A Fractional Dickey–Fuller Test for Unit Roots

This paper presents a new test for fractionally integrated (FI) processes. In particular, we propose a testing procedure in the time domain that extends the well–known Dickey–Fuller approach, originally designed for the I(1) versus I(0) case, to the more general setup of FI(d₀) versus FI(d₁), with d₁<d₀. When d₀=1, the proposed test statistics are based on the OLS estimator, or its t–ratio, of the coefficient on Δ^d1y_t−1 in a regression of Δy_t on Δ^d1y_t−1 and, possibly, some lags of Δy_t. When d₁ is not taken to be known a priori, a pre–estimation of d₁ is needed to implement the test. We show that the choice of any T^1/2–consistent estimator of d₁∈[0 ,1) suffices to make the test feasible, while achieving asymptotic normality. Monte–Carlo simulations support the analytical results derived in the paper and show that proposed tests fare very well, both in terms of power and size, when compared with others available in the literature. The paper ends with two empirical applications.     

Life on the Edge: Balancing Gendered and Occupational Identities among Unauthorized Mexican Migrant Roofers

Scholars have addressed the economic, gendered, and emotional dimensions of migration, especially as migrants move from origin to destination. However, scholarship on return migration and the subjective experiences of reintegrating to origin communities is poorly understood. In this paper, we examine the return migration of formerly unauthorized migrants who labored as roofers in the United States. We argue that the migration process redefines men’s masculinity as they attempt to balance family life in Mexico and their occupational lives in the U.S., all of which are essential for their identity but remain separated by an international border. We draw on 40 in-depth interviews with return migrant men in a small city in Guanajuato, Mexico to examine the emotional tensions men experience regarding the decision to remain in close proximity to family in Mexico and a desire to return again to their economically and emotionally fulfilling occupations in the U.S. We find that migrants’ nostalgia for prior U.S. labor market experience, in juxtaposition to reentry into the Mexican labor market, competes with current feelings of happiness and contentment obtained through family reintegration. These competing feelings, together with economic need, help explain the complex meaning of migration for return migrant men. We conclude by suggesting that once men have been exposed to U.S. life, the occupational identity becomes a “pull” that encourages future migration trips.     

Reliability and Validity of the European Portuguese Version of the Social Touch Questionnaire

Social touch is essential for physical and emotional well-being. However, different meanings can be attributed to physical contact during social interactions and may generate bonding or avoidant behaviors. This personal and unique experience is not usually taken into account in health and social care services. The aim of this study is to produce a valid and reliable European Portuguese version of the Social Touch Questionnaire (STQ, Wilhelm et al. in Biol Psychol 58:181–202, 2001. doi: 10.1016/S0301-0511(01)00113-2). The STQ is a self-report questionnaire for adolescents and adults measuring behaviors and attitudes towards social touch. The original version was translated into European Portuguese using a forward-back translation process and its feasibility was examined. To evaluate the psychometric properties, a total of 242 Portuguese university students participated in the study (21.3 ± 3.8 years). The STQ was considered feasible, showed adequate internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .734), and the test–retest correlation with the STQ items demonstrated a high concordance between the tests over a two-week interval (ICC = .990; n = 50). Validity tests were performed, comparing the total score of the STQ with that of the anxiety and avoidance subscales of the Social Interaction and Performance Anxiety and Avoidance Scale (SIPAAS). A very significant conceptual convergence was confirmed between the STQ and with the SIPAAS-Anxiety (r = .64; p < .0001) and with the SIPAAS-Avoidance (r = .59; p < .0001). The exploratory factor analysis, with Promax rotation, revealed 3 factors: dislike of physical touch, liking of familiar physical touch and liking of public physical touch (Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .68 to .75). Psychometric properties confirmed the adaptation of the STQ to the Portuguese culture. It is a reliable and valid self-report questionnaire and it appears to be a useful tool to assess behaviors and attitudes towards social touch.     

The relationship between driving anger and risk could be non-linear. Towards a circumplex model of anger and risk on the road / La relación entre la ira y el riesgo en la conducción podría ser no lineal. Hacia un modelo circumplejo de la ira y el riesgo en carretera

Hypotheses of non-linear relationships are not common in the social sciences, although some relationships among variables are more likely to be curvilinear. Based on previous research, the current study analysed the relationship between driving anger (state anger) and risk (mean speed) in a simulation task. Seventy-two participants completed a driving simulation task and, immediately following task completion, answered a state anger self-reported measure. The results show that a quadratic relationship between these variables explained more variance than a linear relationship (22.2% and 9.0%, respectively). From these results and previous findings, a circumplex model of the relationship among anger, aggression and risky road behaviour is proposed. Finally, the implications of these results are discussed.     

