The impact of sense of coherence and high-demand/low-control job environment on self-reported health,burnout and psychophysiological stress indicators

Sense of Coherence (SOC) is a new concept belonging to a salutogenic paradigm, proposing to explain health as contrasted to disease, a pathogenic paradigm. The Job Demand-Control (JDC) model of job stress suggests that the combination of high job demands and low job control, defined as job strain, is strongly associated with adverse health consequences. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between SOC and the JDC model in assessment of negative job effects within three pathogenically defined contexts: self-reported health, burnout and psychophysiological stress indicators, assessing the explanatory value of SOC for such variables. The study was conducted with 103 employees of social-welfare and social-insurance agencies in Sweden. A questionnaire related to job conditions, health and burnout was administered, and blood samples were collected and analysed for serum concentrations of cortisol, prolactin and immunoglobulin G. Multiple-regression models were calculated including variables from all three contexts. In the analyses, a distinction was made between emotional job strain and quantitative job strain. The SOC interacted with emotional job strain, but the interaction also increased the independent effect of emotional job strain. The independent effect of SOC disappeared in most models when interaction was included. It is concluded that studies of job strain-effects according to the JDC model should include the SOC as an interaction factor.     

Does family policy affect fertility?

From the mid-1960s to around 1980, Sweden extended its family policies that provide financial and in-kind support to families with children very quickly. The benefits were closely tied to previous work experience. Thus, women born in the 1950s faced markedly different incentives when making fertility choices compared to women born only 15–20 years earlier. This paper examines the evolution of completed fertility patterns for Swedish women born in 1925–1958 and makes comparisons to women in neighbouring countries where the policies were not extended as much as in Sweden. The results suggest that the extension of the policy raised the level of fertility, shortened the spacing of births, and induced fluctuations in the period fertility rates, but it did not change the negative relationship between women’s educational level and completed fertility.     

Poverty dynamics in eight countries

Despite very different macroeconomic conditions, demographic structures and degrees of income inequality, favorable income changes among low-income families with children were widespread and strikingly similar across the eight countries in our study. In most European countries, the combination of modest inequality and extensive mobility among the poor enabled virtually all families to avoid relative income deprivation at least occasionally. However, even substantial mobility among the poor in the Unites States could not elevate the living standards of one in seven white and two in five black families to a level that was half that enjoyed by a typical American family.This paper is the result of a collaborative research project sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation and the European Science Foundation as part of its Network on Household Panel Studies. CEPS/INSTEAD provided substantial in-kind support. Deborah Laren provided excellent research assistance. Jos Berghman, Tim Callan, Bengt-Olof Gert, Peter Gottschalk, Pierre Hausman, Bruno Jeandidier, Kjell Janssen, Stephen Jenkins, Anders Klevmarken, Katherine McFate, Udo Neumann, Willard Rodgers, Gaston Schaber, Tim Smeeding, Daniel Stripinis, Hedwig Vermeulen, Wolfgang Voges and Brendan Whelan provided substantial assistance and advice during the course of the project. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the conference Poverty and Public Policy in Paris in January, 1991. The paper was edited by Timothy M. Smeeding, Syracuse University, using two anonymous referees.     

Potenzialanalysen als Instrument eines strategischen Personalmanagements in Unternehmen und die Integrierbarkeit des PZA

The person-centered approach (PCA) has many facets and it is a recognized and successful theory in many areas. Also in the economic field, Rogers?? theory is becoming increasingly important. Though at the first sight it is not obvious, in addition to coaching and change-management, there are also other areas in which the PCA could be integrated. In particular, the approach could be used for potential analyses, which are, in the meantime, worldwide widely used in companies for human resources development. Under traditional person-centered aspects, potential analyses are first to be regarded as critical because the judging and evaluating of people is obviously diametrically opposed to Rogers?? approach. However, it can be shown in the following that??depending on the used method of potential analyse??also the PCA can be realized and integrated in such a field.     

Fatigue effects of noise on aeroplane mechanics

Abstract

Subjective fatigue and reaction time performance were measured in a group of 24 aeroplane mechanics, during 1 week of high noise exposure and 1 week of low noise exposure. Subjective ratings were collected before and after each work day. On the last day of each week subjects also completed a reaction time task before and after work. The mechanics felt more sleepy and less energetic during the high noise week. This effect was most evident towards the end of the day and there was a build-up of the effect during the week. Reaction times were prolonged during the high noise week. Possible confounding factors are discussed and found to be less likely explanations of the effects.     

What drives contract design in alliances? Taking stock and how to proceed

We collect and assess prior empirical evidence on contract design in alliances that has been published since Parkhe’s (1993) seminal study on inter-firm contracts. We elaborate on the effects of transaction-related factors, experience gained from prior relationships, and deliberate learning efforts on contracts. Our paper offers three contributions. First, we systematically review the existing literature on alliance contracts and summarize our findings. Second, while prior research has traditionally focused on contractual complexity, we place the content of contracts center stage and identify three contractual functions. While existing studies on contractual functions predominantly refer to safeguarding as a response to appropriation concerns, we also consider coordination and contingency adaptability as outcomes of adaptation concerns. Third, we disentangle the differential influences of previous experiences on distinct contractual functions and show that experience gained from prior relationships has different effects on safeguarding and contingency adaptability than on coordination. Overall, we add to the systematization of the current debate on alliance contract design and trace promising avenues for future research on the impact of transaction- and experience-related factors on the complexity and content of alliance contracts.     

Gender Quotas for Agricultural Boards: Changing Constructions of Gender?

This article explores the processes by which gender is given meaning through social interaction in boardrooms. In Norway, alongside mandatory quotas regulating the composition of Public Limited Company boards, voluntary quotas were designed to increase women's membership on the boards of agricultural co‐operatives. This radical step to secure a minimum of 40 per cent women makes these boards an interesting site for investigating the construction of gender in a traditionally male‐dominated organization. In the debate, arguments in favour of a quota accentuated diversity and differences between women's and men's competences, opinions and values. The analysis of interview data from the boards of four agricultural co‐operatives suggests that equal representation is a muted, taken‐for‐granted value. Equality and diversity are not understood as incompatible ideas, and gender is produced dynamically through practice rather than constituted as an inherent, fixed attribute. Gender as difference is less pervasive than expected as women tend to be recognized as belonging to the gender‐neutral category of a board representative despite any recognized differences. The study demonstrates that voluntary quotas may change the context and both challenge old assumptions and promote new understandings of gender in local situations.     

The social worker-client relationship -- a Sartrean approach

Several theorists argue that a close and mutual relationship between social worker and client is the 'core' of social work practice. However, this relationship is not examined in a profound way. In the article, the assumption of the essential relationship between social worker and client is scrutinized, using Jean-Paul Sartre's phenomenological, existential philosophy. The aim is to see what Sartre's theory can bring to the discourse about this relationship as a central aspect of social work as a field of knowledge. Ultimately this is of importance for intervention as well as evaluation.