Has financial attitude impacted the trading activity of retail investors during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Financial attitude influences the financial behavior of retail investors. Although the extant research has acknowledged and examined this relationship, the measures of financial attitude and behavior still vary widely and are generally posed as a series of questions rather than statements. In addition to this, there is insufficient knowledge regarding retail investors' behavior in the face of a health crisis, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. This study addresses these gaps in the prior literature by examining the relative influence of six dimensions of financial attitude, namely, financial anxiety, optimism, financial security, deliberative thinking, interest in financial issues, and needs for precautionary savings, on the trading activity of retail investors during the pandemic. Data were collected from 404 respondents and analyzed using the artificial neural network (ANN) method. The results revealed that all six dimensions had a positive influence on trading activity, with interest in financial issues exerting the strongest influence, followed by deliberative thinking. The study thus contributes important inferences for researchers and managers.     

Patients’ preferences for the treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders: a systematic review of discrete choice experiments

Abstract

Introduction: Matching available mental health services to patients’ preferences, as well as is possible, may increase patient satisfaction and help increase adherence to certain treatments. This study systematically reviewed discrete-choice experiments (DCEs) on patients’ preferences for treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders and assessed the relative importance of outcome, process and cost attributes to improve the current and future treatment situations.

Methods: A systematic literature review using PubMed, EMBASE and PsychInfo was conducted to retrieve all relevant DCEs published up to 15 April 2019, eliciting patient preferences for treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders. Data were extracted using an extraction sheet, and attributes were classified into outcome, process and cost attributes. The relative importance of each attribute category was then assessed, and studies were evaluated according to their reporting quality, using validated checklists.

Results: A total of 11 studies were identified for qualitative analysis. All studies received an aggregate score of 4 on the five-point PREFS checklist (Purpose, Respondents, Explanation, Findings and Significance). Most attributes were outcome related (52%), followed by process (42%) and cost (6%) attributes. Comparing the attribute categories and summing up the relative importance weights for each category within the studies, process attributes were ranked as most important, followed by cost and outcome attributes.

Conclusions: In this systematic review, heterogeneous results were observed regarding the inclusion and framing of different attributes across studies. Overall, patients considered process and cost attributes to be more important than outcome attributes. Outcomes and process are important for patients, and thus clinicians should be particularly aware of this and take patients’ preferences into account, although the attribute importance may depend on chosen attributes and related levels.     

Growth in the age of automation: Foundations of a theoretical framework

The replacement of humans by machines in the development of a wide array of productive tasks is changing the economic landscape. Mutations on the structure of employment, widening income gaps, and uncertain effects over growth are some of the worries currently in the mind of economists. This article develops the foundations of a neoclassical growth model that puts into perspective the impact of automation over the aggregate economy. In particular, efficiency gains propelled by the current wave of innovation are confronted with the associated loss of jobs and with the potential social unrest and anxiety that the substitution of labor by robots brings. The strength of each effect determines transition paths and steady‐state results.     

The role of consumer participation readiness in automated parcel station usage intentions

Automated parcel stations (APS) offer an effective and efficient way to respond to increasing volumes of online commerce and to add value to traditional ‘last mile’ parcel pick-up and delivery options. We developed a theoretical sound model with consumer participation readiness (CPR) as the foundation construct and showed that technology anxiety and service convenience fully mediate the effects of CPR on usage intentions. The model explained over 80% of the variance in the dependant variable and our findings offer novel insights that have important theoretical and managerial implications.     

‘The smell of death and the smell of life’: authenticity,anxiety and perceptions of death at Varanasi’s cremation grounds

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to an understanding of existential authenticity and existential anxiety in tourism studies through an investigation of tourists’ perceptions of death, the Self, and ‘others’ at the Hindu cremation grounds in Varanasi, India. Encounters with death at dark tourism sites serve as reminders of one’s own mortality affecting one’s attitude towards death, perception of self, and even challenging one’s personal values. Existentialists assert that anxiety is a condition of existential authenticity, and therefore moments of the existentially authentic experience are not always pleasurable. This paper argues that confrontation with death, as exemplified by the Aghori rituals and the cremation grounds in Varanasi, offers tourists an opportunity to examine the inevitability that life will end and to engage with this existential predicament and anxiety in an embodied sense, thereby pushing some of them towards life changes in the pursuit of existential authenticity.     

大学生社交焦虑的认知行为治疗案例研究

采用认知行为治疗模式,对患有社交焦虑的大学生进行案例研究,发现认知行为治疗能够减缓其社交焦虑的主观体验,改变消极的思维习惯,降低孤独感,说明认知行为治疗能够有效改善社交焦虑大学生的焦虑状况。     

Trauma's effects on shopper choice confusion: The role of psychological hardiness and retailer strategies as mitigating factors

Retailers must understand how trauma influences the consumer shopping journey and identify ways to mitigate any potential adverse effects. Two studies were conducted to explore trauma in the retail environment. First, a conceptual model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on survey data collected from 324 participants. Findings indicate that consumers who report previously experiencing traumatic events feel anxiety while shopping in retail environments, negatively influencing their ability to make purchase decisions. This outcome is due to challenges in adequately assessing stressful environmental stimuli and developing positive coping mechanisms. Consumer propensity for psychological hardiness was found to moderate this relationship. Next, a follow-up qualitative study from 110 consumers who reported experiencing instances of trauma identified potential ways for retailers to help consumers who have experienced trauma feel more comfortable in shopping environments. These findings extend research on trauma and consumer shopping behavior by identifying its impacts on choice confusion and stress appraisal and suggesting how retailers can support shoppers through a trauma-informed approach.     

Would you work abroad? The effect of English proficiency on Chinese employees’ willingness to accept international assignments

The process of globalization has led to a considerable number of expatriates working abroad. In this article, we investigate whether those with a higher level of English proficiency are more willing to accept international assignments. To examine our hypotheses, we conducted a time-lagged survey of 239 employees from Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs). The results reveal that employees’ English language proficiency is positively related to their willingness to accept international assignments, and that their openness to corporate globalization mediates this relationship. In addition, employees’ foreign language anxiety (FLA) moderates the mediating effect of English language proficiency on willingness to accept international assignments via openness to corporate globalization. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

“父母逼婚”现象的社会学解读

日前,百合网投放的一则“逼婚”广告遭到公开抵制,在社会上引起了关于“父母逼婚”现象的广泛关注和讨论.“父母逼婚”作为一种社会现象,它的出现有着深刻的历史文化原因和现实社会背景.本文从社会学的角度出发对该现象进行解读和分析,目的在于对其有一个较为清晰的认知,发现其深层内涵.