Ideologies about work: An exploratory study

This paper focuses upon an as yet under-explored factor believed to underlie most managerial and organizational behavior variables—work ideology. Work ideologies are surveyed for several convenience samples of students and managers to show their ability to be studied and that patterned differences may be discovered. In addition, the historical origins and meanings of four major work ideologies are discussed.     

ROBUST METHODS FOR DEPENDENT CELL PEDIGREE DATA

This paper studies a robust approach to the analysis of cell pedigree data, building on the work of Huggins & Marschner (1991) which discussed M-estimation for the so-called bifurcating autoregressive process. The study allows for incomplete observation of the pedigree, and incorporates the possibility of additive effects outliers, as discussed in the time series literature. Some properties of the proposed estimation procedure are studied, including a Monte Carlo investigation of robustness in the presence of contamination.     

Generalized Laplacian approximations in Bayesian inference

This paper presents a new Laplacian approximation to the posterior density of η = g(θ). It has a simpler analytical form than that described by Leonard et al. (1989). The approximation derived by Leonard et al. requires a conditional information matrix R_η to be positive definite for every fixed η. However, in many cases, not all R_η are positive definite. In such cases, the computations of their approximations fail, since the approximation cannot be normalized. However, the new approximation may be modified so that the corresponding conditional information matrix can be made positive definite for every fixed η. In addition, a Bayesian procedure for contingency-table model checking is provided. An example of cross-classification between the educational level of a wife and fertility-planning status of couples is used for explanation. Various Laplacian approximations are computed and compared in this example and in an example of public school expenditures in the context of Bayesian analysis of the multiparameter Fisher-Behrens problem.     

Will taxpayers ever like taxes?: Responses to the U.S. Tax Reform Act of 1986

Major policy changes like the 1986 Tax Reform Act (TRA) in the United States provide natural experiments to study attitudinal and behavior responses to law. Surprisingly, public evaluations of the TRA became increasingly negative after passage, while general support for the tax system became more positive in response to the changes. To explain this puzzle, we propose a dynamic model of taxpayer attitudes that is consistent with the observed loose linkage between logically-connected concepts. We briefly review the political context, objectives and impacts of the 1986 Tax Reform Act, and present several studies testing the impact of self-interest, prior beliefs, and social discussion on changes in attitudes and behavior.Results suggest that the complexity of taxes and difficulty in knowing objective impacts weakens the role of self-interest in attitudinal changes, thereby strengthening the role of prior beliefs and discussion. Evaluations of tax laws are most responsive to more politically-oriented influences.     

Maintaining the connection: Parenting as a noncustodial father

The purpose of this study was to identify relevant factors associated with the noncustodial father's frequency of contact with his child following divorce. The findings of the research revealed that a combination of demographic, personal characteristics, and psychosocial factors are related to the father's frequency of contact with the child.     

The social worker as psychoanalyst

This paper examines the development of social workers as psychoanalysts to determine whether psychoanalysis is a legitimate function of social work. Historically, social work has found psychoanalytic theory helpful. However, it is generally understood that for the caseworker to competently practice psychoanalytic psychotherapy, advanced training is necessary. Although many social workers have availed themselves of this opportunity, the profession continues to believe that the practice of psychoanalysis is incompatible with social work. This is based upon an inaccurate conception of psychoanalysis. Since the social work psychoanalyst is concerned with the client's adaptation to the environment, his or her practice can easily be defined as clinical social work.     

Naturally occurring play patterns in groups of latency aged children

This study examines the influence of the socialization of aggression among different gender and social class groupings and the influence of psychosocial stage on cognitive developmental play preferences among groups of school aged children. Observations of 143 play groups were coded for play preference (symbolic play, practice play, games with rules) and play performance (cooperative or competitive). Findings of the log-linear data analysis suggest a middle class and masculine bias in Piaget's cognitive model (i.e., that as age increases children prefer more games with rules). This model held only for middle class and affluent boys. Girls (both latency and prepubertal) and lower socioeconomic groups tended to prefer practice play. Girls were more likely to play cooperatively; boys more likely to play competitively. Implications for theory development and clinical practice are explored.     

Coping with work stress: Psychological benefits of exercise

Although the health-enhancing effects of physical exercise have been well documented, less is known about how exercise benefits stressed employees psychologically. This article examines exercise as a coping response, and identifies changes in self-schemata (a person's underlying belief systems about him or herself) as the means by which exercise affects coping resources. In addition, by drawing on schema theory and the exercise literature, the active components of an exercise programme and the individuals who might enhance their ability to cope with stress through such a programme are identified.     

Estimation of noncentrality parameters

We propose some estimators of noncentrality parameters which improve upon usual unbiased estimators under quadratic loss. The distributions we consider are the noncentral chi-square and the noncentral F. However, we give more general results for the family of elliptically contoured distributions and propose a robust dominating estimator.