Hello everyone, I have an Assignment for you today. This assignment must be DONE by Monday, January 6, 2019, no later than 10 pm. By the way, I need this assignment to be PLAGIARISM FREE & a Spell Check when completed. Make sure you READ the instructions CAREFULLY. Now without further ado, the instructions to the assignments are below:

Helpful Hints for Assignment:
1. Be sure to review all three steps of the assignment (Choose a Topic, Choose a Source, and Analysis and Organization). Specific details can be found on your Syllabus. 
2. Note the bulleted questions on your Syllabus to help you get started with Step 3. 
3. Choose a topic that you want to discover more about. This will keep you engaged in finding at least one credible source for that topic. 

Instructions

Professional Development Resource Assignment

Step 1: Choose a Topic

Choose a topic that can help you enhance your professional development endeavors. This should be a topic that inspires, fascinates, and speaks to you. To make this assignment relevant, approach it from your current role or a position you are looking to fill in the future. Decide on a topic of interest from any of the following, or contact your professor to propose a new topic (Choose one topic below):

• career exploration strategies,
• career satisfaction,
• career transitions,
• conducting interviews,
• cover letters,
• career portfolio,
• dress for success,
• ethics and the interview process,
• how to conduct an interview,
• interview anxiety,
• interview follow-up strategies,
• interview questions,
• interview types,
• interviewing skills for job seekers,
• leadership development,
• mentoring,
• networking,
• nonverbal communication in interviews,
• personal branding,
• professional development for the self-employed,
• rejecting job applicants,
• resignation strategies,
• resumes, or
• salary negotiation.

Step 2: Choose a Source

Find a credible source that provides useful information about your topic of interest (minimum of one source required). You will explain how the information from your source can be used to enhance your own professional development endeavors. Your source can be taken from any of the following locations:

• an article from the CSU Online Library,
• a resource or link found on the CSU Career Services Department website, and
• Unit VII Lessons 1-4.

Step 3: Analysis and Organization

Explain how information/concepts from your source can enhance your development as a professional.

• Paragraph 1: Describe your current role or a position you want to obtain in the future, and discuss why the topic is relevant to you.
• Paragraph(s) 2+: Explain how content from your source is relevant to you and how it can enhance your professional development efforts.
• Final paragraph: Summarize your main ideas, and end with a strong closing statement.

Here are some questions to consider to get you started:

• What information from your source can be used to enhance your professional development endeavors?
• How can you apply what you learned from your source?
• Why information in this source is important to your career success or professional development efforts?
• What have you learned about yourself from this source?
• Are there any points you agree or disagree with? Why?

Your source must be referenced in APA style, and paraphrased and/or quoted content from the source should be cited using APA style citations. This assignment should be at least two pages in length not including the title or reference page.  Must use APA Format!

By the way, I’ve attached several attached below such as the Unit Study Guide (1st attachment), Unit lessons (Attachments 2-4), & the rest are articles relating to some of the topics above. 

CM 1010, Business Communication 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VII

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

5. Utilize communication concepts to enhance professional development skills.
5.1 Research career/professional development concepts from a credible source.
5.2 Create an organized essay that applies relevant career/professional development concepts to

the student’s role.

Reading Assignment

In order to access the following resource(s), click the link(s) below:

This article provides information about interviewing and being prepared for employment.

Crosby, O. (2016, April). Employment interviewing: Seizing the opportunity and the job. Career Outlook.

Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=a9h&AN=114924637&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Click here for an overview of the Career Services department at CSU.

Click here for instructions on how to access and use the CareerQuest database through the myCSU Student
Portal.

Unit Lesson

Please be sure to maximize your Internet browser so that you can view each individual lesson on a full
screen, ensuring that all content is made visible.

Click here to access Unit VII Lesson 1.

Click here to access the Lesson 1 transcript.

Click here to access The Interview video.

Click here to access The Interview video transcript.

UNIT VII STUDY GUIDE

Employment and Interviewing

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=114924637&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=114924637&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76108312_1

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76108311_1

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76102642_1

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76098222_1

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76252798_1

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76078356_1

CM 1010, Business Communication 2

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE

Title

Click here to access Unit VII Lesson 2.

Click here to access the Lesson 2 transcript.

Click here to access Unit VII Lesson 3.

Click here to access the Lesson 3 transcript.

Click here to access Unit VII Lesson 4.

Click here to access the Lesson 4 transcript.

Suggested Reading

In order to access the following resource(s), click the link(s) below:

Ryder, M. (2016). Preparing for your next leadership position. Leadership, 45(4). 30-35. Retrieved from

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=a9h&AN=113458478&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76103275_1

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76098223_1

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76104813_1

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76098224_1

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76105291_1

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-76098225_1

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=113458478&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=113458478&site=ehost-live&scope=site

UnitVII

Lesson 2: Interviewing

Introduction

An employee may apply for a job or a promotion, be called for an interview, or have to conduct

an interview many times during a working career. From the time a resume is submitted, the

candidate should begin preparing for an interview.

During an interview, the interviewee is given an opportunity to present his or her experience and

skills in an oral dialogue with people who are going to judge the candidate and decide if he or

she will be a good fit for the organization. During such a meeting, the interviewee will also have

an opportunity to determine if the organization will be a good place to further a career.

Preparing for a Job Interview

Every applicant should do some research about the organization before submitting a resume.

Then, once the application has been submitted, it is an excellent idea to do more research. The

applicant should find out about the organization in general and, more specifically, about the area,

field, or position in which he or she is interested.

After you receive an invitation to an interview, investigate the site where the interview will be

held. Note where convenient parking is located and how busy the traffic is at the time of day

when the interview is scheduled. If the area is very busy, look for places to park that are closest

to the site, and, if anything, arrive early.

Depending on the time of year and prevailing weather, check the weather forecast for the day of

the interview. If it is a rainy day, be sure to take an umbrella or raincoat so that you can get to the

building, especially if you have to park away from the site. Be sure you are not late for the

interview, and arrive in a presentable way no matter what the weather conditions might be. Be

confident that all clothing is in good order and that, in general, every aspect of your appearance

is professional.

Finally, practice how you will enter the interview room, how you will sit, how you will answer

questions, and even the types of questions you will be asked and even perhaps those you might

want to ask yourself should the opportunity arise. Also, practice your handshake. Practice with

friends to ensure you have a firm, positive handshake, and practice having confident eye contact

as you initially shake hands with your interviewer.

During the Job Interview

An interview might be held in person, online, by telephone, or through video conferencing. From

the time the interview begins, you will be under scrutiny.

If you attend the interview in person or through video conferencing, your nonverbal

communication habits are noted as soon as you enter the room. Your appearance, gestures, body

language, and even nervous tics will be analyzed. Bastille

If the interview is in person, the interviewee should always wait for an invitation to be seated. If

the interview is online, the interviewee must be conscious of how every word is presented. If the

interview is by telephone, the interviewee must be aware of the tone of voice, pronunciation, and

articulation because more is being judged on these items in the absence of body language.

If the interview is conducted in a more social setting, the interviewee will be under scrutiny from

the time he or she appears at the meeting place. Unless invited to do so, never presume to bring

another person to such an interview. As you approach the table or other setting, always wait for

an invitation to be seated. Sometimes in a military-style interview, part of the process is to have

the interviewee stand during at least a part of the interview. Never smoke, even if your interview

is carried on in a business social setting.

Once seated, do not fidget with a briefcase, handbag, or other handheld device. Always place

them nearby on the floor or a chair immediately next to you. Be certain to turn off your cell

phone and any other communication devices during the interview.

Make eye contact with each of your interviewers as you greet them. When asked a question, look

directly at the person as you respond.

Throughout an interview, always sit up straight. Although you want to appear comfortable and

relaxed, never slump in the chair or cross your arms.

Whether the interview is held in person, online, by telephone, or through video conferencing,

never assume that the interviewer has read your resume. Be sure to mention specific parts of

your resume that you consider very important skills or experience as you answer specific

questions.

Never refer to your personal life during an interview. For example, if asked if you can work

overtime if needed, do not respond by saying that you can do so and will have someone pick up

your children from school. Simply respond whether you can or cannot do so. Leave out personal

matters unconditionally.

Answering and Asking Questions

When answering questions, do not hesitate to show a full understanding of the issue. Provide the

required information clearly, and use familiar words. Avoid acronyms unless certain that the

interviewers know exactly what they mean. Answers should never be lengthy and should always

convey enough information to show your knowledge of the issue.

If asked a question about a previous job, never speak negatively about your previous employer or

coworkers. If you were fired, be honest about the details. If your former employer did not

provide opportunities for growth, however, you do not have to say so—and probably should not.

Certainly point out things in the job description that attracted you to the organization with which

you are interviewing.

It is not unusual to be asked questions that sound simple but are considered illegal. For example,

if asked any questions about race, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, or religion, the

interviewer may be in violation of federal and state laws. However, many employers have found

ways to ask such questions legally. Here are a few common examples:

 The interviewer cannot ask you about the religious holidays that you celebrate. However,
you can be asked if you can work on Saturdays or Sundays. So, be careful to answer that

question directly without adding information about why you can or cannot work on those

days.

 Interviewers cannot ask in which country you were born. However, they can ask if you
are authorized to work in a certain country.

 The interviewer cannot ask you if you drink when you go out socially. Doing so would
violate the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 because an alcoholic is a person with

a disability (Giang, 2013). They can, however, ask if you can attend social gatherings as

part of your job function. Be sure to speak to the availability of time and skills in social

situations without bringing up alcohol.

 The interview cannot ask your age, but they can ask if you can furnish proof that you are
18 or older if hired. You can simply confirm that you can provide proof without handing

over that proof in the interview or without stating when you were born.

Prepare beforehand should the interview pose any illegal or potentially controversial questions.

Never get emotional. Take a moment and ask for clarification about any question that could

potentially be a topic to avoid. For example, if asked about your marital status, you could quite

sincerely ask if marriage is somehow related to the job you applied for. You can always choose

to refuse to answer an illegal question, stating clearly why you think it should not be asked.

It is not unusual at all to be asked to tell the interviewers about yourself because interviewers

want to get to know you beyond what is in your resume. In such a case, always try to provide

information that is relevant to the job. For example, explain how your experience and/or skills

make you an ideal candidate for the job. Under no circumstances should you be required to

answer any questions about your family.

Example of how NOT to start a response:

 Interviewer: Now, tell us a little bit about yourself.

 You: I am married and have two children.

Example of how to start a response:

 Interviewer: Now, tell us a little bit about yourself.

 You: I feel I am a good candidate for this job because, in addition to my degree, I really
like using new techniques to conduct research into disease and environmental

surveillance.

Expect at the end of an interview to be asked if you have any questions for the interviewer. You

should be prepared to ask at least one question about the organization and perhaps one question

about the job itself. By doing so, you communicate both your interest in and knowledge of the

organization and the job. Feel free to ask questions about job expectations. Doing so will show

that you are interested in and knowledgeable about the organization and the job. You can ask

what previous employees did to be successful, or you can ask about the managers with whom

you would be working. If you are not prepared to ask questions, you could be viewed as

uninterested or lacking sufficient knowledge to fill the position. When the interview is coming to

an end, if you are not told so, you can ask when you might expect to hear from the organization.

After the Job Interview

After you leave the job interview, send a message thanking the interviewer(s) for the opportunity

to interview. This prompt action has two potentially positive outcomes:

 You will remain in the interviewers’ memory.

 You show continued interest in the job.

Some people even prepare a thank you letter and drop it in the organization’s mailbox as they

leave the building. Others wait a day or a week before sending the message. Either way, a very

important point is to be on the minds of those who fill the position, and everything else being

equal, this small step might be the one that gets you the job. If you do not hear from the

organization within two weeks after the interview, it is standard operating procedure to call and

make enquiries.

Conducting Interviews

Your job may require you to interview potential candidates for positions in your organization,

especially if you are a supervisor. Prepare for each interview, keeping the position and

candidates in mind. Your goal is to find someone who will be a good fit in the organization and

who is qualified to undertake a specific job.

Read each resume so that you get to know the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

Visualize the candidate as you read his or her interests, successes, goals, and so on. Go to social

media, and research the candidates. LinkedIn is a good place to start.

Be certain to read the job description thoroughly, and ensure you fully understand what qualities

you will be looking for as you interview candidates. While you have to consider specific

accomplishments and the different skill sets that candidates have, you also have to think about

differences in culture.

When the interview process begins, you have to ensure you provide the same information to each

candidate. Explain the interview process to every candidate; provide sufficient information for

each candidate to understand that there will be no trick questions, no illegal questions, but that

you will ask questions relevant to the job.

Converse with candidates rather than conduct a question/answer interrogation. Make candidates

feel comfortable through your nonverbal communication such as body language and gestures.

Keep a positive attitude, and you will encourage candidates to speak up when they know the

interview is not just a question/answer period.

Listen carefully to all that the candidate says. If your mind keeps drifting off to other tasks in the

organization, you may lose some important information that candidates are explaining. You

demonstrate that you are listening when you ask follow-up questions. For example, if a candidate

refers to a situation in which he or she created a new prototype, ask salient questions about the

prototype and any future plans.

Encourage candidates to ask questions about the organization and the job. Remember that

candidates are assessing whether they want to work with the organization at the same time that

they are seeking employment. You can provide sufficient information in your answers for them

to make that decision.

As the interview comes to an end, let the candidates know what to expect. Explain when they

will hear from you or the organization and what they can do if they do not hear anything within a

specific time frame.

Although interviews have objectives and many goals and steps that are widely similar, each

interview is unique in its own way, and the opportunity is there for both parties to fulfill their

roles and achieve their purpose—on the one had to find employment and on the other to find the

best employee possible for the organization.

Check for Understanding

1. A job interview is most successful when the applicant shows up and “goes for it” with no
particular preparation.

a) True
b) False

2. Always dress down for an interview to ensure you are comfortable and relaxed.
a) True
b) False

3. In answering questions, try to give brief, direct answers with little conversation.
a) True
b) False

4. During an interview, be certain to bring out things about your family and personal life,
and show you are a human being as well as a potential employee.

a) True
b) False

5. After the conclusion of an interview, the best practice is to be patient and wait for a
response.

a) True
b) False

Review

1. If you are called for an interview, you are given an opportunity to present your
experience and skills in an oral dialogue with people who are going to judge you and

potentially help your career.

2. Both your appearance and body language are carefully examined by the interviewer or
group responsible for the interview.

3. Prepare beforehand should the interview pose any illegal or potentially controversial
questions.

4. After you leave the job interview, send a message thanking the interviewer(s) for the
opportunity to interview.

5. As the interview comes to an end, let the candidates know what to expect: Explain when
they will hear from you or the organization and what they can do if they do not hear

anything within a specific time frame.

Answer Key

1. False – Good preparation for an interview must include research about the place of

employment, knowing what to wear and how to use body language and eye contact, even

knowing in advance where you will park or what protection you might need if inclement weather

is a factor.

2. False – Even though being relaxed is certainly helpful in an interview, the context is formal,

and your dress, speech, and manners must be absolutely formal and represent you to the highest

degree of your ability at this critical moment in the hiring process.

3. True – Most questions during an interview are designed to allow the interviewee to extrapolate

and demonstrate not only knowledge but communication skills as well.

4. False – Never introduce topics about family or personal life by choice or direction during an

interview. The very introduction of family matters or personal issues by a candidate will turn

many employers off, and it is illegal for the employer to introduce.

5. False – Yes, it would be foolish to miss the opportunity to let the employer know that you are

the most interested candidate for the position. Many are hired because of a reminder thank you

note or telephone call that brings back to mind a particular candidate.

References

Giang, V. (2013). 11 common interview questions that are actually illegal. Retrieved from

http://www.businessinsider.com/11-illegal-interview-questions-2013-7

UnitVII

Lesson 3: On the Job

Introduction

Your verbal and nonverbal communication habits are very important in the workplace. The

image we present on the first day at work will always be remembered by supervisors and

coworkers.

Most of us are first noticed by our nonverbal communication. People will note how we dress,

how we walk, whether we smile, and whether we seem interested in the people and things around

us. They will also notice our verbal communication—our choice of words, whether we have a

different accent from theirs and how we pronounce certain words.

Knowing that all of these details about who we are will not go unnoticed, it is important to be

prepared to project what we want to project about ourselves in the

workplace.

First Day at Work

Arrive on time on your first day of employment. Arrive at the worksite at least 15 minutes early,

and then wait until closer to the time you were asked to arrive before going into the office. If you

are unfamiliar with the area, you should actually go there one or two times the week before so

that you get an idea of how long it will take to find a parking spot.

Appearance: Dress appropriately. If you are unsure, inquire about the dress code when you are

offered the job. Do not make an assumption about what you see on the day you interview. If the

employees are all dressed casually, perhaps they are having a special, casual dress day. Also,

some organizations ask employees to wear formal dress while others allow employees to dress

casually. Always look relaxed while following the organization’s dress code.

Body language: Practice how you will introduce yourself to others on your first day. A brief 15-

30 second explanation of who you are will be sufficient. Smile and, if culturally appropriate,

shake hands as you introduce yourself. Many people forget or simply are not aware of how

important body language is to the total communication package. When a person is speaking and

the body language contradicts that which is being said, audiences will overwhelmingly accept the

message of the body language regardless how much it conflicts with what the speaker is saying.

Listening: Listen to all that is going on in the office. You can learn a lot about your coworkers

through observation. Take the time to observe the office politics and try to team up with at least

one person on the first day. As “newbies,” we are bombarded with information, introduced to a

new culture, and as we adapt, listening is our most critical skill. In the business world, after years

of experience and service, we gradually reach a point where we do the talking while others listen.

There is a very good reason why those who describe good leaders virtually always list a common

trait among good leaders as being a good listener. As the famous old adage goes, “everyone

hears, but few listen.” An employee who is an adept listener is more than likely going to be a

leader in the future.

Turn off your cell phone, or place it on silent during working hours; that way, you can hear what

is going on around you. Do not be diverted by phone conversations which might send a message

that you are aloof, withdrawn, or even antisocial.

Human resources forms: Your supervisor will assign you to a workspace and will then either

take you to the human resources department to complete required forms or give you the forms to

complete at your desk. This is a good time for you to ask the supervisor any questions that will

help you as you move into the new job. The nonverbal message that you send to the supervisor is

that you are very interested in the job. You also demonstrate your willingness to learn. As you

complete the forms, ask questions about anything that is not clear to you before you sign. Once

you affix your signature to the documents, they constitute a legal contract between you and the

employer.

Social media: If you maintain an online resume, upon being hired, immediately update your

resume on LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social media where you have a presence. Once you

accept a position, consider taking down your resume for a variety of reasons. First, you do not

want inquiries or job offers arriving if you are in a position that you intend to remain with.

Perhaps more importantly, you do not want to tell a potential employer that you are not looking

for a position even though your resume is still posted and active. However, in places like

LinkedIn in particular, where resumes remain part of the personal data, it will be understood by

companies—your own as well as those seeking new employees—that the posted resume is not an

active solicitation in this case but part of your history for colleagues across the industry.

First Week at Work

Throughout the first week, you must settle into your new job. You should plan to arrive on time

every day. When deciding what to wear, recall what the interviewers said about the dress when

you asked them at the interview, and combine that with how everyone was dressed on your first

day at the office.

You will meet more of your coworkers and employees from other departments throughout the

week. Talk to everyone, whether you are in the elevator, in the office, in the breakroom, or even

in the bathroom. You should show interest in everyone’s jobs and how they intersect with your

job. Try to remember everyone’s name and what each person does. First impressions are very

important, and people will want to work with you when you call them by the right name in that

first week.

Continue to ask questions so that you understand not only your job but also office politics. Be

sure to introduce yourself to people who make decisions in the company. When those people are

looking for solutions, they may turn to you for advice later on. Listen to all the advice they may

offer you. Being a good listener may help you become very successful in your job. However,

keep in mind that everyone has a job to do and may not have time to answer your questions

immediately.

Attend meetings so that you can get a more in-depth understanding of the organization. Meetings

are a good opportunity for you to talk about your area of expertise and to let others know that

you are willing to discuss issues as they arise.

Understanding Your Job

In addition to knowing who works in the organization, you must understand your job and your

role in helping the organization meet its goals.

Read your job description and any additional information you were given on your first day at

work. The job description should set out the tasks you have to perform and describe ways that

you can carry out those tasks. For example, if you are employed as a food service director, one of

your tasks might be to develop high standards of food preparation. Your job description will

provide more detail to help you perform that task, such as analyzing menus to ensure that

nutritional requirements are met.

You have to determine which tasks are the most important, and consider how you will work on

them. You also have to consider suggestions you can make to your supervisor for changing how

some of the tasks are done, such as the following:

 If your job is administrative or technical, you may be tasked with creating presentations.
You can suggest using infographics to create the presentations.

 If your job is advisory and you are primarily responsible for meeting with
customers/clients, and those meetings always take place in an office, you could make

suggestions on other venues where those interactions might be more effective.

 If your job is policy or decision-making, you could recommend new methods of
coordinating and delivering projects using social media.

 If your job is teaching or training, you can review the current procedures and make
suggestions on how you can make the training more interactive.

If you are part of a team, you should also take some time to reflect on how you will fit in. Learn

about the processes the team uses to resolve problems or create initiatives. Find out the

relationships that currently exist in the team. Review your relationship with team leadership, or if

you are the new team leader, decide how you will interact with team members. You can reflect

on ways to improve the

team.

As you learn more about your job, take notes so that you do not have to ask the same question

again. Sometimes you will have to listen carefully to what is being said; then, write your notes

later. At other times, take notes right away, and ask questions to ensure you fully understand the

instructions being passed on by your supervisor or coworker.

It is important that you understand your role in the organization and how your product/service

affects productivity. If your organization schedules performance reviews annually, you can ask

your supervisor to review your work every two weeks or monthly, especially in your first three

months of employment.

During these evaluation periods, you can ensure you are following instructions or determine

whether you need some training. You can also discuss the support or lack of support from

coworkers. Doing so will help you to improve on your weaknesses before the annual review is

prepared.

Effective Nonverbal Communication

As you meet more people, show your friendliness with a smile. When possible, offer to help

others around you. Demonstrate that you are approachable and open to communication with your

coworkers. Your attitude toward others will result in positive or negative attitudes toward you by

employees and other stakeholders in the organization. You will soon become part of the team

when coworkers realize that they can count on you.

Check for Understanding

(Answer Key is found after Review.)

1. On the first day you show up for a new job, you should arrive exactly on time.

a) True
b) False

2. If on the first day you find that you are overdressed, on the second day, adjust to be
consistent with your peers in the workplace, even if that means you dress down from your

first impression.

a) True
b) False

3. Which of the following would you want to avoid during your first week at a new job?
a) Talking to as many people as you can in every circumstance during the day
b) Holding any questions you might have until fellow employees know you better

4. Without any specific rules in place, which of the two would be the best logical approach
to your cell phone in the workplace?

a) Keep it on silent, face up on your desk, but answer only the most important calls.
b) Keep cell phones and other communication devices turned off and out of sight during

working hours.

5. What is the best course of behavior if you are assigned to work with a group in your new
workplace?

a) As the new person, be silent, absorb what is going on, and try to fit in and learn the
culture.

b) As the new person, talk to everyone, explore the dynamics of the group, find your
expected place and what others see as your role in the group, and learn the culture.

Review

1. When you communicate with others, they will note your choice of words, whether you
have an accent that is different from theirs, and how you pronounce certain words.

2. During your first week at work, it will be noted if you arrive on time every day.
3. When you work in a team, you should find out the relationships that currently exist in the

team.

4. As you adjust to your new work environment, you should understand your role in the
organization and how your product/service affects productivity.

Answer Key

1. False – Even though being exactly on time sounds very good, being early is by far the
better option so that you can be prepared for any eventuality and perhaps even have some

communication time with your peers and demonstrate your willingness to work and

openness to communication at the same time. Of course, never be late.

2. True – The premise is absolutely correct, and whether you dress up or down, you want to
be consistent with your peers, or you might send a message that, in one case, you are a

snob or, in the other, you are a slob. Always be consistent with the norm in your

workplace.

3. B – In fact, you want to ask as many questions as you need to ask while acclimating to a
new environment and personnel. Find out, keep finding out, and a question to someone is

even a good introduction and shows your willingness to learn at the same time. Also, you

do want to talk to as many people as you can to show that you are friendly and a good

communicator.

4. B – Unless you want your tenure to be very brief at your new place of employment, keep
the phone out of sight and turned off. And while you do that, keep off of Facebook at

your workstation. Perhaps, you can check your phone privately at lunch somewhere, not

in front of other workers.

5. B – Early on, you have to demonstrate not only communication ability but willingness
even more so. While you do not want to be the person who tries to take over a group, find

your niche, and endeavor to make your contribution and let others know that you are a

worker and ready and willing to do your part.

Unit VII

Lesson 4: Leaving Your Job

Introduction

There are many reasons why one might decide to terminate employment with a company. For

some, personal problems might suddenly require their full attention. Others might be offered a

job with another company which will pay a higher salary or offer a promotion to a position with

great potential for the future. On the other hand, an employee might dislike the treatment

received by a supervisor or coworker. There are always multiple reasons why someone might

make the decision to leave his or her current employment.

Writing a Letter of Resignation

Once it is decided to leave a current employer, one should always submit a letter of resignation.

This necessary step helps an employee leave the current employment with a good impression.

This professional closure is important since the next organization where the employee will be

seeking employment will call the previous employer for a recommendation or to inquire about

the circumstances of the previous separation. Always send a letter of resignation at least two

weeks prior to the date projected as the official date of separation.

Always thank your employer for the opportunities you were provided and the experiences you

gained with the organization. It is also a good idea to highlight the experiences you gained and

all that you learned during your time with the company. This is also a good place to offer to help

with any transition that will occur as a result of your leaving—if appropriate. As with all written

communications, proofread your resignation letter very carefully, ensuring there are no spelling

or grammatical errors or a tone that might be misinterpreted.

There are several things that should never be included in a letter of resignation, but they can

mostly all be boiled down to two points:

 First, never make complaints or say anything negative about a supervisor, coworkers, or
subordinates.

 Second, do not say you are leaving because you are looking for a better salary. If you are
discontented with your salary, you should discuss the issue with your supervisor privately

before considering tendering a resignation over the issue.

Exit Interviews

Some organizations conduct exit interviews when employees resign. Sometimes exit interviews

are conducted by someone from the human resources department who will ask for feedback

about your job and interactions with others in the organization. Some exit interviews are done

through surveys or over the phone while others will allow you to submit feedback online.

Typical questions in such exit surveys include the reason or reasons for the resignation and if

there was anything you really liked about working for the company. You could also be asked if

there is anything in particular about the position that precipitated your resignation, how you felt

about your supervisor, and if you have any ideas for improvement relative to your position or the

work you were performing.

Conducting Exit Interviews

If you are the person holding the exit interview, you get an opportunity to speak frankly with the

employee who is leaving the organization. Use such an opportunity to examine how employees

view the organization, positively or negatively. The information you acquire might be used to

help management provide employees with an environment which they will not want to leave.

Make the employee feel comfortable sharing his or her views. Assure the employee that his or

her feedback will be used by management only to make the work environment a better place for

the employees who still work there.

In any event, and in every organization, resignations take place. Regardless of which side you are

on, that is the one leaving or remaining, the process must be handled with the knowledge that the

future of the current business and departing employee will potentially be affected by how the

separation is handled. If both sides do their part professionally and with an eye toward the future,

then both parties can gain and learn from the experience.

Check for Understanding

(Answer Key found after these questions.)

1. What do you need to know about a letter of resignation?
a) A letter of resignation is optional.
b) A letter of resignation is always necessary, no matter what the circumstances of your

leaving a job.

2. What is one thing you want to be certain to do in a letter of resignation?
a) Give complete details of the problems with the company and or the people with

whom you struggled.

b) Thank the employer for the learning opportunities provided while you worked there.

3. When should your letter of resignation be submitted?
a) You should hand in the letter when you tell your supervisor that you are leaving.
b) The letter of resignation is traditionally submitted two weeks before the last date of

full employment.

4. What is the broad purpose of an exit interview when employees leave a company?
a) To attempt to determine if there are problems that might need addressing in order to

prevent more workers leaving

b) To attempt to make the resigning employee happy about the changes he or she is
going through

5. In an exit interview, why would you not mention salary as a reason for leaving?

a) Human resources does not have the power to discuss salary, so the effort would be
wasted.

b) Anyone leaving for reasons of salary either would have or should have discussed the
matter prior to reaching the point of leaving.

Answer Key

1. B – Because your resume will have to list a former employer, parting from that
employer on good terms is very helpful when you are trying to get another job.

No matter what the circumstances of separation are, a letter of resignation on your

part is always best.

2. B – Always, regardless of the circumstances, thank the employer for the learning
opportunities you were able to experience while you worked for the company.

You never want to put in a letter of resignation anything negative about the

company or any and all of the employees.

3. B – The employer should have a resignation letter in hand a minimum of 14
4. days before the employee’s final day of work.
5. A – A company is very interested in finding out why employees are leaving.

Recruiting and training are expensive, and if too many employees are leaving,

sometimes, there is a very good reason the company needs to look into.

6. B – In most cases, an employee should approach his or her immediate supervisor
with the possibility of a salary increase or the possibility of leaving otherwise. By

the time an exit interview occurs, the possibility no longer exists.

Unit VII

Lesson 1: Resumes and

Cover Letters

Introduction

Resumes help employers decide whether a potential employee has the experiences, talents, and

accomplishments that they believe are needed to complete specific jobs successfully. While

some organizations have application forms, the majority will still require a resume.

In this unit, we will learn about communicating at work, focusing primarily on three critical

components:

 how to write resumes,

 how to write cover letters, and

 what to do in an interview.

