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.     

II. The influence of differences in age,sex, and intelligence in determining the attitudes of siblings toward each other 1

This article explores the relational process in a long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy case of a patient with binge eating disorder and the subsequent impacts on treatment when the therapist also struggles with disordered eating. This in-depth case study seeks to examine the reciprocal influence of the subjectivities experienced by the patient and therapist on the formation, maintenance, and quality of the therapeutic relationship and the course of treatment. Drawing on intersubjective theory, a narrowed focus on transference/countertransference dynamics seeks to examine the complexities of a relational approach in the treatment of binge eating disorder. A review of the literature suggests that an exploration of this dimension of treatment breaks new clinical ground and serves to provide more specified and nuanced perspectives for clinicians treating this population. Several clinical vignettes are provided to illustrate the concepts under examination. The use of case composites and thick disguise of patient information has been used to protect confidentiality in this analysis.     

Developmental differences in baserate estimates of social behaviors and attitudes

This study examined the development of baserate estimation skills for everyday social events and attitudes. Subjects in grades one, three, and six responded to questions concerning their own rates of behavior and attitudes, and their estimates of baserates of behaviors and attitudes for their classmates. The findings indicate a general increase in accuracy for the estimation of baserates throughout the elementary school years. In addition, younger subjects were less likely to make similar estimates for themselves and their classmates than were older respondents. Developmental changes in estimation accuracy are discussed in relation to task content, use of the response scale, correspondence between self-reports and estimates, and sample variability.     

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.     

Public attitudes toward policies related to labor migrants in Israel

This paper focuses on determinants of public attitudes in Israel toward two policy questions. First, should immigration policy measures be more restrictive toward overseas labor migrants? Secondly, should overseas labor migrants be replaced with Palestinian workers? Based on an attitudinal survey administered to a representative sample of the Israeli population, the findings indicate that support for a restrictive immigration policy is quite prevalent among Israelis. However, the survey reveals only moderate consent for replacing overseas labor migrants with Palestinian commuters. Attitudes toward a restrictive immigration policy are explained by the perceived threat posed by overseas labor migrants to social and economic interests. This threat is explained by the respondents’ socio-economic characteristics. Attitudes toward the replacement policy are partially explained by the sense of threat to the Jewish character of the state posed by overseas migrants, but are also attributed to several personal characteristics. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

The effects of gender role stereotypes on political attitudes

Public attitudes toward women may be understood in terms of two dimensions: inferiority and indifference. Some people (both men and women) believe that women are inferior to men, whereas others believe that the sexes are merely different. Factor analysis of the NORC General Social Survey shows that the inferiority stereotype explains political attitudes better than the difference stereotype.     

Relationships between attitudes toward women's roles in society,and work and life values

This exploratory study examined the relationships between attitudes toward women's roles in society, as measured by the six sub-scales on ward Women Scale (AWS: Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. L. (1972). The Attitudes Towards Women Scale: An objective instrument to measure attitudes towards the rights and roles of women in contemporary society. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 2(66)) and 20 work and life values, as measured by the Life Roles Inventory-Values Scale (LRI-VS: Macnab, D., Fitzsimmons, G., & Casserly, C. (1985). Administrator's manual for the Life Roles Inventory Values and Salience. Edmonton, AB: PsiCan Consulting). It was hypothesized that more liberal attitudes toward women's roles in society would be associated with higher scores on the social, personal and individual values. Results from a sample of 89 management and health sciences undergraduates generally supported the hypothesis.     

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.     

Religion and attitudes toward same-sex marriage among U.S. Latinos

Objectives. This study examines links between multiple aspects of religious involvement and attitudes toward same-sex marriage among U.S. Latinos. The primary focus is on variations by affiliation and participation, but the possible mediating roles of biblical beliefs, clergy cues, and the role of religion in shaping political views are also considered.Methods. We use binary logistic regression models to analyze data from a large nationwide sample of U.S. Latinos conducted by the Pew Hispanic Forum in late 2006.Results. Findings highlight the strong opposition to same-sex marriage among Latino evangelical (or conservative) Protestants and members of sectarian groups (e.g., LDS), even compared with devout Catholics. Although each of the hypothesized mediators is significantly linked with attitudes toward same-sex marriage, for the most part controlling for them does not alter the massive affiliation/attendance differences in attitudes toward same-sex marriage.Conclusions. This study illustrates the importance of religious cleavages in public opinion on social issues within the diverse U.S. Latino population. The significance of religious variations in Hispanic civic life is likely to increase with the growth of the Latino population and the rising numbers of Protestants and sectarians among Latinos.     

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.     

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.     

Postretirement earnings relative to preretirement earnings: gender and racial differences

As the social security program comes under increasing financial pressure in the coming decades, the federal government will encourage elderly people to continue to work. Data from the Social Security Administration indicate that earnings are already a sizable component of retirement income. But there is public concern about how women and minorities will fare economically in this changing policy environment. To what extent can women and minorities keep earning money after they reach retirement age? This article presents the results of a study that investigated the postretirement earnings, relative to the preretirement earnings, of women and minorities, and compared the results with those for men and whites. The major finding, based on regression analyses, was that women's postretirement earnings, relative to their preretirement earnings, were greater than those of men. Furthermore, the regression results indicate that nonwhites' postretirement earnings could not be predicted by their preretirement earnings or by any of the independent variables used in the study, including age, gender, education, marital status, number of children, occupation, and preretirement earnings.     

Youth unemployment and mental health – gender differences and economic stress

This article accounts for a study among 81 unemployed people under 25 years of age and 143 youth trainees in a small municipality in central Sweden. The results show an explicit relationship between unemployment and mental ill health among young people. One unemployed man of four and every second unemployed woman feels that the mental well-being grew worse when they became unemployed. The opposite is experienced by one male youth trainee of four and four female youth trainees of ten, who state that their mental well-being improved when they got into a youth training program after having earlier been unemployed. The results also show that young people with poor finances on the whole have more mental troubles and anxiety about the future than young people with good finances have. The article discusses possible explanations for the patterns with respect to gender and the private financial situations that appear in the results.     

Optimality of winner-take-all contests: the role of attitudes toward risk

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty - This paper introduces the Prince incentive system for measuring preferences. Prince combines the tractability of direct matching, allowing for the precise and...     

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.