Migration: Vocational perspectives on a complex and diverse transition

This paper outlines the origins of this special issue: a UK Economic and Social Research Council supported seminar series on ‘Careers and Migration’. The series elucidated a number of salient (though under-researched) issues: migration as a diverse and complex process; the loss, recovery and reconstruction of career capital as central in the migration experience; insecurity, security and their dynamic interplay; the salience of relationships with family, compatriots and communities in migrants' career development; and the appropriateness of creative approaches in researching migrants' careers. The seven articles, written by interdisciplinary authorial teams (sometimes working in different occupational sectors) contribute to our understandings of these pressing concerns.     

Behavioral interventions may prolong remission in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs) are chronic, relapsing and remitting gastrointestinal conditions with no known cure. Previous studies have linked behavioral factors, including stress and medication adherence, to relapse.

Purpose

We sought to determine the effect of participation in a behavioral self-management program on incidence of flare within 12 months following behavioral intervention when compared to the natural history of flare incidence prior to program participation.

Results

Results from a 2-level regression model indicated that those participants in the treatment group were 57% less likely to flare in the following 12 months (compared to 18% in the control group). The decline in “flare odds” was about 2 times greater in treatment versus controls (OR = 0.52, t(34) = 2.07, p < 0.05). Office visits, ER visits, and disease severity (all p < 0.05) were identified as moderators of flare risk.

Conclusions

We have demonstrated 1) a statistical model estimating the likelihood of flare rates in the 12 months following a behavioral intervention for IBD (compared to a control condition), and 2) that the introduction of a behavioral intervention can alter the natural course of a chronic, relapsing and remitting gastrointestinal condition such as IBD.     

Exposing operations of power in supervisory relationships

Through a poststructural lens, we examine how power may show itself in relationships between supervisees and supervisors, producing both helpful and harmful effects. Drawing from our own experiences, as well as conversations with other members of our supervisory group, we demonstrate how privileged discourses around professional status, gender, and race may bring about difficulties including a sense of doubt, worry, inadequacy, and a fear of speaking up. We also illustrate how these difficulties can be addressed in a manner that may lessen their influence, while increasing supervisees' sense of agency.     

Do executive and reactive disinhibition mediate the effects of familial substance use disorders on adolescent externalizing outcomes?

The present study examined the potential mediating roles of executive and reactive disinhibition in predicting conduct problems, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and substance use among adolescents with and without a family history of substance use disorders. Using data from 247 high-risk adolescents, parents, and grandparents, structural equation modeling indicated that reactive disinhibition, as measured by sensation seeking, mediated the effect of familial drug use disorders on all facets of the adolescent externalizing spectrum. Executive disinhibition, as measured by response disinhibition, spatial short term memory, and "trait" impulsivity, was associated with ADHD symptoms. Moreover, although executive functioning weakness were unrelated to familial substance use disorders, adolescents with familial alcohol use disorders were at risk for "trait" impulsivity marked by a lack of planning. These results illustrate the importance of "unpacking" the broad temperament style of disinhibition and of studying the processes that underlie the commonality among facets of the externalizing spectrum and processes that predict specific externalizing outcomes.     

Black Church Sponsorship of Economic Programs: A Test of Survival and Liberation Strategies

The Black Church has a long history of sponsoring programs in response to economic challenges in the African American community. Yet current double digit poverty and unemployment rates among African Americans suggest the need to examine their current efforts to combat economic problems. This study, informed by the “survival versus liberation” thesis, examines sponsorship of cash programs, employment programs, and credit unions for a national sample of 1,863 Black churches across seven denominations. Results show the tendency for Black churches to sponsor economic programs to meet more short-term needs rather than address systemic issues. Moreover, findings from logistic regression modeling suggest limited denominational effects, but a positive relationship between churches that espouse a more liberative stance and economic program sponsorship—particularly programs associated with more long-term benefits. Furthermore, Black churches that offer more educational and contemplative religious programs and that have the requisite human resources and organizational structure appear best positioned to offer these economic programs. Results provide important insights into the Black Church economic ethic.     

Realism and social structure

Social constructionism is often considered a form of anti-realism. But in contemporary feminist philosophy, an increasing number of philosophers defend views that are well-described as both realist and social constructionist. In this paper, I use the work of Sally Haslanger as an example of realist social constructionism. I argue: (i) that Haslanger is best interpreted as defending metaphysical realism about social structures; (ii) that this type of metaphysical realism about the social world presents challenges to some popular ways of understanding metaphysical realism.     

