Ethics,Money, and Sport: This Sporting Mammon

This article is an examination of the recent contribution in this journal by Kreider. In that publication he argued against formalist and non-formalist positions concerning our understanding of game-player and game-playing, focusing his discussion around game rules and their relationship to the two key concepts. This led him to produce alternative conceptions of game-player and game-playing, and it is these conceptions tied closely to the idea of commitment, and Kreider’s arguments surrounding them, which are the subject of my article. Following an introduction, I summarize and evaluate Kreider's dissatisfaction with earlier accounts. Then I present and examine key aspects of his proposals for a different understanding of game-players and game-playing. While I remain uncertain about some of his claims, overall my conclusions are characterized more by disagreement with him than by a sense that he has overcome problems previously expressed theories contain.     

Appealing to Internet-based freelance developers in smartphone application marketplaces

The success of the iPhone has created the smartphone application marketplace as a new business model for freelance developers, with significant potential yields. Attracting and retaining these freelance developers is an important success factor for smartphone platform owners. Therefore, using the viewpoint of freelance developers, this study adopts a discovery-oriented approach to explore antecedents of intentions to maintain a relationship with an incumbent platform. In a relationship commitment sense, freelance developers sustain incumbent relationships because of their calculative and affective commitments. Interview data further suggest that monetary rewards, potential market demand, and switching costs relate to calculative commitment; perceived service quality, identification with the platform owner, and intrinsic rewards are antecedents of affective commitment. The findings from the literature review and field research together produce an integrative framework that offers key insights for the smartphone application market, which can help central actors understand how to retain their external partners.     

The Sport Commitment Model: An Investigation of Structural Relationships with Thai Youth Athlete Populations

Grounded in the conceptual framework of the Sport Commitment Model and previous empirical studies conducted in Western countries, this study was designed to (a) test and validate a Thai version of the Athlete Opinion Survey to assess components of the Sport Commitment Model in Thai youth athletes and (b) examine structural relationships among various constructs of the Sport Commitment Model as assessed by the Thai version of the Athlete Opinion Survey. Survey data were collected from 1,704 Thai youth athletes and analyzed via structural equation modeling methodologies to establish evidence for validity and measurement reliability. Results from various analyses indicated adequate support for the hypothesized factorial structure and acceptable reliability estimates of the Thai version of the Athlete Opinion Survey subscales. Moreover, modeling analyses showed empirical support for the hypothesized structural relationships underlying the Sport Commitment Model in the Thai youth athlete population. The findings from this study have implications for a better understanding of sport commitment in different cultural settings.     

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Commitment-to-School Scale Using a Sample of Junior High School Youth in Ghana

Empirical evidence from developed countries suggests that students' commitment to school is fundamental to their academic success. However, in developing countries, validated measures of student commitment to school do not exist. The current study helps fill this research gap by examining the validity and reliability of a commitment-to-school scale (CSS) adapted for the Ghanaian context. With a sample of 6,252 middle school–age students, the study employs exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with weighted least squares means and variance adjusted (WLSMV) to establish and validate the construct as bidimensional. Measurement invariance tests confirm that the two-factor commitment model is generalizable across grade levels but not genders. Given its parsimony and good fit, the adapted CSS might be useful for future research in Ghana. Similarity of the model across grade levels suggests that the scale has potential uses in education research among diverse groups. We suggest that the CSS be developed further for better understanding of students' commitment to school.     

Engagement Project: elements for a reformulation of the Tutorial Action Plan of the Teacher Training degrees at the University of Barcelona / Proyecto Engagement: elementos para una reformulación del Plan de Acción Tutorial de los grados de maestro en la Universidad de Barcelona

As a teaching method, tutorials are fundamental to university education, and are underpinned by the following goals: to accompany students; to help them establish a clear training pathway; and to promote their academic achievement. Our proposal aims to introduce psychological aspects into the Tutorial Action Plan (TAP) which, while often left unattended, are closely related to academic achievement. Our objective is to identify the relation between the academic commitment of pre-service teachers (preschool education, primary education and double degree students) at the UB and stress and coping skills, academic motivation, achievement and self-efficacy, as well as the opinions of students and tutors on the resources used during TAP and potential improvements to it. This is a transversal prospective exploratory study, applying the following questionnaires: Academic commitment (UWESS-9); Perceived Stress Scale (PSS); Self-efficacy (NGSE); Motivation (MSLQ); and two ad hoc online questionnaires. In conclusion, we hope that the results of this study will help us reformulate the TAP of said degree programmes, improving personalized attention and the quality of the student tutorial system, which is one of the standards used to assess universities.     

Antecedents of organizational commitment among faculty: an exploratory study

Faculty are the main asset of a university and determine its success. The attitudes of faculty toward their institution play an especially important role in the academic profession. This study examines the specific antecedents of affective, normative and continuance commitment of faculty to their university. This study is an online survey of 317 faculty of Russian higher education institutions. The results of the regression analysis showed that being an undergraduate inbred (i.e. working at the university from which one graduated) predicted affective and normative commitment toward the university, while having a post at another higher education institution predicted only affective commitment. Faculty who work at several universities have lower levels of emotional attachment to the primary university.     

97名中小学领导的自我监控性及其组织承诺、工作满意度的相关研究

考察97名中小学领导的自我监控性与组织承诺、工作满意度之间的相关，研究发现：中小学领导在自我监控性和组织承诺及其感情承诺、规范承诺方面均呈显性相关；中小学领导的自我监控性可以作为组织承诺及其规范承诺、继续承诺的预测指标；中小学领导的自我监控性与工作满意度之间无显性相关。     

大学生社会支持与专业承诺的关系:职业决策效能感的中介作用

采用大学生社会支持量表、职业决策效能感量表和专业承诺量表对1336名大学生社会支持与专业承诺的关系以及职业决策效能感在其中的中介作用进行了深入研究.结果表明:(1)大学生社会支持与专业承诺、职业决策效能感均呈显著正相关;(2)在社会支持、职业决策效能感对专业承诺的影响模型中,社会支持直接影响专业承诺,并通过职业决策效能感这一中介变量作用于专业承诺.职业决策效能感直接影响专业承诺.     

地方高校大学生心理契约与专业承诺的相关研究

采用大学生专业承诺量表、大学生心理契约问卷对学生进行调查.目的是探讨大学生心理契约与专业承诺的相互关系.结果发现:(1)大学生专业承诺整体呈中上水平,专业承诺存在性别差异(t=4.1,p<0.01)、年级差异(t=7.58,p<0.01);(2)心理契约与违背对大学生的专业承诺产生重要影响,改善学校条件、改变学生对于教师与自己的期望及履约程度的认知有助于促进大学生的专业学习.     

公共行政组织中的组织承诺问题研究

组织承诺一直以来被用作预测工作绩效和离职意向的重要指标,公共行政组织独特的性质决定了其在社会中的重要性,所以,研究公共行政组织的组织承诺变得尤为重要。基于此,试图通过梳理现有关于公共行政组织组织承诺的研究,分析影响组织承诺的因素,并试图提出当前提高公共行政组织的组织承诺的有效途径。