Showing papers by "Bowling Green State University published in 1997"

Religion and Spirituality: Unfuzzying the Fuzzy

Abstract: The present study attempts to measure how individuals define the terms religiousness and spirituality, to measure how individuals define their own religiousness and spirituality, and to examine whether these definitions are associated with different demographic, religio/spiritual, and psychosocial variables. The complete sample of 346 individuals was composed of 11 groups of participants drawn from a wide range of religious backgrounds. Analyses were conducted to compare participants' self-rated religiousness and spirituality, to correlate self-rated religiousness and spirituality with the predictor variables, and to use the predictor variables to distinguish between participants who described themselves as spiritual and religious from those who identified themselves as 'spiritual but not religious. A content analysis of participants' definitions of religiousness and spirituality was also performed. The results suggest several points of convergence and divergence between the constructs religiousness and spirituality. The theoretical, empirical, and practical implications of these results for the scientific study of religion are discussed.

The sales manager as a Role model: Effects on trust, job satisfaction, and performance of salespeople

Abstract: This study develops a conceptual framework that relates role-modeling behavior of sales managers to a set of key outcome variables and assesses the validity of the framework using a cross-sectional sample of salespeople and sales managers drawn from a variety of business-to-business sales organizations. Findings indicate that salespeople’s perceptions of their managers’ role-modeling behavior relate positively to trust in the sales manager and relate indirectly, through trust, to both job satisfaction and overall performance of salespeople. The study provides empirical validity for practitioner suggestions that sales managers should lead by example, and thus should provide a model of the behavior managers desire their salespeople to enact.

Assessment, Measurement, and Prediction for Personnel Decisions

Abstract: Part 1. Foundations for Personnel Decisions. 1. Membership Decisions in Organizations. 2. Analysis of Selection Problems. 3. Developing the Predictive Hypothesis. 4. The Legal Context for Personnel Decisions. Part 2. Psychometric and Statistical Foundations 5. Basic Concepts in Measurement. 6. Further Concepts in Measurement. 7. Bivariate Prediction of Performance. 8. The Use of Multivariate Statistics. 9. Bias, Group Differences, and Adverse Impact. Part 3. Assessment Methods: Practice and Research 10. Challenges to Traditional Ways. 11. Assessments by Tests and Inventories. 12. Judgement as Assessment and Prediction. 13. Assessment by Rating. 14. Assessment by Interviews, Resumes, and "Assembled Tests." 15. Multiple Assessment Methods.

Women Entrepreneurs: Moving Beyond the Glass Ceiling

Abstract: Dorothy P. Moore and E. Holly Buttner, in their book ‘Women Entrepreneurs: Moving Beyond the Glass Ceiling,’ explore the increasingly popular choice of exiting the organization and creating one's own business by examining the occupational transitions of 129 highly accomplished women entrepreneurs from across the United States. Although not intended as a study of the new boundaryless career concept (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996), their book provides a detailed picture of how some individuals are crossing organizational and occupational boundaries and designing careers that better match their own values and needs.

Testing and Locating Variance Changepoints with Application to Stock Prices

Abstract: This article explores testing and locating multiple variance changepoints in a sequence of independent Gaussian random variables (assuming known and common mean). This type of problem is very common in applied economics and finance. A binary procedure combined with the Schwarz information criterion (SIC) is used to search all of the possible variance changepoints existing in the sequence. The simulated power of the proposed procedure is compared to that of the CUSUM procedure used by Inclan and Tiao to cope with variance changepoints. The SIC and unbiased SIC for this problem are derived. To obtain the percentage points of the SIC criterion, the asymptotic null distribution of a function of the SIC is obtained, and then the approximate percentage points of the SIC are tabulated. Finally, the results are applied to the weekly stock prices. The unknown but common mean case is also outlined at the end.

Cohabiting partners’ economic circumstances and marriage

Abstract: Past studies of the transition to marriage generally have relied on information about only one individual or have attempted to measure characteristics of potential spouses indirectly. Drawing on data from the two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), we examine the effects of economic circumstances of both partners in cohabiting unions on the transition to marriage. Focusing on both partners in a relationship affords a more direct test of the relative importance of men’s versus women s economic circumstances. Our findings suggest that only the male partner’s economic resources affect the transition to marriage, with positive economic situations accelerating marriage and deterring separation. Our results imply that despite trends toward egalitarian gender-role attitudes and increasing income provision among women, cohabiting men s economic circumstances carry far more weight than women’s in marriage formation.

