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PubMed2001

The 2000 election and the future of U.S. politics.

After presenting data on how various ethnic/racial and income groups cast their votes in the 2000 presidential election, this article addresses the question of why Al Gore did well enough to beat George W. Bush in the popular vote but not well enough to prevent Bush from achieving a virtual tie. The author challenges some arguments put forward--Gore's being "too much of a populist" and not running on the achievements of the Clinton administration--and, based on poll data, suggests that more important to voters were problems of trust, cultural conservatism, and generic anti-government sentiment. These findings on the 2000 election suggest a number of possibilities about the political future and some ways in which the Democratic Party might develop its program to win back voters.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMed1982

Epidemiology and the scientific method.

This article refutes the claim that the field of epidemiology and community health would benefit from the application of the scientific method. It is argued that the methods of physics are not appropriate for other disciplines. When applied to the social sciences, positivism is a conservatizing force, causing theory to become based on a mere description of social phenomenon. Since it cannot lead to a deep understanding of social phenomena, positivism is incapable of revealing ways in which society could be radically changed. Moreover, such theory is far from neutral. Rather, it is formed and influenced by the forms of life experienced and practiced in the society. This is illustrated by an analysis of the origin of modern physics at the time when society was changing from a feudal to capitalist form of organization. It is concluded that advances will be made in epidemiology and community health when this field breaks from its focus on the individual and incorporates class into its analysis. However, given the interconnection between social structure and social theory, resistance to such a radical change can be expected.

Epidemiologic Methods↗

PubMed1983

The crisis of the British welfare state.

This paper analyzes the implications of the rightward shift currently underway in the advanced capitalist world for the future of the welfare state. The Thatcher government in Britain is examined as a paradigm case of this new conservatism. The quantitative cuts in social spending as well as the quantitative shifts in social policy and ideological reversals of recent years are detailed, and the contradictions of both Thatcherism and its predecessor--social democratic reformism--are exposed from the perspective of Marxist political economy. A postscript attempts to explain the continuing popularity of Thatcherism in contemporary Britain despite the devastating effects of its policies.

Cost Control↗

PubMed1989

The implications of work organization for occupational health policy: the case of Canada.

This article examines occupational health and safety developments in Canada during the decade of the 1970s when most government jurisdictions replaced former factory Acts with new health and safety legislation recognizing the right of workers to be involved in work environment matters. During the latter part of the 1970s, health and safety "activists" and trade unionists began to perceive the need for a wider conception of occupational health and safety. Canadian reformers were influenced by Scandinavian developments, especially the research of Dr. Bertil Gardell and his associates. Unfortunately, during the late 1970s Canada experienced a recession and a political shift to conservatism. Consequently, during the 1980s there have been no meaningful workplace health and safety reforms. Further, the article suggests that there is strong resistance by management and government to extension of worker rights in occupational health and safety. All major political parties ground their work environment policies in utilitarian concepts that trade worker health and safety for economic considerations. The author, therefore, argues for the development of an "ethics of the work environment" based upon egalitarian principles, and the transformation of the primary work group into a community of workers who can shape the character of their work environment. Ideally, the relationship between the major "actors" in our industrial relations system ought to be based on obligation instead of the present language of worker protest based on rights. Nonetheless, there is a need to extend and deepen worker rights in the workplace. Finally, the author argues that the appropriate relationship in industry to reflect a democratic work environment is "partnership"--the coming together of the primary work groups as equals.

Accident Prevention↗

PubMed1998

Prevalence of somatic indicators of distress in diabetes patients: comparison to psychiatric patients and community nonpatients.

