Towards a Variety of Meanings – Multiple Representations of Reputation in the Small Business Context

This paper examines the discursively constructed meanings for reputation in the small business context – an area of reputation research that has so far attracted little attention. We argue that viewing reputation as a social construction makes it possible to uncover and understand the variety of meanings attached to the concept in small businesses. On the basis of 25 thematic interviews with owner‐managers we (re)constructed four meanings for reputation: reputation as an economic resource, as social recognition, as a restrictive control mechanism and as a risk for personal status. We also investigate the variety of discursive events in which these meanings are created. The study further emphasizes reputation as a phenomenon in which a small business becomes identified with its owner‐manager, adding to the complex and conflicting nature of reputation, including both positive and negative aspects.     

Long-term Stability of Social Participation

The long-term stability of social participation was investigated in a representative urban population of 415 men and 579 women who had taken part in the nationwide Mini-Finland Health Survey in the years 1978–1980 and were re-examined 20 years later. Stability was assessed by means of the following tracking coefficients: kappa, proportion of stability, Spearman correlation, and stability coefficient (odds ratio) for engagement in clubs and voluntary societies, cultural and sports attendance, congregational activity, outdoor and productive activity, cultural interests, and hobby activity. The tracking results showed fair to moderate stability for the above measures of social participation, varying from the highest weighted kappa (0.43) for congregational activity in women to the lowest weighted kappa (0.22) for cultural and sports attendance in men. Migration from rural to urban community did not affect the stability of social participation. The underlying latent construct ‘social participation’ based on a two-wave multi-variable model showed good stability (r = 0.65). We conclude that social participation rests on a fairly stable foundation making it a useful tool for long-term epidemiological studies.     

Early Theory of Mind Competencies: Do Infants Understand Others’ Beliefs?

Recent studies suggest that even infants attend to others’ beliefs in order to make sense of their behavior. To warrant the assumption of early belief understanding, corresponding competences need to be demonstrated in a variety of different belief‐inducing situations. The present study provides corresponding evidence, using a completely nonverbal object‐transfer task based on the general violation‐of‐expectation paradigm. A total of n = 36 infants (15‐month‐olds) participated in one of three conditions. Infants saw an actor who either observed an object’s location change, did not observe it, or performed the location change manually without seeing it (i.e., variations in the actor’s information access). Results are in accordance with the assumption that 15‐month‐old infants master different belief‐inducing situations in a highly flexible way, accepting visual as well as manual information access as a proper basis for belief induction.     

Investigation about a screening step in model selection

In many studies a large number of variables is measured and the identification of relevant variables influencing an outcome is an important task. For variable selection several procedures are available. However, focusing on one model only neglects that there usually exist other equally appropriate models. Bayesian or frequentist model averaging approaches have been proposed to improve the development of a predictor. With a larger number of variables (say more than ten variables) the resulting class of models can be very large. For Bayesian model averaging Occam’s window is a popular approach to reduce the model space. As this approach may not eliminate any variables, a variable screening step was proposed for a frequentist model averaging procedure. Based on the results of selected models in bootstrap samples, variables are eliminated before deriving a model averaging predictor. As a simple alternative screening procedure backward elimination can be used. Through two examples and by means of simulation we investigate some properties of the screening step. In the simulation study we consider situations with fifteen and 25 variables, respectively, of which seven have an influence on the outcome. With the screening step most of the uninfluential variables will be eliminated, but also some variables with a weak effect. Variable screening leads to more applicable models without eliminating models, which are more strongly supported by the data. Furthermore, we give recommendations for important parameters of the screening step.     

Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury in a Community Sample of Adolescents: Subgroups,Stability, and Associations With Psychological Difficulties

Patterns of nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) and their association with other psychological difficulties were studied in a community sample of young Swedish adolescents, by a two‐wave longitudinal design with a 1‐year interval. Hierarchical cluster analysis at T1 identified eight NSSI subgroups in each gender, of which five were clearly replicated at T2. Among these were a subgroup with generalized high‐frequency NSSI, which was associated with both internalizing and externalizing problems, and a subgroup of girls who engaged primarily in cutting and showed mainly internalizing problems. In general, NSSI clusters among girls were more stable over time and associated with more psychological problems. The results indicate that different patterns of NSSI have different developmental and clinical implications.