Brain systems for the mediation of social separation-distress and social-reward. Evolutionary antecedents and neuropeptide intermediaries.

Abstract: During the first year of life, human infants display affiliative behaviors and form “attachment bonds” with their caregivers. These bonds are manifested through selective approach and interaction with certain individuals who provide a “secure base” for other life activities, and various signs of separation-distress along with an emerging fear of strangers when isolation from such sources of support is perceived. Social reunion rapidly dissipates this type of emotional distress. The only way to understand the deep neural nature of such emotional systems is through appropriate animal models which can be employed to unravel the underlying brain substrates that are shared, to some extent, by all mammals. Research precedents for the existence of attachment systems in the brain, such as those proposed by Kraemer’ and Panksepp,* were established by the well known behavioral research programs of Harlow3 and Scott,” who demonstrated that social motivation and social bonding could arise independently of the reinforcing effects of basic rewards such as food and, by inference, all other conventional regulatory sources of gratification. Social bonding was argued to rely more critically on “social” stimuli (namely, stimuli that emanate from living beings) such as bodily warmth, the comforts of touch, and various dynamic movements and odors of social interaction. Although the potential modulatory role of conventional rewards in the elaboration of social attachments remains to be fully evaluated and hence may still be of demonstrable importance, the prevailing wisdom is that social bonding can proceed independently of those factors. Accordingly, Bowlby’ commandingly argued that mother-infant attachment bonds, based as they are on a sense of security and emotional trust as well as satisfaction arising from social contact, provide the foundation for all subse-

Steps toward Determination of the Size and Structure of the Broad-Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei. IX. Ultraviolet Observations of Fairall 9

Abstract: An 8 month monitoring campaign on the Seyfert 1 galaxy Fairall 9 has been conducted with the International Ultraviolet Explorer in an attempt to obtain reliable estimates of continuum-continuum and continuum-emission-line delays for a high-luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN). While the results of this campaign are more ambiguous than those of previous monitoring campaigns on lower luminosity sources, we find general agreement with the earlier results: (1) there is no measurable lag between ultraviolet continuum bands, and (2) the measured emission-line time lags are very short. It is especially notable that the Ly? + N V emission-line lag is about 1 order of magnitude smaller than determined from a previous campaign by Clavel, Wamsteker, & Glass (1989) when Fairall 9 was in a more luminous state. In other well-monitored sources, specifically NGC 5548 and NGC 3783, the highest ionization lines are found to respond to continuum variations more rapidly than the lower ionization lines, which suggests a radially ionization-stratified broad-line region. In this case, the results are less certain, since none of the emission-line lags are very well determined. The best-determined emission line lag is Ly? + N V, for which we find that the centroid of the continuum-emission-line cross-correlation function is ?cent ? 14-20 days. We measure a lag ?cent 4 days for He II ?1640; this result is consistent with the ionization-stratification pattern seen in lower luminosity sources, but the relatively large uncertainties in the emission-line lags measured here cannot rule out similar lags for Ly? + N V and He II ?1640 at a high level of significance. We are unable to determine a reliable lag for C IV ?1550, but we note that the profiles of the variable parts of Ly? and C IV ?1550 are not the same, which does not support the hypothesis that the strongest variations in these two lines arise in the same region.

Effects of Objective and Subjective Task Complexity on Performance

Abstract: The thesis of this research is that performance on a task depends not only on objective complexity (a task characteristic) but also on one's perception of task complexity. This study allowed investigation of the influences of (a) cognitive ability, (b) motivation, (c) subjective task complexity, and (d) task experience on performance for an objectively simple or complex scheduling task. Potential determinants of subjective complexity were also studied, as well as the mediating effects of subjective complexity on the relations between independent variables (i.e., objective complex- ity, cognitive ability, and task experience) and task performance. Participants (N = 195) were undergraduates who prepared a 1-week work schedule for a fictitious film processing store under either a Simple or Complex condition. Those in the Complex condition were additionally required to account for employee time off and varying store traffic. Hierarchical regression revealed significant, unique main effects for objective task ...

Innovativeness and price sensitivity: managerial, theoretical and methodological issues

Abstract: Presents a simple and concise survey method for measuring price sensitivity and illustrates its use by examining the relationship between innovativeness and price sensitivity within a specific product category. The results of a survey of 457 students revealed a negative relationship between fashion innovativeness and fashion price sensitivity, thereby confirming previous studies. Additional analyses showed that the individual scale items and the short summed scales operationalizing the constructs possessed discriminant validity, enhancing the credibility of the findings. Discusses applications of this self‐report method for measuring price sensitivity to other pricing issues.

