The interaction effects of scheduling control and work–life balance programs on job satisfaction and mental health

Jang SJ, Park R, Zippay A. The interaction effects of scheduling control and work–life balance programs on job satisfaction and mental health Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 135–143 © 2010 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. The demands of balancing employment and family responsibilities strain the health and welfare of many employees worldwide, and social welfare policy analysts are increasingly attending to the factors that can alleviate such stress. The present study examined associations between the availability of work–life balance programs, employees' authority to arrange their own work hours, job satisfaction, and mental health among 1,293 employees in 50 companies in South Korea. The study is unique in its use of multilevel analysis in examining individual‐ and company‐level variables. The results add to the evidence regarding the positive relationship between the availability of scheduling control and work–life balance policies on the one hand, and job satisfaction and mental wellbeing, on the other.     

Guiding the Next Generation of NIH Investigators in Responsible Conduct of Research: The Role of the Mentor

National Institutes of Health (NIH) K award recipients and their mentors were surveyed to investigate the role of the mentor. We found that a majority of mentors provided guidance in responsible research conduct (RCR), and that most of these relationships were deemed helpful. Mentors also responded that they played a greater importance in RCR training of their mentees than the mentees reported. Our results suggest both mentors and mentees report that mentors ideally should play a more important role in RCR training than was actually the case. For conflicting interests, subjects' protection, and misconduct, approximately 50% of K recipients found the mentor to be not at all important or only somewhat important for these areas of RCR training. We conclude the mentor's role is important but not optimal based on the results of our study cohort.     

Evaluating the Introduction of a National Minimum Wage: Evidence from a New Survey of Firms in Ireland

Abstract. In April 2000 the Irish government introduced a national minimum wage of IR£4.40 (€5.58) an hour. We use data from a specifically designed survey of firms to estimate the employment effects of this change. Employment growth among firms with low‐wage workers prior to the legislation was no different from that of firms not affected by the legislation. A more refined measure of the minimum wage, however, suggests that the legislation may have had a negative effect on employment for the small number of firms most severely affected by the legislation. However, the size of these effects is relatively modest.     

A comparison of models for clustered binary outcomes: analysis of a designed immunology experiment

The lymphocyte proliferative assay (LPA) of immune competence was conducted on 52 subjects, with up to 36 processing conditions per subject, to evaluate whether samples could be shipped or stored overnight, rather than being processed on fresh blood as currently required. The LPA study resulted in clustered binary data, with both cluster level and cluster-varying covariates. Two modelling strategies for the analysis of such clustered binary data are through the cluster-specific and population-averaged approaches. Whereas most research in this area has focused on the analysis of matched pairs data, in many situations, such as the LPA study, cluster sizes are naturally larger. Through considerations of interpretation and efficiency of these models when applied to large clusters, the mixed effect cluster-specific model was selected as most appropriate for the analysis of the LPA data. The model confirmed that the LPA response is significantly impaired in individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The LPA response was found to be significantly lower for shipped and overnight samples than for fresh samples, and this effect was significantly stronger among HIV-infected individuals. Surprisingly, an anticoagulant effect was not detected.     

1998 Human Rights Act: Social Work's New Benchmark

Summary The 1998 Human Rights Act makes the European Convention on HumanRights directly enforceable by the United Kingdom's courts andtribunals. This represents a major constitutional change andwill allow statute law and common law to be assessed, or reassessed,according to the rights laid down in the Convention. This hasmany implications for social work policy makers, managers andpractitioners. It will require the Convention rights to be atthe heart of social work practice. The ability of service usersto challenge decisions by social services departments will nolonger be dependent upon the traditional approach to judicialreview. Compliance with the Convention will now feature in legalchallenges. It is essential that the practice of social workembraces the principles outlined in the Convention. In manyrespects, they are rights that practitioners and others recognizeas being basic expectations of service users, and making themdirectly enforceable can only be for the good. However, we shouldnot underestimate the effect that the legislation will have.This article outlines the legal effects of the 1998 Human RightsAct and illustrates them by reference to examples from socialwork practice.     

Using Advertising Constructs and Methods to Understand Direct Mail Fundraising Appeals

This study examined whether we could use a Solicitation Response Model adapted from the consumer research literature to increase our understanding of nonprofit direct mail solicitations. We sent 389 surveys to people listed in the database of a homeless shelter. In response, 166 people rated an envelope and appeal from the shelter. The model successfully explained potential donors' intention to open the envelope and intention to donate. Emotional responses to the envelope and attitude toward the envelope were more important influences upon acquisition (or new) donors' intention to open the envelope than upon renewal donors' intention. Attitude toward the appeal had a stronger effect upon acquisition donors' intention to donate than it did upon renewal donors' intention. The study suggests differences in the way that appeals should be designed for acquisition and renewal donors. As well, we present a small sample method for diagnosing direct mail charitable solicitations.     

Modelling relationships between job stressors and injury and near-miss outcomes for construction labourers

Construction work is an inherently dangerous occupation and exposure to additional job stressors is likely to exacerbate the level of danger, increasing workers’ risk for injury. Thus, it is important to identify and then reduce worker exposure to extraneous job stressors. This study examines the relationships between a variety of job stressors and injury or near-miss outcomes among construction workers. Self-reported questionnaire data collected from 408 construction labourers (male and female) via telephone interview were analysed using structural equation modelling. A theoretical model was tested whereby work stressors, classified into three groups, could be related, either directly or indirectly through the mediating effects of physical or psychological symptoms/strain, to self-reported injuries and near misses. Ten of the 12 work-related stressors were found to be directly related to either injury or near misses, including: job demands, job control, job certainty, training, safety climate, skill under-utilization, responsibility for the safety of others, safety compliance, exposure hours, and job tenure. Other stressors (i.e. harassment/discrimination, job certainty, social support, skill under-utilization, safety responsibility, safety compliance, tenure in construction) were indirectly related to injuries through physical symptoms or indirectly related to near misses through psychological strain. There was no support for the modelled gender differences. Implications for health and safety on construction sites are discussed.     

The demise of leadership: Positivity and negativity biases in evaluations of dead leaders

Five studies compared evaluations of living versus dead leaders. In Studies 1 and 2, participants displayed a death positivity bias, forming more favorable impressions of dead leaders than of equivalent living leaders. Study 3 demonstrated the death positivity bias in evaluations of real-world leaders in politics, sports, and entertainment. Study 4 showed that death polarizes morality judgments: Moral leaders were posthumously judged as more moral while immoral leaders were posthumously judged as more immoral. Study 5 demonstrated the St. Augustine effect: Dead leaders who had changed from sinners to saints were judged more favorably than living leaders who had undergone the same change. The implications of these findings for theory and research on leadership legacy and organizational impression management are discussed.