Do Sex Offenders Have Higher Levels of Testosterone? Results From a Meta-Analysis

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer S. Wong ◽  
Jason Gravel

The purpose of the current study is to review the available scientific evidence on the relationship between testosterone and sexual aggression. A systematic search for all primary studies comparing basal testosterone levels in sex offenders and non-sex offenders was undertaken across 20 electronic databases using an explicit search strategy and inclusion/exclusion criteria. A total of seven studies were identified and 11 effect sizes were computed; effects were pooled using both fixed and random effects meta-analysis models. Although individual study findings present a mix of results wherein sex offenders have higher or lower baseline levels of testosterone than non-sex offenders, pooled results indicate no overall difference between groups. Moderators of the analyses suggest possibly lower rates of testosterone in child molesters than controls; however, results are dependent on study weighting. Limitations, policy implications with respect to chemical castration laws, and future directions for research are discussed.

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 336-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake M. Riek ◽  
Eric W. Mania ◽  
Samuel L. Gaertner

This article examines the relationship between intergroup threat and negative outgroup attitudes. We first qualitatively review the intergroup threat literature, describing the shift from competing theories toward more integrated approaches, such as the integrated threat theory (ITT; W. G. Stephan & Stephan, 2000). The types of threats discussed include: realistic threat, symbolic threat, intergroup anxiety, negative stereotypes, group esteem threat, and distinctiveness threat. We then conducted a quantitative meta-analysis examining the relationships between various intergroup threats and outgroup attitudes. The meta-analysis, involving 95 samples, revealed that 5 different threat types had a positive relationship with negative outgroup attitudes. Additionally, outgroup status moderated some of these relationships. Implications and future directions are considered.


2022 ◽  
pp. 074391562210761
Author(s):  
Martin Eisend ◽  
Farid Tarrahi

Persuasion knowledge development leads to better coping with marketplace persuasion, better consumer decision-making, and adds to consumer well-being. While significant knowledge exists on the impact that individual factors (e.g., age) and cues (e.g., sponsorship disclosure messages) have on consumers’ persuasion knowledge development, little is known about the influence of marketer actions, such as advertising spending. This is surprising, as marketer activities provide a major source of information for consumers’ persuasion knowledge learning and practice and can theoretically either support or hinder persuasion knowledge development. We develop several explanations for various types of relationships between advertising spending and persuasion knowledge and test these relationships by means of a meta-analysis of the persuasion knowledge literature based on 140 papers with 162 distinctive datasets that address persuasion knowledge measurements. We find that increasing advertising spending also increases consumers’ persuasion knowledge. The relationship follows an inverted-U curve, and, at a certain level of advertising spending, persuasion knowledge begins to decrease. The findings have theoretical and societal implications and, depending on the level of advertising investment, policy implications with the ultimate aim of ensuring consumer well-being and protecting consumer groups with low levels of persuasion knowledge.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Murad Harasheh ◽  
Alessandro Capocchi ◽  
Andrea Amaduzzi

Increasingly, innovation is seen as a novel leverage tool with which to create business and social value and thereby place its finders and users at a competitive advantage. Contemporary research suggests that the determinants of the innovation activity of firms are numerous. In this paper, we consider the financial and governance characteristics that might influence the innovation activity of a sample of 700 family firms in Italy. Our study was conducted over a 10-year period, from 2007 to 2016, using panel analysis models alongside robustness tests for the lagging effect and the probability regression as well as diagnostic statistics to ensure the use of an appropriate model. The results show that the existence of institutional investors, as a proxy for governance, has a persistent positive relationship with patent value, as a proxy for innovation, but not with the likelihood of being innovative. Moreover, financial indicators such as net working capital, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, debt, and equity are found to explain innovation activity better than other indicators in both the panel and probability regressions. We also find very little significant difference between the sectors and regions featured in the study, suggesting that the relationship among them is quasi-systematic. Concluding the paper, our findings are discussed in relation to their policy implications and suggestions for further research are made.


2019 ◽  
pp. 004912411988247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangyu Tong ◽  
Guang Guo

Meta-analysis is a statistical method that combines quantitative findings from previous studies. It has been increasingly used to obtain more credible results in a wide range of scientific fields. Combining the results of relevant studies allows researchers to leverage study similarities while modeling potential sources of between-study heterogeneity. This article provides a review of the core methodologies of meta-analysis that we consider most relevant to sociological research. After developing the foundation of the fixed- and random-effects models of meta-analysis models, this article illustrates the utility of the method with regression coefficients reported from two sets of social science studies. We explain the various steps of the process including constructing the meta-sample from primary studies, estimating the fixed- and random-effects models, analyzing the source of heterogeneity across studies, and assessing publication bias. We conclude with a discussion of steps that could be taken to strengthen the development of meta-analysis in sociological research, which will eventually increase the credibility of sociological inquiry via a knowledge-cumulative process.


