Leading well is a matter of resources: Leader vigour and peer support augments the relationship between transformational leadership and burnout

ABSTRACT

Although studies suggest that transformational leaders play an important role in employee health and well-being, the relationship between transformational leadership and employee burnout remains unclear. One reason may be that moderators may play an important role. Building on conservation of resources theory, we examined if leaders’ perceptions of internal and external resources in terms of vigour and peer support augmented the relationship between transformational leadership and employee burnout in a sample of municipality workers and their leaders in Sweden (N?=?217). Multilevel analyses over two time points revealed that both vigour and peer support enhance this relationship, such that when leaders experience high levels of vigour or peer support, the negative relationship between transformational leadership behaviours and employee burnout was strengthened. Our findings suggest that both personal and contextual resources may help leaders to better engage in transformational leadership, which is important in order to protect employees from burning out.     

Resource or Obstacle?: Classed Reports of Student–Faculty Relations

This article explores the relationship between undergraduate students’ class‐based cultural capital and their facility in developing relationships with faculty. Based on in‐depth interviews with 44 students at an elite university, this study reveals that lower‐ and middle‐class students tended to inadvertently opt out of this key relational opportunity. Compared with upper‐class students, who predominantly reported an “appreciative ease” orientation toward faculty, students from lower‐class origins tended to approach faculty with “hesitant appreciation” and middle‐class students with “critical suspicion.” These orientations or interaction styles of nonelite students were obstacles to the potential benefits of student–faculty relationships. These findings suggest that scholars and policy makers should pay attention not only to the experiences of lower‐class students, but also to the challenges confronting middle‐class students at highly selective universities.     

Do Aid Donors Specialize and Coordinate within Recipient Countries? The case of Malawi

Acknowledging that aid proliferation and a lack of coordination impair aid effectiveness, donors have repeatedly promised to specialize and better coordinate their aid activities, notably in the Paris Declaration of 2005. We exploit data on the exact location of aid projects in Malawi to assess whether the country's bilateral and multilateral donors have acted accordingly at the district and sector level. We do not find compelling evidence for increased aid specialization after the Paris Declaration, and the regional division of labour among donors may even have deteriorated. Our within‐country evidence thus broadly corroborates what previous studies have found at the national level of recipient countries.     

Moral arguments against the cloning of humans

Since the cloned sheep Dolly was born, reproductive cloning of humans (i.e. the cloning of complete human individuals) has seemed to be – at least in principle – achievable. The technical possibility of reproductive cloning leaves the question unanswered of whether the actual production of a clone would be morally acceptable. Considering several arguments against reproductive cloning – which claim that the moral status of a cloned individual and its clone respectively renders it morally objectionable to carry out cloning – we defend the thesis that these arguments are not apodictic (i.e. relative to all ends and means of cloning humans) but are only hypothetical (i.e. relative to some ends and means of cloning humans). Although at present we think it is difficult to find a plausible aim of cloning that is not an instrumentalisation of the cloned (and, therefore, morally objectionable), it could, nevertheless, be that in the future there might be ends and means that justify reproductive cloning. We conclude by criticising the apodictic ban on reproductive cloning declared by most international resolutions and much national legislation.     

Construction and Initial Validation of the Career Maximizing Scale

Applying the concept of maximizing—careful evaluation of options in pursuit of optimal goals—to career decisions, the authors developed the Career Maximizing Scale (CMS). The measure was administered to samples of working adults and university students across 3 studies. Factor analysis indicated that the measure is unidimensional and has favorable psychometric properties. Career maximizing was related to but distinct from general maximizing. Career maximizing was positively related to indicators of decision confidence (e.g., career decision‐making self‐efficacy) and positively related to desirable career outcomes (e.g., career satisfaction). Career maximizing was also modestly related to certain desirable academic outcomes (e.g., commitment to university major). Use of the CMS may facilitate effective career counseling.     

