The Role of Marital Status and Age on Men’s and Women’s Reactions to Touch from a Relational Partner

Prior research has consistently documented differences between men’s and women’s reactions to being touched by other people. One of the more interesting findings in this literature is the apparent role of marital status in dramatically altering these sex differences in reactions to intimate touch. Unmarried men tend to respond more favorably to intimate touch than unmarried women do, but this difference is reversed among married people. However, research that documented this effect has potentially confounded marital status with age. Participants in this investigation were 305 adults, ranging in age from 18–69. They completed an extensive survey of their reactions to touch to various body regions from a significant other. Results indicated that men had uniformly more positive reactions to intimate touch than women did. For non-intimate touch, the sexes were more comparable in their reactions. This investigation once again documented a disordinal sex by marital status interaction. Unmarried men had generally more positive reactions to touch than unmarried women did and this pattern was reversed among married participants. When statistically controlling for participants’ age, these interactions were still evident.     

Some Australian Children's Perceptions of Physical Punishment in Childhood

Despite ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children remain the only people in Australia against whom violence may be justified as discipline. This article presents findings from qualitative research conducted in the State of Victoria, in which children were invited to contextualise incidents of physical punishment by describing the experience from different standpoints and reflecting on the feelings and motivations of victims and perpetrators. The research provides new insights into children's experiences of childhood ‘discipline’, as children reveal the physical and emotional impact of being hit by a parent, the futility of ‘physical punishment’, parents’ confusing reactions and children's awareness of double standards. Children suggest more positive ways to communicate and to resolve conflict, and provide insightful comments that have the potential to enlighten adults’ thinking about the issue.     

Reinterpreting between-group inequality

We evaluate observed inequality between population groups against a benchmark of the maximum between-group inequality attainable given the number and relative sizes of those groups under examination. Because our measure is normalized by these parameters, drawing comparisons across different settings is less problematic than with conventional inequality decompositions. Moreover, our measure can decline with finer sub-partitioning of population groups. Consequently, the exact manner in which one groups the population acquires greater significance. Survey data from various countries suggest that our approach can provide a complementary perspective on the question of whether (and how much) a particular population breakdown is salient to an assessment of inequality in a country. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Electronic Markets for Truckload Transportation

A wide variety of electronic marketplace formats are used in the Truckload (TL) transportation industry, including combinatorial auctions, private and public exchanges, and electronic catalogs. Combinatorial multi‐attribute auctions are commonly used strategically to populate electronic catalogs, commonly called “routing guides,” with pricing, assignments, and priority logic. Private and public exchanges are used to complement the electronic catalogs in cases where the catalog fails. This paper discusses the TL transportation market, places the procurement of services in the context of electronic marketplace formats, and illustrates how these are currently used.     

Recent Developments in Greek Industrial Relations: Statutory and Attitudinal Changes Towards Participation and Cooperation

ABSTRACT: Industrial relations in Greece were characterised in the past by labour-management mistrust and conflict, as well as by strong government intervention which invariably influenced the state of industrial relations. Political instability and other serious interruptions, such as World War II, the enemy occupation, civil war and two military dictatorships, made any effort for improvement very difficult, if not impossible, in the 1936-1974 period. Some concerted efforts were made later and especially in the 1980s (with EEC influence and support), which met with considerable success. A series of parliamentary acts and ministerial decrees, restored trade union freedoms, introduced statutory consultation and participation, strengthened collective bargaining, and established an independent agency for the settlement of disputes. Some degree of unity was also achieved among the major political factions represented in the trade union movement. More importantly (and in spite of their traditional reluctance to cooperate) the social partners represented on the employers‘ side by the Association of Greek Industries (SEV), and on the workers‘ side by the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) are beginning to move towards the development of innovatory systems of cooperation for the solution of problems of mutual concern. Furthermore, there are also some significant structural developments, including the establishment of a growing number of enterprise-level trade unions, which are engaged in contract negotiations and agreements, and participation at the enterprise level. Additionally, appropriate research and training on both sides are helping to meet the socio-economic challenges of the current decade and beyond.