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Material Well-being (material + well-being)
Selected AbstractsThe contribution of social support to the material well-being of low-income familiesJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 1 2005Julia R. Henly We hypothesize that the social support available from low-income networks serves primarily a coping function, rather than a leverage function. Social support and its relationship to material well-being is assessed in a sample of 632 former and current welfare recipients. Respondents report higher levels of perceived emotional, instrumental, and informational support than perceived financial support, and received financial aid is particularly uncommon. Multivariate findings demonstrate that perceived support is unrelated to employment quality, but it reduces the likelihood of living in poverty and is associated with three different measures of coping. These findings generally support the contention that informal aid is important for the everyday survival of low-income families, but is less able to assist with economic mobility. [source] Culture: A Possible Predictor of Morality for African American AdolescentsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 2 2009Marisha L. Humphries This study examined the ways in which cultural orientation (communalism and material well-being) and empathy influence the moral reasoning of African American middle to late adolescents. Specifically, this study utilized path analysis to investigate Ward's (1995) hypothesis that a communal orientation would promote morality among African American adolescents, while a material well-being orientation would mitigate against it. In addition, it was hypothesized that empathy would mediate the relationship between cultural orientation and moral reasoning. Thirty-seven high school students and 35 college students participated in the study. Results revealed that communalism was a significant predictor of empathy. Despite prediction, communalism and material well-being were not predictors of moral reasoning. The findings did not yield support for empathy functioning as a mediator between communalism and moral reasoning. These findings are discussed in terms of previous findings, methodological limitations, and implications for future research. [source] Rural parents with urban children: social and economic implications of migration for the rural elderly in ThailandPOPULATION, SPACE AND PLACE (PREVIOUSLY:-INT JOURNAL OF POPULATION GEOGRAPHY), Issue 3 2007John Knodel Abstract The present study explores the social and economic consequences of the migration of adult children to urban areas for rural parents in Thailand. Attention is given to the circumstances under which such migration takes place, including the role parents play in the process and the extent to which the implications of migration for the parents are taken into consideration. The analysis relies primarily on open-ended interviews conducted in 2004 with older age parents with migrant children in four purposely selected rural communities that were studied ten years earlier. Our findings suggest that migration of children to urban areas contributes positively to the material well-being of their elderly parents who remain in rural areas. Negative impacts of migration on social support, defined in terms of maintaining contact and visits, have been attenuated by the advent of technological changes in communication and also by improvements in transportation. Phone contact, especially through mobile phones, is now pervasive, in sharp contrast to the situation ten years earlier when it was extremely rare. Much of the change in Thailand in terms of the relationships between rural parents and their geographically dispersed adult children is quite consistent with the concept of the ,modified extended family', a perspective that has become common in discussions regarding elderly parents in industrial and post-industrial societies but rarely applied to the situation of elderly parents in developing country settings. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Lifestyle incongruity, stress and immune function in indigenous Siberians: The health impacts of rapid social and economic changeAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Mark V. Sorensen Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of economic and cultural change on immune function and psychosocial stress in an indigenous Siberian population. We examined Epstein-Barr virus antibodies (EBV), an indirect biomarker of cell-mediated immune function, in venous whole blood samples collected from 143 Yakut (Sakha) herders (45 men and 98 women) in six communities using a cross-sectional study design. We modeled economic change through the analysis of lifestyle incongruity (LI), calculated as the disparity between socioeconomic status and material lifestyle, computed with two orthogonal scales: market and subsistence lifestyle. EBV antibody level was significantly negatively associated with both a market and a subsistence lifestyle, indicating higher cell-mediated immune function associated with higher material lifestyle scores. In contrast, LI was significantly positively associated with EBV antibodies indicating lower immune function, and suggesting higher psychosocial stress, among individuals with economic status in excess of material lifestyle. Individuals with lower incongruity scores (i.e., economic status at parity with material resources, or with material resources in excess of economic status) had significantly lower EBV antibodies. The findings suggest significant health impacts of changes in material well-being and shifting status and prestige markers on health during the transition to a market economy in Siberia. The findings also suggest that relative, as opposed to absolute, level of economic status or material wealth is more strongly related to stress in the Siberian context. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Alienation and obligation: Religion and social change in SamoaASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 1 2010Alec Thornton Abstract This paper will explore social change in contemporary Samoan society with respect to the traditional expectations of the church and kinship conflicting with the modern needs of an urbanising population. In the Samoan way of life , the fa'aSamoa , religion, matai (chiefly system) and reciprocal ,gift-giving' kinship arrangements among the aiga (extended family) are fundamental and closely related elements. However, pressures from continued integration into the global economy, the importance of remittance income and related migration of well-educated and highly skilled Samoans overseas are presenting several challenges to the strongly held traditions of kinship and church obligations. Among these challenges, low-income households are increasingly placing the material well-being of the immediate household first, thus ,opting out' of the culturally defined primary obligation to the church and risk alienation from beneficial familial ties. As a result, settlement patterns are shifting towards leaseholds in urbanising Apia, with consequences, we will speculate, that may have deeper cultural implications. Our research revealed that the church has been slow to accept that, increasingly, Samoans are seeking relief from hardships that spirituality alone cannot address. However, given its influence, strengths and resources, the church is well positioned to take a lead role in facilitating opportunities for ,bottom-up', alternative development in Samoa, as well as providing lessons for church-led participatory approaches in the Pacific Island Region. [source] The paediatrician , past, present and future , a conversation with Nils Rosén von RosensteinACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 9 2009Ingemar Kjellmer Abstract An imagined conversation takes place with the author of the first textbook of Paediatrics, Nils Rosén von Rosenstein. Enormous progress in the prevention and treatment of diseases of children is demonstrated. But a different spectrum of diseases has replaced the old one. And in spite of unprecedented material well-being a substantial minority of our children cannot make full use of their capabilities. Conclusion:, We must resume the full responsibility for our children and act as their advocates in society. [source] | ||||||||||