Effects of Personalized Versus Generic Implementation of an Intra-Organizational Online Survey on Psychological Anonymity and Response Behavior: A Field Experiment

Purpose

In the present study, we sought to investigate the effects of online survey implementation strategies on perceived anonymity and employee response behavior in organizational surveys.

Design/Methodology/Approach

A field experiment was conducted to compare two commonly used online survey implementation strategies (N = 815). One group of employees received a personalized invitation to the survey and a log-in password, while the other group received a general invitation and did not have to provide a password.

Findings

The results showed that the applied implementation strategies had no substantial effects on perceived anonymity. Moreover, there were no significant effects on nonresponse or the responses of survey participants to closed-ended and open-ended survey questions.

Implications

The present study supposes that online surveys are not a uniform phenomenon and that differences in the implementation of online surveys need to be considered. However, the findings indicate that the use of specified-personalized implementation strategies does not necessarily lead to a substantial decrease in perceived anonymity or automatically result in reduced data quality. Thus, in many cases, the investigated online survey implementation strategies are unlikely to cause serious reductions in perceptions of anonymity and quality of responses to organizational online surveys.

Originality/Value

In spite of the frequent use of online surveys in organizations, little is known about the consequences of online implementation strategies for perceptions of anonymity and response behavior. This study is one of the few empirical examinations of the psychological consequences of different online implementation strategies frequently used in organizational surveying.     

Sex on the margins: centering intersex,transgender, and sexually fluid voices in religious and scientific discourse

ABSTRACT

This collection of essays arose from the conference “Sex on the Margins: Navigating Religious, Social, and Natural Scientific Models of Sex Differences,” February 24–26, 2017, at Boston University. Scholars examined how our growing knowledge of sex, gender, and sexual diversity impacts binary models of sex that continue to hold sway in most religious and natural scientific examinations of human nature, including their practical application in medical approaches to differently sexed and gendered bodies. The authors call for a nuanced, interdisciplinary approach to sex difference which respects and protects minorities without eliding statistically significant binary patterns of human experience.     

Using found poetry to illuminate the existential and posttraumatic growth of women with breast cancer engaging in art therapy

Arts-based research (ABR) is an expanding methodological genre, which adapts the tenets of the creative arts to make social science research accessible, evocative, and engaging. It crosses the boundaries of both art and science, but has made few inroads within the discipline of psychology. This article describes a pilot project examining how art-making shaped the trajectories of women diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. Using ABR as a way of distilling the findings, we demonstrate how experiences of existential and posttraumatic growth can be understood more intensely and profoundly through found poetry. Found poems (excerpts from interviews reframed as poetry) offer a richer, more meaningful, and potent evocation of themes than traditional coding categories. Poetry permits the voice of the participant to be more clearly heard and allows the reader to access deeper insights and understandings of the complexities of growth through adversity.     

A review of research on smoking among United States Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (2006–2016)

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders diagnosed in U.S. veterans. PTSD is associated with high smoking prevalences and difficulty quitting in the general U.S. population. The current study reviewed research on smoking and PTSD in U.S. veteran samples to summarize past research and identify areas in need of additional inquiry. MEDLINE and PsycINFO searches identified papers on smoking in samples of U.S. veterans with PTSD published from January 2006 through December 2016. Thirty-four articles met all of the inclusion criteria: (a) part of the sample consisted of U.S. veterans with PTSD or PTSD symptoms, and (b) the study examined some aspect of smoking behavior. U.S. veterans with PTSD were more likely to report smoking, heavy smoking, nicotine dependence, and late-onset smoking compared to veterans without PTSD. Smoking behaviors (e.g., current smoking, heavy smoking, smoking expectancies) differed by PTSD symptoms and by combat exposure. Smoking cessation feasibility studies examined the integration of smoking treatment into PTSD clinics and found favorable outcomes. Future research on veterans with PTSD would benefit from extending topics beyond rates of smoking to better understand the treatment needs of veterans. Research on smoking-related behaviors can help identify areas to target for interventions.     