Sleep-promoting and hypothermic effects of daytime melatonin administration in humans.

Abstract: Sleep-promoting and hypothermic effects of orally administered melatonin during the daytime were assessed using a placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over design. Following a 7-hour nighttime sleep opportunity, healthy young male subjects (n = 8) were given either a placebo or one of three doses of melatonin (1 mg, 10 mg, and 40 mg) at 1000 hours. Sleep was polygraphically assessed in a 4-hour sleep opportunity from 1200 to 1600 hours. All doses of melatonin significantly shortened the latency to sleep onset. Melatonin also significantly increased total sleep time and decreased wake after sleep onset (WASO). Sleep following melatonin administration contained significantly more stage 2 and less stage 3-4, while stage 1 and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep were unaffected. In addition to the sleep-promoting effects, melatonin completely suppressed the normal diurnal rise of core body temperature. These data suggest that melatonin may be an effective method of promoting sleep for individuals attempting to sleep during their subjective day, such as shiftworkers and individuals rapidly traveling across multiple time zones.

Cardiovascular recovery from stress and hypertension risk factors: A meta‐analytic review

Abstract: Recent research has suggested that cardiovascular recovery from stress can play a potential role in hypertension pathogenesis. Sixty-nine studies were included in a meta-analytic review to evaluate the effect of various hypertension risk factors (e.g., race, lack of exercise) on cardiovascular recovery from stress. Small mean effect sizes were observed for studies examining hypertension status and race as risk factors associated with delayed diastolic blood pressure recovery. Lack of fitness was also associated with delayed heart rate recovery. These results revealed that, for the specified risk factors and cardiovascular variables, high-risk individuals exhibited delayed cardiovascular recovery as compared with low-risk individuals. Further, the relationships between hypertension status, race, and cardiovascular recovery were typically associated with the use of "active" laboratory stressors. The relationship between lack of fitness and cardiovascular recovery was also associated with the use of "active" and exercise laboratory stressors.

Life stressors, neighborhood disadvantage, and resources: A focus on inner-city children's adjustment.

Abstract: Examined the contribution of particular stressors and resources to inner-city children's adjustment. Fourth, 5th, and 6th graders (N = 315; 66%from ethnic minority groups) reported on their recent exposure to stressful events and neighborhood disadvantage, their perceptiom of self-worth and social support, and their behavioral and academic adjustment. Hierarchical regressions indicated unique contributions of stressful events and neighborhood disadvantage to predicting antisocial behavior; higher levels of self-worth and family support were related to lower levels of antisocial behavior, but higher levels of peer support were related to higher levels of antisocial behavior. Furthermore, whereas family support buffered the relation between stressful events and antisocial behavior, peer support exacerbated the effect of stressors on behavioral maladjustment.

Steps toward Determination of the Size and Structure of the Broad-Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei. XI. Intensive Monitoring of the Ultraviolet Spectrum of NGC 7469

Abstract: From 1996 June 10 to July 29, the International Ultraviolet Explorer monitored the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469 continuously in an attempt to measure time delays between the continuum and emission-line fluxes. From the time delays, one can estimate the size of the region dominating the production of the UV emission lines in this source. We find the strong UV emission lines to respond to continuum variations with time delays of about 23-31 for Lyα, 27 for C IV λ1549, 19-24 for N V λ1240, 17-18 for Si IV λ1400, and 07-10 for He II λ1640. The most remarkable result, however, is the detection of apparent time delays between the different UV continuum bands. With respect to the UV continuum flux at 1315 A, the flux at 1485 A, 1740 A, and 1825 A lags with time delays of 021, 035, and 028, respectively. Determination of the significance of this detection is somewhat problematic since it depends on accurate estimation of the uncertainties in the lag measurements, which are difficult to assess. We attempt to estimate the uncertainties in the time delays through Monte Carlo simulations, and these yield estimates of ~007 for the 1 σ uncertainties in the interband continuum time delays. Possible explanations for the delays include the existence of a continuum-flux reprocessing region close to the central source and/or a contamination of the continuum flux with a very broad time-delayed emission feature such as the Balmer continuum or merged Fe II multiplets.

