The Role of Social Pressure as a Moderator of Materialism

--Saju Eapen Thomas and P R Wilson

The conventional belief is that low self-esteem leads to materialistic tendencies in individuals and research has extensively looked at the association between low self-esteem and materialism. The existing literature is unable to explain the reasons for materialistic behavior prevalent among high self-esteem individuals. This study is formulated with the objective of understanding what causes materialistic tendencies in individuals with high self-esteem and it checks whether socialization factors such as Attitude to Television (ATV), Peer Pressure (PP), Social Comparison (SC) and Attitude to Debt (AD) act as contributors to Social Pressure (SP) to consume, leading to development of materialism. A quantitative survey was used to collect data from working executives in three major cities of South India based on which the social pressure model of materialism is developed by multiple regression techniques. To ascertain the moderating role played by social pressure, a partial correlation exercise is carried out wherein the researchers suppress the social pressure factor and generate correlations between the contributor factors and materialism. The results indicate that socialization factors ATV, PP, SC and AD play a major role in the development of SP, which in turn plays moderator role in the development of materialism. The findings show that alternate pathways of materialism de-linked from low self-esteem exist.

© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

The Influence of Affect on Acceptance of Human Resource Information Systems with Special Reference to Public Sector Undertaking

--David Jawahar and K Nitin Harindran

Although a substantial amount of research has focused on the significance of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) for organization, little research has been done to explore the factors that influence the acceptance of HRIS. Furthermore, while most existing models and theories of acceptance of technology have predominantly focused on the cognitive aspect of decision-making process and individual level reaction to using technology in organizational context, little is known about the influence of affect or emotion on acceptance of HRIS. The study endeavors to find the role of affect or emotion in acceptance of HRIS by exploring the psychological theories of affective experience. The study examines the relationship between affect and cognition, and its role in the acceptance of HRIS. The findings reveal that affect influences the acceptance of HRIS by influencing the cognitive aspects, consequently influencing the behavioral outcome (i.e., formation of behavioral intention).

© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Trust Betrayed – Depraved Doctor or Negligent Hospital?

--Madasu Bhaskara Rao and Madasu Mallika Rao

Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. Medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology. The top ranking Johns Hopkins Hospital agreed for settlement of US$190 mn in July 2014 in a class action suit, the largest ever in the history of hospitals in America, for gross violation of doctor-patient trust in a case of medical malpractice. The hospital failed to protect the patient privacy rights, in evaluating existing employees and ensuring that employee performance meets the standards, norms and metrics. An obstetrician-gynaecologist betrayed the trust of patients by ‘harmful and offensive sexual’ contact and covertly taking pictures of their intimate parts. In this medical malpractice, nobody died because of a doctor’s error. Nobody was injured. The doctor did not fail to diagnose a critical condition, nor did he have an extramarital relationship with patients. There was no evidence that the doctor shared the secretly taken images with anyone. Pelvic examination was not performed on unconscious surgical patients without their knowledge and yet the hospital faced the largest settlement ever as women were devastated due to the feeling of an extreme breach of faith, breach of trust and betrayal. The multidisciplinary nature of this case makes it interesting and serves the learning needs in human resource management, hospital administration, patient right laws, and ethics in governance. This case is an eye opener for corporate hospitals.

© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.