Character-Based Determinants of Trust in Leaders

Trust is a prominent determinant of effective interpersonal relationships, group process, and organizational development. However, for leaders and managers, trust building is often problematic. The aim of this article is to contribute to a growing understanding of the way in which individual managers can develop trust in organizations, particularly those defined by medium to high risk. The article presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of the nature of trust at work. Building on the results of an earlier study, use is made of the facet-theoretical approach to generate a definitional framework of trust, which focuses on the characteristics of the trusted person that contribute to the development of trust. Using items developed on the basis of a mapping sentence, hypotheses regarding the relations between the definitional framework and empirical observations were tested through smallest space analysis (SSA) of data collected from a sample of 398 bank and hospital employees. The results demonstrate strong support for the definitional system and show a clear association with results of prior research that identify perceptions of ability, integrity, fairness, and openness as key determinants of trust. The empirical structure clearly reflects the attitudinal nature of interpersonal trust at work and the items empirically distinguish distinct character-based components of trust.     

Education and the changing shape of the income gradient in health

Research on the social determinants of health has increasingly sought to understand the relative importance of different features of socioeconomic status. Much of the ensuing debate has wavered between education and income, with recent research leaning increasingly toward income. This research has not, however, consistently explored interactions between different features of socioeconomic status and, in trying to understand the independent effects of different components of socioeconomic status, may have missed important features of socioeconomic position. With an eye toward examining how features of socioeconomic status combine and coalesce, this paper examines variation in the income-health association by level of education. Theories derived both from medical sociology and health economics suggest synergistic interactions between income and education, but they are unclear as to the direction and magnitude of these interactions. Results from two large and nationally representative data sets (the 1996-1997 Community Tracking Study and the 1972-2000 General Social Survey) indicate that the positive relationship between income and health varies substantially in both its strength and shape by level of education. Education improves health, and its effects are larger at lower levels of income. Moreover, education reduces the strength and curvature of the income-health relationship. Consequently, those with more education have better health for all levels of income, and fewer income-based disparities exist among the well educated than among the less well educated. The linear "gradient" relationship between income and health is, thus, more characteristic of groups with higher levels of education. Additional analyses indicate that these interactions existed in the United States in each of the last three decades. The results are discussed in light of theory regarding the perpetuation of health disparities, as well as current debates regarding the apparent incompatibility of distributive versus aggregative goals in health policy.     

Factors influencing middle and high schools' active parental consent return rates

The authors examined factors influencing the return rates for attempting to collect active parental consent forms from 21,123 students in the 7th through 10th grades in 41 middle and high schools. Overall return rates from middle schools were higher than from high schools. Schools that offered high levels of staff support for collecting consent forms had higher return rates. Procedures where the consent form was attached to a school form that parents had to complete and return to the school yielded the highest return rate. Implications for how researchers can obtain a high parent consent form return rate are discussed.     

Misgivings of medicine?: African Americans' skepticism of psychiatric medication

Research has consistently documented black-white differences in rates of voluntary psychiatric treatment that cannot be reduced entirely to differences in either need or access. A variety of explanations have been offered for the gap that remains, but the empirical testing of alternative propositions has thus far been minimal. Using the 1998 General Social Survey's Pressing Issues in Health and Medical Care module (n = 1,387), I find consistent and substantial black-white differences in a variety of beliefs about psychiatric medications, one of the most common treatments for mental illness, and the predisposition to use them. Specifically, blacks express less willingness to use psychiatric medications themselves or to administer them to a child for whom they are responsible. Neither socioeconomic status, knowledge, religious involvement, nor trust in medicine appears to explain this reluctance. Rather, it stems almost entirely from blacks' beliefs about psychiatric medications' efficacy and side-effects. The results indicate, first, that researchers should not assume that African Americans will use psychiatric medications at rates similar to whites if offered equal access. Second, the results indicate that blacks' skepticism of psychiatric medications may be rooted in specific beliefs about psychiatric medications, rather than general ideologies about medical practice. Health beliefs about psychiatric treatment, therefore, will continue to play an important role in understanding race differences in the use of psychiatric medications.     

Explaining the causes of poverty in the West Indies: A cross-cultural comparison

Research into attitudes towards the poor and lay explanations for poverty have heen primarily concerned with the structure and determinants of these attitudes and explanations. Whereas a number of variables — education, religion, ethnic group — have been shown to relate to explanations for poverty, there have only been a few cross-cultural studies. This study set out to compare the explanations adolescents gave for poverty in two West Indian islands — the relatively wealthy island of Barbados and the relatively poor island of Dominica. The overall economic development/prosperity of the two islands, and the extent and visibility of economic inequality between the two islands appeared to account for the numerous national differences. These results are discussed in terms of the social, political and historical differences between the two islands.