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The Common Good Balance Sheet (CGB) is an instrument to measure a company’s contribution to the common good. In our study, we investigate whether employees from companies with higher CBG scores perceive more corporate social responsibility than employees from companies with lower CBG scores and whether relationships can be found between the achieved CGB scores and employees’ job-related attitudes and behaviors. We conducted an online survey of 332 employees from eight German companies with published CGBs. According to results from multiple linear regression analyses, employees from companies with higher CGB scores perceive more CSR and are more satisfied with their jobs and payments. In addition, they report less job demands, more organizational support, more work meaningfulness and more organizational citizenship behaviors towards their company. Employees identify more with their company if high transparency and co-determination is practiced. However, the value and social impact of the companies’ products is not related to employees’ organizational identification. Moreover, employees from companies with high CGB scores do not report more organizational citizenship behaviors towards their colleagues. Our results indicate that the CGB is a tool that measures aspects concerning job-related attitudes and behaviors and allows comparability between companies. However, aspects relevant to job satisfaction may still be missing in the CGB scoring.

As organizational research turned its focus to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), interest also grew in the individual's perspective on CSR. When looking for cross-cultural comparisons of the effects of CSR, measurement invariance is of utter importance as a questionnaire might not be equivalent in all investigated samples and thus bias results. We examined a previously published questionnaire assessing different aspects of personal CSR ratings. Factorial validity and measurement invariance was tested by means of confirmatory factor analysis and Bayesian structural equation modeling in five samples (total N = 1120): 2 US-American, 2 German, and 1 English-speaking Indian sample. In an exploratory-confirmatory approach, the originally proposed factor structure was altered to finally comprise four facets of CSR: employee-related CSR, environmental CSR, philanthropy and customer-related CSR. Measurement invariance tests showed evidence for small differences of the English and German version as well as significant divergences of the measurement model in the Indian sample. In conclusion, we show the validity of the questionnaire for a circumscribed Western context but are hesitant about further transfers. Future research on perception of CSR in non-western contexts might depend on new and tailored questionnaires.

Increasing individual subjective well-being has various positive outcomes, knowledge about its antecedents and the mediators of this relationship can therefore help to increase subjective well-being and the accompanying positive effects. The more future oriented facets of psychological capital, i.e. optimism, hope and self-efficacy have been shown in several studies to be positively related to subjective well-being and negatively to ill-being. Furthermore, recent studies suggest coping strategies as mediators for these relationships. In our study, we examined the longitudinal relation of optimism, hope and self-efficacy with subjective well-being and ill-being in a German panel dataset and tested the mediating effect of flexible goal adjustment in a path model. Our results show a statistically significant positive effect of self-efficacy and optimism on subjective well-being as well as a statistically significant negative effect of optimism on depression over three years. All three predictors show a statistically significant relation with flexible goal adjustment, but flexible goal adjustment did not mediate the effect on subjective well-being or depression.

The aim of this study was to discover how individuals with autism succeed in entering the job market. We therefore sought to identify expected and occurred barriers, keeping them from taking up and staying in employment as well as to identify the solutions used to overcome these barriers. Sixty-six employed individuals with autism--17 of them with autism-specific employment--participated in an online survey. Results showed a variety of possible barriers. Individuals in autism-specific employment named formality problems--problems with organizational and practical process-related aspects of the job entry--most frequently while individuals in non-autism-specific employment mentioned social problems--obstacles concerning communication and human interaction--most. In terms of solutions, both groups used their own resources as much as external help, but differed in their specific strategies. In addition, correlations of an autism-specific employment with general and occupational self-efficacy as well as life and job satisfaction were examined. Possible implications of the results are discussed with regard to problem solving behavior and the use of strengths.

Rooted in the neurodiversity approach, this study provides an overview of the strengths and interests of individuals with Asperger's Syndrome. We interviewed136 individuals with Asperger's Syndrome and 155 neurotypical individuals via an online survey with regards to (a) demography, (b) occupational strengths, (c) general self-efficacy, (d) occupational self- efficacy, and (e) the job interest profile according to Holland. The vocational and educational fields of the individuals with Asperger's in the sample are more diverse than and surpass those classical fields stated in research and biographical literature. The comparison of both groups in cross- tables showed that the indicated strengths differ in several areas (ΦCramer = .02–.47), which means that a specific strength profile can be derived, and this profile goes beyond the clinical view of the diagnostic criteria. Individuals with Asperger's indicate lower self-efficacy, both general and occupational. Furthermore, a high concentration of individuals with Asperger's can be found in the areas I (Investigative) and C (Conventional) of Holland's RIASEC model.

