Individual Listening Values Moderate the Impact of Verbal Person Centeredness on Helper Evaluations: A Test of the Dual-Process Theory of Supportive Message Outcomes

This study is part of a larger program of research concerned with how people evaluate supportive behavior. Past work conducted in our lab found that helper evaluations of supportive listening vary as a function of specific listener behaviors, but the effects of these behaviors were small in magnitude. In this article, we explore one explanation for these small effects, namely, that the impact of listening behaviors on helper evaluations varies as a function of individual communication values. We draw from the dual-process theory of supportive message outcomes to propose that communication values operate to influence individual processing of supportive behavior. Using data from 383 participants asked to watch and evaluate a five-minute recorded comforting conversation, results provide support for the theory. People who place more value on listening as well as theoretically connected communication skills appear more responsive to the presence (or absence) of person-centered behavior.     

Wirkprozesse kollegialer Beratung

German Kinderg?rten (Kitas) as equivalent to English nursery schools are submitted to a continuously changing social and legal environment. Structural changes in society as well as changes in the legislation on the level of the Federal State and the Bundesl?nder are imposing multifaceted challenges on the daily management of these institutions. This paper examines the contribution of ?peer counseling?? as an intervention-orientated tool in its support of the management of the Kitas. This examination operationalized the added value of ?peer counseling?? in its different field uses. The data from narrative interviews reveal positive procedural relationships between the managements own leadership competence.     

On micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities: A multi-level perspective based on CEO personality and knowledge-based capital

In recent years, researchers have asked why some firms are better than others at developing dynamic capabilities. The existing literature assesses micro-foundations separately, either on the managerial or on the organizational level. This study aims to provide a more holistic picture on the antecedents of dynamic capabilities by integrating managerial and organizational micro-foundations. Specifically, we posit that the personality of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), manifested through their core self-evaluation (CSE), represents an individual-level micro-foundation which influences three types of a firm's knowledge-based capital—human, social, and organizational capital. We also argue that these three, in turn, are organization-level micro-foundations that ultimately enable the development of a firm's dynamic capabilities. We test our multi-level framework using data from 307 German CEOs, and confirm that CEO CSE is positively related with all three forms of knowledge-based capital. We further find that human capital and organizational capital mediate the relationship between a CEO's CSE and a firm's dynamic capabilities. Our research contributes by extending a central framework of the micro-foundations project (the bathtub model) that integrates the upper echelons perspective into a multi-level analysis. We empirically validate this model and advance the understanding of how firm leaders indirectly influence firm dynamic capabilities by shaping individual learning conditions.     

Poverty and Old Age in Scandinavia: A Problem of Gendered Injustice? Evidence from the 2010 GERDA Survey in Finland and Sweden

Material deprivation is represented in different forms and manifestations. Two individuals with the same deprivation score (i.e. number of deprivations), for instance, are likely to be unable to afford or access entirely or partially different sets of goods and services, while one individual may fail to purchase clothes and consumer durables and another one may lack access to healthcare and be deprived of adequate housing. As such, the number of possible patterns or combinations of multiple deprivation become increasingly complex for a higher number of indicators. Given this difficulty, there is interest in poverty research in understanding multiple deprivation, as this analysis might lead to the identification of meaningful population sub-groups that could be the subjects of specific policies. This article applies a factor mixture model (FMM) to a real dataset and discusses its conceptual and empirical advantages and disadvantages with respect to other methods that have been used in poverty research. The exercise suggests that FMM is based on more sensible assumptions (i.e. deprivation covary within each class), provides valuable information with which to understand multiple deprivation and is useful to understand severity of deprivation and the additive properties of deprivation indicators.     

Democratic Values and Civic Engagement of Local Voluntary Associations

In this study I investigate whether and to what extent local voluntary associations in Sweden maintain values of democratic governance. The study is based upon a survey of about 400 local voluntary associations within four local communities. The results show that a vast majority of these associations are supportive of member influence and governance through internal democracy. These values can also explain civic engagement of these local voluntary associations. The results indicate that if these values would change radically it would probably have an impact on civic engagement of these organizations, but at present the support remains solid.     

Characteristics of effective summer learning programs in practice

The Center for Summer Learning examined various summer program models and found that there are nine characteristics that provide a framework for effective summer programs. In this chapter, the authors demonstrate how effective practices lead to positive results for young people. The nine characteristics of effective summer learning programs are (1) accelerating learning, (2) youth development, (3) proactive approach to summer learning, (4) leadership, (5) advanced planning, (6) staff development, (7) strategic partnerships, (8) evaluation and commitment to program improvement, and (9) sustainability and cost-effectiveness. These characteristics are divided into two sections. The first three characteristics address a program's approach to learning. Summer instructional techniques are most effective when academic learning is woven into enrichment activities and youth development. The second section covers program infrastructure to ensure the organization achieves and maintains quality programming. The nine characteristics complement each other to ensure a strong program that works to prevent summer learning loss and narrow the achievement gap. To demonstrate the variety of high-quality programs that include the nine characteristics, thirteen program profiles at the conclusion of the chapter each highlight one of the characteristics. These profiles show the various approaches that different summer programs have developed to accelerate academic achievement and promote positive development for young people in their communities.     

Attachment-informed Supervision for Social Work Field Education

Supervisory relationships present a new population for the application of attachment theory, and conceptualization of attachment-informed supervision training offers a new direction for study. This paper presents an 8-month model of supervision training for social work field instructors of MSW students. The training’s design incorporates primary attachment concepts with an understanding of the supervisory working alliance and parallel process. An overview of the in-person and on-line pilot training is presented, including perceptions from the participants regarding the training’s usefulness. This training program has implications for effective social work field education, and recommendations are suggested for future attachment research on supervision.

Ethnic minorities' reactions to newcomers in East London: Symbolic boundaries and convivial labor

In much public discourse on immigrants in Western Europe, perceptions towards newcomers are discussed in relation to what white national majorities think. However, today, new migrants often move into places which are already settled by previous migrants. This article investigates the local experiences, perceptions, and attitudes towards newcomers among long-established ethnic minorities in an area which they have made their home, and where they predominate not just in numbers but also by way of shops, religious sites, school population, and so on. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in East London (UK), it looks at long-established ethnic minority residents’ attitudes towards newcomers from Eastern Europe, and how these are shaped by their own histories of exclusion. By bringing together theories on symbolic boundary making with the concept of “convivial labor,” it shows how experiences of stigmatization impact on perceptions of white newcomers, and how these perceptions are characterized by a combination of empathy and resentment.