Value stability and change during self-chosen life transitions: Self-selection versus socialization effects

Copyright @ 2013 APA. This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.Three longitudinal studies examine a fundamental question regarding adjustment of personal values to self-chosen life transitions: Do values fit the new life setting already at its onset, implying value-based self-selection? Or do values change to better fit the appropriate and desirable values in the setting, implying value socialization? As people are likely to choose a life transition partly based on their values, their values may fit the new life situation already at its onset, leaving little need for value socialization. However, we propose that this may vary as a function of the extent of change the life transition entails, with greater change requiring more value socialization. To enable generalization, we used 3 longitudinal studies spanning 3 different life transitions and different extents of life changes: vocational training (of new police recruits), education (psychology vs. business students), and migration (from Poland to Britain). Although each life transition involved different key values and different populations, across all 3 studies we found value fit to the life situation already early in the transition. Value socialization became more evident the more aspects of life changed as part of the transition, that is, in the migration transition. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for research on values and personality change, as well as limitations and future directions for research

Nonexistence of nonconstant solutions of some degenerate Bellman equations and applications to stochastic control

For a class of Bellman equations in bounded domains we prove that sub-and supersolutions whose growth at the boundary is suitably controlled must be constant. The ellipticity of the operator is assumed to degenerate at the boundary and a condition involving also the drift is further imposed. We apply this result to stochastic control problems, in particular to an exit problem and to the small discount limit related with ergodic control with state constraints. In this context, our condition on the behavior of the operator near the boundary ensures some invariance property of the domain for the associated controlled diffusion process

Value stability and change during self-chosen life transitions: self-selection versus socialization effects

Three longitudinal studies examine a fundamental question regarding adjustment of personal values to self-chosen life transitions: Do values fit the new life setting already at its onset, implying value-based self-selection? Or do values change to better fit the appropriate and desirable values in the setting, implying value socialization? As people are likely to choose a life transition partly based on their values, their values may fit the new life situation already at its onset, leaving little need for value socialization. However, we propose that this may vary as a function of the extent of change the life transition entails, with greater change requiring more value socialization. To enable generalization, we used 3 longitudinal studies spanning 3 different life transitions and different extents of life changes: vocational training (of new police recruits), education (psychology vs. business students), and migration (from Poland to Britain). Although each life transition involved different key values and different populations, across all 3 studies we found value fit to the life situation already early in the transition. Value socialization became more evident the more aspects of life changed as part of the transition, that is, in the migration transition. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for research on values and personality change, as well as limitations and future directions for research

Party organisational change in Italy (1991-2006)

This article analyses the organisational change in Italian political parties since 1990 with the aim of finding evidence in favour or against the widespread view in the literature that organisational resources, and hence power, are becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of party and/or parliamentary leaders, and that there is a corresponding decline in the territorial presence of parties. 10 The account made here of the evolution of Italian parties follows quite closely Katz and Mair’s approach by analysing separately their three organisational faces and observing their characteristics and change over time face by face. Trends in membership, finances, staff and party statutes confirm to a large extent the overall research hypothesis.This article analyses the organisational change in Italian political parties since 1990 with the aim of finding evidence in favour or against the widespread view in the literature that organisational resources, and hence power, are becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of party and/or parliamentary leaders, and that there is a corresponding decline in the territorial presence of parties. 10 The account made here of the evolution of Italian parties follows quite closely Katz and Mair’s approach by analysing separately their three organisational faces and observing their characteristics and change over time face by face. Trends in membership, finances, staff and party statutes confirm to a large extent the overall research hypothesis

Using a Comparative Species Approach to Investigate the Neurobiology of Paternal Responses

