Monetary incentives in the loss domain and behavior toward risk: An experimental comparison of three reward schemes including real losses

In the loss domain, both practical and ethical considerations rule out the systematic use of an incentive-compatible procedure involving real losses. The experimental study presented here aims at investigating whether some easier-to-implement procedure could be adequately used. For that purpose, the subjects’ degree of risk aversion is compared across three payment conditions: a real-losses condition based on a random-lottery (incentive-compatible) system, which serves as a benchmark, and two challengers, namely a “losses-from-an-initial-endowment” procedure and a hypothetical-losses condition. As a by-product, our experimental design also allows us to investigate the impact of monetary incentives in the gain domain. The main result is twofold: no significant difference arises between the three payment conditions in the loss domain, while real and hypothetical choices significantly differ in the gain domain. Our results suggest that the use of monetary incentives may be more crucial in the gain domain than in the loss domain.     

Commercial,non‐profit and governmental residential elderly care in Flanders: Differences in client selection and efficiency?

Verschuere B, Moray N, Decramer A. Commercial, non‐profit and governmental residential elderly care in Flanders: differences in client selection and efficiency? Inspired by New Public Management, governments have stimulated competition, outsourcing and privatisation in the public sector. Also, in care of the elderly, there has been a substantial increase in commercial provision. The present study explored the presumed differences in the performance of public (governmental), private non‐profit and private commercial elderly care organisations. We used quantitative indicators on the population of residential elderly care organisations in Flanders (Belgium). Although we found that commercial elderly care facilities tended to be more input‐efficient while non‐profit and public elderly care facilities tended to be more attentive to recruiting and housing residents with high care needs, these results need to be interpreted in light of the regulatory framework in which the different types of elderly care facilities operate.     

The age-varying effects of adolescent stress on impulsivity and sensation seeking

Adolescence is defined in part by heightened exposure and sensitivity to stressors. In a longitudinal cohort of youth at risk for substance use problems, we examined the age-varying relationship between stress exposure and traits that are central to the dual systems model. The positive associations between stress exposure, impulsivity, sensation seeking varied as function of age. Specifically, the influence of stress exposure on impulsivity strengthened during early adolescence and remained stable into early adulthood, while the influence of stress exposure on sensation seeking strengthened from early- to mid-adolescence and weakened thereafter. These findings suggest that the maturational imbalance between the capacity to regulate impulsive tendencies and sensation seeking may be exaggerated for youth who are exposed to a high number of stressors.     

An assessment of outcomes following parents' participation in a child abuse prevention program

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes following participation in the ESPACE parents' workshop. A group of 55 parents who participated in the program, implemented in elementary schools in the Quebec city region, was compared to a group of 217 parents who did not attend the prevention workshop. The results revealed that attending parents suggested more adequate interventions to the vignette depicting a hypothetical situation of sexual abuse compared to nonattending parents. Attending parents are found to be more likely to suggest interventions sustaining the child in her own problem-solving process, seek help from specialized agencies, and attempt to offer emotional support to the victim. Data also reveal that the parents workshop has a positive outcome on knowledge. While the workshop is associated with beneficial outcomes, attendance rates are low. The findings are discussed in the context of identifying means to foster parent involvement in the prevention of child abuse.     

Warum Chamäleons (manchmal) beruflich erfolgreich sind

Individuals who strategically control their behavior to reach their professional goals may either be considered as persons with high social competence or, alternatively, as “dazzlers” or chameleons. Both of these perspectives are included in the construct of self-monitoring, as it focuses on social skills as well as on aspects of impression management and inconsistency (referring to the chameleon-like behavior). In this paper, we take stock of the findings on the career success of individuals characterized by high self-monitoring. It seems that they are particularly skilled in making a good impression on others and realizing career success (especially promotions). However, high self-monitors have also difficulties building stable relationships: Even though they attract more interest from others, they also experience rejection more often. All in all, the picture emerges that although high self-monitors do not perform above average, they do manage to reach career goals by obtaining promotions, switching between employers, controlling social networks, and holding key positions in organizations.     

The Interplay Between Tonal Synchrony and Social Engagement in Mother–Infant Interaction

This study explores the relationship between tonal synchrony and maternal‐infant social engagement based on free‐play recordings of 15 mothers and their 3‐month‐old infants in a laboratory setting. Moment‐by‐moment analyses on a microlevel were used to study social engagement and vocal interaction. We analysed and categorized 854 vocalization periods (mother‐only vocalizations, tonal interaction periods, nontonal interaction periods, and mutual silence). Tonal synchrony was analysed in terms of harmonic and pentatonic series based on pitch frequency analyses. Social engagement was microanalyzed in terms of matched and mismatched engagement states. ANOVA‐repeated measures revealed, most importantly, a significant relationship between TIPs and social interaction repair, which indicates the importance of tonal synchrony in the flow of social engagement in mother–infant dyads. Other significant relationships were found between (a) nTIPs/mismatch–mismatch, and, (b) MOV/affect loss. As mentioned in the discussion, the findings are suggestive for clinical applications (e.g., music therapy) and warrant further research.     

Measuring cultural bias in a cross-national study

Cross-national research claims increasing attention, due in part to a growing awareness of worldwide interdependence. One of the most intriguing areas of research is the comparison of perceptions about the quality of life. However, even the first attempt to compare cross-national quality of life perceptions (Cantril, 1965) raised a question which still remains unanswered: What do the differences between countries mean? Presumably differences in income, in the objective conditions of the major life domains such as housing, health and employment, and in demographic variables account for some of the difference among countries' reported quality of life satisfaction. But how can these factors be separated from other non-random factors? The term we use for the latter is “cultural bias”. By cultural bias we mean the systematic cross-national differences in quality of life perceptions which are not explained by objective measures of quality of life nor by demographic factors. Ordinarily these culture-specific biases are acquired during the socialization process almost as automatically and unconsciously as one learns one's mother tongue. Cultural bias is manifested in the tendency for members of a particular culture to be optimistic or pessimistic, confident or cautious in evaluating their social and physical environment and in revealing these evaluations to others. Thus, our conception of cultural bias has something in common with the idea of national character, but it is more limited in scope. In this paper we discuss the problem of isolating the impact of cultural bias from the other factors affecting how people perceive their quality of life and measuring it. We describe a method which is capable of doing this and report the results of using it to measure the relative cultural bias between respondents in Springfield, Illinois and Aixen-Provence, France.     

Book reviews

The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 gave an opportunity to remake not just political institutions, but ethno-religious distinction in Northern Ireland. This article looks at how individuals reconstruct their way of being Protestant in Ireland and Northern Ireland in the context of social and political change. It shows individuals renegotiating their ways of being Protestant, attempting sometimes successfully to change its socio-cultural salience, blurring ethnic boundaries, distinguishing religious and ethno-national narratives, drawing universalistic political norms from their particular religious tradition. It argues that these renegotiations are highly sensitive to the macro-political context. Changes in this context affect individuals through their changing cognitive understandings and strategic interests that, at least in this case, are as important to identification as social solidarities.