Resumes

Think of a resume as a very personal marketing tool, one that sets an individual and his or her

accomplishments apart from those of the competition. When writing a resume, choose every

word carefully, and present 1) education, 2) work experience, and 3) anything else relevant to the

position that is being sought.

For example, instead of writing Performed administrative duties and handled customer

questions, write Scheduled more than 20 appointments daily for the assistant manager, and

helped customers to select products. Arranged staff meetings weekly. Was commended for

maintaining office databases and filing systems, electronic and paper.

A resume should always be kept up-to-date. It should contain sufficient detail to show why the

individual submitting the resume is the best candidate for the job being sought.

A resume usually contains all relevant contact information, educational achievements, work

experiences, and any other skills that apply to the particular job. For example, when applying for

a job as an accounting manager, include financial achievements, knowledge of the law, and

experience preparing financial information. If the applicant has CPA certification and is

currently working as an accounting assistant, such information is critical to a resume. Every

resume should always communicate that the applicant has strong communication skills.

Writing a Resume

Every resume must be structured professionally. Set all pages with a 1” margin on both sides,

and use Times New Roman or Arial font, 12 point. Use bold font and italics only when

necessary, perhaps for headings to particular sections of a resume. Try to keep the resume below

800 words. Always ensure there are no spelling or grammatical errors throughout the resume. A

careless resume is a formal document testifying that the applicant is not qualified for the job. Use

the proofreading skills learned in a previous unit, and reach certainty that every resume is

flawless before submitting it. For example, take the time to set aside the resume for a few hours,

and then check it again for errors.

One error in particular that can doom a resume and that must be avoided is having run-on

sentences. Do not keep using the word and to join ideas together that should be set out in

separate sentences. Be careful also with confusing words such as its, there, or to. Determine

whether you really want to say it is or the possessive adjective its as well as the correct usage of

every word deployed in a resume.

Also, try to write in one tense throughout the resume. Always use the present tense for current

jobs, but not for past jobs, and do not go from past tense to present tense and back again. This

usually happens when one updates a resume. By not paying attention to every detail,

grammatical errors will certainly be noted when the employer is selecting interviewees. Do not

count on being selected for an interview if the submitted documents are not flawless.

Every resume must be tailored for a specific job. For instance, the resume used for an accounting

manager’s job will differ organizationally from the resume for a job as a treasury analyst. In fact,

no one resume can ever be a “fit all” document with which to apply for all jobs. Unless the

applicant works the resume around the specific criteria in the job advertisement, that individual’s

career will continue to be that of a job seeker. A resume that is always well-written, formatted

correctly, and error-free will set one individual apart as the best professional candidate.

Types of Resumes

There are three types of traditional resumes. Carefully decide which resume best suits the job

being applied for. If an applicant has been out of work for some time or has just graduated from

school and has little work experience, then he or she should consider using a functional resume.

However, if the applicant has a lot of work experience, a better choice might be to use the

chronological resume. The third traditional option, the combination resume, could be used to

emphasize experience and skills, particularly if there are gaps in work history.

Chronological resume: This type of resume is the most frequently used format and provides a

chronological list of job experiences in the business world with the most recent job experience

placed first. This resume also provides all educational experience with the highest level first.

Functional resume: This resume is recommended for people who have little work experience or

who have periods when they did not work. To get past the fact that there are gaps in job

experience, this format provides an opportunity to highlight one’s talents and skills in the

resume. Although job experiences will be included, they will not be placed first in this resume.

Here, the jobs do not have to be listed chronologically.

Combination resume: A job applicant with excellent skills and currently active and doing well

in a career, even though there may be gaps in the work history, should consider using a

combination resume. Because gaps and switching jobs recently automatically raises questions

with an interviewer, a combination resume effectively highlights skills and achievements to

minimize the attention given to those gaps and recent moves in employment. One potential

disadvantage of using a combination resume is that it is often longer than the other two types.

Using this type of resume requires careful and strategic planning so that a person reading the

resume will be presented first with the qualities that are most likely to appeal to the specific job

qualifications as advertised.

Nontraditional resumes: Use a nontraditional resume to help present yourself online. Not all

companies accept nontraditional resumes, so be certain to know when to use one. Although an

applicant should certainly create a nontraditional resume for a particular job application, always

be sure to have a traditional resume available.

Nontraditional resumes are structured differently than traditional resumes. For instance, this

resume can include infographics and portfolios.

With infographics, structure the resume using a timeline to convey previous work experience,

talents, skills, and contact information. You can find some interesting visuals of this creative

resume at the following link: http://infographicworld.com/blogs/15-amazing-infographic-

resumes-to-inspire-you/. Be sure to find out if this type of nontraditional resume would be

considered where you are applying.

A portfolio gives the applicant the option of using drawings to emphasize particular skills,

education, and experiences. Choose the most relevant experiences that demonstrate and

emphasize personality, knowledge, and work ethic. Portfolio resumes are quite common in

certain professions such as architecture and interior design. Also, portfolios have made the move

to the online world, especially for jobs that are performed online.

LinkedIn is an excellent place to post a resume because it keeps the applicant visible to others in

the field. Some also choose to use Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. An applicant can never

know when someone will be impressed with a posted resume and call for an interview. More and

more, the Internet is used by both job seekers and those trying to fill particular positions. The

fact that someone has the skill and knowledge to post a resume to particular sites on the Internet

speaks for itself with many contemporary employers.

Cover Letters

Always attach a cover letter with a resume, traditional or nontraditional, even if it is not requested

in the job posting. A well-written cover letter provides additional information about why the

applicant is best suited for the position and provides a forum to highlight the applicant’s skills.

Begin with the employer’s contact information and applicant contact information followed by the

date. If writing an e-mail, place the contact information after the close. If responding to an

Internet job posting, such as one from Craigslist, the contact information may not be available.

Address the cover letter to, “Dear Hiring Manager,” or even the traditional, “To Whom It May

Concern.”

Begin the body of the letter with an introduction to the employer and a statement of the job that

is being applied for. Stimulate the employer’s interest by briefly explaining an interest in the

http://infographicworld.com/blogs/15-amazing-infographic-resumes-to-inspire-you/

http://infographicworld.com/blogs/15-amazing-infographic-resumes-to-inspire-you/

organization. Briefly explain relevant job qualifications, education, or experience but in a

consciously abbreviated context.

Move on to another paragraph emphasizing one or two specific skills that will benefit the

organization. Clearly explain how you will be advantageous to the organization. Choose every

word carefully because the communication itself is showcasing your expertise and

professionalism.

In the final paragraph, make a direct appeal for the opportunity to discuss experience,

knowledge, and skills. Close by sincerely thanking the employer for considering you for the job.

A cover letter is not a second resume and does not replace a resume. However, it enhances the

resume and emphasizes experience and skills in such a way that stimulates the employer’s

interest and attempts to ensure that he or she reads the entire resume.

When using a downloaded cover letter template from the Internet, always ensure that the

completed letter contains very specific and relevant information as explained above.

Writing Cover Letters

Cover letters must be structured professionally, and the fundamental and traditional basics are

simple: Use 1” or 1.5” margins. Choose 12-point font. Ensure that the cover letter has between

200 and 300 words.

All paragraphs should be left-aligned, and the first line of each paragraph should be indented.

Paragraphs should not contain more than eight sentences.

As with every document, proofread meticulously to ensure there are no spelling or grammatical

errors and that the ideas flow logically. This communication is calling attention to your best

features and skills; therefore, you certainly do not want to call attention to deficiencies that

would eliminate the possibility of securing the job that is being pursued.

Every person who seeks employment will have to be proficient in dealing with resumes, cover

letters, and interviews. Regardless of a potential employee’s skills, education, and experience,

unless the resume and cover letter are carefully organized, and unless the interview is successful,

there will be no employment. Every person seeking a job must see the resume and cover as the

first steps toward a job, which, if successful, will lead to the interview. The final step to a job, in

many cases, is a successful interview that concludes with a job offer. Only the proper handling of

these three items and a great and sincere effort will secure the job that an applicant wants or

needs. Never underestimate the importance of either the resume, the cover letter, or the

interview.

Check for Understanding

(Answer Key found below the Review.)

1. At some point, perhaps after college, every person should create a resume for the future
that remains permanent and unchanged.

a) True
b) False

2. Experiment with your resume using different fonts, font sizes, and colors.
a) True

b) False

3. There is one standard type of resume everyone should use regardless of the job they are
seeking, work experience, or anything else.

a) True
b) False

4. Today, a cover letter is considered optional for job seekers and those submitting a
resume.

a) True
b) False

5. Unless one has a particular strategy in mind, the choice of a chronological resume is most
common.

a) True
b) False

Review

1. Resumes help employers decide whether someone has the experience, talent, and
accomplishments that are needed to complete specific jobs successfully.

2. A resume must contain sufficient detail to demonstrate why you are the best possible
candidate for the job.

3. All resumes should be carefully proofread for any spelling or grammatical errors.
4. The three types of resumes are chronological resume, functional resume, and

combination resume.

5. When applying for a job, always send a cover letter and a resume.

Answer Key

1. B – False: Everyone should maintain a resume that is constantly upgraded relative to
changing work experience, education, and other factors.

2. B – False: A prospective employer looks for consistency and uniformity in a resume.
3. B – False: Most people are too conservative with their resumes, do not adjust for factors

like lack of experience, gaps in employment, or other factors that a slightly different

format for the resume could minimize.

4. B – False: Just as much as ever before, a well-designed cover letter is critical to a job
seeker and a necessary part of every application package and must be seen as an

opportunity to grab the attention that might secure a closer look at a resume or even an

interview.

5. A – True: Yes, although the functional resume and the combination resume serve very

specific needs with regard to aspects of the presentation of credentials to a potential

employer, unless there is a specific reason for using one of those formats, the majority of

employment seekers traditionally use a chronological resume.

DECISION-MAKINGSELF-EFFICACY MEDIATES THE PEER
SUPPORT–CAREER EXPLORATION RELATIONSHIP

HUAFENG ZHANG
Tsinghua University

HAITAO HUANG
Shanghai Normal University

We explored the mediating effect of decision-making self-efficacy in the relationship between
undergraduates’ perceived career-related peer support and career exploration. Participants
were 650 junior and senior undergraduates from 6 public universities in Shanghai, China. The
key results were as follows: (1) career information and suggestion, emotional support, and
peer role models were the 3 dominant factors of career-related peer support; (2) career-related
peer support was positively and significantly correlated with career exploration; and (3)
career decision-making self-efficacy mediated the relationship between career-related peer
support and career exploration. Specifically, career information and suggestion and peer role
models provided proximal and distal support, promoting individuals’ career exploration not
only directly but also indirectly through career decision-making self-efficacy. In comparison,
emotional support from peers provided only distal support, promoting individual career
exploration indirectly through career decision-making self-efficacy. Theoretical and practical
implications of the findings, study limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords: peer support, decision-making self-efficacy, career exploration, career planning,
career development.

In recent years, more than seven million graduates from universities and
colleges have been entering the job market every year in China; thus, Chinese

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY, 2018, 46(3), 485–498
© 2018 Scientific Journal Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.
https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.6410

485

Huafeng Zhang, Institute of Education, Tsinghua University; Haitao Huang, School of Education,
Shanghai Normal University.
This research was sponsored by the Shanghai Pujiang Project (15PJC076) and the Shanghai Gaofeng
and Gaoyuan Project for University Academic Program Development.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Haitao Huang, Research Institute
for International and Comparative Education, School of Education, Shanghai Normal University,
Guilin Road 100, Xuhui, Shanghai 200234, People’s Republic of China. Email: huanghaitao2002@
126.com

EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION486

college graduates face great competition for employment (China News, 2016).
The central government in China has issued many policies to relieve the
employment pressure of graduates, including permitting more time to complete
a qualification and encouraging college graduates to start their own business.
In addition, university administrators and teachers emphasize that students
should participate in career exploration activities. Career exploration refers
to purposefully and intentionally seeking to identify career goals and foster
career development, and involves gathering self-related and environment-related
information, and testing relevant hypotheses about the most suitable career goals
and career development strategies (e.g., Blustein, 1992; Zikic & Hall, 2009).
It has been widely shown that active career exploration is positively related to
career maturity and self-concept, and is beneficial for developing the career
interests of graduates and facilitating employment opportunities (e.g., Taveira &
Moreno, 2003; Xu, Hou, & Tracey, 2014). As a result, scholars and practitioners
have explored ways to promote career exploration among college students.

Previous researchers (e.g., Ochs & Roessler, 2004; Patton, Bartrum, &
Creed, 2004) have shown that individual characteristics, including self-esteem,
self-efficacy, and personality, are correlated with career exploration. Additionally,
parental rearing patterns and child-centered parental behaviors have been found
to influence students’ career exploration (e.g., Kracke, 1997, 2002). However,
there has been little research into the effect of peers, especially peer support, on
career exploration.

General peer support and social support shed light on the structure of
career-related peer support. Peer support refers to the support of people who
are in a similar situation and come together to advocate for each other through
local groups (Juang, Ittel, Hoferichter, & Gallarin, 2016; O’Hagan, Cyr, McKee,
& Priest, 2010), providing academic and/or emotional support, communicating
their expectations and values, and offering advice and instruction (Kiefer, Alley,
& Ellerbrock, 2015; Wentzel, Battle, Russell, & Looney, 2010). Additionally,
peer support has been recognized as an essential component of social support,
which includes financial support, emotional support, suggestions and guidance,
and informational exchange (e.g., Bum & Jeon, 2016; Hou, Bai, & Yao, 2010).
In addition, considering that students obtain little, if any, financial support
from their peers compared to their parents (del Valle, Bravo, & López, 2010),
comparison and encouragement among peers is more popular within Chinese
culture. Hence, we defined career-related peer support as the acquisition of
career-related information, suggestions, emotional support, and role modeling
from peers (e.g., classmates and friends).

In the context of the collectivist culture of China, college students live close
to each other on campuses, turning to each other rather than to parents for help
during the career development process. Thus, we formed the following research

EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION 487

questions: (1) Is perceived career-related peer support beneficial for individual
career exploration? and (2) How does career-related peer support affect career
exploration?

Literature Review and Development of Hypothes

es

Career-Related Peer Support and Career Exploration
General peer support has been applied widely and found to be beneficial in

research on mental health services (see, e.g., Davidson, Bellamy, Guy, & Miller,
2012; Walker & Bryant, 2013) and education (see, e.g., Geerlings, Cole, Batt, &
Martin-Lynch, 2016; Kodabux & Hoolash, 2015). Similarly, career-related peer
support has been found to play a positive role in individual career exploration and
development. For example, Felsman and Blustein (1999) found that attachment
to peers and maintenance of intimate relationships were positively associated
with environmental exploration and commitment to career choices. Additionally,
Kracke (2002) found that talking frequently with peers about career-related issues
was significantly associated with the intensity of information-seeking behaviors
and, at the same time, predicted the degree of career exploration during the
following 6-month period. However, despite this evidence about the significance
of peer support during career exploration, the structure of career-related peer
support remains unclear, and the mechanisms underlying its effect on the
relationship between career-related peer support and career exploration need
further examination.

Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy as a Mediator
Career decision-making self-efficacy is a type of career self-efficacy (Guo &

Jiang, 2003), defined as the belief in and judgment of one’s ability to successfully
perform specific tasks and engage in specific behaviors when making career
decisions (Betz, Klein, & Taylor, 1996). Per social cognitive career theory (Lent,
Brown, & Hackett, 1994), before and during one’s career exploration process,
people who experience favorable conditions (e.g., presence of ample support,
few barriers) are more likely to transform their interests into goals and their goals
into career exploration behaviors (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2002), which include
developing interests, collecting career-related information, and thinking about
one’s career goals. Accordingly, we speculated that receiving more peer support
would promote engagement in career exploration.

In addition, career decision-making self-efficacy may play a mediating role
in the relationship between contextual support and individual actions taken
regarding career exploration. This contextual support may include perceived
distal (background) and proximal sources. Distal contextual support helps
shape self-efficacy, social cognitions, and interests, whereas proximal support
influences the choice and exploration process (Lent et al., 2002), offering another

EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION488

perspective on the meaning of peer support. Thus, we proposed the following
hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Career-related peer support will be positively correlated with
career exploration.
Hypothesis 2: Career decision-making self-efficacy will mediate the link between
career-related peer support and career exploration. Specifically, career-related
peer support will influence career exploration both directly, by providing
proximal support, and indirectly, by providing distal support through career
decision-making self-efficacy.

The study model is depicted in Figure 1.

Career decision-making
self-efficacy

Career exploration

Distal (background)
contextual affordances

Proximal contextual
influences

Peer support

indirectly directly

Figure 1. Our hypothesized model, which is based on social cognitive career theory.

Method

Participants and Procedure
The sample was drawn from six public universities in the Shanghai area of

China, using convenience sampling. We recruited 650 junior and senior students
only because freshmen and sophomores seldom participate in career exploration
activities in China, and 562 valid responses were returned. The final sample of
319 women and 243 men, comprised 276 juniors and 286 seniors representing
over 10 academic disciplines, such as education, tourism, information technology,
management, nature sciences, and engineering.

Data collection was completed in April and May, 2014. The respondents
completed a paper and pencil questionnaire during class. Their participation

EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION 489

was voluntary and anonymous, and a small gift worth ¥5 (about US$0.70) was
provided upon completion of the questionnaire.

Measures
Career exploration. Career exploration was measured using the short version

of the Career Exploration Scale (CES; Xu, 2008), which was modified from the
original CES developed by Stumpf, Colarelli, and Hartman (1983). The original
CES is used to measure career-related beliefs about exploratory behavior, the
exploration process, and reactions to exploration. In the modified version by Xu
(2008), only those items relating to measurement of the exploration process were
extracted, translated into Chinese, and applied.

Xu’s (2008) modified CES contains 18 items used to measure career exploration
activities, including environment exploration (five items), self-exploration (five
items), intended and systematic exploration (four items), and the amount of
information obtained (four items) during the last 3 months. Sample items include
“In the last 3 months, I have investigated various career possibilities” and “In
the last 3 months, I have obtained information on specific jobs or companies.”
Respondents use a 5-point Likert scale (1 = seldom, 5 = always) to indicate the
frequency with which they have participated in the listed activities.

Researchers including Stumpf and colleagues (1983) and Cheung and Arnold
(2014) have provided extensive evidence for the construct validity and reliability
of the CES. Additionally, the internal consistency of the modified CES was
reported by Xu (2008) to be .88, and the internal consistency of subscales
ranged from .74 to .84. In the current research, the overall scale had an internal
consistency of .93 and that of the subscales ranged from .81 to .86.

Career decision-making self-efficacy. Career decision-making self-efficacy
was measured using a scale obtained from Peng and Long (2001), which was
modified from the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale developed by Taylor and
Betz (1983). The modified version has the same structure as the original one.
The content and phrasing of some items were adapted based on interviews with
Chinese senior college students and the results of exploratory factor analysis.
The final version of the modified scale we used comprised 39 items measuring
one’s belief in and judgment of his or her ability to successfully perform specific
tasks when making career decisions. The scale comprises five subscales: self-as-
sessment (six items), information gathering (nine items), goal determining (nine
items), plan making (eight items), and problem solving (seven items). Sample
items include “How much confidence you have in listing occupations that
interest you” and “How much confidence you have in searching on occupations
or positions that interest you.” Respondents rate on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not
confident at all, 5 = totally confident) their confidence in completing the listed
activities.

EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION490

The overall internal consistency of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale was
reported by Taylor and Betz (1983) to be .93, and the test–retest reliability was
.83. Additionally, Peng and Long (2001) reported that the internal consistency
of their revised version was .94, and the test–retest reliability was .66. In the
current research, the overall scale had an internal consistency of .97 and that of
the subscales ranged from .82 to .87.

Career-related peer support. Career-related peer support was measured with
a 15-item scale (see Appendix) comprising three subscales assessing student
perceptions of career information and suggestions provided by peers (seven
items), emotional support (four items), and peer role models (four items). This
scale was newly developed for use in the current research.

In the first step of scale construction, we developed a preliminary set of 51
items based on interviews with 17 junior and senior college students. In the
second step, three experts—two with PhDs in psychology and one with a PhD in
higher education—selected 32 items for further analysis by using the following
criteria: the item had to reflect a specific form of career-related peer support, it
had to be clearly formulated and relevant to the Chinese context, and it could not
overlap with the remaining items. In the third step, the final structure of the scale
was determined by conducting exploratory factor analysis using the principal axis
factoring method with varimax rotation. Consequently, 15 items were retained.

However, differences emerged between the actual and hypothesized four-factor
structure of the dimensions, such that the information exchange and career-related
suggestions could not be separated clearly. For instance, it was difficult
to differentiate between “Peers told me how to interview” (career-related
suggestions) and “Peers told me how to prepare for the interview” (information
exchange). Thus, these components were combined into one factor labeled
career information and suggestions provided by peers. As a result, a three-factor
structure, with the second and third factors being emotional support and peer role
models, was applied. This structure accounted for 56% of the variance in career
exploration; the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was .89
and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant (p < .05).

The overall scale had a good level of internal consistency of .89, and
Cronbach’s alphas for the career information and suggestions, emotional support,
and peer role models dimensions were .83, .72, and .76 respectively. In addition,
an assessment of the scale’s test–retest reliability was conducted 2 weeks after
initial administration. The results showed that there was a significant correlation
between the two rounds of data (r = .64, p < .001). Paired samples t tests showed that pretest data (M = 38.88, SD = 7.62) were not significantly different from test–retest data obtained 2 weeks later (M = 37.37, SD = 6.45), t(30) = 0.57, p = .57, indicating acceptable stability of the scale. Furthermore, the results of confirmatory factor analysis showed the following fit indices: chi square (2)

EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION 491

= 257.95, degrees of freedom (df) = 87, 2/df = 2.97, root mean square error
of approximation (RMSEA) = .06, root mean square residual (RMR) = .03,
comparative fit index (CFI) = .94, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = .94, normed fit
index (NFI) = .91, and nonnormed fit index (NNFI) = .92. According to Byrne
(2001), an RMR value of .05 or less indicates a good fit; GFI, CFI, NFI, and
NNFI values of .90 or greater indicate a good fit; and for RMSEA a value of
.10 indicates a mediocre fit, between .08 and .05 indicates an acceptable fit, and
under .05 shows a close approximation to the population. Therefore, the scale had
good construct validity.

Data Analysis
First, we calculated descriptive statistics and intercorrelations between the

study variables using SPSS 20.0. Then, to test the hypothesized mediating effect,
we used AMOS 17.0 to conduct bootstrap sampling based on structural equation
model (SEM) with maximum likelihood estimation. SEM was chosen because it
expands the explanatory ability and statistical efficiency of model testing using a
single, comprehensive method (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998).

Results

Descriptive Results and Correlations
Table 1 shows the means, standard deviations, and correlations for the study

variables. Participants scored higher on career decision-making self-efficacy
and career exploration compared to perceived career-related peer support. In
terms of peer support, they obtained the lowest score on career information and
suggestions, indicating that peers provided little information exchange or few
suggestions on career development. In addition, the overall scale and the three
factors of career-related peer support were correlated positively and significantly
with career exploration, with coefficients ranging from .48 to .60. Thus, our first
hypothesis was partially supported.

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics and Correlations

M (SD) 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Career information and
suggestions 2.49 (0.55) 1

2. Emotional support 2.72 (0.58) .62*** 1
3. Peer role models 2.72 (0.61) .55*** .63*** 1
4. Career-related peer support 2.61 (0.49) .90*** .85*** .81*** 1
5. Career self-efficacy 3.28 (0.65) .41*** .44*** .51*** .52*** 1
6. Career exploration 3.28 (0.65) .48*** .50*** .57*** .60*** .77*** 1

Note. *** p < .001.

EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION492

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EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION 493

Testing the Mediation Model
We conducted SEM with career decision-making self-efficacy as the mediating

variable to investigate Hypothesis 2. The standardized path coefficients between
the three factors of career-related peer support and career exploration are shown
in Figure 2. The fit indices were 2 = 213.70, df = 51, 2/df = 4.19, RMSEA = .07,
RMR = .01, GFI = .94, CFI = .97, NFI = .97, and NNFI = .96, indicating that the
hypothesized model was acceptable.

The mediating effect was tested using the procedure proposed by Wen, Zhang,
Hou, and Liu (2004). First, career information and suggestions, emotional
support, and peer role models were all significantly correlated with career
exploration, supporting the basic condition of a mediating effect. Second, the
three factors of career-related peer support correlated significantly with career
decision-making self-efficacy. Additionally, career decision-making self-efficacy
correlated significantly with career exploration, suggesting that career decision-
making self-efficacy had a mediating effect. Third, there were significant direct
effects on career exploration of both career information and suggestions on career
exploration, and peer role models, and the indirect effects of the three factors
on career exploration through career decision-making self-efficacy supported
a partial mediating effect of career decision-making self-efficacy on the two
paths. In comparison, the direct effect of emotional support on career exploration
was not significant, indicating that career decision-making self-efficacy fully
mediated the relationship between emotional support and career exploration.

Discussion

We examined the effect of career-related peer support on career exploration
and tested the mediating effect of career decision-making self-efficacy in this
relationship. The results yielded several insights. First, career information and
suggestions, emotional support, and peer role models were the three dominant
factors of career-related peer support. Previous researchers have typically focused
on one specific factor of career-related peer support. For instance, attachment
to peers—which is similar to our emotional support factor—was emphasized
by Felsman and Blustein (1999), and frequent talks with peers about career
issues—which is similar to our career information and suggestions factor—was
emphasized by Kracke (2002). The three-factor structure of the career-related
peer support scale we identified provides an improved tool for more accurate
measurement of this variable.

Second, the results show that career information and suggestions, emotional
support, and peer role models correlated positively and significantly with
career exploration, indicating that career-related peer support was beneficial
for Chinese college students’ career exploration. The result is consistent with

EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION494

those obtained in previous studies conducted in an American cultural context.
For instance, Kracke (2002) showed that frequent talks with peers promoted
career information-seeking behaviors. Similarly, Khasawneh (2010) found that
communication with peers could facilitate the career exploration process and
even have an impact on making career development plans.

Third, we observed that career decision-making self-efficacy mediates
the relationship between career-related peer support and career exploration.
Additionally, we speculated that the information and suggestion, and peer role
model, aspects of career-related peer support can be both distal and proximal.
These aspects influence career exploration not only directly, but also indirectly
through career decision-making self-efficacy. In comparison, emotional support
from peers can be seen as distal only, influencing career exploration indirectly
through career decision-making self-efficacy.

Our findings have several theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically,
as mentioned earlier, we have taken steps toward uncovering the structure of
career-related peer support. Moreover, we identified one path influencing the
relationship between career-related peer support and career exploration, with
career-related peer support providing not only distal but also proximal support,
further enhancing our interpretation of social cognitive career theory. In practice,
although peers do not provide professional support like the counseling given by
formal advisors, colleges with limited resources within the Chinese culture could
utilize peer support programs as a flexible, low-cost, and convenient approach
to promoting career exploration. For instance, students with similar career goals
could set up a career development team to exchange career-related information,
offer suggestions, encouragement, or mutual comfort. Meeting with successful
graduates who are willing to share their career development experience would
also be a useful approach.

Limitations and Directions for Future Research
This study is subject to several limitations. First, we did not consider career

experiences prior to entering university; this could be addressed in future research.
Second, our findings are based on a student sample from the Shanghai area,
limiting the generalizability to student samples in different areas. Third, causal
conclusions about our findings cannot be drawn due to the correlational nature
of the study. Future researchers should adopt a more rigorous research design,
such as longitudinal or experimental studies, to test the causal relationships.
Furthermore, all variables were measured using self-report scales, which may
have produced somewhat biased results. While it is not always possible to obtain
objective indicators, future researchers may consider including an objective
measure of career-related peer support to explore the support–career exploration
link, which would expand and complement the current findings.

EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION 495

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EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION 497

Appendix
Career-Related Peer Support Scale

Career information and suggestions
My peers gave me suggestions on whether to pursue a further degree or to find a job.
My peers told me how to prepare for a job interview.
My peers gave me suggestions on which cities are most suitable for my career development.
My peers suggested that I improve my job-related skills.
My peers gave me information on job openings or certification examinations.
My peers talked with me about the interpersonal skills needed to improve the workplace.
My peers told me how to behave during a part-time job or internship.

Emotional support
My peers comforted (or praised) me when I failed to pass (or successfully passed) a relevant

certificate examination.
My peers listened to my stories about annoying experiences I had during my part-time job or

internship.
My peers encouraged me and approved of my career development decision making.
My peers comforted (or praised) me when I failed to pass (or successfully passed) a job

interview.

Peer role models
I would take an internship seriously when I see that my peers behave well during their own

internships.
I have identified and tried to address areas where I am weaker in comparison with peers.
I would work harder to find an internship/job after watching my peers find one.
I would work harder in a course that is useful for career development when I see that my

peers behave well in this course.

