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Familiarity Bias by Sector: Professional Equity Investor Preference to Invest in Geographically Close Sectors
No full textThe concept of familiarity bias, or the tendency for decision-makers to favor choices that are geographically or culturally closer to them, has been studied among individual investors. However, limited research exists concerning its prevalence among professional investors, specifically U.S. mutual fund managers. This study aims to assess whether such a bias influences mutual fund portfolio allocations in sectors geographically proximate to them. We measure the concept of proximity by quantifying the distance between the source of GDP in a given geographical region and the mutual funds\u27 allocation in that same or different region. Utilizing a dataset of approximately 1,500 unique U.S. mutual funds from Morningstar Investor and Bloomberg Professional, we mapped sector allocations based on the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) to corresponding GDP figures at regional and state levels classified under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Our findings suggest that there is support for familiarity bias, as indicated by a smaller calculated distance value between regional GDP sources and mutual fund allocations. However, the magnitude of these differences is minimal, suggesting that while proximity may influence investment decisions, its impact is relatively subdued.Interestingly, our analysis revealed notable similarities in sector allocations across a variety of regions and states. One possible explanation for this could be tracking error, which measures how much a portfolio varies from its benchmark index. Additionally, the study uncovered a high level of similarity in GDP sources across different geographical areas, which may be attributed to the subjectivity in mapping NAICS to GICS sectors. A major limitation of the study is the potential discrepancy between the registered addresses of mutual funds and the actual locations of the portfolio managers responsible for decision-making, a factor that could affect the validity of our findings. Despite these challenges, the study contributes to the existing literature by expanding our understanding of familiarity bias within the context of professional investing
Gordon, Ina
No full textSummarized by Kathryn Amend
Ina Gordon grew up on Morris Avenue, just east of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. She describes her childhood with two siblings in a tiny apartment, and her happy upbringing despite her family’s economic struggles. She reminisces on summers spent renting bungalows in the Catskills and childhood joys such as roller skating, visiting the library, and playing tennis.
Gordon explains the importance of education in her family, and describes how she ended up traveling to the University of Chicago for her undergraduate degree. She and her brother both received scholarships to attend. They had a very different educational experience than the rest of Gordon’s friends in her apartment building, who attended CCNY or NYU (if any college at all). Gordon is very grateful for her decision to attend, and all of the adults in her life who guided her towards that opportunity.
In Chicago, Gordon experienced a different, more diverse environment than she had in the Bronx. She reflects on the difference between attending school and playdates in an environment that was almost entirely Jewish to attending college in a city with a wide variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds.
After school, Gordon moved back to the Bronx where she met her husband, who grew up in Pennsylvania. Together, they lived in an apartment in the Bronx for about a decade. They rented bungalows in Monticello for the summer, reminding Gordon of her childhood traditions.
While Gordon grew up in a very Jewish environment, she describes a lack of religious influence in her life as a child. Her family could not afford to attend a synagogue, and children were not allowed into the local synagogue even if they could afford it. Other traditions replaced typical religious ceremonies, and Gordon still felt very connected with her identity.
Keywords: University of Chicago, Taft High School, City College of New York, Race, Education, Scholarship, Grand Concourse, Catskills, Working-class, Feminism, Social Mobility, Suburbanization, Judais
Three Papers Exploring Knowledge, Attitudes and Preferences About Hospice Care Among Chinese Americans
No full textRacial disparities in hospice utilization have been a longstanding concern in the United States. Asian Americans are least likely among all racial and ethnic groups to receive hospice care. This phenomenon is understudied and has given rise to calls for: 1) research to understand the specific risk and protective factors relating to the underuse of hospice care; and 2) the development of culturally-appropriate interventions to increase hospice use in this population. This dissertation explores this topic in three papers, guided by the Behavioral Model of Health Service Use (BMHSU) model.The first paper examines the available evidence about hospice knowledge, attitudes, utilization, and the factors associated with these among Asian Americans, especially Chinese Americans, through a systematic review. The second and third papers use data from the Health Care Choices study, to explore this social issue among Chinese American older adults. Specifically, the aims of the second paper are to understand these older adults’ knowledge, attitudes, and preferences toward hospice use and associated factors. The third paper explores the attitudes and preferences toward hospice use among the adult children of Chinese American older adults and their knowledge of their parent’s preferences. The congruent and incongruent hospice attitudes and preference between the older parents and their adult children and the associated factors were explored through dyadic data analyses. Through identifying and understanding these factors and dynamics, these studies will inform healthcare providers and researchers to address the potential barriers and hopefully increase hospice care utilization among this population and reduce social inequities in hospice care
Mothers’ Experience Disclosing Their Daughters’ Eating Disorder to School Personnel
No full textMothers of adolescent girls diagnosed with an eating disorder often face the difficult task of deciding when and how to disclose their child’s diagnosis to others. When doing so, they must consider their adolescent’s right to privacy and the potential stigmatization associated with disclosure. Consequently, mothers may be hesitant to share their child’s eating disorder, unintentionally limiting the school’s ability to provide additional support that could further promote their child’s recovery. This study sought to understand mothers\u27 experiences disclosing their daughter’s eating disorder to school personnel and its impact on their subsequent interactions. The phenomenological qualitative study consisted of 20 semi-structured interviews with mothers of adolescent girls between the ages of 12 and 16 who had previously been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Participants described themselves as the primary individual involved in both the disclosure decision-making process and the disclosure experience itself. Their decision to share was closely related to their assessment of external forces including disorder severity and recipients’ ability to support. Regardless of the recipient\u27s initial response to the disclosure, participants experienced a variety of system- and individual-level barriers to obtaining accommodations for their daughters, yet were able to reflect on the disclosure decision and/or experience in a positive light
Vozick Hans, Alexandra
No full textAlexandra Vozick Hans was born to Canadian parents, who, upon moving to New York, lived in the Amalgamated Housing Cooperative, where she grew up. She remained in the Bronx until she graduated college in 1966. After college, she moved to Boston and became a social worker.
