Social capital,social currency,and portable assets: The impact of residential mobility on exchanges of social support

We examined the impact of physical distance on mobilized social capital resources. Social capital theory assumes that physical proximity and residential stability are prerequisites to social capital assets. We tested these assumptions using a two‐wave panel sample from the National Survey of Families and Households consisting of respondents who experienced residential moves between waves. We found local duration since the last move to be beneficial for involvement in social exchanges. Mobility distance was related to deficits for some exchanges but not for others. Rather than a simple dichotomy between material resources that require proximity and nonmaterial resources that do not, we found that emotional and financial support are not affected by mobility distance but that tangible favors and companionship are affected negatively. Although kin exchanges are negatively affected by distant and recent mobility, nonkin exchanges are more extensive for respondents whose kin ties are more distant, suggesting a process of substitutability whereby nonkin may replace kin in the network. Our findings confirm the assumption of social capital theory about distance. They also point to the importance of adding the dimension of distance to exchange theory. Our study demonstrates that place has not lost all relevance in our highly technological postmodern society.     

Ethnic Differences in Tipping: Evidence, Explanations, and Implications

Anecdotal evidence suggests that many waiters and waitresses deliver poor service to ethnic minorities because they believe that ethnic minorities are poor tippers. How managers should deal with this problem depends in part on whether or not ethnic minorities really do tip less than Whites and (if they do) on when and why this occurs. This paper reports on 2 studies that address these issues. The results indicate that Asians tip less than do Whites in comparisons across (but not within) restaurants and that Blacks tip less than do Whites in comparisons both across and within restaurants. Various explanations for these ethnic differences are tested, and the managerial implications of the results are discussed.     

Brain plasticity and behavior

Although the brain was once seen as a rather static organ, it is now clear that the organization of brain circuitry is constantly changing as a function of experience. These changes are referred to as brain plasticity, and they are associated with functional changes that include phenomena such as memory, addiction, and recovery of function. Recent research has shown that brain plasticity and behavior can be influenced by a myriad of factors, including both pre- and postnatal experience, drugs, hormones, maturation, aging, diet, disease, and stress. Understanding how these factors influence brain organization and function is important not only for understanding both normal and abnormal behavior, but also for designing treatments for behavioral and psychological disorders ranging from addiction to stroke.     

Renting Apartments to Felons: Variations in Real Estate Agent Decisions due to Stigma

The study provides a qualitative analysis of 300 real estate agent responses to telephone calls from researchers posing as convicted felons and inquiring about renting an apartment. Telephone calls were made to real estate agents in New York State and primarily in New York City. Criminal conviction type was manipulated across callers who revealed three types of prior convictions: child molestation, statutory rape, or drug trafficking. Analyses indicate that decisions about renting fall within a continuum of responses, including overt rejection, deferral of rental decision to landlords, ambivalence on the part of the agent, concerns about financial ability to pay rent, and concealing the caller’s offense from the landlord. Reasons for acceptance and rejection of renting an apartment are explored. The stigmatized status of offenders appears to have contributed to the variations in the real estate agents responses.     

Categorical Perception Beyond the Basic Level: The Case of Warm and Cool Colors

Categories can affect our perception of the world, rendering between‐category differences more salient than within‐category ones. Across many studies, such categorical perception (CP) has been observed for the basic‐level categories of one's native language. Other research points to categorical distinctions beyond the basic level, but it does not demonstrate CP for such distinctions. Here we provide such a demonstration. Specifically, we show CP in English speakers for the non‐basic distinction between “warm” and “cool” colors, claimed to represent the earliest stage of color lexicon evolution. Notably, the advantage for discriminating colors that straddle the warm–cool boundary was restricted to the right visual field—the same behavioral signature previously observed for basic‐level categories. This pattern held in a replication experiment with increased power. Our findings show that categorical distinctions beyond the basic‐level repertoire of one's native language are psychologically salient and may be spontaneously accessed during normal perceptual processing.     

