Social Salience and the Sociolinguistic Monitor: a Case Study of ING and TH-fronting in Britain

This article examines the role of social salience, or the relative ability of a linguistic variable to evoke social meaning, in structuring listeners’ perceptions of quantitative sociolinguistic distributions. Building on the foundational work of Labov et al. (2006, 2011) on the “sociolinguistic monitor” (a proposed cognitive mechanism responsible for sociolinguistic perception), we examine whether listeners’ evaluative judgments of speech change as a function of the type of variable presented. We consider two variables in British English, ING and TH-fronting, which we argue differ in their relative social salience. Replicating the design of Labov et al.’s studies, we test 149 British listeners’ reactions to different quantitative distributions of these variables. Our experiments elicit a very different pattern of perceptual responses than those reported previously. In particular, our results suggest that a variable’s social salience determines both whether and how it is perceptually evaluated. We argue that this finding is crucial for understanding how sociolinguistic information is cognitively processed.

How parties frame social citizenship and the inclusion of immigrants in Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom

Recent research on the transformation of West European party systems emphasises that cultural issues such as immigration have gained in importance besides the traditional socio-economic cleavage. While this literature shows that parties address not only cultural but also economic is-sues, it has paid less attention on whether parties combine cultural and economic issues. In this paper we focus on immigrants’ social rights by analysing if and how mainstream parties combine immigration and redistributive issues. Drawing on Faist (1995), we distinguish three different perspectives how political actors, here mainstream parties, might react to the welfare chauvinist claims that aim to restrict immigrants’ social rights. Our analysis relies on party manifestos in Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom between 1999 and 2011. The results of the anal-ysis indicate that variation is found among party families, in particular among the left. Even though the purpose of the paper is not to ‘prove’ that the populist challenge explains how the mainstream left-wing parties behave, the results allow nonetheless for interpreting mainstream parties’ strategic combination of welfare and immigration issues as a response to anti-immigration and anti-integration issues raised by populist challengers.

Social exclusion and shame in obesity

Weight bias often results in the social exclusion of individuals with obesity. The direct, short-term psychological effects of social exclusion in obesity have not been investigated yet. This study experimentally tests whether social exclusion elicits stronger negative emotions in individuals with obesity compared to normal-weight controls. Specifically, we test whether social exclusion has a specific impact on shame. In total, N = 299 individuals (n = 130 with body mass index [BMI] ≤ 30 and n = 169 with BMI N 30) were randomly assigned to a social exclusion condition or a control condition that was implemented with an online Cyberball paradigm. Before and after, they filled out questionnaires assessing state emotionality. Social exclusion increased negative emotionality in both groups compared to the control condition (p b 0.001) according to a multivariate ANOVA. However, the interaction of group and social exclusion was also significant (p = 0.035) and arose from a significant, specific increase of shame in the group with obesity during social exclusion (p b 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.7). When faced with social exclusion, individuals with obesity do not respond with more intensive negative emotions in general compared to controls, but with a specific increase in shame. As social exclusion is frequent in individuals with obesity, psychological interventions focussing shame-related emotional distress could be crucial.

A Functionalist Perspective on Social Anxiety and Avoidant Personality Disorder

A developmental-evolutionary perspective is used to synthesize basic research from the neurosciences, ethology, genetics, and developmental psychology into a unified framework for understanding the nature and origins of social anxiety and avoidant personality disorder. Evidence is presented that social anxiety disorder (social phobia) and avoidant personality disorder may be alternate conceptualizations of the same disorder because they have virtually the same symptoms and genetic basis, and respond to the same pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions. A functionalist perspective on social anxiety is formulated to (a) explain the origins of normative states of anxiety, (b) outline developmental pathways in the transition from normative anxiety to social anxiety and avoidant personality disorders, and (c) account for the processes leading to gender-differentiated patterns of anxiety-related disorders after puberty.

Social capital and adolescent health risk behavior in El Salvador

An emerging body of research suggests that the social capital available in one's social environment, as defined by supportive and caring interpersonal relationships, may provide a protective effect against a number of youth risk behaviors. In exploring the potential protective effect of social capital at school and at home on adolescent health and social risk behavior, a comprehensive youth risk behavior study was carried out in El Salvador during the summer of 1999 with a sample of 984 secondary school students attending 16 public rural and urban schools. The following dissertation, entitled Social Capital and Adolescent Health Risk Behavior in El Salvador, presents three papers centered on the topics of social capital and risk behavior. ^ Paper #1. Dangers in the Adolescent River of Life: A Descriptive Study of Youth Risk Behavior among Urban and Rural presents prevalence estimates of four principal youth risk behavior domains—aggression, depression, substance use, and sexual behaviors among students primarily between the ages of 13 and 17 who attend public schools in El Salvador. The prevalence and distribution of risk behaviors is examined by gender, geographic school location, age, and subjective economic status. ^ Paper #2. Social Capital and Adolescent Health Risk Behavior among Secondary School Students in El Salvador explores the relationship between social resources (social capital) within the school context and several youth risk behaviors. Results indicated that students who perceived higher social cohesion at school and higher parental social support were significantly less likely to report fighting, having been threatened or hurt with a weapon, suicidal ideation, and sexual intercourse than students with lower perceived social cohesion at school and parental social support after adjusting for several socio-demographic variables. ^ Lastly, paper #3. School Health Environment and Social Capital : Moving beyond the individual to the broader social developmental context provides a theoretical and empirical basis for moving beyond the predominant individual-focus and physical health concerns of school health promotion to the larger social context of schools and social health of students. This paper explores the concept of social capital and relevant adolescent development theories in relation to the influence of social context on adolescent health and behavior. ^

Intergenerational Conflict and the Political Economy of School Spending

In this paper we use survey data to examine support among voters from different age cohorts for public school spending. The survey asked potential voters in California how they intended to vote on two initiatives, one a statewide initiative that would increase spending on public schools throughout the state and the other a local initiative that would increase spending only in the respondent's local school district. We find that older voters without children generally oppose increases in state spending but are much more willing to support local spending. We examine two explanations for this voting pattern, namely the capitalization of local spending into housing values and intergenerational altruism. Our results do not strongly favor one explanation over the other. Consequently, we conclude that both factors (capitalization and intergenerational altruism) probably play important roles in sustaining support among older voters for local school spending.

