Using the US Survey of Consumer Finances, we explore the empirical relationship between borrowing constraints and financial portfolio allocation by American households. To help motivate our empirical analysis we initially draw insights from a mean-variance model of optimal portfolio allocation with three tradable asset classes defined by increasing risk, and establish a link between borrowing restrictions and portfolio allocation in the presence of background risk. Our main contribution, however, lies in estimating the role that borrowing constraints play in shaping households' financial portfolio allocation. This is achieved using an ordered fractional probit model. In addition to revealing the significant empirical role played by household borrowing constraints in determining portfolio allocation, our analysis helps us to resolve ambiguity surrounding the behaviour of the medium-risk asset in our motivational theoretical framework. Further, the empirical distribution of medium-risk assets is found to be remarkably similar to that for high-risk assets, suggesting the presence of a more general 'risk puzzle', which our borrowing constraints measures partially explain.

We explore the finding that households often expect their financial position to remain unchanged compared to other alternatives. A generalized middle inflated ordered probit (GMIOP) model is used to account for the tendency of individuals to choose "neutral" responses when faced with opinion-based questions. Our analysis supports the use of a GMIOP model to account for this response pattern. Expectation indices based on competing discrete choice models are also explored. While financial optimism is significantly associated with increased consumption at both the intensive and extensive margin, indices which fail to take into account middle-inflation overestimate the impact of financial expectations.

The region of Murcia, in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, experiences moderate tectonic activity, with earthquakes of up to 6.2–6.9 Mw recorded. Even with seismic activity of this scale there is no geological or instrumental record of tsunamis affecting the area. The presence at Cape Cope, Murcia of a ridge of metre-sized imbricated boulders (comprised of Upper Pleistocene sediments) reaching a height of up to 4 m above sea level, indicates that there has been an extreme wave event in the area during the Holocene. Through studying the wave conditions generated during large storms in this area, the boulder ridges appear to have been caused by extreme waves associated with a seismic event, as a tsunami.

The region of Murcia, in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, experiences moderate tectonic activity, with earthquakes of up to 6.2–6.9 Mw recorded. Even with seismic activity of this scale there is no geological or instrumental record of tsunamis affecting the area. The presence at Cape Cope, Murcia of a ridge of metre-sized imbricated boulders (comprised of Upper Pleistocene sediments) reaching a height of up to 4 m above sea level, indicates that there has been an extreme wave event in the area during the Holocene. Through studying the wave conditions generated during large storms in this area, the boulder ridges appear to have been caused by extreme waves associated with a seismic event, as a tsunami.

We investigate how recently developed measures of uncertainty affect the voting behavior of individual Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members. To determine the precise impact of uncertainty on individual policymakers, we estimate the standard errors of member-specific parameters in a random parameters ordered probit framework. We find that uncertainty is typically associated with voting to ease the policy stance. The Bank of England's in-house uncertainty index plays a prominent role in driving voting behavior. Based on this measure, the MPC emerges as a diverse group of activist risk managers.

The current study examined relationships between psychopathy factor severity and individual differences in reinforcement sensitivity theory factors. Phase 1 examined relationships between factors from the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ) and the two-factor model of psychopathy using the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP) in 2914 undergraduate students (63% women). Multigroup observed variable path analyses revealed unique associations between RST-PQ factors and the two factors of psychopathy. Also, small differences in relationship strength across biological sex were observed. Phase 2 examined the two factors of psychopathy in relation to hedonic ratings from the behavioral Sweet Taste Test (STT), along with self-report measures of trait pleasure, in a subset of participants (n = 93; 66% women). Analyses revealed robust sex interactions in relationships between STT ratings and the two psychopathy factors. Men with greater secondary psychopathy severity predicted a reduced slope of liking ratings to increasing concentrations of sucrose, while women showed a positive hedonic slope for secondary and a negative hedonic slope for primary psychopathy. Future research should include analyses for possible moderation of sex and incorporate menstrual cycle status in women when examining measures collected in the laboratory.

