bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Possible Route to Prebiotic Vesicle Reproduction
Authors: Luisi Pier Luigi , Stano Pasquale , Rasi Silvia , Mavelli Fabio
Published: June 2004

Spherical bounded structures such as those formed by surfactant aggregates (mostly micelles and vesicles), with an inside that is chemically and physically different from the outside medium, can be seen as primitive cell models. As such, they are fundamental structures for the theory of autopoiesis as originally formulated by Varela and Maturana. In particular, since self-reproduction is a very important feature of minimal cellular life, the study of self-reproduction of micelles and vesicles represents a quite challenging bio-mimetic approach. Our laboratory has put much effort in recent years into implementing self-reproduction of vesicles as models for self-reproduction of cellular bounded structures, and this article is a further contribution in this direction. In particular, we deal with the so-called matrix effect of vesicles, related to the fact that when fresh surfactant is added to an aqueous solution containing preformed vesicles of a very narrow size distribution, the newly formed vesicles (instead of being polydisperse, as is usually the case) have dimensions very close to those of the preformed ones. In practice, this corresponds to a mechanism of reproduction of vesicles of the same size. In this article, the matrix effect is re-elaborated in the perspective of the origin of life, and in particular in terms of the prebiotic mechanisms that might permit the growth and reproduction of vesicles. The data are analyzed by dynamic light scattering with a new program that permits the calculation of the number-weighted size distribution. It is shown that, on adding a stoichiometric amount of oleate micelles to preformed oleate vesicles extruded at 50 and 100 nm, the final distribution contains about twice the initial number of particles, centered around 50 and 100 nm. The same holds when oleate is added to preformed phospholipid liposomes. By contrast, when the same amount of oleate is added to an aqueous solution (as a control experiment), a very broad distribution ranging between 20 and 1000 nm is obtained. The data can then be seen as a kind of reproduction of the same size vesicles, and the argument is advanced that this may correspond to a simple prebiotic mechanism of vesicle multiplication in prebiotic times, when only physical forces might be responsible for the basic mechanisms of early protocell growth and division. Preliminary data also show that repeated addition of oleate maintains the same basic initial features, and that surfactants other than oleate also respect the reproductive mode of the matrix effect.
Time on the Stage
Authors: Magnus Erica
Published: June 2004

Time on the Stage - in its most pedestrian sense, the interval between an actor's entrance and exit - has also had a long history as a metaphor for an individual human life. More broadly, the theatre's imaginative conflation with the world at large, a notion of the "theatre of the world," was prevalent to the point of cliché from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century. Apart from well-worn analogy, does the detached time/space of performance have any salient relationship with quotidian experience? This study engages two moments in Western theatre history, Greece in the seventh to the fifth centuries B.C.E. when theatre first appeared, and the Middle Ages, when it reappeared in the practices of the Catholic Church after several centuries of ostensible absence. The analysis suggests that theatrical praxis emerges in response to psychic needs engendered by profound changes in notions of time and space and that performance itself, is ultimately a chronotopic technology which is mensural in nature. In the historicized stage setting and in the temporally coded body of the actor, time is found to be very much on the stage.
Misuses of Physical Models In Understanding Time
Authors: Kincanon Eric
Published: June 2004

This paper argues that a misuse of physical models has led to hasty conclusions about the metaphysical nature of time. After an introduction to the philosophical structure of scientific inquiry, examples from Special Relativity and Time Asymmetry demonstrate these errors. The purpose of this paper is to call into question whether physical models can be used to gain insight into metaphysical issues.
Living-Time and Lived Time: Rereading St. Augustine
Authors: Barreau Hervé
Published: June 2004

A rereading of St. Augustine's treatise about time (Confessions, chap. 13-28) is useful to interpret the phenomenology of time espoused by authors such Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty. But it is also useful to recall McTaggart's paradox which stems from the same point that characterizes Augustinian analyses: the distinction of past, present, future. Only with a clear understanding of the insufficiency of this point of departure to capture the basic properties of time as a structure of becoming or change can an analysis be justified to go from the point of view of lived time (in the sense of consciously experienced time) to the point of view of living-time.
IN SEARCH OF A MEDITERRANEAN BASE: THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN AND RUSSIA'S GREAT POWER PLANS DURING THE RULE OF TSAR PETER THE GREAT AND TSARINA CATHERINE II
Authors: Freller Thomas
Published: June 2004

