Understanding human ambivalence about sex: the effects of stripping sex of meaning

We offer a theoretical perspective to provide insight into why people are ambivalent about sex and why cultures regulate sex and attach symbolic meaning to it. Building on terror management theory, we propose that sex is problematic for humankind in part because it reminds us of our creaturely mortal nature. Two experiments investigated the effects of reminding people of the similarity between humans and other animals on their reactions to the physical aspects of sex. In Study 1, priming human-animal similarities led to increased accessibility of death-related thoughts after thinking about the physical but not romantic aspects of sex. In Study 2, when participants were reminded of similarities between humans and other animals, mortality salience resulted in decreased attraction to the physical but not romantic aspects of sex. In each study, priming thoughts about how humans are distinct from animals eliminated the association between sex and death.     

Emotional awareness and couples' relationship satisfaction

This study examined the role of emotional awareness in couples' relationships and the effects of a tendency to respond to difficult couples' situations with "soft" emotions (including sadness and fear) versus "hard" emotions (including anger and resentment). Participants were 56 heterosexual couples who completed a measure of relationship satisfaction and two measures of emotional awareness, including one that was developed as part of this study. Results indicated that women were more emotionally aware than men in response to couples' situations, but not in response to general situations outside the relationship. In addition, higher levels of emotional awareness and a higher awareness of "hard" emotions were associated with decreased relationship satisfaction for women, but not for men. Discrepancy between partners' levels of awareness was related to lower satisfaction for both men and women.     

Can 401(k) accumulations generate significant income for future retirees?

This Issue Brief develops a model that project the proportion of an individual's preretirement income that might be replaced by 401(k) plan accumulations at retirement, under several different projected scenarios. The 401(k) participant behaviors in the model are based on the year-end 2000 database collected by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the Investment Company Institute (ICI) in their collaborative effort known as the EBRI/ICI Participant-Directed Retirement Plan Data Collection Project. The most significant factor affecting projected replacement rates at retirement is having access to a 401(k) plan. Projected replacement rates from 401(k) accumulations at retirement are reduced significantly when participants are not offered a 401(k) plan in all portions of their careers. Most 401(k) participants tend to have contributions in any given year. Thus, projecting that participants always have contributions (their own and/or employer contributions) every year raises projected replacement rates, but not by much compared with the importance of being offered a plan to begin with. The model simulations show that participant activities such as taking loans, taking preretirement withdrawals, or cashing out account balances at job change reduce projected 401(k) accumulations and thus replacement rates at age 65. Because loans are forecast to be paid back to the account in full, their effect on replacement rates at retirement in the model is the smallest. Even if equity returns in the future are projected to replicate the worst 50-year segment in the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 history (1929 to 1978), 401(k) accumulations are still projected to replace significant proportions of projected preretirement income. Another projection scenario forecasts participants experiencing a simulated three-year bear market (negative equity returns) either early in their careers, near the middle of their careers, or at the end of their careers. Forecasts of the effects of bear markets on 401(k) balances show that a bear market in equities is projected to have the largest effect the closer it occurs to age 65 (retirement), even though older participants typically have diversified their portfolios away from equities. A three-year bear market for those early in their careers would reduce median replacement rates from 401(k) accumulations by an estimated 2.9-3.7 percentage points, compared with 13.4-17.7 percentage points for those immediately before retirement. Similarly, a simulated three-year bull market (positive equity returns) is projected to have a larger positive effect on projected account balances and replacement rates the closer it occurs to retirement.     

Social security in the Middle East: a brief review

The countries of the Middle East all have traditional social insurance type social security programs. The move towards defined contribution individual accounts that is occurring in some regions has not affected this region The social security programs in the Middle East are not facing the problems of financing found in Europe and North America, in part because they still have relatively high fertility rates and are thus little affected by population aging. They tend to have low retirement ages and some of the wealthy countries of the region provide very generous benefits. Many of them need to consider reforms that raise retirement ages. A characteristic of many of the social security old-age benefit programs of the region is that they exclude foreign workers, who in some countries account for more than half the workforce.     

Perceived verbal conflict behaviors associated with physical aggression and sexual coercion in dating relationships: a gender-sensitive analysis

We studied perceived partner verbal behaviors associated with participants' use of dating aggression. Men's reports of their partners' demanding, controlling, and psychologically abusive behaviors during conflicts were expected to predict men's perpetration against partners. In contrast, women's reports of their partners' withdrawal were expected to predict women's perpetration. Data were collected from heterosexual undergraduates (N = 223) in exclusive dating relationships. Participants' reports of partner demands and partner psychological abuse were associated with participants' use of physical aggression and sexual coercion. Reports of partner withdrawal and partner controlling behaviors were associated with participants' sexual coercion only. Significant moderating effects of gender emerged. As expected, partner demands, controlling behaviors, and psychological abuse were associated with physical aggression and sexual coercion in men, but not women. Partner withdrawal was associated with sexual coercion in both women and men. We conclude that gender-sensitive approaches are necessary to understand and prevent verbal conflict patterns associated with physical aggression and sexual coercion in intimate relationships.     

