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Purpose – This chapter details the collaborative investigation of a neuroscientist and a literature scholar into whether reading literature increases empathy in health professionals, pre-health professionals and students outside of health care. It also reflects on the role of different epistemologies that inform researchers’ approaches, and muses on how ethnicity, sexual orientation and class inform research and teaching

Methodology/Approach – Students watched or read Margaret Edson’s play W;t and were asked if the medical drama increased their sense of appropriate empathy in medical encounters. The original research employed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, electromyography and galvanic skin response to measure physiological markers of empathy. These results were then compared to the self-reflection of participants to determine whether or not the physiological responses mirrored the self-report. The reflections on how emotion impacted the research were primarily narrative essay-based accompanied by feminist other literary theories.

Findings – All participants in the original study reported an increase in empathy after reading or viewing the play. This affect was even stronger when they viewed a live performance. The researchers determined that the role that their ethnicity, age, sexual orientation and class needed further study, perhaps with different pieces of literature.

Originality/Value – This chapter reflects the interdisciplinary and epistemological challenges of two researchers from very different backgrounds and training and investigates the relationship between reading, physiological empathy and perceptions of empathy. It considers the difficult and controversial challenges to quantifying emotions and the role emotions play in academic collaboration.

Past research has shown that consumers believe there is a strong relationship between price and quality; they also believe there is a strong relationship between brand and quality. Therefore, when comparing similar pieces of apparel, items with a designer brand or a higher price are perceived, by most customers, to be of higher quality. The purpose of this study was to compare the pricing and quality of identical designer merchandise sold in department stores and manufacturers’ outlet stores. The researchers found no significant differences in the quality of apparel sold in the two retail formats; however, there was a significant difference in the price. The department store merchandise was 31 per cent higher in price than the outlet store merchandise.

Research has documented post-school outcomes for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities and learning disabilities continue to be poor. To improve student outcomes for these populations, research has recommended implementing evidence-based practices and predictors in the classroom. The purpose of this chapter is to identify evidence-based practices and predictors targeted for students with emotional and behavioral disorders and learning disabilities in the area of secondary transition. We identify and briefly describe 12 evidence-based practices and 14 evidence-based predictors for students with emotional and behavioral disorders and learning disabilities. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

There is a concerning disparity between students with disabilities and their peers without disabilities in their long-term, postsecondary outcomes. The former group tends to have a variety of poorer outcomes in important domains of life, such as employment, postsecondary education, independent living, and community participation. Policymakers, scholars, and the general public alike have called attention to this issue, resulting in both legal mandates and research on evidence-based practices in the area of transition services. While the law requires individualized, results-oriented transition services based upon age-appropriate transition assessment and a number of evidence-based transition practices and predictors have been identified, studies of individualized education programs and practices have revealed a significant underuse of best practices in transition assessment and services. In this chapter, we discuss the importance of comprehensive transition assessment as a foundation for setting postsecondary goals and designing services that best fit individual student strengths and needs and best prepare students to be successful in their adult lives. Further, we provide an overview of current recommendations for best practices in planning, conducting, and interpreting transition assessments, and offer suggestions for areas where further research is needed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges that are experienced by staff responsible for commissioning liaison psychiatry services and to establish if these are shared by other health professionals.

Using a mixed-methods design, the findings from a mental health commissioner workshop (n = 12) were used to construct a survey that was distributed to health care professionals using an opportunistic framework (n = 98).

Four key themes emerged from the workshop, which was tested using the survey. The importance of secure funding; a better understanding of health care systems and pathways; partnership working and co-production and; access to mental health clinical information in general hospitals. There was broad convergence between commissioners, mental health clinicians and managers, except in relation to gathering and sharing of data. This suggests that poor communication between professionals is of concern.

There were a small number of survey respondents (n = 98). The sampling used an opportunistic framework that targeted commissioner and clinician forums. Using an opportunistic framework, the sample may not be representative. Additionally, multiple pairwise comparisons were conducted during the analysis of the survey responses, increasing the risk that significant results were found by chance.

A number of steps were identified that could be applied in practice. These mainly related to the importance of collecting and communicating data and co-production with commissioners in the design, development and monitoring of liaison psychiatry services.

This is the first study that has specifically considered the challenges associated with the commissioning of liaison psychiatry services.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate masculinity in Chinese social media marketing for global luxury fashion brands through two studies.

Study 1 compares physical characteristics of males in visually oriented US (Instagram) and Chinese (Weibo) social media posts promoting global luxury fashion magazine brands (e.g. Vogue, Cosmopolitan, GQ and Esquire). Study 2 examines the prevalence of and Chinese consumers’ responses (reposts, comments and likes) to different masculinities depicted in luxury fashion brand-sponsored Weibo posts.

Male portrayals for Chinese audiences feature more characteristics associated with emerging East Asian hybrid masculinities – “Little Fresh Meat” (LFM) and “Old Grilled Meat” (OGM) – than associated with global or regional hegemonic masculinity (i.e. the scholarly Wén and action-oriented Wu). Wén remains common in social media posts for luxury fashion goods, but LFM and OGM engender more consumer responses.

Chinese luxury fashion marketing depicts masculinity more similarly to other East Asian marketing than to Western marketing. Some luxury fashion brands are struggling for acceptance among Chinese youth. Luxury fashion marketers should incorporate hybrid rather than hegemonic masculinities to prompt more favorable responses among Chinese consumers, especially younger female target markets.

Growing female occupational and consumer power and shifting male employment from blue-collar to white-collar jobs have influenced media portrayals of masculinity. Social media marketing for luxury fashion brands demonstrates the prevalence and appeal of hybrid masculinities in China.

Research indicates that a link exists between resting heart rate (RHR) and various forms of antisocial, violent and criminal behavior among community and criminal samples. However, the relationship between RHR and engagement in aggressive/violent encounters among law enforcement has not yet been examined. The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between RHR and engagement in violent encounters using prospective longitudinal data on a sample of law enforcement officers in the USA.

Negative binomial regression, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox hazard regressions are conducted using a sample of 544 police officers to determine if there a relationship between RHR and engagement in violent encounters by law enforcement, even when controlling for demographics, biological and social covariates.

Results indicate that higher RHR is associated with an increased risk of officers engaging in a violent altercation, as measured by the number of arrests for suspects resisting arrest with violence, even after controlling for all other relevant factors.

This study was the first to examine police officers RHR levels and its associated with violent altercations during arrest using a rigorous statistical methodology.

The study reported in this article aims to examine the effects of national versus store brands on consumer evaluation of a garment, taking into account the intended product usage situation (for everyday use versus for a special occasion) as well as price (regular versus discount), type of store (department versus boutique), and store image (lower‐class versus upper‐class).

An experiment was conducted with 127 Canadian adult consumers where the above variables were manipulated by means of short vignettes presenting a to‐be‐evaluated branded shirt.

The results of the experimental study showed that consumer evaluations of store brands and national brands were influenced by the joint effects of store image and intended usage situation.

Retailers in upper‐class retail clothing stores willing to promote their store brands should emphasize in their communication programs buying contexts in which an item is needed for some special event (e.g. a wedding anniversary) because this appears to correspond to situations where store brands are best valued. Retailers in lower‐class stores should rather promote their store brands by stressing the good quality of their clothes in day‐to‐day usage situations. As for national brands of clothing, emphasizing the satisfaction guarantee that comes automatically with well‐established brands would seem to be the best communication strategy.

The paper shows the influence of store image on consumer evaluations of garments.