This group of articles studies the effects of microelectronics technologies on the world of work and on the social and economic life in general. These studies are related to several industrial nations and are also concerned with the international division of labor. (SSH)

We cannot limit our focus merely to providing unemployed teenagers and young adults with the skills to get jobs. We also have to face the challenge of reeducating the 40-year-old worker whose job has permanently disappeared. (RM)

As part of an effort to improve the quality of work life, an Employees Communication and Development Council was formed at the West Bloomfield School District of Orchard Lake, Michigan. The council concentrates on improving the district's internal communications and planning for staff development activities. (PP)

The mediating effects of sex, self-monitoring, and environmental perceptions on social density on stress were examined using 53 male and 49 female dormitory residents occupying single or triple rooms. Measures of stress included blood pressure, heart rate and psychosomatic symptomatology. The "counterintuitive" results did not support…

Analysis of the specific sources of residential and community satisfaction reveal the prominence of objective features of the residential environment (e.g., housing quality, environmental resources, access to housing and services, and safety) in accounting for such satisfaction. (Author/GC)

Reexamined the NORC Happiness Scale based on a survey of 1400 urban and nonurban elderly. Results indicated a high proportion of urban elderly were bored, depressed, and lonely as well as proud, excited, and interested. Their apparent inconsistent feeling states may result from a general feeling of deprivation. (Author)

Summarizes strategies for helping low income Black families to cope in society and improve their quality of life in the 1980s. Emphasizes the role of Black colleges in this effort. (MJL)

A standardized methodology for identifying, defining, and measuring work behavior and performance rather than production, and a methodology that estimates the costs and benefits of work innovation are presented for assessing organizational effectiveness and program costs versus benefits in organizational change programs. Factors in a cost-benefit…

Supported earlier findings of Black-White differences in attitudes toward the elderly. Blacks under 65 have more favorable attitudes than Whites under 65. Suggests a gap exists between the perceptions of younger Blacks and the reality experienced by older Blacks. (JAC)

Compared neighborhood perceptions and use and social network involvement in urban and suburban older people. Urban older people reported more frequent interactions with friends, greater dissatisfaction with friendships and greater organizational participation. Informal social relationships were related to elderly urbanites' morale but had…

Volunteer workers over sixty-five were compared to retired elderly who did not engage in work activity. Volunteers had significantly higher degree of life satisfaction, stronger will to live, and fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and somatization. No differences were found on demographics or background. (Author)

Hypothesizes that the unanticipated shifts in the character and composition of South Commons (a Chicago urban renewal project of the 1970s created to be heterogeneous in population and housing form) were due to a lack of congruence between the physical environment and the social structures it housed. (NEC)

Assessed the relationships between a life satisfaction index and social/demographic/psychological factors in older adults. Results showed marital status, occupational prestige, years of formal education, race, annual income, and a variety of specific satisfaction with life measures were related to successful aging. (Author)

Characterizes global modelling as addressing questions of human survival and well-being. Briefly describes models in three categories: the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis conference models, global international economic models, and politically-oriented models. Suggests that global models in the 80s work toward shaping the…

Noting that throughout history people have despaired of their soclety and their age, the author asserts that our current despondency about life and humankind is not due to our scientific culture, but to the increasing complexity and depersonalization of our social, political, and economic institutions. (SJL)