Showing papers in "Human Relations in 1983"
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TL;DR: In this paper, four processes of domain development are identified which compose a sequence, and key aspects of domain formation are discussed in relation to the functions and types of referent organization, of which there are several varieties.
Abstract: Complex societies in fast-changing environments give rise to sets or systems of problems (meta-problems) rather than discrete problems. These are beyond the capacity of single organizations to meet. Inter-organizational collaboration is required by groups of organizations at what is called the “domain” level. The required capability at this level is mediated by “referent organizations. ” Key aspects of domain formation are discussed in relation to the functions and types of referent organization, of which there are several varieties. Four processes of domain development are identified which compose a sequence.
560 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors provided an empirical basis for clarification of the concept of cohesion in experientially-based learning groups and found that participants' commitment to the group was significantly related to remaining in the group and physical distance to others but not to perceptions of learning.
Abstract: Cohesion continues to remain a popular concept among group therapists and leaders of experientially based learning groups despite persistent confusion about its meaning. The present study provided an empirical basis for clarification of the concept of cohesion. Forty-five participants from nine experientially based learning groups provided self-report and behavioral data concerning a number of aspects of cohesion. Factor analyses of the self-report data generated three sets of factors that dealt with the participant's perception of the other participants, the leader, and the group as a whole. One of the factors concerned the participant's commitment to the group. It was significantly related to remaining in the group and physical distance to others but not to perceptions of learning. It was regarded as a good representation of cohesion as defined as a basic bond or uniting force in a group. The advantages of restricting oneself to a circumscribed definition of cohesion were emphasized as well as maintaini...
222 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, a two part definition of organizational crisis is presented, related to their significance and prevalence and reflecting either (a) opportunities to meet organizational goals or (b) demands or threats that may prevent an organization from attaining its goals or limiting its abilities to meet them and (c) which the organization seeks to resolve because outcome stakes are important and the ideal resolution strategy uncertain.
Abstract: Initially, a two part definition of organizational crisis is presented, related to their significance and prevalence and reflecting either (a) opportunities to meet organizational goals or (b) demands or threats that may prevent an organization from attaining its goals or limiting its abilities to meet them and (c) which the organization seeks to resolve because outcome stakes are important and the ideal resolution strategy uncertain. Thus, crises have both objective and subjective aspects. A number of elements of the definition are discussed in terms of their implications for organizations and their subsystems. Finally, three major aspects of our conceptualization are described in terms of empirical examples from our investigations followed by a typology of eight kinds of organizational crisis based upon three dimensions, (1) control, (2) opportunity-threat, and (3) organizational susceptibility and vulnerability to crisis. Part II will deal with strategies and responses to crisis.
144 citations
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TL;DR: Burnout is defined as a state in which individuals expect little reward and considerable punishment from work because of a lack of valued reinforcement, controllable outcomes, or personal competence as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The burnout phenomenon, while widely acknowledged as an important issue among people-helping professionals, has to date been treated chiefly in anecdotal or descriptive reports that lack both precise theoretical foundations and substantial empirical support. Einsiedel and Tully criticize burnout research, maintaining that conceptual and operational definitions vary widely and that little effort has been expended to draw on more established literature to explain burnout. This paper proposes a new model of burnout, largely based on the work of Bandura. Burnout is defined as a state in which individuals expect little reward and considerable punishment from work because of a lack of valued reinforcement, controllable outcomes, or personal competence. The burnout literature is briefly reviewed and grouped according to the categories of the proposed burnout model.
116 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, Lewin's three-phase paradigm of social change is used to construct a taxonomy of ten categories of change agents involved and activities and characteristics are proposed for each category.
Abstract: The article begins with a historical review of the term change agent from its origin in Lippit, Watson, and Westley to current usage in behavioral science literature. More detailed descriptions are provided for research that has been conducted on change agents. Lewin's three-phase paradigm of social change is used to construct a taxonomy of ten categories of change agents involved. Activities and characteristics are proposed for each category, citing recent research efforts to substantiate them.
106 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between individual and structural explanations of attributions of power across two domains: administrative decisions and technical decisions, and made an assessment of the relative importance of member level variates against contextual variates as determinants of perceived power.
Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between individual and structural explanations of attributions of power across two domains: administrative decisions and technical decisions. An assessment is made of the relative importance of member level variates against contextual variates as determinants of perceived power. The results suggest that contextual effects are far stronger than member level variates. Among member level characteristics, an incumbent's formal status is found to be a primary determinant of his perceived administrative power, while his expertise is a better predictor of his perceived technical power. The formal structure outweighs the interaction network as a context for understanding attributions of power.
