US Clean Air Act associated with increased average lifetime earnings of $21,400

Reduction in in utero airborne lead exposure linked to improved socio-economic outcomes relating to disability, employment and lifetime earnings

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

 

IMAGE: 

THE NEW WORK USED CONFIDENTIAL SOCIAL SECURITY AND US CENSUS BUREAU RECORDS TO ANALYZE THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF IMPROVEMENT IN THE US AIR LEAD CONCENTRATION ON ADULT SOCIO-ECONOMIC OUTCOMES INCLUDING EARNINGS, DISABILITY, TIME WORKING, EDUCATION AND PUBLIC ASSISTANCE. 

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CREDIT: ALFCERMED, PIXABAY, CC0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/PUBLICDOMAIN/ZERO/1.0/)

Early exposure to airborne lead has long-term outcomes on employment, disability and lifetime earnings, and the passage of the US Clean Air Act in 1970 has had an estimated US $4.23 trillion in benefits through its impact on airborne lead levels and the resulting increase in labor market outcomes, according to a new study published November 15 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Spencer Banzhaf of North Carolina State University and Melissa Ruby Banzhaf of the US Census Bureau.

Even at low levels, lead exposure in utero and young childhood has been shown to reduce cognitive ability and increase behavioral problems and risky behavior throughout life. In the new work, the Banzhafs used confidential Social Security and US Census Bureau records to analyze the long-term effects of improvement in the US air lead concentration on adult socio-economic outcomes including earnings, disability, time working, education and public assistance. 

The study found that the decrease in air lead between 1975 and 1985, resulting from the passage of the Clean Air Act, is associated with an increase in lifetime earnings of 3.5% or $21,400 for the average US worker, with greater impacts on women than men. Additionally, greater exposure to air lead in utero is associated with an increase in adult disability, an increase in receiving public assistance and a decrease in employment. Overall, the total earnings impact of the Clean Air Act totals US $4.23 trillion, with a benefit of about $252 billion in 2020 alone.

The authors conclude that there are long-term links among air lead exposure, cognitive development and socio-economic outcomes. The Clean Air Act’s lead phase out is still returning a national dividend of more than 1% each year, they report. 

The authors add: “These results indicate that the phaseout of leaded gasoline in the 1970s and 1980s is continuing to pay long-term dividends. They also highlight the importance of continued efforts to identify and abate lead in drinking water and old paint.”

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In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0293443

Citation: Banzhaf HS, Banzhaf MR (2023) Impact of in utero airborne lead exposure on long-run adult socio-economic outcomes: A population analysis using U.S. survey and administrative data. PLoS ONE 18(11): e0293443. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293443

Author Countries: USA

Funding: HSB received funding from Georgia State University through the Atlanta Census RDC Seed Grant Program. There was no grant number associated with this award. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0293443 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Impact of in utero airborne lead exposure on long-run adult socio-economic outcomes: A population analysis using U.S. survey and administrative data

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

22-Nov-2023

COI STATEMENT

Canadian First Nations houses in remote and isolated northern communities have strikingly high levels of CO2, mold damage and endotoxins, which could explain the high levels of respiratory illness in these communities

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

 

IMAGE: 

SUNSET IN A SIOUX LOOKOUT ZONE COMMUNITY.

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CREDIT: GARY MALLACH, CC-BY 4.0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/)

Canadian First Nations houses in remote and isolated northern communities have strikingly high levels of CO2, mold damage and endotoxins, which could explain the high levels of respiratory illness in these communities

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Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0294040

Article Title: Indoor air quality in remote first nations communities in Ontario, Canada

Author Countries: Canada

Funding: Funding for this study was provided by Health Canada. JDM SYN 479724-15 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/index_eng.asp The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0294040 

ARTICLE TITLE

Indoor air quality in remote first nations communities in Ontario, Canada

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

22-Nov-2023

 

People struggling with work addiction feel unwell even when they are working

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA

The mood of workaholics - individuals who suffer from work addiction - is on average worse than that of other people, even when engaged in the activity they are most passionate about: their work. Workaholism shares many similarities with other addictions, such as gambling or alcoholism.

This is what emerges from a study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, conducted by Cristian Balducci, a professor at the Department for Life Quality Studies at the University of Bologna (Rimini Campus), in collaboration with Dr. Luca Menghini from the University of Trento and Prof. Paola Spagnoli from the University of Campania 'Luigi Vanvitelli'.

