Little Things That Count: A Call for Organizational Research on Microbusinesses

The purpose of this Incubator is to encourage organizational researchers to attend to the most common type of business in the United States—the microbusiness. After defining and describing these businesses, we propose research questions on defining and managing performance, organizational citizenship, and work–family conflict in this novel business setting

All of the Above?: an Examination of Overlapping Organizational Climates

We examined the largely unexplored issue of strong associations between multiple specific climates (e.g., for safety and for service). Given that workplaces are likely to have more than one specific climate present, it is important to understand how and why these perceptions overlap. Individual ratings (i.e., at the psychological climate level) for seven specific climates and a general positive climate were obtained from 353 MTurk Workers employed in various industries. We first observed strong correlations among a larger set of specific climates than typically studied: climates for collaboration, communication, fair treatment, fear, safety, service, and work-life balance were all strongly correlated. Second, we found that two methodological mechanisms—common method variance (CMV) due to (a) measurement occasion and (b) self-report—and a theoretical mechanism, general climate, each account for covariance among the specific climate measures. General positive climate had a primary (i.e., larger) impact on the relationships between specific climates, but CMV—especially due to measurement occasion—also accounted for significant and non-negligible covariance between climates. We discuss directions for continued research on and practice implementing specific climates in order to accurately model and modify perceptions of multiple climates

Longitudinal Predictors of Self-Reliance for Coping with Mental Health Problems in the Military

Military personnel encounter occupational hazards that make them vulnerable to developing mental health symptoms; however, many soldiers who experience a problem do not seek treatment. A major barrier to treatment is self-reliance, a preference to manage problems oneself rather than seek help from a professional. In the present study, we sought a more comprehensive understanding of factors that contribute to self-reliance. Active-duty soldiers (N = 485) were surveyed at two time points. The sample was 93% male, 67% Caucasian, and most were aged 20-24 (49%). The survey included: factors that affect treatment-seeking, deployment experiences, and mental health symptoms. Results indicated that stigmatizing beliefs about those who seek treatment and negative beliefs about treatment at Time 1 were related to higher preferences for self-reliance at Time 2, while positive beliefs about treatment at Time 1 were related to lower self-reliance. Combat exposure, mental health symptoms, social support for treatment-seeking, and stigma from others were not significant predictors. These results demonstrate that self-reliance may not be unique to combat soldiers and may not diminish as symptoms become severe. Instead one’s views of treatment and others who seek treatment may be more impactful, and should be the target of interventions to encourage treatment-seeking

The Dark Triad and social behavior: The influence of self-construal and power distance

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. This study examined the relationship of Dark Triad traits with interpersonal facilitation (IF) and interpersonal counterproductive work behavior (ICWB) through the mediators of independent and interdependent self-construals and power distance. Using multigroup latent variable modeling, we examined differences in this model between the United States (n = 204) and the Philippines (n = 265). Machiavellianism was unrelated to any mediators or outcomes. Narcissism was positively related to independence in both countries, and narcissism was negatively related to interdependence and positively related to power distance in the Philippines. Psychopathy was negatively related to IF in the U.S. only and positive to ICWBs in both countries. Psychopathy was negatively related to interdependence in the U.S. but positively related to interdependence in the Philippines, and positively related to power distance in the U.S. Independent and interdependent self-construal were positively related to IF and negatively related to ICWB. Power distance was negatively related to IF and positively related to ICWB. Indirect mediation relationships were also found in both countries. The findings suggest that the Dark Triad traits operate differently across the countries due in part to differences in the cultural variables of self-construal and power distance. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed