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Influence of managerial support on work–life conflict and organizational commitment: an international comparison for India, Peru and Spain

This paper analyses work–family issues and related variables in three different countries (India, Peru and Spain) from a cross-cultural perspective. The level of conflict that employees feel between their working and personal lives is examined, as well as the relationships between work–life conflict (WLC) and employee commitment to the organization in each country. We also seek to understand whether managerial support is associated with WLC and affective commitment. Participants were 329 employees from different business organizations. Results suggest that the extent of WLC experienced by employees is similar for Spain and Peru, and also for Peru and India. Employees from India reported significantly higher levels of WLC compared to Spanish respondents. Results also show that in all three countries both the WLC and the managerial support in relation to work–family demands are associated with affective commitment. High levels of managerial support also lead to lower experiences of WLC in Peru and Spain, but not in India. The influence of individual differences in these variables was also examined. Whereas no gender differences emerged, marital status and elder/childcare responsibilities influenced perceptions of WLC as well as affective commitment. Results are discussed in terms of how cultural, social and economic differences between India, Peru and Spain may influence work–family issues.

Emotional intelligence and depressed mood in adolescence: A multilevel approach

The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between individual emotional intelligence, group emotional intelligence and depressed mood in adolescence from a multilevel approach. The study sample comprised 2,182 adolescents (1,127 female and 1,055 male) aged between 12 and 18 years (M = 14.51, SD = 1.55). They attended 14 secondary schools in the Basque Country (northern Spain) and were grouped into 118 different classes. A two-level model (students nested in classes) with three predictor variables of level 1 (attention, clarity and repair of emotions) and one predictor variable of level 2 (class emotional intelligence) was used to examine their influence on depressed mood. The results indicated that clarity and the ability to regulate emotions at the individual level and emotional intelligence at the class level are important for explaining depressed mood. In this way, the study provides an integrative approach to research on the psychosocial well-being of adolescents that takes into account emotional variables located at different levels.

Too Masculine, Too Bad: Effects of Communion on Leaders’ Promotion of Cooperation

This study challenges researchers and practitioners in the field of leadership to consider communion as a relevant variable for (male) leadership effectiveness. We suggest that communal traits influence the ability of male leaders to engender cooperation and that this effect is stronger in male-dominated contexts. We argue that this is because relevant traits and leadership behaviors that underscore a sense of community are associated with stereotypically feminine roles and identity. In a series of three studies, experimental as well as survey-based, using Spanish, Dutch, and American samples, we examined such gendered construction of male leadership and its effects on cooperation. Among others, results are discussed in terms of how stereotypically masculine constructions of male leadership may create barriers to effective leadership.

Women in Industrial Relations: Overcoming Gender Biases

Although the promotion of equality is central to the mainstream field of industrial relations, employment relationships and human resource policies continue to be designed according to the male breadwinner ideal. In this chapter, we examine from a gender perspective some of the antecedents and implications of this phenomenon. We review evidence that many conditions of employment such as wages, job security, or access to power positions have particular negative effects for female employees. At the same time, we underscore the many economic and cultural transformations occurred in the labor market, society and work configurations, which bring new opportunities for women’s advancement in employment conditions. In relation to this, we identify strategies that might help women overcome current obstacles and gender biases, and highlight the role of (and benefits for) IR agents in such transformation toward gender equality.

La maleabilidad del género: efectos de la exposición breve a imágenes contra-estereotípicas en materia afectivo-sexual

Resumen Estudios previos han mostrado que las mujeres y los hombres experimentan sus relaciones de pareja de manera diferente, tanto en lo referido a factores sexuales como afectivos. Mediante la utilización de un diseño experimental, en el presente trabajo se analiza si la exposición breve a imágenes contra-estereotípicas, en las que se ponen en cuestionamiento los roles de género en materia afectivo-sexual, permite reducir dichas diferencias y promover respuestas afectivo-sexuales más saludables por parte de las mujeres y de los hombres. Los resultados indican que las mujeres expuestas a dichas imágenes muestran mayores niveles de afecto positivo a la hora de tomar la iniciativa en las relaciones, mientras que los hombres desarrollan un mayor grado de responsabilidad y control en su conducta sexual. No se cumple la hipótesis de que las mujeres reducirían el afecto negativo experimentado al tomar la iniciativa en la relación. Se discuten las implicaciones prácticas de estos resultados.

Human and Social Capital Gone into the Dark Side: The Case of XXI Century’s Financial System

Abstract In the last decades, many of the most talented and promising young graduates in the developed economies have joined the financial industry. Simultaneously, ill-designed incentives’ schemes have favored the development of a culture in which excessive greed, free-riders’ behavior, unreasonable appetite for risk, and short-term decision making have endangered the economy and, potentially, have laid the foundations for financial, economic, social, and environmental crises. In this chapter, we review current challenges in the financial industry from the lens of human and social capital. We examine some of the factors that allowed unethical behavior and a short-term financial focus in the financial sector, examining how compensation and an extremely competitive culture became key elements that favored greedy and manipulative behavior and ultimately generated socially harmful human and social capital in the financial sector. Finally, we discuss the emergence of a number of game-changers (namely, Brexit, FinTech, the growing relevance of ethical standards, and the increasing participation of women and millennials in the industry) that might represent potential promotors of change and help restructure and reshape the financial industry.