Do developmental differences in mental toughness exist between specialized and invested Australian footballers?

Using a cross-sectional design, the primary purpose of the present study was to examine developmental differences in mental toughness between specialized and invested Australian footballers. A secondary purpose was to examine the psychometric properties of the Australian football Mental Toughness Inventory (AfMTI; Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2009a) with a sample of youth footballers. Participants were 350 footballers aged between 13 and 18 (M = 15.88; SD = 1.71); 144 (M_age = 14.06; SD = .89) and 206 (M_age = 17.02; SD = 1.06) footballers from the specialized and investment developmental stages, respectively. A confirmatory factor analysis of the AfMTI using AMOS did not reveal support for its psychometric structure; however, a revised version received support. A MANOVA revealed the presence of a significant difference between the two developmental groups, and follow-up ANOVA’s indicated that the desire success and sport awareness subscales contributed to multivariate effect. It appears that developmental differences should be considered in future theorizing on the development of mental toughness.     

INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM

This paper introduces a symposium discussing Michael Oakeshott's understanding of the relationship of religion, science and politics. Essays by Elizabeth Corey, Timothy Fuller, Byron Kaldis, and Corey Abel are followed by a review of Corey's recent book by Efraim Podoksik.     

Perceptions of the organizational context and psychological contract breach: Assessing competing perspectives

This study examines how employees’ perceptions of specific features of the organizational context—organizational politics and procedural justice—are related to their evaluations of psychological contract breach and subsequent attitudes and behaviors. Across three studies, we examined the appropriateness of four models for describing relationships among the focal constructs. Results of these studies support (a) an environmental responsiveness model in which psychological contract breach mediates the effects of politics and justice on employee outcomes, and (b) a general fairness evaluation model where politics, justice, and psychological contract breach serve as indicators of a higher order factor that predicts employee attitudes and behavior. Implications and directions for future research are presented.     

Understanding and Evaluating Bureaucratic Politics: The Nexus Between Political Leaders and Advisory

Bureaucratic politics—for example, the "political" interaction between individuals and organizations in the executive branch of government—is a potentially significant force affecting the course and outcomes of governmental policymaking processes. In this article, an empirical and normative model and operationalization of bureaucratic politics is developed, treating it as a variable rather than as an immutable (and by definition problematic) property of policy decision-making. A conceptual model, linking the nature and intensity of bureaucratic politics in advisory systems to the characteristics of the political leaders served by them, is also developed. On the basis of earlier studies of presidential leadership (e.g., Preston, 1996), the leader's need for power, cognitive complexity, and prior policy experience/expertise are hypothesized to affect the organization and operation of the advisory system in terms of bureaucratic politics. Using Hermann's (1983) Personality Assessment-at-a-Distance (PAD) coding technique, theoretical assertions are illustrated in a detailed case study of two critical episodes in U.S. decision-making in the conduct of the Vietnam war in 1965 and 1968.     

Impacts of artificial intelligence on organizational decision making

Of all of the new technologies emerging in the late 20th century, the production of artificial intelligence may provide the most profound impacts on organizational decision making. Because the development of artificial intelligence technologies and models has largely been based on psychological models of human cognition, the effects of their implementation in complex social settings have not been thoroughly examined. This paper is an attempt to generate research which will develop a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of artificial intelligence and its role in complex organizations. A set of 11 hypotheses has been developed which examine the relationships between artificial intelligence technologies and the dimensions of organizational decision making. It is argued here that the implementation of expert systems will lead to less complex and political decision processes, while the implementation of natural language systems will lead to more complex and political decision processes.     

儒家德治思想及其价值的现代阐释

德治理念确立于西周时期 ,在《尚书》中已有明确表述 ,以孔子为代表的儒家学派则在某种程度上对其进行了理论上的系统化。“德治”的观念依据是天命君权的神圣性与绝对性 ,其现实基础则是以血缘家族为基本结构的宗法社会 ,而其贯彻的制度保证则是“礼乐刑政”相互辅成的互动机制。在“德治”理念的背后隐藏着王权的绝对性以及“治者”与“被治者”之间在政治地位以及价值理念上的根本不平等。但作为一种政治模式 ,“德治”充分强调了对于统治者本身之道德素质的本质要求 ,因此它仍蕴含着现代政治在现实性上趋于合理化的基本前提     

The changing dynamics of religious authority on Pakistani religious television

This paper analyses the production, ownership and control of Pakistani religious talk shows, which have emerged as a popular genre of religious programming, subsequent to the liberalisation of Pakistani media in 2002. Much scholarship has implicated the nexus between Islam and televisual media in enabling the fragmentation of religious authority, by altering ‘lay’ engagements with Islam and thereby eliciting wider participation in religious discourse. In contrast, this paper focuses on the changing terms of asserting religious authority in the newly liberalised media context. Based on an analysis of the innovative formats and modes of editorial control characterising contemporary religious shows, I posit the significance of religious talk shows in both altering the nature of scholarly participation in religious public debate, and subjecting featured scholars to non-scholarly interests and agendas. I argue that the latter two insights into the nature of religious authority on television are only accessible from a production-based perspective, which is crucial for evaluating the wider implications of broadcast media for religious authority.