Brian Mayer, Sabrina Helm, Melissa Barnett and Mona Arora
Essential frontline workers in the retail sector face increased exposure risks to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to frequent interactions with the general public. Often…
Abstract
Purpose
Essential frontline workers in the retail sector face increased exposure risks to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to frequent interactions with the general public. Often these interactions are fraught with controversies over public safety protocols. The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of frontline workers' perceptions of workplace safety and customer misbehaviors on their stress and psychological distress to inform managing workplace health and safety during public health crises.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an online survey of 3,344 supermarket workers in the state of Arizona (US) during the state's first COVID-19 pandemic wave in July 2020. Measures included mental health distress, and perceptions of workplace safety and customer behaviors. The authors utilized a mixed-methods approach combining multiple regression analyses with qualitative analyses of open-ended comments.
Findings
Workers reported high rates of stress and psychological distress. Increases in mental health morbidity were correlated with perceptions of being unsafe in the workplace and concerns about negative customer encounters. Qualitative analyses reveal frustration with management's efforts to reduce risks intertwined with feelings of being unsafe and vulnerable to threatening customer encounters.
Practical implications
The findings highlight the need to provide and enforce clear safety guidelines, including how to manage potential hostile customer interactions, to promote positive health workplace management during a pandemic.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to assess the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the mental health of non-health care frontline essential workers and presents novel insights regarding perceived customer misbehavior and need for management support and guidance in a public health crisis.
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Melissa A. Warner and Peter A. Hausdorf
The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the predominant theoretical frameworks used to describe the interaction between work and family roles and present an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the predominant theoretical frameworks used to describe the interaction between work and family roles and present an integrative model of work‐family enrichment. The goal is to better understand the psychological processes underlying work‐family enrichment and to identify ways in which work‐family enrichment can be increased. A conceptual and testable model depicting the direct and indirect relationships involved in work‐family enrichment is provided.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of past theories describing the work‐family interface is provided, followed by the presentation of a theoretical and testable model depicting the relationships between work‐family enrichment and need theory.
Findings
It is suggested that the basic needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness are presented as important psychological benefits that directly impact affect within a domain and indirectly influence work‐family enrichment and quality of life.
Research limitations/implications
This paper suggests several future directions that researchers can undertake to advance the understanding of positive linkages between work and family. These future directions include: testing the propositions related to need theory through a daily study approach, examining organizational and personal antecedents and consequences associated with work‐family enrichment, and testing the aspects of the presented model to further the new area of research, integrating work‐family enrichment and need theory.
Practical implications
This paper highlights several practical recommendations for individuals and organizations. These include: the need to focus beyond work‐family conflict towards work‐family enrichment, incorporating basic psychological need fulfillment into employees' developmental goals, and for employees to seek psychological benefits to buffer any costs within a role when trying to balance work and family.
Originality/value
This paper addresses several gaps in the previous work‐family literature including: the primary focus on the negative interaction between work and family; the lack of theoretical exploration into how and why multiple roles can lead to work‐family enrichment; and specifically, the integration of need theory as an explanation for work‐family enrichment.
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Robin S. Codding, Melissa Collier-Meek and Emily DeFouw
Evaluation of any given student's responsiveness to intervention depends not only on how effective the intervention is, but also whether the intervention was delivered as intended…
Abstract
Evaluation of any given student's responsiveness to intervention depends not only on how effective the intervention is, but also whether the intervention was delivered as intended as well as in the appropriate format and according to the most useful schedule. These latter elements are referred to as treatment integrity and treatment intensity, respectively. The purpose of this chapter is to define and describe how treatment integrity and intensity can be incorporated in the evaluation of outcomes associated with individualized intervention delivery.
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Shelly McCallum, Melissa Ann Schmid and Lawrence Price
As companies face an ever wider range of challenges, there is growing adoption of CSR initiatives to aid company success. The business case for CSR investigates the potential for…
Abstract
Purpose
As companies face an ever wider range of challenges, there is growing adoption of CSR initiatives to aid company success. The business case for CSR investigates the potential for economic value in socially oriented company actions. This paper aims to examine one key CSR initiative, that of employee skill‐based volunteerism.
Design/methodology/approach
Researchers consider three current applications of employee skill‐based volunteerism and the potential to generate company economic value.