When Women are Urged to have Casual Sex More than Men are: Perceived Risk Moderates the Sexual Advice Double Standard

Sociocultural and biological frameworks suggest a Sexual Advice Double Standard (SADS; wherein heterosexual men are encouraged to have causal sex more than heterosexual women are) motivated by intransigent factors (e.g., patriarchy or evolved dispositions). Alternatively, people generally perceive casual sex as riskier for women, who may be discouraged from sex to protect them from stigma and danger (Rudman et al. 2013). If so, manipulating perceived risk to reduce or reverse the costs of casual sex for men and for women should eliminate or reverse the SADS, respectively. Results investigating American adults (N = 180) supported risk assessment’s explanatory power. When costs to both partners were mild, the SADS was eliminated, but when costs to men were higher, women were urged to have casual sex more than men were. The SADS emerged only when costs to women were higher. The findings have implications for gender equality and sexuality theories, but also practitioners (e.g., therapists, sex educators, and physicians). The SADS is far from intractable, but believing in rigid sexual double standards creates psychological conflict in women caught between motives to be seen as moral and sexually desirable, which negatively impacts their sexual health (e.g., Katz and Farrow 2000).     

“I'm Not Prejudiced,but . . .”: Compensatory Egalitarianism in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary

The historic 2008 Democratic presidential primary race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton posed a difficult choice for egalitarian White voters, and many commentators speculated that the election outcome would reflect pitting the effects of racism against sexism ( Steinem, 2008 ). Because self‐reported prejudices may be untrustworthy, we used the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess White adults’ (1) condemnation of prejudices, and (2) attitudes toward the candidates in relation to voting decisions, as part of an online survey. Results supported the proposed compensatory egalitarianism process, such that Whites’ voting choice was consistent with their implicit candidate preference, but in an effort to remain egalitarian, participants compensated for this preference by automatically condemning prejudice toward the other candidate's group. Additional findings showed that this process was moderated by participants’ ethnicity and level of prejudice, as expected. Specifically, compensatory egalitarianism occurred primarily among Whites and individuals low in explicit prejudice. Implications for candidate support, aversive racism theory, and implicit compensation processes are discussed.     

But I'm No Bigot: How Prejudiced White Americans Maintain Unprejudiced Self‐Images

Four experiments investigate a modern paradox: White Americans harbor racial prejudice, but view themselves as unprejudiced. We hypothesized that social representations of prejudice available in American culture lead many Whites to conclude that they are relatively unprejudiced. In Experiment 1, participants primed with the bigot stereotype viewed themselves as less prejudiced. In Experiments 2 and 3, participants exposed to media representations of racists viewed themselves as less prejudiced. In Experiment 4, participants sought exposure to media representations of prejudice after a threat to their unprejudiced self‐image. These experiments suggest that representations of prejudice in American culture lead prejudiced individuals to view themselves as unprejudiced, and the effect of these representations on people's unprejudiced self‐images can be passive or intentional.     

Mental rotation: cross-task training and generalization

It is well established that performance on standard mental rotation tasks improves with training (Peters et al., 1995), but thus far there is little consensus regarding the degree of transfer to other tasks which also involve mental rotation. In Experiment 1, we assessed the effect of mental rotation training on participants' Mental Rotation Test (MRT) scores. Twenty-eight participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a "One-Day Training," "Spaced Training," or "No Training" group. Participants who received training achieved higher scores on the MRT, an advantage that was still evident after 1 week. Distribution of training did not affect performance. Experiment 2 assessed generalization of mental rotation training to a more complex mental rotation task, laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopic surgical skills were assessed using Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) tasks. Thirty-four participants were randomly assigned to a "Full Mental Rotation Training, MRT and FLS," "MRT and FLS," or "FLS-only" group. MRT results from Experiment 1 were replicated and mental rotation training was found to elicit higher scores on the MRT. Further, mental rotation training was found to generalize to certain laparoscopic surgical tasks. Participants who obtained mental rotation training performed significantly better on mental-rotation dependent surgical tasks than participants who did not receive training. Therefore, surgical training programs can use simple computer or paper-based mental rotation training instead of more expensive materials to enhance certain aspects of surgical performance of trainees.