The Relation between Accounting Conservatism and Corporate Social Performance: An Empirical Investigation

Accounting conservatism and corporate social responsibility have received much attention in the recent literature. The current study draws upon Watts, who recognizes that one role of conservatism is to reduce the likelihood of excess wealth transfers to its stakeholder groups and Post et al., who assert that a key aspect of positive corporate social performance is the (equitable) distribution of corporate wealth. Accordingly, this study empirically investigates and finds a positive relation between conservatism and strong social performance.     

Measuring Anti‐Americanism in Editorial Cartoons*

Objective. Anti‐Americanism has been subjected to minimal statistical analysis. Further, scant attention is paid to what constitutes anti‐Americanism for Americans. The objective of this article is to measure Americans' perceptions of anti‐Americanism. Methods. Using a range of quantitative methods, including Pearson's correlation coefficient, Shannon's entropy measure, and Cohen's d statistics, we measure students' evaluations of editorial cartoons after 9/11. Twin measures of message and equity, along with participant and cartoon variables, are used to calibrate anti‐Americanism in Spanish and U.S. editorial cartoons. Results. Our results indicate that message ratings, that is, anti‐ or pro‐American, were more dependent on the nature of the cartoons than of the participants. White males rated these editorial cartoons as more equitable than other participants. The study shows that Spanish cartoons were rated significantly more anti‐American. Conclusion. The article concludes that the use of U.S. icons is key to seeing anti‐Americanism, along with gender, race, and origin of cartoon.     

The relationship between Type A Behaviour Pattern (TABP) and in-basket performance: recognition as moderator

The relationship between Type A Behaviour Pattern (TABP) and performance on an in-basket task was examined. Some of the subjects (n=40) were told that they would be recognized for superior performance, while others (n=22) were not given this information. Results indicated no relationship between a global TABP measure and all the measures of in-basket performance. Achievement Strivings (AS), a component of TABP, was positively related to overall effort, overall quality of performance, and interpersonal sensitivity. None of these relations was moderated by recognition. However, it was found that the relation between AS and use of delegation was moderated by recognition. AS was strongly and negatively related to delegation only among those who were told they would be recognized for superior performance. Impatience-Irritability (I-I), another component of TABP, was unrelated to measures of in-basket performance, although the relation between I-I and interpersonal sensitivity was moderated by recognition. I-I was strongly and negatively related to interpersonal sensitivity only among those not told that they would be recognized for superior performance. Implications of these findings are discussed and future research on TABP is suggested.     

Antiracist Educators Sui Generis? The Dialectics of Aboriginal Teacher Education*

Depuis trente ans, certains programmes pédagogiques enseignent comment on doit procéder pour mettre en place au sein de lécole les mesures antidiscriminatoires qui s'imposent à notre époque. Les enseignants stagiaires issus de ces programmes sont-ils moins les «laquais du pouvoir établi» pour autant? Sont-ils plus aptes à enseigner que les Blancs qu'ils ont remplacés? Persistent-ils à inculquer aux élèves autochtones et à ceux issus des populations défavorisées les mêmes idéologies et les mêmes modes de pensée qui sont traditionnellement véhiculés par lÉtaty? Peut-on espérer une nouvelle génération d'enseignants autochtones tirant profit d'une nouvelle pédagogie destinée aux enfants des Premières Nations? Le présent article propose que la réponse à ces questions se trouve dans la dialectique qui oppose l'expérience des enseignants stagiaires aux méthodes d'apprentissage que transmettent certains programmes pédagogiques. La réponse est également tributaire d'un actuel contexte manifestement incompatible où la volonté de former une classe intellectuelle autochtone se heurte à la prédominance de la pensée néolibérale. Teacher education programmes (TEPs) designed specifically for the affirmative-action training of aboriginal preservice teachers have existed for thirty years. Are the TEPs producing only new “clerks of the empire,” that is, teachers of aboriginal ancestry who will fill the former roles of white teachers and perform the same state- and ideologically determined tasks that schools have always served in relation to First Nations people and other subordinate populations? Or does the production of aboriginal teachers promise new forms of schooling for First Nations children? This article argues that the answer lies, in part, in understanding the dialectical relation between the life histories of many aboriginal preservice teachers on the one hand, and the conditions for learning presented by at least some teacher education programmes on the other. Further, the answer to this question must be understood within the context of a current contradiction: between the formation of a critical and formally educated aboriginal intelligentsia on the one hand, and the era of neo-liberalism on the other.     

