Income Range Research Articles

Willingness to pay for organic products on the Serbian market

The purpose of the paper is to analyze general information on consumption and socio-demographic variables in relation to the willingness to pay (WTP) for organic products in the Republic of Serbia. The study is based on the survey responses of 398 individuals and the data obtained from the survey was analyzed using the chi-square test. The factors significantly affecting WTP premium prices for organic products include higher disposable household income, older age group, gender, urban surroundings, larger household size and higher educational level. Male and female consumers, living in towns, in a family of up to 4 persons, with higher education, and within the income range of 500-2,000 euro a month would be willing to pay a premium up to 20% once a week for organic products. This paper provides further insight into WTP for organic products among consumers from a developing country.

Consumo de bens e serviços por idosos nos arranjos domiciliares unipessoal e residindo com o cônjuge

Este estudo consistiu em comparar o consumo de bens e serviços pelos idosos brasileiros que moravam sozinhos e por aqueles que residiam com o cônjuge, a partir de análises dos dados da Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF) (2008/2009), realizada pelo IBGE. A pesquisa teve caráter quantitativo, descritivo, com corte transversal. Os resultados permitiram constatar que a maioria dos idosos eram brancos, residiam na área urbana do país, possuíam o ensino fundamental, e a minoria estava na faixa AB de renda. O arranjo domiciliar residindo com o cônjuge gastava mais do que o unipessoal no que se refere aos itens de despesas com habitação, despesas diversas, lazer, transporte, alimentação dentro do domicílio, fumo, produtos de higiene e cuidados pessoais, assistência à saúde e vestuário. Portanto, entender as relações de consumo deste segmento é extremamente relevante, a fim de que os bens e serviços oferecidos proporcionem satisfação e melhoria na qualidade de vida dos idosos.

Simple adjustments of observed distributions for missing income and missing people

Correcting household survey distribution data for missing income or for undersampling may give an idea of the extent of possible biases in measuring inequality, especially when there are reasons to expect the missing income and people to belong to the top of the distribution. There are simple ways to do so when only an aggregate estimate of how much is missing is available. Atkinson had provided a formula to correct the Gini coefficient for the missing income, which was later generalized by Alvaredo (Econ. Lett. 110(3), 274–277 2011). This paper concentrates on the whole distribution and explores various alternative adjustment methods based on three key parameters: how much income, how many people are missing and on what range of income the correction should bear.

Challenges of Integrating Affordable and Sustainable Housing in Malaysia

Developing countries including Malaysia have begun to comprehend the needs for affordable and sustainable housing development. The majority of the population is still aspiring for a comfortable, safe and reasonably priced house. Households in the low-middle income range face difficulties to find housing that can satisfy their needs and budget. Unfortunately, most of the housing development programs are considering affordability rather than sustainable aspects. Furthermore, developers are more interested in profit and neglect sustainability issues. Thus, the aim of this paper is to review the challenges in integrating affordable housing and sustainable practices in Malaysia. This paper is produced based on an extensive literature review as a basis to develop strategies of integrated affordable and sustainable housing in Malaysia. The challenges are divided into four sections, namely market challenges, professional challenges, societal challenges and technological challenges. The outcomes of this paper will assist in the decision making involving housing development and in enhancing quality of life for sustainable communities.

Characteristics Associated With Preferences for Parent-Centered Decision Making in Neonatal Intensive Care

