Biographical Characteristics Research Articles

Measuring Generalized Trust: Two New Approaches

The Stranger Face Trust (SFT) questionnaire and the Imaginary Stranger Trust (IST) questionnaire are two new self-report measures of generalized trust that assess trust in real (SFT) and imaginary (IST) strangers across four trust domains. Both were designed to be objective, empirically valid, and easy to administer and score. To assess measurement validity and reliability, SFT and IST along with other common measures of social trust, sociodemographic characteristics, biographical characteristics, and a survey experiment were administered to a large representative sample of Qualtrics web-panel members ( N = 2,041). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models established the internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and criterion validity of SFT and IST. Further tests revealed that SFT and IST correlate with well-established predictors of generalized trust, while other correlates like the age–trust relation were called into question. Taken together, this article shows that SFT and IST are valid and reliable instruments for the measurement of generalized trust and that common measures of generalized trust appear to be less valid and less reliable. This article ends with a discussion of the implications and directions for future research.

Waiting to inhale: factors associated with healthcare workers\u2019 fears of occupationally-acquired tuberculosis (TB)

BackgroundFear of TB infection is rooted in historical and social memories of the disease, marked by stigma, segregation and exclusion. Healthcare workers (HCWs) face these same fears today, and even seek to hide their TB status when infected. This study sought to investigate factors associated with HCWs fears of acquiring TB while at work, including selected biographic characteristics, TB knowledge, infection control and perceptions that their colleagues stigmatise co-workers with TB/ presumed to have TB.MethodsIn the Free State Province, South Africa, a representative sample of 882 HCWs from eight hospitals completed self-administered questionnaires on issues related to fear of occupationally acquired TB, infection control, TB knowledge and workplace TB stigma. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics as well as binomial logistic regression.ResultsMost of the HCWs (67.2%) were concerned about contracting TB at work. Support staff were less likely to worry about acquiring TB than clinical staff (OR = 0.657, P = 0.041). Respondents who indicated that there were inadequate numbers of disposable respirators at work, were 1.6 times more likely to be afraid of contracting TB at work (P = 0.040). With every unit increase on the TB stigma scale, respondents were 1.1 times more likely to fear acquiring TB at work (P = 0.000).ConclusionsBeing a professional clinical HCW, not having adequate disposable respirators available and seeing/perceiving co-workers stigmatise colleagues with (presumptive) TB were all significantly associated with the fear of occupationally-acquired TB. It is recommended that campaigns to destigmatise TB, as well as appropriate TB infection control education and measures, are necessary to alleviate HCWs fears of acquiring the disease in the workplace. Ultimately this should create a health-enabling working environment, where HCWs are not afraid to function and are free to seek treatment and support when necessary.

Baseline Assessment of Knowledge of Home Based Carers for People with Diabetes in a Rural Village in South Africa: A Quantitative Study

Background: In South Africa, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a significant health problem causing disability and premature death. Home Based Carers (HBCs) who care for T2DM patients in a rural village in South Africa lack formal training, which may result in knowledge deficits on the provision of care. Objective: To describe knowledge of HBCs who care for T2DM patients in a rural village in South Africa. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions was used. The questionnaire included seven questions to assess biographic characteristics, 13 self-test statements to assess actual common practices and 29 statements to test diabetes knowledge. Data were captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 24. Results: More than 60% of the HBCs' had between 5 and 10 years of experience with a mean of 9 years. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of HBCs had some kind of secondary education but 89% never attended an in-service training on T2DM. Only 27% of HBCs agreed with the statement they could instruct people with diabetes on daily personal care and 11% agreed they could identify the normal ranges of blood glucose. Where 57% of the respondents agreed with the statement they could not perform one method of blood glucose control, 1 out of 3 (32%) agreed with the statement they could not instruct people with diabetes on self-care management for a sick day. The results revealed that there was no significant relationship (rho= .055, N = 53, p = 0.69) between HBCs years of experience and knowledge scores. Conclusion: The study showed that HBCs who care for people with diabetes lack knowledge with regard to diabetes mellitus. Therefore, people with diabetes in a rural village in South Africa are not managed well and there is a need for training of HBCs on T2DM.

