Why do women interact with their parents more often than men? The demonstration effect vs. the biological effect

Neuroscientists have shown that females are biologically more caring than males. In this paper, two empirical strategies are applied to examine the validity of using gender difference as the evidence for the argument. The first approach is to compare visits to parents between single females and single males. The second approach is to investigate whether females evaluate children as old-age security to render them more important in their lives. The conclusions of these two approaches do not support the position.     

Reply to comment on “Why do women interact with their parents more often than men? The demonstration effect vs. the biological effect”

In this research note, I argue that none of the claimed empirical evidence of the demonstration effect is causal. The demonstration effect is one of many unobserved motives behind intergenerational interactions. It is extremely difficult to single out the demonstration motive from these unobserved motives. In the real world, it remains a challenge to prove the demonstration effect.     

Why and how do parents decide to adopt? A study on motivations and the decision-making process in becoming an adoptive family

There are several motives underlying the process of deciding to become an adoptive family. However, research exploring this issue is scarce and essentially focused on infertility as the main motivation. The present mixed-method study aims to fill in this gap by exploring, retrospectively, the motives to adopt of 126 Portuguese adoptive parents. The Parents' Interview on the Adoption Process was used to identify the motives to adopt and describe the adoption decision-making process. Seven main motives (biological issues, filling in a void/loneliness, adoption as a life project, expanding the family, philanthropy, contact with the child protection system and parenthood) were identified. These motives can be centred on the self, the child or both simultaneously and are characterized by dynamism, permeability and interconnection. Findings allowed for establishing conceptual considerations on motivations to adopt and recommendations for adoption practice.     

Comment on Pommerehne et al., “concordia discors: Or: What do economists think?”

Conclusion Why do Pommerehne and associates apparently overlook the point that both their hypothesis and data contain elements which are not compatible? Their findings in fact might be interpreted as contradictory to a human capital explanation for the behavior of their sample of economists. Kuhn (1970) would propose that mainstream economics has provided a set of assumptions to place over these findings that allows a neo-classical interpretation. However, the human capital theory does not address the contradictions in the data they gathered. As Berger and Luchman (1966, pp. 62–63) would conclude, institutionalization may take place in any area of relevant conduct to provide a corresponding canopy of legitimations, stretching over a protective cover of both cognitive and normative interpretation. Once again, the institutionalization of mainstream science has been successful in suppressing alternative assumptions that could explain the data more adequately and with greater consistency.We conclude that the paper by Pommerehne and associates contains shortcomings of theorizing and method. Likewise we conclude that a theoretical formulation which takes into account the normative and therefore the cultural factors of science will provide an explanation of the opinion and behavior of economists more in keeping with their empirical findings than one based on self-interest alone.     

Endowment effects? “Even” with half a million on the table!

In the television show Deal or No Deal, a contestant is endowed with a sealed box containing a monetary prize between one cent and half a million euros. In the course of the show, the contestant is offered to exchange her box for another sealed box with the same distribution of possible monetary prizes inside. This offers a unique natural experiment for studying endowment effects under high monetary incentives. We find evidence of only a weak endowment effect when contestants exchange their box for another box with the same distribution of possible prizes.     

The transfer of arms and the diffusion of democracy: do arms promote or undermine the “third wave”?

The post–Cold War world has witnessed a proliferation of countries governed by democratic rule. Consequently, optimism has arisen about the prospects for the spread of freedom along with democratic peace and prosperity. Along these lines, many democratic countries have made the active promotion of democracy an explicit goal and a condition for third world countries’ assistance. However, such intentions may be threatened by the ever-present arms trade. Not only do arms transfers play a key role in the foreign policies of many democratic countries, but many developing countries continue to purchase arms from abroad at a steady rate. From the perspective of the developing recipients, this study seeks to empirically assess the impact of the arms trade on democratization. To this end, this paper utilizes an exploratory data technique, locally weighted scatterplot smoother (LOWESS) to examine data for developing countries between 1982 and 1992. By exploring graphically the patterns and distributions revealed by these indicators, the implications of the international arms trade for the spread of democracy are assessed.     

“Identity Crisis” and National Security——A Comment on Samuel P. Huntington’s Who Are We?

Post-Cold War realities indicate that the "identity crisis" poses a new challenge to national security. It is against this background that Huntington's new book Who Are We? brings to light the relationship between national security and the "subnational" and "transnational" identities brought about by immigration from the perspective of identity and an examination of the realities of "national identity crisis." Huntington is convinced that the present era is one of "global identity crisis" and that the dual identity, dual loyalty and dual citizenship that come with the American social mosaic created by immigrants intensify the weakening of the sense of "national identity" among America's citizens.     

The Forerunner of the Yellow Turban Uprising and Its Relationship with Shamanism and Primitive Daoism─Also on “Yellow Turban”and “Yellow God Yuezhang”

TheoriginofDaoismisacomplicatedproblem.Muchhasbeenwrittenonit.Withthehelpofunearthedancientrelics,thisarticleexaminestheproblemfromaparticularperspective,namelytherelationshipofprimitiveDaoismduringtheEasternHandynastytotheshamans(wu)andshamanism(wushu)popularatthetime.OnecannotdenytheinfluenceofbookssuchasTaipingqinglingshu,Taipingjing,andothersupontheformationofprimitiveDaoism.Butthesebooksonlyreflectthethoughtoftherulers,fundamentallydifferentfromtheprimitiveDaoismthatstenunedfromthepeo…     

“Are We Doing Fine?” The Views on Poverty Reduction Strategies Among Front-Line Workers in the Field of Social Assistance in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This research highlights the views of front-line workers in the social assistance system in Turkey about the strategies of poverty reduction and the effectiveness of the assistance given by Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations (SASFs) to the poor. The data were gathered from 33 employees from the 8 SASF offices in Ankara, Turkey. The results show that the majority of the participants agree with governmental efforts to create employment opportunities as the most important method. Although the participants felt the services they provided were effective at the individual and family level, they thought such services were extremely insufficient in terms of poverty reduction on a macro scale. The findings were discussed within the framework of the changing nature of poverty and the recent agenda on poverty reduction in Turkey. Future research based upon larger samples from different parties in the field of social assistance is needed to fully determine the positions taken by the agents.