Perceiving Age Discrimination in Response to Intergenerational Inequity

Young ( N = 57), middle-aged ( N = 57), and older adults ( N = 47) were presented with an editorial that argued in favor of their age group's economic interests (e.g., their privilege was fair; their disadvantage was unfair) or against their age group's economic interests (e.g., their privilege was unfair; their disadvantage was fair). Participants completed measures of perceived age discrimination, attributions for outcomes, and support for age-based spending. Unfavorable intergenerational comparisons elicited higher perceived age discrimination in middle-aged adults, and more support among all age groups for funding to middle-aged adults compared to favorable comparisons. Young and older adults reported more age discrimination than middle-aged adults regardless of comparison type. Age group status consequences for responses to the intergenerational conflict debate are discussed.     

Capacity constraints and the dynamics of underwriting profits

The presence of an underwriting profit cycle in property/liability insurance has become a stylized fact. Models of this'underwriting cycle'imply that the insurance market is governed by two regimes, as capacity is constrained or not. We apply the smooth transition regression model to insurance industry data for 1934–1993 to test for a regime shift. We find a rapid shift between two distinct regimes with different dynamics. When capacity is not restricted, we find no evidence of a cycle. The cycle is present in periods when capacity is restricted, immediately following World War II and after 1968. The underwriting cycle appears to be a recent phenomenon.     

The effects of smoking laws on seating allocations of restaurants, bars, and taverns

Supporters of smoking laws often argue that they do not harm restaurants, bars, and taverns and may even raise their profits. Opponents argue that owners cater to customer preferences regarding smoking and that laws mandating specific smoking policies will therefore negatively impact profits of some firms. This article tests hypotheses regarding how smoking laws affect seating allocations, using data from a nationwide survey of restaurant and bar owners. The empirical evidence indicates that smoking laws exert no significant effect on seating allocations. Firms are shown to allocate greater shares of seating to nonsmoking use when customers exhibit stronger preferences for such seating.     

自动往返电动小汽车的设计原理与制作方法

本文介绍了采用脉冲主动采集、计数程序控制、虚拟脉冲复位、撞击转向的方式完成自动往返电动小汽车的构思、设计及制作的方法。     

Use of a case study in sequencing/scheduling research

This paper describes a study of an industrial sequencing/scheduling problem. The study contains the definition of the problem, data requirements and examination of solution technique. Definition of the problem is discussed from the aspect of uniqueness of the specific system. Discussion of data requirements includes availability and accuracy, while examination of solution technique considers limitation of time, computer capacity, etc., as well as the possibility of imbedding available algorithms into the solution procedure. Conclusions are presented relative to the use of the case study approach in sequencing/scheduling research.     

College students' multiple stereotypes of lesbians: A cognitive perspective

This paper examines stereotypes of lesbians held by college students. Multiple stereotypes are elicited from a free response trait listing task, followed by a sorting task. The results of the sorting task are submitted to cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling to reveal the complexity of cognitive representations of this group. Eight types are described, reflecting underlying distinctions between positive perceptions (e.g., lipstick lesbian, career-oriented feminist) and negative perceptions (e.g., sexually deviant, angry butch) and also between relative strength and weakness. The research is discussed in terms of cognitive perspectives on stereotyping and gender inversion theory. Suggestions for future research are provided.     

Vocal Characteristics of Older Adults and Stereotyping

Two studies extended the study of the nonverbal correlates of age stereotypes. In Study 1, 40 young listeners assessed the age of 30 elderly speakers from three age groups: 60–69, 70–79, 80 and over. As expected, perceived age increased linearly with age group, although greater variability was found in judgments of male than of female speakers. For male speakers, mean vocal volume (intensity) and standard deviations in vocal volume were positively correlated with chronological and perceived age. For female speakers, mean pitch, standard deviations in pitch, and vocal jitter were positively correlated with chronological and perceived age. In Study 2, 40 young listeners selected trait sets corresponding to 3 positive and 3 negative elderly stereotypes to describe 6 young-old and 6 old-old speakers. As predicted, listeners associated the old-old voices of females (but not males) with fewer positive stereotypes than the young-old female voices. In addition, young-old male voices were associated with significantly fewer positive stereotypes than young-old female voices. Finally, male participants chose fewer positive stereotypes for young-old male voices than did female participants. These results provide information on the ways in which vocal characteristics may serve to activate stereotypes in interaction.     

A hierarchical theory of occupational segregation and wage discrimination

Becker's model of discrimination is extended to the case where men exhibit distastes for working under female managers. The distribution of women in the resulting occupational hierarchy depends on the number of women in lower occupations, the wages of male workers in lower occupations, and male distastes for female management. Thus, there exists an occupational sorting function, related to wages, that determines the occupational distribution of women. We integrate this sorting function into a standard wage equation to derive a new decomposition of male-female wage differentials and apply it to a sample of insurance industry workers from the 1988 CPS.     

Enhancing communication with older adults: overcoming elderspeak

Because communication behaviors are difficult to change, practicing speech without elderspeak is helpful in preparing for actual clinical situations. The Communication Enhancement Model describes potential benefits of eliminating elderspeak in speech to older adults. Minimizing the use of elderspeak is hypothesized to reduce stereotype-based messages that older adults are incompetent and dependent. An improved communication environment promotes the cognitive and functional abilities of older adults. Achieving optimal communication environments may contribute to higher levels of well-being for older adults and to increased quality of life. Young adult care providers also may benefit from increased job satisfaction if they relate closely with care recipients.     

Testing the equality of location parameters of exponential populations from censored samples

The modified Tiku test and the modified likelihood ratio test proposed by Tiku and Vaughan (1991) for k=2 exponential populations are extended to . k > 2 populations. These tests are shown to be more powerful than the test proposed by Kambo and Awad (1985). Unlike the Kambo-Awad test, the proposed tests are shown to have almost symmetric power functions. Further, these tests can be applied when there is both left or right censoring present, in contrast to the tests of Sukhatme (1937), Bain and Englehardt (1991) and Elewa et al. (1992), who assume that there is no left censoring.