Underlying Labor Market Dimensions of “Opportunities”: The Case of Employee Turnover

The underlying labor market and organizationalsource of alternative job opportunities is re-examinedhere and applied to investigate employee turnoverbehavior. We contend that by refining this concept in terms of perceived and objectiveopportunities and market reference points, a clearerappreciation of this concept and more powerful model ofturnover will emerge. To this end, a cross-sectional and multistage longitudinal survey of 700 employeeswas conducted in eight medical centers at seven distinctlabor market locations. Measures of perceived andobjective opportunities in internal and external markets were introduced into logisticregressions which clearly showed that objectiveopportunities are a far better set of explanations ofactual turnover behavior than either perceived internalor external market opportunities. This relationship isfurther explored and its complexity woven into a labormarket-oriented turnover model.     

Couples’ First Child Intentions and Disagreement: An Analysis of the Italian Case

The aim of this article is to examine the determinants of couples’ childbearing intentions, by explicitly taking into account the agreement or disagreement of the two members of the couple. The relevance of the partner’s reproductive intentions has been well recognised in the literature, but few studies have provided in-depth analyses of the fertility plans of both partners. In our study, we used the household-level data from a survey on “Family and Social Subjects”, carried out by the Italian National Statistical Office in 2003, which provides characteristics on both partners. We adopted a couple’s perspective which allows us to give a unitary picture of the concordant or discordant nature of partners’ first child intentions. We found that a lack of agreement in the reproductive decision-making process is likely to occur in the Italian couples where the role of the woman is less traditional. In particular, cohabitant, highly educated and working women are more likely to be in disagreement with their partners in the decisions concerning having a first child. Being religious may be also a source of discordance in the couples’ reproductive plans. Our findings support the utility of taking a couple-based approach in studies on fertility intentions.     

Exploring negative peer communication of companies on social media and its impact on organization-public relationships

This study examined whether and how the publics’ negative peer communication (NPC) about companies on social media could influence the quality of organization-public relationships (OPRs) through the theoretical lens of socialization and social learning theory. Through an online survey and a structural equation modeling analysis, results showed that NPC about companies on social media negatively influenced the quality of OPRs. Publics who were more dependent on social media and who had stronger ties with their peers tended to engage more in NPC about companies. Publics who perceived a favorable reputation of the company were less likely to engage in NPC.     

“You are a Besya”: Microaggressions Experienced by Trafficking Survivors Exploited in the Sex Trade

ABSTRACT

This article exposes the prevalence of microaggressions as experienced by female sex-trafficking survivors in their everyday lives. Using a case example from Nepal, this article investigates the under-researched experiences of microaggressions against trafficking survivors and their cumulative effects on their lives. A participatory action research (PAR) process was used with eight trafficking survivors to delineate and explore categories of microaggressive behaviors to them. The results of the study reveal the occurrence of microaggressive behaviors against sex-trafficking survivors, grounded in experiential evidence in personal narratives. Implications for social work education and practices are discussed.     

Measuring Social Well-Being in People with Chronic Illness

Although social well-being (SWB) is recognized as an integral component of health, it is rarely included in health-related quality of life (HRQL) instruments. Two SWB dimensions were identified by literature review: social support (SWB-SS) and social function (SWB-SF). As part of a larger project to develop item response theory-derived item banks and computerized adaptive testing, we developed and tested items for the SWB banks. Item ratings of three large (n > 600) datasets were conducted by 15 reviewers. Rasch measurement analyses were conducted to initially define item hierarchies. Out of 83 total items, 8 were removed due to model misfit and 8 were removed because of overlapping item content. We then wrote 11 new SWB-SS and 16 new SWB-SF items to fill content gaps, and edited items to improve comprehension and consistency. A total of 94 items (65 SWB-SS, 29 SWB-SF) was administered by computer to 202 cancer patients. Confirmatory factor analyses, Rasch analyses, and evaluations of construct validity were performed. Patients commented favorably on the content of the items and expressed appreciation for attention to this aspect of their HRQL. Using current psychometric standards for unidimensionality, reliability, and content and construct validity, we derived six preliminary item banks for social support (instrumental support, informational support, positive and negative emotional support, positive and negative social companionship) and two for social function (limitations and satisfaction). The empirical construct hierarchy was consistent with clinical observations; e.g., hobbies and leisure activities tended to reflect more limitations, while meeting the needs of family and friends tended to reflect fewer limitations. Optimal care for patients with cancer or other chronic illnesses includes obtaining a complete picture of patients’ physical and psychosocial health status. SWB measures are important since diseases like cancer and their treatment can affect quality of relationships, parental responsibilities, work abilities and social activities. With properly calibrated item banks, it will be possible to precisely and efficiently measure and monitor multiple HRQL dimensions in individual patients, and use their responses to inform care. Qualitative patient feedback and quantitative analyses suggest that it is possible and desirable to include SWB measures in HRQL assessment.     

Optimal and efficient treatment control design in the heteroscedastic one-way layout with covariates

In this article, we take up the experimental situation of a heteroscedastic one-way layout model in the presence of a set of controllable covariates. For the joint estimation of the elementary contrasts of a set of test treatments with a control and the effects of covariates, sufficient conditions for the existence of an A-optimal design are identified. When these sufficient conditions are not met, we propose highly A-efficient designs. The methods of construction of A-optimal and highly A-efficient designs are discussed. For different values of the parameters of the design, A-efficiency of the proposed designs are tabulated for a comparative study.     

Does Institutional Quality Matter for Multidimensional Well-Being Inequalities? Insights from Italy

Social Indicators Research - Our paper aims to shed light on regional multidimensional well-being inequalities in Italy. We first decompose the Theil index in its “within” and...