Rossiya yest' yevropeyskaya derzhava ("Russia is a European power") was Tsarina Catherine II's credo and program, a logical continuation of the policy of Tsar Peter the Great. Malta and the Order of St. John played an important role in Catherine's plan: the island of the knights was to serve as a bridgehead for a permanent Russian presence in the Mediterranean. Already in 1698 Tsar Peter had sent delegations and diplomats to Hospitaller Malta to negotiate a Russo-Maltese alliance against the Ottomans. In the 1760s a Russian chargé d'affaires was installed in Malta and the famous fleet of the Order was used by Russian officers for training, and in 1768 a plan was drawn up for a joint Russo-Maltese naval attack on the Greek mainland. But such moves must have brought about the united opposition of the Mediterranean powers as well as of that of the British. Even in such a "holy war" against their infidel archenemy, which would have been in perfect accord with its statutes, the Order of St. John could no longer act freely. Officially, France remained the main protector of the Order's neutrality, so until the end of the Ancien régime the Order did not risk an open alliance with Russia. In the long run, however, Tsarina Catherine's insistence had paved the way for extremely close Russo-Maltese relations to come when her son Paul became tsar and even was proclaimed as the new grand master of the Order of Malta.
The Therapeutic Relationship in the Treatment of Severe Mental Illness: A Review of Methods and Findings
Authors: McCabe Rosemarie , Priebe Stefan
Published: June 2004

Aims: To review the methods and findings from studies of the therapeutic relationship (TR) in the treatment of severe mental illness.

Method: A literature search was conducted to identify all studies that used an operationalised measurement of the TR in the treatment of severe mental illness. Results: Fifteen scales–the majority of which were developed for psychotherapy–and the expressed emotion index have been used. Most scales have acceptable internal, inter-rater and test–retest reliability. As none of the scales has been used in more than five studies, no single scale is widely established in psychiatric research. A more positive relationship consistently predicts a better short-and long-term outcome. It appears that a large global factor accounts for the greatest proportion of the variance in the therapeutic relationship.

Conclusions: The therapeutic relationship is a reliable predictor of patient outcome in mainstream psychiatric care. Valid assessments may need to take account of different, specific aspects of the relationship in psychiatric settings such as greater heterogeneity of treatment components and goals, increased variability of setting and the statutory responsibility of the clinician. Methodological progress may require conceptual work to ensure valid assessments of this central element of treatment.
Sex Roles and Marital Adjustment in Indian Couples
Authors: Isaac Rathna , Shah Anisha
Published: June 2004

Background: Marital theorists suggest a link between sex role differences and close relationships for men and women. Marriage is often a context for the activation and expression of sex roles. As marital adjustment is influenced by complementarity of roles between husband and wife, the same could hold true for sex roles as well.

Aim: To study the relationship between sex roles and marital adjustment in Indian couples.

Methods: The sample consisted of 20 distressed and 20 non-distressed couples from a marital and family therapy centre in the city of Bangalore, India. The measures used included a sociodemographic data sheet, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Bem Sex Role Inventory and a semi-structured interview schedule for gendered experiences. Means, percentages and ANOVAS were used to analyse statistically the data. Content analysis was applied on material from the semistructured interview schedule.

Results: The study revealed that: (a) the group as a whole showed greater femininity than masculinity; (b) more non-distressed individuals show high androgyny; (c) androgynous dyads show better marital adjustment; and (d) qualitative analysis suggests a trend for couples to move towards more gender-neutral constructions of marriage.

Conclusions: The results indicate a link between androgyny and marital adjustment. The results also suggest the type of match between dyads.
Ftors Associated with Hopelessness: A Population Study
Authors: Haatainen Kaisa , Tanskanen Antti , Kylmaä Jari , Honkalampi Kirsi , Koivumaa-Honkanen Heli , Hintikka Jukka , Viinamaki Heimo
Published: June 2004

Background: Hopelessness is associated with depression and suicidality in clinical as well as in non-clinical populations. However, data on the prevalence of hopelessness and the associated factors in general population are exiguous.

Aims: To assess the prevalence and the associated factors of hopelessness in a general population sample.

Methods: The random population sample consisted of 1722 subjects. The study questionnaires included the Beck Hopelessness Scale (HS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Life Satisfaction Scale (LS).

Results: Eleven percent of the subjects reported at least moderate hopelessness. A poor financial situation (OR 3.64), poor subjective health (OR 2.87) and reduced working ability (OR 2.67) independently associated with hopelessness. Moreover, the likelihood of moderate or severe hopelessness was significantly increased in subjects dissatisfied with life (OR 5.99), with depression (OR 4.86), with alexithymia (OR 2.37) and with suicidal ideation (OR 1.85).

Conclusions: This study demonstrated a moderately high prevalence of hopelessness at the population level. Hopelessness appears to be an important indicator of low subjective well-being in the general population that health care personnel should pay attention to.
Differences between Indigenous Samis and Norwegians in Mental Disorders and Background Factors: Patients Listed as Under Treatment at the DPS–Lakselv (County District Psychiatric Centre), Finnmark, Spring 2000
Authors: Trosell Per-Olov
Published: June 2004

Background: Earlier comparisons of adult Samis and Norwegians living within the same area are–thus far–unknown concerning mental well being/health and possible background factors.

