Suchergebnisse

In this work we characterize risk perception in Chile, based on the psychometric paradigm, exploring the difference between perceived social and personal risk. For this purpose, we conducted a survey including 54 hazards, 16 risk attributes, and 3 risk constructs. The survey, divided into four parts, was administered to 508 residents of Santiago, Chile. Using factor analysis, three main factors, which accounted for 80% of the sample's variance, were identified: factor 1, commonly called "Dread Risk" in the literature, explained 37% of variance; factor 2, "Unknown Risk," explained 28%; and factor 3, which we called "Personal Effect," explained 15% of the variance. On average, individuals perceived themselves as less exposed to risk and with more control and knowledge about them than the general population. OLS regression models were used to test the association of perceived risk with the three main factors. For social risk, factor 1 had the greatest explanatory power, while factor 2 had a negative sign. For personal risk, only factors 2 and 3 were significant, with factor 3 having the greatest explanatory power. Risk denial (defined as the difference between perceived personal and social risk) was associated with factors 1 and 2 only, with factor 2 having a negative sign. The difference between desired and actual regulation levels proved positive for all hazards, thus indicating that Chileans are dissatisfied with the current regulation level for all the hazards analyzed. The comparison of data at the aggregate and at the individual subject's level suggests that while the aggregate analysis overestimates the magnitude of the correlations it still reflects the tendency of the individual responses.

Technological developments have transformed the forms of communication that can have a major impact on the social structure. All these technological developments cause fundamental changes in the way of life of the individuals and there are serious changes in both the ways of interpreting life and personality structures. The primary aim of this study is to examine the perceptions of online government services amongst different generations. The research of this study was carried out on the perception of e-government services with a questionnaire applied to the X, Y, Z generations to measure the similarities and differences in their understanding of these services. As a result of the research, individual typologies formed by the digital use of governmental services, which are called pre-techno individuals, techno individuals and post-techno individuals and the characteristics of these generations in terms of e-government services usage are revealed. © 2020 by authors; licensee OJCMT.

This study draws on social identity theory to explain differences in individual support for environmental protection, a conative component of environmental concern. It argues that an individual's identification with higher social units—community, nation, and world—strengthens its in-group solidarity and empathy and, in consequence, its readiness to protect the environment benefiting the in-group's welfare. The study hypothesizes that country-level manifestations of social identity (a) lift individuals' support for environmental protection above the level that their own social identity suggests (elevator effect) and (b) reinforce the effect of individuals' social identity on their support for environmental protection (amplifier effect). Using a sample of more than 30,000 individuals located in 38 countries around the world, the study finds strong evidence for the two contextual effects. The findings indicate that social identity plays an important role not just as an individual attribute but also as a central component of culture in fostering environmental concern.

This paper examines the inequality of opportunity in the labor market in Sudan, using data of the Poverty Survey, 2014. A logit model is used with the dependent variable taking 1 if the person is employed and 0 otherwise. A set of circumstance variables are used as regressors, and ex-ante inequality of opportunity is calculated using the dissimilarity index and Shapley decomposition. Gender was associated with the largest share of inequality of opportunity, estimated at 73.41 percent. Gender-based inequality of opportunity in employment was assessed using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition methods. The findings reveal that the average probability of accessing employment is 0.87 for men and 0.59 for women, yielding a gap of 0.274. The difference between the average group characteristics of males and females was reflected in the coefficient of endowment (0.008), representing 2.9 percent of the total difference. The bulk of the gap is attributed to differences in circumstances, as indicated by the difference of 0.249 in the coefficients, representing 90.8 percent of the total difference. This difference is interpreted as discrimination. The results call for substantial reforms, not only in the labor market but, more importantly, with regard to circumstance variables over which the individuals have no control.

ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to examine the impact of U.S. state online registration reforms on voter turnout. More states have been adopting online voter registration in recent years. Investigating the impact of the policy on voter turnout can inform policy making and contribute to our knowledge of political behavior.MethodsThe methods of this study include difference‐in‐difference analysis and instrumental variable analysis. Using the Current Population Survey data between 2000 and 2014, I conduct a difference‐in‐difference analysis at the state level and then an instrumental variable analysis at the individual level.ResultsThe results of this study demonstrate that state online voter registration increases voter turnout. The difference‐in‐difference analysis shows that the states' implementation of online voter registration increases the turnout of young voters by about 3 percentage points in presidential election years. The instrumental variable analysis shows that the usage of online registration by voters increases their turnout by about 18 to 20 percentage points.ConclusionThe conclusion of this study is that state online voter registration reforms are generally effective in increasing voter turnout. There are nontrivial positive effects of online registration on turnout, especially for young people during presidential election years.

