Empirical Scenarios of Fake Data Analysis: The Sample Generation by Replacement (SGR) Approach

Many self-report measures of attitudes, beliefs, personality, and pathology include items whose responses can be easily manipulated or distorted, as an example in order to give a positive impression to others, to obtain financial compensation, to avoid being charged with a crime, to get a job, or else. This fact confronts both researchers and practitioners with the crucial problem of biases yielded by the usage of standard statistical models. The current paper presents three empirical applications to the issue of faking of a recent probabilistic perturbation procedure called Sample Generation by Replacement (SGR; Lombardi and Pastore, 2012). With the intent to study the behavior of some statistics under fake perturbation and data reconstruction processes, ad-hoc faking scenarios were implemented and tested. Overall, results proved that SGR could be successfully applied both in the case of research designs traditionally proposed in order to deal with faking (e.g., use of fake-detecting scales, experimentally induced faking, or contrasting applicants vs. incumbents), and in the case of ecological research settings, where no information as regards faking could be collected by the researcher or the practitioner. Implications and limitations are presented and discussed

Leaders\u2019 competence and warmth: Their relationships with employees\u2019 well-being and organizational effectiveness

The aim of this work was to investigate competence and warmth \u2014 the two basic dimensions of social judgment \u2014 as dimensions employees use to evaluate their supervisors. A mediation model was tested in which supervisor\u2019s perceived competence and warmth were associated with relevant outcomes (lower burnout, weaker turnover intentions, more frequent citizenship behaviors) through the mediation of affective organizational commitment (AOC). In Study 1, data were collected from employees of a company in the water service sector. In Study 2, participants were financial promoters. In Study 3, the sample included employees from different organizations. As hypothesized, the perception of one\u2019s supervisor as competent (Studies 1-3) and warm (Study 3) was related to employees\u2019 lower burnout, weaker turnover intentions, more frequent prosocial behaviors through the mediation of AOC. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed

Discurso de investidura como Doctor Honoris Causa del Profesor Norberto Bobbio

Nombrado Doctor Honoris Causa en el acto del día de la Universidad del curso 93/94Traducción de Andrea Grepp

The Cross-Cultural Invariance of the Servant Leadership Survey: A Comparative Study across Eight Countries

This paper tests and confirms the cross-cultural equivalence of the Servant Leadership Survey (SLS) in eight countries and languages: The Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Finland. A composite sample consisting of 5201 respondents from eight countries that all filled out the SLS was used. A three-step approach was adopted to test configural invariance, measurement equivalence, and structural equivalence. For the full 30-item version of the SLS, configural invariance and partial measurement equivalence were confirmed. Implications of these results for the use of the SLS within cross-cultural studies are discussed

TRANSIENT ANALYSIS OF A PREEMPTIVE RESUME M/D/l/2/2 THROUGH PETRI NETS

Stochastic Petri Nets (SPN) are usually designed to support exponential distributions only, with the consequence that their modelling power is restricted to Markovian systems. In recent years, some attempts have appeared in the literature aimed to define SPN models with generally distributed firing times. A particular subclass, called Deterministic and Stochastic Petri Nets (DSPN), combines into a single model both exponential and deterministic transitions. The available DSPN implementations require simplifying assumptions which limit the applicability of the model to preemptive repeat different service mechanisms only. The present paper discusses a semantical generalization of the DSPNs by including preemptive mechanisms of resume type. This generalization is crucial in connection with fault tolerant systems, where the work performed before the interruption should not be lost. By means of this new approach, the transient analysis of a M/D/1/2/2 queue (with 2 customers, 1 server, exponential thinking and deterministic service time) is fully examined under different preemptive resume policies

Does the revised cardiac risk index predict cardiac complications following elective lung resection?

