Romantic terrorism? Survivor narratives of psychological and emotional tactics of domestic violence

This paper draws on the theoretical arguments outlined in Hayes (2014) to frame critical analyses of two real life domestic violence narratives. The authors are both academic criminologists and victims/survivors of domestic violence, but within differing contexts – one a conventional heterosexual relationship, the other a female same-sex relationship. Their experiences are intertwined in an extensive collaborative auto-ethnographic analysis that spans seven years of working and socialising together, in which each provided a sounding board and support for the other. The analysis therefore documents two personal journeys. The academic and theoretical are intertwined with the personal and subjective to elicit an evocative and yet empirically validated study. The theoretical underpinnings of romantic love distortion, misogyny and sexism are used to frame these experiences of domestic violence and the differing sexualities of the authors provide a rich context for exploring the ways in which domestic violence victimisation experiences are impacted by gender, sexuality, and heteronormative discourses of love, sex and relationships.

Engagement with superannuation: Is there really a gender gap?

A recent report produced by Suncorp Bank and The association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) found women were less engaged with their superannuation than men (2012). Given that women have lower superannuation balances than men, a lack of engagement could leader to a further reduction in their ability to provide for themselves in retirement (Basu and Drew, 2009). Using a variety of measures of engagement, we find women are mostly as engaged as men. The main determinants of engagement continue to be financial literacy, age and value of superannuation.

Relationships between daily affect and pro-environmental behavior at work: The moderating role of pro-environmental attitude

Research in organizational psychology has increasingly focused on understanding the determinants of "green" employee behavior. The present study used a daily diary design to investigate relationships between employees' daily affect, pro-environmental attitude, as well as daily task-related pro-environmental behavior (i.e., the extent to which employees complete required work tasks in environmentally friendly ways), and daily proactive pro-environmental behavior (i.e., the extent to which employees show personal initiative when acting in environmentally friendly ways at work). Fifty-six employees working in small businesses completed a baseline survey and two daily surveys over ten workdays. Daily unactivated positive affect and pro-environmental attitude positively predicted daily task-related pro-environmental behavior. In addition, daily activated positive affect positively predicted daily proactive pro-environmental behavior among employees with a less positive pro-environmental attitude but not among employees with a more positive pro-environmental attitude. These findings suggest that fostering pro-environmental attitudes and, to some extent, positive affect among employees could help organizations to promote pro-environmental behavior in the workplace.

Patterns of entrepreneurial career development: An optimal matching analysis approach

Longitudinal studies of entrepreneurial career development are rare, and current knowledge of self-employment patterns and their relationships with individual difference characteristics is limited. In this study, the authors analyzed employment data from a subsample of 514 participants from the German Socio-Economic Panel study (1984–2008). Results of an optimal matching analysis indicated that a continuous self-employment pattern could be distinguished from four alternative employment patterns (change from employment to self-employment, full-time employees, part-time employees, and farmers). Results of a multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that certain socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., age and gender) and personality characteristics (i.e., conscientiousness and risk-taking propensity) were related to the likelihood of following a continuous self-employment pattern compared to the other employment patterns. Implications for future research on entrepreneurial career development are discussed.

Establishing the next generation at work: Leader generativity as a moderator of the relationships between leader age, leader-member exchange, and leadership success

In this study, the authors investigated leader generativity as a moderator of the relationships between leader age, leader-member exchange, and three criteria of leadership success (follower perceptions of leader effectiveness, follower satisfaction with leader, and follower extra effort). Data came from 128 university professors paired with one research assistant each. Results showed positive relationships between leader age and leader generativity, and negative relationships between leader age and follower perceptions of leader effectiveness and follower extra effort. Consistent with expectations based on leadership categorization theory, leader generativity moderated the relationships between leader age and all three criteria of leadership success, such that leaders high in generativity were better able to maintain high levels of leadership success at higher ages than leaders low in generativity. Finally, results of mediated moderation analyses showed that leader-member exchange quality mediated these moderating effects. The findings suggest that, in combination, leader age and the age-related construct of generativity importantly influence leadership processes and outcomes. © 2011 American Psychological Association.