Aim: To compare patients from the two communities in search of differences which may be useful in planning health services.

Method: Retrospective and anonymised data collected from journals. Comprises 48 ‘Samis’ and 70 ‘Norwegians’ in 108 ‘demographic cells’ according to ethnicity, sex, municipality, education and age.

Results: ‘Samis’ rated higher in schizophrenia/psychosis (0.05 < p < 0.1) and crises (0.1 < p < 0.25), ‘Norwegians’ rated higher in anxiety disorders (0.001 < p < 0.005), low self-esteem (0.005 < p < 0.01), illegal drugs (0.01 < p < 0.025) and in identity/existential problems (0.1 < p< 0.25). ‘Samis’ appeared to have suffered more at provincial boarding schools (0.005 < p < 0.01), while ‘Norwegians’ presented more mental illnesses in their families (0.025 < p < 0.05), more family break-ups (0.05 < p < 0.1) and earlier alcohol/drug abuse (0.05 < p< 0.1).

Conclusion: Significant differences were found. ‘In the black box’ results will raise interesting questions for further research, but will also be useful for planning health services.
Household Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity in Cambodia
Authors: Dubois Vincent , Tonglet René , Hoyois Philippe , Sunbaunat Ka , Roussaux Jean-Paul , Hauff Edvard
Published: June 2004

Aims: To estimate the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in the Kampong Cham province and to determine the association between these symptoms and an impaired social functioning.

Methods: Cross-sectional cluster sample survey conducted among adults randomly selected within 50 clusters distributed over the province.

Results: Of the respondents, 42.4% reported symptoms that met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition criteria for depression, 53% displayed high anxiety symptoms and 7.3% met posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) criteria. Posttraumatic symptoms of intrusion and avoidance were present in 47.8% and 45.4% respectively. When reviewing comorbidities, 29.2% had depression and anxiety symptoms, 16.5% anxiety symptoms, 6.1% depression and 7.1% had triple comorbidity (PTSD, depression and anxiety). Regarding social functioning, 25.3% reported being socially impaired. Respondents with comorbid symptoms for depression, anxiety and PTSD were associated with an increased risk for social impairment compared with others. Being over 65 years and having experienced violent events were other factors associated with social impairment.

Conclusion: Five years after the return of a more stable context in Cambodia, the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in the community remains high. In addition, these symptoms are strongly associated with social impairment. This suggests that beyond psychosocial programs, the implementation of adapted clinical psychiatric care should be considered as a priority.
Public–Private Partnerships: from Contested Concepts to Prevalent Practice
Authors: Bovaird Tony
Published: June 2004

This article explores the current state of knowledge in relation to public–private partnerships (PPPs), taken to mean working arrangements based on a mutual commitment (over and above that implied in any contract) between a public sector organization with any organization outside of the public sector. Since it originally became fashionable over 25 years ago, the concept of PPPs has been strongly contested. However, PPPs are now to be found in the public domain in many countries around the world and their number has been increasing in recent years. This article looks at how this has happened, what have been the strengths and weaknesses of this development and what the future may hold for PPPs. It argues that we are still at an early stage of learning which types of PPP are appropriate for which tasks and at managing PPPs to increase public value. It will be essential to apply principles of good governance to the future development of PPPs — but it will also be necessary to ensure that these principles are genuinely appropriate to the context in which these PPPs are working.
Public–Private Partnerships in Switzerland: Crossing the Bridge with the Aid of a New Governance Approach
Authors: Hofmeister Albert , Borchert Heiko
Published: June 2004

New Public Management was instrumental in modernizing the Swiss public sector. The first stage of modernization has focused on streamlining processes and structures and improving instruments in order to increase the public sector’s efficiency and effectiveness. At the moment, reform projects are about to enter a second stage which puts more emphasis on modifying the way in which the public sector offers its services. Although the general political environment in Switzerland favors cross-sector cooperation, there is a potential risk of deadlock. Traditional behavior, familiar values, and the management instruments already in place are not enough to access the potential of these partnerships fully. Rather both sides need to join forces to set up and develop common approaches to improve their cooperability. This article sets forward concrete proposals to launch a code of conduct for public–private governance and presents some initial ideas for a public–private governance model which looks for sustainable outcomes.
Public–Private Partnership in France: a Polymorphous and Unacknowledged Category of Public Policy
Authors: Sadran Pierre
Published: June 2004