Measuring Social Trust: Two New Approaches

The Stranger-Face Trust (SFT) questionnaire and the Imaginary Stranger Trust (IST) questionnaire are two new self-report measures of generalized trust that assess trust in real (SFT) and imaginary (IST) strangers across four trust domains. Both were designed to be objective, empirically valid, and easy to administer and score. To assess measurement validity and reliability, SFT and IST along with other common measures of social trust, sociodemographic characteristics, biographical characteristics, and a survey experiment were administered to a large representative sample of Qualtrics web-panel members (N = 2041). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models established the internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and criterion validity of SFT and IST. Further tests revealed that SFT and IST correlate with well-established predictors of generalized trust, while other correlates like the age-trust relation were called into question. Taken together, the article shows that SFT and IST are valid and reliable instruments for the measurement of generalized trust, and that common measures of generalized trust appear to be less valid and less reliable. The article ends with a discussion of the implications and directions for future research.

Psychological and Biographical Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intention: Does the Learning Environment Act as a Mediator?

The aim of this research is to study the mediating role of the learning process in explaining the relationships between certain psychological and biographical characteristics and entrepreneurial intention. The findings suggest that the effect of psychological and biographical aspects on entrepreneurial intention depend on the extent to which students are able to take advantage of their personal capabilities in order to develop an effective learning process. Learning process factors (information about course guides, student effort and educational processes) mediate the relationships between specific psychological factors (achievement need, internal control and autonomy) and entrepreneurial intention. With regard to biographical factors, we find no mediating effect on entrepreneurial intention through the learning process. The present study provides a better understanding of the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention, helping to fill the gap in the literature.

The ethical awareness of the leadership of South African business schools: Do they set the tone?

This paper explores the ethical awareness of the leadership of South African business schools. A questionnaire was distributed electronically to the top leadership of these business schools. The biographical characteristics of respondents were analysed to develop an ethical awareness score for each respondent. This score was used to determine whether respondents’ ethical awareness was above average and whether ethical awareness was affected by level of qualification or teaching experience. The results indicate that the leadership of South African business schools seem not to be sufficiently ethically aware to ensure that their business schools contribute to improved business ethics education and ethical business practices.

From Executive Appointment to the Collegium System: The Impact on Diversity in the Indian Supreme Court

There has been a national debate raging in India about the system of appointments for Supreme Court and High Court judges. At the founding of the Indian Supreme Court, the executive had primary authority over judicial appointments. In 1993, the Supreme Court created a new system of appointments known as the collegium system, whereby the Chief Justice of India and senior judges of the Supreme Court make new appointments to the Supreme Court as well as the High Courts. In 2014, Parliament amended the Constitution and passed a bill to create a commission to appoint judges, but the Indian Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional. In this article, we ascertain whether the nature of the appointments procedure impacts the biographical and other characteristics of the judges that are eventually selected. We do this by comparing the biographical characteristics of judges appointed by the executive-appointments system (prior to 1993), on the one hand, and the judges appointed by the collegium (on or after 1993) to the Supreme Court of India. We find that both the pre-collegium and the collegium system maintain the geographical and religious diversity of India in the candidates that are appointed. However, both have failed to account for gender diversity. In addition, the path to the Supreme Court appears to have narrowed – typically those who are appointed as judges by the collegium spend longer periods in private practice and on the bench than pre-collegium judges.

