Relationship between job control,work pressure and strain: Studies in the USA and in The Netherlands

The purpose of this study was to test a model of job control, work pressure and strain in two samples in the USA and in The Netherlands. According to the proposed model, work pressure has a mediating role between job control and worker strain. The present model specifies three types of job control: task or instrumental control, conceptual or resource control, and decision organization control. Task and resource control are assumed to reduce the stressor of work pressure which, in turn, is related to high strain. Organization control is assumed to be positively related to work pressure. The model was tested in two samples : one US sample of 273office employees and one Dutch sample of 958 employees in a variety of jobs. The same measure of job control was used in both samples. Resultspartially confirm the proposed model. As predicted by the proposed model, high task control was related to low work pressure, whereas high organization control was related to high work pressure. The effects of task control and organization control on strain were mediated by work pressure for the measure of anxiety in the US sample and for the measure of stress in the Dutch sample. However, the mediating effect of work pressure was not found for job satisfaction in both samples, for the measure of mood disturbances in the US sample and for the measure of sick days in the Dutch sample. The proposed model is only partially confirmed by the results. These results confirm the importance of differentiating between different dimensions of job control.     

The Viability of Career Maturity Theory: A Developmental—Contextual Perspective

The critical role of the timing of person—context interactions is important in the conceptualization of the school-to-work transition. It is argued that career maturity, with its focus on the individual and its ties to stage models and notions of age-appropriateness, gives insufficient attention to the particular contexts of time and culture within which it may be observed. The use of recent advances in developmental theory is suggested as a viable alternative for understanding developmental transitions. Findings from the research literature and from a recent study of young adults from former East Germany and former West Germany are cited in support of this proposal. These findings highlight limitations of the construct of career maturity in showing how individual differences and contextual factors contribute to the school-to-work transition in contrasting environments of former East and West Germany.     

Think tanks, free market academics, and the triumph of the right

These two books address different dimensions of the triumphal rise of free market ideas. Thomas Medvetz analyzes the emergence of think tanks as a new organizational form in the United States and explains why they have effectively reduced the influence of most academic intellectuals on policy making. Angus Burgin analyzes the emergence and history of the Mont Pèlerin Society—the free market group that was founded by Friedrich Hayek—which had a decisive influence on conservative thought.     

Forecasting Materials Damage from Air Pollution

Forecasts of materials damage from air pollution require (a) knowledge of a “damage function,” (b) an estimate of the exposure of materials to pollutants and other factors that enter into the dose relationship, and (c) the quantity and characteristics of the exposed materials. Uncertainty about any of these factors can lead to unacceptable uncertainty or bias in damage forecasts. Particular attention is given to the influence of the spatial units used to derive forecasts of materials damage. Environmental corrosion can vary significantly over relatively small geographic areas; accordingly, the choice of spatial unit can have an impact on forecasts of damage. The environmental factors that influence materials damage may not be independent over the time of exposure. There appears to be some evidence, for example, that SO₂ is not independent of time of wetness, both factors in metal corrosion.