Hans and her family were socialists, and Hans recalls tensions between the socialists and the communists in the Amalgamated. She also recalls tensions over the issue of integration in the building: the Amalgamated was not integrated, and residents complained about the lack of integration. Overall, however, Hans looks back with great fondness on the Amalgamated.
Hans attended high school at Bronx Science, and, like most people from her high school at the time, she attended college at City College, because it was free. She feels that her education was high-quality. She notes that her education focused more on breadth, while education today, she feels, focuses more on depth. She appreciates that she had the opportunity to learn music and art appreciation, take trips to museums, and attend summer camp.
While living in the Bronx, Hans spent time in Van Cortlandt Park playing music, particularly folk music. She describes herself at that time as a beatnik or a Beat Bohemian. Hans also recalls going for walks with friends, going to the movies at the David Marcus, and going to concerts.
Hans does not describe herself as being a very observant Jew. Her family did not keep kosher when she was growing up. They were kosher style, as she still is. She took her three sons to a Reform synagogue until they became bar mitzvah. One of her sons is Orthodox, one is Conservative, and one does not describe himself as Jewish. Hans is very invested in Judaism.
Hans recalls being involved in civil rights protests and protests about the Vietnam War. She participated in teach-ins and sit-ins to protest the war.
Keywords: Amalgamated, co-op, socialism, communism, race, City College, Van Cortlandt Park, socialism, civil rights, Vietnam War, musi
Chavez, Robert
No full textRobert Chavez, born 1945, lived on Undercliff Avenue in the Bronx after his family settled there from Eastern Europe. His maternal grandparents immigrated from Russia, where his grandmother was adopted into the Tsar’s court. They bought a farm in Rockland County, where Chavez’s uncle was hidden for fear of getting drafted into WWII. His father, a traveling salesman, came from Brooklyn and joined the close knit family. Chavez remembers his building being a filled with first and second generation Jewish families, and became friendly with Puerto Rican peers in school. Being a middle child, he remembers playing with his brother and his friends in the neighborhood. Particularly the “magic” of marble season stood out to him.
Chavez was held at knife point in the seventh grade, prompting the family to move to the farm in Rockland County. His time there in middle and high school is remembered negatively, but he learned many building skills like carpentry and electrical work. When he graduated from high school, he and his older brother returned to the family’s apartment in the Bronx. He says this time period is when the neighborhood really started to get bad, which he attributes to the influx of non-Jews moving in. Chavez attended Hunter College at night and, upon graduating, worked as a science teacher at Jane Addams Vocational High School and Taft High School. This period of his life is remembered fondly as he considered teaching a profession with important consequences for upholding American ideals. He then attended Howard University for dental school. Chavez also has a love of orthodontics because he feels there, too, he is making a difference, giving people good smiles. He continued to educate others throughout his dental career, something he attributes to his grandfather.
