SUPERVISORY AND EMPLOYEE CHARACTERISTICS AS CORRELATES OF EMPLOYEE SALARY INCREASES

Previous research on merit pay has focused on the context in which merit decisions take place and on characteristics of the employee. In the present study it was hypothesized that not only do employee characteristics influence merit increases, but so do characteristics of the employee's supervisor. The results from 175 employees in a midwestern manufacturing plant showed that 11% and 24% of the variance in employee salary increases were attributable to supervisory and employee characteristics, respectively. These results suggest that supervisory characteristics should be included in future research involving correlates of employee salary increases and by organizations when auditing the administration of merit pay plans.     

ORGANIZATIONAL IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICING OD IN THE ARMY1

During the past five years, organizational development has actively entered the military arena. This type of organization has certain characteristics which have strong implications for the practice and impact of OD interventions. Drawing specifically upon Army organizations, six of these characteristics are discussed including structure, total immersion environment, personnel rotation, personnel reductions, military-civilian dichotomy, and organizational objectives.     

Who's Stressed? Distributions of Psychological Stress in the United States in Probability Samples from 1983, 2006, and 20091

Psychological stress was assessed in 3 national surveys administered in 1983, 2006, and 2009. In all 3 surveys, stress was higher among women than men; and increased with decreasing age, education, and income. Unemployed persons reported high levels of stress, while the retired reported low levels. All associations were independent of one another and of race/ethnicity. Although minorities generally reported more stress than Whites, these differences lost significance when adjusted for the other demographics. Stress increased little in response to the 2008–2009 economic downturn, except among middle‐aged, college‐educated White men with full‐time employment. These data suggest greater stress‐related health risks among women, younger adults, those of lower socioeconomic status, and men potentially subject to substantial losses of income and wealth.     

Mindfulness as a Psychological Attractor: The Effect on Children

Mindfulness ( Langer, 1978, 1989, 1997, 2005 )—a process of actively making novel distinctions about objects in one's awareness—has been shown to have personal, interpersonal, and health benefits. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that mindfulness is (a) perceived and preferred by children; and (b) has positive effects on them. The results indicate that children ages 9 to 12 not only preferred to interact with mindful adults, but devalued themselves following the mindless interaction, despite the fact that only positive content was discussed. Potential implications of adults' mindless responding to children are discussed.