Two of a Kind? Leader–Member Exchange and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors:The Moderating Role of Leader–Member Similarity

This study investigates the role of similarity in ethnic origin between supervisor and employee as a potential moderator between subordinates' leader–member exchange (LMX) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The results support the interaction effect of supervisor–subordinate ethnic differences with LMX and OCB. As hypothesized, OCB was positively related to LMX for both ethnically similar and dissimilar dyads, but the relationship was strongest for similar dyads.     

Her/His Ethics? Managerial Ethics in Moral Decision-Making from a Contextual,Gendered, and Relational Perspective

Sex Roles - For the last decades, the question of differences in the moral judgments of women and men and the role of an “ethics of care” versus an “ethics of justice” have...     

The two faces of transformational leadership: empowerment and dependency

Followers' identification with the leader and the organizational unit, dependence on the leader, and empowerment by the leader are often attributed to transformational leadership in organizations. However, these hypothesized outcomes have received very little attention in empirical studies. Using a sample of 888 bank employees working under 76 branch manages, the authors tested the relationships between transformational leadership and these outcomes. They found that transformational leadership was positively related to both followers' dependence and their empowerment and that personal identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' dependence on the leader, whereas social identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' empowerment. The authors discuss the implications of these findings to both theory and practice.     

Hemispheric processing of idioms in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder

Studies conducted on individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show that they find it difficult to comprehend figurative language, and have a tendency to interpret it literally. This study examines hemispheric processing of idioms in patients with SZ, in comparison to individuals with ASD. Seventeen adults with SZ and 18 adults with ASD participated in the study. The two clinical groups were matched in age, vocabulary scores and verbal executive function scores. Using the divided visual field paradigm, the participants performed a lexical decision task for a target word related to either a literal or a figurative interpretation of an idiom. Whereas SZ patients showed the typical right lateralisation for non-salient literal interpretations of idioms, adults with ASD showed atypical bilateral processing. These findings indicate different hemispheric lateralisation in idiom processing in the two clinical groups.     

The relation between hopelessness and psychological and serological outcomes in israeli women with breast-cancer

Abstract

Investigations into the role of hopelessness in cancer-outcomes are gaining importance. This study examined the relations between hopelessness and psychological and serological outcomes among breast-cancer patients. Forty-nine Israeli women with breast-cancer were assessed for background data, hopelessness (helplessness and pessimism), life-changes, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and negative-affect (NA). A sub-sample (N= 21) was followed over four months for alterations in the breast-cancer serological marker CA15-3. Hopelessness was significantly correlated with PTSD-symptoms (r=.43) and NA (r= .30). Hopelessness accounted for an additional and significant 17% and 10% of the variances in PTSD-symptoms and NA. respectively, after controlling for effects of cancer-stage, age, time since diagnosis (and life-changes for PTSD). Finally, helplessness (but not pessimism) predicted changes in CA15-3, controlling for cancer-stage (r= .42. p < .05). These results support previous findings concerning the importance of hopelessness in cancer, and extend them to further psychological and serological outcomes.     

Leading by example: the case of leader OCB

The importance of leading by personal example or role modeling for effective leadership has been recognized in many leadership theories. However, leaders' ability to influence group behavior through exemplary behavior has received little attention in empirical work. This study explores leading by example through theoretical development and empirical testing of a moderated mediation model of the potential effects of leader organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). This model suggests that a leader's OCB may promote group OCB directly and indirectly by enhancing the group's belief that OCB is worthy. It also specifies the moderators of the direct and indirect effects of leader OCB on group OCB. Data from 683 members of 67 intact work groups, 67 group managers, and their supervisors support the hypothesized model. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Effect of Training with Music on Happiness Recognition in Social Anxiety Disorder

The process of emotion recognition is thought to be negatively biased in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Ways to change this bias are needed. Forty one individuals afflicted with moderate SAD and 39 healthy controls were recruited to participate in this study. All subjects performed a vocal improvisation recognition task and half of them underwent training in happiness recognition in musical improvisations. The four groups (trained SAD, untrained SAD, trained controls and untrained controls) were then compared in terms of the extent of precise identification of one of five basic emotions (happiness, fear, anger, sadness and surprise) in spoken language. Subjects with SAD demonstrated less accurate identification of happiness in spoken language as compared to the healthy controls. However, subjects with SAD trained to recognize happiness demonstrated an improved ability to identify happiness in spoken language (in a female’s voice), similarly to that of the healthy controls. Our findings demonstrate that a brief training in happiness recognition improves the ability of individuals with SAD to recognize happiness in spoken language. Additional studies are needed to support and refine our intervention and to examine its impact on individuals with SAD over longer periods of time.     

A focus on commitment: the roles of transformational and transactional leadership and self-regulatory focus in fostering organizational and safety commitment

The concept of employees’ commitment is one of the most challenging concepts in the management, organizational behaviour and human resource management literatures and research. The current study focuses on the construct of commitment as an emotional attitude, and expands the concept of general organizational commitment to a new more specific form of commitment, commitment to safety. Furthermore, commitment theorists commonly identify leadership as an important contributing factor to the development of organizational commitment. We aim to explain an underlying motivational mechanism, self-regulatory foci, through which leadership styles foster followers’ commitment. Results of three studies that used different methods (field and experimental), within different samples, demonstrated that transformational leadership was positively associated with followers’ promotion focus, which in turn was positively associated with both followers’ general and affective commitment to safety. Prevention focus mediated the positive relationship between a transactional active leadership style and both followers’ general and continuance commitment to safety. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are further discussed.     

Auditory hallucinations in acute stroke

Auditory hallucinations are uncommon phenomena which can be directly caused by acute stroke, mostly described after lesions of the brain stem, very rarely reported after cortical strokes. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of this phenomenon. In a cross sectional study, 641 stroke patients were followed in the period between 1996-2000. Each patient underwent comprehensive investigation and follow-up. Four patients were found to have post cortical stroke auditory hallucinations. All of them occurred after an ischemic lesion of the right temporal lobe. After no more than four months, all patients were symptom-free and without therapy. The fact the auditory hallucinations may be of cortical origin must be taken into consideration in the treatment of stroke patients. The phenomenon may be completely reversible after a couple of months.