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• Judith Rich Harris' Nurture Assumption has had a profound impact on the understanding of human development. • I detail how JRH's scholarship has altered my approach to the study of crime and criminals. • I discuss how the field of criminology has remained steadfast in their resistance to JRH's work. The Nurture Assumption by Judith Rich Harris was a revolutionary book that called into question the family socialization literature and the conventional ways in which parenting is typically studied by social scientists. In the 25 years since it was first published, the key arguments set forth in The Nurture Assumption still remain on the margins of most fields of study and not fully integrated into individual research agendas. In this paper, I focus on how Judith Rich Harris has impacted my scholarly thinking and my academic career as a criminologist. In doing so, I discuss the ways in which Judith Rich Harris' views can guide criminological thinking and the reasons why the field of criminology has been and continues to be resistant to her and The Nurture Assumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can international nongovernmental organizations (INGO) mitigate human rights violations when armed conflict ensues? There is a reason to believe that the harsh conditions of war, which destabilize society and incite nationalist and militarist notions, would prevent the work of INGO from being effective. However, world polity scholarship suggests that regardless of these conditions INGOs can improve human rights standards. INGOs are one of the principal and most effective vehicles for the diffusion of international human rights norms. In this paper, we highlight the part INGOs play in monitoring human rights violations and its potential effect on states' human rights violations during war. Examining a global sample of countries that experienced war on their soil between 1977 and 2003, this paper studies the association between INGOs count per country per year with four human rights indexes. Results show an association between the presence of INGOs and improvement of human rights conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper discusses regression analysis of incomplete event history studies with a focus on simultaneous estimation and variable selection. Such studies are commonly performed in areas such as medical studies and social sciences, and a great deal of literature has been devoted to their analysis except for the problem considered here (Sun and Zhao, 2013). We develop a new method, which will be referred to as a broken adaptive ridge regression approach. We establish its asymptotic properties, including the oracle property and clustering effect. We also report simulation results which indicate that the proposed method performs well, and better than the existing methods, in practice. In addition, an application is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Repeated measures designs are frequently used for planning experiments in the life or social sciences. Typical examples include the comparison of different treatments over time, where both factor levels may possess an additional structure. For such designs, the statistical analysis typically consists of several steps. If the global null is rejected, multiple comparisons are performed. Usually, general factorial repeated measures designs are inferred by classical linear mixed models. Common underlying assumptions, such as normality or variance homogeneity are, however, often not met in practice. Furthermore, when dealing with, e.g., ordinal or ordered categorical data, means are no longer meaningful to describe an effect and other effect sizes should be used. To this end, we developmultiple contrast tests for nonparametric treatment effects in general factorial repeated measures designs within this paper and equip them with a novel, asymptotically correct wild bootstrap approach. Because regulatory authorities require the calculation of confidence intervals, this work also provides simultaneous confidence intervals for linear contrasts and for the ratio of different contrasts in meaningful effects. Extensive simulations are conducted to foster the theoretical findings. Finally, the analysis of two datasets exemplify the applicability of the novel procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The study of temporal dynamics is essential to the advance of social science. In the study of inequality, preliminary to explaining patterns in gaps between groups is the prior task of detecting those patterns. Developing a multiple latent trajectory strategy, this paper proposes an inductive approach to the detection of inequality trends. Investigating managerial representation for Black men, Black women, White women and White men in a very large panel sample of private sector workplaces, we show that trajectories of managerial representation for each status group are much more complex than the common deductive approach leads us to believe. In fact, the volatility and the multiplicity of trajectories is one of the markers of enduring disadvantage for African Americans. Further, we demonstrate that current organizational inequality explanations can be employed and improved within this inductive methodology. The findings underscore the importance of interaction and contingency in the production of inequalities, in agreement with relational approaches to organizational inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Solidarity and punishment are both central to maintaining social order, but their interaction remains poorly understood. A number of studies report that punishment undermines solidarity in domains of generalized exchange, whereas other studies find that punishment furthers norm-compliant behavior and thereby promotes solidarity in the realm of public goods. Using a laboratory experiment, this study is the first to directly compare the effect of centralized punishment on solidarity between generalized exchange and public good settings. The results reveal that it is generalized exchange where centralized punishment induces solidarity, whereas in the public good setting the effect of punishment is negligible. The paper concludes that the structure of generalized exchange alone is insufficient to induce solidarity. In addition, generalized exchange systems require external stabilization, as provided by centralized punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though there is a wide and diverse body of literature on interaction theory in the social sciences, it is only recently that the economic, political, and cultural implications of interaction have been studied in ancient Andean societies. This paper explores the outcomes of interaction between Chancay settlers and local chaupiyunginos in the Huanangue Valley, Peru, during the Late Intermediate Period (1100–1470 CE). Drawing from entanglement theory—which explores the complex types of relationships that develop between groups when exotic goods are inserted into local systems of value (Dietler, 1998, 2010; Hodder, 2012 )—I argue that intergroup exchange and resource sharing could draw small scale groups living on the western slopes of the Andes into webs of interdependency. Using a combination of ethnohistoric and archaeological data, I argue that Chancay colonists became entangled with local chaupiyunginos due to the Chancay’s need for irrigation water and the chaupiyungino ’s desire for marine goods. Furthermore, though many cases of entanglement lead to one group being subjugated by the other, the Chancay’s economic power and the chaupiyungino ’s tactical power may have prevented this from happening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observed friendship choices are constrained by social structures and thus problematic indicators for underlying personal preferences. In this paper, we report on a study demonstrating the causal effects of preference in friendship choice based on an online field experiment. Specifically, we tested two important forces that govern friendship choices: preference for shared group identity (operationalized as the desire to befriend others sharing the same place-of-origin identity) and preference for high status (operationalized as the desire to befriend others from high-status institutions). Using an online field experiment in one of the largest social network service websites in China, we investigated the causal preference effects of these two forces free from structural constraints. The results of our study confirm the preference effects on friendship choice in both of the two dimensions we tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For nearly half a century, psychologists, pediatricians and psychiatrists have studied the potential impact of media violence on aggression and societal violence, particularly among youth. Despite hundreds of studies, scholars have failed to find consensus on potential effects. Nonetheless, professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Psychological Association have released policy statements conclusively linking violent media to societal concerns. In reaction, some scholars have accused these professional groups of distorting evidence and failing to inform the public of the inconsistent nature of studies in this field. The current paper reviews recent research on media violence. It concludes that caution is recommended in public statements regarding media effects and that professional groups risk serious reputation damage with policy statements calling for behavioral change without clear reflection of the current evidence-base of the research. Recommendations are provided for practitioners and for science policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the social sciences there has been much exciting and informative work on farmers’ markets and this paper contributes to this literature by considering how the place of farmers’ markets affects the way consumers understand the taste of food. I draw on the difficulty faced by many consumers in articulating the taste of food, especially when food is perceived to taste good. I explore how consumers demonstrate their evaluations of taste, whether through descriptions of taste that are metaphor-laden or through beliefs and values emboldened by food knowledges and opinions. I argue these are how farmers’ market consumers understand and perform taste in relation to market food. The findings that inform the paper are taken from interviews with farmers’ market consumers in the UK. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Urgent environmental issues are testing the limits of current management approaches and pushing demand for innovative approaches that integrate across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Practitioners, scholars, and policy-makers alike call for increased integration of natural and social sciences to develop new approaches that address the range of ecological and societal impacts of modern environmental issues. From a theoretical perspective, social-ecological systems (SES) science offers a compelling approach for improved environmental management through the application of transdisciplinary and resilience concepts. A framework for translating SES theory into practice, however, is lacking. In this paper, we define the key components of an SES-based environmental management approach. We offer recommendations for integrating an SES approach into existing environmental management practices. Results presented are useful for management professionals that seek to employ an SES environmental management approach and scholars aiming to advance the theoretical foundations of SES science for practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), this paper estimates the impact of random assignment into an anti-poverty program, New Hope, on earnings. The use of HLM allows for an examination of program impacts on levels, as well as trends, in quarterly data spanning more than two years of earnings. Results show that New Hope is associated with higher final levels of earnings. Additionally, results indicate that experimental group members experienced rapid earnings growth immediately after the quarter of random assignment, but that their earnings growth did not increase at a significant rate over the subsequent two-year period. Like many welfare recipients today, New Hope participants were required to work in order to receive the program's benefits. The results from this paper indicate that such a policy can lead to a rapid increase in participants' earnings, but that earnings may not continue to increase over time and may not increase enough to lift families out of poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the interdisciplinary research of neighborhood effects. Neighborhood effects are community influences on