Effects of urbanization on macroinvertebrates in tributaries of the St. Johns River, Florida, USA

The effects of urbanization on hydrology, water quality and macroinvertebrates were examined in 7 headwater tributaries of the St. Johns River in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of northeast Florida. All streams had sandy substrata and drained small catchments (24?C231?ha) that ranged from 0 to 51% total impervious area (TIA). Streams unaffected by urbanization had intermittent stream flow and completely dry channels for several weeks in autumn and spring. Urbanized streams always possessed channel water, but 2 streams ceased flowing and became stagnant in autumn and spring. Principle components analysis of chemical and physical measures (i.e. conductivity, nutrients, pH, metals, and stream flow) produced one axis (PCA1) that explained 54% of the total variation among the streams. The variables that loaded negatively on this axis were associated with low flows, while the variables that loaded positively were associated with urban land-use. PCA1 was also positively associated with %TIA. Macroinvertebrate richness ranged from 27 to 45 taxa and was positively associated with %TIA. Macroinvertebrate biomass ranged from 3 to 45?g AFDM/m² and showed a significant, exponential relationship with PCA1 (r ²?=?0.93) with greatest biomass occurring at intermediate %TIA. Invertebrate community structure in the urbanized streams appeared to be mainly influenced by hydrologic factors (perennial vs. intermittent flow regimes). The effects of urbanization on both hydrological and biological variables among the study streams were apparent, but also influenced by site-specific conditions.     

Genetic tests in the insurance system: criteria for a moral evaluation

An increasing number of genetic tests are available as an early spin-off from human genetic research. Beyond their application in the context of medical diagnosis there are other possible domains of use: e.g. in the testing of individuals asking for life or health insurance. It is claimed that individuals with an increased genetic risk might have to pay higher premiums or, worse, might be unable to obtain insurance coverage at all. The main question discussed in this paper will be whether there is a right to health and/or life insurance coverage without prior genetic testing. The legal regulations of the use of genetic tests in the insurance system are various. While some countries in principle permit the use of (some) genetic tests for the calculation of actuarial risks, others banned genetic tests for non-medical uses; still other countries have not made any explicit provisions up to now. In the face of the attempted harmonisation of legal systems, as well as an increasing commercialisation of the international market for genetic tests, which neglects national borders, providing criteria for a moral evaluation of this issue appears to be a timely and urgent task. The view defended in this paper is that a right to health insurance without genetic testing is legitimised, insofar as health insurance belongs to the provision of elementary requirements, and insofar as the latter is everybody's moral right. On the other hand, it is implausible to postulate a right to life insurance without genetic testing – as long as life insurance is understood to be a part of one's provision of supplementary requirements.

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Zusammenfassung. Als frühes Beiprodukt humangenetischer Forschung stehen heute immer mehr genetische Tests zur Verfügung. über ihre Anwendung im Bereich medizinischer Diagnose hinaus gibt es weitere m?gliche Einsatzbereiche beispielsweise die überprüfung von Personen, die eine Lebens- oder Krankenversicherung abschlie?en m?chten. Es wird behauptet, dass Personen mit einem erh?hten genetischen Risiko m?glicherweise h?here Pr?mien zahlen müssen oder gar von solchem Versicherungsschutz ganz ausgeschlossen werden k?nnten. Die in diesem Beitrag diskutierte Hauptfrage ist, ob Personen, die sich keinem genetischen Test unterzogen haben, dennoch ein Recht auf Kranken- und/oder Lebensversicherung beanspruchen k?nnen. Es gibt eine Reihe gesetzlicher Regelungen zum Einsatz genetischer Tests im Bereich des Versicherungssystems. W?hrend die Anwendung (mancher) genetischer Tests zur Berechnung versicherungsmathematischer Risiken in manchen L?ndern grunds?tzlich erlaubt ist, ist sie in anderen verboten, sofern sie nichtmedizinischen Zwecken dient. In wieder anderen L?ndern existieren bis heute überhaupt noch keine expliziten Regelungen. Angesichts der Bemühungen zur Harmonisierung der Rechtssysteme und der zunehmenden Kommerzialisierung des internationalen Marktes für genetische Tests ohne Rücksicht auf nationale Grenzen, erscheint es dringend notwendig, Kriterien für eine Beurteilung dieses Problemkreises unter moralischen Gesichtspunkten bereitzustellen. Der in diesem Artikel vertretene Standpunkt ist, dass ein Recht auf Krankenversicherung ohne genetische Tests insofern legitimiert ist, als eine solche Versicherung zu den Grundbedürfnissen geh?rt, auf deren Erfüllung jeder Mensch einen moralischen Rechtsanspruch hat. Andererseits werde ich argumentieren, dass es nicht plausibel ist, ein Recht auf Lebensversicherung ohne genetische Tests zu postulieren, solange die Lebensversicherung als ein Mittel zur Erfüllung einer zus?tzlichen Versorgung angesehen wird.

