Domestic violence in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder who seek couples therapy

Domestic violence rates among veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are higher than those of the general population. Individuals who have been diagnosed with PTSD who seek couples therapy with their partners constitute an understudied population. Self-report measures of domestic violence, relationship satisfaction, and intimacy were administered at intake to 179 couples seeking relationship therapy at a Veterans Affairs clinic. Couples in which the veteran was diagnosed with combat-related PTSD were compared with two other groups based on the veteran's primary diagnosis (depression, adjustment disorder/V-code). Both the PTSD- and depression-diagnosed veterans perpetrated more violence than did those with adjustment/V-code diagnoses. Domestic violence rates among depressed and PTSD-diagnosed veterans were much higher than those found in previous research. Implications for assessment and treatment are discussed.     

The impact of positivity and transparency on trust in leaders and their perceived effectiveness

A critical challenge facing today's organizational leaders is gaining their followers' trust and having them view leaders as effective in addressing turmoil and change. Using a downsizing scenario as the context, this field experiment examined how a leader's positivity and transparency impacted followers' perceived trust, defined in terms of willingness to be vulnerable, and effectiveness of their leader. To test the hypotheses, 304 participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions of high (low) leader positivity × high (low) leader transparency. Results of our mixed methods study indicated both the leader's level of positivity and transparency impacted followers' perceived trust and evaluations of leader effectiveness. Besides limitations and suggestions for future research, we conclude with the practical implications that positive, transparent leaders may have on building trust and perceived effectiveness among their followers.     

What makes leadership,leadership? Using self-expansion theory to integrate traditional and contemporary approaches

Numerous traditional theories and paradigms of leadership purport to describe what leadership is. It is difficult to reconcile these traditional approaches, however, if each one alone, independent of the others, is viewed as capturing the actual identity of leadership. In this article, we take an integrative view of traditional approaches to leadership. To do so, we first identify some underlying ideas common to them. Next, we explain how these underlying ideas lead us to a fundamental theory about close relationships—that is, self-expansion theory, which refers to a psychological process in which an individual incorporates another into the self (Aron & Aron, 1986). We then review the traditional leadership theories to explore whether these theories may be linked through self-expansion theory and whether self-expansion may help to explain why boundary conditions have been discovered for all of them. In this process, we explore whether traditional approaches to leadership might also be linked with more contemporary approaches through self-expansion theory. Finally, we discuss the implications for future research and professional practice of the integration of traditional approaches to leadership.     

不了解客户的十大原因

我赞成客户满意度调查吗?你到一家宾馆,其可以俯视纽约中央公园,每个房间平均700美元一晚。他们要求你回答有35个问题的调查文卷,内容涉及你对服务生、微笑服务、大厅、餐厅、卫生间以及所有你能想到的事情的印象。这个调查还会问你一个非常可笑的问题:“从多大程度上,您认为这是一家豪华宾馆?”事实上,长期以来满意度调查已经成为一种低级笑话。其非但不能让企业了解客户真正的价值趋向,而且这些调查已经成为致使企业完全不理解客户的重要原因。这像是传统的喜剧,有十个主要原因会导致其失去作用。1.问题太多就像前面的宾馆,企业总是堆出一…     

Satisfaction with Virtual Communities of Interest: Effect on Members' Visit Frequency*

The authors develop a four‐dimensional scale to measure members' satisfaction with virtual communities of interest (VCIs). The dimensions consist of members' satisfaction with member‐to‐member interactions, organizer‐to‐member interactions and organizer‐to‐community interactions, all of which come together on the VCI's site. Using a sample of 3605 members of a VCI, the authors investigated the effect of each satisfaction dimension on members' visit frequency, and the moderating effect of membership duration on the links between the satisfaction dimensions and visit frequency. The results reveal that satisfaction with member‐to‐member interactions, organizer‐to‐member interactions and the community's site has positive effects on members' visit frequency. Members' satisfaction with organizer‐to‐community interactions has no effect on visit frequency. The findings also show that membership duration strengthens two, and weakens one of the linkages between the satisfaction dimensions and members' visit frequency.     

Optimizing Service Attributes: The Seller's Utility Problem*

Service designers predict market share and sales for their new designs by estimating consumer utilities. The service's technical features (for example, overnight parcel delivery), its price, and the nature of consumer interactions with the service delivery system influence those utilities. Price and the service's technical features are usually quite objective and readily ascertained by the consumer. However, consumer perceptions about their interactions with the service delivery system are usually far more subjective. Furthermore, service designers can only hope to influence those perceptions indirectly through their decisions about nonlinear processes such as employee recruiting, training, and scheduling policies. Like the service's technical features, these process choices affect quality perceptions, market share, revenues, costs, and profits. We propose a heuristic for the NP‐hard service design problem that integrates realistic service delivery cost models with conjoint analysis. The resulting seller's utility function links expected profits to the intensity of a service's influential attributes and also reveals an ideal setting or level for each service attribute. In tests with simulated service design problems, our proposed configurations compare quite favorably with the designs suggested by other normative service design heuristics.     

Analyzing and Modeling the Maximum Diversity Problem by Zero-One Programming*

The problem of maximizing diversity deals with selecting a set of elements from some larger collection such that the selected elements exhibit the greatest variety of characteristics. A new model is proposed in which the concept of diversity is quantifiable and measurable. A quadratic zero-one model is formulated for diversity maximization. Based upon the formulation, it is shown that the maximum diversity problem is NP-hard. Two equivalent linear integer programs are then presented that offer progressively greater computational efficiency. Another formulation is also introduced which involves a different diversity objective. An example is given to illustrate how additional considerations can be incorporated into the maximum diversity model.     

The Emergence of Artificial Intelligence as a Reference Discipline for Decision Support Systems Research

It is timely and appropriate to examine both philosophical and pragmatical issues associated with formalizing the adoption of artificial intelligence as a reference discipline for decision support systems research. This paper reflects on where we were when the first special issue of Decision Sciences on expert systems and decision support systems was published, addresses the dynamics of what has taken place subsequent to the publication of that first special issue, sets forth a proposition to stimulate ongoing dialog with respect to synergies between the decision support system research agenda and the research agenda of the artificial intelligence discipline, and demonstrates how the papers appearing in this follow-up special issue of Decision Sciences are representative of an emerging, challenging, and exciting new decision support systems era.     

Decisional Conflict and User Acceptance of Multicriteria Decision-Making Aids*

Despite the development of increasingly sophisticated and refined multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, an examination of the experimental evidence indicates that users most often prefer relatively unsophisticated methods. In this paper, we synthesize theories and empirical findings from the psychology of judgment and choice to provide a new theoretical explanation for such user preferences. Our argument centers on the assertion that the MCDM method preferred by decision makers is a function of the degree to which the method tends to introduce decisional conflict. The model we develop relates response mode, decision strategy, and the salience of decisional conflict to user preferences among decision aids. We then show that the model is consistent with empirical results in MCDM studies. Next, the role of decisional conflict in problem formulation aids is briefly discussed. Finally, we outline future research needed to thoroughly test the theoretical mechanisms we have proposed.