A theory of natural addiction

Economic theories of rational addiction aim to describe consumer behavior in the presence of habit-forming goods. We provide a biological foundation for this body of work by formally specifying conditions under which it is optimal to form a habit. We demonstrate the empirical validity of our thesis with an in-depth review and synthesis of the biomedical literature concerning the action of opiates in the mammalian brain and their effects on behavior. Our results lend credence to many of the unconventional behavioral assumptions employed by theories of rational addiction, including adjacent complementarity and the importance of cues, attention, and self-control in determining the behavior of addicts. We offer evidence for the special case of the opiates that “harmful” addiction is the manifestation of a mismatch between behavioral algorithms encoded in the human genome and the expanded menu of choices faced by consumers in the modern world.     

网络成瘾学生的教育引导策略研究

网络成瘾与人格倾向、人际交往、社会支持和元认知等因素相关。针对少数学生网络成瘾,高校要予以关注、预防,鼓励他们进行人际交往,改善其现实社会支持系统,有针对性地进行目的、计划、自控和意志能力训练,积极加以引导和调适。     

Pseudo panel data estimation technique and rational addiction model: an analysis of cigarette,alcohol and coffee demands

We use a pseudo‐panel data approach to analyze the relationship between the consumptions of cigarettes, alcohol, and coffee in a rational addiction framework. We find that while cigarette and coffee demands fit well with the rational addiction model, alcohol demand conforms to a model with inventory effects. The results suggest that alcohol consumption increases the marginal utility derived from consumption of cigarettes. Increasing alcohol prices would decrease not only the consumption of alcohol, but also the consumption of cigarettes. On the other hand, increasing cigarette prices do not have the same effect on consumption of alcohol. The cross‐price elasticity of coffee with respect to cigarette price is positive and significant which suggests that coffee substitutes for cigarettes when cigarette prices increase. The cross‐price elasticity of alcohol with respect to coffee price is found to be negative and significant. On the other hand, Morishima elasticities of substitution indicate that cigarette, alcohol and coffee substitute each other along the indifference curve when relative prices change.     

用元分析的方法对体育运动戒除大学生网瘾效果的研究

随着网络在高校中普及和运用的不断扩大与发展,网络给大学生带来更多丰富多彩的生活,但是,网瘾的情况也越来越多。利用元分析方法对以前的体育运动治疗网瘾的数据进行再分析,从而证明体育运动能够有效治疗网瘾。     

Why do European consumers smoke? Responses from the rational addiction model

In this paper, we test whether European consumers are addictive smokers and, if this is the case, then whether such addictions can be explained by the rational addiction theory. To this end, we start from a non‐separable intertemporal utility function, which allows us to derive a demand function that is estimated using tobacco time‐series. The results are in accordance with the model of rational addiction for all European smokers. Thus, we observe the addictive character of tobacco consumption and, secondly, we note that the addiction is not the result of myopic consumer behaviour, but rather of the maximization of total utility, implying that consumers consider the future effects of their current decisions.     

A social identity perspective of social media's impact on satisfaction with life

Social media platforms have become an (almost) obligatory part of our lives and activities. However, many disadvantages have emerged such as an increase in dependency on social media owing to addictions known as the dark side of social media. The current research seeks to understand the impact of specific aspects of this dark side, viz. social media addiction, fear of missing out, and narcissism, on self-esteem, and their links with an individual's satisfaction with life (SwL). The results of a quantitative survey (n = 260) show the salient impact of these aspects on self-esteem as well as the preponderant role of collective self-esteem in SwL. Academic and managerial implications are discussed.     

浅析体育运动在青少年网瘾形成过程中的干预

青少年网瘾问题因其后果严重、波及面大已引起研究人员的普遍关注。大量研究从如何进行网瘾治疗进行论述,却忽略了具有网瘾倾向的360万青少年。本文从"体育运动在网瘾形成过程中干预的可行性"这一角度阐述干预青少年网瘾形成的新模式。认为通过家庭体育、学校体育、社区体育等体育形式合理配合,可以缓解青少年对网络的依赖程度,将具有网瘾倾向的青少年拉回现实生活。     

网络成瘾者风险决策能力的脑机制研究

当前,网络成瘾问题已越来越成为社会高度关注的问题之一。研究表明,网络成瘾者与物质成瘾、病理性赌博者一样,在决策行为上表现出与其他成瘾者相似的情况。通过对33名男性网络成瘾大学生和15男性非网络成瘾大学生进行测试,发现网络成瘾大学生选择的风险项比例显著多于非成瘾大学生,且心理安全线更低。通过弥散张量成像技术对两组被试进行扫描后发现,网络成瘾组被试在右侧前辐射冠处的白质MD值显著高于对照组,意味着网络成瘾组被试在该脑区的白质纤维束数量显著低于对照组被试,且纤维束更长。说明网络成瘾者决策能力受损,其脑部生理机制所形成的决策障碍改变了他们的行为。     

The ‘Human’ Touch

Abstract

This article critically discusses the almost mythical conception of voluntary and ‘grass-roots’ organizations as problem solvers in current welfare policy – a myth, which over the last twenty years has become increasingly dominant in social policy programmes in advanced liberal welfare states. In particular, the article examines the assumption that voluntary and local organizations are permeated by a different rationality that enables human beings to act as ‘real humans’ rather than as professionals and clients – a rationality which is, however, permanently at risk of being contaminated by bureaucratic influence. It is demonstrated that among the conditions of possibility for this discourse are explanatory models and concepts in modern organizational theory and in voluntary sector studies. The article argues that the conceptualizations of power, rationality and social change dominant in these studies are unsatisfactory. Instead, it applies a Foucauldian approach to the domain of drug addiction treatment, analysing a social work ‘regime’ that transgresses the traditional boundaries between state and voluntary sector.