The effects of Australian tall poppy attitudes on American value based leadership theory

A survey study of twenty-two Australian CEOs and their subordinates assessed relationships between Australian leader motives, Australian value based leader behaviour, subordinate tall poppy attitudes and subordinate commitment, effectiveness, motivation and satisfaction (CEMS). On the whole, the results showed general support for value based leadership processes. Subsequent regression analyses of the second main component of Value Based Leadership Theory, value based leader behaviour, revealed that the collectivistic, inspirational, integrity and visionary behaviour sub-scales of the construct were positively related with subordinate CEMS. Although the hypothesis that subordinate tall poppy attitudes would moderate value based leadership processes was not clearly supported, subsequent regression analyses found that subordinate tall poppy attitudes were negatively related with perceptions of value based leader behaviour and CEMS. These findings suggest complex relationships between the three constructs, and the proposed model for the Australian context is accordingly amended. Overall, the research supports the need to consider cultural-specific attitudes in management development.

Studies of Cognition and Emotion in Organisations: Attribution, Affective Events, Emotional Intelligence and Perception of Emotion

This article details the author’s attempts to improve understanding of organisational behaviour through investigation of the cognitive and affective processes that underlie attitudes and behaviour. To this end, the paper describes the author’s earlier work on the attribution theory of leadership and, more recently, in three areas of emotion research: affective events theory, emotional intelligence, and the effect of supervisors’ facial expression on employees’ perceptions of leader-member exchange quality. The paper summarises the author’s research on these topics, shows how they have contributed to furthering our understanding of organisational behaviour, suggests where research in these areas are going, and draws some conclusions for management practice.

The role of affect, fairness, and social perception in team member exchange

Accumulating evidence suggests that Team-member exchange (TMX) influences employee work attitudes and behaviours separately from the effects of leader-member exchange (LMX). In particular, little is known of the effect of LMX differentiation (in-group versus out-group) as a process of social exhange that can, in turn, affect TMX quality. To explore this phenomenon, this chapter presents a multi-level model of TMX in organizations, which incorporates LMX differentiation, team identification, team member affect at the individual level, and fairness of LMX differentiation and affective climate at the group-level. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our model for theory, research, and practice.

Birds in an Australian rainforest: Their attraction for visitors and visitors' ecological impacts

Lamington National Park in Queensland, Australia is noted for its rainforest and is part of the World Heritage listed property but prior to this work, no systematic study has been done of the importance of birds to its visitors. This study is based on data from survey forms handed to visitors at an important site in the park and completed by visitors following their visit. It yielded 622 useable responses. These enabled us to establish the comparative importance of birds as an attraction to this site for this sample of visitors. Furthermore, logit regression is used to target analysis and to identify factors that increase the likelihood of a visitor saying that birds are an important attraction. In addition, the relative importance to visitors of various attributes of birds at this site is established. These attributes include hearing birds, diversity of birds, seeing lots of birds, presence of rare birds, presence of brightly coloured birds and physical contact with birds. Logit regression analysis is used to isolate independent variables that increase or decrease the likelihood that visitors find diversity of birds, brightly coloured birds or physical contact with birds at this site to be important. For example, factors such as the level of education of visitors, their gender, knowledge of birds and conservation attitudes and statistically significant influences. As a result of the analysis potential conflicts between different types of park visitors in relation to human interaction with birds are identified. Some potential ecological implications of human interactions with birds are modelled and discussed, and their economic conservation and biodiversity consequences are considered

Disordered eating, weight dissatisfaction and dieting in relation to unwanted childhood sexual experiences in a community sample

A study was conducted to examine the relationships among eating pathology, weight dissatisfaction and dieting, and unwanted sexual experiences in childhood. An unselected community sample of 201 young and 268 middle-aged women were administered questionnaires assessing eating behaviors and attitudes, and past and current sexual abuse. Results showed differential relationships among these factors for the two age cohorts: for young women, past sexual abuse predicted weight dissatisfaction, but not dieting or disordered eating behaviors, whereas for middle-aged women, past abuse was predictive of disordered eating, but not dieting or weight dissatisfaction. Current physical or sexual abuse was also found to be predictive of disordered eating for the young women. These findings underscore the complexity of the relationships among unwanted sexual experiences and eating and weight pathology, and suggest that the timing of sexual abuse, and the age of the woman, are important mediating factors. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.