The Associations Between Social, Behavioral, and Health Risk Factors on a High School Student’s Decision to Pursue Post High School Plans

Background: Due to the relationship between SES and health, pursuing post high-school plans can lead to better future health outcomes for the student. The current paper assesses how behavioral and health risk factors, and family and social support, effect a student’s decision to pursue post high school plans. Methods: Data from the Youth Behavioral Component of the 2007 Connecticut School Health Survey were analyzed. Composite measures of exposure to/participation in violent behavior, mental and physical health, family/social support and substance abuse were created. The effects of these domains on the decision to pursue post high-school plans were assessed using logistic regression. Data were stratified by socioeconomic status. Results: Low SES students were more likely than high SES students to be doubtful for post high-school plans. Cocaine abuse emerged as the risk factor that put low SES students at the highest odds of not pursuing post high-school plans, followed by involvement in violent/aggressive behavior, and receiving less family/social support than their peers. Similar findings regarding violence and family/social support were found in the high SES group. Findings regarding substance abuse in the high SES group were not statistically significant. Discussion: Prevention programs regarding violence and substance abuse may have the added benefit of increasing the likelihood that high school students will make post high school plans. Preventing cocaine use among low SES students may be of particular importance. Violence prevention measures should be tailored to the target group. Adequate family/social support emerged as an encouraging factor for post high school plans.

The influence of social connectedness and self-esteem on participant retention in a bi-ethnic longitudinal study

In prospective studies it is essential that the study sample accurately represents the target population for meaningful inferences to be drawn. Understanding why some individuals do not participate, or fail to continue to participate, in longitudinal studies can provide an empirical basis for the development of effective recruitment and retention strategies to improve response rates. This study examined the influence of social connectedness and self-esteem on long-term retention of participants, using secondary data from the “San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging” (SALSA), a population-based study of Mexican Americans (MAs) and European Americans (EAs) aged over 65 years residing in San Antonio, Texas. We tested the effect of social connectedness, self-esteem and socioeconomic status on participant retention in both ethnic groups. In MAs only, we analyzed whether acculturation and assimilation moderated these associations and/or had a direct effect on participant retention. ^ Low income, low frequency of social contacts and length of recruitment interval were significant predictors of non-completer status. Participants with low levels of social contacts were almost twice as likely as those with high levels of social contacts to be non-completers, even after adjustment for age, sex, ethnic group, education, household income, and recruitment interval (OR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.26–3.01, p = 0.003). Recruitment interval consistently and strongly predicted non-completer status in all the models tested. Depending on the model, for each year beyond baseline there was a 25–33% greater likelihood of non-completion. The only significant interaction, or moderating, effect observed was between social contacts and cultural values among MAs. Specifically, MAs with both low social contacts and low acculturation on cultural values (i.e., placed high value on preserving Mexican cultural origins) were three and half times more likely to be non-completers compared with MAs in other subgroups comprised of the combination of these variables, even after adjustment for covariates. ^ Long term studies with older and minority participants are challenging for participant retention. Strategies can be designed to enhance retention by paying special attention to participants with low social contacts and, in MAs, participants with both low social contacts and low acculturation on cultural values. Minimizing the time interval between baseline and follow-up recruitment, and maintaining frequent contact with participants during this interval should also be is integral to the study design.^

SOCIAL, ATTITUDINAL AND BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF WEIGHT CHANGE AMONG MEXICAN AMERICAN WOMEN (OBESITY, DIET, TEXAS)

In industrialized countries the prevalence of obesity among women decreases with increasing socioeconomic status. While this relation has been amply documented, its explanation and implications for other causal factors of obesity has received much less attention. Differences in childbearing patterns, norms and attitudes about fatness, dietary behaviors and physical activity are some of the factors that have been proposed to explain the inverse relation.^ The objectives of this investigation were to (1) examine the associations among social characteristics and weight-related attitudes and behaviors, and (2) examine the relations of these factors to weight change and obesity. Information on social characteristics, weight-related attitudes, dietary behaviors, physical activity and childbearing were collected from 304 Mexican American women aged 19 to 50 living in Starr County, Texas, who were at high risk for developing diabetes. Their weights were recorded both at an initial physical examination and at a follow-up interview one to two and one-half years later, permitting the computation of current Body Mass Index (weight/height('2)) and weight change during the interval for each subject. Path analysis was used to examine direct and indirect relations among the variables.^ The major findings were: (1) After controlling for age, childbearing was not an independent predictor of weight change or Body Mass Index. (2) Neither planned exercise nor total daily physical activity were independent predictors of weight change. (3) Women with higher social characteristics scores reported less frequent meals and less use of calorically dense foods, factors associated with lower risk for weight gain. (4) Dietary intake measures were not significantly related to Body Mass Index. However, dietary behaviors (frequency of meals and snacks, use of high and low caloric density foods, eating restraint and disinhibition of restraint) did explain a significant portion (17.4 percent) of the variance in weight change, indicating the importance of using dynamic measures of weight status in studies of the development of obesity. This study highlights factors amenable to intervention to reverse or to prevent weight gain in this population, and thereby reduce the prevalence of diabetes and its sequelae. ^