Three studies investigated the ability of observers to extract and use reliability information from graphical elements presented on a visual display. The first experiment assessed observers' accuracy in detecting differences in source reliability based on differences in the temporal variability of the sources. Observers' accuracy improved as the sample size and the difference in the underlying source variability increased. The second study investigated observers' efficiency in using the information about source variability to weight individual sources in forming a decision. Observers were able to differentially weight sources based on the underlying source variability. However, observers' adjustments of the weights tended to be less than ideal, particularly when reliable sources were not spatially contiguous and additional aids (e.g., observation periods and highlights) were unavailable to help observers identify differences in source variability. Finally, evidence in the third study indicated that information about differences in source variability reduced uncertainty about the locations of reliable sources but did not help observers to correctly adjust weights to match the ideal. In application, display enhancements (e.g., highlights) aid decision making when only general differences in reliability need to be recognized, but more advanced decision support is recommended when reliability information has to be incorporated into a decision statistic.

Abstract
Improved healthcare is leading to older populations and increasing numbers of individuals experiencing multiple diseases, possibly concurrently (multimorbidity). This article asks whether the observed number of new diseases is more than expected based on age and established risk factors alone, assuming that disease risk is unchanged by prior or pre-existing disease. This is accomplished by designing a new epidemiological approach, where the expected number of disease types are estimated for individuals without prior disease, by combining individual risk predictions with a "Poisson-Binomial" model to estimate the expected number of new diseases and its confidence interval. For 123 diseases in men and 99 diseases in women, the expected number of new diseases based on age and established risk factors was approximately 2/3 of that observed, with the observed number of new diseases approximately 1.5 times that predicted. The differences could not be explained by natural statistical variation, and provide a rigorous statistical demonstration of lower disease risk for individuals without any previous disease. The multiple of 1.5 was sufficiently consistent across different diseases to prevent its use for classification of disease types, but there were differences for subgroups such as smokers with high body mass index, and for some classes of disease (as defined by the International Classification of Diseases, version 10). The results suggest that empirical modeling might allow reliable predictions of future hospital admissions, and confirm the value of conventional epidemiological approaches that study disease risk in healthy individuals. The implications and future possibilities of this new approach are discussed.

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of art therapy practices on self-compassion, positive-negative mood and cognitive function levels in elderly individuals. In the research, a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used. The sample of the study consists of 50 elderly individuals who are in the study (n=25) and comparison (n=25) groups. The entire sample lives in a long-term care home and is male. Sociodemographic Information Form, Positive-Negative Affect Scale, Self-Compassion Scale and Standardized Mini-Mental Test were administered to the participants. The Art Therapy Program was applied to the study group by the researchers once a week for a total of 10 sessions (each session 90 minutes). The comparison group was not included in any application. The analysis of the data obtained in this study was made with SPSS 25.0 and Dependent Groups T test and Independent Groups T test were used. As a result of the research findings, it was determined that there were statistically significant differences (p<.05) between the post-test scores of the study and comparison groups. After the Art Therapy Program, the positive affect and self-compassion levels of the elderly individuals participating in the study group increased. No statistically significant difference was found in the cognitive function levels of the participants. There are few quantitative studies on Art Therapy conducted with elderly individuals. The study is important in terms of giving the opportunity to examine the application of Art Therapy on experimental research to improve the lives of elderly individuals. Keywords: Cognitive function, self-compassion, positive-negative affect, art therapy, elderly

Mathematical models describing relationships in a group of individuals are known for a long time. The basic idea underlying these models can be described as follows. There are affective (emotionally colored) not necessarily symmetrical relationships between any two members of the group. In general, these relationships vary over time and can be described by numerical functions of time. The value of the corresponding function is positive if the first individual has a positive attitude toward the second one and negative if the attitude is negative. While interacting, two individuals share their views on other members of the group. It affects the dynamics of group relationships. At the same time, the model uses principles such as "if the person whom I dislike says something unpleasant about a third person then I improve my opinion of this third person." This paper also deals with the modeling of group interactions, with the difference that the considered interactions have features of mass (not paired) communications, i.e., the opinion of each individual is equally available to all the others (at the same time, affective relations are paired). This situation occurs, for example, in communities of users of internet forums and blogging platforms. Another important difference is due to the fact that individuals do not discuss other members of the group, but discuss various issues on the topic (e.g., political) of interest to all members of the group. The results of numerical experiments for the system are presented and a number of substantial conclusions are formulated. DOI:10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n10p380

