How to build a financial sustainability self-assessment at a small teaching college: an action research project

The purpose of this research was to inform best practices for creating institutional self-assessments for measuring financial sustainability. The project took place at a small tuition-dependent college that will be referred to as ABC College. Participants and data collected in Cycle 1 of this action research project consisted of a series of seven interviews with administrators at ABC. The purpose of the interviews was to learn more about the Pals Program, an initiative aimed at increasing student retention from freshman to sophomore year where staff volunteered to mentor (as "Pals") to groups of students. All interviewees were either administrators of the program or volunteer mentors in the program. The findings from the first cycle of research informed the action step: to create a meaningful and recurring financial sustainability assessment for the Pals Program for the VP for Enrollment and Dean of Students, the two key collaborators who were charged with overseeing the program. The action steps consisted of examining existing data needed for the assessment, creating a volunteer workbook to track and collect more data, drafting an assessment including institutional data with publicly available data sets, and finally evaluating the assessment with ABC collaborators and external stakeholders. These action steps were designed, implemented, and evaluated in Cycle 2 in order to have a dashboard of information that displayed overall programmatic progress towards the goal of retaining students as well as framing the program into the broader financial context of the organization. Findings suggested that colleges can create financial sustainability assessments by examining the context of the assessment to define its scope, by allocating resources to the assessment, and by fostering an organizational culture supportive of change and tolerant of risk. Recommendations to ABC include a call to reestablish their pre-covid culture of experimentation and enthusiasm for growth, as well as to consider data infrastructure enhancements and investments to be able to better measure the full student experience. The findings of this research might be of use to college or university finance and enrollment leaders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The illusion of personal health decisions for infectious disease management: disease spread in social contact networks.

Close contacts between individuals provide opportunities for the transmission of diseases, including COVID-19. While individuals take part in many different types of interactions, including those with classmates, co-workers and household members, it is the conglomeration of all of these interactions that produces the complex social contact network interconnecting individuals across the population. Thus, while an individual might decide their own risk tolerance in response to a threat of infection, the consequences of such decisions are rarely so confined, propagating far beyond any one person. We assess the effect of different population-level risk-tolerance regimes, population structure in the form of age and household-size distributions, and different interaction types on epidemic spread in plausible human contact networks to gain insight into how contact network structure affects pathogen spread through a population. In particular, we find that behavioural changes by vulnerable individuals in isolation are insufficient to reduce those individuals' infection risk and that population structure can have varied and counteracting effects on epidemic outcomes. The relative impact of each interaction type was contingent on assumptions underlying contact network construction, stressing the importance of empirical validation. Taken together, these results promote a nuanced understanding of disease spread on contact networks, with implications for public health strategies.

"Children are precious cargo; we don't let them take any risks!": Hearing from adults on safety and risk in children's active play in schools: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Understanding determinants of children's outdoor play is important for improving low physical activity levels, and schools are a key setting for both. Safety concerns shape children's opportunity to play actively outdoors, therefore, this qualitative evidence synthesis aimed to i) examine adult (e.g., parent, teacher, yard supervisor, principal) perspectives on safety and risk in children's active play during recess in elementary and/or middle schools, and ii) identify how safety and risk influence playground supervision and decision making in this setting. METHODS: Six electronic databases were systematically searched in March 2021, with an updated search in June 2022. Records were screened against eligibility criteria using Covidence software, and data extraction and synthesis were performed using predesigned coding forms in Microsoft Excel and NVivo. Framework synthesis methodology was employed, guided by a conceptual framework structured on the socio-ecological model (SEM) and affordance theory. RESULTS: From 10,370 records, 25 studies were included that represented 608 adults across 89 schools from nine countries. The synthesis identified 10 constraining and four affording factors that influenced whether school staff were risk-averse or risk tolerant during recess, and, in turn, the degree to which children's play was managed. Constraining factors stemmed from fears for children's physical safety, and fear of blame and liability in the event of playground injury, which shaped parent, school staff and institutional responses to risk. Interrelated factors across SEM levels combined to drive risk-averse decision making and constraining supervision. Emerging evidence suggests children's active play in schools can be promoted by fostering a risk tolerant and play friendly culture in schools through play facilitation training (e.g., risk-reframing, conflict resolution) and engaging stakeholders in the development of school policies and rules that balance benefits of play against potential risks. CONCLUSIONS: Findings show several socio-cultural factors limited the ability of school staff to genuinely promote active play. Future work should seek to foster risk tolerance in schools, challenge the cultural norms that shape parent attitudes and institutional responses to risk in children's play, and explore novel methods for overcoming policy barriers and fear of liability in schools. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration: CRD42021238719.

