Microfinance: Fortune at or also for the bottom of the pyramid?

As globalization increasingly becomes recognized as a major driver of an increasing gap between rich and poor (Soros, 2002); scholars and policy makers alike have responded to the pressure to create a more inclusive system of capitalism that better responds to the needs of the poor (Hart & London, 2005) in part by proposing an increased role of commercial businesses. This paper outlines the positives and negatives of microfinance, concluding that it is no panacea for poverty alleviation

The Dynamic Nature of Passion: Understanding the Pursuit, Experience, and Perception of Passion

This dissertation explores the dynamic nature of passion. To do so, I theoretically and empirically examine the pursuit, experience, and perception of passion. This dissertation took its initial shape when my review of the passion literature revealed two key gaps. First, there was a proliferating number of definitions of passion; many of them focused on different, but what I deemed to be essential, aspects of passion. Drawing on, integrating, and extending prior conceptualizations of passion, I define passion as a strong feeling toward a personally value/preference that motivates behaviors to express that value/preference. The second gap in the passion literature I noted was that passion was almost always conceptualized as a static, trait-like characteristic, unvarying over time. In contrast, due to its’ affective and behavioral components, I propose that passion has a dynamic nature: it can vary in the short- and long-term and it is subject to social dynamics through how people perceive and respond to the expressions of passion by others. My dissertation includes four chapters, with each one offering new theoretical insights and empirical evidence that highlight the dynamic nature of passion. In Chapter 1, I explore how people define and conceptualize the pursuit of passion for themselves. I find that employees generally hold one of two lay beliefs about how to follow their passion, believing they should either a) engage in experiences that make them feel good or b) engage in personally important experiences. I then conducted two correlational and one experimental study and find that the differential endorsement of these different lay beliefs influences how likely employees are to attain their desired levels of passion, using a passion attainment scale I developed, and whether they quit their jobs. Chapter 2 investigates the existence and consequences of short-term variations in passion over time, what I term passion variability. To explore the dynamics of passion variability, I ran a study that asked a sample of 526 full-time employees to respond to 30 daily prompts and three surveys, conducted a week prior to, two weeks following, and two months following the daily survey portion. This data structure also allowed me to investigate the consequences of passion variability, operationalized as the standard deviation of daily levels of passion. Indeed, I find that passion variability is double-edged: while it is associated with worse evaluative outcomes, it also associated with increased motivation. In Chapter 3, I explore why prior studies linking both passion and grit to performance have been beset by contradictory evidence. Although grit has been defined as the combination of passion and perseverance, I highlight that prior measurements of grit have focused on perseverance but have not adequately captured passion. Across a meta-analysis and two correlational studies, I find that the combination of perseverance (measured through the grit scale) and passion attainment (a construct that explicitly incorporates passion’s dynamic nature) is associated with higher performance. Chapter 4 extends the dynamic nature of passion to the social world and explores how expressions of passion are interpreted by others. Across six studies, including an archival analysis of entrepreneurial pitches, I find that others confer status on those who express passion, but only when a) those displays of passion are viewed as appropriate to the situation, b) perceivers agree with the target of expresser’s passion, and c) when the context is cooperative. Taken together, the findings across the four chapters of this dissertation establish the dynamic nature of passion—its pursuit, experience, and perception

The Sharp Spikes of Poverty:Financial Scarcity Is Related to Higher Levels of Distress Intensity in Daily Life

Although income is an important predictor of life satisfaction, the precise forces that drive this relationship remain unclear. We propose that financial resources afford individuals a path to reducing the distressing impact of everyday hassles, thereby increasing one's life satisfaction. More specifically, we hypothesize that financial scarcity is associated with greater distress intensity in everyday life. Furthermore, we propose that lower perceived control helps explain why financial scarcity predicts higher distress intensity and lower life satisfaction. We provide evidence for these hypotheses in a 30-day daily diary study (522 participants, 13,733 observations). A second study (N = 376) further suggests that, although everyone relies on social support to ease stress, financial scarcity shrinks the sense one can use economic resources to reduce the adverse impact of daily hassles. Although money may not necessarily buy happiness, it reduces the intensity of stressors experienced in daily life-and thereby increases life satisfaction

Income More Reliably Predicts Frequent Than Intense Happiness

There is widespread consensus that income and subjective well-being are linked, but when and why they are connected is subject to ongoing debate. We draw on prior research that distinguishes between the frequency and intensity of happiness to suggest that higher income is more consistently linked to how frequently individuals experience happiness than how intensely happy each episode is. This occurs in part because lower-income individuals spend more time engaged in passive leisure activities, reducing the frequency but not the intensity of positive affect. Notably, we demonstrate that only happiness frequency underlies the relationship between income and life satisfaction. Data from an experience sampling study (N = 394 participants, 34,958 daily responses), a preregistered cross-sectional study (N = 1,553), and a day reconstruction study (N = 13,437) provide empirical evidence for these ideas. Together, this research provides conceptual and empirical clarity into how income is related to happiness.</p

Between home and work: Commuting as an opportunity for role transitions

Across the globe, every workday people commute an average of 38 minutes each way, yet surprisingly little research has examined the implications of this daily routine for work-related outcomes. Integrating theories of boundary work, self-control, and work-family conflict, we propose that the commute to work serves as a liminal role transition between home and work roles, prompting employees to engage in boundary management strategies. Across three field studies (n = 1,736), including a four-week-long intervention study, we find that lengthy morning commutes are more aversive for employees with lower trait self-control and greater work-family conflict, leading to decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover. In addition, we find that employees who engage in a specific boundary management strategy we term role-clarifying prospection (i.e., thinking about the upcoming work role) are less likely to be negatively affected by lengthy commutes to work. Results further show that employees with higher levels of trait self-control are more likely to engage in role-clarifying prospection, and employees who experience higher levels of work-family conflict are more likely to benefit from role-clarifying prospection. Although the commute to work is typically seen as an undesirable part of the workday, our theory and results point to the benefits of using it as an opportunity to transition into one’s work role

