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.     

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...     

Welfare attitudes and social class: the case of Hong Kong in comparative perspective

Based on a survey of Hong Kong residents, this article explores the attitudes towards the welfare state and whether or not there are significant differences between different social classes with regard to their approval of the welfare state. The findings were then compared with those for Sweden and the USA. The study shows that Hong Kong residents strongly approve of the welfare state. The strength of their support is similar to that in Sweden and is far stronger than in the USA. In Hong Kong, the influence of social class on attitudes towards the welfare state is negligible. In some cases, the privileged classes expressed greater approval for the welfare state than the underprivileged classes. This is in striking contrast to the experiences in Sweden and the USA where the underprivileged classes are more supportive of the welfare state than are the privileged classes.     

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.     

Cognitive dissonance and political attitudes: The case of Canada

While scholars accept that attitudes have an impact on behavior, cognitive dissonance theory asserts that behavior can, in turn, affect attitudes. The theory suggests attitudes may be transformed by the simple act of voting. Informed by dissonance theory and employing election study survey data from three Canadian federal elections, this article considers the impact of cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors on changes in party evaluations, arguing that elections serve as a significant stimulus for attitude change. Dissonance theory is found to be compatible with observed attitude changes between pre- and post-election questionnaires. Findings have implications for the study of attitude formation and change, the effects that campaigns and elections have upon voters, and survey design.     

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.     

Social factors influencing immigration attitudes: an analysis of data from the General Social Survey

This report partly replicates and also extends previous work exploring social factors influencing public opinion concerning immigration policy in the United States. Our findings are that college education and perceived cultural threats, especially to the English language, have the most impact upon immigration views. Other variables having some effect are political ideology, economic outlook, age, and sex. Effects of race, income, and fear of crime appear to be negligible. The findings are discussed in light of a multifactor theory of immigration opinion.     

The Coingate effect: The impact of scandal on attitudes toward,state and federal political actors

What happens when a major, well publicized state-level scandal occurs? Do opinions of federal politicians improve because of relative comparisons to state politicians caught in the scandal? Do attitudes toward all politicians suffer? Little work has been done to investigate about how scandals related to one level of government affect attitudes about political actors at other levels. We investigate what happens when a major and well publicized state-level scandal occurs. Using individual-level public opinion data collected during the summer of 2006, we analyze the impact that a state-level scandal had on citizen approval of state and federal political actors, considering the mediating impact of exposure to media coverage of the scandal. Overall consumption of news coverage of state governors boosts approval of the governor relative to the president. At the same time, however, citizens exposed to negative scandalous news coverage of their governor show a decline in relative gubernatorial approval.     

Predictive factors of acculturation attitudes and social support among Asian immigrants in the USA

This study examines acculturation attitude and its relation to social support among Asian immigrants. The data were collected from 242 Korean, Indian and Filipino immigrants in the USA using the Acculturation Attitude Scale and the Social Support Index. Findings showed that Koreans had a less positive attitude toward acculturation than did Indian and Filipino participants. Acculturation attitude was positively correlated with educational level and English fluency. This study also found a negative correlation between acculturation attitude and social support. Social support from friends and English fluency were identified as significant predictor variables in determining the level of acculturation attitude. These findings not only contribute to social work education and practice, but also increase cultural sensitivity and awareness in working with these populations.     

Every life is sacred…kind of: Uncovering the sources of seemingly contradictory public attitudes toward abortion and the death penalty

Many scholars have studied public attitudes about abortion and the death penalty, but few have studied the coincidence of strong anti-abortion and pro-death penalty attitudes. What factors best explain how someone can find willful taking of life abhorrent in one context but justified in another? We find that the desire to see criminals punished, combined with a literalist orientation toward the Bible, best predict membership in the pro-life/pro-death penalty group. Policy implications flow directly from these findings. The pro-life/pro-death penalty group likely constitutes approximately 5% of the U.S. population and their literalist, punitive stance toward crime and punishment has ramifications for all crime control policy, not just capital punishment.     

Differential customer racial attitudes toward scandal and patriotism: The Mitchell Report,the Olympics,race, and baseball memorabilia

This paper investigates differential customer racial reaction to negative and positive publicity related to professional athletes. In terms of negative publicity, it analyzes the effect of mention in the Mitchell Report on the price of baseball cards. In regards to positive publicity, it considers the impact of having been identified as a member of the United States Olympic or national team. After controlling for player productivity with performance statistics, the effects of being mentioned in the Mitchell Report are isolated within regression analysis to draw conclusions concerning customer racial attitudes toward the steroids scandal. Similar analysis is conducted to see the impact of being seen as a baseball representative of the United States. Regression results are consistent with the conclusion that negative publicity devalues the cards of nonWhite players but not of White players. Positive publicity, however, increases the value of a player's card regardless of ethnicity.     

新空巢家庭情感支持的状况研究——以四川省内江市为例

本文以四川省内江市新空巢家庭为例,在研究中年空巢夫妻情感支持状况的数量和质量层面的基础上,认为子女的离开对中年空巢夫妻的生活产生了重大影响。子女离开后,中年空巢夫妻的适应状况良好,情感支持内容丰富,同时情感支持提供者与情感支持接受者之间的互动频率与情感支持的作用密切相关,并提出精神自养应成为中年空巢家庭“养老”的有效途径。