44 research outputs found
Match of the Day: The search for a suitable spouse
No full textThe institutions of family and marriage may seem beyond the remit of economics, involving complexities which the discipline could only ever assume away. There is, however, a significant body of research, which applies the adaptable economists’ toolbox to these areas of life, often yielding a significant degree of insight. Gary Becker’s seminal Treatise on the Family, one of the first studies to subject decisions about sex, marriage, childbearing and childrearing to economic analysis, employed concepts such as the maximisation of family, or household, utility functions to explain family collective choice, with later authors using game theoretic models to offer a different perspective on the intra-household distribution of goods. However, the well-documented phenomenon of urban areas having higher divorce rates than rural regions is not addressed by existing family economics literature, despite the importance of such trends to social policy planners. We develop a new model that provides a theoretical basis for the difference in rural and urban divorce rates, drawing on insights from labour economics and social psychology that have not previously been applied to family economics.Economics; Family; Divorce
The effects of the car sales profession on relationships
No full textPlan BThis research project investigated the relationship between infidelity and the car sales profession. Twenty-nine salesmen participated in the project. Sixteen salesmen were car sales professionals and thirteen salesmen sold another type of product. Both groups of salesmen responded to the questionnaire that the researcher developed. From the questionnaire a statistical analysis was compiled to determine if there was a difference between the car salesmen and other salesmen in regards to infidelity. The hypothesis was that there would be a difference between the rate of infidelity among certain types of salesmen, car salesmen having the higher rate. Significant differences were found between the rate of infidelity among car salesmen versus salesmen from other product types. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations for counselors, car dealerships, and future research projects are given
Social Structure and Personality Assortment Among Married Couples
No full textWe study the influence of social structure on assortative mating for personality in a
large national sample (n=3616) of married and cohabitating couples in the Netherlands. We find that couples with higher levels of education and from dissimilar religious origins are more similar with regard to prosocial personality characteristics. Because levels of education and religious heterogamy have increased, assortative mating for prosocial personality increases.
A cross-cultural comparison using the act frequency approach (AFA) in West Germany and the United States
No full textAngleitner A, Buss DM, Demtröder AI. A cross-cultural comparison using the act frequency approach (AFA) in West Germany and the United States. European journal of personality. 1990;4(3):187-207.Two studies were conducted in West Germany and the United States to investigate cultural similarities and differences on features of personality assessed through act frequency methods. The first study analysed the acts considered to be central and peripheral to each of six dispositional categories: dominance, quarrelsomeness, gregariousness, submissiveness, agreeableness, and aloofness. The results indicated moderate to strong similarity between the cultures in the prototypicality structure for all categories except agreeableness, which showed little concordance. The second study examined the manifested structure of act performance as assessed through retrospective act reports. The results indicated greater similarity of act endorsements between the two sexes within each culture than between cultures within each sex. Generally, the Americans showed higher base rates than the Germans. Furthermore, over all samples, females showed lower base rates than males. The correlations between relative base rates within each of the six different categories were moderately strong between the cultures (0.56, p < 0.001). Analyses of the relations between the prototypicality structure and the manifested structure yielded a complex picture that was highly dependent on dispositional category. For quarrelsome acts, for example, the more central acts were reported to be performed less frequently in both cultures, while other categories showed positive correlations between base rates and prototypicality. The limitations of these studies are described, and future research directions regarding expanding the range of act frequency methods and the number of nations in the search for personality functioning across cultures are suggested
NOD2 contributes to cutaneous defense against Staphylococcus aureus through alpha-toxin-dependent innate immune activation
No full textStaphylococcus aureus is a major cause of community-acquired and nosocomial infections including the life-threatening conditions endocarditis, necrotizing pneumonia, necrotizing fasciitis, and septicemia. Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2, a membrane-bound microbial sensor, detects staphylococcal components, but macrophages lacking TLR2 or both TLR2 and TLR4 remain S. aureus responsive, suggesting that an alternative microbial recognition receptor might be involved. The cytoplasmic sensor nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain containing (NOD) 2/caspase recruitment domain (CARD) 15 detects muramyl dipeptide from bacterial peptidoglycans and mediates cytokine responses to S. aureus in vitro, but the physiological significance of these observations is not well defined. Here we show that NOD2-deficient mice exhibit a delayed but ultimately exacerbated ulcerative response and impaired bacterial clearance after s.c. infection with S. aureus. NOD2-dependent recognition of S. aureus and muramyl dipeptide is facilitated by alpha-toxin (alpha-hemolysin), a pore-forming toxin and virulence factor of the pathogen. The action of NOD2 is dependent on IL-1beta-amplified production of IL-6, which promotes rapid bacterial killing by neutrophils. These results significantly broaden the physiological importance of NOD2 in innate immunity from the recognition of bacteria that primarily enter the cytoplasm to the detection of bacteria that typically reside extracellularly and demonstrate that this microbial sensor contributes to the discrimination between commensal bacteria and bacterial pathogens that elaborate pore-forming toxins
Facial symmetry is positively associated with self-reported extraversion
No full textFink et al. (2005) reported significant associations between facial symmetry and scores on some of the “big five” personality dimensions derived from self-report data. In particular, they identified a positive association between facial symmetry and extraversion, but negative associations between facial symmetry and both agreeableness and openness. Fink et al. (2005) used a measure of facial symmetry based on analysis of the central region of each face. In the present study we attempted to replicate these findings with a much larger sample (N = 294) and using a landmark-based measure of facial symmetry that includes peripheral regions of the face. In both sexes, we found a significant positive association between self-reported extraversion and facial symmetry but were unable to replicate any of the other previously reported associations. Nevertheless, the positive association between symmetry and extraversion provides further support for the idea that facial appearance could predict personality and therefore makes it possible for some personality attributions to be “data driven”, i.e. driven by properties of the target
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Fusion-power demonstration. [Next step beyond MFTF-B]
No full textAs a satellite to the MARS (Mirror Advanced Reactor Study) a smaller, near-term device has been scoped, called the FPD (Fusion Power Demonstration). Envisioned as the next logical step toward a power reactor, it would advance the mirror fusion program beyond MFTF-B and provide an intermediate step toward commercial fusion power. Breakeven net electric power capability would be the goal such that no net utility power would be required to sustain the operation. A phased implementation is envisioned, with a deuterium checkout first to verify the plasma systems before significant neutron activation has occurred. Major tritium-related facilities would be installed with the second phase to produce sufficient fusion power to supply the recirculating power to maintain the neutral beams, ECRH, magnets and other auxiliary equipment
