Economic Outcomes and Voting Behaviour in a Multi-Party System: An Application to the Netherlands

This paper is an empirical study to the effects of economic outcomes on party choice for the Netherlands. In the first part of the paper we employ a multinomial logit model to examine the links between voters' characteristics and party choice. The results suggest that there are long-run movements in party choice which are unlikely be the result of changing economic outcomes. In the second part, we use time series analysis to determine the effects of economic conditions on short-run and medium-run movements in votes shares. The estimations results provide support for the responsibility hypothesis and for the predictions of the partisan voter model that left-wing (right-wing) parties benefit (suffer) from favourable economic growth prospects.     

Sudden cardiac death following psychoemotional stress

Sudden death from cardiac arrest is described, which occurred after a minor accident. Morphologically, a coronary change was found in the sense of "juvenile coronary atherosclerosis" in connection with intramural bleeding postmortem. As there were no injuries in connection with the accident but psychoemotional stress had occurred, it is concluded that affective resonance resulting from the accident initiated the death. The pathological and pathophysiological relationships are discussed.     

Psychology,law, and the black community

Summary The present paper presented key applications of psychology and the law to the black community, embracing both civil and criminal law and legislation. The breadth of its focus preluded a more in-depth treatment of other areas relevant to black people which include issues related to psychiatric emergencies and involuntary hospitalization, child custody, and right-to-treatment litigation in prison and mental health facilities. In focusing attention on these applications and areas for activity, hopefully, I have not presented an unrealistic depiction of a responsive, socially sensitive, legal system capable and willing to exercise its powerful tools in the interest of the black community. To the contrary, there is considerable literature that identifies the historic role of the legal system in the enactments of laws to institutionalize and cement slavery, its failure to aggressively protect constitutional and civil rights of blacks, in imposing penalties differentially to blacks and whites in the criminal justice system, and more recently, conspiracies of law enforcement officials to deprive blacks of basic civil rights (Bell, 1975; Burns, 1973; Higgenbotham, 1973). The legal system, rather than being an effective instrument for justice and positive social changes, has often been a major source of racism. Thus, any meaningful attempts by lawyers or behavioral scientists in the interest of black people cannot ignore the racism that is embedded in the fabric of the legal profession and the behavioral sciences. Particular aspects of the law with significant social-psychological dimensions are: the cultural inertia, the archaicness of the law due to its roots in English common-law, historic and contemporary racism, conservatism associated with the principle of stare decisis, judicial elitism, and the substitution of administrative and judicial discretion for overt racism. Thus, in order for the legal system, or the field of psychology, to be reponsive to the needs of blacks and other oppressed groups, they must eradicate racism and injustice in their own ranks.Traditionally law has functioned as the hand maiden of the propertied class in our society. So it was to be expected that lawyers in the legislative halls, lawyers on the bench and lawyers in the executive branch of government would combine their talents to perpetuate by law this peculiarly American doctrine of racism predicated upon a claimed color inferiority.     

Psychopathy Factors and Risk for Aggressive Behavior: A Test of the “Threatened Egotism” Hypothesis

The primary purpose of this study was to examine psychopathy within a model of aggressive behavior that encompasses narcissism and "threatened egoism." This model was advanced by Baumeister and his colleagues (e.g., R. F. Baumeister, L. Smart, & J. M. Boden, 1996; B. J. Bushman & R. F. Baumeister, 1998). We examined whether the threatened egotism model extends to the construct of psychopathy and whether the two factors underlying psychopathy exhibit different associations with aggression within this model. Self-report data, correctional officer and counselor reports, and disciplinary report information obtained for 98 male inmates provided partial evidence that psychopathic individuals tend to respond aggressively when confronted with an ego threat. Moreover, psychopathic individuals exhibited this pattern of aggression more strongly than did narcissistic individuals. These findings bear potentially useful implications for the understanding and treatment of aggression in forensic populations.