Organizational innovativeness and its determinants in South Korean nonprofit human service organizations

This study compares the level of organizational innovativeness and its determinants in different types of nonprofit human service organizations. Based on theoretical conceptualizations of organizational innovation, it was hypothesized that community service organizations (CSOs) would be more innovative than residential service organizations (RSOs), and determinants of organizational innovation (such as organizations' characteristics, internal and external properties, and executive leadership) would influence innovativeness. Data from a survey of two types of human service organizations in South Korea (127 RSOs for children and 220 CSOs) revealed that the level of innovation in both types of organizations was not significantly different. The determinants of decentralization and formalization showed significant impacts on innovativeness in CSOs. Decentralization also had a significant positive effect on innovativeness in RSOs. However, executive leadership was a significant determinant of organizational innovativeness in CSOs only. Based on these results, administrative implications are suggested for the facilitation of organizational innovation in nonprofit human service organizations.     

Religion,spirituality, coping,and resilience among African Americans with diabetes

Study aims were to explore how religion and spirituality impacted attitudes about self-management practices among African Americans with homelessness histories and to understand resilience in diabetes care practices. Qualitative semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 42 African Americans older than 18 years. All audio-taped interviews lasted between 1–1.5 hr, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using ATLAS.ti (version 7.0). Five resilience themes emerged. While participants recognized diabetes as an illness requiring professional treatment, the context of balancing treatment with religion and spiritual practices mattered. The study findings highlight the importance of spirituality, religious beliefs, and coping strategies in diabetes self-care activities.     

Solutions to the Challenge of Meeting Rural Transportation Needs: Middle-Aged and Older Adults’ Perspectives

This study aimed to explore how the aging population in Appalachia manages its transportation and plans for the transition to non-driving and to seek possible solutions to the challenge of meeting rural transportation needs. Four focus groups (N = 38) were conducted, supplemented by a questionnaire, in Appalachian Kentucky. The results showed that few alternative transportation existed except a local paratransit service and informal transportation support. Compared to older adults, middle-aged adults reported a greater willingness to use mobile phones and the Internet to arrange transportation if they were available. Participants also recommended expanding the use of existing transportation in the community – such as church vans – to better meet the aging population’s needs. The findings suggest that partnership between government, non-profit, and private sectors is needed, not solely focusing on a tax-dependent solution. Additionally, information and communication technology-based transportation management system would help maximize the use of scare but existing resources in rural areas.     

New Well-being Measures: Short Scales to Assess Flourishing and Positive and Negative Feelings

Measures of well-being were created to assess psychological flourishing and feelings—positive feelings, negative feelings, and the difference between the two. The scales were evaluated in a sample of 689 college students from six locations. The Flourishing Scale is a brief 8-item summary measure of the respondent’s self-perceived success in important areas such as relationships, self-esteem, purpose, and optimism. The scale provides a single psychological well-being score. The measure has good psychometric properties, and is strongly associated with other psychological well-being scales. The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience produces a score for positive feelings (6 items), a score for negative feelings (6 items), and the two can be combined to create a balance score. This 12-item brief scale has a number of desirable features compared to earlier measures of positive and negative emotions. In particular, the scale assesses with a few items a broad range of negative and positive experiences and feelings, not just those of a certain type, and is based on the amount of time the feelings were experienced during the past 4 weeks. The scale converges well with measures of emotions and affective well-being.     

A Longitudinal Study of the Developmental Trajectories of Parental Attachment and Career Maturity of South Korean Adolescents

This study tested the developmental trajectories of career maturity (CM) and parental attachment (PA), the longitudinal influence of both, and gender as a moderator. Findings showed developmental progressions in adolescents’ PA and CM over 4 years. The change in PA was positively related to the developmental change in CM. For gender, there was a statistically significant difference in the initial status of CM and PA but no significant difference in developmental change. This study verified the longitudinal influence of PA on CM and showed that the cross‐sectional effect of predictors on CM needs to be distinguished from the longitudinal effect in future studies.     