Feminist Knowledge Claims,Local Knowledge,and Gender Divisions of Agricultural Labor: Constructing a Successor Science1

Abstract Issues raised by the feminist epistemic critique of social science are used to examine what is meant by local knowledge and its contribution to analyses of agricultural sustainability. Employing the concepts of partial perspective, lived experience, and the complexity of social context, this paper focuses attention on the juxtaposition of local and scientific knowledge and challenges those interpretations of local knowledge production that ignore the various people, relations, and interests constituting the rural economy. An examination of local as a contested, complex, and heterogeneous domain refines the work of Kloppenburg (1991) and his commitment to the significance of local knowledge in constructing opportunities for sustainable agriculture. Attention to the on-farm gender division of labor helps to identify gender differences as critical in constituting the family farm and to elaborate how the different experiences of women and men may offer alternative visions of what constitutes sustainable agricultural production.     

Eschew obfuscation in discussing political correctness

Conclusion Have I added to the constructive debate about PC? You decide. Sometimes it's valuable to provide a fresh perspective, even if it is rejected.One of the principles my journal was founded on was better writing. I think clear writing is crucial in the discussion of difficult issues like PC. While I may have made enemies of these authors, I probably share many values with them—if I could only be sure from their presentation. And I'll bet that they'll look at their future writing with a new eye.Founding Editor ofThe Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed periodical.     

The Disconnect Between Observers’ Male and Masculine Judgments from Sparse Gait Cues Conveying Gender: Perceiving Precarious Manhood

Although universal definitions are by no means agreed upon, the terms sex—male and female—and gender—femininity and/or masculinity—are semantically dissociable. The aim with the current study was to explore whether and to what extent they may be dissociable in perceptual terms. A comparison of sex judgments and gender judgments from point light walker (PLW) stimuli offered possibilities for obtaining a finer-grained picture of the basis or bases of these types of social judgments. In this study PLWs were used explicitly to examine the pattern of responses to questions of sex (male/female) and gender (masculine/feminine). Observers perceived targets to be feminine at the same rate as female, but perceived a subset of targets significantly more often to be male than masculine. Thus, a disconnect was demonstrated between male and masculine perceptions with no such uncoupling evident for perceptions of female and feminine. This pattern of responding accords with the idea—often described as Precarious Manhood—that manhood, or masculinity, may be a more difficult mantle to earn than mere ‘maleness’, with femininity considered closer to an essential aspect of being female.     

Modeling Cholinesterase Activity for Human Dietary Risk Assessment of Carbamate Insecticides

This article demonstrates statistical models to quantify the interaction between a carbamate insecticide and acetylcholinesterase. Carbamates are a class of chemicals that inhibit the activity of acetylcholinesterase in humans, an enzyme involved in the regulation of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Following exposure to a carbamate insecticide, we specifically address (1) if acetylcholinesterase activity recovers to its level of preexposure activity; (2) the level of inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity; (3) the recovery time of acetylcholinesterase activity to its preexposure level for a typical individual; and (4) the upper percentiles of the recovery time of acetycholinesterase activity across individuals. A nonlinear mixed-effects model is fitted to data from a repeated measures experiment conducted with human volunteers randomly assigned to a control and four dose groups. Repeated measurements were taken prior to exposure and at 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 21 hours after exposure to the carbamate aldicarb. It was found that full recovery did occur. Inhibition at 1 hour was estimated with maximum inhibition most likely occurring prior to 1-hour postexposure. In addition, recovery was rapid even for sensitive individuals. Given this information, the potential effect from exposure to a carbamate consumed in the diet during a day can be quantitatively assessed.