Consumer Vulnerability

Consumer vulnerability affects billions of consumers worldwide, yet there is no consensus about what constitutes this state or about its consequences for consumers. Indeed, while consumer vulnerability is often invoked in consumer research, it is usually discussed informally, with little conceptual anchoring. The goal of the current work was to advance the field's understanding of consumer vulnerability by (a) reviewing and integrating existing research, (b) extracting common features to develop a comprehensive framework for the concept of consumer vulnerability, and (c) charting paths forward for future research. We begin by defining consumer vulnerability as a state in which consumers are subject to harm because their access to and control over resources are restricted in ways that significantly inhibit their ability to function in the marketplace. We then introduce two lenses through which to identify this state: experience and observation. Next, we delineate the antecedents and consequences of consumer vulnerability and discuss the merits of adopting a view of this state as more global and dynamic. Finally, we use our framework to offer future research considerations.     

“Heartbreaking” Referrals,Professional “Disgrace”: The Impact of Medicare Ineligibility on the Counseling Profession

To better understand the impact of the Medicare mental health coverage gap, the authors analyzed survey data provided by 1,859 members of the American Counseling Association using a conventional qualitative content analysis. One overarching theme, direct impact of Medicare policy on the counseling profession, is presented, along with 3 thematic categories: emotional impact on providers, economic toll on providers, and negative influence on profession's credibility. Implications for the counseling profession are discussed.     

Revisiting an era in Germany from the perspective of adolescents in mother‐headed single‐parent families

Much of the documented work on families headed by single mothers is based on empirical evidence from North America and a few Anglo‐Saxon countries. Many researchers consider single‐mother families to be at a disadvantage because of nonsupportive family policies. This paper uses data from a social context that differed hugely in this respect—the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The GDR provided extensive state support to single‐mother families and, thus, was vastly different from other countries. Based on a literature review and using Hill's family stress theory, this paper is based on the hypothesis that adolescents living in mother‐headed single‐parent families and those living with their biological parents would have near‐similar social outcomes (display of psychosomatic symptoms, perception of stress, display of delinquent behaviour, life satisfaction, academic self‐efficacy, and academic grades) and family‐related outcomes (relationship with parents and perception of family environment). Further, it was hypothesized that adolescents from stepfather families would display more negative social and family‐related outcomes when compared with respondents from the other two family types. The sample comprised 1302 adolescents (M  =  13.82 years, SD  =  1.88) who were recruited from the city of Leipzig in the year immediately following German unification, 1991. Respondents reported on measures of psychosomatic symptoms, stress, delinquency, life satisfaction, academic achievement, and family‐related variables. ANCOVAs, with a control for income adjusted for household size, indicated adolescents from single‐mother families to have very similar experiences to respondents living with their biological parents on all measures except for their assessment of family environment. Adolescents living in stepfather families reported the least favourable experiences. Results are indicative of a social context in Germany that, despite unification and the early hardships for single‐mother families, still provided these families with more opportunities than constraints.     

Does obsessive-compulsive personality disorder belong within the obsessive-compulsive spectrum?

It has been proposed that certain Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Axis I disorders share overlapping clinical features, genetic contributions, and treatment response and fall within an "obsessive-compulsive" spectrum. Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) resembles obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other spectrum disorders in terms of phenomenology, comorbidity, neurocognition, and treatment response. This article critically examines the nosological profile of OCPD with special reference to OCD and related disorders. By viewing OCPD as a candidate member of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum, we gain a fresh approach to understanding its neurobiology, etiology, and potential treatments.     

Influence of body dissatisfaction on 1-year change in nutrient intake of overweight and obese inner-city African American children

This analysis aimed to examine the relationship of baseline body dissatisfaction with 1-year change in nutrient intake of inner-city, overweight and obese, African American children. This is a secondary analysis of 1-year pre-post data available for a convenience sample of 88 children. After adjusting for baseline intake of dietary variables and intervention group status, baseline body dissatisfaction was associated with 1-year increases in intake of energy, and all macronutrients in girls, but not in boys. These relationships were not substantially altered after adjusting for baseline BMIz and global self-worth. After including all adjustment factors, increasing baseline body dissatisfaction in girls was associated with 1-year increased intake of total energy, total sugars, total fat, discretionary fat, and total carbohydrates. This analysis suggests that, in girls but not necessarily in boys, body dissatisfaction might need to be targeted during interventions that aim to improve nutrient intake.     

Development and Validation of a Situational Judgment Test of Emotional Intelligence

The present study describes the development and validation of a situational judgment test (SJT) of emotional intelligence (EI). Initially, 80 situations and three response alternatives for each situation were created based on the available theoretical models. Principal component factor analysis with direct oblimin rotation of data (N = 213) yielded a three‐factor structure with 46 items. These factors were (1) utilizing own emotion, (2) sensing other's emotion, and (3) understanding emotional context. Additional studies showed that the measure had good internal consistency and test‐retest reliability. None of the three factors strongly correlated with the Big Five factors of personality (NEO Five‐Factor Inventory, thus establishing its identity as a construct distinct from personality. Findings of confirmatory factor analysis on secondary data reconfirm the three‐factor model for a 46‐item SJT of EI. The second study also found no correlation among these three factors, intelligence scores measured using Raven's Matrices, and trait EI score measured using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. The third study was conducted in order to determine the relationship of SJT of EI with academic achievement and life satisfaction. All three factors of SJT‐based EI measure were significantly associated with academic achievement and life satisfaction.     

Effects of test anxiety,ego stress,and attentional skills training on arithmetic reasoning: An experimental evaluation of a brief counseling strategy

Abstract

Two hundred forty high school students (120 male and 120 female) in India performed a moderately difficult multiple choice Arithmetic Reasoning task after undergoing short-term (40 minutes) cognitive treatment in the form of Attentional Skills Training. A 2 × 2 × 2 (Test Anxiety x Attentional Skills Training x Stress) design with separate analysis for boys and girls indicated these results: with intervention the high anxiety subjects under ego stress conditions, compared to their high-anxious control, low-anxious ego stress, or low-anxious control counterparts, reported the maximum significant improvement in performance on the Arithmetic Reasoning test. The low-anxiety subjects performed consistently well with or without treatment or stress conditions. The findings shed new light on the attentional theory of test anxiety, and it was reasoned that long-term effects of cognitive treatment be studied by using varied performance tasks (difficulty level controlled) on different gender and age groups across cultures.     

The study of organizational behaviour in family business

Family businesses (FBs)—enterprises that are significantly influenced by family members and kinship ties—are ubiquitous and play a crucial role across all world economies. Because of the embeddedness of family and business systems in FB, these organizational forms are theoretically distinct from their non-family counterparts. Curiously, FBs have been largely overlooked in the organizational behaviour (OB) literature. The limited available research at the interface of OB and FB highlights the importance of FB as a unique context to advance OB theories, and of OB as a promising discipline to increase our understanding of FB. In a selective review of literature focused on the four topics of values and goals, leadership and power, trust and justice, and conflict, we discuss how insights from the general theory of communal and exchange relationships open exciting avenues for research at the FB-OB interface. Rich fruits of intellectual harvest await scholars who focus on behavioural research in FB.