Satisfaction with Life Scale among adolescents and young adults in Portugal: extending evidence of construct validity

The paper presents three empirical studies designed to extend the test of the construct validity of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) among Portuguese students. In the first study, the responses of 461 elementary and secondary education students were submitted to a principal component analysis. A solution of one single factor was chosen, accounting for 55.7 % of the total variance, with Cronbach alpha coefficient and inter-item correlation above .70 and .20, respectively. The second study used a sample of 317 undergraduate students and registered a similar factor solution for SWLS (/pq = 0.99), which accounted for 65.6 % of the total variance (Cronbach alpha .89 and inter-item correlation above .20). A test–retest analysis registered coefficients of .70 (T2) and .77 (T3) and no significant statistically differences between T2, T3 and T1. The third study used a sample of 107 foster care youths from elementary and secondary education. Confirmatory factor analysis results indicate adequate fit indexes for the one-factor solution (v2/df = 2.70, GFI = .96, CFI = .96), which showed convergent validity, reliability and homogeneity. In conclusion, there is psychometric evidence for the one-factor structure of the SWLS in Portugal.

Attachment, infidelity, and loneliness in college students involved in a romantic relationship: the role of relationship satisfaction, morbidity and prayer for partner

This study examined the mediating effects of relationship satisfaction, prayer for a partner, and morbidity in the relationship between attachment and loneliness, infidelity and loneliness, and psychological morbidity and loneliness, in college students involved in a romantic relationship. Participants were students in an introductory course on family development. This study examined only students (n = 345) who were involved in a romantic relationship. The average age of participants was 19.46 (SD = 1.92) and 25 % were males. Short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8), (Hays and DiMatteo in J Pers Assess 51:69–81, doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa5101_6, 1987); Relationship Satisfaction Scale (Funk and Rogge in J Fam Psychol 21:572–583, doi:10.1037/0893-3200.21.4.572, 2007); Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (De Haes et al. in Measuring the quality of life of cancer patients with the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL): a manual, Northern Centre for Healthcare Research, Groningen, 1996); Prayer for Partner Scale, (Fincham et al. in J Pers Soc Psychol 99:649–659, doi:10.1037/a0019628, 2010); Infidelity Scale, (Drigotas et al. in J Pers Soc Psychol 77:509–524, doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.509, 1999); and the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale-short form (Wei et al. in J Couns Psychol 52(4):602–614, doi:10.1037/0022-0167.52.4.602, 2005). Results showed that relationship satisfaction mediated the relationship between avoidance attachment and loneliness and between infidelity and loneliness. Physical morbidity mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and psychological morbidity. Psychological morbidity mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and physical morbidity. The present results expand the literature on attachment by presenting evidence that anxious and avoidant partners experience loneliness differently. Implications for couple’s therapy are addressed. Future research should replicate these results with older samples and married couples.

Spousal support and satisfaction with healthcare services as moderators between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet in Type 2 Diabetes patients

Objectives: This study analyzed the moderating role of partners’ support and satisfaction with healthcare services in the relationship between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods: Participants were 387 recently diagnosed T2DM patients that answered the following instruments: Revised Summary of Diabetes Self- Care Activities Measure, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales, Multidimensional Diabetes Questionnaire and Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. Results: Partners’ positive and negative support moderated the relationship between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet. Satisfaction with healthcare services also moderated the relationship between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet. Conclusions: Intervention programs to promote adherence to diet in patients with type 2 diabetes should focus on partners’ support and patient satisfaction with healthcare services.

A new perspective of students allocation satisfaction in engineering courses in Portugal

Publicado em "AIP Conference Proceedings" Vol. 1648

Kinematic constraint equations

This chapter presents a general methodology for the formulation of the kinematic constraint equations at position, velocity and acceleration levels. Also a brief characterization of the different type of constraints is offered, namely the holonomic and nonholonomic constraints. The kinematic constraints described here are formulated using generalized coordinates. The chapter ends with a general approach to deal with the kinematic analysis of multibody systems.

