Stressful Life Events and Physical and Psychological Health: Mediating Effects of Differentiation of Self in a Spanish Sample

The pathways between differentiation of self and health remain only partly elucidated. This cross‐cultural study sought to test Bowen's hypothesis about the associations between differentiation, stressful life events, and physical and psychological health, in a sample of 466 Spanish adults. Results show that people with higher levels of differentiation were less prone to physical ailments (e.g., heart disease, cancer, or blood disorders) and psychological symptoms (e.g., depression or anxiety). Further, differentiation mediated the association between stress (i.e., perceived negativity of stress in the past year and number of stressful events across the lifetime) and physical and psychological health. The current research provides cross‐cultural empirical evidence for the links between differentiation and mind and body health in a Mediterranean culture.     

Community care for adults with severe mental disorders in rural China: A case study

In China, family care is the dominant form of care for people with mental disorders. Since 2004, the government has been developing a community‐care model that places more responsibility on community organisations and the local governments at the provincial, municipal and county levels for the provision of formal care. As a large number of people with severe mental disorders live in rural China, this case study was conducted in a rural county in order to examine the development of community care. It was found that, although family care remains dominant, families’ need for formal care is increasing. Community services have improved, but their development is constrained by several contextual and micro factors. In this study, it is argued that the community‐care model introduces a process of reconfiguration of the relative responsibility for care among the family, social organisations and the government, but progress depends on further administrative and fiscal reforms.     

Perception of Earthquake Risk in Taiwan: Effects of Gender and Past Earthquake Experience

This study explored how individuals in Taiwan perceive the risk of earthquake and the relationship of past earthquake experience and gender to risk perception. Participants (n= 1,405), including earthquake survivors and those in the general population without prior direct earthquake exposure, were selected and interviewed through a computer‐assisted telephone interviewing procedure using a random sampling and stratification method covering all 24 regions of Taiwan. A factor analysis of the interview data yielded a two‐factor structure of risk perception in regard to earthquake. The first factor, “personal impact,” encompassed perception of threat and fear related to earthquakes. The second factor, “controllability,” encompassed a sense of efficacy of self‐protection in regard to earthquakes. The findings indicated prior earthquake survivors and females reported higher scores on the personal impact factor than males and those with no prior direct earthquake experience, although there were no group differences on the controllability factor. The findings support that risk perception has multiple components, and suggest that past experience (survivor status) and gender (female) affect the perception of risk. Exploration of potential contributions of other demographic factors such as age, education, and marital status to personal impact, especially for females and survivors, is discussed. Future research on and intervention program with regard to risk perception are suggested accordingly.     

Can Carbon Nanomaterials Improve CZTS Photovoltaic Devices? Evaluation of Performance and Impacts Using Integrated Life‐Cycle Assessment and Decision Analysis

In emergent photovoltaics, nanoscale materials hold promise for optimizing device characteristics; however, the related impacts remain uncertain, resulting in challenges to decisions on strategic investment in technology innovation. We integrate multi‐criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and life‐cycle assessment (LCA) results (LCA‐MCDA) as a method of incorporating values of a hypothetical federal acquisition manager into the assessment of risks and benefits of emerging photovoltaic materials. Specifically, we compare adoption of copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) devices with molybdenum back contacts to alternative devices employing graphite or graphene instead of molybdenum. LCA impact results are interpreted alongside benefits of substitution including cost reductions and performance improvements through application of multi‐attribute utility theory. To assess the role of uncertainty we apply Monte Carlo simulation and sensitivity analysis. We find that graphene or graphite back contacts outperform molybdenum under most scenarios and assumptions. The use of decision analysis clarifies potential advantages of adopting graphite as a back contact while emphasizing the importance of mitigating conventional impacts of graphene production processes if graphene is used in emerging CZTS devices. Our research further demonstrates that a combination of LCA and MCDA increases the usability of LCA in assessing product sustainability. In particular, this approach identifies the most influential assumptions and data gaps in the analysis and the areas in which either engineering controls or further data collection may be necessary.     

Devolution in a ‘Stateless Nation’: Nation‐building and Social Policy in Scotland

The implications of the 2011 Scottish election and the proposed referendum on Scottish independence for the future of social policy across the devolved UK are profound but far from certain. It is crucial to understand not only the historical nature of this conjuncture but to develop an adequate conceptual understanding of the place of social policy in the dialectic between state and nation in Scotland. To this end, we critically examine theories that depict Scotland as an essentially ‘stateless nation’ in the light of recent developments. In so doing, we examine the implications for social policy of the changing character of statehood in Scotland, the nature of civil nationalism, and the problem of legitimacy in Scotland for the UK as a multinational state. As the architecture of statehood is re‐negotiated, strong centrifugal pressures are being created for a more distinct divergence of social policy in Scotland from the rest of the UK regardless of the outcome of the independence referendum. Policy‐making is ensnared in a series of tensions, not just between Westminster and Holyrood but also, more broadly, tensions between competing principles of social justice and territorial justice, and competing demands between welfare nationalism and competitive nationalism.     

Does race matter? Assessing consumer discrimination in the secondary basketball card market

Sociologists continue to observe the ways race permeates America's social institutions, the institution of sport being no exception. Although researchers have explored customer racial discrimination via examinations of the secondary sports card market, only three studies have explored the phenomenon in the context of basketball, a sporting context with a higher proportion of non-White players than the baseball and football leagues that have been the primary focus to date. We explore the unique way race matters on the hardwood by employing a methodological approach that previously has been used to study card collecting in other contexts. Data were obtained for 215 retired players and their rookie cards. Controlling for other factors, to include career performance, position, and card scarcity, the results reveal no direct effect of race on card values, but there is an interaction effect between race and Hall of Fame status that impacts card prices. The potential source and implications of this interaction are discussed as well as suggestions for future research.     

Exploring the Emergence of Side Biases and Familiarity–Novelty Preferences from the Real‐Time Dynamics of Infant Looking

This study examined how look dynamics contribute to infants’ emerging novelty preferences. Time‐series analyses were used to study the temporal nature of looking displayed by 3‐ to 5‐month‐old infants during a serial paired‐comparison task. Evidence was found only for short‐term stability: Novelty preferences and side biases were not stable from one visit to the next, but looking was consistent from one moment to the next producing stability within trials and temporarily across trials leading to the formation of behavioral runs. Persistence in looking left or right across multiple trials did not change from one visit to the next, but persistence in looking at familiar stimuli declined with age. By Visit 3, familiarity runs occurred less often than did novelty runs. Frequent but highly variable runs, including surprisingly late familiarity preferences, suggest that overall side biases and novelty preferences found during visual preference tasks are emergent phenomena affected by moment‐to‐moment changes in looking.