Individual Differences in Interpersonal Accuracy: A Multi-Level Meta-Analysis to Assess Whether Judging Other People is One Skill or Many

Research into individual differences in interpersonal accuracy (IPA; the ability to accurately judge others’ emotions, intentions, traits, truthfulness, and other social characteristics) has a long tradition and represents a growing area of interest in psychology. Measuring IPA has proved fruitful for uncovering correlates of this skill. However, despite this tradition and a considerable volume of research, very few efforts have been made to look collectively at the nature of the tests involved in assessing IPA, leaving questions of the broader structure of IPA unresolved. Is IPA a single skill or a clustering of many discrete skills or some combination of partially overlapping skills? In a multi-level meta-analysis of 103 published and unpublished participant samples (13,683 participants), we analyzed 622 correlations between pairs of IPA tests (135 different IPA tests altogether). The overall correlation between IPA tests was r = .19, corrected for the nesting of correlations within the studies that administered more than two IPA tests and reported several correlations for the same participant sample. Test domain and characteristics were evaluated to explain differences in effect sizes; in general, tests in similar domains and using similar methodologies were more highly correlated with each other, suggesting that there are domains within which individual differences cluster. Implications for future research and IPA measurement were discussed.     

Projecting Long-Term Care Expenditure in Four European Union Member States: The Influence of Demographic Scenarios

This study examines the sensitivity of future long-term care demand and expenditure estimates to official demographic projections in four selected European countries: Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom. It uses standardised methodology in the form of a macro-simulation exercise and finds evidence for significant differences in assumptions about demographic change and its effect on the demand for long-term care, and on relative and absolute long-term care expenditure. It concludes that mortality-rate assumptions can have a considerable influence on welfare policy planning. Relative dispersion between country-specific and Eurostat official estimates was found to be higher for the United Kingdom and Germany than for Italy and Spain, suggesting that demographic projections had a greater influence in those countries.

Reviews

Theory and Decision -     

On best affine prediction

The theory of best affine prediction (BAP) is extended to the vector case with possibly singular variance matrix of the predictor variable. The theory is then applied to derive Thomson’s classical predictor for factor scores, allowing for a singular variance matrix of the factors. The results are formulated in a free distribution setting. Further, Bartlett’s estimator is considered and compared with Thomson’s predictor. The authors are thankful to the two referees, one for a suggestion that led to the Addendum of the paper, and the other one for several very useful remarks. Research supported by the Spanish grant BEC2000-0983.     

The TOWS matrix—A tool for situational analysis

This article has two main purposes. One is to review general considerations in strategic planning and the second to introduce the TOWS Matrix for matching the environmental threats and opportunities with the company's weaknesses and especially its strengths. These factors per se are not new; what is new is systematically identifying relationships between these factors and basing strategies on them. There is little doubt that strategic planning will gain greater prominence in the future. Any organization—whether military, product-oriented, service-oriented or even governmental—to remain effective, must use a rational approach toward anticipating, responding to and even altering the future environment.