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Résumé. L'un des premiers sous-produits de la recherche en génétique humaine a conduit à un nombre croissant de tests génétiques, tests maintenant disponibles. En dehors de l'application qu'ils trouvent dans le contexte du diagnostic médical, ces tests se voient utilisés dans bien d'autres domaines : l'un d'eux étant par exemple le testage des dispositions individuelles afin de pouvoir passer une assurance-vie ou une assurance-maladie. Des voix se sont élevées, demandant que les personnes avec un risque génétique accru auraient à payer des primes d'assurance plus élevées ou n'auraient même au pire plus du tout le droit de profiter de la protection offerte. La principale question soulevée dans ce papier sera de savoir s'il existe un droit de couverture des risques assurance-maladie et/ou assurance-vie sans passer par un testage génétique préalable. Les réglementations légales décidant de l'usage des tests génétiques dans les systèmes d'assurance sont très divergentes. Tandis que quelques pays permettent en principe de faire usage des tests génétiques (ou d'en utiliser seulement quelques uns) pour procéder au calcul des risques actuariels, d'autres en ont interdits les usages à but non médical; il existe également des pays où jusqu'à présent aucune disposition explicite n'a été prise. Compte tenu des tentatives entreprises pour harmoniser les systèmes légaux et compte tenu du fait qu'en se commercialisant de plus en plus le marché international pour les tests génétiques réduit toujours davantage le r?le joué par les frontières nationales, il s'avère urgent de trouver à temps des critères permettant de procéder à une évaluation morale de ce point litigieux. Le point de vue défendu dans ce papier est qu'un droit à une assurance-maladie sans testage génétique est légitimé dans la mesure où, comme mon argumentation le montrera, une assurance-maladie fait partie des droits élémentaires aux pensions de retraite et dans la mesure où ces dernières constituent pour chacun un droit moral. D'un autre c?té, j'invoquerai le fait qu'il n'est guère plausible de postuler un droit à une assurance-vie sans un testage génétique préalable – tant qu'une assurance-vie est comprise comme faisant partie des conditions supplémentaires exigées par les pensions de retraite.

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Electronic Publication     

Research into unaccompanied refugee minors in family foster care: Promoting adaptive functioning?

Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URMs) are at high risk for trauma and maladaptive functioning. Although foster care is best suited to come forth to their needs, obtaining a better understanding of the strengths and flaws of foster care for URM can help to improve their development and psychological wellbeing. Twenty-seven URM cared for in family foster care filled in questionnaires measuring trauma, behavioural difficulties, resilience and contact with persons from the home and host country, whilst their foster care workers assessed the quality of the living environment. URMs had more trauma symptoms than other immigrants and Belgian adolescents. Furthermore, compared to Belgian counterparts, levels of resilience were low. However, URM did not have more behavioural problems. The quality of the living environment in kinship care was worse than the quality in non-kinship foster care, and social support and cultural sensitivity were protective factors. This study found evidence for developmental risks for URM in foster care. Integration, social support and a connection with the home culture were protective factors. Contrary to other studies, no evidence was found of kinship foster care being preferential.