When Do People Speak Out? Integrating the Spiral of Silence and the Situational Theory of Problem Solving

Combining spiral of silence theory with the situational theory of problem solving, this study explores the extent to which publics differ in their willingness to express their opinions in hostile social situations. Based on analysis of a survey among 369 college students about their willingness to express opinions on 2 controversial topics (gun possession and climate change), 3 key findings emerge: (a) Fear of isolation suppresses people's willingness to express their opinions in public; (b) active publics are more likely than other types of publics to express their opinions; and (c) there is no interaction effect between fear of isolation and types of publics. In addition to several theoretical contributions, the findings provide public relations practitioners with a model for predicting which types of publics would be more or less likely to express their opinion.     

Conduct Problems in Adopted and Non-adopted Adolescents and Adoption Satisfaction as a Protective Factor

The present study compared the level of conduct problems at age 17 in a large, non-clinical sample of adopted participants placed in infancy and children in non-adoptive families matched to the adoptive families on demographic characteristics. Higher levels of adolescent and parent adoption satisfaction were associated with lower levels of conduct problems. Gender by adoption status interactions were not significant. However, female adopted participants had higher levels of conduct problems than female non-adopted participants, whereas male adopted and non-adopted participants had similar levels of conduct problems. In the overall sample, differences between adopted and matched control participants on all conduct problem measures were nonsignificant.     

Influence of Acculturative Stress of Married Migrant Women on Marriage Satisfaction: The Mediating Effect of Problem‐Solving Ability and Information Support

This paper aims to examine the mediating effect of problem‐solving ability and information support on the relationship between acculturative stress and marriage satisfaction of married migrant women. To this end, the research model was established on the basis of the stress‐coping theories and resource model, and existing relevant research, and the mediating effect was verified through a structural equation. The subjects were married migrant women living in Busan and Gyeongsangnam‐do. The data from 307 respondents to questionnaires was used for analysis. In accordance with the analysis, the goodness‐of‐fit of the measurement model and structure model was significant. Moreover, problem‐solving ability had a mediating effect on the relationship between acculturative stress and marriage satisfaction. However, information support had no mediated effect on the relationship between acculturative stress and marriage satisfaction. This paper suggests practical implications of improving marriage satisfaction of migrant women on the basis of the analysis results.     

Tracking national and regional spatial-temporal mortality risk associated with NO2 concentrations in Canada: a Bayesian hierarchical two-level model

The association between daily variations in urban air quality and mortality has been well documented using time series statistical methods. This approach assumes a constant association over time. We develop a space-time dynamic model that relaxes this assumption, thus more directly examining the hypothesis that improvements in air quality translate into improvements in public health. We postulate a Bayesian hierarchical two-level model to estimate annual mortality risks at regional and national levels and to track both risk and heterogeneity of risk within and between regions over time. We illustrate our methods using daily nitrogen dioxide concentrations (NO2) and nonaccidental mortality data collected for 1984-2004 in 24 Canadian cities. Estimates of risk and heterogeneity are compared by cause of mortality (cardio-pulmonary [CP] versus non-CP) and season, respectively. Over the entire period, the NO2 risk for CP mortality was slightly lower but with a narrower credible interval than that for non-CP mortality, mainly due to an unusually low risk for a single year (1998). Warm season NO2 risk was higher than cold season risk for both CP and non-CP mortality. For 21 years overall there were no significant differences detected among the four regional NO2 risks. We found overall that there was no strong evidence for time trends in NO2 risk at national or regional levels. However, an increasing linear time trend in the annual between-region heterogeneities was detected, which suggests the differences in risk among the four regions are getting larger, and further studies are necessary to understand the increasing heterogeneity.     