Parents' Attitudes Regarding Their Children's Play and Sport During COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures have interrupted the daily routines of parents and children. The purpose of this study was to explore parents' attitudes regarding their children's play/sport during COVID-19. A secondary objective was to explore the influence of parent demographics and parent-reported physical activity levels and risk tolerance on these attitudes. Ontario parents of children aged 12 and younger completed an online survey (August-December 2020) that assessed their attitudes (grouped by support, safety and socialization-related attitudes; n = 14 items) regarding their child(ren)'s play/sport, their physical activity levels (n = 2 items), and demographic details (n = 16 items). Two open-ended items were used to gather a deeper understanding of attitudes. Parents' tolerance for risk was measured via the validated Tolerance of Risk in Play Scale. Descriptive statistics were calculated to describe attitudes and risk tolerance. Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regressions were conducted to examine factors influencing parents' attitudes. Multiple linear models were computed using the identified predictors for each attitude category. Deductive content analysis was undertaken on open-ended responses. Participants (n = 819) reported the highest scores for safety-related attitude items (M = 3.54, SD = .63) followed by socialization and support, which all influenced attitudes regarding children's play/sport (p < .05). Demographics and parents' physical activity levels were identified as important predictors of parents' attitudes. Qualitative data revealed that parents had mixed levels of comfort with respect to their children's return to play/sport. Findings from this study reveal that increased support is needed to guide future play/sport decision-making.

Examining Risk Absorption Capacity as a Mediating Factor in the Relationship between Cognition and Neuroplasticity in Investors in Investment Decision Making

The encouragement of potential investors who are emotionally broken by past losses and market experiences is crucial to the sustainable flow of funds to the stock market. This can be established by building a knowledge-creating mechanism among investors in their cognitive dimensions, which, in turn, can develop their risk-bearing potential to reach the optimum level so that emotionally broken investors can use their cognitive abilities with their developed risk-absorption potential to further invest in the market in the near future. This study investigates the mediating effect of risk-absorption attitudes in the relationship between cognition and neuroplasticity in investors. Data for the study collected from 506 individual retail investors' samples using a stratified random sampling technique were analyzed through covariance-based structural equation modeling. The findings of the study indicate that the constructs, viz., the investors' cognition, risk absorption, and neuroplasticity, are valid and reliable. The structural model also supports the notion that risk absorption mediates the relationship between the investors' cognition and neuroplasticity. The outcomes of the study are expected to aid in the policy formulation for equity-related financial product marketers, such as depository participants, brokers, mutual funds and SIP institutions, and to help in healing psychological trauma that potential investors suffered from due to losses in the past and overcoming reluctances to further invest in stock markets. The investors' terrible psychological health developed because of past loss experience can be restored through the concept of neuroplasticity, in which different cognitive dimensions are used, while also enhancing risk absorption in potential investors.

How do Digitalization and the Fintech Phenomenon Affect Financial Decision-Making in the Younger Generation?

