A Test of the False Positive Bias Hypothesis

An evaluation of the hypothesis that adolescent gamblers are biased toward the production of false positive responses proposed by Derevensky et al. was tested. The results of secondary analysis of available data supported the hypothesis for items on the South Oaks Gambling Screen and items from the DSM-IV screening instrument. The conclusions were presented as tentative in view of the modest sizes of the observed effects. A number of limitations to the analysis are also described.     

A Longitudinal Test of the Selective Exposure Hypothesis

Field research which supports the conclusion that mass mediacampaigns are ineffective has generally been difficult to interpretbecause of methodological limitations. Despite these limitations,the argument that individuals will expose themselves only toinformation which is consistent with their current attitudesis generally offered as an explanation for the negative results.The research reported here uses data from a public health massmedia campaign to test this selective exposure hypothesis. Usingthe variables of media campaign exposure, health knowledge,and health attitudes, the results indicate support for the effectivenessof the media campaign and little support for the selective exposurehypothesis.     

Letter Opinion on ERA: A Test of the Newspaper Bias Hypothesis

This paper compares letter opinion (opinions expressed in publishedletters-to-the-editor) with public opinion on ERA. Prior researchhas suggested that letter opinion is biased by atypical letterwriters or by newspaper editorial policies which are used toselect letters for publication. Drawing on a national sampleof 92 daily newspapers, no substantial difference between letteropinion and public opinion on ERA is detected. Little supportis found for the hypothesis that newspaper policies bias letteropinion.     

Parenting as a Dynamic Process: A Test of the Resource Dilution Hypothesis

In this paper, we tested the resource dilution hypothesis, which posits that, because parenting resources are finite, the addition of a new sibling depletes parenting resources for other children in the household. We estimated growth curve models on the self‐reported parenting practices of mothers using four waves of data collected biennially between 1994 and 2000 on a nationally representative sample of 2,082 Canadian children aged 2 to 5 at initial interview and in continuously intact, two‐biological‐parent households. Results showed that when new children were added to the household, mothers exhibited declines in positive interaction, but increased their levels of consistent parenting. Taken together, these findings suggested that parenting resources were reallocated, rather than diluted, when family size increased.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of Immigrant Occupational Mobility: A Test of the Immigrant Assimilation Hypothesis1

This article develops a model of the occupational mobility of immigrants and tests the hypotheses using data on males from the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia, Panel I. The theoretical model generates hypotheses regarding a U‐shaped pattern of occupational mobility from the “last job” in the origin, to the “first job” in the destination, to subsequent jobs in the destination, and regarding the depth of the “U.” The survey includes data on pre‐immigration occupation, the “first” occupation in Australia (at six months) and the occupation after about three‐and‐a‐half years in Australia. The hypotheses are supported by the empirical analysis.     

The Power of The Right Stuff: A Quasi-Experimental Field Test of the Docudrama Hypothesis

A field test of 966 moviegoers found that a significant numberof them were favorably influenced toward John Glenn's candidacyfor president by the film The Right Stuff. The docudrama reinforcedpositive images of Glenn and sustained those impressions fora longer than expected period.     

The Voluntary Facial Action Technique: A Method to Test the Facial Feedback Hypothesis

According to the facial feedback hypothesis, facial muscles do not only express emotions, they also have the ability to modulate subjective experiences of emotions and to initiate emotions. This study examined the voluntary facial action technique, where participants were instructed to react with the Zygomatic major muscle (smile) or the Corrugator supercilii muscle (frown) when exposed to different stimuli. The results demonstrate that the technique effectively induces facial feedback effects. Through use of this technique we further addressed three important areas of facial feedback and found, first, that facial feedback did not modulate the experience of positive and negative emotion evoking stimuli differently. Second, the modulating ability provided significant feedback effects, while the initiating ability did not. Third, an effect of feedback remained and could be detected even some time after the critical manipulation. It is concluded that the present technique can be used in the future study of facial feedback.     

Children's Perceptions of Mental Illness: A Partial Test of Scheff's Hypothesis*

Scheff's proposition that “stereotyped images of mental disorder are learned in early childhood” was tested in a study of seventy-five (75) elementary school children. Interviews indicate that children were familiar with simple concepts associated with mental illness, i.e., crazy, nuts, and cuckoo, but that few children knew more sophisticated terms or psychiatric labels. The children tended to see the concepts they were familiar with in terms of residual norm violations, which partially supports Scheff's hypothesis. Contrary to Scheff's expectations, however, adults were most frequently cited as primary agents of socialization and other children were rarely cited as sources of information. The children viewed media as less important than suggested by Scheff in providing images of mental illness and violence. The data suggest, contrary to the proposition tested, that elementary school-age children have amorphous conceptions of psychiatric deviance and findings in this study raise questions regarding the widespread applicability of the labeling perspective to pre-adolescent children.     