Public–private partnership (PPP) is a very old reality in France, where, contrary to preconceived ideas, it has a central role in numerous sectors of public policy, notably at the local level. But the plasticity of the term ‘partnership’ has for a long time obscured the concept because of the diversity of forms which it may take. A PPP typology based on the profiles of actors concerned shows that partnership by itself does not create good governance, even if it provides a workable format for the contemporary exigencies of public policy. Good governance depends on the manner in which the actors make use of it and adapt it.
Partnerships Between International Donors and Non-Governmental Development Organizations: Opportunities and Constraints
Authors: Brinkerhoff Derick W. , Brinkerhoff Jennifer M.
Published: June 2004

This article examines partnerships between international donors and non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs). Following a discussion of partnership’s rationale and presumed benefits, the article provides a general overview of selected donors’ partnership experience and describes four illustrations of donor– NGDO partnership. Opportunities and constraints are identified, illustrating gaps in oratory and practice. Identified challenges include constraints related to donorinitiated partnerships, addressing the legacy of past relationships, the insufficiency of relying on personal relationships, and the limits of good intentions. The article stresses the importance of recognizing the political and economic realities that frame donor–NGDO relationships and condition incentives on both sides of the partnership.
Governance Based on Partnership with NGOs: Implications for Development and Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh
Authors: Haque M. Shamsul
Published: June 2004

In line with the current global trend of streamlining the role of the state, the governments in most countries have transferred some of their economic activities and basic services to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which are now considered partners in governance. In the developing world, some of the largest and most well-known NGOs are in Bangladesh where the government has formed partnership with these NGOs in various sectors with a view to enhance human development and social empowerment in rural areas. But in reality, such partnership has been quite ineffective (and even unfavorable) to achieve this goal. This article briefly introduces the current debate on governance based on partnership between the state and NGOs; explains the forms and dimensions of such partnership in the case of Bangladesh; and evaluates this partnership experience in terms of whether it has achieved the stipulated objectives of development and empowerment. It also explores major factors and interests (internal and external) behind this partnership and offers some suggestions to rethink partnership and overcome its drawbacks in Bangladesh.
Sifarish, Sycophants, Power and Collectivism: Administrative Culture in Pakistan
Authors: Islam Nasir
Published: June 2004

This article analyses some of the major attributes of Pakistan’s contemporary administrative culture. The article uses Hofstede’s famous four dimensional model of national cultures as an analytical framework. Hofstede’s fourfold typology – power distance, individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity/femininity – is used as a point of departure for a more elaborate description and analysis of the traditions, values and norms that characterize Pakistan’s governing system. The author uses secondary data from official documents, newspapers, magazines and scholarly literature to support Hofstede’s initial findings. A brief account of the colonial antecedents and post-colonial evolution of the administrative institutions is given to provide the context in which the system operates. The main conclusion is that Pakistan’s relatively high collectivist orientation, high propensity toward uncertainty avoidance, high power distance and masculinity largely account for many traditions and practices including strict adherence to hierarchy, centralization, corruption, nepotism and gender differentiation in administrative roles.
Accountability Challenges in Networks and Partnerships: Evidence from Educational Partnerships in the United States
Authors: Acar Muhittin , Robertson Peter J.
Published: June 2004

The study from which this article is drawn constitutes one of the first attempts to remedy the paucity of research on accountability in the context of interorganizational networks and public–private partnerships. The data for the study were drawn from field research focusing particularly on partnerships formed between K-12 public schools and private and/or non-profit organizations in the United States. The most frequently cited difficulties associated with accountability in partnerships were the availability of and access to information, sectoral and personal differences, and frequent changes in personnel, resources, and partners.
Coping with Conflict within the Entrepreneurial University: Threat or Challenge for Heads of Departments in the UK Higher Education Context
Authors: Sotirakou Tatiana
Published: June 2004

This article attempts to provide an understanding of the conflict phenomenon in the UK higher education sector. A research survey was conducted in order to examine the role conflict associated with the headship position in the contemporary university context. ‘Janusian’ and ‘value’ conflict were the forms of role conflict experienced by heads of departments. On the one hand, heads' efforts to provide the critical link between the managerial requirements of the modern university and academic staffs' values of their departments, in addition to the performance of their academic core activities led to the development of ‘Janusian’ role conflict. On the other hand, the emphasis on market mechanisms in higher education and the departure from the traditional academic work values, in an era characterized by change, uncertainty and complexity contributed to the appearance of the ‘value’ conflict among heads of departments. However, both of these conflict dimensions were relative to the type of institution (new/old university category).
Government On-Line in the Federal Government of Canada: the Organizational Issues
Authors: Charih Mohamed , Robert Jacynthe
Published: June 2004

