Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults: rapid review

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the lives of countless members of the general population. Older adults are known to experience loneliness, age discrimination, and excessive worry. It is therefore reasonable to anticipate that they would experience greater negative outcomes related to the COVID-19 pandemic given their increased isolation and risk for complications than younger adults. Objective: This study aims to synthesize the existing research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated isolation and protective measures, on older adults. The secondary objective is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated isolation and protective measures, on older adults with Alzheimer disease and related dementias. Methods: A rapid review of the published literature was conducted on October 6, 2020, through a search of 6 online databases to synthesize results from published original studies regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults. The Human Development Model conceptual framework–Disability Creation Process was used to describe and understand interactions between personal factors, environmental factors, and life habits. Methods and results are reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Statement. Results: A total of 135 records were included from the initial search strategy of 13,452 individual studies. Of these, 113 (83.7%) studies were determined to be of level 4 according to the levels of evidence classification by the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. The presence of psychological symptoms, exacerbation of ageism, and physical deterioration of aged populations were reported in the included studies. Decreased social life and fewer in-person social interactions reported during the COVID-19 pandemic were occasionally associated with reduced quality of life and increased depression. Difficulties accessing services, sleep disturbances, and a reduction of physical activity were also noted. Conclusions: Our results highlight the need for adequate isolation and protective measures. Older adults represent a heterogeneous group, which could explain the contradictory results found in the literature. Individual, organizational, and institutional strategies should be established to ensure that older adults are able to maintain social contacts, preserve family ties, and maintain the ability to give or receive help during the current pandemic. Future studies should focus on specific consequences and needs of more at-risk older adults to ensure their inclusion, both in public health recommendations and considerations made by policy makers

Relationship among servant-leadership, altruism and social performance : a study of American presidents

This dissertation addresses the moral issues surrounding the phenomenon of leadership. It is about the servant-leadership role of American presidents in solving problems, making decisions, responding to constituents' needs, and handling domestic and foreign policy. It examines the relationships among American presidential servant-leadership behaviors, personality characteristics, and performance. It concentrates on the ethical dimensions of leadership such as principle-guided actions, and vision inclusiveness. The American Presidential Management Inventory and American Presidential Performance Effectiveness were developed to measure servant-leadership managerial practices of American presidents and social performance. Statistical tests reveal that servant-leadership is a multidimensional concept that reflects ethical leadership practices. It was found that servant-leadership has a positive effect on presidential social performance. Results indicate that servant-leadership is determined by the personality characteristics of presidents. Furthermore, statistical results indicate that presidential personality characteristics interact in predicting performance effectiveness. The implications of the current study for leadership research and managerial practices are discussed. Avenues for future research are offered

"Gender and Trust: Their Effect on Shared Responsibility, Knowledge Sharing and OCB"

We explore the impact of trust along with the moderating effect of gender on sharing responsibility, sharing knowledge, and other forms of organizational citizenship behavior among 308 employees and 71 supervisors in China’s manufacturing sector. Using a survey methodology, descriptive statistics, correlation, confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical moderated regression we demonstrate that both affect- and cognition-based trust positively impact shared responsibility, knowledge-sharing behavior, OCB-I and OCB-O. In addition, the gender of subordinates alters the relationship between both forms of trust and shared responsibility and OCB-O, but not knowledge-sharing behavior and OCB-I. We find that cognition-based trust plays a crucial role for male subordinates while affect-based trust is more relevant to female subordinates. Finally, we show that while the gender of the supervisor moderates the impact of both affect- and cognition-based trust, it is significant for female subordinates only, thus endorsing the gender similarity effect

Does gender matter?: A study of trust and its outcomes in the manufacturing sector in mainland China

Purpose This study aims to explore how gender influences the impact of interpersonal trust among subordinates on spontaneous work behaviors such as sharing responsibility and knowledge and engaging in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The goal is to understand factors that contribute to the effectiveness of women as supervisors and subordinates in the manufacturing sector. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from 308 subordinates and 71 supervisors working in the manufacturing sector in mainland China using a survey methodology. Descriptive statistics, correlation, confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical moderated regression were the statistical techniques used. Findings Results indicate that both affect- and cognition-based trust among subordinates positively impact responsibility- and knowledge-sharing behaviors, OCB-individual (OCB-I) and OCB-organization (OCB-O). For female subordinates, the gender of the supervisor alters the relationship between both forms of trust and responsibility-sharing behavior and OCB-O, but not knowledge-sharing behavior and OCB-I. Cognition-based trust plays a dominant role for male subordinates, while affect-based trust is more relevant to female subordinates. Finally, while the gender of the supervisor moderates the impact of both affect- and cognition-based trust, it is significant for female subordinates only. Research limitations/implications This study is not without limitations. First, the authors had access to a limited sample of female supervisors and female subordinates, which is not uncommon in the manufacturing sector that is mostly composed of male employees. Second, the cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow the capture of the impact of change in trust over time. However, it is believed that the multi-source design, the novelty of the study’s findings and their implications to interpersonal trust theory and supervisory practice compensate for the limitations. For starters, this study endorses the crucial role of interpersonal trust among employees in predicting important organizational behaviors. It corroborates the conceptual distinction between affect- and cognition-based trust and empirically validates the concepts of affect- and cognition-based trust, RSB, KSB and OCB in China. It uses multi-source data and measures behavioral outcomes of workers as observed by their immediate supervisors. These contributions speak to the empirical viability of our theoretical framework that may be useful to those contemplating cross-cultural research. Practical implications The study started with the question, does gender matter. The answer is that it does and that it has implications for human resource management. The gender of both supervisors and subordinates affect the way interpersonal trust among workers elicit desirable organizational behaviors such as sharing responsibilities, sharing knowledge and other forms of citizenship behavior. Female supervisors need to build trust among their female employees before they can expect effective organizational behavior. The story is different for male supervisors and male employees. This has implications in the way male and female supervisors are trained. It also has implications for work group formation and composition. What the study does not know is whether these findings are limited to the manufacturing sector or unique to China. It is recommended that a cross-cultural comparative research be undertaken to address those questions. Social implications In light of the study’s findings, it is proposed that supervisory training and development programs should take into consideration that female supervisors encounter more challenges in eliciting favorable behaviors on the part of female subordinates in a work environment that is male-dominated. Originality/value The unique value contribution of the study pertains to the role of gender – the gender of the supervisor and the gender of the subordinate in shaping organizational behavior. Specifically, the authors show that the supervisor’s gender influences the relationship between affect-based trust and RSB, KSB and OCB-O and the relationship between cognition-based trust and OCB-O. Their point is that these relationships are significant only for female supervisors. In addition, they show that gender similarity between the supervisor and the supervised matters, only when both are female. These findings limit the role of interpersonal trust in eliciting favorable organizational behavior across the board and question the portability of interpersonal trust theory across industries and cultures

Emotional exhaustion and job performance: The mediating role of organizational commitment

We analyze the impact of emotional exhaustion (EE) on turnover intention, task performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among hospital nurses in China. The differential mediating effects of affective organizational commitment on the associations between EE and turnover intention, task performance and OCB were examined. Data were collected from both nurses and their supervising physicians using a questionnaire survey in Mandarin. The results revealed full mediation effect for turnover intention and for OCB directed at the organization. There was a significant indirect effect for OCB directed at individuals and no mediation effect for task performance