ABSTRACT This study explores the micro-level processes sustaining hostile workplace behaviour at ... more ABSTRACT This study explores the micro-level processes sustaining hostile workplace behaviour at the level of interactions between targets and actors. Drawing on Weick's [1995. Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] sensemaking theory, the study examined how targets and actors of workplace bullying made sense of each other's behaviours during first occasions of hostility. An analysis of collective biography stories of hostility in academia showed that targets experienced destabilisation of identity, positioned actors as arbiters of adequacy, and engaged in self-undermining. Actors' stories revealed not only moral condemnation of targets, failure to recognise the injury caused, but also precarious emotions, which could have subverted harmful behaviours. Based on these findings, the authors argue that understanding target and actor sensemaking is vital since it appears to contribute to power differentials between the parties from the very onset of hostility, thus allowing it to escalate. The implications for the development of a sensemaking approach to workplace bullying and organisational intervention are discussed.
ABSTRACT Although considerable research has addressed development from childhood giftedness to ad... more ABSTRACT Although considerable research has addressed development from childhood giftedness to adult excellence, subjective perceptions of this development by gifted individuals themselves have remained largely unexplored. This multiple case study examined the ways in which young adults, who in the past had been identified as gifted, made sense of their giftedness based on cues obtained from their social environment and the impact of this sensemaking on their development. The participants who showed the highest level of achievement and motivation in early adulthood perceived themselves as “agents of their learning” and made sense of their extraordinary outcomes as resulting from effortful, proper, and self-directed practice. Our findings indicate that a sense of agency is critical to maintaining gifted-level achievement through adolescence. We have identified some of the social environment factors that can diminish or enhance that sense of agency in high-achieving children.
ABSTRACT This study explores the micro-level processes sustaining hostile workplace behaviour at ... more ABSTRACT This study explores the micro-level processes sustaining hostile workplace behaviour at the level of interactions between targets and actors. Drawing on Weick's [1995. Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] sensemaking theory, the study examined how targets and actors of workplace bullying made sense of each other's behaviours during first occasions of hostility. An analysis of collective biography stories of hostility in academia showed that targets experienced destabilisation of identity, positioned actors as arbiters of adequacy, and engaged in self-undermining. Actors' stories revealed not only moral condemnation of targets, failure to recognise the injury caused, but also precarious emotions, which could have subverted harmful behaviours. Based on these findings, the authors argue that understanding target and actor sensemaking is vital since it appears to contribute to power differentials between the parties from the very onset of hostility, thus allowing it to escalate. The implications for the development of a sensemaking approach to workplace bullying and organisational intervention are discussed.
This article addresses the relationship between the work environment and the well-being of academ... more This article addresses the relationship between the work environment and the well-being of academic faculties in public Czech universities. It presents findings from a pilot study conducted at a Faculty of Arts at a major Czech university. The aims of the study were to describe the Faculty’s work environment and to examine the impact of specific work environment variables on the well-being of academic employees. In total, 236 academics participated in the study. The results showed relatively high job satisfaction and high work engagement at all academic levels. The Faculty’s organizational climate (measured using the Organizational Climate Measure; Patterson, Patterson, West, Shackleton, Dawson, Lawthom, Maitlis & Wallace, 2005) was defined by high autonomy and involvement in decision making, as well as relatively low pressure to produce. The Faculty’s psychosocial work environment (measured using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II; Kristensen, Hannerz, Høgh & Borg, 2005) was defined by a strong social community and social support. Based on these findings, the authors suggest that the Faculty’s work environment corresponds to the Humboldtian type of governance, defined by academic self-rule and a culture of collegiality, and they compare this type of governance with the market governance prevalent in Anglo-American contexts. The study contributes to the recent debates about national differences in academic governance by discussing how specific aspects of Humboldtian and market governance may contribute to well-being in academia.
The article presents results of a multiple-case study that examined the ways in which parents per... more The article presents results of a multiple-case study that examined the ways in which parents perceived and influenced the development of five children who showed extraordinary potential in various domains, such as school, sports or music. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect information about the children’s development and were subsequently processed by thematic analysis. The analysis showed that parents based their nurturing practices on their constructions of children’s giftedness. In most cases they constructed giftedness as an inborn and stable trait which predisposed children to future extraordinary achievements. This construction was related to supportive nurturing practices but also to excessive expectations and pressures to maintain peak performance which seemed to have a hindering effect on children’s motivation and on the long-term development of their achievements.
ABSTRACT This study explores the micro-level processes sustaining hostile workplace behaviour at ... more ABSTRACT This study explores the micro-level processes sustaining hostile workplace behaviour at the level of interactions between targets and actors. Drawing on Weick's [1995. Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] sensemaking theory, the study examined how targets and actors of workplace bullying made sense of each other's behaviours during first occasions of hostility. An analysis of collective biography stories of hostility in academia showed that targets experienced destabilisation of identity, positioned actors as arbiters of adequacy, and engaged in self-undermining. Actors' stories revealed not only moral condemnation of targets, failure to recognise the injury caused, but also precarious emotions, which could have subverted harmful behaviours. Based on these findings, the authors argue that understanding target and actor sensemaking is vital since it appears to contribute to power differentials between the parties from the very onset of hostility, thus allowing it to escalate. The implications for the development of a sensemaking approach to workplace bullying and organisational intervention are discussed.