83 citations
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TL;DR: The ways organizations respond to crisis can be described in terms of the level of the individual-short, intermediate, and long term-and the organization as a whole-also short, intermediate and long range.
Abstract: The ways organizations respond to crisis can be described in terms of the level of the individual-short, intermediate, and long term-and the level of the organization as a whole-also short, intermediate, and long range. Different kinds of response have disparate implications for organizational effectiveness and survival. Some of the most effective responses can be counterintuitive and are not especially likely to occur, e.g., decentralization in crisis situations. Based upon these considerations and empirical examples of them, several examples of both preventive and management action strategies are described as means to organizational survival and growth.
78 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors drew upon the experimentally supported theory of cooperation and competition to develop measures of three different kinds of leader orientation: cooperative, competitive, and individualistic, which were used by 310 medical laboratory technicians from 10 different hospitals to describe the specific job behaviors of their immediate supervisor.
Abstract: It has been argued that leadership research questionnaires should be based upon a theoretical position that has considerable experimental support for its causal relationships. This study drew upon the experimentally supported theory of cooperation and competition to develop measures of three different kinds of leader orientation: cooperative, competitive, and individualistic. These measures were used by 310 medical laboratory technicians from 10 different hospitals to describe the specific job behaviors of their immediate supervisor. The leaders' orientation scores derived from these behavior descriptions were then correlated with measures of overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with supervision, the desire to perform well, and the desire to stay on the job. As predicted by theory, the correlations with dependent measures were strongly positive for a cooperative orientation and strongly negative for a competitive orientation. The correlations for an individualistic orientation were negative and larger t...
67 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors employed multiple exemplars of attractiveness and multiple dependent measures of responsibility, and revealed consistent evidence of an attractiveness bias among observers, with an unattractive victim being assigned greater responsibility in general for her own victimization, as well as specific behavioral and characterological blame, than an attractive victim.
Abstract: Research has provided conflicting results as to the impact of a rape victim's physical attractiveness on observers' attributions of responsibility, attributed in part to methodological considerations. The present study, employing multiple exemplars of attractiveness and multiple dependent measures of responsibility, revealed consistent evidence of an attractiveness bias among observers, with an unattractive victim being assigned greater responsibility in general for her own victimization, as well as specific behavioral and characterological blame, than an attractive victim. The un-attractive victim was also considered to have contributed to her assault by presenting a more provocative appearance than her more attractive counter-part. These biases were stronger for male observers than for females. Although the attractiveness factor differentially influenced the perceived responsibility of a victim, it did not affect attributions toward the assailant.
67 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the concept of implicit theories is used to explain how the ideas of organization designers are translated into organizational structures and how organization members respond to structural characteristics, and strategies for measuring the implicit theories of organizing on which these explanations are based are discussed.
Abstract: The concept of implicit theories is used to explain how the ideas of organization designers are translated into organizational structures. The concept is also used to explain how organization members respond to structural characteristics. Research strategies for measuring the implicit theories of organizing on which these explanations are based are also discussed.
64 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, three categories of situational variables are proposed as predictors of task procrastination: characteristics of the task, the relationship between the focal task and other tasks, and attributes of the organization.
Abstract: Procrastination in organizations may have adverse effects on both individual well-being and system effectiveness, yet studies on this topic are sparse and theoretical development appears to be nonexistent. Procrastination is viewed here as the act of putting off a task that either the focal person or other role-senders expect should be done at the present time. Hence, the emphasis here is upon aspects of the work environment that give rise to procrastination rather than on habits and personality characteristics. Three categories of situational variables are proposed as predictors of task procrastination: characteristics of the task, the relationship between the focal task and other tasks, and attributes of the organization. Furthermore, task discretion is hypothesized to moderate the relationships between these sets of predictors and procrastination. The ways in which this framework may be useful for empirical research and as a starting point for subsequent theory generation are discussed. Finally, it is ...
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the strategies and tactics of mediators from a state agency and a federal mediator, showing that state mediators use a building strategy and emphasize directive tactics to gather information, assess priorities, and encourage parties to move the parties on discrete issues.
Abstract: Labor mediators see the achievement of a settlement as their objective. From this point of convergence, mediators will differ on the strategy to be used to achieve this end. Tactics refer to the specific actions mediators take in the service of these strategic ends. Based on a participant observation of 10 mediators on 16 cases, the strategies and tactics of mediators from a state agency are contrasted with those used by mediators from a federal agency. The state mediators use a building strategy and emphasize directive tactics to gather information, assess priorities, and encourage parties to move the parties on discrete issues. In contrast, the federal mediators favor a narrowing strategy and emphasize tactics to encourage the parties to continue to meet and progressively refine their proposals in order for an acceptable package to emerge. Mediators from both agencies see their strategic approach as responsive to the parties they serve.
