Translating cross-lagged effects into incidence rates and risk ratios: The case of psychosocial safety climate and depression

Longitudinal studies are the gold standard of empirical work and stress research whenever experiments are not plausible. Frequently, scales are used to assess risk factors and their consequences, and cross-lagged effects are estimated to determine possible risks. Methods to translate cross-lagged effects into risk ratios to facilitate risk assessment do not yet exist, which creates a divide between psychological and epidemiological work stress research. The aim of the present paper is to demonstrate how cross-lagged effects can be used to assess the risk ratio of different levels of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) in organisations, an important psychosocial risk for the development of depression. We used available longitudinal evidence from the Australian Workplace Barometer (N?=?1905) to estimate cross-lagged effects of PSC on depression. We applied continuous time modelling to obtain time-scalable cross effects. These were further investigated in a 4-year Monte Carlo simulation, which translated them into 4-year incident rates. Incident rates were determined by relying on clinically relevant 2-year periods of depression. We suggest a critical value of PSC?=?26 (corresponding to ?1.4 SD), which is indicative of more than 100% increased incidents of persistent depressive disorder in 4-year periods compared to average levels of PSC across 4 years.     

Refinement and validation of a comprehensive scale for measuring HR practices aimed at performance-enhancement and employee-support

The purpose of this paper is to refine and validate a Human Resource practices (HRP) scale to measure employees' perceptions and test a two-tier model structured in eight practices and two bundles. In a sample of 554 employees, an EFA (Exploratory Factor Analysis) offered six factors that explained about 70% of the variance. Then, with 1647 employees (from 41 Spanish organizations), first- and second-order models were tested with Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The former encompasses eight practices. The latter grouped the practices in two bundles, one on enhancing performance and the other on supporting employees. The Cronbach's alpha, Rho coefficient (Composite Reliability Coefficient), Omega coefficient, and Spearman-Brown split half coefficient showed good reliability. Validity evidence was found for construct, criterion, convergent, content, discriminant, and predictive validity. Moreover, the paper integrates different ways of approaching the study of HR management based on employees' perceptions, using a two-tier approach. The two-bundle model showed better fit, pointing out the importance of paying attention to multiple outcomes for employees and organizations. The study makes a relevant theoretical contribution about the role and aims of HRM practices for organizational success and employees' performance and well-being.     

从圣索菲亚大教堂的历史变迁看文化的民族性和世界性

文化历来都是哲学和社会科学所关注的焦点问题之一，本文主要讨论文化的民族性和世界性方面的有关问题，并且选择以圣索菲亚大教堂为例，引出对相关问题的思考。     

美好抑或悲哀:旅游演艺的文化真实性研究

文化是旅游演艺的灵魂,旅游演艺即为通过对真实的地域文化进行抽离、截取、裁剪等艺术性加工所形成的具有舞台美感的旅游表演,并使真实的文化转变成舞台上的文化。由于利益诉求不同,旅游演艺相关各方对于文化真实性的关注角度存在一定差异。旅游演艺在对地域文化进行艺术加工的同时,也在对地域文化进行着解构与重构。地域文化真实性在解构与重构过程中发生改变,也使得旅游演艺相关各方对文化真实性产生了不一样的理解。尽管地域文化真实性因旅游演艺的介入而发生变化这一客观事实引起了一定的悲哀性慨叹,但总体而言旅游演艺重构或生产"新文化"这一过程既是美好的现实,更是美好的"真实",另外,这类"新文化"同样值得尊重,其是地域文化变迁过程中的真实性存在。     

Coalition for a Healthier Community: Lessons learned and implications for future work

