Revisiting the Role of Impulsivity and Compulsivity in Problematic Sexual Behaviors

Impulsivity and compulsivity are transdiagnostic features associated with clinically relevant aspects of psychiatric disorders, including addictions. However, little research has investigated how impulsivity and compulsivity relate to hypersexuality and problematic pornography use. Thus, the aims of the present study were to investigate (a) self-reported impulsivity and compulsivity with respect to hypersexuality and problematic pornography use and (b) the similarities and possible differences between hypersexuality and problematic pornography use in these domains. Utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) in a large community sample (N = 13,778 participants; female = 4,151, 30.1%), results indicated that impulsivity (β = .28, β = .26) and compulsivity (β = .23, β = .14) were weakly related to problematic pornography use among men and women, respectively. Impulsivity had a stronger relationship (β = .41, β = .42) with hypersexuality than did compulsivity (β = .21, β = .16) among men and women, respectively. Consequently, impulsivity and compulsivity may not contribute as substantially to problematic pornography use as some scholars have proposed. On the other hand, impulsivity might have a more prominent role in hypersexuality than in problematic pornography use. Future research should examine further social and situational factors associated with problematic pornography use.     

Bayesian estimation of the linear regression model with an uncertain interval constraint on coefficients

This article considers Bayesian inference in the interval constrained normal linear regression model. Whereas much of the previous literature has concentrated on the case where the prior constraint is correctly specified, our framework explicitly allows for the possibility of an invalid constraint. We adopt a non-informative prior and uncertainty concerning the interval restriction is represented by two prior odds ratios. The sampling theoretic risk of the resulting Bayesian interval pre-test estimator is derived, illustrated and explored. The authors are grateful to the editor and the referee for their helpful comments.     

Response to Shaffer (1996): The Case for a 'Complex Systems' Conceptualisation of Addiction

This paper responds to some of the issues raised by Shaffer's (1996) paper, Understanding the Means and Objects of Addiction. The authors agree with, and in many respects support, the assertions made by Shaffer with respect to the conceptualisation of the problem of addiction. In particular, that it is the relationship of the addicted person with the object of their behaviour that defines addiction. However, it is argued that in addition to providing an operational definition for addiction, it is important to provide an explicit framework for the development of insight into the 'synergistic nature' of the multiple factors affecting the addiction process. That is, it is necessary to account for both the commonalities and the differences found across the spectrum of addictive behaviours. It is proposed that this might be provided by a 'complex systems' approach to the field of addiction.     

Exploring the Importance of Business Clockspeed as a Moderator for Determinants of Supplier Network Performance*

As the importance of supplier networks becomes increasingly recognized as a vital factor to company performance, researchers and practitioners alike are focusing their attention on this subject. The study's main objective is to test the specific hypotheses that effective use of Information Technology (IT) and the depth of company relationships with suppliers are directly related to Supplier Network (SN) performance, and that industry clockspeed moderates these relationships. A convenience sample of 135 manufacturing organizations was used to empirically test these hypotheses. Our results indicate that clockspeed does moderate the relationship between IT use effectiveness and supplier network performance. The same is true in the case of supplier relations depth, and hence, managers are encouraged to pay attention to the items comprising network performance as a determinant of supplier network performance.     

The Rise of Supermarkets in Africa: Implications for Agrifood Systems and the Rural Poor

The rise of supermarkets in Africa since the mid‐1990s is transforming the food retail sector. Supermarkets have spread fast in Southern and Eastern Africa, already proliferating beyond middle‐class big‐city markets into smaller towns and poorer areas. Supplying supermarkets presents both potentially large opportunities and big challenges for producers. Supermarkets' procurement systems involve purchase consolidation, a shift to specialised wholesalers, and tough quality and safety standards. To meet these requirements, producers have to make investments and adopt new practices. This is hardest for small producers, who risk exclusion from dynamic urban markets increasingly dominated by supermarkets. There is thus an urgent need for development programmes and policies to assist them in adopting the new practices that these procurement systems demand.