Business owners' action planning and its relationship to business success in three African countries

A model of business success was developed with motivational resources (locus of control, self-efficacy, achievement motivation, and self-reported personal initiative) and cognitive resources (cognitive ability and human capital) as independent variables, business owners' elaborate and proactive planning as a mediator, and business size and growth as dependent variables. Three studies with a total of 408 African micro and small-scale business owners were conducted in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Structural equation analyses partially supported the hypotheses on the importance of psychological planning by the business owners. Elaborate and proactive planning was substantially related to business size and to an external evaluation of business success and was a (partial) mediator for the relationship between cognitive resources and business success. The model carries important implications for selection, training, and coaching of business owners.     

The Relationship between Creative Personality Composition,Innovative Team Climate,and Team Innovativeness: An Input — Process — Output Perspective

This study investigates the relationship between creative personality composition, innovative team climate, and team innovation based on an input‐process‐output model. We measured personality with the Creative Person Profile, team climate with the Team Climate Inventory, and team innovation through team‐member and supervisor reports of team innovativeness. The personality composition in each of 29 teams in a television production company was operationalized by mean scores for each creative personality variable, as well as the combination of different creative personality variables within a team. The team climate variable “vision” mediated the relationship between the mean level of associative orientation in teams and team innovation. The team climate variable “support of innovation” mediated the relationship between the joint variables of mean level of ambition x mean level of motivation and team innovation. The results indicated that when there are relationships between creative personality composition and team innovativeness, they are mediated by an innovative team climate.     

Schizotypal and dependent personality characteristics and managerial performance

The study of negatively connotated personality characteristics as predictors of work‐related performance is gaining momentum. While findings have generally suggested such characteristics to be negatively or curvilinearly related to performance, the current study was concerned with investigating any positive relationships that may exist between negatively connotated personality characteristics (as measured by the Hogan Development Survey) and work‐related performance in a sample of 103 Australasian financial services managers. The most notable findings from the study were that: (a) schizotypal personality characteristics positively predicted performance on a creativity competency; and (b) dependent personality characteristics positively predicted performance on a customer focus competency. Findings and limitations are discussed.     

Early exposure to violence,domestic violence,attachment representations,and marital adjustment

The present study investigates the effects of violent experiences in childhood on current domestic violence and marital adjustment, using adult attachment theory as a conceptual framework. A nonclinical sample of 644 Canadian adults in long‐term romantic relationships completed measures of adult romantic attachment, conflict tactics scales, and dyadic adjustment. Structural equation modeling revealed that early experiences of violence affect adults' intimate violence directly and indirectly through anxiety over abandonment and avoidance of intimacy. The actor–partner interdependence model illustrated the importance of early exposure to violence in predicting both partners' attachment representations, intimate violence, and couple adjustment. Findings are discussed with reference to the clinical issues surrounding minor violence against the intimate partner.