Prevention of Mental Health Problems for Women in the Workplace

No abstract available for this article.     

On Coffee Talk and Break-Room Chatter: Perceptions of Women Who Gossip in the Workplace

ABSTRACT

The present study examined perceptions of female gossipers in the workplace. Male and female participants (N = 129) were asked to think of a woman who either frequently or rarely contributed negative information about other people during conversation. Participants then completed ratings on the target using the six dimensions of the FIRO-B. As predicted, high gossipers were perceived as having a greater need to exert control of others, but less need for others to control them, than low gossipers. Higher gossipers were also perceived as less emotionally warm than low gossipers. The implications of these findings for gossip research are presented.     

Changing Versus Protecting the Status Quo: Why Men and Women Engage in Different Types of Action on Behalf of Women

We investigate women’s and men’s willingness to engage in action on behalf of women, and we identify two distinct categories of behavior: action that aims to challenge gender inequality (feminist action) and action that aims to protect women from violence (protective action). Three online studies were conducted. For each study, a U.S. community sample was recruited. In Study 1 (n?=?602), women reported greater intentions to engage in feminist action than men did. Men, however, were just as willing as women to participate in protective action. In Study 2 (n?=?726), we replicated these gender differences and found that protective action was positively predicted by benevolent sexism among men. In Study 3 (N?=?582), we investigated why women reported greater intentions to engage in feminist action compared to men. We found that women were more aware of gender inequality, which was associated with identification as a feminist, and through this, intentions to engage in feminist action. Awareness of gender inequality also predicted intentions to engage in protective action among women. Men, however, were less aware of gender inequality, which was associated with the belief that feminist action leads to women having more rights than men do and subsequently greater willingness to participate in protective action. Our results can assist social policymakers and activists to develop appropriate campaigns for gender equality if their goal is to challenge, rather than protect women from, the status quo.     

Trends in the Treatment of Men Who Commit Violence against Women

Violence committed by men against women has a long history. At this time its prevalence is being increasingly documented and questioned in our society. Mental health workers have not had sufficient knowledge of the problem and, therefore, have not provided adequate treatment or devised preventive strategies. This article reviews the available literature regarding characteristics and treatment of three types of abusive men (rapists, incest offenders, wife batterers) and discusses the generalizability of common treatment approaches and counselor roles in treating these men.     

Saying It Like It Isn't: Mixed Messages From Men and Women in the Workplace1

Participants in a simulated work environment were exposed to 1 of 4 feedback conditions that varied in verbal and nonverbal positivity (positive content/positive tone, positive content/negative tone, negative content/positive tone, or negative content/negative tone). Either a male or a female supervisor provided this feedback. Results indicate that both productivity and general work satisfaction varied by feedback condition and gender. For example, female subordinates reported higher rates of satisfaction to positive content/negative tone messages and male subordinates reported higher rates of satisfaction to negative content/positive tone messages. Additionally, the productivity of male subordinates with male supervisors appeared to be distinctly influenced by positive tone relative to all other dyadic compositions. These results demonstrate the importance of examining both verbal and nonverbal components of feedback messages, along with the gender of the supervisor and subordinate.     

Negative Perfectionism: Examining Negative Excessive Behavior in the Workplace

The present paper explores the concept of negative perfectionism in the workplace. Negative perfectionism is unremitting and compulsive behavior in the process of striving to meet one's goals. We proposed that 4 types of negative or excessive behavior result from negative perfectionism in organizational settings: compulsive behavior, neurotic behavior, imposter behavior, and narcissistic behavior. Self-concept-based motivation theory was used as a framework for understanding how inaccuracies or inconsistencies between the evaluation of one's behavior in the workplace (goal-setting behavior) and the type of feedback cues to which one decides to attend (feedback-seeking behavior) might lead to these types of negative or excessive behaviors. Personal and managerial implications of negative perfectionism in organizational settings are discussed.

. . . when personal characteristics grate harmfully on others or significantly derail the success of the persons themselves, psychologists regard them not just as personality traits, but as personality disorders.

