Seasonal and weather-related behavioral effects among urban Aboriginal, urban non-Aboriginal, and remote Aboriginal participants in Canada

The influence of seasonal change and weather on mood, social activity, weight, food consumption, and sleep length was compared across urban Aboriginals (n = 43), urban non-Aboriginals (n = 49), and remote Aboriginals (n = 39) in Ontario, Canada. Such research is important since climate change may differentially shape the well-being of social groups. Behavioral items—including mood, social activity, weight, sleep, and food consumption—were measured using the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire, and associations between these items and meteorological data were examined with bivariate and multivariate approaches. Weather variables had consistent, significant associations with behavior except within the remote Aboriginal group despite living in a more extreme climate. Lifestyle and adaptation may contribute to an increased weather tolerance among remote Aboriginal people, intriguing findings as cultures grapple with the implications of future climate change.     

Subjective Well-Being Approach to the Valuation of International Development: Evidence for the Millennium Development Goals

The subjective well-being approach to the valuation of international development is applied to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Results indicate that the rich countries have particular preference for education, healthcare, and housing; they are willing to accept compensation for a failure to meet the three targets by 2015. The poor countries view all the MDGs as important; they are willing accept compensation for a failure to achieve all the targets by 2015. Results also indicate that what the poor countries are willing to accept in terms of compensation matches the amount that would have been the pledge of 0.7% proportion of incomes of the rich countries for international aid. These findings imply that the MDGs can be accomplished at an affordable cost.     

The dynamics of negation: identity formation among Palestinian Arab college students inside the green line

How does granting certificates of ‘business clean of Arab workers’ to owners of shops, stores, and Jewish businesses who prove they are not employing Arab workers shape identity? Identity development involves making sense of, and coming to terms with, the social world one inhabits, recognizing choices and making decisions within contexts, and finding a sense of unity within one's self while claiming a place in the world. Since there is no objective, ahistoric, universal trans-cultural identity, views of identity must be historically and culturally situated. This paper explores identity issues among members of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel. While there is a body of literature exploring this subject, we will offer a different perspective by contextualizing the political and economic contexts that form an essential foundation for understanding identity formation among this minority group. We argue that, as a genre of settler colonialism, ‘pure settlement colonies’ involve the conquering not only of land, but of labor as well, excluding the natives from the economy. Such an exclusion from the economy is significant for its cultural, social, and ideological consequences, and therefore is especially significant in identity formation discussed in the paper. We briefly review existing approaches to the study of identity among Palestinian Arabs in Israel, and illustrate our theoretical contextual framework. Finally, we present and discuss findings from a new study of identity among Palestinian Arab college students in Israel through the lens of this framework.     

Time Use and Well-Being in Older Widows: Adaptation and Resilience

Research on widowhood mostly emphasizes negative outcomes, but some studies suggest widows are resilient. This study evaluated the in-depth daily experiences of older widows compared to married women. Participants included 75 widows and 125 married women from the National Study of Daily Experiences II, who completed daily diaries over 8 days. For long-term widows, there were no differences compared to married women in daily and general well-being, and a few differences in time use. Results add to the literature by using daily diary data to illustrate the general resilience of older women many years after the death of a spouse.     

The Moral Arc as a Pretzel: Social Justice in the Trenches

This article explores how social justice has been defined in social work practice and contests the claim of some in our profession that direct practice and social welfare programs are incompatible with social justice, drawing on Foucault’s work on the inextricable link between power and knowledge. This article proposes that social justice “in the trenches” needs further theorizing. Literature supporting a view that direct practice is congruent with a social justice perspective is reviewed. Theory of recognition is introduced as a possible overarching theory to ground direct practice within a social justice framework.     

Meta-Analysis as a Research Synthesis Methodology: Cause for Concern

ABSTRACT

The use of meta-analysis is growing in popularity. It is based on the fundamental notion of the effect size, and a critical assumption is that effect sizes based on different measures are directly comparable. In this article it is argued that the direct comparability of effect sizes across measures implies the invariance of the effect sizes across these measures. A model of standardized mean difference (SMD) effect size invariance is developed, based on multifacet generalizability theory, which shows that SMD effect size invariance requires certain validity invariance conditions to hold. One implication of these findings is that the direct comparability of SMD effect sizes based on different measurement procedures is an empirical matter requiring testing prior to conducting a meta-analysis. Findings are also discussed suggesting that violations of one of these conditions—universe score validity invariance—can bring about substantial differences across SMD effect sizes as a function of measurement procedure. These findings suggest the need for a more refined use of meta-analysis since meta-analytic results may be adversely impacted by the lack of direct comparability of effect sizes based on different measures.     

Indian gaming and Tribal Revenue Allocation Plans: Socio-economic determinants of policy adoption

As the Indian gaming industry has experienced unprecedented growth over the past two decades, tribes have pursued different paths regarding the utilization of gaming revenues within parameters established by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Since 1993, more than 100 tribes have received approval through the Department of the Interior to distribute revenues directly to tribal members through per capita payments governed by a Tribal Revenue Allocation Plan (RAP). This paper improves our understanding of nations with payment plans by exploring whether socio-economic tribal features are associated with the successful adoption of a RAP. We find that tribes who gained approval of a RAP in the 1990s have higher per capita incomes, while also having smaller populations and lower levels of educational attainment. Population is the strongest predictor of RAP adoptions in both the 1990s and 2000s, with the impact of other tribal features being less meaningful in explaining adoption in the second decade.     

Eating habits and physical activity in dieter and non-dieter youth: A gender analysis of English and Spanish adolescents

A high prevalence of youth is overweight or obese, and a frequent lack of monitoring of their weight control strategies is observed. Consequently, this paper compares the eating habits and physical activities of male and female dieters and non-dieters. Data are obtained from the large cross-national WHO collaborative study “Health Behavior in School-aged Children 2010”. The current sample consists of 9,444 students aged 11, 13 and 15 years from England and Spain. Participants are asked about dieting, vigorous and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, breakfast frequency and fruit, vegetable, sweet and soft drink consumption. A logistic regression is used to examine the differences between dieters and non-dieters with regard to the aforementioned eating and physical activity habits. Differences between genders, countries, and those associated with BMI (body mass index) are also considered. The results suggest that the reality of weight control differs from the major health promotion recommendations during adolescence.     

Sexual deception as a social-exchange process: development of a behavior-based sexual deception scale

The use of deception in association with sexual encounters may take many forms, ranging from outright lies to more subtle, evasive manipulations. To address such deceptions, a behavior-based sexual deception scale was developed utilizing social exchange theory. Participants were 267 individuals associated with two large universities who were surveyed regarding different aspects of their sexual deceptive behaviors. In addition, items addressing sexually related behaviors and attitudes were assessed for validation purposes. Principal components analysis identified three components of sexual deception, labeled Blatant Lying, Self-Serving, and Avoiding Confrontation. Confirmatory factor analysis verified the resulting structure, and promising validity was noted. In general, those using any of these deceptions reported more sexual partners and one-night stands. Those telling blatant lies to have sex were more likely to report greater needs for sex, while those using self-serving lies or having sex to avoid confrontation experienced greater worry about partner loss. Men were more likely to use blatant lies to have sex, while women were more likely to have sex to avoid confrontation. Results support sexual deception as an exchange process, with sex for pleasure and positive relationship outcomes acting as rewards, and unwanted sex and deception consequences as costs. Implications for health interventions and primary prevention applications are discussed.