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This study investigated the idea that youth's perceptions of the frequency of family political discussions and of parental political support mostly derive from their own political interest, a form of projection bias. Tests were performed of whether the same bias applies to parents, and whether youth's and parents' perceptions of political discussions and political support overlap to only a limited extent. Multivariate multiple regression analyses, combining two age cohorts of adolescent-parent pairs (509 13-year-olds and 541 16-year-olds), supported these expectations, indicating that parents and youth live, at least in part, in different perceptual worlds. These findings explain differences in youth's and parents' reports of political interactions, illuminate the theoretical models indicating that family discussions determine whether or not a child is interested in politics, and show the limitations of relying solely on reports of either youth or parents when studying the influence of family political discussions on youth's political development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compelling issue for organizations and societies at large is to ensure external employability of the workforce across workers' entire work-life span. Using the frameworks of age norms, stereotyping and age meta-stereotypes, we investigate whether (a) age is negatively related to perceived external employability; and (b) the age-employability link is moderated by HR developmental practices (HRDPs) and unemployment rate. We argue that being aware of stereotypes and age norms in organizations, and holding also meta-stereotypes about their group, older workers perceive themselves as less externally employable. However, the context –HRDPs that one has experienced, and the country unemployment rate – would act as buffers. Using data from a large-scale survey from over 9000 individuals in 30 institutionally diverse countries, we found that the negative relationship between age and perceived external employability was significant across all countries. In addition, at the individual level, we found that HRDPs acted as a buffer for this negative relationship, such that the effect was less pronounced for individuals who have experienced more HRDPs during their working life. At the country level, the hypothesized moderating effect of unemployment rate was not observed. Limitations, future research directions, as well as practical implications of the study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of DNA methylation has become routine in the pipeline for diagnosis of imprinting disorders, with many publications reporting aberrant methylation associated with imprinted differentially methylated regions (DMRs). However, comparisons between these studies are routinely hampered by the lack of consistency in reporting sites of methylation evaluated. To avoid confusion surrounding nomenclature, special care is needed to communicate results accurately, especially between scientists and other health care professionals. Within the European Network for Human Congenital Imprinting Disorders we have discussed these issues and designed a nomenclature for naming imprinted DMRs as well as for reporting methylation values. We apply these recommendations for imprinted DMRs that are commonly assayed in clinical laboratories and show how they support standardized database submission. The recommendations are in line with existing recommendations, most importantly the Human Genome Variation Society nomenclature, and should facilitate accurate reporting and data exchange among laboratories and thereby help to avoid future confusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We take a meso approach toward investigating the interplay between perceptions of individual employees regarding HR practices and the variability of such perceptions within the department (i.e. HRM strength) and their effects. This study included 2821 healthcare professionals (i.e. nurses, head nurses, technicians, obstetricians and allied health staff) nested in 44 departments of 27 hospitals. Cross-level moderation analyses revealed that individual perceptions of HR practices positively predict individual perceptions of proactivity climate, moderated by HRM strength in the corresponding department. As hypothesized, idiosyncratic perceptions of HR practices predict perceived proactivity when HRM strength is weak because ambiguous situations are interpreted based on direct experience; on the other hand, strong situations reduce the reliance on individual experiences making perceptions of proactivity climate more homogeneous with one another. This enables the emergence of a collective climate for proactivity (i.e. individual perceptions of proactivity aggregated at the department level) which, consistent with our hypothesis, positively predicts appropriateness of care. These findings shed light on the processes by which HR practices are effective and have important implications for HR managers and professionals with regard to extending the involvement of individuals in HR practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to societal threat can elicit an increase in right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). In this study, using a quasi-experimental vignette design (Italian community sample, N = 86), we tested the moderating role of self-concept clarity (SCC). A moderated regression showed that manipulated societal threat to safety fostered RWA only among low SCC scorers. It is concluded that SCC is an important resource for individuals facing threat conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Oxidative stress seems to be involved in Rett syndrome (RTT). The aim of this study was to assess the antioxidant status in RTT children withMECP2gene mutations with respect to healthy controls, and to explore novel blood antioxidant markers for RTT severity.Methods: In erythrocytes from RTT females aged 2–14 years (n = 27) and age-matched controls (n = 27), we measured the levels of malonaldehyde and the activity of two antioxidant enzymes, Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase and catalase, by spectrophotometric assays. In leukocytes, the expression of metallothioneins, the main non-enzymatic antioxidants, was assessed by real-time RT-PCR. In nine selected RTT children, methylome analysis was also performed.Results: Blood of RTT patients showed increased lipid peroxidation and a dysregulated pattern of MT expression, while enzymatic activities did not change significantly with respect to controls. Moreover, we observed no epigenetic dysregulation in CpG-enriched promoter regions of the analysed genes but significant hypomethylation in the random loci.Conclusions: As the haematic level of MT-1A directly correlates with the phenotype severity, this metallothionein can represent a marker for RTT severity. Moreover, the attempt to link the level of blood oxidative stress withMECP2mutation and specific clinical features led us to draw some interesting conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The extant leadership research has paid increasing attention to the concept of motivation to lead (MTL) as an individual construct that strongly affects leadership processes and behaviors. However, despite its importance, scant knowledge is available about how individual characteristics and organizational structural features interact in influencing MTL in professional-based organizations. This article contributes to this line of research by adopting a multilevel perspective to study the MTL among individual professionals in the healthcare sector. We collected data from a sample of 791 physicians nested in 44 departments belonging to 27 hospitals. Using the hierarchical linear model, we tested the impact of individual and organizational variables on the motivation of physicians to engage in managerial positions. Our findings demonstrate that the physicians' MTL was positively associated with their individual self-efficacy. Departmental decentralization interacted with this self-efficacy, such that the effect of self-efficacy on the MTL was significantly lower when decentralization was high. We discuss the implications of these findings for human resource management and organizational (re)design within professional organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current study focused on job satisfaction and job performance, as well as on their predictors in a privatized organization. We tested a model in which job satisfaction, consistent with social cognitive theory, is related to self-efficacy and perceptions of social context (i.e., colleagues, immediate supervisor, top management); job satisfaction, in turn, predicts job performance along with organizational tenure. White collars (N = 1172) from the staff and line functions of an Italian privatized organization were administered a self-report questionnaire matched with their job performance as rated by supervisors (six months later). Structural equation modelling supported the hypothesized relationships among variables. We found that: (a) self-efficacy was related to the three components of perceptions of social context; (b) perceptions of social context mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and job satisfaction; (c) job performance was positively predicted by job satisfaction; and (d) finally, the relationship between organizational tenure and job performance became progressively negative as organizational tenure increases, indicating a misfit between the person and the organization for employees hired before the privatization. Our findings suggest interventions directed at enhancing employees' self-efficacy in mastering job tasks under unstable conditions, at supporting supervisors in managing their coworkers, and at improving the fit between higher-tenured employees and the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]