Over the last decade, the research dealing with transformational leadership put the emphasis on a more differentiated model of leadership. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) assesses nine leadership facets. The instrument, however, is often criticized as the five transformational facets cannot be empirically distinguished and Contingent Reward a transactional aspect shows high correlations with the transformational scales. The effectiveness of transformational leadership and its positive relation to desirable organizational variables, as for example satisfaction, is confirmed throughout the literature. As the MLQ is one of the instruments used most often to assess transformational leadership, this study aims to investigate the construct validity of the questionnaire. The underlying factor structure of the MLQ 5X Short is therefore examined, in addition to the MLQ s relation to other leadership behavior questionnaires and to several external criteria. The proposed factorial structure of the MLQ and several other tested models can not be confirmed. A conducted parallel analysis suggests that three factors should be extracted from the item pool. The so obtained reduced model splits up into a transformational, a transactional, and a passive-avoidant factor. The comparison of the MLQ with another transformational leadership questionnaire reveals a high overlapping of most of the transformational scales. The transformational facet of high performance expectations, though, shows distinguishably lower correlations with the MLQ transformational scales. Consideration and initiating structure also reveal positive correlations with the transformational scales of the MLQ. Hereby, consideration shows correlations with the MLQ scales that range from r = .55 to r = .72, initiating structure correlates lower with these scales. However, initiating structure shows a relatively high correlation with the transactional facet of management by exception active. The more passive scales of the MLQ show negative correlations with these scales. The augmentation effect of transformational leadership over transactional leadership can be confirmed in this study as well. Furthermore, it can be shown that the transformational scales also add significant parts of variance for several external criteria over the scales of the other two examined leadership questionnaires. Additionally, transformational leadership does differentiate between high and low levels of satisfaction and affective commitment., Innerhalb der letzten Jahrzehnte hat die Forschung zur transformationalen Führung die Betonung auf ein differenzierteres Modell der Führung gelegt. Der Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) erfasst neun Facetten des Führungsverhaltens. Das Instrument wird jedoch häufig kritisiert, da die fünf transformationalen Facetten empirisch nicht differenziert werden können und Contingent Reward ein transaktionaler Aspekt des Führungsverhaltens hohe Korrelationen mit den transformationalen Skalen aufweist. Die Effektivität transformationaler Führung und ihre positive Beziehung zu erwünschten organisationalen Variablen wie etwa Arbeitszufriedenheit, wird in der Literatur jedoch durchweg bestätigt. Da der MLQ sehr häufig dazu herangezogen wird um transformationale Führung zu erfassen, zielt diese Untersuchung darauf ab, die Konstruktvalidität des Fragebogens zu untersuchen. Die dem MLQ 5X Short zugrunde liegende Faktorstruktur wird daher ebenso untersucht wie die Beziehung des MLQs zu anderen Führungsfragebogen sowie unterschiedlichen externen Kriterien. Die dem MLQ vorgegebene Faktorstruktur kann ebenso wenig bestätigt werden wie andere alternative Faktormodelle. Eine Parallelanalyse deutet darauf hin, dass aus dem Itempool drei Faktoren zu extrahieren sind. Die so erhaltene reduzierte Version unterteilt sich in einen transformationalen, einen transaktionalen und einen passiv-vermeidenden Faktor. Der Vergleich des MLQ mit einem anderen Fragebogen zur transformationalen Führung lässt eine hohe Überschneidung der meisten transformationalen Skalen erkennen. Die transformationale Facette der hohen Leistungserwartung zeigt allerdings deutlich geringere Zusammenhänge mit den transformationalen Skalen des MLQ. Consideration und Initiating Structure korrelieren ebenfalls positiv mit den transformationalen Skalen des MLQ. Hierbei korreliert Consideration mit den Skalen des MLQ in einem Bereich von r = .55 bis r = .72, Initiating Structure zeigt geringere Korrelationen. Initiating Structure zeigt jedoch hohe Korrelationen mit der transaktionalen Skala Management by exception active. Die eher passiven Facetten des MLQ zeigen negative Korrelationen mit diesen Skalen. Der Augmentationseffekt der transformationalen Führung über die transaktionale Führung hinaus wird auch in dieser Studie bestätigt. Weiterhin kann gezeigt werden, dass die transformationalen Skalen des MLQ ebenfalls signifikante zusätzliche Varianz in solchen Kriterien im Vergleich zu den anderen beiden Führungsfragebögen aufklärt. Zusätzlich differenziert transformationale Führung zwischen hohen und niedrigen Ausprägungen der Arbeitszufriedenheit und des Commitments.