Sunk ‘Decision Points’: a theory of the endowment effect and present bias

Theory and Decision - This paper presents a very simple model in which situational cues associated with a particular consumption good compel an agent—who may have otherwise been...     

Relational commitments in employee–supervisor dyads and employee job performance

We investigated employee commitment to the supervisor and supervisor commitment to the employee within employee–supervisor dyads. We examined the relationships among four commitment mindsets (affective, normative, continuance-sacrifices, and continuance-alternatives) across members of the dyads and their relationships to employee job performance. Using a sample of 300 employee–supervisor dyads from health care organizations, HLM analyses revealed that supervisor positive commitments (i.e., affective, normative, continuance-sacrifices) generally related significantly to employee positive commitments. Moreover, supervisor commitment moderated the relationship of employee affective commitment to job performance, such that when supervisor affective, normative, and continuance-sacrifices commitments were high, the relationship between employee affective commitment and performance was weaker. We discuss the implications of these findings for the understanding of employee–supervisor relationships.     

Empirical behavior of some tests for normality

The behavior of a range of tests assessing the normality of a sequence of independent and identically distributed random variables is investigated.An examination of the empirical significance level of the tests is undertaken for different sample sizes. The empirical power associated with these tests is also calculated under some alternative distributions.     

Bidirectional Associations Between Parental Responsiveness and Executive Function During Early Childhood

In this study, we examined bidirectional associations between parental responsiveness and executive function (EF) processes in socioeconomically disadvantaged preschoolers. Participants were 534 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children (71 percent Hispanic/Latino; 28 percent African American; 1 percent European American) attending Head Start programs. At Time 1 (T1) and 6.5 months later at Time 2 (T2), parents and children participated in a videotaped free play session and children completed delay inhibition (gift delay‐wrap, gift delay‐bow) and conflict EF (bear/dragon, dimensional change card sort) tasks. Parental warm acceptance, contingent responsiveness, and verbal scaffolding were coded from the free play videos and aggregated to create a parental responsiveness latent variable. A cross‐lagged panel structural equation model indicated that higher T1 parental responsiveness significantly predicted more positive gain in delay inhibition and conflict EF from T1 to T2. Higher T1 delay inhibition, but not T1 conflict EF, significantly predicted more positive change in parental responsiveness from T1 to T2. These associations were not explained by several possible confounding variables, including children's age, gender, race/ethnicity, and verbal ability. Findings suggest that parental responsiveness may support EF development in disadvantaged children, with reciprocal effects of delay inhibition on parental responsiveness.     

Supervisor commitment to employees: Does agreement among supervisors' and employees' perceptions matter?

Using 322 matched employee–supervisor dyads, we investigate how level and direction of employee–supervisor (dis)agreement on supervisor's affective commitment to the employee relate to organizational commitment, emotional exhaustion, leader–member exchange, and job performance. Results from polynomial regression and response surface analyses indicate that level of employee–supervisor agreement matters: the most beneficial outcomes appear when supervisors and employees agree that the supervisor is highly committed to the employee whereas the least favorable outcomes appear when dyads' members agree that the supervisor has low commitment to the employee. Direction of employee–supervisor disagreement is also important as employee overestimation of supervisor commitment is associated with more favorable outcomes than employee underestimation. However, for two of the outcomes (organizational commitment and emotional exhaustion), the effect of employee–supervisor disagreement was attributable to a main effect of employee perceptions of supervisor commitment. We discuss the implications of these findings for the understanding of employee–supervisor relationships.     

Measuring short-term labor force mobility with the Labor Utilization Framework

Continuing employment growth and declining unemployment rates in the U.S. labor force since 1982 have raised new questions about employment quality and shifts between adequate and marginal employment. In this paper, we use an individual-matched file from the 1986 and 1987 March annual demographic supplements of the Current Population Survey to examine 1-year transitions between labor force states measured with the Labor Utilization Framework (LUF). Short-term shifts between nonparticipation, unemployment, underemployment, and adequate employment—as conceived in the LUF—are characterized here for the first time. Our results suggest that the majority of recent job takers found adequate employment, but that new labor force entrants and the previously unemployed nevertheless experienced rates of involuntary part-time and low-wage employment exceeding rates for the labor force as a whole. Association models reveal wideranging differences in patterns of mobility and immobility across labor force positions. We find that upward transitions are largely counterbalanced by downward transitions, essentially yielding a one-to-one exchange of workers between specific pairs of labor force states. The analysis also indicates similarity across sex and race groups in patterns of mobility and only small differences in immobility. Mobility and immobility largely serve to reproduce from year-to-year existing sex and race inequalities in the labor force.     

Hoarding cases involving older adults: the transition from a private matter to the public sector

Hoarding interventions with older adults require significant resources from multiple public agencies, yet recidivism occurs frequently. To improve services through better coordination, some communities have formed multiagency hoarding teams (MAHT), which include aging services. MAHTs requested this mixed methods study to understand the progression of cases through the public sector. Quantitative data collected on 52 cases involving adults ages 60+ identified steps in this process. Qualitative data collected from MAHT members were the basis for case studies illustrating the progression of cases through the public sector. Findings have implications for social workers involved in local service coordination, training, and policy.     

Innovation in the occupational health physician profession requires the development of a work collective to improve the efficiency of MSD prevention

Given the ageing population of occupational health physicians and the deteriorating situation of employee health, reforms targeting the multi-disciplinary nature of occupational health are currently being drawn up. These are of great concern to doctors in terms of the future of occupational health, notably with regard to changing medical practices. The objective of this study is to explore the actual practices of occupational health physicians within the framework of MSD prevention in France. By analysing the activity of occupational health physicians, we could gain a better understanding of the coordination between those involved in OHS with the ultimate goal being to improve prevention. Based on an analysis of peer activity, this method made it possible to push beyond pre-constructed discourse. According to activity theories, it is through others that the history and controversies of a profession can be grasped and skills developed. The results produced by these collective discussions on activity analysis contributed to establish a collective point of view about the important aspects of their profession that need defending and the variations in professional genre in relation to the current reforms, notably.     

Responding to the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Initiative: a multilevel community approach to building aging competency

Infusing age-specific, multigenerational content into social work curricula at both the MSW and BSW levels are key goals in preparing age-competent social workers to meet the needs of our current and future aging populations. The social work profession has a holistic approach and crucial skills that can promote aging well. This article will discuss an innovative, multilevel intervention strategy supported by the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Initiative that formulates, implements, and sustains age-infused curricula and assures the education of age-competent social workers by capitalizing on a "community-focus" strategy.