We explore the effects of health and healthcare utilization on household saving and financial portfolios using data from the Japanese Household Panel Survey and the Keio Household Panel Survey. Poor psychological well-being is found to be associated with lower levels of savings and smaller financial portfolios, whereas associations with poor physical health are largely absent. Significantly, our findings do not support the hypothesis that poorer physical health is associated with savings accumulation. In contrast, healthcare utilization in the form of hospital visits, hospitalization, and health screening is associated with greater savings and larger financial portfolios. This suggests that healthcare-based incentives to accumulate savings and financial wealth are related to channels associated with investment in health.

ObjectivesNegative psychiatric symptoms are often resistant to treatments, regardless of the disorder in which they appear. One model for a cause of negative symptoms is impairment in higher-order cognition. The current study examined how particular bottom-up and top-down mechanisms of selective attention relate to severity of negative symptoms across a transdiagnostic psychiatric sample.MethodsThe sample consisted of 130 participants: 25 schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, 26 bipolar disorders, 18 unipolar depression, and 61 nonpsychiatric controls. The relationships between attentional event-related potentials following rare visual targets (i.e., N1, N2b, P2a, and P3b) and severity of the negative symptom domains of anhedonia, avolition, and blunted affect were evaluated using frequentist and Bayesian analyses.ResultsP3b and N2b mean amplitudes were inversely related to the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale-Negative Symptom Factor severity score across the entire sample. Subsequent regression analyses showed a significant negative transdiagnostic relationship between P3b amplitude and blunted affect severity.ConclusionsResults indicate that negative symptoms, and particularly blunted affect, may have a stronger association with deficits in top-down mechanisms of selective attention.SignificanceThis suggests that people with greater severity of blunted affect, independent of diagnosis, do not allocate sufficient cognitive resources when engaging in activities requiring selective attention.

Zero‐inflated ordered probit ( ZIOP ) and middle‐inflated ordered probit ( MIOP ) models are finding increasing favour in the discrete choice literature. We propose generalizations to these models – which collapse to their ZIOP / MIOP counterparts under a set of simple parameter restrictions – with respect to the inflation process. These generalizations form the basis of a new specification test of the inflation process in ZIOP and MIOP models. Support for our generalization framework is principally demonstrated by revisiting a key ZIOP application from the economics literature, and reinforced by the reassessment of an important MIOP application from political science. Our specification test supports the generalized models over the original ZIOP / MIOP ones, suggesting an important role for it in modelling zero‐ and middle‐inflation processes.

Analysing the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Health and Retirement Study, we investigate the extent to which US households reduce their financial risk exposure when confronted with background risk. Our novel modelling approach – termed a deflated ordered fractional model – quantifies how the overall composition of a household portfolio with three asset classes adjusts with background risk, and is unique in recovering for any given risky asset class the shares that are reallocated to each safer asset category. Background risk exerts a significant impact on household portfolios, inducing a 'flight from risk' from riskier to safer assets.

e14112 Background: Our group is interested in designing and programming social robots that augment our staff capabilities in performing different cognitive tasks in the clinic. This study examined patients' interest and comfort with various robot form factors, when screened for distress as part of a routine patient evaluation. Methods: 199 Patients (N) (Power > .80) were presented 7 commercially available robot forms and rated their comfort and interest in interacting with each one on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Agree, 3 = Neutral, 5 = Strongly disagree).One sample t-tests compared the difference between the overall mean ratings and neutral point for comfort and interest. Independent samples t-test examined sex differences in overall ratings. Robust ANOVAs and post-hoc tests compared ratings across forms. Results: Results indicated significant interest and comfort in interacting with any robot tested, with men more interested and comfortable (see Table). Robust ANOVA indicated significant main effects for robot type ( Qcomfort = 31 .12; Qinteraction = 26 .52 , ps < .005) and sex ( Qcomfort = 21 .74; Qinteraction = 19 .35 , ps < .005) on comfort and interest. Post-hoc tests indicated that taller and narrower robots were least favored; however, there was no clear preferred form. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that patients are comfortable and interested in interacting with a robot, with men more comfortable and interested. Across robot forms, the taller and narrower forms were less favorable to patients. Future implementations of robotic interfaces may wish to avoid taller and narrower form factors. These data have informed the current model being tested in our clinics, which will be available for display. [Table: see text]

