Correction to: Persuasion under ambiguity

Theory and Decision - In Proposition 4, lines 3, 4 and 8, 9 were scrambled by mistake during the pagination process of the online published article.     

Well-being and occupational roles among middle-aged women

One purpose of the present study is to explore the stability of the pattern of health/work and sickness absence among middle-aged women over a period of three years. This study tested two hypotheses: (a) that enduringly healthy working women would perceive more valued occupational roles and higher well-being than long-term sick-listed women; (b) that high levels of well-being at baseline would predict enduring health and occupational role value at a 3-year follow-up. Middle-aged women (n = 208) answered a postal survey with the Role checklist, a well-being scale and questions about work and sickness situation. The results showed that there was a considerable variability in the pattern of health/work and sickness absence. The variability was greatest among the women who were long-term sick-listed at baseline, and the internal drop out was great among them. The results showed that the enduringly healthy women experienced a more valued worker role and higher well-being than the long-term sick-listed women. Furthermore, high levels of well-being concerning health and work predicted enduring health in the studied sample, and high well-being concerning work was predictive of a valued worker role. Interventions that enable women to develop valuable worker and leisure roles, as well as harmony between different roles, may be important constituents of health promotion/rehabilitation programmes.     

Employment After Parenthood: Women of Migrant Origin and Natives Compared

Motherhood negatively affects female employment in majority populations across Europe. Although employment levels are particularly low among women of migrant origin, little is known about the motherhood–employment link in migrant populations. This paper investigates whether family formation differentially affects the labour market position of migrant women and their descendants compared to natives. Using longitudinal microdata from the Belgian social security registers, 12,167 women are followed from 12 months before until 48 months after the birth of their first child for the period 1999–2010. Levels of activity (versus inactivity), employment (versus unemployment) and full-time employment (versus part-time employment) are compared between natives and first- and second-generation women of Southern European, Eastern European, Turkish and Moroccan origin. We find that activity and employment levels decrease to a larger extent following the transition to parenthood among women of migrant origin than among natives. With respect to activity levels, differences between second-generation women and natives are largely explained by socio-demographic and pre-birth job characteristics, while differences between first-generation women and natives are not, suggesting that other factors such as tied migration patterns determine labour market attachment among first-generation mothers. With respect to employment levels, unemployment is increasing more among women of migrant origin of both generations than among natives, also when controlling for background characteristics, which signals differential access to stable job positions as well as to family policies. In sum, the results draw attention to the challenge that parenthood creates for mothers of migrant origin in terms of retaining and gaining employment, but also to the role of labour market entry and early career positions.     

Searching for innovation: Product,process, and business model innovations and search behavior in established firms

Prior research indicates that search practices are an important part of the innovation process. But where established firms search for different innovation types is not clear. Drawing on knowledge-based theory of innovation and using state-of-the-art statistical techniques (copula with Bayesian inference), we find that established firms predominantly rely on several external sources (broad external search) when introducing new business models, on internal and external sources with high intensity (deep search) when innovating processes, and on broad and deep external search when innovating products. We explain that broad external search is important for business model innovation (BMI) because increased exploration is needed when introducing new business models that rely on general rather than specialized technical or tacit business knowledge. We contribute to the innovation and business model literatures by nuancing the differences between innovation types (BMI, product, and process innovation) and the associated search behavior. It is important to consider these differences because they give us clues to understand how established firms can explore unfamiliar territories through BMI.     

Organisationaler Wandel als Bedrohung – von impliziter Angst zur Annäherung durch prozedurale Gerechtigkeit

Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Organisationspsychologie (GIO) - In der gegenwärtigen Arbeitswelt müssen Organisationen in der Lage sein, sich schnell...     

The Effort of Being in a Fictional World: Upkeyings and Laminated Frames in MMORPGs

On the basis of ten months of fieldwork studying a role‐playing guild in the game World of Warcraft, this article shows that contrary to the idea that virtual worlds are seductive illusions, technology does not necessarily support players' feelings of being immersed in fictional worlds. Applying Goffman's frame theory, the author explains how role‐players in the game actively upkey elements from primary frameworks in order to create and uphold the frame of being in a fictional world. This kind of narrative immersion is rather hindered than facilitated by technology.     

SMART oder MOTTO? Von der Hemmung in die Handlungsfähigkeit durch passende Zielformulierung

In consultancies, goals are often set very concrete on a behavioral level which can increase one’s probability of success to attain the goal. However, if people are anxious and worried when they talk about their goals, there seems to be too little identification with the goals and attainment is impossible. The reason is often a conflict between conscious and unconscious needs. The Zürcher Ressourcen Modell (ZRM) has developed MOTTO-goals which are defined on an attitudinal level and bring into accordance consciousness and unconsciousness. They build identification with goals and thus, support goal pursuit. If people already identify with their goals, they can immediately start with concrete planning.