EFFECT OF PEER SUPPORT ON CAREER EXPLORATION498

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Perceptions of Aging Across 26 Cultures and Their

Culture-Level Associates

Corinna E. Löckenhoff, Filip De Fruyt, Antonio Terracciano, Robert R. McCrae, Marleen De Bolle,
Paul T. Costa Jr., Maria E. Aguilar-Vafaie, Chang-kyu Ahn, Hyun-nie Ahn, Lidia Alcalay, Juri Allik,
Tatyana V. Avdeyeva, Claudio Barbaranelli, Veronica Benet-Martinez, Marek Blatný, Denis Bratko,

Thomas R. Cain, Jarret T. Crawford, Margarida P. Lima, Emı́lia Ficková, Mirona Gheorghiu,
Jamin Halberstadt, Martina Hřebı́čková, Lee Jussim, Waldemar Klinkosz, Goran Knežević,

Nora Leibovich de Figueroa, Thomas A. Martin, Iris Marušić, Khairul Anwar Mastor, Daniel R. Miramontez,
Katsuharu Nakazato, Florence Nansubuga, V. S. Pramila, Anu Realo, Jean-Pierre Rolland, Jerome Rossier,

Vanina Schmidt, Andrzej Sekowski, Jane Shakespeare-Finch, Yoshiko Shimonaka, Franco Simonetti,
Jerzy Siuta, Peter B. Smith, Barbara Szmigielska, Lei Wang, Mami Yamaguchi, and Michelle Yik

Corinna E. Löckenhoff, Antonio Terracciano, Robert R. McCrae, and
Paul T. Costa Jr., National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD; Filip De
Fruyt and Marleen De Bolle, Department of Developmental, Personality,
and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. The other
contributing members of the Adolescent Personality Profiles of Cultures
Project are (in alphabetical order): Maria E. Aguilar-Vafaie, Department of
Psychology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran;
Chang-kyu Ahn, Department of Education, Pusan National University,
Busan, South Korea; Hyun-nie Ahn, Department of Psychology, Ewha
Womans University, Seoul, South Korea; Lidia Alcalay, Escuela de Psi-
cologia, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Juri
Allik, Department of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia;
Tatyana V. Avdeyeva, Graduate School of Professional Psychology, Uni-
versity of St. Thomas; Claudio Barbaranelli, Department of Psychology, La
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy; Veronica Benet-Martinez, Department
of Psychology, University of California, Riverside; Marek Blatný, Institute
of Psychology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague,
Czech Republic; Denis Bratko, Department of Psychology, Faculty of
Philosophy, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; Thomas R. Cain, De-
partment of Psychology, Rutgers University; Jarret T. Crawford, Depart-
ment of Psychology, Rutgers University; Margarida P. Lima, Faculty of
Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra,
Portugal; Emı́lia Ficková, Institute of Experimental Psychology, Slovak
Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic; Mirona Gheorghiu,
School of Psychology, Queens University, Belfast, United Kingdom;
Jamin Halberstadt, Department of Psychology. University of Otago, Dun-
edin, New Zealand; Martina Hřebı́čková, Institute of Psychology, Acad-
emy of Sciences of the Czech Republic; Lee Jussim, Department of
Psychology, Rutgers University; Waldemar Klinkosz, Department of Psy-
chology, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland; Goran
Knežević, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade
University, Belgrade, Serbia; Nora Leibovich de Figueroa, Research Insti-
tute, Department of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos
Aires, Argentina; Thomas A. Martin, Susquehanna University; Iris Maru-
šić, Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; Khairul
Anwar Mastor, School of General Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malay-
sia, Bangi, Malaysia; Daniel R. Miramontez, Department of Psychology,
University of California, Riverside; Katsuharu Nakazato, Faculty of Social
Welfare, Iwate Prefectural University, Iwate, Japan; Florence Nansubuga,
Institute of Psychology, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; V. S.
Pramila, Department of Psychology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam,
India; Anu Realo, Department of Psychology, University of Tartu; Jean-
Pierre Rolland, Université de Nanterre, Paris X, Nanterre, France; Jerome

Rossier, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Swit-
zerland; Vanina Schmidt, Research Institute, Department of Psychology,
University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Andrzej Sekowski,
John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin; Jane Shakespeare-Finch,
School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Tech-
nology, Brisbane, Australia; Yoshiko Shimonaka, Department of Human
Studies, Bunkyo Gakuin University, Bunkyo, Japan; Franco Simonetti,
Escuela de Psicologia, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; Jerzy
Siuta, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland;
Peter B. Smith, Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmar,
United Kingdom; Barbara Szmigielska, Institute of Psychology, Jagiello-
nian University; Lei Wang, Department of Psychology, Peking University,
Beijing, China; Mami Yamaguchi, University of Otago; Michelle Yik,
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong.

This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program
of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging. The Czech
participation was supported by Grant 406/07/1561 from the Grant Agency
of the Czech Republic. The Swiss participation was supported by Grant
100013-108290 from the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Additional help was provided by the following individuals: A. Maglio,
I. Injoque Ricle, G. Blum, A. Calero, L. Cuenya, V. Pedrón, M. J. Torres
Costa, and D. Vion, Instituto de Investigaciones, Facultad de Psicologia,
University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina; A. Butković, De-
partment of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb,
Zagreb, Croatia; S. Kouřilová, Institute of Psychology, Academy of Sci-
ences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic; L. Kööts, Depart-
ment of Psychology, University of Tartu; S. Chen, I. Lee, and C. Lo,
Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Tech-
nology, Hong Kong; H. Alavi, Theology Department, Al-Zahra University,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran; Marina Brunner-Sciarra, J. Paredes, and
Norma Reátegui, Facultad de Psicologı́a, Universidad Peruana Cayetano
Heredia; V. E. Oryiol, I. G. Senin, and V. V. Onufrieva, Faculty of
Psychology, Yaroslavl State University, Yaroslavl, Russia; C. Rigozzi,
Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne; K. Burgetova, K., Grad-
uate School of Professional Psychology, University of St. Thomas; V.
Laws, and A. Corydon, Department of Psychology, University of Califor-
nia, Riverside; T. R. Cain, Rutgers University; Danka Purić, Department of
Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade University, Belgrade, Serbia.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Corinna
E. Löckenhoff, who is now at the Department of Human Development,
G35 Martha van Rensselaer Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.
E-mail: CEL72@cornell.edu

Psychology and Aging In the public domain
2009, Vol. 24, No. 4,

941

–954 DOI: 10.1037/a001690

1

941

College students (N � 3,435) in 26 cultures reported their perceptions of age-related changes in physical,
cognitive, and socioemotional areas of functioning and rated societal views of aging within their culture.
There was widespread cross-cultural consensus regarding the expected direction of aging trajectories
with (a) perceived declines in societal views of aging, physical attractiveness, the ability to perform
everyday tasks, and new learning; (b) perceived increases in wisdom, knowledge, and received
respect; and (c) perceived stability in family authority and life satisfaction. Cross-cultural variations
in aging perceptions were associated with culture-level indicators of population aging, education
levels, values, and national character stereotypes. These associations were stronger for societal
views on aging and perceptions of socioemotional changes than for perceptions of physical and
cognitive changes. A consideration of culture-level variables also suggested that previously reported
differences in aging perceptions between Asian and Western countries may be related to differences
in population structure.

Keywords: aging, stereotypes, cross-cultural, values, national character stereotypes

Perceptions of aging influence societal behaviors and expecta-
tions toward older people (e.g., Pasupathi & Löckenhoff, 2002

)

as well as older adults’ well-being and coping with the aging
process (e.g., Levy, 2003; Levy & Myers, 2004). The majority of
studies in this field have focused on individual differences in
perceptions of aging within (mostly Western) cultures, but there is
growing evidence that views of aging may differ across cultures as
well (e.g., Arnhoff, Leon, & Lorge, 1964; Giles et al., 2000). The
present study extends previous research by comparing multiple
aspects of aging perceptions across 26 cultures and examining
their culture-level associates. To provide the background for this
work, we review previous research on intercultural differences in
perceptions of aging and discuss theoretical perspectives on the
causes of such differences.

According to social representations theory (Moscovici, 1984,
1988) the views of aging held within a given culture are a form of
shared cultural representation. They constitute systems of ideas,
values, and customs related to aging that are treated by members
of the society as if they were established reality. Perceptions of
aging are multidimensional in nature (e.g., Hummert, 1990), en-
compass both positive and negative characteristics (e.g., Heck-
hausen, Dixon, & Baltes, 1989; Hummert, 1990; McTavish, 1971),
and reflect a mix between accurate depictions of age-related
changes and distorted views of older people (Kite, Stockdale,
Whitley, & Johnson, 2005). Healthy aging is associated with
predictable biological changes (DiGiovanna, 2000) that lead to
systematic age differences in physical abilities and cognitive per-
formance (for reviews, see Christiansen & Grzybowski, 1999;
Salthouse & Davis, 2006). To the extent that aging perceptions
reflect such biologically based differences in functioning, one
might expect to see comparatively little variation across cultures.
Age-related changes in socioemotional characteristics and social
status, in contrast, appear to depend less on biology and more on
motivational priorities (Fung, Rice, & Carstensen, 2005) and so-
cietal roles (Eagly, Wood, & Diekman, 2000). Perceptions of
age-related changes in these characteristics may therefore show a
greater extent of cross-cultural variation.

Previous research has explored several potential explanations
for intercultural differences in perceptions of aging. Early studies
that focused on socioeconomic predictors found that higher levels
of economic development and industrialization are associated with
less favorable attitudes toward aging and a lower societal status of
older adults (e.g., Arnhoff et al., 1964; Bengtson, Dowd, Smith, &

Inkeles, 1975; Maxwell, 1970; Palmore & Manton, 1974; Sim-
mons, 1945). Modernization theory (Cowgill, 1972, 1986) ex-
plained such findings by arguing that a shift toward industrialized
modes of production undermines the societal status of older adults,
devalues their experience-based knowledge, breaks up traditional
extended families through urbanization, and shifts control over the
means of production from family elders to industrial entities
(Cowgill, 1972). Although intuitively appealing, modernization
theory has been criticized as an oversimplification (e.g., Quad-
agno, 1982). In particular, the theory ignores cross-cultural differ-
ences in values and belief systems that may shape the way in
which a given culture responds to advanced socioeconomic devel-
opment (Inglehart & Baker, 2000).

Research on the influence of cultural values and beliefs on aging
attitudes has been dominated by comparisons between Eastern or
Asian versus Western cultures (see Giles et al., 2003, for a review).
This body of work was inspired by the idea that Asian societies are
influenced by Confucian values of filial piety and the practice of
ancestor worship, which were thought to promote positive views of
aging and high esteem for older adults (e.g., Davis, 1983; Ho,
1994; Sher, 1984; see Sung, 2001, for a review). Western societies,
in contrast, were thought to be youth-oriented and to hold more
negative views about the aging process and the elderly (e.g.,
Palmore, 1975). Empirical evidence for the proposed East–West
differences is scarce. Although some studies have found support
for the notion that aging attitudes are more positive in Asian
compared to Western cultures (e.g., Levy & Langer, 1994; Tan,
Zhang, & Fan, 2004), others have reported effects in the opposite
direction (e.g., Giles et al., 2000; Harwood et al., 2001; Sharps,
Price-Sharps, & Hanson, 1998; Zhou, 2007) or failed to find any
marked cultural differences (e.g., Boduroglu, Yoon, Luo, & Park,
2006; Chappell, 2003; McCann, Cargile, Giles, & Bui, 2004;
Ryan, Jin, Anas, & Luh, 2004).

In summary, there is some evidence that both socioeconomic
development and cultural values and beliefs may matter for cross-
cultural differences in aging attitudes. However, findings are lim-
ited in several important aspects. For one, most previous studies
included only small groups of countries. In fact, the vast majority
of the literature consists of pairwise comparisons. Among the
exceptions are one study that compared five countries (Harwood et
al., 2001), four studies that each compared six countries (Arnhoff,
Leon, & Lorge, 1964; Bengtson et al., 1975; Giles et al., 2003;
Harwood et al., 1996), and one study that compared 11 countries

942 LÖCKENHOFF ET AL.

(Giles et al., 2000). Conclusions that can be drawn from the
previous literature are also limited because studies used a wide
array of measures, ranging from open-ended descriptions of older
and younger adults (Boduroglu et al., 2006) to macroeconomic
markers of older adults’ societal status (Palmore & Manton, 1974).
This makes it difficult to integrate findings into a generalized
cross-cultural pattern of aging attitudes. Moreover, cultural differ-
ences in values and beliefs have frequently been inferred from the
broad classification of countries into Eastern versus Western (see
Giles et al., 2000, 2003, for exceptions). This approach glosses
over variations among individual Asian cultures, ignores cultures
that cannot be classified as Eastern or Western, confounds cross-
cultural differences in socioeconomic factors and value systems,
and fails to pinpoint the specific aspects of cultural values that are
most relevant in shaping perceptions of aging. Decades of cross-
cultural research have yielded comprehensive data regarding cul-
turally shared values (e.g., Hofstede, 1980; House, Hanges, Javi-
dan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004; Inglehart & Norris, 2003; Leung &
Bond, 2004; Schwartz, 1994; Smith, Dugan, & Trompenaars,
1996) and aggregate psychological characteristics (e.g., Diener,
Diener, & Diener, 1995; McCrae, Terracciano, & the Personality
Profiles of Cultures Project, 2005) across a wide range of cultures.
To date, this rich body of knowledge has not been adequately
linked to cross-cultural differences in aging perceptions.

The present study extends previous research by examining per-
ceptions of aging among college students from 26 different cul-
tures in six continents. Participants rated their perceptions of
age-related changes in physical, cognitive, and socioemotional
characteristics and evaluated societal views about aging within
their cultures. Because contact with a stereotyped group may
influence perceptions of that group (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006), we
also assessed participants’ frequency of contact with older adults.

Going beyond dichotomous comparisons between Eastern and
Western cultures, we related ratings of aging perceptions obtained
in the present study to culture-level scores of possible associates
derived from previous work (see Hofstede, 2001; Leung & Bond,
2004; McCrae et al., 2005, for examples of this analytical ap-
proach). This allowed us to disentangle the relative influence of
socioeconomic factors (i.e., wealth, population structure, and ed-
ucation levels) compared to cultural values and beliefs.

To capture cultural differences in values, we adopted Hofstede’s
(1980, 2001) dimensions and Schwartz’s (1994) seven value types,
which both cover a large range of cultures and have been cross-
validated with alternative classification systems (e.g., Hofstede,
2001; Leung & Bond, 2004). We also included Inglehart and
Norris’s (2003) dimensions of secular-rational versus traditional
values and self-expression versus survival values, which are
thought to capture systematic changes in value systems in response
to modernizing influences (Inglehart & Baker, 2000). Finally, to
examine culture-level associations between perceptions of aging
and other forms of stereotypical beliefs, we included national
character stereotypes (Terracciano et al., 2005), which capture
people’s stereotypical perceptions of the personality traits of a
typical member of their culture.

In general, we predicted that perceptions about aspects of aging
that are strongly linked to biological changes (i.e., physical aging
and changes in fluid cognitive abilities) would show less variation
across cultures and fewer associations with culture-level variables
than perceptions of socioemotional aspects of aging (e.g., family

relations and life satisfaction) and societal views of the aging
process. For culture-level associations with socioeconomic char-
acteristics, we expected to replicate previous research indicating
that advanced development is associated with less favorable per-
ceptions of aging. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
study to examine culture-level associations between values, na-
tional character stereotypes, and perceptions of aging. We there-
fore adopted an exploratory approach and did not postulate spe-
cific hypotheses regarding the direction of the effects. Also, given
the equivocal research record on East–West differences (see
above), we did not expect to find strong differences in aging
perceptions between Asian and Western countries. Instead, we
expected to find a more complex pattern, such that East–West
differences in aging perceptions are related to both socioeconomic
factors and cultural values and beliefs.

Method

Participants and Procedure

Questionnaires were administered to samples of college students
from 26 cultures on six continents. Participants were informed
about the general nature of the project and completed the ques-
tionnaires in a quiet environment, typically in a group setting.1 All
data were collected anonymously, and apart from age, gender, and
citizenship status (native-born citizen or not), no personal infor-
mation was recorded. Thirty participants were excluded because
they missed more than two items on the aging perception measures
or failed to indicate their gender, leaving a total of 3,435 partici-
pants. The vast majority (94.4%) were native-born citizens of their
respective countries. The demographic composition of the samples
is described in Table 1. On average, participants were in their early
20s, and about two thirds were female.

Measures

Previous research has indicated that perceptions of aging are
multifaceted and involve divergent trajectories for different as-
pects of functioning (e.g., Heckhausen et al., 1989; Hummert,
1990; McTavish, 1971). To capture this complexity, we assembled
a perceptions-of-aging measure (POA), consisting of a short list of
characteristics that would be understood across a wide range of
cultural contexts. The specific characteristics were adapted from
existing measures assessing attitudes about aging and age-related
changes in functioning (i.e., Harwood et al., 2001; Heckhausen et
al., 1989; Laidlaw, Power, Schmidt, & the WHOQOL Group,
2007; Rosencranz & McNevin, 1969). It is important to note that
we did not aim to create an internally consistent scale but selected
a set of conceptually related but distinct items that would allow us
to capture divergent patterns in specific aspects of aging percep-
tions. The final scale consisted of the following eight characteris-
tics: physical attractiveness, ability to do everyday tasks, ability to
learn new information, general knowledge, wisdom, respect re-
ceived from others, authority in the family, and life satisfaction.
Participants were given the following instructions: “Below you see

1 In the same session, participants also completed questionnaires de-
scribing the personality traits of a typical adolescent, adult, and older adult
within their culture. These findings will be reported elsewhere.

943PERCEPTIONS OF AGING ACROSS 26 CULTURES

a list of characteristics that may or may not change as people grow
old. For each characteristic, please place a check mark to indicate
whether the characteristic decreases, stays the same, or increases in
older people.” Participants responded on a 5-point Likert scale
from �2 � decreases a lot to 2 � increases a lot, with a score of
0 indicating the absence of age-related change.2

Participants also rated their society’s views of aging. For this
purpose they were asked: “In general, how positively or negatively
does your culture view old age?” Responses were given on a
5-point Likert scale from �2 � very negative to 2 � very positive.
They further rated their frequency of contact with older adults
(“How often do you speak or do things with older people?”) on a
5-point Likert scale from 1 � almost never to 5 � almost every
day.

For administration in non-English-speaking cultures, the origi-
nal English version of the scale was translated by our collabora-
tors, most of whom are bilingual psychologists native to the
culture. Independent back-translations were created by a person
other than the original translator, reviewed by two of the authors
(Filip De Fruyt and Robert R. McCrae), and modified as needed to
achieve equivalence across languages.

Culture-Level Associates

Indicators of socioeconomic development assessing wealth,
population structure, and education levels were drawn from the
2007–2008 Human Development Report (United Nations Devel-
opment Programme, 2007). As an economic indicator, we used per

capita gross domestic product (GDP; in U.S. dollars). As an
indicator of demographic composition, we examined the percent-
age of the population age 65 and over. We selected this measure
over the more commonly used indicator of life expectancy be-
cause, unlike life expectancy, it is relatively independent of infant
mortality, shows a weaker association with GDP, and presents a
direct assessment of the proportion of older adults in the popula-
tion. As a measure of education levels, we examined the combined
gross enrollment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary educa-
tion.

Hofstede (1980) defined four value dimensions based on world-
wide responses to IBM surveys: power distance (i.e., acceptance of
differences in status and power), uncertainty avoidance (i.e., low
tolerance for ambiguity and endorsement of strict laws and rules as
a means of stress reduction), individualism (i.e., emphasis on self
and low integration into group or family), and masculinity (i.e.,

2 Initially, two negatively phrased and reverse-coded items assessing
age-related changes in health problems and social isolation were included
as well. However, preliminary analyses found unusually high standard
deviations and bimodal distributions for these items across several cultures.
It is possible that the lower anchor of the scale, decreases a lot, carries an
implication of worsens a lot in some languages. As a result, participants
who believed that health problems and social isolation increased with age
may have erroneously marked the lower end of the scale. Because of this
concern, these two items were excluded from further analyses.

Table 1
Sample Characteristics

Culture N
Age

M (SD) % Male
Contact with older adults

M (SD)

Argentina 131 23.2 (5.8) 15.3% 4.0 (1.1)
Australia 98 21.6 (7.6) 20.4% 3.8 (0.9)
Chile 95 19.4 (1.7) 48.4% 3.7 (1.0)
Croatia 102 21.0 (1.3) 15.7% 3.6 (1.0)
Czech Republic 222 22.5 (2.1) 22.5% 3.7 (0.9)
United Kingdom 95 20.3 (2.5) 20.0% 2.9 (1.1)
Estonia 113 22.1 (4.0) 27.4% 3.7 (1.0)
France 103 22.3 (6.3) 24.3% 2.8 (1.0)
Hong Kong 182 20.7 (1.5) 61.5% 2.6 (1.2)
India 50 19.4 (1.5) 0.0% 4.1 (1.0)
Islamic Republic of Iran 124 28.0 (5.5) 41.9% 3.2 (1.1)
Italy 101 25.3 (4.1) 49.5% 3.6 (1.2)
Japan 293 19.7 (1.7) 18.4% 3.0 (1.4)
Mainland China 98 21.6 (2.7) 38.8% 2.8 (0.9)
Malaysia 111 22.0 (2.5) 27.0% 4.0 (0.8)
New Zealand 100 19.5 (3.0) 25.0% 3.2 (1.0)
Peru 139 19.0 (2.8) 47.5% 3.9 (1.1)
Poland 202 23.6 (4.4) 28.2% 3.6 (1.2)
Portugal 103 23.4 (3.7) 23.3% 3.7 (1.0)
Russian Federation 100 23.0 (6.8) 28.0% 3.7 (1.0)
South Korea 120 25.9 (8.1) 45.0% 2.7 (1.2)
Serbia 100 20.5 (2.3) 17.0% 3.8 (1.0)
Slovakia 144 20.0 (1.7) 31.3% 3.6 (1.0)
Switzerland (French-speaking) 101 20.9 (4.1) 19.8% 3.1 (1.1)
Uganda 99 23.3 (3.1) 44.4% 3.0 (1.1)
United States 309 21.1 (4.2) 43.0% 3.5 (1.2)

Total 3,435 21.8 (4.5) 31.3% 3.4 (1.2)

Note. Contact frequency was rated on a scale from 1 � almost never to 5 � almost every day.

944 LÖCKENHOFF ET AL.

focus on assertive and egoistic versus socially oriented roles).3 The
scores used in the present study were drawn from Hofstede (2001).

Schwartz (1994) characterized cultures according to seven value
types: embeddedness (emphasis on tradition and embeddedness in
a collective), affective autonomy (focus on individual pursuit of
pleasure), intellectual autonomy (creativity, tolerance), hierarchy
(deference to power and authority), mastery (focus on success and
self-assertion), egalitarian commitment (valuing freedom and so-
cial justice), and harmony (focus on environmental protection and
unity with nature). Recent value type data that corrected for
endorsement frequency differences were obtained from the Israel
Social Sciences Data Center (Schwartz, 2005).

Inglehart and Baker (2000) described two broader dimensions
derived from the World Values Surveys: Traditional values (em-
phasis on religion, national pride, and respect for authority) versus
secular-rational values and survival values (emphasis on material
well-being) versus self-expression values. The scores used in the
present study were drawn from Inglehart and Norris (2003).

National character stereotypes representing people’s stereotyp-
ical perceptions of the personality traits of a typical member of
their culture were drawn from Terracciano et al. (2005).4

When integrating culture-level variables drawn from different
studies we had to account for recent changes in national bound-
aries as well as differences in how narrowly different authors
defined the boundaries of cultures. When multiple matches were
possible, we used the most specific available matches (e.g.,
French-speaking Swiss compared to French-speaking Swiss). Hof-
stede’s (2001) data for Yugoslavia were paired with Croatia and
Serbia, and data from the Soviet Union were matched with Russia
but not Estonia. Finally, data from Uganda were matched with
Hofstede’s (2001) East African region.

With the exception of the demographic variables, the culture-
level associates described above were measured at the interval
level. Table 2 shows intercorrelations among culture-level markers
of demographics, values, and national character stereotypes. Spe-
cific scores on the culture-level associates for each individual
culture are available from the authors.

Results

Preliminary Analyses

Intercorrelations among the eight POA items in the pooled
sample were all positive but generally low, with a mean correlation
of r � .21. This suggests that, consistent with our intentions, the
different items assess conceptually related but separate aspects of
aging perceptions. Given these considerations, we report item-
level results for the POA instead of creating summary scores.

As seen in Table 1 (fourth column), the relative proportions of
male and female respondents varied across cultures, and in one
culture (India) only female raters were available. To examine the
extent to which cross-cultural patterns of aging perceptions differ
by gender, we computed separate culture-level means on each of
the individual POA items for each gender. For each POA item, we
then examined the correlations between male and female profiles
across the 26 cultures. Correlations were moderate to high (ranging
from r � .46 to r � .89, mean r across items � .77). However, to
account for any gender differences, further culture-level analyses
used means that controlled for unequal gender distributions. In the
case of India, the mean response for women was used.

Whereas culture-level means on the POA items were normally
distributed (Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z � .8), individual-level POA
scores showed considerable deviations from normality. Attractive-
ness, everyday tasks, new learning, knowledge, wisdom, and re-
spect showed substantial skewness and underwent logarithmic
transformation. Authority and life satisfaction showed moderate
skewness and underwent square-root transformation. Transformed
scores were used for all analyses requiring normal distribution of
the scores (i.e., analyses of variance and mixed models). For
illustrative purposes, descriptive reports (e.g., Table 3) use un-
transformed scores.

Consensus Across Cultures

Table 3 shows gender-weighted means for perceived societal
views of aging and POA scores across the different cultures.
Respondents from most cultures thought that aging was viewed
negatively within their societies (Table 3, last column). The ex-
ceptions were Mainland China, India, Malaysia, Russia, and New
Zealand, where participants reported neutral or slightly positive
views. The most negative perceived societal views were reported
in Serbia, Argentina, the Czech Republic, and the United King-
dom.

Culture-level scores on individual POA items suggested that
participants held divergent expectations for age trajectories in
specific aspects of life (see Figure 1). As indicated by the consis-
tently negative scores for attractiveness, everyday tasks, and new
learning (cf. Table 3), there was cross-cultural consensus that these
characteristics decrease with age. In turn, consistently positive
scores for general knowledge, wisdom, and respect indicate that
across cultures, these characteristics were believed to increase with
age. The picture was less clear-cut for the remaining items, but in
general, family authority was seen as increasing and life satisfac-
tion was viewed as stable.

To examine if some aspects of aging perceptions show greater
cross-cultural variability than others, we computed for each of the
POA items the squared deviations of the mean scores in each
culture from the cross-cultural mean. Using these deviation scores
as the dependent variable, we then performed an analysis of
variance with the eight POA items as the repeated-measures
variable. Because we were interested in relative variability
across cultures, we performed this analysis at the culture level
(i.e., each of the 26 cultures was treated as a single case).
Consistent with our expectations, some aspects of aging per-
ceptions showed significantly less variability across cultures

3 A fifth dimension of long-term orientation identified by Hofstede and
Bond (1988) was not included in the analyses, because the overlapping
number of cultures was small (n � 16).

4 Note that although national character stereotypes are described in terms
of Five Factor personality traits, they are not empirically related to aggre-
gate personality profiles (i.e., mean personality ratings of actual members
of a given culture; Terracciano et al., 2005). For comparison purposes, we
conducted preliminary analyses that examined associations between aging
perceptions and aggregate personality. Only sporadic associations were
found, and the effects of aggregate personality profiles derived from self
ratings (McCrae, 2002) and observer ratings (McCrae et al., 2005) did not
converge. Aggregate personality profiles were therefore not considered in
further analyses.

945PERCEPTIONS OF AGING ACROSS 26 CULTURES

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946 LÖCKENHOFF ET AL.

than others, after Greenhouse-Geisser correction, F(4.35,
108.72) � 3.16, p � .01, �2 � .11. Post hoc tests revealed that
variability across cultures was smaller for attractiveness than for
all of the other characteristics ( ps � .01), smaller for performance
in everyday tasks than for family authority and life satisfaction
( ps � .05), and smaller for new learning than for life satisfaction
( p � .05).

Culture-Level Associates of Aging Perceptions

The associations between aging perceptions and culture-level
indicators of sociodemographic variables, values, and national
character stereotypes were examined using a mixed-model ap-
proach nesting individuals within cultures. Initial unconditional
means models entered culture as a random factor and aging per-
ception scores as dependent variables. In these models, each indi-
vidual score on the aging perception measures (Yij) was expressed
as the sum of the overall mean (�00), the effect of culture (u0j), and
the effect of variations at the participant level (rij). Estimates of the
variability among culture means (�00), and the variability among
students in cultures (�2) indicated that there were significant
effects of culture on each of the dependent variables (see top rows
of Table 4). Also, consistent with the analyses reported above, the
proportion of total variance in aging perceptions that was ex-
plained by culture [�00/(�00 �

2)] varied for different aspects of
aging perceptions and ranged from around 3% for attractiveness to
more than 15% for wisdom.

In the next step, we added culture-level associates as fixed
factors (�01) at the culture level. As seen in Table 2, a considerable
portion of the intercorrelations between culture-level variables
reached significance, and preliminary analyses revealed moderate
to severe collinearity when multiple culture-level variables were
included in the same analysis. Therefore, culture-level predictors
were examined one at a time. The bottom part of Table 4 presents
the estimated coefficients for the effects of each of the culture-
level variables on aging perceptions. We also present the propor-
tion of explainable variation in culture-level means explained by a
given culture-level predictor.5

When we compared the relative strength of associations with
culture-level predictors across different aspects of aging percep-
tions, the predicted pattern emerged. Perceptions of physical as-
pects of aging (i.e., attractiveness and ability to perform everyday
tasks) did not show any significant relations to culture-level vari-
ables. For perceptions of cognitive aspects of aging (i.e., new
learning, general knowledge, and wisdom), only 16% of the pos-

5 To examine if the findings reported in Table 4 would hold up using
alternative analytical approaches, we computed Pearson correlations be-
tween gender-weighted culture-level means of aging perceptions and each
of the culture-level variables (see Hofstede, 2001; Leung & Bond, 2004;
McCrae et al., 2005, for examples of such analyses in the context of
cross-cultural research). Ninety percent of the significant findings in Table
4 were replicated with this approach.