More Kin,Less Support: Multipartnered Fertility and Perceived Support Among Mothers

Recent research has documented the high prevalence of having children with more than 1 partner, termed multipartnered fertility. Because childbearing is an important mechanism for building kin networks, we theorize that multipartnered fertility will influence the availability of social support for mothers. Analyzing 3 waves of data from the Fragile Families study (N = 12,259), we find that multipartnered fertility is negatively associated with the availability of financial, housing, and child‐care support. Our longitudinal evidence suggests a bidirectional relationship in which multipartnered fertility reduces the availability of support, and the availability of support inhibits multipartnered fertility. We conclude that smaller and denser kin networks seem to be superior to broader, but weaker kin ties in terms of perceived instrumental support.     

Financial Assistance Patterns from Midlife Parents to Adult Children: A Test of the Cumulative Advantage Hypothesis

Young adults may receive financial assistance from midlife parents as they experience life course transitions often associated with establishing independent status, such as schooling, marriage or gaining full-time work. We used longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (1992–2002) and hypothesized that adult children in the United States who received repeated financial transfers from midlife parents experienced cumulative advantages across time. We also examined the data using parental household characteristics to reinforce the importance of previous transfer behaviors. We found that the receipt of prior transfers, family structure and parental household income were the strongest determinants of the odds that parents gave financial assistance to adult children as both generations aged. The findings also supported the cumulative advantage theory due to the larger likelihood of continued transfers.     

Social Capital,Economic Hardship,and Health: A Test of the Buffering Hypothesis in Transition and Nontransition Countries

Social capital is positively associated with a number of health outcomes, and it is theorized that social capital serves as a “buffer” during economic hard times, reducing the negative quality of life impacts of economic hardship. Using self-rated health as the outcome variable, we test whether social capital modifies the effect of economic hardship in a sample of 35 transition and non-transition countries and multilevel ordinal logistic regression models that interact social capital with economic hardship variables. Overall, we find consistent evidence that social capital improves health but our analyses do not suggest that social capital conditions the effect of economic hardship. Hence, social capital does not appear to act as “buffer” during trying economic times. We suggest that more research is needed to truly understand how social capital improves health.     

Social Feedback and Self‐Appraisals: Current Status of the Mead‐Cooley Hypothesis

Mead and Cooley propose that feedback from significant others provides the basis for individuals' self‐appraisals. I review research regarding (a) associations between others' judgments and individuals' self‐appraisals; (b) when others express or withhold feedback; and (c) when individuals accept or reject feedback. Research shows that others' judgments and self‐appraisals are moderately associated, though self‐ratings correspond more to perceived than to actual views by others and influences are multidirectional. Others' expressions of feedback vary across situations, depending in part on closeness of relationships and the sender's emotions. Peoples' tendencies to accept or reject feedback also vary by closeness, emotional reactions, and feedback valence. I conclude by evaluating the current status of the Mead‐Cooley perspective.     

Black Minority Racial Status and Fertility in the United States, 1970

Abstract

Reversal in the trend toward convergence of black and white fertility rates in the United States between 1940 and 1970 has given rise to the theory of independent effect of minority racial status. The 1970 Public Use Sample is used in this study to extract data on a 1/1000 sample of all black and white women (excluding Spanish Americans) ages 15 to 59 in order to analyze relationships between fertility and other census variables. The results tend to support the theory of independent effect of minority racial status on fertility. The relationship is more pronounced for women under 35 than for women 40 and over. Distinctive patterns emerge by race and age cohorts.     

Nonverbal Reactions to Conversational Interruption: A Test of Complementarity Theory and the Status/Gender Parallel

The present research examined nonverbal reactions to conversational interruption (a status-organizing cue). We predicted that the nonverbal reactions to interruption (versus a control condition) would show a different pattern of results than gender differences. Participants (N = 150) were paired with one of four confederates and randomly assigned to either an interruption or control condition. Nine nonverbal behavioral reactions were coded by independent raters. Participants responded to interruption with reciprocal interruptions and increased nodding, as compared to a control condition. Gender differences diverged from those associated with condition. Women smiled, agreed, nodded, and laughed more than men, showing evidence of a greater attempt to facilitate the flow of conversation. We discuss these findings with regard to the dimensions of affiliation and verticality.     

Women's Status,Fertility Decline,and Women's Health in Developing Countries: Direct and Indirect Influences of Social Status on Health

Abstract In the present three‐wave study of 72 developing countries, we use growth curves to examine how changes in fertility and level of fertility mediate the effect of women's social status on women's health as measured by infant mortality, maternal mortality, and female life expectancy. We find that level of female education, average age at marriage, and the percentage of married women using contraceptives influence attained level of fertility, with controls for economic growth and dependency status. Change in fertility, however, is predicted only by average age at marriage and by level of education. Change in fertility, in turn, predicts improvement in all three women's health indicators, while the level of fertility predicts improvement in maternal mortality and infant mortality. In addition to the mediating effects of fertility, both age at marriage and education contribute directly to reduced level of infant mortality; level of primary education contributes directly to reduced levels of maternal mortality; and use of contraceptives contributes directly to improvement in female life expectancy. These findings provide strong evidence that women's social status makes direct contributions to women's health which cannot be attributed to economic growth, dependency status, and/or the mediating effects of level and change in fertility. The policy implication for developing countries is that greater gains can be made in women's health, particularly maternal health, by improving women's social status, especially in rural areas.