Toward a Composite Measure of Green Consumption: An Exploratory Study Using a Korean Sample

This study developed a composite measure of green consumption behaviors, incorporating multiple dimensions of green consumption behaviors. As a result of an extensive literature review, four value orientations were proposed: health-related egoistic value orientation, resource-related egoistic value orientation, altruistic value orientation, and biospheric value orientation. And a composite measure of green consumption which measured green consumption behavior manifesting the suggested value orientations were proposed and empirically tested using a Korean sample. After empirical testing and validating the proposed composite measure according to the measurement validation procedure proposed by Nunnally (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1978), the composite measure of green consumption behaviors was revised to three dimensions of green consumption behaviors: health-conscious green consumption behavior, resource-conscious green consumption behavior, and socially conscious green consumption behavior that combined originally suggested altruistic and biospheric value orientations. A multivariate regression analysis was employed to test the usability of the composite measure of green consumption behaviors and to identify the determinants of green consumption behaviors. As hypothesized, the results of regression analysis showed that perceived consumer effectiveness, reference persons, and perceived market situation are significant determinants of green consumption behaviors, and the effects of environmental concern and socioeconomics are limited. Based on these findings, public policy and marketing implications that promote green consumption are also proposed.     

Association Study on Pathological Gambling and Polymorphisms of Dopamine D1, D2, D3, and D4 Receptor Genes in a Korean Population

Several studies have reported that some dopaminergic receptor polymorphisms are associated with pathological gambling (PG). Considering that there are major race and ethnic group difference in dopaminergic polymorphisms, the result of genetic association studies should be confirmed in more homogeneous population to avoid problems of population stratification. The present study aimed to investigate whether selected polymorphisms in the dopamine receptors genes (DRD1, DRD2, DRD3, and DRD4) are associated with PG in Korean population which is consisted of only Korean ancestry. Subjects were 104 men with a diagnosis of PG and 114 unrelated age-matched normal control men. Genotyping was performed for the DRD1 gene -48 A/G, DRD2 gene TaqI A, DRD3 gene Ser9Gly, and DRD4 gene exon III variable number tandem repeat polymorphisms. The method of multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) was used to analyze gene-gene interactions. There were no differences in the frequencies of any studied polymorphisms between patients with PG and normal controls. MDR analysis did not show a significant effect of the 4 dopamine receptor gene polymorphisms on susceptibility to PG (P > 0.05). The present study suggests that the analyzed polymorphisms of the dopamine receptor genes might not be associated with PG in a Korean population.     

Consumer response to crisis: Exploring the concept of involvement in Mattel product recalls

The present study examines two hypotheses: (1) there is a difference between how highly involved consumers perceived the 2007 Mattel product recalls and how national daily newspapers covered those recalls in terms of crisis responsibility and reputation; (2) the frequency of emotion manifested among highly involved consumers will increase over time. A content analysis of the bulletin boards for two parent online communities and a content analysis of four major daily newspapers were conducted. The data were consistent with the hypotheses proposed. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Is Ethnic Identity a Buffer? Exploring the Relations Between Racial Microaggressions and Depressive Symptoms Among Asian-American Individuals

ABSTRACT

This study explores the moderating role of ethnic identity in the relations between racial microaggressions and depressive symptoms. Using survey data from 353 Asian-American college students, we found that racial microaggressions significantly predicted depressive symptoms and accounted for 24% of the variance in a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. In addition, ethnic identity moderated the relations between racial microaggressions and depressive symptoms. Thus, ethnic identity buffers Asian-Americans against the negative mental health effects of racial microaggressions. Implications for research and practice in the field of social work are discussed.     

Racial/Ethnic Inequality Among Older Workers: Focusing On Whites,Blacks, and Latinos Within the Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage Framework

The experience of older racial/ethnic minority workers may differ from that of their non-Hispanic White counterparts because of persistent racial/ethnic differences; however, our knowledge of older minority workers is fragmentary. Using the cumulative advantage/disadvantage framework, this study aimed to identify factors that explain older Americans’ labor market participation after age 65 and whether racial/ethnic differences exist among those factors. Using the 2004 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study data, racially separate analyses were performed to systematically compare factors by race. The results showed that factors influencing labor force participation after age 65 were indeed conditioned by race. Health and meaning of work significantly influenced non-Hispanic Whites, whereas home ownership increased the odds of working among non-Hispanic Blacks, and Latinos were concerned with health alone. The findings suggest that older ethnic minorities appear to experience a greater vulnerability to involuntary labor market exit—as opposed to personal preference or financial necessity. This racial/ethnic inequality should be understood not as sudden occurrences in old age, but as a by-product of the interplay between the individuals’ lifetime experiences and the social structures that impose cumulative advantages/disadvantages on them. Continued research will help reduce racial gaps in the next generation of older workers.