CONSEQUENCES OF INDIVIDUALS' FIT AT WORK: A META-ANALYSIS OF PERSON–JOB, PERSON–ORGANIZATION, PERSON–GROUP, AND PERSON–SUPERVISOR FIT

This meta-analysis investigated the relationships between person–job (PJ), person–organization (PO), person–group, and person–supervisor fit with preentry (applicant attraction, job acceptance, intent to hire, job offer) and postentry individual-level criteria (attitudes, performance, withdrawal behaviors, strain, tenure). A search of published articles, conference presentations, dissertations, and working papers yielded 172 usable studies with 836 effect sizes. Nearly all of the credibility intervals did not include 0, indicating the broad generalizability of the relationships across situations. Various ways in which fit was conceptualized and measured, as well as issues of study design, were examined as moderators to these relationships in studies of PJ and PO fit. Interrelationships between the various types of fit are also meta-analyzed. 25 studies using polynomial regression as an analytic technique are reviewed separately, because of their unique approach to assessing fit. Broad themes emerging from the results are discussed to generate the implications for future research on fit.     

EXAMINATION OF SITUATIONAL AND ATTITUDINAL MODERATORS OF THE HESITATION AND PERFORMANCE RELATION

The hesitation dimension of action-state orientation refers to the behavioral capacity to start action on tasks. In this study, job characteristics (autonomy and routineness) and job attitudes (satisfaction and involvement) were examined as moderators of the relation between hesitation and supervisor ratings of work behaviors (overall job performance and self-management performance) in 2 different samples. In both samples, routineness moderated the hesitation and self-management performance relation such that individuals low in hesitation performed better than individuals high in hesitation when routineness was low, but no differences in performance were observed when routineness was high. In addition, job satisfaction and job involvement were significant moderators of the relation between hesitation and self-management performance, with individuals low in hesitation performing better than individuals high in hesitation when satisfaction or involvement was low, but no differences in performance were observed when satisfaction or involvement was high.     

The Relation of Social Support to Depression in Massively Multiplayer Online Role‐Playing Games

It has been suggested that involvement in massively multiplayer online role‐playing games (MMORPGs) provides users with a sense of support and community. In the present study, we examined the possible buffering effects of MMORPGs on depression. First, we examined whether higher involvement in MMORPGs was associated with higher levels of perceived social support. Second, we examined whether, consistent with past research, higher levels of perceived social support were associated with lower levels of nonclinical depression. Using structural equation modeling, we found that involvement in MMORPGs was not associated with perceived social support. However, we further confirmed that a lack of perceived social support is associated with higher levels of depression. Implications for MMORPGs and its players are discussed.     

Infants and young children living in youth‐headed households in Rwanda: Implications of emerging data

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has already produced millions of orphans in Africa and the peak of the orphan epidemic has not yet been reached. One emerging social trend associated with premature parental death is the formation of households headed by youth aged 13–24. In Rwanda, specific sociocultural factors have supported the formation of youth‐headed households (YHH) in the wake of both the 1994 genocide and the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic. There is no published data on the health and socioemotional functioning of children under 5 living in YHH. Survey data from 692 YHH in one region of Rwanda yielded a subsample of 89 homes which contained one or more children under 5 (n=104) . These data reveal that a majority of young children living in YHH's is in fair or poor health. Heads of household themselves report high levels of depressive symptoms and social isolation; reports of emotional distress among the youngest children in the homes are associated with reports of higher symptomatology among heads of household. Findings are interpreted in light of the sociocultural context of Rwanda and the implications of the data for intervention are considered.     

SOME REFLECTIONS CONCERNING FEMINIST PEDAGOGY

Abstract: This paper reflects on some of the risks and requirements of engagingin feminist pedagogy. Feminist pedagogy seeks to promote an interactive classroom, encourage a de-centered approach to the teaching and learning process, and take differences seriously. Some of these practices may pose risks for the practitioner in an established academic environment where one may be expected to make "pobjective" judgments and assign grades without regard for difference; where pedagogy designed to encourage an interactive classroom may be taken as indicating lack of "expertise" which is often only recognized as such in authoritative assertiveness. If there is a backlash against critiques of the canon and experimentalism in pedagogy, can feminist pedagogy be a coherent practice in today's academic institutions?     

Effects of relationship education on emerging adults' relationship beliefs and behaviors

In this multisite study, we used a randomized controlled trial to examine how a relationship education intervention affected emerging adults' maladaptive relationship beliefs, mutuality, relationship decision making, relationship quality, and psychological distress. In addition, we explored whether one intervention modality (i.e., facilitated group discussion) was more/less effective than another (i.e., self‐facilitated online) and whether there were differential effects for participants in a relationship. We found that the facilitated group evidenced a decline in maladaptive relationship beliefs and an improvement in deliberate decision making. Moreover, facilitated group participants in a relationship reported higher levels of mutuality. Contrary to our hypothesis, there were no changes in relationship quality or psychological distress. Implications for the content and delivery of relationship education for emerging adults are discussed.