The Controllability of Negative Life Experiences Mediates Unrealistic Optimism

Two studies examined the impact of negative life experiences on relative risk judgements. In Study 1 (n = 80) and Study 2 (n = 100), victims were less optimistic about recurrences of problems already experienced than about other types of potential problems, supporting an availability mechanism for unrealistic optimism. In Study 2, controllable negative experiences increased recurrence optimism but uncontrollable negative experiences did not, illustrating the mediating role of perceived control on the relationship between negative life experiences and optimism.     

The Equivalence of Two Rules of Classification for Two Populations

In many applied classification problems, the populations of interest are defined in terms of ranges for the dependent variable. In these situations, it is intuitively appealing to classify individuals into the respective populations based on their estimated conditional expectation. On the other hand, based on theoretical considerations, one may wish to use the classification rule based on the posterior probabilities. This article shows that under certain conditions these two classification rules are equivalent.     

Markets,Institutions and Technology: Missing Links in Livelihoods Analysis

The benefits of livelihoods thinking and approaches are widely recognised. This article focuses on an important gap in much of the conceptualization and application of ‘livelihood approaches’— a lack of emphasis on markets and their roles in livelihood development and poverty reduction. The omission is important, as it can lead to failure to identify and act on a wider range of market, institutional and technological opportunities and constraints. An alternative conceptualisation is proposed, with markets as one particular set of institutional mechanisms for co‐ordination and exchange in an economy. It is argued that more explicit attention to interactions between institutions, technology and assets in livelihood analysis may be valuable in conceptualising and managing programmes for livelihood development and poverty reduction.     

Intimate partner victimization among adults aged 60 and older: an analysis of the 1999 and 2004 General Social Survey

Accounts in both the scientific literature and popular media have brought about increased recognition of the reality of elder abuse. However, relatively little work has examined intimate partner victimization with respect to older adults. In this study, weighted data from cycles 13 (1999) and 18 (2004) of the General Social Survey are pooled to examine how factors uniquely influence the prevalence and risk of emotional, financial, and physical abuse among adults aged 60 and over. Considerations regarding elder abuse committed by spouses, versus abuse of older adults more broadly (by their children and other adults), are also discussed.     

Resituating Funds of Identity Within Contemporary Interpretations of Perezhivanie

There is still a tendency for researchers and teachers using a Funds of Identity approach for social justice purposes to exclude negative emotions and experiences from the classroom. This article addresses this issue by situating Funds of Identity within contemporary interpretations of perezhivanie to theorize what we call existential funds of identity, which we present as an enrichment of the Funds of Identity approach. The findings from a case study of Valerie, a 16-year-old Chinese high school student, suggest that both positive and negative emotions and experiences can be accommodated in the classroom through the use of new technology, which can also help to bridge the gap between home and school.     

Organizational networks of collaboration for community‐based living

This exploratory study of the Texas Community Awareness and Relocation Services (CARS) Project examines organizational networks of collaboration for community‐based living. A high degree of collaboration in these networks is needed to help nursing facility residents negotiate the complex process of moving to community‐based settings. Social network analysis reveals considerable variations in local organizational networks of collaboration among lead nonprofit providers before and after implementation of the CARS Project in five test sites. These variations probably affected their collaborative capacity of each site and, ultimately, the project's outcomes.     

A Rationale for Teaching Communication Skills to the Culturally Deprived

This paper presents a theoretical rationale for explaining the learning and achievement weaknesses noted in ‘culturally deprived’ children. Based on a theory of social competence which reveals schools as denying the validity of such children's experiences and ignoring the different competences they bring with them to the learning situation, the model suggests new teaching strategies which develop ‘first-order’ communication outputs as a prerequisite to ‘higher-order’ cognitive outputs. Research evidence of the applicability of the model is examined and an attempt to apply the teaching strategies in Australia is described.