In this article, the authors analyze the Government On-line (GOL) initiative launched by the federal government of Canada in the winter 2000. The primary objective of GOL is to allow Canadians and non-Canadians to access public information and deal with the federal government via a single Web portal. The authors argue that GOL is not a simple technological change and that its designers will have to deal with many organizational issues and challenges in order for the project to succeed. The most important issues are: integration of services difficulties, necessary structural changes, insuring performance and accountability, organizational identity issues, security and human resources skills.
Preparing Public Administrators for an Era of Globalization and Decentralization: a Strategic-Contingency Approach
Authors: Wooldridge Blue
Published: June 2004

For public sector management development professionals to be given the recognition and resources that we deserve, we must be seen to contribute to the organization’s ‘bottom-line’, which is to prepare employees to perform at the level needed to achieve the organization’s strategic mission and objectives. Governments can only respond effectively to the challenges of increased globalization and decentralization if we, as instructors in schools and institutes of administration, prepare adequate learning experiences for public administrators. The objectives of this article are to describe the steps in my strategic-contingency approach to management development, an instructional design approach which links the strategic mission of the organizations in which our clients work to the instruction that we prepare. I believe that following the steps of my strategic-contingency approach to management development will produce a curriculum that is more responsive to the needs of the client organization and to the participants. Such instruction will not only benefit the organizations we serve but will also enhance our professional reputations.
Two New Practical Models for Estimating Reliability-Based Fatigue Strength of Composites
Authors: Xiong J. J. , Shenoi R. A.
Published: June 2004

This paper outlines two new practical models to evaluate fatigue residual strength and the overall range of life for reliability-based design. A new fatigue-driven residual strength surface model with four parameters is derived based on an expression form of power function product to estimate the parameters more easily and expediently, and logically characterize the physical characteristics and the phenomenological quantitative laws. A more appropriate S-N curve formulation with four parameters is presented to cover overall life range. By means of the likelihood principle and the linear regression, the parameter determination formulae of these two models are respectively established to deal with the test data effectively and easily. The probability distributions for these two models are also given. Finally, the models are applied to two sets of experimental data, demonstrating the practical and effective use of the proposed models. It is shown from these examples that fatigue-driven residual strength and the overall range of life can be obtained realistically according to the small sample test data using the new formulae.
Study of Load Ratio for Mode-I Fatigue Fracture of Wood-FRP-Bonded Interfaces
Authors: Jia Junhui , Davalos Julio F.
Published: June 2004

This paper presents the fatigue behavior of interface bond between red maple wood and phenolic FRP substrates. Using linear elastic fracture mechanics concepts, the influence of load ratio on fatigue crack propagation rate is studied. A contoured double cantilever beam (CDCB) specimen is adopted in this study in order to obtain constant strain energy release rate independent of crack length. The compliance method is used for measuring the crack growth rate. A modified Paris Law equation based on strain energy release rate range, ΔG, and mean value of strain energy release rate, Gmean, is proposed in this study for efficient evaluation of load ratio effect on fatigue crack propagation of the bonded interfaces. Follow-up environmental effects are being examined by means of the same energy parameters of the present study and without the need to consider crack closure. The proposed approach can further be extended to characterization of other bonded interfaces for dissimilar materials.
On Impact Damage of Composite Shells by a Low-Velocity Projectile
Authors: Zhao Guiping , Cho Chongdu
Published: June 2004

This paper investigates the impact-induced damage initiation and propagation in laminated composite shell under low-velocity impact. A three-dimensional eight-node nonconforming element with Taylor’s modification scheme is described to analyze interlaminar stress distribution and damage propagation. The damage analysis is performed by using the Tsai-Wu quadratic failure criterion, Tsai’s damage modes and an additional delamination formula at all Gauss points. The damage modes considered are matrix cracking, fiber breakage and delamination. The progressive failure is expressed by reducing stiffness of the material at all failed Gauss points. Special attention is centered on curved laminates. Transient damage areas are predicted for the composite shells. The analyses of the flat and curved laminates are compared for discussing their different damage mechanism. Numerical results are validated by experimental results.
The Response of a Fiber-Reinforced Composite with a Viscoelastic Matrix Phase
Authors: Debotton G. , Tevet-Deree L.
Published: June 2004

We consider the class of fiber-reinforced composites where the behavior of the matrix phase is viscoelastic under shear. By application of the correspondence principle, simple explicit expressions for the five effective relaxation moduli of a composite with a matrix whose behavior can be approximated by the standard linear model are developed. It is found that the effective relaxation times for the composite are always larger than the relaxation time of the matrix. It is further shown that due to the interaction between phases with different viscoelastic behaviors, the composite may exhibit a non-monotonous behavior. The analytic expressions are compared with corresponding finite element results for a composite with hexagonal fibers distribution. Good agreement is revealed for reinforced composites as well as for composites weakened by soft fibers.
The Intergenerational Transmission of Fear of Failure
Authors: Elliot Andrew J. , Thrash Todd M.
Published: June 2004

