Philip W. Wirtz

Implicit leadership theories: Content, structure, and generalizability

Abstract Although recent research has clearly demonstrated the effects of peoples naive conceptions, or “implicit theories,” of leadership (ILTs) on leader ratings, there has been a lack of attention to the content of such theories and whether there is systematic variation of ILTs across leader stimuli and perceiver characteristics. The current research assessed the content and factor structure variation of ILTs for male and female perceivers (separately and combined) across three stimuli: leaders, effective leaders and supervisors. Results suggest eight distinct factors of ILTs (Sensitivity, Dedication, Tyranny, Charisma, Attractiveness, Masculinity, Intelligence and Strength) that remain relatively stable across both perceiver sex and stimuli. Implicit theories for leaders and effective leaders were typically more favorable than for supervisors. These findings suggest that implicit theories of leadership may vary in systematic ways and underscore the importance of reaching beyond mere recognition of the existence of such theories toward an understanding of variations in both the content and the structure of the implicit ways that people view leaders.

Matching Treatment Focus to Patient Social Investment and Support: 18-Month Follow-up Results.

Patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: brief broad-spectrum (BBS), extended relationship enhancement (ERE), or extended cognitive-behavioral (ECB). A hierarchical latent growth model was used to analyze the data of 188 patients (82%) followed for 18 months. ERE treatment was significantly more effective in increasing abstinence of patients entering treatment with a network unsupportive of abstinence or with a low level of investment in their network, whereas BBS treatment was more effective for patients with either (a) both a social network unsupportive of abstinence and a low level of network investment or (b) high investment in a network supportive of abstinence. ECB outcomes were neither as good as those matched nor as bad as those mismatched to the different exposures of relationship enhancement. This suggests that dose of relationship enhancement should be determined after assessing patient relationships.

Internal validity of project match treatments

Project MATCH (Matching Alcoholism Treatments to Client Heterogeneity) is a multisite collaborative project designed to evaluate patient-treatment interactions in alcoholism treatment. To evaluate whether major threats to the internal validity of the independent (treatment) variable in Project MATCH could be ruled out, we investigated several aspects of treatment integrity and discriminability. In this study, 1,726 alcohol-dependent participants at 10 sites were randomized to 3 treatments: cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT), motivational enhancement therapy (MET), and 12-step facilitation (TSF). Participants received treatment either as outpatients or as aftercare following a more intensive inpatient or day hospital treatment. For both the outpatient and aftercare arms of the study, treatments were discriminable in that therapists implemented each of the treatments according to manual guidelines and rarely used techniques associated with comparison approaches. Participants received a high level of exposure to their study treatments, and the intended contrast in treatment dose between MET and the 2 more intensive treatments (CBT and TSF) was obtained. Alcoholics Anonymous involvement was significantly higher for participants assigned to TSF versus MET or CBT, whereas the treatments did not differ in utilization of other nonstudy treatments. Nonspecific aspects of treatment such as therapist skillfulness and level of the therapeutic alliance were comparable across treatment conditions.

Screening for adolescent problem drinking : validation of a multidimensional instrument for case identification

This research tested the thesis that adolescent problem drinking may be manifest in any of four independent domains (measured by the 24-item screening instrument, the Adolescent Drinking Inventory: Drinking and You): drinking-related loss of control, social indicators, psychological indicators, and physical indicators. Clinical assessments of 264 adolescents referred for screening revealed that more than half of the variation in clinical assessment of problem drinking severity was captured by these four domains and that two of the four domains (loss of control and psychological indicators) made an independent contribution to clinical assessment

Readiness to change as a mediator of the effect of a brief motivational intervention on posttreatment alcohol-related consequences of injured emergency department hazardous drinkers.

Brief motivational interventions (BMIs) are usually effective for reducing alcohol use and consequences in primary care settings. We examined readiness to change drinking as a mediator of the effects of BMI on alcohol-related consequences. Participants were randomized into three conditions: (a) standard care plus assessment (SC), (b) SC plus BMI (BI), and (c) BI plus a booster session (BIB). At 12-month follow-up BIB patients had significantly reduced alcohol consequences more than had SC patients. Patients receiving BI or BIB maintained higher readiness scores 3 months after treatment than did patients receiving SC. However, readiness mediated treatment effects only for those highly motivated to change prior to the intervention but not for those with low pre-intervention motivation. BI and BIB for these patients decreased alcohol consequences in part because they enhanced and maintained readiness for those highly motivated prior to the intervention, but not for those with low motivation. Results are opposite of what would be expected from MI theory. An alternative explanation is offered as to why this finding occurred with this opportunistically recruited Emergency Department patient population.

