The Chicago school and the study of organization-environment relations

The ecological perspective on organizational change represents the most significant development in contemporary organization research. The two reigning paradigms explain organizational change in terms of ‘environmental selection’ and ‘adaptation,’ respectively. What is generally unrecognized is that these developments are anticipated in the writings of the Chicago School of Sociology–specifically in their model of Ecological, Economic, and Cultural Organization. Their writings also provide a novel examination of organization-environment relations in terms of natural history, social organization and disorganization, and social control. The Chicago School investigations did not contribute directly to recent developments. Their theoretical approach was neither formalized in published work nor persistently adopted in research efforts, and at the end of Chicago's dominance it became obscured. Many elements of the Chicago model have nonetheless continued in the writings of community theorists linked to Chicago. It is from these theorists that contemporary organization research has drawn its ecological perspective.     

Predicting change in depression following renal transplantation: effect of patient coping preferences.

Improvement in patient quality of life is a central goal of renal transplantation. This study examined the hypothesis that change in depression following transplantation would vary as a function of patient coping preferences. Sixty patients were assessed with the Krantz Health Opinion Survey and the Beck Depression Inventory while on the waiting list for a cadaveric renal transplant. Patients were reassessed approximately 12 months later. Among the 33 patients receiving a transplant during the follow-up period, those with a high preference for health-related information exhibited a substantial reduction in depression. In contrast, patients low in preference for information showed a slight increase in depression. Among the 27 patients who were not transplanted during the follow-up period, preference for information had no effect on depression. Patient differences in preference for behavioral involvement did not exert a significant effect on depression.     

Conducting Research with Latino Families: Examination of Strategies to Improve Recruitment, Retention, and Satisfaction with an At-Risk and Underserved Population

Difficulty recruiting and retaining Latino participants in clinical research may contribute to the limited number of studies addressing the mental health disparities that exist between Latino and Caucasian families in our country. The researchers developed and utilized culturally-modified research strategies to maximize recruitment, retention, and satisfaction of Latino families by targeting family systems, community, and cultural levels. Subsequently, the relationship between individual/family and cultural characteristics with participants’ motivation to participate and overall satisfaction with the research project was examined. As part of a larger research study, 70 Latino parents of children aged 5–12 years completed a measure designed to assess an individual’s motivation for participation, as well as his/her satisfaction with participating in psychological research (i.e., the Exit Survey). Parents also completed demographic questionnaire and two measures of acculturation (i.e., the Acculturation Rating Scale of Mexican–Americans-II and the Mexican–American Cultural Values Scale). Results indicate that families with more socioeconomic hardship and more acculturation to mainstream Anglo cognitions and traditional Latino behaviors were more pleased with the overall research project employing culturally-modified strategies aimed at individual/family, community, and cultural levels. Thus, researchers should strive to incorporate appropriate research strategies to recruit and retain “harder to reach” populations in clinical research studies. Better inclusion of Latinos in psychological research ultimately may lead to more culturally-appropriate mental health services and better service utilization for Latino families.     

Social Perceptions of Religiosity: Dogmatism Tarnishes the Religious Halo

Researchers have provided much evidence in support of a religious halo effect—the tendency for people to evaluate a religious target more favorably than a nonreligious counterpart. This experimental study (N = 361 U.S. adults) extended previous work beyond the dichotomy of religious versus nonreligious by varying a fictional target's degree of belief. Only religious participants exhibited a nonspecific pro-religious bias consistent with the religious halo effect, favoring religious over not religious and very over somewhat religious targets. However, indicators of dogmatic thinking (e.g., I am so sure I am right about the important things in life, there is no evidence that could convince me otherwise) degraded target evaluations by religious and nonreligious participants alike. Results suggest that religiosity's positive associations depend upon an assumption of strong but flexible belief and underscore the importance of studying social perceptions of religious fundamentalists.     

Contemporary Myths, Sexuality Misconceptions, Information Sources, and Risk Perceptions of Bodabodamen in Southwest Uganda

This article reports findings from a study conducted among 212 private motorbike–taxi riders, locally called bodabodamen, from two study sites—a slum area and the urban center of Masaka town. Qualitative and quantitative methods were triangulated; a questionnaire, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, case studies, and interactive workshops were all used. There were high levels of awareness of HIV, much more than sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), because many participants had closely experienced HIV/AIDS. Knowledge about sexual health contained several misconceptions, misinformation, and myths rooted in both the historical and contemporary social cultural context. Due to high illiteracy levels, bodabodamen cannot access many standard health education materials issued by government and private health organizations through the print and electronic media, as well as those published in languages other than the local vernacular. These (and possibly other) disadvantaged groups remain at risk of HIV and STDs. Especial efforts need to be made to provide appropriate health education.     

Gender Differences in Integration of Images in Visuospatial Memory

We examined gender differences in mental integration of images in visuospatial short-term memory. College students were asked to imagine the combined abstract shape that would be formed by integrating two separate shapes briefly shown on a computer screen. The shapes were presented in four conditions: (1) simultaneously at the center of the screen, (2) simultaneously side-by-side, (3) sequentially at the center, and (4) sequentially side-by-side. Men were faster than women in all four conditions, but were significantly more accurate than women only when the two separate shapes were presented simultaneously side-by-side or sequentially at the center of the screen. We suggest that gender differences in basic visuospatial processes such as image integration may help to explain well-established gender differences in more complex spatial tasks.     

I Can't Wait to Get Married: Gender Differences in Drive to Marry

In this study we examined a new construct—the Drive to Marry (DTM). Young single men and women (149 men and 246 women) rated their desire to get married and completed measures of their valuing of marital, parental, and occupational roles; concern about others' views of them; and feminist attitudes. We found that women had a higher DTM than did men. In both genders, DTM was predicted by the value of parental role and by concern about others' views of them. In women, DTM was also predicted by traditional attitudes toward gender roles, and there was a trend for women who valued the occupational role to have a lower DTM. Conservative women, women who valued the parental role, and women with a higher DTM were also more likely to want to use the title “Mrs.” and to adopt their husband's surname. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in May 2004.     

Gender Differences in Wayfinding Strategies and Anxiety About Wayfinding: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Two studies examined gender and cultural differences in wayfinding strategies and anxiety about wayfinding. Men in both Hungary and the United States reported greater preference for a strategy of orienting to global reference points, whereas women reported greater preference for a strategy based on route information. A higher level of wayfinding anxiety was reported by Americans, and women in both countries reported greater wayfinding anxiety than did men. Women in the United States, but not in Hungary, reported less childhood wayfinding experience than did men; women in both countries reported feeling less safe than did men. Feeling of personal safety and wayfinding strategy preferences mediated the gender difference in wayfinding anxiety.