title: Perceived organizational support, organizational cynicism and employee well-being

authors: Peplinski, Marin Sara

subjects: Perceived Organizational Support

abstract: The present study examined how an employee’s perception of their employing organization can impact his or her thoughts, feelings and behaviors. This study examined cognitive, affective and behavioral organizational cynicism in relation to perceived organizational support. Psychological strain, self-reported physical health and turnover intentions were investigated in relation to reduced POS and increased organizational cynicism. 
An online questionnaire measuring perceived organizational support (POS), organizational cynicism, psychological strain, turnover intentions and self-reported physical health was administered to full-time American employees, who were not self-employed, via links posted to social media websites and also circulated through a manufacturing company’s human resources headquarters. Two groups of participants responded, yielding a total sample of 161 participants. Group 1 consisted of participants from all industry types recruited using social media. Group 2 consisted of employees from the human resources headquarters of the manufacturing company. Groups differed significantly on almost all variables. This difference was controlled for in all analyses. Correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. All of the hypothesized correlational relationships were supported. Results of this study supported the notion that the multi-dimensional attitude of organizational cynicism is strongly and inversely related to POS. Contrary to predictions, affective and cognitive organizational cynicism did not mediate the majority of the hypothesized relationships between variables. This may have been due to the multicollinearity of the predictor variables. Significant mediation analyses results included: full mediation between POS and social dysfunction by cognitive organizational cynicism; partial mediation between anxiety/depression and self-reported physical health by affective organizational cynicism; and, the partial mediation of affective organizational cynicism between POS and turnover intentions. 
Future research may benefit from measuring the variables at different points in time in order to investigate causality between variables and also to avoid any statistical confounds such as multicollinearity. The identification of the high correlations between variables may encourage employers to actively attempt to address levels of POS within their organization thus resulting in benefits for employees.

text: Perceived organizational support, organizational cynicism and employee well-being The present study examined how an employee’s perception of their employing organization can impact his or her thoughts, feelings and behaviors. This study examined cognitive, affective and behavioral organizational cynicism in relation to perceived organizational support. Psychological strain, self-reported physical health and turnover intentions were investigated in relation to reduced POS and increased organizational cynicism. 
An online questionnaire measuring perceived organizational support (POS), organizational cynicism, psychological strain, turnover intentions and self-reported physical health was administered to full-time American employees, who were not self-employed, via links posted to social media websites and also circulated through a manufacturing company’s human resources headquarters. Two groups of participants responded, yielding a total sample of 161 participants. Group 1 consisted of participants from all industry types recruited using social media. Group 2 consisted of employees from the human resources headquarters of the manufacturing company. Groups differed significantly on almost all variables. This difference was controlled for in all analyses. Correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. All of the hypothesized correlational relationships were supported. Results of this study supported the notion that the multi-dimensional attitude of organizational cynicism is strongly and inversely related to POS. Contrary to predictions, affective and cognitive organizational cynicism did not mediate the majority of the hypothesized relationships between variables. This may have been due to the multicollinearity of the predictor variables. Significant mediation analyses results included: full mediation between POS and social dysfunction by cognitive organizational cynicism; partial mediation between anxiety/depression and self-reported physical health by affective organizational cynicism; and, the partial mediation of affective organizational cynicism between POS and turnover intentions. 
Future research may benefit from measuring the variables at different points in time in order to investigate causality between variables and also to avoid any statistical confounds such as multicollinearity. The identification of the high correlations between variables may encourage employers to actively attempt to address levels of POS within their organization thus resulting in benefits for employees.

