Explaining sex differences in managerial career satisfier preferences: the role of gender self-schema

Using survey data from 400 managers, the authors examined whether gender self-schema would explain sex differences in preferences for status-based and socioemotional career satisfiers. Female gender self-schema, represented by femininity and family role salience, completely mediated the relationship between managers' sex and preferences for socioemotional career satisfiers. However, male gender self-schema, represented by masculinity and career role salience, did not mediate the relationship between managers' sex and preferences for status-based career satisfiers. As expected, male managers regarded status-based career satisfiers as more important and socioemotional career satisfiers as less important than female managers did. The proposed conceptualization of male and female gender self-schemas, which was supported by the data, enhances understanding of adult self-schema and work-related attitudes and behavior.     

Does feedback matter for job search self-regulation? It depends on feedback quality

Job search represents a dynamic process through which job seekers must consistently engage in effective self-regulation. Although scholars have increasingly begun to theorize and conceptualize the job search in this manner, little is known about what fosters effective self-regulation week-to-week. In light of this theoretical gap, we integrate self-regulation theory with the feedback literature to examine how feedback quality influences affective, cognitive, and behavioral regulatory processes in job search. Furthermore, we examine feedback self-efficacy (i.e., how efficacious a job seeker feels with respect to processing and implementing feedback received during the job search) as a stable, person-level moderator of these within-person relationships. In a sample of job seekers surveyed once a week for seven weeks, results indicate that receiving high-quality feedback has a direct influence on positive and negative affective reactions tied to the job search, influencing subsequent positive (i.e., metacognitive strategies) and negative (i.e., affective rumination) cognitive processes. Metacognitive strategies, in turn, impact both the number of résumés sent and hours spent job seeking each week. Moreover, lower feedback self-efficacy amplifies the relationship between feedback quality and negative affective reactions. Our results highlight the importance of high-quality feedback in helping job seekers effectively regulate week-to-week.     

Self-concept in adults from Spain and Portugal

The aim of this work is to confirm the penta-factorial validity of the AF5 Self-Concept Questionnaire in Spanish and Portuguese adults. From the responses of a total of 2058 adults (1508 Spanish, 73.3%, and 550 Portuguese, 26.7%) was analyzed the reliability of the instrument, was compared the validity of the 5 oblique factor model proposed by the authors versus unifactorial and the orthogonal alternative models, and was studied the invariance of the Portuguese translation. The results of structural equation modeling supported the authors' penta-factorial model. The multi-group factorial invariance showed that Portuguese translation of the AF5 does not change neither the original factor weights, nor the variances and covariances of the factors. Finally, the reliability was good for the original Spanish version and Portuguese translation.     

Decreasing entry into a restricted area using a visual barrier

Wandering is a difficult-to-manage behavior problem for individuals with cognitive impairments that can jeopardize safety if an individual enters a hazardous area or becomes lost. This study investigated the effects of a cloth barrier on entry into an unsafe area. The cloth barrier reduced entry into the restricted area and had high treatment acceptability.     

Assessing the well-being of patients with dementia: validity and reliability of the Spanish version of the Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) tool / La evaluación del bienestar en pacientes con demencia: validez y fiabilidad de la versión española del Dementia Care Mapping (DCM)

Abstract

Based on person-centred care (PCC), new instruments to assess the quality of life of elderly people with dementia, such as the Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) tool, have been developed. The aim of the study was to determine the psychometric properties of the DCM tool for its use in research into nursing homes. Sixty-eight elderly people who had dementia living in four different nursing homes participated in the study. DCM was applied twice (with six months difference between each administration) and its results were compared with the GENCAT scale of quality of life. Results showed that DCM has a limited concurrent validity, test-retest reliability and inner consistency, which questions its use as a research tool. The authors discuss the difficulty of evaluating the quality of life in people who have dementia and what the DCM tool really evaluates.     

A survival analysis of the impact of boundary crossings on managerial career advancement up to midcareer

Although managers and professionals still compete in a career tournament for advancement and pay, the career boundaries that they cross in order to compete have changed. Traditionally, such individuals came up through the ranks within the same company by specializing in one functional area and changing, as needed, the geographic location of work in order to advance their careers. However, in the current era of less constrained, boundary-crossing careers, they are more apt to cross several boundaries, including functional, organizational, geographic, and family, as they pursue career opportunities. Using survival analysis with data from the career histories of 760 managers and professionals who collectively made 3917 moves up to midcareer, we examined the impact of the rate of crossing each boundary on the subsequent likelihood of advancement. In addition, over this span of career, we examined the extent to which more rapid advancement contributed to the rate of growth in annual salary. Our findings suggest that crossing functional, organizational, and geographic boundaries more often significantly increased the likelihood of advancement, whereas the duration of family boundary crossings had a negative impact. Moreover, as expected, advancement had a long-term impact on salary growth.     

Daily life activity patterns among the elderly: is what they claim to do what they wish to do?

This study is aimed at exploring daily and desired activity patterns in a sample of older people, as well as at examining some influence factors and their relationships to life satisfaction. Our sample was made of 154 retired people living in urban areas and whose age was greater than 60 years old. Data about activities were gathered by means of an interview while life satisfaction scores were obtained by applying LSI scale. Our results show how the pattern of activities that our participants say to have done yesterday is quite similar to an ideal pattern, although in the ideal day time spent with other people is far greater. Factors like gender and economic and educational level have an influence on patters of activity, especially on instrumental and leisure ones. The difference between yesterday and ideal activities was negatively related to life satisfaction. Such a relationship was modest, but reached statistical significance.     

Telecommuting's differential impact on work-family conflict: is there no place like home?

The literature on the impact of telecommuting on work-family conflict has been equivocal, asserting that telecommuting enhances work-life balance and reduces conflict, or countering that it increases conflict as more time and emotional energy are allocated to family. Surveying 454 professional-level employees who split their work time between an office and home, the authors examined how extensively working in this mode impacts work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict, as well as the contextual impact of job autonomy, scheduling flexibility, and household size. As hypothesized, the findings suggest that telecommuting has a differential impact on work-family conflict, such that the more extensively individuals work in this mode, the lower their work-to-family conflict, but the higher their family-to-work conflict. Additionally, job autonomy and scheduling flexibility were found to positively moderate telecommuting's impact on work-to-family conflict, but household size was found to negatively moderate telecommuting's impact on family-to-work conflict, suggesting that contextual factors may be domain specific.