individual social or economic outcomes. Examples include labor force activity, child outcomes, criminal behavior, and other socioeconomic phenomena. The existing theoretical and empirical literature is reviewed. Conceptual definitions from sociology are linked and contrasted with economic models. Early studies are criticized for failing to account for a number of endogeneity concerns. Recent empirical studies are also explored. The results of these papers demonstrate that although neighborhood characteristics are important, their influences are much smaller than suggested by previous research. An additional emphasis is dedicated to linking the neighborhood effects literature to other research of local or spatial activity within economics, sociology, and geography. In particular, the potential employment of local interaction game theory and spatial econometrics in neighborhood effects research is discussed. Additionally, a catalogue of existing empirical research is assembled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a framework for assessing interindividual and intergroup differences in the sense of justice. The framework enables estimation of all the justice quantities of interest--the principles of microjustice and macrojustice, the style of expression, and the firmness with which the principles of microjustice are held--as well as statistical testing for cross-individual and cross-group differences. To illustrate the framework, the paper investigates gender differences in the principles of justice with respect to earnings. Using data collected by Rossi's factorial-survey method, we obtain respondent-specific estimates of (i) three principles of microjustice -- the just base wage, the just rate of return to schooling, and the just gender multiplier--and the certitude with which they are held; and (ii) the principles of macrojustice--represented by seven measures of inequality. To assess gender differences in each of these eleven elements, we estimate a variety of models, utilizing ordinary least-squares estimators and, to correct for possible heteroskedasticity and endogeneity, generalized least-squares and two-stage/least-squares estimators; for the three estimated principles of micro justice, we also carry out hierarchical empirical-Bayes analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how Latent Class Models (LCM) can be applied in social research, when the basic assumptions of regression models cannot be validated. We examine the usefulness of this method with data collected from a study on the relationship between bridging social capital and the Internet. Social capital is defined here as the resources that are potentially available in one’s social ties. Bridging is a dimension of social capital, usually related to weak ties (acquaintances), and a source of instrumental resources such as information. The study surveyed a stratified random sample of 417 inhabitants of Lisbon, Portugal. We used LCM to create the variable bridging social capital, but also to estimate the relationship between bridging social capital and Internet usage when we encountered convergence problems with the logistic regression analysis. We conclude by showing a positive relationship between bridging and Internet usage, and by discussing the potential of LCM for social science research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Understanding the ecological consequences of visitor use in parks and how visitors interact with resource conditions is essential for avoiding the impairment of park and protected area resources and visitor experiences. This study combined ecological measures of off-trail resource impacts with social science techniques to understand visitor judgments of ecological impacts and visitors' degree of exposure to impacts. Specifically, this paper reports on a novel integration of techniques that was tested in the Bear Lake Road Corridor of Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, USA in which resource change, as a result of visitor use off designated trails and sites, was assessed and combined with social science and visitor use data. Visual survey techniques were used to understand visitor judgments of ecologically important resource impacts and GPS-tracking of visitor use and behavior allowed for the determination of the degree of visitor's exposure to impaired resources. Results suggest that resource impacts are prevalent and intense throughout the area, but tended to be spatially limited in proximity to attraction sites. Visitors are interacting with resource conditions reported to be unacceptable for significant portions of their hikes. Overall, the work represents an advancement of predictive capabilities when managing park and protected area resources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A dominant assumption in social science is that shared similarities are the foundation for social categorization and identification. Accordingly, heterogeneity should hinder social identity formation. This paper argues the opposite can also be true: in heterogeneous groups, strong social identities can be built on expressions of individuality (inductive social identity formation), instead of shared similarities (deductive social identity formation). Two experiments manipulate social identity formation (deductive vs. inductive social identity formation) and support this idea. Study 1 shows that in heterogeneous groups, inductive social identity formation can result in higher identification and perceived entitativity than deductive social identity formation. Study 2 manipulates heterogeneity and confirms that while deduction of a social identity fosters a strong sense of identification in homogeneous groups, in heterogeneous groups a strong sense of identification can be brought about through induction. This pattern is also visible in real within-group cooperation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Previous studies find that workers of longer work weeks report more market hours in stylized measure than in time diary, while those of shorter work weeks report fewer hours. Using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) 2003–2007, this paper attempts to explain this dilemma. I argue that market work time is composed of activity time, committed time, and constrained time. Thus, part of the difference found between the two estimates is due to the calculation of the diary estimate. I also argue that the wording of the stylized question is consequential. Some stylized questions (e.g., How many hours per week do you usually work?) might capture the mode, instead of the mean, of work time. Thus, when the distribution of work time is skewed, the mismatch between the two estimates is expected. A sequence-based identification for diary estimate and a non-parametric adjustment for stylized estimate are proposed and empirically examined. The result indicates that both methods significantly reduce the observed gap between the two estimates. I discuss the implications for future time use survey design in the concluding section. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

