Field study of age-differentiated strain for assembly line workers in the automotive industry

A field study in an automotive supply industry company was conducted to explore age-differentiated strain of assembly line workers. Subjective and objective data from 23 female workers aged between 27 and 57 years were collected at the workplace belt buckle assembly during morning shifts. Subjects with medication or chronic diseases affecting heart rate and breath rate were excluded. For subjective data generation different questionnaires were used. Before the Work Ability Index and the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire were completed by the subjects. Short questionnaires (strain-ratings, NASA-TLX) directly at begin and end of the work were used for obtaining shift-related data. During the whole shift (6 a.m. - 2.45 p.m.) bodily functions were logged with a wireless chest strap. In addition, the motion of the hand-arm-system was recorded for 30 times, 3 minutes each after a fixed time-schedule. First results show that younger subjects need significant less time for assembly (mean = 14.940 s) compared to older subjects (mean = 17.040 s; t(472.026) = -9.278 , p < 0.01).     

A Model for Aging in Place in Apartment Communities

The purpose of this article is to introduce a theoretical model for an aging-in-place housing specialist for those living in congregate housing facilities. A “needs assessment” tool is outlined to help facilitate the successful implementation of a Health and Aging Residential Service Coordinator (HARSC), both from a research perspective and from implementation of training curriculum for this specialized population. A model that provides both on- and off-site services is hypothesized to be most effective.     

Rotten spouses,family transfers,and public goods

We show that once interfamily exchanges are considered, Becker’s rotten kids mechanism has some remarkable, hitherto unnoticed, implications. Specifically, Cornes and Silva’s (J Polit Econ 107(5):1034–1040, 1999) result of efficiency in the contribution game amongst siblings extends to a setting where the contributors (spouses) belong to different families. More strikingly still, the mechanism may also have dramatic redistributive implications. In particular, we show that the rotten kids mechanism combined with a contribution game to a household public good may lead to an astonishing equalization of consumptions between and within families, even when their parents’ wealth levels differ. The most striking results obtain when wages are equal and when parents’ initial wealth levels are not too different. For very large wealth differences, the mechanism must be supplemented by a (mandatory) transfer that brings them back into the relevant range. When wages differ but are similar, the outcome will be near efficient (and near egalitarian).     

Productive Activities And Subjective Well-Being Among Older Adults: The Influence Of Number Of Activities And Time Commitment

This study examines relationships among three measures of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, happiness and depressive symptoms), and two global measures of productive activity (number of activities and time commitment). We argue that participation in multiple productive activities should increase subjective well-being because these behaviors increase social integration and provide meaningful social roles. Using the first two waves of the Americans’ Changing Lives survey, we estimate a series of OLS and ordered logistic regression models to examine this issue among a sample of respondents 60 years old and older. Our multivariate regression results show that as time committed to productive activities increases, life satisfaction increases. Both increasing numbers of productive activities and increasing time commitment predict higher levels of happiness. Also, we find only modest support for a relationship between productive activities and the number of and changes in depressive symptoms. Our results provide support for the idea that engaging in productive activities is beneficial to older persons’ well-being, implying confirmation of the role enhancement hypothesis and demonstrating the importance of social integration.This research was partially supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (R03 AG018910). We thank Jan Mutchler for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

The potential role of conflict resolution schemas in adolescent psychosocial adjustment

Four specific schemas of cognitive structures that adolescents may hold concerning interpersonal disagreements with their parents were identified, each reflecting an authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, or a neglecting parenting style. To examine the occurrence of such schemas across high and low levels of psychosocial adjustment, 120 Swedish adolescents (50 boys, 70 girls) (mean age = 14.76 years) indicated how their parents usually approach six potential situations involving parent–adolescent conflict. Findings show that the authoritative conflict schema (compliance as a result of mutual respect) occurred more often among well-adjusted adolescents, whereas authoritarian and indulgent conflict schemas were particularly associated with low levels of psychosocial adjustment. The concept of conflict schemas may contribute to the understanding of how various parenting styles are linked to certain developmental outcomes for the adolescent.     

The experience of older people of entering into the phase of asking for public home help – a qualitative study

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore older persons' (n = 28, 75–96 years of age) experience of becoming in need of public home help, their experience of participation and of having influence on the needs assessment procedure and the decisions made about public home help. A content analysis revealed a broad overarching category, labelled: experiencing discontinuity in life as a whole – the countdown has begun . In addition, four principal categories emerged from the data: comparing the past with the present and losing parts of oneself and connectedness; worrying about the losses and what they will bring about; struggling against losing abilities to avoid dependency and home help; and struggling with conflicting feelings about being/becoming in need of help, and from whom. That older people can so perceive their life situation needs to be recognised if they are to be empowered to become involved in and exert influence on the assessment process and its outcome as well as on their life situation as a whole.     

