Honesty–humility and a person–situation interaction at work

Person–situation interactions have attracted researchers' attention for decades. Likewise, the current work focuses on the interaction of honesty–humility and situational conditions in bringing about counterproductive work behaviour (CWB). As such, we introduce perceptions of organizational politics as a situational construct representing an opportunity for CWB. In a sample of N = 148 employees we found that particularly individuals low in honesty–humility were affected by situational circumstances. By contrast, those high in honesty–humility reported practically the same (lower) amount of CWB independent of the level of perceptions of organizational politics. In other words, employees low in honesty–humility were especially likely to condition their behaviour on environmental factors, a result that mirrors previous findings. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Communion and Liberation: a Catholic movement in a multilevel governance perspective

In this article we focus on how changes in political structure influence religion. Communion and Liberation (CL) is widely known in Italy as a very important Catholic movement whose political power has been significantly increasing in the last 15 years. It is an example of a movement deeply rooted at the local level, where its activities range from grassroots meetings to business activities and service provision. In the sociological literature, CL has been studied either by focusing on its political ideology, or as a religious movement. Introducing a specific focus on the political system allows us to highlight the close relationships between the recent changes in the Italian political system and the reasons for the local success of CL. Indeed, it has been a process of mutual adaptation and influence. The political success of a Catholic movement in a Western democracy is relevant to understanding the changing role of religion in the political arena. Christian movements can play a role of substitution for traditional political movements in countries where traditional parties have become particularly weak and not capable of inspiring enthusiasm among citizens. But the story of CL in Lombardy suggests also that something is changing in the relationship between national and local politics. CL is able to play on different territorial horizons by using local, regional and national political spheres to promote its policies, mainly in the welfare sector. This is an important signal of a capacity both to adapt to a changing political system and to influence these changes. In this paper we focus on the relationships between CL and Italian politics in the Second Republic (1993 to the present day) by analysing CL representation of its political role as well as by pointing out the political opportunity structure in which its success has taken place.     

Do Elite Athletes Renowned for Their Aggressive Play Transfer Aggression to Nonsport Settings? A Qualitative Exploratory Study

This exploratory qualitative study concerned elite-level male Australian footballers' attitudes to and experience of off-the-field aggression and violence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with athletes selected for their highly aggressive play on the field. Data was analyzed, according to established principles for qualitative data. Reversal theory was used to interpret findings related to: (a) athletes' perception and experience of violent incidents in off-the-field social settings; (b) the possible role of alcohol; (c) athletes' responses and means of coping; and (d) athletes' perception of the different physical risks in on- and off-the-field violence. The results indicated, for example, that athletes sometimes found themselves the target of violence, but generally did not report instigating it. Provocation caused angry verbal and physical aggressive responses from some athletes, but others had developed coping and avoidance strategies. Athletes perceived the physical risk involved in on- and off-the-field aggression differently and distinguished the boundary that exists between the two.     

Combining Methodologies in the Construct Validation Process: An Empirical Illustration

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) has received considerable support as a methodology for assessing construct validity. As with other methodologies, however, numerous problems can be encountered when using CFA to assess construct validity. Given the limitations of the CFA, Multitrait-Multimethod (MTMM), and analysis of variance (ANOVA) methodologies, a set of guidelines was developed. The guidelines recommend that the characteristics of the data set be used to determine how the three alternative construct validation methodologies can be used in combination. Examples from the research literature are discussed in order to demonstrate the application of these guidelines.     

The Wall-Seeking Tendency and Maze Learning in the White Rat

A partial replication and extension of the semantic differential was used to test the effects of modified middle interval instructions on rotated factor loadings derived from Ss' responses. The partial replication is in good agreement with the findings published by Osgood et al. (5). However, the results from Ss responding to the modified middle interval instructions differ markedly from those in published and control conditions, yielding an interpretable fourth factor suggesting the achievement of more subtle nuance of meaning.     