The intergenerational transmission of fear of failure was examined in two studies with undergraduates and their parents. Parent-undergraduate concordance in fear of failure was documented for mothers and fathers, controlling for parents’ and undergraduate’s impression management and self-deceptive enhancement response tendencies. Love withdrawal was validated as a mediator of parent-undergraduate concordance in fear of failure for mothers but not for fathers. Mothers’ and fathers’ fear of failure was also a positive predictor of undergraduate’s adoption of performance-avoidance goals in the classroom, and undergraduate’s fear of failure was shown to mediate this relationship. Fathers’ fear of failure was also a negative predictor of undergraduate’s mastery goal adoption, and this relationship was likewise mediated by undergraduate’s fear of failure. The results are discussed in terms of the reorienting of positive, appetitive achievement motivation toward negative, aversive achievement motivation.
Optimism and Pessimism in the Context of Health: Bipolar Opposites or Separate Constructs?
Authors: Kubzansky Laura D. , Kubzansky Philip E. , Maselko Joanna
Published: June 2004

One difficulty plaguing research on dispositional optimism and health is whether optimism and pessimism are bipolar opposites or constitute distinct constructs. The present study examined the Life Orientation Test to determine whether the two-factor structure is explained by method bias (due to measurement) or substantive differences. The authors compared three measurement models: bipolar, bivariate, and method artifact. Optimism and pessimism emerged as distinct constructs due to substantive differences. The authors also considered the validity of optimism and pessimism, examining their relations with psychological and physical health outcomes. Optimism and pessimism were more similar in relation to psychological health than to other health-related behavior or physical health outcomes. However, a strongly interpretable pattern for the relation of optimism and pessimism to the health outcomes did not emerge. Further research may benefit from considering optimism and pessimism as bivariate and also should consider the conceptual components and behavioral mechanisms specific to each variable.
Self-Awareness, Self-Evaluation, and Creativity
Authors: Silvia Paul J. , Phillips Ann G.
Published: June 2004

The present research examined when self-evaluation influences creativity. Based on objective self-awareness theory, the authors predicted that feeling able to improve would buffer against the detrimental effects of self-evaluation on creativity. Two experiments manipulated self-evaluation (varying self-awareness, Study 1; providing objective performance standards, Study 2) and perceived ability to improve potential failure on the creativity task. Self-evaluation reduced creativity (generating remote associates, finding unusual uses for a knife) in both experiments, but only when people did not expect to improve. When people felt able to improve, self-evaluation did not affect creativity. Connections between self-motives, creativity, and defensiveness are discussed.
Personality and Life Satisfaction: A Facet-Level Analysis
Authors: Schimmack Ulrich , Oishi Shigehiro , Furr R. Michael , Funder David C.
Published: June 2004

At the global level of the Big Five, Extraversion and Neuroticism are the strongest predictors of life satisfaction. However, Extraversion and Neuroticism are multifaceted constructs that combine more specific traits. This article examined the contribution of facets of Extraversion and Neuroticism to life satisfaction in four studies. The depression facet of Neuroticism and the positive emotions/cheerfulness facet of Extraversion were the strongest and most consistent predictors of life satisfaction. These two facets often accounted for more variance in life satisfaction than Neuroticism and Extraversion. The findings suggest that measures of depression and positive emotions/cheerfulness are necessary and sufficient to predict life satisfaction from personality traits. The results also lead to a more refined understanding of the specific personality traits that influence life satisfaction: Depression is more important than anxiety or anger and a cheerful temperament is more important than being active or sociable.
Complicating Race: The Relationship between Prejudice, Race, and Social Class Categorizations
Authors: Weeks Matthew , Lupfer Michael B.
Published: June 2004

Although racial stereotyping and prejudice research have received considerable attention, the important element of social class has been largely excluded from social psychological research. Using the Statement Recognition Procedure, two experiments investigated social categorization along race and social class dimensions, the influence of racial and social class prejudice on these categorizations, and differences between White and Black perceivers. Analyses conducted at the subtype of race and social class memberships demonstrated differing patterns of categorization based on subtype membership. For example, lowerclass Black targets were primarily categorized by race, whereas middle-class Black targets were primarily categorized by social class. The results demonstrate the importance of considering social class membership independent of and in conjunction with race. Theoretical and methodological implications regarding the study for race and social class categorizations are discussed.
Emotional Intelligence and Social Interaction
Authors: Lopes Paulo N. , Brackett Marc A. , Nezlek John B. , Schütz Astrid , Sellin Ina , Salovey Peter
Published: June 2004