Influence of gender self-schema and type of service-oriented NGOs on volunteering activity / Influencia del autoesquema de género y del tipo de servicios de las ONG en las actividades de voluntariado

The feminization of service-oriented NGOs on volunteering needs to consider gender differences when exploring the system of volunteer motivations. This study examines the relationship of these motivations with gender self-schema and type of service-oriented NGOs. For this purpose, 160 volunteers from 21 Spanish NGOs completed a questionnaire. The results show that, once the effect of time spent volunteering was removed, there was a significant effect of gender self-schema in relation to motivation and there was a significant interaction effect between gender self-schema and type of NGO. Specifically, masculine volunteers were less motivated than feminine, androgynous and undifferentiated persons. Also, masculine people working with the elderly were the least motivated volunteers and androgynous people working in service-oriented NGOs dedicated to children and adolescents were the most motivated individuals. The results indicate the relevance of androgyny in understanding volunteering, as well as the importance of promoting non-sexist educational proposals to increase men’s participation in these activities.     

Informal Learning for Citizenship Building in Shared Struggles for Rights: Cases of Political Solidarity Between Colombian and Spanish Organisations

Dominant discourses and practices in international cooperation have been characterised by depoliticisation and unequal power relationships. However, a number of more transformative experiences of cooperation also exist, where joint work between Northern and Southern social organisations is linked with a more political perspective. These kinds of experiences can be considered processes of informal learning in social action: through shared actions, strategies and frameworks and through interaction between organisations, institutions and the grassroots, informal and multidimensional learning processes occur in the people and organisations engaged. The study approaches four cases of networks that have linked Spanish and Colombian organisations which promote advocacy and social mobilisation for the defence of human rights in Colombia. The results show that people engaged in the cases experience intense learning processes that are relevant for the construction of solidarities and a radical global citizenship, but that these processes are also replete with limitations, tensions and challenges.     

Gender differences in young adults’ inclination to sacrifice career opportunities in the future for family reasons: comparative study with university students from Nairobi,Madrid, and Reykjavik

This article addresses the question of to what extent young people show an inclination to accept some sacrifice in their career progression in the future in order to reach a better work–family balance. Data come from a survey conducted among a sample of 2383 university students who attended three universities: University of Nairobi, University of Iceland, and Complutense University of Madrid. After building a set of indicators about career and family involvement aspirations of respondents, and after conducting a statistical and regression analysis, this research shows that young women (on average) still have a greater predisposition than young men to make sacrifices in the future in their working careers in order to achieve a better work–family balance. Moreover, having a high degree of leadership aspirations and belonging to an egalitarian household tend to reduce the inclination to sacrifice career opportunities, whereas having a high inclination to be involved in childcare in the future and having the perception of a future work–family conflict tend to increase it. Gender attitudes have a differential effect on female and male students: having traditional gender attitudes tends to increase the inclination to sacrifice career opportunities in the case of female students and reduce it in the case of male students.     

Good girls don't comment on politics? Gendered character of online political participation in the Czech Republic

The article aims to contribute to the still relatively unexplored area of the relationship between gender and online political participation. Using two complementary methods – a representative, post-election survey of the adult Czech population and a content analysis of communication on the selected Czech political parties’ Facebook profiles during the campaign for the 2013 Parliamentary Elections – we attempt to challenge some established assumptions regarding the allegedly equalizing effect of the Internet and social media on participatory behaviour of men and women. While survey data discovered subtle yet statistically significant differences between men and women in some online expressive activities on Facebook, mainly commenting on other users’ statuses, content analysis further revealed that there are not only notable gender gaps among the Facebook users who commented on the campaign, but also differences in the tone of communication produced by the respective gender groups, with men posting more negative comments addressed to parties as well as to other Facebook users. We suggest that these results question the prevailing perception about the narrowing of the ‘gender gap’ in the online environment and call for a more nuanced methodological approach to different forms of online political expression.     

Genetic variants in ATP6 and ND3 mitochondrial genes are not associated with aggressive prostate cancer in Mexican–Mestizo men with overweight or obesity

Mitochondrial defects have been related to obesity and prostate cancer. We investigated if Mexican–Mestizo men presenting this type of cancer, exhibited somatic mutations of ATP6 and/or ND3.Body mass index (BMI) was determined; the degree of prostate cancer aggressiveness was demarcated by the Gleason score. DNA from tumor tissue and from blood leukocytes was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction and ATP6 and ND3 were sequenced. We included 77 men: 20 had normal BMI, 38 were overweight and 19 had obesity; ages ranged from 52 to 83. After sequencing ATP6 and ND3, from DNA obtained from leukocytes and tumor tissue, we did not find any somatic mutations. All changes observed, in both genes, were polymorphisms. In ATP6 we identified, in six patients, two non-synonymous nucleotide changes and in ND3 we observed that twelve patients presented non-synonymous polymorphisms. To our knowledge, this constitutes the first report where the complete sequences of the ATP6 and ND3 have been analyzed in Mexican–Mestizo men with prostate cancer and diverse BMI. Our results differ with those reported in Caucasian populations, possibly due to ethnic differences.