Introduction: Previous research has linked childhood cat scratches and bites to an increased risk for depression, and childhood cat ownership to increased risk of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and social anhedonia. Our group previously reported that childhood cat bites, but not ownership, related to increased schizotypy severity in an undergraduate sample. Methods: The current study expands this research by inquiring about cat bites and ownership in a transdiagnostic adult sample (N = 162; 51% female; mean age = 38.15, SD = 10.65), composed of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (n = 30), bipolar disorders (n = 30), unipolar depression (n = 23), and nonpsychiatric participants (n = 79). Participants completed a diagnostic interview, scales of symptom severity, and a cat interaction history interview. Results: Across the entire sample, self-report of cat bites prior to age 13, but not after, related to greater current severity of overall schizotypy, self-reported and clinician-rated psychotic-like symptoms, and social anhedonia, when compared to individuals who reported no lifetime cat bites. Cat bites prior to age 13 did not relate to severity of depression, non-social anhedonia, or clinician-rated negative symptoms. Self-report of residing with a cat prior to age 13, or a first cat bite after age 12, did not relate to any symptom severity measure examined. Conclusions: One theory for these findings is that an unknown infectious agent common in cat saliva interacted with brain development in childhood to increase the likelihood of these symptoms. A novel theory for the infectious agent Pasteurella multocidais discussed. Future research can examine candidate infectious agents to identify potential causal mechanisms for these relationships.

The Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, has typically been considered a tectonically stable region with little significant seismic activity. The region though, is one that is regularly affected by hurricanes. A detailed survey of ca 100 km of the eastern Yucatan and Cozumel coast identified the presence of ridges containing individual boulders measuring >1 m in length. The boulder ridges reach 5 m in height and their origin is associated with extreme wave event activity. Previously modelled tsunami waves from known seismically active zones in the region (Muertos Thrust Belt and South Caribbean Deformed Belt) are not of sufficient scale in the area of the Yucatan Peninsula to have produced the boulder ridges recorded in this study. The occurrence of hurricanes in this region is more common, but two of the most destructive (Hurricane Gilbert 1988 and Hurricane Wilma 2005) produced coastal waves too small to have created the ridges recorded here. In this paper, a new tsunami model with a source area located on the Motagua/Swan Island Fault System has been generated that indicates a tsunami event may have caused the extreme wave events that resulted in the deposition of the boulder ridges.

Existing self-report scales of emotional expression are limited by not assessing both frequency of emotional experience and tendency to suppress expression. We developed a new self-report scale named the Emotion Experience and Expressive Suppression Scale (EEESS) that was administered to 1490 undergraduate students from one university and the resulting two factor structure was confirmed in 645 undergraduate students from a separate university. The combined sample (2135 participants; 63% female) was used to examine relationships between EEESS scale factors and severity of schizotypy and depression. The frequency of emotional experience and expression suppression loaded onto separate factors for negative, but not positive, emotions. Therefore, analyses of positive emotions were limited to likelihood of expression suppression. Depression and overall schizotypy severity each positively related to frequency of experiencing and suppressing negative expressions. Depression severity related to increased likelihood of suppressing expression of both positive and negative emotions, while schizotypy severity related to increased likelihood of suppressing only positive expressions. The four schizotypy factors showed unique differential relationships with EEESS factors. The EEESS is a promising 14-item measure which revealed novel findings about suppression of emotion expression in relation to depression and schizotypy.