By investigating the intergenerational consequences of multiple aspects of family experiences across the life course this paper advances what we know about the forces shaping children’s initiation of sexual and contraceptive behaviors. Our aim is to advance the scientific understanding of early sexual experiences by explicitly considering contraceptive use and by differentiating between the consequences of parental family experiences during childhood and those during adolescence and young adulthood. Thanks to unique, highly detailed data measuring parental family experiences throughout the life course and sexual dynamics early in life it is possible to provide detailed empirical estimates of the relationship between parental family experiences and contraceptive use at first sex—a relationship about which we know relatively little. Findings reveal (1) significant simultaneous consequences of many different dimensions of parental family experiences for the timing of first sex and the likelihood of using contraception at first sex, but the specific dimensions of family important for the specific behavior vary across racial groups; and (2) that parental family experiences influence the timing of sex and contraceptive use differently. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It is one of the fundamental problems in biology and social sciences how to maintain high levels of cooperation among selfish individuals. Theorists present an effective mechanism promoting cooperation by allowing for voluntary participation in public goods games. But Nash''s theory predicts that no one can do better or worse than loners (players unwilling to join the public goods game) in the long run, and that the frequency of participants is independent of loners’ payoff. In this paper, we introduce a degree of rationality and investigate the model by means of an approximate best response dynamics. Our research shows that the payoffs of the loners have a significant effect in anonymous voluntary public goods games by this introduction and that the dynamics will drive the system to a fixed point, which is different from the Nash equilibrium. In addition, we also qualitatively explain the existing experimental results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Among those who use multiple regression or its offshoots, the dominant method of modeling an interaction effect of two independent variables on a dependent variable is to include a product variable in a linear estimation equation. In this paper, I show how the coefficient for the product variable in these models depends on the causal mechanism that underlies the interaction effect. I also show that different causal mechanisms can imply the same estimation equation, which means that one cannot determine the causal mechanism underlying an interaction effect from the empirical results produced by the estimation equation. Social scientists typically lack the kind of theoretical knowledge required to specify causal mechanisms for interaction effects, and researchers who do specify a mechanism, such as those who specify that contextual-level variables moderate the effects of individual-level variables but not vice versa, rarely justify their implicit claims. Although it is difficult to specify the causal mechanism underlying a particular interaction effect, I show that there are cases where it is possible to do so. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the role of mechanical refrigeration in seasonality and structural change in the U.S. hog–corn cycle, 1870–1940. This period covers an era in which the widespread adoption of mechanical refrigeration greatly affected the ability to store and transport perishable commodities. These developments in turn altered the seasonal production and price structure for many commodities, including pork. We use a new class of time series models, time-varying smooth transition autoregressions (TV-STARs), to document both the structural change and the nonlinear features observed in seasonal patterns for the U.S. hog–corn price relationship during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Despite the importance of affective processes in eating behaviour, it remains difficult to predict how emotions affect eating. Emphasizing individual differences, previous research did not pay full attention to the twofold variability of emotion-induced changes of eating (variability across both individuals and emotions). By contrast, the present paper takes into account both individual characteristics and emotion features, and specifies five classes of emotion-induced changes of eating: (1) emotional control of food choice, (2) emotional suppression of food intake, (3) impairment of cognitive eating controls, (4) eating to regulate emotions, and (5) emotion-congruent modulation of eating. These classes are distinguished by antecedent conditions, eating responses and mediating mechanisms. They point to basic functional principles underlying the relations between emotions and biologically based motives: interference, concomitance and regulation. Thus, emotion-induced changes of eating can be a result of interference of eating by emotions, a by-product of emotions, and a consequence of regulatory processes (i.e., emotions may regulate eating, and eating may regulate emotions). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article introduces the topic of modelling as a way for researchers to discover aspects of educational psychology that they would have otherwise missed. Researchers in the social science fields must consider various variables that may be pertinent to the topic that they are investigating. A strong connection between theories and analytical methods may enhance the research paper as a whole.