Identifying potentially useful personality constructs for employee selection

Abstract: The Personality-Related Position Requirements Form (PPRF), a job analysis form to be used in making hypotheses about personality predictors of job performance, is described. The Big Five personality factors provided an organizing framework for the PPRF. Subsequent development resulted in identifying 12 specific sets of items for facets of each of the Big Five. A study was conducted by gathering job descriptions on 260 different jobs to determine if the PPRF could reliably differentiate jobs; such evidence was found. The PPRF is offered to both researchers and practitioners for use, refinement, and further testing of its technical merits and intended purposes.

Suppliers' contributions to product development: an exploratory study

Abstract: Many managers are trying to leverage the skills and resources of key component suppliers to develop high-quality new products faster and at a lower cost. In this exploratory study, we surveyed product-development engineers in 79 small- to medium-sized firms to determine if three techniques commonly used to integrate suppliers into product development increase the supplier's perceived contributions to product development in the eyes of its customer. The techniques studied are: (1) timing of a supplier's involvement; (2) supplier's design responsibility; and (3) communication frequency. Of these, only early supplier involvement was significantly related to the perception of an increased contribution by the supplier. In addition, we found that the supplier's contributions to product development had little practical influence on the overall project technical success. The findings suggest that more research is needed to understand how to use suppliers effectively to improve product-development outcomes.

Combination of bright light and caffeine as a countermeasure for impaired alertness and performance during extended sleep deprivation.

Abstract: Effects of four conditions (Dim Light-Placebo, Dim Light-Caffeine, Bright Light-Placebo and Bright Light-Caffeine) on alertness, and performance were studied during the night-time hours across 45.5 h of sleep deprivation. Caffeine (200 mg) was administered at 20.00 and 02.00 hours and bright-light exposure (> 2000 lux) was from 20.00 to 08.00 hours each night. The three treatment conditions, compared to the Dim Light-Placebo condition, enhanced night-time performance. Further, the combined treatment of caffeine and all-night bright light (Bright Light-Caffeine) enhanced performance to a larger degree than either the Dim Light-Caffeine or the Bright Light-Placebo condition. Beneficial effects of the treatments on performance were largest during the early morning hours (e.g. after 02.00 hours) when performance in the Dim Light-Placebo group was at its worst. Notably, the Bright Light-Caffeine condition was able to overcome the circadian drop in performance for most tasks measured. Both caffeine conditions improved objective alertness on the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test. Taken together, the above results suggest that the combined treatment of bright light and caffeine provides an effective intervention for enhancing alertness and performance during sleep loss. Language: en

Subversion as Foreign Policy: The Secret Eisenhower and Dulles Debacle in Indonesia.

Abstract: Based on access to secret documents and interviews with many of the participants, Subversion as Foreign Policy is an extraordinary account of civil war in Indonesia provoked by President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, and resulting in the killing of thousands of Indonesians and the destruction of much of the country's air force and navy.\"This startling new book reveals a covert intervention by the United States in Indonesia in the late 1950s involving, among other things, the supply of thousands of weapons, the creation and deployment of a secret CIA air force and logistical support from the Seventh Fleet. The intervention occurred on such a massive scale that it is difficult to believe it has been kept almost totally secret from the American public for nearly 40 years. And this CIA operation proved to be even more disastrous than the Bay of Pigs\". -- San Francisco Chronicle\"An exemplary study of an ignominious chapter of the Cold War in Southeast Asia\". -- Journal of Asian Studies\"Subversion as Foreign Policy is a remarkable book.... The Kahins have provided a rare insight into the workings of U.S. policy towards Indonesia, both clandestine and official\". -- London Times Literary Supplement

Reaching for gold and the price of glory: a motivational case study of an Elite Gymnast.

Abstract: The present investigation is a qualitative case study of a former elite gymnast. The social cognitive approach to achievement motivation has been applied to understand and explain the behavior of this gymnast, her coaches, and her parents. The gymnast participated in three unstructured interviews which were grounded in a feminist view of sport and research (cf. Harding, 1991; Krane, 1994). The data analysis resulted in three dimensions: Motivational Climate, Evidence of an Ego Orientation, and Correlates of Ego Involvement. An ego-involved motivational environment was developed and reinforced by the gymnast’s coaches and parents. Her ego-involved goal orientation was revealed through her reliance on social comparison, emphasis on external feedback and rewards, need to demonstrate her superiority, and acting out behaviors in the face of adversity. This gymnast practiced and competed while seriously injured, employed unhealthy eating practices, overtrained, and refused to listen to medical advice in order t...