Commuting with a Plan: How Goal-Directed Prospection Can Offset the Strain of Commuting

To get to work, employees need to commute. Across the globe, the average commute is 38 minutes each way per day. It is well known that longer commutes have negative effects on employees’ well-being and job-related outcomes. Yet, commuting may not similarly affect all employees, since some of them may naturally engage in behaviors to offset the negative effects of longer commutes. Drawing on psychological research on self-control, we theorize how engaging in future-oriented thinking about the tasks to complete during the workday (i.e., goal-directed prospection) while commuting to work influences work outcomes. Across two field studies and one field experiment, we find that individuals higher in trait self-control are less likely to report negative effects of longer commutes. While commuting, individuals with higher trait self-control engage in goal-directed prospection, partially offsetting the strain of commuting. In a field experiment, individuals asked to engage in goal-directed prospecting during commuting reported higher levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of emotional exhaustion. Although commuting is typically seen as the least desirable part of an employee’s day, our theory and results point to the benefits of viewing it as a useful time period to engage in goal-directed prospection

Ibrutinib combined with immunochemotherapy with or without autologous stem-cell transplantation versus immunochemotherapy and autologous stem-cell transplantation in previously untreated patients with mantle cell lymphoma (TRIANGLE):a three-arm, randomised, open-label, phase 3 superiority trial of the European Mantle Cell Lymphoma Network

Background: Adding ibrutinib to standard immunochemotherapy might improve outcomes and challenge autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) in younger (aged 65 years or younger) mantle cell lymphoma patients. This trial aimed to investigate whether the addition of ibrutinib results in a superior clinical outcome compared with the pre-trial immunochemotherapy standard with ASCT or an ibrutinib-containing treatment without ASCT. We also investigated whether standard treatment with ASCT is superior to a treatment adding ibrutinib but without ASCT. Methods: The open-label, randomised, three-arm, parallel-group, superiority TRIANGLE trial was performed in 165 secondary or tertiary clinical centres in 13 European countries and Israel. Patients with previously untreated, stage II–IV mantle cell lymphoma, aged 18–65 years and suitable for ASCT were randomly assigned 1:1:1 to control group A or experimental groups A+I or I, stratified by study group and mantle cell lymphoma international prognostic index risk groups. Treatment in group A consisted of six alternating cycles of R-CHOP (intravenous rituximab 375 mg/m2 on day 0 or 1, intravenous cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m2 on day 1, intravenous doxorubicin 50 mg/m2 on day 1, intravenous vincristine 1·4 mg/m2 on day 1, and oral prednisone 100 mg on days 1–5) and R-DHAP (or R-DHAOx, intravenous rituximab 375 mg/m2 on day 0 or 1, intravenous or oral dexamethasone 40 mg on days 1–4, intravenous cytarabine 2 × 2 g/m2 for 3 h every 12 h on day 2, and intravenous cisplatin 100 mg/m2 over 24 h on day 1 or alternatively intravenous oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2 on day 1) followed by ASCT. In group A+I, ibrutinib (560 mg orally each day) was added on days 1–19 of R-CHOP cycles and as fixed-duration maintenance (560 mg orally each day for 2 years) after ASCT. In group I, ibrutinib was given the same way as in group A+I, but ASCT was omitted. Three pairwise one-sided log-rank tests for the primary outcome of failure-free survival were statistically monitored. The primary analysis was done by intention-to-treat. Adverse events were evaluated by treatment period among patients who started the respective treatment. This ongoing trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02858258. Findings: Between July 29, 2016 and Dec 28, 2020, 870 patients (662 men, 208 women) were randomly assigned to group A (n=288), group A+I (n=292), and group I (n=290). After 31 months median follow-up, group A+I was superior to group A with 3-year failure-free survival of 88% (95% CI 84–92) versus 72% (67–79; hazard ratio 0·52 [one-sided 98·3% CI 0–0·86]; one-sided p=0·0008). Superiority of group A over group I was not shown with 3-year failure-free survival 72% (67–79) versus 86% (82–91; hazard ratio 1·77 [one-sided 98·3% CI 0–3·76]; one-sided p=0·9979). The comparison of group A+I versus group I is ongoing. There were no relevant differences in grade 3–5 adverse events during induction or ASCT between patients treated with R-CHOP/R-DHAP or ibrutinib combined with R-CHOP/R-DHAP. During maintenance or follow-up, substantially more grade 3–5 haematological adverse events and infections were reported after ASCT plus ibrutinib (group A+I; haematological: 114 [50%] of 231 patients; infections: 58 [25%] of 231; fatal infections: two [1%] of 231) compared with ibrutinib only (group I; haematological: 74 [28%] of 269; infections: 52 [19%] of 269; fatal infections: two [1%] of 269) or after ASCT (group A; haematological: 51 [21%] of 238; infections: 32 [13%] of 238; fatal infections: three [1%] of 238). Interpretation: Adding ibrutinib to first-line treatment resulted in superior efficacy in younger mantle cell lymphoma patients with increased toxicity when given after ASCT. Adding ibrutinib during induction and as maintenance should be part of first-line treatment of younger mantle cell lymphoma patients. Whether ASCT adds to an ibrutinib-containing regimen is not yet determined. Funding: Janssen and Leukemia &amp; Lymphoma Society.</p