Influence of personality factors on the consumption of personal care products

This research was undertaken with the primary objective of explaining differences in consumption of personal care products using personality variables. Several streams of research reported were reviewed and a conceptual model was developed. Theories on the relationship between self concept and behaviour was reviewed and the need to use individual difference variables to conceptualize and measure the salient dimensions of the self were emphasized. Theories relating to social comparison, eating disorders, role of idealized media images in shaping the self-concept, evidence on cosmetic surgery and persuasibility were reviewed in the study. These came from diverse fields like social psychology, use of cosmetics, women studies, media studies, self-concept literature in psychology and consumer research, and marketing. From the review three basic dimensions, namely self-evaluation, self-awareness and persuasibility were identified and they were posited to be related to consumption. Several personality variables from these conceptual domains were identified and factor analysis confirmed the expected structure fitting the basic theoretical dimensions. Demographic variables like gender and income were also considered.It was found that self-awareness measured by the variable public self-consciousness explain differences in consumption of personal care products. The relationship between public self-consciousness and consumption was found to be most conspicuous in cases of poor self-, evaluation measured by self-esteem. Susceptibility to advertising also was found to explain differences in consumption.From the research, it may be concluded that personality variables are useful for explaining consumption and they must be used together to explain and understand the process. There may not be obvious and conspicuous links between individual measures and behaviour in marketing. However, when used in proper combination and with the help oftheoretical models personality offers considerable explanatory power as illustrated in the seventy five percent accuracy rate of prediction obtained in binary logistic regression.

The Pursuit of Alternatives

Stories of peoples’ struggles across the globe are testaments to their determination to resist exploitation and injustice, and to imagine and construct their own narratives of economic and political difference. These stories of emancipatory moments demonstrate that something radically different in terms of dominant socio-economic relations and mental conceptions of the world may arise out of and beyond capitalism. The Pursuit of Alternatives: Stories of Peoples’ Economic and Political Struggles Around the World presents a fresh and new perspective on how the ‘process of becoming’ alternatives might take place based on peoples’ lived experiences. The chapters here, by labour activists and academics, explore how various forms of peoples’ economic and political initiatives and struggles in six countries – Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Nigeria, the Philippines, and South Korea – might become ‘actually existing’ spaces and moments for the development of critical consciousness and transformative capacities which are both central in challenging the dominant social, economic and political relations. The stories in this book bring to light today’s language of peoples’ struggles; what inspires people to create their own emancipatory moments and spaces for transformative self-change. While this book does not aim to propose an alternative to capitalism per se, it makes a stimulating contribution to the continuing debate on what alternatives to capitalist relations and arrangements might look like by grounding these alternatives in the everyday lives and struggles of workers, women, aboriginal peoples, the unemployed, and the poor.

More women in informatics research and education

Speaker: Lynda Hardman Organiser: Time: 04/02/2015 12:30-13:30 Location: B32/3077 Abstract The challenges of addressing gender inequalities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine is widely acknowledged. We currently hold a bronze award and ECS is one of many academic units in the University which has gained Athena Swan Charter status. In this seminar, Professor Lynda Hardman, Chair of the Informatics Europe working group "Women in Informatics Research and Education” will be explaining the causes of issued underlying gender inequality and constructive routes to addressing this important agenda. In undertaking to commit to an action plan which is a prerequisite of gaining charter status, the University or academic department agreed to accept and incorporate the Athena Swan six principles listed below: * To address gender inequalities requires commitment and action from everyone, at all levels of the organisation * To tackle the unequal representation of women in science requires changing cultures and attitudes across the organisation * The absence of diversity at management and policy-making levels has broad implications which the organisation will examine * The high loss rate of women in science is an urgent concern which the organisation will address * The system of short-term contracts has particularly negative consequences for the retention and progression of women in science, which the organisation recognises * There are both personal and structural obstacles to women making the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career in science, which require the active consideration of the organisation. This seminar is designed to provide an opportunity to explore these issues NOTE: Lynda will be basing here talk on some of the work she directed as chair of the "Women in Informatics Research and Education” working group. The purpose of the working group is to actively participate and promote actions that contribute to improve gender balance in Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies. The first concrete result of the working group's activities was the publication of the booklet "More Women in Informatics Research and Education" in 2013. The booklet is a compact source of clear and simple best practices to deans and heads of departments that aim to increase the participation of women as both students and employees in their institutions. Many tips included were also inspired by colleagues already in leading positions who have already implemented actions in their institutions to attract more women and ensure their continued participation in the organization at commensurate ratios with their male colleagues. The booklet is endorsed by the European Commission and features a foreword by Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for the Digital Agenda.

Human papillomavirus detection from human immunodeficiency virus-infected colombian women's paired urine and cervical samples

Infection, coinfection and type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) distribution was evaluated in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive women from paired cervical and urine samples. Paired cervical and urine samples (n = 204) were taken from HIV-positive women for identifying HPV-DNA presence by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with three generic primer sets (GP5+/6+, MY09/11 and pU1M/2R). HPV-positive samples were typed for six high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) (HPV-16, -18, -31, -33, -45 and -58) and two low-risk (LR-HPV) (HPV-6/11) types. Agreement between paired sample results and diagnostic performance was evaluated. HPV infection prevalence was 70.6% in cervical and 63.2% in urine samples. HPV-16 was the most prevalent HPV type in both types of sample (66.7% in cervical samples and 62.0% in urine) followed by HPV-31(47.2%) in cervical samples and HPV-58 (35.7%) in urine samples. There was 55.4% coinfection (infection by more than one type of HPV) in cervical samples and 40.2% in urine samples. Abnormal Papanicolau smears were observed in 25.3% of the women, presenting significant association with HPV-DNA being identified in urine samples. There was poor agreement of cervical and urine sample results in generic and type-specific detection of HPV. Urine samples provided the best diagnosis when taking cytological findings as reference. In conclusion including urine samples could be a good strategy for ensuring adherence to screening programs aimed at reducing the impact of cervical cancer, since this sample is easy to obtain and showed good diagnostic performance.

The institutional environment and its influence on political options to Protect Winnipeg’s Female garments Workers against the impact of globalization

The principal objective of this paper is to identify the relationship between the re­sults of the Canadian policies implemented to protect female workers against the impact of globalization on the garment industry and the institutional setting in which this labour market is immersed in Winnipeg. This research paper begins with a brief summary of the institutional theory appro­ach that sheds light on the analysis of the effects of institutions on the policy options to protect female workers of the Winnipeg garment industry. Next, this paper identi­fies the set of beliefs, formal procedures, routines, norms and conventions that cha­racterize the institutional environment of the female workers of Winnipeg’s garment industry. Subsequently, this paper descri­bes the impact of free trade policies on the garment industry of Winnipeg. Afterward, this paper presents an analysis of the ba­rriers that the institutional features of the garment sector in Winnipeg can set to the successful achievement of policy options addressed to protect the female workforce of this sector. Three policy options are considered: ethical purchasing; training/retraining programs and social engage­ment support for garment workers; and protection of migrated workers through promoting and facilitating bonds between Canada’s trade unions and trade unions of the labour sending countries. Finally, this paper concludes that the formation of isolated cultural groups inside of factories; the belief that there is gender and race discrimination on the part of the garment industry management against workers; the powerless social conditions of immi­grant women; the economic rationality of garment factories’ managers; and the lack of political will on the part of Canada and the labour sending countries to set effective bilateral agreements to protect migrate wor­kers, are the principal barriers that divide the actors involved in the garment industry in Winnipeg. This division among the prin­cipal actors of Winnipeg’s garment industry impedes the change toward more efficient institutions and, hence, the successful achievement of policy options addressed to protect women workers. 

Preliminary factorial structure of the O’Kelly Women���s Belief Scales in Mexican population

A Back-translated Mexican version of the Austra- lian o’Kelly Women���s Belief scales was given to a sample of 363 women born and living in Mexico. A factor analysis with a varimax rotation with cu- toff eigenvalues of 3 showed that 36 out of the 92 items originally developed in the Australian study accounted for 40.138% of the variance, and could be ultimately grouped into two factors: one “ra- tionality” factor, with a total of 14 items, and one “Irrationality” factor with a total of 22 items, and with a very low Pearson’s rs (.119) between them. these results support the equivalency of the Mexi- can version to the original instrument used to iden- tify the presence of the reBt’s absolutistic, rigid beliefs about traditional feminine roles in women.

A Grey Area of Rights and Knowledge: Displacement in Colombia, South-South Migration and Health Equity

Globalization and liberalization of the economies have produced among others drastic effects on the human mobility, generating confusion, enhancing discrimination and a lack of respect to the rights of several migrant collectives. In this article we analyse several challenges for the study of these phenomena, based on the case of the neglected health rights of Colombian women, who have been forced to displace by the country's internal conflict, and are thus pushed to cross the border to Ecuador. The article identifies several knowledge gaps that could allow and advance a better understanding of these critical subjects. The paper - a think piece -is based upon a general review of documents and studies on the relation between migration and health. The supporting theory on the research comes from international organisations such as the WHO and IOM, NGOs, grass-roots organisations and academic research. This paper shows the need for focusing on the reality of supra states which globalization has generated, and t e urgency of securing the access to essential health preconditions to migrant populations. These issues can no longer be neglected and should be included on agendas at international level, widening the approach of programs to the displaced/immigrant population by taking into account the need to ensure the essential health preconditions (equity), prevention, and protection. Further, it is clear that women and children require a better protection with enhanced prevention and responding measures to sexual abuse, stigmatisation, violence and the respect of their rights.

