Now showing 1 - 10 of 38
  • Publication
    The role of awakening cortisol and psychological distress in diurnal variations in affect : a day reconstruction study
    (University College Dublin. Geary Institute, 2010-07) ; ; ;
    People often feel unhappy in the morning but better later in the day, and this pattern may be amplified in the distressed. Past work suggests that one function of cortisol is to energize people in the mornings. In a study of 174 students we tested to see if daily affect patterns, psychological distress, and awakening cortisol levels were interlinked. Affect levels were assessed using the Day Reconstruction Method (Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz, & Stone, 2004) and psychological distress was measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (Antony, Bieling, Cox, Enns, & Swinson, 1998). On average positive affect increased markedly in a linear pattern across the day whilst negative affect decreased linearly. For the highly distressed this pattern was stronger for positive affect. Lower than average morning cortisol, as assessed by two saliva samples at waking and two samples 30 minutes after waking, predicted a clear increasing pattern of positive affect throughout the day. When we examined the interlinkages between affect patterns, distress, and cortisol our results showed that a pronounced linear increase in positive affect from morning through to evening occurred chiefly among distressed people with below average cortisol levels upon awakening. Psychological distress, whilst not strongly associated with morning cortisol levels, does appear to interact with cortisol levels to profoundly influence affect.
      799
  • Publication
    Micro-level determinants of lecture attendance and additional study-hours
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 2010-08) ; ;
    This paper uses novel measures of individual differences that produce new insights about student inputs into the (higher) education production function. The inputs examined are lecture attendance and additional study-hours. The data were collected through a web-survey that the authors designed. The analysis includes the following measures: willingness to take risks, consideration of future consequences and non-cognitive ability traits. Besides age, gender and year of study, the main determinants of lecture attendance and additional study-hours are attitude to risk, future-orientation and conscientiousness. In addition, future-orientation, and in particular conscientiousness, determine lecture attendance to a greater extent than they determine additional study. Finally, we show that family income and financial transfers (from both parents and the state) do not determine any educational input. This study suggests that non-cognitive abilities may be more important than financial constraints in the determination of inputs related to educational production functions.
      290
  • Publication
    Why do some Irish drink so much?
    (University College Dublin. Geary Institute, 2008-04-17) ; ;
      2419
  • Publication
    The Irish non-voter : evidence from the Irish National Election Study and Living in Ireland surveys
    (University College Dublin. Geary Institute, 2005)
    This paper analyses the determinants of voting abstention and voting intention utilising data from the Irish National Election Study (INES) and the Living in Ireland survey. We find a marked age effect (younger people less likely to vote) that is similar in magnitude across both cross-sectional results obtained from the INES and panel results obtained from the Living in Ireland survey. Additionally, we find an inverse relationship between education and likelihood of abstention that is similar in magnitude across the panel and cross-section. We find a number of social capital variables to be negatively related to abstention. We also model the determinants of abstention including variables such as political interest; feelings of duty; confidence in the Dáil; and feelings of guilt surrounding non-voting. Inclusion of these variables renders many of the above social capital variables insignificant. However, the effect of age remains significant in all models.
      530
  • Publication
    Public perceptions of the dioxin crisis in Irish pork
    (University College Dublin. Geary Institute, 2009-06) ; ; ;
    In early December 2008, a global recall of Irish pork was initiated as a result of a subset of the national pork output being contaminated with dioxin. In this study, members of a panel from an internet-based longitudinal monitor of public opinion on food and health, was used to assess public perceptions about the dioxin incident in late December. A larger proportion of respondents reported that that there was a ‘very high’ health risk from pork (8.6 %) than any other food of animal origin. The risk posed to human health from dioxins was considered to be relatively high compared to a broad range of potential food and non-food risks. The majority of respondents (70.5 %) accepted that the way in which the authorities managed the crisis was ‘adequate’ or ‘very efficient’. These findings should be considered in light of the following facts: the European Food Safety Authority and the Irish authorities announced that there was no risk to human health from the dioxins in pork, there was extensive media attention about the dioxin incident, and the Irish Government had to introduce a 200 million euro compensation package for the Irish pork industry which was funded by the Irish taxpayer.
      1342
  • Publication
    Risk attitudes as an independent predictor of debt
    (University College Dublin. Geary Institute, 2010-09-17) ; ;
    This paper examines how attitudes to risk relate to other psychological constructs of personality and consideration of future consequences (a proxy for time preferences) and how risk attitudes relate to credit behaviour and debt holdings. There is a small correlation between risk attitudes and consideration of future consequences. As regards personality, risk attitudes are most positively related to extraversion and openness to experience and are negatively related to neuroticism. Risk willingness is a robust predictor of debt holdings even controlling for demographics, personality, consideration of future consequences and other covariates.
      885
  • Publication
    Individual, household and gender preferences for social transfers
    (Elsevier Science, 2008-06) ;
    This paper reports the results of a nationally representative survey that explored willingness to pay extra taxes for increased levels of social transfers in Ireland. Respondents differ in their interpretation of willingness-to-pay questions with respect to the relevant income constraint being the individual’s budget or the individual’s household budget, with an important explanatory variable in this interpretation being the level of financial management integration within the household. Respondents are also shown to take intra-household bargaining considerations into account when stating preferences for specific redistributive policies; a significant gender difference emerges for a specific fiscal policy (child benefit) which alters the intra-household entitlement to income.
      712Scopus© Citations 7
  • Publication
    Reference dependent financial satisfaction over the course of the Celtic Tiger : a panel analysis utilising the Living in Ireland Survey 1994-2001
    (University College Dublin. Geary Institute, 2006) ; ;
    The link between income and subjective satisfaction with one’s financial situation is explored in this paper using a panel analysis of 4,000 individuals tracked through the course of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ boom period, 1994-2001. The impact of the level of individual and household income, the time-path of income and the impact of reference group income on financial satisfaction are all considered. To the extent that income influences financial satisfaction, there is strong evidence from this paper that household income has a greater effect on financial satisfaction than individual income. There is also evidence that changes in income have an independent effect on financial satisfaction with the time derivative of income entering positively in the financial satisfaction equation. Thus, our paper gives further evidence to support the hypothesis that individuals process changes as well as absolute levels of income. While reference group income has a negative effect at the start of the period it has no effect at the end.
      174
  • Publication
    School children and sport in Ireland
    (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), 2005-10) ; ;
      418
  • Publication
    Heterogeneous interpretation of “household expenditure” in survey reports : evidence and implications of bias
    (University College Dublin. Geary Institute, 2010-06) ;
    This paper addresses respondents’ interpretation of the term “household expenditure” when answering survey questions. A sizeable minority of respondents do not attempt to include all transactions made by every household member, interpreting the question as eliciting individual consumption. This biases estimates of expenditure downward. Furthermore, this bias is predicted by respondent characteristics.
      174