Studiengebühren und Matchingqualität

Zusammenfassung  Obwohl Studiengebühren an staatlichen Universit?ten in einigen Bundesl?ndern in Deutschland bereits eingeführt wurden, ist bislang unklar, ob Studiengebühren als Signalling-und Screening-Instrument Informationsasymmetrien auf Hochschulm?rkten verringern k?nnen. Basierend auf einem Modell von Bac (2002) wird die Studienplatzvergabe als einmaliges, nicht-kooperatives Matching-Spiel modelliert. Entgegen der allgemeinen Vermutung wird deutlich, dass die Einführung von Studiengebühren keinesfalls immer zu einer Verbesserung des Matchings zwischen Studienbewerbern und Universit?ten unterschiedlicher Qualit?t führen muss, selbst eine Verschlechterung ist denkbar. Die Betrachtung realer Bildungssysteme mit variablen Studiengebühren gibt Hinweise darauf, dass sich in der Realit?t tats?chlich unterschiedliche Gleichgewichte unterschiedlicher Effizienz eingestellt haben: W?hrend sich die Bildungssysteme Italiens und Portugals in einem effizienten Separating/Screening-Gleichgewicht befinden dürften, wurde in den Bildungssystemen Spaniens und der Schweiz offenbar ein Separating/Semiscreening-Gleichgewicht erreicht. In Gro?britannien scheint sich hingegen ein Pooling/Nonscreening-Gleichgewicht eingestellt zu haben. Für Deutschland lie?e sich nach Einführung variabler Studiengebühren ein Separating/Semiscreening-oder ein Separating/Screening-Gleichgewicht II erwarten.

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Tuition fees and matching quality

Summary  Even though tuition fees in German public universities are started to be introduced, it is not yet clear in how far they may indeed help to overcome the informational asymmetries in higher education and serve as a signalling and screening device. Based on a model by Bac (2002), we analyze the application process of university applicants to universities and the subsequent allocation of university places as a non-cooperative matching game. Unlike the regular supposition, the introduction of tuition fees may not necessarily enhance, but may also worsen the matching between students and faculties of differing quality. Our empirical analysis of different European systems of higher education reveals that — for the case of economics — the Italian and Portuguese systems seem to be in an efficient separating/screening equilibrium while the higher education systems of Switzerland and Spain are more likely to find themselves in a separating/semiscreening equilibrium. In Great Britain, however, we have evidence of a pooling/nonscreening equilibrium. For Germany, following the introduction of variable tuition fees, we would expect a separating/ semiscreening or separating/screening equilibrium II.

Arbeitsgebiete: International vergleichende Personal-und Organisations?konomik, Bildungs-und Hochschul?konomik     

Public Opinion on Mandatory Reporting of Abuse and/or Neglect of Older Adults in Manitoba,Canada

This article discusses the results of a survey administered as part of a study titled, “Legislation and Service Provision Regarding Abuse and/or Neglect of Older Adults in Manitoba.” Public views of mandatory reporting and knowledge of legislation were investigated in the case where an older adult is living at risk of abuse and/or neglect in Manitoba, Canada. The survey data demonstrate that older respondents stated that mandatory reporting was not always preferable, except when an older adult was clearly diagnosed as incompetent and, even with no evidence, thought to be at risk. With less awareness of the topic in general, and with less contact with older adults, younger adults had much stronger views in support of mandatory reporting in all cases. Little knowledge and awareness of legislation existed in all age groups, although older adults knew more about such abuse and/or neglect than younger adults. Given the projected increase of older adults in Canada in the next 20 years, it is critical that the prevention of abuse and/or neglect and protection of older adults be addressed.     

Still in the Ghetto? Experiences of Secretarial Work in the 21st Century

Secretarial work has been described as one of the most persistently gendered of all occupations. Historically, it has been characterized as a ghetto occupation with three key features: low status and poor pay, narrow and feminized job content and poor promotion prospects. Twenty years ago, when a major study last took place in the UK, it was thought that new office technologies might transform the role, leading to a newly defined occupation equally appealing to both men and women. In this article, we report on the findings of a questionnaire survey involving 1011 secretaries. We found evidence of continuity and change. Secretaries are now better qualified and generally well‐paid. A minority is undertaking complex managerial tasks. However, most secretaries continue to perform traditional tasks and career prospects for all remain bleak. We conclude that processes of role gender‐typing are deeply entrenched and that secretarial work remains largely a ghetto occupation.     

“Isn't it ironic…!?!” Mobility researchers go sedentary: A group auto-ethnography on collective coping and care in pandemic times

We moved places and places moved us, until force majeure detained us on the spot. Signed-up to be hyper-mobile Ph.D.-candidates, we became hyper-reflective pandemic intimates. We moved together into a space that felt safe, OUR safe space. Suspended. Did the pandemic open this door, or had this space always existed, even back in the old days? Probably the latter, although we were not sensitive enough to perceive it, too busy to push the door, too lonesome to CARE. Not attentive to its possibilities, not imaginative of its POWER, too confident to be capable of succeeding alone. Even if we might have secretly wished for this space to exist. The present piece of work, and JOY, might be described by others as a “side-step,” a “hobby project,” a “shadow activity.” For us, it is a recollection of shocks and wonders, a sentience of precious, ephemeral instances that last. We are a group of eight early career researchers who study global mobility and labor migration from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. With prior international mobility experience, we left our previous countries of residence in 2018 to join an EU-funded research project, whilst being located in different European cities. One could classify us, for example, as highly qualified, privileged migrants. The present paper is the outcome of a collaborative, auto-ethnographic study, conducted in 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, when we suddenly were forced not to travel anymore. We got together online every week to “refaire le monde,” and we conducted virtual, dialogical self-interrogations and group reflections. Based on an emic approach, in line with Chang et al. (2013), we applied an iterative process of data collection and analysis. Our weekly conversations naturally emerged as a safe space for exchange and understanding, as we were facing similar situations, despite staying at different places. Suddenly, as the privilege of “always being on the move,” “always socializing and networking” disappeared due to closed borders and pandemic threats, we experienced anxieties and isolation and had to re-evaluate our perceptions on life, work, and international mobility. The very purpose and meaning of our broader research endeavors and employment perspectives suddenly faded away. We realized more than ever before, what it means to us to be allowed to move, to travel freely across continents.