Economic Satisfaction vs. Moral Conservatism in the 1988 Presidential Election

Abstract

Residents from “Middletown” who were going to vote in the 1988 presidential election were interviewed concerning their various economic and moral positions. The results showed that satisfaction with the economic situation in the fall of 1988 was much more important than moral conservatism in Bush's election win. An extended analysis on how economic satisfaction could influence vote was presented.     

The Use and Validation of Preintervention Diagnostic Tools in Organizational Behavior Management

Functional analyses and assessments have become the accepted gold standards in many applied areas of behavior analysis, including Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), in recent years. Despite their acceptance, OBM data on such tools have been largely absent. There are several assessment alternatives in OBM (e.g., ABC, PIC/NIC, Behavior Engineering Model), but two assessment approaches most common in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management are Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA) and the Performance Diagnostic Checklist (PDC). To date there have been no comprehensive reviews of BSA or the PDC from which one might draw ideas for application, research, and the advancement of the field. The goals of this paper are to (a) provide a review of the BSA and PDC literature within the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM), (b) discuss the implications of the results of the review, and (c) provide suggestions for future research utilizing BSA and the PDC.     

Exploring Partner Intimacy Among Couples Raising Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Grounded Theory Investigation

In this study, we explored how couples raising children with autism spectrum disorder negotiate intimacy, including what contextual and temporal factors influence these processes. We conducted conjoint interviews with 12 couples, employing grounded theory methodology to collect and analyze the data. Our results indicated that fostering intimacy in these couples' relationships involves partners working together to make key cognitive and relational shifts. Couples are aided or hindered in making these shifts by the degree to which they experience various contextual and environmental factors as resources or roadblocks. We also found that intimacy is not a fixed point at which couples one day arrive, but is an iterative process taking place over time and requiring work to develop and maintain.     

Who REALLY Wants to be a Millionaire? Gender Differences in Game Show Contestant Behavior Under Risk*

Objective. On the popular game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire men appear to average higher winnings than women. This article investigates potential reasons, including different uses of information sources (lifelines) and different perceptions of risk. Method. We analyzed the decisions and resultant winnings of 164 contestants (95 men and 69 women) over 42 episodes of the show. Results. Gender‐based tests of Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory demonstrated evidence of gender differences in the certainty effect and suggested the counterintuitive conclusion that men are rewarded for acting slightly more cautiously than do women. Conclusions. These gender differences may be owing to self‐selection of contestants, particularly for women, and to different goals: whereas men play to maximize their winnings, women may be less concerned with profit than with the experience as a whole. These findings suggest that examination of gender‐related behavior in other risky, high‐profile contexts may be worthwhile.     

Running on age in a 15-km road run: minor influence of age on performance

The importance of exercise in the elderly is widely recognized, but data on performances and drop-out in short running contests are lacking. This hinders stimulation and coaching of elderly persons in active aging. The aim of the study was to determine age-related changes in running performance in the most popular Dutch road run, and how this is influenced by gender, training, and increased participation rate over the last decade. This is a retrospective analysis of 194,560 participants of a 15-km run from 1995 to 2007. Multiple regression analysis of running time by age, gender, and training was performed. Trends in participation were examined by chi-square tests and ANOVA. Trends in running time and speed were examined by t tests. With aging, running time increased with 0.20% per year (P < 0.001). Running time was on average 13% (P < 0.001) shorter in men than in women and was 15.7% (P < 0.001) shorter in participants who trained on a regular basis. Decline in performance with age was 5.9% larger for men than women (P < 0.01) and 4.5% larger for trained than untrained participants (P < 0.01). Over the last decade, participation numbers increased most for elderly (≥60 years) and female participants, mean running performance declined with 9.9% (P < 0.001). Drop-out number was low at all ages (0.13–0.29%). It appears that aging has only minor negative influences on running performance, which can even be attenuated by training. Our data suggest that exercise by means of running is a safe and rewarding option for improvement of healthy and active aging.     

Reconfiguration graphs for vertex colourings of chordal and chordal bipartite graphs

A k-colouring of a graph G=(V,E) is a mapping c:V→{1,2,…,k} such that c(u)≠c(v) whenever uv is an edge. The reconfiguration graph of the k-colourings of G contains as its vertex set the k-colourings of G, and two colourings are joined by an edge if they differ in colour on just one vertex of G. We introduce a class of k-colourable graphs, which we call k-colour-dense graphs. We show that for each k-colour-dense graph G, the reconfiguration graph of the ?-colourings of G is connected and has diameter O(|V|²), for all ?≥k+1. We show that this graph class contains the k-colourable chordal graphs and that it contains all chordal bipartite graphs when k=2. Moreover, we prove that for each k≥2 there is a k-colourable chordal graph G whose reconfiguration graph of the (k+1)-colourings has diameter Θ(|V|²).     

Miss Lyra Taylor,O.B.E., M.A., LL.B.

Abstract

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has been under-studied from a social work perspective. This article reports on a cross-institutional study into the psychological and social preparation for bone marrow transplantation. The data presented was collected from all consenting BMT recipients treated over a preceding three year period at four teaching hospitals. The key findings included demographic issues which had an influence on post transplant adjustment, lack of rehabilitation services, ongoing physical incapacity, disappointment at the slow rate of recovery, lack of counselling resources, difficulties in the way information was presented, difficulties with the transition from hospital to home and a perceived lack of interest by hospital staff of the needs of carers. These results were presented to the social workers in each BMT unit. They considered the extent to which the findings matched their clinical experience, and the relevance of the research to their social work practice. This discussion suggested the need for social work involvement on a number of levels beyond case-work, particularly in promoting organisational change.     

Modeling Retrospective Attribution of Responsibility to Hazard‐Managing Institutions: An Example Involving a Food Contamination Incident

Perceptions of institutions that manage hazards are important because they can affect how the public responds to hazard events. Antecedents of trust judgments have received far more attention than antecedents of attributions of responsibility for hazard events. We build upon a model of retrospective attribution of responsibility to individuals to examine these relationships regarding five classes of institutions that bear responsibility for food safety: producers (e.g., farmers), processors (e.g., packaging firms), watchdogs (e.g., government agencies), sellers (e.g., supermarkets), and preparers (e.g., restaurants). A nationally representative sample of 1,200 American adults completed an Internet‐based survey in which a hypothetical scenario involving contamination of diverse foods with Salmonella served as the stimulus event. Perceived competence and good intentions of the institution moderately decreased attributions of responsibility. A stronger factor was whether an institution was deemed (potentially) aware of the contamination and free to act to prevent or mitigate it. Responsibility was rated higher the more aware and free the institution. This initial model for attributions of responsibility to impersonal institutions (as opposed to individual responsibility) merits further development.