Inattentive Consumers in Markets for Services

In an experiment on markets for services, we find that consumers are likely to stick to default tariffs and achieve suboptimal outcomes. We find that inattention to the task of choosing a better tariff is likely to be a substantial problem in addition to any task and tariff complexity effect. The institutional setup on which we primarily model our experiment is the UK electricity and gas markets, and our conclusion is that the new measures by the UK regulator Ofgem to improve consumer outcomes are likely to be of limited impact

The Curse of Online Friends: The Detrimental Effects of Online Social Network Usage on Well-Being

In the pursuit of happiness, it has been conventionally accepted that more friends would bring us a better quality of life. However, with the advent of social networking sites, unprecedented social influence has pervaded our daily lives. Across two studies we show that even though people feel more satisfied with their lives when they view the friends added on Facebook, reading friends’ posts reduces their well-being. This is because the more friends people have on Facebook, the more ostentatious information they see. The resultant drop in life satisfaction occurs because people fail to draw a connection between the number of friends and the amount of ostentatious information. Moreover, this decrease in life satisfaction is mediated by envy. We contribute to the literature on consumer well-being by identifying a novel and ubiquitous phenomenon of making social comparisons with hundreds of people, a phenomenon that arose with the advent of social networking and was previously outside the scope of social comparison literature

Diferencias intra e inter individuales en inteligencia social de estudiantes portugueses

Social intelligence is a favorable condition for career decision-making and development. The social intelligence indices of Portuguese students in school years prior to a career transition are characterized and intra and interindividual differences are analyzed. Participants were 1095 students (552, 50.4% women) with a mean age of 14.78 years (SD = 1.86), in the 8th (542, 49.5%), 10th (295, 26.9%) and 11th (258, 23.6%) grades. The Cognitive Test of Social Intelligence (PCIS) was administered at two moments, six months apart. Results indicate that the 8th grade obtained higher average scores in Problem Solving, Motivation and Self-confidence (time 1), while the 10th grade obtained better results in Problem Solving, Motivation and Familiarity (time 2). Between the assessment moments, all school years register an increase in Problem Solving and Self-confidence in social situations. These results constitute favorable psychological conditions for the promotion of ethical questioning in career guidance interventions.A inteligência social constitui uma condição favorável à tomada de decisão e ao desenvolvimento vocacional. Este trabalho visa caracterizar os níveis de inteligência social, e analisar as diferenças intra e interindividuais, em alunos portugueses em anos de pré-transição vocacional. Participaram 1095 alunos (552, 50% mulheres), com uma média de idades de 14,78 anos (DP = 1,86), do 8º, 10º, e 11º níveis escolares. Administrou-se a Prova Cognitiva de Inteligência Social (PCIS), em dois momentos (T1 e T2), com seis meses de intervalo. Os resultados indicam que o 8º ano obteve resultados médios superiores, nos índices de Resolução de Problemas, Motivação e Autoconfiança (T1), enquanto o 10º ano obteve resultados superiores, em Resolução de Problemas, Motivação e Familiaridade (T2). Entre momentos de avaliação, registra-se, para todos os níveis escolares, um aumento em Resolução de Problemas e Autoconfiança em situações sociais. Estes resultados constituem condições psicológicas favoráveis à promoção do questionamento ético nas intervenções de orientação vocacional.La inteligencia social es una condición favorable para la toma de decisiones y el desarrollo de la carrera. Se caracterizan los niveles de inteligencia social y sus diferencias intra e interindividuales en estudiantes portugueses en transición pre-profesional. Participaron 1095 estudiantes (552, 50.4% mujeres) con una edad media de 14.78 (DE = 1.86), del 8º (542, 49,5%), 10º (295, 26.9%) y 11º (258, 23.6%) años escolares. Se administró la Prueba Cognitiva de Inteligencia Social (PCIS) en dos ocasiones, con seis meses de diferencia. Los resultados indican que los estudiantes del 8º grado obtuvieron puntajes medios más altos en la Resolución de Problemas, Motivación y Confianza (T1), mientras que los del 10º grado obtuvieron mejores resultados en la Resolución de Problemas, Motivación y Familiaridad (T2). Entre momentos de evaluación se registra, para todos los años, un aumento en la Resolución de Problemas y Confianza en situaciones sociales. Estos resultados constituyen condiciones psicológicas favorables a la promoción del cuestionamiento ético en las intervenciones de orientación profesional.Project coordinated by the fourth author and co-funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology and the Compete Program - PTDC/CPE-CED/098896/200

Leptin and adiponectin in children and young persons with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Objectives: Patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) have increased prevalence of metabolic problems. We studied adiponectin, leptin and resistin in children with CAH, in relation to BMI, treatment, hormonal and metabolic biomarkers. Design and Methods: We analysed 101 patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency (54 females, 13.0 ± 2.92 years) from 13 centres in the United Kingdom, and 83 sex- and age-matched controls. Blood parameters (leptin, adiponectin, resistin, metabolic and hormonal markers) were measured in fasted state, between 09:00 and 11:00, after the first glucocorticoid (GC) dose. Results: A difference in adipokines between patients and controls was only found for leptin in males (patients > control, P = .033). In patients and controls, leptin had a positive relationship with BMI-SDS (P < .001). However, adiponectin decreased with the BMI only in patients (P < .001). Contrary to published evidence on the effect of synthetic steroids on leptin, in our cohort, leptin decreased with the increasing first daily hydrocortisone (HC) dose (Log10Leptin = 4.1– 0.08xfirstGCdose (mg/m2), P = .009) but not with the total daily dose. When correcting for BMI, a positive relationship between leptin and insulin was only found in controls (P < .001). Adiponectin decreased with steroid precursor and androgen concentrations (17-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, 11-hydroxyandrostenedione, 11-ketotestosterone) in patients. Conclusion: Our findings indicate a decrease in leptin with the HC dose, consistent with a detrimental effect of glucocorticoid on satiety and hunger pathways in CAH. Adiponectin was decreased in patients with increased androgens concentrations, suggesting it may be used as an indicator of metabolic risk associated with poor hormonal CAH control

