The first partnership experience and personality development. A propensity score matching study in young adulthood

Personality development in young adulthood has been associated with the experience of a number of new social roles. However, the causal interpretation of these findings is complicated by the fact that it is not possible to randomize young adults by their life experiences. To address this problem in the context of the first partnership experience, we applied propensity score matching to a sample of initially inexperienced singles and followed them across 4 years. Using matched samples, results indicated that the first partnership experience relatively robust increased life satisfaction. The first partnership experience between the ages of 23 and 25 (but not in other ages) was also related to higher self-esteem, extraversion, and conscientiousness and to lower neuroticism. The discussion highlights the effect of the first partnership on the development of a mature personality and the potential for propensity score matching to make useful contributions to social and personality research. (DIPF/Orig.

The Impact of Union Dissolution and Divorce on Adolescents’ and Adults’ Relationships with their Parents

Using data of the German Family Panel pairfam, this article examines whether relationship-related transitions among adolescents and adults – separations with or without subsequent new relationships and transitions from being single to a relationship – impact different aspects of their relationship with their parents (contact frequency, intimacy, and conflict). Several competing hypotheses are tested. The resource hypothesis, following a supply-side argumentation, posits that relationships generate resources (i.e. social capital) that facilitate exchange with parents; relationship breakup implies resource deprivation and produces strain, which adversely affects the parent-child relationship (spillover hypothesis). According to the demand-based compensation hypothesis, horizontal relationships and vertical intergenerational relations are substitutively associated with each other; hence, exchanges between generations should be strongest when children are not involved in romantic relationships. The analyses yield evidence in line with both the compensation hypothesis (particularly among adolescents) and the spillover hypothesis (among adults). The effects are largely gender neutral.Using data of the German Family Panel pairfam, this article examines whether relationship-related transitions among adolescents and adults – separations with or without subsequent new relationships and transitions from being single to a relationship – impact different aspects of their relationship with their parents (contact frequency, intimacy, and conflict). Several competing hypotheses are tested. The resource hypothesis, following a supply-side argumentation, posits that relationships generate resources (i.e. social capital) that facilitate exchange with parents; relationship breakup implies resource deprivation and produces strain, which adversely affects the parent-child relationship (spillover hypothesis). According to the demand-based compensation hypothesis, horizontal relationships and vertical intergenerational relations are substitutively associated with each other; hence, exchanges between generations should be strongest when children are not involved in romantic relationships. The analyses yield evidence in line with both the compensation hypothesis (particularly among adolescents) and the spillover hypothesis (among adults). The effects are largely gender neutral

A Calibration Bound for the M-Theory Fivebrane

We construct a covariant bound on the energy-momentum of the M-fivebrane which is saturated by all supersymmetric configurations. This leads to a generalised notion of a calibrated geometry for M-fivebranes when the worldvolume gauge field is non-zero. The generalisation relevant for Dp-branes is also given.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX2e, uses vmargin.sty. Typos corrected, a reference and a new discussion on conserved charges added. v4: A typo in the expression for the D-fourbrane energy correcte

"... dann wird die Rente nicht mehr das sein, was sie vielleicht für meine Eltern noch ist" : Alterssicherung und Alterssicherungspolitik aus Sicht der Bevölkerung

Das deutsche Rentensystem und der Generationenvertrag sind unter Druck geraten. Demografische Verschiebungen, anhaltende Massenarbeitslosigkeit sowie die Übertragung des westdeutschen Systems der Altersvorsorge auf die neuen Bundesländer führten zu einem Paradigmenwechsel in der Alterssicherungspolitik. Durch die mit der Riester-Förderung eingeführte private Altersvorsorge, das Alterseinkünftegesetz und die 2006 beschlossene sukzessive Erhöhung des Renteneintrittsalters auf 67 Jahre im Jahre 2029 sind die rentenpolitischen Konsolidierungsmaßnahmen vorerst zu einem Abschluss gekommen. Der Generationenvertrag, nach dem »der Anspruch der Rentner auf Sicherung ihres Lebensstandards und der Anspruch der Beitragszahler auf Berücksichtigung ihrer Leistungsfähigkeit gleichermaßen beachtet werden müssen«/1/, wurde somit durch die Stärkung der privaten und betrieblichen Vorsorge und eine Verlängerung der Lebensarbeitszeit ergänzt. ..

Educational policies matter. How schooling strategies influence refugee adolescents\u27 school participation in lower secondary education in Germany

This article investigates the educational participation of refugee adolescents in Germany. Opportunities and restrictions for school participation vary not only across countries–, but in the case of the Federal Republic of Germany, also within countries. The influence of different regional educational policies on refugees\u27 educational participation and the extent to which they limit or enable individual agency, are however, widely understudied. We aim to analyze how different regional educational policies within Germany influence refugee students\u27 educational participation regarding four central indicators: the duration until school enrollment, the type of class attended (newcomer vs. regular class), the type of school attended, and whether they are enrolled in settings appropriate for their age. We rely on a theoretical model which sees educational decisions as the result of rational cost-benefit calculations. Our analyses are based on data from 2,415 adolescents who were interviewed in the “ReGES–Refugees in the German Educational System” study. Our results show significant correlations between different regional educational policies and the four domains of educational participation. These effects remain stable when considering family and individual resources, as well as further control variables that previous research on social and ethnic educational inequality has shown to be relevant. Family and individual resources only partially influence educational participation. This indicates that refugee students and their parents have only limited options for action concerning their educational participation. Thus, our study shows that educational policies in fact matter: the assignment to a federal state plays a significant role in determining the duration until school enrollment, whether one is placed to a grade level age-appropriately, and whether one attends a newcomer class. Most significantly, legal regulations strongly influence refugees\u27 chances of attending a higher school track (Gymnasium). Due to the low permeability of the German education system, this creates path dependencies for the further education and career paths of new immigrant students. (DIPF/Orig.