Investing in a Shared Supplier in a Competitive Market: Stochastic Capacity Case

When firms invest in a shared supplier, one key concern is whether the invested capacity will be used for a competitor. In practice, this concern is addressed by restricting the use of the capacity. We consider what happens when two competing firms invest in a shared supplier. We consider two scenarios that differ in how capacity is used: exclusive capacity and first‐priority capacity. We model firms' investment and production decisions, and analyze the equilibrium outcomes in terms of the number of investing firms and capacity levels for each scenario; realized capacity is a stochastic function of investment levels. We also identify conditions under which the spillover effect occurs, where one firm taps into the other firm's invested capacity. Although the spillover supposedly intensifies competition, it actually discourages firms' investment. We also characterize the firms' and supplier's preference about the capacity type. While the non‐investing firm always prefers spillovers from the first‐priority capacity, the investing firm does not always want to shut off the other firm's access to its leftover capacity, especially when allowing spillover induces the other firm not to invest. The supplier's preference depends on the trade‐off between over‐investment and flexibility.     

Short-term Migration and the Acquisition of a World Language

LA MIGRATION DE COURTED URÉE ET L'ACQUISITION D'UNE LANGUE D'ENVERGURE MONDIALE
L'anglais s'impose toujours plus comme langue de communication mondiale. Pourtant, on connaît mal les mécanismes par lesquels il s'impose de plus en plus comme seconde langue dans des populations en grande partie monolingues, et on en mesure mal également les conséquences immédiates. Dans cette étude, nous nous intéressons plus particulièrement à un cas particulier: l'acquisition de l'anglais seconde langue par les Coréens. Nous examinons brièvement la place qu'occupe la langue anglaise en Corée et le poids des mesures d'incitation déployées dans ce pays pour l'acquisition de l'anglais. Sur la base d'analyses empiriques, nous tirons la conclusion que les Coréens appliquent à l'acquisition d'une langue d'envergure mondiale une stratégie transnationale: la migration de courte durée dans des pays où la langue anglaise domine. Pour conclure, nous examinons encore quelques-unes des implications potentielles de ces mouvements et des nombreuses voies ouvertes à la recherche.     

Resource adequacy perception and marital satisfaction of rural wives and husbands: A nonrecursive model

Rural families have experienced rapid changes in their social and economic environment in the past few decades. How do rural husbands and wives perceive the adequacy of their resources in the face of economic pressures? Is there a relationship between their perception of resource adequacy and their marital satisfaction? These questions are explored using data from a random sample of 205 couples living in rural Minnesota. Age and Locus of Control are predictors of Perceived Resource Adequacy for both husbands and wives; employment is a predictor of Perceived Resource Adequacy for wives; and Money Management is negatively related to Perceived Resource Adequacy for husbands. Cohesion is the only salient cause of Marital Satisfaction for husbands and wives. No reciprocal relationship is found between Perceived Resource Adequacy and Marital Satisfaction. Implications for theory, research, education, and counseling are discussed.     

Asymptotic Behavior of the Kernel Density Estimator from a Geometric Viewpoint

From the view of a geometric approach, we consider the problem of density estimation on the m-dimensional unit sphere by using the kernel method. The definition of the kernel estimator is motivated from the concept of the exponential map. This article shows that the asymptotic behavior of the estimator contains a geometric quantity (the sectional curvature) on the unit sphere. This implies that the behavior depends on whether the sectional curvature is positive or negative. Using observed data on normals to the orbital planes of long-period comets, numerical examples on the two-dimensional unit sphere are given.     

Mental health need, awareness, and use of counseling services among international graduate students

OBJECTIVE AND PARTICIPANTS: The authors examined the prevalence of mental health needs in international graduate students, their knowledge of mental health services, and their use of on-campus and off-campus counseling services. METHODS: All registered graduate students in the Spring 2004 semester received an e-mail invitation to participate in a Web survey. Of the 3,121 completed surveys, 551 completed surveys were from international graduate students. RESULTS: Approximately 44% of international graduate students responded that they had had an emotional or stress-related problem that significantly affected their well-being or academic performance within the past year. International students who reported a more functional relationship with their advisors were less likely to report having an emotional or stress-related problem in the past year and using counseling services. International students who reported higher financial confidence were also less likely to use counseling services. CONCLUSIONS: There is an unmet mental health need among international graduate students. Special mental health outreach efforts should be directed at international graduate students, with particular attention on the relationship between students and their advisors and on adequate financial support for students.