Impact Of Individual Characteristics Research Articles

How relationship quality, autonomous work motivation and socialization experience influence the adjustment of self-initiated expatriates in China

PurposeThe continued expansion of organizations outside China's planned economy due to the Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI) is expected to increase recruitment of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). Drawing on social capital, motivation and socialization theories, this study examines the experiences of SIEs in China, which is considered one of the most difficult locations for foreigners to work. While previous research has focused on the impact of individual characteristics on adjustment, this study explores the interplay among relationship quality (trust and shared vision), autonomous work motivation, socialization experience and adjustment.Design/methodology/approachBased on the developed theoretical framework, hypotheses are proposed and tested using data collected by surveying 274 SIEs in China.FindingsRelationship quality with host country nationals (HCNs) was positively associated with adjustment, and autonomous work motivation fully mediated this relationship. Socialization experience moderated the association between relationship quality and autonomous work motivation. Specifically, SIEs' socialization experience strengthened the associations of trust and shared vision with autonomous work motivation. However, socialization experiences failed to moderate the mediated effects of trust and shared vision on adjustment via autonomous work motivation.Originality/valueThis study answers repeated calls for more research on SIEs' adjustment and SIEs working in non-Western countries, especially China. The findings underscore the importance of studying SIE-HCN work relationships and the theoretical value of autonomous work motivation as an underlying mechanism by which the quality of an SIE's relationship with an HCN colleague influences adjustment.

Legitimate earnings inequality and national welfare commitment: Correspondence between economic institutions and the pay 80,000+ people in 30 nations think legitimate for ordinary jobs and for elite jobs

In formulating views of just reward for high-status and low-status work, do ordinary citizens take cues from their nation's public stance on income inequality as institutionally embedded in their welfare state, i.e. their social welfare and labor market policies, their "welfarism"? How large a morally correct earnings gap flows from that? Our multilevel analyses (fixed effects, random intercepts) replicate prior research on the impact of individual characteristics and socioeconomic development. They open new territory with the discovery that public opinion on legitimate/just earnings of high-status occupations aligns moderately strongly with welfarism, ceteris paribus, with welfare state citizens advocating lower pay for the elite but not higher pay for working-class occupations: The welfare state is not (or no longer) a matter of helping the poor but instead of bringing down the elite, "cutting down the tall poppies". Data: World Inequality Study v2.1: 30 countries, 71 surveys, and over 88,000 individuals.

The impact of individual characteristics towards employee performance of millennial employees

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of individual characteristics on employee performance of millennial employees. Furthermore, the study was also to test the moderating effect of training on the impact of individual characteristics on employee performance of millennial employees. This research was conducted from six business entities in Yogyakarta which were engaged in media and information technology sectors. This research used saturation sampling. Primary data was obtained by circulating questionnaires to 250 millennials employees, but only 118 questionnaires were returned. The data were analyzed with PLS-SEM using SmartPLS 3.00 application. The result revealed that individual characteristics have a positive and significant impact on employee performance of millennial employees. Furthermore, training cannot moderate the impact of individual characteristics on employee performance. From these findings, we need to underline that the millennial employee's performance would increase if millennial employees increased their individual characteristics in their working activity.

Relationships between individual characteristics and occupational possibilities for young adults with visual impairments

Individuals with disabilities highlight the importance of having career options, as these people are more likely to have narrowed occupational possibilities and to be employed in part-time and contingent jobs. This study explores (a) the range of occupational possibilities that according to Holland’s Self- Directed Search (SDS) Questionnaire most closely resemble the personality types of 55 young adults with visual impairments, b) the impact of individual characteristics on occupational possibilities, and c) the differences between sighted adults and adults with visual impairments regarding the SDS Questionnaire scores for the six personality types (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional). The research instrument was the SDS Questionnaire of Holland. The study results showed that the occupational possibilities for young adults with visual impairments relate mostly to social occupations. Individual characteristics also were found to be significant predictors of individual types according to the SDS Questionnaire. In addition, differences emerged from the comparison between adults with visual impairments and sighted adults in regard to the six personality types identified by Holland, based on the normative data. The study revealed that individual characteristics of young adults with visual impairments play an important role in their occupational possibilities.

THE WORKING POOR: TOO LOW WAGE OR TOO MANY KIDS?

The “in-work at-risk-of-poverty rate” is a European indicator that is based on a series of assumptions rarely questioned although with particularly strong consequences for the calculation of the in-work poverty risk and for the design of policies to combat it. The purpose of this paper is to show the volatility in the measured proportions of working poor according to different methodological choices in terms of the unit of analysis, the measure of income and the population of workers. In a country-specific econometric analysis we show the differential impact of individual characteristics, the household structure and employment-related factors on the in-work poverty risk according to whether individual or equivalised household income is used to measure this risk. Our analysis covers 8 European countries and is based on 2007 data from the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions.

