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Understanding Ethical Leadership In Intelligence: Themes In Accountability, Self-Development, And Communication Among Cia Leaders, Caroline Walsh

Dissertations

This dissertation elucidates the concept of ethical leadership within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Based on interviews with ten former senior-level officers from across different departments, the study analyzes how these leaders understand issues of accountability, self-development, and communication. The research also provides insights into their processes of sense-making and their methodologies for fostering ethical conduct amidst the complexities of intelligence operations.

Against the backdrop of the CIA's mission, structure, and norms, the study sheds light on the challenges and tensions inherent in the organization's operations. Through a thematic analysis of participant narratives, themes of moral cognition, personal values, and …

Nonprofit Accountability: Effects Of Subsector On Online Accountability, Ibrahima F. Yaro, Trent A. Engbers

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Scandals within the nonprofit sector over compensation and management have increased calls for nonprofits to demonstrate accountability. Many organizations have responded by disclosing information online and providing tools that allow web-based interactions with stakeholders. The literature on nonprofits’ online accountability has found that the level of nonprofit online accountability is affected by their size, age, asset, revenue, and location, but hasn’t been examined in terms of how subsector influences online accountability. Through a web-content analysis of fifty-five nonprofits, this research investigated how subsector (arts and culture, education, health, and human services) influences online accountability using a framework of four types …

Accountability: Construct Definition And Measurement Of A Virtue Vital To Flourishing, Charlotte Vanoyen-Witvliet, Sung Joon Jang, Byron R. Johnson, C. Stephen Evans, Jack W. Berry, Joseph Leman, Robert C. Roberts, John Peteet, Andrew B. Torrance, Ashley N. Hayden

Faculty Publications

Embracing accountability to others for one’s responsibilities within relationships is important for flourishing, yet underexamined. An interdisciplinary team defined the construct of accountability and developed an 11-item single-factor Accountability Scale. In national samples with US census demographic representation (total N = 1257), we conducted psychometric analyses using methods from classical test theory (exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses) and item response theory. The Accountability Scale demonstrated internal consistency, construct validity, test-retest reliability, and incremental validity. Accountability correlated positively with relational variables (agreeableness, empathy) responsibility-oriented variables (conscientiousness, self-regulation), virtues (gratitude, forgiveness, limitations-owning humility), relational repair, perceived meaning presence, and flourishing, inversely with …

Accountability As A Key Virtue In Mental Health And Human Flourishing, John R. Peteet, Charlotte Vanoyen-Witvliet, C. Stephen Evans

Faculty Publications

We propose that accountability plays an implicit, important, and relatively unexamined role in psychiatry. People generally think of accountability as a relation in which one party is held accountable by another. In this paper, we examine accountability as a virtue, drawing on philosophy, psychiatry, and psychology to examine what it means to welcome being accountable in an excellent way that promotes flourishing. When people manifest accountability as a virtue, they are both responsive to others they owe a response, and they are responsible for their attitudes and actions in light of these relationships. Psychiatric treatment often aims to correct disordered …

Ethical Leadership Effects On Medical Laboratory Personnel Accountability Behaviors, Claude-Marthe Daverdine Cherizard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ethical scandals have continued to generate disturbances in the corporate world and have encouraged ethics studies in organizations. Research has shown there is a relationship between ethical leadership and employee accountability in a variety of organizational settings, including healthcare. However, in medical laboratories that relationship has not been explored. A quantitative study was conducted to examine if medical laboratory employee perceptions of manager ethical leadership was associated with their own accountability behavior. A total of 69 participants responded online to three instruments to measure the study variables: ethical leadership was assessed by the Ethical Leadership at Work Questionnaire, employee accountability …

Employee Satisfaction And Perceptions Of Organizational Leadership Accountability, Caroline M. Clancy

