ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE EURO: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY BASED ON THE GERMAN SOCIO-ECONOMIC PANEL (SOEP)

This paper investigates changing attitudes towards the euro over time in Germany using longitudinal micro-data from the German Socio Economic Panel Study. We observe that a large part of the German population was worried about the new currency both before and after its introduction. Social psychological theories provide insight into these attitudes. Concerns regarding the euro are apparently connected with problems in handling the new currency and with the press coverage of price rises. For these reasons, future EMU member states should prepare their populations better for these challenges.     

Green giant or straw man? Environmental pressure and civil conflict, 1961–99

The proposition that environmental scarcity causes violent conflict attracts both popular and academic interest. Neomalthusian writers have developed theoretical arguments explaining this connection, and have conducted numerous case studies that seem to support the view that scarcity of biological assets such as land and other renewable resources causes conflict. So far there have been few systematic quantitative or comparative studies, and the few that exist have focused on particular forms of environmental degradation or on a small subset of resources, particularly mineral wealth. We test a more general argument about the effects of resource scarcity by examining the most widely-used measure of environmental sustainability: the ecological footprint. Contrary to neomalthusian thinking, we find that countries with a heavier footprint have a substantially greater chance of peace. Biocapacity and the ecological reserve also predict to peace, but these results are more fragile. Separate tests for smaller conflicts, for the post-Cold War period, and with additional control variables do not yield stronger support for the scarcity thesis. On the whole, the neomalthusian model of conflict receives little support from this analysis. We cannot exclude that erosion of the earth’s carrying capacity can increase conflict in the long run, but an empirical analysis with the ecological footprint measure does not provide any support for such a position.     

Sleep and psychological well-being

Although many studies have linked sleep problems with symptoms of psychopathology, fewer studies have examined the relationship between sleep and dimensions of psychological health as well as depression. To fill this gap, 502 community residents were surveyed about sleep habits, symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as Ryff’s six dimensions of psychological well-being. Using cut-offs suggested by epidemiological research, participants were classified as either optimal sleepers (those reporting an average of 6 hours or less than 8.5 hours per night) or suboptimal sleepers (those sleeping less than 6 hours or 8.5 or more hours per night). After controlling for demographic differences (i.e., sex, age, education, ethnicity, employment status, marital status, presence of children), the Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) suggested that optimal sleepers reported fewer symptoms of depression, and anxiety, and reported higher levels of environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self acceptance. Differences between optimal sleepers and non-optimal sleepers in depressive symptoms, positive relations with others, purpose in life and self-acceptance remained significant when people with mild to moderate symptoms of depression were eliminated from the data set. These results are consistent with a theoretical framework that defines sleep as a resource related to stress management and self-regulation.     

Homogamy by education and migration status in Monterrey,Mexico: changes and continuities over time

This paper reviews changes in homogamy by migration status and educational level in Monterrey, Mexico, through the analysis of marriage patterns for two cohorts of men born in 1905–1934 and 1940–1969. Results show a significant increase in educational homogamy, as well as in homogamy by rural origins. The changes suggest that education has played an increasingly important role in the process of mate selection, although certain particularistic characteristics, such as being a rural immigrant, are still important in marriage formation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the relationship between homogamy and social stratification.

Effects of child support and welfare policies on nonmarital teenage childbearing and motherhood

This paper is an assessment of the impact of child support enforcement and welfare policies on nonmarital teenage childbearing and motherhood. We derive four hypotheses about the effects of policies on nonmarital teenage childbearing and motherhood. We propose that teenage motherhood and school enrollment are joint decisions for teenage girls. Based on individual trajectories during ages 12–19, our analysis uses an event history model for nonmarital teenage childbearing and a dynamic model of motherhood that is jointly determined with school enrollment. We find some evidence that child support policies indirectly reduce teen motherhood by increasing the probability of school enrollment, which, in turn, reduces the probability of teen motherhood. This finding suggests that welfare offices may wish to place greater weight on outreach programs that inform more teenagers of the existence of strong child support enforcement measures. Such programs might reduce nonmarital teen motherhood further and thus reduce the need for welfare support and child support enforcement in the long run.

