Measuring living standards with proxy variables

Very few demographic surveys in developing countries have gathered information on household incomes or consumption expenditures. Researchers interested in living standards therefore have had little alternative but to rely on simple proxy indicators. The properties of these proxies have not been analyzed systematically. We ask what hypotheses can be tested using proxies, and compare these indicators with consumption expenditures per adult, our preferred measure of living standards. We find that the proxies employed in much demographic research are very weak predictors of consumption per adult. Nevertheless, hypothesis tests based on proxies are likely to be powerful enough to warrant consideration.     

From interpersonal to extended fusion: relationships between fusion with siblings and fusion with the country / Desde la fusión interpersonal a la fusión extendida: Relaciones entre la fusión con los hermanos y la fusión con el país

Abstract

Identity fusion is a visceral feeling of oneness with a group. Although research on identity fusion focuses on the alignment of individuals with groups, we propose that fusion can develop between two individuals. In particular, we explore for the first time identity fusion between siblings and its relation with endorsement of extreme behaviour to protect the sibling. In a study conducted with 761 couples of siblings we found that fusion with the sibling is positively associated with willingness to fight and die for the sibling. Additionally, we address the relation between interpersonal and extended fusion. Specifically, a positive association between fusion with the sibling and fusion with the country emerged. The hypothesis that extended fusion might require the projection of interpersonal ties to a large category is discussed.     

Forced Migration,Climate Change,Mitigation and Adaptive Policies in Mexico: Some Functional Relationships

Natural disasters related to hydro-meteorological events have increased during the last few decades, both in frequency and severity. Mexico is heavily exposed to climate change, but has also suffered in the past from climate variability ( Blümel, 2009 ). The new risks oblige the government to develop mitigation processes, while the affected people are implementing strategies of adaptation and resilience-building, mostly at the family and community level. This includes forced migration due to climate change into the slums of megacities or illegal immigration to the United States. The arid, semi-arid and subhumid condition of 49.2 per cent of the territory of Mexico is seriously affected by climate change. In addition, poverty and the lack of jobs have created complex livelihood situations, in which young people leave rural areas, partly due to socio-economic pull factors. In this paper, we address the functional relationships between climate patterns and migration processes in Mexico, highlighting the linkages between the origin of migrants, their economic activity and their vulnerability to extreme events and we discuss long-term climate patterns. Agriculture still uses 78 per cent of the available water in Mexico. In the drylands the competition for water use requires an integrated policy to deal with the new threats from climate change, including mitigation from the top down and adaptation processes from the bottom up to reduce the social vulnerability of the rural population in the highly affected drylands of the central and northern parts of Mexico. The new policy for administering water resources, which promotes the efficient use of an increasingly scarce and polluted resource, still suffers from a lack of participation by the affected rural population. In this paper, we propose an integrated management system from the watershed onwards, involving socio-economic, political, cultural and hydrological variables, to deal with the rising scarcity of water, and the uncertainty and complexity of climate change.     

Antidepressants for neuroenhancement in healthy individuals: a systematic review

Neuroenhancement offers the prospect of improving the cognitive, emotional and motivational functions of healthy individuals. Of all the conceivable interventions, psychopharmacology provides the most readily available ones, such as antidepressants which are thought to make people “better than well”. However, up until now, whether they possess such an enhancing ability remains controversial and therefore in this systematic review we will evaluate the effect and safety of modern antidepressants in healthy individuals. A search of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and cross-references was carried out and the pharmaceutical industry was contacted for suitable data. Trials published in any language through the third week of July 2007 were regarded. Included were single or double blind randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials that compared a placebo to one or more of the following antidepressants: bupropion, citalopram, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, moclobemide, paroxetine, reboxetine, sertraline or venlafaxine in any dose or dosing schedule. Eligible studies were those involving healthy people of any age and either sex who showed no evidence of a psychiatric disorder, cognitive decline or other disease. One hundred thirty-five articles met our inclusion criteria reporting single dose trials and trials with repeated drug administration. Sixty-five of these articles were eligible for a statistical analysis. Based on a linear mixed model, a meta-analysis and a fixed effects meta-regression were performed. Pooling of results by meta-analysis was stratified by the outcome measures (a) mood, (b) emotional processing, (c) wakefulness, (d) attention, (e) memory, and (f) executive functions. On a significance level of p < 0.05 the following significant results emerged: After a single dose of an antidepressant, a significant effect was shown in two of the analysed outcomes. Firstly, there was a small yet significant negative effect on wakefulness. On memory, a positive effect after several measurements was found, but this result could be traced to the results of the one study out of all included studies, which had that many assessment points. The analysis of trials with repeated drug administration (mean duration 14 days, standard deviation 9) yielded the following effects: on mood, a non-significant positive effect was detected that was continuously increasing and reached significance at the last assessment point. Regarding attention, a fluctuating effect was found, while for memory, the fact that the two groups started with a group difference confounded the results. For wakefulness there was no significant effect in any particular assessment point, while for emotional processing and executive functions, the small number of studies did not allow for any effect to emerge. In summary, no consistent evidence for enhancing effects of antidepressants could be found. There is little evidence so far to support the popular opinion that antidepressants have a positive effect on the mood of healthy individuals after repeated administration. No evidence of a significant adverse event profile could be found. The studies included in this systematic review not only provide insufficient evidence for or against any effect in healthy people, but they are inapt to be used for answering this question. This may be explained by the fact that most of them were not designed to examine neuroenhancement effects. The growing public interest in neuroenhancement stands in stark contrast to the paucity of data on enhancement effects of available psychopharmacological agents.     