Author(s):  
Yo In’nami ◽  
Yuko Hijikata ◽  
Rie Koizumi

Abstract The relationship between working memory (WM) and second-language (L2) reading has been extensively examined, with mixed results. Our meta-analysis models the potential impact of underresearched variables considered to moderate this relationship. Results from 74 studies (228 correlations) showed a significant, small relationship between WM and L2 reading (r = .300). Of the eight moderators examined, the WM–L2 reading relationship differed between studies using first-language (L1) and L2 WM tasks and between studies reporting and not reporting WM task reliability. Methodological features of reading comprehension measures or learners’ proficiency did not moderate the relationship. These results suggest that measurement practices of WM—rather than L2 reading measures or learner characteristics—matter in understanding the WM–L2 reading relationship. Implications and future directions are discussed.


Author(s):  
Sara Caviola ◽  
Enrico Toffalini ◽  
David Giofrè ◽  
Jessica Mercader Ruiz ◽  
Dénes Szűcs ◽  
...  

AbstractThe relationship between anxiety and mathematics has often been investigated in the literature. Different forms of anxiety have been evaluated, with math anxiety (MA) and test anxiety (TA) consistently being associated with various aspects of mathematics. In this meta-analysis, we have evaluated the impact of these forms of anxiety, distinguishing between different types of mathematical tasks. In investigating this relationship, we have also included potential moderators, such as age, gender, working memory, type of task, and type of material. One hundred seventy-seven studies met the inclusion criteria, providing an overall sample of 906,311 participants. Results showed that both MA and TA had a significant impact on mathematics. Sociodemographic factors had modest moderating effects. Working memory (WM) also mediated the relationship between MA and TA with mathematics; however, this indirect effect was weak. Theoretical and educational implications, as well as future directions for research in this field, are discussed.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0245061
Author(s):  
Monica C. O’Neill ◽  
Shaylea Badovinac ◽  
Rebecca Pillai Riddell ◽  
Jean-François Bureau ◽  
Carla Rumeo ◽  
...  

The present study aimed to systematically review and meta-analyze the concurrent and longitudinal relationship between caregiver sensitivity and preschool attachment measured using the Main and Cassidy (1988) and Cassidy and Marvin (1992) attachment classification systems. This review was pre-registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; Registration Number CRD42017073417) and completed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The present review identified 36 studies made up of 21 samples (N = 3, 847) examining the relationship between caregiver sensitivity and preschool attachment. Eight primary meta-analyses were conducted separately according to the proximity of the assessment of sensitivity to attachment (i.e., concurrent versus longitudinal), operationalization of caregiver sensitivity (i.e., unidimensional versus multidimensional) and attachment categorizations (i.e., secure-insecure versus organized-disorganized). Overall, the meta-analyses revealed higher levels of caregiver sensitivity among caregivers with secure and organized preschoolers, relative to insecure and disorganized preschoolers, respectively. Medium effect sizes (g = .46 to .59) were found for both longitudinal and concurrent associations between caregiver sensitivity and preschool attachment when a unidimensional measure of caregiver sensitivity was employed, compared to small to medium effect sizes (g = .34 to .49) when a multidimensional measure of caregiver sensitivity was employed. Child age at attachment measurement was a significant moderator of the longitudinal association between unidimensional caregiver sensitivity and preschool attachment. Future directions for the literature and clinical implications are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunice U. Choi ◽  
Michael A. Hogg

A key prediction of uncertainty-identity theory is that under conditions of high self-uncertainty, people will identify more strongly with their group. This has been supported by numerous studies. To quantify this relationship, a meta-analysis was conducted on 35 studies from 30 papers ( N = 4,657). The relationship between self-uncertainty and group identification varied significantly as a function of how psychologically real the uncertainty was, as reflected in how uncertainty was operationalized and how the study was conducted. Self-uncertainty operationalized as social identity uncertainty had the strongest relationship with identification ( r = −.26, 6.8% variance accounted for), followed by indirect operationalization of self-uncertainty ( r = .23, 5.3% variance accounted for), and direct operationalization of self-uncertainty ( r = .14, 2.0% variance accounted for). The relationship did not differ between measured self-uncertainty ( r = −.13, 1.7% variance accounted for) and manipulated self-uncertainty ( r = .17, 2.9% variance accounted for). Implications and future directions are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1722) ◽  
pp. 20160129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parviez R. Hosseini ◽  
James N. Mills ◽  
Anne-Hélène Prieur-Richard ◽  
Vanessa O. Ezenwa ◽  
Xavier Bailly ◽  
...  

Biodiversity is of critical value to human societies, but recent evidence that biodiversity may mitigate infectious-disease risk has sparked controversy among researchers. The majority of work on this topic has focused on direct assessments of the relationship between biodiversity and endemic-pathogen prevalence, without disentangling intervening mechanisms; thus study outcomes often differ, fuelling more debate. Here, we suggest two critical changes to the approach researchers take to understanding relationships between infectious disease, both endemic and emerging, and biodiversity that may help clarify sources of controversy. First, the distinct concepts of hazards versus risks need to be separated to determine how biodiversity and its drivers may act differently on each. This distinction is particularly important since it illustrates that disease emergence drivers in humans could be quite different to the general relationship between biodiversity and transmission of endemic pathogens. Second, the interactive relationship among biodiversity, anthropogenic change and zoonotic disease risk, including both direct and indirect effects, needs to be recognized and accounted for. By carefully disentangling these interactions between humans' activities and pathogen circulation in wildlife, we suggest that conservation efforts could mitigate disease risks and hazards in novel ways that complement more typical disease control efforts. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications’.


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