The Role of Organizational Leaders in Sexual Orientation Equality at Organizational and Federal Levels

Purpose

This article expands the discourse of the impact of the passage of the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1964 to sexual orientation minorities (SOM).

Design/Methodology/Approach

We first discuss the challenges faced by SOM in the workplace. We then present a model adapted from Edelman’s “Handbook of employment discrimination research (pp. 337–352). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer (2005)” theory of endogeneity of law to discuss the impact that such leaders and their supportive organizational SOM policies can have on the passage of nationwide SOM legislation. Finally, we discuss how organizational leaders’ beliefs and actions can play a major role in affecting organizational SOM policies.

Findings

We argue that the presence of organizational protective policies can facilitate the passage of federal SOM legislation by establishing and legitimizing social norms. We also highlight how beliefs about religion, morality, controllability, and occupational stereotypes contribute to prejudice and lack of support for SOM-protective organizational policies.

Implications

We discuss the importance that organizational SOM policies have on larger societal legislative issues, and outline how specific individual-level beliefs can impact organizational-level support for SOM.

Originality/Value

We take a novel approach by focusing on what organizational leaders can do to enact SOM policies that may further influence protective laws. We also draw upon neo-institutional theory to show specifically how organizations can affect legislation; a topic often ignored in organizational psychology.     

Perceptions of the cognitive compensation and interpersonal enjoyment functions of collaboration among middle-aged and older married couples

Perceptions of cognitive compensation and interpersonal enjoyment of collaboration were examined in three hundred middle-aged and older couples who completed measures of perceptions of collaboration, cognitive ability, marital satisfaction, an errand task and judged their spouse's affiliation. Older adults (especially men) endorsed cognitive compensation and interpersonal enjoyment and reported using collaboration more frequently than middle-aged adults. Greater need for cognitive compensation was related to lower cognitive ability only for older wives. Greater marital satisfaction was associated with greater interpersonal enjoyment. These two functions related to reports of more frequent use of collaboration and perceptions of spousal affiliation in a collaborative task.     

A Randomized Trial of Two Promising Computer-Based Interventions for Students with Attention Difficulties

Few studies have examined whether attention can be improved with training, even though attention difficulties adversely affect academic achievement. The present study was a randomized-controlled trial evaluating the impact of Computerized Attention Training (CAT) and Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) on attention and academic performance in 77 inattentive first graders. Students receiving either intervention were more likely than controls to show a moderate decline in teacher rated attention problems in first grade. Students receiving CAI also showed gains in reading fluency and in teacher ratings of academic performance. Intervention effects for attention were absent by second grade largely because attention problems declined in all groups. However, post hoc analyses indicated potential longer-term benefits for children with 6 or more inattentive symptoms at baseline. Persistent attention problems were associated with poorer academic performance in multiple domains. Results provide initial evidence that CAT and CAI can improve children’s attention in the classroom - and support additional studies to determine whether more clinically significant benefits are attainable.     

Getting Students to Choose to Do More Work: Evidence of the Effectiveness of the Interspersal Procedure

College students were exposed to two sets of mathematics assignments. For each set students were given an experimental and a control assignment. The control assignments contained 15 three-digit by two-digit target problems. The experimental assignments contained 18 similar target problems as well as six one-digit by one-digit multiplication problems interspersed after every third target problem. In the first assignment set, students were asked to work each assignment for 5 minutes. Although the experimental assignments contained more target problems, results showed that significantly more students chose the experimental assignment and rated it as less difficult and as requiring less effort to complete. In the second assignment set, students were asked to complete both assignments. Again significantly more students rated the experimental assignment as being less difficult and as requiring less effort to complete. Although more students chose the experimental assignment for homework, this difference was not significant. Discussion focuses on using the interspersal procedure to enhance students' perceptions of assignments and alter their choice behavior.     

The moving fire hydrant experiment: movement of objects to a new location reelicits marking in rats

Three experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of object relocation on object marking in an open field by hooded and albino rats. Object marking was reelicited when an object was moved to a new location in the second half of an open field test. Control conditions revealed that an object briefly moved and returned to the original location elicited no more marking than a stationary object. The higher level of marking of the relocated object suggests that object marking may provide an index of spatial knowledge. The implication of spatial knowledge in controlling marking behavior is congruent with observations that rats with hippocampal damage show increased marking.     

Screening people with anxiety/depression for suitability for guided self-help

The aim of this study was to test a questionnaire for screening people with anxiety/ depression for their suitability for certain forms of computer-guided self-help. A total of 196 referrals completed the screening questionnaire. Three clinicians each independently judged the referrals' broad problem type and suitability. Referrals were randomized to 1 of 3 clinicians for a screening interview. The results show that inter-clinician agreement was good for questionnaire-based problem type and suitability, and excellent for screening interview-based problem type and suitability. Agreement between the questionnaire and interview was good on problem type but poor on suitability. Compared with the screening interview, the questionnaire detected suitable patients well but unsuitable patients less well. In conclusion, by quickly scanning the completed questionnaire, clinicians were able sensitively to detect patients' problem types that were suitable for certain forms of self-help. Some unsuitability items need refining.     

The Effects of Multisensory Imagery in Conjunction with Physical Movement Rehearsal on Golf Putting Performance

A multiple-baseline design was used to evaluate the effects of a pre-shot putting routine on the putting performance of four NCAA Division I golfers. The routine involved a combination of multisensory imagery and simulated putting movements. Results suggested that the intervention was effective for some participants. Discussion focuses on directions for future research and the use of single-subject design procedures in sport psychology and related disciplines.

Eroticism in group psychotherapy: psychoanalytic reflections on desire, agony, and ecstasy

To fully understand the complexities of eroticism in groups, it may be necessary to review a conceptual differentiation of desire and its allies: agony and ecstasy. This article suggests that psychoanalytic group psychotherapy is made for neither agony nor ecstasy. Sexual excitement maybe; eroticism and desire, yes; agony and ecstasy, no. While agony or ecstasy imply a threat to the survival of the group, eroticism and desire reaffirm its existence. In this manner the group may be converted into a theater where desire may be celebrated, while the threat of being dissolved in the depths or exaltation of agony and ecstasy is elaborated and worked through: "Desire is desire only if it succeeds in postponing something".     

Time-limited desensitisation, implosion and shaping for phobic patients: A crossover study

A comparison was made of the short-term time-limited efficacy of three forms of behaviour therapy in phobic patients: Systematic Desensitization (in imagination), Implosion (in imagination) and Shaping, or Reinforced Practice. A block design was used, all patients receiving all treatments in randomised order. Improvement was measured behaviourally and by symptom rating scales. Differences emerged only on the behavioural measures: Shaping was significantly superior to Desensitisation, with Implosion between the two, and not significantly different from either. Comparison of treated with untreated phobias within subjects showed Shaping to be more specific than the other two forms of treatment. It was concluded that Implosion and Shaping are potentially useful types of therapy, worthy of further study and application.