Introduction to meta-cognitive processes of thought separation: an illustrative overview / Introducción a los procesos metacognitivos de separación del propio pensamiento: una visión general ilustrativa

Abstract

The main goal of this introductory article is to provide an overview of some of the main empirical illustrations relevant to the psychology of separating from one’s thoughts. Separating from our own thoughts often involves thinking about our own thoughts (meta-cognition). We describe meta-cognitive processes relevant to how individuals calibrate and control the impact of their thoughts on judgement and behaviour. Amongst other things, this special issue presents us with an opportunity to examine the similarities and differences between key contributions focused on correction and suppression processes, decentering approaches and separating from thoughts by using a variety of techniques. In addition to these paradigms covered in the articles of this special issue, we review other approaches that also involve reducing the impact of thoughts, with special attention to invalidation processes. Additional frameworks relevant to mental separation included in this review are those relevant to non-evaluative observation of thoughts, psychological distance and mental hygiene.     

Subtle priming of subtraction versus addition: a spill-over effect of math / La inducción sutil de sumar vs. restar: un efecto indirecto de las matemáticas

Abstract

Studies on bias correction have often used blatant inductions to motivate people to reduce the mental impact of perceived biases. In the current research, we test a relatively unexplored, subtle way of inducing bias correction based on the activation of different calculative mindsets. Across two studies, participants were exposed to an advertisement introducing a new consumer product delivered by a credible or non-credible source. Then, as part of an ostensibly unrelated study, participants completed mathematical operations that involved subtracting or adding. Study 1 revealed that when participants were primed with an addition calculative mindset, an expert source elicited more favourable attitudes towards the product than a non-expert source. This pattern illustrates the traditional effect of source credibility on persuasion. In contrast, within the subtraction calculative mindset condition, persuasion was no different between an expert and a non-expert source. These results were obtained exclusively under high thinking conditions (e.g., for participants high in Need for Cognition). This finding can be interpreted as if the effect of source credibility was subtracted from the evaluative judgement. Study 2 replicated this two-way interaction using different materials and inductions. The present research has implications for bias correction, procedural priming, persuasion and beyond.     

Do Mexicans flee from violence? The effects of drug-related violence on migration decisions in Mexico

This paper attempts to identify the existence of displacement in Mexico caused by drug-related violence. We identify two types of migrants: (i) migrants moving from nonviolent to violent states, driven by better economic opportunities and less expensive cost of living at destination and (ii) migrants moving from violent to nonviolent states: they still migrate even if the cost of living at destination is more expensive and economic opportunities are lower. Our hypothesis is that for the second type, migrants are fleeing from violence, and are willing to sacrifice economic opportunities in order to gain safety. For instance, when migrants move from nonviolent to violent states, they demand a salary 25% greater in order to increase the odds of migration in 10%. On the contrary, when migrants move from violent to nonviolent states, they only demand an increase in their salary of 15%.     

Tolerance Toward Immigrants as a Dimension of Cosmopolitanism: Explaining Attitudes Toward Immigrants in Houston

Tolerance toward immigrants can be explained as the development of dispositions toward the acceptance of foreigners as locals influenced by the city’s multicultural contexts. Accordingly, tolerance toward immigrants represents a dimension of cosmopolitanism in metropolitan areas of receiving societies. In this study, I examine whether the proportion of immigrants in communities is directly associated with tolerance toward immigrants and whether there are significant differences in attitudes toward immigrants by occupation and educational attainment in the metropolitan research setting of Houston, Texas. Using data from the Houston Area Survey, I find that the percentage of foreign born in census tracts is directly associated with tolerance, that white-collar workers are not more tolerant than non-white-collar workers, and that the effect of education on tolerance toward immigrants is not always positive. I conclude that, in Houston, tolerance toward immigrants represents a dimension of cosmopolitanism, and cosmopolitanism is not well founded on socioeconomic status.     

Rapid Ethnographic Assessment of HIV/AIDS among Garífuna Communities in Honduras: Informing HIV Surveillance among Garífuna Women

ABSTRACT

Garífuna, an Afro-Caribbean ethnic group in Honduras, have among the highest HIV prevalence rates in Central America; 15- to 49-year-old Garífuna have HIV rates comparable to heterosexual transmission rates in regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The heightened rates in this age range pose a significant risk of vertical transmission from woman to child at birth. In 2006, a Behavioral Surveillance Survey plus Biomarkers (BSS+) reexamined seroprevalence of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV-related risk behaviors among Garífuna to inform HIV prevention activities and monitor trends in HIV transmission over time. To inform the BSS+ survey protocol, we conducted a rapid ethnographic assessment (REA) in Garífuna communities to specifically examine acceptability among Garífuna to be surveyed, suggest ways to minimize HIV-testing related stigma, and determine female gender-specific concerns among BSS+ respondents. Data were collected in 2 weeks in November, 2004, using a semi-structured interview guide for key informant interviews and focus groups. Seventeen key informant interviews and three focus groups were conducted; participant observation and 11 site visits were also conducted. Major findings included high Garífuna acceptability to participate in the BSS+ with key member involvement and incentives. Maintaining confidentiality at HIV testing sites is required to minimize Garífuna women's risk of intimate partner violence. Recommendations to BSS+ partners from this REA informed the BSS+ study protocol and was expected to increase participation and validity and decrease potential risks associated with women's survey participation.