Population health status of South Asian and African-Caribbean communities in the United Kingdom

Population health status scores are routinely used to inform economic evaluation and evaluate the impact of disease and/or treatment on health. It is unclear whether the health status in black and minority ethnic groups are comparable to these population health status data. The aim of this study was to evaluate health-status in South Asian and African-Caribbean populations

Predictors of binge drinking in adolescents: ultimate and distal factors - a representative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As epidemiological surveys have shown, binge drinking is a constant and wide-spread problem behavior in adolescents. It is not rare to find that more than half of all adolescents engage in this behavior when assessing only the last 4 weeks of time independent of the urbanity of the region they live in. There have been several reviews on predictors of substance consumption in adolescents in general, but there has been less high quality research on predictors of binge drinking, and most studies have not been theoretically based. The current study aimed to analyze the ultimate and distal factors predicting substance consumption according to Petraitis' theory of triadic influence. We assessed the predictive value of these factors with respect to binge drinking in German adolescents, including the identification of influence direction.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the years 2007/2008, a representative written survey of N = 44,610 students in the 9^thgrade of different school types in Germany was carried out (net sample). The return rate of questionnaires was 88% regarding all students whose teachers or school directors had agreed to participate in the study. In this survey, prevalence of binge drinking was investigated as well as potential predictors from the social/interpersonal, the attitudinal/environmental, and the intrapersonal fields (3 factors of Petraitis). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, these variables were included after testing for multicollinearity in order to assess their ability to predict binge drinking.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Prevalence of binge drinking in the last 30 days was 52.3% for the surveyed adolescents with a higher prevalence for boys (56.9%) than for girls (47.5%). The two most influential factors found to protect against binge drinking with <it>p </it>< .001 were low economic status and importance of religion. The four most relevant risk factors for binge drinking (<it>p </it>< .001) were life-time prevalence of school absenteeism/truancy, academic failure, suicidal thoughts, and violence at school in the form of aggressive behavior of teachers. The model of Petraitis was partly confirmed for Binge Drinking in German adolescents and the direction of influence factors was clarified.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Whereas some of the risk and protective factors for binge drinking are not surprising since they are known for substance abuse in general, there are two points that could be targeted in interventions that do not focus on adolescents alone: (a) training teachers in positive, reassuring behavior and constructive criticism and (b) a focus on high risk adolescents either because they have a lack of coping strategies when in a negative mood or because of their low academic achievement in combination with absenteeism from school.</p

Character Strengths Among Youth

Four hundred and fiftynine students from 20 different high school classrooms in Michigan participated in focus group discussions about the character strengths included in the Values in Action Classification. Students were interested in the subject of good character and able to discuss with candor and sophistication instances of each strength. They were especially drawn to the positive traits of leadership, practical intelligence, wisdom, social intelligence, love of learning, spirituality, and the capacity to love and be loved. Students believed that strengths were largely acquired rather than innate and that these strengths developed through ongoing life experience as opposed to formal instruction. They cited an almost complete lack of contemporary role models exemplifying different strengths of character. Implications of these findings for the quantitative assessment of positive traits were discussed, as were implications for designing character education programs for adolescents. We suggest that peers can be an especially important force in encouraging the development and display of good character among youth.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45293/1/10964_2004_Article_379439.pd

Interrelationships among dependency, empathy, and sharing

The sharing behavior of 66 fourth-grade students was observed in two different experimental situations: (a) in the experimenter's presence (visible sharing), and (b) anonymously (invisible sharing). In addition, measures of empathy and dependency were given to each child. For girls some support was found for a positive relationship between empathy and sharing in both of the experimental conditions; also, moderate dependency, as measured by peer and teacher ratings, was related to invisible sharing. The correlations found among the variables were quite different for boys. Both empathy and dependency, as measured by the Children's Social Desirability Questionnaire, were negatively related to invisible sharing, and empathy was positively correlated to social desirability scores. Also, as indicated by curvilinear analyses, the interrelationships among these variables for boys were more complex than were suggested by simple linear correlations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45373/1/11031_2005_Article_BF01650603.pd

The relationship of punishment- and victim-based moral orientation to prosocial, externalizing, and norm trespassing behaviour in delinquent and non-delinquent adolescents:a validation study of the Moral Orientation Measure

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Moral Orientation Measure (MOM), which was administered to 75 juvenile delinquents and 579 non-delinquent adolescents from lower socio-economic and educational backgrounds. Confirmatory factor analysis of a two-factor model, with punishment- and victim-based moral orientation as factors, showed an adequate fit to the data, indicating construct validity of the MOM. Moderate associations between moral orientation and sociomoral reasoning, as well as empathy, were also considered indicative of construct validity. Additional evidence for construct validity was found in only small associations between moral orientation and social desirability and verbal intelligence. Stronger victim-based orientation proved to be associated with less norm trespassing behaviour in non-delinquent adolescents and more prosocial behaviour in juvenile delinquents, which was considered indicative of concurrent validity. The results of this study strengthen the case for the MOM as a reliable and valid instrument to assess moral development in adolescents at risk of behavioural maladjustment, showing that moral orientation is differently associated with morally relevant behaviour in delinquent and non-delinquent adolescents