Findings
This concept paper suggests employee skill‐based volunteerism aligns with the four components of the business case for CSR, including the enhancement of company reputation, the reduction of costs and risk, the achievement of business strategy, and the creation of learning and partnership.
Research limitations/implications
This paper focuses on three companies' employee skill‐based volunteerism programs and does not reflect the comprehensiveness of a meta‐analysis. Hence conclusions are limited in generalization. Further investigation of company CSR program initiatives and their impact both short term and long term is suggested.
Practical implications
This paper seeks to highlight the potential for economic value within CSR initiatives. By considering the role of employee skill‐based volunteerism, this paper considers this specific CSR initiative and its potential for generating economic benefits for a company.
Originality/value
The authors suggest that employee skill‐based volunteerism can serve as a unique differentiating strategy employing the knowledge, skills and abilities of employees that are specific to any given company. As CSR initiatives continue to be adopted, there remains a need to learn which initiatives may serve as significant sources of economic value for a company, as well as how best these initiatives can be implemented.
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Amy Nicole Baker, David King, Michael Nalick, Melissa Tempio, Vishal K. Gupta and Charles A. Pierce
The goal of this study is to examine the association between managers' sexually-oriented behavior in publicly traded firms and subsequent stock market reactions. Both sexual…
Abstract
Purpose
The goal of this study is to examine the association between managers' sexually-oriented behavior in publicly traded firms and subsequent stock market reactions. Both sexual harassment and nonharassing sexually-oriented behavior (i.e. workplace romance) are associated with negative shareholder reactions. The authors also examine factors that may alter the stock market reaction and those that may reduce the risk of lawsuit in sexual harassment cases.
Design/methodology/approach
Information about incidents of sexually-oriented behavior was collected from media reports and content coded. An event study with a stock market reaction was used to measure the impact of disclosed sexually-oriented behaviors. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between incident characteristics and sexual harassment lawsuits.
Findings
Disclosure of managers' sexually-oriented behavior is associated with a negative stock market reaction. Interestingly, the reaction was not more severe for sexual harassment disclosures compared to nonharassing behavior (i.e. workplace romance). Results also suggest that terminating a manager prior to disclosure of an event is negatively related to a harassment lawsuit.
Originality/value
The authors report this as the first study to focus on the stock market reaction of sexually-oriented harassing and nonharassing behavior of managers. This work complements research that documents the negative impact of sexual harassment on individuals by demonstrating these behaviors are associated with loss and risk at an organizational level.
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Melissa Husbands and Jerome Carson
The purpose of this paper is to suggest that student-led case studies are an important way to learn about mental health problems and to highlight this by presenting a case study…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to suggest that student-led case studies are an important way to learn about mental health problems and to highlight this by presenting a case study of the comedic genius Spike Milligan.
Design/methodology/approach
Celebrities live their lives in the public eye. In recent years, many have talked about their struggles with mental health. This paper is based on a student-led case study of the celebrity Spike Milligan.
Findings
This case study suggests one previously under-emphasised issue and argues that Spike Milligan’s wartime experiences may have led to post-traumatic stress disorder. Second, that he may have developed neuro-inflammation, through contracting sandfly fever during the war. This could have been an additional trigger for bipolar disorder.
Research limitations/implications
While this is a single case study, it draws on a wide variety of research sources to back up the arguments advanced.
Practical implications
Student-led case studies provide a way of engaging students more actively with mental health problems.
Social implications
Mental illness is complex, if not more complex, than physical health problems. Case studies of celebrities like Spike Milligan can help develop a public understanding of mental illness, as they already have a working knowledge about the person.
Originality/value
The case study illustrates how Bipolar 1 disorder is a complex and unique condition and that every individual’s illness has different predisposing characteristics. It suggests that student-led case studies are a helpful learning tool.
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Patricia Gooding, Rebecca Crook, Melissa Westwood, Claire Faichnie and Sarah Peters
This study aims to examine the following across a six-month period in post-graduate research (PGR) students: mental health and well-being; the effect of academic pressures on…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the following across a six-month period in post-graduate research (PGR) students: mental health and well-being; the effect of academic pressures on depression, anxiety and well-being; and the extent to which psychological resilience buffered against academic pressures.
