Ancestry in the United States Census, 1980-1990

In the 1980 Census Americans were asked for the first time to report their ancestry. Unlike the question on race, an open-ended query was used for this purpose. The use of this type of question presumably allowed persons the freedom to report any ethnic group they wished (although some responses were disallowed by the Census Bureau). In 1990, when an open-ended question was asked a second time, the number and proportion of some groups in the population (e.g., English, French) showed marked declines, whereas for other groups (e.g., French Canadian, Slovak) remarkable increases occurred. This study analyzes the effect the wording of the census question in each period, in particular the listing of examples of ancestry groups, may have had on answers received. The results suggest that many respondents are influenced by the manner in which the Census Bureau lists ethnic groups.     

Adolescent girls’ race/ethnic status, identities, and drive for thinness

Using data from 7272 adolescent US girls, we explore how girls’ race/ethnic group status affects their bodyweight, perceptions of overweight, and weight control practices. We hypothesize that a girl’s race/ethnic status influences her basic identity which in turn prompts her to adopt or reject a “drive for thinness.” After controlling for family and peer support, school engagement, family SES, maturation, and family structure, we find that girls’ race/ethnic status influences their susceptibility to the thinness ideals of mainstream culture. African American girls weigh more than Asian, Hispanic, or White girls, but at any given weight they perceive themselves as overweight and attempt to control their weight less. Asian American and White girls invest most in thinness dynamics. Some evidence also suggests girls from lower SES families are less driven to be thin. Our results affirm the utility of viewing material bodies as “situations” that are experienced and interpreted in accord with identity group relations and dynamics.     

拉美左派缘何要加强与俄罗斯的关系

拉美左派执政后,左派政府与俄罗斯之间的关系发展迅速,双方合作的领域不断扩大,层次不断加深。拉美左派将俄罗斯视为抗衡美国霸权主义的重要战略支撑。加强与俄罗斯在政治、能源、军事和高科技等领域的合作,不仅能有效摆脱长期以来对美国的严重依赖,增强其独立性和抵御风险的能力,还能有效提升其在国际社会的地位和能源领域的话语权,促进其外交多元化战略的实施。     

School co-ethnicity and Hispanic parental involvement

Scholars of immigration disagree about the role ethnic communities play in immigrant families’ engagement in educational institutions. While some researchers argue that the concentration of disadvantaged ethnic groups may prevent meaningful engagement with schools, others argue that ethnic communities can possess resources that help immigrant families be involved in their children’s schooling. In this study we use a nationally representative dataset of Hispanic children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) to determine if the relative size of the Hispanic population in the school affects levels of their parents’ involvement in their education, as well as parents’ perceptions of barriers to their involvement. Our results suggest that a large Hispanic presence in a child’s school can help increase immigrant Hispanic parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling, but there are no benefits for US-born Hispanic parents, indicating that ethnic communities help immigrant families acculturate to American institutions.     

Are Interactional Behaviors Exhibited When the Self-Reported Health Question is Asked Associated with Health Status?

The self-reported health question summarizes information about health status across several domains of health and is widely used to measure health because it predicts mortality well. We examine whether interactional behaviors produced by respondents and interviewers during the self-reported health question-answer sequence reflect complexities in the respondent’s health history. We observed more problematic interactional behaviors during question-answer sequences in which respondents reported worse health. Furthermore, these behaviors were more likely to occur when there were inconsistencies in the respondent’s health history, even after controlling for the respondent’s answer to the self-reported health question, cognitive ability, and sociodemographic characteristics. We also found that among respondents who reported “excellent” health, and to a lesser extent among those who reported their health was “very good,” problematic interactional behaviors were associated with health inconsistencies. Overall, we find evidence that the interactional behaviors exhibited during the question-answer sequence are associated with the respondent’s health status.     

History,place, and racial self-representation in 21st century America

How is a person's racial self-representation related to the race history of the place in which he or she lives? We use Census Bureau data about race and ancestry to address this research question for two groups of people with mixed racial heritage: those reporting white and American Indian heritages, or reporting black and American Indian heritages. Links between history, place, and self-representation can be seen in geographic clustering for each race/ancestry response combination. We use multinomial logistic regression models to predict individuals' race/ancestry responses (e.g., white with American Indian ancestry versus white and American Indian races) using measures of local race history and the area's contemporary racial composition. Multivariate results highlight the relationship between a person's identity claims and the history of the area, net of contemporary area composition. Future research should attend to the history of the place as a potential contributor to contemporary patterns.     

