Sons or daughters? Cross-cultural comparisons of the sex preferences of Australian,Greek, Italian,Malay, Chinese and Indian parents in Australia and Malaysia

In examining reasons for fertility decline research has focused upon changes in the demand for children, in particular evidence of a transition in values and disvalues of children from high- to low-fertility countries. Two surveys of the value of children to 717 parents in Australia (Australian, Greek and Italian respondents) and 522 parents in Peninsular Malaysia (Malay, Chinese and Indian respondents) investigated the existence of and changes in sex preference and the motivations for wanting sons and daughters. Son preference was in general higher for couples interviewed in Malaysia. The reasons for wanting a son centered upon traditional values of old age support, continuation of the family name and the completion of male tasks in the home. Within Australia, Southern European immigrants mentioned the need to continue the family name, but the Australian-born emphasized the personality and companionship benefits of a son. The reasons for wanting a daughter indicated an even clearer breakdown of interests in the two countries over the traditional as compared to the more psychologically oriented benefits in having a girl. Overall, the comparison between countries indicated a general decline in son preference from high- to low-fertility regimes and somewhat less concern with the traditional roles of children.Requests for reprints should be directed to Dr. V. Callan, Department of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4067, Queensland, Australia. The research projects were funded by grants from the Population and Development Policy Research Program of the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, the Australian Department of Health, and the Australian National University.     

Pregnancy avoidance and coital behavior

This study proposes a behavioral model that identifies determinants of coital activity in the context of pregnancy avoidance and assesses the relationships using weekly panel data collected on 300 rural married women in Sri Lanka in 1988. We discuss the utility of the design, which is similar to that of an epidemiological surveillance system, for the measurement of coital behavior and pregnancy risk perceptions. Perceptions of pregnancy risk, spousal agreement on sexual relations, menstrual and lactational status, and cycle timing, all measured daily, are found to influence significantly the probability of coitus on that day. The findings suggest that substantial gains in studying fertility regulation are likely from closer investigation of the behavioral connections between motivation for pregnancy avoidance and coital incidence. Comparison of such panel data with those of cross-sectional sample surveys also provides insights into the validity of measures of coital and contraceptive behavior.     

Health Costs of Wealth Gains: Labor Migration and Perceptions of HIV/AIDS Risks in Mozambique

The study employs survey data from rural Mozambique to examine how men's labor migration affects their non-migrating wives' perceptions of HIV/AIDS risks. Using a conceptual framework centered on tradeoffs between economic security and health risks that men's migration entails for their left-behind wives, it compares women married to migrants and those married to non-migrants while also distinguishing between economically successful and unsuccessful migration. The analysis finds that the economic success of men's migration, rather than migration itself, significantly predicts women's worries about getting infected by their husbands or their own extramarital partners, and their husbands' stance on condom use. These findings are situated within a broader context of socio-economic, gender, and marital dynamics and vulnerabilities produced or amplified by male labor migration in sub-Saharan and similar developing settings.     

Employment programs for people with psychiatric disability: the case for change

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of disability employment policy in assisting people with psychiatric disability to find, or return to, paid work. We argue that the poor employment outcomes from current programs establish the need for a paradigmatic shift in the form of a state‐provided Job Guarantee (JG) for people with psychiatric disability. In the absence of measures to generate suitable jobs, forthcoming changes to the eligibility criteria for Disability Support Pension will create risks rather than opportunities. Under the JG, the Federal Government would maintain a ‘buffer stock’ of minimum wage, public sector jobs to provide secure paid employment for this highly disadvantaged group. The role of the state in this alternative model is two fold. First, the state must provide the quantum of JG jobs required. Second, the state must ensure the design of jobs is flexible enough to meet the heterogeneous and variable support needs of workers. This will require effective integration of the JG scheme with mental health, rehabilitation and employment support services.     

Naturalistic social cognition: Intersubjectivity in same-sex dyads

The research paradigm that Ickes and his colleagues (Ickes, Robertson, Tooke, & Teng, 1986; Ickes & Tooke, 1988) have developed for the study of naturalistic social cognition was used to explore the phenomenon ofintersubjectivity as it naturally occurs in the initial, unstructured interactions of same-sex (male-male and female-female) dyads. The results of two studies revealed evidence of greater similarity (i.e., convergence) in the thought-feeling content of the male dyad members than in that of the female dyad members on measures pertaining to the quality of their reported feelings. These findings were consistent with the assumption that, due to a normatively narrower range of affective involvement in the male-male dyads, the male dyad members were more likely than the female dyad members to monitor closely the emotional tone of their interaction. In direct support of this assumption, there was significantly less nonverbal involvement (i.e., gesturing, smiling, gazing, mutual gaze) in the male-male dyads in both studies, along with corresponding differences in the variability of these behaviors. In addition, the results of both studies revealed serendipitous evidence of greater similarity in the thought-feeling content of the female, than of the male, dyad members on measures pertaining to the degree of metaperspective taking and to thoughts and feelings about other people. The discussion emphasized the need for theorists and researchers in cognitive social psychology to address those genuinelysocial-cognitive (i.e., intersubjective) phenomena that have traditionally been ignored.The authors would like to express their appreciation to Kristine Arnold, Ray Bristow, Robin Klemick, Laurie Luce, Julie Williams, and Mari Wilson for their assistance in coding the data for the studies reported here.     

RESEARCH ON INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION WITHIN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: Foci, Approaches, and Challenges

This article reviews the state of research on international migration within sub-Saharan Africa. It examines the international migration systems that have emerged on the subcontinent, especially in Southern and Western Africa, as well as issues pertaining to gender and migration and to migrants' incorporation in host societies. Special attention is given to conflict-induced migration and to implications of international migration for health, with a particular emphasis on the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Despite the large volume and diversity of international migration in the subcontinent, the literature on the subject remains scarce and disconnected from the body of international migration research in other settings. The review identifies causes of this mismatch and discusses ways to mainstream the subcontinent's migration problematique .     

Urban forest and environmental inequality in Campos dos Goytacazes,Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

Social and spatial inequality regarding environmental resources and services is one of most complex issues affecting contemporary urban life. The objective of this research is to study the spatial distribution of trees in public areas in Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This research presents data gathered in ten neighborhoods in Campos. These neighborhoods were split into three distinct groups using wealth levels. Data obtained include the number of trees and private gardens and tree species diversity per neighborhood street. Our results demonstrate that the wealthier neighborhoods have both the highest tree biodiversity and number of trees. In contrast, the poorer neighborhoods present a low biodiversity level and fewer tree species. Our results also showed that age of the neighborhoods was not a factor in explaining the number of trees in public spaces. Socioeconomic and education levels of the population seem to play a more causal on tree quantity and species diversity. This inequality stresses a problem with environmental justice, a characteristic of Brazilian cities intrinsically connected to urban sustainability.     

A note on the correlation structure of transformed Gaussian random fields

Transformed Gaussian random fields can be used to model continuous time series and spatial data when the Gaussian assumption is not appropriate. The main features of these random fields are specified in a transformed scale, while for modelling and parameter interpretation it is useful to establish connections between these features and those of the random field in the original scale. This paper provides evidence that for many ‘normalizing’ transformations the correlation function of a transformed Gaussian random field is not very dependent on the transformation that is used. Hence many commonly used transformations of correlated data have little effect on the original correlation structure. The property is shown to hold for some kinds of transformed Gaussian random fields, and a statistical explanation based on the concept of parameter orthogonality is provided. The property is also illustrated using two spatial datasets and several ‘normalizing’ transformations. Some consequences of this property for modelling and inference are also discussed.