Generation Z, who can handle almost everything online, from the picture taken by their mobile phone to purchasing or transferring money. Therefore, using several tech solutions, they are not looking for traditional banking solutions, like the ones where physical presence is needed. Their wish is to obtain secure, fast, easy financial solutions, and services. Additionally, to ensure payments can be easily made and investments are available on hand. All of this being virtually available any time when it is needed, even from their mobile phones and also providing a high-level of personalization possibilities. In our study, we surveyed risk attitudes governing individual investment decisions based on primary research conducted on a large sample size among university students. When surveying risk attitudes, we presented a group of university students studying in Hungary with questions of a test published in an international journal article by John Grable and Ruth H. Lytton (Grable - Lytton, 1999). Between early December 2020 and 15 January 2021, more than 2,000 students filled out our questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire show that risk attitude values among the group of Hungarian university students are in line with international experiences. Primary data collection will continue in the spring of 2021, and it will subsequently allow a comparison to be made between the attitudes to risk and investment of university students from different fields of study. The composition of the questionnaire's respondents will make it possible to survey and compare the 'Z' generation's attitude with that of other generations.

Willingness-to-pay tuition and risk-taking proclivities among public health students.

Objective: To quantify students' risk tolerance for in-person classes and willingness-to-pay for online-only instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants: 46 Columbia University public health graduate students. Methods: We developed a survey tool with a "standard gamble" exercise administered online by an interactive chat bot with full anonymity by students. Students were asked to trade between the risk of infection with COVID-19 and: (1) attending classes in-person, and (2) attending community parties. We also assessed willingness-to-pay for online-only tuition. Results: Students accepted a 23% (standard error [SE]: 4%) risk of infection to attend classes in-person and 15% of them expressed willingness to attend community parties even if the COVID-19 prevalence were high. Students were willing-to-pay only 48% (SE: 3%) of the regular, in-person tuition fees for online instruction. Conclusions: Public health students with a strong knowledge of COVID-19 transmission were willing to accept a significant risk of infection for in-person instruction.Trial registration:NA.

Risk Perception of COVID-19 in Indonesia During the First Stage of the Pandemic.

Community perceptions of early-stage pandemics may have significant implications for subsequent disease control and management. Perceptions of COVID-19 among Indonesian citizens were assessed 2 months after the first reported case in the country. The study used an online survey tool, which was adapted from a standardized questionnaire for risk perception of an infectious disease outbreak. The questions of the survey involved respondents' perceived level of knowledge, preparedness, efficacy of control measures, newness, infectiousness, seriousness, motivating and hindering factors, and effectiveness of prevention methods, as well as questions that assessed actual level of knowledge of respondents such as causative agents, modes of transmission, number of total cases, and available control measures. A total of 1,043 respondents participated in this study. The main sources of information of respondents were social media (85.2%) and online news (82.2%). Nearly all respondents were aware that COVID-19 is a viral disease with saliva droplets (97.1%) and contaminated surfaces (86.5%) being its main modes of transmission. Participants showed a good level of knowledge pertaining to control measures, an adequate level of belief toward their efficacy, and a willingness to implement such measures. More than 95% of the respondents perceived COVID-19 to be either serious or very serious. However, the level of anxiety among respondents was moderate, suggesting the presence of risk tolerance in the community. Individual characteristics such as gender, educational background, and occupation were found to have a statistically significant relationship with risk perception and tolerance, but voluntary participation in control measures was high and similar. This indicates that the COVID-19 health campaign during early pandemic in Indonesia was a success. This research also revealed certain areas where health promotion, education, and awareness might be improved.

A study on factors affecting privacy risk tolerance to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in South Korea.

South Korea has been evaluated as a country that is responding well to COVID-19. The Government of the Republic of Korea discloses where, when, and by which means of transportation people confirmed to have the virus have visited. Although disclosure of movement has contributed to flattening the curve and providing timely medical service, concerns about privacy infringement have also been raised. This article determines what factors influence privacy risk tolerance, looking specifically at threat severity, vulnerability, response efficacy, and response cost. We also provide implications for the preparation of better countermeasures for the government to implement.

Heterogeneity in Risk-Taking During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From the UK Lockdown.

