How is My Partner Feeling in Different Daily-Life Settings? Accuracy of Spouses' Judgements about Their Partner's Feelings at Work and at Home

How accurately do spouses know their partner's feelings when the partneris not physically present, but in a specific setting (at work, or at home)?This question addresses a special kind of empathic inference that relies mainly on content knowledge and projection rather than perception. We answered this question using a computer assisted diary approach. A total of 190 husbands and wives outof 95 couples simultaneously recorded how they were feeling and what they thought their partner was feeling, six times each day during an ordinary week. They also recorded where they were, who they were with, and where they thought their partner was. This enabled us to assess measures of accuracy and assumed similarity under natural conditions in spouses' daily lives. Results showed that the spouses' judgements of the absent partner's feelings relied on their own feelings (assumed similarity). Despite this they were often quite accurate, even when assumed similarity was controlled. In general, our findings indicate that spouses have a basic knowledge about their partner's feelings when they are apart. However, the specific situation, the items being judged, and the gender of the spouses also need to be taken into account.     

Oxidative stress increases continuously with BMI and age with unfavourable profiles in males

Oxidative stress is a risk factor for chronic diseases and was previously shown to be independently associated with obesity. The authors investigated the relationship between body mass index (BMI), age and oxidative stress on 2190 subjects undergoing a health care examination. Total antioxidant status (TAS), total peroxides (TOC) and autoantibodies against oxidized LDL (oLAb) were used as oxidative stress biomarkers in addition to serum lipoproteins, bilirubin and uric acid. Gender-specific differences were observed for age, BMI, serum concentrations of bilirubin, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), uric acid and TAS, all of which were higher in males (p < 0.001), while high-density lipoprotein (HDL), HDL/LDL ratio and TOC were higher in females (p < 0.001). Total cholesterol (p < 0.05) and LDL were increased (p < 0.05), while HDL was decreased (p < 0.05) in overweight and obese subjects. This was accompanied by increased uric acid and TAS concentrations. Lowest oLAb titers were detected in obese subjects. In extremely obese subjects, increased TOC and decreased TAS were observed in spite of high uric acid levels. These results demonstrate that oxidative stress increases with increasing BMI and age, as a sequel to an impaired antioxidant status, the consumption of oLAbs, an increase of peroxides and uric acid and a disadvantaged lipid profile.     

Cohesion,Satisfaction With Family Bonds,and Emotional Well‐Being in Families With Adolescents

The present paper investigated whether higher cohesion and satisfaction with family bonds were associated with the daily experience of emotional well‐being in varying social circumstances. Using a sample of school‐age adolescents (N = 95) and both their parents, data were gathered daily over 1 week using a diary approach in addition to self‐report instruments. Multilevel analyses revealed higher cohesion to be associated with well‐being in fathers and adolescents, but not in mothers. Parents also reported higher well‐being when with friends or colleagues than when alone. Moreover, fathers who scored higher on cohesion reported higher well‐being when with family members than when alone, whereas adolescents who scored higher on satisfaction with bonds reported lower well‐being when with peers or siblings than when alone.     

Das Theorie-Praxis-Verhältnis in den Sozialwissenschaften im Kontext professionellen Handelns

This paper discusses some issues concerning the transfer of scientific knowledge to action in professional contexts. Traditionally, this transfer is studied on two premises: Firstly, transfer is an action in which knowledge is applied for practical purposes. Secondly, scientific knowledge is distinguished from practical knowledge by a higher standard of rationality. The authors argue for a different view: Theoretical knowledge will only become practically effective if actors engage in a process of interpretation and re-interpretation in which they acquire scientific findings and transform them to cope with specific problems of their practice context. In systems of scientific production there are traditions and operations which support the rationality of their products, but also traditions and operations which obstruct it. From this point of view it makes sense to conceive the relationship between theory and practice as non-hierarchical.