Two studies found positive relationships between the ability to manage emotions and the quality of social interactions, supporting the predictive and incremental validity of an ability measure of emotional intelligence, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). In a sample of 118 American college students (Study 1), higher scores on the managing emotions subscale of the MSCEIT were positively related to the quality of interactions with friends, evaluated separately by participants and two friends. In a diary study of social interaction with 103 German college students (Study 2), managing emotions scores were positively related to the perceived quality of interactions with opposite sex individuals. Scores on this subscale were also positively related to perceived success in impression management in social interactions with individuals of the opposite sex. In both studies, the main findings remained statistically significant after controlling for Big Five personality traits.
Context and Cognitions: Environmental Risk, Social Influence, and Adolescent Substance Use
Authors: Gibbons Frederick X. , Gerrard Meg , Lune Linda S. Vande , Wills Thomas Ashby , Brody Gene , Conger Rand D.
Published: June 2004

This study examined the cognitions thought to mediate the impact of context on adolescent substance use and also the extent to which context moderates the relations between these cognitions and use. Risk cognitions and behaviors were assessed in a panel of 746 African American adolescents (M age 10.5 at Wave 1, 12.2 at Wave 2). Results indicated that adolescents living in high-risk neighborhoods were more inclined toward substance use and more likely to be using at Wave 2. These context effects were mediated by the adolescents’ risk cognitions: their risk images, willingness to use, and intentions to use. Also, context moderated the relation between willingness and use (the relation was stronger in high-risk neighborhoods) but it did not moderate the intentions to use relation.
Predicting Intergroup Bias: The Interactive Effects of Implicit Theory and Social Identity
Authors: Hong Ying-Yi , Coleman Jill , Chan Gloria , Wong Rosanna Y. M. , Chiu Chi-yue , Hansen Ian G. , Lee Sau-Lai , Tong Yuk-Yue , Fu Ho-Ying
Published: June 2004

This research sought to integrate the implicit theory approach and the social identity approach to understanding biases in intergroup judgment. The authors hypothesized that a belief in fixed human character would be associated with negative bias and prejudice against a maligned group regardless of the perceiver’s social identity. By contrast, a belief in malleable human character would allow the perceiver’s social identity to guide intergroup perception, such that a common ingroup identity that includes the maligned group would be associated with less negative bias and prejudice against the maligned group than would an exclusive identity. To test these hypotheses, a correlational study was conducted in the context of the Hong Kong 1997 political transition to examine Hong Kong Chinese’s perceptions of Chinese Mainlanders, and an experimental study was conducted in the United States to examine Asian Americans’ perception of African Americans. Results from both studies supported the authors’ predictions.
Attachment Style and Subjective Motivations for Sex
Authors: Davis Deborah , Shaver Phillip R. , Vernon Michael L.
Published: June 2004

The relation of attachment style to subjective motivations for sex was investigated in an Internet survey of 1999 respondents. The relations of attachment anxiety and avoidance to overall sexual motivation and to the specific motives for emotional closeness, reassurance, self-esteem enhancement, stress reduction, partner manipulation, protection from partner’s negative affect and behavior, power exertion, physical pleasure, nurturing one’s partner, and procreation were explored. As predicted, attachment anxiety was positively related to overall sexual motivation and to all specific motives for sex, with the exception of physical pleasure. Avoidance was negatively related to emotional closeness and reassurance as goals of sex and positively related to manipulative use of sex but minimally related to most other motives. Sexual passion was positively related to attachment anxiety and negatively related to avoidance, and anxiety was related to the maintenance of passion over time, whereas avoidance was related to loss of passion over time.
Group-Based Self-Evaluation Outside of the Laboratory: Effects of Global Versus Contextual Status
Authors: Christensen P. Niels , Boldry Jennifer G. , Kashy Deborah A.
Published: June 2004

An event-contingent diary methodology was used to study the impact of intergroup and intragroup factors on self-evaluations in naturally occurring groups. Participants reported their contextual group status, group identification, and self-evaluations each time they self-categorized as a group member throughout a 1- week period. Indicators of global group status, interdependence, and permeability of group boundaries also were obtained. Multilevel modeling revealed that contextual status and global status interacted to predict self-evaluations. Contextual status had a stronger relationship with self-evaluations for members of global low-status groups than for members of high-status groups. Analyses of intragroup factors revealed that greater group interdependence but not permeability of group boundaries also was associated with higher self-evaluations. The effects of both contextual status and group interdependence were mediated by group identification.
Race and Information Processing in Criminal Trials: Does the Defendant’s Race Affect How the Facts Are Evaluated?
Authors: Sargent Michael J. , Bradfield Amy L.
Published: June 2004

