A longitudinal study of domestic water conservation behavior

A 1988 study of a school-linked sample in a metropolitan and a regional urban area established baseline data for knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behavior with regard to water management and conservation (Murphy, Watson, & Moore, 1991). This paper reports on a 1991 follow-up, utilising both longitudinal and cross-sectional samples of students, teachers and parents, which aimed at identifying changes within the community since the initial study. In addition, the study sought to identify factors influential in change and the extent to which the pattern of relationships between knowledge, attitudes, intentions and behaviors had remained stable over time. The results indicated that there was a move towards greater conservation as measured by the variables studied over the three year period, that media interventions and water costs were perceived as influential in this change, and that reported conserving behavior continued to be better predicted by stated intentions than by knowledge. Little difference in the pattern of intervariable relationships was observed across the time span studied.     

Why people feel crowded: An examination of objective and subjective crowding

Prior studies have found only a modest relationship between objective and subjective crowding, defying logic and commonsensical notions of why people feel crowded. Using data from a representative sample of Bangkok, Thailand, where the level of household crowding is four times that in western societies, we explore several possibilities of why this is the case. Examining seven different indicators of objective crowding, our analyses suggest that the modest relationship is not an artifact of measurement. Contrary to the assumption of prior investigations, the findings indicate that the objective-subjective crowding relationship is nonlinear and that there is a ceiling effect muting the impact of increased objective crowding. The analyses further suggest that the strength of the relationship is mitigated somewhat, with part of the feeling of being crowded accounted for by household circumstances, such as the degree of control an individual has over the use of household space.     

Towards a European migration policy

The stagnating West European population combined with the prosperous economic development of the European Community (EC) generate strong economic incentives for immigration. The drastic political changes in Eastern Europe have caused additional migration pressures. There are a variety of problems with the economic and political integration of migrants, however. The paper argues that immigration can compensate for demographic losses due to the decline and ageing of the European labor force. Economic theory further predicts welfare gains from free factor movements, which should be reaped as long as social costs and adjustment costs are not prohibitive. An active European migration policy is recommended to achieve this aim.This article is a completely revised version of CEPR Discussion Paper No. 641, presented by the second author at the CEPR Workshop The economies of migration on 23 November 1991 in London, UK, and at a hearing of the European Parliament on 25 May 1992 in Bruxelles, Belgium.     

Managed growth and optimum population: Irreconcilable concepts

Managed growth is a politically popular rallying point which offends no faction by insisting upon nonnegotiable limits. Subscribers to this philosophy focus upon short-run accommodations to growth which apparently mitigate its physical consequences. Managed growthers react to longterm numerical projections with rejection, if not outright hostility. They may be more amenable to quality-of-life rationales for population limitation evolving from the biophilia hypothesis and ecopsychology. These theories claim that our species needs to exist in proximity to untrammelled wilderness and a natural environment for psychic health and creativity.     

Locus of control,altruism and agentic disposition

This study presents and empirically tests a simple model of attitudinal and personality influences on individual willingness to take action in support of the environment (agentic disposition) in a sample of 367 residents of Fairfax County in Virginia. The model, comprised of items from Schwartz's theory of norm activated altruism and an abridged version of Levenson's three-dimensional conception of locus of control, fits the data well. Results of the study indicate that 1) locus of control is best viewed as multidimensional rather than previous unidimensional conceptualizations, 2) each of the Levenson locus of control dimensions plays a unique role in the model of environmental agentic disposition, and 3) agentic disposition can be conceptualized as a type of norm activated altruism. The role of agentic disposition in legitimating the positions taken by social movement organizations is discussed.     

Resilienzf?rdernde M?glichkeiten der Teamsupervision bei Changeprozessen

Supervisors frequently are confronted with emotional and social effects of efficiency-driven restructuring and process optimizations. Using case studies as well as conceptual ideas, the article explores whether and how the resilience of affected employees can be fostered in the frame of supervision. Promoting resilience within supervision is not to be mistaken as a further attempt to stretch employees?? limits. Rather, we conceive of it as an attempt to make employees aware of the centrifugal powers of every day working routines and to promote decisions for joint investment in cooperation??to make team work worthwhile, even in strenuous times.     

Effekte von ?Life-Coaching�� f��r F��hrungskr?fte in einem Gesundheitszentrum

This study evaluates the effects of life-coaching for high-level managers in an approved regeneration-center in Tyrol/Austria. This type of life-coaching consists of four steps, namely to analyze the life-situation, to de-block in case of disorders, to transform realizations into new attitudes and finally to integrate optimized thinking- and behavioral pattern in the daily routine. The effects of life-coaching were evaluated with a sound multimethodical design and the use of a control group. Results show that there is full satisfaction with the effectiveness of the entire treatment, but also there are significant differences between the groups with and without coaching.     

Die Arbeitsbeziehung im Coaching �C ein Stiefkind der Forschung

This study examines the relevance of the coaching relationship. 30 semi-structured interviews with coaching officers in swiss large-scale enterprises are analyzed in the frame of a qualitative content analysis. The half of the polled experts believes that a good coaching relationship is the crucial impact factor of coaching. One third considers a well-working relationship as an important condition to achieve a successful coaching process. The most mentioned attributes and capacities of a coach in order to contribute to a functioning relationship are the ability to listen, empathy, appreciation, trustability, interest and openness. The discussion explains the relevance of these findings for prospective efforts in the field of coaching research.     

Pensionsverpflichtungen: Ansammlungs- und Gleichverteilungsverfahren und die Prognose von Residualgewinnen

Assuming an infinite forecast horizon, residual earnings valuations provide in theory identical results independent of the accounting methods used. In practice however there is used a detailed planning period, covering a few years, after which simple growth models are applied. How suitable residual earnings are for the use in such a simple growth model, is substantially dependent on the nature of the accounting. Thereby the accounting obtains an impact on the valuation and accordingly on the length of the detailed planning period, necessary for an accurate valuation. In this paper these contexts are analyzed using the example of pension obligations. The amount of the pension obligations and the resulting residual earnings are substantially affected by the distribution method used. Concerning the two most important distribution methods, the projected unit credit and the projected benefit valuation method, it is analyzed in which way these methods respond to changes of the value structure-i. e. a modification of the amount of the pension-and to changes of the quantity structure-i. e. a modification of the number of employees within the pension plan. In particular it is examined which period of time both methods need-after a surprising change of the value or quantity structure-to generate residual earnings, which allow a valuation of the pension obligations with a simple growth model.