Wildlife-based tourism & increased support for nature conservation financially and otherwise: evidence from sea-turtle ecotourism at Mon Repos

The arguments of most conservationists supporting ecotourism have been based on the view that it is environmentally friendly as a resource-use and that receipts from it can counter demands to use the natural resources involved for more extractive economic purposes. But wildlife-based ecotourism can also have positive impacts in itself on the willingness of tourists to pay for wildlife conservation, strengthen the pro-conservation attitudes of tourists, and foster personal actions by them that contribute to wildlife conservation. These aspects are explored in this article on the basis of a survey of tourists visiting Mon Repos Beach near Bundaberg, Queensland, for the purpose of watching marine turtles. The results enable several of the conservation impacts of this experience on tourists to be quantified, and highlight important relationships between specific socio-economic variables and the willingness of tourists to pay for the protection of sea turtles. Furthermore, it is shown that the on-site experiences of ecotourists have positive impacts on the willingness of tourists to pay for the conservation of wildlife, and that willingness to pay is sensitive to whether or not wildlife is seen. It is suggested that in situ ecotourism is likely to be a more powerful force for fostering pro-conservation attitudes and actions among visitors than ex situ wildlife-based tourism in aquaria and zoos.

Age and gender differences in objectively measured physical activity in youth

TROST. S. G., R. R. PATE, J. F. SALLIS, P. S. FREEDSON, W. C. TAYLOR, M. DOWDA, and J. SIRARD. Age and gender differences in objectively measured physical activity in youth. Med. Sci. Sports Ererc., Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 350-355, 2002. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate age and gender differences in objectively measured physical activity (PA) in a population-based sample of students in grades 1-12. Methods: Participants (185 male, 190 female) wore a CSA 7164 accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. To examine age-related trends. students were grouped as follows: grades 1-3 (N = 90), grades 4-6 (N = 91), grades 7-9 (N = 96). and grades 10-12 (N = 92). Bouts of PA and minutes spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and vigorous PA (VPA) were examined. Results: Daily MVPA and VPA exhibited a significant inverse relationship with grade level, with the largest differences occurring between grades 1d-3 and 4-6. Boys were more active than girls; however, for overall PA, the magnitudes of the gender differences were modest. Participation in continuous 20-min bouts of PA was low to nonexistent. Conclusion: Our results support the notion that PA declines rapidly during childhood and adolescence and that accelerometers are feasible alternatives to self-report methods in moderately sized population-level surveillance studies.

Public policy and the prevention of substance-use disorders

Drug prevention has traditionally focused on influencing individual attitudes and behaviours. In particular, efforts have been directed towards adolescents in the school setting. However, evaluations of school-based drug education have identified limited success. There is increasing recognition that drug abuse is one of a number of risk behaviours, including truancy, delinquency and mental health problems, which share common antecedents that begin in the early years of childhood. Furthermore, these behaviours are shaped by macroenvironmental influences including the economic, social, cultural, and physical environment. Drug prevention needs to adopt a broader perspective: with greater collaboration in related programmes such as crime prevention and suicide prevention; with greater attention to the macroenvironmental influences on problem behaviours; and with greater attention to healthy development in the first years of childhood. (C) 2002 Lippincott Williams Wilkins.

