This paper investigates a problem of 'state dependency'. People who have been unemployed in the past are much more likely than others to become unemployed in the future. But is it unemployment itself that causes future unemployment or is there something else, some measured or unmeasured form of heterogeneity, in individual characteristics or environmental circumstances, that causes both the pas...

This study investigates the influence of players’ performance and level of skill on responsibility attributions in groups. Participants act as external judges and evaluate the performance of teams of differently skilled players who compete in a darts game. The results show that both performance and skill influence responsibility attributions. Poor performance elicits high blame and low credit r...

Background: A growing body of evidence supports the notion that the emotional profile of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may be more diverse than traditional accounts presume. PTSD's image as an anxiety-based disorder is undergoing change as the significance of other emotions in its development becomes more evident. Experimental research is needed in order to expand the understanding of un...

Both real-life events and research show that rape victims are sometimes blamed for their victimization. The effect of perpetrator characteristics on victim blaming has rarely been studied. In an experiment using a community sample (N = 161), we investigated the effect of the perpetrator’s previous conviction and age, as well as participants’ gender and belief in a just world (BJW) on blame attr...

iabetes mellitus portends excessive adverse clinical outomes for coronary artery disease (CAD) patients, including hose undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) 1–5). Causes for adverse outcomes in diabetic patients nclude more stent hyperplasia (3), smaller vessels, greater ascular inflammation, a higher thrombotic state, type of iabetic treatment (oral vs. insulin), and severe diff...

Most European scientists, when asked about the media, will express the view that journalists and their editors are a despicable bunch. And they are not the only ones. US straw polls from the 1980s found that people considered the ethical standards of journalists to be below those of used-car salesmen or even politicians. Indeed, seeing the coverage of molecular biology research in Europe, one c...

This article addresses the law's concept of the person and its relation to responsibility and the excusing conditions. It demonstrates that causation of behavior in general, even pathological biological causation, is not itself and excuse and suggests that the incapacity for rationality is the genuline basis of moral and legal excuse. The paper concludes by applying its theses to the case of Sp...

OBJECTIVE To describe an approach and experience with fostering a culture of patient safety. METHODS (1) Organizational Change-The Department of Medicine established a patient safety committee (PSC) and charged it with reviewing adverse events. (2) Cultural Change-PSC sponsors and participants work to promote a culture of collaboration, study, learning, and prevention versus a culture of blam...