Focus on opportunities as a mediator of the relationships between age, job complexity, and work performance

Focus on opportunities is a cognitive-motivational facet of occupational future time perspective that describes how many new goals, options, and possibilities individuals expect to have in their personal work-related futures. This study examined focus on opportunities as a mediator of the relationships between age and work performance and between job complexity and work performance. In addition, it was expected that job complexity buffers the negative relationship between age and focus on opportunities and weakens the negative indirect effect of age on work performance. Results of mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation analyses with data collected from 168 employees in 41 organizations (mean age = 40.22 years, SD = 10.43, range = 19-64 years) as well as 168 peers providing work performance ratings supported the assumptions. The findings suggest that future studies on the role of age for work design and performance should take employees' focus on opportunities into account.

Remaining time and opportunities at work: Relationships between age, work characteristics, and occupational future time perspective

The authors adapted the concept of future time perspective (FTP) to the work context and examined its relationships with age and work characteristics (job complexity and control). Structural equation modeling of data from 176 employees of various occupations showed that age is negatively related to 2 distinct dimensions of occupational FTP: remaining time and remaining opportunities. Work characteristics (job complexity and control) were positively related to remaining opportunities and moderated the relationship between age and remaining opportunities, such that the relationship became weaker with increasing levels of job complexity and control.

Was wollen jüngere und ältere Erwerbstätige erreichen? Altersbezogene Unterschiede in den Inhalten und Merkmalen beruflicher Ziele [What do younger and older workers want to accomplish? Age-related differences in content and characteristics of occupational goals ]

Demographic changes necessitate that companies commit younger workers and motivate older workers through work design. Age-related differences in occupational goals should be taken into account when accomplishing these challenges. In this study, we investigated goal contents and goal characteristics of employees from different age groups. We surveyed 150 employees working in the service sector (average age = 44 years, age range 19 to 60 years) on their most important occupational goals. Employees who stated goals from the area of organizational citizenship were significantly older than employees with other goals. Employees who stated goals from the areas of training and pay/career were significantly younger than employees with other goals. After controlling for gender, education, and work characteristics, no age-related differences were found in the goal areas teamwork, job security, working time, well-being, and new challenges. In addition, no relationships were found between age and the goal characteristics specificity, planning intensity, as well as positive and negative goal emotions. We recommend that companies provide older workers with more opportunities for organizational citizenship and commit younger workers by providing development opportunities and adequate pay

Lernen im Team: Zusammenhänge zwischen Personen- und Teammerkmalen und der Leistung von Multiplikatoren [Learning in teams: Relationships between individual and team characteristics and the performance of multipliers]

The continuous mutual transfer of knowledge and skills within work teams is increasingly important for organizational practice. According to the situational and experience-based approaches of applied learning research, certain individual and social prerequisites have to be met for successful learning in teams. In a field study at an automobile production site, it was investigated which personal characteristics of multipliers and which characteristics of teams are related to the performance of multipliers in 31 teams with 291 coworkers. Using multi-level analyses (HLM), the amount of variance explained by the predictor variables in teaching success of multipliers and learning success of coworkers was examined. Results showed that multipliers' conscientiousness and team cohesion were related to teaching success of multipliers; extraversion and team cohesion were related to the learning success of coworkers. In closing, the scientific and practical implications for the investigation and promotion of work-based learning processes in teams are discussed.

Within-person relationships between daily individual and job characteristics and daily manifestations of career adaptability

Previous research showed that daily manifestations of career adaptability fluctuate within individuals over short periods of time, and predict important daily job and career outcomes. Using a quantitative daily diary study design (N = 156 employees; 591 daily entries), the author investigated daily job characteristics (i.e., daily job demands, daily job autonomy, and daily supervisory career mentoring) and daily individual characteristics (i.e., daily Big Five personality characteristics, daily core self-evaluations, and daily temporal focus) as within-person predictors of daily career adaptability and its four dimensions (concern, control, curiosity, and confidence). Results showed that daily job demands, daily job autonomy, daily conscientiousness, daily openness to experience, as well as daily past and future temporal focus positively predicted daily career adaptability. Differential results emerged for the four career adaptability dimensions. Implications for future research on within-person variability in career adaptability are discussed.

Daily manifestations of career adaptability: Relationships with job and career outcomes

Most research on career adaptability has examined the construct as an individual differences variable and neglected that it may vary within an individual over a short period of time. In two daily diary studies, the author investigated the relationships of career adaptability and its four dimensions (concern, control, curiosity, and confidence) to their daily manifestations as well as daily job and career outcomes. Both Study 1 (N = 53) and Study 2 (N = 234) demonstrated substantial within-person variability in employees' behavioral expressions of career adaptability across five work days. Results further showed that daily career adaptability and daily confidence positively predicted daily task and career performance, as well as daily job and career satisfaction. Daily control positively predicted daily task performance, as well as daily job and career satisfaction. Daily concern positively predicted daily career performance and satisfaction, and daily curiosity positively predicted daily career satisfaction.

Career adaptability and career entrenchment

Career adaptability constitutes a resource that can help employees to effectively manage career changes and challenges. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between the two higher-order constructs of career adaptability and career entrenchment (i.e., the perceived inability and/or unwillingness to pursue new career opportunities), as well as relationships among the dimensions of career adaptability and career entrenchment. We hypothesized a negative relationship between overall career adaptability and career entrenchment, and more differentiated associations among their dimensions. Data for this study came from 404 employees in Brazil. Results of structural equation modeling showed that overall career adaptability weakly negatively predicted overall career entrenchment (standardized effect = − .13), after controlling for age, gender, education, and job tenure. More differentiated findings emerged at the dimension level. Future research should examine the mechanisms and boundary conditions of the relationship between career adaptability and career entrenchment.

Prospective relationships between physical activity and optimism in young and mid-aged women

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence that regular physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of poor mental health. Less research has focused on the relationship between PA and positive wellbeing. The study aims were to assess the prospective associations between PA and optimism, in both young and mid-aged women. METHODS: 9688 young women (born 1973-1978) completed self-report surveys in 2000 (age 22 to 27), 2003, 2006, and 2009; and 11,226 mid-aged women (born 1946-1951) completed surveys in 2001 (age 50-55) 2004, 2007, and 2010, as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Generalized estimating equation models (with 3-year time lag) were used to examine the relationship between PA and optimism in both cohorts. RESULTS: In both cohorts, women reporting higher levels of PA had greater odds of reporting higher optimism over the 9-year period, (young, OR = 5.04, 95% CI: 3.85-6.59; mid-age, OR = 5.77, 95% CI: 4.76-7.00) than women who reported no PA. Odds were attenuated in adjusted models, with depression accounting for a large amount of this attenuation (young, OR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.57-2.55; mid-age, OR = 1.64 95% CI: 1.38-1.94). CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity can promote optimism in young and mid-aged women over time, even after accounting for the negative effects of other psychosocial indicators such as depression.

Exploring the relationships between design & public libraries through the lens of service design

Design is ubiquitous to the life of contemporary societies and key to their progress, but for some, it is an elitist concept. This thesis investigates the role of public libraries contribution to the general public's understanding of 'Design'. This study compared participants views in the context of State Libraries in two cities: Brisbane and Curitiba. Findings revealed that exploring four new aspects in the Development and Deliver Stages of a service design framework for public libraries can be an effective tool to enhance people's access and experiences of Design, and ultimately, it can contribute to the democratization of design.

Exploring the relationships between design and public libraries through the lens of service design

Design is ubiquitous to the life of contemporary societies and key to their progress, but for some, it is an elitist concept. This thesis investigates the role of public libraries contribution to the general public's understanding of "Design". This study compared participants views in the context of State Libraries in two cities: Brisbane and Curitiba. Findings revealed that exploring four new aspects in the Development and Deliver Stages of a service design framework for public libraries can be an effective tool to enhance people"s access and experiences of Design, and ultimately, it can contribute to the democratisation of design.