Are Peer Educators Really Peers?

Objective, Participants, and Methods: To determine whether peer educators are considered peers by their audiences, the authors compared 28 peer educators and 28 college students on their personal qualities using self-report surveys. Results: Students who wanted to become peer educators reported higher self-esteem, greater leadership skills, and fewer risky health behaviors than did demographically similar college students. However, peer educators appeared similar to their colleagues in terms of personal values and personality temperament. Conclusions: Although peer educators are natural leaders with strong self-esteem and more healthy behaviors, they appear to be quite similar to their audiences in regard to values and temperaments, making them successful role models and arguably true peers.     

Accountability Agreements in Ontario Hospitals: Are They Fair?

Governments can be accountable for improving the fairness oftheir priority setting through enhanced transparency and stakeholderengagement. A case analysis is conducted of priority settingin a government health care context in Ontario, Canada, assessinghow implementation of hospital accountability agreements meetsthe conditions of a leading international ethical frameworkfor priority setting, "accountability for reasonableness" (A4R).Hospital accountability agreements provide a mechanism for governmentto ensure that public funding achieves desired performance inhospitals. A key goal of priority setting is fairness. A4R linkspriority setting, legitimacy, and fairness to theories of democraticdeliberation, making a claim for fairness if the four conditionsof relevance, publicity, revision/appeals, and enforcement aresatisfied. Regarding the relevance condition, this analysissuggests that government only partially met the relevance conditionproviding limited stakeholder engagement but with evidence ofpolicy learning and movement toward the establishment of inclusivestakeholder arrangements. Evidence suggests that governmenteventually progressed toward meeting the publicity condition.Government only partially met the revision/appeals conditionand did not meet the enforcement condition, as the other conditionswere only partially met. It is our view that regional governancestructures in Ontario (i.e., Local Health Integration Networksor LHINs) provide an opportunity for the province to improvethe fairness of their accountability agreement processes throughenhancing transparency and stakeholder engagement. More broadly,this case study provides a guide for government to enhance accountabilityby focusing on A4R to improve the fairness of its priority setting.     

Are Women Really More ”Ameteur” in Politics Than Men?

This paper examines political style among male and female party elites. Previous research primarily from convention delegates to the 1972 nominating conventions has indicated that women tend to be more "amateur" in style than men, while studies drawn from other years have produced null findings. We attempt to reconcile this literature by examining data from party elites in office in 1980 and comparing two alternative explanations of a more amateur style among women. No consistent differences were found in amateur and professional styles, suggesting that the 1972 findings were a function of the particular circumstances of that year.     

Anticipated Emotions About Unintended Pregnancy in Relationship Context: Are Latinas Really Happier?

This study examined differences in women's anticipated emotional orientations toward unintended pregnancy by relationship status and race and ethnicity. Data from a prospective survey of 437 women aged 18 to 44 years who intended no more children for at least 2 years were analyzed along with 27 in‐depth interviews among a diverse subsample. Cohabiting women and women in romantic relationships not living together were less likely to profess happiness (odds ratio = 0.42, p < .05, odds ratio = 0.25, p < .01, respectively), even when partners' intentions and feelings were controlled. The most prominent factor underlying negative feelings was partners' anticipated lack of engagement with the emotional, physical, and financial toll of unintended childbearing. Contrary to conventional wisdom regarding the “Hispanic paradox,” foreign‐born and U.S.‐born Latinas were no more likely to profess happiness than non‐Hispanic Whites or Blacks. Moreover, foreign‐born Latinas whose survey responses indicated happiness often revealed highly negative feelings at in‐depth interview, citing pressure to conform to sociocultural norms surrounding motherhood and abortion.     

Are there differences in gender,race, and age regarding body dissatisfaction?

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine any differences that may exist among demographic variables such as gender, age, and race in regard to internalization of society and media messages leading to body dissatisfaction that may lead to disordered eating behaviors such as preoccupation with weight, dieting, and eating restraint. A total of 324 participants completed the demographic questionnaire, the Multidimensional Body Self Relations Questionnaire, the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire for women, the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-Revised-Male-Version for men, and Rotter’s Internal-External (I-E) Locus of Control Scale. The results of this study found, as predicted, that Caucasians reported higher internalization, higher body dissatisfaction, and higher preoccupation with weight, dieting, and eating restraint than African Americans. This study showed no differences regarding men’s and women’s internalization or body dissatisfaction but did reveal that women reported higher preoccupation with weight, dieting, and eating restraint than men. Regarding age, this study found that age did not predict internalization, body dissatisfaction, or preoccupation with weight, dieting, and eating restraint.     