OBJECTIVE: Because psychiatric screening methods are usually developed using psychiatric samples but not medical samples, they often include distress indicators that overlap with medical illness. This potentially inflates psychopathology estimates for medically ill patient groups. The objective of this study was to determine whether somatic distress indicator base rates are elevated in diabetes patients. METHOD: The occurrence of Symptom Checklist 90-R (SLC-90-R) somatic symptoms was studied in fifty-six diabetes mellitus patients (27 insulin dependent, 29 non-insulin dependent) with non-elevated SLC-90-R profiles, as compared to both community nonpatient and psychiatric patient norms. RESULTS: Of the fifteen SCL-90-R items rated by endocrinologists as most likely to be diabetes-related, nine were endorsed more frequently by diabetes patients than by nonpatients: faintness/dizziness (endorsed by 36% of diabetics), reduced libido (endorsed by 41%), anenergia (68%), memory problems (66%), trembling (18%), numbness (55%), weakness (39%), overeating (59%), and somatic concerns (41%). Anergia and faintness/dizziness were endorsed more frequently by psychiatric patients than diabetes patients, whereas numbness was endorsed more often by diabetes patients. CONCLUSIONS: Conservatism is warranted when applying these somatic indicators of distress to diabetes patients. Further studies are needed to determine whether such illness overlap biases case classification.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Race, class, and violence: research and policy implications.

A public health approach to preventing interpersonal violence involving perpetrators and victims is laudable, but fraught with social and political pitfalls. The concept of "race" is little understood and is being exploited by both academics and the media, putting racial minorities--particularly blacks, who tend to be overrepresented in data on reported violence--at further risk. Though race is acknowledged as an ambiguous concept, some dangers nonetheless persist in linking racial minorities to dysfunctional and antisocial behavior within both cultural and biological constructs. Recommendations are given to help ameliorate the effects of such contextual linking, particularly given the present mood of U.S. political conservatism.

Ethnicity↗

PubMed1982

Central and peripheral visual choice-reaction time under conditions of induced cortical hyperthermia.

Six right-handed male subjects performed a central and peripheral visual choice-reaction time (RT) task. After two initial practice periods, subjects performed counterbalanced manipulations of control, placebo, and heat conditions. In the heat condition, a helmet selectively raised cortical temperature, measured in the external auditory meatus, by 7 degrees F while the placebo condition utilized the helmet with no external heat applied. Analysis indicated that the elevation of cortical temperature caused an increase in RT and decreased rate of errors. This conservatism in subjects' response under induced cortical hyperthermia is contrasted with previous accounts of visual RT performance under manipulations of whole-body heat stress.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Blame and punishment: attitudes to juvenile and criminal offending.

Responses of 139 undergraduate social welfare students and 79 community members to a questionnaire regarding contemporary issues in juvenile and general justice were partially accounted for by a Punitive-Internal factor. Scores on a resultant 8-item index of punitive-internal attitudes were positively correlated with scores on belief in a just world and were lower for social welfare students than for community members. In a follow-up study with a second sample of 78 community members, scores on the Punitive-Internal index were significantly related to ratings on measures of attitude toward authority and political conservatism but not to reported experience of crime. Findings are consistent with previous research and indicate that opinions on juvenile offending have a similar attitudinal basis to opinions on offending in general.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Correlations of self-ratings of attitude towards violent groups with measures of personality, self-esteem, and moral reasoning.

Relations of self-rated positive attitudes towards violent groups were examined among 273 adolescents with scores on self-esteem, moral reasoning, and self-perceptions of personality. Moral reasoning, measured by the Rest Defining Issues Test, correlated -.18 but not with self-esteem scores. There were significant correlations of .18 or .19 between the self-rated attitudes and Materialism, Conformity, Conservatism, Obstinance, Anxiety, and Thoughtlessness, but rs accounted for very little common variance.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Gambling attitudes among black South African university students.

Political change in South Africa since 1994 has led to a marked increase in opportunities to gamble. The purpose of the study was, therefore, to investigate attitudes towards gambling in African University students with the Gambling Attitude Scales by sex, course of study, and personality traits such as conservatism and risk-taking. The sample included 136 University of the North students, 80 first-year psychology and 56 second-year African law students. The students were 69 men and 65 women in the age range of 18 to 32 years (M of 21.8 yr., SD = 3.9). Analysis showed that men held more positive attitudes than women did towards gambling. Positive attitudes toward gambling were related to individual differences in risk-taking, liberalism, and course of study.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Personality change as defensive responses of patients evaluated for liver transplant.