Background: Revised Cardiac Risk Index (RCRI) score and Thoracic Revised Cardiac Risk Index (ThRCRI) score were developed to predict the risks of postoperative major cardiac complications in generic surgical population and thoracic surgery respectively. This study aims to determine the accuracy of these scores in predicting the risk of developing cardiac complications including atrial arrhythmias after lung resection surgery in adults. Methods: We studied 703 patients undergoing lung resection surgery in a tertiary thoracic surgery centre. Observed outcome measures of postoperative cardiac morbidity and mortality were compared against those predicted by risk. Results: Postoperative major cardiac complications and supraventricular arrhythmias occurred in 4.8% of patients. Both index scores had poor discriminative ability for predicting postoperative cardiac complications with an area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.59 (95% CI 0.51-0.67) for the RCRI score and 0.57 (95% CI 0.49-0.66) for the ThRCRI score. Conclusions: In our cohort, RCRI and ThRCRI scores failed to accurately predict the risk of cardiac complications in patients undergoing elective resection of lung cancer. The British Thoracic Society (BTS) recommendation to seek a cardiology referral for all asymptomatic pre-operative lung resection patients with > 3 RCRI risk factors is thus unlikely to be of clinical benefit

Quando cade un ponte ….

This article uses a socio-pedagogical perspective to examine the issue of the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa and the perceptions in its aftermath of inhabitants (mostly children) who were involved in the tragedy, concerning the rethinking of the space where it happened. The substantial difference between this and other, even recent events which have affected our country lies in its non-natural origin, in its specific physical limits with its distinct ground zero and in its surgical precision. Not only has it cut through the only main East-West highway serving the region but it has also, more profoundly, severed the main road and rail links between the North and the South. This has resulted in the complete seclusion of a significant part of Genoa and its outskirts. This essay consists of the reflections of a pedagogist living near the area of the collapse, which have been developed through the participating observation of the daily routine of the Certosa quarter and of a primary school there.Il contributo affronta, nella prospettiva della pedagogia sociale, il tema del crollo del ponte Morandi a Genova, con la conseguente riscrittura dello spazio vissuto nella percezione degli abitanti (e soprattutto dei bambini) coinvolti nella tragedia. La differenza sostanziale dell’evento, rispetto ad altre tragedie, anche recenti, che hanno coinvolto il nostro Paese, risiede nella non naturalità dell’evento in questione, della sua limitatezza in un epicentro ben definito e nella sua chirurgica precisione nel recidere non solo l’unica arteria autostradale est-ovest della Regione ma, più in profondità, anche i principali collegamenti nord-sud (sia viari che ferroviari) determinando un sostanziale isolamento di una parte significativa del genovesato. Il saggio consta della riflessione, da parte di un pedagogista che vive nella zona coinvolta dal crollo del ponte, sviluppata sulla base di un’osservazione partecipante condotta nella quotidianità della vita del quartiere di Certosa e di una scuola primaria lì ubicata

Healthy snacks consumption and the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The role of anticipated regret

Two empirical studies explored the role of anticipated regret (AR) within the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework (Ajzen, 1991), applied to the case of healthy snacks consumption. AR captures affective reactions and it can be defined as an unpleasant emotion experienced when people realize or imagine that the present situation would be better if they had made a different decision. In this research AR refers to the expected negative feelings for not having consumed healthy snacks (i.e., inaction regret). The aims were: a) to test whether AR improves the TPB predictive power; b) to analyze whether it acts as moderator within the TPB model relationships. Two longitudinal studies were conducted. Target behaviors were: consumption of fruit and vegetables as snacks (Study 1); consumption of fruit as snacks (Study 2). At time 1, the questionnaire included measures of intention and its antecedents, according to the TPB. Both the affective and evaluative components of attitude were assessed. At time 2, self-reported consumption behaviors were surveyed. Two convenience samples of Italian adults were recruited. In hierarchical regressions, the TPB variables were added at the first step; AR was added at the second step, and the interactions at the last step. Results showed that AR significantly improved the TPB ability to predict both intentions and behaviours, also after controlling for intention. In both studies AR moderated the effect of affective attitude on intention: affective attitude was significant only for people low in AR