Are Religious People Nice People? Religiosity,Race, Interview Dynamics,and Perceived Cooperativeness

Prior research has shown consistently that religiosity, as indexed by self-reported frequency of prayer, is associated positively with "niceness," measured by interviewers'ratings of respondents'cooperativeness. We used data pooled from the 1983, 1988, and 1993 General Social Surveys to further examine the association between religiosity and niceness, and to raise questions about the adequacy of this currently preferred operationalization of niceness. We used three different measures of religiosity and directly examined racial differences in perceived cooperativeness. Our results indicate that each self-reported indicator of religiosity was associated positively with perceived cooperativeness (in separate models), while race was associated negatively. We found no evidence of mediating or moderating relationships. Overall, our results provide additional evidence that persons who are more religious are perceived by others to be more cooperative and that this effect operates net of more readily observable characteristics that might influence interview dynamics and interviewers'evaluations of respondents'cooperativeness. However, our results also suggest that new, more specific measures of niceness are needed to improve our ability to fully measure this sociologically important concept and to refine our understanding of the relationship between religiosity and niceness.     

US Free Trade Agreements and Policy Flexibility: Will New Rules Hinder Industrialisation?

Free trade agreements have become a central feature of many developing countries' growth strategies, encouraged by an evaluation literature that quantifies their positive impact on trade. However, trade gains come at the cost of policy space, particularly when the partner is a developed country, and though this cost has been acknowledged, its impact has not been explored. This article seeks to address this oversight by detailing changes to the domestic policy environment from the participation of a developing country in a US‐anchored FTA and evaluating whether the resulting policy regime is flexible enough to enable a developmental government to pursue activities associated with industrialisation.     

Are women less career centric than men? Structure,culture, and identity investments

Some work/family scholars assume that gender differences in career centrality (i.e. the importance of career to one's identity) are a result of differential job characteristics and family demands; others trace these differences to pre-existing cultural orientations. Using the 2010 Generations of Talent data from 9210 employees working in 11 countries for 7 multinational companies, this study verifies the existence of gender differences in career centrality and explores structural and cultural explanations. Gender disparities in career centrality are modest, indicating that women's and men's identification with careers is more similar than is commonly asserted; the most pronounced (but still relatively small) disparities are observed in Japan and China. A large portion of the gender gap is explained by job characteristics, supporting structural explanations. Family demands contribute to explaining the gap as well, but the findings are unexpected: having minor children is associated with higher career centrality for both women and men. In support of cultural explanations, however, traditional gender beliefs are associated with lower career centrality, especially for women, while two job characteristics (job variety and peer relations) have distinct links to career centrality for women and men. Findings challenge the common assumption that family identities compete against work identities.     

What Are They Really Selling? A Content Analysis of Advertisements During Religious Television Programming

This study quantitatively analyzed the content of television commercials aired during religious programs to determine the categories of products being promoted and the primary method used by advertisers to appeal to highly religious consumers. Medical- and life-related products are the largest category. Fear-related appeals occurred in the advertisements at the high rate of 81%. The results suggested that marketers attempt to appeal to Christian fundamentalist viewers with fears, anxieties and doubts.     

How Are You, White Cranes?

How are you, my red-crowned cranes? Groups of you fly south one by one. Yet do you still stay at Zhalong, a natural preserve, For northern scenery or to enhance my feelings toward you?     

Is Your Spouse More Likely to Divorce You if You Are the Older Partner?

The authors assessed how the relative age of spouses affects whether men or women initiate a divorce, using data from the National Survey of Families and Households. Ex‐spouses' reports of who left generally agreed, but not always, so the analysis used a latent class model embedded in an event‐history model with competing risks that the woman leaves the man or the man leaves the woman. Support was not found for the hypothesis that age heterogamy itself increases the odds of divorce: Even large age differences did not make men more likely to leave younger wives, and women's exits were as likely when the marriage is homogamous as when she was older. The main conclusion is that both men and women are more likely to leave if their spouse is older than they are. The effects were stronger for men, but the gender difference in effect size was not statistically significant.     

Protecting the economic health of the poor in India: Are health mutuals the right medicine?

