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Many older adults engage in volunteer activities, drawing meaning and purpose through such efforts. Social distancing restrictions, put in place during Covid-19 surges to reduce the risk of transmission, disrupted older adult volunteers’ lives and volunteer experiences. Social distancing measures provide a unique opportunity to explore what happened when the choices around pausing or stopping volunteering were not entirely within the control of older adults. This paper aims to explore the experiences of older adult volunteers as they navigated uncertainties and made difficult decisions around balancing their safety and their desire to continue volunteering.

The authors conducted interviews with 26 community-dwelling older adults, age 50+, who had engaged in volunteer activities for at least 1 h a week prior to the start of the pandemic. The interviews were conducted on the phone or via Zoom. The authors used thematic analysis to help us analyze the data and identify patterns from participants’ experiences.

Despite the risk presented by Covid-19, most participants volunteered during the pandemic. They continued some or all of their previous activities with safety-related adjustments, with some seeking new or different opportunities. Participants’ discussions highlight the challenges of volunteering during the pandemic and the importance of engagement to their resiliency and subjective well-being.

This paper provides original contributions to understanding how and why older adults volunteered during the Covid-19 pandemic. The social distancing measures provide a novel opportunity to enrich our understanding of the meaningfulness and value of volunteerism to older adults’ lives and subjective well-being.

The film Storm Center was released in 1956, featuring Bette Davis as a librarian in small town America. The narrative is a parable of anti‐communism in the McCarthy era where the town council tries to remove a book on communism from the library. The librarian opposes this and is fired. The details and consequences provide a rich framework for a discursive approach to the text. A discursive approach is chosen because of the film’s extensive use of thematic oppositions around the central concern of censorship and freedom of information. A number of discourses are briefly explored including: femininity; the individual and the group; emotion and scientific rationalism. Concludes that qualitative work in library and information studies might benefit by considering the type of questions posed by discourse theory, as outlined here.

This study examines the functions of informal communication in organizations. Informal communication can be characterized as any interaction within an organization in which two or more individuals assume personal roles rather than their professional roles and in which employees do not intend to solve work-related problems. Despite its central role in organizations, a comprehensive understanding of the specific functions of informal communication within workplace dynamics is lacking.

We reviewed existing literature to identify the functions of informal communication and then surveyed employees (N = 1,380). We asked them to indicate their agreement with statements measuring the functions of informal communication that we derived from the literature.

Using exploratory factor analysis, we identified four core functions: stress management and recreation, nurturing private relationships, fostering a sense of belonging and connectedness and facilitating information exchange and coordination. We then examined how these core functions related to job-related and sociodemographic characteristics. Our findings underscore the importance of informal communication in organizations, particularly in facilitating the development and maintenance of social relationships as well as information exchange and coordination, both of which play critical roles in organizational success.

This study is among the first to systematize the functions of informal communication in organizations and to empirically extract core functions that can be used for further research. It is also highly relevant to practitioners of organizational management and organizational communication.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on top women managers who act as change agents in the machista culture of Mexico. Specifically, the authors centre the attention not only on the strategies performed by these change agents to reduce inequality, but also on understanding the way in which they discursively reproduce or challenge essentialist notions of gender with respect to the cultural and organizational context.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 top women managers in Mexico who are actively involved as change agents. A feminist poststructuralist methodological framework using critical discourse analysis was used to uncover competing notions of gender and related strategies developed to promote gender equality.

The analysis reveals that the 12 change agents perform strategies for inclusion, and only half of them engage in strategies for re-evaluation. The authors were unable to recognize whether these change agents are engaged in strategies of transformation. These change agents also reproduce and challenge “essentialist” notions of gender. In some instances – based on their own career experiences and gendered identities – they (un)consciously have adopted essentialism to fit into the cultural context of machista society. They also challenge the gender binary to eradicate essentialist notions of gender that created gender inequalities in the first place.

The experience of these 12 top women managers may not represent the voice of other women and their careers. Ultimately, intersections with class, organizational level, nationality, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation must be taken into account so to represent other women’s particular interests with respect to equality.

For those researchers-consultants who may be involved in an intervention strategy, it is important to focus on helping the change agents in reviewing and reflecting on their own “vision of gender equity”. During the strategic activities of mentoring and training, these change agents could potentially “leak” a particular “vision of gender” to other women and men. Thus, part of the intervention strategy should target the change agent’s self-reflection to influence her capacity to act as change agents.