Origen y evolución del magma granítico en el Batolito de Achala: Fundamentos petrológicos, geoquímicos y estructurales para la preconcentración uranífera en el área de Cañada del Puerto. Origin and evolution of the granitic magma in the Achala Batholith: petrological, geochemical and structural constraint for the uranium preconcentration in the Cañada del Puerto area.

El batolito de Achala es uno de los macizos graníticos más grandes de las Sierras Pampeanas, el cual se localiza en las Sierras Grandes de Córdoba. Si bien el batolito de Achala ha sido objeto de diversos estudios geológicos, principalmente debido a sus yacimientos de uranio, el mismo todavía no posee un inequívoco modelo petrogéntico. Tampoco existe, en la actualidad, un inequívoco modelo que explique la preconcentración de uranio en las rocas graníticas portadores de este elemento. Este Proyecto tiene como objetivo general realizar estudios petrológicos y geoquímicos en la región conocida como CAÑADA del PUERTO, un lugar estratégicamente definido debido a la abundancia de granitos equigranulares de grano fino y/o grano medio biotíticos, emplazados durante el desarrollo de cizallas magmáticas tardías, y que constituirían las rocas fuentes de uranio. El objetivo específico requiere estudios detallados de las diferentes facies del batolito de Achala en el área seleccionada, incluyendo investigaciones petrológicas, geoquímicas de roca total, geoquímica de isótopos radiactivos y química mineral, con el fin de definir un MODELO PETROGENÉTICO que permita explicar: (a) el origen del magma padre y el subsiguiente proceso de cristalización de las diferentes facies graníticas aflorantes en el área de estudio, (b) identificar el proceso principal que condujo a la PRECONCENTRACIÓN uranífera de los magmas graníticos canalizados en las cizallas magmáticas tardías. Ambos objetivos se complementan y no son compartimentos estancos, ya que el logro combinado de estos objetivos permitirá comprender de mejor manera el proceso geoquímico que gobernó la distribución y concentración del U. De esta manera, se intentará definir un MODELO de PRECONCENTRACIÓN URANÍFERA EXTRAPOLABLE a otras áreas graníticas enriquecidas en uranio, constituyendo una poderosa herramienta de investigación aplicada a la exploración uranífera. En particular, el conocimiento de los recursos uraníferos es parte de una estrategia nacional con vistas a triplicar antes del 2025 la disponibilidad energética actual, en cuyo caso, el uranio constituye la materia prima de las centrales nucleares que se están planificando y en construcción. Por otro lado, la Argentina adhirió al Protocolo de Kioto y, junto a los países adherentes, deben disminuir de manera progresiva el uso de combustibles fósiles (que producen gases de efecto invernadero), reemplazándola por otras fuentes de energía, entre ellas, la ENERGÍA NUCLEAR. Este Proyecto, si bien NO es un Proyecto de exploración y/o prospección minera, es totalmente consistente con la política energética nacional promocionada desde el Ministerio de Planificación Federal, Inversión Pública y Servicios (v. sitio WEB CNEA), que ha invertido, desde 2006, importantes sumas de dinero, en el marco del Programa de Reactivación de la Actividad Nuclear.Los estudios referidos serán conducidos por los Drs. Dahlquist (CONICET-UNC) y Zarco (CNEA) quienes integrarán sus experiencias desarrolladas en el campo de las Ciencias Básicas con aquel logrado en el campo de las Ciencias Aplicadas, respectivamente. Se pretende, por tanto, aplicar conocimientos académicos-científicos a un problema de geología con potencial significado económico-energético, vinculando las instituciones referidas, esto es, CONICET-UNC y CNEA, con el fin de contribuir a la actividad socioeconómica de la provincia de Córdoba en particular y de Argentina en general.Finalmente, convencidos de que el progreso de la Ciencia y el Desarrollo Tecnológico está íntimamente vinculada con la sólida Formación de Recursos Humanos se pretende que este Proyecto contribuya SIGNIFICATIVAMENTE a las investigaciones de Doctorado que iniciará la Geóloga Carina Bello, actual Becaria de la CNEA.

Satisfacción laboral y percepción de riesgos del trabajo en profesionales de enfermería. Laboural satisfaction and job risk awareness of nursing professionals.

Los profesionales de enfermería sufren en este momento histórico el impacto de la crisis económica y los cambios en el contexto político y social en lo que se refiere a las políticas de empleo y ajustes salariales. El ambiente de trabajo en las unidades de hospitalización suele ser agobiante y las actividades que realizan los exponen a riesgos específicos tales como: los propios del ambiente, condiciones y tipo de trabajo y las relaciones interpersonales. Definimos la satisfacción laboral como el resultado de la apreciación que cada individuo tiene de su trabajo y la importancia para satisfacer sus necesidades básicas.Objetivo General: Conocer y describir el nivel de satisfacción laboral y la percepción de riesgos en el trabajo que manifiestan los profesionales de Enfermería.Objetivos Específicos: - Describir la percepción de riesgos del ambiente de trabajo - Mostrar el nivel de satisfacción laboral según el tipo y número de pacientes que atienden, antigüedad en la profesión, estabilidad laboral, sexo, edad, situación de pareja, número de hijos,- Describir la satisfacción laboral en cuanto a los recursos con los que cuenta para el cuidado y la seguridad laboral de la institución, al salario que recibe y la cantidad de empleos que tiene, - Determinar la satisfacción laboral con respecto al estímulo que reciben de los superiores, al reconocimiento de los pares, equipo de salud y usuarios.El encuadre metodológico es el siguiente:El tipo de estudio elegido es el considerado correlacional simple ya que busca posibles vínculos entre dos o más variables.El universo lo componen los profesionales de enfermería que se desempeñan en instituciones públicas de salud de la ciudad de Río Cuarto y Córdoba Capital.La técnica de recolección de datos es la encuesta en su modalidad de cuestionario autoadministrado.

economics of happiness : an empirical analysis of the effects of (un-)employment on individual life satisfaction

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Wirtschaftswiss., Diss., 2010

Convergence and morphological constraint in frogs : variation in postcranial morphology ; a contribution in celebration of the distinguished scholarship of Robert F. Inger on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday / Sharon B. Emerson.

n.s. no.43(1988)

Double implementation in a market for indivisible goods with a price constraint

I consider the problem of assigning agents to objects where each agent must pay the price of the object he gets and prices must sum to a given number. The objective is to select an assignment-price pair that is envy-free with respect to the true preferences. I prove that the proposed mechanism will implement both in Nash and strong Nash the set of envy-free allocations. The distinguishing feature of the mechanism is that it treats the announced preferences as the true ones and selects an envy-free allocation with respect to the announced preferences.

The causal relationship between Individual’s choice behavior and self-reported satisfaction: the case of residential mobility in the EU

One of the most persistent and lasting debates in economic research refers to whether the answers to subjective questions can be used to explain individuals’ economic behavior. Using panel data for twelve EU countries, in the present study we analyze the causal relationship between self-reported housing satisfaction and residential mobility. Our results indicate that: i) households unsatisfied with their current housing situation are more likely to move; ii) housing satisfaction raises after a move, and; iii) housing satisfaction increases with the transition from being a renter to becoming a homeowner. Some interesting cross-country differences are observed. Our findings provide evidence in favor of use of subjective indicators of satisfaction with certain life domains in the analysis of individuals’ economic conduct.

Individual Aspirations and Satisfaction:Quantifying the Importance of Homeownership

Residential satisfaction is often used as a barometer to assess the performance of public policy and programmes designed to raise individuals' well-being. However, the fact that responses elicited from residents might be biased by subjective, non-observable factors casts doubt on whether these responses can be taken as trustable indicators of the individuals' housing situation. Emotional factors such as aspirations or expectations might affect individuals' cognitions of their true residential situation. To disentangle this puzzle, we investigated whether identical residential attributes can be perceived differently depending on tenure status. Our results indicate that tenure status is crucial not only in determining the level of housing satisfaction, but also regarding how dwellers perceive their housing characteristics. Keywords: Housing satisfaction, subjective well-being, homeownership. JEL classification: D1, R2.

