The semantic side of decision making

The research reported in this paper follows the perspective that decision making is a meaningful act that conveys information. Furthermore, the potential meanings associated with decision options may affect the decisions themselves. This idea is examined in the contexts of compensation, donation, and exchange. In general, judgments were relation dependent and meaning dependent. Furthermore, the results show nonmonotonicities and limited substitutability in a pattern that challenges straightforward ways of mapping decisions onto a common currency of utility.     

The Reduction(?) of Thermodynamics to Statistical Mechanics

Philosophical Studies -     

A Socioecological Approach to Relational Demography: How Relative Representation and Respectful Coworkers Affect Job Attitudes

Purpose

This paper advances a socioecological perspective toward understanding the relationship between demography and job attitudes by considering the joint effects of individual ethnicity and ethnic group relative representation—the degree to which an individual’s own demographic group is represented similarly in their organization and the community in which the organization is located.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Hierarchical polynomial regression analyses of census and survey data from 57,000 employees of 142 hospitals in the United Kingdom suggest that ethnic group relative representation is related to ethnic minority employees’ job satisfaction and turnover intentions.

Findings

An asymmetric pattern emerged wherein the effect of under-representation on turnover intentions was stronger than the effect of over-representation. Moreover, the effects of relative representation varied with respectful treatment by coworkers; relative representation had little effect on attitudes of employees who reported low levels of coworker respect but generally enhanced attitudes when respect was high.

Originality/Value

This work points to the meaningful role that socioecological factors can play in what are typically considered to be intraorganizational phenomena, thereby highlighting the need for organizational research to assess relevant aspects of the communities in which organizations are embedded.

     

Mental Simulation, Affect, and Personality: A Conceptual Framework

Recent advances in theory and research on the relations among mental simulation, affect, and personality are summarized and combined. Research has shown that (a) affect and mental simulations can influence each other, (b) mental simulations can serve diverse self-motives, and (c) personality characteristics are related to divergent functions of mental simulations. Findings in these three areas are synthesized into a conceptual framework on the basis of three attributes of mental simulations: (a) time, whether simulations are prospective or retrospective; (b) direction, whether simulations are upward or downward; and (c) focus, whether simulations are contrasted or assimilated. This integrated framework not only may enable a greater understanding of existing findings, but also suggests novel and unique predictions for future research on understanding personality processes, automaticity in simulations, and coping with life events.     

The national institutes of health attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder consensus statement: implications for practitioners and scientists

Although the concept of pharmacotherapy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was first introduced more than 60 years ago, treatment of this disorder remains more controversial than ever. It is hoped, however, that the recent Consensus Development Conference (CDC) Statement on the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD will not only help answer some of the questions surrounding management of this disorder, but also lend needed scientific weight to debate in this area. While more research in ADHD is needed, the CDC participants pointed to a solid body of evidence showing that careful medication management can result in noticeable improvement in several measures, with little risk of adverse events.     

The American experience: Lessons learned

This paper discusses ten lessons learned since 1989 about handling allegations of scientific misconduct involving biomedical and behavioral research supported by the U. S. Public Health Service. An earlier version of this paper was presented at a symposium, Scientific Misconduct: An International Perspective, organised by The Medical University of Warsaw, 16 November, 1998. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Office of Research Integrity, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or any other federal agency.     

Influence of Time in Treatment and Follow-Up Duration on Methadone Treatment Outcomes

Data for 422 methadone treatment clients in the National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study (NTIES) were analyzed. Clients maintained continuously in methadone treatment for longer than 12 months and clients who leftbetween 3–12 months were compared with clients treated for less than 3 months. Additionally, clients treated for 3–12 months who had short follow-up periods (6-month average) were compared with 3–12-month clients with long follow-up periods (11-month average). Positive treatment outcomes includinglower drug use, reduced risk of viral infectionand sexually transmitted disease (through needle sharing and multiple sex partners), and less criminality wereassociated with both longer duration treatment and shorter follow-up periods. The findings suggested that continuous methadone treatment of 12 or more months is optimal, whereas stays of less than3 months may be ineffective. Furthermore, stays of 3–12 months are likelyto be beneficial over a relatively short time span, for example 6 months.