Relating social welfare to life satisfaction in the postmodern era of Hong Kong

Social welfare is supposedly beneficial not only to the needy receiving it but to citizens in general who expect social welfare to help the needy. Whereas direct benefits to the needy represent the gratification of material needs, the fulfillment of citizens–expectation registers an idealistic path to life satisfaction. These materialistic and idealistic paths may also be useful for explaining citizens–perception about the adequacy of social welfare. The reciprocal relationships between adequacy perception and life satisfaction are subject to an empirical study based on panel survey data obtained from Hong Kong, China. Results lend more support to the idealistic explanation than to the materialistic explanation in that the citizen’s postmodern orientation appeared to moderate the reciprocal relationships in some ways, whereas most of the citizen’s material conditions did not manifest moderating effects. Accordingly, the needy did not benefit from the perceived adequacy of social welfare and their life satisfaction did not have pervasive effects on the perceived adequacy in return. Results support the view that postmodernization would erode citizens–support for social welfare.     

Correcting missing-data bias in historical demography

Studies on population history are often based on incomplete records of life histories. For instance, in studies using data obtained from family reconstitution, the date of death is right censored (by migration) and the censoring time is never observed. Several methods for the correction of mortality estimates are proposed in the literature, most of which first estimate the number of individuals at risk and then use standard techniques to estimate mortality. Other methods are based on statistical models. In this paper all methods are reviewed, and their merits are compared by applying them to simulated and to seventeenth-century data from the English parish of Reigate. An ad hoc method proposed by Ruggles performs reasonably well. Methods based on statistical models, provided they are sufficiently realistic, give comparable accuracy and allow the estimation of several other quantities of interest, such as the distribution of migration times.     

Building relational capital: The contribution of episodic and relational community engagement

In this study, we provide evidence of the theorized connection between community engagement and the development of social capital, and the perceived value or worth of relationships among organizations and stakeholders. Using thematic analysis to understand the policy and practice frameworks of community engagement in Australian local government organizations, our analyses reveal two different types of community engagement—relational and episodic—each of which has the potential to contribute to relational dimension of social capital. The study introduces and develops new thinking around the ideas of episodic and relational engagement within the context of community engagement, and their respective contributions to the development of relational capital. Recognizing and identifying episodic and relational community engagement as separate phenomena allows researchers and practitioners to understand the theoretical dimensions of community engagement as a framework for practice.     

The Invisible Village: An Exploration of Undergraduate Student Mothers’ Experiences

This study explored the experiences of mothers in college using a qualitative design. Results showed that a lack of financial resources was the chief barrier for student mothers in their educational pursuits while social/emotional support was the most important contributor to student mothers’ success in college. Participants relied heavily on student loans to cover costs of childcare or family to help watch their children. Role conflict experienced by student mothers has implications on family and college retention. Implications of this study included the adaptation and revisions of policies at the state and federal levels in addition to implications at the university level. Limitations of the study included a lack of racial and ethnic diversity and only including student mothers currently enrolled in college. Several recommendations for future research are described.     

How Are Money Worries Affecting Middle-Aged,Young-Old,and Old–Old People’s Perceived Couple Relationship?

While the association between financial strain and couple interaction has been well-established in the literature on economic stress, little research has investigated the association among middle-aged and older populations. The present study examined the relationships between financial strain and couple functioning of middle-aged, young-old, and old–old people using the 2010 Health and Retirement Study. Findings show that subjective financial strain was positively associated with partner undermining and negatively with partner support, controlling for the effects of objective financial situations among middle-aged, young-old, and old–old couples. There were gender and age differences in the interaction effects of financial strain and financial control on couple functioning. For middle-aged men, financial control may have different associations with couple behaviors depending on the level of financial strain. When the level of financial strain is high, the positive effect of financial control disappears and the effect changes even in a negative way. Findings provide suggestions for practitioners and researchers.