We propose and estimate several discrete choice models of monetary policy decision‐making that feature time‐varying inertia. The models permit us to account for three stylized facts characterizing monetary policymaking in the United States: (1) target interest rates are gradually adjusted in small discrete movements, (2) there are some long stretches of time in which rates are repeatedly moved, and (3) there are other long stretches in which the policy rate does not change. The models are used to account for delayed monetary policy responses to the recession of 2001 and to the housing‐driven expansion of 2003–2006. ( JEL E52, E58, E65)

A better understanding of the etiology and pathology related to distinct subtypes of anhedonia can lead to more efficacious personalized treatments. The current study advances knowledge on consummatory anhedonia - represented in the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) subconstruct of Initial Response to Reward (IRR). The Sweet Taste Test (STT) has promise as a behavioral paradigm for IRR, as it is sensitive to manipulation of μ-opioid receptors. However, there is a lack of existing knowledge of how the STT relates to subtypes of anhedonia, personality traits, and phases of the menstrual cycle. To address these questions, we administered the STT to 72 nonpsychiatric adults (76% women; mean age: 19.11). As predicted, the hedonic slope reflecting increasing “like” ratings over increasing concentrations of five sucrose solutions (ranging from 0.05 M to 0.86 M), was lower in individuals reporting higher consummatory anhedonia (measured with Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scales - Consummatory Subscale) and in women in the mid-to-late luteal menstrual phase (days 20 to 28). Both effects were driven by lower hedonic ratings to the sweetest concentration. The hedonic slope was larger in individuals scoring higher on the Flight-Freeze-Avoidance System personality factor from the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory Personality Questionnaire - driven by lower hedonic ratings for the least sweet concentration. No factor or aspect from the Big Five Aspects Scale related to hedonic ratings on the STT. The STT may be a valid and specific standardized behavioral paradigm to add to IRR, particularly if validated in a large transdiagnostic psychiatric sample.

Abstract Background: Personality traits found in Cluster B personality disorders have garnered considerable empirical attention and have been linked to a litany of issues, such as alcohol-related problems. While psychopathic traits have been linked to alcohol-use consequences, narcissistic traits remain understudied. Objectives: The current study examines the relationship between narcissistic traits and alcohol use and consequences as a function of Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) in a sample of college students. Method: Participants (n = 387 college student drinkers; 69.25% female) completed a series of questionnaires assessing alcohol use and consequences, PBS use, and narcissistic traits. Results: There was a significant positive association between narcissistic traits and alcohol use and consequences. The interaction of PBS and narcissistic traits was also statistically significant. Simple slopes revealed that at high levels of PBS (+1SD), the relationship between narcissistic traits and alcohol-use consequences was attenuated and not significant, while at low levels of PBS (–1SD), this association was potentiated. Conclusion: These findings suggest that interventions targeting PBS use may be one way to reduce alcohol problems among those with higher levels of narcissistic traits.

The carabid beetle genus Catadromus MacLeay (Coleoptera: Carabidae) is endemic to the Australasian region. Of the five currently recognised species, only one, C. lacordairei Boisduval, 1835 occurs in Tasmania, Australia, where it is listed as a threatened species on the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995. In the present paper, we describe and illustrate the larva of C. lacordairei, providing the first detailed larval description of a member of this genus.

Narcissism can be conceptualized as a combination of maladaptive variants of Five-Factor Model facets which load onto three of the five factors—antagonism (i.e., low agreeableness), agentic extraversion, and narcissistic neuroticism. Much research examines approach and avoidance motivations in narcissism; however, few studies assess these processes beyond self-report. In this study we examined how antagonism, agentic extraversion, and narcissistic neuroticism relate to reward learning—thought to be a component of approach motivation. A sample of 73 nonpsychiatric participants (71% female) completed a behavioral computer-administered probabilistic reward learning task involving monetary winnings. Narcissism was measured using the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI), which is a measure of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism using meta-analytically related Five-Factor Model facets that were modified to reflect narcissistic themes. Results indicated that narcissistic neuroticism related to greater average reward learning (i.e., response bias) across the task. Examination at the facet level indicated that FFNI Need for Admiration was the only facet that related significantly to response bias. This finding suggests that vulnerable narcissists may be more responsive to positive self-relevant feedback because of an increased sensitivity and ability to learn implicitly from reward.