Deterrent effects of punishment and training on insider security threats: a field experiment on phishing attacks

ABSTRACT There is no doubt that organisational security threats are currently surging, internally and externally. In an effort to prevent internal threats – employee violations of information security policy (ISP) – security training programmes and sanction policies are implemented to a large extent in organisations. However, few studies have verified their practical effectiveness and the impact of individual characteristics within organisations. This study conducted a field experiment to examine the actual deterrent effect of those measures against phishing attacks. By fabricating fake phishing schemes through a simulation programme, the specific deterrent effect of punishment, the general deterrent effect of education, and employees’ organisational position were tested on their ISP compliance behaviour. Findings confirmed that punishment effectively prevented the punished from falling for phishing again and that the trained group fell for phishing much less often than the untrained group. In addition, the higher one’s organisational position, the more likely the person fell for phishing. Regardless of the treatment (i.e. training or punishment), this position effect stood out. The results of this study offer researchers and practitioners insightful information about effective deterrence measures and policies for organisational information security.

Exploring the Impact of Individual Characteristics Associated with Government Officials on the Severity of Real Estate Corruption

In China, corruption by government officials in the field of real estate has increased at an unprecedented pace, which poses a huge threat to social sustainability. To date, scholars have primarily focused on the macroscopic determinant factors of corruption such as state intervention and economic competition; however, much less is known about the microscopic determinant factor of corruption. In this study, we use an analytical model to evaluate how individual characteristics of government officials involved in corruption cases influence and predict the scale of corruption in these cases. Based on data collected from 135 cases, the results show that age is not a key factor that affects the severity of real estate corruption; however, characteristics associated with amounts of power and levels of involvement in corruption significantly affect the severity of real estate corruption. Therefore, we propose the following countermeasures: (1) take into account the micro determinants of real estate corruption, (2) focus supervision on officials in charge of departments, key position managers, and top leaders, (3) reform the governance of each phase of real estate development and governmental involvement, and (4) enhance auditing during officials’ tenures and limit the possibility of promoting officials who have participated in corruption.

Corporate social responsibility and consumer advocacy behaviors: The importance of emotions and moral virtues

Although previous studies revealed the positive perception effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on consumer behavior, the influence mechanism and the impact of individual characteristics on the effect have been underexplored. The purpose of this study is not only to examine the mediating role of the emotion of admiration in the relationship between consumer perception of CSR and advocacy behaviors but also to explore the moderating role of the consumer moral virtue of integrity in the relationship between CSR perception and feelings of admiration. Data was collected from customers of a food company located in Spain, and the results show that the company's CSR practices positively influence consumer advocacy behaviors both directly and indirectly through consumer admiration for the company. Consumer integrity moderates the relationship between consumer perception of CSR and admiration. Specifically, CSR practices have a stronger admiration effect on consumers who are high in integrity. The overall importance of consumer perceptions of CSR suggest that, in the food industry, the perception of appropriate CSR practices has a positive impact on consumer attitudes and behaviors, which are also conditioned by individuals' moral virtues.

Police Use-of-Force Situations in Canada

This study is one of the few to investigate correlates of force in the Canadian context. It also investigates the existence of protective factors that decrease the level of force used by the police. A total of 1,174 self-reported uses of force are analyzed. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to identify factors related to three possibilities: The force used by the police was lower than, equal to, or higher than the level of subject resistance. The analysis reveals that the impact of individual characteristics on the correspondence between officer force and subject resistance is negligible. Also, three general patterns of relationships are found. First, the presence of a weapon helps distinguish lower-than-expected force situations. Second, the presence of a single officer, resistance toward officer(s), conflict between the subject and another citizen, and subject intoxication have linear effects, that is, the effect increases or decreases consistently. Third, for every less severe level of force that was used, cases are more likely to be in the expected than the lower-than- and in the higher-than-expected group. The findings obtained in this study are consistent with the literature, suggesting that it is reasonable to apply most conclusions from previous studies on police use of force to the Canadian context. The analysis also suggests that police use of force could be better understood as a trichotomy where the force used by the police is depicted as lower than, equal to, or higher than the level of subject resistance.

