Psychosocial Factors and Their Relationship to Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus Outcome Among the Strong Heart Study Cohort

Diabetes mellitus is a serious problem that affects 15.7 million individuals in the United States. The complications of this disease are catastrophic and can lead to blindness, kidney disease, lower limb amputations, nerve damage, increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and death. Among Native Americans, diabetes has reached epidemic proportions. A variety of psychosocial variables has demonstrated relationships to diabetic outcome. Past research has shown a relationship between psychological variables and glucose control. The current study of Native Americans shows a similar pattern using the psychosocial instruments to measure the constructs of depression, anger, hostility, social support, and perceived stress. Participants for this study were part of the Strong Heart Study and were 512 Native Americans from tribes in South Dakota and Oklahoma between the ages of 46 - 77. This study shows a relationship between the variables of anger, depression and hostility, and glyciemic control. A relationship between social support, perceived stress, and depression was found to be related to reported quality of life in participants who were either diabetic or had impaired glucose tolerance

Corrosion between orthodontic archwires and bracket couples

Nickel-containing orthodontic wires have been reported to cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. An allergic reaction is related to corrosion of the alloys and subsequent leaching of nickel ions into the oral cavity. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in the corrosive potential of stainless steel, NiTi and TMA wires either alone or when coupled with a stainless steel bracket.;Using potentiostatic anodic polarization, the samples were tested in 0.9% NaCl solution at room temperature with neutral pH. The breakdown potentials of stainless steel, NiTi, TMA, and the stainless steel bracket were 600 mv, 1600 mv, \u3e2000 mv, and 200 mv respectively. When coupled with a stainless steel bracket, the breakdown potential for all three of the wire types was 200 mv. The stainless steel brackets proved to be the weak ling in the galvanic couple with the three wire types and the brackets have a significantly higher corrosive potential than any of the wires themselves

Psychosocial Variables and their Relationship to Diabetic Outcome Among the Strong Heart Study Cohort

Diabetes mellitus is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United Sates. Certain Native American groups have been harder hit than the mainstream population, both in prevalence of the disease and in rates of related complications. The highest known prevalence in the world is found among a Southwestern U.S. Tribe, and other Native American Tribes have demonstrated similar prevalence rates. It has been shown that certain psychological factors such as depression and hostility impact both the occurrence and outcome of certain diseases, including diabetes. This study examined whether those individuals who have not met the criteria for diabetes mellitus were more prone to develop diabetes mellitus if they reported signs of depression, cynical hostility, or anger that is either expressed or not expressed. It also examined the impact of depression, cynical hostility, and anger on glucose control among individuals who were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Finally, an aim was to determine if psychological distress, rather than specific psychosocial variables, was related to poorer diabetic outcomes among a specific Native American population. Participants for this study were part of the Strong Heart Study and were examined at two different points in time (1992-1994 and 1997-1999). The current study found that psychosocial variables did not predict the incidence of diabetes mellitus. Depression was found to impact glucose control among individuals without diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance, but psychosocial variables did not appear to have any measurable influence on glucose control among those individuals with diabetes mellitus or impaired glucose tolerance. Overall, it appears that psychosocial variables do not play as large of role in both incidence and outcome among certain Native American tribes as has been shown among the mainstream population

Input Adjustment Between and Within Equity Sensitivity Groups

Previous research on Equity Sensitivity have focused on each type’s (Entitled, Benevolents, and Equity Sensitives) reaction to inequity based on preferences for input/output ratios in comparison to a referent other and sensitivity to the norm of reciprocity (Huseman et al., 1987). The purpose of this study is to better understand how individuals in each of the Equity Sensitivity categories act on their preferences for input/output ratios when paired with referents from the same or different ES categories. We will examine whether the individual will react in the expected manner regardless of the category to which the referent belongs, or whether social comparison or social desirability impact their behavior. Participants’ levels of equity sensitivity will be measured using the Equity Sensitivity Instrument (ESI, Huseman et al., 1985, 1987). They will then be presented with three hypothetical situations that pair them with an individual from one of the Equity Sensitivity categories. The participant will then be asked how much work (input) they will put into the task and how satisfied they would be working with that individual. Results could provide insight into how levels of Equity Sensitivity in dyadic relationships impact the level of effort an individual is willing to put into a collaborative task, and ultimately whether, and potentially why, ES impacts performance

Same, but different: understanding Asians\u27 attitudes towards affirmative action

Organizations often use affirmative action plans to increase demographic diversity, but, the success of these plans depends on employee attitudes. Attitudes toward affirmative action differ among racial groups, with Blacks having more favorable attitudes than Hispanics, Asians, and Whites (e.g., Bell, Harrison, & McLaughlin, 1997). To correct a paucity of literature that includes a large Asian American sample, Asian participants from various ethnicities, such as Indian, Filipino, and Vietnamese, (N = 181) completed several online questionnaires at surveymonkey.com about affirmative action attitudes (Attitude Towards Affirmative Action Scale), collectivism/individualism (Triandis & Gelfand, 1998) , and ethnic identity (Multigroup Measure of Ethnic Identity, MEIM). There were positive relationships between the horizontal dimension of the collectivism/ individualism construct, collectivism, ethnic identity, and attitudes toward affirmative action. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed

Are You on the Menu: Sexual Harassment Experiences of Front-of-House Restaurant Workers

