Rebuild or Relocate? Resilience and Postdisaster Decision‐Making After Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy struck the east coast of the United States on October 29, 2012, devastating communities in its path. In the aftermath, New York implemented a home buyout program designed to facilitate the permanent relocation of residents out of areas considered to be at risk for future hazards. While home buyout programs are becoming popular as policy tools for disaster mitigation, little is known about what factors influence homeowners to participate in or reject these programs. This study used mixed methods to assess the relationship between community resilience and the relocation decision in two heavily damaged communities in which the majority of residents made different decisions regarding whether or not to pursue a buyout. The sample was composed of residents from Oakwood Beach and Rockaway Park, both working‐class communities in New York City, who participated via a community survey (N = 133) and/or in‐depth interviews (N = 28). Results suggested that community resilience moderated the relationship between community of residence and the buyout decision, leading to opposite responses on the buyout decision. Contextual community factors, including the history of natural disasters, local cultural norms, and sense of place, were instrumental in explaining these different responses. Implications for disaster policy are discussed.     

Prior and future withdrawal and performance: A meta-analysis of their relations in panel studies

While consensus exists among researchers that withdrawal and performance are related, the ordering of these constructs in proposed models frequently varies based on the theoretical focus of the study. Specifically, several extant well-being theories predict employee withdrawal will affect future performance while several turnover theories predict employee performance will affect future withdrawal. This study systematically addresses these complementary theories by conducting a meta-analysis of panel studies measuring both withdrawal and performance at two or more time periods. After accounting for sampling and measurement error, meta-analytic regression results indicate that performance is significantly negatively related to future withdrawal (ρ = − .19) even after accounting for prior withdrawal (β = − .03). However, the relationship between withdrawal and future performance (ρ = − .20) disappeared after accounting for prior performance (β = .00), although burnout did predict future performance even after accounting for prior performance (β = − .07).     

An Analysis of Natural Mentoring Relationship Profiles and Associations with Mentees’ Mental Health: Considering Links via Support from Important Others

We explored associations between natural mentoring relationship profiles and young adults’ life satisfaction and symptoms of depression via participants’ perceived support from important others accounting for participants’ perceived support and mental health prior to the onset of their natural mentoring relationships. Participants included 396 young adults (57 % female; mean age = 30.97, SD = .6), the majority of whom identified as Black or African American (79 % Black, 18 % White, 3 % Biracial). Most participants had completed high school but few participants (13 %) had completed degrees from 4 year institutions. We used a latent profile approach to identify natural mentoring relationship profiles and employed structural equation modeling to test our study hypotheses. Slightly over half of study participants (53 %) reported the presence of a natural mentor in their lives since the age of 14. Results suggest that natural mentoring relationships characterized by high levels of relational closeness and either extended relationship duration or frequent contact may promote improvements in psychological well-being among mentees over time via greater experiences of social support from important others.