale, responses to the individual items were analyzed. More males than females feel that the father should have the right to prevent the mother from having an abortion. Most of the students indicate that the woman should have to tell the father before having an abortion and most disagree that the abortion is entirely a woman's decision. There were no gender differences on the moral acceptability and availability subscales. The overall results reflect somewhat conservative attitudes to women, and seemingly contradictory findings on the abortion issue in this sample of university students. Although they endorse the availability of abortion, at the same time they find it morally unacceptable and show weak support for women's autonomy in this decision. The implications of these findings for the advancement of women's rights in this country are discussed.     

College students’ attitudes toward abortion and commitment to the issue

Male and female participants were surveyed on abortion attitudes, commitment, and abortion experience. Results revealed a normal distribution of abortion attitudes rejecting the notion that the vast majority of the sample would have significantly pro-choice views. No significant difference was found in overall abortion attitudes of males vs. females, however, individuals with direct abortion experience were found to have significantly stronger pro-choice attitudes than individuals without direct abortion experience. Overall, college students reported a moderate degree of commitment to the issue of abortion. Females were significantly more committed than males, individuals with direct abortion experience were significantly more committed than individuals without direct abortion experience, and individuals with more extreme abortion attitudes were significantly more committed than those with weaker, more ambivalent, attitudes. No significant difference was found in level of commitment between pro-choice and pro-life individuals.     

Economic consequences of Nth-degree risk increases and Nth-degree risk attitudes

We study comparative statics of Nth-degree risk increases within a large class of problems that involve bidimensional payoffs and additive or multiplicative risks. We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for unambiguous impact of Nth-degree risk increases on optimal decision making. We develop a simple and intuitive approach to interpret these conditions : novel notions of directional Nth-degree risk aversion that are characterized via preferences over lotteries.     

Incomplete risk attitudes and random choice behavior: an elicitation mechanism

Theory and Decision - In the presence of incomplete risk attitudes, choices between noncomparable risky prospects are random. A random choice model advanced by Karni (Incomplete preferences and...     

Socioeconomic status,perceived inequality of opportunity,and attitudes toward redistribution

Previous research suggests that an individual’s socioeconomic status (SES) is negatively associated with attitudes toward redistributive policies. The objective of this study is to examine whether the relationship between an individual’s subjective SES and his or her attitudes toward redistribution is contingent upon perceptions of inequality of opportunity. A series of multilevel analyses was performed using data from 28 countries from the 2009 International Social Survey Program (ISSP). Results revealed that the relationship between individual SES and attitudes toward redistribution was weaker among individuals who more strongly believed that success lies beyond the control of individuals. Shared perceptions of inequality of opportunity at the country level were also significant. The relationship between SES and attitudes toward redistribution was weaker in countries with higher levels of public perceptions of inequality of opportunity. In conclusion, people commensurately support redistribution policies (even contrary to their own self-interest) as they recognize the significance of inequality of opportunity. The greater the support among people for redistribution against their self-interest, the weaker the social cleavage in attitudes toward redistribution across different SES strata, and the higher the overall level of support for redistribution in society.     

The Coingate effect: The impact of scandal on attitudes toward,state and federal political actors

What happens when a major, well publicized state-level scandal occurs? Do opinions of federal politicians improve because of relative comparisons to state politicians caught in the scandal? Do attitudes toward all politicians suffer? Little work has been done to investigate about how scandals related to one level of government affect attitudes about political actors at other levels. We investigate what happens when a major and well publicized state-level scandal occurs. Using individual-level public opinion data collected during the summer of 2006, we analyze the impact that a state-level scandal had on citizen approval of state and federal political actors, considering the mediating impact of exposure to media coverage of the scandal. Overall consumption of news coverage of state governors boosts approval of the governor relative to the president. At the same time, however, citizens exposed to negative scandalous news coverage of their governor show a decline in relative gubernatorial approval.     

The impact of ethnicity on attitudes toward health care reform in New Mexico

Latinos tend to have significantly lower levels of access to general and top quality medical care than do non-Latino whites, and although disparities in access to health care have diminished for all other minority groups over time, they have widened for Latinos. Given these trends, current attempts to provide universal health care at both the national and state levels across the United States have large implications for the health status of Latinos. The objective of this analysis is to determine whether Latinos have different attitudes regarding health reform than non-Latino whites. Our data are from a statewide random digit dialing telephone survey of New Mexico residents, age 18 and older, conducted in the Fall of 2007. With a Latino population of 44% and ongoing health care reform efforts by the state legislature, New Mexico is an ideal location for this analysis. After controlling for a host of individual level factors, our findings suggest that while Latinos are less likely to identify health care as a salient state issue relative to the economy and crime, they are more likely than non-Latino whites to believe affordable health care programs are important. Finally, Latinos view employers, more than government or individuals, to be responsible for expanding health care coverage.     

Allais for the poor: Relations to ability,information processing,and risk attitudes

This paper complements evidence on the Allais paradox from advanced countries and educated people by a novel investigation in a poor rural area. The share of Allais-type behavior is indeed high and related to indicators of “lacking ability,” such as poor education, unemployment, and little financial sophistication. Based on prospective reference theory, we extend these characteristics by biased processing of probabilistic information. Finally, we reveal that Allais-type behavior is linked to risk-related characteristics, such as risk tolerance and optimism. This indicates a potential problem as exactly the more dynamic among the poor tend to make inconsistent decisions under uncertainty.     

Preferences for information on probabilities versus prizes: The role of risk-taking attitudes

Many real-world decisions entail choices between information on either probabilities or payoffs (i.e., prizes). Simplified versions of such decisions are examined to gain insight into preferences for different types of information as a function of risk-attitudes. General and simple decision rules are derived for cases where the utility function is concave (or convex) over the relevant payoff interval.The article further describes several experiments to test business students' intuitions concerning these optimal decision rules. In general, risk-taking attitudes did not correlate significantly with subjects' preferences for information, in violation of theorems regarding mean-preserving spreads of risk. Other tests, e.g., narrowing certain probability ranges, also resulted in preferences contrary to expected utility (EU) theory.