Table 3
Mean Perceptions of Aging by Culture

Culture

Attractiveness

Everyday

tasks
New

learning
General

knowledge

Wisdom

Received
respect

Family
authority

Life
satisfaction

Societal
views

Argentina �1.4 (0.7) �0.6 (1.0) �1.1 (0.8) 0.7 (1.2) 1.0 (0.8) 0.3 (1.3) �0.2 (1.2) �0.2 (1.0) �0.9 (0.9)
Australia �1.3 (0.7) �1.0 (0.9) �0.6 (1.0) 1.4 (0.8) 1.4 (0.6) 0.9 (1.0) 0.6 (1.3) 0.5 (0.9) �0.3 (0.8)
Chile �1.5 (0.7) �0.9 (0.8) �1.0 (0.9) 1.0 (1.1) 1.3 (0.9) 0.7 (1.2) 0.2 (1.2) 0.2 (1.1) �0.8 (0.8)
Croatia �1.3 (0.8) �1.0 (0.7) �1.3 (0.7) 0.6 (1.0) 1.4 (0.7) 0.8 (1.1) 0.4 (1.2) �0.6 (0.9) �0.7 (0.7)
Czech Republic �1.4 (0.6) �0.8 (0.8) �1.3 (0.8) 0.1 (1.0) 0.6 (1.0) 0.4 (1.1) 0.1 (1.0) �0.4 (0.9) �0.8 (0.7)
United Kingdom �1.5 (0.7) �1.0 (0.8) �0.9 (0.6) 1.2 (0.9) 1.3 (0.8) 0.5 (1.2) 0.3 (1.2) 0.1 (0.9) �0.8 (0.9)
Estonia �1.2 (0.7) �0.4 (0.9) �0.9 (0.9) 1.2 (0.9) 1.6 (0.6) 1.2 (0.7) 0.4 (1.0) �0.1 (0.9) �0.2 (0.8)
France �1.4 (0.8) �1.1 (0.6) �1.0 (0.8) 0.7 (1.1) 1.0 (0.8) 0.5 (1.3) �0.1 (1.1) �0.3 (0.9) �0.8 (0.8)
Hong Kong �1.2 (0.9) �0.6 (1.0) �1.2 (0.7) 0.5 (1.0) 0.4 (1.0) 0.8 (1.0) 0.6 (1.0) 0.1 (1.0) �0.3 (0.8)
India �1.3 (0.8) �0.6 (1.1) �0.1 (1.4) 0.6 (1.2) 0.5 (1.2) 1.1 (1.2) 0.8 (1.2) 0.1 (1.2) 0.3 (1.3)
Islamic Republic of Iran �1.6 (0.7) �1.0 (0.8) �1.4 (0.7) 0.3 (1.2) 0.5 (1.2) 1.3 (1.0) 0.7 (1.2) �0.6 (1.1) �0.3 (1.1)
Italy �1.5 (0.9) �1.1 (0.8) �0.8 (1.1) 1.1 (1.0) 1.6 (0.8) 1.2 (1.1) 0.4 (1.3) 0.0 (1.1) �0.5 (1.0)
Japan �1.4 (0.8) �0.7 (0.8) �0.9 (1.0) 1.1 (0.9) 1.1 (0.8) 1.0 (0.8) 0.2 (1.0) 0.0 (1.0) �0.5 (0.9)
Mainland China �1.4 (0.9) �0.4 (1.2) �1.1 (0.8) 1.1 (0.8) 1.0 (1.0) 1.4 (0.8) 1.3 (0.9) 0.5 (1.1) 0.3 (1.0)
Malaysia �1.3 (0.9) 0.0 (1.4) �0.5 (1.1) 0.9 (1.2) 0.4 (1.2) 1.3 (1.0) 1.0 (1.1) 0.5 (1.2) 0.2 (1.0)
New Zealand �1.4 (0.8) �0.6 (1.1) �0.7 (0.8) 1.3 (0.9) 1.4 (0.8) 1.1 (1.0) 0.7 (1.2) 0.5 (1.1) 0.1 (1.0)
Peru �1.3 (0.8) �0.7 (1.2) �0.6 (1.1) 0.8 (1.3) 1.2 (1.1) 0.9 (1.1) 0.3 (1.3) 0.4 (1.2) �0.5 (0.9)
Poland �1.5 (0.6) �0.8 (1.0) �1.2 (0.8) 0.4 (1.1) 0.9 (1.0) 0.7 (1.1) 0.9 (1.0) �0.5 (0.9) �0.5 (0.9)
Portugal �1.4 (0.8) �0.7 (0.9) �0.9 (0.6) 1.0 (0.9) 1.2 (0.9) 1.0 (0.9) 0.3 (1.1) �0.2 (0.9) �0.7 (0.8)
Russian Federation �1.1 (1.0) �0.4 (1.1) �0.9 (1.1) 1.2 (1.1) 1.6 (0.7) 1.0 (0.9) 0.7 (1.1) �0.3 (1.0) 0.2 (0.9)
South Korea �1.5 (0.7) �1.2 (0.7) �1.2 (0.8) 0.5 (1.2) 1.0 (1.0) 0.7 (0.9) �0.2 (1.1) �0.2 (1.0) �0.2 (0.9)
Serbia �1.3 (0.8) �0.7 (1.1) �1.2 (0.8) 0.6 (1.2) 0.9 (0.9) 0.7 (1.2) 0.1 (1.3) �0.7 (1.0) �1.1 (0.9)
Slovakia �1.3 (0.7) �0.9 (0.6) �1.3 (0.6) 0.1 (1.0) 0.4 (0.8) 0.5 (1.0) 0.2 (1.0) �0.8 (0.8) �0.5 (0.7)
Switzerland �1.5 (0.7) �0.7 (1.1) �1.1 (0.7) 0.6 (1.0) 0.9 (0.8) 0.5 (1.2) �0.3 (1.1) �0.2 (0.9) �0.4 (0.9)
Uganda �1.6 (0.8) �1.4 (1.1) �0.8 (1.2) 0.6 (1.3) 1.1 (1.2) 1.7 (0.7) 0.9 (1.3) 0.5 (1.2) �0.1 (1.1)
United States �1.3 (0.9) �0.6 (1.1) �0.6 (0.9) 1.4 (0.8) 1.5 (0.7) 1.1 (1.1) 0.8 (1.1) 0.4 (1.1) �0.6 (0.9)

Note. SDs are shown in parentheses. Perceptions of aging were rated on a scale from �2 � decreases a lot to 2 � increases a lot. Perceived societal
views on aging were rated on a scale from �2 � very negative to 2 � very positive. Mean scores are weighted to account for unequal gender distribution
across cultures.

947PERCEPTIONS OF AGING ACROSS 26 CULTURES

sible associations with culture-level predictors reached signifi-
cance. For perceptions of socioemotional aspects of aging (i.e.,
received respect, family authority, and life satisfaction), 30% of
the associations were significant; and for societal views of aging,
38% of possible associations reached significance. Thus, associa-
tions between perceptions of aging and culture-level markers ap-
pear to be weak for physical and cognitive aspects of aging, more
pronounced for socioemotional aspects of aging, and strongest for
participants’ perceptions of their societies’ views on aging. We
now discuss the effects for each type of culture-level associate in
more detail.

GDP showed no significant associations with any of the aging
perception variables, but the proportion of older adults (age � 65
years) in the population was associated with less favorable per-
ceptions of societal views on aging. As seen in Figure 2, which
plots the proportion of older adults against societal views of aging,
European cultures with high rates of population aging are clustered
in the lower right quadrant of the graph, indicating that these
cultures are thought to view aging as more negative. In contrast,
cultures with younger populations, such as Malaysia, India, or
Mainland China, are mostly found in the upper left quadrant,
indicating more favorable views of aging. It is particularly inter-
esting that Japan, the Asian culture with the highest percentage of
older adults, is found in the same cluster as European countries.
With regard to specific POA items, participants from cultures with
older populations and higher education levels were less likely to
report an age-related increase in respect and family authority but
more likely to report an increase in wisdom. Participants from

cultures with higher education levels also held more positive views
of age trajectories in general knowledge.

Regarding Hofstede’s (2001) value dimensions, participants
from cultures with greater uncertainty avoidance reported more
negative societal views of aging. Uncertainty avoidance was also
associated with less favorable expectations about age-related
changes in family authority and life satisfaction. Further, partici-
pants from cultures higher in power distance reported less favor-
able views of age-related changes in knowledge and wisdom.

Regarding Schwartz’s (1994) value types, higher levels of hi-
erarchy and embeddedness and lower levels of intellectual auton-
omy were associated with more favorable societal views on aging.
Only two of the specific POA items showed significant association
with Schwartz’s value types: The perception that received respect
and family authority increase with age was associated with higher
cultural levels of embeddedness and hierarchy but lower levels of
intellectual autonomy. Perceived increases in family authority
were also linked to lower levels of egalitarian commitment and
harmony, and perceived increases in respect were linked to higher
levels of mastery.

Inglehart and Norris’s (2003) values showed no significant
associations with perceived societal views of aging, but partici-
pants from cultures high in self-expression reported more favor-
able aging trajectories for new learning and life satisfaction,
whereas participants from cultures high in secular–rational values
reported more negative views of new learning in advanced age.

National character stereotypes were significantly associated
with several aspects of aging perceptions. In cultures stereotyped

-2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

1
Attractiveness

Everyday tasks

Knowledge

New learning

Family authority

Received respect

Wisdom

Life satisfaction

decreases
a lot

increases
a lot

Figure 1. Means and standard deviations of aging perceptions at the culture level (controlling for unequal
gender distribution).

948 LÖCKENHOFF ET AL.

as low in neuroticism there were more favorable perceptions of age
trajectories in new learning, general knowledge, received respect,
family authority, and life satisfaction. Perceptions about age tra-
jectories in new learning were also more favorable in cultures that
viewed their typical member as high in openness. Finally, partic-
ipants’ ratings of societal views of aging were more positive in
cultures who view their typical member as open, agreeable, and
low in neuroticism.

Additional analyses added gender (�02) and frequency of con-
tact with older adults (�03) as fixed factors at the individual level.
Age of the rater was not included because the focus on student
samples resulted in a restriction of range for that variable. Com-
pared with male respondents, women had more favorable opinions
of age-related changes in everyday tasks (�02 � .011, p � .0001).
Further, participants who had more frequent contact with older
adults had more favorable perceptions of age-related changes in
attractiveness (�03 � .012, p � .0001), everyday tasks (�03 �
.011, p � .0001), new learning (�03 � .007, p � .05), authority in
the family, (�03 � .017, p � .01), life satisfaction (�03 � .009, p �
.05), and societal views of aging (�03 � .049, p � .0001). How-
ever, even after gender and contact frequency were added to the
models, the pattern of findings reported in Table 4 remained
largely unchanged. The only effects that were no longer significant
were the associations of Schwartz’s (1994) hierarchy scale with
societal views of aging and national stereotypes of openness with
POA learning.

Because previous research has found that cultural values are
associated with sociodemographic variables (e.g., Hofstede, 2001;
Leung & Bond, 2004), we examined in supplemental analyses if
the associations between aging perceptions, cultural values, and
national stereotypes remained significant when demographic char-
acteristics were added to the models as culture-level variables.
Because of concerns regarding multicollinearity (see Table 2),
demographic predictors were added one at a time. When we added
GDP, only half of the associations of aging perceptions with values
but all of the associations with national character stereotypes
remained significant. When we added educational enrollment, only
40% of the associations of aging perceptions with values but 89%
of associations with national character stereotypes remained sig-
nificant. Finally, after we added population age, 25% of associa-
tions with values but 44% of associations with national stereotypes
remained significant. This suggests that cross-cultural differences
in sociodemographic factors, and particularly in population aging,
can largely account for the association between aging perceptions
and values. However, they cannot fully explain the association
between aging perceptions and national character stereotypes.

Comparing Aging Perceptions in Asian Versus
Western Cultures

To integrate findings from the present study with the previous
literature, we also examined gross-level Eastern versus Western
contrasts. To group the cultures in our sample according to broad
Asian or Eastern versus Western categories, we drew on the United
Nations geographical regions (United Nations Statistics Division,
2008). According to these guidelines, we classified the following
countries as Eastern or Asian: Hong Kong, India, Islamic Republic
of Iran, Japan, Mainland China, Malaysia, and South Korea. The
Western group was composed of European cultures (Croatia,

Czech Republic, Estonia, France, United Kingdom, Poland, Por-
tugal, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, and Switzerland)
and the United States. Following previous studies (e.g., Giles et al.,
2000), Australia and New Zealand were also classified as Western.
Because they could not be clearly classified in either category, the
South American cultures (Argentina, Chile, and Peru) and the sole
African culture in our sample (Uganda) were excluded from this
comparison.

Again, we used a mixed model approach nesting individuals
within cultures where culture was entered as a random factor and
the East–West classification was entered as a fixed factor at the
culture level. Compared with Western countries, participants in
Eastern countries reported more positive societal views of aging
(�EastWest � .42, p � .01) but less favorable perceptions of
age-related changes in wisdom (�EastWest � �.10, p � .05).

6

In the next step, we examined to what extent East–West differ-
ences in aging perceptions are explained by differences in socio-
demographic structure, culturally shared values, and national ste-
reotypes. For this purpose, we focused on the culture-level
variables that were found to have significant associations with
POA wisdom and societal perceptions of aging (see Table 4).
East–West differences remained significant even when values,
national stereotypes, and education levels were added as culture-
level predictors. In contrast, when we added the proportion of
older adults in the population, East–West differences were ren-
dered insignificant (all p � .3).

Discussion

The present study extends the literature by comparing percep-
tions of aging across 26 cultures from six continents. Perhaps the
most striking finding was the widespread cross-cultural consensus
regarding the direction of aging trajectories in different character-
istics (e.g., consistent increases in wisdom vs. consistent decreases
in the ability to perform everyday tasks). This suggests that basic
patterns of aging perceptions are shared across cultures. Many of
the perceived changes are also consistent with age trajectories on
standardized measures that suggest age-related declines in fluid
cognitive abilities (McArdle, Ferrer-Caja, Hamagami, & Wood-
cock, 2002; Salthouse & Davis, 2006) and physical functioning
(DiGiovanna, 2000) but relative stability in crystallized intelli-
gence (McArdle et al., 2002), socioemotional skills, and well-
being (Charles & Carstensen, 2007). This implies that, in contrast
to other culturally held stereotypes such as perceptions of national
character (e.g., Terracciano et al., 2005), culture-level perceptions
of the aging process appear to contain more than just a “kernel of
truth” (Brigham, 1971, p. 1). Nevertheless, there was considerable
variance in aging perceptions across cultures, warranting a closer
examination of the possible causes of such differences.

In general, results supported the prediction that the effects of
culture would be strongest for those aspects of aging perceptions
(i.e., socioemotional functioning and perceived societal views on
aging) that are least influenced by age-related biological changes.
An examination of the culture-level associates of aging percep-
tions also provided some support for the prediction that advanced

6 Patterns of effects were comparable when using a narrower definition
of Eastern cultures that excluded India and the Islamic Republic of Iran or
when South American countries were grouped with the Western countries.

949PERCEPTIONS OF AGING ACROSS 26 CULTURES

levels of socioeconomic development would be associated with
less favorable perceptions of aging. Our findings suggest that
economic growth is less relevant in this regard than educational
enrollment and population aging. It has been argued that growing
numbers of older adults in Western nations may trigger intergen-
erational conflicts over limited resources (e.g., Silverstein, Parrott,
Angelelli, & Cook, 2000). In support of this idea, young adults
from cultures with a higher proportion of older adults reported less
favorable societal views on aging and smaller age-related increases
in family authority. However, our findings do not indicate a
uniformly negative effect of demographic change on aging per-
ceptions: Respondents from cultures with older and more educated
populations endorsed larger increases in wisdom with age.

In part, these results are consistent with revised forms of mod-
ernization theory that predict an association between advanced

societal development and cultural changes toward rational, toler-
ant, and participatory values (Inglehart & Baker, 2000). Conceiv-
ably, shifts toward progressive values may erode traditional no-
tions that older adults deserve respect and authority just because of
their age. Consistent with this idea, perceptions that family author-
ity increases with age were positively associated with embedded-
ness and hierarchy, but negatively associated with intellectual
autonomy and egalitarian commitment. A comparable though
weaker pattern was found for perceived respect. At the same time,
increasing emphasis on self-expression and individual well-being
may lead to greater appreciation of older adults’ experience-based
knowledge and greater concern for their well-being. In support of
this view, participants from cultures with greater emphasis on
self-expression (Inglehart & Norris, 2003) expected more positive
age trajectories in knowledge and life satisfaction, whereas cul-

Table 4
Summary of Mixed Models Examining the Effects of Culture-Level Associates on Different Aspects of Aging Perceptions

Models and predictors Attractiveness Everyday tasks New learning General knowledge

Unconditional means models

�00 �M1/(�M1 �
2) �00 �M1/(�M1 �

2) �00 �M1/(�M1 �
2) �00 �M1/(�M1 �

2)
Culture 0.172� .027 0.302� .077 0.268� .087 1.418� .112

Models adding culture-level
predictors �01 (�M1 � �M2)/�M1 �01 (�M1 � �M2)/�M1 �01 (�M1 � �M2)/�M1 �01 (�M1 � �M2)/�M1

Sociodemographic characteristics
(n � 26)

GDP .000 .020 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .009
% � 65 .001 .045 .000 .000 �.001 .000 .003 .000
Educ. �.010 .029 .000 .000 .000 .000 .003� .149

Hofstede (2001) value
dimensions (n � 26)

Power .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .022 �.002� .181
Uncert. .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .066 .000 .000
Indiv. .000 .000 .000 .000 .001 .056 .001 .068
Masc. .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000

Schwartz (1994) value types
(n � 26)

Emb. �.010 .000 .009 .000 .004 .000 �.056 .000
Aff. aut. .023 .057 .013 .000 .012 .000 .046 .036
Int. aut. �.009 .000 �.016 .000 �.023 .000 �.008 .000
Hier. �.011 .000 .011 .000 .001 .000 �.019 .000
Mast. .014 .000 .024 .000 .030 .000 .049 .000
Egal. �.014 .000 �.034 .000 .060 .071 .067 .037
Harm. �.005 .000 �.017 .000 �.011 .000 .001 .000

Inglehart & Norris (2003) values
(n � 24)

Sec. .009 .103 .019 .181 �.027� .303 �.015 .000
Self �.010 .042 �.010 .105 .026� .335 .028 .068

Terracciano et al. (2005)
national character
stereotypes (n � 25)

NNCS �.001 .115 �.001 .000 �.005
� .254 �.007� .227

ENCS .001 .113 �.001 .000 .003 .146 .003 .044
ONCS .000 .096 .000 .000 .004

� .211 .003 .032
ANCS .001 .094 .001 .000 .004 .155 .002 .000
CNCS .001 .113 .002 .000 .002 .077 .000 .000

Note. �00 � estimated intercept for unconditional means models; �01 � estimated fixed effects of culture-level associates; �M1 � �00 for unconditional
means models; �M2 � �00 for models including culture-level predictors; �M1/(�M1 �

2) � proportion of total variance in aging perceptions explained by
culture; (�M1 � �M2)/�M1 � proportion of explainable variation in culture-level means explained by a given culture-level predictor; Educ. � educational
enrollment; Power � power distance; Uncert. � uncertainty avoidance; Indiv. � individualism; Masc. � masculinity; Emb � embeddedness; Aff. aut. �
affective autonomy; Int. aut. � intellectual autonomy; Hier. � hierarchy; Mast. � mastery; Egal. � egalitarian committment; Harm. � harmony; Sec. �
secular-rational; Self � self-expression; NNCS, ENCS, ONCS, ANCS, CNCS � national character stereotypes of neuroticism, extraversion, openness,
agreeableness, and conscientiousness.
� p � .05.

950 LÖCKENHOFF ET AL.

tures with a traditional emphasis on status differences (power
distance; Hofstede, 2001) reported less favorable views of age
trajectories in general knowledge and wisdom.

In this context, we also explored the role of intergenerational
contact. At the individual level, more frequent contact with older
adults was associated with more positive aging perceptions. How-
ever, at the culture level, a higher proportion of older adults did not
translate into more frequent intergenerational contacts (r � �.11,
ns). This finding is consistent with the notion that modernizing
influences erode multigenerational family structures.

In contrast to values, which appear to be strongly intertwined
with sociodemographic variables, national character stereotypes
seem to have an association with aging perceptions that is rela-
tively independent of national wealth and population structure. In
fact, the single most consistent relation between culture-level

associates and aging perceptions is found for national character
stereotypes regarding levels of neuroticism (NNCS). As seen in
Table 4, NNCS accounts for close to 40% of the explainable
variance in societal views of aging across cultures. It appears that
the same mechanisms that lead people to stereotype the typical
member of their culture as high in negative emotionality would
also lead them to perceive their culture’s views of aging and
various aspects of the aging process more negatively. As men-
tioned above, national character stereotypes are not associated with
aggregate levels of personality, and research on their possible
sources is still in its infancy (McCrae, Terracciano, Realo, & Allik,
2007; Terracciano & McCrae, 2007). However, the association
between national character stereotypes and aging stereotypes ob-
served in the present study raises the possibility that other forms of
stereotyping (e.g., regarding gender or minority groups) may fol-

Table 4 (continued )

Wisdom Received respect Family authority Life satisfaction Societal views

�00 �M1/(�M1 �
2) �00 �M1/(�M1 �
2) �00 �M1/(�M1 �
2) �00 �M1/(�M1 �

2) �00 �M1/(�M1 �
2)

1.464� .155 1.436� .101 1.677� .120 1.683� .122 2.591� .136

�01 (�M1 � �M2)/�M1 �01 (�M1 � �M2)/�M1 �01 (�M1 � �M2)/�M1 �01 (�M1 � �M2)/�M1 �01 (�M1 � �M2)/�M1

.000 .000 .000 .102 .000 .056 .000 .000 .000 .077

.007� .123 �.006� .145 �.014� .229 �.008 .071 �.038� .242

.004� .249 �.003� .156 �.005� .140 .000 .000 �.010 .049

�.002� .270 .000 .000 .000 .000 �.002 .091 .004 .000
.000 .043 �.001 .106 �.003� .341 �.002� .213 �.080� .233
.001 .056 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 �.003 .000

�.001 .074 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000

�.087 .039 .117� .166 .256� .247 .034 .000 .567� .152
.042 .011 �.046 .041 �.094 .062 �.032 .000 �.212 .030
.022 .000 �.090� .122 �.229� .266 �.087 .014 �.520� .175

�.054 .052 .073� .204 .169� .326 .077 .058 .467� .352
�.012 .000 .137� .144 .225 .097 .165 .059 .497 .052

.089 .071 �.069 .049 �.179� .135 .053 .000 �.414 .090

.069 .018 �.086 .095 �.224� .228 �.123 .064 �.409 .079

�.017 .121 �.019 .098 �.029 .053 �.044 .200 .045 .050
.018 .134 �.005 .040 �.012 .017 .052� .279 �.12 .144

�.004 .065 �.006� .167 �.011� .122 �.010� .203 �.047 .395
.002 .025 .002 .009 .005 .000 .002 .035 .010 .000
.002 .014 .004 .069 .008 .040 .003 .038 .032 .138

�.001 .000 .004 .051 .004 .000 .002 .029 .043 .289
�.004 .037 .001 .000 .002 .000 .003 .031 .031 .078

951PERCEPTIONS OF AGING ACROSS 26 CULTURES

low similar cross-cultural patterns. This constitutes an important
direction for further research.

Broad East–West comparisons found a small but significant
effect, indicating that participants from Asian cultures do indeed
hold more positive societal views of aging than their Western
counterparts. However, this effect was qualified by the finding that
participants from Asian cultures show less favorable perceptions
of changes in wisdom. This explains some of the inconsistency in
the literature: Previous studies of East–West differences may have
arrived at divergent conclusions, depending on how much their
measures of aging attitudes emphasized wisdom versus general
societal views. The trajectories for wisdom also echo results by
Harwood et al. (2001), who found that older adults from mainland
China and Hong Kong reported less favorable age trajectories for
wisdom than their Western counterparts.7 Our analyses suggest
that the observed East–West differences are not only related to
differences in values or national character but also linked to
population structure. This implies that future studies examining
East–West differences need to control carefully for the influence
of sociodemographic factors.

There are, of course, a number of important limitations that need
to be considered when interpreting our findings. For one, our
measure of aging perceptions consists of a closed-ended list of
only eight trait ratings. Although the individual characteristics
were adapted from existing measures of aging perceptions, their
combined use with a uniform response format was not validated in
previous studies. Further, although we selected characteristics that
cover core aspects of physical, mental, and socioemotional aging,
the list is far from comprehensive. Moreover, although widely

used to assess stereotypical perceptions (e.g., Biernat & Crandall,
1996; Rosencranz & McNevin, 1969), quantitative trait lists and
etic approaches cannot fully capture the complexity of aging
perceptions and need to be supplemented by qualitative and
culture-centered approaches (e.g., Sharps, Price-Sharps, & Han-
son, 1998).

Another important limitation is the nature of our samples, which
were composed almost exclusively of university students and were
predominantly female. To some extent, using students was advan-
tageous because it ensured comparable distributions of age and
education across samples. However, using such young samples
limits the generalizability of our findings. It is therefore reassuring
to note that in a supplemental sample of 63 Italian adults who were
not college students (age range: 22–79, M � 37.13, SD � 12.05),
age was not significantly related to POA scores or societal views
on aging (range of correlations: �.15 � rp � .09, ps � .25).
Nevertheless, future studies should aim to recruit samples from the
general population that represent the whole adult life span. Our
findings are also limited by an underrepresentation of African and
Middle Eastern countries and the fact that even a sample of 26
cultures is still relatively small to examine culture-level associa-
tions.

7 Harwood et al. (2001) raised the concern that the Chinese version of
their questionnaires translated wisdom as chong ming (i.e., clever or smart)
instead of using the more appropriate zhi hui. The present study used the
latter term, suggesting that the effect is consistent across alternative trans-
lations.

20.015.010.05.00.0

% age 65+

0.50

0.00

-0.50

-1.00

S
oc

ie
ta

l V
ie

w
s

of
A

gi
ng

Argentina

Czech Republic
UK

Estonia

France

Hong Kong

New Zealand

Peru

Serbia

Swiss-French
Poland

RussiaIndia

Croatia

Portugal

Australia

China

Uganda

Chile

South Korea

Slovakia

USA

Malaysia

Italy
Japan

I.R. Iran

Figure 2. Culture-level association between population structure and societal views on aging.

952 LÖCKENHOFF ET AL.

Future studies in larger samples should also include a broader
range of value dimensions. The taxonomies by House et al. (2004),
Smith et al. (1996), or Leung and Bond (2004), as well as Diener
et al.’s (1995) culture-level scores on life satisfaction, could not be
included because their overlap with the present sample was too
small to allow for meaningful analyses. A related issue concerns
discrepancies in assessment times among the culture-level associ-
ates. Data on some of the value scales (e.g., Hofstede, 2001) were
collected more than a decade before the present study. Value
systems may change in response to historical events, and associ-
ations with aging perceptions might have differed if concurrent
data were available.

Finally, although our analyses address individual differences in
aging perceptions within a given culture, we do not account for
interindividual variability in cultural values and national character
stereotypes because these characteristics are aggregated at the
culture level. To address these issues, future studies should assess
both aging perceptions and cultural values at the individual level
and within the same sample of participants.

In spite of these limitations, our findings contribute to the
literature on cross-cultural patterns of aging perceptions by illus-
trating widespread similarities in perceptions of aging, describing
subtle variations within this general consensus, and exploring
culture-level associates of such variations. Most important, our
findings emphasize the benefits of considering multiple predictors
simultaneously and highlight the need for larger scale cross-
cultural studies that employ a broader range of measures. As
populations in nations across the world are aging (United Nations,
2007), societal perceptions of older adults and people’s expecta-
tions about their own aging process will influence the well-being
of older adults as well as policy decisions at the societal level. A
better understanding of cross-cultural differences in aging percep-
tions is a crucial resource in navigating these challenges.

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Received October 14, 2008
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Accepted May 4, 2009 �

954 LÖCKENHOFF ET AL.

I-Opener: Dress for Success (What? Why?!)

Drake Doumit and Steven Toaddy
Louisiana Tech University

Editor’s Note: This column explores an issue that may seem superficial on its face. Yet, for many, the is-
sue of how to dress at work comes with layers of economic, social, racial, religious, and gender context
that make it a difficult and stressful decision. The I-Opener columnists do a good job of acknowledging
that their perspective is limited to their own experience. I encourage you to share your own experiences
as well.

Work settings are associated with a variety of informal and formal dress codes—everything from casual
Friday to presentation attire—but we (our field and cognate fields) don’t seem to have a good reason to
have such codes. That is, why do people go to a different part of their wardrobes when they go to work
than when they go out in public otherwise? As an evidence-based, practice-heavy field, this state of
(thus-far-) unjustified guidelines, which constitute at least a cognitive burden on and perhaps addition-
ally a financial burden on (and contravention of individual expression for) individuals, is unsettling to us.
We strongly believe that these burdens have real negative impact on people’s experiences at work, es-
pecially for those whose lack of social or economic privilege prevent them from challenging such codes.
Without empirical support for their use, such dress codes are truly worrisome to us. So why are they in
use?

As is the pattern in this column, we turned to some SIOP members for their insights. We fully
acknowledge that this sample of perspectives does not cover the range of unique experiences people
may have with dress codes at work but hope that this narrow peek into the dress code world of I-O is of
some interest to you. We aim for this piece to be the beginning of a continued discussion on workplace
dress codes and wish to bring more perspectives to the conversation in the future.