Two studies examined whether a criminal defendant’s race influences Whites’ sensitivity to legally relevant information. In Study 1, prosecution case strength ratings and guilt likelihood ratings were more sensitive to the strength of the defendant’s alibi when he was Black than when he was White, if the experimental task was designed to elicit low processing motivation. Under high motivation, participants were equally sensitive to alibi strength, regardless of defendant race. In Study 2, the alibi strength manipulation was replaced with a manipulation of the effectiveness of the district attorney’s cross-examination. As predicted, defense case strength ratings were more sensitive to the strength of the prosecutor’s cross-examination with a Black defendant than with a White defendant—under low motivation. Under high motivation, sensitivity did not depend on defendant race. These results suggest that a Black defendant can elicit greater sensitivity to legally relevant information than will a White defendant.
Community Networks and Cultural Intermediaries: The Politics of Community Net Development in Greater Manchester
Authors: Myles John
Published: June 2004

Using original research materials of in-depth interviews with community network development workers, multimedia and graphic designers, public authority managers, and a number of case studies (a Bangladeshi Electronic Village Hall, Manchester Multimedia and Networking Centre, the Manchester Community Information Network, and Virtual Manchester) this article traces out the views of interviewees on the trajectory of community and civic net provision in the city. Sources of discontent were found in: commodification of local civic nets, a prevalent middle-brow approach to web page design, the influence of ‘cultural intermediaries’ in and on publicly funded telematics and multimedia software development agencies, the impact of an entrepreneurial ethos in local authority policy formation, and pedagogic and patronizing attitudes towards local communities on the part of local area net development agencies. The article argues that, alongside structural corporate ICT power and the technological and scientific ICT R&D professions, these problems have a telling impact on the nature of civic and community net development. As well as criticism of the prevailing nature of city nets, the article more positively prompts a call to local authorities to adopt a form of ‘critical regionalism’ in order to put the control of civic nets back with the communities they are supposed primarily to be aimed at. This means empowering community ICT nodes, involving them directly in the development process, and moderating the impact of corporate ICT and cultural intermediaries within publicly funded ICT agencies. Given the renewed role for local governance in conditions of globalization such policies would aid the development of thriving and viable local community networks.
Wrenching the Machine Around: EastEnders, the BBC and Institutional Change
Authors: McNicholas Anthony
Published: June 2004

EastEnders is one of the most successful BBC programmes of recent years. Previous studies have concentrated on the text, its reception and its audiences. This article examines the project to get EastEnders on air from an institutional viewpoint. EastEnders was launched at a critical moment in the corporation’s history and was intended to demonstrate the BBC’s ability to produce popular programming. However, this required change both in the way programmes were commissioned and resourced, and in terms of professional culture at all levels of the organization. Using interviews with participants and internal documentation the article highlights problems, discussions and solutions involved.
The Discourse of Global Compassion: The Audience and Media Reporting of Human Suffering
Authors: Höijer Birgitta
Published: June 2004

The article focuses on the development of a global discourse of compassion, which has grown in the intersection between politics, humanitarian organizations, the media and the public. In the media there is a growing focus on distant victims of civil wars, genocide, massacres and other violence against civil populations. In the critical media debate it is a common view that the audience is left unmoved by the pictures of distant death and pain. The article presents audience studies, which show a two-sided effect of global compassion on the one hand and indifference on the other. It is shown that compassion is often a more female reaction while indifference is more common among male audiences. It is further shown that there are different forms of compassion as well as different forms of indifference. The results challenge or strongly modulate the thesis about a pronounced compassion fatigue among people in general.
From Tit-Bits to Big Brother: A Century of Audience Participation in the Media
Authors: Griffen-Foley Bridget
Published: June 2004

This article explores the connections between reality television and older print and electronic media formats. It surveys the history of audience participation in the media through a series of case studies drawn from Britain, Australia and the United States: periodicals featuring significant contributions from their readers in the 1880s; confessional magazines in the 1920s; mass-market women’s magazines during the inter-war years; talkback radio since the 1960s; and the emergence of ‘real life’ media genres in the 1980s and 1990s. The article argues that media producers have, for more than a century, been blurring the notion of the passive media consumer.
Fashioning a Cosmopolitan Tamil Identity: Game Shows, Commodities and Cultural Identity
Authors: Moorti Sujata
Published: June 2004

Regional-language game shows enable audiences to forge complex links between global and national identities, links that confound local/global, tradition/modernity binaries. Through an analysis of Tamil game shows I argue that this transnationally mobile genre of programming simultaneously permits the assertion of a vernacular nationalism and a cosmopolitan sensibility. The commodity culture of game shows foregrounds a Tamil cultural affiliation that is glossy and depoliticized, one sharply at odds with the separatist claims that underpinned the turn-of-the-century Dravidian nationalism.