Control of Aedes vectors of dengue in three provinces of Vietnam by use of Mesocyclops (Copepoda) and community-based methods validated by entomologic, clinical, and serological surveillance

We describe remarkable success in controlling dengue vectors, Aedes aegypti (L.) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse), in 6 communes with 11,675 households and 49,647 people in the northern provinces of Haiphong, Hung Yen, and Nam Dinh in Vietnam. The communes were selected for high-frequency use of large outdoor concrete tanks and wells. These were found to be the source of 49.6-98.4% of Ae. aegypti larvae, which were amenable to treatment with local Mesocyclops, mainly M. woutersi Van der Velde, M. aspericornis (Daday) and M. thermocyclopoides Harada. Knowledge, attitude, and practice surveys were performed to determine whether the communities viewed dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever as a serious health threat; to determine their knowledge of the etiology, attitudes, and practices regarding control methods including Mesocyclops; and to determine their receptivity to various information methods. On the basis of the knowledge, attitude, and practice data, the community-based dengue control program comprised a system of local leaders, health volunteer teachers, and schoolchildren, supported by health professionals. Recycling of discards for economic gain was enhanced, where appropriate, and this, plus 37 clean-up campaigns, removed small containers unsuitable for Mesocyclops treatment. A previously successful eradication at Phan Boi village (Hung Yen province) was extended to 7 other villages forming Di Su commune (1,750 households) in the current study. Complete control was also achieved in Nghia Hiep (Hung Yen province) and in Xuan Phong (Nam Dinh province); control efficacy was greater than or equal to 99.7% in the other 3 communes (Lac Vien in Haiphong, Nghia Dong, and Xuan Kien in Nam Dinh). Although tanks and wells were the key container types of Ae. aegypti productivity, discarded materials were the source of 51% of the standing crop of Ae. albopictus. Aedes albopictus larvae were eliminated from the 3 Nam Dinh communes, and 86-98% control was achieved in the other 3 communes. Variable dengue attack rates made the clinical and serological comparison of control and untreated communes problematic, but these data indicate that clinical surveillance by itself is inadequate to monitor dengue transmission.

"What do other people think?" - The role of prejudice and social norms in the expression of opinions against gay men

It is generally acknowledged that it is no longer socially acceptable to espouse prejudiced beliefs, yet prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory behaviours still occur. The present study sought to determine when and by whom prejudiced attitudes would be expressed. Specifically, an experiment was conducted to examine the impact of injunctive social norms emanating from a social group with which participants identified and participants' level of homophobia on the expression of opinions about gay men. Participants were presented with information indicating that the majority of group members agreed with a number of prejudiced injunctive statements (pro-prejudice norm), that the majority disagreed with the statements (anti-prejudice norm), or they were given no information about other group members' opinions (control). Participants then reported their own responses to the same injunctive statements. Participants' levels of homophobia were assessed either before or after they were given the normative information. The results indicated that activation of a pro-prejudice injunctive norm for those higher in homophobia resulted in more prejudiced opinions being expressed in comparison to those who received no normative information or those who had a nonprejudiced norm activated. Those lower in homophobia expressed less prejudiced opinions than those higher in homophobia and this did not differ as a function of social norm. The results demonstrate how prejudice can come to be expressed even in the presence of a broad societal norm that suggests that is it wrong to express such opinions.

Social identity and diversity in organizations

In this paper, a social identity perspective on the management of diversity in organizations is outlined. The perspective is well-placed to offer considerable insight in this area, given that it explicates the processes through which group memberships impact on people's attitudes and behaviour both within and between groups that are operative in the workplace. According to this perspective, relative group status and the perceived permeability of intergroup boundaries are key factors that need to be considered in any efforts to understand intergroup relations in the workplace. After a brief overview of the social identity perspective, the paper discusses: i) the role that group status and perceived permeability play in determining the nature of intergroup relations in the workplace, and 2) the type of interventions that can be derived from a social identity perspective in an effort to improve intergroup relations in the workplace.