Little is known about how characteristics of particular clinical decisions influence decision-making preferences by patients or their surrogates. A better understanding of the factors underlying preferences is essential to improve the quality of shared decision making. To identify the characteristics of particular decisions that are associated with parents' preferences for family- vs medical team-centered decision making across the spectrum of clinical decisions that arise in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This cross-sectional survey assessed parents' preferences for parent- vs medical team-centered decision making across 16 clinical decisions, along with parents' assessments of 7 characteristics of those decisions. Respondents included 136 parents of infants in 1 of 3 academically affiliated hospital NICUs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from January 7 to July 8, 2016. Respondents represented a wide range of educational levels, employment status, and household income but were predominantly female (109 [80.1%]), white (68 [50.0%]) or African American (53 [39.0%]), and married (81 of 132 responding [61.4%]). Preferences for parent-centered decision making. For each decision characteristic (eg, urgency), multivariable analyses tested whether middle and high levels of that characteristic (compared with low levels) were associated with a preference for parent-centered decision making, resulting in 2 odds ratios (ORs) per decision characteristic. Among the 136 respondents (109 women [80.1%] and 27 men [19.9%]; median age, 30 years [range, 18-43 years]), preferences for parent-centered decision making were positively associated with decisions that involved big-picture goals (middle OR, 2.01 [99% CI, 0.83-4.86]; high OR, 3.38 [99% CI, 1.48-7.75]) and that had the potential to harm the infant (middle OR, 1.32 [99% CI, 0.84-2.08]; high OR, 2.62 [99% CI, 1.67-4.11]). In contrast, preferences for parent-centered decision making were inversely associated with the following 4 decision characteristics: technical decisions (middle OR, 0.82 [99% CI, 0.45-1.52]; high OR, 0.48 [99% CI, 0.25-0.93]), the potential to benefit the infant (middle OR, 0.42 [99% CI, 0.16-1.05]; high OR, 0.21 [99% CI, 0.08-0.52]), requires medical expertise (middle OR, 0.48 [99% CI, 0.22-1.05]; high OR, 0.21 [99% CI, 0.10-0.48]), and a high level of urgency (middle OR, 0.47 [99% CI, 0.24-0.92]; high OR, 0.42 [99% CI, 0.22-0.83]). Preferences for parent-centered vs medical team-centered decision making among parents of infants in the NICU may vary systematically by the characteristics of particular clinical decisions. Incorporating this variation into shared decision making and endorsing models that allow parents to cede control to physicians in appropriate clinical circumstances might improve the quality and outcomes of medical decisions.

THE ADVANTAGES OF THE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION AS A METHOD OF GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY

The aim of the paper is to compare three different methods of graphical representation of the inequality: using frequency polygons, Lorentz curves and distribution functions. It is shown that for the representation of real (i.e. incomplete) data, the last is most appropriate. The method of investigation consists in verifying the conformity of the method of graphical representation of inequality to the following three requirements: 1. Insensitivity of the method to the quantization of data. 2. Sensitivity to the width of the entire range of income from zero to income of the richest person provided that information about the wealthy members of society might be incomplete. 3. Visibility. The curve, describing the inequality must have characteristic points (extremes, bends) so that it can be somehow identified. The presence of features in the economic structure of society must be reflected in the qualitative behavior of the curves. The demand is caused by the necessity to draw a conclusion about the mechanism of the movement of goods in society, which led to the appearance of a curve of exactly this form. The work analyzed direct data on the incomes of Russian citizens published by ROSSTAT (Federal State Statistics Service), Forbes magazine and the Federal Tax Service, indirect data on incomes determined by the distribution of car prices (from two independent sources) and real estate, as well as data from the Credit Suisse Research Institute about property inequality in Russia. The following main conclusions were made. The course of the curves that characterize the real distribution of the population by income, suggests that in society there is only one mechanism for the movement of goods. This is a mechanism of rank exchange, in which the interaction of rich and poor economic agents is characterized by a shift in market prices in favor of the rich and the greater, the more resources the latter has. The frequency polygons (and therefore the histograms) do not correspond to the first requirement, the Lorentz curves for the second and the third and only the distribution functions correspond to all three of the above requirements, and therefore can be recommended as the main method of graphical representation of the inequality. The curves of distribution functions from five independent sources (ROSSTAT and Forbes summary data, ROSSTAT and Federal Tax Service summary data, data from two sources on car prices, real estate prices), built on a single chart, practically coincided. Mutual verification of these data allows us to state that they characterize the true picture of inequality inRussia. ROSSTAT data on inequality are substantially underestimated, as well as the data of the Credit Suisse Research Institute (the latter, to a lesser extent). To assess real inequality, information about the incomes of the richest members of society is important, since 99.976% of the population occupy only 0.0058% of the income scale.

Socio-economic Impact of Traditional Technology of Charcoal Production in Kpaai District-Bong County Liberia

Locally produced charcoal through traditional technology is a source of income to the inhabitants of Kpaai district, Bong-County, Liberia and this has invariably contributed significantly to the country Gross Domestic Product. Two sets of questionnaires were designed and administered randomly to eighty seven consumers and fifty five producers representing sample intensity of between 54-68% and 10-10.3% respectively in five communities among the clans of Waytuah and Wotola. Field observation and Interview data collected were descriptively analysed using SPSS 20. Three traditional earth kiln methods of charcoal production were identified among the producers that are mostly male (69.20-85.10%). Women representing 61.20-82.70% of the consumer in the age range of 21-30 years (36.4-71.40%) were spending between 13-25% of their income on charcoal. Producers have recorded various achievement from the income range of between LD5, 000-20,000 realized monthly. Dirty of their bodies and houses, sicknesses, generating smoke and ash dust were the forms of social economic impact being encountered. Research findings will assist Liberia Government in developing appropriate modern technology for efficient charcoal production and sustainable energy generation as part of REDD + implementation process.