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TL;DR: This article examined the development of economic concepts from a Piagetian cognitive-developmental perspective in children between the ages of 4 and 12, and found that the child is actively engaged in the construction of social meanings rather than being the passive recipient of meanings presented through immediate experience or the instruction of adults.
Abstract: This paper examines the development of economic concepts from a Piagetian cognitive-developmental perspective. Clinical interviews are used to investigate the economic concepts of children between the ages of 4 and 12. The main objective of the research is to determine the extent to which conceptual development in this area is compatible with the Piagetian hypothesis of discrete stages in the formation of social consciousness. The findings of the study are generally consistent with the Piagetian view that knowledge develops through a sequence of qualitative cognitive stages. The existence of these stages suggests that the development of social knowledge must be viewed as a process in which the child is actively engaged in the construction of social meanings, rather than being the passive recipient of meanings presented through immediate experience or the instruction of adults.
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TL;DR: This article examined the effect of sex, education, and voting pattern of over 170 subjects on their attitudes toward people receiving social security benefits. And they found that the attitudes centered around the difficulty of coping with the amount of benefit provided; beliefs about people being dishonest about their needs and abusing benefit payments; and the loss of selfesteem and stigma associated with being on social security.
Abstract: Though there appear to have been a number of psychological studies done in the 1930s and 1970s on the consequence of unemployment, there seem to be very few studies on attitudes toward the unemployed receiving social security benefits or attitudes toward welfare in general. This study examined the effect of sex, education, and voting pattern of over 170 subjects on their attitudes toward people receiving social security benefits. Both education and vote appeared to be important factors in predicting people's attitudes, though there were few sex or interaction effects. A factor analysis of the attitude items revealed three factors indicating that the attitudes centered around the difficulty of coping with the amount of benefit provided; beliefs about people being dishonest about their needs and abusing benefit payments; and the loss of self-esteem and stigma associated with being on social security. Results are discussed in terms of the psychology of explanations, and the implications for social change wer...
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TL;DR: A methodology for the detection of emerging paradigms is developed through the analysis of implicit and explicit criticisms and reveals a set of systems frames at different stages of development.
Abstract: A methodology for the detection of emerging paradigms is developed through the analysis of implicit and explicit criticisms. The search for the systems' paradigm reveals a set of systems frames at different stages of development. Four basic assumptions that underlie most systems frames and limit their use in the research, design, planning, and management of social systems are identified. A set of frames that may advance the systems movement are proposed. They are enclosed under the name of systemic-netfields and provide a link between systems and networks, aggregates, and fields.
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TL;DR: Using the sociological theory of marginality, the authors explored the phenomenon that women are still caught between emerging corporate and traditional roles and examined the implications of this marginal status in the context of the multistaged process of organizational socialization.
Abstract: Although social movements and legislation have provided the impetus for women to enter the managerial ranks, relatively few females have become top-level managers. Using the sociological theory of marginality, the paper explores this phenomenon and suggests that women are still caught between emerging corporate and traditional roles. Implications of this marginal status are then examined in the context of the multistaged process of organizational socialization.
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TL;DR: In this article, a view of corporate strategy guided by the insights of cybernetics is presented, which challenges the conventional wisdom of rational planning and instrumental control which stresses the importance of goal-oriented adaption of organization to environment.
Abstract: This paper offers a view of corporate strategy guided by the insights of cybernetics. The approach challenges the conventional wisdom of rational planning and instrumental control which stresses the importance of goal-oriented adaption of organization to environment. In its place an alternative strategy of systemic wisdom is developed. This is based on: (a) an understanding of contexts; (b) an orientation of action away from noxiants; (c) finding value in system relations rather than instrumental ends; and (d) fostering joint rather than individual action. The paper is concerned to understand the requirements and consequences of strategy formulation in turbulent environments.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an overview of a generic strategic approach which organizations can utilize to meet the rapid, complex, interrelated change encountered in turbulent conditions more effectively by "distilling" the principles embodied in leading edge planning and management strategies.
Abstract: This paper presents an overview of a generic strategic approach which organizations can utilize to meet the rapid, complex, interrelated change encountered in turbulent conditions more effectively. The present approach is arrived at by “distilling” the principles embodied in leading edge planning and management strategies. These principles are integrated theoretically within the action learning approach, which considers learning rooted in action to be a most helpful guiding metaphor to enable effective strategies under such conditions. An exploration is then made of the relationship among action learning and other more traditional organizational modes by comparing this relationship with Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the role of positive and negative feedback from supervisors, co-workers, and clients was hypothesized to make a significant independent contribution to the prediction of supervisory-rated performance.
Abstract: The present research was designed to use an expectancy-theory framework to determine the role of performance feedback in the prediction of motivation and job performance. The frequency of positive and negative feedback from supervisors, co-workers, and clients was hypothesized to make a significant independent contribution to the prediction of supervisory-rated performance. The relationships among feedback, the components of motivation, and performance were examined in a sample of staff nurses. Results of moderated regression analysis indicated that positive feedback served as an independent predictor of performance. Positive feedback from coworkers, clients, and the supervisor were differentially related to the instrumentality, motivation, role perceptions, and performance. Implications for management are discussed.
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TL;DR: In this paper, it was hypothesized that job type acts as a moderating factor affecting the variables indicated as important in the intention-to-leave decision, and the results of this study support the hypothesis.
Abstract: Studies concerned with variables involving an individual's decision to leave an organization are categorized into process and content aspects. Variations in previous tests of causal content models are discussed. It was hypothesized that job type acts as a moderating factor affecting the variables indicated as important in the intention-to-leave decision. The results of this study support the hypothesis. Implications of the findings are discussed.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a model is developed suggesting that control of organizational resources (resource control) is the primary source of interpersonal power; interpersonal power is the driving force for controlling individuals (personal control); the type of power used to exercise personal control will influence the controlled/controller relationship; and personal control fosters resource control and thus affects the distribution of intraorganizational power.
Abstract: This paper addresses the interrelationship of power and control. A model is developed suggesting that (a) control of organizational resources (resource control) is the primary source of interpersonal power; (b) interpersonal power is the driving force for controlling individuals (personal control); the type of power used to exercise personal control will influence the controlled/controller relationship; and (d) personal control fosters resource control and thus affects the distribution of intraorganizational power. Several questions and issues relevant to research and practice are raised. Overall, it is argued that to increase our understanding of power and control, greater effort is needed aimed at uncovering their interdependent relationship rather than the usual independent treatment given these two elusive concepts.
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TL;DR: This paper examined the effect of role ambiguity and role conflict on the outcomes, job performance, job satisfaction, and propensity to leave for 193 respondents at 5 levels in the nursing service of a large medical center.
Abstract: Supervisory interaction, peer-group interaction, and organizational work facilitation were examined as moderators of relationships among facets of role ambiguity and role conflict and the outcomes, job performance, job satisfaction, and propensity to leave for 193 respondents at 5 levels in the nursing service of a large medical center. Supervisory interaction was found to moderate the relationships between (i) intersender-role conflict and job performance, (ii) person-role conflict and job satisfaction, and (iii) ambiguity concerning behavioral outcomes and propensity to leave. Moderator effects for peer-group interaction involved the relationships of (i) intersender-role conflict with job performance and (ii) ambiguity regarding behavioral consequences with propensity to leave. Finally, organizational work facilitation was found to moderate the relationships among intersender-role conflict and the outcome variables, job performance, and propensity to leave, as well as the relationships between person-ro...
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TL;DR: This paper examined job longevity and growth need strength as moderators of the job complexity-job satisfaction relationship and concluded that specifying the conditions within which moderators are important, rather than expecting consistent individual differences across all circumstances, may yet have important implications for both organizational theory and practice.
Abstract: This paper examines job longevity and growth need strength as moderators of the job complexity-job satisfaction relationship. Data from two studies of blue-collar employees (n = 390 and n = 406) were examined using moderated regression analysis and subgroup correlation analytic techniques. The findings show, contrary to previously reported results, that job longevity is not a significant moderator of the job complexity-job satisfaction relationship. Similarly, the direct moderator effect of growth need strength did not replicate across studies. A consistent finding was obtained, however, suggesting that growth need strength moderates the job complexity-job satisfaction relationship only for employees with short job tenure. It is concluded that specifying the conditions within which moderators are important, rather than expecting consistent individual differences across all circumstances, may yet have important implications for both organizational theory and practice.
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TL;DR: In this article, the saliency of decision-making modes, performance guides, interpersonal relations, and the division of labor as explanators of both overall and intrinsic work satisfaction is discussed.
Abstract: Specified organizational dimensions hypothesized to bear strongly upon the job satisfaction of human service workers are detailed. A conceptual framework is advanced focusing upon the salience of decision-making modes, performance guides, interpersonal relations, and the division of labor as explanators of both overall and intrinsic work satisfaction. Findings support the proposition that human service workers are affected substantially by these factors.