“Embedded” at hire? Predicting the voluntary and involuntary turnover of new employees

SummaryEmbeddedness theory has been invoked to describe factors that constrain employee turnover, such as fit with the environment, interpersonal links, and potentially sacrificed benefits. In contrast with previous assumptions that embeddedness requires considerable time to develop on the job, we extend theory by demonstrating how biographical characteristics (i.e., biodata), assessed at or before the point of hire, are related to individual's propensity to be embedded, while also showing how such characteristics predict one's future turnover likelihood. Beyond voluntary turnover, we also build embeddedness‐based theoretical explanations for involuntary turnover (i.e., terminations). To test these ideas, we conducted two studies at and before employees' point of hire, respectively: Study 1 examined how assessed biodata items of new employees relate to established embeddedness measures, whereas Study 2 linked the same biodata items assessed during the application process to employees' future involuntary, avoidable voluntary, and unavoidable voluntary turnover. Study 1 results revealed various biodata items predicted embeddedness in two distinct samples. In Study 2, results showed that biodata predicted turnover forms in unique ways. Our study highlights the utility of point‐of‐hire embeddedness propensity as a means to explain organizational exit, thereby demonstrating how organizations can use embeddedness tenets for employee recruitment and selection purposes.

Study of Management Diversity Based on Biographical Characteristics in Higher Education

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Determinan Enterpreneurial Motivation Mahasiswa Perbankan Syariah

<p>This study was conducted to explore factors motivating students to be enterpreneur. Factor analysis approach used to attain the objective. The analysis used four stages. Namely; choose a variable, variable extraction, rotation and indentified variables. Total sample of the researsh were 100 respondents. The results showed some biographical characteristics which included characteristics based on age, gender, enterpreneurial intentions, type of business, opinions and backrounds. Based on the results, there were six important factors which motivated students to be enterpreneur, namely; need for achievement, locus of control, external environment, self efficacy, material encouragement and independence.</p>

Like father, like son? Power and influence across two Gnassingbé presidencies in Togo

ABSTRACTIn personalized authoritarian systems, the death of a leader poses a serious challenge to regime survival. Togo, however, belongs to a small number of countries in which regime collapse has been avoided by the transfer of power to the deceased ruler’s son. But can the son simply pick up where the father left off? Combining a theoretically guided single case study with statistical network analysis, this article argues that hereditary succession involves both changes and continuities. While Gnassingbé Eyadema’s rule rested on repression, patronage, and a bizarre leadership cult, his son Faure Gnassingbé has partly adapted and reformulated these strategies. The quantitative part of the article is based on a novel data set that contains information on the biographical characteristics and interaction patterns of the deputies in the Togolese parliament. Using exponential random graph models (ERGMs), the article shows that people who have held important positions in the past or belong to the president’s ethnic group still play a significant role in the regime elite. The article not only presents detailed insights on a so far under-researched country, but also contributes to the wider literature by showing how mixed-method designs can further our understanding of authoritarian regimes.

Vision-specific and psychosocial impacts of low vision among patients with low vision at the eastern regional Low Vision Centre

Purpose: To determine vision-specific and psychosocial implications of low vision among patients with low vision visiting the Low Vision Centre of the Eastern Regional Hospital in Ghana.Methodology: This was a descriptive case-control study of 41 patients with low vision and 41 patients with normal vision recruited from the Low Vision Centre of the Eastern Regional Hospital by simple random sampling. Data on vision-specific and psychosocial impacts of low vision was collected using the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25). Biographical and clinical characteristics such as age, gender, educational status, marital status, employment and income status were gathered from consenting patients. Mann–Whitney U analysis using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) was conducted to compare scores on vision-specific and psychosocial subscales of the NEI VFQ-25 between patients with low vision and patients with normal vision.Results: Patients with low vision recorded the lowest score on the driving subscale (median = 8.33, IQR [interquartile range]: 8.33–41.67, n = 41, p < 0.001), as well as on distance activities (median = 35.42, IQR = 16.70–58.80). Psychosocial implications of low vision included high dependency (median = 33.33, IQR = 25.00–50.00), reduced mental health (median = 37.50, IQR = 25.00–50.00) and limitation in partaking in social activities (median = 50.00, IQR = 37.50–78.00).Conclusion: Low vision has both vision-specific and psychosocial implications for the patients. Low vision management and services should therefore be tailored to meet these psychosocial and vision-specific needs to enable patients better accept their visual changes and to be better prepared to use their remaining vision to achieve their daily goals.

