Quantitative analysis of workplace morale in academic librarians and the impact of direct supervisors on workplace morale

Many studies have attempted to measure the workplace morale of academic librarians through related variables such as job satisfaction. Other studies have taken a qualitative or phenomenological approach to understanding workplace morale. This exploratory study has two objectives: (1) to quantitatively measure the workplace morale of academic librarians to set an initial baseline measure for future research and (2) to analyze the variables that impact academic librarian morale with an emphasis on the variables that academic library supervisors directly influence. Findings suggest the workplace morale of academic librarians is predicted by several variables within a supervisor's influence including feedback, work autonomy, and supervisor qualities such as communication, transparency, and empowering subordinates. Outside of a small negative relationship to age and work experience, demographics were largely found to not be a predictor of workplace morale. This study also evaluated workplace morale as a predictor of turnover intention in academic librarians. There was a strong statistically significant negative correlation between workplace morale and the turnover intention of academic librarians.     

Employee reactions to user incivility in academic libraries

Workplace incivility and its consequences have been studied by many scholars; however, little attention has been given to the phenomenon in the library environment. More specifically, empirical research in the Library and Information Science (LIS) literature has focused on deviant behaviors, such as bullying, mobbing, and aggression, mainly from colleagues and supervisors rather than from users. However, incivility in the workplace is more common than other forms of negative behaviors, such as aggression. Moreover, in service organizations uncivil behavior from patrons is more frequently encountered than from co-workers and supervisors. In this vein, the current exploratory study aimed to investigate the manifestations and frequency of user incivility, as well as employee reactions to these behaviors in Greek academic libraries. Employee perceptions regarding the causes of user incivility were also explored. Results indicated that users are mainly impatient, angry and make unreasonable demands. These behaviors are attributed to user personality. Finally, respondents reported milder reactions to user incivility compared to those of their colleagues. Implications of the findings for library leaders are also discussed.     

Development and validation of the library ethics scale

Most studies on library ethics are theoretical. No scale has been developed with a valid and reliable psychometric property to measure library staff and users' ethical perceptions or behaviors. This paper describes the development of a brief measure of the Library Ethics Scale (LES) conducted in two consecutive studies. In the first study, based on the literature review and opinions of expert groups, 47 items were developed for the item pool. These items were administered to 521 university library users in Turkey. An explanatory factor analysis indicated a strong two-factor solution. In the second study conducted on 259 participants, these two-factor structures showed good psychometric properties, with 18 items explaining the total variance of 59.074. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient was 0.903, and the two sub-dimensions were found to be 0.91, and 0.888, respectively. The LES shows good validity and reliability properties and has potential application in library ethics settings, including library professionals' perceptions and users' perceptions and behaviors.     

Identifying and re-imagining the paradox of workplace bullying advice

The present study contributes to the growing body of research on workplace bullying by examining the advice targets receive along with their interpretations of its usefulness. Based on an analysis of interviews with 48 individuals from a variety of occupations, we identified a paradox of workplace bullying advice where targets described themselves as offering the same advice to other targets they had received, even though they believed following the advice either would have made no difference or made their own situations worse. We address the paradox by considering the possibility that urging individual targets to ‘remain calm’ and ‘stay rational’ overestimates the difference a single individual can make, downplays the significance of strong emotional responses to bullying, and constrains the ability to think and act with greater freedom.     

Exploring the relationship between workplace freedom of speech,organizational identification,and employee dissent

The purpose of this study was to examine how subordinates' perceptions of workplace freedom of speech related to their levels of organizational identification and their strategies for expressing dissent. Full‐time working adults from various organizations in the Southwest completed self‐report survey instruments. Results indicated that organizational identification as well as the expression of articulated dissent and latent dissent varied as a function of workplace freedom of speech.     

The Consequences of Verbal Aggression in the Workplace: An Application of the Investment Model

The purpose of the current study was to improve our theoretical and practical understanding by examining the influence of a supervisor's verbal aggression on his or her employees’ job satisfaction and commitment, accounting for investment size and the quality of alternatives. And to account for reasons why organizations fail to fully realize the benefits associated with employee retention. A structural equation model was developed to emulate the investment model to determine the veracity of the model in the work setting and to answer the question as to why employees remained in communicatively hostile work environments. The findings shed light on the dynamics that take place within a work environment in which employees are targets of verbal aggression by their supervisors. The findings also indicated that the data fit the structural equation model and confirmed the applicability of the investment model in the workplace.     