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TL;DR: This paper examined the effect of late socialization on modernity and found that early socialization influences will affect modernity of both core and periphery value orientations, while late socialisation influences only affect modernness of periphery values only.
Abstract: This study examines the proposition that late socialization processes may bring “traditional” people to a level of modernity equal to that of people who had the benefit of modern early socialization. The study suggests that a differentiation should be made between modernity changes in value orientations which are at the core and those at the periphery of the personality system. Its basic proposition is that early socialization influences will affect modernity of both core and periphery value orientations, while late socialization influences will affect modernity of periphery values only. Data analysis indicates that early socialization directly influences modernity of core values and indirectly influences modernity of periphery ones. Late socialization was found to have an effect mainly on periphery values, and even this effect was found to be mostly an indirect effect of early socialization. Late socialization was found to have no independent effect on modernity.
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TL;DR: In this article, the role of personal risk-taking in effective leadership in fire combat was investigated. But, the results of the study were nearly identical to the results for military combat leaders.
Abstract: Three studies address the role of personal risk-taking in effective leadership. The first study analyzed questionnaire data which detailed behavior of both effective and ineffective military combat leaders. This study indicates that effective combat leaders were judged to demonstrate more personally endangering acts than were ineffective combat leaders. The second study investigated personal risk-taking in leadership within a large urban fire department. Using interview techniques similar to those used in the first study, results obtained indicate that-effective leaders in fire combat were judged to show more personal bravery (i.e., physical risk-taking) than ineffective leaders. Thus, results for fire combat leaders were nearly identical to the results for military combat leaders. The third study included a separate set of data for current fire service leaders' judged fire combat leadership performance and their rated personal risk-taking. Results obtained in this study indicate that leaders judged by th...
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TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of attitudes on behavior, intention to perform a behavior on actual behavior, and the simultaneous effects of attitudes and intention on each other, were examined within a sample of U. S. Navy enlisted men.
Abstract: The effect of attitudes on behavior, intention to perform a behavior on actual behavior, and the simultaneous effects of attitudes and intention on each other, were examined within a sample of U. S. Navy enlisted men. A three-wave longitudinal design was employed in which measures of job satisfaction, organization satisfaction, and intention to reenlist were obtained at two time periods 6 months apart. Approximately 2 years after the initial data were collected, archival records were examined to identify participants whose enlistment had expired. Two hundred sixty such men were identified and their reenlistment decision noted. These men constituted the sample under study. Extending the general model proposed by Alwin, a structural equation analysis was employed. It was shown that the effect of intention on attitude was greater than the effect of attitude on intention. Situational constraints that might override preferences in determining actual behaviors were discussed.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the characteristics of leader-mediated stimuli and the way they are tied to the subordinate's newly exhibited and already acquired behavior are proposed as critical determinants of leader influence.
Abstract: Leader influence is analyzed in terms of operant theory The characteristics of leader-mediated stimuli and the way they are tied to the subordinate's newly exhibited and already acquired behavior are proposed as critical determinants of leader influence Dependent parameters of leader influence on subordinate motivation and behavior acquisition are identified The relevant literature on learning and leadership is reviewed and a number of hypotheses are suggested Constraints on leader influence through the manipulation of reinforcement and punishment are discussed Requirements of the operant methodology are examined These suggest that future research on the effects of leader reinforcement should use rigorous experimentation and the procedures of behavior observation
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe one means of selecting and analyzing evidence for assessing changing situations, and offer a procedure that light improves research on action-related problems, which is a common feature in the assessment of on-going programs.
Abstract: A common feature in the assessment of on-going programs is the use of intuition and common sense in selecting and analyzing evidence. Although intuition nay provide rich insights into a specific situation, there is no way to ascertain whether the intuition represents good judgment or good politics. This article describes one means of selecting and analyzing evidence for assessing changing situations, and offers a procedure that light improve research on action-related problems.
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TL;DR: For example, this paper found that some of the factors that influence Queensland Teachers' Union members' attitudes toward union militancy do not operate in the same way as those that influence commitment to union membership, nor are these factors equally important in shaping attitudes toward solidarity, or opinions on the use of sanctions against nonunionists.
Abstract: This study shows that some of the factors that influence Queensland Teachers' Union members' attitudes toward union militancy do not necessarily operate in the same way as those that influence commitment to union membership, nor are these factors equally important in shaping attitudes toward union solidarity, or opinions on the use of sanctions against nonunionists. The particular factors whose influence is examined are those of age, gender, tertiary training, promotion, commitment to teaching, and the type of school in which a teacher works. Reasons for the observed differences are discussed.