An Analysis of Student Satisfaction: Full-Time vs. Part-Time Students

This paper examines how full-time or part-time status affects students’ level of satisfaction with their degree programs. For our analysis, we obtained data from a survey of graduate students. The survey was conducted at a public university in Spain from 2001 to 2004. The decision to undertake paid employment while studying emerges as one of the key determinants of student satisfaction. In particular, our findings indicate that students who hold a part-time job while studying are more likely to express less satisfaction with their college experience.     

Citizenship Norms in Eastern Europe

Research on Eastern Europe stresses the weakness of its civil society and the lack of political and social involvement, neglecting the question: What do people themselves think it means to be a good citizen? This study looks at citizens’ definitions of good citizenship in Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, using 2002 European Social Survey data. We investigate mean levels of civic mindedness in these countries and perform regression analyses to investigate whether factors traditionally associated with civic and political participation are also correlated with citizenship norms across Eastern Europe. We show that mean levels of civic mindedness differ significantly across the four Eastern European countries. We find some support for theories on civic and political participation when explaining norms of citizenship, but also demonstrate that individual-level characteristics are differently related to citizenship norms across the countries of our study. Hence, our findings show that Eastern Europe is not a monolithic and homogeneous bloc, underscoring the importance of taking the specificities of countries into account.     

From Materialist to Post-Materialist Happiness? National Affluence and Determinants of Life Satisfaction in Cross-National Perspective

This paper takes the theory of value change as developed by Inglehart as a point of departure and tests its implications for the determinants of human happiness. It investigates whether the importance of post-material concerns for happiness, relative to that of materialist concerns, is indeed higher in rich post-industrial societies. Personal autonomy and job creativity serve as indicators for post-materialist concerns, the income domain as an indicator for materialist concerns. The main assumption is put against data for 48 countries from wave 5 of the World Values Survey, the most recent survey, which covers the full range from poor agrarian to rich post-industrial societies. Employing a multi-level design, the paper indeed reveals a quite consistent pattern towards post-materialist happiness as we move from poor to rich societies. This pattern seems to be driven by both a devalorization of material concerns and a valorization of post-materialist concerns, although the evidence suggests that the former trend is stronger and more linear than the latter.     

Sexuality Examined Through the Lens of Attachment Theory: Attachment,Caregiving, and Sexual Satisfaction

Attachment researchers have proposed that the attachment, caregiving, and sexual behavioral systems are interrelated in adult love relationships (Mikulincer &; Shaver, 2007 Mikulincer , M. , &; Shaver , P. R. ( 2007 ). Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change . New York , NY : Guilford . [Google Scholar]). This study examined whether aspects of partners’ caregiving (proximity, sensitivity, control, compulsive caregiving) mediated the association between their attachment insecurities (anxiety and avoidance) and each other's sexual satisfaction in two samples of committed couples (Study 1: 126 cohabiting or married couples from the general community; Study 2: 55 clinically distressed couples). Partners completed the Experiences in Close Relationships measure (Brennan, Clark, &; Shaver, 1998 Brennan , K. A. , Clark , C. L. , &; Shaver , P. R. ( 1998 ). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview . In J. A. Simpson &; W. W. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46 – 76 ). New York : Guilford .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), the Caregiving Questionnaire (Kunce &; Shaver, 1994 Kunce , L. J. , &; Shaver , P. R. ( 1994 ). An attachment-theoretical approach to caregiving in romantic relationships . In K. Bartholomew &; D. Perlman (Eds.), Advances in personal relationships (pp. 205 – 237 ). London : Kingsley . [Google Scholar]), and the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction (Lawrance &; Byers, 1998 Lawrance , K. , &; Byers , E. S. ( 1998 ). Interpersonal Exchange Model of Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire . In C. M. Davis , W. L. Yarber , R. Bauserman , G. Schreer &; S. L. Davis (Eds.), Sexuality-related measures: A compendium (pp. 514 – 519 ). Thousand Oaks , CA : Sage . [Google Scholar]). Path analyses based on the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) revealed that caregiving proximity mediated the association between low attachment avoidance and partners’ sexual satisfaction in distressed and nondistressed couples. Sensitivity mediated this association in nondistressed couples only. Control mediated the association between men's insecurities (attachment-related avoidance and anxiety) and their partners’ low sexual satisfaction in nondistressed couples. Attachment anxiety predicted compulsive caregiving, but this caregiving dimension was not a significant mediator. These results are discussed in light of attachment theory and their implications for treating distressed couples.     