Professor Balducci explains: "The negative mood observed in workaholics may indicate elevated daily stress levels and that could be the cause of the higher risk for these individuals to develop burnout and cardiovascular problems. Furthermore, considering that workaholics often hold positions of responsibility, their negative mood could readily influence that of colleagues and co-workers. This poses a risk that organizations should seriously consider, intervening to discourage behaviors that contribute to workaholism.”

WORK ADDICTION
Work addiction has been a well-known phenomenon for a long time: people suffering from it tend to work excessively and compulsively. This is a true obsession that negatively affects health, psychological well-being, and relations with family and friends.

Several studies indicate that workaholics commonly experience a sense of unwellness, often accompanied by negative emotions such as hostility, anxiety, and guilt when they are unable to work as extensively as they wish. On the other hand, there are conflicting assumptions about the feelings that emerge in these people while they are at work. Some studies suggest that workaholics experience feelings of well-being and satisfaction during the workday, yet other research indicates that these positive emotions quickly transition to a prevailing dysphoric state characterized by irritation and depression.

WORKAHOLISM AND EMOTIONAL FLATNESS
To shed light on this aspect, scholars involved 139 full-time workers in the study, mostly employed in back-office activities. A psychological test was first used to assess the participants' level of work dependency. Afterward, the scholars analyzed the mood of the workers and their perception of workload using a technique known as "experience sampling method". This was done using an app installed on the participants' phones, which allowed them to send short questionnaires, approximately every 90 minutes, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., over the course of three working days (Monday, Wednesday and Friday).

"The collected data show that the most workaholic workers have on average a worse mood than the others", says Prof. Balducci. "So, it does not appear to be true that people who are addicted to work derive more pleasure from their work activity; quite the opposite, the results seem to confirm that, as in other forms of behavioural and substance addiction, the initial euphoria gives way to a negative emotional state that pervades the person even while at work.”

The results also demonstrate that, unlike other workers, workaholics, on average, consistently maintain a more negative mood throughout the day, with no significant variations attributed to the passage of time or fluctuations in workload. A diminished reactivity of mood to external stimuli implies a notable emotional flattening, a well-recognized phenomenon in other types of addictions.

“This element,” suggests Luca Menghini, researcher at the University of Trento and first author of the study, “could stem from the workaholic's inability to moderate work investment, resulting in a significant decrease in disconnection and recovery experiences, and the parallel consolidation of a negative affective tone.”

WOMEN AND WORKAHOLISM
Another interesting result that emerged from the study is that of gender differences. The relationship between work addiction and bad mood was in fact more pronounced in women than in men, indicating a greater vulnerability of women to workaholism.

Scholars suggest that this phenomenon may depend on an increased role conflict experienced by workaholic women, caught between the internal tendency to over-invest in their work and the external pressures stemming from gender expectations still deeply rooted in our culture.

DANGERS AND COUNTERMEASURES
These results warn of the dangers of workaholism. Work addiction can lead to significant negative repercussions not only on relationships with family and friends, but also on physical and psychological well-being. The so-called “overwork illnesses” can aggravate to the point of leading to death from overwork - a phenomenon with a not inconsiderable case history today.

“Organisations must send clear signals to workers on this issue and avoid encouraging a climate where working outside working hours and at weekends is considered the norm,” Prof. Balducci concludes. "On the contrary, it is necessary to foster an environment that discourages excessive and dysfunctional investment in work, promoting disconnection policies, specific training activities and counselling interventions."

The study was published on the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology with the title "Uncovering the Main and Interacting Impact of Workaholism on Momentary Hedonic Tone at Work: An Experience Sampling Approach.” The authors are Cristian Balducci of the University of Bologna, Luca Menghini of the University of Trento and Paola Spagnoli of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

DOI

10.1037/ocp0000365 

ARTICLE TITLE

Uncovering the main and interacting impact of workaholism on momentary hedonic tone at work: An experience sampling approach

 

What are the effects of workforce automation across race and gender in the United States?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILEY

Advances in areas such as robotics and artificial intelligence enable the automation of a range of occupational tasks, leading to fundamental changes in the nature of work. New research published in The American Journal of Economics and Sociology indicates that the effects of job automation vary across race and gender, and without targeted interventions, will likely result in increasing inequality.