Democracy in the workplace: Theory and practice from the perspective of communication

This essay considers a range of issues related to workplace democracy in the contemporary industrialized world. Although drawing from a broad multi‐disciplinary literature, the essay emphasizes topics that can be usefully explored from the perspective of communication and sound contributions that can be made to theory and practice from such an engagement of the field. The essay essentially argues for the widespread democratization of work but not without considering realistic limitations to that ideal. The case of the Mondragon worker cooperatives, in the Basque region of Spain, is offered to demonstrate both the promise and problems of workplace democracy.     

Superior–Subordinate Communication in the Workplace: Verbal Aggression,Nonverbal Immediacy,and Their Joint Effects on Perceived Superior Credibility

This study examined the joint effects of a superior’s verbally aggressive behaviors and nonverbal immediacy behaviors on a subordinate’s perceptions of a superior’s credibility. Participants (n = 415) from intact classes were randomly assigned into one of the four experiment conditions simulated by four video segments: use of nonverbal immediacy and verbal aggression, nonuse of nonverbal immediacy and use of verbal aggression, use of nonverbal immediacy and nonuse of verbal aggression, and nonuse of nonverbal immediacy and verbal aggression. The findings indicate that superiors who do not use verbally aggressive messages and who are nonverbally immediate were perceived with a higher level of competence, trustworthiness, and caring than superiors who use verbally aggressive messages and who are not nonverbally immediate. In addition, superiors who use verbally aggressive messages and who are nonverbally immediate were perceived with the lowest level of perceived competence as compared to superiors in the other three conditions.     

The Role of Family Verbal Aggression and Taking Conflict Personally in Romantic Relationship Complaint Avoidance

This study examined complaint avoidance in adult romantic relationships as a function of both exposure to family verbal aggression in childhood and taking conflict personally. Four hundred thirty-seven college students completed measures assessing their histories of family verbal aggression, complaint avoidance behaviors, and tendencies to take conflict personally. Results indicated that a history of family verbal aggression and three components of taking conflict personally, namely positive relational effects, negative relational effects, and like/dislike valence, were negatively associated with complaint avoidance. In addition, a history of family verbal aggression was positively associated with positive relational effects, negative relational effects, and like/dislike valence. The relationship between a history of family verbal aggression and complaint avoidance, however, was not mediated by taking conflict personally.     

Records guardianship: security and protection in the workplace

Ensuring the proper protection of records presents numerous challenges. The archival community has adequately addressed how to recognise, and deal with, threats to the conservation and preservation care of records, but security risks in the workplace are often not given appropriate attention. The identification of potential sources of risk, at all stages of a record's existence, and the discovery of solutions to prevent or mitigate these risks is crucial to guaranteeing the ongoing care and complete protection of records of all types.     

Attitudes and parental factors as intervening variables in the television violence‐aggression relation

This study examines the relationship of cognitive and parental factors affecting adolescents viewing of television violence. Participants in the study were 422 adolescents and 298 of their parents who were surveyed for their viewing behaviors, perceptions of violent portrayals, and aggressive behavioral tendencies. Regression analysis indicated that attitude was the strongest predictor of aggression. The more adolescents reported liking television violence, the more aggressive were their intentions. Results suggested that while exposure to violence and parental factors both play a part in mediating subsequent aggression, viewing violence is less important than liking violence.     

Facing corrections in the workplace: The influence of perceived face threat on the consequences of managerial reproaches

The purpose of this study was to determine whether workplace reproaches differ in their level of perceived face threat and to examine the relationship between perceived face threat and a variety of outcomes. One hundred and four full‐time employees completed a survey asking them to describe in detail a time they were reproached by a manager. The survey included scales measuring perceived face threat, interactional fairness, anger, communicative competence, and satisfaction with the outcome of the incident. As predicted, we found that reproaches differ from each other in degree of perceived face threat. In addition, perceived face threat was negatively correlated with interactional fairness, communicative competence, and satisfaction with the outcome of the incident, and positively correlated with anger.     

Validating students' library experience survey using rasch model

Few studies have investigated the psychometric property of new instruments developed locally to assess students' library experience, such as their behavior, perception and attitude toward library use. Validating a survey instrument is critical because using untested assessment instruments is more likely to lead to a lack of credibility in the results, as well as a lack of accuracy in the study's purpose (Sullivan, 2011). This study used data from a locally developed student library experience survey distributed in Spring 2018 at a large public research university library to examine undergraduate and graduate students' behaviors, attitudes and perceptions of library use. To test the validity of the survey as to whether six subdomains of the library experience survey contributed to a single construct, library experience, the study used Rasch model framework. This study contributes to the field as a first example using the Rasch model for library assessment purposes. Suggestions for best practices are discussed.     