A prospective evaluation of contingent loans as a means of financing wild dog exclusion fences

Invasive species, such as wild dogs can be considered an externality arising from the activities of pastoral enterprises, with producers having limited responsibility for the problem and limited capacity to mitigate it. There are therefore arguments for government intervention through encouraging both individual and collective control measures. Governments are however increasingly inclined to ensure recipients of support make some contribution where there are private benefits. An example of this, in Australia, is the requirement that students repay some of the cost of their tertiary education. Using the issue of wild dog exclusion fencing in south-west Queensland as a case study, this paper considers if and how a policy instrument adopted for higher education (HECS-HELP), contingent loans, could be adapted to address problems of externalities in rural Australia. Central to the issue of exclusion fences are high upfront costs and highly variable incomes that limit the ability to recoup those costs according to a predictable timeline. Considering a range of incomes and a variety of private/government shares of the cost of the fences, we examine the effects of revenue contingent loans for the construction of these fences, using model farms developed from survey data for farm businesses in south-west Queensland. We find that contingent loans could mitigate the hardship effects of additional debt and variable incomes. Businesses with smaller properties and relatively lower incomes may however struggle to pay back larger loans. Using south-west Queensland as a case study, we show how different shares of contributions change the time to pay back loans, outline how a contingent loan scheme might be administered and note some issues with integrating personal contingent loans into a collective fence arrangement.

Delirium Severity and Correlates among Medical Inpatients Admitted through Accident and Emergency Unit of Jos University Teaching Hospital

Background: Delirium is one of the most common medical emergencies and is associated with poor outcomes including: mortality, prolonged length of stay and poor functional outcome. The more severe delirium is the worst the clinical outcomes of medical illness. Despite the obvious, not much has been documented on delirium severity and its associated factors among medical inpatients in low income countries including Nigeria. Objectives: This study was conducted to examine the severity of delirium among medical inpatients admitted through the Accident and Emergency unit of Jos University Teaching Hospital as well as to assess its associated Sociodemographic and Clinical characteristics. Method: This was a cross-sectional study that employed a consecutive sampling technique to select 290 eligible subjects from medical inpatients that presented to Accident and Emergency unit of Jos University Teaching Hospital. On admission, patients were assessed for delirium using Confusion Assessment Method and severity of delirium was evaluated using Delirium Rating Scale-Revised-98. Results: Of the 105 delirious medical inpatients, 48 (45.7%) had severe delirium, 41 (39.1%) developed less severe delirium while 16 (15.2) presented with no severe delirium. Sociodemographic characteristics found to be significantly associated with less to more severe delirium include male gender (P = 0.001), nonprofessionals (P = 0.003), income range of N20,000 - N49,000 (P < 0.001) and being married (P = 0.022). However, prior cognitive impairment was found to be significantly associated with severe delirium (P < 0.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that delirium is often associated with higher severity in Accident and Emergency unit admission and there are strongly associated clinical characteristics to watch out for in high risk medical inpatients.

Knowledge and awareness on hepatitis B infection among adult population in some selected villages in Keranigonj, Dhaka, Bangladesh

This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among the rural people in some selected villages in Keraniganj upazila, Dhaka, Bangladesh from November 2015 to April 2016 to determine the knowledge and awareness about hepatitis B (HB) infection. The sample was collected using non-probability (purposive) method from the available people in the villages. The sample size was 200. The age most of the respondents were in the 26-35 age range; male respondents were higher than that of female and most of the respondents were married. The majority of respondents (60%) had primary and secondary education level, 42% were housewife, 40% had monthly family income range at 5000-10000 Taka, 45% had &gt;5 persons in their family, 51% lived in pacca house, 52.5% drunk water from deep tube-well, and 82.5% did nothing for purification of water and 80% used sanitary latrine. The results of the study revealed that only 43.5% had knowledge on HB and 37.9% knew about HB from doctors. In case of mode of transmission, risk group and prevention of HB, 50.6% thought it is spread by water, 40.2% thought sex workers are more prone to develop HB and only 29% thought HB can be prevented by vaccination. This study indicates that there is a lack of awareness about HB, its route of transmission and modes of prevention among the rural people and appropriate measures are needed to increase correct awareness on HB for prevention purpose.Mediscope Vol. 4, No. 2: Jul 2017, Page 13-19

Parenting as a moderator of the effects of cumulative risk on children's social-emotional adjustment and academic readiness.

