Mikropolitisches Kompetenzmodell

The acquirement of and possessing competencies is a fundamental requirement to every executive. Micro-political competence constitutes uncharted waters. Therefore in the research project “Micro-politics and women’s career advancement competence” were, with regard to the category gender, pursued the question, whether micro-political competence are acquirable with the help of coaching, and whether it is beneficial for women’s career advancement. The outcome is the Micro-political Competence Model (MCM), which is the main topic of this paper. After an introduction in the study, the MKM is to be described theoretically and the four competence classes of Micro-political Competence will be defined. In the final empirical part benefit and practicability of the Model will be demonstrated, using the example of case studies.     

Does leadership need emotional intelligence?

Interest in emotional intelligence has bloomed over the last few years. That it has become a standard concept in general and applied psychology, as well as in applied business settings, is indubitable. Is this popularity warranted? Casting a shadow over the concept of emotional intelligence are concerns about its meaningfulness and the construct and predictive validity of its various measures. The following series of letters explores various issues surrounding emotional intelligence and leadership including: whether emotional intelligence is theoretically needed for leadership, the types of emotional intelligence tests that may hold the most promise, methodological standards for testing whether emotional intelligence matters, evidence from the neuroscience literature on emotions and intelligence, and evidence regarding the links between leader emotional intelligence and follower outcomes.     

Diffusion of language change: Accommodation to a moving target

The paper focuses on motivations for the spread of new features within a speech community, and on the trajectories the changes follow during diffusion. One set of data represents language use, and here focus is on two changes which have been going on in Danish over the past 40 years, one grammatical and one phonetic. The other set of data are results from a nationwide speaker evaluation experiment which tests the subconscious attitudes to different types of speech among the youth in five different places covering Denmark from east to west. Results show that changes spread centrifugally from Copenhagen, even to the extent that reversal of changes spreads from Copenhagen. Furthermore, the attitudes reflected in the speaker evaluation experiment support the theory that language change is motivated by social psychological factors. Finally, it is argued that it is worthwhile considering the possibility of media being involved in processes of linguistic change.     

The people of California are suffering': The ideology of white injury in discourses of immigration

Abstract

This article examines how the ideology of white injury both conceals and sustains inequitable social relations in turn‐of‐the‐millenium California. Understanding the political and economic context of California in the early 1990s in relation to media, law, and culture helps explain why Californian citizens passed the unconstitutional initiative, Proposition 187, in 1994. Targeting undocumented Mexican immigrants, this ‘color‐blind’ Proposition functioned to conflate economic insecurities with racial anxieties. An analysis of culture, law, and media discloses how racial anxieties limit our understandings of exploitative capitalist relations, serving to artificially augment the white middle‐class ‘ wealth, opportunities, and power, while making vulnerable populations in the United States even more open to exploitation.     

Recruitment and retention of ethnically diverse long-term family caregivers for research

The inclusion of ethnically diverse long-term care family caregivers is significant in research, particularly in social work research because of the importance placed on diverse populations. However, the inclusion of diverse populations poses a set of unique recruitment and retention challenges for researchers. This process can be particularly complicated when multiple long-term care recruitment partners are utilized and when the project involves a multi-phase data collection plan with different minority recruitment needs for each phase. In our work we learned that: (a) research teams should plan for gender and ethnic differences in the ways that family caregivers think about and approach research involvement, (b) socioeconomic disadvantages and ethnic differences have both independent and interactive effects on research participation, (c) physical and emotional "costs," as well as financial costs, of caregiver participation should be given more attention in informed consent procedures, and (d) agency collaboration for minority recruitment and retention requires continuous nurturing and sustained effort by all members of the research team.     

The impact of serial transitions on behavioral and psychological problems among children in child protection services

This study focuses on the impacts of serial transitions on externalized and internalized behavior disorders, anxiety, and depression among children in child protection services. The research was carried out with a sample of 741 children. The findings demonstrate that the number of times a family is blended is a stronger predictive factor for children's adjustment than is the family structure at the time of the interview. In predicting externalized and internalized behavior problems among children, however, the effect of family structure disappears in favor of the variables associated with family functioning and family climate.     

General and Organizational Religious Elites: The Case of Lutherans in Indiana

Abstract

Historical and cross-cultural data call into question the concept of profession as formulated by British and American sociologists. A common underlying theme, however, is the monopolization of esoteric knowledge as a basis for professional authority. Because of the rapid proliferation of knowledge and technology, Daniel Bell has forecast a professionalized society, in which knowledge will be a source of power. This paper projects an alternative hypothesis based on several societal trends, using medicine as the prototypical profession and providing some cross-cultural evidence. These trends include an erosion of the knowledge monopoly as a result of rising levels of public schooling and sophistication and specific patient education, as well as computerization—which changes accessibility patterns—and new divisions of labor, which disseminate practice skills and information more widely. The consequences are decline of trust in professional decisions and diminution of professional power and authority over clients. Ideological challenges to professional status accompany these developments, which coverge to suggest a deprofessionalized future.     

Childhood Family Dissolution and School Outcomes. The Timing of Dissolution Effects

Abstract

Existing studies estimate the negative effects of family dissolution; however, evidence regarding when such effects appear is lacking. The effect is hard to isolate for at least two reasons: families select into dissolution; and effects might be observed before, during and after the dissolution. This paper presents evidence regarding the timing of dissolution effects. Family fixed effects (FEs) and a value-added model handle selection; timing is addressed by exploiting repeated observations of student performance before and after dissolution. I present evidence of weaker performance among students from dissolving families, an effect mainly driven by the deterioration of family relations before the break. The divorce itself seems to be less important.