Monitoring preceptors' supportive role: A measuring instrument for increased accountability

PurposeThis article describes the development of a measuring instrument to monitor support offered by preceptors during their accompaniment of students in clinical facilities. DesignA quantitative methodological study design was used to develop the instrument. MethodsData were collected by means of a self-completed questionnaire. Total sampling of 192 undergraduate nursing students was done. Descriptive data analysis was conducted regarding the biographical characteristics, Cronbach's alpha was computed to determine the reliability, and an exploratory factor analysis was done to describe the construct validity of the developed instrument. ResultsThe Cronbach's alpha of 0.98 indicates high reliability and high internal consistency. Three constructs regarding clinical support, namely cognitive-, emotional- and system support were identified by means of the exploratory factor analysis. ConclusionThe new conceptualisation of support gives insight into the value of the preceptor's role. The instrument designed for this study could be used to assess and monitor the support offered by preceptors while they accompany students in clinical practice. Clinical RelevanceConsidering the need to strengthen nursing and midwifery education systems, this instrument contributes to measuring and monitoring clinical accompaniment of students by preceptors.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ISLAMIC SPIRITUALITY AND ISLAMIC SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON ISLAMIC BANKING EMPLOYEES, ITS IMPLICATION TOWARDS WORKPLACE DEVIANCE

<p>This study aims to analyze the effects of Islamic spirituality and Islamic social responsibility on workplace deviance. Series of data analysis techniques have been projected to achieve the goal oriented. However, the techniques include descriptive statistical analysis through cross tabulation, comparative test and Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis. The results indicate that: 1) the characteristic of employee age determine the difference of Islamic spirituality implementation, 2) the difference of employee age determines the difference of Islamic social responsibility implementation, 3) the differences of biographical characteristics of Islamic banking employees covering gender differences, marital status, and age differences do not determine implementation of workplace deviance, 4) Implementation of Islamic piety concept which includes Islamic spirituality or personal piety, and social responsibility or social piety affect deviant behavior in the workplace. Social piety can reduce deviant behavior in the workplace. While personal piety is not able to reduce deviant behavior in the workplace.</p><p>Keywords: Islamic spirituality, Islamic social responsibility, Workplace deviance</p>

The Effect of Biographical Characteristics on Employee Motivational Force and their Tenure in Job: A study in Indian Academic Sector

The Effect of Biographical Characteristics on Employee Motivational Force and their Tenure in Job: A study in Indian Academic Sector

INDUSTRY, IMPROVEMENT, AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY: FINDING THE HOPES AND FEARS OF PARENTS AND SUPERINTENDENTS AT THE PENNSYLVANIA TRAINING SCHOOL

This article examines late nineteenth-century preadmission records taken at the Pennsylvania Training School in order to better understand the biographical and medical characteristics of persons seeking admission to this prominent school for the “feeble-minded.” It draws on those records to then explore how guardians and the superintendent assessed the likelihood and nature of educational improvement. A pioneering institution for the education of people with intellectual disability, the Training School, generally known as “Elwyn,” kept extensive biographical and etiological records that contain a previously untapped wealth of data. These records offer valuable insight into parents’ understanding of their children's disability, their hopes for improvement, and opinions of what would constitute a successful, productive life. The authors use the records to develop a statistical profile of the characteristics of applicants that superintendent Dr. Martin Barr would deem most likely to improve from instruction, and a similar profile for those deemed incapable of improvement. We situate our analysis of the records within the Gilded Age context of anxieties surrounding the state of public education and worker productivity in an industrial economy. In the field of disability studies, the article adds to our understanding of how superintendents constructed and applied the “medical model” of disability and its tension with the lived social experience of disability.