This study examined whether parenting moderated the association between cumulative risk and preschool children's adjustment problems, social competence and academic readiness. The sample consisted of 306 families representing the full range of income, with 29% at or near poverty and 28% lower income. Cumulative risk and observed maternal parenting behaviors were assessed when the children were 36-40 months, and teachers rated outcomes at 63-68 months. Greater cumulative risk was more strongly related to higher adjustment problems when scaffolding was low, and unrelated when it was high, suggesting a protective effect. Consistent limit setting was associated with higher academic readiness regardless of risk level, and at low levels of risk it was associated with the highest levels of social competence. A pattern potentially indicating differential effectiveness emerged for warmth, such that at lower levels of risk, higher warmth was associated with better outcomes, but at higher levels of risk, it was associated with higher levels of problems and poorer social competence and academic readiness. Results suggest that buffering effects of particular parenting behaviors, both alone and in combination, may be context-specific.

Navigating an Uncertain Journey of Pregnancy After Perinatal Loss

The purpose of this qualitative data analysis was to gain insights into women's experiences over the course of pregnancy subsequent to prior perinatal loss. Diaries from 19 pregnant women with a history of miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal death who participated in an intervention study were the data source. The participants were primarily Caucasian, 23 to 41 years old, with a history of one to six prior losses, high school to graduate school education, and a wide range of incomes. Inductive thematic analysis of pregnancy diary entries was done. A metaphor of navigating a pregnancy journey that feels scary and uncertain, toward the goal of reaching their desired destination, a healthy infant, was identified from women's personal accounts. Six themes were identified: (a) Staying Alert: Noting Physical Symptoms, (b) Dealing with Uncertainty: Expressing Emotions, (c) Dreaming of the Destination: Evolving Thoughts of Baby, (d) Traveling Together: Connecting with Others, and (e) Moving Forward: Reflecting on Sense of Self. The interaction of several themes is described as (f) Staying on Track: Navigating through Pregnancy. Women may find journaling helpful in dealing with the anxiety and fear that characterize pregnancy after loss. Viewing pregnancy after perinatal loss as similar to navigating an uncertain journey may provide greater understanding of the emotional, physical, and social challenges that women may experience. Recognition that women with a history of perinatal loss may be anxious and fearful during pregnancy will increase sensitive care.

The living wage as an income range for decent work and life

PurposeA “living” wage (LW) is conventionally defined as enabling meaningful participation in society above subsistence through, for example, recreation, supporting a family, and savings. There is increasing debate over LWs due to growing inequality, rising living costs and welfare reform but this remains largely framed by the econometric cost-benefit parameters that apply to minimum wage regulation. The capabilities approach advocated by Sen (1999) offers a different perspective that is inclusive of choice, contingencies and the inter-connections between quality of (paid) work and private life. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts this framework and utilises a qualitative exploration of the narratives of 606 New Zealand employees to understand perceived wage effectiveness. The results suggest that a focus on a specific LW rate might be conceptually limiting, in comparison to a LW range.FindingsFirst, the findings indicate that there is a pivot range in which people move from self-assessed “survival” to “decent” income. Second, a LW may have more than a simply monetary effect in better meeting employees’ living costs; it can also improve well-being through subjective perceptions of valued freedoms to do with job satisfaction, equity and security.Originality/valueThe results thus draw attention to a wider notion of a LW in terms of personal and family well-being, utilising a capabilities approach, with implications for organisational practice, policy and theory concerning sustainable livelihood and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Optimal Income Taxation and Job Choice

AbstractIn this paper, we study optimal income taxation when different job types exist for workers of different skills. Each job type has some feasible range of incomes from which workers choose by varying labor supply. Workers are more productive than others in the jobs that suit them best. The model combines features of the classic optimal tax literature with labor variability along the intensive margin, with the extensive‐margin approach where workers make discrete job choices and/or participation decisions. We find that first‐best maximin utility can be achieved in the second‐best, and marginal tax rates below the top can be negative or zero.