Patients affected by endstage liver disease and awaiting liver transplant suffer very stressful conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the person ality and behavioral responses of a group of liver transplant candidates, 95 men (M age 50 yr.) and of a group of 18 normal men (M age 49 yr.). The 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire of Cattell, and the PSY Inventory for Behavioral Assessment were administered to assess personality and behavior. On the 16PF Questionnaire, patients had significantly different mean scores from normal subjects on Scale B- (low mental capacity), G (conformity), N (shrewdness), and Q1- (conservatism). They also showed a somewhat lower but not a statistically significant mean on Scale E (submissiveness). In addition, on the four second-order factors of the 16PF (Anxiety, Control, Pathemia, and Extraversion) patients had a significantly higher mean on Control. With respect to PSY Inventors factors, patients showed impairment in energy, sleep, sexual disturbances, and obsessive behaviors. It appears these patients with endstage liver disease, who were evaluated for liver transplant, showed psychological regressive functioning, i.e., high control and dependency on medical staff, submissiveness, which are interpretable as defensive responses to upcoming transplant.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Do human values reflect job decisions and prosocial and antisocial behavior? A contribution towards validating the Austrian Value Questionnaire by group comparisons.

The Austrian Value Questionnaire was developed on the basis of the Lexical Approach to account for specific facets of values in Austrian culture. It comprises 54 items, constituting five scales, Intellectualism, Harmony, Religiosity, Materialism, and Conservatism, and 13 subscales. To assess construct validity, hypotheses on human values were derived from the literature and tested in Austrian samples of Catholic priests and nuns (n=30, 8 women, M age=52.6 yr.), community servants (n=30, all men, M age=21.4 yr.), and students of psychology (n=33, 19 women, M age=23.8 yr.) and economics (n=33, 18 women, M age=23.8 yr.), prisoners (n=40, 9 women, M age=34.9 yr.), and drivers who had been fined for driving while intoxicated (n=35, 5 women, M age=34.6 yr.). Participants were volunteers. Previous and more recent findings from the USA, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland provided similar results for community servants, students of economics, prisoners, and intoxicated drivers, and thus, the hypotheses for these groups were largely confirmed. Most earlier findings for priests and nuns and students of psychology were not replicated, however. Taking into account that values may change over time and variously in different cultures, the results pose an argument for the construct validity of the newly developed questionnaire.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Religious identity among Christian Korean-American adolescents.

This exploratory study examined religious identity among Christian Korean-American adolescents. Marcia's 1966 model of identity formation, which conceptualizes identity along dimensions of exploration and commitment, provided the framework for the current study. 49 participants, between the ages of 14 and 19 years, completed the Duke Religion Index, the religion items from the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, the Pan-denominational Measure of Personal Devotion and Personal Conservatism, and six questions assessing perceived parental involvement. Analysis indicated that high scores on Organizational and Intrinsic Religiosity were positively correlated with the commitment statuses of Achievement and Foreclosure and negatively correlated with the noncommitment statuses of Moratorium and Diffusion. Also high scores on perceived parental involvement were positively correlated with the nonexploration status of Foreclosure and negatively correlated with the exploration status of Moratorium. Overall, the study provided a general portrait and initial examination of the formation of religious identity in a sample of Christian Korean-American adolescents.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Immuno-suppressive effect of human alphafetoprotein: a cross species study.

Alphafetoprotein (AFP) is the major serum protein of fetal life in human and other mammalian species. The phylogenetical conservatism of AFP demonstrated by extensive immunological cross reaction between human AFP and AFP of a number of species, suggest that AFP plays a general role in the successful pregnancy of all mammalian species. The present work clearly demonstrates the antiproliferative effect of human AFP on lymphocytes, harvested from normal human donors. The inhibitory effect of human AFP is quite significant in the same dose during blastic transformations of the lymphocytes. In this study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were induced to blastic transformations with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA-M) and the effect of AFP was quantified by the incorporation of [3H]-thymidine into newly synthesized DNA during 24 hrs pulse. Moreover, human AFP shows similar immuno-suppressive effect to other species of lymphocytes also. In all the three species (mouse, rat and hamster) studied, a parallelism was noted in their respective percentage of thymidine incorporation values at the comparable doses. These results establish a cross species inhibitory effect of human AFP and it may be stated that this effect is directly targeted on T-helper cells and has no interaction with interleukin-2 (IL-2).

