Demographic characteristics and shared values

This study investigated the extent to which person-organization values alignment is affected by demographic variables (e.g., gender, age, educational level, marital status, family status, hierarchical level, years of managerial experience, and organizational size) across a wide variety of organizations. Values alignment, using two separate measures, was directly related to positive work attitudes and this relationship was moderated by several respondent characteristics. The potential impact of organizational acculturation is proposed as minimizing the impact of demographic factors within organizations.     

Erzählung und „Bewältigung“

The topic of this paper is the change of perspective from the concept of “coping with illness” in a psychological sense to a concept of coping as “living with (chronic) illness” in a sociological sense. Whereas psychological and even some sociological research presupposes assumptions on causes and essentials of stress as well as on successful coping, we focused on the different ways, in which subjects define strain and their personal aim of coping. These subjective views might differ from the definitions of scientists as well. Furthermore we focus on the social constructions of illness and “normal living” and the social rules of coping with daily hassles, which underlay the subjective views. Assuming that the ways chronically ill resp. disabled persons look at stress and daily hassles is part of their coping, we conclude that stress and coping are mutually constituting each other. This dialectic process is influenced by the persons current situation, by the individual’s history and by cultural rules concerning appropriate coping resp. living with strain in general. Looking at these social rules and how they are modified under the conditions of illness and handicap was the topic of our research project “LIVE—Living and Defending Your Interests—Disabled Women”, financed by the German Fed. Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth and conducted 1996–1998. In this study a questionnaire was sent to 16 to 60 years old disabled women (return: N=987). Additionally a qualitative interview was conducted with N=60 of them. From a biographical approach the reconstruction of the main subjective patterns in their life histories led us to the social rules of appropriate “coping”. We can take this as a starting point for a sociological discussion of everyday living with chronic illness, that focuses on the social constitution of subjective meanings of stress resp. coping with illness, includes the social context and allows to integrate the gender perspective.     

The changing character of strikes involving permanent striker replacements, 1935–1990

Using NLRB cases reporting hiring of striker replacements, I provide a longitudinal analysis of 165 strikes from 1935–1990. Strikes since 1981 most closely resembled strikes occurring from 1938–1947: They lasted longer and involved more strikers and more replacements than strikes in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Interestingly, NLRB disposition of employer unfair labor practice charges remained fairly constant throughout the 55 years analyzed and overwhelmingly favored unions. Although my findings are preliminary, they suggest that more empirical analysis of replacement strikes is warranted. I also suggest how some existing strike models can be readily adapted to explain replacement strike phenomena. I thank Stephanie Mason and Brian Dilley for their research assistance and an anonymous referee for insightful suggestions.     

A Cognitive Stress Reduction Program for Recently Unemployed Managers

This study examined the effectiveness of a structured cognitive stress reduction program for unemployed managers involved in an outplacement program. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. One group of managers received structured weekly counseling using a cognitively based stress reduction program. They were compared with a control group that received unstructured advice about managing stress as part of a typical outplacement program. The managers who received the cognitive intervention, as compared with managers in the control group, found reemployment significantly sooner and showed reductions in levels of state anxiety and anger that were statistically significant.     

A reply to “On Structure-Dependent Grammars: A reply to Mabry” by Nathan Stemmer

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior -