Mapping the Decision to Quit: A Refinement and Test of the Unfolding Model of Voluntary Turnover

We report a test of an influential theory of employee turnover: the unfolding model ( Lee & Mitchell, 1994 ; Lee, Mitchell, Holtom, McDaniel, & Hill, 1999 ). We describe and critique this classificatory model, and propose both theory‐based and empirical refinements. The two extant tests of the current version of the model have both been with accountants in the United States, so the generalisability of the model is as yet unproven. We present results of an attempt to classify 352 nurse leavers from the United Kingdom's National Health Service using the unfolding model. In contrast to the findings of Lee et al. (1999 ), the model failed to classify a substantial number of nurse leavers, and specific hypotheses derived from the model received only partial support. Classification failures were investigated using both quantitative and qualitative data. Leavers were more likely to be classified if they had no dependants and described their quit as avoidable. Although the unfolding model incorporates more kinds of turnover than traditional turnover models, such systematic classification failure casts doubt on claims that it offers a comprehensive account of turnover. We explain failures with reference to: (i) shortcomings in a key measure; (ii) the characteristics of the occupational group studied; and (iii) the extremely tight labor market for this group of leavers. Nous testons la théorie influente concernant le turnover des salariés: the unfolding model ( Lee & Mitchell, 1994 ; Lee, Mitchell, Holtom, McDaniel & Hill, 1999 ). Après avoir décrit et critiqué ce modèle de classification, nous proposons des améliorations tant au niveau théorique qu’empirique. La version actuelle du modèle a été testée à deux reprises auprès de comptables des Etats‐Unis, aussi ce modèle n’a pas pu être généralisé. Nous présentons les résultats obtenus en utilisant le “unfolding model” auprès de 352 infirmières du service de santé national du Royaume‐Uni qui sont sur le départ. Contrairement aux résultats obtenus par Lee et al. (1999 ), le modèle n’a pas permis de classer un nombre substantiel d’infirmières sur le départ et certaines hypothèses découlant de ce modèle ne reçoivent qu’une validation partielle. Ces échecs de classification ont été analysés tant quantitativement que qualitativement. Il ressort que les sujets étaient plus facilement classés si ils n’avaient aucune personne à charge et si ils décrivaient leur départ comme évitable. Bien que le “unfolding model” incorpore plus de formes de turnover que les modèles traditionnels, un échec de classification aussi systématique questionne quant à sa revendication à offrir une approche complète du turnover. Nous expliquons ces échecs par: (i) des imperfections dans la mesure principale (ii) les caractéristiques du groupe de salariés étudiés (iii) un marché du travail extrêmement difficile pour ce groupe de personnes sur le départ.     

The word grouping hypothesis and eye movements during reading

The distribution of landing positions and durations of first fixations in a region containing a noun preceded by either an article (e.g., the soldiers) or a high-frequency 3-letter word (e.g., all soldiers) were compared. Although there were fewer first fixations on the blank space between the high-frequency 3-letter word and the noun than on the surrounding letters (and the fixations on the blank space were shorter), this pattern did not occur when the noun was preceded by an article. R. Radach (1996) inferred from a similar experiment that did not manipulate the type of short word that 2 words could be processed as a perceptual unit during reading when the first word is a short word. As this different pattern of fixations is restricted to article-noun pairs, it indicates that word grouping does not occur purely on the basis of word length during reading; moreover, as the authors demonstrate, one can explain the observed patterns in both conditions more parsimoniously without adopting a word-grouping mechanism in eye movement control during reading.     

Psychological factors predicting stress symptoms: metacognition, thought control, and varieties of worry

This study tested predictions of the metacognitive model of post-traumatic stress disorder (Wells, 2000) concerning relationships between stress symptoms and maladaptive control of thoughts. We tested the hypothesis that the tendency to use worry as a means of controlling thoughts will be positively predictive of stress symptoms. In doing so, overlaps with symptomatic worry, stress symptoms, and stress exposure at time 1 was controlled. One hundred and ten (110) college students were assessed twice, over a three-month period. Consistent with predictions, use of worry as a thought control strategy made a significant and independent contribution to the prediction of stress symptoms. The findings provide further support for Wells' metacognitive model of stress reactions.     

A neurodevelopmental perspective on male violence

Research is increasingly documenting a neurobiological basis to violence. This review takes a neurodevelopmental perspective on the very small group of males who grow up to become persistent violent offenders. After outlining six criteria for what constitutes a neurodevelopmental disorder, the extent to which chronic violence meets these definitional criteria is examined, covering the fields of genetics, structural and functional brain imaging, and neuropsychology. Early health risk factors for violence are then outlined, including birth complications, minor physical anomalies, prenatal smoking and alcohol exposure, poor nutrition, lead exposure, and traumatic brain injury. Persistent adult violence is argued to originate in aberrant temperamental behavior in early childhood, to have a stable developmental trajectory, and to be associated with impaired education, social, and occupational functioning. Taken together, it is argued that chronic adult violence meets criterion for being conceptualized as having neurodevelopmental origins and that an important, but not sole, source of neural maldevelopment lies in prenatal and early postnatal risk factors. This review concludes with a recognition of the sociopolitical context within which a neurodevelopmental perspective on chronic violence sits, together with directions for future research, including whether a neurodevelopmental hypothesis is best applied to reactive as opposed to proactive aggression.     