Design/methodology/approach
This was a longitudinal questionnaire study with predictor variables of six types of academic pressure, outcome variables of depression, anxiety and well-being, and a moderator of resilience.
Findings
Well-being significantly worsened across the six-month timeframe, but levels of depression and anxiety remained relatively stable. Negative perceptions of academic challenges at baseline significantly predicted anxiety, but not depression or well-being, six months later. Negative appraisals of relationships with supervisors, other university staff and work peers were not predictors of anxiety. Social support resilience which was present at baseline buffered the relationship between perceived academic challenges and anxiety.
Practical implications
Higher education institutions have a duty of care towards PGR students, many of whom struggle with the escalating interactions between mental health problems and academic pressures. Actively nurturing psychological resilience related to social support is key at the level of individual students and the PGR community but more broadly at an institutional level.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effects of negative perceptions of multiple facets of academic life on depression, anxiety and well-being longitudinally. Additionally, it is the first study to investigate, and demonstrate, the extent to which psychological resilience can lessen the relationship between academic challenges and anxiety over time.
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David G. Smith and Mady Wechsler Segal
Institutional structures of professional career paths often support breadwinner–homemaker families, with a stay at home wife available full time to support the professional (and…
Abstract
Institutional structures of professional career paths often support breadwinner–homemaker families, with a stay at home wife available full time to support the professional (and children), so the professional can devote complete energy and time to developing a career. This research examines how two partners in the same narrowly structured, fast track occupational culture such as those occurring for dual military officer couples shape how women and men negotiate decision making and life events. Data from interviews with 23 dual U.S. Navy officer couples build upon Becker and Moen’s (1999) scaling back notions. With both spouses in these careers, placing limits on work is extremely difficult due to fast track cultures that demand higher status choices and structures that formally do not reliably consider collocations. Trading off occurs, but with distress due to the unique demands on two partners in the fast track culture, which means career death for some. Two partners in fast track careers may not yet have given up on two careers as many peers may have, but they lose a great deal, including time together and their desired number of children. But they ultimately posit individual choice rather than focusing on structural change. The pressured family life resulting is likely similar to that for partners in other narrowly structured, fast track cultures such as in law firms and academia.
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Beth St. Jean, Gagan Jindal, Paul T. Jaeger, Yuting Liao and Beth Barnett
In this closing chapter, the authors first draw on the contributed chapters in this volume to highlight some of the many ways in which libraries and librarians are moving us…
Abstract
In this closing chapter, the authors first draw on the contributed chapters in this volume to highlight some of the many ways in which libraries and librarians are moving us closer to health justice by working with their communities to increase consumer health literacy and to decrease health disparities. The authors then focus our attention on the COVID-19 pandemic, discussing the fact that disadvantaged populations are bearing the brunt of the negative impacts of this situation and the many existing and novel roles that libraries and librarians are playing to help to fight consumer health information injustice and to contribute toward better health outcomes for all. Next, Dr Beth Barnett brings her viewpoint as a Board Certified Patient Advocate to the volume, pointing out parallels between the roles of librarians and those of patient advocates, as well as important lessons for patient advocates gleaned from the volume. To conclude the chapter, the authors reiterate our aims for the volume and issue a call to the reader to join libraries and librarians in their important role as agents of health information justice.
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Sara Ann McComb, Melissa Woodard Barringer and Kristina A Bourne
Part-time employment is a vital portion of the U.S. labor force, yet research to date has provided only limited insights into how to successfully create and manage this sector of…
Abstract
Part-time employment is a vital portion of the U.S. labor force, yet research to date has provided only limited insights into how to successfully create and manage this sector of the workforce. We propose that these limitations are due, at least in part, to an inadequate explication of the levels issues inherent in this area. In this article, we present a summary framework of constructs at the economic, industry, organization, individual, and work levels that influence part-time work arrangements. We then specify a cross-level moderator model that examines how the number of hours worked by employees influences their attitudes and behaviors. We posit that this relationship is moderated by a number of contextual effects at multiple levels. Using this sample model, we demonstrate the way in which researchers examining part-time work arrangements can effectively address levels issues. Our article concludes with a discussion of the implications that this summary framework has for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.