Ethnicity Moderates the Association between Autonomic Functioning and Temperament in Preschool Children

Abstract

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) has been extensively investigated as a marker of adaptive emotional functioning in both children and adults, with studies linking RSA to temperamental dimensions such as positive affect and extraversion. However, few studies have examined the extent to which relations between RSA and temperament characteristics vary across ethnicity in childhood. We examined relations between respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and temperament dimensions (Activity Level, Task Orientation, and Affect-Extraversion) and the moderating role of ethnicity among preschoolers. Chinese- American (n?=?28, M_age = 54.30?months) and European American (n?=?32, M_age = 50.41?months) preschoolers were assessed for their temperament and RSA. Findings indicated higher levels of Affect-Extraversion among European American children. Ethnicity moderated the association between the baseline RSA and the Affect-Extraversion dimension of temperament, with a significant positive association found only for European American children. More research is needed to examine the effects of social-cultural experiences on the relation between children’s affective regulation and autonomic functioning development.     

Validation of the Suicide Resilience Inventory‐25 with American and Chinese College Students

This study is the first to evaluate evidence for measurement invariance and the psychometric properties of the Suicide Resilience Inventory‐25 (SRI‐25; Osman et al., 2004 ) in college‐age samples in both the United States and China. We found strong support for full measurement invariance of the three‐factor structure of the SRI‐25 in the U.S. (113 men and 238 women) and Chinese (121 men and 205 women) samples. In addition, we found that the U.S. sample scored significantly higher than the Chinese sample on all the individual scale scores. Composite scale reliability estimates ranged from moderate (ρ = .83) to high (ρ = .93) across the groups. Although not an aim of the current study, we examined estimates of internal consistency of the SRI‐25 scales for men and women within each sample. Differential correlates of the SRI‐25 scales were explored further for each sample. These results provide support for the use of the SRI‐25 in U.S. and Chinese student samples.     

Autonomy,Vote Buying,and Constraining Options

A common argument used to defend markets in ‘contested commodities’ is based on the value of personal autonomy. (1) Autonomy is of great moral value; (2) removing options from a person's choice set would compromise her ability to exercise her autonomy; (3) hence, there should be a prima facie presumption against removing options from persons’ choice sets; (4) thus, the burden of proof lies with those who wish to prohibit markets in certain goods. Christopher Freiman has developed a version of this argument to defend markets in votes. I argue that Freiman's argument fails, and that its failure illustrates the falsity of the widespread claim that the more options a person has available to her the better able she will be to exercise her autonomy. In Part 1, I outline Freiman's argument from ‘the presumption of voter liberty’ for legalising markets in votes. In Part 2, I argue that the option to sell one's vote in a legal market for them would be a ‘constraining option’ – an option which, if chosen, would be likely to lead to a diminution in a person's future ability to exercise her autonomy. In Part 3, I respond to objections to my arguments.