From Executive Appointment to the Collegium System: The Impact on Diversity in the Indian Supreme Court

There has been a national debate raging in India about the system of appointments for Supreme Court and High Court judges. At the founding of the Indian Supreme Court, the executive had primary authority over judicial appointments. In 1993, the Supreme Court created a new system of appointments known as the collegium system, whereby the Chief Justice of India and senior judges of the Supreme Court make new appointments to the Supreme Court as well as the High Courts. In 2014, Parliament amended the Constitution and passed a bill to create a commission to appoint judges, but the Indian Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional. In this article, we ascertain whether the nature of the appointments procedure impacts the biographical and other characteristics of the judges that are eventually selected. We do this by comparing the biographical characteristics of judges appointed by the executive-appointments system (prior to 1993), on the one hand, and the judges appointed by the collegium (on or after 1993) to the Supreme Court of India. We find that both the pre-collegium and the collegium system maintain the geographical and religious diversity of India in the candidates that are appointed. However, both have failed to account for gender diversity. In addition, the path to the Supreme Court appears to have narrowed – typically those who are appointed as judges by the collegium spend longer periods in private practice and on the bench than pre-collegium judges.

Aproximación al agustino Fray Antonio José de Alba (1735-1813), maestro de Mélendez Valdés

From 1772 Melendez Valdes had links with the convent-school of St. Augustine in Salamanca, a community of Agustinian monks, where he had friends enthusiastic about poetry such as Diego Gonzalez (Prior), Juan Fernandez de Rojas, Andres del Corral, Pedro Madariaga and Antonio Jose de Alba. During the period 1775-1780 they met regularly in the cell of the Prior Diego Gonzalez. There grew a firm friendship, based on the same poetic and ideological tastes which had affinities with Jansenism. The present study attempts to outline the essential biographical characteristics of Antonio Jose de Alba and his relationship with Melendez.

Modelos parentales en el contexto urbano: un estudio exploratorio

El propósito de este trabajo es explorar las características que tienen las familias potosinas en cuanto a su cultura parental; es decir, explorar sus pautas de crianza, los diferentes vínculos de apego que se construyen y los patrones de éxito que se promueven para relacionarlos con sus características biográficas. El estudio se efectuó en la zona conurbada de San Luis Potosí (México), con la participación de 1008 familias de diferentes niveles culturales y se utilizó un instrumento de corte mediacional con 12 reactivos de carácter atribucional, que contempló la exploración de 4 modelos parentales. Los resultados arrojaron una preferencia de los padres por pautas de crianza negociadoras o rígidas, vínculos de apego cálidos o cercanos y patrones de éxito orientadores, encontrándose en menor medida las pautas de crianza indulgentes, los vínculos de apego elementales y los patrones de éxito promotores y emancipadores.

Exploring the relationship between Job Commitment and Job Satisfaction through a Review of Literature

The primary motivation behind the review was to examine the interrelation between job commitment and job satisfaction of individuals in higher education institutions and its effect on their performance. This study focuses on various theories related to job commitment and job satisfaction. Keeping in mind the end goal to have better standard of life and to satisfy one’s needs, one has to work with satisfaction as it brings about development not only for the employees but also enhances the productivity and service to the institution consequently it increases the commitment to the institution. Following are the research objectives for this study (1) To look at the interrelation between job commitment and job satisfaction among the employee of an institution of higher education (2) To examine the effect of employee on job satisfaction and job commitment due to their biographical characteristics (3) To examine the significant way to motivate employee in order to boost the job satisfaction. The result showed that there exists a critical connection between job commitment and employment fulfillment of a person. The study highlights that the higher the level of motivation the greater the enhancement of satisfaction and commitment of the employees towards their institution.