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<p> Community, or the sense of being connected to others, represents an enduring conversation throughout organizational literature. <i>Communitas </i>, on the other hand, has not been well researched in this context. <i>Communitas</i> refers to an unstructured community in which people have a sense of sharing and intimacy that develops among persons who experience liminality as a group. Building on the anthropological work of Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner, and Edith Turner, this study explores the experience of communitas among Information Technology <i>Road Warriors </i>, those consulting professionals that spend much of their work life away from home and within the liminal environment of their project-based work. It also elucidates the supporting nature of strong social relationships among Road Warriors. The study employs a qualitative approach and draws on in-depth interviews of 21 Road Warriors from five professional services firms. Findings were captured in an integrative model of communitas, that includes both structural and behavioral elements that together represent the symbolic construction of communitas as experienced by the participants. The data indicate that participants sharing this liminal space enjoy a particular sense of community that allows what might be seen as a disparate group to find a sense of belonging and communitas. Practical implications for professional services firms, managers, employees, and organizations that employ liminal work groups are presented, along with recommendations for future research.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Sociology, 2007. / Title from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 24, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0771. Adviser: Thomas F. Gieryn.

<p> This study investigated whether pet-friendly workplace policies, specifically dog-friendly policies, serve as a buffer against stress, as well as impact perceived organizational support (POS). Using a mediational questionnaire design, this study examined whether the availability of a pet-friendly policy was significantly related to employee occupational stress levels and employee POS, with POS mediating the relationship between a pet-friendly policy and stress. One-hundred eighty-eight full-time employees recruited via crowdsourced and snowball sampling methods completed an online survey, including several measures of workplace attitudes. Results supported all hypotheses, revealing that the presence of a pet-friendly policy was significantly related to lower stress, and POS fully mediated this relationship. Significant interactions were also found, indicating that this effect was stronger for dog owners than for employees without dogs. Ultimately, these findings provide support for the affordance of a pet-friendly policy in organizations, when appropriate. </p>

<p> The relationship between income and happiness is often found to be positive, though modest. Materialistic (or extrinsic) values are associated with decreased happiness for many people. Researchers have not clearly identified how these values impact happiness or other measures of well-being. Further, materialistic and extrinsic values have been found to decrease with age. However, researchers have not explored how these values change over time. In the U.S., the primary pathway for meeting financial and extrinsic goals is through paid employment. Therefore, the response to unemployment may reveal ways that extrinsic values impact happiness, as well as how extrinsic values may shift through life experiences. Using in-depth interviews, this research examined how an adult age population in a diverse, metropolitan area experience unemployment and whether participants' reported shifts in values and goals during a period of unemployment. Participants were currently unemployed, had been unemployed at least 6 months, had been in the workforce at least 5 years, continuously worked during the 5 years before layoff, and were planning to return to work. Interviews included questions about values and goals included in the brief Aspiration Index. The interviews were processed using a multiple case study approach, where thematic analysis was used to identify major themes as well as themes that are less common but reveal further information about values and development. Participants ranged in age from 28 to 64 years old. Time unemployed ranged from 10 months to 5 years of unemployment. Participants each had completed some college courses, and three had master's degrees. Participants did identify changes in values measured by the Aspiration Index. There were 72 possible instances of change, and participants stated their values had changed in 33 instances. Participants believed those values may change back in only 8 instances, indicating that participants experienced shifts in values, which they perceived likely to be permanent changes. The change process involved shifting behaviors due to situational constraints, and identifying advantages to the new behaviors. Previous goal attainment reduced some participants' interest in extrinsic goals.</p>

<p> The Matrix Predictive Uniform Law Enforcement Inventory (M-PULSE &trade;) is a self-report, actuarial instrument used to predict job performance and liability risk, as well as assist law enforcement agencies in selecting qualified candidates. This study examined whether there is a statistically significant difference between two clusters of candidates' Empirical Scales scores as they relate to applicants' mean scale score differences on the M-Pulse&trade; liability scales. This study was conducted in an effort to confirm predictive and ecological validity and used archived data from a proprietary database retained by MHS, Inc. This data consisted of 1,000 randomly selected individuals from a normalized database of 5,000 individuals who had previously completed the M-PULSE &trade; and were subsequently hired by a law enforcement agency. A series of independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare each of the M-Pulse &trade; liability scales scores of law enforcement applicants in each cluster. Post hoc Bonferroni correction resulted in &agr; &le; .003. Statistically significant differences were found in Potential for Resignation when comparing scores for Cluster 1 (<i>M</i> = 49.49, <i> SD</i> = 9.85) and Cluster 2 (<i>M</i> = 51.85, <i>SD </i> = 10.97); <i>t</i>(998) = -3.545, <i>p</i> &lt; .003; <i>d</i> = .226 and in Potential for Termination: Cluster 1 (<i>M</i> = 49.05, <i>SD</i> = 9.48) and Cluster 2 (<i> M</i> = 52.14, <i>SD</i> = 10.57); t(998) = -4.833, <i> p</i> &lt; .003; <i>d</i> = .308. This study suggests the M-PULSE &trade; can tease out candidates who show a propensity to prematurely resign or be terminated. Predicting foreseeable liability risks helps law enforcement agencies manage ecological issues that affect officers.</p>