Weiss et al. used a representative sample of 973 twin pairs to test the hypothesis that heritable
differences in subjective well-being are entirely accounted for by the genetic architecture of the Five-Factor Model’s personality domains. Results supported this model
The researchers conclude that "geneticists interested in subjective well-being should focus their search for genes on those genes that influence personality". Given that the FFM explains under 20% of the variance in subjective well-being in the normal population I'm not so sure about this.
Weiss et al. (2008)
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Sad and Self-Focused Individuals Spend More
In this months Psychological Science Cynthia Cryder (aptonym here?) and colleagues show that misery is not miserly: Infact sadness increases the amount of money that decision makers give up to acquire a commodity. The researchers also show that self-focus moderates the effect of sadness on spending.
Don't worry, the study used real commodities and money so the results may hold implications for everyday decisions.
Cryder, Lerner, Gross, & Dahl (2008)
Don't worry, the study used real commodities and money so the results may hold implications for everyday decisions.
Cryder, Lerner, Gross, & Dahl (2008)
Risk of losing our ‘best and brightest’
In today's Irish Examiner it is reported that "Ireland is at risk of losing its most talented students unless the state creates permanent research positions, according to one of the country’s most eminent educationalists. Newly-retired Higher Education and Training Awards Council chief executive, Séamus Puirséil, warns: 'The brightest and the best of our students are going into science, but it will destroy the nation’s morale if there are no jobs for these people at the end of their studies'."
Read the full story here.
Read the full story here.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Zotero
"Zotero is an easy-to-use yet powerful research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources (citations, full texts, web pages, images, and other objects), and lets you share the results of your research in a variety of ways. A free extension to the popular open-source web browser Firefox, Zotero includes the best parts of older reference manager software (like EndNote)—the ability to store author, title, and publication fields and to export that information as formatted references—and the best parts of modern software and web applications (like iTunes and del.icio.us), such as the ability to interact, tag, and search in advanced ways. Zotero integrates tightly with online resources; it can sense when users are viewing a book, article, or other object on the web, and—on many major research and library sites—find and automatically save the full reference information for the item in the correct fields."
Thousands caught in college grants squeeze
The lead story (available here) on the front page of Friday's Irish Independent was about tens of thousands of Irish students being caught out in a "college grants squeeze". According to author John Walshe, those affected are the children of families who are just over the income threshold limits to qualify for a grant.
The issue of grant elibility (and also the level of grants awarded, which is less often debated) have been discussed on this blog before here. Almost one year ago from today, it was announced that the higher education maintenance grant would increase by 10%, or twice the rate of inflation; also the annual income thresholds to qualify for grants were announced to be increased by 3.5%. At the time I commented that these were positive developments but that one couldn't help but wonder if the increases were arbitrary. The increase in the grant (by 10%) was presented as twice the rate of inflation, but the actual level of the grant is only €3,420, and this seems to be set quite arbitrarily. There is research that estimates what students’ monthly expenditure actually amounts to; it averages at €698 per month according to Darmody et al (Eurostudent 2005). This approximates to €8,000 euro every year.
With this in mind, the annual maintenance support of €3,420 seems very low, and falls very far below half of the amount (€8,000) that students are estimated to need for their annual expenditure. If policy in this arena was to be informed by research and to avoid accusations of arbitrariness, surely the annual maintenance level should be set at €8,000? Admittedly, this is the average level of annual expenditure, but it might prove too unwieldy to discriminate between students who have expenditure on items such as accomodation and those who don't.
In relation to the main story from Friday's paper --- that is the annual income thresholds for grant eligibility --- we know that almost 35,000 students received financial maintenance support in 2004 (according to the National Office for Equity of Access to Higher Education in 2005. This figure of 35,000 is roughly one third of the entire student body, the same ratio as those who received financial support in 1980 (Coolahan, 1991). A Geary working paper from 2007, "Household Characteristics of Higher Education Participants", suggests that eligibility for maintenance grants is an important factor for encouraging particpation in higher education.
"A new report from the Higher Education Authority says that the current 'inadequate' income thresholds for grants disqualify large numbers of salaried employees within this lower-middle-income group. At present, to get a full maintenance grant of €3,420, the maximum income limit for a family of four children is €38,675 a year. For more than eight children, it is €46,140 a year. Former education minister Niamh Bhreathnach, who abolished tuition fees, admitted she was surprised and disappointed at the figures for the lower- middle classes..."
The issue of grant elibility (and also the level of grants awarded, which is less often debated) have been discussed on this blog before here. Almost one year ago from today, it was announced that the higher education maintenance grant would increase by 10%, or twice the rate of inflation; also the annual income thresholds to qualify for grants were announced to be increased by 3.5%. At the time I commented that these were positive developments but that one couldn't help but wonder if the increases were arbitrary. The increase in the grant (by 10%) was presented as twice the rate of inflation, but the actual level of the grant is only €3,420, and this seems to be set quite arbitrarily. There is research that estimates what students’ monthly expenditure actually amounts to; it averages at €698 per month according to Darmody et al (Eurostudent 2005). This approximates to €8,000 euro every year.
With this in mind, the annual maintenance support of €3,420 seems very low, and falls very far below half of the amount (€8,000) that students are estimated to need for their annual expenditure. If policy in this arena was to be informed by research and to avoid accusations of arbitrariness, surely the annual maintenance level should be set at €8,000? Admittedly, this is the average level of annual expenditure, but it might prove too unwieldy to discriminate between students who have expenditure on items such as accomodation and those who don't.
In relation to the main story from Friday's paper --- that is the annual income thresholds for grant eligibility --- we know that almost 35,000 students received financial maintenance support in 2004 (according to the National Office for Equity of Access to Higher Education in 2005. This figure of 35,000 is roughly one third of the entire student body, the same ratio as those who received financial support in 1980 (Coolahan, 1991). A Geary working paper from 2007, "Household Characteristics of Higher Education Participants", suggests that eligibility for maintenance grants is an important factor for encouraging particpation in higher education.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Regional Quality of Life in Ireland
The CSO in Ireland recently released a report on regional differences in quality of life.
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/other_releases/2008/regqualityfull.pdf
Indicators include educational attainment, gross value added per person, commuting distance, schools available and so on. Very well worth going through.
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/other_releases/2008/regqualityfull.pdf
Indicators include educational attainment, gross value added per person, commuting distance, schools available and so on. Very well worth going through.
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