Procedural injustice at work,justice sensitivity,job satisfaction and psychosomatic well‐being

In a field study with 295 factory employees, three hypotheses were tested: (1) Procedural injustice at work is correlated negatively with job satisfaction and psychosomatic well‐being. (2) The perception of procedural injustice depends on the person's chronic justice sensitivity. (3) Justice sensitivity moderates the correlation of procedural injustice with satisfaction and well‐being, the correlation becoming larger with increasing justice sensitivity. Procedural injustice was defined as the discrepancy between desired (ought) and perceived (is) procedures. Justice sensitivity and procedural fairness according to Leventhal's criteria (consistency, nonpartiality, accuracy, correctability, representativeness) and one additional criterion (open information) were measured via questionnaire. Job satisfaction, number of sick days during the last six months and number of days a person felt sick at work during the last six months served as indicators of psychosomatic well‐being. The first and second hypotheses were supported by the data. Partial support was also obtained for the third hypothesis: Justice sensitivity moderated the correlation of procedural unfairness with (a) the number of days the person felt sick at work and (b) the sum of this variable with the number of sick days. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antecedents and consequences of approach and avoidance achievement goals: A test of gender invariance

ObjectiveBased on Elliot's revised achievement goal framework [Elliot and McGregor (2001). A 2×2 achievement goal framework. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 501–519], the present study tested the gender invariance of the multiple achievement goal measurement model as well as the hypothesized antecedents and consequences of the multiple achievement goals embedded in a structural model.MethodA sample of 450 British male and female athletes (M age=22.17, SD=6.59) were used. A multi-section questionnaire, assessing approach and avoidance achievement goals, perceived sport competence, fear of failure, and motivation regulations, was administered to the athletes before or after training. Data were collected with the informed consent of the coaches and the athletes.DesignCross-sectional design.ResultsAnalyses of factorial invariance revealed that the four goal model could be considered as equivalent across gender. Only partial invariance was supported with respect to the antecedents-achievement goals-consequences model. The paths between fear of failure to mastery-avoidance goal, mastery-approach goal to intrinsic motivation, and performance-approach goal to extrinsic motivation regulation were not invariant for males and females.ConclusionThe factorial validity of multiple achievement goal measure was supported for both genders. The present findings provided only partial support for gender invariance in the 2×2 model.     

Group identity‐based self‐protective strategies: the stigma of race,gender, and garlic

We examine the importance of group membership in stigma and its role in the effectiveness of self‐protective cognitions in three experiments. In Experiment 1, men are asked to interact with an attractive female who will judge their value as a potential date, and either eat a mint or a clove of raw garlic prior to the interview. Although the stigmatized‐by‐garlic men discounted negative feedback and attributed it to their garlic breath, discounting and attributions were negatively correlated with self‐esteem. In Experiment 2, White participants were evaluated positively or negatively by a bogus partner who the participants believed had been told that the participant was either White or Black. Although participants receiving negative feedback engaged in several self‐protective cognitions, including attributing their negative feedback to racism, the strategies were uncorrelated with self‐esteem. In Experiment 3, women prepared to interact via computer with a partner who expressed sexist or non‐sexist beliefs. In the absence of feedback, self‐esteem increased when their partner was sexist. In contrast with the first two experiments, perceiving the partner as prejudiced was significantly and positively correlated with self‐esteem. Together, these experiments suggest that self‐protective cognitions find their effectiveness when stigma has a basis in group membership. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Job demands,work‐family conflict,and emotional exhaustion in police officers: A longitudinal test of competing theories

We propose and test a comprehensive theory designed to explain seemingly contradictory relations between job demands, emotional exhaustion, and work‐family conflict (WFC) reported in the literature. Using job demands‐resources theory, effort‐recovery theory, and personal resources theory we hypothesized that job demands would spillover to emotional exhaustion as mediated by WFC (causality model), and alternatively that job demands would also spillover to WFC as mediated by emotional exhaustion (reverse causal model). Further, we also hypothesized using loss spiral theory that a more comprehensive model representing reciprocal and cross‐linked effects (causal and reverse causal simultaneously) would best fit the data. The hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal study of 257 Australian (Victorian) frontline police officers at two time points approximately 12 months apart. We used structural equation modelling and found in support of the simultaneous reciprocal effects hypothesis, that the more comprehensive model fitted the data better than either the causality or the reverse causal model. Future research should more comprehensively model the important relationships between job demands, emotional exhaustion, and WFC to reflect their complex interplay. Interventions to reduce work demands arising from work pressure and emotional demands are indicated to prevent conflict at home and emotional exhaustion in police officers.     