The Coalition for a Healthier Community (CHC) initiative was implemented to improve the health and well-being of women and girls. Underpinning CHC is a gender-based focus that uses a network of community partners working collaboratively to generate relevant behavior change and improved health outcomes. Ten programs are trying to determine whether gender-focused system approaches are cost-effective ways to address health disparities in women and girls. Programs implemented through coalitions made up of academic institutions, public health departments, community-based organizations, and local, regional, and national organizations, are addressing health issues such as domestic violence, cardiovascular disease prevention, physical activity, and healthy eating. Although these programs are ongoing, they have made significant progress. Key factors contributing to their early success include a comprehensive needs assessment, robust coalitions, the diversity of populations targeted, programs based on findings of the needs assessments, evaluations taking into consideration the effect of gender, and strong academic–community partnerships. A noteworthy impact of these programs has been their ability to shape and impact public, social, and health policies at the state and local levels. However, there have been challenges associated with the implementation of such a complex program. Lessons learned are discussed in this paper.     

乡土社会语境下梅山武术的生态发展

中国乡土武术文化的生存形态可分为原生形态、次生形态以及艺术形态。在现代中国,社会变迁主要体现在社会再生产土壤、社会再生产方式、社会再生产功能等方面的变迁,致使中国乡土武术文化的生态传承内容、动力、方式及评判标准发生变化。因此,中国乡土武术文化发展出路在于自身的文化内涵的拓深和增值,以适应民众正在或已经改变的文化需求。     

中国共产党宪法治理百年探索及省思

中国共产党的宪法治理经历了从根据地局部执政时期的革命宪法,新中国成立初期移植苏联宪制模式及本土化探索,到改革开放后逐步形成依宪治国与依宪执政的新局面。百年宪法治理历程曲折蹒跚,终坚定向前,经验值得弘扬。宪法治理模式的移植当慎重,宪法的权威应维护,加强党的领导和中国特色社会主义宪制创新,培育中国特色社会主义宪法文化任重道远。     

Validation of the Australian Midwifery Standards Assessment Tool (AMSAT): A tool to assess midwifery competence

Background

There is no current validated clinical assessment tool to measure the attainment of midwifery student competence in the midwifery practice setting. The lack of a valid assessment tool has led to a proliferation of tools and inconsistency in assessment of, and feedback on student learning.

Humor and satire in politics: Introducing cultural sociology to the field

The landscape of political humor and satire is changing rapidly, and it is becoming an increasingly relevant aspect of our culture. Although scholars have been actively trying to capture this change, majority of the existing frameworks for understanding humor and satire in politics still reduce these phenomena to mere genres or rhetoric tools. In addition, they provide insufficient accounts concerning the reception of humor and satire, and neglect to interpret and explain what they communicate. In the article, a general understanding of humor and satire outside of a political context, followed by an overview of studies discussing humor and satire in politics through their applications in social movements, as leadership tools, and through their manifestations in mass media has been presented. Lastly, a cultural sociological perspective to the field has been introduced. It has been argued that approaching humor and satire in politics through a structural hermeneutic method of the Strong Program will enable us to recognize and treat political humor and satire as autonomous and complex cultural systems which carry an internal power to move people.     

Public school accountability,workplace culture,and teacher morale

Educational scholars claim that teacher morale has suffered from accountability pressures and constrained professionalism, but exactly what is most diminished by these pressures remains unclear. Drawing on recent theoretical work on public school organizational culture, we hypothesize that accountability pressures hurt teacher morale and increase the risk of turnover by undermining the professional culture of the school and by diminishing teacher cooperation and trust. We find support for this hypothesis in a national sample of teachers in 2011–12, and a follow-up survey from 2012–13. The analyses test whether a collective pedagogical teacher culture, comprised of professional culture and teacher collaboration, buffers the impact of these pressures that diminish teacher morale. Counter to past research, we find that a strong collective pedagogical teacher culture does not buffer teachers from the ill effects of negative workplace conditions in the form of accountability pressures. We also find that accountability pressures in the form of district dismissals are associated with a higher likelihood of teachers leaving their school, and this relationship is not mitigated by strong professional culture. We conclude that accountability pressures partly undermine goals of improving performance and equity in public schools by sowing seeds of teacher dissatisfaction and contributing to teacher turnover, thus thwarting student achievement in struggling schools.