For HE tells me so: Techniques of neutralization applied to Christian domestic discipline

ABSTRACT

Christian Domestic Discipline (CDD) advocates wifely submission and male dominance through religiously justified punishment. Using publicly available anonymous testimonials and websites devoted to CDD this research examines how male heads of household, their female partners and the CDD community use techniques of neutralization to rationalize this practice. Our research shows how techniques of neutralization draw upon larger cultural norms, disseminated through organizations, and used in relationships to maintain hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity. In so doing we emphasize how the recreation of gender inequality is accomplished in relations of domination and subordination at the macro, meso, and micro levels of analysis. We find that hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity as a cultural ideal is embedded in institutions, in this case religion, promulgated by religious organizations (CDD and churches) and used as a resource in interaction in the formation of an identity as Christian that centers on the idea that men are in power and have control over women.     

More Bang for the Buck?: Personality Traits as Moderators of Responsiveness to Pay-for-Performance

Extensive prior research has found that, on average, people are more productive under properly designed incentive pay systems; this effect is not necessarily uniform across people, however. In two laboratory studies utilizing within-person study designs and tasks varying in level of structure, we examine how individuals’ personality dispositions systematically predict differential responsiveness to pay-for-performance (PFP) relative to fixed pay. As expected, average productivity was higher when people received PFP (in the form of piecework pay) than when they received fixed pay, but the productivity-enhancing effects of PFP were especially pronounced for more extraverted and less conscientious individuals in less structured tasks. Emotionally stable individuals also had enhanced productivity under PFP, an effect that has not been observed in previous research on personality and pay.     

Teaching the family life cycle: A guide for a workshop using simulated families

Abstract

An experiential technique for teaching the Family Life Cycle is presented. Participants are asked to create simulated families and are assigned a series of structured exercises that focus the emotional, developmental, and systemic issues of each Family Cycle stage. Directions for each exercise, questions designed to develop observation skills, and discussion of specific workshop issues are also included.     

Against the new Cartesian Circle

In two recent papers, Michael Della Rocca accuses Descartes of reasoning circularly in the Fourth Meditation. This alleged new circle is distinct from, and more vicious than, the traditional Cartesian Circle arising in the Third Meditation. We explain Della Rocca’s reasons for this accusation, showing that his argument is invalid.     

How do employees react to leaders’ unethical behavior? The role of moral disengagement

Concerns over unethical leader behavior persist in today's workplace. Although some employees continue to support their leaders after learning of their unethical actions, others do not. In this paper, we integrate social cognitive theory with social information processing theory to propose that the support employees give to leaders who act unethically hinges on their propensity to morally disengage. Specifically, we develop a conditional indirect effects model, wherein moral disengagement propensity mitigates the negative impact of unethical leader behavior on leader-directed support via employees’ perceptions of value congruence with and trust in the leader. The sum result is an improved understanding of when and why employees offer support to versus withhold support from leaders who act in ethically questionable ways.     

Payoffs for layoffs? An examination of CEO relative pay and firm performance surrounding layoff announcements

In this study, we theorize that chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) peer pay comparisons influence their decisions to engage in layoffs, and we consider the conditions under which layoffs deliver “payoffs” in the form of increases in subsequent CEO relative pay. Our results indicate that CEOs receiving compensation below their peers are significantly more likely to announce layoffs in the subsequent year, relative to those receiving compensation above their peers. Further, we find that the relationship between layoffs and subsequent changes in CEO relative pay depends on postlayoff changes in firm performance, with CEOs in firms with the largest performance gains receiving the largest increases in relative pay. We also show that our results are robust to an alternative operationalization of CEO relative pay. We provide evidence that external social comparisons may have predictable consequences for both CEOs’ propensities to engage in particular strategic actions and future changes in CEOs’ relative pay.