Abstract: Empirical research on multiraciality and the development of richer models of racial identity have increased in the last decade. Increased attention to such phenomena has lead to the “check all that apply” modification to the 2000 Census—an official recognition of an historical reality not before reflected on the United States’ Census. However, “identity” and “identification” are different phenomena. Using Place-level data from Census 2000 as well as data from the Survey of Biracial Experience (), this paper will reveal the geographic distribution of black–white biracial individuals via the Census and compare it to the geographic distribution of biracials’ racial self-understandings from survey methods. The findings illuminate the multifaceted relationship between public categorization and private racial identification. Finally, the implications for utilizing the new Census data for studying black–white and other mixed populations are considered. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Multiple concepts of time apply to archaeology—from analytical time used to organize and interpret the archaeological record to the time of lived experience of those individuals responsible for creation of the archaeological record. This paper demonstrates how these disparate concepts of time can be reconciled through a perception-based approach to time perspectivism, which invokes multiple analytical scales working from the minimum scale of the average human lifespan. This approach is demonstrated through a case study of hunter–gatherer demographic change in Yosemite Valley in the central Sierra Nevada of California. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper experimentally investigates the impact of reciprocal behavior in multilateral bargaining and coalition formation. Our results show that reciprocal fairness strongly affects the efficiency and equity of coalition formation. In a large majority of cases, inefficient and unfair coalitions are chosen when their coalition values are relatively high. Up to one third of the experimental population is excluded from bargaining and earns nothing. In monetary terms economically significant efficiency losses occur. We find that the interplay of selfish and reciprocal behavior unavoidably leads to this undesirable consequences. We also compare the predictions of recently developed models of social preferences with our experimental results. We find that some of these models capture the empirical regularities surprisingly well. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Based on general developmental model, various data-driven and theory-based approaches to the exploration and disentangling of age, cohort, and time effects on human behavior have emerged. This paper presents and discusses an advancement of data-driven interpretations that stresses parsimony when interpreting the results of sequential models. Second, a synthesis of data-driven and theory-based approaches examines the specific predictors of patterns of cross-sectional, longitudinal, and time-lag differences. This approach is exemplified with data from two cross-sectional samples. In 1991 and 1996, representative samples of 13- to 29-year-old Germans were interviewed orally. Parts of these samples were analyzed employing a time-sequential and a cross-sequential strategy (analyzed N=6105). While the data-driven approach allowed for two alternative interpretations, the second approach revealed that parental emotional help for their children declined with age, partly due to the children leaving home. Help provided for parents generally increased with age, however, leaving home had the opposite effect so that overall, only small and inconsistent age increases in help for parents were found. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines divisions between majority and minority ethnic groups over attitudes towards minority rights in 13 East European societies. Using national sample surveys and multilevel models, we test the effectiveness of competing explanations of ethnic polarization in attitudes towards minority rights, as well as regional and cross-national differences in levels of polarization. We find that, at the individual level, indicators of 'social distance' (inter-marriage and social interaction) account most effectively for the extent of ethnic polarization. However, regional and cross-national variations in polarization between majority and minority groups are explained most effectively by cultural (linguistic and religious) differences. These findings accord with research in the West, indicating the importance of cultural differences as a source of ethnic polarization, while offering little support for theories focusing on economic and structural factors or the size of minority groups. They also suggest the likely sources of difficulties for democratic consolidation in ethnically divided post-communist societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a test of the urban crisis thesis, which argues that the social and economic conditions of large cities have continued to deteriorate since 1970. in addition, we examine the factors that account for differences in social distress among the cities. Finally, we investigate the regional location effect on urban social distress. In general the findings show both cross-sectionally and longitudinally that (1) the urban crisis has become worse over the years; (2) differences in social distress among cities are largely a function of economic distress, urban scale, and regional location; and (3) levels of distress have converged among cities in the old industrial North (the Rustbelt) and the South and West (the Sunbelt). In fact, the most distressed cities in the country are in the Sunbelt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses two basic issues related to the assessment of the goodness-of-fit of sociological models to behavioral data: How simplifying assumptions contained in models should be evaluated and whether analysis of data should be carried out at the individual group or aggregate level. The discussion is conducted in the context of the fit of a model of participation rates by Fisek, Berger, and Norman (1991) to data collected by Smith-Lovin, Skvoretz, and Hudson (1986) in a Bales-type situation. The conclusions are that simplifying assumptions should be evaluated from the point of view of robustness of model to violations of such assumptions, and that the assessment of the adequacy of minimal actor models should be in terms of aggregated data. The fit of the model and data under consideration is assessed to be adequate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper measures and analyzes the dynamics of societal technology from 1950 to 1990. We first review prior efforts to define and measure technology; then we improve and extend an existing index of societal technology (Frisbie & Clarke 1979). Next we examine global patterns of technological change. Previous observations are extended in terms of time, from 1950 to 1990 for 53 nations; and in terms of sample size, for 98 countries from 1970 to 1990. During the 1970s and 1980s, the greatest technological gains were in Asia, while Sub-Saharan Africa had practically no change in societal technology; North Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America experienced moderate levels of change; and technology levels in Europe and North America seemed to be both increasing and converging at a decreasing rate. Finally, we apply the index in a cross-national analysis of life expectancy at birth. Societal technology is found to be a better predictor of population survival than either GNP per capita or energy consumption per capita, heretofore the most common proxy of technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]