MARGARET THATCHER'S CHRISTIAN FAITH: A Case Study in Political Theology

Throughout the 1980s Margaret Thatcher dominated British and global politics. At the same time she maintained an active Christian faith, which she understood as shaping and informing her political choices and policies. In this article I argue that we can construct from Thatcher's key speeches, her memoirs, and her book on public policy a cultural “theo‐political” identity which guided her political decisions. Thatcher's identity was as an Anglo‐Saxon Nonconformist. This consisted of her belief in values such as thrift and hard work, care for the family and local neighbor, and charitable generosity; her belief in the renewal of the national British Christian spirit; and her notion of morality as the opportunity for free choice. Without a recognition of the centrality of her theo‐political identity, it is difficult to understand the values and beliefs which were central to her political life. The methodological issues raised by the construction of this theo‐political identity are examined in this article. The aim of the proposed methodology is to develop theological insights into a political phenomenon like Thatcher rather than make policy judgments or recommendations.     

The purloined speech: Race and illegitimacy in the Obama school speech controversy

In this article, we examine the controversy over and partial ban of Barack Obama's 2009 school speech. Drawing on Lacan's analysis of Poe's Purloined Letter, we argue that the speech was purloined in the way the letter was in Poe's story; that is, its course was prolonged. Further, the banning of the speech had less to do with the speech's content than it did with the role of the speech as a pure signifier – a structuring moment around which political subjectivities were staked out. These subjectivities, we argue, draw on the symbolic universe that Spillers refers to as the “American Grammar”, which never directly references race while being fully constituted by racial difference. The American Grammar constructs a historically and spatially contingent subject of a white, male political leader as a universal paternal authority figure whose legitimacy is based on protecting the “innocent” and the “intimate (home)” from external threat. In efforts to ban Obama's school speech and protect the nation's “innocent school children”, two specific elisions were made: 1) Obama was constructed in terms of what we, following Morrison, term an Africanist presence and made external to the nation to which he was then labeled as a threat, and 2) the space of the school was constructed as private and apolitical precluding Obama's access.     

Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS): Preliminary Australian normative data

The aim of the present study was to establish demographically adjusted normative data for the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) in an Australian context. RBANS data from 172 healthy Australian community dwelling adults enrolled in the “Using our Brains” (UoB) Brain Tissue Donor program between April 2002 and September 2005 were included in this study. The present study group differed from the original North American normative sample on all 12 subtests and five RBANS indices. Education and to a lesser degree age were related to RBANS performance. The present study provides complementary RBANS normative data for clinicians and researchers when interpreting RBANS results for Australian individuals closely matching those reported in this study.     

工作场所的组织政治会危害员工绩效吗？基于个人-组织契合理论的视角

本研究基于个人-组织契合理论的视角, 通过对286份员工与直接主管的配对数据, 揭示了组织政治知觉对员工绩效(任务绩效和组织公民行为)的影响, 马基雅维利主义人格对这两者之间关系的调节作用, 组织认同在这两者之间的中介作用。层次回归分析结果发现：组织政治知觉对任务绩效、组织公民行为具有显著的消极影响, 马基雅维利主义人格可以显著调节组织政治知觉与任务绩效、组织公民行为两者之间的关系, 而组织认同是组织政治知觉与任务绩效、组织公民行为之间的完全中介变量。调节路径分析结果表明：马基雅维利主义对组织政治知觉与员工绩效之间关系的调节作用也是以组织认同为中介, 具体表现为被中介的调节作用。     

Institutions of Conscience: Politics and Principle in a World of Religious Pluralism

This article considers the difficult question of whether there are any reasons for theocratic religious devotees to affirm liberalism and liberal institutions. Swaine argues not only that there are reasons for theocrats to affirm liberalism, but that theocrats are committed rationally to three normative principles of liberty of conscience, as well. Swaine subsequently discusses three institutional and strategic implications of his arguments. First, he outlines an option of semisovereignty for theocratic communities in liberal democracies, and explains why an appropriate valuation of liberty of conscience may justify a standard of that kind. Second, he addresses the question of permissible government aid for religion and symbolic endorsement of religious groups. Third, Swaine considers innovations and new approaches that could be employed internationally to better display liberal government's affirmation of religiosity, to promote liberty of conscience, and to help improve relations between liberal and theocratic parties around the globe.