Silicon Valley is known for its amazing workspace and perks. Due to Equity Theory and Two-factor Theory, employees should be content and stay longer. However, studies have found that there's a higher rate of job-hopping, which seems like a contradiction (Fallick et al, 2006). Participants were 135 engineers, ages 18 to 35 years old, who completed an online survey looking at job satisfaction, job expectations, perk usage, employee perception of perks, personal equity sensitivity, and comparison others. Recruitment was done through personal connections in the Bay Area and various social media sites that are targeted towards engineers. Results did not show that job satisfaction influenced job expectations while individual differences in equity didn’t influence perk usage, perceptions of job expectations. In conclusion, this research adds to the dearth of literature about Silicon Valley, and, more broadly, explored a link between Equity Theory and Two-Factor Theory that had not been previously examined.

Limited research has been done regarding the relationship among registered nurses years of experience, credentials, work location, completed non-required continuing education hours, moral development, and conceptual level. This study's theoretical framework is based on the cognitive-developmental theory domains of moral and conceptual development. A descriptive and correlational research design was used to discover the relationship between variables. One hundred registered nurses were selected from a hospital in southeastern Virginia. Participants completed a general questionnaire, Defining Issues Test-2 and the Paragraph Completion Method. Findings resulted in failing to reject the null hypotheses. There was no statistically significant correlation among the variables. The findings may be related to low sampling, unclear understanding of terms and/or participant's demographic profile being more similar than different.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of humor as a coping mechanism to relieve work stress of psychiatric registered nurses (RNs).;The population was selected from 31 volunteer RNs who worked thirty-two to forty hours a week in psychiatric hospitals in the Norfolk-Tidewater-Williamsburg-Richmond areas of Virginia. The RNs completed three pretest self-report measurements on stress. The Social Readiness Rating Scale (SRRS) was given to assess preexisting life stress. The Work Environment Scale (WES), and the Psychiatric Nurses' Occupational Stress Scales (PNOSS) were given to measure for pre-treatment work stress.;The RNs were then randomly assigned to one of three workshop groups. The treatment groups had workshops on the use of humor or an alternative coping skill (progressive relaxation) to relieve environmental stress. The control group workshop was on the use of neurological assessment. Each workshop lasted three hours. The first segment taught the basic theory and introduced the skill. The second segment taught the RNs how to use what they learned. The third segment allowed the RNs to practice their new tool. All RNs in all the groups were encouraged to practice their new skills within the hospital environment. The progressive relaxation RNs had a relaxation tape and tape recorder available to use on breaks.;Six weeks after the workshops, the RNs were mailed a packet containing a certificate stating they attended the workshop and two self-report measurements on the WES and PNOSS which were completed and returned to the researcher.;The pretest and posttest measurements were scored by hand. Descriptive statistics were used to measure the central tendency or average and the amount of dispersion or spread. The hypotheses were analyzed by one-way analysis of covariance.;The findings were not significant to the p {dollar}>{dollar} =.05 confidence level. With the particular sample population and the groups, it was concluded that the treatment was not successful in reducing work stress or occupational stress or in changing attitudes in the workplace. However, the study indicates that with a greater sample size and more specificity concerning what work stress is to be measured, significant findings are possible.

This scenario study examined fairness perceptions of rule violations and punishment in an organizational team setting. Participants read one of 16 scenarios in which an integral team member violates an organizational rule and subsequently is punished. Participants then answered 12 items assessing perceptions of fairness for the punished employee and for the non-punished team members, and the likelihood the punishment will deter future misconduct for the punished employee and for the teammates. This study examined two levels of misconduct severity (moderate and severe), two levels of punishment severity (moderate and severe), two types of punishment distribution (consistent and conditional), and two types of situational urgency (urgent and non-urgent). The rule violations and punishments used in this study were chosen from those evaluated in a stimulus-rating study calibrating violations and punishments in an organizational team setting (Shoenfelt, 2015). Overall, consistently applying punishment had a highly significant effect on perceptions of fairness to the punished team member and teammates, and on the likelihood the punishment will deter future misconduct by the punished team member and teammates.

One of the most important decisions to make when performing an exploratory factor or principal component analysis regards the number of factors to retain. Parallel analysis is considered to be the best course of action in these circumstances as it consistently outperforms other factor extraction methods (Zwick & Velicer, 1986). Even so, parallel analysis could benefit from further research and refinement to improve its accuracy. Characteristics such as factor loadings, correlations between factors, and number of variables per factor all have been shown to adversely impact the effectiveness of parallel analysis as a means of identifying the number of factors (Pearson, Mundfrom, & Piccone, 2013). Critically, even the choice of criteria on which to evaluate factors (such as the eigenvalue at the 50th or 95th percentile) can have deleterious effects on the number of factors extracted (Peres-Neto, Jackson, & Somers, 2004). One area of parallel analysis yet to be researched is the magnitude of the difference between the actual eigenvalue and the random data-based eigenvalue. Currently, even if the margin between the actual eigenvalue and the random data-based eigenvalue is nominal, the factor is considered to be meaningful. As such, it may behoove researchers to enforce a higher standard, such as a greater margin between the two eigenvalues than just a simple difference. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a 10% margin criterion as compared to an absolute margin. These margins were evaluated in conjunction with the 50th, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentile eigenvalue criteria on a population correlation matrix designed to engender underextraction. Previous research (Matsumoto & Brown, 2017) explored the same conditions on a population correlation matrix designed to elicit overextraction. They found that the most stringent standard (99th percentile eigenvalue plus a 10% margin) was the most accurate. For the present study however, it was hypothesized that the most accurate results would be obtained from a standard less stringent than the 99th percentile eigenvalue plus a 10% margin. The results suggest that when a correlation matrix has properties which may illicit underextraction, the use of less stringent criteria may lead to greater accuracy in identifying the number of factors and that the incorporation of an additional margin criterion may not improve the accuracy of the analysis.