In addition to government‐sponsored health insurance schemes (GSHIS), many microfinance institutions (MFIs) and community‐based organizations (CBOs) in India have started microinsurance health insurance schemes. These include health mutuals for the benefit of their members. This article explores these as an alternative health‐financing model in India. A literature search produced 926 relevant publications. After applying advanced search options and removing duplicates, abstracts of 324 papers were read and then 47 papers reviewed, and finally 29 were included in this review. Five key themes emerged: (1) “Health for all” arguments and opportunities in favour of micro health insurance schemes; (2) micro health insurance products; (3) impact of micro health insurance schemes; (4) systematic irregularities and regulatory framework; and (5) innovation. We also look at the emerging market patterns that will define micro health insurance products. Health mutuals can effectively provide mass health protection to the poor and not so poor through efficient business models, bespoke benefit packages and multiple payment plans. They can reduce financial vulnerability and improve health outcomes. While GSHIS can cover a substantial tranche of expected health‐related costs, the balance can be supplemented through innovative financial products that reduce financial risk.     

Are Men and Women Equal in Employment?

EQUALITY was one of the themes of the Fourth World Conference on Women. The motto of the Conference was "Action for Equality, Development and Peace." But is there a real possibility for equality between men and women? Equality in employment remains an important concern. Recently, Zheng Yefu, research worker of the Beijing Academy of Social     

Protecting Women Asylum Seekers and Refugees: From International Norms to National Protection?

Little attention is paid in most national asylum policies and legislation to the specific position of female asylum seekers, and to gendered aspects of refugee and asylum situations. Further, even in those countries that have adopted asylum legislation to specifically address the question of women asylum seekers and victims of gender specific persecution, problems still remain in the implementation of these policies and in the full recognition of persecutions specific to women. Whilst the issue of protection of women victims of this type of violence have been put on the international agenda, at least to some extent, through directives on the defence of women’s human rights and on the protection of female refugees and asylum seekers, the international norms which have thus been created have been implemented unevenly and unequally in different national contexts. This article seeks to analyse the extent to which national asylum legislation and policies have integrated a concern with the protection of women victims of gender specific forms of persecution, and how effective this implementation has been. The article will engage critically with existing accounts of global norm creation to examine the uneven diffusion and implementation of norms on the protection of female refugees, pointing to the importance of discursive opportunity structures open to actors in mobilising around these issues at local and national levels. It will also argue that even where policies and legislation dealing specifically with women refugees and asylum seekers do exist, they may not actually address some of the important insecurities facing these women because of an approach that does not fully comprehend and act upon gendered structures and relations of power.     

Work-Family Conflict Among Dual-Earners: Are Partner,Family, and Friends Resources or Liabilities?

Using dyadic data from a random sample of dual-earner couples from an upper Midwestern city in the US (N?=?99), this study examined how each partner’s strain and support from family, partner, and friends relate to work-family conflict. The findings showed several significant relationships. Among men, friend support was associated with lower work-to-family conflict and higher family-to-work conflict, whereas partner support was related to lower family-to-work conflict. Partner strain was associated with work-to-family conflict among women and family-to-work conflict among men. Men’s friend support was related to less work-to-family conflict among women, and women’s family support was associated with less family-to-work conflict among men. Men’s friend strain was associated with higher family-to-work conflict among women. The implications of these findings were discussed, with an eye towards identifying theoretical and practical implications of this study.     

Technology,slavery and the Falmouth Water Company of Jamaica, 1799–1805

Slave societies such as Jamaica were among the earliest regions to adopt new technologies, suggesting that slavery was not synonymous with economic backwardness. This article uses the efforts of the Falmouth Water Company to adopt the new hydraulic ram between 1799 and 1805 to show that this process was also not restricted to the plantation sector and that the island possessed an unexpected capacity for technological adaption. This was based on local skills in mechanical and civil engineering derived from the plantation sector, and a wider political and financial background that supported innovation when the right conditions were in place.     

Does Size Really Matter? Organizational Size and Innovations in Nonprofit Organizations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between size and innovation in a sample of nonprofit organizations. The author employed a number of size estimates (personnel and financial) and assessed different types of innovations (administrative and technological). Additionally, since the failure to take into consideration important contextual variables has been attributed to producing misleading conclusions about the relationship between size and innovation, the author controlled for those variables (formalization, centralization, specialization, leadership, board size, and organization's age) when assessing this relationship. The results of hierarchical multiple regressions showed that although the personnel size estimates were important predictors by themselves, their significance disappeared when contextual variables were introduced. Board size and organization age were significant predictors of administrative innovations. Board size was the only significant predictor of technological innovations, as well as of a total number of innovations.