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The article describes the public interest approach to governmental lawyering in the U.S. It identifies the various drawbacks, limitations, and normative value of the agency-centered approach and the public interest approach. Also discussed are some of the relevant organizational psychology concepts, including role conflict and role ambiguity, organizational justice, and organizational commitment.

The study used data provided by 349 professional staff employees from 17 different US higher education institutions to assess aspects of their working conditions that could influence their own work engagement and the work-related behaviours of their colleagues. Relationships among three role stressors (role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload), work engagement, organisational citizenship behaviours, and in-role behaviours were examined using correlation, regression and relative weight analyses. The higher participants’ perceptions of role ambiguity, conflict and overload, the lower were the levels of their own work engagement and organizational citizenship and in-role behaviours of their colleagues. Work engagement partially mediated the relationships between role ambiguity, conflict and overload and both organizational citizenship and in-role behaviours. The analysis indicated that role ambiguity had the strongest relationship with work engagement, organisational citizenship and in-role behaviours, followed by role conflict and then by role overload. Practical implications are discussed and managerial interventions suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Occupational stress researchers have given considerable attention to role ambiguity and role conflict as predictors of employee health, job attitudes and behaviour. However, the validity of the Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman’s (1970) scales – the most popular role stressor measures – has been a source of disagreement among researchers. In response to the disputed validity of the Rizzo et al. scales, we developed new measures of role ambiguity and role conflict and conducted five studies to examine their psychometric qualities (Study 1N = 101 U.S. workers; Study 2N = 118 workers primarily employed in the U.S.; Study 3N = 135 employed U.S. MBA students; Study 4N = 973 members of the U.S. Air Force (USAF); Study 5N = 234 workers primarily employed in the U.S.). Across these five studies, we found that the new role stressor scales have desirable psychometric qualities: they displayed high levels of substantive validity, high levels of internal consistency and test–retest reliability, they produced an interpretable factor structure, and we found evidence of their construct validity. We therefore recommend that these new scales be used in future research on role stress. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The aim of this exploratory study is to assess the impact of role clarity and concern for the other party's goals on soldiers' negotiations with members of the local population within a combat zone. Design/methodology/approach – Following the Dual Concerns Model it was hypothesized that soldiers experiencing high concern for the needs of their Iraqi counterparts would engage in: higher levels of problem solving behavior; report greater trust in their counterparts; and reach more mutually satisfying agreements under conditions of role clarity relative to role ambiguity. A total of 42 officers and non-commissioned officers serving in Iraq participated in the study. Findings – The results supported the prediction that role clarity moderates the relationship between concern for the other party's needs and various outcomes of the negotiation process. Research limitations/implications – The study involved a small convenience sample, cross-sectional design, and a single source of data for all measures. Nonetheless, the results are consistent with other studies examining the theoretical assumptions of the Dual Concern Model and suggest that role clarity may serve as a useful operationalization of high self-concern and high resistance to yielding. Originality/value – The study advances knowledge about soldiers' ability to negotiate mutually satisfying agreements with members of the local population. It points to the need to combine a policy of collaboration with local civilians with the communication of a clear set of overall mission and specific negotiation goals and objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the ambiguity of the chain of command during the Utah War of 1857-1858, or the Utah Expedition, and its destructive impact. It investigates the plans and behavior of senior officers of the U.S. army who got involved in the war, and who among them bore the overall command responsibility. It analyzes the role of several figures in the Expedition, including Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, and Brevet Brigadier General William S. Harney. It also discusses the complications that resulted from the complex command situation in the U.S. Army during the war.

The article reflects on the ambiguity of U.S. foreign policy. This clumsiness is attributed to inexperience, lack of focus, engagement in activities which do not clearly advance vital national interests, and idealistic impulses checked by realistic determinants. While these factors do contribute, U.S. clumsiness also relates to an inability to come to terms with its soldiers performing missions that require them to work closely with people they will possibly help, and fight, simultaneously.

This paper analyzes how people define their relation to different forms of community. Interviews with 77 Californians revealed that respondents either chose a community identity as a city person, suburbanite, small-town person, or country person, or rejected such identification as meaningless, stigmatizing, constraining, or a source of identity conflict. Those who identify express a sense of belonging, based on ties of sentiment, interest, value, or knowledge. They also use community imagery to interpret self: Self-designated city people, for instance, characterize themselves as active, liberal, city-wise; small-town people, as friendly, family-oriented, less materialistic, unpermissive; country people, as easy-going, independent, practical, ordinary, outdoor folk; suburbanites, as people of the middle ground. This rich, complex pattern of community identification suggests the limited value of traditional sociological images of community decline and placelessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]