Nothing Matters

This essay reads Miller reading literature and zero, zero in literature, tracing how a doubling at the heart of zero is echoed in Miller's work. Miller's fascination and engagement with literature as otherness invokes the ambiguity of the sign O, sharing its figure with a figure that isn't a figure, impossibly at once letter and numeral, now converging in Miller's text on zero in literature. Literature, like zero, like the lover, like the Other, incessantly invites analysis only to elude understanding. Nothing matters because it is a place of slippage, playfully unsettling our most deeply ingrained beliefs.     

Crawling is Associated with Mental Rotation Ability by 9‐Month‐Old Infants

The present experiment examined whether 9‐month‐old infants’ mental rotation ability was related to their crawling ability. Forty‐eight 9‐month‐old infants were tested; half of them crawled for 7.1 weeks on average. Infants were habituated to a video of a simplified Shepard–Metzler object rotating back and forth through a 240° angle around the longitudinal axis of the object. Infants were tested with videos of the same object rotating through the previously unseen 120° angle and with the mirror image of that display. The results showed that the crawlers looked significantly longer at the mirror object than at the familiar object. The results support the interpretation that crawling experience is associated with 9‐month‐old infants’ mental rotation ability.     

Balance in leader and follower perceptions of leader–member exchange: Relationships with performance and work attitudes

Using a sample of 285 matched pairs of employees and supervisors, we explore the extent to which congruence in leader and follower ratings of LMX quality is related to follower job performance and work attitudes. An original conceptual model is introduced that identifies four combinations of leader and follower LMX ratings: balanced/low LMX (low leader and follower LMX), balanced/high LMX (high leader and follower LMX), follower overestimation (low leader LMX/high follower LMX), and follower underestimation (high leader LMX/low follower LMX). As expected, balanced/low (high) LMX relationships were associated with relatively low (high) levels of follower job performance, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction, while the incongruent combinations generally yielded intermediate levels of follower outcomes. However, follower underestimation was also related to high levels of follower job performance, whereas follower overestimation was associated with high levels of follower satisfaction and organizational commitment. Implications of these findings for future LMX research are considered.     

Cohesion and Enmeshment Revisited: Differentiation,Identity, and Well‐Being in Two European Cultures

We examined the nature and implications of family differentiation among adolescents facing a life transition in 2 European countries with differing family cultures. One hundred and twenty‐four Italian and 109 U.K. adolescents completed measures of family differentiation (cohesion and enmeshment), identity threat (perception of threat to the self associated with finishing school), life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and anxiety. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that cohesion and enmeshment were distinguishable in both countries, orthogonal in the U.K. but positively correlated in Italy. Family cohesion was associated with better psychological well‐being in both countries; enmeshment was associated with poorer psychological well‐being in the U.K. but not in Italy. Structural equation models showed that effects on well‐being were fully mediated by identity threat in both cultures.     

The intersection of leadership and entrepreneurship: Mutual lessons to be learned

Leadership scholars are quite familiar with the often convoluted and problematic path that leadership theory has taken. Despite these challenges, leadership is currently considered a “mature field” [Hunt, J.G., & Dodge, G.E. (2000). Leader Deja Vu all over again. The Leadership Quarterly, 11 (4), 453–458] even though this maturity has not been achieved without considerable growing pains. Similar to the path that leadership scholars have taken, those who study entrepreneurship also struggle with issues associated with a field in its early stages. This review examines the intersection between the fields of leadership and entrepreneurship with an emphasis on how the path taken by leadership research can inform entrepreneurship and possibly lessen this young field's growing pains. We first identify several areas where these fields theoretically converge (both in the models employed and the research questions addressed). Next, we take a historical perspective of leadership and entrepreneurship by identifying the life cycle stage of each construct or domain. Finally, we conclude with some thoughts on how the entrepreneurship field may avoid (or is avoiding) the pitfalls experienced by those who study leadership.     

Islamic death rituals in a small town context in The Netherlands: explorations of a common praxis for professionals

Islamic tradition tends to present death rituals in a quite univocal way, as the actual ritual practice shows to be far more diverse and flexible. This study focuses on the particular ritual of the cleansing of the deceased as it is practiced by a variety of Muslims in a small town context in The Netherlands. The presented vignettes are drawn on qualitative research data from interviews and (participant) observations. They are presented to draw attention to the different contexts that shape the religious and ritual practice of a variety of Muslims in The Netherlands. To develop an eye for this common praxis, it is important not only to be aware of the religious dimensions but also of the social dimensions. By offering insights into the actual practices it aims to offer tangible leads to professionals for a more tailor-made care for Muslim patients and their relatives.     

Stereotypes and National Identity: Experiencing the “Emotional Brazilian”

In this article, I examine how stereotypes are deployed in the process of experiencing national identities. Specifically, I analyse how a group of Brazilian academics who have studied in Europe and the United States have dealt with stereotypical notions of Brazilians as “warm people” who establish friendship “easily.” Ideas about a “greater emotionality,” which were often seen as negative from a European colonial perspective, are embraced and re-signified by them as a positive feature of Brazilian national identity, particularly when compared to the supposed “closed nature” of some Europeans. I argue therefore that the presence of such stereotypes contributes to reinforce a subjective sense of Brazilianess and also reveals the negotiations of power relations in the process of elaborating Brazilian national identity.