Changes in Work Motivation During Transition: A Case from Slovenia

A longitudinal study of work motivation based on the VIE model was conducted in a Slovenian iron and steel organisation in five-year intervals from 1979 to 1994. During this period we can observe some changes in the importance of values and changes in the perceptions of the work environment. Results were interpreted as context-specific reflections of the macrosocietal changes that have occurred during the transition in Eastern and Central Europe. The results also indicate that meaningful changes in organizational culture and climate occurred long before the actual political and economic change happened. Limitations related to the nature of the research design and to the cross-level nature of transitional changes are discussed.     

The Effect of Strain,Affect, and Personal/Social Resources on Problem Substance Use among Incarcerated and Non-Incarcerated Youth

ABSTRACT

We explore the applicability of General Strain Theory to juvenile substance use. In doing so, we offer three advances over prior work. First, we put forward the concept of “problem substance use” to move beyond frequency-based and more medicalized conceptions of the phenomenon toward a conceptualization that views substance use as problematic when it disrupts social relationships and expectations and when it reflects a loss of self-control. Second, we employ a dataset that permits us to explore how strains originating in different life domains influence problem substance use as well as how negative emotions and personal coping resources mediate the relationship between strain and problem substance use. Third, we move beyond prior work by comparing how strain and strain mediators operate differently in schools, alternative learning centers, and juvenile correctional facilities. We find strong effects of the strain variables and strain mediators indicated by General Strain Theory and evidence that alternative learning centers and juvenile correction facilities are associated with especially high odds of problem substance use even when strain and other variables are controlled. We conclude by discussing the limitations of current work and the implications for next steps in the strain-substance use research literature.