Professional efficacy,exhaustion, and work characteristics among police officers: A longitudinal test of the learning‐related predictions of the demand—control model

The present study addressed the relationships among professional efficacy, emotional exhaustion, and job characteristics (job demands and job control) in the context of a two‐wave panel study among 828 Dutch police officers. Based on the demand–control model, we expected that high demands/high control would be positively related to professional efficacy, and that high demands/low control would be related to high levels of exhaustion. Moreover, we hypothesized that high levels of exhaustion would lead to lower levels of professional efficacy and that high levels of efficacy would lead to low levels of exhaustion. Structural equation modelling largely supported these predictions. High demands were longitudinally related to high levels of efficacy and high levels of exhaustion; high control was longitudinally related to high levels of efficacy. Further, efficacy and exhaustion were indeed mutually related. Finally, high levels of exhaustion were longitudinally related to high levels of demands. We conclude that there are complex, yet theoretically, and practically interpretable relations among efficacy, strain and work characteristics.     

Age and gender invariance of self‐concept factor structure: An investigation of a newly developed Chinese self‐concept instrument

A new instrument, the Chinese Adolescent Self‐Esteem Scales (CASES), was developed to measure the self‐concepts of the young people in Hong Kong in seven aspects: social, academic, appearance, moral, family, physical/sport, and general self‐esteem. LISREL procedures were utilized to test the extent of factorial invariance for age and gender based on the responses to CASES of 551 Hong Kong adolescents. It was found that CASES possesses the necessary invariance properties for between‐group measurement in terms of the number and pattern of the underlying factors, item factor loadings, and inter‐factor relations, but not in terms of item uniqueness. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the use of CASES and of empirical support for the equivalence of self‐concept factor structure for age and gender groups for both Western and non‐Western adolescents.     

Understanding photos,models, and beliefs: A test of the modularity thesis of theory of mind

Recent experimental findings suggest that there is a dissociation between the performance by children with autism on False Belief tasks, on which they do poorly, and False Photograph, False Maps, and False Drawing tasks, on which they do well. This may be because only the False Belief task taps the capacity for metarepresentation, at least as defined by Leslie and Thaiss (1992). In an attempt to test the modularity of this capacity further, the performance of participants with autism on DeLoache's (1987, 1991) Model and Photograph tasks (which test understanding of the symbolic function of models and photographs), and on a standard False Belief task, was compared to that of mental handicap controls. The majority of participants from both groups passed the Photograph and Model tasks, and on neither task were there group differences. However, participants with mental handicap were significantly more successful on the False Belief task than those with autism. These results provide further support for the modularity of theory of mind, and the specificity of the metarepresentational deficit in autism.     

“I'm a police officer not a social worker or mental health nurse”: Online discourses of exclusion and resistance regarding mental health‐related police work

Despite estimates suggesting that around 15% of UK police incidents involve people with a mental health concern, officers receive very little mental health training. The police have faced high‐profile criticisms over their handling of mental health‐related incidents, whereas the underfunding and fragmentation of UK mental health services has led to concerns that police officers are being forced to undertake a primary role in mental health care. At a time of austerity and widespread cuts to public services, it is important to explore how particular groups work to justify the parameters of their professional duties. This article therefore explores the discourses surrounding mental health problems on an online police discussion forum, highlighting two distinct ways in which mental health‐related work is represented as being incompatible with policing. First, mental health problems are delegitimised and conflated with “scrounging,” positioning individuals as undeserving of police time; second, mental health problems are reified and associated with violence and extreme behaviour, justifying the use of force by police officers and deflecting responsibility onto mental health services. Findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that mental health work is not perceived to be a valid part of the police role.     

Emotional labour demands,wages and gender: A within‐person,between‐jobs study

Although research suggests the important role of gender in emotional labour, its effect on the relationship between emotional labour demands and wages has not been examined explicitly. The current study investigates this relationship by testing hypotheses derived from theories of vocational choice and labour market supply and demand. Hypotheses are tested using a unique within‐person, between‐jobs longitudinal dataset with information on two jobs for each worker in a national sample of U.S. workers (N=5,488). After controlling for relevant variables related to wages, results suggest men incur wage penalties of approximately 6% when moving to occupations with higher emotional labour demands. Women do not experience statistically significant wage effects from moving to an occupation with higher emotional labour demands. These findings are discussed and interpreted based on the theoretical frameworks.     

The personality of the Scottish police officer: The issue of positive and negative affectivity

During the past 20 years, interest has arisen concerning the existence of a specific police personality. Much of the early studies had significant methodological difficulties. The present study aimed to examine the personality traits of ‘Positive and Negative Affectivity’ in a group (n = 699) of serving Scottish police officers. The PANAS scale (Watson, Clark & Tellegen, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070, 1988) suggested that the sample did not differ from the norm on either of these indices. No differences were found according to age or length of service, which brings into question previous assertions made concerning the role of the police organisation in the development of police personality. However, the complexity of the issue was demonstrated, as differences in affectivity were observed according to gender, marital status, rank, working location and job satisfaction level.     