This research examined gender and employment status (full-time worker or student) differences in perceptions of workplace sexual harassment and incivility. Previous and recent meta-analyses suggested small effects by gender. The current research introduced a method of measuring perceptions by forcing a choice of identifying a behavior as sexual harassment, incivility, or neither. The instrument was designed in this way to determine if small effects existed because males tended to have overlapping definitions of sexual harassment and incivility. Propensity to sexually harass was also measured. Results suggest no gender or employment status effects on the method, but propensity to sexually harass effects were found.

Just as society has changed a lot within the past 100 years, the concept of identity has also evolved significantly. A big factor in the evolution of identity has been the realization that social and group phenomena influence all conceptualizations of identity. In this review, I explore identity through the lens of Optimal Distinctiveness theory (ODT), which proposes that humans have two opposing social motives (distinctiveness and inclusiveness) that position them amidst an internal battle over identity. I start by defining identity and the self, including the distinction between the two. Next, I explore identity formation and different types of identity (personal, social, collective, and organizational). After that, I analyze the central identity motives of belonging and self-expression. Finally, I discuss theoretical approaches to the central question of this paper: when thinking about identity, what is the optimal balance between conformity and individuality? By reviewing the existing literature, I have found that the optimal balance between distinctiveness and inclusiveness is none other than a balancing act. While identity can loosely be thought of as how a person defines themself both as an individual and in relation to others, it is evidently a very complex concept; there are multiple different types of identity, each of which involve balancing the need to fit in with the need to be unique. In order to reach optimal distinctiveness, it is vital for individuals to regularly engage in social interactions, reflect on their identity motives, and recognize the importance of both individuality and conformity.

To date, research that examines individuals who work and go to school generally aims to examine the effects of doing so on their academic performance. Little literature is available that examines the effects that these dual roles can have on the organization (e.g., lower levels of commitment and higher rates of absenteeism and turnover). Understanding such effects can assist organizations in managing their employees and developing programs tailored to them, such as career counseling. A literature review is presented which examines both the constructs of the multiple forms of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover, and the research currently available on student workers. A study was conducted which examined the differences in levels of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover intentions in employees who attend school as compared to employees who do not. It was hypothesized that student workers and participants enrolled in school would differ in their commitment levels, absenteeism rates, and turnover intentions. The sample consisted of 364 participants. In this sample, 314 participants were currently enrolled in college-level classes, where 169 of the participants were categorized as students who worked, and 85 participants were categorized as workers who studied. Results suggest that employees of an organization who are not enrolled in school are likely to have higher levels of affective commitment, lower turnover intentions, and are likely to miss work more frequently. Additionally, it was found that students who work have lower overall organizational commitment and higher academic commitment compared to workers who study. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The post secondary educational system has come under increased scrutiny due to rising costs and lower numbers than expected of students graduating with their Bachelor's degrees. Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of student mentoring programs as a viable resource to increase retention and graduation rates. Research on the predictors of academic success has been inconsistent. This current study used archival data from the Office of Institutional Research (IR) database and California State University, San Bernardino Faculty/Student Mentor Program to conduct a matched sample analysis comparing mentored students with non mentored students. Both files were drawn from the same specified period (fall 2003 to fall 2012 academic years) based on a set of control and outcome variables provided with the datasets. Overall, the academic performance of mentored students, based on retention rate, graduation rate, credits completed, and grade point average were similar to that of non mentored students. A logistic regression indicated that at least one variable may be a good predictor of graduation rates (Pre-College Courses). Further research is needed to determine if mentoring, specifically peer mentoring, is an effective resource that supports student success.

This study was designed to investigate the moderating effect of embeddedness on the commitment and turnover intentions relationship. Embeddedness was examined as a key variable that links the commitment and turnover literatures together. Job embeddedness was expected to moderate the relationship between job commitment and job turnover intentions, while organizational embeddedness was expected to moderate the relationship between organizational commitment and organizational turnover intentions. Responses from 154 employed individuals were collect for this study. Data was collected using a web-based survey format. Psychometric data was collected with the use of a demographics questionnaire, as well as embeddedness (job and organizational), organizational commitment, and turnover intentions scales. A moderated regression analysis found that both job and organizational embeddedness moderated the commitment-turnover relationship, but in the opposite way as proposed. These relationships can help us better understand why employees remain within their organizations and jobs.