A few caveats:

1. This is an unscientific approach to the topic. Enjoy the irony.1
2. We reached out to a bunch of people and heard back from fewer than is typical in these circum-

stances. We also offered to protect the identities of all respondents. We respect that sticking
one’s neck out here may be uncomfortable or dangerous and that we did little to assuage such
danger (and are writing from a biased stance). ::shrug::

3. There is research on attire in the workplace/interviews (Adomaitis & Johnson, 2005; Barrick,
Shaffer, & DeGrassi, 2009; Forsythe, Drake, & Cox, 1984; Galin & Benoliel, 1990; Karl, Hall, &
Peluchette, 2013; Karl, Peluchette, & Hall, 2016; Peluchette, Karl, & Rust, 2006; Vilnai-Yavetz &
Rafaeli, 2011; Warhurst & Nickson, 2007), but it is largely useful in answering questions of what
attire’s effect is, not whether attire should be a thing. Think, for an analog, of research on the
impact of applicant physical beauty on interview performance—we appreciate, from empirical
research, that it is a thing, but our reaction tends to be trying to lock down the interview process
to avoid this bias, not incorporating cosmetic surgery and cosmetics recommendations into our
consultancy portfolio. In the end, the research that has been done doesn’t help, in our opinion,
answer the question of “why do I-O people tolerate dress codes?”

4. We asked one question from many possible ones; specifically, we asked our respondents to re-
flect on the dress codes that are in effect (explicitly or implicitly) at their places of work. We did
this not because we were actually interested in those dress codes (though we did get some in-
teresting tidbits out of those) but rather because we wanted to follow up on that question with
two paths of follow-up considerations:

a. If you are responsible for setting these codes, do you have any justification for doing so?
If so, is that justification scientific? If not (to either question), how do you countenance
setting the codes?

b. If you are subject to these codes, how do you, as a member of a field that researches
such things (and thus as, more than the vast majority of other professionals, a candidate
for dissonance about the lack of justification for the same), you know, feel about them2?

Are There Dress Codes for I-O Folks?

Though, as we said, we’re more interested in the “why” than the “whether,” if there are no dress codes
(explicit or implicit), we’re barking up the wrong tree. So?

• An I-O psychologist at a large national retailer (hereinafter “Retail”) reported that, at their hippy
place of employment, people come in in shorts and flip-flops and have a very lenient dress code.
They note that at their retail locations (i.e., not the place of employment for most I-O folks), the
dress codes are lenient—focused on not promoting outside companies and wearing necessary
safety equipment.

• An academic (hereinafter “Academic”) shared that their code was quite formal/professional,
with most men wearing a suit3 and women wearing dresses or pants/blazer; rarely does one see
jeans, t-shirts, or sweaters.

• Anthony S. Boyce, partner in Aon’s Assessment, Selection, and Leadership practice, was the first
to explicitly point to a “policy” (viz. Business Casual) but noted that his office is veering towards
Smart Casual.4

• Robert Hogan, PhD, President, Hogan Assessment Systems,5 noted that, before 2000, his organi-
zation would expect coats and ties during client visits but that this has stopped, partly because
clients have dressed down so significantly. Presently, they leave people alone regarding dress
code as long as those people perform well; this results in a variety of levels of concern about ap-
pearance.

Okay, so everything from pretty much no dress code (Retail) to business casual/Smart Casual (Boyce) to
fairly strict formality (Academic), and then a shop where people are all over the map (Hogan). Notably,
some folks reported casual Fridays and the absence of any policy/expectation for offices that have no
client contact, so there’s nuance here as well.

Why Are There Dress Codes for I-O Folks?

Two major categories of answers here:

• Culture/tradition. Academic pointed out that there is nothing explicit about their dress “code”;
it’s just a practice carried out by others. Hogan described an intriguing system of status hierar-
chy, dress rules, maturation, and the distinction between informality and slovenliness (viz. that
what many call casual he sees more as slovenly); this deserves its own separate treatment but is
largely beyond the scope of this column; ask Hogan.6

• Instrumentality. Retail pointed out that the only regulation was to wear nothing offensive7;
Boyce and Hogan both pointed to wanting to demonstrate to clients that the I-O folks deserve

the clients’ money (Boyce)/the I-O folks need to look like adults to visit clients (Hogan); Aca-
demic teaches students (who dress formally) and would find it inappropriate to teach in sneak-
ers or jeans.

Notably, our respondents didn’t point to any theoretical/empirical work as a justification; though aca-
demic points out the work that indicates that formal attire leads to positive social outcomes, this doesn’t
seem to be the basis for the setting of these codes (at least according to those with whom we spoke).
Academic also pointed to fashion trends, which (a) are beyond our area of expertise and (b) may explain
the specific cut of a suit that a consultant wears but don’t, in our opinion, explain why the consultant is
wearing a suit in the first place.

What of the Trend Toward [Casual]8?

Boyce points out that society in general is trending away from formality, be it in language, silverware, or,
you know, attire. Hogan has resorted to picking his battles; those folks in research, IT, and marketing he
has given up on because they, largely, can’t embarrass him in public, while he will take it upon himself to
cart off promising consultants to a tailor in Tulsa to get them appropriate business attire so that they
won’t feel embarrassed in front of high-profile clients. Retail, who used to be subjected to formal dress
codes but is no longer, is all about the trend toward informality.9 Academic, who operates within a for-
mal workplace, thinks that people should be able to wear whatever they want as long as they are
dressed appropriately10 and thus thinks that the trend toward casual is a good one.

Concluding Thoughts

The “Why” section, above, carries the core of the content here. Here’s why: It is our presumption/asser-
tion that I-O advocates for basing practices in theory and/or evidence. We assume that this advocacy
points inwards as well—that is, that I-O thinks that I-O should use I-O to do I-O.11 Workplace-attire poli-
cies, as far as we can tell (as far as these folks reported), are not examples of such evidence-based prac-
tices, however. They could be, at least partially; if our respondents had said “well, the science indicates
that a consultant in a suit gets X% more from a client than a consultant in cargo shorts,” that would be
something. We (the authors) still wouldn’t be satisfied, as this would be comparable to “a consultant
with a lucky rabbit’s foot” or, troubling for an additional reason, “a white male consultant.” We want to
know not only that it works but also how it works, and as far as we can tell, our field simply isn’t there
yet.

But recall, we didn’t see that answer. Folks reported instrumentality (wowing clients, showing respect;
even Retail indicated that few would wear Birkenstocks to a board meeting) and culture/tradition, but
even the instrumentality was based on culture/tradition (not on science—even on what is available—
and particularly not on good theoretically anchored, causally descriptive science).

This topic is interesting to us for several reasons: because there is room for theoretical and empirical sci-
entific work here, because arbitrariness (or tradition) rub us the wrong way, and because this is an ac-
tual, costly, inconvenient thing. Retail points out that they worked in a hot climate where pantyhose and
suit jackets were (variously) required. In a previous I-Opener, the author reported some preliminary in-
formation about the cost of professional (above and beyond ordinary) attire for graduate students.

http://www.siop.org/tip/july17/iopen.aspx

Despite these inconveniences, employees and students are incentivized to conform to whichever dress
code their organization’s culture dictates. Choosing not to dress like one’s peers may not result in formal
reprimanding but could create an uncomfortable work environment for someone who doesn’t feel like
they fit in. Those who are uncomfortable with or inconvenienced by dress codes are left with a choice of
bearing the cost of conforming or facing the negative consequences of not doing so. This pressure to
conform can diminish diversity and discourage inclusivity in the workplace. In our opinion, those are val-
uable things to give up for seemingly arbitrary policies. There are other reasons, personal expression,
evidence of individual uniqueness, and of course a long discussion about why we wear casual clothing
outside of work (rather than suits, if we like them so much), but we’re running out of space here. As
usual, we ask the reader:

What do you think?
Does your experience match with those upon which we reported here?
If you have any, are your dress-code particulars justified?
Are those justifications based in science?

Notes

1 Irony in the sense that the lack of scientific evidence for dress codes is bothering us, not in the sense
that the I-Opener tends to be a result of science—which, for the record, it doesn’t.
2 The length of each of these four numbered points (including associated subordinate points but exclud-
ing citations) can be modeled perfectly by the equation y = 12 + (x-1) * 48, where x indicates the number
of the list element and y is the number of words in that element. You thought that we were haphazard
and extemporaneous in our writing. I mean, you’re mostly right.
3 But with no tie! Liberty, sweet liberty!
4 No t-shirts or sneakers, but nice jeans are okay.
5 The only of our respondents who indicated that this topic was interesting to him.
6 Seriously! As indicated, he’s interested in this—it’ll make for an engaging conversation (we promise).
We are likely doing Hogan a disservice in watering down his thoughts/passion here.
7 We chose to not dive down that particular rabbit hole.
8 Hogan would be resistant of our characterization of dress codes/trends moving toward “casual” attire,
we suspect.
9 ASA, anyone?
10 YMMV.
11 “I-O, I-O, get dressed for work, let’s go!” Get it, because it takes longer to put on dress clothes?

References

Adomaitis, A. D., & Johnson, K. K. (2005). Casual versus formal uniforms: flight attendants’ self-percep-
tions and perceived appraisals by others. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 23(2), 88-101.

Barrick, M. R., Shaffer, J. A., & DeGrassi, S. W. (2009). What you see may not be what you get: Relation-
ships among self-presentation tactics and ratings of interview and job performance. Journal of Ap-
plied Psychology, 94(6), 1394.

Forsythe, S. M., Drake, M. F., & Cox, C. A. (1984). Dress as an influence on the perceptions of manage-
ment characteristics in women. Home Economics Research Journal, 13(2), 112-121.

Galin, A., & Benoliel, B. (1990). Does the way you dress affect your performance rating. Personnel, 67(8),
49-52.

Karl, K. A., Hall, L. M., & Peluchette, J. V. (2013). City employee perceptions of the impact of dress and
appearance: You are what you wear. Public Personnel Management, 42(3), 452-470.

Karl, K., Peluchette, J. V. E., & Hall, L. M. (2016). Employee beliefs regarding the impact of unconven-
tional appearance on customers in Mexico and Turkey. Employee Relations, 38(2), 163-181.

Peluchette, J. V., Karl, K., & Rust, K. (2006). Dressing to impress: Beliefs and attitudes regarding work-
place attire. Journal of Business and Psychology, 21(1), 45-63.

Vilnai-Yavetz, I., & Rafaeli, A. (2011). The effects of a service provider’s messy appearance on customer
reactions. Services Marketing Quarterly, 32(3), 161-180.

Warhurst, C., & Nickson, D. (2007). Employee experience of aesthetic labour in retail and hospital-
ity. Work, Employment & Society, 21(1), 103-120.

SIOP in Washington: Advocating for I-O in Federal Public Policy

SIOP Weighs in on the Importance of Forensic Sciences
On August 4, SIOP joined several other scientific societies to sign on to a letter to leaders of the House
and Senate Appropriations Committees, urging them to reject deep cuts to forensic science research at
the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) that were proposed by President Trump’s fis-
cal year (FY) 2018 budget request. NIST is the federal government’s foremost agency for forensics re-
search and the coordination of standards among law enforcement and scientific communities, and has
recently supported I-O research as it relates to the topic. By signing on to this letter, SIOP is joining fel-
low leaders in the scientific community to protect these critical investments.

Jill Bradley-Geist, University of Colorado Colorado Springs,
and Bill Ruch, Lewis-Burke Associates LLC

Since July 2013, SIOP and Lewis-Burke Associates LLC have collaborated to make I-O science and research ac-
cessible to federal and congressional policy makers. SIOP has embedded a foundational government relations
infrastructure within the organization, enabling SIOP to develop an authoritative voice as a stakeholder in sci-
ence policy in Washington, DC and to promote SIOP as a vital resource for evidence-based decision making.

file://192.168.111.54/Tip/______October%202017/siop.org/tip/oct17/ForensicScience

Copyright of TIP: The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist is the property of Society for
Industrial & Organizational Psychology and its content may not be copied or emailed to
multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission.
However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

The Global

Studies Journal

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VOLUME 5 ISSUE

2

__________________________________________________________________________

Global Citizens, Cross-Cultural
Exchange and Individual Agency
BORISLAVA MANOJLOVIC

THE GLOBAL STUDIES JOURNAL

http://onglobalisation.com/

First published in 2013 in Champaign, Illinois, USA
by Common Ground Publishing
University of Illinois Research Park
2001 South First St, Suite 202
Champaign, IL 61820 USA

www.CommonGroundPublishing.com

ISSN: 1835-4432

© 2013 (individual papers), the author(s)
© 2013 (selection and editorial matter) Common Ground

All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under
the applicable copyright legislation, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process without written
permission from the publisher. For permissions and other inquiries, please contact
.

The Global Studies Journal is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.

Typeset in CGScholar.
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Global Citizens, Cross-Cultural Exchange and
Individual Agency

Borislava Manojlovic, George Mason University, VA, USA

Abstract: Humans communicate to bring forth meanings that they want to share with others;
they crave communication and interaction, which makes them the social beings that they are

.

However, this interaction does not occur in a void but is rather actualized around salient themes.
This article focuses on what happens when humans find themselves in contexts where their
socio-cultural code do not apply and their models of communication and agency need to adapt.
It observes that participating subjects strengthen their capacity to produce and share meaning
across cultural divides by clustering around salient themes. Based on the analysis of the respond-
ents’ narratives, this study uncovers the relevant skills and attitudes that make it possible for
individuals to be actively involved in research in culturally diverse contexts as well as some of
the major challenges that they need to overcome.

Keywords: Cross-Cultural Exchange, Cultural Models, Global Citizenship, Individual Agency

INTRODUCTION

A
daptation is becoming prevalent in the age of globalization as the world interlinks
through multiple and dynamical networks, migration and global movements. The rise
of Occupy and anti-globalization movements that are championing their causes and
attracting support across the globe regardless of diverse cultural and political contexts
is just one example of this phenomenon. Although there is a continuous tension that

globalization itself has generated between local and global levels, inability to adapt to the
global change is simply not an easy option at this time and age. Because the inability to move
forward usually means not only stagnation, but also moving backward, non-adaptation must
take the form of an intentional resistance (Hoffman & Casnocha, 2012). Being a citizen in a
certain town or a country is not only a matter of that particular locale, its values and norms,
but it has to be “reconceptualized based on new global events” (Andrzejewski, 1996). Global
citizenship implies understanding and respect for fellow human beings regardless of their na-
tionality, race, gender, or age. Being a global citizen comes with certain challenges that will be
examined in this article by focusing on cross-cultural exchange of students/researchers from
the US and the countries of former Yugoslavia.

The goal is to find out how students/researchers navigate the value-belief and cultural nuances
in diverse settings and what challenges they come across as global citizens in a dynamic and
interconnected world. According to Noddings (2005), a global citizen is someone who can
work successfully anywhere in the world, supported by a global way of life. This process creates
new forms of cultural, national, and global identifications, values and beliefs that are the focus
of this article. Therefore, this article is an attempt to contribute to the debate of how people,
texts, identities and cultural models move and become combined in a global world and what
happens when they hook up with other contexts and networks.

Stephens, Markus and Townsend (2007) posit that individuals’ choice of cultural models of
agency is determined by social class. They frame their study around two major cultural models

The Global Studies Journal
Volume 5, Issue 2, 2013, http://onglobalisation.com/,

ISSN 1835-4432

© Common Ground, Borislava Manojlovic, All Rights Reserved, Permissions:
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of agency in the US, comparing cultural models of students belonging to lower social strata to
those that are more affluent. Independent model of agency emphasizes importance of individual’s
independent actions from others as well as independent interpretations of those actions. Inde-
pendence is a feature of culture that promotes independent norms, behavior and expectations.
On the other hand, interdependent cultural model stresses the importance of individual actions
that are interdependent and intertwined with the actions of other members of a particular
community. In interdependent model, the emphasis is on social and communal ties. Their ex-
planation goes as far as claiming that the US universities represent major hubs that promote
the independent model of agency, which puts the students from the lower social strata in a
more disadvantaged position, since it is the more affluent that usually find it easier to align
their values and attitudes with the independent cultural model.

This article attempts to go beyond Stephens et al. claims in an effort to examine other factors
that may affect people’s cultural models, particularly when they find themselves in culturally
diverse environments. It does not seek to test a hypothesis based on a particular set of variables,
but it rather focuses on an in-depth understanding of people’s experiences and practices by
examining their own perspectives, narratives and views related to the global phenomena of re-
search, interaction and cultural exchange in diverse cultural contexts. The data analysis will,
therefore, draw on constructivist theory (Flick, 2009) contending that theoretical formulations
should follow a careful analysis of people’s experiences historically understood. Constructivism
implies an important point of departure for this research emphasizing views and perspectives,
which are socially conditioned and therefore susceptible to change.

Procedure

After explaining the nature, ethical aspects of research and what the interview entails, the author
asked the participants several open-ended questions intended to elicit narratives and perspective
related to the research question of how changing places, interaction, research and learning in
diverse environments affect participants’ cultural models. Specifically, the participants were
asked to expound on how they accommodated to and managed cultural diversity, what were
the challenges, and how exposure to diverse cultural settings affected their subsequent agency
in the communities of their origin. The respondents were chosen using snowballing technique
in the pool of students/researchers from the Balkans and the US whose work has been connected
to the field of conflict analysis and resolution. Five participants were from the Balkans region
and five were from the US. Each interview was audio-taped, conducted in English and transcribed
verbatim. The author of this article conducted six interviews via Skype and four were conducted
in person. After eliciting comprehensive narratives from the ten participants, the author con-
ducted thematic discourse analysis (Burman & Parker, 1993; Singer & Hunter, 1999) of inter-
view transcripts and extracted significant themes organizing them into clusters (Smith et al.,
1995). To increase the reliability of coding procedure and corroborate the saliency of themes,
two colleagues were also asked to code the transcripts.

Analysis

The transcripts were read and re-read and five major themes emerged: 1) unpreparedness; 2)
gender sensitivity; 3) change and adaptability; 4) individual versus communal culture; and 5)
dissonance between actual and expected. Interestingly, these five themes that emerged from
respondents’ narratives did not only function as the building blocks that structured respondents’
experience abroad, but they also seemed important for the construction of the their identity.
It might be argued that the experience of cultural displacement heightened the need for attending
to such salient themes.

2
THE GLOBAL STUDIES JOURNAL

Unpreparedness

The majority of the participants emphasized their unpreparedness, lack of cultural training and
exposure prior to coming to different contexts; they also stressed the difficulties of learning
from scratch on the ground. Lack of previous training made some of the participants uncom-
fortable and conscious of being outsiders. As one of the participants pointed out: “It was like
sending someone into another culture and seeing what happens. I was aware of the main faux
pas, but I still stuck out as I was so obviously unfamiliar with the culture.” The theme of un-
preparedness is related to the wider discourses of estrangement and isolation of a modern
globetrotter in new cultural contexts unable to either grasp or adapt to certain norms. However,
it is not the unwillingness that prevents them to adapt but rather ignorance of how-to-strategies
that stand in the way of change and adaptation. As one of the interviewees recounted: “I try
to adapt to whatever the cultural norms are, rather than saying this is the way I do things because
I am an American. But this is often not enough.”

An interesting storyline about the importance and politicization of language was traced in
the narratives of the US respondents. For the US respondents, language represented a challenge
particularly in the rural areas of their host country, as the people in urban areas mostly spoke
English. Local language proficiency is extremely relevant in peace camps and non-violent
communication training, and the participants see it as crucial in doing the conflict resolution
work. Politicization of language is yet another challenge faced by the researchers and it refers
to the use of different accents or dialects that can be seen as hostile to particular groups and
identities of the host country. According to one of the participants: “I became acutely aware
that saying milk or bread in a different dialect can get you some terrible glares, so I tried to
learn those language differences first.” The language as such did not feature as an important
topic in the responses of the students/researchers from the Balkans as they used English in their
countries of origin and did not come across any difficulties in communicating while in the US.

Gender Sensitivity

The theme of gender sensitivity mostly emerged and remained salient in the narratives of the
US students/researchers. One of the participants reflected on her experience in Bosnia where
her fiancé and she were working with orphaned children: “I sat down on the ground with
nurses and kids, but when my fiancé came in the room and wanted to sit on the ground, they
gave him a chair and said that he should sit on a chair being a man.” Majority of US respondents
also noted that being forthcoming and independent often clashed with local norms of behavior.
In the Balkans, there is a specific role for women as caretakers and stay-at-home creators of
the family. The role of women as mothers and wives is prevalent in the Balkans, while men are
considered the protectors of the family and breadwinners. According to another US participant:
“The father of the family was shocked to learn that I was living by myself in college and that
I went home once every few months…When I came in their house, took off my shoes and
started walking without socks on their tile floor, the grandmother freaked out and begged me
to put on the socks, telling me that I would never have children unless I do so”. Being know-
ledgeable about gender nuances can have a significant impact not only on the way we interact
with the new culture, but it can importantly determine the efficacy of our work in a certain
context.

Individual versus Communal Culture

The theme of individual versus communal culture emerged in the narratives of the majority of
participants, both from the US and the Balkans. Both groups of respondents mostly point to
the superficiality of relationships among friends in the US, while the connections with family
members are not as deep as those in the Balkans. One of the respondents explained: “I think

3

MANOJLOVIC: GLOBAL CITIZENS, CROSS-CULTURAL EXCHANGE AND INDIVIDUAL AGENCY

that people in the US are very loose in terms how they use the term friend; friends that really
take care of each other, as a support system and community, are not as common. If I were in
a dire situation, I wonder how many friends would be there for me.” Another participant added:
“When I am in Bosnia, I have a feeling that that there is a constant community and care around.
It feels more welcoming and much more of a community.” The attitude “this is not my business”
is ingrained in the individualist cultural model, which often clashes with a more communally
interdependent models of Yugoslavia’s former territories.

The theme of individualistic versus communal culture is often related to the discourse of
caring and belonging to the family. According to one of the US participants: “While it is very
easy for children in the US to leave and look for a job or go to college when they are eighteen,
in Bosnia, the youths feel that they need to be around and take care of their families.” The
discourse of caring for the family is closely related not only to the communal, interdependent
cultural model, but also to the respondents’ respective religious and ethnic identities. The reli-
gious and ethnic identities are often viewed as a key “form of social and discursive existence”
(Butler 1997: 26) by the respondents from the Balkans. On the other hand, the US participants
acknowledge that the connection between ethnic, religious and family identity maybe somewhat
diluted for them because their society is perceived as being a melting pot.

The participants coming from the former Yugoslavia reflected on differences in cultural
models by pointing to the anecdotal instances of cultural interaction. One of the respondents
commented: “Complete strangers smile at you when you are in the street and I was wondering
what they really want. Small things like sneezing are almost a ritual in the US. If you sneeze in
Croatia, you just sneeze, and here you have to turn away and say excuse me. People are more
polite here. In our culture, when you are too polite, you are considered a phony.” The theme
of individual versus communal is not as clearly delineated as in the responses of their US
counterparts, which points to their ambiguous relationship towards the cultural coda they en-
countered in the US. As one of the participants from former Yugoslavia explained: “I think
that Americans are encouraged to be individual and make individual choices, but on the other
hand, they have a strong sense of community, which is similar to my country. Volunteering is
very developed as well as handing out to other members of community. In the US, there is a
combination of things.” The US respondents have also noted certain similarities between cultures:
“Culturally, Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia, are all very hospitable, which resonates with my own
background as I was raised in a Southern family and the hospitality was part of my upbringing
and was very important to me.” Different cultural models of modern globetrotters can be a
challenge, which is particularly evident in the initial cultural encounters. Most of the participants
in this study have dealt with such challenges by attributing them anecdotal and local character
that constitutes the richness of a particular culture.

Dissonance between Actual and Expected

Most of the respondents point out that the difference between reading about a case in the liter-
ature, and actually visiting and doing research in a particular place was monumental. As one
of the participants emphasized: “In the US, you can only hear the narratives people want you
to hear. Hearing the narratives of different people on the ground was one of the greatest exper-
iences. The most striking thing was the difference between what I was expecting and what I
saw, especially with youth.” Many participants from the US noted that they were expecting
people’s narratives to be very polar and diverse in post-conflict contexts, but what they en-
countered, especially with the youth, was that their narratives actually complemented each
other and were very similar. According to one of the US respondents: “When crossing from
Banja Luka to Sanski Most, I was expecting huge differences, but that was not the case. I did
a peace camp with Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, and it was fascinating how they all
agreed with each other.” Some of the major challenges and obstacles in adapting to a new

4

THE GLOBAL STUDIES JOURNAL

context have not only been researchers’ own stereotypes and generalizations about the host
country and its people, but also lack of awareness about the perceptions that the local population
had about a researcher who was coming from a particular culture. For example, the American
respondents pointed out that being an American often made their interlocutors on-guard and
difficult to open up. Even though they tried to separate their identity of being an American
from being a researcher, the people responded with an increased awareness gauging their re-
sponses in distrust.

Change and Adaptability

The theme of change and adaptability features in narratives of respondents from both groups.
Learning about the case and the region’s history in a contemplative, anthropological and soci-
ological manner is recognized as crucial in connecting the researcher to the context and culture.
Many respondents mention standing at odds with cultural nuances they encountered, but also
simultaneously showing incredible adaptability and willingness to change. Majority of the
participants indicate change in their perceptions and behavior upon return to their countries
of origin. One of the respondents pointed out: “In our education system, we are thought that
there is a winner and a looser. When I went to the region, I realized that there are no winners;
everybody lost something substantial in the war whether it is identity, physical property, lives…
Nobody came out on the top. Bosnia is now cut in half. When I came back to the US, I was so
ashamed of myself because I did not let the people tell me their story. Without thinking about
it, I have silenced a group of people because I made up my mind about them beforehand.”
Open mind and attentiveness to cultural nuances is key in becoming a global citizen, and it has
a particular value in conducting research overseas in conflict-stricken regions.

Conclusion

Five major overall themes were identified from the data including responses of students/research-
ers from both the US and the former Yugoslavia. The analysis of the interview transcripts
tackled some of the relevant skills and attitudes that made it possible for individuals to be actively
involved in research in culturally diverse and dynamical contexts. Some of the major challenges
discussed by the respondents are unpreparedness, insufficient language proficiency, and the
lack of cultural training and exposure before coming to different cultural contexts. Education
and training related to issues of global citizenship with emphasis on emerging global trends,
skills and challenges could therefore be seen as key for the development of understanding ne-
cessary not only for researchers, but also any individual engaging in intercultural exchange.
Both groups of respondents mostly point to the stronger interpersonal and family connections
in the cultures characterized as communal or interdependent. However, this should not neces-
sarily represent an insurmountable obstacle for the new-comers who need to recognize adapt-
ability, open-mindedness, attentiveness to cultural nuances and ability to navigate multiple
identities as crucial skills for doing work in diverse cultural contexts. They represent a possible
response to the question of how we can prepare to tackle the challenges of globalization and
what skills are necessary to live effectively in the world that is becoming more dynamic as we
speak. As John Dewey (1916) posits, education for global citizenship should be grounded in
the personal experiences of the individuals, and therefore, this article can be seen as a contribu-
tion in the direction of systematization of knowledge about the main challenges, best practices
and skills that individuals working and researching in an increasingly complex and interconnected
world need to be aware of.

.

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MANOJLOVIC: GLOBAL CITIZENS, CROSS-CULTURAL EXCHANGE AND INDIVIDUAL AGENCY

REFERENCES

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sion and Social Justice: Critical Frameworks, Ed. Andrzejewski, J. Needham Heights,
MA: Simon and Schuster, pp. 3–9.

Burman, E., and I. Parker, eds. 1993. Discourse Analytic Research: Repertoires and Readings
of Texts in Action. London: Routledge.

Butler, J. 1997. Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative. New York: Routledge.
Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and Education. New York: The Free Press.
Flick, U. 2009. An Introduction to Qualitative Research. London: Sage publications.
Hoffman, R., and B. Casnocha. 2012. The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in

Yourself, and Transform Your Career. Random House Digital, Inc.
Noddings, N. 2005. Global citizenship: Promises and Problems. In N. Noddings (Ed.), Educating

Citizens for Global Awareness (pp. 1–21). New York: Teachers College Press.
Rapoport, A. 2009. A Forgotten Concept: Global Citizenship Education and State Social

Studies Standards. Journal of Social Studies Research 33 (1), 75–93.
Singer, D., and M. Hunter. 1999. “The Experience of Premature Menopause: a Thematic Dis-

course Analysis.” Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology 17 (1): 63.
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In Rethinking Psychology, pp. 59–69. London: Sage Publications.
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The Case of Social Class.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Journal of
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Borislava Manojlovic: Borislava Manojlovic is a PhD Candidate, Research Associate and Drucie
French Cumbie Fellow at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason
University. Her research focuses on cultural diversity, history education, memory and reconcili-
ation. As a conflict resolution practitioner, she has worked for seven years with the UN and
the OSCE missions in Croatia and Kosovo.

6

THE GLOBAL STUDIES JOURNAL

The Global Studies Journal is devoted to mapping
and interpreting new trends and patterns in
globalization. This journal attempts to do this from
many points of view, from many locations in the world,
and in a wide-angle kaleidoscopic fashion.

Intellectually, the journal takes three steps: the first
is a “this-worldly” step, mapping the details and
extrapolating to big picture analyses in order to interpret
what is at times challenging, dangerous and excitingly
positive about the “New Globalization”. The second step
is to set this New Globalization in the context of earlier
globalizations – what are the continuities, and what is
genuinely new? The third step is to re-examine and
redefine the very concept of globalization – in theoretical,
anthropological and philosophical terms. The journal
works between fastidiously empirical and profoundly
generalizing modes of engagement, analyzing one of
the central phenomena of our contemporary existence.

The Global Studies Journal is a peer-reviewed scholarly
journal.

ISSN 1835-4432

Copyright of Global Studies Journal is the property of Common Ground Publishing and its
content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the
copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email
articles for individual use.

