Interactions Among Sexual Activity,Menstrual Cycle Phase,and Immune Function in Healthy Women

Past research has found menstrual-cycle-related changes in functional immune response; we examined if sexual activity also changed markers of immune defense. We followed 32 naturally cycling women (15 sexually active with a partner ≥ 1 time/week, 17 sexually abstinent for the last four months) over one menstrual cycle. Participants provided serum and saliva samples at menses and ovulation, and additional saliva samples at midfollicular and midluteal phases. At each phase, participants also self-reported symptoms associated with colds, flu, pain, menstrual discomfort, and premenstrual syndrome. We tested saliva and serum for ability to kill Escherichia coli or Candida albicans, and serum for complement protein activity. For serum-mediated pathogen killing, among sexually active women only, there was a significant midcycle decrease in killing of E. coli. For saliva-mediated pathogen killing, among abstinent women only, there was a significant midcycle decrease in killing of E. coli, and midcycle increase in killing of C. albicans. Sexually active women had significantly lower complement activity than abstinent women overall. Finally, both groups reported lower physical symptoms at midcycle and higher symptoms at menses. There may be important differences in immune function between healthy women who are sexually active versus abstinent. Further replication is warranted.     

Sex differences in how heterosexuals think about lesbians and gay men: Evidence from survey context effects

Two experiments were embedded in a 1997 telephone survey of U.S. households to assess possible differences in how heterosexuals think about lesbians versus gay men. In each experiment, one half of the sample first responded to one or more attitude items about lesbians, followed by comparable items about gay men. The other half received the gay male item(s) first. Results are reported separately for White (N = 976) and Black (N = 479) heterosexuals. For White and Black men alike, self‐reported attitudes toward lesbians tended to be more favorable when they were assessed without reference to gay men (i.e., lesbian items presented first). White men's reactions to gay men tended to be less negative when assessed after the questions about lesbians were presented, but Black men's responses did not consistently show this pattern. For some items, women gave more favorable ratings of lesbians and less favorable ratings of gay men when the lesbian items were presented first. The findings suggest possible gender differences in the cognitive organization of heterosexuals ‘ attitudes toward lesbians and gay men.     

Supporting Traditional African Mediators Project (STAMP) for Family Violence

Supporting Traditional African Mediators Project (STAMP) is a program that has been working with African/Australian community leaders to prevent family violence. This program has been carefully developed through building long‐term relationships, transparency and openness with an emphasis on navigating the intersection of cultures in order to enhance understanding and collaboration around family violence prevention. The training program has successfully engaged both men and women and enhanced participation, cross cultural learning and positive outcomes by creating an open and safe environment. The paper highlights the knowledge gained by participants and project workers and explores the challenges experienced by people who emigrate from other countries when responding to family conflict in an Australian context. It introduces the formation of a support group Marula that has added value and support to Traditional African Mediators in their work to address family violence within their communities.     

Baby boomers,consumption and social change: the bridging generation?

This paper outlines the ways in which the cohort born immediately following the Second World War illustrates changes in consumption patterns within their lives. The paper suggests that this cohort (often known as baby boomers) view themselves to be a ‘bridging’ generation between the ‘old’ ways of their own parents and the radically different views of the next generation. Now nearing or entering retirement and later life, the discussion considers the accounts of boomers themselves having experienced post-war consumer culture and shifting family relations. This paper focuses primarily on qualitative accounts from 150 detailed interviews followed by 30 in-depth interviews, and is framed by analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. It explores central emergent themes in the accounts of respondents which demonstrate evidence for a ‘bridging’ identity maintained by baby boomers in relation to their consumption practices.     

Spline interpolation for demographic variables: The monotonicity problem

In demography, it is often necessary to obtain a monotonic interpolation of data. A solution to this problem is available using the Hyman filter for cubic splines. However, this does not seem to be well known amongst demographers, and no implementation of the procedure is readily available. We remedy these problems by outlining the relevant ideas here, and providing a function for the R language.     

