National Human Research Ethics: A Preliminary Comparative Case Study of Germany,Great Britain,Romania, and Sweden

Although international research is increasing in volume and importance, there remains a dearth of knowledge on similarities and differences in “national human research ethics” (NHREs), that is, national ethical guidelines (NEGs), Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), and research stakeholder’ ethical attitudes and behaviors (EABs). We begin to address this situation by reporting upon our experiences in conducting a multinational study into the mental health of children who had a parent/carer in prison. The study was conducted in 4 countries: Germany, Great Britain, Romania, and Sweden. Data on NHREs were gathered via a questionnaire survey, two ethics-related seminars, and ongoing contact between members of the research consortium. There was correspondence but even more so divergence between countries in the availability of NEGs and IRBs and in researcher’ EABs. Differences in NHREs have implications particularly in terms of harmonization but also for ethical philosophy and practice and for research integrity.     

Changing from Fault to No-Fault Divorce: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis

The removal of fault as a criterion for the distribution of justice in domestic relations represents a major innovation in jurisprudence. Such innovations provide opportunities to evaluate the effects of legal changes on behavior. This research investigated the effects of no-fault divorce on divorce behavior in Nebraska. An interrupted time series quasiexperimental design was employed to test the hypothesis that no-fault divorce leads to an increase in the number of divorces granted. Results showed that the new law had no reliable effect on the overall divorce rate. Separate analyses were performed for urban and rural counties, black and white couples, marriages of various lengths, and people of various ages. No effects of the law were found in most of these analyses. However, no-fault divorce did appear to have significantly increased the number of divorces among blacks, among people over 50 years old, and among couples married longer than 25 years, although in the latter two cases the effect seemed short-lived. The implications of this study for the current debate surrounding no-fault divorce are discussed.     

The double standard of aging and the social situation: Judgments of attractiveness of the middle-aged woman

Two hundred male and 200 female undergraduates judged pictures of middle-aged women and middle-aged men for their immediate emotional appeal. Pictures had been selected to be of middle attractiveness and to represent individuals who appeared to be between 35 and 55 years old. Subjects made judgments under one of the following social conditions: in private, or in small groups which were all male, all female, or half male and half female. Social condition and subjects' sex affected judgments significantly, and there were some significant complex interactions between these two variables and the sex of the stimulus picture. Male and female subjects privately judged middle-aged women to be more attractive than middle-aged men, but the effect was reversed when judgments were made publicly in groups. As predicted, members of all-male groups judged middle-aged women to be considerably less attractive than middle-aged men. Members of all-female groups, and both the men and the women in mixed-sex groups, judged middle-aged women to be only slightly less attractive than middle-aged men.The authors wish to thank Linda Andrews, Dayna Buskirk, Anne Grealy and Lori Monda for their assistance.     

Validation of the P. D. I. Employment Inventory in a retail chain

Conclusions The Performance Score of the P. D. I. Employment Inventory appears to be a useful predictor of adaptive performance behavior of retail store employees at the non-management level. The findings of Personnel Decisions Inc. would indicate that the test is generalizable to mass merchandising organizations nationwide. Since this is a new test, further research is indicated.     

Gender and situational differences in children's smiles,touch, and proxemics

It was hypothesized that gender differences in nonverbal behaviors which are often considered to be affiliative may represent systematic differences between males and females in self-presentation. Smiling, touching, and interpersonal distance were studied with 256 White adolescents and preadolescents, who were randomly assigned to same-sex grade-level pairs. Self-presentation was made more salient by asking each subject pair to pose for a picture depicting a social situation. Each pair illustrated one of two situations — a neutral situation and a “male-appropriate” situation that emphasized team spirit in an athletic competition. Girls smiled significantly more often than boys did and mutually touched each other more often, but there were no differences between the sexes in the overall amount of touching or proxemics. Instead, the social situation significantly determined the amount of touch and proxemics. Subjects' age and experimenter's sex were not significant variables.     

Sexuality as a treatment issue with a special population of adolescents

The handicapped adolescent population heretofore has not been properly identified or serviced. These adolescents have to deal with body image and sexual identity problems. Working with the adolescent individually, in groups, and in a therapeutic community setting, we have developed methods of dealing with the issue of sexuality.     

Contrast effects and their relationship to subsequent behavior

The present study attempted to apply social judgment theories to the effects of context on judgments of the importance of a social issue and on subsequent issue-related behavior. Subjects judged the importance of a target issue (recycling) in the context of either important or unimportant social issues and were subsequently asked in a separate setting for help on a local recycling project. Context produced contrast effects on rating scale judgments of the importance of recycling. These judgments, if salient, were then used as a basis for subsequent support of the recycling project. When either the initial judgment was not salient or no prior judgment of recycling was made, the importance of the context had a positive effect on amount of support for recycling, such that more help was given in the important context conditions. Results indicate that contrast effects on the ratings are response base rather than perceptual in nature, but that the rating, if salient, can serve as subsequent behavior and attitudes.