Perceptions of supervisor nonverbal immediacy,vocalics, and subordinate liking

This study examined relationships between nonverbal immediacy and liking, and between liking and vocalics in workplace environments. Subordinates ‘ perceptions of their supervisors’ nonverbal immediacy behaviors were strongly correlated with subordinates’ liking for their supervisors, and supervisors’ vocalics were linked significantly to subordinates’ liking for their supervisors. Findings in this study provide fresh insight into the relationships between supervisors’ communication behaviors and subordinates’ attitudes. The results also identify the cross‐contextual nature of the correlation between nonverbal immediacy behaviors and liking. The findings support and extend existing relational maintenance, nonverbal immediacy, vocalics, and liking literature.     

Information Seeking and Workplace Safety: A Field Application of the Risk Perception Attitude Framework

Communication theory is ideally suited to advance systematic forms of knowledge about workplace safety. The focus of this research is to examine workplace safety using health communication theory and research. A field study using a random sample of production workers (n=645) in a manufacturing organization was conducted, to investigate individuals’ risk perception and efficacy beliefs and to validate the predictions of the risk perception attitude framework. Results were consistent with the theory, as risk and efficacy jointly predicted safety behavior, behavioral intentions, and safety information-seeking intentions. Given a particular level of risk, those with greater efficacy beliefs displayed more positive safety outcomes than those with lower efficacy beliefs. The responsive group (high risk, high efficacy) reported safer outcomes than the avoidant group (high risk, low efficacy) and the proactive group (low risk, high efficacy) reported safer outcomes than the indifferent group (low risk, low efficacy). This theoretical frame provides practical directions as to what shapes the safety behaviors and communication patterns of workers in dangerous jobs and offers insights for safety information-seeking and workplace safety.     

The perceived social costs and importance of seeking emotional support in the workplace: Gender differences and similarities

This study investigated gender differences and similarities in the perceived social costs and importance of seeking emotional support regarding work‐related problems. Women perceived such emotional support to be significantly more important than did men. No gender differences were identified with respect to the perceived social costs associated with seeking emotional support from coworkers nor in the proportion of emotional support sources in the workplace. Women had significantly larger emotional support networks than did men, and they were more satisfied with their support networks than were men.     

Internet Fantasy Violence: A Test of Aggression in an Online Game

Research on violent video games suggests that play leads to aggressive behavior. A longitudinal study of an online violent video game with a control group tested for changes in aggressive cognitions and behaviors. The findings did not support the assertion that a violent game will cause substantial increases in real-world aggression. The findings are presented and discussed, along with their implications for research and policy.     

An essay on publishing standards for rhetorical criticism

Managing private health information in the workplace has become a salient communication issue for employees, supervisors, and organizations. The primary objective of this investigation is to explore employees’ perceptions of and preferences for communicating about health information in the workplace. A qualitative focus group study was conducted using Communication Privacy Management Theory (CPM) as a framework to organize the questions employees face about sharing personal health information. Forty-nine workers were recruited to participate in nine focus groups. The results demonstrate a variety of contextual influences and behaviors relating to employees’ preferences for discussing health information at work. Specifically, the researchers identified five emergent themes in the data: rules for sharing private information, boundary coordination, reasons for permeable boundaries, reasons for impermeable boundaries, and organizational environment and conditions. The data parallel CPM and have practical implications for managers aiming to improve the regulation of health information in the workplace.     

Welcoming Our Robot Overlords: Initial Expectations About Interaction With a Robot

This study examined the relationships between faculty workplace bullying with graduate students’ burnout and organizational citizenship behaviors. Graduate students (N = 272) completed a self-report questionnaire measuring the degree to which faculty bully them at work (i.e., through belittlement, punishment, managerial misconduct, exclusion) along with reports of their student burnout (i.e., exhaustion, cynicism, professional efficacy) and use of organizational citizenship behaviors (i.e., helping, civic virtue, sportsmanship). Results of canonical correlations revealed that faculty bullying was related positively to graduate student burnout and was related inversely to organizational citizenship behaviors.     

Occupational Stereotypes,Perceived Status Differences,and Intercultural Communication in Global Organizations

This paper offers a novel perspective on why individuals in global organizations make culturally based attributions of their colleagues that impede effective working relations. Drawing on observational and interview data from an ethnographic study of product development work at a global automaker's engineering centers in Mexico, the United States, and India, we show the important role that occupational stereotypes and perceived status differentials play in global workplace interaction. The findings demonstrate that individuals who consider themselves to be “low-status” attempt to increase their status by leading high-status individuals to believe that they work in ways that reflect dominant occupational stereotypes. However, because these stereotypes are often inaccurate, members of the high-status culture assume that the stereotype-imitating behaviors of low-status individuals represent deficiencies in how they work. These findings have important implications for intercultural interaction in the global workplace and for theories of communication in multinational organizations.