Standard and robust orthogonal regression

A fast routine for converting regression algorithms into corresponding orthogonal regression (OR) algorithms was introduced in Ammann and Van Ness (1988). The present paper discusses the properties of various ordinary and robust OR procedures created using this routine. OR minimizes the sum of the orthogonal distances from the regression plane to the data points. OR has three types of applications. First, L ₂ OR is the maximum likelihood solution of the Gaussian errors-in-variables (EV) regression problem. This L ₂ solution is unstable, thus the robust OR algorithms created from robust regression algorithms should prove very useful. Secondly, OR is intimately related to principal components analysis. Therefore, the routine can also be used to create L ₁, robust, etc. principal components algorithms. Thirdly, OR treats the x and y variables symmetrically which is important in many modeling problems. Using Monte Carlo studies this paper compares the performance of standard regression, robust regression, OR, and robust OR on Gaussian EV data, contaminated Gaussian EV data, heavy-tailed EV data, and contaminated heavy-tailed EV data.     

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Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Learning from stories of leadership: How reading about personalized and socialized politicians impacts performance on an ethical decision-making simulation

Stories about notable, 20th-century politicians were investigated as a means by which reading stories of leadership influences subsequent ethical decision-making performance. Undergraduates read four short stories in which charismatic politicians exhibited a personalized, socialized, or neutral power orientation, followed by responding to four ethical dilemmas in the marketing domain—a distant transfer task. Results indicated that reading stories featuring personalized protagonists inhibited subsequent ethical decision-making processes. However, intensity of narrative processing, personal identification with the protagonist, and presence or absence of an ethical salience probe moderated these effects. Implications are discussed regarding the use of stories as a tool for ethical development and the importance of managing stories of leadership circulated throughout organizations and society.     

The Changing Valuation of Dogs1

In recent decades, the United States has witnessed profound changes in the sociocultural valuation of dogs, variously described as humanization, sentimentalization, or sacralization. A broad look at this “sacralization” of dogs in the United States reveals that this changing valuation has altered dogs’ place within economic processes. In particular, these changes parallel Viviana Zelizer’s work on the changing valuation of children a century ago. In this article, we further specify Zelizer’s insights by arguing that these accompanying economic transformations are best understood as shifting of a dogs’ place within budgetary units: from objects for human consumption to fellow actors humans consume with and around.     

Trading Later Rewards for Current Pleasure: Pornography Consumption and Delay Discounting

Internet pornography is a multi-billion-dollar industry that has grown increasingly accessible. Delay discounting involves devaluing larger, later rewards in favor of smaller, more immediate rewards. The constant novelty and primacy of sexual stimuli as particularly strong natural rewards make Internet pornography a unique activator of the brain's reward system, thereby having implications for decision-making processes. Based on theoretical studies of evolutionary psychology and neuroeconomics, two studies tested the hypothesis that consuming Internet pornography would relate to higher rates of delay discounting. Study 1 used a longitudinal design. Participants completed a pornography use questionnaire and a delay discounting task at Time 1 and then again four weeks later. Participants reporting higher initial pornography use demonstrated a higher delay discounting rate at Time 2, controlling for initial delay discounting. Study 2 tested for causality with an experimental design. Participants were randomly assigned to abstain from either their favorite food or pornography for three weeks. Participants who abstained from pornography use demonstrated lower delay discounting than participants who abstained from their favorite food. The finding suggests that Internet pornography is a sexual reward that contributes to delay discounting differently than other natural rewards. Theoretical and clinical implications of these studies are highlighted.     

Constructing Masculinity in the Building Trades: ‘Most Jobs in the Construction Industry Can Be Done by Women’

Construction is one of the most gender‐segregated sectors of the UK economy; men constitute over 99 per cent of the employees in the building trades. This article focuses on the role of discourse in reflecting and reproducing the absence of women in the construction trades. A small excerpt from an industry report is described, interpreted and explained using critical discourse analysis. The analysis takes as its starting point one phrase, ‘most jobs in the construction industry can be done by women’ and places it in its structural, institutional and historic context, showing its dependence on presuppositions about women's abilities, and the ideological basis of those assumptions. Male construction workers' masculine identity is defined in relation to their ‘tough’ job. The culture of taking safety risks, and working long hours in primitive working conditions suits some employers very well. The report's assertion that women can do ‘most jobs’ in construction appears to challenge the dominant ideology but it actually reproduces it, helping to maintain gender segregation. Thus it contributes in a small way to sustaining existing power relations by containing potentially transformative movements.     

Effects of Placement Changes on Health Insurance Stability Among a National Sample of Children in the Child Welfare System

ABSTRACT

Children in the child welfare system have entitlements to health insurance coverage—critical because of their considerable physical and mental health needs—based largely on their placement status. This study conducted path and transitions analyses on data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (3,801 children followed-up for 3 years) to examine the interplay between placement changes and insurance stability. Children maintained in-home at Wave 1 had significantly lower odds of being insured (OR = 0.7); children transitioning from out-of-home placement to in-home care had significantly lower odds of maintaining insurance coverage (OR = 0.6). Child welfare workers working with children maintained in-home and those being reunified should safeguard the children's insurance status. Policy makers should consider extension of categorical eligibility to all children presenting to child welfare agencies in order to assure access to needed services for these vulnerable children.