The role of attribution of causality in economic decision making

Research has established that economic decisions often deviate from game theoretic predictions. We explore the process of causal thinking as a possible explanation for such deviations. Specifically, we suggest that causal information affects economic decisions based on the principles advocated by Weiner, 1985, Weiner, 1986 attribution theory (AT) of motivation and emotion. Prior research in this area considered only subsets of the dimensions employed by the theory. We test the predictions stemming from AT in contexts where economic decisions involve sharing gains between party members (e.g., splitting profits) and assess how such decisions are affected by the reasons attributed for obtaining the gains. Results indicate a significant link between causal attribution and economic decisions and shed light on the rules and the rationale that guide this link. We conclude that research into economic decision making should pay a greater attention to the explanatory value of AT.     

政策调整适应劳动力市场灵活性

20世纪90年代以来,是中国从计划经济向市场经济转轨、市场经济体制逐步形成的过程。在这一过程中,政府对市场的直接干预程度弱化,劳动力市场机制对资源配置的基础性作用不断增强。与此同时,劳动立法和执法工作滞后,导致正规就业岗位越来越少,灵活就业和非正规就业比重极大增加,工作任期普遍缩短,劳动力流动率提高,而社会保障、就业服务机会不足,劳动者就业的稳定感极大地降低,劳动力市场的总体就业安全性降低。在这一过程中,政府进行了一系列的立法、制度和政策调整,来适应不断增强的就业灵活性。本文主要从劳动力市场制度政策的角度,对这些调整进行评价,并提出建议。     

Factors in marijuana cessation among high-risk youth

The rise in marijuana use among high school students has generated considerable concern. The apparent failure of current marijuana control efforts may be due in part to ignorance about why students use marijuana and what influences them to consider quitting. This article utilized both open-ended and multiple-choice surveys as well as health educator-led focus groups to assess issues related to marijuana use and cessation among a population of high-risk youth. A total of 842 students participated, assessed as two separate samples from eleven continuation high schools in southern California. Approximately 70 percent of the students are current marijuana users. Interpreting results across both samples, it is apparent that interest in quitting marijuana use among continuation high school students is high. Over half of the marijuana users surveyed have tried to quit and failed. Still, several social images associated with marijuana smokers are positive and subjects express a lack of confidence in the efficacy of marijuana cessation clinic programs. Subjects believe that either self-help or punitive methods are the most effective types of marijuana cessation activities. A reportedly high rate of failed quit attempts suggests that effective marijuana cessation programs are needed in this population. Future programs must address both reasons users resist change, including use of marijuana as a stress reliever, and the particular motivations that subjects report regarding why they desire to quit using marijuana, including legal, vocational, and health consequences.     

Attitudes Toward Straight,Gay Male,and Transsexual Parenting

This study examined American attitudes toward transsexual and gay male parenting, compared to straight parenting. After reporting levels of transphobia, participants read a vignette regarding a couple seeking child adoption. Individuals high in transphobia perceived nontraditional couples as more emotionally unstable than straight couples and were less willing to grant custody of a child to the nontraditional couples vs. the straight couples. In addition, the transsexual couple faced more prejudice and discrimination than the gay male couple. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Emerging Patterns of Care Management: Arrangements for Older People in England

One of the key objectives of the community care legislation, implemented in the UK in 1993, was the development of care management systems. Subsequent studies based on limited samples of local authorities have indicated that there is much variation in the forms and types of arrangements being developed. This paper explores whether typologies of care management arrangements for older people can be discerned through the analysis of a series of key indicators. Data were drawn from a survey of all English local authorities, undertaken as part of the PSSRU study: Mapping and Evaluation of Care Management Arrangements for Older People and Those with Mental Health Problems. Care management arrangements were categorized using a limited number of key indicators chosen on an empirical and an a priori basis. This resulted in the formulation of six categories of care management arrangements for older people, within which approximately 80 per cent of local authorities could be included.     

Facing adulthood alone: the long-term impact of family break-up and infant institutions, a longitudinal study

Summary This is the summary of a long-term follow-up study of 268 youngpeople who were infants living in Northern Israel's three pre-schoolinstitutions in 1973. In this third, and final, stage of theresearch it was found that, considering the extent of pathologyin their families of origin, the cycle of intergenerationaltransmission of pathology has been quite limited, and the largemajority are functioning adequately or well as young adults.They are, between them, now parenting 115 children, none ofwhom are in institutional care. Without the backing of a supportivefamily, life is difficult, and they tend to be sadder, lessenergetic and less educated than a more advantaged comparisongroup. Fully two-thirds have had pervasive learning problems,which continue to impact on their vocational options as youngadults. However, the intervention of social work counsellinghas been helpful, and neither pre-school, nor long-term institutionalcare was found to be harmful in terms of normative living.     

Physicians' understanding of consent requirements for phase I clinical trials in cognitively impaired or highly vulnerable populations

We investigated physicians' attitudes about entering patients who cannot give informed consent or who are of a vulnerable population into clinical trials. A survey instrument asked a nationwide sample of practicing physicians about whether ten hypothetical patients could be enrolled in a phase I clinical trials. The impact of demographic variables on the number of scenarios viewed as completely or somewhat acceptable was analyzed via student's T tests or analysis of variance (ANOVA) as applicable. All significant (p<0.01) variables were entered into a multiple logistic regression model. Eighty-four percent of respondents indicated that at least one case scenario was acceptable. A majority of those who conduct clinical trials (62%), who had training in the ethics of clinical research (78%), and who sit on institutional review boards (IRBs) (83%) approved of at least one case scenario. Physicians approved of the entry of some patients who cannot give informed consent or who are of a vulnerable population into clinical trials. More effective education on the guidelines involving clinical research should be available to practicing physicians, residents, and medical students. There should also be assurance that physicians who conduct clinical trials or who sit on IRBs have the requisite knowledge about the ethics of clinical research.