uci social sciences enews

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september enews

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Why are we so afraid to leave children alone?

UCI study finds moral judgments about parents affect perceptions of risk

Leaving a child unattended is considered taboo in today's intensive parenting atmosphere, despite evidence that American children are safer than ever. So why are parents denying their children the same freedom and independence that they themselves enjoyed as children? A new study by University of California, Irvine social scientists suggests that our fears of leaving children alone have become systematically exaggerated in recent decades - not because the practice has become more dangerous, but because it has become socially unacceptable.

"Without realizing it, we have consistently increased our estimates of the amount of danger facing children left alone in order to better justify or rationalize the moral disapproval we feel toward parents who violate this relatively new social norm," said Ashley Thomas, cognitive sciences graduate student and lead author of the work, published online this month in the open-access journal Collabra.

The survey-based study found that children whose parents left them alone on purpose - to go to work, help out a charity, relax or meet an illicit lover - were perceived to be in greater danger than those whose parents were involuntarily separated from them. More...

news

Jumpstart gets big boost

Molina Foundation donates 400 books to the language and literacy program for pre-schoolers

New study to measure cost of homelessness to Orange County cities

Sociology Distinguished Professor David Snow to lead effort

Summer beach read: The Crooked Elm Partnership

Pam Kelley '89 takes readers on a lawyer's twisty road to redemption in her first legal thriller

Man up

Poli sci grad student finds evidence that talking "like a man" is a part of Clinton's political strategy

New faculty feature: Ying-Ying Lee

Assistant Professor, Economics | Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison

Grad program feature (video)

Check out UCI's political science graduate program, ranked in the nation's top 40 by U.S. News and World Report

Shrinking the electorate through intimidation (Podcast)

Poli sci professor Davin Phoenix takes on a hot topic in this Ask a Leader segment

Two honors for econ's Sacks

Economics graduate student Michael Sacks is recognized for both outstanding graduate paper and dissertation

In memoriam: Bonnie Niten Baha '81

UCI poli sci alumnus who was DoubleLine's head of developed credit dies at 56

up-coming events

Expectations Lost: What’s Next for the 2016 Election? Part Two.

Oct 5, 2016 | Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 1517

Will the controversies regarding Hillary’s emails and lines between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department cost her the election? Has Donald Trump’s behavior and inflammatory rhetoric sabotaged his presidential bid? What effect if any, will WikiLeaks and hackers have on the outcome of the election? And just who is influencing the 2016 election? For answers to these and other questions, please join us as we continue a conversation started during last May’s Social Sciences Expert Speaker series event. Online registration...