Chavez explains his family name was changed from Chafitz to avoid antisemitism, and that most of his family now goes by Chase. Yet, overall, the Bronx is remembered as a true land of opportunity, potential, and anticipation. He felt that when growing up there, there was nothing that could stop someone from achieving their dreams
The Underuse and Overuse of Character Strengths in Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms
No full textAristotle introduced the concept of a golden mean in the Nicomachean Ethics and defined virtues as a state of character balanced between excess and deficiency and that activities consistent with virtues lead to eudaemonia. The idea of well-being as a golden mean of virtues simultaneously implies a model of psychopathology as overuse or underuse of virtues. The purpose of the current study was to extend a novel line of research conceptualizing psychopathology as the misuse of character strengths (Niemiec, 2014) and identify a profile of overuse and underuse of character strengths and BPD symptoms. Two hundred and fifteen adults (33% female; M = 36.88, SD = 11.21) were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online recruitment tool run through Amazon.com. Participants completed self-report measures assessing BPD symptoms, underuse, overuse, and optimal use of character strengths, depression, and flourishing. Linear regressions were used to investigate whether the overuse and underuse of specific character strengths statistically predicted BPD symptoms. Consistent with hypotheses, the underuse of kindness, authenticity, self-regulation, prudence, perspective, and intimacy, along with the overuse of social intelligence, judgment, bravery, curiosity, and zest were independently associated with increased BPD symptoms. A unique profile of underuse and overuse of character strengths and symptoms of BPD was identified; underuse of kindness and authenticity, along with the overuse of curiosity predicted increased BPD symptoms while controlling for depression. This study provided evidence for the optimal use of character strengths predicting flourishing, supportive of Aristotle’s conceptualization of a golden mean of virtue expression resulting in eudaemonia. In addition, the underuse and overuse of specific character strengths statistically predicted BPD symptoms and provided support for Niemiec’s (2014) OUOU model. This suggests a unique profile of underuse of authenticity and kindness, along with the overuse of curiosity, is associated with increased BPD symptoms. Future research and clinical implications are discussed
Improving Students\u27 Sense of Belonging in Middle School After the Pandemic
No full textThe McLean Middle School, a pseudonym, educates 155 students coming from Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC. As a result of the pandemic and staff departures, the advisory programming, intended to create community within the middle school ceased to function. As in-person learning returned, staff saw a significant increase in behavioral infractions, specifically altercations that became physical. Using an Improvement Science approach, student lack of belonging and connection were identified as root causes for these behaviors. Our aim was to increase teacher capacity-identified two primary drivers: a) providing structure for advisory and b) practicing explicit and consistent disciplinary expectations and consequences. We created a theory of action to address these drivers: If we pair students in small groups led by an adult with normed expectations, structures for advisory, programming, and response to student behavior; students will understand expectations, build healthy relationships with peers and faculty, and create a sense of belonging and community. This led to three change ideas: reinstituting weekly advisory using the responsive advisory meeting model with a consistent structure; introducing Responsive Classroom training for teachers; and adding monthly advisory lunches and study halls. The study employed a mixed methods approach to evaluate two Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles supported by data from exit tickets, meeting notes, observations, student surveys, advisor surveys, student interviews, and advisor interviews
Breaking Point: The Ironic Evolution of Psychiatry in World War II - APPENDIX A
No full textThis book informs the public for the first time about the impact of American psychiatry on soldiers during World War II.
Breaking Point is the first in-depth history of American psychiatry in World War II. Drawn from unpublished primary documents, oral histories, and the author’s personal interviews and correspondence over years with key psychiatric and military policymakers, it begins with Franklin Roosevelt’s endorsement of a universal Selective Service psychiatric examination followed by Army and Navy pre- and post-induction examinations. Ultimately, 2.5 million men and women were rejected or discharged from military service on neuropsychiatric grounds. Never before or since has the United States engaged in such a program.
In designing Selective Service Medical Circular No. 1, psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan assumed psychiatrists could predict who might break down or falter in military service or even in civilian life thereafter. While many American and European psychiatrists questioned this belief, and huge numbers of American psychiatric casualties soon raised questions about screening’s validity, psychiatric and military leaders persisted in 1942 and 1943 in endorsing ever tougher screening and little else. Soon, families complained of fathers and teens being drafted instead of being identified as psychiatric 4Fs, and Blacks and Native Americans, among others, complained of bias. A frustrated General George S. Patton famously slapped two “malingering” neuropsychiatric patients in Sicily (a sentiment shared by Marshall and Eisenhower, though they favored a tamer style). Yet psychiatric rejections, evacuations, and discharges mounted.
While psychiatrist Roy Grinker and a few others treated soldiers close to the front in Tunisia in early 1943, this was the exception. But as demand for manpower soared and psychiatrists finally went to the field and saw that combat itself, not “predisposition,” precipitated breakdown, leading military psychiatrists switched their emphasis from screening to prevention and treatment. But this switch was too little too late and slowed by a year-long series of Inspector General investigations even while numbers of psychiatric casualties soared.
Ironically, despite and even partly because of psychiatrists’ wartime performance, plus the emotional toll of war, postwar America soon witnessed a dramatic growth in numbers, popularity, and influence of the profession, culminating in the National Mental Health Act (1946). But veterans with “PTSD,” not recognized until 1980, were largely neglected