ABSTRACT Although considerable research has addressed development from childhood giftedness to ad... more ABSTRACT Although considerable research has addressed development from childhood giftedness to adult excellence, subjective perceptions of this development by gifted individuals themselves have remained largely unexplored. This multiple case study examined the ways in which young adults, who in the past had been identified as gifted, made sense of their giftedness based on cues obtained from their social environment and the impact of this sensemaking on their development. The participants who showed the highest level of achievement and motivation in early adulthood perceived themselves as “agents of their learning” and made sense of their extraordinary outcomes as resulting from effortful, proper, and self-directed practice. Our findings indicate that a sense of agency is critical to maintaining gifted-level achievement through adolescence. We have identified some of the social environment factors that can diminish or enhance that sense of agency in high-achieving children.
ABSTRACT This study explores the micro-level processes sustaining hostile workplace behaviour at ... more ABSTRACT This study explores the micro-level processes sustaining hostile workplace behaviour at the level of interactions between targets and actors. Drawing on Weick's [1995. Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] sensemaking theory, the study examined how targets and actors of workplace bullying made sense of each other's behaviours during first occasions of hostility. An analysis of collective biography stories of hostility in academia showed that targets experienced destabilisation of identity, positioned actors as arbiters of adequacy, and engaged in self-undermining. Actors' stories revealed not only moral condemnation of targets, failure to recognise the injury caused, but also precarious emotions, which could have subverted harmful behaviours. Based on these findings, the authors argue that understanding target and actor sensemaking is vital since it appears to contribute to power differentials between the parties from the very onset of hostility, thus allowing it to escalate. The implications for the development of a sensemaking approach to workplace bullying and organisational intervention are discussed.
This article addresses the relationship between the work environment and the well-being of academ... more This article addresses the relationship between the work environment and the well-being of academic faculties in public Czech universities. It presents findings from a pilot study conducted at a Faculty of Arts at a major Czech university. The aims of the study were to describe the Faculty’s work environment and to examine the impact of specific work environment variables on the well-being of academic employees. In total, 236 academics participated in the study. The results showed relatively high job satisfaction and high work engagement at all academic levels. The Faculty’s organizational climate (measured using the Organizational Climate Measure; Patterson, Patterson, West, Shackleton, Dawson, Lawthom, Maitlis & Wallace, 2005) was defined by high autonomy and involvement in decision making, as well as relatively low pressure to produce. The Faculty’s psychosocial work environment (measured using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II; Kristensen, Hannerz, Høgh & Borg, 2005) was defined by a strong social community and social support. Based on these findings, the authors suggest that the Faculty’s work environment corresponds to the Humboldtian type of governance, defined by academic self-rule and a culture of collegiality, and they compare this type of governance with the market governance prevalent in Anglo-American contexts. The study contributes to the recent debates about national differences in academic governance by discussing how specific aspects of Humboldtian and market governance may contribute to well-being in academia.
The article presents results of a multiple-case study that examined the ways in which parents per... more The article presents results of a multiple-case study that examined the ways in which parents perceived and influenced the development of five children who showed extraordinary potential in various domains, such as school, sports or music. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect information about the children’s development and were subsequently processed by thematic analysis. The analysis showed that parents based their nurturing practices on their constructions of children’s giftedness. In most cases they constructed giftedness as an inborn and stable trait which predisposed children to future extraordinary achievements. This construction was related to supportive nurturing practices but also to excessive expectations and pressures to maintain peak performance which seemed to have a hindering effect on children’s motivation and on the long-term development of their achievements.
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in public Czech universities. It presents findings from a pilot study conducted at a Faculty of Arts at a major
Czech university. The aims of the study were to describe the Faculty’s work environment and to examine the
impact of specific work environment variables on the well-being of academic employees. In total, 236 academics
participated in the study. The results showed relatively high job satisfaction and high work engagement at all
academic levels. The Faculty’s organizational climate (measured using the Organizational Climate Measure;
Patterson, Patterson, West, Shackleton, Dawson, Lawthom, Maitlis & Wallace, 2005) was defined by high
autonomy and involvement in decision making, as well as relatively low pressure to produce. The Faculty’s
psychosocial work environment (measured using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II; Kristensen,
Hannerz, Høgh & Borg, 2005) was defined by a strong social community and social support. Based on
these findings, the authors suggest that the Faculty’s work environment corresponds to the Humboldtian type
of governance, defined by academic self-rule and a culture of collegiality, and they compare this type of governance
with the market governance prevalent in Anglo-American contexts. The study contributes to the recent debates
about national differences in academic governance by discussing how specific aspects of Humboldtian and
market governance may contribute to well-being in academia.
in public Czech universities. It presents findings from a pilot study conducted at a Faculty of Arts at a major
Czech university. The aims of the study were to describe the Faculty’s work environment and to examine the
impact of specific work environment variables on the well-being of academic employees. In total, 236 academics
participated in the study. The results showed relatively high job satisfaction and high work engagement at all
academic levels. The Faculty’s organizational climate (measured using the Organizational Climate Measure;
Patterson, Patterson, West, Shackleton, Dawson, Lawthom, Maitlis & Wallace, 2005) was defined by high
autonomy and involvement in decision making, as well as relatively low pressure to produce. The Faculty’s
psychosocial work environment (measured using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II; Kristensen,
Hannerz, Høgh & Borg, 2005) was defined by a strong social community and social support. Based on
these findings, the authors suggest that the Faculty’s work environment corresponds to the Humboldtian type
of governance, defined by academic self-rule and a culture of collegiality, and they compare this type of governance
with the market governance prevalent in Anglo-American contexts. The study contributes to the recent debates
about national differences in academic governance by discussing how specific aspects of Humboldtian and
market governance may contribute to well-being in academia.