A quarter of a century of job transitions in Germany

By examining trends in intra-organizational and inter-organizational job transition probabilities among professional and managerial employees in Germany, we test the applicability of mainstream career theory to a specific context and challenge its implied change assumption. Drawing on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), we apply linear probability models to show the influence of time, economic cycle and age on the probability of job transitions between 1984 and 2010. Results indicate a slight negative trend in the frequency of job transitions during the analyzed time span, owing to a pronounced decrease in intra-organizational transitions, which is only partly offset by a comparatively weaker positive trend towards increased inter-organizational transitions. The latter is strongly influenced by fluctuations in the economic cycle. Finally, the probability of job transitions keeps declining steadily through the course of one's working life. In contrast to inter-organizational transitions, however, this age effect for intra-organizational transitions has decreased over time.     

Openness,economic freedom and democracy moderate the relationship between national intelligence and GDP

Recent studies have shown a consistent relationship between per-capita GDP and the average intelligence of the population. In the present paper we show that intelligence is indeed a powerful predictor of GDP. However, other variables significantly moderate the relationship. The rise in GDP with rising intelligence proved more pronounced in countries exhibiting high levels of openness, Freedom/Democracy, and economic freedom. These conditions appear to enable a country to translate its cognitive capital into material wealth.     

Promoting happiness: The malleability of individual and societal subjective wellbeing

Is it possible to enhance the subjective wellbeing of individuals and societies? If so, what are the mental health interventions and economic mechanisms by which subjective wellbeing could be enhanced? We address these questions in our review of the literature on subjective wellbeing. Research now shows that although subjective wellbeing is heritable and stable, it can change substantially over time. Long‐term changes can be affected by positive or negative life events; subjective wellbeing interventions have also proved to be effective for boosting wellbeing for as long as six months. At the societal level, economic factors matter for the subjective wellbeing of citizens. Economic wealth is shown to be a predictor of societal wellbeing across countries and over time. Also, high unemployment severely lowers the wellbeing of individuals and has spillover effects on other societal members, such as the employed. Given the weight of evidence, we are optimistic that subjective wellbeing can be enhanced. For practitioners, policy makers, and economists interested in the wellbeing of individuals, we propose that these findings have implications for mental health practice and economic policies. Future research and methodological issues are discussed.     

Differences in intelligence across thirty-one regions of China and their economic and demographic correlates

This study reports the differences in intelligence across thirty-one regions of the People's Republic of China. It was found that regional IQs were significantly associated with the percentage of Han in the population (r = .59), GDP per capita (r = .42), the percentage of those with higher education (r = .38, p < .05), and non-significantly with years of education (r = .32).     

Multinational data show that conspiracy beliefs are associated with the perception (and reality) of poor national economic performance

While a great deal is known about the individual difference factors associated with conspiracy beliefs, much less is known about the country-level factors that shape people's willingness to believe conspiracy theories. In the current article we discuss the possibility that willingness to believe conspiracy theories might be shaped by the perception (and reality) of poor economic performance at the national level. To test this notion, we surveyed 6723 participants from 36 countries. In line with predictions, propensity to believe conspiracy theories was negatively associated with perceptions of current and future national economic vitality. Furthermore, countries with higher GDP per capita tended to have lower belief in conspiracy theories. The data suggest that conspiracy beliefs are not just caused by intrapsychic factors but are also shaped by difficult economic circumstances for which distrust might have a rational basis.     

Periodicities within a fixed-interval session

Within-session periodicities in number of responses per interval and postreinforcement pauses were investigated on fixed-interval schedules of 1, 2, and 3 minutes with rats. Postreinforcement pause values and the number of responses in successive intervals were not systematically related. The direction of change of these variables from one pair of intervals to the next revealed periodicities in that the direction of change varied more than would be expected by chance. A response prevention technique used to manipulate the length of time spent responding in an interval had little effect on the postreinforcement pause value of the next interval except when only a single response was permitted in an interval. This procedure tended to reduce the postreinforcement pause value of the next interval to an abnormally low level.     

Maximum information per time unit designs for continuous online item calibration

Previous designs for online calibration have only considered examinees’ responses to items. However, the use of response time, a useful metric that can easily be collected by a computer, has not yet been embedded in calibration designs. In this article we utilize response time to optimize the assignment of new items online, and accordingly propose two new adaptive designs. These are the D-optimal per expectation time unit design (D-ET) and the D-optimal per time unit design (D-T). The former method uses the conditional maximum likelihood estimation (CMLE) method to estimate the expected response times, while the latter employs the nonparametric k-nearest-neighbour method to predict the response times. Simulations were conducted to compare the two new designs with the D-optimal online calibration design (D design) in the context of continuous online calibration. In addition, a preliminary study was carried out to evaluate the performance of CMLE prior to its application in D-ET. The results showed that, compared to the D design, the D-ET and D-T designs saved response time and accrued larger calibration information per time unit, without sacrificing item calibration precision.     

雾霾对地区GDP增长率的影响：抑郁情绪的中介效应

环境污染导致的天气变化对人的身心健康和社会发展都会产生重大影响。本研究以心理学的视角探讨雾霾天气是否会使人产生抑郁情绪,降低工作效率,进而影响社会经济发展。方法：收集2013-2015年中国大陆27个省会城市及4直辖市的PM2.5浓度、抑郁指数及地区生产总值增长率。采用百度统计平台基于关键词“抑郁”搜索量合成的抑郁指数作为抑郁情绪指标。结果表明：（1）2013-2015年各地区的PM2.5浓度与抑郁指数正相关显著(r= .33, p< .01),抑郁指数与地区GDP增长率的负相关显著(r= -.37, p< .01);（2）抑郁指数在PM2.5浓度和地区GDP增长率间起完全中介作用。（3）当lag=-6时,上海市2013年1月到2015年12月PM2.5浓度和抑郁指数的互相关系数最大(rR = .38, p< .05)。结论：雾霾天气可能会使人产生抑郁情绪,进而对经济增长产生负面影响。     

医学资本的诱惑:SCI问题并非SCI问题

如何看待SCI论文热及其对我国科研工作的影响, 已成为我国医学与教育界普遍关注的问题。SCI论文是我国科研与国际接轨的重要环节, 是科研创新的一种正向动力, 然而, 将SCI指标绝对化、标准化的导向, 则是使SCI问题化的根源所在。实际上, SCI问题的关键已不在SCI本身, 其背后则是深深的伦理问题。因此, 不能仅以SCI论文数量评价科学水平, 而应该建立更科学的评价标准体系, 同时要更多关注我国科学研究的发展方向, 在当今资本利益的驱动下, 遵从伦理道德应是科学家回归人性的最终底线。     

Linking cheating in school and corruption

Introduction

Previous research suggests a link between academic cheating and corruption. However, no prior empirical studies examined this link with cross-cultural data.