Is a Pink Cow Still a Cow? Individual Differences in Toddlers' Vocabulary Knowledge and Lexical Representations

When a toddler knows a word, what does she actually know? Many categories have multiple relevant properties; for example, shape and color are relevant to membership in the category banana . How do toddlers prioritize these properties when recognizing familiar words, and are there systematic differences among children? In this study, toddlers viewed pairs of objects associated with prototypical colors. On some trials, objects were typically colored (e.g., Holstein cow and pink pig); on other trials, colors were switched (e.g., pink cow and Holstein‐patterned pig). On each trial, toddlers were directed to find a target object. Overall, recognition was disrupted when colors were switched, as measured by eye movements. Moreover, individual differences in vocabularies predicted recognition differences: Toddlers who say fewer shape‐based words were more disrupted by color switches. “Knowing” a word may not mean the same thing for all toddlers; different toddlers prioritize different facets of familiar objects in their lexical representations.     

“Why me?” – women’s use of spiritual causal attributions in making sense of breast cancer

Objective: This study addressed the role of positive (event is due to God’s Love or to God’s Will) and negative (event is due to God’s Anger) spiritual causal attributions in women’s adjustment to breast cancer.

Design: Ninety-three women diagnosed with breast cancer were assessed at six times from pre-diagnosis through two years post-surgery.

Main outcome measures: Women completed positive and negative measures of spiritual causal attributions (e.g. God’s Love), cognitive appraisals (e.g. threat), coping behaviour (e.g. avoidance) and well-being (e.g. distress).

Results: Positive spiritual attributions were consistently related to positive aspects of adjustment (e.g. positive appraisal, acceptance coping, and/or emotional well-being) while negative spiritual attribution was related to negative factors (e.g. appraisals of loss and uncontrollability, avoidance coping, and/or emotional distress). Path analyses revealed that the effects of positive and negative spiritual attributions on well-being were mediated by general cognitive appraisal and coping behaviour. Cross-lagged correlational analysis revealed a ‘downward spiral’ effect wherein the negative attribution of God’s Anger at pre-diagnosis predicted greater distress at 1 week pre-surgery which in turn predicted an increase in the negative attribution and so on across time.

Conclusion: Although positive spiritual attributions may help women maintain an attitude of hope and acceptance in the face of cancer, results indicate that the effects of negative spiritual attribution can play a significant role in undermining their well-being.     

Safety in Online Research With Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: What About the Children?

The significant co-occurrence between men’s violence against female partners and child abuse and neglect is well documented. It is less clear how child safety should be managed in family violence research with their mothers. This issue is salient to isafe, a New Zealand–based Internet intervention study testing improvement in safety decisions and mental health outcomes for women experiencing intimate partner violence. This article discusses the legislative, professional, and ethical considerations that contribute to the development of the child safety protocols and discusses the development of the isafe protocol. Hypothetical scenarios of the application of the isafe protocol are used to illuminate the issues and provide a basis for future discussion.     

Function‐based replacement behavior interventions for students with challenging behavior

Using a concurrent multiple probe design, this study investigated the effects of function‐based replacement behavior interventions on the challenging behaviors of three students with or at risk of emotional and behavioral disorders who attended a rural elementary school. For all three students, interventions were effective at decreasing the occurrence of challenging and off‐task behavior. Effects were maintained for two participants. Maintenance and generalization effects in a replication setting in which replacement behaviors were loosely trained were also documented for two participants. Furthermore, teachers rated the interventions favorably. Implications for practice, study limitations, and areas for future research are discussed.     

Youth Responses to Anti‐Smoking Advertisements From Tobacco‐Control Agencies,Tobacco Companies,and Pharmaceutical Companies1

Emotional reactions to anti‐smoking advertising (e.g., fear, sadness, anger) may play an important role in promoting smoking‐related attitudinal and behavioral change. Overall, 278 youth completed response ratings of 16 different elements of 50 anti‐smoking ads made by tobacco‐control agencies, tobacco companies, and pharmaceutical companies. Compared with tobacco‐control ads, tobacco‐company ads were more likely to elicit positive emotions and less likely to elicit negative emotions and to be of interest to youth. Compared with tobacco‐control ads, pharmaceutical company ads were less likely to elicit negative emotional responses or cognitively engage youth and more likely to elicit positive emotions. These findings suggest that youth may be unlikely to respond to tobacco‐company advertising in ways that may lead to a lower likelihood of smoking.