Experiencing Work: Values, Attitudes, and Moods

This paper describes a model (the VAM model)which integrates three of the most significantdimensions of the work experience, work values,attitudes, and moods, into one overarching framework.The VAM model proposes that a rich and more completeunderstanding of the experience of work necessitates thesimultaneous consideration of work values, attitudes,and moods. After describing how work values, attitudes, and moods, each capture key aspects ofexperiencing work, we discuss three important dimensionsalong which they vary: time, dynamism, and focus. Thesedimensions underscore the need for the simultaneous consideration of values, attitudes, and moodsfor a fuller understanding of the work experience. Wethen describe how work values, attitudes, and moods havethe potential to influence each other. Finally, we discuss the implications of the VAM modelfor understanding important organizational outcomesincluding extra-role behavior, job performance, socialloafing, absenteeism, and turnover.     

The Protestant Ethic: Weber s Model and the Empirical Literature

Empirical research with regard to the Protestantethic is reviewed in relation to Weber s model of thepart a specifically religious ethos played in the riseof capitalism. Weber argued that Western legal and commercial changes were not in themselvesan adequate explanation. Essential also was the set ofvalues emphasized by ascetic Protestantism:self-discipline, hard work, the careful use of time, the reinvestment of one s gains, personal honesty,creative innovation, and faith in the rewards of a justGod. Empirical research has found positive correlationsbetween Protestant ethic values and internal locus of control (self-discipline), hard work,honesty, and belief in a just world. Findings withregard to the use of time and money are inconclusive.The relationship with creative innovation has not been examined. There is a need for empiricalstudy of the relationship between the Protestant ethicand personal religious orientation.     

The Devil is in the Detail: Clinicians,Academics and Researchers Resolving the Problems of Clinical Research

The difficulties associated with conducting valid family therapy research within a clinical practice discourage many potential researchers. This article will describe collaboration between a group of academics, researchers and clinicians who decided to explore the process and efficacy of systemic family therapy conducted within a working private practice. The specific questions we are addressing are, whether the requests clients bring to their first session of therapy can be reliably classified by practitioners, whether these requests change over time, and whether the nature of the request is associated with therapist and client ratings of therapeutic outcome. Additional questions about the form and nature of the therapeutic alliance as experienced by both client and practitioner are also being explored. This paper will map the passage of the work from inception to its current state where over 140 clients are active participants. In doing so attention will be paid to the obstacles encountered: practical, financial and ethical, and the solutions devised to address these.     

Low-Income Mothers' Conversations About Emotions and Their Children's Emotional Competence

This study examined the linkage between low-income mothers' conversations about emotions and their children's understanding of emotion. Forty-five low-income preschoolers and their mothers were videotaped while viewing a wordless picture book designed to elicit talk about emotions. Three maternal and child emotional language behaviors were coded from the videotapes: (a) unelaborated comments about emotions; (b) explanations about the causes and consequences of emotions; and (c) empathy-related statements. The children's questions about emotions were also coded. In a separate interview, the preschoolers were administered tasks that assessed emotional expression knowledge, emotional situation knowledge, and emotional role-taking. The results revealed that emotional situation knowledge was positively predicted by mothers' empathy-related statements. Mothers' explanations about the causes and consequences of emotions were uniquely related to emotional role-taking ability. There were very few correlations between the mothers' and children's talk about emotions. Results are discussed in terms of the functional significance of mothers' emotional language for young children's emotional competence.     

Estimating time to detect time trends in continuous cropping

SUMMARY In long-term field trials comparing different sequences of crops and husbandry practices, the identification and understanding of trends in productivity over time is an important issue of sustainable crop production. This paper presents a statistical technique for the estimation of time trends in yield variables of a seasonal annual crop under continuous cropping. The estimation procedure incorporates the correlation structure, which is assumed to follow first-order autocorrelation in the errors that arise over time on the same plot. Because large differences in annual rainfall have a major effect on crop performance, rainfall has been allowed for in the estimation of the time trends. Expressions for the number of years (time) required to detect statistically significant time trends have been obtained. Illustrations are based on a 7-year data set of grain and straw yields from a trial in northern Syria. Although agronomic interpretation is not intended in this paper, the barley yield data indicated that a significant time trend can apparently be detected even in a suboptimal data set of 7 years' duration.     

Modeling collecting behavior: The role of set completion

Collecting is a complex behavior that has been studied from a variety of different perspectives. Art objects, stamps, coins, and other established collectibles markets, have been shown over the years to provide some degree of return to the collector in the economics literature. Wonderment over the success of certain collectibles such as Swatch watches and Beanie Babies has received much attention in the popular press. But how does one rationally explain the collecting of matchbook covers, Cracker Jacks toys, belt buckles, salt cellars, Aunt Jemima, etc.? Collecting in the absence of financial gain has received little attention in the economics literature. In the social psychology literature, many individuals are understood to have a natural desire to collect things for various reasons. Financial gain is only one of those reasons. Set completion is another. The reasons for collecting are not always mutually exclusive. For example, a complete set may be worth more in the secondary market, if one exists, than the sum of the individual pieces. This reflects the value of the rarest pieces and the opportunity costs of obtaining them. The model presented in this study explains how set completion motivates collecting behavior, which sheds light on collecting for both financial and nonfinancial reasons. The model accommodates both collectors and noncollectors and illustrates how consumption behavior may vary accordingly. Insight into how manufacturers of collectibles can use this behavior for commercial exploitation is explored.     

Politiques publiques et parcours de fin de vie: reconfigurations,dynamiques paradoxales et art combinatoire

Du fait de l'allongement de l'espérance de vie, de très nombreuses personnes vivent désormais un grand âge, c'est-à-dire une longue période de l'existence au cours de laquelle ils se confrontent à leur finitude. Ce nouveau temps de l'existence questionne la conception traditionnelle d'un cycle de vie ternaire, et la définition de la fin de la vie. Autour de cette dernière étape du parcours de vie, se révèlent les ambiguïtés de la culture des problèmes de la vieillesse et se noue une controverse concernant la désinstitutionalisation et la déstandardisation des parcours de vie. A partir des données issues de travaux empiriques cet article analyse les formes originales d'action publique qui s'esquissent à l’échelle des territoires et renouvellent les cadres normatifs institutionnels de gestion de la grande vieillesse. Il met au jour la dialectique qui s'engage entre une forme de production centrifuge et institutionnalisée des politiques publiques, initiée par l'Etat et un processus centripète dans lequel la diversité et la dispersion des acteurs participent de dynamiques coopératives vs concurrentielles.

Les éléments empiriques mobilisés dans cet article sont issus d'une recherche menée dans le cadre des conventions d’études conclues pour les années 2010 (projet n4) et 2011 (projet n 4) entre l'IRES au service des organisations représentatives des travailleurs et la CGT.