CEO Stress, Aging, and Death

CEO Stress, Aging, and Death. Mark Borgschulte, Marius Guenzel, Canyao Liu & Ulrike Malmendier. NBER Working Paper 28550. DOI 10.3386/w28550

Abstract: We estimate the long-term effects of experiencing high levels of job demands on the mortality and aging of CEOs. The estimation exploits variation in takeover protection and industry crises. First, using hand-collected data on the dates of birth and death for 1,605 CEOs of large, publicly-listed U.S. firms, we estimate the resulting changes in mortality. The hazard estimates indicate that CEOs’ lifespan increases by two years when insulated from market discipline via anti-takeover laws, and decreases by 1.5 years in response to an industry-wide downturn. Second, we apply neural-network based machine-learning techniques to assess visible signs of aging in pictures of CEOs. We estimate that exposure to a distress shock during the Great Recession increases CEOs’ apparent age by one year over the next decade. Our findings imply significant health costs of managerial stress, also relative to known health risks.

Human energy increases continuously during the weekend, drops on Monday, follows a passageway trajectory from Monday to Thursday, and increases on Friday again; increases in sleep quality prediced energy changes

Continuity in transition –Combining recovery and day‐of‐week perspectives to understand changes in employee energy across the seven‐day week. Oliver Weigelt  Katja Siestrup  Roman Prem. Journal of Organizational Behavior, March 14 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2514

Summary: We integrate perspectives from research on recovery from work and perspectives from day‐of‐week research to predict continuous as well as discontinuous changes in vitality and fatigue. We examine whether changes in recovery experiences and sleep quality predict changes in human energy over the course of the weekend. Furthermore, we consider positive anticipation of work at the start of the workweek and effort during the workweek to predict changes in energy. We collected experience sampling data from 87 employees over the course of twelve days. In total, 2187 observations nested in 972 days were eligible for analysis. Applying discontinuous growth curve modeling, we found that human energy increases continuously during the weekend, drops on Monday, follows a passageway trajectory from Monday to Thursday, and increases on Friday again. Changes in recovery experiences did not predict changes in energy, increases in sleep quality did. Positive anticipation of work attenuated the drop in vitality on Monday. Effort did not predict changes in energy over the course of the workweek. Our results suggest that the transition between weekends and workweeks and vice versa accounts for considerable changes in human energy and that weekends are recuperative, particularly because they provide the opportunity for better sleep.

Sexual violence in college men: Some predictors are Hostile Masculinity, Impersonal Sex, lower empathy, peer support, extreme pornography use, and participation in alcohol parties

Factors predictive of sexual violence: Testing the four pillars of the Confluence Model in a large diverse sample of college men. Neil M. Malamuth  Raina V. Lamade  Mary P. Koss  Elise Lopez  Christopher Seaman  Robert Prentky. Aggressive Behavior, March 14 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21960

Abstract: This article focuses on the characteristics of sexually violent men who have not been convicted of a crime. The objective of this study was to test the four key interrelated pillars of the Confluence Model. The first key pillar posits the interaction of Hostile Masculinity and Impersonal Sex as core risk predictors. The second pillar entails a “mediated structure” wherein the impact of more general risk factors is mediated via those specific to aggression against women. The third pillar comprises a single latent factor underlying various types of sexual violence. The fourth pillar expands the core model by including the secondary risk factors of lower empathy, peer support, extreme pornography use, and participation in alcohol parties. An ethnically diverse sample of 1,148 male students from 13 U.S. colleges and universities completed a comprehensive survey that assessed the hypothesized risk factors and self‐reported sexual violence, which included noncontact sexual offenses, contact sexual coercion, and contact sexual aggression. A series of multiple regression analyses were conducted before testing structural equation models. The results supported the integration of the four pillars within a single expanded empirical model that accounted for 49% of the variance of sexual violence. This study yielded data supporting all four key pillars. These findings provide information about non‐redudant risk factors that can be used to develop screening tools, group‐based and individually tailored psychoeducational and treatment interventions.

Check also An Evolutionary Perspective on Sexual Assault and Implications for Interventions. Mark Huppin, Neil M. Malamuth, Daniel Linz. In the Handbook of Sexual Assault and Sexual Assault Prevention pp 17-44, October 19 2019. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/11/an-evolutionary-perspective-on-sexual.html

Spending money on pets promotes happiness

Give a dog a bone: Spending money on pets promotes happiness. Michael W. White, Nazia Khan, Jennifer S. Deren, Jessica J. Sim & Elizabeth A. Majka. The Journal of Positive Psychology, Mar 13 2021, https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1897871

Abstract: Pet owners routinely spend money on services, accessories, and gifts for their pets. The present research investigates the affective consequences of pet spending. Specifically, we propose that spending money on pets promotes happiness. As predicted, a lab study demonstrated that pet owners who were randomly assigned to recall a time they spent money on their pet reported greater happiness than those who recalled spending money on themselves. Likewise, a field study demonstrated that pet owners who were randomly assigned to spend $5 on their pet reported greater happiness than those who were assigned to spend on themselves or another person – an effect specific to feelings of happiness rather than to mood more generally. This research offers pet owners an evidence-based strategy for boosting happiness, representing an additional intentional activity that can be used to improve well-being.

KEYWORDS: Happinesspetsmoneywell-being