The authors contribute to the literature on change agents and interventions for gender equality. Intervention strategies usually centre on essentialist notions of gender. The study offers potential explanations for this approach by paying attention to the process of how change agents, in their efforts to promote gender equality, may be unconsciously projecting their own identities onto others and/or consciously engaging in strategic essentialism to fit into the machista context of Mexico.

This study identified the attitudes and behaviors of college students regarding their advocacy for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Specifically, perceptions of climate change were assessed and advocacy activities were identified for climate change and/or other topics.

Using convenience sampling, students (n = 440) from three universities in the Midwest, the USA, completed surveys assessing their level of agreement with activities related to civic engagement, climate change and policy. Semantic differential scales focused on “learning about climate change,” “advocating for climate change mitigation” and “advocating for climate change adaptation.” Three open-ended questions were used to identify student experiences with civic engagement and/or service-learning, as well as topics in which they advocate and how they advocate.

Regarding advocacy in general, over 50% of the sample did not advocate for any topic, with 24.5% of students stating they advocated for the environment/climate change. Students who identified as female, democratic and 1st or 2nd year in school were more likely to be engaged with environmental advocacy. Regarding civic engagement, seniors were more actively engaged with their communities and also more likely to vote in local, state and national elections.

Time of data collection was a potential limitation with schools conducting data collection at different time periods. Students who identified more progressive politically were also more likely to participate in the study.

