Mediating role of mentoring functions on linking personality and occupational commitment in Indian organizations

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the mediating effect of mentoring on the relationship between the Five Factor Model (FFM) Personality traits and occupational commitment (OC). The study used cross-sectional survey-based research design. Data were collected from 362 managers of public and private sector organizations located in North India. The results indicated that psychosocial mentoring acts as a partial mediator for facilitating the linkage between all the FFM traits and OC. Contrary to this, career mentoring was found to partially mediate the link between only conscientiousness-OC, agreeableness-OC and emotional stability-OC. No mediating effect of career mentoring was found for personality factors of openness and extraversion. HRD practitioners are encouraged to implement train-for-trainers’ sessions for raising awareness among senior managers/mentors about the importance of psychosocial mentoring functions. This study is unique, because it is among the few to appropriately capture the mediating role of mentoring functions vis a vis the personality and OC relationship. Further, it also enriches the existing body of research on workplace mentoring and careers, especially in the South-Asian context.     

The Absolute Difference Law For Expectations

We revisit the addition law for expectations and present a sibling law: the absolute law for expectations. We show that these two laws and their corresponding laws for probabilities can be reconciled under a single framework. As an application, we use the absolute law for expectations to calculate the mean absolute deviation. Finally, we remark on a hidden point in a related article previously published on these pages; this will help readers to avoid a potential pitfall.     

基于犹豫直觉模糊语言集均值-标准差偏好距离的多属性决策研究

在犹豫直觉模糊语言集和语言尺度函数的基础上定义了均值-标准差偏好的Hamming距离，并提出了基于犹豫直觉模糊语言集距离TOPSIS和TODIM的多属性决策方法，进一步利用这两种方法对实例问题建筑商的招标方案进行排序，并讨论了偏好参数对排序结果的灵敏度分析。为验证上述方法的有效性，与已有方法对同一实例的排序结果进行了比较分析。     

基于Mo-RVIKOR的混合多属性决策方法

针对复杂性和不确定性多属性决策问题，考虑定量和定性融合的属性形式，提出了模块化随机多准则妥协解排序法（Modular Random VlseKriterijumska Opti-mizacija I Kompromisno Resenje，Mo-RVIKOR），该方法无需将信息统一，就能处理多种信息形式存在的多属性决策问题。采用精确数、随机变量处理定量评价信息，用概率语义术语集处理定性评价信息；通过改进离差最大化法确定属性权重；根据Mo-RVIKOR对决策对象进行排序；最后以某公司C2B定制化服务质量评测项目为例，验证了所提方法的有效性。     

Latin American convergence and divergence towards the mortality profiles of developed countries

It is uncertain whether Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries are approaching a single mortality regime. Over the last three decades, LAC has experienced major public health interventions and the highest number of homicides in the world. However, these interventions and homicide rates are not evenly shared across countries. This study documents trends in life expectancy and lifespan variability for 20 LAC countries, 2000–14. By extending a previous method, we decompose differences in lifespan variability between LAC and a developed world benchmark into cause-specific effects. For both sexes, dispersion of amenable diseases through the age span makes the largest contribution to the gap between LAC and the benchmark. Additionally, for males, the concentration of homicides, accidents, and suicides in mid-life further impedes mortality convergence. Great disparity exists in the region: while some countries are rapidly approaching the developed regime, others remain far behind and suffer a clear disadvantage in population health.     

死者人格利益法律保护之构建

死者无人格权,但死者具有人格利益。为了维护社会利益和善良风俗,我国法学界和司法实务界对死者人格利益保护也达成了共识。完善死者人格利益应在保护范围、行使主体、法律责任、免责事由及保护期限等方面给予立法规制。     

Closure property of consistently varying random variables based on precise large deviation principles

Let X = {X₁, X₂, …} be a sequence of independent but not necessarily identically distributed random variables, and let η be a counting random variable independent of X. Consider randomly stopped sum S_η = ∑^η_{k = 1}X_k and random maximum S_(η) ? max?{S₀, …, S_η}. Assuming that each X_k belongs to the class of consistently varying distributions, on the basis of the well-known precise large deviation principles, we prove that the distributions of S_η and S_(η) belong to the same class under some mild conditions. Our approach is new and the obtained results are further studies of Kizinevi?, Sprindys, and ?iaulys (2016) and Andrulyt?, Manstavi?ius, and ?iaulys (2017).     

Preference for realistic art predicts support for Brexit

Following the UK’s EU referendum in June 2016, there has been considerable interest from scholars in understanding the characteristics that differentiate Leave supporters from Remain supporters. Since Leave supporters score higher on conscientiousness but lower on neuroticism and openness, and given their general proclivity toward conservatism, we hypothesized that preference for realistic art would predict support for Brexit. Data on a large nationally representative sample of the British population were obtained, and preference for realistic art was measured using a four‐item binary choice test. Controlling for a range of personal characteristics, we found that respondents who preferred all four realistic paintings were 15–20 percentage points more likely to support Leave than those who preferred zero or one realistic paintings. This effect was comparable to the difference in support between those with a degree and those with no education, and was robust to controlling for the respondent’s party identity.     

Deciphering blog users: young adults’ personalities,motivations, and perceived importance of blog features

The present study examines the cyberpsychology of blog readership as well as the digital content preferences of the Millennial generation by examining the links between college students’ personality traits, motivations to read blogs, and preferred blog features. Results indicate that personality influences motivations for reading blogs, which in turn helps predict perceived importance of blog characteristics. Notably, extraversion and neuroticism were related to reading blogs for social interaction; extraversion negatively predicted use of blogs to meet identity needs; openness was related to blog reading for entertainment purposes; and conscientiousness was positively associated with information seeking via blogs. Additionally, motivations for blog readership as explanatory mechanisms for the relationships found between personality traits and perceived importance of blog features are discussed.