Psychological Distress and Help-Seeking by Residents of a Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NNORC)

This article presents findings from an annual program survey of residents of a horizontal neighborhood naturally occurring retirement community (NNORC). The study explored the relationship between several factors (age, co-residents, number of chronic illnesses, self-reported health, loneliness, sense of mastery, locus of control, pain, and psychological distress) and their ability to predict general health, level of psychological distress, and the quantity and type of help-seeking behaviors. Although residents generally reported moderate to high levels of chronic disease, pain, loneliness, and concerns about life issues, 25% of them sought no help from any of the listed resources, and 65% sought help from only one of seven resources. The most common source of help for most (70%) was a primary care physician (PCP), and comparatively few respondents sought help from other sources. Older adults, especially those with chronic illness, generally consider their PCP to be the first, and perhaps only, source to consult. However, research indicates that the most effective health promotional programs for older adults are social and educational group activities, rather than individual health-focused interventions. Possible means of redirecting residents toward NNORC services include more vigorous outreach and creating collaborative partnerships between local PCPs serving older populations and the NNORC.     

Calibration Results for Non‐Expected Utility Theories

Rabin (2000) proved that a low level of risk aversion with respect to small gambles leads to a high, and absurd, level of risk aversion with respect to large gambles. Rabin's arguments strongly depend on expected utility theory, but we show that similar arguments apply to general non‐expected utility theories.     

Is Allocation Affected by the Perception of Others' Irresponsible Behavior and by Ambiguity?

The article examines how the perception of others' irresponsible behavior and ambiguity regarding probabilities affect allocation among potential beneficiaries. To elicit these views, we conducted a survey where the participants were first asked to make an allocation of a fixed sum of money between a hereditary cancer, where chance plays a central role, and a lifestyle‐related cancer, where individual lifestyle decisions are more important. Our estimation results show that a substantial share of the respondents allocate significantly more to the hereditary cancer. This may indicate that these respondents care about others' irresponsible behavior. Then, we elicited perceptions of cancer hazards in the form of imprecise probabilities and examined the interplay between allocating behavior and risk perceptions. Finally, we investigated the effects of various socioeconomic characteristics, and of awareness of highly publicized cancer cases, on respondents' allocations.     

A Modified Kolmogorov–Smirnov Test for Normality

In this article we propose an improvement of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality. In the current implementation of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, given data are compared with a normal distribution that uses the sample mean and the sample variance. We propose to select the mean and variance of the normal distribution that provide the closest fit to the data. This is like shifting and stretching the reference normal distribution so that it fits the data in the best possible way. A study of the power of the proposed test indicates that the test is able to discriminate between the normal distribution and distributions such as uniform, bimodal, beta, exponential, and log-normal that are different in shape but has a relatively lower power against the student's, t-distribution that is similar in shape to the normal distribution. We also compare the performance (both in power and sensitivity to outlying observations) of the proposed test with existing normality tests such as Anderson–Darling and Shapiro–Francia.     

Density Approximation by Summary Statistics: An Information-theoretic Approach

In the case of exponential families, it is a straightforward matter to approximate a density function by use of summary statistics; however, an appropriate approach to such approximation is far less clear when an exponential family is not assumed. In this paper, a maximin argument based on information theory is used to derive a new approach to density approximation from summary statistics which is not restricted by the assumption of validity of an underlying exponential family. Information-theoretic criteria are developed to assess loss of predictive power of summary statistics under such minimal knowledge. Under these criteria, optimal density approximations in the maximin sense are obtained and shown to be related to exponential families. Conditions for existence of optimal density approximations are developed. Applications of the proposed approach are illustrated, and methods for estimation of densities are provided in the case of simple random sampling. Large-sample theory for estimates is developed.     

The graduate(s): the harvests of Israel’s integrated multicultural bilingual education

Advocates of integration and cross cultural contact believe schools have a seminal role to play in perpetuating or breaking the cycle of violence and division in conflicted societies. Historically, segregated schools are the norm in such societies. An alternative educational model is provided through integrated schools—schools where children from different national, ethnic, or religious groups are deliberately educated together. Integrated schools are believed to be essential in contributing to the healing of the wounds that afflict conflicted societies, easing the path toward peace, reconciliation, and integration. The present study reports on interviews conducted with the three first cohorts of students which graduated from the only integrated school in Israel running through K12. The interviewees are shown to have been able to successfully negotiate present reigning societal believes in all that regards to the ethos of the conflict and adopt perspectives which help them overcome hatred, fear, and anger while recognizing present sociopolitical complexities and difficulties. All in all the schools? environment and educational practices seem to help counter the socio-psychological infrastructures which evolve in the context of intractable conflicts.     

A generalized representation theorem for Harsanyi’s (‘impartial’) observer

We provide an axiomatization of an additively separable social welfare function in the context of Harsanyi’s impartial observer theorem. To do this, we reformulate Harsanyi’s setting to make the lotteries over the identities the observer may assume independent of the social alternative.     

Individual Sense of Justice: A Utility Representation

We present an axiomatic model depicting the choice behavior of a self‐interest seeking moral individual over random allocation procedures. Individual preferences are decomposed into a self‐interest component and a component representing the individual's moral value judgment. Each component has a distinct utility representation, and the preference relation depicting the choice behavior is representable by a real‐valued function defined on the components utilities. The utility representing the self‐interest component is linear and the utility representing the individual's moral value judgment is quasi‐concave. The addition of a hexagon condition implies that the utility representing the individual's preference is additively separable in the components utilities.