Ambivalence in Older Parent–Adult Child Relationships: Mixed Feelings,Mixed Measures

This research compared direct and indirect measures of ambivalence, 2 commonly used strategies for measuring intergenerational ambivalence between older parents and their adult children. Directly and indirectly measured ambivalence, corresponding to felt and potential manifestations of the construct, were contrasted with each other and across generations. Data were derived from 253 older parent–adult child dyads participating in the Longitudinal Study of Generations in 2005. Direct and indirect measures of ambivalence were moderately correlated with each other within each generation. Children expressed greater indirect ambivalence than their parents but were no different than their mothers or fathers in their levels of direct ambivalence. Multivariate regression analyses examining the relationship between each type of ambivalence with individual and relationship characteristics found differences in associations across equations. The results suggest that direct and indirect measures are related but represent 2 distinct conceptions of ambivalence. This research highlights the challenges in understanding the full complexity of intergenerational relations and suggests that both generational perspectives be considered in future research.     

Differing Relationship Outcomes When Sex Happens Before,On, or After First Dates

While recent studies have suggested that the timing of sexual initiation within a couple's romantic relationship has important associations with later relationship success, few studies have examined how such timing is associated with relationship quality among unmarried couples. Using a sample of 10,932 individuals in unmarried, romantic relationships, we examined how four sexual-timing patterns (i.e., having sex prior to dating, initiating sex on the first date or shortly after, having sex after a few weeks of dating, and sexual abstinence) were associated with relationship satisfaction, stability, and communication in dating relationships. Results suggested that waiting to initiate sexual intimacy in unmarried relationships was generally associated with positive outcomes. This effect was strongly moderated by relationship length, with individuals who reported early sexual initiation reporting increasingly lower outcomes in relationships of longer than two years.     

Sexual Hookups and Adverse Health Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study of First-Year College Women

“Hookups” are sexual encounters between partners who are not in a romantic relationship and do not expect commitment. We examined the associations between sexual hookup behavior and depression, sexual victimization (SV), and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among first-year college women. In this longitudinal study, 483 women completed 13 monthly surveys assessing oral and vaginal sex with hookup and romantic partners, depression, SV, and self-reported STIs. Participants also provided biological specimens that were tested for STIs. During the study, 50% of participants reported hookup sex and 62% reported romantic sex. Covariates included previous levels of the outcome, alcohol use, impulsivity, sensation seeking, and romantic sex. Autoregressive cross-lagged models showed that, controlling for covariates, hookup behavior during college was correlated with depression, Bs = .21, ps < .05, and SV, Bs = .19, ps < .05. In addition, precollege hookup behavior predicted SV early in college, B = .62, p < .05. Hookup sex, OR 1.32, p < .05, and romantic sex, OR 1.19, p < .05, were associated with STIs. Overall, sexual hookup behavior among college women was positively correlated with experiencing depression, SV, and STIs, but the nature of these associations remains unclear, and hooking up did not predict future depression.     

Der Einfluss der Gruppengröße auf die Aktivität von Parteimitgliedern

In this paper, we aim to test Olson’s (The logic of collective action: Public goods and the theory of groups, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1965) assumptions of group size effects on free-riding tendencies in political parties. Multilevel analyses of the Deutsche Parteimitgliederstudie (German Party Membership Study) 2009 reveal that for members of the CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, the assumed negative relationship between the number of party members in the district association and their individual level of activity can only be shown for the eastern states of Germany. Moreover, we show that selective incentives are not suitable for reducing the negative impact of a increasing membership figure, while normative incentives are associated with an increasing free-riding tendency with increasing number of members in the western and eastern Bundesländer. Our results only partly support the assumptions on collective action problems and point to a need for further theoretical and empirical research on group size effects and on the role incentives’ play in explaining the activity in political parties.     

Kontexteffekte in Familien – Angleichung von Paaren und intergenerationale Transmission am Beispiel Religiosität

The present contribution shows conceptual and methodological approaches for the study of social context effects within families. Family members mutually constitute the social context in which family behavior and personality development take place. Social influence in families becomes evident empirically in family members’ significant similarity concerning a wide variety of characteristics. The present study focuses on intrafamily convergence with regard to religiousness. In an empirical illustration, both (a) horizontal intracouple alignment and (b) vertical intergenerational transmission processes are examined. Besides the finding that experiences during religious socialization in the parental home have a stronger impact than partner influences in adulthood, our analyses show that social context effects are more pronounced the stronger the cohesion of the respective interaction dyad is (e.g., according to measures of relationship quality).