Preadoptive factors predicting lesbian, gay, and heterosexual couples' relationship quality across the transition to adoptive parenthood.

The authors examined preadoptive factors as predictors of relationship quality (love, ambivalence, and conflict) among 125 couples (44 lesbian couples, 30 gay male couples, and 51 heterosexual couples) across the 1st year of adoptive parenthood. On average, all new parents experienced declines in their relationship quality across the 1st year of parenthood regardless of sexual orientation, with women experiencing steeper declines in love. Parents who, preadoption, reported higher levels of depression, greater use of avoidant coping, lower levels of relationship maintenance behaviors, and less satisfaction with their adoption agencies reported lower relationship quality at the time of the adoption. The effect of avoidant coping on relationship quality varied by gender. Parents who, preadoption, reported higher levels of depression, greater use of confrontative coping, and higher levels of relationship maintenance behaviors reported greater declines in relationship quality. These findings have implications for professionals who work with adoptive parents both pre- and postadoption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Performance Effects of Combining Rationality and Intuition in Making Early New Product Idea Evaluation Decisions

New product idea evaluation decisions made by individual development team members during their idea generation activities allow for and may also benefit from the use of both rational and intuitive approaches to decision‐making. Unfortunately, there is a lack of empirical research on whether at all and, if yes, in which temporal sequence the two approaches should best be combined in making single idea evaluation decisions. To start filling this gap in the innovation and decision‐making literatures, this research empirically explores which approach (combination) increases idea evaluation decision‐making quality and speed. To this end, an experiment with product development practitioners was conducted, manipulating the use of either only intuition, only rationality, or combining intuition with rationality in both sequences in making a typical idea evaluation decision. The results show that only one combination, starting with intuitively analysing the ideas and then rationally considering the resulting intuition in making the final decision, leads to both the highest quality and speed. This finding has significant implications for theory and practice and provides ample opportunities for further research.     

The phenomenology of fit: Linking the person and environment to the subjective experience of person-environment fit.

The authors distinguished 3 approaches to the study of perceived person-environment fit (P-E fit): (a) atomistic, which examines perceptions of the person and environment as separate entities; (b) molecular, which concerns the perceived comparison between the person and environment; and (c) molar, which focuses on the perceived similarity, match, or fit between the person and environment. Distinctions among these approaches have fundamental implications for theory, measurement, and the subjective experience of P-E fit, yet research has treated these approaches as interchangeable. This study investigated the meaning and relationships among the atomistic, molecular, and molar approaches to fit and examined factors that influence the strength of these relationships. Results showed that the relationships among the approaches deviate markedly from the theoretical logic that links them together. Supplemental analyses indicated that molar fit overlaps with affect and molecular fit gives different weight to atomistic person and environment information depending on how the comparison is framed. These findings challenge fundamental assumptions underlying P-E fit theories and have important implications for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring Differences between Inventors,Champions, Implementers and Innovators in Creating and Developing New Products in Large,Mature Firms

This exploratory research investigates nine individuals participating as specialists in different phases of the invention and new product development (NPD) process in one organization. In‐depth interviews were conducted with these individuals, as well as with 17 of their managers and co‐workers, adding an external perspective about them. These nine individuals participated in four different divisions of labour in the innovation process: inventors who focus on scientific and technical invention prior to concept development, champions who are most adept at selling acceptance of projects into the organization, implementers who focus on facilitating the project through the firm's formal development process, and innovators who operate across all three phases of invention, acceptance and implementation. The research finds differences in personality, perspective, knowledge base, motivation, and attitude toward politics that seem to be associated with these different specialist types. These differences lead to implications for the types of projects for which they might best be suited, as well as for how they might best be managed.     

Structural and moral commitment among same-sex couples: Relationship duration, religiosity, and parental status.

This study examined ecological predictors of structural and moral commitment among cohabiting same-sex couples. Structural commitment was operationalized as the execution of legal documents, and moral commitment was operationalized as having a commitment ceremony. The authors tested 2 logistic regression models using a subsample of Rainbow Illinois survey respondents. First, the execution of legal documents was examined using the entire subsample (n=190). Because antigay victimization may sensitize individuals to the importance of legal protection, actual and feared victimization were hypothesized to predict legalization. These hypotheses were not supported. However, relationship duration, a control variable, did predict legalization. The authors then used data only from those individuals who had executed a legal document (n=150) to determine those who also reported a commitment ceremony (Model 2). Parental status, religiosity, involvement with a supportive congregation, and an interaction between gender and parental status were hypothesized to predict ritualization. Only religiosity and parental status emerged as significant. Results from this study demonstrate the importance of distinguishing between legalization and ritualization. Further, they extend knowledge about how same-sex couple commitment is shaped by noncouple factors, such as time, individual religiosity, and parental status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)