Construct validity of the relationship profile test: impact of gender, gender role, and gender role stereotype

Research supports the construct validity of the Relationship Profile Test (RPT; Bornstein & Languirand, 2003), a 30-item, self-report measure of destructive overdependence (DO), dysfunctional detachment (DD), and healthy dependency. In this investigation, we assessed the relationships of gender, gender role, and gender role stereotype ratings to RPT subscale scores. In Study 1, we replicated earlier patterns of gender differences in RPT scores, assessed cross-sample consistency in gender difference effect sizes, and provided preliminary nonclinical norms for the RPT subscales. Study 2 showed that--as expected--DO items are perceived as stereotypically feminine, whereas DD items are perceived as stereotypically masculine. In Study 3, we examined the relationships of RPT subscale scores to masculinity, femininity, and androgyny scores. We discuss the theoretical, empirical, and clinical implications of these findings.     

A multicultural assessment of adolescent connectedness: testing measurement invariance across gender and ethnicity

Counselors, psychologists, and evaluators of intervention programs for youth increasingly view the promotion of connectedness as an important intervention outcome. When evaluating these programs, researchers frequently test whether the treatment effects differ across gender and ethnic or racial groups. Doing so necessitates the availability of culturally and gender-invariant measures. We used the Hemingway: Measure of Adolescent Connectedness to estimate the factor structure invariance and equality of means across gender and 3 racial/ethnic groups with a large sample of middle school adolescents. From a practical perspective, the 10-scale model suggested factor structure invariance across gender and racial or ethnic (i.e., African American, Caucasian, and Latina/o) groups of adolescents. However, tests for partial invariance revealed some group difference on the factor loadings and intercepts between gender and ethnic/racial groups. When testing for mean equivalence, girls reported higher connectedness to friends, siblings, school, peers, teachers, and reading but lower connectedness to their neighborhoods. Caucasians reported higher connectedness to their neighborhoods and friends but lower connectedness to siblings than African Americans and Latinos. African Americans reported the highest connectedness to self (present and future) but lowest connectedness to teachers. Latinos reported the lowest connectedness to reading, self-in-the-present, and self-in-the-future. Overall, this study reveals racial/ethnic and gender mean differences on several connectedness subscales and suggests the Hemingway subscales are, from a practical perspective, invariant across gender and ethnicity and therefore appropriate for most assessment and evaluation purposes.     

Vertical individualism and injustice: The self‐restorative function of revenge

In the current paper, we examine the role of vertical individualism in determining revenge behavior following an injustice. Drawing on existing theory and research, we hypothesized that victims who are more vertically individualistic will be more likely than those who are less vertically individualistic to engage in revenge following the experience of injustice as a means of restoring self‐esteem. The results from three studies—employing different methodologies and operationalizations of revenge—support our reasoning. Moreover, two of the studies provide support for the proposed self‐esteem maintenance mechanism underlying the relation between vertical individualism and revenge. Although much research in psychology and organizational justice has demonstrated that the experience of injustice can threaten one's identity, our data are the first to demonstrate that responding to injustice can restore people's self‐esteem to homeostasis. The present studies thus demonstrate that in some instances revenge may have an intrapsychic benefit for the victim, which helps to explain why some people engage in revenge despite possible negative interpersonal consequences. We discuss implications of our findings for social and organizational justice theory and for potentially mitigating revenge reactions to injustice. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attachment‐based intervention for substance‐using mothers: A preliminary test of the proposed mechanisms of change

Although randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of attachment‐based interventions have been increasing in recent years, adequate measurement of treatment integrity, integrity–outcome associations, and mechanisms of change has been rare. The aim of this investigation was to conduct a rigorous test of proposed mechanisms of change in the Mothers and Toddlers Program (MTP) treatment model, a 12‐session, attachment‐based individual therapy for substance‐using mothers of children birth to 3 years of age. The MTP aims to improve maternal reflective functioning (RF) and representation quality (RQ) to bring about second‐order change in maternal caregiving behavior. Following guidelines from M.K. Nock ( 2007 ), it was hypothesized that (a) therapist adherence to unique MTP treatment components would uniquely predict improvement in RF and RQ and that (b) improvement in RF and RQ would function as unique mechanisms of change (when compared with other potential mechanisms—reduction in depression and increase in abstinence from drug use) in the improvement of caregiving behavior. Findings supported each hypothesis, confirming the proposed mechanisms of the treatment model. However, improvement in maternal depression also uniquely predicted improvement in caregiving behavior. Results underscore the potential value of attachment‐based parenting interventions for improving mother–child relations and the importance of providing these interventions in clinic settings where mothers have access to comprehensive care (e.g., psychiatric services).     

Comparing two independent groups: A test based on a one‐step M‐estimator and bootstrap‐t

A new test is proposed for the problem of comparing two independent groups in terms of some measure of location. The proposed test () uses a one‐step M‐estimator and a bootstrap‐t method with the procedure proposed by Özdemir and Kurt (2006) . Eight methods were compared in terms of actual Type I error and power when the underlying distributions differ in skewness and kurtosis under heterogeneity of variances. For the 21 theoretical distributions, the Yuen test with the bootstrap‐t method was the most favourable, followed by test. For the five real data sets, the proposed test and percentile bootstrap method with the one‐step M‐estimator performed best.