Modern Traditionalism: Consanguineous Marriage in Qatar

Consanguineous marriage, or matrimony between biological relatives, is commonplace and on the rise in Qatar, an ethnically heterogeneous Middle Eastern country. Previous studies have demonstrated that modernization often reduces traditional forms of marriage, such as arranged and consanguineous matrimony. Qatar's rapid modernization, however, has coincided with increased rates of endogamy. In this article, the authors examine the social processes that shape normative consanguineous marriage formation and progression in Qatar. On the basis of in‐depth interviews (n = 35) with men and women engaged or married to a cousin, they detail the categorical schemas that lead to consanguineous matrimony: reservation, joking, filtering, engagement, and courtship. In describing these social exchanges, the authors illustrate 2 key features embedded within them: (a) their distinct tempo and (b) how participants frame their experiences using discourses of romantic love. Reflecting larger cultural practices and attitudes in Qatar, the authors found an amalgam of contemporary and conventional that they label modern traditionalism.     

The Decoupling of Marriage and Parenthood? Trends in the Timing of Marital First Births, 1945–2002

Family formation changed dramatically over the 20th century in the United States. The impact of these changes on childbearing has primarily been studied in terms of nonmarital fertility. However, changes in family formation behavior also have implications for fertility within marriage. The authors used data from 10 fertility surveys to describe changes in the timing of marital childbearing from the 1940s through the 21st century for non‐Hispanic White and non‐Hispanic Black women. Based on harmonized data from the Integrated Fertility Survey Series, the results suggest increasing divergence in fertility timing for White women. A growing proportion of marriages begin with a premarital conception; at the same time, an increasing proportion of White women are postponing fertility within marriage. For Black women, marital fertility is increasingly postponed beyond the early years of marriage. Evaluating the sequencing of marriage and parenthood over time is critical to understanding the changing meaning of marriage.     

Families,Resources, and Suicide: Combined Effects on Mortality

Important resources from family support systems, employment, and educational attainment inhibit the risk of death. Independently, these factors are particularly salient for suicide, but how they combine to affect mortality is less clear. Analyses of National Health Interview Survey data from 1986 to 2004 (N = 935,802), prospectively linked to mortality through 2006 (including 1,238 suicides), reveals a process of compensation in the way work status and family combine to affect adult suicide: Individuals who are not working experience more suicide defense from more protective family support systems than do working adults. But a process of reinforcement occurs in the combination of education and family: More education associates with more protection from the family than does less education. The findings demonstrate how families and resources combine to affect mortality in unique ways.     

An Alternative Model of the Formation of Political Coalitions

Most models of the formation of political coalitions use either Euclidean spaces or rely purely on game theory. This limits their applicability. In this article, a single model is presented which is more broadly applicable. In principle any kind of set can be used as a policy space. The model is also able to incorporate different kinds of party motivations: both rent-seeking and idealism. The model uses party preferences and power to identify stable coalitions and predict government policy as well as to indicate which member of the opposition will be able to break up the governing coalition if no stable coalition exists. In the latter case it will also indicate on which issue the government is likely to split. Parties may have preferences over issues such as the composition of cabinet and/or the governing coalition as well as the more traditional issues of government formation. The model also provides a rationale for log-rolling.     

践行社会主义荣辱观 形成健康向上的社会风尚

胡锦涛总书记关于树立社会主义荣辱观的重要论述,提出了"八荣"的社会价值导向,明确了"八耻"防微杜渐的警示,树立了社会风尚的道德标杆.高校要旗帜鲜明地倡导"八荣八耻",引导学生自觉践行社会主义荣辱观,这将有利于大学生健康成长,促进校园文化建设和良好社会风尚的形成,推进和谐社会建设.     

人的全面发展的价值承诺与当代形态

人的全面发展作为共产主义的价值承诺 ,是激发人们为之奋斗的理想目标 ,具有绝对性意义 ;作为社会主义初级阶段的当代形态 ,又要受到各种主客观条件的制约 ,具有相对性意义。因此 ,在推进人的全面发展过程中 ,要把价值承诺与当代形态两个视角结合起来 ,清醒地认识到人的全面发展的长期性、复杂性和艰巨性 ,这样既不失理想的高度 ,又不失现实生活中的可操作性     

胡锦涛科学发展观形成发展的阶段分析

胡锦涛在党的十七大报告中提出,在新的发展阶段继续全面建设小康社会、发展中国特色社会主义,必须坚持以邓小平理论和"三个代表"重要思想为指导,深入贯彻落实科学发展观.然而,关于胡锦涛科学发展观形成发展到底是怎样一个过程,目前尚未引起学术界的深入研究.我们认为,应从孕育到萌芽、从提出到基本形成、从丰富发展到形成体系三个阶段来详细论述胡锦涛科学发展观的形成发展过程,这对于人们全面深刻地理解科学发展观的内涵和目前全党上下正在掀起的深入学习实践科学发展观的活动,将产生一定的促进作用.     

How dominance hierarchies emerge from conflict: A game theoretic model and experimental evidence

We develop a game theoretic model of conflict and empirically test its predictions to study the emergence of social hierarchies in small groups. Previous research shows uncertainty about actors' ability may lead to more conflict; conflict demonstrates actors' ability and establishes relationships of dominance and submissiveness. Since we assume uncertainty regarding ability to be a crucial cause of conflict, we focus on the effects of different information conditions. We posit that actors know the distribution of abilities in their group and vary whether or not they know (1) their own ability and (2) their interaction partners' interaction histories. Our results from a laboratory experiment closely match qualitative model predictions. Most importantly, conflict produces information about actors’ ability, which reduces subsequent conflict. In an exploratory analysis we investigate to what extent gender, social value orientation, risk preferences and a competitive personality account for the quantitative discrepancies between model predictions and subject behavior.     

正确处理少数民族问题巩固了党的执政基础——建国初期的历史考察

建国初期,中国共产党对少数民族问题的正确处理与解决,不仅使各少数民族第一次获得了全面发展的权利和机会,也使得刚刚实现全国执政的中国共产党赢得了少数民族群众的拥护和支持,从而为此后的长期执政奠定了坚实而巩固的基础。建国初期,中国共产党正确处理少数民族问题的实践和经验,对于新时期构建和谐民族关系,巩固党的执政基础仍具有重要的指导和借鉴意义。     

Incentives to Exercise

Can incentives be effective in encouraging the development of good habits? We investigate the post‐intervention effects of paying people to attend a gym a number of times during one month. In two studies we find marked attendance increases after the intervention relative to attendance changes for the respective control groups. This is entirely driven by people who did not previously attend the gym on a regular basis. In our second study, we find improvements on health indicators such as weight, waist size, and pulse rate, suggesting the intervention led to a net increase in total physical activity rather than to a substitution away from nonincentivized ones. We argue that there is scope for financial intervention in habit formation, particularly in the area of health.