A goal of behavioral neuroscience is to identify underlying neurobiological factors that regulate specific behaviors. Using animal models to accomplish this goal, many methodological strategies require invasive techniques to manipulate the intensity of the behavior of interest (e.g., lesion methods, pharmacological manipulations, microdialysis techniques, genetically-engineered animal models). The utilization of a comparative species approach allows researchers to take advantage of naturally occurring differences in response strategies existing in closely related species. In our lab, we use two species of the Peromyscus genus that differ in paternal responses. The male California deer mouse (Peromyscus californicus) exhibits the same parental responses as the female whereas its cousin, the common deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) exhibits virtually no nurturing/parental responses in the presence of pups. Of specific interest in this article is an exploration of the neurobiological factors associated with the affiliative social responses exhibited by the paternal California deer mouse. Because the behavioral neuroscience approach is multifaceted, the following key components of the study will be briefly addressed: the identification of appropriate species for this type of research; data collection for behavioral analysis; preparation and sectioning of the brains; basic steps involved in immunocytochemistry for the quantification of vasopressin-immunoreactivity; the use of neuroimaging software to quantify the brain tissue; the use of a microsequencing video analysis to score behavior and, finally, the appropriate statistical analyses to provide the most informed interpretations of the research findings

Flexible mobile hub for e-bike sharing and cruise tourism: A case study

Bike sharing is no longer a novelty in transportation and has now become a mobility solution in its own right. This study investigated the potential scope of application of e-bike sharing solutions for a niche sector such as cruise tourism, the importance of which is growing, with the aim of improving sustainability and reducing pollution levels in cruise ports. A revealed preference survey was administered to cruise tourists, who chose a pilot e-bike service once they had disembarked from the ship to visit the nearby city center, to investigate the main variables affecting satisfaction with the service under investigation. An ordered probit model was specified and calibrated to identify the relationship among the variables influencing e-bike sharing usage by cruise tourists and their satisfaction. Subsequently, the marginal effect of each significant factor was evaluated to quantify its actual impact on the related e-bike sharing satisfaction level. The results obtained are consistent with the literature, but interesting interpretations are provided in terms of the relative importance of significant variables

Desarrollo post-embrionario, fecundidad y consumo de alimento de Dichroplus exilis (Orthoptera: Acrididae) bajo condiciones controladas

Dichroplus exilis is a widely distributed species in Southern South America. Although there have been reports of D. exilis as an agricultural pest, some recent observations suggest that the damage attributed to D. elongatus may actually have been caused by D. exilis. This study was conducted to determine the postembryonic life cycle stages, fertility and food consumption of this species under controlled conditions (30°C, 14L-10D, 40% RH).Individuals employed belong to the laboratory-hatched first generation (F1), from adults (n=64, ♀=28, ♂=36) collected in natural grasslands near Rafaela, Santa Fe province in North- Eastern Argentina. Three cohorts of 16, 17 and 20 individuals were monitored independently in acetate tubes on a daily basis, until death of the last insect. Average fecundity was 381.84, 38.54 eggs per female. Egg-pod incubation time was 14.4, 1.08 days and six nymphal instars were recorded. Nymphal development time was 41.38, 0.71 days (I=8.73, 0.20; II=6.38, 0.24; III=5.64, 0.33; IV=7.15; 0.43; V=9.76, 0.54; IV=7.85, 0.95). The recorded food consumption was 9.89, 1.08 (mg/ind/day) for nymphs IV, 18.04, 0.73 (mg/ind/day) for nymphs V-IV, 16.76, 1.06 (mg/ind/day) for pre-reproductive males, 28.09, 1.81 (mg/ind/day) for pre-reproductive females, 7.71, 0.91 (mg/ind/day) for reproductive males and 13.06, 0.71 (mg/ind/day) for reproductive females, while the average adult food consumption, regardless of sex and reproductive status, was 16.41, 4.32mg/day. Average food consumption of adult females was 17.47, 1.15mg, and was significantly higher than that of males (10.83, 0.91mg). Data obtained in this study showed that D. exilis exhibits at least some of the biological attributes needed to configure an actual or potential agricultural pest, albeit not yet recognized as such. Field monitoring of grasshopper communities in areas where damage by D. exilis is suspected is envisaged in order to determine its possible status as a pest