The research analyzes two distinct measures of automation job displacement risk for more than 1.4 million Americans across 385 occupations. The findings show that the intersection of race and gender has a significant effect on automation risks. For example, when compared with white males, Black, Hispanic, and Native American males face 5.8%, 3.9%, and 2.8% higher job automation risks, respectively, when all other variables are held constant. Asian males, however, are at a 0.9% lower risk. Compared with white males, white females have a 1.6% lower risk, and Black females have a 1.1% lower risk. Hispanic females have a 0.5% higher risk, and Asian females have a 0.8% higher risk. Native American females were not correlated with a higher or lower risk of automation than white males. Age, disability, and country of birth were also significant factors for job automation risk.

The study also underscores the importance of education in reducing automation risks and the need to address existing racial and gender disparities in educational attainment. For instance, holding all other variables constant, Black females had a 1.1% lower automation risk than white males. However, once education is considered, the relative risks change considerably. A white male with a Bachelor’s degree, for example, has a 21.3% lower job automation risk compared with a Black female with a high school degree.

“This study offers valuable insights into the complex interplay of race, gender, education, and other factors with automation risks in the American workforce. It highlights the importance of tackling discrimination and educational gaps based on race and gender,” said corresponding author Ian P. McManus, PhD, of Emerson College. “It also emphasizes the need to adopt policies that ensure equitable opportunities and outcomes for all workers, especially those facing greater economic vulnerability and social exclusion due to this technological transformation.”

URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajes.12554

 

Additional Information
NOTE: The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Please include journal attribution in all coverage. For more information or to obtain a PDF of any study, please contact: Sara Henning-Stout, newsroom@wiley.com.

About the Journal
The American Journal of Economics and Sociology is an international, interdisciplinary scholarly journal publishing original, peer reviewed, high-quality studies which aim to add to our knowledge of issues within the broad fields of Economics, Sociology, Political Science, and Social Science generally. 

About Wiley
Wiley is a knowledge company and a global leader in research, publishing, and knowledge solutions. Dedicated to the creation and application of knowledge, Wiley serves the world’s researchers, learners, innovators, and leaders, helping them achieve their goals and solve the world's most important challenges. For more than two centuries, Wiley has been delivering on its timeless mission to unlock human potential. Visit us at Wiley.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

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JOURNAL

American Journal of Economics and Sociology

DOI

10.1111/ajes.12554 

ARTICLE TITLE

Workforce Automation Risks Across Race and Gender in the United States

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

22-Nov-2023

 

MRI reveals brain activity behind fanaticism

Meeting Announcement

RADIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA

 

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THE CONTRAST OF WINNING AND LOSING IN THE “GOOD FANATIC BRAIN.” IT SHOWS IN WARM COLORS THE ACTIVITY RELATED TO A SIGNIFICANT WINNING. THE BLUE SCALE REPRESENTS THE ACTIVATION RELATED TO A SIGNIFICANT LOSS, THIS PATTERN IS CONGRUENT WITH THE MENTALIZATION NETWORK, WHICH SUGGESTS A RATIONALIZATION PROCESS OF THE PAIN EVOKED BY THE LOSING SCENARIO.

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CREDIT: RSNA/FRANCISCO ZAMORANO MENDIETA, PH.D.

CHICAGO – Soccer fans exhibit different patterns of brain activation while watching a match that may trigger positive and negative emotions and behaviors, according to research being presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The researchers say the implication of these findings could extend beyond sports to fanaticism in other areas, such as politics.

“This study aims to shed light on the behaviors and dynamics associated with extreme rivalry, aggression and social affiliation within and between groups of fanatics,” said the study’s lead author, Francisco Zamorano Mendieta, Ph.D., researcher in the Department of Imaging at Clínica Alemana de Santiago, and associate professor at Facultad de Ciencias para el Cuidado de la Salud, Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago, Chile.

Rivalries run deep in the history of sports, and fans can be very protective of their “home” team and favorite players. These same fans run the gamut of emotions watching their team succeed or fail over the course of a game or match, cheering when they score or raging at a bad call. Soccer fans are known for their team loyalty and enthusiasm, particularly in Europe and South America.

To gain some insight into the brain mechanisms behind the behaviors of the fans, Dr. Zamorano and colleagues recruited 43 healthy male volunteers who support Chilean football teams for a functional MRI (fMRI) study.

The study involved football fans from the two most popular Chilean soccer teams, considered archrivals. Participants were divided into two groups, 22 supporters of one team and 21 supporters of the rival team. Participants completed a survey to determine a soccer fanaticism score and underwent psychological evaluations.