While research exists regarding student civic engagement levels, this research project identified ways in which students engaged in advocacy, identifying potential links with civic engagement and enhanced participation in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Peter Y. Chen heads the Occupational Health Psychology Training program within the Industrial/Organizational Psychology program at Colorado State University. His primary research interests are in occupational health, performance evaluation, training, and methodology. He has published a book, numerous book chapters and various empirical articles appearing in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Business and Psychology, Journal of Management, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Personality Assessment, Group and Organization Management: An International Journal.Shoshi Chen is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Faculty of Management, Tel-Aviv University, Israel (M.Sc., Organizational Behavior). Her current research interests are: work and stress, preventive stress management, and IT implementation.Oranit B. Davidson is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Faculty of Management, Tel-Aviv University, Israel (M.Sc., Organizational Behavior). Her current research interests are: job stress and strain, respite relief, expectation effects and self-fulfilling prophecy.Michelle K. Duffy is an Associate Professor and Gatton Endowed Research Professor in the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. She received a B.S. in Psychology from Miami University (Ohio), an M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Xavier University, and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior/Human Resources Management from the University of Arkansas. She previously worked as a Research Psychologist at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Dr. Duffy teaches courses in the area of Organizational Behavior. Her research interests include employee health and well being, social undermining behaviors and processes, and team composition issues. Her research has appeared or been accepted for publication in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, Group and Organization Management, Small Group Research, and Security Journal, among others.Rudy Fenwick received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Duke University. He is currently Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Akron. Previously, he taught at the University of South Carolina. His research interests include the effects of markets and organizational structures on jobs characteristics and worker well being, particularly job stress and participation in organizational decision making. His most recent research has appeared in The American Behavioral Scientist, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, and Journal of Family and Economic Issues. In 2003, he served as guest editor of a special edition of Sociological Focus on “Organizations Transforming Work; Work Transforming Organizations.”Glenda M. Fisk is a doctoral student in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University. She earned her B.A. degree in psychology at the University of Calgary. Her primary research interests include emotions in the workplace and organizational justice.Corina Graif received her Masters in Sociology from the University of Akron. She is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at Harvard University. Her interests include studying social organizations, institutions, networks, social justice, deviance, gender, and class inequality. She is also interested in the socio-legal mechanisms behind the adoption of social policy programs in the context of comparative social, political, and economic development.Alicia A. Grandey earned her Ph.D. at Colorado State University and has been an assistant professor in industrial-organizational psychology at Penn State University since 1999. Her research focuses on the experience and expression of emotions and stress in the workplace, particularly within the service industry and as it relates to work-family issues. Her work in these areas has been published in such journals as Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Journal of Organizational Behavior, as well as several book chapters. Dr. Grandey is a member of the American Psychological Association, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (APA Div. 14), and Academy of Management.Paula L. Grubb is a Research Psychologist in the Division of Applied Research and Technology, Organizational Science and Human Factors Branch at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Dr. Grubb received her doctorate in experimental psychology from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Grubb’s research interests include workplace violence and psychological aggression, racial/ethnic discrimination, traumatic stress, supervisory best practices, organization of work, and job stress. Her current research focuses on developing intervention and evaluation strategies for workplace psychological aggression, as well as examining workplace violence and psychological aggression policies and organizational decision-making.Stevan Hobfoll has authored and edited 11 books, including Stress, Social Support and Women, Traumatic Stress, The Ecology of Stress, and Stress Culture and Community. In addition, he has authored over 150 journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports, and has been a frequent workshop leader on stress, war, and terrorism. He has received over $9 million in research grants on stress and health. Dr. Hobfoll is currently Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Kent State University and Director of the Applied Psychology Center and the Summa-KSU Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress. Formerly at Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Universities, he has also been involved with the problem of stress in Israel. Dr. Hobfoll received special commendation for his research on The Psychology of Women and for his AIDS prevention programs with ethnic minority populations, and was cited by the Encyclopædia Britannica for his contribution to knowledge and understanding for his Ecology of Stress volume. He was co-chair of the American Psychological Association Commission on Stress and War during Operation Desert Storm, helping plan for the prevention of prolonged distress among military personnel and their families, and a member of APA’s Task Force on Resilience in Response to Terrorism. He maintains a private practice as a clinical psychologist and organizational consultant.Michiel A. J. Kompier has a full chair in Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Nijmegen (The Netherlands). His research area is occupational health psychology. He has published many (inter)national articles, books and book chapters on topics such as work stress, the psychosocial work environment, mental work load, sickness absenteeism, work disability, work and health, productivity, work-home interaction, and working conditions policies. In his studies the emphasis is on prevention and intervention studies in organizations and applied research methodology. Michiel Kompier is chairman of the scientific Committee “Work Organization and Psychosocial Factors” of ICOH (International Commission on Occupational Health), co-editor of the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, and member of the editorial boards of Work and Stress and the International Journal of Stress and Health.Shavit Laski is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Faculty of Management, Tel-Aviv University, Israel (M.Sc., Organizational Behavior). Her current research interests are: work stress, burnout and work-non-work relationship.Lawrence R. Murphy, Ph.D. received from DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois and did postdoctoral training at the Institute for Psychosomatic and Psychiatric Research, Michael Reese Medical Center. He joined the Work Organization and Stress Research Section, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), as a Research Psychologist in 1977. He has published articles and book chapters on job stress, stress management, and safety climate, and co-edited several books, including Stress Management in Work Settings (1989), Organizational Risk Factors for Job Stress (1995), and Healthy and Productive Work: An International Perspective (2000). He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Work and Stress, and Journal of Business and Psychology. His current research involves identifying characteristics of healthy and productive work organizations, and assessing the quality of work life using a national sample of U.S. workers.Anne M. O’Leary-Kelly is a Professor in the Department of Management at the University of Arkansas. She received her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management