Unions,PAC contributions,and the NAFTA vote

Political action committees (PACs), especially those controlled by organized labor and business, have been shown to affect Congressional voting. We explore how PACs influenced the House of Representatives’ vote on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The NAFTA vote is analyzed because organized labor strongly opposed the treaty while business generally supported it and because of the straight-forward voting generated by its fast-track status. Probit analysis of a unique, unpublished data set containing information about PAC and non-PAC contributions to the 1992 House election campaigns demonstrates that Representatives who depended largely on labor PACs tended to oppose NAFTA, while Representatives who derived a large proportion of their campaign contributions from business PACs tended to favor its passage.     

Effects of sexually transmitted infection status, relationship status, and disclosure status on sexual self-concept

Research has indicated that having a sexually transmitted infection (STI) such as genital herpes and genital human papilloma virus (HPV) can have a negative impact on an individual's sexuality. The current study was designed to evaluate the effect of STI status, relationship status, and disclosure status on various dimensions of sexual self-concept. A questionnaire that evaluated the above variables was completed by 117 individuals with genital herpes, 82 individuals with HPV, and 75 individuals with no STI. The results demonstrated that having herpes or HPV had a significant negative impact on aspects of sexual self-concept. It does not appear that an individual's relationship status is a factor associated with the impact of having an STI on the sexual self-concept. Respondents who had disclosed their STI to their partners, however, had significantly more positive feelings about aspects of their sexual self-concept than those who had not disclosed their STI to their partners. The implications of these research findings for health practitioners are discussed.     

Effects of Sexually Transmitted Infection Status,Relationship Status,and Disclosure Status on Sexual Self-Concept

Research has indicated that having a sexually transmitted infection (STI) such as genital herpes and genital human papilloma virus (HPV) can have a negative impact on an individual's sexuality. The current study was designed to evaluate the effect of STI status, relationship status, and disclosure status on various dimensions of sexual self-concept. A questionnaire that evaluated the above variables was completed by 117 individuals with genital herpes, 82 individuals with HPV, and 75 individuals with no STI. The results demonstrated that having herpes or HPV had a significant negative impact on aspects of sexual self-concept. It does not appear that an individual's relationship status is a factor associated with the impact of having an STI on the sexual self-concept. Respondents who had disclosed their STI to their partners, however, had significantly more positive feelings about aspects of their sexual self-concept than those who had not disclosed their STI to their partners. The implications of these research findings for health practitioners are discussed.     

Immigration and expulsion of ECOWAS aliens in Nigeria

The immigration of ECOWAS (Economic Community of Western African States) citizens into Nigeria following the 1980 ECOWAS treaty on international migration is discussed. Consideration is given to international migration in Nigeria before and after the treaty, the effect of Nigeria's oil boom on immigration, and the impact of drought and war in other parts of Western Africa. Factors leading to the expulsion of ECOWAS aliens, and public response to the order, are also examined. Data are from official sources.     

Mastery,Homeownership, and Adult Roles During the Transition to Adulthood

We investigate the relationship between homeownership and personal sense of mastery in the transition to adulthood and examine whether three important adult transitions (employment, marriage/cohabitation, and parenthood) moderate the impact of homeownership on mastery. Utilizing the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth—Young Adult Sample (N = 1,609), we estimate change models to assess the direct effects of homeownership on mastery as well as whether this impact is modified by the transition to adult roles. Homeownership increases the sense of mastery among young adults. Homeowners who are unemployed paradoxically receive a boost to mastery not experienced by those who are employed, and homeowners who are parents experience increased mastery, compared to those who do not have children. Owning a home has a positive influence on young adults' sense of mastery during a period when their mastery is in flux and they are accumulating new roles.     

Bidirectional, unidirectional, and nonviolence: a comparison of the predictors among partnered young adults

In order to more fully understand the context and impact of intimate partner violence (IPV), it is important to make distinctions between different types of relationship aggression. As such, the current study longitudinally examines the differential effects of childhood, adolescent, and demographic factors on three different partner violence groups: those who experience bidirectional IPV, those who experience unidirectional IPV, and those who do not experience either form of IPV. Multinomial logistic regression results reveal that depressive symptoms and lower partner education predict bidirectional when compared to unidirectional IPV and nonviolence. In contrast, other risk factors such as illicit drug use are found to be predictors of unidirectional violence only, which reveals that the correlates of violence vary depending upon the type of IPV examined.     

Climate Change Policies in the Transitional Economies of Europe and Eurasia: The Role of NGOs

This article examines ratification of the Kyoto Protocol across 26 transitional economies of Europe and Eurasia for the period of 1998–2009; the period between the Kyoto Protocol and the 2009 Copenhagen meeting. The dependent variable measures whether or not the country has ratified the Kyoto Protocol in a given year. The key variable of interest is the strength of domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs). To account for the nascent stage of the NGO sector, I measure NGO strength as a “stock” and as a “flow” variable. Using an event-history model, I examine the impact of the NGO strength while controlling for other domestic-based and international drivers of treaty ratification. All time-variant independent variables are lagged by a year. My analysis suggests that the stock of domestic NGO strength is a significant predictor of the timing of ratification. Further, EU accession pressures, ratification levels in contiguous countries, and domestic economic cycle impact the timing of ratification of the treaty.     

UNEQUAL RISK: COMBAT OCCUPATIONS IN THE VOLUNTEER MILITARY

This study evaluates the characteristics of the men who served in the volunteer military in combat occupations. It examines whether these characteristics stem from supply-side or demand-side decisions, or reflect class bias. The findings suggest that, on the supply side, men who had greater academic abilities were more likely to go to college, thereby avoiding military service and the possibility of serving in a combat occupation. On the demand side, the armed forces were more likely to exclude men with lower academic abilities but were more likely to assign such men in the military to combat occupations. Net of the impacts of these supply-side and demand-side decisions, men who served in combat occupations still differed from those who did not in terms of their family background. The impact of family background was stronger on entering the military than on being assigned to combat occupations once in the military.     

Acculturation,Premigration Traumatic Experiences,and Depression Among Vietnamese Americans

Summary

This study investigated the role of acculturation as a potential mediator or moderator for premigration traumatic experiences (PTE) and depression. The mediator effect refers to an effect in which acculturation mediates the negative impact of PTE on depression. On the other hand, the moderator effect signifies an interaction effect in which acculturation buffers the impact of PTE on depression. In other words, the negative impact of PTE on depression is hypothesized to vary according to different levels of acculturation. These two competing hypotheses were tested in a community-based sample of 261 adult Vietnamese Americans aged 25 and over. The sample consisted of 48% males and 64% of the sample were married. The average length of residence in the U.S. was 7 years. Multiple regression analyses did not support the mediator effect of acculturation, but did support its moderator effect as a buffer of PTE. Specifically, PTE had a much stronger effect on depression among those with lower levels of acculturation than those with higher levels of acculturation. Implications for future research and clinical practices are discussed.     

Marital transitions, marital beliefs, and mental health.

In this paper, we examine whether people's beliefs about the permanence, desirability, and importance of marriage moderate the impact of marital transitions--including marital losses and gains--on depression, a disorder associated with both marital status and role transitions. Using two waves of panel data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 10,005), we find that a marital loss results in increased symptoms, whereas a marital gain results in decreased symptoms. We also find, however, that the negative effects of a marital loss are greater for people who believe in the permanence of marriage than they are for those who do not. Conversely, the positive effects of a marital gain are greater for people who believe in the desirability and importance of marriage than they are for those who do not. Our results highlight the potential utility of more systematically incorporating people's beliefs--and sociocultural factors more generally--into theory and research on the impact of stressors on mental health.     

UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF THE MOTHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIP ON SEX WORKERS’ DECISION TO ENTER AND LEAVE THE STREETS – LESSONS FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

This paper focuses on ‘streetwalkers’ and ‘street sex workers’ who are unlicensed sex workers not belonging to a brothel and subject to criminalization. They often face great stigmatization and are usually considered victims by service providers. Five Singaporean ex-streetwalkers (n = 5), who had left the streets for at least six months and were currently receiving or had previously received skills training at a social service agency, participated in this study. Using an agentic framework and social relational theory principles, this qualitative study explored the impact of streetwalkers’ relationship with their children on their decision to enter and leave the streets and reasons for their successful help-seeking experiences. Findings revealed them to be agents who actively used strategies to meet their goals and to sustain close relationships with their children. The mother–child relationship context was a key influence on their decision to enter and/or leave the streets. Social work practice implications include tailoring service delivery to tap into their agentic capacities and identity as mothers; research and training in provision of proactive social services in a non-judgmental manner to preserve the dignity of these women while meeting both their own and their children’s needs.     

CHARITABLE GIVING,EMOTIONS, AND THE DEFAULT EFFECT

We report an experiment to study the effect of defaults on charitable giving. In three different treatments, participants face varying default levels of donation. In three other treatments that are paired with the first three, they receive the same defaults, but are informed that defaults are thought to have an effect on their donation decisions. The emotional state of all individuals is monitored throughout the sessions using Facereading software, and some participants are required to report their emotional state after the donation decision. We find that the level at which a default is set has no effect on donations, and informing individuals of the possible impact of defaults also has no effect. Individuals who are happier and in a more positive overall emotional state donate more. Donors experience a negative change in the valence of their emotional state subsequent to donating, when valence is measured with Facereading software. This contrasts with the self‐report data, in which donating correlates with a more positive reported subsequent emotional state. (JEL C91)     

DEPRESSION AND THE SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF THE FULL-TIME HOUSEWIFE ROLE*

This article examines the determinants of depression among a sample of 528 married, white housewives residing in the southeastern U.S. The multiple regression analysis reveals that low total family income, dissatisfaction with family life and the housewife role, and few extra-familial social contacts are significantly associated with depression. A major finding is that the impact of social contacts in reducing depression is conditioned by the housewife's age and by children's residence in the home. Younger women and those with no children living at home benefit more from extra-familial social contacts than do older women and those who have children at home. The article concludes with a discussion of the impact of the social changes of the 1970s and early 1980s on the determinants of housewives' psychological well-being.     