Characteristics of adult day care participants who enter a nursing home

The authors sought to determine the characteristics of individuals enrolled in adult day care who are most likely to enter a nursing home. The status of 201 adult day care participants was assessed at baseline and at least 3 years after baseline evaluation. Risk factors for nursing home entry were identified on the basis of staff and family caregiver reports, participant testing, chart review, and physician evaluations. Cox regression analyses of baseline data such as medical diagnoses, affect, and demographic information were used to identify risk factors for institutionalization. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified depressed affect of the care recipient as an important predictor of institutionalization; other predictors were low frequency of socializing with relatives and friends, higher number of psychiatric diagnoses, and increased age. The findings highlight the importance of socialization and suggest that a focus on successful and reinforcing socialization should be an important component of adult day care programming. The results also suggest that addressing patient mental health variables may be important in delaying institutionalization in this population.

Considering the Source The Impact of Leadership Level on Follower Motivation and Intent to Stay

Researchers and practitioners have devoted little attention to the impact of different sources of leadership support on follower outcomes. The present study is the first to examine the relationship between two levels of leadership support—immediate supervisors and senior management—on follower motivation and intent to stay. Although positively related, support from each level exerted an independent, positive influence on follower motivation and intent to stay, with senior management support showing greater impact. These findings emerged for employees in low- and high-status positions; however, the levels of support had stronger impact on intent to stay for workers in high-status positions.

Predictors of entry to the nursing home: Does length of follow- up matter?

This study examined the extent to which predictors of nursing home entry vary in their salience as a function of length of follow-up. Participants were 201 persons attending five senior day care centers. The impact of baseline assessment on nursing home entry was examined at one, two, and three-year follow-up periods. Analysis revealed that MMSE, IADL, physical non-aggressive agitated behavior, and 4 indicators of caregiver burden had significantly changing impacts on time to nursing home entry. Only depressed affect and age remained significant predictors at all three follow-up periods in the multivariate analysis. Physical and verbal aggressive agitation and declining caregiver health were significant predictors in the short term. Socializing and ethnicity became predictors at year three. We have demonstrated that while some predictors of nursing home placement are robust over varying follow-up times, the predictive value of others changes with length of the follow-up period. Length of follow-up needs to be taken into account in clarifying the processes that predict nursing home entry.

Angular declination and the dynamic perception of egocentric distance.

The extraction of the distance between an object and an observer is fast when angular declination is informative, as it is with targets placed on the ground. To what extent does angular declination drive performance when viewing time is limited? Participants judged target distances in a real-world environment with viewing durations ranging from 36-220 ms. An important role for angular declination was supported by experiments showing that the cue provides information about egocentric distance even on the very first glimpse, and that it supports a sensitive response to distance in the absence of other useful cues. Performance was better at 220-ms viewing durations than for briefer glimpses, suggesting that the perception of distance is dynamic even within the time frame of a typical eye fixation. Critically, performance in limited viewing trials was better when preceded by a 15-s preview of the room without a designated target. The results indicate that the perception of distance is powerfully shaped by memory from prior visual experience with the scene. A theoretical framework for the dynamic perception of distance is presented.

Measuring Hotel Guest Satisfaction by Using an Online Quality Management System

This study analyzes hotel guest satisfaction using an electronic guest feedback system based on web and Internet technologies. Data collected from a sample of 1,218 hotel guests who stayed at two midprice full-service hotels in Orlando, Florida during a 1-year period was used for this study. Structural equation modeling was employed to identify the underlying relationship between guest evaluation of hotel facilities and staff service on the one hand, and perceived value, satisfaction, and intent to revisit and recommend on the other. The results show the direct effects of guest evaluations of staff service quality, guest room quality, security and service problems on value, satisfaction, and intention to revisit and recommend. It is also noted that significant moderating effects affected the guest evaluations of the hotel facilities and staff service quality. Management implications include suggestions for enhancing guest satisfaction with hotel operations leveraging web-based technology. This study should help hotel management focus on those aspects of the guest experience that matter most for driving satisfaction ratings.