On the design of education conditional cash transfer programs and non education outcomes: the case of teenage pregnancy

We investigate the effect of education Conditional Cash Transfer programs (CCTs) on teenage pregnancy. Our main concern is with how the size and sign of the effect may depend on the design of the program. Using a simple model we show that an education CCT that conditions renewal on school performance reduces teenage pregnancy; the program can increase teenage pregnancy if it does not condition on school performance. Then, using an original data base, we estimate the causal impact on teenage pregnancy of two education CCTs implemented in Bogot´a (Subsidio Educativo, SE, and Familias en Acci´on, FA); both programs differ particularly on whether school success is a condition for renewal or not. We show that SE has negative average effect on teenage pregnancy while FA has a null average effect. We also find that SE has either null or no effect for adolescents in all age and grade groups while FA has positive, null or negative effects for adolescents in different age and grade groups. Since SE conditions renewal on school success and FA does not, we can argue that the empirical results are consistent with the predictions of our model and that conditioning renewal of the subsidy on school success crucially determines the effect of the subsidy on teenage pregnancy

Psycological violence against women in Colombia

Although violence against women has gain attention, there is little evidence of studies about phycological violence against a partner. This paper uses data from Encuesta Nacional de Demografíay Salud (ENDS) to assess empirically models of violence against a partner. One of the main findingsis that the higher the economic independence of the women, the lower the phycologicalviolence against a partner. Some other results show that women with higher education level, belongingto a violent or low income family and living in cities different from Bogotá is correlatedwith higher probability of phycological violence.

The Representation of the Feminine in the Portuguese Press : A Content Analysis of the Diário de Notícias Newspaper

This is a brief report of a research project, coordinated by me and funded by the Portuguese Government. It studies ‘The Representation of the Feminine in the Portuguese Press’ (POCI/COM 55780/2004), and works on the content analysis of discourse on the feminine in various Portuguese newspapers, covering the time span of February 1st till April 30th 2006. The paper is divided into two parts: in the first part, I will briefly discuss the typology used to code the text units of selected articles; in the second part, I will explore the most expressive percentages of the first two weeks of February for the content analysis of the Diário de Notícias newspaper. These percentages were obtained with the NVivo 6 qualitative data treatment software programme.

Feminist geography, prehistory of

The article traces the beginnings and early history of feminist geography in the United Kingdom through the memories and personal narratives of two women who were heavily involved in this field of geographical research, in the 1970s, and were founder members of the Women and Geography Study Group of the Institute of British Geographers. The article begins by considering the context (both political and academic) within which feminist geography was born. Second-wave feminism and the rise of the women���s movement, initially in the United States, is seen as a major influence on the development of feminist geography. In the academic world, it was the dominance of quantitative geography in the 1960s, and the related opposition to this positivist paradigm by humanistic and socialist geographers, which led to calls for a recognition of the inequalities faced by women in society and an understanding of the differences in men’s and women���s lives. Through personal narratives, the authors seek to illustrate the obstacles and disagreements, as well as the encouragements and opportunities, which led to the birth of UK-feminist geography. Many individual geographers, influential to the story, are referred to, seen through the eyes of the authors at that time.

Personal status laws in Morocco and Tunisia: A comparative exploration of the possibilities for equality-enhancing reform in Bangladesh

This paper focuses on successful reform strategies invoked in parts of the Muslim world to address issues of gender inequality in the context of Islamic personal law. It traces the development of personal status laws in Tunisia and Morocco, exploring the models they offer in initiating equality-enhancing reforms in Bangladesh, where a secular and equality-based reform approach conflicts with Islamic-based conservatism. Recent landmark family law reforms in Morocco show the possibility of achieving ‘women-friendly’ reforms within an Islamic legal framework. Moreover, the Tunisian Personal Status Code, with its successive reforms, shows that a gender equality-based model of personal law can be successfully integrated into the Muslim way of life. This study examines the response of Muslim societies to equality-based reforms and differences in approach in initiating them. The paper maps these sometimes competing approaches, locating them within contemporary feminist debates related to gender equality in the East and West.

Expressing medicine side effects: assessing the effectiveness of absolute risk, relative risk, and number needed to harm, and the provision of baseline risk information

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of absolute risk, relative risk, and number needed to harm formats for medicine side effects, with and without the provision of baseline risk information. Methods: A two factor, risk increase format (relative, absolute and NNH) x baseline (present/absent) between participants design was used. A sample of 268 women was given a scenario about increase in side effect risk with third generation oral contraceptives, and were required to answer written questions to assess their understanding, satisfaction, and likelihood of continuing to take the drug. Results: Provision of baseline information significantly improved risk estimates and increased satisfaction, although the estimates were still considerably higher than the actual risk. No differences between presentation formats were observed when baseline information was presented. Without baseline information, absolute risk led to the most accurate performance. Conclusion: The findings support the importance of informing people about baseline level of risk when describing risk increases. In contrast, they offer no support for using number needed to harm. Practice implications: Health professionals should provide baseline risk information when presenting information about risk increases or decreases. More research is needed before numbers needed to harm (or treat) should be given to members of the general populations. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.