Cross-cultural clinical judgment bias in personality disorder diagnosis by forensic psychiatrists in the UK: a case-vignette study

Previous research in the UK has suggested that cross-cultural bias in personality disorder diagnosis might partly account for the smaller proportion of Black, relative to White, patients with personality disorder in secure psychiatric hospitals. Using the case-vignette method, we investigated cross-cultural clinical judgment bias in the diagnosis of personality disorder in African Caribbean men by 220 forensic psychiatrists in the UK. In the vignette describing possible DSM-IV antisocial personality disorder, Caucasians were 2.8 times more likely to be given a diagnosis of personality disorder than African Caribbeans. Diagnosis also varied according to the ethnicity of the clinicians. No cross-cultural bias was found in the vignette describing possible DSM-IV borderline personality disorder. These findings are important in relation to recent policies for offenders and others with personality disorder, and to the current focus on delivering race equality in mental health services in the UK. Ongoing debates about the strengths and limitations of the case-vignette method are also discussed.     

Belief disconfirmation versus habituation approaches to situational exposure in panic disorder with agoraphobia: a pilot study

Exposure therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) are both effective in the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia. Cognitive theories suggest that the way in which exposure to avoided situations is implemented in either treatment may be crucial. In particular, it is suggested that clinical improvement will be greatest if opportunities for disconfirmation of feared catastrophes are maximized. In a small pilot study, 16 patients with panic disorder and (moderate or severe) agoraphobia were randomly allocated to either habituation based exposure therapy (HBET) or exposure planned as a belief disconfirmation strategy and accompanied by dropping of safety-seeking behaviours. Both treatments were brief (total of 3.25 h of exposure) and were similar in terms of expectancy of change. Patients in the CBT condition showed significantly greater improvements in self-report measures of anxiety, panic and situational avoidance. They also completed significantly more steps in a standardized behavioural walk, during which they experienced significantly less anxiety. The controlled effect sizes for CBT were substantial (range 1.7-2.7), which suggests it may be a particularly efficient way of managing therapeutic exposure to feared situations in panic disorder with agoraphobia. Further research is needed to clarify the mechanism of change involved.     

The time course of attentional and oculomotor capture reveals a common cause

Eye movements are often misdirected toward a distractor when it appears abruptly, an effect known as oculomotor capture. Fundamental differences between eye movements and attention have led to questions about the relationship of oculomotor capture to the more general effect of sudden onsets on performance, known as attentional capture. This study explores that issue by examining the time course of eye movements and manual localization responses to targets in the presence of sudden-onset distractors. The results demonstrate that for both response types, the proportion of trials on which responses are erroneously directed to sudden onsets reflects the quality of information about the visual display at a given point in time. Oculomotor capture appears to be a specific instance of a more general attentional capture effect. Differences and similarities between the two types of capture can be explained by the critical idea that the quality of information about a visual display changes over time and that different response systems tend to access this information at different moments in time.     

Early temperamental and psychophysiological precursors of adult psychopathic personality

Emerging research on psychopathy in children and adolescents raises the question of whether indicators, such as temperament or psychophysiology, exist very early in life in those with a psychopathic-like personality in adulthood. This study tests the hypothesis that individuals who are more psychopathic in adulthood would be less fearful and inhibited and more stimulation seeking/sociable at age 3 and that they would also show reduced age 3 skin-conductance (SC) responsivity. In a community sample of 335 3-year-olds, behavioral measures of temperament were taken and electrodermal activity was recorded in response to both orienting and aversive tones. R. D. Hare's (1985) Self-Report Psychopathy scale (SRP-II) was administered at follow-up at age 28. Individuals scoring higher on the measure were significantly less fearful and inhibited, were more sociable, and displayed longer SC half-recovery times to aversive stimuli compared with controls at age 3. Contrary to predictions, they also showed increased autonomic arousal and SC orienting. Findings appear to be the first to suggest that a prospective link may exist between temperament and psychophysiology in very young children and psychopathic personality in adulthood.     

Intrusive images and memories in major depression

Individuals with current major depression were interviewed to investigate the prevalence of distressing intrusive mental imagery among depressed patients and study the phenomenology of these intrusions. Of the 39 currently depressed patients, 17 experienced some form of repetitive intrusive imagery (i.e., either an intrusive memory or image), with intrusive memories being more common than images. The intrusive imagery was experienced as highly uncontrollable and interfered significantly with patients' everyday lives. The intrusions were experienced with a sense of 'nowness', as well as physical and emotional re-experiencing. Despite high levels of re-experiencing, levels of dissociation were very low. The intrusive imagery was in some patients part of a wider network of key defining autobiographical memories, consistent with the idea that it is likely to play a significant role in maintaining the patient's depressive mood. Interventions targeting these intrusions could potentially result in a positive shift in depressed mood.     

Unattractive, promiscuous and heavy drinkers: perceptions of women with tattoos

This study examined social and physical perceptions of blonde and brunette women with different degrees of tattooing. Eighty-four female and 76 male undergraduates rated a series of 16 female line drawings that varied in 2 levels of hair colour and 8 levels of tattooing. Ratings were made for physical attractiveness and sexual promiscuity, as well as estimates of the number of alcohol units consumed on a typical night out. Results showed that tattooed women were rated as less physically attractive, more sexually promiscuous and heavier drinkers than untattooed women, with more negative ratings with increasing number of tattoos. There were also weak interactions between body art and hair colour, with blonde women in general rated more negatively than brunettes. Results are discussed in terms of stereotypes about women who have tattoos and the effects of such stereotypes on well-being.