Racism and Sexism as Functional Substitutes in the Labor Market

The returns from the 1970 U.S. census are used to examine whether racial and sexual discrimination tend to vary together or whether they are functional substitutes for one another in the labor market, i.e., whether they operate in the same manner to produce the same results. The impact of racial discrimination is measured by both the percentage of the population of a state that is of third world origin and the ratio of black to white male annual earnings. Sexual discrimination is measured by the ratio of white female to white male earnings and urban female to urban male earnings. The values of each of these indicators is compared for the 50 U.S. states. The effect of the percentage of the population that is urban, the percentage of the economically active population in manufacturing, the level of personal income, region, and percentage of the population that is third world is controlled for. The results show that sexual discrimination can be seen as a functional substitute for racial discrimination in the labor market. Where racial discrimination is the most significant, sexual discrimination is the least. This supports the argument that the capitalist economic system needs a specially oppressed group of menial laborers to perform its most menial and low-paying tasks. Either white women or third world people (men and women) can fill these jobs. When third world people are available, white working women do not have to be pressed into them to the same extent. However, when third world people are not present, or are not especially discriminated against, then white working women tend more to perform the "dirty work" jobs and are consequently less likely to be found in the "better" jobs.     

A questionnaire measure of individual differences in stimulus screening and associated differences in arousability

This paper presents the rationale for a questionnaire measure of individual differences in stimulus screening—namely, individual differences in automatic (i.e., not conceptual or intentional) screening of irrelevant stimuli and rapid habituation to distracting, irrelevant stimuli. The information rate-arousal hypothesis implies that screeners who impose a hierarchy of importance or pattern on the various components of a complex situation thereby reduce its information rate and should be less arousable than nonscreeners. In confirmation of these theoretical notions, the primary component of the questionnaire, low arousability, was directly correlated with the second component, speed of habituation to intense stimuli, and with all other components representing screening in various sense modalities. That is, all components of the questionnaire were intercorrelated and represented a unitary dimension of individual differences in information processing. Also, as predicted, screeners were underrepresented among characteristically aroused persons and among females relative to males. The final 40-item questionnaire, which consists of nine intercorrelated components, is balanced to control for acquiescence and is free of social desirability bias. Applications of the measure in studies of environmental psychology are discussed.The author is grateful to Leo Collins for his assistance in writing items for Study 1 and keypunching the data obtained in that study. He also wishes to express his thanks to William Fishman and Paula Sapon, who assisted in writing more items for Study 2, helped run that study, and keypunched the data.     

Do statements about desired family size predict fertility? the case of Taiwan, 1967–1970

The predictive accuracy of respondents' statements about their future fertility is examined, using interview data from a longitudinal study conducted in Taiwan. Two measures of preference are found to be highly intercorrelated; and regardless of which one is used, Taiwanese women are shown to predict their subsequent fertility at least as well as U.S. women. The preference measures are also predictive of rates of contraceptive use and abortion. While demographic and social characteristics are correlated with fertility in expected directions, statements about wanting more children prove to be highly predictive of subsequent fertility for both modern and less advanced segments of the population.     

Learning empathy through literature

ABSTRACT

In the field of organization studies, little consideration has thus far been devoted to the study of literature. The lacuna in the extant scholarship is unfortunate insofar as there is much to be gained for researchers interested in understanding organization to critically engage with literature. As an illustrative example of how literature can inform myriad pertinent discourses in organization studies, in this piece we study the question of empathy. That is, we describe just some of what may be gleaned about empathy from literature using anecdotes from a pedagogical exercise. Finally, we close this piece with a brief overview of the articles selected for this special issue.     

Evaluation of an experimental short interview form designed to collect fertility data: The case of Peru

A comparison is made of demographic data gathered using an experimental short interview form with that from the more traditional in-depth fertility and contraceptive KAP interview. The short form is weakest in measuring current fertility, somewhat more adequate in measuring cumulative fertility, and about equally as effective as the depth interview in measuring infant/child mortality. Most of the deficiency in the quality of the short-interview data can be attributed to accepting information from other household members or neighbors when the woman herself was not available.     

Zero growth of the population of the United States

It is sometimes said that there is no population problem in the United States because the U.S. fertility rate is approximately at the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. However the population of the United States increased in 1992 by approximately three million people. There are two major causes of continued population growth even when fertility is approximately at the replacement level. One is population momentum; the other is immigration. This paper examines what must be done if we want to achieve zero growth of the population of the United States immediately, without the long delays caused by population momentum.     

Living arrangements of widows in the United States and Israel, 1960 and 1961

One of the neglected areas in the study of the social structure of the family is that of widowhood, the last stage in the family life cycle. A study of living arrangements of the widowed provides an opportunity to examine the kinship solidarity of a society and to point up in bold relief the influence of a variety of factors that contribute to the residential patterns of the widowed. The data in this study were drawn from the 1960 Census of the United States and the 1961 Census of Israel, the latest which offer comparable data. Five ethnic-religious groups are examined in Israel and eight in the United States. Goode and others have stated that family modernization is a universal trend, and this is borne out by the results of this study. The small family system shows that age and children ever born are the most important predictors of living alone among the widowed in both countries. Otherwise, among the 13 ethnic-religious and ethnic-racial groups there is a general similarity of the importance of the variables in the total prediction scheme.