Psychological ownership: Towards a theoretical and empirical understanding of causes and consequences

In much the same way we consider our house or car 'mine', we may also consider facets of employment as a possession. Psychological ownership is the state ascribed to such feelings of possession in the absence of any formal or legal claims of ownership. In the present context, the target of such feelings of ownership is directed towards the employing organisation, or individual employee's specific job. TJie aim of this research is to extend previous propositions of ownership feelings to encompass related work attitudes and behavioural outcomes of psychological ownership in an organisational context. As a result, a theory of psychological ownership in organisations is presented encompassing antecedents, consequences, and the related work attitudes of job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Questionnaire data from 68 employees and their managers was used to test hypotheses derived from the proposed theory. Results revealed that psychological ownership predicted the work attitudes of job satisfaction and organisational commitment, and mediated the relationship between autonomy and these work attitudes. Both organisation- based and job-based psychological ownership were found to be distinct work attitudes, distinguishable from job satisfaction and organisational commitment. There was no support, however, for a direct or mediated relationship between psychological ownership and behavioural outcomes, including in-role behaviour, and helping and voice extra-role behaviours. These findings have considerable theoretical and empirical implications for the field of psychological ownership, and offer support for psychological ownership as a real and important work attitude.

A companison of socially responsible and conventional investors

Socially responsible investment is a rapidly emerging phenomenon within the field of personal investment. However, the factors that lead investors to choose socially responsible investment products are not well understood, especially in an Australian context. This study provides a comparative examination of conventional and socially responsible investors, with the aim of identifying such factors. A total of 55 conventional investors and 54 ethical investors participated in the study by completing mailed questionnaires about their investment and general behaviour and their attitudes and beliefs. Results indicated some important differences between socially responsible and conventional investors in their beliefs of the importance of ethical issues, their investment decision-making style, and their perceptions of moral intensity. These results support the notion that socially responsible investors differ in critical ways to conventional investors, and are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.

Experience as a moderator of the media equation: the impact of flattery and praise

This study extends previous media equation research, which showed that the effects of flattery from a computer can produce the same general effects as flattery from humans. Specifically, the study explored the potential moderating effect of experience on the impact of flattery from a computer. One hundred and fifty-eight students from the University of Queensland voluntarily participated in the study. Participants interacted with a computer and were exposed to one of three kinds of feedback: praise (sincere praise), flattery (insincere praise), or control (generic feedback). Questionnaire measures assessing participants' affective state. attitudes and opinions were taken. Participants of high experience, but not low experience, displayed a media equation pattern of results, reacting to flattery from a computer in a manner congruent with peoples' reactions to flattery from other humans. High experience participants tended to believe that the computer spoke the truth, experienced more positive affect as a result of flattery, and judged the computer's performance more favourably. These findings are interpreted in light of previous research and the implications for software design in fields such as entertainment and education are considered. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Primary prevention of skin cancer: A review of sun protection in Australia and internationally

The incidence of skin cancer is increasing worldwide. Protecting the skin from the sun by wearing protective clothing, using a sunscreen with appropriate sun protection factor, wearing a hat, and avoiding the sun are recommended as primary preventive activities by cancer agencies. In this paper the recent data relating to skin cancer primary preventive behaviour in Australia and other countries is reviewed. Comparison of the studies in a table format summarizing the methods, objectives, participants, findings and implications may be obtained from the corresponding author. The sun protection knowledge, attitudes and behaviour patterns observed in Australia are similar in other countries, although Australian studies generally, report higher knowledge levels about skin cancer and higher levels of sun protection. The findings suggest that sunscreen is the most frequent method of sun protection used across all age groups, despite recommendations that it should be at? adjunct to other forms of protection. While young children's sun protective behaviour is largely influenced by their parents' behaviours, they are still tinder protected, and sun protective measures such as seeking shade, avoiding the sun and protective clothing need to be emphasized. Adolescents have the lowest skin protection rates of all age groups. Within the adult age range, women and people with sensitive skin were most likely to be using skin protection. However, women were also more likely than men to sunbath deliberately and to use sun-tanning booths. The relationship between skin protection knowledge and attitudes, attitudes towards tanning and skin protection behaviour needs further investigation. Further studies need to include detailed assessments of sunscreen use and application patterns, and future health promotion activities need to focus on sun protection by wearing clothing and seeking shade to avoid increases in the sunburn rates observed to date.