The neural correlates of alcohol-related aggression

Alcohol intoxication is implicated in approximately half of all violent crimes. Over the past several decades, numerous theories have been proposed to account for the influence of alcohol on aggression. Nearly all of these theories imply that altered functioning in the prefrontal cortex is a proximal cause. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, 50 healthy young men consumed either a low dose of alcohol or a placebo and completed an aggression paradigm against provocative and nonprovocative opponents. Provocation did not affect neural responses. However, relative to sober participants, during acts of aggression, intoxicated participants showed decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, caudate, and ventral striatum, but heightened activation in the hippocampus. Among intoxicated participants, but not among sober participants, aggressive behavior was positively correlated with activation in the medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These results support theories that posit a role for prefrontal cortical dysfunction as an important factor in intoxicated aggression.     

Cancer Susceptibility Genetic Testing in a High-Risk Cohort of Urban Ashkenazi Jewish Individuals

Prior to 2013, genetic testing for Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) individuals primarily consisted of the three-site BRCA1/BRCA2 AJ panel, full sequencing of BRCA1/2, or the Lynch syndrome mismatch repair genes. Multigene panel testing became more widely available in 2013, but limited data are available regarding the impact of multigene panel testing for AJ individuals. Here, we report the frequency of cancer susceptibility gene mutations in a cohort of 427 AJ individuals seen in the Cancer Risk Clinic at The University of Chicago. We found that 29% of affected and 37% of unaffected individuals carried a pathogenic mutation (32% of overall cohort), primarily known familial mutations in BRCA1/2. A minority of mutations were identified in non-BRCA1/2 genes and consisted mainly of AJ founder mutations in CHEK2, APC, and the mismatch repair genes. A panel of AJ founder mutations would have identified the majority (94%) of mutations in clinically actionable genes in both affected and unaffected patients. Based on recent cost-effectiveness studies, offering all AJ individuals a founder mutation panel may be a cost-effective cancer prevention strategy.     

Braiding Two Evidence-Based Programs for Families At-Risk: Results of a Cluster Randomized Trial

Child maltreatment is a significant public health problem best addressed through evidence-based parent-support programs. There is a wide range of programs with different strengths offering a variety of options for families. Choosing one single evidence-based program often limits the range of services available to meet the unique needs of families. This paper presents findings from a study to examine the systematic braiding of two evidence-based programs, Parents as Teachers and SafeCare at Home (PATSCH), with the goal to provide a more robust intervention for higher risk families. A cluster randomized effectiveness trial was conducted to examine if PATSCH improved parenting behaviors known to decrease the risk for child maltreatment compared to Parents as Teachers (PAT) Alone. Parents (N?=?159; 92 PAT Alone; 67 PATSCH) were enrolled to complete a baseline, 6-month and 12-month assessment. Results indicate the groups did not differ on number of environmental hazards in the home, parents’ health care decision-making abilities, child abuse potential, and physical assault over time. However, with regard to the potential for child abuse, the PATSCH group showed a decrease in nonviolence discipline and increase in psychological aggression compared to the PAT group. Further research is needed to better examine this concept and its implications for the field.     

Factor Structure and Incremental Utility of the Multidimensional Cognitive Attentional Syndrome Scale (MCASS): A Bifactor Analysis

The Multidimensional Cognitive Attentional Syndrome Scale (MCASS) was developed to assess the seven maladaptive forms of self-regulation that make up the cognitive attentional syndrome (CAS). Both theory and empirical evidence highlight important distinctions among the seven forms of self-regulation underlying the CAS. The primary purpose of the present study was to determine whether the MCASS item scores are sufficiently multidimensional to warrant the use of subscale scores. A secondary aim was to examine the incremental utility of the MCASS domain-specific factors. A battery of self-report measures was administered to adults recruited through a crowd-sourcing website (N?=?359). Bifactor analysis was used to examine the multidimensionality of MCASS item scores. This analytic approach allowed for the quantification of variance captured by each domain-specific item score independent of the general factor. Results from the bifactor analysis suggest that the MCASS is a multidimensional measure, consisting of a strong general factor and domain-specific factors that are sufficiently distinct. Additionally, the majority of domain-specific factors provided incremental utility in predicting two criterion variables (i.e., general distress, happiness emotion goals) after accounting for the general factor. Taken together, results support continued use of the MCASS total scale and subscale scores and suggest that researchers may want to consider using a bifactor model when examining structural models that include the MCASS.