Gambling participation in the U.S.--results from a national survey

Demographic patterns of gambling participation in the U.S. were examined. A national telephone survey was conducted with 2,630 representative U.S. residents aged 18 or older. The sample as weighted for analysis was 48% male, 12% black, and 11% Hispanic. Respondents were questioned on 15 types of gambling: how often they played and how much they won or lost. Eighty-two percent gambled in the past year. Lottery was the most commonly played game, while casino gambling accounted for the largest extent of gambling involvement. Men and women were equally likely to gamble in the past year, but men gambled more frequently and had larger wins and losses, particularly on sports betting and games of skill. Blacks were less likely to have gambled in the past year, but blacks who gambled did so more heavily than other racial groups. Blacks and Hispanics were more likely than average to be pathological gamblers. The rate of past year gambling declined with age, but extent of gambling involvement among gamblers did not vary with age. Rates of participation in most forms of gambling increased with socioeconomic status, but higher socioeconomic status gamblers had lower rates of pathological gambling, and lower extent of gambling involvement, particularly for lottery. New Englanders gambled more heavily than other Americans. Comparison with past studies showed an increase in overall gambling participation in the U.S., and large increases in rates of participation in lottery and casino gambling.     

Ergonomics evaluation of a government office building

An ergonomics team from the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive medicine evaluated 465 video display terminal (VDT) workstations in a Government office building over an 18-day period. Each workstation evaluation involved an assessment of the worker, the chair, the desk, the keyboard, the pointing device, the monitor, and the office environmental conditions. The team also collected worker pain and injury information. The problems seen during the evaluation were characteristic of most office environments where VDT workstation furniture was purchased before the advent of mouse-driven software. The majority of furniture evaluated was not designed to meet the demands of intensive mouse use for prolonged periods of time. Much of the workstation furniture was not adjustable, chairs lacked adequate back support, and workers assumed non-neutral postures. As a result, more than 35% of the workers evaluated complained of on-the-job pain. New office furniture that is adjustable, adequate desk space and storage space were among the solutions recommended by the ergonomics team.     

Construct validities and the empirical relationships between optimism,hope, self-efficacy,and locus of control

This study assessed the construct validities and the relationships between Optimism [21], Hope [27], Self-Efficacy [18], and Locus of Control [12]. The validities and relationships between these scales were examined not only because they are to some degree rival constructs but also because there is an outstanding theoretical question in the literature of whether each of these variables is a state or trait variable or both. Synder' Hope scale was the "know marker" trait-state scale in this study. Data were obtained on all scales from 78 at-risk university students and 22 regular (or normal) students, as all scales either make claims about or have existing data on these two different types of subjects. Other background data were also collected. A Manova on the 13 variables for which data were obtained found significant profile differences between the two groups of subjects as theory and the literature predicted at the 0.01 level. The trait-state two factor structure of Synder's Hope scale was found except the structure was orthogonal in at-risk students as opposed to the oblique structure Synder found in normals. The same strong results were obtained for Schiever and Carver's Optimism scale which additionally resolved an outstanding interpetability issue with this scale. Hypothesized factor structures were not obtained for the self-efficacy or the locus of control scales and both scales best fit the trait-sate model, which contradicts Bandura's and other prevailing view of these two variables, but supports the results found by Bandalos et al. [2].     

Social distance and patients' rating of healthcare providers

Racial inequity in the provision of healthcare is widely recognized. In this paper, I assess the role of social distance from healthcare providers in accounting for whites' higher rating of healthcare providers. Using data from the Detroit Area Study, I test whether having higher socioeconomic status, like most healthcare providers, and racial concordance with healthcare provider account for the gap in satisfaction between whites and African Americans. I find that socioeconomic status and racial concordance variables account for a portion of whites' higher rating of the respect shown by their healthcare provider. Racial differences in evaluation of time spent with healthcare provider are accounted for by socioeconomic status, but not racial concordance. As researchers explore the causes of and remedies for the racial disparity in use and evaluation of healthcare, the subtle and indirect effects of race on the patient-healthcare provider relationship must be considered.