Calorie Posting in Chain Restaurants

We study the impact of mandatory calorie posting on consumers’ purchase decisions, using detailed data from Starbucks. We find that average calories per transaction falls by 6%. The effect is almost entirely related to changes in consumers’ food choices—there is almost no change in purchases of beverage calories. There is no impact on Starbucks profit on average, and for the subset of stores located close to their competitor Dunkin Donuts, the effect of calorie posting is actually to increase Starbucks revenue. Survey evidence and analysis of commuters suggest the mechanism for the effect is a combination of learning and salience.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Religious orientation, mental health and culture : conceptual and empirical perspectives

This special edition of Mental Health, Religion and Culture brings together thirteen original empirical studies that employ theories and measures based on the notion of ‘religious orientation’. As originally conceived, Allport’s notion of religious orientation distinguished between the two motivational styles of intrinsic religiosity and extrinsic religiosity. Subsequent work distinguished between extrinsic-personal and extrinsic social motivations, and added the third orientation styled as quest religiosity. The first set of seven studies draws on a variety of measures of religious orientation developed since the mid-1960s, including single-item measures. The second set of six studies draws on the New Indices of Religious Orientation proposed by Francis in 2007. Collectively these studies confirm the continuing vitality of the notion of religious orientation for informing empirical research within the psychology of religion and strengthen the foundation for future work in this area

Introducing the modified paranormal belief scale: distinguishing between classic paranormal beliefs, religious paranormal beliefs and conventional religiosity among undergraduates in Northern Ireland and Wales

Previous empirical studies concerned with the association between paranormal beliefs and conventional religiosity have produced conflicting evidence. Drawing on Rice's (2003) distinction between classic paranormal beliefs and religious paranormal beliefs, the present study proposed a modified form of the Tobacyk Revised Paranormal Belief Scale to produce separate scores for these two forms of paranormal belief, styled 'religious paranormal beliefs' and 'classic paranormal beliefs'. Data provided by a sample of 143 undergraduate students in Northern Ireland and Wales, who completed the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity alongside the Tobacyk Revised Paranormal Belief Scale, demonstrated that conventional religiosity is positively correlated with religious paranormal beliefs, but independent of classic paranormal beliefs. These findings provide a clear framework within which previous conflicting evidence can be interpreted. It is recommended that future research should distinguish clearly between these two forms of paranormal beliefs and that the Tobacyk Revised Paranormal Beliefs Scale should be routinely modified to detach the four religious paranormal belief items from the total scale score

Sharing sweet water: Culture and the wise use of wetlands in Western Australia

The similarities and differences in traditional, contemporary and global/international cultures’ development and use of institutions for the wise use of wetlands are explored across Western Australia. A process grounded in social anthropology is used to test a research hypothesis and to assess the structure and function of the diverse cultures’ institutions and empathy for wetlands. Six thematic case studies were located in catchments on Perth’s Ridge Hill, Perth’s Eastern Hills, Perth, and Western Australia’s Swan Coastal Plain, the Southwest, and its rangelands. Sources of evidence also include the literature on Aboriginal Australia, an extensive and detailed ethnographic review of regional and historic documents, the scientific literature of strategic water, wetlands and environmental management, and three decades of the author’s professional work. This analysis demonstrates that traditional Western Australian cultures have diverse and effective institutions for sustainable use, conservation, protection and a well-developed empathy for their inland waters. In contrast, contemporary Western Australian cultures with some important exceptions do not, and are more accepting of the continuing exploitation and systematic destruction of the remaining natural waters, particularly in urban and agricultural areas of the Southwest. This recent destruction of wetlands is moderated occasionally by the efforts of traditional cultures, community and heritage organizations, sometimes through the use of contemporary planning and environmental protection institutions, and more rarely because of Australia’s obligations to global Conventions. The analysis explains why better use of these institutions is essential. Opportunities for improving wise use of wetlands in Western Australia are identified. Particularly important is the need for the more transparent engagement and regular reporting by the State of Western Australia in support of Australia’s obligations to the global Conventions. This includes reporting on progress towards the establishment of nature reserves on Swan Coastal Plain wetlands under Article 4 of the Ramsar Convention. It includes reporting the meeting of National targets for protecting priority biodiversity of inland water ecosystems, the protection of the buffers of wetlands and waterways as parts of ecological corridors, and State-wide progress towards use of traditional ecological knowledge to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Reporting is needed on progress made towards implementing relevant Articles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. All reports might valuably include progress on identified new priority initiatives such as distributed network of wetland education centres, the better protection of monument wetland sites and improved indigenous heritage conservation. Such work, carried out in conjunction with Perth’s Whadjug peoples, the Southwest’s Nyoongar peoples, and the rangeland’s Kimberley, Yarnangu and Yamatji peoples, will help the conservation of the State’s inland waters as a necessary condition of human and ecosystem existence, as well as provide valuable common ground in which to practise tolerance, respect and cooperation between cultures. The better recognition of traditional ecological knowledge, the provision of more support for Indigenous engagement in wetland conservation, and the implementation of a far broader range of effective institutions are all identified as essential requirements for moving towards the wise use of wetlands in Western Australia