All participants were presented with a compilation of matches containing 63 goals. While the participants viewed the match compilation, their brain activity was measured using fMRI, a noninvasive imaging technique that detects changes in the brain’s blood flow.

The fMRI results showed that brain activity changed when the fan’s team succeeded or failed.

“When their team wins, the reward system in the brain is activated,” Dr. Zamorano said. “When they lose, the mentalization network can be activated, taking the fan to an introspective state. This may mitigate some of the pain of the loss. We also observed inhibition of the brain hub that connects the limbic system with frontal cortices, hampering the mechanism that regulates cognitive control and increasing the probability to fall into disruptive or violent behavior.”

According to Dr. Zamorano, the findings may shed light on social dynamics in all walks of life.

“People inherently crave social connections, be it through membership in a running club, participation in a book discussion group, or engagement in virtual forums,” he said. “While these social bonds often form around shared beliefs, values and interests, there can also be an element of persuasive proselytism, or ‘group think,’ which may give rise to unreasoned beliefs and societal discord.”

Dr. Zamorano believes that the zealousness found among some sports fans can serve as a compelling example of intense emotional investment, occasional aggressive behavior and impaired rationality.

“Understanding the psychology of group identification and competition can shed light on decision-making processes and social dynamics, leading to a fuller comprehension of how societies operate,” he said.

Dr. Zamorano noted that research in fanaticism and partisanship necessitates robust scientific frameworks but added that arenas like political stances, electoral loyalties, ethnicity, spirituality and identity issues are frequently mired in controversy, complicating efforts to pinpoint the neurological foundations of extreme allegiance.

“Sports fandom, on the other hand, presents a unique opportunity to analyze how intense devotion affects neural activity in a less contentious context, particularly by highlighting the role of negative emotions, the related inhibitory control mechanisms and possible adaptative strategies,” he said.

Co-authors are José María Hurtado, Ph.D., Patricio Carvajal-Paredes, Ximena Stecher Guzman, M.D., Patricia Soto-Icaza, Ph.D., Cesar Salinas, V. López, M.D., Ph.D., Waldemar Méndez, Pablo Billeke, M.D., Ph.D., and Claudio Silva, M.D.

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Note: Copies of RSNA 2023 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press23.

RSNA is an association of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. (RSNA.org)

Editor’s note: The data in these releases may differ from those in the published abstract and those actually presented at the meeting, as researchers continue to update their data right up until the meeting. To ensure you are using the most up-to-date information, please call the RSNA Newsroom at 1-312-791-6610.

For patient-friendly information on brain MRI, visit RadiologyInfo.org

Status threat - the concern that outsiders will undermine your group's status - is associated with increased age, conservatism, conspiracy mentality, and paranoia, in study of 300 US adults

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

 

IMAGE: 

STATUS THREAT - THE CONCERN THAT OUTSIDERS WILL UNDERMINE YOUR GROUP'S STATUS - IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED AGE, CONSERVATISM, CONSPIRACY MENTALITY, AND PARANOIA.

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CREDIT: MOHAMED_HASSAN, PIXABAY, CC0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/PUBLICDOMAIN/ZERO/1.0/)

Status threat - the concern that outsiders will undermine your group's status - is associated with increased age, conservatism, conspiracy mentality, and paranoia, in study of 300 US adults

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Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0293930

Article Title: Conspiracy mentality, subclinical paranoia, and political conservatism are associated with perceived status threat

Author Countries: USA

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0293930 

ARTICLE TITLE

Conspiracy mentality, subclinical paranoia, and political conservatism are associated with perceived status threat

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

22-Nov-2023

COI STATEMENT

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

 

Cognitive ability mattered in the UK’s vote for Brexit, University of Bath research shows

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BATH

Susceptibility to misinformation and disinformation likely to have played part in Leave vote

New research from the University of Bath’s School of Management finds that higher cognitive ability was strongly linked to voting to Remain in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union Membership.

The study shows that cognitive skills including memory, verbal fluency, fluid reasoning and numerical reasoning, were correlated with how people decided to vote. 

Lead author Dr Chris Dawson, from the University of Bath’s School of Management, said: “This study adds to existing academic evidence showing that low cognitive ability makes people more susceptible to misinformation and disinformation. People with lower cognitive ability and analytical thinking skills find it harder to detect and discount this type of information.