Review of General Management, Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 119

EMPLOYEES’ VALUE REFLECTED IN THE INCOME

FROM SALARY NEGOTIATION STRATEGY

Oriana Helena NEGULESCU
*

Abstract: The information technology allows today the job seekers to access

information not only about the job, but also about the working conditions offered.
This option allows the employee to choose the job offers that better meet their

needs. The companies seeking for the best employees and trying to keep them

inside are offering important compensations apart of the salary. Nevertheless, most
of them are aware that their employees are the most valuable intangible asset of

the company and are treating them accordingly. In this context, the paper is willing

to present what is the employees’ value for the companies, to analyze three

strategies for the income from salary negotiation based on the literature, to
describe the negotiation framework and to propose a conceptual framework for the

negotiation strategy.

Kewords: employees’ value; income from salary; compensations; negotiation
strategy

JEL Classification: E24, J21, A13, O15, J33, M12, M52

1. Introduction

The business world is facing a new labor market paradigm that puts

pressure on companies (Finkelstein, 2018), briefly characterized by:

 Unemployment is near an all-time low. A low unemployment rate
means a lower supply of workers which means it‟s harder for

companies to hire workers.

*
Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Legal, economic and administrative sciences,

Brasov, email: bellatrix360@yahoo.fr.

Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 Review of General Management 120

 Workplace transparency is at an all-time high. This puts exceedingly
more pressure on companies actually being a great place to work and

treating people well is now table stakes.

 Personal computing power is at an all-time high and accelerating.
The ultimate goal of any company is to create profit by fighting for

markets or market niches with competitors. The company’s success

lies in the quality-value-loyalty chain (Parasuraman & Grewal,

2000), which combines at least the technology used, the customer

satisfaction and the value of the staff.

 However, the new battlefield is as much for talented people as it is
for key customers. Companies need to apply the same rigor to people

management as they do to customer management (Michaels et al.,

2001).

The value of the human resources is the most powerful factor in

differentiating the competitive advantage of companies. “People are definitely

a company‟s greatest asset. It doesn‟t make any difference whether the

product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it

keeps.” (Mary Kay Ash, 1984). The employees‟ value is an intangible asset

that contributes to the value of the company and to the profit. “The most

valuable asset of a 21st-century institution, whether business or non-business,

will be its knowledge workers and their productivity” (Drucker, 2013). The

employees are encouraged to continuously learn, to apply and develop their

knowledge, by means of developing their innovation and conception

competences (Dragomir, C., 2017, p. 33)

Many companies, especially multinationals, say the value of

employees is a priority in management and introduced the concept of

proposition of value. The term “employee value proposition” properly puts

the burden on the company to develop a proposition of value to the people it

needs (Wagner, 2017). In fact, this is a management strategy that manages

employees at different levels of the company. An employee‟s value

proposition is nothing but the sum total of the offerings a company offers to

its prospective and current employees so as to elicit their best efforts. It is

the totality of tools that employers implement to be able to attract, retain,

engage and develop employees (Sushman,

2017).

The changes in the labor market switching from the employers’ power

to the power of employees, and unemployment reduction, on the other hand,

make companies change their selection and recruitment strategy with costs

Review of General Management, Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 121

as low as possible (Stefanescu, 2017, 17). The candidates and employees, on

the other hand, will need to accumulate wage and other compensation

bargaining skills to be motivated to remain loyal to the company.

In any case, companies have to treat their employees as their clients to

win in front of the competition. “There is a strong link between customer

loyalty and employees. In short, customer loyalty increases sales and profit

potential, and leads to higher employee salaries and lower training costs.

Increased pay boosts employee morale and commitment; as employees stay

longer, their productivity goes up and training costs fall; employees’ overall

job satisfaction, combined with their experience, helps them serve

customers better; and customers are then more inclined to stay loyal to the

company” (Reichheld, 1993).

Nevertheless, the company‟s strategy depends on its management

politics:

 When employees have supportive managers, are well compensated
and well recognized, are not burned out by excessive demands,

have transparent and passionate leadership, and get opportunities

for professional growth, they become loyal workers (Wagner,

2017).

 For the human resources policy to meet the organization‟s goals, it

is necessary that it reflect the organization‟s thinking regarding
how people should be treated (Panzaru, S., 2016, p.62).

 It takes more than just paying competitive wages for an employer
to show that it values its employees. The most effective strategy for

companies to value workers is a blend of tangible and intangible

rewards and recognition (Mayhew, 2018).

 All in all, the employees, working at any level, are the eyes and
ears of any organization. The real fuel and energy behind a

company‟s growth and success comes from its people or the

workforce. It‟s important to keep the employees delighted and

contended to make sure that the organization does not lose on its

customers, profits, and most importantly market value (Shethna,

2017).

 The labour is the most expensive and valuable resource at most
companies. Managing that resource by time and place is an

unproven, inefficient and costly approach that fails to measure what

really matters: results (Mulcahy, 2017).

http://www.success.com/article/why-a-compassionate-leader-gets-results

http://www.success.com/article/why-a-compassionate-leader-gets-results

Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 Review of General Management 122

2. The strategy to negotiate the income from salary

The salary income negotiation takes place between two parties: the

candidate for a job or the existing employee and the company’s

representative, who may be the human resources manager, the recruitment

manager, the direct manager, or a senior manager.

The position of the two parties is different because the candidate seeks

to get a higher salary as well as other compensations, and the person who

represents the company seeks, on one hand, to maintain the balance of the

human resources‟ costs and, on the other hand, to enrich the company with

new performant employees and keeping the trained employees, in order to

bring in the future more added value to the company. In addition to the

salary, some companies offer a number of compensations, including: health

benefits, paid-for-off, options to work remotely, different perks (such as

gym membership or parking garage fees), bonus for moving to another

location, and growth potential over time “(Lypsey,

2016).

By comparison, the candidates and employees request such

compensations to alert the level of education, experience, aptitude, skills,

performance and loyalty, which should be highlighted.

Under these circumstances, the salary income bargaining is a difficult

and risky process, both for the company and for the candidate or employee.

The three main strategies applied in practice (the candidate, the

employee and the company‟s one) are further analyzed.

1. Candidate strategy

The proposed strategies for wage bargaining by job seekers (Madell,

2017; Snider, 2017, King, 2018; Hansen, 2018; Koenig, 2018) include in the

synthesis the preparation for negotiation and the negotiation:

• Preparation for negotiation:

– informing about the salary level in the company’s industry,

comparing a possible income with personal expenses and preparing the

salary and compensation variants;

– Assessing your own skills, experience and knowledge in the balance

with the requirements of the job description and setting in mind the salary

and compensations to be accepted.

• Negotiation: listening, explanation, calm, watching the whole picture

and defensive thinking in mind.

Review of General Management, Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 123

There are situations where the candidate does not ask about salary,

does not want to negotiate to get different benefits and the company offers

him a salary below the market rate (Lypsey, 2016). In this situation, the

recruitment manager may decide to hire the candidate for a specified period

(eg one month) to see how he / she responds to the job requirements.

There are also situations where the candidate asks for a salary higher

than the value of the job. “Sometimes, it’s the candidate who has unrealistic

salary expectations” (Lypsey, 2016). In this situation, the recruiting manager

seeks to understand the circumstances in which the candidate has reached

that amount and bring it to reality by additional questions and break times.

2. Employee strategy

If the employee gets a good grade in his assessment, he is tempted to

negotiate a higher salary, compensation or promotion on a higher position.

a) Salary
In the negotiation process, employees must be confident in their

abilities (not to be afraid) and convinced that they do not want enormous

salaries but only adapted to the corresponding salary on the labor market

(Zhang, 2018). On the other hand, they need to figure out the market value

of their skills and experience, but to be informed about the financial

situation of the company (Koenig, 2018).

b) Compensations
If the company does not afford financially to increase wages,

compensation is often more advantageous in that it relieves the employee‟s

costs, such as: the cost of studies, the cost of an additional leave, the cost of

transport to and from location of the company, cost of accident insurance

and others. The employees have to map their request to the goals and needs

of the organization (Koenig, 2018).

c) Career promotion
The career advancement is a privilege, not a right and means a new

role, new responsibilities, more authority and more rewards. When you earn

a promotion, it means that the people above you have faith in your abilities

and who you are as a professional (Scivicque, 2018).

Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 Review of General Management 124

In both situations, the employee must be aware that in order to gain

new advantages or privileges, he / she will have to sacrifice time and effort

and show commitment to the company.

3.Company strategy

The manager’s strategy that negotiates with a candidate or employee

depends on the company’s overall strategy and policies. From this point of

view, there are different types of companies and strategies, but they can be

grouped in 3 categories:

 Companies that provide salaries above the average wages in the
industry, especially for specialized personnel to maintain them

(Stefanescu, 2017, 18);

 Companies that offer a lower salary but, depending on
performance, compensate employees with regular extra gains and

other compensations;

 Companies that have fixed a fixed salary for each post and who do
not offer compensation. “If the employer refuses to negotiate the

salary it demonstrates an unwillingness to cooperate” (Lypsey,

2016).

In the first two strategies, depending on the negotiations and budget

flexibility, companies need to resize their salary budgets and / or spending

budgets with employees‟ compensations.

3. The general framework for negotiations

The process of wage and compensation negotiation can be divided

into two components or moments: in the selection for employment and

during the engagement (the person as employee). Also, people who are

employed are grouped according to their place of work: in offices and

production and sales locations.

The general framework of the negotiations includes: the selection of

candidates and the specific criteria of the two groups of employees, the

employees’ requirements for their own benefits and the company’s benefits

if they meet their requirements (fig.1).

The criteria considered for the candidates could be:

Review of General Management, Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 125

 For offices jobs: carrier journey; candidate Experience; fit &

personalization and, interview; finally, the best fit candidates are

prioritized (Finkelstein, 2018).

 For production and sales work place: carrier journey; candidate

experience; interview; practical work and, time & location

acceptance (workshop and sales place).

The general framework of the negotiations also includes: the

employees‟ expectations or requirements and the company‟s benefits if it is

taking into account the employees‟ desire.

The employees’

expectations

 For offices jobs: early salary review (such as annually increase

according to the performance); rewards (such as money in addition

for a finalized project); tech & equipment (such as phone, laptop or

car, depending on the tasks and position); feed-back

(communication during the activity); social interaction (such as

week-ends with all staff); recognition for a higher position (the

opportunity for professional development or title); remote work or

flexible time (the opportunity to work from home or having flexible

time for working); vacation & leave time paid; parental leave paid.

 Increasingly more, some of the staff is requiring free time to think

and work in quite location, like at home and to be valued according

to the results and deliverables instead of spending the working time

in the office space. This means trust from the employer and

interpersonal communication by using IT devices (Mulcahy, 2017;

Sinatra, 2018).

 For production and sales work place: fair wages (the wage

according to the effort); rewards (such as money in addition for

productivity and quality or for sales in addition compared with the

target); bonuses (such as buying some items produced in the

company at the production cost); feed-back; coaching (when new

technology or procedure is implemented); working conditions

(such as lack of pollution, safety and healthy working

environment); recognition for the performance; vacation & leave

time paid; parental leave.

Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 Review of General Management 126

Fig. 1. The income from salary negotiation framework

The employers’ benefits

Even if the employers are offering salaries/wages under the industry

rate, the employees could be much happier with getting different

compensations. In this case, the companies will benefit from the white

Top &

Executive Management

Offices
work place

Production & sales
work place

Candidates’

selection

Fair wages
Rewards
Bonuses
Feed back
Coaching
Working conditions
Recognition for performance
Vacation & leave time paid

Parental leave

Criteria:
-Carrier journey
-Candidate Experience
-Fit & Personalization
-Interview

Criteria:
-Carrier journey
-Candidate

Experience
-Interview
-Practical work
-Time & location

acceptance

Early salary review
Rewards
Tech & equipment
Feed back
Social interaction
Recognition for a higher
position
Remote work or flex time
Vacation & leave time paid

Parental leave

Employees

expectations

Better ideas, results and
deliverables
Lower costs
Higher performance

Higher productivity & quality
Lower costs
Higher profits
Competitive advantage

Employers

benefits

Review of General Management, Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 127

collars of better ideas and results or deliverables, lower costs and higher

performance and from workers of higher productivity & quality, lower costs

and higher profits and, competitive advantage.

Considering that the personnel is the most valuable company‟s asset,

having satisfied and committed people in the company is really a big deal.

4. Bargaining strategy

Most of the companies are using, at least annually, the personnel

evaluation process to know how their employees are responding to the job

description requirements and how they perform according to the imposed

tasks. Depending on the company‟s size, the evaluation is realized by the

top manager, HR (human resource) manager or the direct or superior

executive manager.

Having the results of the personnel evaluation, the managers are going

to negotiate or re-negotiate the employees‟ income from salary at their

request or at the Union request (if it exists). During this negotiation process

the two parties (employee and employer‟s representative) are using different

strategies (fig. 2).

Employee’s strategy

The employee‟s strategy consists in the following steps:

 Learn about industry wages & compensations market rate to see
what level of salary the employee need to have in his/her mind for the

negotiation;

 Compare the cost of living with the industry rate to know what level
of salary he/she

needs;

 Fair valuate own skills & knowledge to know if the employer may
be satisfied of his/her results obtained;

 Fairly negotiate in steps

 negotiate the salary/wage; the employee has to try to obtain a
higher salary, but if the company doesn‟t afford it he/she has not

to insist on the subject;

 negotiate compensations; sometimes the compensations are
more useful than the salary and the employee may insist on

getting more advantages;

Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 Review of General Management 128

 Get the mutual agreement as a compromise between employee‟s
application and the employer‟s representative acceptance at the bargaining

table.

Fig. 2 Conceptual framework of the income from salary negotiation strategy

Employer’s strategy

The employer‟s strategy includes 6 steps:

 Read the evaluation to know about the employee‟s performance and
professional evolution;

 Learn about the limits of wages fund of the company;

Management

Employee Evaluation Negotiation

Bargaining table strategies

• Learn about industry wages &
compensations market rate
• Compare the cost of living with the
industry rate
• Fair valuate own skills &
knowledge
• Fairly negotiate in steps
– Negotiate salary/wage
– Negotiate compensations
• Get the mutual agreement

• Read the evaluation
• Learn about the limits of wages
fund
• Learn about the limits of
compensations expenses
• Learn about the company needs
for such employee
• Fairly start to negotiate
• Get the mutual agreement

Results

Happy & motivated Competitive advantage

Review of General Management, Volume 27, Issue 1, Year 2018 129

 Learn about the limits of compensations expenses that the company
affords;

 Learn about the company needs for such employee;

 Fairly start to negotiate having in view the employee‟s requirements
in balance with the company‟s financial possibilities and human recourse

needs;
 Get the mutual agreement as a compromise between employee‟s
application and the employer‟s representative acceptance at the bargaining
table.

These strategies, finalised with a compromise at the bargaining table

from the both parties have as results, on one side happy and motivated

employees and, on the other side competitive advantage for the employers.

In getting the mutual agreement, the both parties are considering a win-win

opportunity.

Conclusions

In order to reflect the employees‟ value in the salaries/wages

negotiation process the companies have to update their strategies to the new

paradigm of the labour market.

The companies have to measure what the employees produce, deliver,

and solve and have to consider them as clients. In this respect, the

companies have to consider their employees as being their most valuable

asset. The neglect of treating employees as clients by the company’s

management brings serious threats to its future.

As a rule, companies want the best employees, but with lower costs,

and employees want higher wages and compensation as many as possible;

so the negotiation needs to be done in a way of mutual respect, as correct as

possible and, ending with a win-win compromise.

If we put the question “Is the value of employees reflected in the

income from salary negotiation?”, the answer is No; because as Shethna

(2017) stressed “the salaries cannot be considered as true measure of their

skills, and expertise, as the knowledge or creative ideas are abstract. They

are intangible and cannot be measured in terms of money”.

The framework for the salary income negotiations and the conceptual

framework of the salary income negotiation process, as well as the opinions

discussed in this paper, may be useful tools for managers.

Copyright of Review of General Management is the property of Spiru Haret University,
Faculty of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or
posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users
may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

gbr.pepperdine.edu/2019/12/creating-a-mentoring-program-that-works/

2019 VOLUME 22 ISSUE 3

Creating a Mentoring Program That Works
A Process for Decision Makers
BY BENNETT E. POSTLETHWAITE, PHD, MSC AND REGAN HARWELL SCHAFFER, EDD, MA

Deloitte.[1] Estée Lauder.[2] The Hartford.[3] P&G.[4] These are very different

companies in very different industries yet they share one thing in common: each

has received acclaim for one or more of its innovative mentoring programs.

Mentoring is by no means a modern phenomenon. Individuals have shared—and

received—knowledge, wisdom, and developmental support throughout recorded

history. However, the 1970s marked a growing realization that mentoring can offer

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significant benefits in corporate settings. In this paper, we outline a process for

how your organization—large or small—can create a mentoring program that

meets your unique needs.

Our process will be particularly useful for those who actively manage people and

are searching for ways to increase organizational effectiveness. This process is

flexible and can be used by a range of decision makers including department

managers, senior leaders, and HR practitioners. We have sought to create a useful

desk reference that is both reflective and practical.

Benefits of MentoringBenefits of Mentoring
The growing interest in mentoring programs is largely due to the benefits mentoring

provides to participants and their organizations. Research has shown that for

individuals, mentoring is related to positive career outcomes such as increased

compensation, salary growth, and promotions as well as greater career and job

satisfaction.[5] Mentoring is considered especially valuable for minorities and women

and can also shape professional confidence in participants.[6] Further, according to

Smith, “when people have mentors and when people become mentors, it makes them

feel more included.”[8] Likewise, compared to non-mentors, mentors experience

higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment.[9]

Mentoring also provides a number of benefits for organizations.[10] These include

lower turnover and higher job satisfaction,[11] the transmission of organizational

culture,[12] and the ability to serve as a “deep sensing” mechanism by which top

management can understand what is going on in their organizations.[13]

Challenges of MentoringChallenges of Mentoring
However, mentoring programs are not without challenges. Programs have been

critiqued for creating power dynamics between more senior and newer employees or

false impressions implying people are placed in mentoring programs because they

need extra help or have some form of weakness. It can also be difficult to create

effective matches of mentors and mentees whether it be based upon personality

types, expectations or logistics of finding the right time and setting to meet creating

unrealistic outcomes.[14] Many of these challenges could be avoided if the

[7]

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organization crafted a well-planned mentoring program that matches the

organization’s culture and employees. This will vary based upon the needs and

resources of the organization. [17]

Varieties of Mentoring ProgramsVarieties of Mentoring Programs
Mentoring can take many forms, and individuals often have very different ideas about

what is meant by the term mentor. This makes it difficult to define mentoring. While

conducting a review of the mentoring literature published between 1980 and 2010,

Haggard and colleagues encountered nearly forty different definitions of

mentoring.[19] Rather than create a new definition, they identified several core

attributes that characterize workplace mentoring relationships: reciprocity,

developmental benefits, and regular/consistent interaction.

Mentoring that takes place within the context of an official organizational program is

referred to as formal mentoring. In contrast, informal mentoring relationships develop

organically through mutual admiration and trust between the mentor and mentee. In

this paper we focus on formal mentoring programs, since these are under the direct

control of the organization and its decision makers.

Mentoring models range from very traditional to highly innovative. Below we discuss

some of the most commonly used models in the workplace, providing specific

illustrations when relevant.

Traditional Mentoring typically involves two people: a mentor, someone who is

“ordinarily several years older, a person of greater experience and seniority…a

teacher, advisor, or sponsor” providing support to a mentee or protégé, someone who

has less experience in the organization.[20] Mentors provide a combination of career

and psychosocial support to their mentees.[21]

Group Mentoring is structured around mutual learning regardless of the participant’s

role in the organization, level of experience, or age.[22] This form of mentoring is

particularly prevalent in higher education and academic medicine. It is intended to

provide a broader and more flexible network of support, is highly collaborative and

reduces the hierarchy or power dynamics that sometimes exist in traditional

mentoring.[23] Pragmatically, it enables more people to be involved and therefore can

[18]

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be more efficient in coordinating. It facilitates exposure to multiple viewpoints and

perspectives for each participant. However, group dynamics can make it difficult for

each person to fully participate or receive individualized attention.

Women faculty at Pepperdine from different ranks and disciplines meet in mentoring
groups to discuss professional and personal goals.

Cross-Organizational Mentoring (also referred to as inter-organizational mentoring)

occurs when the mentor and mentee are in different organizations. [24] [25] This form

of mentoring may be helpful when your organization faces a shortage of qualified

mentors. It also offers the advantage of an outside, perhaps more objective,

perspective and could encourage mentees to raise issues that they may not feel

comfortable discussing with colleagues inside their own companies. This form of

mentoring may be particularly useful for small organizations such as family

businesses, startups, and nonprofits.[26]

Managers from Reasoning Minds, a Houston-based nonprofit, are matched with mentors
from Deloitte’s Houston and Dallas offices.[26]

Reverse Mentoring involves pairing a junior staff member with a senior leader to

increase the senior leader’s knowledge, skills, or understanding in a particular area

such as technology, diversity, or differences between generations. [27] [28] [29]

At Estée Lauder, junior employees mentor senior managers on issues ranging from social
media, to online shopping, to the millennial mindset.[28]

e-Mentoring (also known as virtual or online mentoring) relationships are facilitated

using electronic communication tools such as email, social media, chat rooms, and

instant messaging.[30] Sessions can be conducted entirely online, primarily online, or

as a supplement to in-person mentoring. e-Mentoring may be especially useful when

mentor and mentee work in different locations. It can occur synchronously, or

asynchronously, depending on program design and participant availability.

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Anonymous Mentoring is a specialized mix of e-mentoring and cross-organizational

mentoring, where the identities of the mentor and mentee, as well the identities of

their organizations, remain masked.[31] This type of mentoring is usually coordinated

by an external provider.

thirty2give has developed a mobile app that facilitates anonymous mentoring.

Micro-mentoring involves the creation of short developmental episodes focused on a

particular topic. For example, a junior employee might attend a small discussion

forum to seek the advice of seasoned experts within the company, or she could

schedule individual meetings with multiple senior experts. This exposes mentees to

multiple senior leaders and their ideas, and it could lead to a longer-term mentoring

relationship. Further, busy mentors may be more willing to commit to providing

support due to a reduced time commitment.

Implementing a Mentoring Program: Process MattersImplementing a Mentoring Program: Process Matters
The ultimate success of any mentoring program will, in part, depend on the process

used to develop and launch it. A quick internet search will reveal a wealth of

information on designing and delivering formal workplace mentoring programs (see

Further Reading for some examples), so much so that it can be overwhelming. Do you

even need a mentoring program? If so, where do you start? What program format

should you use? How do you know if your program is successful?

We use research and current organizational practice to outline a process for

designing, launching, and evaluating a mentoring program. The overall process is

shown in Figure 1. Each step is described below, and in more detail in Tables 1–4. The

process is intended to be reflective as opposed to prescriptive. It can be repeated to

refine, expand, or perhaps even discontinue the program. Regardless of whether or

not you decide to start a mentoring program of your own, there is value in going

through this reflective process. Even more so if you engage multiple stakeholders

along the way.

Figure 1. Mentoring Program Process

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For each step of the process, we provide examples of how two hypothetical

organizations might make key decisions. The first organization, a software company, is

considering mentoring as a way to decrease turnover of women programmers. The

second, a nonprofit healthcare organization, is seeking to develop a pipeline of

qualified leaders for senior management positions.

Although detailed, our process and tools are not comprehensive. Depending on your

unique situation or level of experience with mentoring, you may need additional

resources. A list of relevant articles and books is provided at the end of the article.

Step One – Identify Objectives and Compare to Current Practices

Do you even need a mentoring program? In this first step, detailed in Table 1, you will

rate the importance of mentoring-related organizational objectives (such as to

increase inclusion or develop job-specific skills) and reflect on the extent and

effectiveness of your current people management practices in order to determine if a

mentoring program might be beneficial to your organization. This step would be a

healthy exercise for a small team of leaders within your organization who have an

understanding of staff needs. If your current practices are not meeting your

organizational objectives, a mentoring program may be beneficial. Conversely, you
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may determine a mentoring program is not necessary at this time. If you determine

your organization would benefit from a mentoring program, you will formulate an

initial program goal statement.

Table 1. Step 1: Identify Objectives (click here for pdf)

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Step Two – Consider Resources and Constraints

Do you have the resources to launch and deliver a mentoring program? To determine if a

mentoring program is feasible, you will determine the prevalence of human and

financial resources as well as organizational constraints, noting those that will be

critical to your program’s success. This process is outlined in Table 2. If you face a lack

of critical resources or identify significant constraints, consider whether the resource

can be developed or the constraint overcome. If not, you should proceed cautiously

with developing a traditional mentoring program. Adopting an alternate mentoring

approach (group mentoring, e-mentoring, micro-mentoring) is one potential solution.

Alternately, you might choose to encourage informal mentoring or utilize other good

people management practices (see Step 1). If you decide a mentoring program is right

for your organization, you will revise your program goals to reflect your capacities.

Table 2. Step 2: Consider Resources & Constraints (click here for pdf)

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Step Three – Design the Program

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What will your program look like? In this step, detailed in Table 3, you will design your

mentoring program. Using your revised program goal statement and the resources

and constraints identified earlier, you will make key decisions about participants,

program parameters, training, and potential problems that may arise. We guide you

by offering a series of questions and special considerations that may be relevant to

your situation. At this point in the process, your program should have a solid

foundation. You are now ready to start building your mentoring program.

Table 3. Step 3: Design the Program (click here for pdf)

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Step Four – Create an Evaluation System

How will you know if your mentoring program is successful? How can it be improved? This

step is focused on creating an evaluation system and is outlined in Table 4. Here you

will revisit your mentoring goal statement and organizational objectives and design

tools to determine if you have met your goals. It is important to consider how you will

assess your program before it is launched. As in Step 3, we offer questions and

considerations about who should be involved in the evaluation process, what you

should evaluate, how you should conduct the evaluation, and when you should do it.

After you have completed this step, you are ready to launch and evaluate your

program! As Figure 1 demonstrates, the program design process is a cycle. You may

choose to refine, expand, continue, or discontinue your program based on the

evaluation results.

Table 4. Step 4: Create an Evaluation System (click here for pdf)

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ConclusionConclusion
In this paper we have presented different types of mentoring programs and discussed

how these initiatives are used in different workplace settings. We have outlined a four

step process for designing a mentoring program for your organization. We encourage
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you to adapt our tools and make them your own.

If you decide a mentoring program is right for your organization, it is important to

understand that what has worked for another organization may not work for you. One

size does not fit all. By going through a deliberate planning process you can design a

customized program that meets the needs of your unique organization.

Further Reading

Articles

DeJong, T. J., Gabarro, J. J., & Lees, R. J. (2008, January). Why mentoring matters in a

hypercompetitive world. Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 115-121.

Forret, M. L., Turban, D. B., & Dougherty, T. W. (1996). Issues facing organizations

when implementing formal mentoring programs. Leadership & Organizational

Development Journal, 17(3), 27-30.

Hegestad, C. D., & Wentling, R. M. (2004). The development and maintenance of

exemplary formal mentoring programs in Fortune 500 companies. Human Resource

Development Quarterly, 15, 421-448.

Meister, J. C., & Willyerd, K. (2010, May). Mentoring millennials. Harvard Business

Review, 88(5), 68-72.

Thomas, D. A. (2001, April). The truth about mentoring minorities: Race matters.

Harvard Business Review, 79(4), 98-107.

Books

Allen, T. D., Finkelstein, L. M., & Poteet, M. L. (2009). Designing workplace mentoring

programs: An evidence-based approach. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Johnson, W. B., & Ridley, C. R. (2018). The elements of mentoring: 75 practices of master

mentors (3 ed.). New York: St. Martins.

Labin, J. (2017). Mentoring programs that work. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

Lunsford, L. G. (2016). A handbook for managing mentoring programs: Starting,

rd

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[1] Koenig, R. (2017, August 17). How one nonprofit created a successful a corporate-
mentorship program. The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/How-One-Nonprofit-Made/240943

[2] Indap, S. (2016, November 17). Estée Lauder applies millennial makeover. Financial Times.
https://www.ft.com/content/e98d3ada-9acd-11e6-8f9b-70e3cabccfae

[3] DeAngelis, K. L. (2013, May). Reverse mentoring at The Hartford: cross-generational transfer
of knowledge about social media. Boston College Innovative Practice Brief. Available from
https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/research_sites/agingandwork/pdf/publications/hartfo
rd

[4] De Vita, E. (2019, March 6). Reverse mentoring: What young women can teach the old
guard. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/53d12284-391f-11e9-b856-
5404d3811663

[5] Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T., Poteet, M. L., Lentz, E., & Lima, L. (2004). Career benefits associated
with mentoring for protégés: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 127-136.

[6] Zambrana, R. E., Ray, R., Espino, M. M., Castro, C., Cohen, B. D., & Eliason, J. (2015). “Don’t
leave us behind”: The importance of mentoring for underrepresented minority faculty.
American Educational Research Journal, 52 (1), 40-72.

[7] Forret, M. L., Turban, D. B., & Dougherty, T. W. (1996). Issues facing organizations when
implementing formal mentoring programs. Leadership & Organizational Development Journal,
17(3), 27-30.

[8] Smith, J. G. (2017). The garden: An organismic metaphor for distinguishing inclusion from
diversity. Graziadio Business Review, 20(2).

[9] Ghosh, R., & Reio, T. G. (2013). Career benefits associated with mentoring for mentors: A
meta-analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83, 106-116.

[10] Wilson, J. A., & Elman, N. S. (1990). Organizational benefits of mentoring. Academy of
Management Perspectives, 4, 88-94.

supporting, and sustaining. London: Routledge.