Impact of individual characteristics on sonographic IVC diameter and the IVC diameter/aorta diameter index

BackgroundThe inferior vena cava (IVC) parameters, including its diameter and collapsibility index have been evaluated for fluid status for over 30 years, but little is known about the impacts of patient characteristics on IVC parameters. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between individual patient characteristics and IVC parameters in healthy Chinese adult volunteers. MethodsFrom February 2012 to May 2012, 216 healthy volunteers older than the age of 18 years were consecutively enrolled in our study. The individual characteristics and presence or absence of hypertension of each participant were recorded. Sonographic measurements of IVC and abdominal aorta diameter (Ao) were performed (DP-6900; Mindray, Shenzhen, China). ResultsVolunteers ranged in age from 18 to 84 years (43.7 ± 7.8 years), and 50.5% were males. In univariate analyses, maximum IVC diameter (IVCmax) was negatively correlated with age (years) (r = −0.171, P = .012) and positively correlated with sex (men) (r = 0.174, P = .01), height (centimeters) (r = 0.281, P < .001), and body surface area (square meters) (r = 0.173, P = .011). The IVC/Ao index was negatively correlated with age (years) (r = −0.326, P < .001), waist circumference (centimeters) (r = −0.176, P = .01), body mass index (r = −0.173, P = .011), and hypertension (r = −0.186, P = .006). None of the patient characteristics were significantly correlated with percentage collapse of the IVC. Height (centimeters) was the sole significant predictor of IVCmax (R2 = 0.079, P < .001). Age (years) and body mass index (kilogram/square meter) were independent predictors of the IVC/Ao index (R2 = 0.123; P < .001 and P = .046, respectively). ConclusionsThe percentage collapse of IVC and the IVCmax are not substantially influenced by patient characteristics. In contrast, the IVC/Ao index is more susceptible to patient characteristics than IVC.

Street-level bureaucrats’ attitudes towards the Finnish labour market allowance

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes of street-level bureaucrats from different agencies and sectors of the Finnish welfare state, namely municipal social workers, diaconal workers of the Lutheran church, benefit officials of the Social Security Institution and officials of private unemployment funds.Design/methodology/approach– The authors are interested in the following questions: What are the attitudes of street-level bureaucrats towards the labour market allowance? What is the impact of individual characteristics? The study utilised the unique national survey data of different groups of street-level bureaucrats from the year 2011 (totalN=2,313). The dependent variables focus on legitimacy of the basic level of labour market allowance and sanction policies. Analyses are built around five independent variables which measure professional, personal interest and ideological factors.Findings– There are differences both between and within groups of Finnish street-level bureaucrats with regard to their attitudes concerning the labour market allowance. Social and diaconal workers believe more often than officials that the level of labour market allowance is too low, and offer less support for the idea that an unemployed person should take any job that is offered or have their unemployment security reduced. The results show that the attitudes of bureaucrats are explained by length of work history, economic situation and ideological factors.Originality/value– There have been very few analyses comparing attitudes among different groups of bureaucrats. The present study is intended to fill this gap in the literature.

Public attitudes toward government responsibility for child care: The impact of individual characteristics and welfare regimes

This study examines the extent to which individual's attitudes toward government responsibility for child care provisions are influenced by personal characteristics as well as the social contexts in which these attitudes are formed. The analysis draws on data from a random sample of 24, 240 respondents in 12 of the countries included in the European Social Survey (ESS) round 4 (2008–2009). The analytic framework focuses on individual-level factors related to self-interest, perceptions of the current care available and egalitarian ideology as well as the societal context reflected in the alternative institutional arrangements for social welfare represented by the countries clustered into different welfare state regimes. The findings indicate that among the individual level variables, although factors related to self interest were significant, egalitarian ideology had the relatively strongest impact on the respondents' level of support for government provision of child care. At the institutional level the introduction of welfare regimes increased the proportion of explained variance well beyond that accounted for by individual level factors.

The impact of individual characteristics in self-esteem and locus of control of young adults with visual impairments

In this study the impact of personal/individual characteristics (gender, vision status, age, age at loss of sight, recency of vision loss, education level, employment status, and ability of independent movement) in locus of control (LOC) and self-esteem were examined. Eighty-four young adults with visual impairments (42 with blindness and 42 with low vision) took part in this study. The significant predictors of self-esteem were vision status, age at loss of sight, recency of vision loss and educational level. Moreover, significant predictors of LOC were vision status and independent movement.

The Link between Parental and Offspring Longevity

Studies of adult mortality typically examine the impact of individual characteristics, but ignore the fact that the characteristics of people closely linked to those individuals also influence mortality risk. This paper examines the effect of parental longevity on survival outcomes of adult offspring using survey data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) between 1992 and 2008. It employs a competing risk model that controls for correlation between individual death and survey non-response. There is strong evidence that individuals with longer-lived parents exhibit lower mortality risk. Even after controlling for health conditions and behavioral variables of the offspring, parental age at death has a substantial impact on the survival of the adult offspring, suggesting a strong genetic component that must be considered as important in determining longevity.

The Impact of Individual Characteristics and Organization Culture on Performance and Career Development of Employees Case studies Five Star Hotel in Surabaya Indonesia

The Impact of Individual Characteristics and Organization Culture on Performance and Career Development of Employees Case studies Five Star Hotel in Surabaya Indonesia

The Impact of Individual Characteristics, Personality Traits, Perceived Risk on Young People's Intention to Participate in Overseas Working Holiday

This paper analyzes whether individual characteristics, personality traits, and perceived risk will affect young people's intention to participate in overseas working holiday, and taking the three countries of Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom as examples. The sample consists of young people and students at numerous universities and colleges, with ages ranging from 18 to 31. A total of 350 questionnaires were issued, and 204 valid questionnaires were recovered, with a return rate of 58.2%. Multiple regression was used to test hypotheses. The research results indicate that the factors influencing young people's intention to take working holiday in different countries were not entirely the same. It is found that age, work experience, neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, environmental and social risk, and agent and workplace risk may influence intention to participate in overseas working holiday. The research implications and recommendations are also presented.

Life (Dis)Satisfaction and Decision to Migrate: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

This paper provides the first evidence regarding the impact of life satisfaction on the individual intention to migrate. The impact of individual characteristics and country macroeconomic variables on the decision to migrate is analyzed in one framework.Differently from other studies, we allow for life satisfaction to serve as a mediator between macroeconomic variables and the intention to migrate. Using the Eurobarometer Survey for 27 Central Eastern (CEE) and Western European (non-CEE) countries, we test the predictions of our theoretical model and find that dissatisfied with life, people have a higher intention to migrate. The macroeconomic conditions have an effect on the intention to migrate indirectly through life satisfaction. At all levels of life satisfaction, unemployed, middle-aged individuals with a low or average income from urban areas at all levels of education are found to have higher intentions to migrate from CEE countries than from non-CEE countries.

Attitudes Toward Homosexuals Among Youth in Multiethnic Brussels

This study examined attitudes toward lesbians and gay men (referred to in the literature as sexual prejudice ) in a sample of pupils from 70 secondary schools in Brussels. We used items measuring traditional and modern sexual prejudice and support for gay civil rights. We performed a multilevel linear multivariate response analysis to assess both the impact of individual characteristics and school influence on pupils’ attitudes. Controlling for sociodemographic variables, second-generation migrants had more prejudice toward homosexuals than pupils from the ethnic majority group. Identification with the receiving society and perception of group-level institutional discrimination, however, mediated the association between ethnic origin and homonegativity. In contrast to traditional sexual prejudice and gay civil rights issues, modern sexual prejudice items were less affected by individual sociodemographic variables. Modern sexual prejudice also remained rather stable across schools; however, schools did appear to affect civil rights issues and traditional sexual prejudice. This contribution sheds light on the relationship between ethnic origin and sexual prejudice and on the variation of several sexual prejudice dimensions across social groups and schools.

The Coexistence of Degree-Premium and High-Dropout Rates in the Uruguayan Secondary Education: An Incentives Problem

Although participation rates in the educational system might look impressive for a Latin American country, educational outputs are not that great. Uruguay is characterized by educational gaps and high drop-out rates in the secondary education. In our work we first explore the returns to schooling in Uruguay. In the course of our analysis, we use quantile regression models that are more suitable than ordinary least squares (OLS) for countries where heterogeneity within the labour force in terms of earnings and the impact of individual characteristics on earnings is significant. In particular we test the hypothesis of the existence of a degree premium for those individuals that complete the secondary education (12 years of education). As we find evidence that allows us to confirm the existence of the degree premium, we make conjectures and present a possible explanation that links the evidence between the existence of degree premium, educational gaps and dropouts. The rationale is that since only the completion of the secondary degree will generate a clear economic benefit, many individuals will exit the educational system as they find difficulties in the transit along the secondary level. In other words, the completion of the entire secondary stage might be seen as a long haul race and Uruguayan youngsters end up exiting the process when they are still far from the end. To cope with the estimation problem of unobservable household or children characteristics, this investigation employs an instrumental variable (IV) strategy both for two-stage least squares (TSLS) and quantile regression (QTE).

Assessment of the river habitat quality in undeveloped areas of Serbia applying the RHS (river habitat survey) method

Paper's main goal is to establish 'RHS reference site', which will be the basis for future classification of river habitat quality in other regions of Serbia. River habitats in Golijska Moravica and Jerma basin have been assessed and classified by RHS method, and reference values are determined (which would serve for the next research of river habitats in Serbia). In Golijska Moravica and Jerma basin semi-natural and predominantly unmodified habitats with high diversity are dominant. If we compare HQA index of Moravica and Jerma with HQA indexes in some European countries (Austria, Germany) of same river type (small, shallow mountain rivers) we can conclude that sites in Moravica and Jerma basin have higher habitat diversity. Within river basins there are spatial differences of HQA index value. River sites in Moravica and Jerma basin have lower values of HMS index than sites in European countries. The impact of individual characteristics on total HQA and HMS score is also determined in this paper. Results of this paper are important for conservation of natural habitats, for river basin management plans and to estimate environmental impact of future water management activities in these basins.