Role of CDOs in the Digital Transformation of SMEs and LSEs - An Empirical Analysis

In recent years, the economy and companies of all sizes operating within it have undergone a progressive transformation that implied increased market complexity and dominance of the buyer market. This development is the result of the third industrial revolution and has been fostered during the last 40 years by major innovations in digital computer technology. This first digital revolution resulted in the development of the first computers and the associated entry of new electronics and information and communication technology (ICT) in companies being able to automate production processes and make them more efficient. Digitalization means not only the change of individual processes rather the fundamental transformation of entire business areas or the entire business model. In order not only to master, but also to cope with, the challenges of digital transformation, companies need a member in the management board that provides specific expertise and encourages these digital changes. In the process, the position of Chief Digital Officer (CDO) has been created precisely to meet these challenges of the digital transformation of a business model. The present work is based on various case studies analyzing what role the CDO plays in the framework of digital transformation in various company sizes (SMEs and LSEs). In particular, the responsibility, specific obligations and rights and the role - namely, functions and tasks - and the change in the role have been examined since taking over the position

The effect of reading aloud daily - differential effects of reading to native-born German and Turkish-origin immigrant children

Literature that examines possible heterogeneous effects of reading aloud to children of immigrants and children of native-born parents is scarce. The current study tries to address this scarcity by examining the effects of daily parent-child reading activities on the German vocabulary knowledge of children with (n = 531) and without migration background (n = 499) between the ages of three to five. Using propensity score matching (PSM), determinants of reading aloud daily to children are analyzed in the first step. Native parents are found to be more likely to read aloud daily to their children. Parents’ education, cultural capital and a high frequency of engaging parenting practices also predict the frequency of parent-child reading. Factors specific to immigrant families are the age of migration and the primary family language. The effect of reading aloud on the vocabulary skills of children is the focus of the second part of the analysis. Positive effects are found among children of immigrants and children of native-born parents. However, this positive effect is reduced over time for native children. Overall, reading aloud daily is most effective among children of immigrant families, using the language of the host country as the primary family language, and among parents with good receiving country language skills

Introduction to the Special Issue "Families, health, and well-being"

A century of scientific research on the family-health nexus notwithstanding, the last dec-ade has witnessed a renewed interest in elucidating the complex interplay of family, well-being and health. Several recent overview articles on the topic have appeared over the last decade, reflecting an attempt to sum up the main results from ‘first-generation’ research (Arránz Becker et al. 2017; Carr/Springer 2010; Carr et al. 2014; Hank/Steinbach 2018; Rapp/Klein 2015; Dolan et al. 2008; Hansen 2012) and to point to persistent gaps in the literature and directions for future research. We take this as an indication that we are witnessing the emergence of a ‘second-generation’ era of research that more closely follows the well-known tenets of life course theory (Mayer 2009), according to which individuals actively take age-graded, path-dependent life course decisions based on their available material and intangible resources within specific sociohistorical contexts. Consequently, recent studies are beginning to take a longitudinal perspective in a more rigorous manner (Arránz Becker et al. 2017) and are addressing issues of causality and social context ef-fects more carefully than before (Hank/Steinbach 2018)

Social Diffusion of Religious Values within Families: Conceptual and Methodological Considerations

Familienmitglieder repräsentieren füreinander jeweils gegenseitig den sozialen Kontext, innerhalb dessen sich familiales Handeln und individuelle Persönlichkeitsentwicklung abspielen. Soziale Einflüsse in Familien äußern sich empirisch in einer überzufälligen Ähnlichkeit der Familienmitglieder hinsichtlich einer großen Bandbreite von Merkmalen. Der vorliegende Beitrag fokussiert auf die intrafamiliale Homogenisierung hinsichtlich Religiosität, wobei in einem empirischen Datenbeispiel horizontale Paar-Angleichungsprozesse sowie vertikale intergenerationale Transmissionsprozesse untersucht werden. Neben dem Befund, dass Sozialisationserfahrungen im Elternhaus bedeutsamer sind als spätere Partnereinflüsse, zeigen die Analysen, dass soziale Kontexteffekte umso stärker ausfallen, je größer die Kohäsion in der jeweiligen Interaktionsdyade ist; hier operationalisiert über die Beziehungsqualität.Family members create for each other the social context in which family behavior and personality development take place. The importance of social influence in families is evidenced empirically by family members' great similarity on a wide variety of characteristics. Focusing on intrafamily convergence on religiosity, the study discuses empirical methods of dyadic analysis and illustrates their use with an analysis of horizontal intracouple alignment and vertical intergenerational transmission. In addition to the finding that experiences during religious socialization in the parental home have a stronger impact than partner influences in adulthood, the analyses show that social context effects are stronger when the interaction dyad is more cohesive, as measured by, for example, relationship quality