from Michigan State University in 1990 and previously has been on the faculty at Texas A&M University and the University of Dayton. Her research interests include the study of aggressive work behavior (violence, sexual harassment) and individual attachments to work organizations (psychological contracts, identification, cynicism). Her work has appeared in (among others) the Academy of Management Review, the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Journal of Management, the Journal of Management Inquiry, the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, Research in Organizational Change and Development, and the American Business Law Journal. She is a member of the Academy of Management and has been co-recipient of the Outstanding Publication in Organizational Behavior Award (given by the Organizational Behavior Division) and co-recipient of the Dorothy Harlow Outstanding Paper Award (given by the Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division). She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the OB Division of the Academy of Management.Rashaun K. Roberts is a Research Psychologist in the Division of Applied Research and Technology, Organizational Science and Human Factors Branch at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Dr. Roberts received her master’s and doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to joining the research team at NIOSH in 2002, Dr. Roberts was a fellow at Duke University Medical Center in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, where she developed an expertise in occupational mental health. Dr. Roberts’ current research at NIOSH focuses on the contributions of structural and psychosocial variables to the emergence of psychological aggression in the workplace and on understanding the implications of psychologically aggressive behaviors for occupational safety and health. As a member of the Federal Interagency Task Force on Workplace Violence Research and Prevention, she is collaborating to develop NIOSH’s research agenda in these areas. Dr. Roberts’ other research interests include issues related racial/ethnic health disparities, occupational mental health, and women’s health.Steven L. Sauter received his Ph.D. in Industrial Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and held an appointment in the University of Wisconsin, Department of Preventive Medicine until joining the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1985. He currently serves as Chief of the Organizational Science and Human Factors Branch at NIOSH, and leads the NIOSH research program on work organization and health. He also holds an appointment as an Adjunct Professor of Human Factors Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, Department of Industrial Engineering. His research interests focus on work organization and occupational stress. He serves on editorial boards of several scholarly journals – including Work and Stress and the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, he has prepared several books and articles on psychosocial aspects of occupational health, and he is one of the senior editors of the 4th Edition of the International Encyclopedia of Occupational Safety and Health.Kristin L. Scott is a doctoral student in Organizational Behavior/Human Resources Management in the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. She received a B.S. in Business Administration from Villanova University and an M.A. in Human Resources from the University of South Carolina. She previously worked as a Human Resources Manager at General Electric Company. Her research interests include employee emotional responses, justice issues, employee antisocial behavior, and compensation and reward systems. Currently, she has manuscripts under review at the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management and the Leadership Quarterly.Lori Anderson Snyder received her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Colorado State University. She is now an assistant professor in the psychology department at the University of Oklahoma. Her research interests include workplace aggression, safety, performance errors, multisource feedback, and the Assessment Center method.Naomi G. Swanson is head of the Work Organization and Stress Research group at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the U.S. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1989. Along with Dr. Steven Sauter, NIOSH, she was involved in some of the initial research in the U.S. examining the relationship of organizational factors to non-fatal workplace violence. She is currently participating in research examining the relationship between workplace stressors and depression, the assessment of work organization interventions designed to improve worker health and well being, and the assessment of workplace violence programs and practices.Toon W. Taris is an associate professor at the Department of Work and Organizational Psychology of the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He holds a MA degree in Administrative Science (1988) and took his Ph.D. in Psychology in 1994, both from the Free University of Amsterdam. Since 1993 he has been affiliated with various psychology departments of several Dutch universities and also served as a research consultant. His research interests include work motivation, psychosocial work stress models, and longitudinal reearch methods. Taris has published on a wide range of topics in journals such as Journal of Vocational Behavior, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, and Sociological Methods and Resarch. Further, he serves on the boards of several journals, including Work & Stress and the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health.Mark Tausig received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the State University of New York at Albany. He is has been at the University of Akron since 1983 and currently holds the title of Professor of Sociology. His research interests include investigating the relationships between macro-economic conditions, work organization and worker well being. His most recent research has appeared in The American Behavioral Scientist, Journal of Family and Economic Issues and, The Journal of Health and Social Behavior. He is also co-author of A Sociology of Mental Illness.Mina Westman an associate professor and Researcher, at Faculty of Management, Tel Aviv University, Israel (Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior, Tel Aviv University). Her primary research interests include determinants and consequences of job and life stress, negative and positive crossover between partners and team members, work-family interchange, effects of vacation on psychological and behavioral strain and the impact of short business trips on the individual, the family and the organization. She has authores empirical and conceptual articles that have appeared in such journals as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Relations, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Applied Psychology: An International Journal, and Journal of Vocational Psychology. In addition, she has also contributed to several book chapters and presented numerous scholarly papers at international conferences. She is on the editorial board of Journal of Organizational Behavior and Applied Psychology: An International Journal.Thomas A. Wright is a Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Nevada, Reno. He received his Ph.D. in organizational behavior and industrial relations from the University of California, Berkeley. Similar to the Claude Rains character from the classic movie, Casablanca, he has published his work in many of the “usual suspects” including the Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Psychometrika, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Journal of Management and the Journal of Management Inquiry. He has consulted with a number of organizations over the years on such topics as: optimizing employee performance and organizational productivity, sustaining employee commitment, stimulating employee motivation, developing employee recruitment and retention strategies, and enhancing employee health and well being.Angela Young is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management at California State University, Los Angeles. Current research interests include mentoring relationships, organizational relationships, equity and fairness in the workplace, and the interview process. Her work has been published in Journal of Management, Human Resource Management Review, Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, and other journals. She has presented her research at numerous conferences including National Academy of Management, American Psychological Association, Western Academy of Management, and Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

