An examination of the link between just world belief and schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is a pleasure derived from someone else’s misfortune. Just world belief is a desire to belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get (Lerner, 1965,1980). Interestingly, previous scholars documented the link between schadenfreude, responsibility and deservingness (e.g. van Dijk, Goslinga, & Ouwerkerk, 2008), i.e. the more failure is deserved, the more perceived responsibility for the failure, and subsequently more schadenfreude is evoked. Thus, the present study tested if a threat of a just world belief intensifies experience of schadenfreude. The participants (N=48, 31 women and 17 men, M age = 23.72), were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions (just world belief: threat versus no-threat) between-participant design. They read scenarios which were designed to threaten or maintain their just world belief. Next, they were transferred to an online magazine presenting funny stories about other peoples’ failures. The stories were selected in a pilot study in order to evoke schadenfreude. As presumed, the participants exposed to the threat of just world belief experienced more schadenfreude, i.e. spent more time on reading schadenfreude stories. The results confirmed the existence of a link between just world threat and schadenfreude.

From metaphor to practice in the crafting of strategy

The editors of Strategy as Practice, Johnson, Langley, Melin and Whittington, illustrate theoretical perspectives and alternative methodologies of 'strategy as practice' research by reflecting and commenting on selected 'classic' research papers such as Buergi, Jacobs and Roos' "From metaphor to practice in the crafting of strategy". Their paper explores how the link between the hand and the mind might be exploited in the making of strategy. Using Mintzberg's image of a potter, Buergi et al. develop a three-level theoretical schema, progressing from the physiological to the psychological to the social to trace the consequences of the hand-mind link. They discuss their model in view of an indicative case of managers from a large telecommunications firm experimenting with a process for strategy making in which they actively use their hands to construct representations of their organization and its environment.

Taking up national safety alerts to improve patient safety in hospitals: The perspective of healthcare quality and risk managers.

BACKGROUND National safety alert systems publish relevant information to improve patient safety in hospitals. However, the information has to be transformed into local action to have an effect on patient safety. We studied three research questions: How do Swiss healthcare quality and risk managers (qm/rm(1)) see their own role in learning from safety alerts issued by the Swiss national voluntary reporting and analysis system? What are their attitudes towards and evaluations of the alerts, and which types of improvement actions were fostered by the safety alerts? METHODS A survey was developed and applied to Swiss healthcare risk and quality managers, with a response rate of 39 % (n=116). Descriptive statistics are presented. RESULTS The qm/rm disseminate and communicate with a broad variety of professional groups about the alerts. While most respondents felt that they should know the alerts and their contents, only a part of them felt responsible for driving organizational change based on the recommendations. However, most respondents used safety alerts to back up their own patient safety goals. The alerts were evaluated positively on various dimensions such as usefulness and were considered as standards of good practice by the majority of the respondents. A range of organizational responses was applied, with disseminating information being the most common. An active role is related to using safety alerts for backing up own patient safety goals. CONCLUSIONS To support an active role of qm/rm in their hospital's learning from safety alerts, appropriate organizational structures should be developed. Furthermore, they could be given special information or training to act as an information hub on the issues discussed in the alerts.

Citrullination in the periodontium-a possible link between periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to assess human and bacterial peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) activity in the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) in the context of serum levels of antibodies against citrullinated epitopes in rheumatoid arthritis and periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Human PAD and Porphyromonas gingivalis-derived enzyme (PPAD) activities were measured in the GCF of 52 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients (48 with periodontitis and 4 without) and 44 non-RA controls (28 with periodontitis and 16 without). Serum antibodies against citrullinated epitopes were measured by ELISA. Bacteria being associated with periodontitis were determined by nucleic-acid-based methods. RESULTS Citrullination was present in 26 (50 %) RA patients and 23 (48 %) controls. PAD and PPAD activities were detected in 36 (69 %) and 30 (58 %) RA patients, respectively, and in 30 (68 %) and 21 (50 %) controls, respectively. PPAD activity was higher in RA and non-RA patients with periodontitis than in those without (p = 0.038; p = 0.004), and was detected in 35 of 59 P. gingivalis-positive samples, and in 16 of 37 P. gingivalis-negative samples in association with high antibody levels against that species. CONCLUSIONS PAD and PPAD activities within the periodontium are elevated in RA and non-RA patients with periodontitis. PPAD secreted by P. gingivalis residing in epithelial cells may exert its citrullinating activity in distant regions of the periodontium or even distant tissues. CLINICAL RELEVANCE In periodontitis, the citrullination of proteins/peptides by human and bacterial peptidylarginine deiminases may generate antibodies after breaching immunotolerance in susceptible individuals.

Listeria monocytogenes infection in ruminants: Is there a link to the environment, food and human health? A review.

Listeria (L.) monocytogenes is widely distributed in the environment, but also has the ability to cause serious invasive disease in ruminants and humans. This review provides an overview of listeriosis in ruminants and discusses our insufficient understanding of reservoirs and possible cycling ofL. monocytogenes between animal and human hosts, food and the environment. It indicates gaps in our knowledge of the role of genetic subtypes in L. monocytogenes ecology and virulence as well as risk factors, in vivo diagnostics and pathogenesis of listeriosis in ruminants. Filling these gaps will contribute to improving the control of L. monocytogenes and enhancing disease prevention. As the prevalence of listeriosis in ruminants in Switzerland is likely to be underestimated, propositions concerning improvement options for surveillance of listeriosis in ruminants are provided.

Crisis Coming Home? Firm Performance During the Economic Crisis and Managers‘ Work-Family Conflict

The economic crisis over the past years has challenged managers in many ways. In our longitudinal study during the global recession, we examine how perceived firm performance interacts with sources of supervisor support and stress to affect managers’ work-family conflict. First, we draw from Conservation of Resources theory to analyze how sources of supervisor support and stress relate to managers’ work-family conflict. Second, we explore how perceived firm performance modifies the relationships between these factors and work-family conflict. Our surveys of 182 managers before and during the crisis reveal that perceived firm performance significantly alters the effectiveness of sources of supervisor support in relieving work-family conflict. Additionally, perceived poor firm performance was found to intensify the negative effect of stressors on work-family conflict. Our results highlight the need to consider an organization’s perceived health when studying managers’ attitudes and career outcomes.