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Leadership can truly make or break an organization with regard to virtually every work-related outcome. So, what characterizes an effective leader? Research suggests that leaders who embody organizational values and are held to same standards as their subordinates are related to optimal organizational outcomes. These values and standards start with an organization’s accountability practices. We hypothesize that perceptions of accountability will demonstrate a positive relationship with job satisfaction (H1) and a negative relationship with turnover intentions (H2). Additionally, communication will moderate the relationship discussed in our first hypothesis (H3). Finally, communication will moderate the relationship discussed in our second hypothesis …

Improving The Accuracy Of References: The Effects Of Felt Accountability On Personality Ratings, Cullen W. D. Mccurrach

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

References are a useful preemployment assessment for gathering unique personality information about job applicants. However, despite the capacity for external observers to provide valid personality ratings, references tend to be less accurate than similar preemployment assessments. This problem is important to address, since almost all organizations use references of some kind when hiring. This study attempted to improve the accuracy of the personality ratings provided in references by using two novel interventions believed to improve referees’ felt accountability to the hiring organization. These interventions included (a) a more elaborative rating format that asked participants to provide the reasons underlying each …

Reflections On The Bgj Anti-Racism Seminar, Michelle Billies

Publications and Research

In this Letter to the Editor, Billies (2021) responds to critical and supportive opinion pieces in the British Gestalt Journal (BGJ) following their plenary presentation at BGJ’s 2018 annual seminar (see Asherson Bartram, 2019; O’Malley, 2019). As author of the companion article "How/ Can Gestalt Therapy Promote Liberation from Anti-Black Racism?” (Billies, 2021), Billies, who identifies as white, discusses the intent at the seminar to support white people to increase accountability and reduce harm in dialogue with people of color, while supporting the work and needs of people of color on their terms from a Gestalt perspective. Describing a fishbowl …

Organizational Factors Contributing To Mental Health And Wellness In Behavioral Health Leaders, Julie Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to recent studies, a behavioral health leader’s (BHL’s) mental health and wellness is an important factor in an organization's ability to effectively provide mental healthcare. Mental health and wellness in BHLs lead to sustainability in their organization. Researchers have demonstrated that mental health and wellness in BHLs are factors contributing to an organization’s sustainability but have not established the factors contributing to mental health and wellness in BHLs. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to examine the organizational factors contributing to the mental health and wellness in the BHL of the organization. The Baldrige excellence framework …

Apology And Restitution: The Psychophysiology Of Forgiveness After Accountable Relational Repair Responses, Charlotte Vanoyen-Witvliet, Lindsey M. Root Luna, Everett L. Worthington Jr., Jo-Ann Tsang

Faculty Publications

Apology and restitution each represents wrongdoers’ accountable repair responses that have promoted victims’ self-reported empathy and forgiveness in crime scenario research. The current study measured emotional and stress-related dependent variables including physiological measures, to illuminate the links between predictors of forgiveness and health-relevant side effects. Specifically, we tested the independent and interactive effects of apology and restitution on forgiveness, emotion self-reports, and facial responses, as well as cardiac measures associated with stress in 32 males and 29 females. Apology and restitution each independently increased empathy, forgiveness, gratitude, and positive emotions, while reducing unforgiveness, negative emotion, and muscle activity above the …

Beyond Black And White: Infusing Restorative Practices Into Student Discipline, Louis L. Fletcher Phd, Peter Hilts

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

As a reaction to school violence, zero-tolerance became the rule in many school districts. The latter practice silenced student voices and institutionalized the overrepresentation of minority students in discipline situations. An over-reliance on punishment has not significantly changed behavior; therefore, it is time to explore proactively using restorative practices to allow students to value the reasons behind rules instead of simply complying to avoid punishment.

Genocide Denial: Perpetuating Victimization And The Cycle Of Violence In Bosnia And Herzegovina (Bih), Genevieve Parent

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The denial of the Armenian genocide led to devastating effects on both the individual and collective levels which in many cases were passed down to their descendants. In BiH, many of the facts are not denied per se but the interpretation is such that genocidal intent is denied. While some research has been done on the consequences of trauma among BiH survivors, no in-depth studies are found on the effects of denial on the survivors’ psychosocial well-being. This article aims to fill in the gaps based on in-depth-interviews carried out since 2011 in BiH, investigating the cognitive, affective and behavioral …

Identification And Examination Of Key Components Of Active Learning, Darrell Scott Kelly

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine key components of active learning. I hypothesized that feedback, accountability, and guided exploration were key components of active learning. I collected survey data from second year medical students (N = 103) in three different active learning interventions: peer instruction (PI), team-based learning (TBL), and problem-based learning (PBL), at six time points. My results did not consistently support my hypotheses. However, I observed a pattern of differences concerning feedback and accountability in the predicted direction in all three interventions. Feedback had a positive effect on professionalism in both PI and PBL, and accountability …

Educators' Perceptions Of High-Stakes Testing In Low And High Poverty Schools, Natasha Marie Domond

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since the development and implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002, educators have received pressure from local, state, and federal policyholders for students to achieve academically and for schools to make adequate yearly progress to avoid state and federal sanctions. The purpose of this study was to examine educators' perceptions of the effects of high-stakes testing and the accountability policies in high poverty and low poverty schools. The theoretical frameworks were conservation of resources theory, jobs demands-resources model, and job autonomy and control theory. Research questions focused on understanding educators' perception of high-stakes testing regarding curricula, …

The Treatment Of Missing Data When Estimating Student Growth With Pre-Post Educational Accountability Data, Jason P. Kopp

Dissertations, 2014-2019

To ensure program quality and meet accountability mandates, it is becoming increasingly important for educational institutions to show “value-added” for attending students. Value-added is often evidenced by some form of pre-post assessment, where a change in scores on a construct of interest is considered indicative of student growth. Although missing data is a common problem for these pre-post designs, missingness is rarely addressed and cases with missing data are often listwise deleted. The current study examined the mechanism underlying, and bias resulting from, missingness due to posttest nonattendance in a higher-education accountability testing context. Although data were missing for some …

Accountability In The Church, Professor Ben C Osisioma

Prof Ben Chuka Osisioma

Traditionally, accountability is the obligation to give a reckoning or explanation for one’s actions and responsibilities to a higher authority. However, for the purpose of this paper, we define accountability as the processes through which an organisation makes a commitment to respond to and balance the needs of stakeholders in its decision making processes and activities, and delivers against this commitment. In the church setting accountability involves managing the resources God has entrusted us with, organising for service and mission, and providing programmes to carry out the church’s mandate. The goal is to help people grow in Christ and learn …

Goals And Accountability For Ministry Effectiveness: Insights From Psychological Science, David R. Dunaetz

Selected Faculty Publications

In this overview of what psychological science has discovered about goal setting, we will see that goal setting tends to make people more productive. This essay examines the conditions under which goal setting is most effective, as well as the situations where goal setting can be dangerous. Studies of goal-setting theory have found that job performance increases when people have challenging but specific performance goals. The mechanisms that cause goal setting to lead to greater effectiveness are just as present in Christian ministry as in any other kind of work. Also the dangers associated with goal setting are especially relevant …

Measuring Employability Among College Students: A Validity Study, Megan Rodgers

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The practice of assessment in higher education is often focused on measuring outcomes of student success. However, the potential for a student to obtain a job (i.e., their employability) after graduation is often not directly measured. This reality is unfortunate given the competitive job market and rising cost of an education. One scale, the Employability Skills Inventory (ESI) has been identified as a potential assessment instrument that purports to measure skills necessary for employment in most occupations. Before deciding to use any scale for a particular purpose, one must establish that the scale is both reliable and valid. The focus …

Utilizing Focus Groups To Determine Clinical Perceptions Of Assessment Needs, Emily Ruth Smith Putnam

Theses and Dissertations

There has been a recent trend towards increasing accountability of mental health care providers through the use of treatment outcome measures, in order to reduce spending and improve patient care. This qualitative study utilized focus groups to elicit input regarding the need and possible content involved in creating an improved outcome measure specifically designed for severe emotionally disturbed (SED) children and adolescents. We conducted 60-90 minute focus groups with each of the following three separate constituent groups who are regularly involved in the care of SED youth at the Utah State Hospital (USH), including a) hospital clinical staff, b) affiliated …

The Effects Of Accountability On Leniency Reduction In Self Ratings, Brettney Smith

All Theses

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of accountability on leniency reduction in self-ratings. It was hypothesized that participants in both the upward and illegitimate accountability condition would have lower levels of leniency in their self-ratings than participants in the no accountability condition. Accountability was operationalized as participants being told that they would have to justify their self-ratings of driving performance to either a professor who specializes in driving research (upward accountability) or to an education graduate student who maintains the driving simulator (illegitimate accountability) via an audiotape. The results showed that accountability had a significant …

Mega-Cases, Diversity, And The Elusive Goal Of Workplace Reform, Nancy Levit

Nancy Levit

Employment discrimination class action suits are part of a new wave of structural reform litigation. Like their predecessors - the school desegregation cases in the 1950s, the housing and voting inequalities cases in the 1960s, prison conditions suits in the 1970s, and environmental lawsuits since then - these are systemic challenges to major institutions affecting large segments of the public. This article explores the effectiveness of various employment discrimination remedies in reforming workplace cultures, promoting corporate accountability, and implementing real diversity.

Reviewing the architecture and aftermath of consent decrees in five major employment discrimination cases - the cases against Shoney's, …

The Impact Of Commitment, Accountability, And Written Goals On Goal Achievement, Gail Matthews

Psychology | Faculty Presentations

Perhaps you have heard of the Yale (or Harvard Business School) study of goals in which only 3% of the graduating class had specific written goals for their futures. Twenty years later that 3% was found to be earning an astounding 10 times that of the group that had no clear goals. Well, it turns out that this “study” is merely an “urban myth,” as extensive reviews of the research literature by me and by Steven Kraus (a social psychologist from Harvard) as well as investigative reporting by Fast Company magazine revealed that no such study had ever been done! …

Effects Of Process Vs. Outcome Accountability, Responsibility, And Indentifiability On Solution Quality, Megan Potter

Student Work

This study investigated the effect of accountability, responsibility, and identifiability on the quality of solutions generated to an ill-defined problem. Accountable participants provided written justification for their output, either the solution generation process (process accountability) or the solution generation outcome (outcome accountability). Participants perceived themselves as either sharing responsibility for solution generation with others (shared responsibility) or solely responsible for solution generation (sole responsibility). Lastly, participants were either identifiable, such that their responses could be traced to them personally, or anonymous. Solution quality was measured by resolving power, or the degree to which a solution resolves conflicting aspects of the …

How Standards And Accountability Lead To Safety And Security Violations At Nuclear Weapons Plants, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some counterintuitive consequences of instituting safety standards and accountability practices at nuclear weapons plants.

Trends. Can Accountability Be Accountable? General Fogleman Requests Retirement, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

Ultimately military personnel deal with life and death Issues--even if for many of these personnel the likelihood of the ultimate is very remote. Requiring accountability for these personnel--the taking of responsibility for one's actions and their consequences--is a sound abstract principle. However, it too easily breaks down in concrete instances.

[Introduction To] Handbook Of Social And Clinical Psychology: The Health Perspective, C. R. Snyder, Donelson R. Forsyth

Bookshelf

From 1988 to 1991 Donelson R. Forsyth worked with C.R. Snyder and many other experts in the field of social and clinical psychology, editing a handbook that--at that time--summarized ongoing efforts in what was known as the social-clinical interface. This interface recognized the growing interdependency of these two fields. Up to that time social psychologists were mostly preoccupied with the study of the interpersonal determinants of thought, feeling, and action. Their work was primarily theoretically driven, the behaviors they sought to explain were the sort that occurred in everyday settings, and they preferred to test their hypotheses through laboratory experimentation. …