Joint car ownership and car type preference model considering engagement in online activities and environmental concern

We investigate young people’s attitudes to own a car. Our dependent variable is the desire to purchase any type of car as well as specific car types, such as small cars, sports cars or hybrid cars. We focus on Japanese aged 18 to 25 and obtain a valid sample of 1125 from Tokyo residents, Kyoto residents as well as people living in rural areas of Japan. As expected we find significant differences according to the city or rural living context. We control further for a number of attitudinal aspects that have been found significant in previous studies. We find that the perceived fun one gains from owning a car is an important factor and that more expensive and prestigious cars appear to be still desired. Our main focus and contribution is the inclusion of car’s “usefulness to avoid pollution” and “online lifestyle”. We find that those spending more time alone with online activities, have less desire to purchase cars. We discuss that there might be cyclic relationships which call for careful discussion on the implication of car ownership reduction in rural Explanatory variables areas. Furthermore, there is some weak evidence for an “environmental dilemma” where pollution in fact encourages more car usage in order to avoid this pollution.     

The Effects of School Bonding on High School Seniors’ Academic Achievement

The authors examine the effects of school bonding on academic achievement (measured by math achievement scores) in a sample of 12th graders from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 ( Ingels, Pratt, Rogers, Siegel, & Stutts, 2005 ). Components of school bonding have proximal and distal effects on academic achievement. Attachment to school and school involvement had direct effects on achievement; attachment to teachers and school commitment behaviors had indirect effects on achievement through school‐related delinquency and prior achievement. Implications for counselors are discussed.     

Residents' Attitudes About On-Site Religious Activities: A Comparison of Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Two States

ABSTRACT

Twelve older adults were interviewed in two continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), one in Florida and the other in Wisconsin. Only the residents in Wisconsin maintained contact with local congregations, probably because most had always lived in communities not far from the CCRC. On-site religious activities such as worship and study groups were important because of the ways they ordered the week and the opportunities they offered for social interaction. In both locations, Protestant residents appreciated the opportunity to worship in ecumenical services conducted by clergy of different Protestant faith traditions. Catholic services were also available in both locations. Suggestions are offered about ways that faith communities can nourish the spiritual lives of persons living in CCRCs by working with chaplains and by conducting small prayer and study groups.     

The Relationship between Everyday Problem Solving and Inconsistency in Reaction Time in Older Adults

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether inconsistency in reaction time (RT) is predictive of older adults' ability to solve everyday problems. A sample of 304 community dwelling non-demented older adults, ranging in age from 62 to 92, completed a measure of everyday problem solving, the Everyday Problems Test (EPT). Inconsistency in latencies across trials was assessed on four RT tasks. Performance on the EPT was found to vary according to age and cognitive status. Both mean latencies and inconsistency were significantly associated with EPT performance, such that slower and more inconsistent RTs were associated with poorer everyday problem solving abilities. Even after accounting for age, education, and mean level of performance, inconsistency in reaction time continued to account for a significant proportion of the variance in EPT scores. These findings suggest that indicators of inconsistency in RT may be of functional relevance.     

Engaging in cultural activities compensates for educational differences in cognitive abilities

ABSTRACT

The goal of the current project was to examine whether engagement in intellectual/cultural activities explains the long-term effects of education on cognitive abilities throughout adulthood, and whether it compensates for educational differences in cognitive abilities throughout adulthood. Participants between 18 and 96 years of age completed a comprehensive questionnaire about intellectual/cultural activities that they participated in and performed a wide variety of cognitive tests. There were no mediation effects of engagement in intellectual/cultural activities on the relationship between education and cognitive functioning. In contrast, engagement in intellectual/cultural activities was found to moderate the relations between education and the level of fluid ability, working memory, speed of processing, and episodic memory. Findings suggest that the risk of cognitive decline in people with less education can be reduced via engagement in intellectual and cultural activities throughout adulthood.     

Caring,final ends and sports

In this essay I argue that sports at their best qualify as final ends, that is, as ends whose value is such that they ground not only the practices whose ends they are, but everything else we do as human agents. The argument I provide to support my thesis is derived from Harry Frankfurt's provocative work on the importance of the things we care about, more specifically, on his claim that it is by virtue of caring about things and practices, really caring about them – even loving them – we are able to regard and treat them as final ends. Sports, I claim, are paradigmatic examples of practices cared about and loved in these deep ways, and as such deserve to be considered, rather than dismissed because of their supposed triviality, as one of those ends around which a life most worth living can be legitimately forged.     

Feasibility and preliminary outcomes for Move-Into-Learning: An arts-based mindfulness classroom intervention

This feasibility study investigated teachers’ assessment of Move-Into-Learning (MIL), an eight-week school-based Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI), designed to reduce stress and improve behavior in at-risk elementary students. MIL was implemented with two classrooms of third-grade students (n?=?41) in a low income, urban neighborhood using a pretest to posttest single group design. One of the two classrooms (n?=?20) completed a two-month follow-up measure examining sustainability of results. The program included mindfulness meditation, yoga movement with breathing exercises, and Appreciative Inquiry (AI) exercises that invited students to express themselves in the written and visual arts. MIL was evaluated via semi-structured teacher interviews and the Connors’ Behavior Rating Scale. Pre/post intervention showed significant improvement in behaviors, such as hyperactivity (t[1,39?=?3.1; p?=?0.002), and highly significant differences in the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder index (t[1,39]?=?5.42; p?<?0.001) and cognitive/inattentiveness (t[1,39]?=?5.56; p?<?0.001) subscales. Teacher interview data supported these findings suggesting MIL as a feasible and acceptable MBI that can be implemented in a third-grade classroom.     

Sources of Social Support: Examining Congregational Involvement,Private Devotional Activities,and Congregational Context

Previous studies examining the relationship between religion and providing social support have claimed that religious involvement and social networks explain the higher levels of social support among religious Americans. By limiting its focus to attenders of religious congregations, this study seeks to understand if private devotional activities and congregational context also matter for predicting the provision of social support in a highly religious sample. Utilizing a sample of attenders and their congregations from the 2008/2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey, a national survey representative of American congregations, this study uses multilevel models to examine the relationships that congregational involvement, private devotional activities, and congregational context have with providing social support. Results suggest that, among attenders of religious congregations, congregational involvement and private devotional activities matter for predicting the provision of social support, but two aspects of congregational context—size and theology—do not.