拉美国家劳资关系规管及其对我国的启示

拉美国家在现代化进程中,对劳资关系的规制管理进行了一系列改革。各国采取的灵活的用工制度、限制工会组织、重置集体谈判权等改革措施,在促进经济市场化和劳动关系多元化发展的同时,也使政府对劳资关系的规制出现"缺位"、"错置"、甚至"负置"等问题。我国政府应借鉴其经验与教训,在劳资关系规管中改变单纯"劝架者"的角色,以良性劳资关系"建设者"的身份,积极探索建立规范有序、公正合理、互利共赢、和谐稳定的新型劳动关系的基本途径。     

Invisible norms? Statistics of racial polarization and consensus

Social scientists often arrive at opposite portrayals of American race relations, despite relying on identical data sources. Depending on their ideological predispositions, they either minimize or maximize remaining racial inequalities. The election of President Obama suggests that the reality of American race relations likely falls somewhere in between - but where?This paper applies a simple method of comparing racial gaps across domains on a shared metric. Results suggest that non-violence represents a shared norm rendered invisible by traditional data presentation formats that exaggerate existing ‘crime gaps.’ Other racial gaps are more substantial, e.g., in education, income, and race-related public opinion. However, even in these domains Black-White agreement (group concordance) tends to outweigh disagreement (group discordance). Exceptions are monetary reparations for slavery and presidential approval ratings of Obama. Thus, characterizations of America as ‘post-racial’ seem premature. However, given that racial equality (once achieved) will marked by group concordance and shared norms, equality measures should capture emerging commonalities in addition to remaining gaps.     

从拉美改革看我国社会主义和谐社会的构建

新自由主义主导下的拉关现代化改革进程出现了国民经济结构失衡、贫富悬殊、失业人口增多、生态环境恶化等一系列问题。拉美与我国同属发展中国家,都在积极探索自身发展模式,拉关国家在发展道路上的一系列经验教训,为我国构建社会主义和谐社会提供了重要启示。     

High political participation, high social capital? A relational analysis of youth social capital and political participation

Social capital has been alleged to increase the capacity for political mobilization. Yet, until now, the empirical debate has not succeeded in rendering a detailed account of the relationships between social capital and political participation partly because of the use of a reductive conception and operationalization of both concepts. Using a multidimensional and relational technique (multiple correspondence analysis) and a detailed youth survey data from Belgium, the article demonstrates that youth draw on diverse forms of social capital and that these forms vary along socio-economic status and ethnic origin. Six classes based on the forms of social capital were identified. Two of them - the ‘Committed’ and ‘Religious’ are highly political active. The ‘Committed’ Class, based on a diversified social capital, consists mainly of non-immigrant youth with a high socio-economic background undertaking a large diversity of political activities. The ‘Religious’ Class, based on a narrow social capital built around religious activities, is mostly composed of ethnic minority youth with a low SES involved in more specific political activities.     

Income inequality,distributive fairness and political trust in Latin America

In the wake of rising levels of income inequality during the past two decades, widespread concerns emerged about the social and political consequences of the widening gap between the poor and the rich that can be observed in many established democracies. Several empirical studies substantiate the link between macro-level income inequality and political attitudes and behavior, pointing at its broad and negative implications for political equality. Accordingly, these implications are expected to be accentuated in contexts of high inequality, as is the case in Latin America. Despite these general concerns about the consequences of income inequality, few studies have accounted for the importance of individual perceptions of distributive fairness in regard to trust in political institutions. Even less is known about the extent to which distributive fairness perceptions co-vary with objective indicators of inequality. Moreover, the research in this area has traditionally focused on OECD countries, which have lower indexes of inequality than the rest of the world. This study aims at filling this gap by focusing on the relevance of distributive fairness perceptions and macro-level inequality for political trust and on how these two levels interact in Latin American countries. The analyses are based on the Latinobarometer survey 2011, which consists of 18 countries. Multilevel estimations suggest that both dimensions of inequality are negatively associated with political trust but that higher levels of macro-level inequality attenuate rather than increase the strength of the negative association between distributive fairness perceptions and political trust.     

Ebony and Ivory? Interracial dating intentions and behaviors of disadvantaged African American women in Kentucky

Using data from 595 predominantly disadvantaged African American women in Kentucky, this study examines perceptions about racial/ethnic partner availability, cultural mistrust, and racism as correlates of interracial dating intentions and behaviors with both white and Hispanic men. Participants reported levels of dating intentions and behaviors were significantly higher with whites than Hispanics. The multivariate models indicate less cultural mistrust and believing it is easier to find a man of that racial/ethnic category were associated with higher interracial dating intentions. Women were more likely to have dated a white man if they believed it was easier to find a white man and had interracial dating intentions; however, interracial dating intentions was the only significant correlate of having dated a Hispanic man. Findings suggest a shrinking social distance between racial groups, broadening the MMPI for African American women; yet, the low levels of interracial relationships are likely driven by preferences of men.     