“We know that evidence has been put forward that information provided to the public in the months leading up to the referendum was contradictory, false and often fraudulent, especially regarding the pro-Leave campaign, and that this information proliferated on social media platforms.”

The research, published in PLOS ONE, used a nationally representative sample of 6,366 individuals from 3,183 heterosexual couples collected as part of a large survey called Understanding Society. They found that, of the people with the lowest cognitive ability, only 40% voted Remain, whereas 73% of those with the highest cognitive ability voted Remain.

The researchers emphasise that it is important to understand that findings are based on average differences between large groups of voters.

“Depending on which side of the debate you fall, reading this may fill you with anger or joy. However, both these emotions are an error of judgement,” said Dr Dawson.

“It is important to understand that our findings are based on average differences: there exists a huge amount of overlap between the distributions of Remain and Leave cognitive abilities. Indeed, we calculated that approximately 36% of Leave voters had higher cognitive ability than the average (mean) Remain voter,” he said.

Importantly, the study looked at couples living in the same household to equalise people’s experiences, as well as controlling for demographic information such as political beliefs, education level, income and newspaper readership.

The research found that having a high cognitive ability partner and the highest cognitive ability in the couple both increased the likelihood of voting Remain.

“Low cognitive ability can lead to decision errors and many Leave voters are now saying they regret their choice. The study highlights how the rise in misinformation and disinformation, and people’s inability to counter this information, is undermining the democratic process and can be used to influence democratic outcomes,” said Dr Paul Baker from the University of Bath School of Management, co-author of the study.

Cognitive ability and voting behaviour in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership is published in PLOS ONE by Dr Chris Dawson and Dr Paul Baker.

 

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0289312 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Cognitive ability and voting behaviour in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

22-Nov-2023

 

Higher cognitive ability linked to higher chance of having voted against Brexit

Research also finds strong links between a person’s “Leave” or “Remain” vote and their spouse’s cognitive skills

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

 

IMAGE: 

THE ANALYSIS REVEALED A STRONG STATISTICAL LINK BETWEEN HIGHER COGNITIVE ABILITY AND HAVING VOTED “REMAIN”.

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CREDIT: THEDIGITALARTIST, PIXABAY, CC0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/PUBLICDOMAIN/ZERO/1.0/)

A new analysis suggests that a person with higher cognitive ability may have been more likely to vote “Remain” in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and that a spouse’s cognitive skills may also be linked to Brexit voting decisions. Chris Dawson and Paul Baker of the University of Bath, UK, present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on November 22, 2023.

Having higher cognitive ability has previously been associated with a greater tendency to recognize and resist misinformation. Studies have also shown that the UK public received a large volume of misinformation about the referendum prior to voting for the UK to withdraw from the EU (“Brexit”). However, while a growing body of research has investigated potential links between people’s Brexit votes and socioeconomic, sociodemographic, and psychological factors, less research has addressed the potential role of cognitive ability in their decisions.

Dawson and Baker analyzed data on 3,183 heterosexual UK couples collected as part of a large survey study called Understanding Society. They examined whether there were any links between participants’ reporting that they had voted “Leave” or “Remain” and their cognitive ability—as measured by their performance on a variety of tasks. The researchers statistically accounted for other factors that could also be linked to voting decisions, such as socioeconomic and sociodemographic traits, political preferences, and a widely studied set of personality traits known as the Big Five.

The analysis revealed a strong statistical link between higher cognitive ability and having voted “Remain”. In addition, people whose spouse had higher cognitive ability were significantly more likely to vote “Remain”. In cases where one spouse voted “Remain” and the other “Leave”, having significantly higher cognitive ability than one’s spouse was associated with an even higher chance of voting to Remain.

The researchers note possible underlying explanations for their findings. For instance, misinformation about the referendum could have complicated decision making for people with low cognitive ability. They also suggest the need for ways to avoid such complications in the face of increasing amounts of misinformation.

The authors add: “This study adds to existing academic evidence showing that low cognitive ability makes people more susceptible to misinformation and disinformation. People with lower cognitive ability and analytical thinking skills find it harder to detect and discount this type of information.”

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Author interview: https://plos.io/46tNWwp

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0289312

Citation: Dawson C, Baker PL (2023) Cognitive ability and voting behaviour in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership. PLoS ONE 18(11): e0289312. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289312

Author Countries: UK

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0289312 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Cognitive ability and voting behaviour in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

22-Nov-2023