This study aims to investigate how Germans' misperceptions of the nature of entrepreneurship influence their attitudes towards entrepreneurial failure.

Adopting a multivariate regression analysis, the study used data collected from a commercial online market research panel (N = 2,027) reflecting the overall German working population. Attitudinal items on business failure were used to measure the study variables. The study controlled for age, education, employment status, gender, income, whether the respondent knows a failed entrepreneur and the German federal state in which the respondent resides.

The findings suggest that reservations about failed entrepreneurs become stronger as misperceptions of the nature of entrepreneurship worsen. The results also show that failure reservations vary regionally over the 16 German federal states.

Nationwide efforts regarding the stimulation of entrepreneurship and the acceptance of entrepreneurial failure are insufficient for removing failure reservations, as they neglect regional cultural differences. The results suggest that it is not enough just to invest in efforts to create a failure-friendly culture, and that a better general education about the realities of entrepreneurship is a prerequisite.

The study generates insights into how the overall population in an innovation-driven economy perceives entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial failure. Moreover, the work delves into the reasons why parts of German society reject failed entrepreneurs. Hence, this study can aid the drafting of effective policy initiatives at the regional and national levels.

This paper aims to develop and apply a measurement instrument to identify a comparative metric that identifies operational sustainability maturity across sectors and countries.

Using structured interviews to complete the operations sustainability maturity model (OSMM) in financial services organisations, data were compared to show differences for developed and developing countries.

The preliminary findings indicate that there is no significant difference in the sustainability maturity index between countries. However, size and profitability are strong indicators of sustainability maturity.

These findings represent preliminary findings drawn from the financial services sector in a limited number of countries. Expansion of the data set will give greater confidence of results.

The OSMM is an empirical tool used to collect data that allows statistical evaluation of sustainable strategies used by firms in various sectors and in different countries.

Sustainability is of critical importance in the economic development of all countries. The OSMM embraces fiscal, operational and environmental considerations. The research gives new insights to alternative strategic imperatives.

With increased awareness of organisational sustainability, academics have developed a number of tools, approaches and strategies to ensure commercial viability. However, few corporations have successfully institutionalised ongoing sustainability. OSMM is unique. Its wider application to embrace additional industry sectors and countries will bring new insight to strategic intent.

Prison-based animal programs are becoming increasingly common in North America. The majority focus on community and animal well-being, with less explicit therapeutic goals for human participants. The purpose of this paper is to measure the objectives of a canine animal-assisted therapy (AAT) program in a Canadian psychiatric prison and examine whether the program supports inmates’ correctional plans.

A modified instrumental case study design was applied with three inmates over a 24-AAT-session program. Quantitative and qualitative AAT session data were collected and mid- and end-of-program interviews were held with the inmates, their mental health clinicians and the therapy dog handlers.

Inmates connected with the therapy dogs through the animals’ perceived offering of love and support. This development of a human–animal bond supported inmates’ correctional plans, which are largely situated within a cognitive-behavioral skill development framework. Specifically, inmates’ connections with the therapy dogs increased recognition of their personal feelings and emotions and positively impacted their conduct.

The findings suggest that prison-based AAT programs emphasizing inmate mental well-being, alongside that of animal and community well-being generally, merit further exploration. It would be worthwhile to assess this AAT program with a larger and more diverse sample of inmates and in a different institutional context and also to conduct a post-intervention follow-up.

This is the first study of a prison-based AAT program in a Canadian psychiatric correctional facility.

Advances in Econometrics is a series of research volumes first published in 1982 by JAI Press. The authors present an update to the history of the Advances in Econometrics series. The initial history, published in 2012 for the 30th Anniversary Volume, describes key events in the history of the series and provides information about key authors and contributors to Advances in Econometrics. The authors update the original history and discuss significant changes that have occurred since 2012. These changes include the addition of five new Senior Co-Editors, seven new AIE Fellows, an expansion of the AIE conferences throughout the United States and abroad, and the increase in the number of citations for the series from 7,473 in 2012 to over 25,000 by 2022.