In two pre-registered online studies during the COVID-19 pandemic and the early 2020 lockdown (one of which with a UK representative sample) we elicit risk-tolerance for 1,254 UK residents using four of the most widely applied risk-taking tasks in behavioral economics and psychology. Specifically, participants completed the incentive-compatible Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART) and the Binswanger-Eckel-Grossman (BEG) multiple lotteries task, as well as the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Task (DOSPERT) and the self-reported questions for risk-taking used in the German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP) study. In addition, participants in the UK representative sample answered a range of questions about COVID-19-related risky behaviors selected from the UCL COVID-19 Social Survey and the ICL-YouGov survey on COVID-19 behaviors. Consistently with pre-COVID-19 times, we find that risk tolerance during the UK lockdown (i) was higher in men than in women and (ii) decreased with age. Undocumented in pre-COVID-19 times, we find some evidence for healthier participants displaying significantly higher risk-tolerance for self-reported risk measures. We find no systematic nor robust patterns of association between the COVID-19 risky behaviors and the four risk-taking tasks in our study. Moreover, we find no evidence in support of the so-called "risk compensation" hypothesis. If anything, it appears that participants who took greater risk in real-life COVID-19-relevant risky behaviors (e.g., isolating or taking precautions) also exhibited higher risk-tolerance in our experimental and self-reported risk-taking measures.

A Polish and German Population Study of Quality of Life, Well-Being, and Life Satisfaction in Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: Psychological studies undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic rarely include people in their 60s or older. In our study, we studied the predictors of quality of life, well-being, and life satisfaction (including risky behavior, trait anxiety, feeling of threat, sleep quality, and optimism) during the pandemic in older people from Germany and Poland and compared them to three different age groups. Methods: A total of 494 adults in four groups-60+ (N = 60), 50-60 (N = 139), 36-49 (N = 155), <35 (N = 140)-completed validated self-report questionnaires assessing: socio-demographic data, quality of life, trait anxiety, risk tolerance, Coronavirus threat, optimism regarding the pandemic, difficulty relaxing, life satisfaction, well-being, and sleep quality during the pandemic period. Results: Older people rated their quality of life higher than did young (mean difference=0.74, SE=0.19, p < 0.01) and middle-aged (mean difference=0.79, SE=0.18, p < 0.01) participants, rated their life satisfaction higher than young (mean difference=1.23, SE = 0.31, p < 0.01) and middle-aged (mean difference=0.92, SE = 0.30, p < 0.05) participants, and rated their well-being higher than young (mean difference=1.40, SE = 0.31, p < 0.01) and middle-aged (mean difference=0.91, SE = 0.31, p < 0.05) participants. They also experienced lower levels of trait anxiety and Coronavirus threat (mean difference=-9.19, SE = 1.90, p < 0.01) than the younger age groups. They experienced greater risk tolerance (mean difference=1.38, SE=0.33, p < 0.01), sleep quality (F =1 .25; eta 2 = 0.01), and optimism (F = 1.96; eta 2 = 0.01), and had less difficulty relaxing during the pandemic (F = 3.75; eta 2 = 0.02) than middle-aged respondents. Conclusions: Quality of life, life satisfaction, and well-being during the pandemic is affected by age, trait anxiety, and Coronavirus threat. Older people rated their quality of life, life satisfaction, and well-being during pandemic higher than young people, and experienced lower levels of trait anxiety and Coronavirus threat than the younger age groups. They experienced greater risk tolerance, sleep quality, and optimism, and had less difficulty relaxing than middle-aged respondents.

An Evaluation of the Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Risk Tolerance of Financial Decision Makers.

This paper documents the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial risk attitudes across a broad sample of financial decision makers (N = 18,913). Findings show that the risk tolerance of financial decision makers can be altered when an extreme economic, social, or environmental shock occurs. A general shift away from be willing to take financial risk was noted after the COVID-19 pandemic emergency declaration. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted risk preference downward for the majority of financial decision makers in this study.