‘Management Standards’ work-related stress in the UK: practical development

Research commissioned for the UK's Health & Safety Executive (HSE) supports the view that a preventative, risk-assessment based approach would be more effective than case-based methods in achieving a nationwide reduction in work-related stress. The background to this approach is described and discussed in a companion paper in this issue (Mackay, Cousins, Kelly, Lee, & McCaig, ). The present paper describes the development of HSE's new stress Management Standards—which offer organizations continuous improvement through a three-phase stress preventative process—and the development of a supporting ‘Indicator Tool’ (a two-phase questionnaire to assess employee perceptions of working conditions). The Management Standards comprise a series of ‘states to be achieved’, which are statements of good practice in six key stressor areas: demands, control, support, relationships, role and organizational change. For each stressor area there is also a ‘platform statement’ that outlines the main aims to be achieved by the organization. This statement may include a target percentage of employees finding that the organization meets the standard: this matter will be settled after the standards have been assessed in a public consultation campaign. To use the new process, an organization's state can first be assessed using the Indicator Tool; liaising with workers in focus groups enables a further exploration of issues raised; finally, there may be formulation of interventions and subsequent review. It is not intended that the standards will be legally enforceable. HSE's aim is that they and the associated methodology will enable organizations to effectively tackle work-related stress, and subsequently reduce both its incidence and prevalence.     

Losing sleep: Examining the cascading effects of supervisors' experience of injustice on subordinates' psychological health

Abstract

In this paper, we identify two types of injustice as antecedents of abusive supervision and ultimately of subordinate psychological distress and insomnia. We examine distributive justice (an individual's evaluation of their input to output ratio compared to relevant others) and interactional injustice (the quality of interpersonal treatment received when procedures are implemented). Using a sample of Filipinos in a variety of occupations, we identify two types of injustice experienced by supervisors as stressors that provoke them to display abusive supervision to their subordinates. We examine two consequences of abusive supervision – subordinate psychological distress and insomnia. In addition, we identify two moderators of these relationships, namely, supervisor distress and subordinate self-esteem. We collected survey data from multiple sources including subordinates, their supervisors, and their partners. Data were obtained from 175 matched supervisor–subordinate dyads over a 6-month period, with subordinates' partners providing ratings of insomnia. Results of structural equation modelling analyses provided support for an indirect effects model in which supervisors' experience of unfair treatment cascades down the organization, resulting in subordinate psychological distress and, ultimately in their insomnia. In addition, results partially supported the proposed moderated relationships in the cascading model.     

Reputation for Quality

We propose a model of firm reputation in which a firm can invest or disinvest in product quality and the firm's reputation is defined as the market's belief about this quality. We analyze the relationship between a firm's reputation and its investment incentives, and derive implications for reputational dynamics. Reputational incentives depend on the specification of market learning. When consumers learn about quality through perfect good news signals, incentives decrease in reputation and there is a unique work–shirk equilibrium with ergodic dynamics. When learning is through perfect bad news signals, incentives increase in reputation and there is a continuum of shirk–work equilibria with path‐dependent dynamics. For a class of imperfect Poisson learning processes and low investment costs, we show that there exists a work–shirk equilibrium with ergodic dynamics. For a subclass of these learning processes, any equilibrium must feature working at all low and intermediate levels of reputation and shirking at the top.     

The Determinants of Economic Growth Versus Genuine Progress in South Korea

This paper examines whether the drivers of economic growth are the same as those for genuine progress in the case of South Korea. Using data covering the period 1970–2005, the paper first constructs a Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). An empirical model is then specified and estimated using growth in GDP per capita and growth in the GPI per capita as dependent variables. Results indicate that while physical capital, research and development, exports, and inflation are all important in determining growth in GDP per capita, only physical capital is a driver of genuine progress. These findings highlight the need for policymakers to identify and target other determinants of genuine progress to improve the well-being of South Koreans, rather than focus attention on traditional sources of economic growth.