Alessandro De Carlo

The mediating role of interpersonal conflict at work in the relationship between negative affectivity and biomarkers of stress

This study examined the association between interpersonal conflict at work (ICW) and serum levels of three possible biomarkers of stress, namely the pro-inflammatory cytokines Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), Interleukin 12 (IL-12), and Interleukin 17 (IL-17). Additionally, this study investigated the role of negative affectivity (NA) in the relationship between ICW and the pro-inflammatory cytokines. Data from 121 employees in an Italian healthcare organization were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that ICW was positively associated with IL-1β, IL-12, and IL-17, after controlling for the effect of gender. Moreover, ICW completely mediated the relationship between NA and the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-12, and IL-17. This mediating effect was significant after controlling for the effect of gender. Overall, this study suggests that work-related stress may be associated with biomarkers of inflammation, and that negative affectivity may influence the stress process affecting the exposure to psychosocial stressors.

The moderating role of job resources in the relationship between job demands and interleukin-6 in an Italian healthcare organization

In this study we examined the association between job demands (JD), job resources (JR), and serum levels of a possible biomarker of stress, the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6). According to the buffer hypothesis of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, we expected that job resources-defined as job autonomy and social support from supervisor-might buffer the relationship between job demands, defined as emotional demands and interpersonal conflict with colleagues, and IL-6. Data from 119 employees in an Italian public healthcare organization (acute care hospital) were analyzed using multiple regression. In predicting IL-6, the interactions between emotional demands and JR and between interpersonal conflict with colleagues and job autonomy (but not social support) were significant, after controlling for the effect of age and gender. The association between JD and IL-6 was stronger for individuals with low levels of JR, so that levels of IL-6 were highest when JD were high and JR were low. Overall, these results are consistent with the buffer hypothesis of the JD-R model and also extend previous research, showing that the exposure to stressful situations at work, measured as high JD and low JR, is associated with higher levels of IL-6 in hospital employees.

A qualitative study on the perception of intellectual capital among a group of senior managers of Italian social enterprises

ABSTRACT The aim of this explorative research is to understand how senior management of Italian social enterprises perceive the role played by the inteletual capital within their organisations in generating knowledge and organisational growth. Semi-structured,in-depth interviews were individually conducted with 81 senior managers of Italian SEs. Interview data were analysed using different qualitative techniques: discourse analysis (performed by two independent judges) as well as content analysis, run through the T-Lab software (analysis of word occurrence and co-word mapping). Findings show that senior managers have a limited understanding of the IC concept of their own organisations as a generative intangible resource. The contents of their perception of IC is more related to the management of human resources and the activities performed by their organisations. Implications for scholars and pratictioners are discussed.

Ethical Leadership as Antecedent of Job Satisfaction, Affective Organizational Commitment and Intention to Stay among Volunteers of Non-Profit Organizations

The aim of this paper is to investigate among a group of non-profit organizations: (a) the effect of ethical leadership (EL) on volunteers’ satisfaction, affective organizational commitment and intention to stay in the same organization; (b) the role played by job satisfaction as a mediator in the relationship between EL and volunteers’ intentions to stay in the same organization, as well as between EL and affective commitment. An anonymous questionnaire was individually administered to 198 Italian volunteers of different non-profit organizations. The questionnaire contained the Ethical Leadership Scale, the Volunteers Satisfaction Index, the Affective organization Scale, as well as questions regarding the participants’ age, sex, type of work, level of education, length of their volunteer works, intention to volunteer in the following months in the same organization. The construct as well the effects of EL on volunteers is approached in light of the Social Exchange Theory and the Social Learning Theory. Structural equation models were used to test hypothesized relationships. The results confirm the role of mediation of volunteer satisfaction in the relationships between the variables studied. In particular, EL was found to be positively associated both with volunteers’ intention of staying and with their affective commitment. In the first case this relationship is fully explained by the mediation of the volunteers’ satisfaction, while the latter is explained by both direct and indirect factors. To the authors’ knowledge, this the first attempt to understand the role played by EL on volunteers’ behavior and, more in general, in the management of non-profit organizations. Findings are relevant both for practitioners and managers of non-profit organization, since they suggest the relevance of the perception of EL by volunteers, as well as for scholars, since they further deepen the knowledge on EL and its effects on the followers. Limits of the study: the questionnaire was administered only among a group of non-statistical sample of volunteers. Furthermore, the study reached only volunteers from Italian non-profit organization.

Coping with the economic and labor crisis: models and tools for the evaluation of suicide risk

This review derives from the application of models and tools to address the suicidal risk of people affected by the Italian economic and labor crisis, especially since 2010. This crisis has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of suicides by employers who lost their companies — mostly small and family-run — and employees who lost their job. A national psychological support service was implemented with the purpose of listening to and counseling those who were in serious economic difficulties, thus preventing their disease. Over 1000 people turned to this support service; the authors of the study could therefore observe the strengths of various theoretical and practical approaches and their implications in situations where the risk of suicide was present. On the basis of this experience as well, the authors propose a description of the models and tools, mainly addressing psychologists and psychotherapists faced with suicidal risk situations.