Stronger together: Positive relationships at work

The workplace in the 21st century has changed dramatically, as the internet connected the world, the “gig economy” changed work arrangements, globalization expanded the job market and individual work values such as autonomy and freedom became dominant (Rabenu, 2021). Just a few years ago, automation and technology were the heart of the conversation on the modern workplace and seemed to be replacing meaningful human connections. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, that required social distancing, demonstrated just how much people still need each other, and how technology cannot replace human relationships. The Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) movement that started in the early 2000’s seeks to understand the role of positive relationships at work. The place of work in our lives makes it a source of meaning, purpose and identity-building, that are often created through positive relationships (Ragins & Dutton, 2007). For example, high-quality relationships enable human flourishing that in turn benefits the organization (Dutton & Heaphy, 2003). Another notable outcome of the movement is the Reflected Best Self Exercise (Quinn, Dutton, Spreitzer, & Roberts, 2003) that helps understand individual strengths through feedback from significant others. The purpose of this symposium is to contribute to understanding the role of positive relationships in the workplace. This collection of papers explores different types of work relationships with leaders, coworkers and work friends to examine how positive emotional connections help overcome challenges and promote well-being. By looking at processes on different levels of analysis, this symposium offers a broader perspective on workplace relations and unique roles they can play for employees and for organizations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Paradox of Power in CSR: A Case Study on Implementation

Purpose Although current literature assumes positive outcomes for stakeholders resulting from an increase in power associated with CSR, this research suggests that this increase can lead to conflict within organizations, resulting in almost complete inactivity on CSR. Methods A single in-depth case study, focusing on power as an embedded concept. Results Empirical evidence is used to demonstrate how some actors use CSR to improve their own positions within an organization. Resource dependence theory is used to highlight why this may be a more significant concern for CSR. Conclusions Increasing power for CSR has the potential to offer actors associated with it increased personal power, and thus can attract opportunistic actors with little interest in realizing the benefits of CSR for the company and its stakeholders. Thus power can be an impediment to furthering CSR strategy and activities at the individual and organizational level

Sexual Arousal Patterns of Identical Twins with Discordant Sexual Orientations

Genetically identical twins can differ in their self-reported sexual orientations. However, whether the twins’ subjective reports reflect valid differences in their sexual orientations is unknown. Measures of sexual orientation, which are free of the limitations of self-report, include genital arousal and pupil dilation while viewing sexual stimuli depicting men or women. We examined these responses in 6 male twin pairs and 9 female twin pairs who reported discordant sexual orientations. Across measures, heterosexual male twins responded more strongly to women than to men. Their homosexual co-twins showed an opposite pattern. Heterosexual female twins responded equally to both sexes, whereas their homosexual co-twins responded somewhat more to women than men. These differences within pairs were similar to differences between unrelated heterosexual and homosexual males and females. Our study provides physiological evidence confirming twins’ discordant sexual orientations, thereby supporting the importance of the non-shared environment for the development of sexual orientation and sexual arousal

Influences of mentoring functions on job satisfaction and organizational commitment of graduate employees

Abstract: A significant percentage of the workforce, within the construction sector is nearing retirement age over the next ten years. These employees have acquired a tremendous amount of knowledge about how things work, how to get things done and who to go to when problems arise. Losing their expertise and experience could significantly reduce efficiency, resulting in costly mistakes, unexpected quality problems, or significant disruptions in services and or performance. The business world has long known and relied upon mentoring as a proven technique for developing in house talent. Previous studies proved that the implementation of mentoring programme is beneficial for enhancing employee skills and attitudes. Few researchers are devoted to exploring the impact. This paper is aimed at examining the effects of mentoring functions on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of new graduates in the South African construction industry..

Pupil Dilation to Explicit and Non-Explicit Sexual Stimuli

Pupil dilation to explicit sexual stimuli (footage of naked and aroused men or women) can elicit sex and sexual orientation differences in sexual response. If similar patterns were replicated with non-explicit sexual stimuli (footage of dressed men and women), then pupil dilation could be indicative of automatic sexual response in fully noninvasive designs. We examined this in 325 men and women with varied sexual orientations to determine whether dilation patterns to non-explicit sexual stimuli resembled those to explicit sexual stimuli depicting the same sex or other sex. Sexual orientation differences in pupil dilation to non-explicit sexual stimuli mirrored those to explicit sexual stimuli. However, the relationship of dilation to non-explicit sexual stimuli with dilation to corresponding explicit sexual stimuli was modest, and effect magnitudes were smaller with non-explicit sexual stimuli than explicit sexual stimuli. The prediction that sexual orientation differences in pupil dilation are larger in men than in women was confirmed with explicit sexual stimuli but not with non-explicit sexual stimuli

Mother–infant interaction in schizophrenia:Transmitting risk or resilience? A systematic review of the literature

Purpose: The parent–infant relationship is an important context for identifying very early risk and resilience factors and targets for the development of preventative interventions. The aim of this study was to systematically review studies investigating the early caregiver–infant relationship and attachment in offspring of parents with schizophrenia. Methods: We searched computerized databases for relevant articles investigating the relationship between early caregiver–infant relationship and outcomes for offspring of a caregiver with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Studies were assessed for risk of bias. Results: We identified 27 studies derived from 10 cohorts, comprising 208 women diagnosed with schizophrenia, 71 with other psychoses, 203 women with depression, 59 women with mania/bipolar disorder, 40 with personality disorder, 8 with unspecified mental disorders and 119 non-psychiatric controls. There was some evidence to support disturbances in maternal behaviour amongst those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and there was more limited evidence of disturbances in infant behaviour and mutuality of interaction. Conclusions: Further research should investigate both sources of resilience and risk in the development of offspring of parents with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and psychosis. Given the lack of specificity observed in this review, these studies should also include maternal affective disorders including depressive and bipolar disorders