Artifactual power curves in forgetting

Abstract: Recent studies of the mathematical relationship between time and forgetting suggest that it is a power function rather than an exponential function, a finding that has important theoretical consequences. Through computational analysis and reanalyses of published data, we demonstrate that arithmetic averaging of exponential curves can produce an artifactual power curve, particularly when there are large and systematic differences among the slopes of the component curves. A series of simulations showed that the amount of power artifact is small when the slopes of the component curves are normally or rectangularly distributed and when the performance measure is noise free. However, the simulations also showed that the artifact can be quite large, depending on the shape of the noise distribution and restrictions in the performance range. We conclude that claims concerning the form of memory functions should consider whether the data are likely to contain artifact caused by averaging or by the presence of range-restricted noise.

The measurement of job control

Abstract: Subjective or perceived control over job-related activities or events is a frequently measured construct in organizational stress research. Karasek (1985) assessed perceived control as both decision authority and skill discretion at work (job decision latitude). Ganster (1989b; Dwyer and Ganster, 1991) developed a multidimensional or general measure of worker control, as well as a specific measure of work predictability. Because little published psychometric data exist for these scales, we investigated the item-level measurement properties of Karasek's and Ganster's measures. We hypothesized two separate, two-factor solutions, decision authority and skill discretion, for the job decision latitude scale, and general control and predictability, for the work control scale. The dimensionality of both measures was assessed in multiple, independent samples using confirmatory factor analyses (LISREL) with maximum likelihood estimation. Simultaneous solutions across samples were used to determine the fit of the factor models to the data. The hypothesized two-factor solutions were confirmed for both Karasek's and Ganster's scales, although item refinement is indicated. We also investigated the relative independence between Karasek's and Ganster's scales and found a lack of independence between the general control and decision authority items in one sample. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Synthesis, Photophysical and Photobiological Properties and in vitro Structure-Activity Relationships of a Set of Silicon Phthalocyanine PDT Photosensitizers

Abstract: Four silicon phthalocyanine photosensitizers have been prepared and studied in an effort to learn more about the structural features that a silicon phthalocyanine must have in order to be a good photodynamic therapy (PDT) photosensitizer. The compounds that have been studied are the known phthalocyanines HOSiPcOSi(CH3)2-(CH2)3N(CH3)2, Pc 4; and SiPc[OSi(CH3)2(CH2)3N(CH3)2]2, Pc 12; and the new photosensitizers HOSiPcOSi(CH3)2- (CH2)3N(CH2CH3)(CH2)2N(CH3)2, Pc 10; and SiPc[OSi (CH3)2(CH2)3N(CH2CH3)(CH2)2N(CH3)2]2, Pc 18. The triplet lifetimes of the four photosensitizers, their singlet oxygen quantum yields, their ability to photoenhance the generation of lipid peroxidation products in human erythrocyte ghosts, their ability to partition into V79 cells and their ability to photokill V79 and L5178Y-R cells have been determined. It is concluded that the presence of a small axial ligand (e.g. an OH ligand) is not necessary for efficient photosensitization, the presence of two aminosiloxy ligands generally provides at least as good photosensitization as one such ligand, and the presence of an elongated diaminosiloxy axial ligand rather than a short aminosiloxy ligand is less desirable. Further, it is concluded that the presence of structural features leading to improvement in the association between the photosensitizers and important cellular targets are more useful than those leading to improvements in their already acceptable photophysical and photochemical properties.

Quantitative Methods in Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Methodological Manifesto

Abstract: OBJECTIVES.This article summarizes the deliberations of the Quantitative Methods Working Group convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in support of the NIH Office of Alternative Medicine.METHODS.The working group was charged with identifying methods of study design and data analysis tha

People and the Land through Time: Linking Ecology and History

Abstract: All ecosystems have a history of past human impacts, some obvious, others subtle, Emily Russell contends in this fascinating exploration of historical ecology. To understand the lingering consequences of human history on current ecosystems and landscapes, and conversely to understand the role that changing environments have played in human history, the author urges an interdisciplinary approach. Different disciplines working together can develop information that none alone can provide. History matters for all manner of ecological and environmental studies, both theoretical and applied, says Russell, and integration of these disciplines can assist us in dealing responsibly with our role in the biosphere.

Family communication and delinquency.

Abstract: The importance of positive communication for optimal family functioning has important implications for delinquent behavior. Using self-reported delinquency in conjunction with self-reported perceptions of open and closed communication with one's parents, the relationship between communication and delinquency is explored. Results indicate that communication is related to the commission of delinquent behavior. Differences in age, sex, and family marital status are noted.