The influence of social relationships on pro-environment behaviors

We examine how social relationships are related to pro-environment behaviors. We use new data from a nationally representative US sample to estimate latent cluster models in which we describe individuals' profiles of social ties with family, neighbor, and coworkers along two dimensions: intensity of connections and pro-environment norms. While our results confirm the link between social ties and economic behaviors, we show that ties among relatives, neighbors, and coworkers are not perfect substitutes. In particular, we observe consistent relationships between green family profiles and altruistic and community-based behaviors. We also find that the effect of coworker ties is visible for cost-saving activities and altruistic behaviors, and that neighbors matter for working with others in the community to solve a local problem, volunteering, and recycling.     

How does spouse career support relate to employee turnover? Work interfering with family and job satisfaction as mediators

Employee turnover is a major concern because of its cost to organizations. Although theory supports the influence of nonwork factors on turnover, our understanding of the degree to which nonwork factors relate to actual turnover behavior is not well developed. Using a sample of 5505 U.S. Army officers, we assessed the extent to which spouse career support related to reduced turnover four years later through work interfering with family (WIF) and job satisfaction as mechanisms. Results revealed that spouse career support decreased the odds of turnover, and WIF and job satisfaction sequentially mediated this relationship, with lower WIF and higher job satisfaction reducing the odds of turnover. Practical implications of using family support systems as retention interventions are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiple categorization in resume screening: Examining effects on hiring discrimination against Arab applicants in field and lab settings

Debate exists as to what the more appropriate prediction is regarding the effects of multiple stigmatized group memberships on employment discrimination. The ethnic prominence (EP), multiple minority status (MMS), and subordinate male target hypotheses were assessed for the combined effects of ethnic group membership (Arabic), sex, social status, and job type on hiring evaluations. Two correspondence tests in the field (Study 1) and two experimental studies in the lab (Study 2) and in the field (Study 3) were conducted. Studies 1 and 2 showed evidence for the EP hypothesis when low‐status jobs were tested. The odds for rejection were four times higher for Arab than for Dutch applicants. Applicants' sex, socio‐economic status, and external client contact did not moderate findings (Study 1). The effect of applicants' ethnic group membership was further moderated by raters' motivation to control prejudice (Study 2). Study 3 showed evidence for the MMS hypothesis. We found double jeopardy against Arab women who applied for high‐status jobs when recruiters' prejudice was controlled. Study findings show that discrimination in resume screening may depend upon the particular intersection of applicant, job, and recruiter characteristics. We discussed implications for anonymous resume screening and research on evaluation of applicants possessing multiple stigmatizing characteristics. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationship of firm attributes,ownership structure and business network on climate change efforts: evidence from Malaysia

This paper presents a case study of land-use/land-cover (LULC) changes from 1975 to 2014 in the central highlands of Ethiopia and traces out its impact on socioeconomic conditions of the local community in the study area. We used four time series Landsat satellite images, that is, Landsat MSS (1975), Landsat Thematic Mapper (1986), Enhanced Thematic Mapper (2000), and Landsat 8 OLI scenes (2014), to investigate the changes in LULC. In addition, individual interviews with 51 randomly selected households, discussions with focus group and key informants, and field observations were also incorporated for the study. The image classification indicated four categories of LULC classes: Natural forest, eucalyptus plantations, cropland/settlements, and grasslands. Between 1975 and 2014, cropland/settlements and eucalyptus plantations considerably increased, whereas grassland cover drastically decreased. According to the results, the area under cropland/settlements and eucalyptus plantations increased by 62 and 335%, respectively, with 74% concomitant decrease in the area of grasslands in the same period. Survey results showed that deterioration of soil fertility (41.2%) followed by shortage of land (35.3%) is the major constraint for crop production for poor farmers in the study area. However, better-off farmers ranked deterioration of soil fertility (64.7%) followed by lack of credit (17.6%) as priority constraints for crop production. Interviews mainly focused on selected women group revealed that the expansion of eucalyptus in the area greatly curbed the burdens of collecting fuel woods from long distances in the past. The availability of too many religious holidays (on average 16 days/month) directly or indirectly contributes to the current seasonal food shortages of the community. Generally, our results show that the community in the study area is beset with a host of social, economic, and institutional challenges. As a result, majority of the farming households are destitute, unable to make a livelihood from their small plot of land and live in absolute poverty. Therefore, in light of these finding, it is imperative that timely interventions by government and other development stakeholders are needed to come to grips with problems of soil fertility, land-use change, and food insecurity in the study area.     

Sex differences in the repeatability of boldness over metamorphosis

Consistent individual differences in boldness have been identified in many species and can have important effects on fitness. In most animals, juveniles face different costs and benefits of risk-taking behavior than do adults. Furthermore, profound changes in hormones, morphology and environment often occur when juveniles become adults. Therefore, the boldness of individuals might change with ontogeny. In field crickets, adult males call to attract sexually receptive females, and male calling increases predation risk. We measured the repeatability of boldness (latency to emerge from a safe refuge) in both male and female crickets. Each cricket was tested once as a small nymph and once as an adult. We found that boldness was repeatable across metamorphosis in females, but not in males. Males became less bold with maturation, a result that we predicted because of the risk associated with calling for mates. We also found that in general, nymphs were bolder than adults and that individuals spent more time immobile in response to a predator cue when they were nymphs, versus when they were adults.     

Trophic specialisation of metazoan meiofauna at the Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano: fatty acid biomarker isotope evidence

We report the results of a detailed investigation on the trophoecology of two dominant meiofaunal species at the Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano (HMMV), a deep-sea cold methane-venting seep. Analyses of fatty acids (FAs) and their stable carbon isotopes were used to determine the importance of chemosynthetic nutritional pathways for the dominant copepod species (morphologically very similar to Tisbe wilsoni) inhabiting the volcano’s centre and the abundant nematode Halomonhystera disjuncta from the surrounding microbial mats. The strong dominance of bacterial biomarkers (16:1ω7c, 18:1ω7c and 16:1ω8c) coupled with their individual light carbon isotopes signatures (δ¹³C ranging from ?52 to ?81‰) and the lack of symbiotic relationships with prokaryotes (as revealed by molecular analyses and fluorescent in situ hybridisation) indicated that chemosynthetically derived carbon constitutes the main diet of both species. However, the copepod showed a stronger reliance on the utilisation of methanotrophic bacteria and contained polyunsaturated FAs of bacterial origin (20:5ω3 and 22:6ω3 with isotope signatures δ¹³C < ?80‰). Instead, the FA profiles of H. disjuncta suggested that sulphide-oxidising bacteria constituted the main diet of this nematode. Therefore, HMMV can be regarded as a persistent deep-sea cold seep, allowing a chemosynthesis-based trophic specialisation by the dominant meiofaunal species inhabiting its sediments. The present investigation, through the determination of the fatty acid profiles, provides the first evidence for trophic specialisation of meiofauna associated with sub-habitats within a cold seep.