Age, Life-satisfaction, and Relative Income – Insights from the UK and Germany

We first confirm previous results with the German Socio-Economic Panel by Layard et al. (2010), and obtain strong negative effects of comparison income. However, when we split the sample by age, we find quite different results for reference income. The effects on lifesatisfaction are positive and significant for those under 45, consistent with Hirschman’s (1973) ‘tunnel effect’, and only negative (and larger than in the full sample) for those over 45, when relative deprivation dominates. Thus for young respondents, reference income’s signalling role, indicating potential future prospects, can outweigh relative deprivation effects. Own-income effects are also larger for the older sample, and of greater magnitude than the comparison income effect. In East Germany the reference income effects are insignificant for all. With data from the British Household Panel Survey, we confirm standard results when encompassing all ages, but reference income loses significance in both age groups, and most surprisingly, even own income becomes insignificant for those over 45, while education has significant negative effects.

Picking the Right Budget Constraint for Scotland

This position paper considers the devolution of further fiscal powers to the Scottish Parliament in the context of the objectives and remit of the Smith Commission. The argument builds on our discussion of fiscal decentralization made in our previous published work on this topic. We ask what sort of budget constraint the Scottish Parliament should operate with. A soft budget constraint (SBC) allows the Scottish Parliament to spend without having to consider all of the tax and, therefore, political consequences, of that spending, which is effectively the position at the moment. The incentives to promote economic growth through fiscal policy – on both the tax and spending sides are weak to non-existent. This is what the Scotland Act, 1998, and the continuing use of the Barnett block grant, gave Scotland. Now other budget constraints are being discussed – those of the Calman Commission (2009) and the Scotland Act (2012), as well as the ones offered in 2014 by the various political parties – Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Government. There is also the budget constraint designed by the Holtham Commission (2010) for Wales that could just as well be used in Scotland. We examine to what extent these offer the hard budget constraint (HBC) that would bring tax policy firmly into the realm of Scottish politics, asking the Scottish electorate and Parliament to consider the costs to them of increasing spending in terms of higher taxes; or the benefits to them of using public spending to grow the tax base and own-sourced taxes? The hardest budget constraint of all is offered by independence but, as is now known, a clear majority of those who voted in the referendum did not vote for this form of budget constraint. Rather they voted for a significant further devolution of fiscal powers while remaining within a political and monetary union with the rest of the UK, with the risk pooling and revenue sharing that this implies. It is not surprising therefore that none of the budget constraints on offer, apart from the SNP’s, come close to the HBC of independence. However, the almost 25% fall in the price of oil since the referendum, a resource stream so central to the SNP’s economic policy making, underscores why there is a need for a trade off between a HBC and risk pooling and revenue sharing. Ranked according to the desirable characteristic of offering something approaching a HBC the least desirable are those of the Calman Commission, the Scotland Act, 2012, and Scottish Labour. In all of these the ‘elasticity’ of the block grant in the face of failure to grow the Scottish tax base is either not defined or is very elastic – meaning that the risk of failure is shuffled off to taxpayers outside of Scotland. The degree of HBC in the Scottish Conservative, Scottish Greens and Scottish Liberal Democrats proposals are much more desirable from an economic growth point of view, the latter even embracing the HBC proposed by the Holtham Commission that combines serious tax policy with welfare support in the long-run. We judge that the budget constraint in the SNP’s proposals is too hard as it does not allow for continuation of the ‘welfare union’ in the UK. We also consider that in the case of a generalized UK economic slow requiring a fiscal stimulus that the Scottish Parliament be allowed increased borrowing to be repaid in the next economic upturn.