Job stress and employee behaviors

The relationship between four job stresses (role ambiguity, role overload, underutilization of skills, and resource inadequacy) and two employee withdrawal behaviors (absenteeism and turnover) was investigated. The joint prediction of employee withdrawal from measures of job stress and selected backgroundd variables was also investigated. Data were obtained regarding 651 employees in five organizations through personal interviews and company records. Analysis indicated that job stress is related to employee withdrawal behaviors, that prediction of subsequent behaviors is stronger than prediction of prior behaviors, and that the predictive power of job stress and background variables taken together is as strong as, or stronger than, the predictive power of background variables alone. Confidence in the strength of the findings is enhanced by the use of multiple data sources and multiple data points.     

Lourens Minnema: Tragic Views of the Human Condition: Cross-Cultural Comparisons Between Views of Human Nature in Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy and the Mahābhārata and Bhagavadgītā

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research -     

The Incommensurability Thesis: Has It Lost Its Bite?

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research - Incommensurability constitutes the focal point of Kuhn’s departure from the prevailing traditions in Philosophy of Science. The paper...     

Not here,there! Possible referential gesturing during allogrooming by wild bonnet macaques, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macaca radiata</Emphasis>

Intentional referential gestures, a fundamental building block of symbolic human language, have been reported from a range of species, including non-human primates. While apes are known to spontaneously use intentional gestures, only captive macaques, amongst non-ape primates, appear to intentionally display learnt gestures. On the other hand, referential gestures have so far been reported only in chimpanzees, amongst non-human primates. We document here, for the first time, potentially referential gesturing, used intentionally as well, in a monkey species, the bonnet macaque Macaca radiata, in the wild. Bonnet macaques use four distinct actions during allogrooming, possibly to indicate a particular body part intended to be groomed. These acts were successful in drawing the recipients’ attention to the indicated part, which they began to groom subsequently. This study enriches our understanding of non-ape primate gestural communication and adds to the growing evidence for early human language-like capacities in non-human species.     

How husbands and wives in dual-career families perceive their family and work worlds

The perceptions of men and women in dual-career families were mapped with a view to understanding their concerns, priorities, and attitudes toward their work and family lives. Sixteen variables which represented aspects of family and work life and members' own attitudes and behaviors were used to map the perceptions through the multivariate factor analytic technique. A sample of husbands and wives in 127 dual-career families in the St. Louis area was used to collect the data. The results of the study indicate that husbands and wives perceive and cognitively structure their family and work worlds in practically the same way. They both see four distinct facets of their work and family lives. These are (1) a psychologically rewarding job dimension, (2) a general effectiveness dimension, (3) an investment-return dynamic in their careers, and (4) an expectation from the organization and consequences dimension. If the results of this study are replicated in different samples of dual-career families, then we could be sure that the perceptions, values, priorities, and cognitive structuring of family and work factors are virtually the same for men and women and that there are no gender differences.     

Substance use as an employee response to the work environment

A conceptual framework for the examination of alcohol and drug use as employee responses to work environments is proposed. Three sets of substance use antecedents are discussed. These are distancing forces, attractions, and constraints. Examples of these antecedents within the organizational setting are provided, and the dynamic interrelationships among them explored. Conditions for the use of different types of substances are also identified.     

Extraversion and reinforcement in verbal operant conditioning.

The present investigation was designed to study the relationship between extraversion and modes of reinforcement in verbal operant conditioning. A 4 X 3 randomized block design was replicated ten times. Eighty graduate and post-graduate male students were individually subjected to the standard Taffel conditioning procedure. When the numbers of conditioned responses produced by introverts and extraverts were compared, it was found that: (1) under negative reinforcement ('bad' and electric shock), with both the female and male experimenters, and under positive reinforcement ('good') with the male experimenter, the introverts' score was the higher of the two; (2) under positive reinforcement ('good') with the female experimenter, the extraverts' score was higher than that of the introverts.     

Impulsivity/sociability and reinforcement in verbal operant conditioning

The present investigation was designed to study the relationship between impulsivity/sociability and modes of reinforcement in verbal operant conditioning. Two 2x3 randomized block designs, one each for impulsivity and sociability, were replicated ten times. One hundred and twenty undergraduate female students (60 for impulsivity and 60 for sociability) were individually subjected to Taffel's verbal conditioning procedure. When the conditioning scores of high and low scorers on the impulsivity and sociability scales were compared, it was found that under rewarding conditions ('good' and 'buzzer' in respect of sociability and 'good' in respect of impulsivity) the high scorers' score and under punishing conditions ('electric shock') the low scorers' score was the higher of the two. The study also revealed that the high scorers (on the impulsivity scale) conditioned more under rewarding conditions while the low scorers (both on the impulsivity and sociability scales) conditioned more under punishing ones.