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Purpose – To present a new conceptual framework for understanding how perceptions of fairness shape the experience of respect in groups and its implications for individuals’ engagement in groups, their psychological well-being, and intergroup relations.

Design/methodology/approach – Research on fairness perceptions and respect emerge from different theoretical traditions including theories of justice, social identity theory, and social context and health. We review this body of work and present the dual pathway model of respect, developed to integrate the different lines of research into a single testable framework. Research testing the model's predictions is presented.

Findings – The dual pathway model posits that concerns about respect follow from the need for social inclusion and for status attainment. Fair treatment from group peers and authorities communicates the extent to which these needs are satisfied, and as such, perceptions of being liked (indicative of inclusion) and of being judged worthy (indicative of status attainment) independently and differentially predict social engagement and psychological well-being.

Originality/value – The dual pathway model provides a framework for integrating and extending existing research on the experience of respect in groups. The model highlights how the inclusion and status dimensions of respect differentially shape outcomes relevant to group functioning: social engagement and psychological well-being. Insights from the model address a broad array of challenges faced by organizations, including building commitment, managing diversity, and promoting health and well-being among its members.

This chapter argues that self-respect—an integral, but often overlooked value in discussions of social justice—provides a robust foundation upon which libraries might build a renewed defense of privacy and intellectual freedom in the face of today’s advanced information and communication technologies.

The chapter begins by laying out the value of self-respect for social justice as it has been defined in the domains of moral and political philosophy. From there, the author demonstrates the relevance of self-respect for libraries and, in particular, for underwriting important library values like privacy and intellectual freedom. Finally, the author presents two case examples—Library 2.0 and #AmazonFAIL—that further demonstrate how advanced ICTs have the potential to undermine libraries as a site of self-respect.

Through the use of relevant and current case examples, the chapter lays bare how the adoption of new ICTs and an uncritical adherence to Library 2.0 (and the Web 2.0 ideology that underwrites it) threatens to further marginalize users unable to navigate the increasingly complex (and increasingly opaque) systems of data collection, analysis, and dissemination.

This discussion surfaces and translates the value of self-respect from moral and political philosophy and makes it available for librarians and scholars interested in social justice issues in library and information science. Further, it preserves two key historical moments—the rise of Library 2.0 and the case of #AmazonFAIL—for current and future reflections by scholars, librarians, and other information professionals.

Discussions about the dignity of human beings often focus on violations of a person’s dignity that are performed by other persons. However, human beings can also violate their own dignity or at least they can expose it to a violation by others thoughtlessly or intentionally. In his Metaphysics of Morals, Kant states that ‘[o]ne who makes himself a worm cannot complain afterwards if people step on him’. Kant presupposes that persons can infringe or even forfeit their own dignity – for instance through servile behaviour – and that violating one’s own dignity is a violation of a duty towards oneself. Starting from the tension between dignity in terms of honour and worth in current debates and in Kant’s own thinking, as well as between understanding dignity as absolute or relational, I develop a comprehensive account of dignity as a duty to oneself. The author argues for a twofold obligation towards oneself to respect one’s own dignity: (i) a duty (as the necessity of an action done out of respect for the moral law) to respect one’s authority as an autonomous person in the Kantian sense; and (ii) beyond the Kantian framework – an obligation arising from the practical necessity that follows from one’s self-understanding as a self-determined, self-expressive individual personality in a socio-cultural context. Finally, the author outlines the consequences of the idea of ‘making oneself a worm’ for the concept of dignity in the realm of rights by discussing why, even though persons can behave like worms, others ought not to step on them.

Respect is an important indicator of intragroup status, and it can influence within-group behavior. Being respected by other group members indicates a positive standing within the group that is relevant to two important identity concerns: belongingness and social reputation. Belongingness refers to the extent to which a person feels included in the group, and social reputation refers to how other in-group members evaluate a person. We review a series of studies that show that respect indeed communicates information relevant to these identity concerns, and as such influences a person's sense of affiliation, self-esteem, and cooperation (all variables considered to be important for the viability of groups). In addition, we also discuss whether the source of respect (i.e., peers vs. authority), culture, and group size matter in influencing these group-related variables. Finally, some implications for research on groups are discussed.

There is extensive research documenting the physical outcomes of childbirth, but significantly less on socio-psychological outcomes. Investigating women’s perception of dignified treatment during birth contributes to a salient, under-examined aspect of women’s childbirth experiences.

We use a two-part conceptualization of dignity, respect and autonomy, to understand how birth experiences and interactions either facilitate or undermine women’s perceived dignity. Data came from the Listening-to-Mothers I survey, the first nationally representative study of postpartum women in the United States (n = 1,406). Through linear regression analysis, we separately modeled women’s perception of respectful treatment and women’s perception of medical autonomy during birth.

Overall women reported high scores for both autonomy and respect. Differences between the models emerged related primarily to the role of interventions and provider support. While women’s perceived dignity is related to elements that she brings in to the delivery room (e.g., birth knowledge, health status), much variation was explained by the medical encounter itself (e.g., type of medical interventions, pain management, nurse support, and number of staff present).

This study is cross-sectional, and required either a telephone or internet access, thus limiting the full generalizability of findings. Two findings have direct practical relevance for promoting women’s dignity in childbirth. First, the number of staff persons present during labor and birth was negatively associated with both respect and autonomy. Second, that women with high levels of knowledge about their legal rights during childbirth were more likely to report high scores on the dignity scale. Limiting staff in the delivery room and including knowledge of legal rights in childbirth education or during prenatal visits may be two mechanisms to promote dignity in birth.

These findings address an important, under-examined aspect of women’s childbirth experiences. This study investigates how different birth experiences and interactions either promote or violate childbearing women’s perception of dignity, and has significant implications for the provision of maternal healthcare. The results reinforce the importance of focusing on the socio-psychological dimensions of childbirth.

This paper illuminates the distinction between individual and organizational actors in business-to-business markets as well as the coexistence of formal and informal mechanisms of coordination in multinational corporations. The main questions addressed include the following. (1) What factors influence the occurrence of personal contacts of foreign subsidiary managers in industrial multinational corporations? (2) How such personal contacts enable coordination in industrial markets and within multinational firms? The theoretical context of the paper is based on: (1) the interaction approach to industrial markets, (2) the network approach to industrial markets, and (3) the process approach to multinational management. The unit of analysis is the foreign subsidiary manager as the focal actor of a contact network. The paper is empirically focused on Portuguese sales subsidiaries of Finnish multinational corporations, which are managed by either a parent country national (Finnish), a host country national (Portuguese) or a third country national. The paper suggests eight scenarios of individual dependence and uncertainty, which are determined by individual, organizational, and/or market factors. Such scenarios are, in turn, thought to require personal contacts with specific functions. The paper suggests eight interpersonal roles of foreign subsidiary managers, by which the functions of their personal contacts enable inter-firm coordination in industrial markets. In addition, the paper suggests eight propositions on how the functions of their personal contacts enable centralization, formalization, socialization and horizontal communication in multinational corporations.

It has been suggested that “space and artifacts constitute systems of communication which organizations build up within themselves” (Gagliardi, 1992a, b, p. vi) and reflect the cultural life within that organization. This is a study of how the “landscape” of a public library (“Library X”), as an information retrieval system, relates to the values of the people who created it. The efforts here are geared towards understanding the physical instantiation of institutional culture and, more specifically, institutional values as they are reflected through the artifact.

Introduction: The world has become a global village with the development of globalization, technology, transportation opportunities, and socioeconomic living conditions. Multinational, multicultural businesses have been formed with the effect of globalization. Tourism activities have also gained a global dynamic. People from different cultures travel to different geographies for different purposes, and this highlights the need for managers and employees of tourism businesses to adapt to people from different cultures and multicultural environments.

Aim: In order to achieve success in intercultural communication, it is necessary to work with employees with a high level of intercultural sensitivity. Respect for different cultures without prejudices is very important in hotel businesses to provide quality service. For this reason, the high level of intercultural sensitivity of the employees in tourism businesses, which have a multicultural structure both with their customers and managers, will significantly affect their competitiveness in the sector. The aim of this study is to examine the intercultural sensitivity level of department managers working in hotel businesses according to some demographic features.

Method: The data collected via a survey were analyzed with statistical software. Frequency, percentage, etc., descriptive analysis and difference tests were performed.

Result: Intercultural sensitivity levels of hotel managers were examined according to some demographic characteristics. It was revealed that intercultural sensitivity levels of the managers working in hotel enterprises who participated in the research were far from ethnocentrism.

Implication: In the research, it was found that those who received tourism education respected intercultural differences more than those who did not receive any tourism education, and that they were affected by intercultural interaction more than those who did not receive any tourism education. For those working in the tourism sector, the recruitment of qualified personnel who received tourism education is important in order to achieve intercultural communication.

Originality of Study: The research was conducted on the department managers working in 4 and 5-star hotel enterprises in Marmaris and Bodrum districts of Muğla Province. There are a very limited number of studies in terms of determining the intercultural levels of employees and managers in hotel enterprises and examining them according to demographic characteristics. The research achieved results supporting similar studies. It is deemed significant in terms of determining according to which variables the concept of intercultural sensitivity differ and achieving results that can be generalized. Furthermore, the results which emphasized the importance of intercultural communication in the recruitment of the employees who received tourism education within the sector were also obtained.

A growing tendency towards interdisciplinary and international social science research has resulted in the need for codes of ethics and guidelines that cross disciplinary and national boundaries. One set of such documents was developed by the RESPECT project, which produced Europe-wide professional and ethical guidelines for social sciences. This chapter builds on a semi-structured interview conducted with the Principal Investigator of the RESPECT project. Her thoughts are contextualised within the broader discussions of ethics and professional standards codes and guidelines as identified by other scholars in the field. Drawing on an experience-based account, the chapter offers guidance in overcoming some of the common concerns when developing international, interdisciplinary ethics codes and guidelines for social science research.