美国英语的特色

全球有近 30个国家和地区通用英语 ,有 10多亿人的母语或第二语言是英语。不同国家和地区的人们所讲的英语 ,带有一些本土的色彩和风格。美国英语尤其如此。从美国英语的一致性、词汇的多样性 ,以及某些读写差异为着眼点 ,对美国英语进行考察 ,并揭示其社会历史原因 ,为更多的人学习和掌握英语提供了便利条件。     

《凤眼》中亚裔美国酷儿的族裔性别身份困惑

亚裔美国男性酷儿群体由于其性取向和性本质,成为亚裔族群内部被隐藏、被消声、被压制的“耻辱”,但同时他们又因为“顺应”了美国白人主流文化中扭曲异化、女性化的亚裔男性的刻板形象而受到追捧。本文通过对美国华裔作家梁志英的短篇小说集《凤眼》的分析,揭示了亚裔美国男性酷儿们在面对来自美国主流社会的种族歧视与本族群内部的性别歧视的双重压力时对自身的族裔性别身份所产生的困惑,以及他们对如何确立正视自己的族裔性别身份所作的思考。     

中国与拉美的关系:以经济全球化为视角

随着经济全球化的不断深化,中国与拉美关系迅速发展,双方在经贸往来互利共赢、能源合作优势互补等方面表现出平稳、快速的发展态势。但同时,中拉贸易争端呈扩大化趋势,在双边关系中还存在台湾问题和美国因素的消极影响。在经济全球化背景下进一步提升中拉关系,应进一步增强官方和民间两个层面的了解和互信,坚持以经济外交促双边关系发展,并辩证地对待中美拉三边关系。这对于推动双方经济发展和世界和平稳定,对于建立公正合理的国际政治经济新秩序具有重大意义。     

He said, she said: The gender wage gap according to self and proxy reports in the Current Population Survey

Roughly half the labor force data in the Current Population Survey (CPS) are provided by proxy respondents, and since 1979, men’s reliance on proxies has dropped dramatically while women’s reliance on proxies has increased. Few authors, however, have examined how combining these first-hand and second-hand reports may influence our understanding of long-term economic trends. We exploit the outgoing rotation group structure of the CPS by matching individual records one year apart, and we find that self-reported wages are higher than proxy-reported wages even after controlling for all time invariant characteristics. Furthermore, we find that changes in the use of proxy respondents by men and women since 1979 have made current estimates of the gender wage gap larger than they would have been without changes in reporting status. This suggests that the gender wage gap has closed more than previously estimated. We recommend that researchers combine self and proxy responses with great care, especially when analyzing time trends or making gender comparisons.     

‘What about the couple?’ Interracial marriage and psychological distress

We explore the association between racial composition of couples—that is, whether they are interracial or homogamous—and the psychological distress of their members, as measured in a screening scale for non-specific psychological distress. We use a pooled 1997–2001 National Health Interview Survey sample of the married and cohabiting population of the United States. We compare the odds of distress for interracial vs. same race married/cohabiting adults. There are several key findings. Interracial marriage is associated with increases in severe distress for Native American men, white women, and for Hispanic men and women married to non-white spouses, compared to endogamous members of the same groups. Higher rates of distress are observed for intermarried persons with African American or Native American husbands or wives, and for women with Hispanic husbands. Lower socioeconomic status explains approximately half of the increased distress experienced by white women, while higher socioeconomic status partially suppresses increases in distress for Hispanic men and women.     

Meet the new boss…same as the old boss? Female supervisors and subordinate career prospects

Whereas prior research has focused on women’s access to managerial authority, an equally important question is the effect on subordinates’ careers when they report to a female boss. One line of thought suggests that female bosses act as change agents by fostering the careers of female subordinates, whereas the cog in the machine perspective suggests that female bosses either willingly or are constrained to promote men’s careers. Using data from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce, analytic models of subordinates’ perceived job-related support from supervisors and advancement prospects were developed. Results were consistent with the cog in the machine perspective in that in contrast to women, men received more job-related support and were more optimistic about their careers when they reported to a female supervisor. Yet, given the paucity of research on this topic, more research (especially longitudinal studies) is needed to fully understand how supervisors affect subordinates’ careers.     

Occupational stratification,job-mismatches,and child poverty: Understanding the disadvantage of Black immigrants in the US

This study examines the implications of occupational stratification and job mismatches for the welfare of children, using data from the 2005–2009 American Community Survey. The results show that Black children of immigrants have household heads that are more likely to have occupations with low SEI scores than children in US-born households. More importantly, they demonstrate that intersections between parental job-mismatches and employment in the bottom rather than upper levels of the occupational distribution have important implications for understanding poverty differences among children. Job mismatches within occupations with low SEI scores are associated with greater poverty risks among Black than White, Asian, or Hispanic children of immigrants. However, racial poverty disparities are considerably lower among children with household heads in the highest occupational strata.     

Choosing race: Multiracial ancestry and identification

Social scientists have become increasingly interested in the racial identification choices of multiracial individuals, partly as a result of the federal government’s new “check all that apply” method of racial identification. However, the majority of work to date has narrowly defined the population of multiracial individuals as the “biracial” children of single-race parents. In this article, we use the open-ended ancestry questions on the 1990 and 2000 5% samples of the US Census to identify a multiracial population that is potentially broader in its understanding of multiraciality. Relative to other studies, we find stronger historical continuity in the patterns of hypodescent and hyperdescent for part-black and part-American Indian ancestry individuals respectively, while we find that multiple-race identification is the modal category for those of part-Asian ancestry. We interpret this as evidence of a new, more flexible classification regime for groups rooted in more recent immigration. Our results suggest that future work on multiracial identification must pay closer attention to the varied histories of specific multiracial ancestry groups.