Ragins, B. R., & Kram, K. (Eds). (2007). The handbook of mentoring at work: Theory,

research, and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Zachary, L. (2005). Creating a mentoring culture: The organization’s guide. San Francisco:

Jossey Bass.

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[27] De Vita, E. (2019, March 6). Reverse mentoring: What young women can teach the old
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5404d3811663

[28] Indap, S. (2016, November 17). Estée Lauder applies millennial makeover. Financial
Times. https://www.ft.com/content/e98d3ada-9acd-11e6-8f9b-70e3cabccfae

[29] DeAngelis, K. L. (2013, May). Reverse mentoring at The Hartford:

cross-generational transfer of knowledge about social media. Boston College Innovative
Practice Brief. Available from
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[30] Ensher, E. A., & Murphy, S. E. (2007). E-mentoring: Next generation research strategies
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[31]Meister, J. C., & Willyerd, K. (2010, May). Mentoring millennials. Harvard Business Review,
88(5), 68-72.

Bennett E. Postlethwaite is Associate Professor of Organizational

Behavior and Management at Pepperdine University, Business

Administration Division, Seaver College.

Regan Harwell Schaffer is Professor of Organizational Behavior and

Management, Advisor of the Nonprofit Management Minor, and Director

of the Nonprofit Leadership Collaborative at Pepperdine University in

AUTHORS OF THE ARTICLE

Bennett E. Postlethwaite, PhD, MSc

Regan Harwell Schaffer, EdD, MA

17/18

https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2019/12/creating-a-mentoring-program-that-works/#_ednref25

https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2019/12/creating-a-mentoring-program-that-works/#_ednref26

https://www.philanthropy.com/article/How-One-Nonprofit-Made/240943

https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2019/12/creating-a-mentoring-program-that-works/#_ednref27

https://www.ft.com/content/53d12284-391f-11e9-b856-5404d3811663

https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2019/12/creating-a-mentoring-program-that-works/#_ednref28

https://www.ft.com/content/e98d3ada-9acd-11e6-8f9b-70e3cabccfae

https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2019/12/creating-a-mentoring-program-that-works/#_ednref29

https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/research_sites/agingandwork/pdf/publications/hartford

https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2019/12/creating-a-mentoring-program-that-works/#_ednref30

https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2019/12/creating-a-mentoring-program-that-works/#_ednref31

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Gendered Networking: Gender, Environment, and Managerial Networking 409

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 78, Iss. 3, pp. 409–421. © 2018 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12918.

Research Article

Gendered Networking:
Gender, Environment, and Managerial Networking

Eunju Rho
Northern Illinois University

Kangbok Lee
Auburn University

Abstract : This article examines how gender influences top managers’ networking activities and what situational
factors intensify or ameliorate such gender effects. Focusing on female top managers’ efforts to engage in external
networking activities, the authors conceptualize how and why female managers might develop different networking
patterns and how such relationships could be redirected by several contingent factors specific to the context of U.S.
local school districts. Using three sets of surveys on managerial behavior and management styles supplemented with
six years of information related to organizational contexts, the authors find that, in general, gender differences lead
to corresponding differences in the extent of involvement in managerial networking. Such effects are moderated by
situational factors that impede or facilitate the number of available strategic managerial choices that allow managers
to cope with them. The findings emphasize the need to consider the strengths and weaknesses of gender conjointly in
assessing networking behaviors.

Evidence for Practice
• Differences in the types of networking activities undertaken by female and male managers and the time they

spend on them may have a bearing on whether, and in what ways, female and male managers’ networking
behaviors can be utilized for specific purposes.

• Turbulent conditions within an organization provide female managers with the opportunity, motivation, and
ability to more actively engage in external networking to benefit the organization.

• Uncertainties in the managerial environment are salient when assessing managers’ networking activity is
based on gender.

Networking activities of top managers are frequently employed as managerial strategies to obtain social resources embedded within
a network (Florin, Lubatkin, and Schulze 2003 ) and
to buffer unexpected external threats (Luo 2003 ).
Research focusing on top managers, top management
teams, and entrepreneurship has examined the
importance of networking and networks in creating
supportive coalitions among external actors who
can provide critical social, economic, and political
resources to the focal organization (Hoang and
Antoncic 2003 ; Larson and Starr 1993 ). Adopting
this perspective in the setting of public organizations,
ample public management research has documented
the outcomes of top managers’ networking
activities (e.g., Meier and O’Toole 2001 , 2003 ).
However, despite voluminous research indicating
the positive impact of networking on organizational
performance, little empirical research has
investigated the factors that influence top managers’
decisions to engage in networking relationships with
external entities.

Networks are inherently formed on the basis of social
interactions; they are understood as “a mechanism
through which individuals become connected to and
positioned within that social field” (Hanson and Blake
2009 , 137). Top managers’ efforts to develop and
exploit personal, social, and professional networking
relationships with external entities can enable them to
acquire resources, information, and knowledge, all of
which may be necessary to mitigate the uncertainties
and challenges facing their organizations (Acquaah
2007 ). Their willingness to engage in networking
relationships is informal by nature, so the extent to
which top managers exploit interpersonal ties depends
strongly on their willingness to develop and maintain
such social connections with others (Meier and
O’Toole 2005 ).

From the perspective of upper echelons theory
(Hambrick and Mason 1984 ), individual
characteristics of top managers strongly influence
organizational strategies, including collaborative
activities, because “executives act on the basis of their

Eunju Rho is assistant professor in

the Department of Public Administration

at Northern Illinois University. Her

primary research interests include

government performance, managerial

behavior, government contracting, and

networking management. Her work has

appeared in journals such as Public

Administration Review, International

Public Management Journal, and

International Review of Public

Administration .

E-mail: erho@niu.edu

Kangbok Lee is Atlanta Alumni

Fellowship Professor of Business Analytics

in the Harbert College of Business at

Auburn University. His research interests

are in the areas of heterogeneity in

dynamics and causal inference. He

has published in journals such as the

International Journal of Research

in Marketing, European Journal of

Marketing, Decision Sciences, Public

Administration Review, and Journal of

Business Logistics .

E-mail: kbl0009@auburn.edu

410 Public Administration Review • May | June 2018

personalized interpretations of the strategic situations they face
and these personalized construals are a function of the executives’
experiences, values and personalities” (Hambrick 2007 , 334).
Considering networking behaviors as part of leaders’ strategic
actions, top managers’ choices and willingness regarding how much
time and energy to devote to the network setting—as well as in
which directions and with which actors—inherently reflect their
demographic characteristics, socioeconomic backgrounds, attitudinal
characteristics, and personal job experiences (Michael and Yukl 1993 ;
Peng and Luo 2000 ). Among top managers’ characteristics, the focus
of this article is on the differences in networking behaviors between
male and female managers, because gender can shape the patterns of
social interactions (Hanson and Blake 2009 ; Ridgeway and Smith-
Lovin 1999 ).

While demographic diversity in areas such as gender and race
has been widely recognized as a key determinant of managerial
behaviors in individuals, consensus on the gender role in managerial
networking remains elusive. For instance, social role theory offers
one explanation of what creates gender differences and similarities
in social behavior (Eagly 1987 ; Eagly and Karau 2002 ). According
to this theory, gender differences in social behavior follow from
gender-specific societal roles, which are “the typical characteristics
of roles commonly held by women versus men” (Eagly, Wood,
and Diekman 2000 , 126). As a result of these gender-typical roles
and behavioral expectations, women and men adjust their social
behaviors, such as networking involvement, by acquiring the specific
resources necessary to meet role requirements.

On the other hand, structural theory suggests that managerial
attitudes and behaviors are primarily determined by structural
positions and positional power in organizations rather than by
inherent gender-related attitudes (Kanter 1976 ). Kanter argued that
“the behavior of women at the bottom (or alone) should be seen as
a function of being at the bottom, and not primarily as a function
of being a woman” (1976, 416). Thus, regardless of gender, people
at the top position or of higher status tend to behave as leaders
largely because of the power and influence of their positions in a
hierarchical setting. From this perspective, the networking behavior
of male and female managers who find themselves in the same
positions in an organization may not be different.

So far, one basic tenet of these perspectives is that differences
between women and men exist in various managerial behaviors and
in the organizational outcomes of individuals. Critical questions
that would improve our understanding of managerial networking
remain unanswered, however, including the following: What
is the association between gender and managerial networking? Do
female managers always actively (or inactively) engage in networking
relationships, and if not, what are the contextual conditions that
constrain or enhance the gender effect of networking?

This article analytically addresses these questions by concentrating
on a specific domain—public managers working in the public
education arena—and investigating how gender influences their
networking activities and what situational factors intensify or
ameliorate any such effect. This article aims to empirically explore
gender differences in public managers’ networking relationships
using a series of data drawn from public school districts in Texas.

Theoretical Background and Hypotheses
Managerial Networking
Top managers in every organization construct networking
relationships by “making interpersonal contacts, keeping address
logs, phoning contacts to follow up initial meetings, attending
meetings, and so forth” (Aldrich, Reese, and Dubini 1989 , 342).
Borrowing especially from Granovetter’s ( 1985 ) and Powell’s ( 1990 )
concepts, Peng and Luo defined managerial networking as “an
individual’s attempt to mobilize personal contacts in order to profit
from entrepreneurial opportunities and a firm’s efforts to cooperate
with others in order to obtain and sustain a competitive advantage”
(2000, 488). Research on managerial networking has long
recognized that mobilizing networks to implement public programs
can offer significant advantages; such research has been devoted to
explaining how managers work externally in their interdependent
environment to shape results (Klijn, Steijn, and Edelenbos 2010 ;
O’Toole and Meier 2011 ). Compared with the numerous studies
on the role of managerial networking in the management and
performance research agenda, relatively little attention has been paid
to the determinants of managerial networking. Only a few studies
have examined the variance in networking activities (e.g., Andrews
et al. 2011 ; Forret and Dougherty 2001 ). This article’s main
contribution is to enhance our understanding of the determinants of
managerial networking by highlighting the role of gender difference.

The public education arena has evolved into a complex setting that
includes a variety of actors at different levels of government and
across sectors, although it is not among the most complex or most
highly networked settings (O’Toole and Meier 2011 ). As schools
have broadened their scope of services from the core educational
function to delivering public health services to children and
preventing and responding to child abuse, the room for involvement
of external entities in local education activities has expanded. Thus,
a contemporary local school system is unquestionably embedded
in a network web to deliver both its core educational and ancillary
functions.

In the specific context of a local school district, public managers can
cultivate managerial ties using personal and informal interactions
with external entities such as parents, other superintendents in
neighboring school districts, and teachers’ associations. In addition
to personal ties, at the organizational level, top managers in each
school district—typically called superintendents—can create unique
relationships with officials at various levels of government as part
of their duties in intergovernmental relations. Viewing school
district operations as “conflict-ridden arenas in which competing
interest groups influence the distribution of scarce resources”
(Björk and Gurley 2005 , 168), top managers in each district are
expected to maintain an ongoing dialogue with multiple and diverse
stakeholders, build coalitions with them, share authority, and engage
others in making democratic decisions (Cuban 1988 ; Kowalski
2006 ).

In organizations, managers’ networking relationships can be
described and understood in terms of the various properties
of networking, such as network range (Moore 1990 ; Zhao
and Aram 1995 ), network composition (Ibarra 1993 ; Munch,
McPherson, and Smith-Lovin 1997 ), and frequency (volume)
of contacts (Moore 1990 ; Watson 2012 ). Our focus is on the

Gendered Networking: Gender, Environment, and Managerial Networking 411

extensiveness and frequency of networking activities—managers’
level of actual use of personal or professional ties with a set of
stakeholders (e.g., Meier and O’Toole 2003 ). The amount of
time spent in interaction is critical to cultivating social capital
(Coleman 1988 ), and more frequent contacts are expected to open
greater opportunities for communicating managerial information
and expertise through the development of and engagement in
networking relationships (La Due Lake and Huckfeldt 1998 ).
Although this level is limited to capturing the effectiveness of
networking, it is nevertheless a valuable perspective from which
to investigate how active a top manager is in using networking
activities to achieve organizational goals or respond to changes in
the external environment (Luo 2003 ).

Gender and Networking Activity
Despite the increased access of women to supervisory and middle
management positions, top executive or top management positions
have remained a predominantly male domain across all sectors of
society (Eagly and Karau 2002 ). In Texas school districts, women
made up 76.8 percent of all employed teachers (Ramsay 2016 ) and
60.3 percent of employed principals (Ramsay 2015 ) during the
2010–11 academic year. However, women constituted only 21.6
percent of school district superintendents, showing the relatively
low representation of women in top leadership positions in local
public education. Across all sectors, women lag substantially behind
men when it comes to representation in leadership positions in spite
of the considerable progress in women’s professional advancement in
the United States. Given this reality, the goal of identifying barriers
to women’s advancement in relation to sex-based stereotyping issues
(e.g., roles [Powell and Butterfield 1979 ] and attributional bias [e.g.,
Leslie, Mayer, and Kravitz 2014 ]) has become a leading topic in
management research.

Gender differences have long been recognized among scholars in
a variety of fields, including organizational behavior, psychology,
education, sociology, and even neurology. For instance,
organizational behavior scholars have studied gender differences
in organizational performance (e.g., Sweeney and McFarlin 1997 );
different work attitudes such as commitment, job satisfaction, and
responsibility (Scandura and Lankau 1997 ); and technology and
innovation adoption (Venkatesh, Morris, and Ackerman 2000 ).

A substantial body of literature has examined the role of gender
in public management. Given the increasing awareness of
workforce diversity in the public sector, the role of gender in public
management has become an important area of interest for policy
makers and researchers (Grissom, Nicholson-Crotty, and Keiser
2012 ). Focusing particularly on leadership positions, a rich body of
research has endorsed gender differences in managerial behaviors
and leadership traits in various organizational contexts, including
school districts (Keiser et al. 2002 ; Meier, O’Toole, and Goerdel
2006 ), law enforcement agencies (Meier and Nicholson-Crotty
2006 ), and state agencies (Bowling et al. 2006 ). Researchers have
also begun to examine the association between the gender role
and management issues such as leadership, employee turnover,
job satisfaction, managerial value, and performance (Grissom,
Nicholson-Crotty, and Keiser 2012 ; Hamidullah, Riccucci, and
Pandey 2015 ; Opstrup and Villadsen 2015 ). However, relatively
little attention has been paid to the role of gender in influencing

networking activities; even among the few exceptions, most studies
reporting on gender roles in workplace relational patterns have not
systematically explored gender-related differences in behavioral
patterns of involvement in external networking.

Furthermore, researchers have not reached a consensus regarding
sex-differentiated managerial behaviors. One view holds that the
leadership styles of female and male leaders are not significantly
different (e.g., Bartol and Martin 1986 ; Bass 1981 ; Nieva and
Gutek 1981 ). The basis for this view is that any differences in
leadership or managerial styles are attributable not to gender but
to other situational and structural variables. A contrasting view
suggests a clear pattern of differences between the managerial styles
of female and male leaders. According to Eagly’s ( 1987 ) social
role theory, because of gender-specific societal role and behavioral
expectations, women are socialized to possess communal qualities
(e.g., helpfulness, nurturance, and kindness), while men are
expected to possess agentic values and behaviors (e.g., assertiveness,
confidence, and independence). These different socialization
processes contain within themselves sex-differentiated expectations
that lead to differences in leadership emergence between female and
male managers.

In the literature on managerial networking, the results of the
small number of previous studies are inconclusive. Among the
few public management studies on networking behaviors of
female top managers in public organizations, Esteve et al. ( 2013 )
empirically tested the hypothesis that public organizations led by
female managers are more likely to engage in interorganizational
collaborations than those managed by male managers, using survey
data from 228 chief executives in Catalonia. However, they did
not find significant gender differences in the managers’ extent of
personal networking contacts. Similarly, using a sample of Texas
school district superintendents, Meier, O’Toole, and Goerdel ( 2006 )
found no support for gender differences in managing outward to
the external network or managing upward with the school board.
These findings support the notion that there is no consistently
clear pattern of differences in leadership style between female and
male designated leaders (Bartol and Martin 1986 ). In their meta-
analysis of gender and leadership style, Eagly and Johnson explained
the reasons to expect the absence of sex differences in leadership
style: “Behavior may be less stereotypic when women and men
who occupy the same managerial role are compared because these
organizational leadership roles, which typically are paid jobs,
usually provide fairly clear guidelines about the conduct of
behavior” (1990, 234).

By contrast, some researchers in entrepreneurship studies,
particularly on small and medium-sized enterprises, have examined
gender differences in networking and the relationship between
networking and entrepreneurial outcomes (e.g., Aldrich, Reese,
and Dubini 1989 ; Renzulli, Aldrich, and Moody 2000 ; Watson
2012 ). Aldrich, Reese, and Dubini ( 1989 ), for instance, empirically
found that female entrepreneurs are less likely to have a higher
level of network activity. Cromie and Birley ( 1992 ) also found
that female managers, on average, spent less time developing
networking contacts. Consistent with other studies on leadership
styles, such gender differences in managerial networking can be
supported because of “the possibility of ingrained sex differences in

412 Public Administration Review • May | June 2018

personality traits and behavioral tendencies, differences that are not
nullified by organizational selection or socialization” (Eagly and
Johnson 1990 , 235).

Even among those who support the notion of gender differences
in managerial networking, research has produced findings that, to
a significant degree, are empirically inconclusive on the extent to
which female managers are more likely to engage in networking
relationships. Some have claimed that female managers network
more because they are better at communicating, encouraging
participation, and sharing information as a result of their interactive
and inclusive characteristics (Dolan 2000 ; Eagly and Johnson
1990 ; Helgesen 1990 ; Jacobson, Palus, and Bowling 2010 ;
Johansen 2007 ; Keiser et al. 2002 ; Wilkins 2007 ). For example,
Meier, O’Toole, and Goerdel proposed that female managers
are more likely to engage in the development of networking
relationships with stakeholders because of their “less hierarchical
and more participatory, interactional, flexible, consociational, and
multifaceted” (2006, 25) managerial styles. Similarly, in terms of
educational leadership, Grogan and Shakeshaft argued that women
leaders are more likely to engage in networked relationships within
organizations and in the community beyond the organization
because of their collaborative leadership approach, which allows
them to focus on “the relationships, events, and activities—
particularly the unstructured intra- and interorganizational
ones—that contribute to organizational direction-setting and goal
achievement” (2011, 45).

On the other hand, Aldrich, Reese, and Dubini ( 1989 ) argued that
female entrepreneurs are actually less likely to have a higher level
of network activities because of socially constructed barriers such
as sex segregation in the workplace, balancing work and family
responsibilities, and organized social life. Likewise, Cromie and
Birley ( 1992 ) argued that female managers are typically expected
to have fewer and less developed network contacts because they
are more likely to enter self-employment from a domestic or other
nonmanagerial background and because, in cases in which women
move directly from paid employment into self-employment, they
usually occupy lower-level positions in the organizations from
which they depart. Consistent with this argument, Watson noted
that “compared to men, women are likely to have fewer networks,
less time available for networking and networks that favour family
and friends (strong ties with few structural holes) over professional
advisors (weak ties with many structural holes)” (2012, 538).
Thus, female managers might have fewer networks than their male
counterparts, and they are more likely to be embedded in informal
types of networking (Aldrich, Reese, and Dubini 1989 ). In a similar
vein, using the Texas school district data, Johansen ( 2007 ) found
that female managers are more likely to be defenders and reactors
rather than prospectors. While defenders focus more on internal
management efficiency and key organizational tasks, prospectors
are more likely to seek external opportunities aggressively through
networking activities beyond the organization. Therefore, female
managers are less likely to choose external networking as their
primary management strategy.

Given the mixed results in the low number of empirical studies
on the association between gender and managerial networking, it
does not appear feasible to posit a theory-based research hypothesis.

Although empirical studies in the public management literature
have not shown a concrete conclusion concerning gender differences
in networking activities, scholars have agreed that the top manager’s
gender plays a critical role in interorganizational collaboration
(Esteve et al. 2013 ; Meier, O’Toole, and Goerdel 2006 ). Instead of
assuming a simple association, the true nature of the gender effect
on managerial networking needs to be understood in depth, with
due consideration of contextual factors that could act as moderators.
Thus, this study aims to answer the following research question:
what is the association between gender and managerial networking?

Interactions between Gender and Organizational
Environment
In spite of the inconsistent findings reported here, scholars have
made no further attempts to identify mechanisms or contextual
factors that might influence the association between gender and
managerial networking. In this context, we reconcile the different
predictions by exploring contextual factors that might intensify or
ameliorate the effect of gender difference on networking behavior.
Female managers might not always act passively or actively in
networking relationships; rather, they can intentionally and directly
engage in networking activities to respond to specific environmental
constraints. The organizational environment is directly relevant to
this process because it provides important contextual information
about managers’ networking activities. Considering the fact that
managerial networking is a purposive action that involves a wide
range of intertwined intentions, the variations in managerial
networking across organizations may result from top managers’
willingness to use their personal ties for organizational purposes
and to function as boundary spanners (e.g., Williams 2002 ),
which can tap into and seize opportunities for external gains and
buffer external threats (Andrews et al. 2011 ; Luo 2003 ; Meier and
O’Toole 2008 ). We extend these arguments to propose interaction
effects between gender and each of Dess and Beard’s ( 1984 ) three
dimensions of the organizational environment: munificence,
complexity, and turbulence.

Gender and munifi cence . Munifi cence refers to the level of
resources that an organization can utilize within its environment to
support its sustained growth. Given that greater munifi cence implies
a higher level of internal resources and more opportunities to draw
on external resources, munifi cence often serves as a “selection
mechanism” that enables or constrains organizational actions (Koka,
Madhavan, and Prescott 2006 ). To further our understanding of
how gender contributes to managerial networking, it is necessary to
investigate the role of environmental munifi cence in the model.
Because resources are critical, the presence of available internal
resources can convey a message to managers that they must lean on
their own resources. More specifi cally, although female managers
may show lower involvement in networking relationships than male
managers, this relationship may be contingent on the munifi cence
level in the environment in which a given organization exists. In a
highly munifi cent environment in which fi nancial assistance is
readily available and enables managers’ capacities to use such
resources, better outcomes will be expected regardless of managers’
eff orts to engage in external networking. Th e organizational capacity
available in munifi cent environments can buff er the organization
from external threats and create fewer stressful situations, thereby
providing greater latitude and enough resources for female

Gendered Networking: Gender, Environment, and Managerial Networking 413

managers to implement their management plans without signifi cant
consideration of external politics (Krishnan and Park 2005 ).

Hypothesis 1 : The interaction effects between organizational
munificence and gender predict the level of managerial
networking such that female managers in organizations with
greater munificence show less involvement in networking
relationships than those in organizations with lower
munificence.

Gender and complexity . Th e concept of complexity refers to “the
heterogeneity of and range of an organization’s activities” (Child
1972 , 3). As the complexity and diversity of environmental factors
increase, managers experience greater uncertainty and have
heightened responsibilities (Duncan 1972 ). Th e need for strategic
actions to manage the large number and wide variety of critical
contingencies for resource acquisition is paramount (Dess and Beard
1984 ). Th erefore, the extensiveness of networking activities may
depend on various stakeholders’ complex demands. Considering the
negative relationship between complexity and performance in public
organizations (Boyne and Meier 2009 ), increases in complexity may
cause anxiety about its negative impacts on performance and force
managers to handle environmental uncertainty.

Among the various methods for conceptualizing task complexity,
this article employs the extent of racial/ethnic heterogeneity of
subgroups in the organization. Ibarra ( 1993 ) argued that women’s
networking patterns are constrained by the structural composition
of organizational groups and that such organizational factors can
play an important role in moderating the relationship between
gender and network structure. Ibarra also included “the extent to
which functional and departmental groups are segregated by sex or
race, such that group members are systematically overrepresented in
certain subunits and underrepresented in others” (1993, 66) as an
example of organizational context.

In the public education arena, as student demographics are
changing rapidly across the United States, the leadership role of
superintendents as chief executive officers has become more complex
than ever (Wright and Harris 2010 ). After the implementation of
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, closing the achievement gap
between white students and other demographic populations became
a core goal in school districts; today’s changing demographics
demand collaborative leadership from superintendents to respond
effectively to the diverse needs and cultural sensitivity found in the
communities where they serve (Wright and Harris 2010 ).

In light of the diversity challenge, Henze ( 2000 ) reported that
proactive leadership is positively related to improved interethnic
relations among students, increased academic achievement, and
enhanced involvement of diverse parents. Among the different types
of strategic management typologies, Johansen ( 2007 ) found that
male managers are more likely than females to use the prospector
strategy, while female managers tend to use the defender or reactor
strategy. Considering different strategic choices by gender, male
managers in a diverse setting are more likely to take proactive
and prospective actions, whereas female leaders are more likely
to be defenders who put more emphasis on the organization’s
main goals while reducing any distractions that may hinder their

achievement. Moreover, female leaders in public education appear
to demonstrate a strong “children first” orientation due to their
socialization as primary caretakers (Miller, Washington, and Fiene
2006 ). Therefore, female managers working with heterogeneous
and complex group compositions are more likely to pay attention
to internal processes to improve achievement in diverse groups of
students instead of reaching outside the organization. As a result,
the gender difference in managerial networking will be intensified as
complexity increases.

Hypothesis 2 : The interaction effects between organizational
complexity and gender predict the level of managerial
networking such that female managers in organizations with
higher complexity show less involvement in networking
relationships than those in organizations with lower
complexity.

Gender and dynamism . Dess and Beard conceptualized
environmental dynamism as “a change that is hard to predict and
that heightens uncertainty for key organizational members” (1984,
56). Boyne and Meier ( 2009 ) also characterized dynamism as a
drastic and unexpected change over time in munifi cence and
complexity. Rapid and even unexpected changes in the environment
increase the diffi culty of relying on existing strategies, history, or
experiences in making decisions (Dess and Beard 1984 ; Koka,
Madhavan, and Prescott 2006 ). As females and males undergo
diff erent socialization processes that aff ect their socialized behavior,
they have diff erent assessments of risk such that male managers are in
general more tolerant of risk (Jayawarna, Jones, and Marlow 2015 ).
Female managers are more risk avoidant and actively pursue the
resources necessary to survive in a highly uncertain situation (Marlow
and Swail 2014 ). Th ey are likely to be better equipped with the skills
needed for adapting to change and alleviating stresses among
subordinates, thereby improving organizational performance and
achieving their goals (Krishnan and Park 2005 ). For organizations
facing highly unpredictable environments, risk-avoidant female
managers may actively engage in networking activities to obtain
critical resources externally, and they will expand their personal
resources to respond more eff ectively to changing those conditions
and to cope with the varying demands of the environment.

Hypothesis 3: The interaction effects between organizational
turbulence and gender predict the level of managerial
networking such that female managers in organizations with
higher turbulence show more involvement in networking
relationships than those in organizations with lower
turbulence.

Data and Methods
Data
In this study, a series of longitudinal data analyses were conducted
to examine the determinants of managerial networking in the
context of Texas school districts. Three sets of Texas school district
superintendent management surveys collected in 2005, 2007,
and 2009 served as the primary data source for the analysis.
Starting in 2000, Meier and O’Toole sent survey questionnaires
to superintendents—top managers in each district—to collect
information about their management styles, goals, time allocation,
and leadership. The average response rate over the three terms was

414 Public Administration Review • May | June 2018

63 percent. The 2005 survey had 657 respondents (64 percent),
the 2007 survey generated 678 responses (66 percent), and the
2009 survey had a 58 percent response rate. This data set was
supplemented with an objective district-level data set containing
a wide range of indicators about performance, demographics, and
financial resources, among others. The nonsurvey data for the more
than 1,000 Texas school districts during the 2004–09 period were
drawn from the Texas Education Agency.

Measures
Networking activity . The networking behaviors of top managers in
local governments were operationalized using the frequency of
contact with each party, assuming that “managers cannot engage
in network-like behavior with other actors in the environment
without coming into contact with them” (O’Toole and Meier
2011, 59). Thus, networking activity refers to the extensiveness of a
top manager’s networking involvement. The set of nodes in this
study included local business leaders, state legislators, the state
educational agency (Texas Education Agency), federal educational
officials, parent groups, and teachers’ associations. Because of the
multi-item nature of the measurement, we employed a summative
index for scaling analysis; the scale aggregated the networking
activity of the top manager. Since the items that measured the
networking response variable were based on the retrospective
behavioral self-report for networking management rather than on
self-perceptions of networking performance (e.g., how frequently
the respondent interacts with state legislators), our results should be
reasonably robust against common source bias. Meier and O’Toole
(2013) found that questions about observable behavior appear to be
less affected by common source bias than other questions.

Gender . Th e predictor variable in our models was the top manager’s
gender, which was dummy coded 1 if the top manager was female.

Moderators . Environmental munifi cence was measured using three
variables: (1) the amount of total revenue per pupil (logged)
controlled for district size, (2) the tax rate as an indicator of the
district’s available resources, and (3) the percentage of low-income
students as an indicator of the general income of the populace
(Andrews and Johansen 2012 ). An overall munifi cence measure was
created by performing a principal components analysis, with a
higher factor score indicating a greater level of munifi cence.

The concept of complexity was narrowed to explain the extent
of heterogeneity of educational service recipients (Tung 1979 ),
focusing on their ethnic diversity. The measure of overall complexity
was calculated following Andrews et al. ( 2011 ). The proportion
of each subgroup of students in the school district, including
black, Latino, white, and other students (e.g., Asians and Native
Americans), was squared, summed, and subtracted from 10,000.
This measure served as a proxy for “the relative homogeneity-
heterogeneity of the organizational environment, with a high score
on the index representing a high level of complexity” (Andrews et al.
2011 , 364).