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Exon/intron organisation of human proteasome PROS-27 K gene.

The exon/intron structure of the human proteasome PROS-27 gene was established by means of partial sequencing of its genomic clones and comparison with the chromosome 14 sequences from the data bases. The gene contains seven exons spanning over 19kb. Introns of the gene contain numerous Alu type repeats, Mer 2 and LINE type repeats. Pattern of the repeats indicates conservatism of the sequence.

Cysteine Endopeptidases↗

PubMed1983

Attitudes of military medical officers toward the use of drug substances.

During the fall of 1979 three social work officers surveyed the entire enrollment of the advanced Army Medical Department (AMEDD) officer career course. The enrollees represented a wide range of medical specialties and years of military experience. Two questions were posed: Do medical officers enter service with conservative attitudes toward drug and alcohol substance use, or is their conservatism a product of having worked in the military system for years? And to what extent is the Stoessel Drug Attitude Inventory a reliable and valid instrument for application within this military population? This study reports the responses of 64 Army Medical Department officers to 25 items. No meaningful differences were found with respect to scale scores for the basic groups and those for the advanced group, and only a single item revealed differences between groups at the .05 level of confidence.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Modern prejudice toward gay men and lesbian women: assessing the viability of a measure of modern homonegative attitudes within an Irish context.

The authors examined the psychometric properties of the gay and lesbian versions of the Modern Homonegativity Scale (MHS-G and MHS-L) in samples of heterosexual Irish university students (Ns=179 and 353). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the MHS-G and MHS-L were unidimensional and factorially distinct from a well-established measure of old-fashioned homonegativity (Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale [ATLG]). Alpha coefficients for both versions of the MHS were good (range = .81 to .86), with 95% confidence intervals suggesting that unsatisfactory levels of scale score reliability (i.e., alpha values < .70) were relatively implausible. As hypothesized, participants' level of modern homonegativity correlated positively with their levels of old-fashioned and modem racism, patriotism, nationalism, religious fundamentalism, social dominance, and perceived political conservatism. The authors also observed a substantial inverse correlation between modern prejudice toward sexual minorities and support for their human rights. Finally, a series of multiple regression analyses indicated that, despite their interrelatedness, modern and old-fashioned homonegativity, particularly as they pertain to gay men, possess differential predictors. Limitations of the current series of studies and the need to conduct further research on attitudes toward sexual minorities within an Irish context are also discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

The effect of context on discrimination and bias in recognition memory for pictures and words.

When the context accompanying a to-be-remembered word is changed between study and test, recognition memory is impaired. The deleterious effect of context change on recognition memory can be viewed as support for encoding specificity theory, semantic theory, or the existence of two bases for recognition. A fourth possible interpretation, examined here, is that the effect of context change on recognition memory is due to an accompanying change in response bias, rather than a "true" decrease in sensitivity to old and new items. In two experiments, the effect of context change on discrimination and bias in recognition of simple line drawings and their names was examined. Bias was measured using two measures shown by Snodgrass and Corwin (1988) to be theoretically independent of their associated discrimination measures. Context change produced marked conservatism in response bias in both experiments but demonstrated an effect on discrimination in the second experiment only. The shift from a neutral to a conservative response strategy as a result of context change may also be seen in other experiments, in which the same experimental paradigm was used with a variety of stimulus materials. We suggest that the major effect of context manipulation is to produce a change in bias. A stimulus in a familiar environment appears to be more familiar than a stimulus in a strange environment, regardless of its old/new status. In addition, there appears to be a true decrease in discrimination with context change, but this is more difficult to detect. The finding that pictures, which are less polysemous than words, are as affected by context change as words are supports encoding specificity theory over semantic theory.

Adult↗