Still managing in the wake of the COVID pandemic and the”Great Resignation” restaurants and the hospitality industry have seen particularly high rates of turnover and increased difficulty maintaining sufficient staffing numbers. This industry sees the highest rates of sexual harassment claims at work in the U.S.. The reliance on tipping facilitates this form of harassment, leaving organizations responsible for protecting their workers from mistreatment. Experiences of sexual harassment relate to decreased job satisfaction and increased intentions to turnover. This study aims to establish the relationship between sexual harassment experiences at work, existence and enforcement of a sexual harassment policy to protect staff from uncivil customer interactions, managerial and organizational support, and job satisfaction. Specifically we hypothesize that a) increased perceived management support will relate to decreased instances of sexual harassment, b) existence of a protective policy against customers in instances of sexual harassment will relate to decreased instances of sexualharassment, c) lack of such a policy will relate to increased instances of sexual harassment, and d) if existence of a policy is related to increased/decreased instances of sexual harassment, the enforcement of the policy will moderate the relationship such that the relationship is strongest when it is enforced. We plan to recruit N=300 participants and collect data via online survey. Social media (snowball sampling) and recruitment flyers (convenience sampling) around UTC’s campus will be used to recruit participants. Past studies indicate a small to medium effect size of organizational support on experiences of harassment. A nominal by continuous interaction will be used to analyze the data. We aim to provide some broad recommendations for organizations to improve protection of their staff from experiences of customer incivility

A mixed methods study on the impact of the perceived aesthetics of a workplace

Interventions which change the visual appearance of the work environment to positively impact employee and organizational outcomes are becoming increasingly common. For example, environmental interventions such as adding indoor plants, changing the color of the walls, and increasing the amount of artwork within a workplace can lead to reduced stress levels, anxiety, fatigue, and sick leave (Dijsktra, Pieterse, & Pruyn, 2008a; Dijkstra, Pieterse & Pruyn, 2008b; Nejati, Rodiek, & Shepley, 2016). However, more research is needed to discover exactly why changing the appearance of work environments have a positive effect and what factors may influence the effectiveness of these interventions. There is theoretical and empirical support for the notion that the benefits of these interventions are in part due to the increased aesthetics of the environment. For example, Maslow (1954) wrote of a need for aesthetics, Kaplan & Kaplan (1989) argued that the aesthetic component of an environment can help individuals recover from mentally draining experiences, and Dijstrka, Pieterse, & Pruyn (2008) found that adding indoor plants to a room had positive psychological benefits due to the increase in the perceived attractiveness of the room. In this study, we seek to examine the impact that the perceived aesthetics of a workplace and the prevalence of aesthetic elements have on full time adult employees’ post work recovery needs, turnover intention, and job satisfaction. Additionally, we seek to examine if individual’s need for an aesthetically pleasing workplace and mindfulness levels moderate these relationships. Our ultimate goal with this work is to offer a model and methodological approach that can be useful to those interested in studying the impacts of the appearance of a workplace on employee job satisfaction, stress, and intention to stay at their job. A better understanding of this relationship will allow organizations to more effectively change the workplace to have greater positive impacts on employees’ health and happiness. This research comprises of two phases. First, participants complete a survey that measures relevant variables such as mindfulness levels, need for an aesthetically pleasing workplace, individual differences (e.g., personality), and asks them to identify any aesthetically pleasing visual elements that are present in their workplace (e.g., plants, artwork, colorful walls). If participants consent to continue to phase two, they will be asked to upload three photos of their workplace. These photos will be thematically coded to identify what elements are frequently present in environments that are rated as aesthetically pleasing

Quality assessment of work recovery activities: Guidance for recovering from work-related demands

The proposed study is designed to test a revised work recovery process model and gather data to provide guidance for work recovery activities based on their recovery quality value. Using an integrated and modified model of the stress-recovery process, recovery quality will be measured in terms of potential for psychological detachment, mastery, and control, with relaxation serving as an outcome state associated with the proposed three core recovery mechanisms. Underlying theoretical frameworks such as the Conservation of Resources Theory, the Effort-Recovery Model, and the Job-Demands Resource model served as the foundation to describe the importance of recovering depleted resources. Past research suggests active forms of recovery in natural environments hold the greatest potential for work recovery, but research has been limited to broad activity category classifications. In this study we take a more holistic approach to identifying specific recovery activities and their associated recovery experience quality by asking participants to list, rank order, and provide quality-related details regarding their three most common recovery activities. A variety of analyses will be used to compare average ratings of recovery quality elements and identify common recovery themes

Applicant perceptions of fairness and equity in selection

Machine-learning algorithms provide organizations with the opportunity to quickly and efficiently process information about potential employees while reducing costs associated with selection and turnover. However, any bias or error present in the programming as a result of information drawn from historically biased data is evident in the algorithm output (Illingworth, 2015). Additionally, human decision-makers rely on deductive reasoning by creating hypotheses, examining several variables, and drawing formal conclusions between the predictor variables and outcomes (Tambe et al., 2019). Recently, there has been growing fairness and equity concerns about the risks associated with the use of algorithms in selection processes from applicants; existing research has not fully addressed differences in applicant perceptions towards algorithmic or human decision-makers in the selection process. The present experiment analyzes applicant reactions to the selection process to understand whether algorithmic or human hiring decision-makers influence perceptions of fairness and equity and ultimately organizational attraction and job pursuit intentions. A t-test will capture participant reactions toward algorithmic and human-decision makers in the selection process after viewing a randomly assigned vignette about an organization’s review of application materials. Additionally, we are also measuring perceptions of organizational attraction and job pursuit intentions using correlational analyses and a mediation analysis using PROCESS