Assessing Organisational Commitment in a Belgian Context: Evidence for the Three-dimensional Model

Cette étude investigua la pertinence de la conceptualisation tri-dimensionnelle de I'implication organisationnelle (Meyer & Allen, 1991) dans un contexte belge. Les trois composantes de la théorie furent mesurées à I'aide des échelles affective, de continuation, et normative de I'implication, développées par Allen et Meyer (1990). Une analyse factorielle confirmatoire de données provenant d'un échantillon de 277 infirmières et aides-soignantes corrobora la structure factorielle hypothétique basée sur une représentation à trois facteurs obliques. Cependant, contrairement aux résultats de recherches antérieures, la présence de deux sous-dimensions au sein de I'échelle de continuation ne fut pas confirmée. La portée de ces résultats est discutée et des suggestions pour analyser plus avant les conditions de généralisation de I'implication organisationnelle dans le domaine interculturel sont avancées.
This study investigated the usefulness of the three-dimensional conceptualisation of organisational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991) in a Belgian context. The three components of the theory were assessed using the Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment scales developed by Allen and Meyer (1990). A confirmatory factor analysis of data from a sample of 277 nurses and nursing aides yielded support for the hypothesised factorial structure of the scales, based on a three-factor, oblique representation. However, contrary to prior findings, the existence of two related subdimensions inside the continuance commitment scale was not confirmed. The scope of these results is discussed, and suggestions to further analyse the boundary conditions of organisational commitment in cross-cultural assessment are proposed.     

From Microactions to Macrostructure and Back: A Structurational Approach to the Evolution of Organizational Networks

Structuration theory (ST) and network analysis are promising approaches for studying the emergence of communication networks. We offer a model that integrates the conceptual richness of structuration with the precision of relevant concepts and mechanisms offered from communication network research. We leverage methodological advancements (i.e., stochastic actor‐oriented models) to test hypotheses deduced from ST using longitudinal communication network data collected over a two‐year period. Results indicate that while structural rules external to a social network play a significant role, internal structural rules that emerge from the aggregate of individual actions during previous time periods also predict current structures, and that the reification influence of the latter is greater than that of the external factors.     

Media use and school achievement – boys at risk?

In work done at the German Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN) various methods have been used to investigate how specific inappropriate media usage patterns affect academic performance in children and adolescents. The findings are paralleled by current international research indicating a negative relationship between these two variables. Based on a cross‐sectional survey of 5,529 fourth grade students and a longitudinal panel study with 1,157 primary schoolchildren, a key finding can be demonstrated: the more time students spend on consuming media and the more violent its contents are, the worse are their marks at school, even when controlling for vital factors such as family, educational, or immigrant background. In particular, boys who gender‐specifically are better equipped with electronic media devices, who partially have extensive media usage times and who strongly prefer violent media content, are at the risk of showing poor school performance. In fact, a decrease in academic performance of boys can be observed in German school statistics. By presenting first results of a school‐based intervention programme, a promising approach to the reduction of detrimental effects of electronic media use on school performance is introduced.     

Labeled Calculi and Finite-Valued Logics

A general class of labeled sequent calculi is investigated, and necessary and sufficient conditions are given for when such a calculus is sound and complete for a finite-valued logic if the labels are interpreted as sets of truth values (sets-as-signs). Furthermore, it is shown that any finite-valued logic can be given an axiomatization by such a labeled calculus using arbitrary "systems of signs," i.e., of sets of truth values, as labels. The number of labels needed is logarithmic in the number of truth values, and it is shown that this bound is tight.