‘I Want to Persuade You!’ – Investigating the effectiveness of explicit persuasion concerning attributes of the communicator and the marketing campaign

In explicit persuasion, the communicator states explicitly a desire to persuade the consumer. By referring to an attributional approach, social engagement was simultaneously explored as a beneficial communicator attribute, while cause-related marketing (CRM) was addressed as a boundary condition. In an experiment, we varied the persuasion strategy (explicit vs. implicit), the communicator’s prior experience with social engagement (yes vs. no), and the specific marketing strategy (CRM vs. non-charity marketing). As expected, in the non-charity marketing condition, explicit (vs. implicit) persuasion was more effective when the communicator had prior experience in social engagement. In the CRM condition, explicit (vs. implicit) persuasion was less effective when the communicator had prior experience in social engagement; when no prior experience was reported, persuasiveness increased.     

Functional analysis of high-content high-throughput imaging data

High-content automated imaging platforms allow the multiplexing of several targets simultaneously to generate multi-parametric single-cell data sets over extended periods of time. Typically, standard simple measures such as mean value of all cells at every time point are calculated to summarize the temporal process, resulting in loss of time dynamics of the single cells. Multiple experiments are performed but observation time points are not necessarily identical, leading to difficulties when integrating summary measures from different experiments. We used functional data analysis to analyze continuous curve data, where the temporal process of a response variable for each single cell can be described using a smooth curve. This allows analyses to be performed on continuous functions, rather than on original discrete data points. Functional regression models were applied to determine common temporal characteristics of a set of single cell curves and random effects were employed in the models to explain variation between experiments. The aim of the multiplexing approach is to simultaneously analyze the effect of a large number of compounds in comparison to control to discriminate between their mode of action. Functional principal component analysis based on T-statistic curves for pairwise comparison to control was used to study time-dependent compound effects.     

Une jeunesse stigmatisée: l'influence du chômage précoce sur le chômage ultérieur

Le chômage rencontré au début du parcours professionnel favorise‐t‐il le chômage ultérieur? Pour le savoir, les auteurs suivent la trajectoire de quelque 700 000 actifs allemands sur une période de vingt‐quatre ans en utilisant des données administratives appariées employeurs‐salariés. Grâce à la méthode des variables instrumentales (l'instrument étant ici la fermeture de l'entreprise), ils font apparaître des séquelles durables du chômage précoce, chaque nouvelle journée chômée pendant les huit premières années de vie active augmentant d'une demi‐journée en moyenne le chômage des seize années suivantes. Selon des régressions quantiles, le caractère prolongé et répété des épisodes de chômage initial renforce sensiblement cet «effet cicatrice».     

Expatriate contact with a local host: an intervention to increase social support

Social capital is a crucial factor for expatriates to employ as they cope with the demands of an international assignment. This longitudinal study used a mixed method approach to examine the social support benefits of expatriate contact with a local host. Western expatriates in the Netherlands were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group (n = 33), that had contact with a Dutch host during 9 months, and a control group (n = 32) with no host. Qualitative methods such as interviews and diaries were included to shed light on the various types of social support that occurred. Results show that local hosts offered all four types of social support: social companionship, informational support, emotional support, and instrumental support. Furthermore, expatriates with a host increased their social capital; they received significantly more social support from host nationals than did those without a host. This study shows that HRD professionals may develop the social capital of expatriates by bringing them into contact with a local host, which can produce more social support from host nationals. Increased social capital may lead to a higher performance at both the individual and organisational levels.     

Prenatal Reflective Functioning and Accumulated Risk as Predictors of Maternal Interactive Behavior During Free Play,the Still‐Face Paradigm,and Two Teaching Tasks

This study examined whether prenatal reflective functioning (RF) was related to mothers’ interactive style across contexts with their 6‐month‐old infants (M age = 6.02 months, SD = 0.41, 54% boys), and to what extent quality of prenatal RF could account for the influence of accumulated risk on maternal interactive behavior. Accumulated risk was defined as the sum‐score of a selection of risk factors that have been associated with suboptimal infant development. Mother–infant dyads (N = 133) were observed during free play, two teaching tasks, and the Still‐Face Paradigm (SFP). Better prenatal RF was associated with more positive maternal behavior in all settings and less negative behavior during teaching and SFP reengagement. Accumulated risk and prenatal RF predicted shared variance in maternal interactive behavior (with unique predictive effects observed only for RF on sensitivity during teaching and SFP play, and for accumulated risk on sensitivity and positive engagement during SFP play, and internalizing‐helplessness during SFP reengagement). Accumulated risk had an indirect effect on maternal sensitivity during teaching and SFP play through prenatal RF. These findings suggest not only that RF may be targeted prenatally to improve mother–infant interactions, but also that enhancing RF skills may ameliorate some of the negative consequences from more stable perinatal risk factors that influence parent–child interactions.     

Of bodies captured: the visual representation of the Paarl march and Poqo in apartheid South Africa

This article examines the visual representation of the violent march on the Western Cape town of Paarl in November 1962, and the place of photographs as employed by the media, a state-appointed commission of inquiry, and a series of judicial trials in the making of this event and its subjects. It is particularly concerned with a file of photographs of men accused of participating in the march, as a means to potentially enabling more complex and nuanced readings of the uprising than those provided by the textual archive surrounding the event. It considers the ways in which these photographs were used and why, while seemingly meant to give a face to a united Poqo organisation they never take on an altogether-public life. Clearly photographic occasions which were not as rigidly controlled as one would expect from police photographs, these photographs reference a multiplicity of genres. Yet at the same time, as the products of police surveillance, they remain deeply complicit in discourses of power and subjectification.     

Life Course Status and Exchanges of Support Between Young Adults and Parents

The authors investigated intergenerational support exchanges in relation to young adults' life course status. In a sample of 2,022 young adults (ages 18–34 years) in The Netherlands, single young adults reported receiving more advice from parents than married young adults, and those with children of their own received more practical support. Married young adults and young adults with children provided less support to parents than, respectively, single young adults and young adults without children. Congruent with the life course perspective, the authors' findings suggest that the intergenerational support network is both durable and flexible, responding to the resources and needs associated with an individual's life course status.     

Balanced consistency and balanced cost reduction for sequencing problems

We investigate the implications of balanced consistency and balanced cost reduction in the context of sequencing problems. Balanced consistency requires that the effect on the payoff from the departure of one agent to another agent should be equal between any two agents. On the other hand, balanced cost reduction requires that if one agent leaves a problem, then the total payoffs of the remaining agents should be affected by the amount previously assigned to the leaving agent. We show that the minimal transfer rule is the only rule satisfying efficiency and Pareto indifference together with either one of our two main axioms, balanced consistency and balanced cost reduction.     

Bringing ‘invisible’ side activities to light. A case study of rural female entrepreneurs in the Veenkoloniën,the Netherlands

Over the past 20 years, rural areas in Western societies have transformed from a production to a consumption space. Much research on rural diversification and revitalization has focused on farmers and their wives. However, it is useful to examine side activities run by non-farm women which have slowly emerged in the last few years. In view of discussions about rural decline, the value of such activities should be looked at in a new light. Although these activities may not significantly reverse unemployment figures, they have the potential to provide the social and emotional ‘glue’ to motivate a household to remain in declining areas as small-scale economic activities contribute to a better quality of life and a higher level of well-being. In this article we draw on the personal stories of women who undertake side activities in the Veenkoloniën, the Netherlands. We explore the factors that enable these women to start a side activity and the related organizational and emotional struggles they face while running such activities within the perimeter of their home. We further highlight the importance of side activities for the empowerment of women in rural households.