Registered domestic partnerships among gay men and lesbians: the role of economic factors

In this paper, we predict the demand for a marriage-like status—registered domestic partnership–among same-sex couples. Domestic partnership in the state of California now comes with almost all of the rights and responsibilities of marriage that a state can provide. We use the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) Tobacco Use Survey conducted by the California Department of Health and the Field Research Corporation in 2003. From this telephone survey, we use a probability sample of 1,002 lesbian and gay individuals in California. Using multinomial probit models of partnership status (single, not cohabiting, cohabiting, or registered), we find limited evidence of economic motivations in the choice to register. Gay men’s likelihood of registration rises with income; lesbians’ probability of registration rises with age. Couples with longer duration are more likely to register, suggesting that registration and duration are complementary signals of commitment and possibly of the need for rights and benefits of registration.

Is there a ‘marriage premium’ for gay men?

It is well-known that married men earn more than comparable single men, with typical estimates of the male marriage premium in the range of 10–20%. Some research also finds that cohabiting men earn more than men not living with a female partner. This study uses data from the General Social Survey and the National Health and Social Life Survey to examine whether a similar premium accrues to gay men who live with a male partner and whether cohabiting gay men have different observable characteristics than non-cohabiting gay men. Controlling for observable characteristics, cohabiting gay men do not earn significantly more than other gay men or more than unmarried heterosexual men. Cohabiting heterosexual men also do not earn more than non-cohabiting heterosexual men.

Using the Internet for scientific publishing: <Emphasis Type="Italic">FQS</Emphasis> as an example

Since the “Public Library of Science” launched its first open-access journals and the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities” has been released in 2003 and found enormous attention, the claim for open access—to make publicly funded journal articles available for the public—started to reach German scientists too. But still no experience has been made with electronic publishing in general and more specifically with open-access publishing. One consequence is that the potential capacity of open access—the (inter) national and (trans) disciplinary visibility and accessibility of scientific output—is not sufficiently used by German researchers. Ways to successfully establish an open-access journal are presented in this article by referring to “Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum:Qualitative Social Research” (FQS) as an example: after introducing the current state of FQS traditional and innovative ways of publishing are being discussed which had been employed while developing FQS and which helped FQS to become the most important electronic journal in the field of qualitative research.     

Eskalierendes Commitment bei Gruppenentscheidungen: Begünstigende Faktoren und Maßnahmen zur Reduktion

Escalating commitment to a course of action that is failing or incurring great costs is at least as prevalent in group decision making as in individual decisions. The first experiment studies factors influencing escalating commitment in groups in the context of social identity and dissonance theory. 36 3-person-groups had to decide about further investigations into a risky urban development project. The amount of investigations as an indicator of escalating commitment depended as well on social identity (strong vs. weak) as on the responsibility for initiating the project (high vs. low). The second study investigated the effectiveness of two interventions aimed at reducing escalating commitment: introduction of an advocatus diaboli and pre-information about psychological insights into escalating commitment. Further, interaction processes correlating with escalation or reduction of commitment are studied.     

Die Anwendung von Introvision zur Verringerung der Belastung durch Tinnitus und Verbesserung der Hörfähigkeit

The following article describes the first empirical study of the effectiveness of Introvision as a pedagogical – psychological intervention for tinnitus. Introvision is based on the theory of subjective imperatives and the theory of mental introference. The intention was to ceace dysfunctional automatical selfregulation- strategies. Studies of the past have shown that dysfunctional selfregulation- strategies are a cause of increased subjective strain of tinnitus. The following pilot study, accomplished within a bigger project was conducted with 13 elder persons suffering from light to moderate tinnitus in a six-week-intervention with Introvision. Comparison to a control group without intervention showed a significant reduction of the tinnitus in the introvision group (STI, p ≤0.022). At the same time the audiometrically measured hearing ability of the Introvisiongroup increased significantly compared to the controlgroup (p≤0.001) while a decrease of the subjective loudness of the tinnitus could be only partially ascertained.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">„Mönche aus Wien,bitte lüftets eure Geheimnisse</Emphasis>.“ Über die Abweichungen der Beratungspraxis von den Idealtypen der Organisationsberatung

A discrepancy between the explicit theories of organizational consulting and consulting in practice has to be assumed. This paper analyzes the difference between front stage and back stage in organizational consulting. Therefore the idealtyps of organizational consulting are reconstructed and put in contrast with actual consulting behaviour (on the basis of 48 interviews with consultants). As a result three thesis can be stated: Based on the clients’ expectations a divergence between the idealtyps and the consulting practice has been identified, which leads to convergence in the consulting practice (convergence thesis). For systemic consulting (in German: Systemische Organisationsberatung) this divergence is as significant and vast (value transfer thesis) that it doesn’t seem justifiable to take it as an independent approach on organizational consulting (three realtyps thesis).     

The Canadian Problem Gambling Index: An Evaluation of the Scale and Its Accompanying Profiler Software in a Clinical Setting

Across two studies we assessed the clinical utility of the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI). In Study 1, the scored items on the CPGI significantly correlated with those of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), yet their shared variance was low. Importantly, clinician evaluation of the client’s level of pathology was more strongly associated with that revealed by the CPGI than the SOGS. In terms of utility, clinicians found the non-scored items on the CPGI more useful in treatment than those included with the SOGS. In Study 2, the effectiveness of the CPGI profiler (CPGI-P) software, which graphically depicts problematic gambling-relevant attitudes and behaviours, was assessed. Although clients had difficulties using the CPGI-P interface, they overwhelmingly indicated that the output prompted action to address their gambling. The clinicians were less enthusiastic as they felt the output did not help clients truly understand their gambling problems. Such sentiments were reiterated by the clinicians at a 6 months follow-up. The use of the SOGS and possible adoption of the CPGI (as well as the CPGI-P) in a clinical setting are discussed.     

Comments from the Trenches: Proposed Changes to the DSM-V Classification of Pathological Gambling

The proposed DSM-V changes related to the pathological gambling diagnosis hold far-reaching implications, yet these modifications have been met with little public attention. This letter addresses the three changes proposed including the diagnosis’ reclassification alongside other addictive behaviors, the lowering of the pathological gambling threshold to the endorsement of 4 symptoms, and the removal of the “illegal acts” criterion. Support for the initial change is well documented, but there is evidence to suggest that the latter two changes should be reconsidered.     

Affective and Cognitive Correlates of Gambling Behavior in University Students

The purpose of the following study was to explore certain affective and cognitive components and their relationships to gambling behavior in an undergraduate population. Specifically, the aim was to predict gambling severity using depression scores on the BDI-II, the dependency and self-criticism subscales on the DEQ, emotional awareness scores on the LEAS, cognitive flexibility scores from the STROOP, and a creativity subtests from the TTCT. Participants were 200 undergraduate students and 3.5–7.5% of individuals reported some level of problematic gambling behavior. Multiple regression analysis indicated that self-criticism and creative originality were significant predictors of gambling behavior, explaining 7.6% of the variance. Further analyses reveal a non-linear trend in the creative originality of those who gamble; only the at-risk gamblers were high in creativity whereas abstainers and problematic gamblers display similarly lower levels of creativity. Results are discussed in regards to Blaszczynski and Nower’s Addiction 97:487–499 (2002) subtypes of gambling vulnerability.