Search

Review of: The Participants. The Men of the Wannsee Conference, ed. by Hans-Christian Jasch and Christoph Kreutzmuller, trans. by Charlotte Kreutzmuller-Hughes and Jane Paulick (New York: Berghahn, 2017). 354 pp. $19.95 (pb). ISBN: 978-1-78533-671-3.

Why do people choose their beliefs? Research on this question has been dominated by a Traditional Monist Perspective, assuming that people think reasoning must always be in service of producing unbiased, evidence-based beliefs, embodying Epistemic Value. But recent research hints at the possibility that this may be an unwarranted assumption. People knowingly hold incorrect beliefs (Walco & Risen, 2017), prescribe morally motivated reasoning to others (Cusimano & Lombrozo, 2020), and report not caring that much about Epistemic Value when directly asked (Ståhl, Zaal, & Skitka, 2016; Pennycook, Cheyne, Koehler, & Fugelsang, 2019). Extending this work, I propose a New Pluralist Perspective, arguing that people find it worthwhile to believe in service of non-epistemic goals, embodying other values. Based on a review of the motivated reasoning literature, I propose a non-exhaustive list of three non-epistemic values about believing that people could explicitly endorse: (1) Emotional Value (that beliefs can be valuable by supporting positive emotions), (2) Moral Value (that beliefs can be valuable by supporting a moral agenda), and (3) Affiliative Value (that beliefs can be valuable by supporting meaningful affiliations). In Study 1 (n=456), I develop a self-report scale, the Values about Belief Scale (VBS), to measure endorsement of these values. In Study 2 (n=207), I assess the convergent validity of the Emotional Value subscale, and its relationship with emotionally motivated beliefs. In Study 3 (n=449), I explore how Emotional Value predicts palliative beliefs about the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, in Study 4 (n=200) I explore how the non-epistemic values predict a classic case of motivate reasoning in action: system justification. Results generally support the New Pluralist Perspective over the Traditional Monist Perspective. I discuss the implications of the New Pluralist Perspective for the study of belief regulation.

Every five years the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) conducts the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS). The survey provides an overview of the state of working conditions throughout Europe and indicates the nature and content of changes affecting the workforce and the quality of work. Topics covered in the survey include working time, psychological and physical risk factors, issues on work organisation, work-related health risks and health outcomes, access to training, income, as well as indicators of the reconciliation of working and private life.

Willingness to work until retirement age is increasing in the Netherlands: from 21% in 2005 to 26% in 2006. People’s willingness and ability to work until retirement are related to demographics, current health and work characteristics. Significant sectoral differences emerge, and the gap between being willing and being able varies considerably. This gap constitutes the scope for increasing the labour force by encouraging employees who can to stay in work.

Sixth International Scientific Conference on Prevention of Work-Related Musculosketal Disorders (PREMUS) Boston, USA, 27-30 august 2007.

On 23 March 2005, Directive 2002/15/EC concerning the organization of working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities came into force for mobile workers. Self-employed are temporally excluded from the scope of this Directive. Firstly, this report describes the implementation of this Directive in all EU Member States and in particular the application of the rules and consequences of the provisions on night work. Secondly, this report describes the possible consequences of the exclusion or inclusion of self-employed drivers from Directive 2002/15/EC in terms of road safety, conditions of competition, structure of the profession as well as social aspects. The responsible ministries in most EU countries have co-operated and returned a questionnaire on the status of implementation. Government representatives, employers’ representatives and employees’ representatives in most EU countries and at the EU-level have co-operated in anonymous interviews. In addition, available national data sources are used in order to describe the structure of the sector in all Member States and data of the European Working Conditions Survey are used to describe the structure of the profession and working environment of the self-employed. Since the data sources are only limited in scope or content, also scientific literature is used, in particular in the field of (road) safety.

Project Stress Impact

Fatigue is a 'reduction in physical and/or mental capacity as the result of physical, mental, or emotional exertion which may impair nearly all physical abilities including: strength, speed, reaction time, coordination, decision making or balance'. The literature is quite clear on the debilitating effect of fatigue on (different aspects of) performance. Fatigue behaviours that are often mentioned when fatigue was considered to be a cause of collisions and groundings are 'activation problems', meaning decreased vigilance and decreased alertness, and 'perception (and sensory input) limitations', meaning a reliance on visual inputs, decreased attention to peripheral stimuli, uncertainty of the observations, and decreased communication. Particularly these fatigue behaviours are often found in reports from collisions and groundings occurring between 00:00 to 04:00 hours, but are also quite prevalent in collisions and groundings occurring between 20:00 to 00:00 hours. Because several organisations are already active in increasing the monitoring of causes, behaviours and consequences of fatigue, this option was not selected to be assessed on its consequences for the shipping industry and maritime.

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has asked TNO Work & Employment to report on the quality of work and employment in the sector of Hotels & Restaurants in The Netherlands. Other research institutes were asked to do the same for the situation in the other EU-countries. The reports assess the impact of trends such as globalisation, increased competition and developments in technology, and look at the role of social dialogue in the sectors. They also feature several examples of interesting and innovative practice at local and national level aimed at improving the quality of work for workers in the sectors. The objective of the sector surveys on working conditions is to provide a cross-sectional overview of the working and employment conditions in this sector as an example of the European economy. This research project aims at collecting information on social dialogue in the hotels and restaurants sector as well. To construct the national report on the sector Hotels & Restaurants for the Netherlands, a literature review as well as both quantitative and qualitative analyses have been performed.

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions asked TNO Work and Employment to report on the quality of work and employment in the sector ‘Road Transport’, and sub sector ‘Freight transport by road’ in the Netherlands. Other research institutes were asked to do the same for the situation in the other EU-countries. The reports assess the impact of trends such as globalisation, increased competition and developments in technology, and look at the role of social dialogue in the sectors. They also feature several examples of interesting and innovative practice at local and national level aimed at improving the quality of work for workers in the sectors. The objective of the sector surveys on working conditions is to provide a cross-sectional overview of the working and employment conditions in this sector as an example of the European economy. This research project aims at collecting information on social dialogue in the transport sector as well. To construct the national report on the sector road transport (and freight transport by road) for the Netherlands, a literature review as well as both quantitative and qualitative analyses have been performed.