NEW MEASURES OF THE COSTS OF UNEMPLOYMENT: EVIDENCE FROM THE SUBJECTIVE WELL‐BEING OF 3.3 MILLION AMERICANS

Using two large U.S. surveys, we estimate the effects of unemployment on the subjective well‐being (SWB) of the unemployed and the rest of the population. For the unemployed, the nonpecuniary costs of unemployment are several times as large as those resulting from lower incomes, while the indirect effect at the population level is 15 times as large. For those who are still employed, a one percentage point increase in local unemployment has an impact on well‐being roughly equivalent to a 4% decline in household income. We also find evidence indicating that job security is an important channel for the indirect effects of unemployment. (JEL E24, H23, J64, J68)     

Formation of Identity in Wartime El Salvador: Protective and Harmful Factors

In a qualitative study of the effects of war on identity in rural postwar El Salvador, 11 interviews from data collected 3 years after the war were analyzed for social and individual identity factors. Subjects had been adolescents during the civil war. Prolonged war experiences, especially for those who became combatants at a very early age, had a negative impact on identity formation. Those who had the greatest identity problems felt a deep sense of betrayal, abandonment, and/or a general lack of trust. This included those who felt betrayed by their group, which in war consisted of an armed political one.     

Does Financial Satisfaction Vary Depending on the Funding Strategy Used to Pay for College?

This study sought to determine whether the levels of financial satisfaction reported by college undergraduates and graduates differ in relation to whether they funded their college education by working or borrowing or a combination of the two. Data for this study came from a survey sample of full-time freshmen that formed the basis of a longitudinal study conducted at a large public university. Funding sources examined were grouped into those who worked only, those who borrowed only, those who worked and borrowed, and those who used grants, scholarships, or other sources of money to fund their college education. Compared to those who had student loans, those who had financed college with grants, scholarships, or other money (usually from family and/or friends) were more likely to report greater financial satisfaction than those who had used student loans to pay for college. There was evidence that this was only true during college rather than after college. The results obtained suggest that merely possessing a student loan may not necessarily decrease the level of financial satisfaction as many suspect, especially considering other funding alternatives such as working during college. While there was no significant impact of these funding strategies on financial satisfaction either during or after college, there was evidence for possible thresholds at which overall student loan balances may begin to erode financial satisfaction. The results obtained suggest that student loans may not decrease the level of financial satisfaction as much as many have suspected when compared with working to pay for college, as long as the amount of the student loan is not excessive, and is not accompanied by other types of debt (which also reduced financial satisfaction).

     

INFORMATION RIGIDITIES,INFLATION PERCEPTIONS,AND THE MEDIA: LESSONS FROM THE EURO CASH CHANGEOVER

The objective of theoretical models of information rigidities is to capture the fact that people are constrained in their ability to acquire and process all available information. Given that most people obtain their information about the economy from the media, press coverage of the economy may exert an influence on peoples' attitudes. This paper tests for this influence by examining consumers' inflation perceptions in the aftermath of the euro cash changeover, which serves as a natural experiment. Using a new data set, that quantifies the intensity and tone of media reports, we document that media reporting has had a statistically significant and economically meaningful impact on inflation perceptions and contributed to their sharp rise in the aftermath of the euro cash changeover and to the divergence between inflation perceptions and actual inflation rates. (JEL E53, D83)     

Gender, household labor, and psychological distress: the impact of the amount and division of housework.

Using a national longitudinal survey of a representative sample of 1,256 adults, I assess the impact of the amount of household labor performed and its division within the household on men's and women's depression levels, adjusting for prior mental health status. I test two alternative explanations of the contributions of household labor and the division of household labor to gender differences in depression: differential exposure and differential vulnerability. The results indicate that men's lower contributions to household labor explain part of the gender difference in depression. Inequity in the division of household labor has a greater impact on distress than does the amount of household labor. Employment status moderates the effect of the division of labor on depression. Among those who describe themselves as keeping house, depression was lowest for those who performed 79.8 percent of housework. In contrast, for those employed full-time the minimum level of depression occurs at 45.8 percent of the household labor. Men report performing 42.3 percent of the housework in their homes compared to 68.1 percent reported by women. Thus, on average women are performing household labor beyond the point of maximum psychological benefit, whereas men are not. Social support mediates the effects of the division of household labor. The only gender difference in effects occurred among those who are married, for whom social support was associated with lower levels of depression for women than men.     

The impact of respondent attentiveness on reliability and validity

This study aims to assess whether respondent inattentiveness causes systematic and unsystematic measurement error that influences survey data quality. To determine the impact of (in)attentiveness on the reliability and validity of target measures, we compared respondents from a German online survey (N = 5205) who had passed two attention checks with those who had failed. Our results show that inattentiveness induces both random and systematic measurement error, which impacts estimates of the reliability and validity of multi-item scales. In addition, we conducted a sensitivity analysis, which revealed that the impact of inattentiveness on analyses can be substantial.