International Replication Note Decision Type, Organisational Control, and Acceptance of Change: An Integrative Approach to Participative Decision Making

On a développé un modèle intégrateur de la relation existant entre la participation à la prise de décision à 1'occasion d'un changement dans 1'organisation et les attitudes professionnelles (implication, satisfaction et sentiment d'efficacité). Le modèle présente une variable indépendante, la décision, stratégique ou tactique, concernant le changement et deux variables intermédiaires, la somme des contrôles exercés dans 1'organisation et 1'acceptation du changement. Grâce à un échantillon de 232 fonctionnaires, on a pu montrer que le modèle "Participation à la prise de décision tactique somme des contrôles acceptation du changement attitudes professionnelles" rendait mieux compte des données que les modèles concurrents. Diverses questions théoriques et pratiques sont discutées et les limites de la recherche soulignées.
An integrative model of the relationship between participation in decision making (PDM) during an organisational change and work attitudes (organisational commitment, job satisfaction, and sense of effectiveness) was developed. The model contains one antecedent variable, type of change decision (i. e. strategic or tactical), and two mediators, total organisational control and change acceptance. A sample of 232 government workers provided evidence that the proposed model, PDM in tactical decisions total control → change acceptance → work attitudes, fits the data better than competing models. Theoretical and practical considerations are discussed and limitations for the study outlined.     

Developing a Prevention Synthesis and Translation System to Promote Science‐Based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy,HIV and STI Prevention

The Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) is a multi‐system framework that can guide research‐to‐practice efforts by building and supporting the work of three interacting systems: the Prevention Delivery, Support, and Synthesis and Translation Systems. The Synthesis and Translation system is vital to bridging science and practice, yet how to develop it and train support system partners to use it is under‐researched. This article bridges this gap by offering a case example of the planning, development, and use of a synthesis and translation product called Promoting Science‐based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention using Getting To Outcomes. The case presented documents the process used for developing the synthesis and translation product, reports on efforts to engage the Prevention Support system to use the product, and how we approached building interaction between the Synthesis and Translation System and the Support System partners. Practice‐oriented evaluation data are also presented. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed. Special Issue: Advances in Bridging Research and Practice Using the Interactive System Framework for Dissemination and Implementation; Guest Editors: Abraham Wandersman, Paul Flaspohler, Catherine A. Lesesne, Richard Puddy; Action Editor: Emilie Phillips Smith     

Age differences in women’s tendency to gossip are mediated by their mate value

In the current study it was investigated whether age differences in women’s tendency to gossip exist, and whether these could be accounted for by self-reported mate value. It was expected that younger women would report a higher tendency to gossip after reading a scenario in which a romantic rival was introduced, because they are at an age when competition for mates is salient and often intense. Moreover, it was hypothesized that this higher tendency to gossip would be attributable to these women’s higher mate value, since younger women have a higher reproductive capacity than older women. The results confirm these expectations: age differences in women’s tendency to gossip disappeared when controlling for mate value. Discussion focuses on the interpretation and implications of these results.     

Methylphenidate enhances extinction of contextual fear

Methylphenidate (MPH, Ritalin) is a norepinephrine and dopamine transporter blocker that is widely used in humans for treatment of attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy. Although there is some evidence that targeted microinjections of MPH may enhance fear acquisition, little is known about the effect of MPH on fear extinction. Here, we show that MPH, administered before or immediately following extinction of contextual fear, will enhance extinction retention in C57BL/6 mice. Animals that received MPH (2.5-10 mg/kg) before an extinction session showed decreased freezing response during extinction, and the effect of the 10 mg/kg dose on freezing persisted to the next day. When MPH (2.5-40 mg/kg) was administered immediately following an extinction session, mice that received MPH showed dose-dependent decreases in freezing during subsequent tests. MPH administered immediately after a 3-min extinction session or 4 h following the first extinction session did not cause significant differences in freezing. Together, these findings demonstrate that MPH can enhance extinction of fear and that this effect is sensitive to dose, time of injection, and duration of the extinction session. Because MPH is widely used in clinical treatments, these experiments suggest that the drug could be used in combination with behavioral therapies for patients with fear disorders.     

Advancing paternal age and simplex autism

De novo events appear more common in female and simplex autism spectrum disorder (ASD) cases and may underlie greater ASD risk in older fathers' offspring. This study examined whether advancing paternal age predicts an increase in simplex (n = 90) versus multiplex ASD cases (n = 587) in 677 participants (340 families). Whether or not controlling for maternal age, results support a significant interaction of linear paternal age and sex of the child on simplex family type. Female ASD cases were significantly more likely to be simplex as paternal age increased, but the increase for males was not significant. Findings suggest that ASD arising from non-familial, de novo events may be far less prominent in males than in females, even if more prevalent in males, due to the substantially larger number of male cases attributable to other, more strongly male-biased risk factors.     

Transformational Leadership and Creative Problem‐Solving: The Mediating Role of Psychological Safety and Reflexivity

Previous research has pointed to the importance of transformational leadership in facilitating employees' creative outcomes. However, the mechanism by which transformational leadership cultivates employees' creative problem‐solving capacity is not well understood. Drawing on theories of leadership, information processing and creativity, we proposed and tested a model in which psychological safety and reflexivity mediate the effect of transformational leadership and creative problem‐solving capacity. The results of survey data collected at three points in time indicate that transformational leadership facilitates the development of employees' creative problem‐solving capacity by shaping a climate of psychological safety conducive to reflexivity processes. However, the findings also indicate that psychological safety is related both directly and indirectly, through reflexivity, to employees' creative problem‐solving capacity. This study sheds further light on the ways in which transformational leaders help to develop and cultivate employees' capacity for creative problem‐solving.