Profile of the Present Slovak Society and its Regional Differences

The article is the first attempt in assessment of the development and the present situation of social structure and stratification in Slovakia. Its principal aim is to develop the profile of the present society in Slovakia, which reflects the pace and complexity of the transformation process and its impact on society. Processing of Micro census data from 2003 led to creation of the profile of society in Slovakia at the national level based on income distribution but also knowledge on regional societies and differences between them were obtained. It was found out that the present profile of the society in Slovakia is pear-shaped which means strong representation of lower strata and weaker representation of higher middle and high strata. The profile disclosed some specific features and inconsistencies in the present society of Slovakia, which were, and still are determined by many non standard past and present phenomena and processes often disguised by reforms. The information drawn in regions has facilitated identification of the basic nature and structure of regional societies, some of their specific features and negative elements and to demonstrate their highly differentiated character.

The importance of being mature: the effect of demographic maturation on global per capita GDP

Given that savings behaviour and worker productivity have strong life-cycle components and given that demographic profiles vary across countries, population age structure should be linked to differences in levels of economic development. In this paper, we measure the economic importance of age structure variation for the global economy. We find that demographic maturation has been associated with nearly half of the evolution of global per capita GDP since 1960. We also find that age structure differences can account for just over half of the variation in worldwide per capita GDP (i.e. the lack of sigma convergence) observed since 1960.

Getting to know reality and breaking stereotypes: the experience of two generations of working disabled women

This paper sets out the results of a Spanish study of the experience and meaning of work among disabled women of two generations, with three types of disability (physical, visual and hearing). Performing a socially recognised activity such as a job is a source of emotional welfare and self‐esteem. Moreover, it confers a certain social status. For the participants in this study the kind of work involved, whether productive, paid and ‘extra‐domestic’ or ‘reproductive’, unpaid and done at home, acquires different meanings, since for disabled women, sexist stereotypes – already more or less accentuated in the culture – social attitudes towards disability and personal factors introduce relevant differences, while leading to conflicts and dilemmas that these women have to solve. At any rate, their sense of responsibility in performing all types of work should be emphasised as evidence of their sense of independence and personal competence, forming a keystone in their construction of a sense of identity and social integration.     

The effects of direct experience on consumer product evaluation

The effects of different sales strategies on consumer product evaluation were investigated. It was expected that direct product experience could decrease economic product valuation. Experiments 1 and 2 studied the effects of product trials and money-back guarantees on consumer willingness to pay (WTP). It appeared that WTP was significantly lower after a product trial than with a money-back guarantee or normal sale. In Experiment 3 a structural equation model showed that product trials had a positive effect on attitude toward the product. Also, a negative effect on WTP was found when the effect was measured directly, but a positive effect when the effect was measured indirectly (through attitude).     

Describing poverty in an ultraperipheral region: The case of the Canary Islands

Based on data from the Survey on Social Conditions in the Canary Islands of the Instituto Canario de Estadística, this study analyzes poverty in Canary households by island of residence, age, employment and the educational level of the main provider. In addition to accepted objective measures, we also estimate poverty using subjective methods, in which the poverty line is defined or obtained by the opinion of household members of their own level of poverty.     

Staff Reactions Toward Lesbian,Gay, or Bisexual (LGB) People Living in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) Who Actively Disclose Their Sexual Orientation

Fifty-three staff members currently working in residential aged care facilities located in Barcelona, Spain, were asked about the way they would react if a resident told them that he or she felt sexually attracted and had maintained sexual relationships with another resident of the same gender. Acceptance of non-heterosexual sexual orientation was a frequent answer, and around one in four professionals stated that they would try helping the resident in question, by offering a private space or giving some emotional support. However, some reactions were not consistent with a respectful approach toward sexual diversity, as, for instance, informing the resident’s family or advising the resident to keep his or her sexual orientation hidden. We highlight the importance of developing formal policies and offering formal training to staff in order to address the specific needs of older LGB people living in RACFs.     

“Post-Gay” Yet? The Relevance of the Lesbian and Gay Scene to Same-Sex Attracted Young People in Contemporary Australia

In recent years, the lesbian and gay “scene” of bars, nightclubs, and dance parties has been undergoing a structural decline in many Western cities. This article aimed to examine the relevance of the scene to same-sex attracted young adults amid these changes. An online survey was conducted with 572 same-sex attracted young women and men in Sydney. Only a minority of respondents participated in the scene at least weekly (16%), and the majority did not regard the scene as important to their leisure time (60%). However, respondents valued the scene as a space to connect with other same-sex attracted people and display same-sex affection without fear of hostility. Lesbian and gay identified respondents tended to be more socially engaged with the scene compared to other same-sex attracted respondents. The findings suggest that while the scene continues to be valued by many same-sex attracted young people, improved social attitudes have made participating in the scene less of an imperative.     

Measuring disparities in access to water based on the normative content of the human right

Measuring access to water in the Sustainable Development Goals era involves taking into account the human rights framework. Therefore, its content should be considered to conceptualize the level of service through adequate indicators and to follow-up inequities reduction at global, national and local level. This research develops and tests a methodology to measure intra-community disparities based on human right to water normative criteria through a stratified sampling, splitting households served by community based organizations and those self-provided. This approach implies considering much reduced populations, thus special care needs to be taken with sample sizes and uncertainty of estimators. The proposed methodology is practical to locate and accurately characterize minority sectors within rural communities and allows moving beyond central-tendency estimators. It implies higher costs for field data collection than traditional approaches, but this can be assumed given the relevance of the approach from a human rights perspective, which calls for adequate tools for equity-oriented policy making at local level. The research point out how results might be used to shape decision-making processes.     

Landscape urbanization threatens plant phylogenetic diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Urbanization causes species loss around the world, but its effects on phylogenetic diversity are poorly known in tropical forests. Using a patch-landscape approach in an urbanizing region of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, we tested whether the increase in landscape urbanization reduces plant species density, phylogenetic richness and divergence, and increases the relatedness among co-occurring individuals and species. We assessed plant responses to urbanization in adult (diameter at breast height?>?10 cm) and sapling communities (2.5–10 cm diameter) separately, as saplings are proxies of the future flora. We sampled 2860 woody plants belonging to 155 species in nine circular landscapes with urbanization level varying from 0% to 45%, and estimated the relatedness among the species that have increased and decreased in relative abundance in more urbanized landscapes (winner and losers, respectively). As expected, species density and phylogenetic richness decreased with the increase in urbanization. These responses were consistent for adult and sapling communities, suggesting a persistent loss of species and lineages in more urbanized landscapes. Contrary to our expectations, phylogenetic divergence and structure did not respond to urbanization, indicating that the more urbanized landscapes still retain much evolutionary history. However, because the relatedness among winners was greater than among losers, it is likely that the phylogenetic divergence gradually reduces and the relatedness increases, resulting in impoverished forests with uncertain ability to provide ecosystem services such as carbon storage and pest control. This environmental cost should be taken into account to align urban sprawl with biodiversity conservation.