Environmental dynamism was measured following Rattsø ( 1999 ), as
applied by Boyne and Meier ( 2009 ). In their study on the impact of
environmental turbulence on performance, Boyne and Meier ( 2009 )
created five individual indicators of turbulence and combined them

into a single index. For instance, revenue turbulence was measured
by regressing the total school district revenue (logged) on its logged
value for the prior year. From this equation, they obtained the value
of the residual, indicating “the extent to which revenues deviate
from the level that would be expected on the basis of the previous
year’s financial position” (Boyne and Meier 2009 , 808). Rather than
focusing on an increase or decrease in changes, the absolute value of
the residual was used as a measure of revenue turbulence to capture
the degree of unpredictability. The same procedures were repeated
to measure enrollment turbulence, low-income student turbulence,
black student turbulence, and Latino student turbulence. For those
three student-composition turbulences, the absolute value of the
residual was obtained by regressing the logged percentage of each
group of students on its logged value for the prior year. The five
measures of turbulence were summed to create an overall measure of
dynamism, with higher values indicating greater dynamism.

Controls . Changing superintendents was dummy coded 1 when a
succession event occurred in the district. Superintendent succession
information was obtained from annual school district directories,
which contain basic district information such as the school address
and superintendent name. Th e tenure of the top manager indicated
how long the superintendent of a school district had been in
that specifi c position. In the survey, superintendents were asked
to answer a question about their tenure in their current offi ce.
Managerial stability was measured by the number of years the
superintendent had been employed by his or her current district in
any capacity (Meier and O’Toole 2003). Higher scores mean more
stability, off ering additional information about constancy among
top leadership.

Top managers’ perceptions of change were measured using survey
questions about organizational change, such as “Our district is
always among the first to adopt new ideas and practices,” “Our
district frequently undergoes change,” and “We continually search
for new opportunities to provide services to our community.”
Responses to these statements were measured using a four-point
scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). The
composites were formed by averaging the ratings for the items for
each year. District size was measured using the total enrollment
numbers in each district. Descriptive statistics and correlations for
the predictor variables appear in table 1 .

Analysis
Hypothesis testing was accomplished through hierarchical regression
with clustered standard errors. Hierarchical regression allows for
the direct assessment of change in explanatory power between
iterative steps. The least squares technique was used with the control
variables entered as a block in step 1, followed by the main effects in
step 2, and the interaction and moderators in step 3. In this study,
we observed the response variable for each manager repeatedly
at several different times. For repeated measurements involving a
given manager, the set of observations for that manager formed a
cluster, repeated classifications within manager. Observations within
a cluster are usually positively correlated. Analyses should take
correlation into account, and it is important to note that analyses
that do not consider the correlation can estimate model parameters
well, but standard error estimators can be badly biased (Agresti
1996 ). Unfortunately, conventional statistical techniques (e.g.,

Gendered Networking: Gender, Environment, and Managerial Networking 415

ordinary regression analysis) ignore this hierarchy, which may lead
to incorrect results (Hox 1995 ; Hox and Kreft 1994 ; Raudenbush
and Bryk 1992). Furthermore, conventional statistical techniques
lean heavily on the assumption of the independence of observations.
All observations are regarded as independent, when in fact there is
structural dependence (Hox 1995 ; Vancouver, Millsap, and Peters
1994 ). Violation of the assumption of independence of observations
may cause too small estimates of standard errors, which in turn may
lead to “significant” findings that are actually spurious (Raudenbush
and Bryk 1992). To avoid these pitfalls, the hierarchical regression
with clustered standard errors was selected as the appropriate
technique for evaluating the hypotheses in this study.

Post Hoc Analyses (Lump-Together Problem versus
Measurement Error)
A series of post hoc analyses were conducted to assist in validating
the relationship between gender and networking behavior. To take
measurement error into account, we employed summative indices.
However, because of the heterogeneity of the networking activity
used in this study (and in most studies), lumping subdimensions
together into a single composite would likely mask the characteristic
differences among the three subdimensions. Thus, in addition to
exploring the extensiveness of networking activity, the post hoc
analyses examined three subdimensions of networking activities that
might be influenced differently by gender.

Torenvlied et al. ( 2012 ) developed three dimensions of networking
activity in the context of Texas school districts. For public
organizations, political support—through relationships with elected
officials, clients, or the media—is a key environmental support.
This political dimension covers relationships with local business
leaders and state legislators. The second dimension, bureaucratic
support from actors such as the Texas Education Agency and federal
education officers, is also critical within the intergovernmental
system. The third coproduction dimension of support covers
relationships with parent groups and teachers’ associations, since
education is a coproduced service based on collaborative relations
among parents, teachers, and schools. Top managers’ strategic
actions may vary according to the patterns of relationships that
provide different types of resources (Meier and O’Toole 2005).
Therefore, the post hoc analyses follow the classification of
Torenvlied et al. ( 2012 ) and categorize the networking ties between
the top managers of each school district and the set of nodes
into three groups: political support, bureaucratic coping, and
coproduction. The three scales aggregate the networking activity of
the top managers in different ways.

Results
Since our dependent variables are quantitative, we conducted
a hierarchical analysis with clustered standard errors. As shown
in tables 2 and 3 , three different models were tested. The main
effect model in table 2 (equation 2) shows that the top manager’s
gender has a significant negative effect on networking activity
( β = −.928, p < .01). This finding indicates that female managers are less likely than male managers to engage frequently in networking relationships.

Assistance in interpreting this pattern was also provided by the post
hoc analyses, which explored the determinants of the extensiveness
of networking activities of top managers working in school
districts. The results indicate that among the three different types
of networking activities, female managers are less likely than male
managers to engage in political support networking relationships.
The nonsignificant coefficients for gender in bureaucratic coping
and coproduction networking activities suggest that districts headed
by men and women do not differ significantly in contacting external
entities for purposes of bureaucratic coping and coproduction.

Strong results were identified when testing the interaction effects
of the organizational environment (munificence, complexity, and
turbulence) on networking activity (equation 3 in table 2 ). The
results for two-way interactions of gender confirmed that the
effect of turbulence on the level of networking activity is stronger
and that the effects of munificence and complexity are weaker for
female than for male managers. Moderation plots and slope tests for
hypotheses 1–3 appear in figures 1–3 .

Hypothesis 1, which posits that organizational munificence has a
negative moderating effect on the relationship between gender and
networking activity, was supported ( β = −.401, p < .05). There is no gender effect when munificence is low. Managers’ approaches to the level of networking activity diverge widely based on gender as munificence increases.

Similar results were revealed for hypothesis 2, which posits that
organizational complexity has a negative moderating effect on the
relationship between gender and networking activity ( β = −.0004,
p < .01). Figure 2 is a graph of means relevant to the interaction effect. The slopes of the high and low complexity regression lines indicate that as organizational complexity increases, male managers do not demonstrate a deterioration in the level of networking activity; however, the networking activity of female managers decreases with each unit of added complexity. This indicates that

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics

Quantitative Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Networking activity 26.44 3.84 —
2. District size 5,253.9 1,269.4 .145 —
3. Manager tenure 4.81 4.95 −.097 −.018 —
4. Managerial stability 9.35 9.24 −.043 .064 .506 —
5. Perceptions of change 2.84 .45 .018 .011 .068 .021 —
6. Munifi cence .06 0.76 .011 .0004 −.015 −.016 −.061 —
7. Complexity 4,060 1,750 .054 .149 .004 −.007 .036 .008 —
8. Turbulence 32.28 3.78 .141 .593 −.053 .106 .112 −.042 .427

Categorical Variables Proportion SE

1. Gender .18 .38
2. Manager succession .16 .37

416 Public Administration Review • May | June 2018

female managers are more likely to develop internal communication
and focus on internal management instead of reaching outside the
organization when complexity is high.

The third and final hypothesis posits that organizational turbulence
has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between
gender and the level of networking activity; this hypothesis was
also supported ( β = .162, p < .01). In the current context, female managers are more inclined than male managers to increase their levels of networking activity as turbulence increases. Female managers thus have a positive moderating effect on the relationship between networking activity and turbulence, indicating that they are more sensitive to changes in turbulence. Male managers appear to

have a negative insulating effect on the potential effects of increasing
turbulence compared with female managers.

Unlike previous studies, this study found that uncertainties
in the managerial environment were salient when assessing
whether managers’ networking activity was based on their gender.
Environmental contingencies are frequently considered in
management research, but the present study is among the first to
consider the impact of uncertainty-based externalities on managers’
networking activity in the context of manager gender. With the
uncertainty in the decision making process resulting from rapid
and unexpected changes, we observed the strong effect of gender
in the managerial environment on the extent to which turbulence

Table 3 Summary of Hypotheses Test Results

Hypothesis Statement Variable of Interest Dependent Variable
Hypothesized
Relationship with DV

Results Table # (Equation #)

RQ : What is the association between gender and
managerial networking?

Top manager’s gender Networking activity — — 2. (2)

H1 : The interaction effects between
organizational munifi cence and gender predict
the level of managerial networking such
that female managers in organizations with
greater munifi cence show less involvement
in networking relationships than those in
organizations with lower munifi cence.

Top manager’s gender *
Munifi cence

Networking activity Negative Supported 2. (3)

H2 : The interaction effects between
organizational complexity and gender predict
the level of managerial networking such
that female managers in organizations with
higher complexity show less involvement
in networking relationships than those in
organizations with lower complexity.

Top manager’s gender *
Complexity

Networking activity Negative Supported 2. (3)

H3 : The interaction effects between
organizational turbulence and gender predict
the level of managerial networking such
that female managers in organizations with
higher turbulence show more involvement
in networking relationships than those in
organizations with lower turbulence.

Top manager’s gender *
Turbulence

Networking activity Positive Supported 2. (3)

Table 2 Hierarchical Analysis with Clustered Standard Error When Dependent Variable (DV) Is Extensiveness of Networking Activity (NA)

Variables DV = NA (Reference Model) DV = NA (Main Effect Model) DV = NA (Interaction Model)

Equation (1) (2) (3)

Controls
District size (total enrollment) .0001 *** (.00002) .0001 *** (.00003) 3.81 × 10 −5 *** (2.1 *10 −6 )

Manager succession .005 (.221) .032 * (.221) −.003 (.225)
Manager tenure −.071 ** (.022) −.078 ** (.022) −.073 *** (.002)
Managerial stability −.004 (.009) .0004 (.038) −.004 (.01)
Perceptions of change .073 (.153) .107 (.153) .086 (.156)
Year = 2009 −.063 (.141) −.061 (.16) −.053 (.101)
Year = 2007 −.136 (.137) −.233 (.214) −.217 (.378)

Main effect
Gender (ref. = male) — −.928 *** (.208) −4.571 ** (2.01)

Munifi cence — — .175 * (.113)
Complexity — — .0001 (.0001)
Turbulence — — .071 ** (.035)

Interaction effect
Gender * Munifi cence — — −.401 ** (.224)
Gender * Complexity — — −.0004 *** (.0001)
Gender * Turbulence — — .162 *** (.067)

N 1,479 1,479 1,479
AIC 13,869.28 13,817.44 13,381.44
BIC 13,910.02 13,863.97 13,462.42

Note: The values in the parenthesis are the robust standard errors.
*** p < .01 ; ** p < .05 ; * p < .1 .

Gendered Networking: Gender, Environment, and Managerial Networking 417

leads to changes in the environment. In fact, the hierarchical models
(equation 3 in table 2 ) suggested that the interaction between
turbulence and female managers does not “wash out” the revealed
direct effect between female managers and networking activity
( β = −4.571, p < .05). Gender difference is important to the extent that the managerial environment is perceived as understandable and the environment is perceived as a drastic and unexpected change over time by managers. This finding yields an important implication for public management. Decision makers will increasingly want to latch onto the first solutions that appear to female managers as turbulence in the managerial environment increases. This uncertainty-driven solution does not arise from fear or intimidation concerning management without a full consideration of the organization’s precise needs; instead, this sort of networking-driven

solution results from a comprehensive assessment of the managerial
environment.

Conclusion
This study examined how gender influences top managers’
networking activities and what situational factors either intensify
or ameliorate such gender effects. Focusing on female top
managers’ efforts to engage in networking relationships with
external entities, we conceptualized how and why female managers
might develop different networking patterns, as well as how such
relationships could be redirected by several contingent factors
specific to the context of local U.S. governments. Using a data
set consisting of six years of information related to organizational
contexts and three sets of surveys on managerial behavior and
management styles, we tested our hypotheses and found broad
support for them, as shown in table 3 . The results revealed that, in
general, gender differences led to corresponding differences in the
extent of involvement in managerial networking; such effects were
moderated by several situational factors that impede or facilitate
the number of available strategic managerial choices that allow
managers to cope with them.

The results, or at least those based on the context of Texas school
districts, confirmed that female managers were less likely to engage
in external networking activities. Our approach is consistent with
the arguments that highlight the limited access of female managers
to societal resources through networking activities (e.g., O’Leary
and Ickovics 1992 ; Ragins and Sundstrom 1989 ). According to the
post hoc analysis, it was evident in the local school districts studied
that female managers are less likely than male managers to be drawn
into key political groups, such as state legislators and local business
leaders who can provide political support for tax levies or greater
state funds for education. Alternatively, the absence of significant
gender differences in both bureaucratic coping and coproduction
networking suggests that both male and female managers build
external networks equally well.

Figure 1 Moderating Effects of Munificence on Networking
Activity

Note: Vertical bar indicates confi dence interval (± 2 standard deviations) for the
mean value.

Figure 2 Moderating Effects of Complexity on Networking
Activity

Note: Vertical bar indicates confi dence interval (± 2 standard deviations) for the
mean value.

Figure 3 Moderating Effects of Turbulence on Networking
Activity

Note: Vertical bar indicates confi dence interval (± 2 standard deviations) for the
mean value.

418 Public Administration Review • May | June 2018

Differences in the types of networking activities undertaken by
female and male managers and the time they spend on them may
have a bearing on whether, and in what ways, female and male
managers’ networking behaviors can be utilized for specific purposes.
Of course, the nature and scope of opportunities available through
networking activities highly depends on the types of networking
ties that one interacts with (Ibarra 1993 ). Considering that gaining
access to different networks means differential returns, managers
may utilize managerial networking for the strategic purpose of
obtaining necessary resources and information from the distinct
sets of network nodes within their respective settings. On the other
hand, through networking relationships, managers are ideally able to
“send signals to stakeholders about the organization’s effectiveness”
(Johansen and LeRoux 2013 , 357). Thus, the network groups
frequently contacted by a top manager in a focal organization are
likely to have opportunities to provide practical resources and/or
authorities to assess the extent to which its programs and services are
perceived as legitimate.

Compared with the value of a political support group (state
legislators and local business leaders), both the coproduction (parent
groups and teachers’ associations) and bureaucratic coping groups
(state-and federal-level education officials) were revealed to be more
attractive as network contacts in terms of their ability to function
as a source of power for accessing critical educational resources and
information. In the education field, local school districts are heavily
influenced by federal and state educational policy changes, so they
are generally more aware of the relevant institutional resources and
constraints. At the same time, for the organization to achieve its
primary goal, which in this case would be educational achievement,
the top managers in each school district are required to work with
teachers in implementing their instructional goals and with parents
through their active involvement in their children’s education
(Torenvlied et al. 2012 ). This coproduction group pursues common
goals and the interest of mutual benefits with managers in school
districts, and those managers have the motive to display a strong
reputation and the relative prestige of the educational services in
their respective districts to ensure the continuous contributions of
both parents and teachers toward improving public education. This
also seems to be consistent with the instructional focus of female
superintendents, as well as with the idea that female superintendents
tend to be centered more firmly around values regarding children
and families, in addition to being concerned with community
building (Grogan and Brunner 2005 ).

We conducted this study with the idea that contextual factors—
munificence, complexity, and turbulence—would mitigate the
impact of gender. We found negative moderating effects of both
munificent and complex environmental contexts on the association
between gender and managerial networking. We should note,
however, that under turbulent circumstances, female managers
are more sensitive to growing turbulence and tend to rapidly
increase their involvement in external networking relationships
to cope more successfully with unexpected situations. In times of
turbulence, both the clients and constituents of an organization
require their leaders to be open to innovative ideas, bring a fresh
approach to leadership, promote the productive steering and
influencing of relationships rather than excessively controlling
them, and foster continual consensus and mutual trust among

them. Under such conditions, the stereotypical leadership traits
and styles of female leaders, often described as relationship oriented
and transformational, are considered more effective (Furst and
Reeves 2008 ). Such conventional wisdom regarding women’s
superiority under turbulence reinforces our finding that turbulence
promotes female managers’ active involvement in external
networking activities.

This study, with its emphasis on public organizations, contributes in
an important way to research on managerial networking. Although
prior work has often extolled the virtues of networking relationships
in terms of better public performance (see Meier and O’Toole
2003), we took a different perspective to investigate other potential
factors affecting the differences in networking behaviors among
public managers. Our study joins the growing body of research on
the determinant side of managerial networking in the public sector
(e.g., Andrews et al. 2011 ).

Our primary contribution is the elucidation of the important role
that gender differences play in determining managerial behaviors
in networking relationships. Prior empirical research on public
managers’ networking behaviors has ignored the role of gender
or rarely tested for it as a control variable, therefore considering
it insignificant. By contrast, we have shown that gender could be
one of the critical factors that account for the different networking
patterns of top managers. Our results recast prevailing perspectives
on gendered networking in the entrepreneurship and management
literature, which have implied that female managers are less likely to
actively engage in networking relationships.

Moreover, our research model specifies the conditions under
which relatively passive or inactive female managers exploit
such connections in turbulent organizational situations. Public
management researchers have framed managerial networking as
a strategy whereby public managers can overcome environmental
uncertainties or tap certain opportunities in specific environmental
contexts. Like others, we take issue with this perspective and
ask under what conditions female managers’ efforts to engage in
networking relationships could actually be further accelerated.
Focusing on three dimensions of the task environment, namely
munificence, complexity, and turbulence, we identified a set of
contingencies that point to either the negative (e.g., munificence
and complexity) or positive (turbulence) moderators of these
relationships. While prior studies on the determinants of managerial
networking have often examined the direct effect of environmental
characteristics on networking, this study extends the contingency
perspective even further by identifying the important characteristics
of the intermediaries that broker the direct effect of top manager
characteristics, such as gender, on managerial networking. We
argue that turbulent conditions within an organization provide
female managers with the opportunity, motivation, and ability to
more actively engage in external networking to benefit their own
organizations. Another possible explanation of this finding is that,
in many cases, top female managers are expected to be “tough” to
either hold their positions or rise up in the managerial ranks in a
competitive environment. What this means is that female managers
may have to actively change their networking (or communication)
styles in an effort to adapt to male-dominant hierarchical
organizations, especially under turbulent conditions (Shade 1995 ).

Gendered Networking: Gender, Environment, and Managerial Networking 419

Our results are perhaps best understood in light of some caveats,
which also highlight the significant role of context in this
project. We conducted this study in the specific setting of local
school districts in the state of Texas. The roles, expectations,
political/managerial concerns, and stakeholder relationships of
the superintendents, who are top managers in school districts,
are quite different from those of city or county managers. Even
considering the differences in the ways in which stakeholders
reacted to female leadership in the education setting, the results
still revealed that women were less likely to build up networking
relationships, which are known to be important in developing an
effective managerial approach to improving performance, with the
exception of situations in which their surrounding environment was
unpredictable. Such a conclusion requires additional studies in a
variety of settings for confirmation. Future studies in other contexts
may reveal a great deal more about the complexities involved in
understanding the dynamics of gendered networking. In addition,
besides the differences in task environments, we need to study other
contextual differences such as the diversity climate.

It is also important to note that the measures of networking
activities were developed using the frequency of contact between
top managers and their stakeholders. While this study attempts to
build a comprehensive model of managerial networking using only
quantitative components, it would be valuable to supplement this
study with qualitative data from interviews with managers on the
purpose of engaging in networking activities.

Despite its limitations, this study stimulates other research questions
regarding managerial networking in the field of public management.
By focusing on gender differences in managerial networking, we
shed light on a promising pathway for research on managerial
networking behaviors and offer a richer perspective of the actions of
powerful intermediaries to redirect gendered networking.

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Appendix

Variables
DV = Networking Activity

(Main Effect)

DV = Political Support
Networking
(Main Effect)

DV = Bureaucratic
Coping Networking

(Main Effect)

DV = Coproduction
Networking
(Main Effect)

Equation (1) (2) (3) (4)

Controls
District size (total enrollment) .0001 *** (.00003) .0001 *** (.00003) .0001 *** (.00002) .0001 *** (.00003)
Manager succession .032 * (.221) .019 (.073) .112 (.073) .029 (.072)
Manager tenure −.078 ** (.022) −.001 (.006) −.018 ** (.007) −.023 *** (.007)
Managerial stability .0004 (.038) −.003 (.003) −.004 (.003) .003 (.003)
Perceptions of change .107 (.153) .162 *** (.053) −.204 *** (.052) .119 ** (.052)
Year = 2009 −.061 (.16) .010 (.068) −.456 *** (.067) −.048 (.066)
Year = 2007 −.233 (.214) .067 (.071) .481 *** (.064) .071 (.063)

Main effect
Gender (ref. = male) −.928 *** (.208) −.304 *** (.071) −.033 (.068) −.011 (.067)

N 1,479 1,479 1,479 1,479
AIC 13,817.44 11,096.64 8,988.41 8,982.45
BIC 13,863.97 11,157.02 9,046.96 9,040.942

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How to Conduct the

Patient Inter view

PATIENT COMMUNICATION

“What seems to be the problem?”

I can’t tell you how many patient interviews I started

that way—hundreds, at least—probably because that’s

how doctors and nurses spoke to me when I was growing

up. Then one day I decided my opening sounded a little

patronizing, as if “the problem” only seems to be one to

the patient and, in fact, isn’t much of a problem at all.

Yes, I know that’s a lot of analysis for a pretty common

expression, but the way we approach patients is just

one aspect of assessment that can be enhanced easily

without rewriting protocols or going back to school.

We’re going to cover lots more about evaluating patients

but first, let’s consider what effective interviewing is

and is not.

Interviewing is a bit like selling. A good interviewer

(salesperson) tries to get the subject (buyer) to part with

something of value: information instead of money. Doing

that requires strategy and practice. More important,

though, a successful interviewer needs specialized com-

munication skills—not the kind that leads to long dis-

courses on cerebral topics in rooms full of people, but the

kind that allows the interviewer to effortlessly connect

Communicating successfully with patients requires
strategy, fexibility and practice
By Mike Rubin

In this three-part

series, EMS World

columnist Mike

Rubin discusses

interviewing

techniques. Part 2

focuses on patient

Q&A.

28 OCTOBER 2015 | EMSWORLD.com

iS
to
c
k
/T
h
in
k
s
to
c
k

ABOUT THE

AUTHOR

Mike Rubin is a

paramedic in

Nashville, TN,

and a member

of the EMS

World editorial

advisory board.

Contact him at

mgr22@prodigy.

net.

http://EMSWORLD.com

mailto:mgr22@prodigy.net

with the subject in an engaging and efficient

manner, yielding an exceptional ratio of use-

ful information per minute of conversation.

Good interviewing also requires humil-

ity—the ability to subordinate one’s ego to

the task at hand. Interviewers who make

themselves the focal point of interviews—

and there are many—waste both their time

and their subject’s time by augmenting

dialog with observations and anecdotes of

their own instead of with good follow-up

questions. Such self-serving digressions can

almost sound as if the subject were inter-

viewing the interviewer!

Interviewing patients in the field requires

flexibility because there are two broad cat-

egories of cases presenting in modern-day

EMS, emergent and nonemergent, that

require different intelligence-gathering

approaches.

In emergent scenarios with verbal

patients, minute-long assessment-driven

interviews are still the norm. In nonemer-

gent cases, we can usually take more time

to learn about the patient and the environ-

ment behind the complaint, or even try to

anticipate the next complaint.

Let’s start with similarities between

emergent and nonemergent interviews.

The Initial Encounter

Meeting anyone for the first time should

involve, at the very least, a commonsense

goal of polite, non-threatening discourse.

Begin by trying to put the subject at ease.

When “What seems to be the problem?”

wasn’t working for me, I switched to “So

why did you call us today?” Direct, but also

a bit condescending, don’t you think? Some

of my patients did—at least one for sure, who

looked at me with disgust and answered with

as much sarcasm as his COPD would allow,

“Why, do you have something better to do?”

I wasn’t happy with my opening until

I started greeting patients the way I did

almost everyone else: “How’s it going?” It

didn’t seem to matter that an honest answer

from sick people would almost always have

been “Not too well.” Patients seemed to

value informality over precision.

As important as our first words is our

posture. You’ll often get better information

faster by making eye contact at eye level,

which usually means kneeling beside a seat-

ed or recumbent subject not too close and

not too far away. Dr. Judith Orloff, author

of Emotional Freedom, suggests an “arms-

length bubble” as an “invisible border that

surrounds us and sets our comfort level.”

Don’t forget the part about eye contact. I

think the biggest mistake many responders

make is to approach their patients wear-

ing sunglasses. Talk about condescending,

particularly indoors!

Next it’s time for some high-frequency lis-

tening—by us, not by our subjects. Remem-

ber, this isn’t about us.

High-frequency listening means focusing

on our patients and absorbing their answers,

EMSWORLD.com | OCTOBER 2015 29

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PATIENT COMMUNICATION

not just with our ears but with our eyes, too.

Every expression, every gesture, every move-

ment can be part of the information we’re

looking for. This isn’t the time to be thinking

about our next call or our next meal.

Is the patient sick, scared or in pain? Are

they hiding something? The answer to all of

those questions is probably yes, but watch

for the ways questions are answered. A sub-

ject’s words plus tone plus body language

equals a whole lot of feedback.

Some crews double- or even triple-team

patient interviews. That just makes it harder

for interviewers to progress in an orderly way

from the general to the specific and ramps

up the intimidation factor for the subject.

The most challenging of all interviewing

skills is absorbing verbal and nonverbal cues

while formulating new questions—open-

ended, whenever possible—based on pre-

vious answers. It’s easy to let experience or

fatigue overwhelm high-frequency listening

and make us resort to a mental script of

practiced questions, but it’s the ability to

vector toward unanticipated, possibly valu-

able information that earns an interviewer

exceptional results.

Now that we’ve covered all-purpose

patient interviewing techniques, it’s time

to discuss the differences between emergent

and nonemergent patients.

The Emergent Patient
Setting aside scene safety for the moment,

if recognizing how urgently a patient needs

care is the first step of a “doorway assess-

ment,” the second step would arguably be

deciding how effectively we can deal with

serious illness outside of a hospital.

Except for when we encounter a clear case

of treat right now, such as cardiac arrest or

profound hypoglycemia, we need to concede

that we have neither the tools nor the train-

ing to consistently diagnose and treat ill-

nesses correctly, and that hospitals are good

places to get help. Once we buy into that,

our efforts on scene should be focused on

initiating transport, which means the clock

is ticking as soon as we start our patient

interview.

When I was in EMT class I learned to

use the mnemonic SAMPLE as a guide for

that interview. That isn’t always the best

approach. Not only are A (allergies), M

(meds), L (last meal) and E (precipitating

events) often not as important as other

questions during our first 60 seconds with

a patient but, as EMS educator Dan Limmer

points out, SAMPLE is too much of a rote

process that doesn’t encourage vectoring

toward a chief complaint’s likely cause.

With experience, many field providers

employ a two-step emergent patient inter-

30 OCTOBER 2015 | EMSWORLD.com

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DON’T HESITATE TO
CLARIFY ANSWERS
TO YOUR QUESTIONS.

http://EMSWORLD.com

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view that is a better use of limited time than

front-loaded SAMPLE, but still consistent

with the philosophy of primary and second-

ary assessment:

• Spend the first minute discovering

what you need to know to make treatment

decisions.

• Finish the interview en route while

assembling a background-rich presentation

you’ll give the receiving facility.

The Nonemergent Patient
A distinctive aspect of working in a nontra-

ditional EMS environment—entertainment,

in my case—is that many patients present

with nonemergent conditions that make

transport less of a priority and permit more

comprehensive interviews.

As our industry assimilates the com-

munit y-paramedicine paradigm, we’ ll

hear more and more vague complaints

with subtle clues like mild pain or minor

GI upset. A willingness to go into detective

mode and conduct an unhurried interview,

for the sake of both diligence and customer

service, should be as much a part of our

prehospital practice as rapidly treating and

transporting unstable patients.

A good way to proceed during interviews

with nonemergent patients, many of whom

have multiple chronic illnesses, is to pro-

gressively update an “inventory” of their

complaints. For example, “Any discomfort

besides your headache and sore knee?”

shows you understand what the subject told

you so far, and are considering that there is

more useful information to come. Prompts

like “discomfort” or “odd feelings” are more

open-ended than “pain”; to some people, a

sensation such as chest pressure isn’t pain.

Don’t hesitate to clarify answers to your

questions. A patient whose head “feels

funny” might have a cold or an intracranial

bleed. Sometimes friends or family mem-

bers can help patients answer questions,

but beware of bystanders who repeatedly

interrupt your interview. Ask them to let

the subject try to answer. Even better, put

them to work doing something useful, like

collecting the patient’s meds.

Summary
As community paramedicine and other

nonemergent initiatives become common-

place in EMS, caregivers are going to need

communication skills that go beyond SAM-

PLE checklists. A minimalist approach to

dialogue with patients, considered preferred

if not essential in what was once almost

exclusively a light-and-sirens environment,

isn’t acceptable when prehospital interven-

tions require a thorough understanding not

only of chief complaints, but also how the

physical part of illness and injury is framed

by the patient’s environment.

Be considerate, be as thorough as time

permits, and pay attention!

Next time we’ll talk about interviewing

prospective employees.

EMSWORLD.com | OCTOBER 2015 31

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