Mapping of Socioeconomic Life of Fishermen Community in Maitara Island Tidore Kepulauan City in Maluku Utara Province

The research aims to discover: (1) the characteristics of socioeconomic life of fishermen community in Maitara Island Tidore Kepulauan City in Maluku Utara Province, (2) the survival strategy of fishermen community in Maitara Island Tidore Kepulauan City in Maluku Utara Province. The data were analyzed by using descriptive qualitative analysis to reveal the facts about Socioeconomic Life of Fishermen Community in Maitara Island Tidore Kepulauan City in Maluku Utara Province. The samples were taken by using purposive sampling method, namely taking samples based on certain considerations by the researcher such as choosing respondents who lived in the area of Maitara Island who worked as fisherman. The data were collected by using questionnaire in form of questions, observation, interview, and documentation. The results of the research reveal that (1) the characteristics of socioeconomic life of fishermen community in Maitara Island from social perspective particularly in fishermen’s education who did not finish Primary School is 56.33 percent and the rest who finished Primary School is 30.98 percent, Junior High School is 9.85 percent and Senior High School is 2.81 percent. The aforementioned results clearly show of low education of fishermen community and from economic perspective of fishermen’s monthly income is 76.05 percent with the income range 1.500.000-2.500.000 and the rest are above 2.500.000 and even there is below 1.500.000. It is due to low quality of human resources which influence their incomes and vice versa, if their incomes are low, then it would influence the human resources, namely low education. It can be seen that they could catch lots of fish but they could not manage it well due to low quality of human resources, (2) the survival strategies of fishermen community are conducting side jobs or job diversification empowering family, namely wife and children, in market to fulfill their families’ needs.

The marginal welfare cost of personal income taxation in New Zealand

ABSTRACTThis present paper reports estimates of welfare changes and the marginal welfare cost of income taxation for a wide range of income and demographic groups in New Zealand, in the context of a uniform increase in all marginal income tax rates. The results are obtained using enhancements to the NZ Treasury's behavioural microsimulation model, TaxWell-B, which uses discrete hours modelling to examine the labour supply responses of all individuals to an income tax change. Considerable variation is found in the marginal welfare costs for different groups, with an overall value of 12 cents per extra dollar raised. The paper also demonstrates the use of a money metric utility measure in a social welfare function evaluation. A smaller reduction in ‘social welfare’ is obtained compared with the use of net incomes.

Economic growth, income inequality and environment: assessing the applicability of the Kuznets hypotheses to Asia

In light of growing threats to sustainable development, two serious challenges (that is, rising income inequality and environmental degradation) have been addressed by numerous empirical studies. However, the results of those surveys undertaken for varied samples over different time periods have in many cases turned out inconclusive regarding the validity of the two Kuznets related hypotheses that dealt with the challenges. Hence, the two hypotheses are tested in our study for the case of Asia with a view to exploring the interlink between the hypotheses, as there seems to be a limited literature on this issue, especially on Asia. The Kuznets inverted U-curve hypothesis that posits the relationship between income and income inequality has met varying degrees of acceptance. The recent work by Piketty, for example, refuted the hypotheses as irrelevant as the universally applicable theory, though Piketty himself has not dealt with in-depth analysis of Asia, the region that has had the largest increase in income inequality in the developing world since the 1990s. As for the second hypothesis (EKC curve) that postulates the relationship between income and environmental deterioration, diverse results produced by multitudinous surveys need to be re-examined by further studies, especially on Asia, the region that includes three of the world’s top five largest GHG emissions resultant from the highest economic growth rate achieved since 1990. Our cross-country and non-econometric analysis of 20 Asian countries shows that the Kuznets inverted U-curve hypothesis is valid with some limitations. Both Asian trends in income inequality and in environmental degradation (CO2 emissions) appear, by and large, to follow Kuznets’ hypothesized curve up to the lower level of high income as income rises, whereas a divergent trend could be observed among high income economies, generating a second inverted U-curve with frequent irregularities in the trend curve as income increases. Irregularities in the curves that are frequently observed among high income economies seem to be apparently generated by country-specific conditions, policy, technology and so on. Thus growth impacts on income inequality and environmental deterioration differ substantially among the high income economies, whereas among the countries with lower income, growth impacts generated on inequality are generally small, though their impacts on environment tend to be large. While environmental and income policy is often non-existent for low income countries, high income countries have generally introduced varied policies to cope with growing income inequality and environmental degradation. Since irregular patterns in the two Kuznets inverted U-curves seem to be generated by country-specific conditions and policies, that appear to be wide-ranging among economies within higher income range, econometric analyses that have produced divergent results on the validity of Kuznetsian hypothesis may need to be supplemented by different approaches that take in to account country-specific conditions. This study raises the question whether it is possible to promote equitable income growth that could reconcile with environmental protection. The governments of high income countries, the largest emitters of all income groups, may need to cope with the issue by devising policies that seek a proper link between development and environment.

