This study examined the relationship between perceived fairness of social policies and subjective well-being. Two types of policies examined were related to income distribution and social security. Subjective well-being was measured by work and life satisfaction. In addition, subjective well-beings between different income, age, and education…

This study investigated parental psychological control of adolescents when construed as disrespect of individuality. First, 120 adolescents from 5 cultures were interviewed and asked to identify specific parental behaviors that communicated to them that they were disrespected as individuals. The interview data were coded and 8 new survey items…

The question whether a person's attained socioeconomic position is mainly due to hers/his intelligence, socioeconomic background, or level of education, has sparked some controversy. In the present study, the effects of these three variables, as well as emotional capacity, on attained occupational position and on income were analyzed with…

According to the Matthew effect model, interindividual differences in reading competence between poor and normal readers should become wider as students grow older. The second part of the model assumes that these differential pathways are mainly attributable to differential reading activities. The purpose of this study is to examine whether both…

Establishing model parsimony is an important component of structural equation modeling (SEM). Unfortunately, little attention has been given to developing systematic procedures to accomplish this goal. To this end, the current study introduces an innovative application of the jackknife approach first presented in Rensvold and Cheung (1999). Unlike…

Child maltreatment increases the risk for impaired social functioning and cortisol regulation. However, the longitudinal interplay among these factors is still unclear. This study aimed to shed light on the effect of maltreatment on social functioning and cortisol regulation over time. The sample consisted of 236 children (mean age 7.64 years, SD…

This study examines the role of cultural values and political ideologies in the development of materialism, and the impact of materialism on subjective well-being, in the Chinese context. A survey was conducted of 487 persons in two cities in China and the results analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings show that China's…

In structural equation modeling software, either limited-information (bivariate proportions) or full-information item parameter estimation routines could be used for the 2-parameter item response theory (IRT) model. Limited-information methods assume the continuous variable underlying an item response is normally distributed. For skewed and…

This study explored a longitudinal data set of nearly 5000 adults examining the effects of childhood cognitive ability (measured at age 11), parental social class (measured at birth), and personality on current occupational prestige (all measured at age 50), taking account the effects of education and the previous occupational levels (both…

Besides cognitive factors, children's learning at school may be influenced by more dynamic phenomena, such as motivation and achievement-related task-avoidant behavior. The present study examined the developmental dynamics of task-avoidant behavior and math performance from kindergarten to Grade 4. A total of 225 children were tested for their…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the relevant enablers and barriers related to technical education. It seeks to critically analyze the relationship amongst them so that policy makers can focus on relevant parameters to improve the service quality of technical education. Design/methodology/approach: The present study employs the…

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common and highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder with a complex aetiology. The identification of candidate intermediate phenotypes that are both heritable and genetically linked to ADHD may facilitate the detection of susceptibility genes and elucidate aetiological pathways.…

Aims: Concepts that may be effective in alleviating negative alcohol-related consequences among college students are protective behavioural strategies (PBSs), such as alternating alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Our study used an innovative hypothesis-testing statistical technique (structural equation modelling, SEM) to examine the relationship…

The present research addresses processes involved in academic value transmission within family. Drawing on expectancy x value and social learning theory, a two-wave longitudinal study based on data from 1014 students, 878 mothers, and 748 fathers was conducted to examine the mechanisms of parental influence. Structural equation modeling provided…

The 7-item adult version of the Personal Wellbeing scale (Cummins et al. Social Indic Res 64:159-190, 2003) was administered to two samples of adolescents aged 12-16 in Brazil (N = 1,588) and Spain (N = 2,900), and to a sample of adolescents aged 14-16 in Chile (N = 843). The results obtained were analyzed to determine its psychometric…