Social Indicators Research

Bedregal, Luis; Paris, Manuel; Añez, Luis; Shahar, Golan; Davidson, Larry

doi: 10.1007/s11205-005-7157-0pmid: N/A

As part of a broader study aimed at evaluating perceived alliance with service providers and level of satisfaction with services received, 103 monolingual Spanish speaking Hispanic women were interviewed. Participants were receiving ongoing behavioral health treatment at three different community service provider sites located in the greater New Haven area in Connecticut. These sites included a community health center (n = 40), a community behavioral health center (n = 40), and a faith-based agency (n = 23). As part of this study, the English version of the Therapeutic Alliance with Clinician (TAC) questionnaire was translated into Spanish and administered to our sample of Hispanic women. Results on the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the TAC are presented in this article.

Tan, Soo; Tambyah, Siok; Kau, Ah

doi: 10.1007/s11205-005-7158-zpmid: N/A

This paper explores the linkages between value orientations, demographics and the quality of life perceptions for Singaporeans based on a nationwide values and lifestyles study conducted in 2001. The quality of life perception is assessed using cognitive evaluations of satisfaction with life in general (subjective personal well-being) and with aspects of living in Singapore (subjective social well-being). Five different value orientations, namely family values, materialism, status consciousness, societal consciousness and traditionalism, are examined for their effects on quality of life. The key demographics used are gender, age, marital status, education and personal income.

Maybery, D.; Jones-Ellis, Jenny; Neale, Jason; Arentz, Alexandra

doi: 10.1007/s11205-005-4096-8pmid: N/A

Of the limited number of studies employing positive event (uplift) measures none have published detailed psychometric information about the scale that was used (Maybery and Graham, 2001, Stress and Health 17, pp. 91–104). Building on previous work with university students and employing conceptually distinct measurement strategies (i.e. measuring event frequency and intensity), this paper examined the component structure, concurrent validity and reliability of an uplift measure designed for an adult middle aged population. The 373 participants were 73% female, largely in paid work (72%), in permanent relationships (69%), 62% having children and the sample having a mean age of 41.83 years (SD = 16.14). Principal component analyses of separate frequency and intensity scores from 43 uplifts highlighted generally consistent component structures. The nine uplift factors were friends, social events, work, interactions with workers, with supervisor, spouse/partner, parents, children and household. There were moderate to strong correlations between frequency and intensity scores for each subscale. The subscales had very good reliabilities and weak to moderate correlations with well-being instruments (life satisfaction and positive affect) and selected personality variables, and as expected there were no correlations with distress or negative affect. The results highlight a generally clear uplift factor structure that includes a range of interpersonal, social and work subscales from the positive event domains. The findings extend previous research by improving the conceptual understanding of the sources of uplifting events for individuals and provide a valid and reliable measure for future research.

Jong, Eelke; Smeets, Roger; Smits, Jeroen

doi: 10.1007/s11205-005-8125-4pmid: N/A

Previous literature on openness has mainly dealt with the consequences of openness. In this paper, however, we are interested in the cultural determinants of openness. Conducting a cross-country analysis incorporating 53 countries over the period 1959–1997, we find that several aspects of national culture have an impact on openness. Specifically, we find positive effects of individualism and negative effects of uncertainty avoidance and power distance on openness. These findings point to the importance of taking cultural influences into account in future research on openness. Interestingly, the cultural effects were found to become stronger over time and to smoothen out in the end of the study period. This result is in line with the idea that the effect of culture may be expressed most clearly in situations where freedom of choice for policy makers is greatest. When this freedom is restricted, because of scarcity reasons or because there is a dominant view on best practice, the possibility of cultural preferences to influence policy decisions seems to be smaller.