A Normative Baseline for the Srs-22 From Over 1000 Healthy Adolescents in India: Which Demographic Factors Affect Outcome?

A prospective analysis. This study aims to 1) establish a baseline for the SRS-22 in South East Asia and 2) evaluate the influence of patient demographics on the SRS-22. Previous studies have established a baseline for the SRS-22 in the US and described the impact of patient demographics. While the SRS-22 is used internationally, limited normative data are available. After approval from the local hospital and school board, 1200 adolescents (age 10-18 years) were asked to anonymously complete the SRS-22 in English. The following demographic factors were assessed: height, weight, age, gender, household income (range <$30K to >$200K), and household status (single/dual parent income). Participants with a prior spine history or active medical problems were excluded. Statistical analysis was done with a Pearson correlation followed by an analysis of variance (ANOVA). One thousand nineteen unaffected adolescents completed the SRS-22 (mean age 14.4 ± 1.6 years). Demographics were as follows: gender (42%F, 58%M), household status (640 single/379 dual), height (157 ± 12 cm), weight (46 ± 11.2 kg), body mass index (BMI; 18.5 ± 3.6). SRS-22 score for all patients and by gender: Mean [4.0 ± 0.4, (F)4.0 ± 0.4, (M)3.9 ± 0.4, P < 0.0001], Activity [3.9 ± 0.4, (F)4.0 ± 0.5, (M)3.9 ± 0.6], Pain [4.3 ± 0.6; (F)4.4 ± 0.6, (M)4.2 ± 0.7, P < 0.001], Image [3.9 ± 0.6, (F)3.9 ± 0.6, (M)3.9 ± 0.6], and Mental [3.7 ± 0.6, (F)3.8 ± 0.6, (M)3.7 ± 0.6, P < 0.001]. Male gender was associated with worse pain (-0.15), mental health (-0.11), and overall SRS-22 score (-0.11). Age was correlated with a worse image (r = -0.17, P = < 0.000), while higher BMI was associated with less pain (0.07/0.02). Younger age, female gender, and higher BMI correlated with a better SRS-22 score. Income and household status did not affect SRS-22. These findings contrast data gathered in the US but should be considered in conjunction with the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). This study establishes the first normative baseline for the SRS-22 in SE Asia and analyzed the effect of demographics on the outcome score. 2.

Accounts for Unprotected Sex with Partners Met Online from Heterosexual Men and Women from Large US Metropolitan Areas.

For about 30 years, soon after the onset of the AIDS epidemic, sexual-health messaging has emphasized personal responsibility for using condoms to protect from acquiring or transmitting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections. Those who did not use condoms during casual sexual encounters may therefore feel compelled to offer to others aware of their behavior what sociologists have called "accounts," an impression-management strategy to avoid unfavorable judgment. We analyzed accounts-excuses and justifications-from qualitative interviews with 150 adults who had unprotected sex in the past 3 months with at least two different partners met online (ages 18-50, mean: 33.7, equally divided among black, Hispanic, and white men and women, over half were college educated and the median yearly household income range was $50-$75,000). Many participants made excuses that aimed to defer responsibility for unprotected sex: they claimed that consistently practicing safer sex was impossible, that they got carried away by sexual passion, that they were inebriated, that they were influenced by emotional or psychological problems, or they put fault on their partners. Participants also provided justifications, claiming that unsafe sex had been acceptable because the risks taken were likely minimal or negotiated with their partner. Understanding the accounts heterosexual adults offer to excuse and justify condomless sex with partners met online can be helpful in developing prevention messages that debunk these explanations for their behavior.

INDIVIDUAL FUTURE ORIENTATION AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS PREDICTING LIFE SATISFACTION

This study explored a model of prediction of life satisfaction by individual future orientation (FO) and demographic factors. Individual views of the future and goals are closely associated with well-being. Theories of FO represent different approaches to its conceptualization. Following Seginer (2009), this study presents a combination of motivational, cognitive, and behavioral components of FO. Participants were 130 females and 75 males from 18 to 49. A new measure of individual FO (the Individual Future Orientation Scale, IFOS) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, &amp; Griffin, 1985) were used for the assessment. The results of structural equation modeling demonstrate that relatively higher life satisfaction is predicted by higher individual FO and higher income assessed as an income range and subjective satisfaction with it. Therefore, subjective involvement in a pursuit of future goals and financial background add to understanding of individual satisfaction with life.