Standing Up for the Victim,Siding with the Bully or Standing by? Bystander Responses in Bullying Situations

In this study we examined children's self‐efficacy, outcome expectations, and outcome values in relation to bystander responses in bullying situations. We proposed that beyond the effect of self‐efficacy, the decision to defend the victim of bullying vs. remain passive vs. reinforce the bully depends on outcomes children expect from defending, and on the value they place on these outcomes. Our sample consisted of 6397 Finnish children (3232 girls and 3165 boys) from third, fourth, and fifth grades (mean ages 9–11 years). Results showed that the motivational underpinnings of defending the victim, remaining passive, and reinforcing the bully varied. Defending was associated with the expectation that the victim feels better as a result of defending as well as valuing such an outcome. Reinforcement of bullying was associated with negative expectations and not caring about the positive outcomes. Conflicting expectations and values were linked to remaining passive. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for anti‐bullying interventions.     

The impact of quasi-markets on processes and factors affecting the costs of contracting

The aim of this paper is to ascertain the impact of quasi-markets on contracting processes and factors affecting the costs of contracting in Finnish health care in the specific case of laboratory services. By means of a comparative case analysis, we ascertained the changes in organizational contracting practices and identified the actions affecting the transaction costs of contracting in the case of an autonomous municipal enterprise laboratory compared with the same laboratory as a hierarchically run municipal unit. The research was conducted during the years 2007–2011. The results suggest that introducing quasi-markets into laboratory services increased the cost factors of contracting; and had a negative impact on the laboratories’ willingness to create new market relationships.     

The effect of objective job demands on registered sickness absence spells; do personal,social and job-related resources act as moderators?

Abstract

This study applied Karaseks demand-control model, using sense of coherence (SOC), social support and job control as moderators of effects of job demands on ensuing sickness absence spells in a 3-year follow-up of 856 municipal employees. Among men the results supported the active learning hypothesis. Passive jobs predicted a high number of sickness absence spells and active jobs predicted a low number of spells. for short spells (1-3 days), the demand-control interaction, however, depended on SOC. In active jobs SOC was negatively associated with sickness absence spells; in passive jobs no such association was found. For long spells (3 days), the demand-control interaction depended on occupational level; active jobs were predictive of low absence spells among blue collar men. Among women, the results supported the strain hypothesis. The demand-control interaction, however, depended on household size. In small households, high-strain jobs predicted a high number of spells, while no increase in spells was found in active versus low-strain jobs. In larger households, the number of spells correlated positively with increasing demands even when control was good. The demand-control interaction, however, depended on SOC and spouse support. With strong SOC or spouse support, absence spells in active jobs remained on a relatively low level, otherwise active jobs led to a high number of spells. This suggests that SOC and spouse support may act as protective factors against female role conflicts associated with active jobs     

Cooperation governance mode: an extended transaction cost approach

This paper analyses the cooperation governance mode and possible factors affecting the choice between an equity joint venture and a contractual agreement. Although transaction cost economics (TCE) provides a workable and well-used framework within which to analyse this choice, it only captures the static transaction costs related to the two modes. This has lead to a discussion about dynamic governance costs and possible benefits related to the governance mode. The objective of this paper is to show how this extended framework differs from TCE when determining the appropriate governance mode. We use four factors related to nature of cooperation to contrast these two approaches. We collected empirical data about cooperation in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in order to find support for these arguments. Estimates based on logistic regression analysis suggest that our dynamic governance cost and benefit perspective really provides valuable complementary insights into the traditional static transaction-cost framework when it is a question of the choice of alliance form.     

The Role of Task Values in Adolescents' Educational Tracks: A Person‐Oriented Approach

The present study examined what kinds of patterns of task‐values adolescents show, and whether these patterns predict their educational and occupational expectations and school track. Six hundred and fourteen adolescents were examined twice before their transition to secondary education and once thereafter. The clustering‐by‐cases analyses identified 6 groups: (1) those who placed a high value on all school subjects, (2) those who did not value any of the subjects, (3) those who valued Finnish and social sciences, (4) those who valued in particular practical and art subjects, (5) those who valued only practical and art subjects, and (6) those who especially valued mathematics and science. The patterns of task‐values also predicted adolescents' occupational and educational expectations.     

Assessment of Ecological Risks at Former Landfill Site Using TRIAD Procedure and Multicriteria Analysis

Old industrial landfills are important sources of environmental contamination in Europe, including Finland. In this study, we demonstrated the combination of TRIAD procedure, multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), and statistical Monte Carlo analysis for assessing the risks to terrestrial biota in a former landfill site contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) and metals. First, we generated hazard quotients by dividing the concentrations of metals and PHCs in soil by the corresponding risk‐based ecological benchmarks. Then we conducted ecotoxicity tests using five plant species, earthworms, and potworms, and determined the abundance and diversity of soil invertebrates from additional samples. We aggregated the results in accordance to the methods used in the TRIAD procedure, conducted rating of the assessment methods based on their performance in terms of specific criteria, and weighted the criteria using two alternative weighting techniques to produce performance scores for each method. We faced problems in using the TRIAD procedure, for example, the results from the animal counts had to be excluded from the calculation of integrated risk estimates (IREs) because our reference soil sample showed the lowest biodiversity and abundance of soil animals. In addition, hormesis hampered the use of the results from the ecotoxicity tests. The final probabilistic IREs imply significant risks at all sampling locations. Although linking MCDA with TRIAD provided a useful means to study and consider the performance of the alternative methods in predicting ecological risks, some uncertainties involved still remained outside the quantitative analysis.     

Type a behaviour and back pain

Type A behaviour and back pain     

Friendless Adolescents: Do Perceptions of Social Threat Account for Their Internalizing Difficulties and Continued Friendlessness?

Adolescents who lack friends at school are at risk of internalizing difficulties. This study examined a social‐cognitive mechanism underlying friendlessness and internalizing difficulties (i.e., depressive symptoms, social anxiety, low self‐esteem). We tested whether perceived social threat (i.e., peer victimization, sense of unsafety, and peer misconduct) mediates the association between friendlessness and increased internalizing difficulties across middle school. Latent variable structural equation modeling was used to test the model among an ethnically diverse sample of 5,991 (52% female) adolescents. The results demonstrate that friendless sixth‐grade students perceived their school environment as more threatening by seventh grade, which in turn, increased internalizing difficulties from sixth to eighth grade. Perceptions of threat also predicted friendlessness at the end of middle school.