Care occupations are strongly gendered and remain relatively poorly paid, particularly in the United States. Prior research points to individual, relational, and market- valuation factors in explaining the relative earnings of care workers. In contrast, this study applies a comparative institutional perspective to investigate cross-national differences in the relative earnings of care workers. Using merged data from the U.S. Current Population Survey and EU-SILC, we find that national variance in labour market and welfare state institutions explains nearly all of the difference in the relative earnings of reproductive care workers between the U.S. and EU. Higher rates of collective bargaining coverage and welfare state spending contribute to higher relative earnings for reproductive care occupations, and lower relative earnings for high-status nurturant care occupations. Differences in the relative earnings of care workers appear to be primarily a construct of social and labour market policies.

This study analyse the factors influencing the choice of port in Spanish port system, which allows an evaluation of the capture of traffic capacity in Spanish port system. In light of the conclusions, extracted via Exploratory Factor Analysis, it is possible to indicate potential priorities for logistical and commercial port policies. The conclusions confirm that there are important statistically significant differences between the way in which the Northern and South-eastern ports manage port choice factors. Additionally there are important differences with respect to what should be the operational procedure of the central government's port coordination entity (State Ports Authority) and each individual Port Authority. Further, there are differences in terms of choice factors for maritime companies and the employees working in each port. ; Este estudio resaltará los factores que influencian la selección de un puerto en el sistema español de Puertos de Interés General, lo que determina con mucha fidelidad la capacidad de captación de tráficos y de atractividad del sistema portuario español. En función de las conclusiones, extraídas a través de un Análisis Factorial Exploratorio, será posible indicar potenciales prioridades para la intervención logística y comercial, con el objetivo de hacer que los puertos comerciales sean más eficientes. Las conclusiones confirman que hay diferencias significativas entre el modo en que las funciones portuarias en el área Norte y en el Sureste son gestionadas. Adicionalmente también se detectan diferencias entre lo que debería de ser el procedimiento operativo de la entidad gubernamental de control (Puertos del Estado) y cada Autoridad Portuaria individual. Se detectan también diferencias en términos de factores de selección para las compañías marítimas y los empleados que trabajan en cada puerto.This study analyse the factors influencing the choice of port in Spanish port system, which allows an evaluation of the capture of traffic capacity in Spanish port system. In light of the conclusions, extracted via Exploratory Factor Analysis, it is possible to indicate potential priorities for logistical and commercial port policies. The conclusions confirm that there are important statistically significant differences between the way in which the Northern and South-eastern ports manage port choice factors. Additionally there are important differences with respect to what should be the operational procedure of the central government's port coordination entity (State Ports Authority) and each individual Port Authority. Further, there are differences in terms of choice factors for maritime companies and the employees working in each port.

Being oblivious to the motivational nuances behind human behavior could lead one to overlook the distinction that a good action does not always indicate a good character. Conversely, this book argues that such nuances are paramount, because motivational differences have fundamental implications for the welfare of the individual and society.

The persistence of war as a feature of modern life is examined through issues of identity and difference, that is, the construction of 'self' and 'other' as individual or community. Key texts relating specifically to identity and war are addressed, including those by Nietzsche, Heiddeger, Marcuse, Freud, Lacan, Honneth, Bataille, and more

THE CONCEPT OF "EFFECTIVE SUPPORT" COMBINES THE INDIVIDUALS "INTENSITY OF FEELINGS", "POWER" AND "PROCLIVITY TO ACT". THE STUDY FOUND SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN DISTRIBUTIONS OF EFFECTIVE SUPPORT FOR THE U. S., BRITAIN, GERMANY, AND ITALY. THE FORMULATION LEADS TO THE DISCOVERY OF TWO EMPIRICAL DIMENSIONS OF THOUGHT IN EFFECTIVE SUPPORT: AFFECT AND EFFICACY.