Television and the Internet

The article considers the consumption of television and the Internet in Russia. The concepts of relative constancy and the theory of utility and demand of the media are the theoretical basis of the analysis. The empirical basis is drawn from the results of a study of communicative behavior of Russia's urban population. The article proposes a typology of the consumption of television and the Internet in terms of the duration of media consumption, and discusses the factors that determine the characteristics of the current state of affairs and prospects for the consumption of television and the Internet in the future.     

Do we follow others when we should outside the lab? Evidence from the AP top 25

We use data from the Associated Press college American football poll to analyze two types of ex-post optimality of social learning in a non-lab setting. The poll is a weekly subjective ranking of the top 25 teams, voted on by over 60 sports journalists. Voters potentially can learn from their peers by observing the aggregate ranks before updating their individual ranks. Our results indicate that, while voters do learn from their peers to some extent, the informativeness of peer ranks appears to be under-valued.     

McDonaldization, Islamic teachings, and funerary practices in Kuwait

Drawing on George Ritzer's sociological concept of McDonaldization, this article explores the transformation of burial practices in Kuwait. It is argued that traditional, religious, and private ways of dealing with death have been modernized using the fast-food model of McDonald's. This article examines Islamic teachings on burial and how that model has been applied to the traditional Muslim funerary services, including cemetery management, grave excavation, funeral prayers, burial, and condolences, to make them more efficient vis-a-vis more profitable. Based on personal observations and random interviews, the study finds that the state bureaucracy in Kuwait has made burial rituals more efficient, standardized, calculable, and controlled. Furthermore, several associated irrationalities are also considered. Findings suggest that some individuals may not be happy with these changes but there is no popular resistance to McDonaldization of the burial practices, probably due to the authoritarian and welfare nature of the State of Kuwait.     

Perceptions of Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors: Development and Initial Validation of a New Scale to Measure Stereotypes of Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

The Childhood Sexual Abuse Stereotypes Scale was developed to assess stereotypes of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Scale items were derived from two studies that elicited cultural and personal beliefs about, and emotions experienced towards adult childhood sexual abuse survivors among university undergraduates. Two scales, Emotions and Characteristics, were developed and administered online to 182 participants. Exploratory factor analysis produced 7 factors, 4 for the Emotions Scale and 3 for the Characteristics Scale. Study 2 replicated this factor structure using confirmatory factor analysis (N?=?457). Reliability and validity analyses suggest that the Childhood Sexual Abuse Stereotypes Scale has satisfactory psychometric properties. The Childhood Sexual Abuse Stereotypes Scale can be used to examine stereotypes of legal and health care professionals likely to work with survivors as well as in stereotyping research.     

Pursuit of happiness: Subjective well-being of immigrants and natives

Recent studies establish that subjective well-being plays a significant part in the adjustment of immigrants in the host country and that after facing the initial costs of migration, immigrants experience levels of well-being similar to natives across generations. Using two surveys, including the World Values Survey as well as the joint World Values Survey and European Value Survey, we, however, find that variations in subjective well-being of immigrants and natives persist across generations, with second-generation immigrants experiencing higher differences. This finding can be attributed to an increase in the aspirations of second-generation immigrants. In developed regions, both first-generation and second-generation immigrants have a higher probability of reporting greater subjective well-being than natives, which can be attributed to an improved standard of living among immigrants. Additionally, we look at the association between holding immigration-friendly attitudes and the subjective well-being of natives. Our study provides important policy insights.