Zur Bedeutung von Faultlines als Grenzen bei der Teamarbeit

This report focuses on the divisions within and between teams. Such research is often associated with the phenomenon of “diversity”. Empirical evidence regarding the effects of diversity on teamwork is inconsistent, partly due to methodological limitations. We propose to use the concept of “faultlines” as hypothetical lines that divide teams into homogenous subgroups. Measuring faultlines as an objective indicator of team composition represents an innovative method for integrating several diversity attributes (e.?g., age, gender, and ethnicity). We provide an overview of the current research on faultlines and show detrimental effects of faultlines on team performance. Additionally, we present the results of two studies from the automotive industry, focusing on the relation between faultlines and organizational outcomes such as employee health, team performance and team identification. Finally, we conclude that the analysis of objective faultlines offers relevant implications for research and practice. Future research should also consider the role of subjectively experienced faultlines.     

IRENA as a glocal actor: pathways towards energy governmentality

For decades renewable energy has remained a “blind spot” within the sphere of international energy governance. The existing institutional network is highly fragmented, resulting in a myriad of international organizations, which all claim to deal with energy issues, yet do not focus on renewables on a global scale. Since 2009, IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, seeks to fill up this vacuum, thereby creating a new (and maybe more Southern-led) political arena for governing renewable energy issues. This article focuses on IRENA’s role as a changemaker in the sphere of global energy governance by investigating IRENA’s governance practices and contributions to knowledge production.     

The German East-West Mortality Difference: Two Crossovers Driven by Smoking

Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, mortality was considerably higher in the former East Germany than in West Germany. The gap narrowed rapidly after German reunification. The convergence was particularly strong for women, to the point that Eastern women aged 50–69 now have lower mortality despite lower incomes and worse overall living conditions. Prior research has shown that lower smoking rates among East German female cohorts born in the 1940s and 1950s were a major contributor to this crossover. However, after 1990, smoking behavior changed dramatically, with higher smoking intensity observed among women in the eastern part of Germany. We forecast the impact of this changing smoking behavior on East-West mortality differences and find that the higher smoking rates among younger East German cohorts will reverse their contemporary mortality advantage. Mortality forecasting methods that do not account for smoking would, perhaps misleadingly, forecast a growing mortality advantage for East German women. Experience from other countries shows that smoking can be effectively reduced by strict anti-smoking policies. Instead, East Germany is becoming an example warning of the consequences of weakening anti-smoking policies and changing behavioral norms.     

The political economy of targeting – a critical review

The political economy models of targeting postulate that going universal is a win‐win situation, for the poor and the middle class, as well as those who are in power. This article critically discusses the assumptions behind the political economy arguments of targeting and tests whether a universal mechanism is bound to politically excel in a low‐income country context. On the basis of attitudinal surveys with the urban, rural and student population in Zambia, we do not find any support for the predictions of the political economy models. We discuss the assumptions of the political economy models in the light of these findings and consider potentially decisive parameters that the models currently do not incorporate.     

Gender Role,Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation in CAIS (“XY-Women”) Compared With Subfertile and Infertile 46,XX Women

The perception of gender development of individuals with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS) as unambiguously female has recently been challenged in both qualitative data and case reports of male gender identity. The aim of the mixed-method study presented was to examine the self-perception of CAIS individuals regarding different aspects of gender and to identify commonalities and differences in comparison with subfertile and infertile XX-chromosomal women with diagnoses of Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKHS) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The study sample comprised 11 participants with CAIS, 49 with MRKHS, and 55 with PCOS. Gender identity was assessed by means of a multidimensional instrument, which showed significant differences between the CAIS group and the XX-chromosomal women. Other-than-female gender roles and neither-female-nor-male sexes/genders were reported only by individuals with CAIS. The percentage with a not exclusively androphile sexual orientation was unexceptionally high in the CAIS group compared to the prevalence in “normative” women and the clinical groups. The findings support the assumption made by Meyer-Bahlburg (2010 Meyer-Bahlburg, H. F. L. (2010). Gender outcome in 46,XY complete androgen insensitivity syndrome: Comment on T'Sjoen et al. (2010). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 1221–1224.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) that gender outcome in people with CAIS is more variable than generally stated. Parents and professionals should thus be open to courses of gender development other than typically female in individuals with CAIS.     

An experimental investigation of risk sharing and adverse selection

Does adverse selection hamper the effectiveness of voluntary risk sharing? How do differences in risk profiles affect adverse selection? We experimentally investigate individuals’ willingness to share risks with others. Across treatments we vary how risk profiles differ between individuals. We find strong evidence for adverse selection if individuals’ risk profiles can be ranked according to first-order stochastic dominance and only little evidence for adverse selection if risk profiles can only be ranked according to mean-preserving spreads. We observe the same pattern also for anticipated adverse selection. These results suggest that the degree to which adverse selection erodes voluntary risk sharing arrangements crucially depends on the form of risk heterogeneity.     

Examining the correlates of engagement and disengagement coping among help-seeking battered women

This study examined several potential correlates of engagement and disengagement coping, including abuse-related factors, socioeconomic and social coping resources, and childhood trauma variables among a sample of battered women (N = 388). Relationship abuse frequency, particularly psychological aggression, and peritraumatic dissociation were the strongest positive predictors of the use of disengagement coping. Social coping resources, including tangible support and appraisals of social support and belonging, were associated with higher engagement coping and lower disengagement coping. A positive association was also found between interparental domestic violence and disengagement coping, and negative associations were found between both childhood physical and sexual abuse and engagement coping. Results suggest that coping strategies used by battered women are multidetermined and deserve further exploration.     

Social perception of natural risks by local residents in developing countries—The example of the coastal area of Benin

Risk management and planning activities cannot be sustainably and efficiently implemented unless being based on a participative approach resulting from the problem consciousness and perception of the local inhabitants. This requires that the measures linked to problem perception and assessment by local stakeholders, above all by the population affected, are known. This investigation conducted in the flat Beninese coastal lagoon areas aims to assess the local inhabitants’ risk perception. The results are the following: (i) the stakeholders have group-specific ways of risk perception (according to ethnicity, social group, age); (ii) every risk management strategy should be based on the group-specific ways of risk perception and assessment; (iii) the acceptance of a given risk management strategy including interactive ways of participation can be advanced through education, dissemination of risk information as well as through communication between stakeholders.     

Nachwuchsförderung durch Mentoring — eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme

Despite a high number of publications about mentoring there is still a lack of an overall accepted definition for this conception. In this paper different views of mentoring are compared and are critically analysed. Kinds of mentoring relationships, theoretical approaches concerning mentoring functions and relevant predictors of mentoring outcome are considered. Especially the change of the mentoring concept from a one-to-one-relationship to a supportive network is discussed and several approaches to highlight mentoring from a theoretical perspective are described. Finally a survey of empirical results is given about the effectiveness of mentoring and determinants are resumed which support a positive or negative mentoring outcome. The paper finishes with conclusions for further research.