We use single equation and system instrumental variable models to explore if individuals smoke during times of stress (the motivation effect) and if they are successful in self-medicating short-term stress (the self-medication effect). Short-term stress is a powerful motivator of smoking, and the decision to smoke could trigger biological feedback that immediately reduces short-term stress. We use ...
Bad moods are considered “bad” not only because they may be aversive experiences in and of themselves, but also because they are associated with poorer psychosocial functioning and health. We propose that people differ in their negative affect valuation (NAV; the extent to which negative affective states are valued as pleasant, useful/helpful, appropriate, and meaningful experiences) and that affect–health ...
Research from the United States has supported two hypotheses about health inequality. First, educational gaps in health widen with age – the cumulative advantage hypothesis. Second, this relationship has intensified across cohorts – the rising importance hypothesis. In this article, we estimate hierarchical linear models using 22 waves of panel data (SOEP, 1992–2013) to test both hypotheses in the ...
Well-being development at the end of life is often characterized by steep deteriorations, but individual differences in these terminal declines are substantial and not yet well understood. This study moved beyond typical consideration of health predictors and explored the role of social orientation and engagement. To do so, we used social variables at the behavioral level (self-ratings of social participation) ...
Germany introduced a new mandatory insurance for long-term care in 1995 as part of its social security system. It replaced a system based on means tested social welfare. Benefits from the long-term care insurance are not means tested and depend on the required level of care. The insurance provides both benefits in kind and cash benefits. The new scheme improved the situation for households to organize ...
Ein internationales Konsortium von 178 Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern aus verschiedenen Disziplinen hat anonymisierte genetische Daten von 298.420 Menschen untersucht und Gene entdeckt, die mit Lebenszufriedenheit und Glücklichsein in Verbindung stehen. Die Studie, die jetzt in der führenden Fachzeitschrift „Nature Genetics“ veröffentlicht wurde, zeigt auch vielfältige ...
In this article, we investigate the differences in smoking behavior between male Turkish immigrants and male Germans, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). More specifically, we use a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method for count data models, and isolate differences in the number of cigarettes consumed daily between Turkish immigrants and Germans into a component reflecting differences ...