year: 2014

title: Bigraph Metaprogramming for Distributed Computation

authors: Perrone, Gian David

subjects: bigraphs

abstract: Ubiquitous computing is a paradigm that emphasises integration of computing activities into the fabric of everyday life.  With the increasing availability of small, cheap computing devices, the ubiquitous computing model seems more and more likely to supplant desktop computing as the dominant paradigm.  Similarly, the presence of high-speed network connectivity between vast numbers of computers has already made distributed computing the preferred paradigm for many application domains.  Unfortunately, traditional approaches to software development are not necessarily well-suited to developing software in a post-desktop world.  We present an extension to the bigraphical reactive systems formalism that enables us to construct a programming language based upon it.  We believe that this programming language provides programmers with an environment better suited to the challenges that arise when creating software within a distributed or ubiquitous computing paradigm.  We detail our modification to the theory of bigraphical reactive systems that enables metaprogramming.  Finally, we provide a description of our prototype implementation of a programming language that enables metaprogramming of bigraphical reactive systems.

text: Bigraph Metaprogramming for Distributed Computation Ubiquitous computing is a paradigm that emphasises integration of computing activities into the fabric of everyday life.  With the increasing availability of small, cheap computing devices, the ubiquitous computing model seems more and more likely to supplant desktop computing as the dominant paradigm.  Similarly, the presence of high-speed network connectivity between vast numbers of computers has already made distributed computing the preferred paradigm for many application domains.  Unfortunately, traditional approaches to software development are not necessarily well-suited to developing software in a post-desktop world.  We present an extension to the bigraphical reactive systems formalism that enables us to construct a programming language based upon it.  We believe that this programming language provides programmers with an environment better suited to the challenges that arise when creating software within a distributed or ubiquitous computing paradigm.  We detail our modification to the theory of bigraphical reactive systems that enables metaprogramming.  Finally, we provide a description of our prototype implementation of a programming language that enables metaprogramming of bigraphical reactive systems.

year: 2010

title: The 2020 cannabis referendum: Māori voter support, racialized policing, and the Criminal Justice System

authors: Dempster, Craig

abstract: In the New Zealand 2020 cannabis referendum, 50.7% of all voters rejected the creation of a legally-regulated cannabis market and instead supported retaining the current prohibitionist policy. Although the referendum failed to pass, a majority of Māori voted in favor of cannabis law reform. This paper suggests that within the Māori community there is a more nuanced appreciation of the impact of policing cannabis. Māori perceive that greater harm is caused by the racialized policing of cannabis than by the usage of it. Following McCreanor, et al. (2014), this paper employs a thematic, content analysis of the New Zealand Herald’s coverage of the 2020 cannabis referendum to investigate the presence of race-based targeting/policing in discussions of the legislation. The results reveal that racial disparities emerged as secondary to framing both the impact of cannabis and the referendum as race-neutral and affecting everyone in society equally. This paper argues that the impact of the policing of this particular drug impacts Māori differently, wherein they bear the brunt of racialized policing. Thus, Māori possess a more sophisticated understanding that warrants consideration because it is inextricably linked to lived experiences of policing that differ from wider social narratives of policing and drug policy in New Zealand.

text: The 2020 cannabis referendum: Māori voter support, racialized policing, and the Criminal Justice System In the New Zealand 2020 cannabis referendum, 50.7% of all voters rejected the creation of a legally-regulated cannabis market and instead supported retaining the current prohibitionist policy. Although the referendum failed to pass, a majority of Māori voted in favor of cannabis law reform. This paper suggests that within the Māori community there is a more nuanced appreciation of the impact of policing cannabis. Māori perceive that greater harm is caused by the racialized policing of cannabis than by the usage of it. Following McCreanor, et al. (2014), this paper employs a thematic, content analysis of the New Zealand Herald’s coverage of the 2020 cannabis referendum to investigate the presence of race-based targeting/policing in discussions of the legislation. The results reveal that racial disparities emerged as secondary to framing both the impact of cannabis and the referendum as race-neutral and affecting everyone in society equally. This paper argues that the impact of the policing of this particular drug impacts Māori differently, wherein they bear the brunt of racialized policing. Thus, Māori possess a more sophisticated understanding that warrants consideration because it is inextricably linked to lived experiences of policing that differ from wider social narratives of policing and drug policy in New Zealand.

year: 2022