—Miller (1998)     

Interpersonal Mistreatment of Women in the Workplace

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the work included in the special issue: Interpersonal Mistreatment of Women in the Workplace. In doing so, the authors develop a multilevel conceptual model, illustrating how the research included in the special issue address causes and consequences of interpersonal mistreatment at the micro, meso, and macro-level of analysis. In addition, the integrated model demonstrates how factors at different levels both influence and are influenced by those at other levels of analysis. Based on this collective work, the authors encourage researchers interested in addressing the mistreatment and marginalization of less powerful groups to consider the multilevel causes and consequences of such behavior. It is only through holistic examinations that researchers can we fully understand this insidious problem and encourage people—whether likely targets of mistreatment or not—to take a stand to end this treatment in workplaces and other society as a whole.     

Women and the Workplace: Applications of a Psychodynamic Theory

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

The Effects of Anxiety on Attention Problems and Rule-Breaking Behavior: The Moderating Effect of Work Adjustment in the Workplace

We investigated the relationship between anxiety and attention problems and rule-breaking in a population of subclinical employees and identified the moderating role of work adjustment. After screening 9938 employees at a power company, we obtained a subclinical sample of 269. Our results demonstrate that anxiety is related to attention problems and rule-breaking behavior, and that work adjustment moderates these relationships. Study findings extend our knowledge of adjustment in the workplace, which may act to protect technicians from factors that affect occupational functioning.     

Characteristics and Personality Styles of Women Who Seek Incarcerated Men as Romantic Partners: Survey Results and Directions for Future Research

Results are presented from a survey of 89 women who sought and entered into a relationship with a man who was incarcerated. Demographic, clinical, and relationship characteristics revealed a diverse group of women with a moderate degree of childhood/family victimization and family member’s involvement with the legal system. Results from the Jesness Inventory-Revised, a measure of personality functioning, revealed two predominant personality subtypes among the women: the Manipulator/Pragmatist (31%) and the Neurotic, Anxious/Introspective (25%). The results are compared to existing traditional and nontraditional theories of mate selection and thoughts for a systematic program of research in this area are offered.     

Working Class Masculinity: Keeping Gay Men and Lesbians out of the Workplace

Recent survey research suggests that heterosexuals’ attitudes toward lesbian and gay rights have become more progressive. However, we find in our research that negative attitudes and barriers against gay men and lesbians in workplaces still remain. Our project represents one case study of hidden animosity toward homosexuals, which varies from “overt disgust” to “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies that reinforce negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. As such, we contend that attitudes toward lesbian and gay rights are not becoming more progressive; instead various methods of discrimination are increasingly being used to exclude gay men and lesbians from the workplace. We argue that White working class men have constructed and maintained a form of White male solidarity, a collective practice directed toward women, People of Color, and non-heterosexuals that maintains racism, sexism, and homophobia in the local, national, and global context.     

Mood Adjustment to Social Situations Through Mass Media Use: How Men Ruminate and Women Dissipate Angry Moods

Mood adjustment goals served to explain gender differences regarding media preferences. Before reacting to antagonism, females are likely to prevent aggression by dissolving aversive states through media consumption, whereas males could preserve aggression by choosing negative content. In a computerized procedure, participants (N = 86) were provoked by supervisor feedback to instigate angry moods. Half of the sample was led to anticipate a retaliation opportunity. In a purportedly separate study, participants were free to choose from online news while software unobtrusively logged their selective news exposure. The articles had been classified as positive or negative news in a pretest. When anticipating a retaliation opportunity, females spent more time reading positive news to dissipate their anger. Males expecting a retaliation opportunity spent more time on negative news to sustain their anger. Males’ generally lower news consumption, especially when anticipating a chance to retaliate, indicated anger rumination through news avoidance altogether.     

Gender and the Internet: Women Communicating and Men Searching

This research examined gender differences in Internet use and factors responsible for these differences. A sample of 630 Anglo American undergraduates completed the Student Computer and Internet Survey that contained questions about e-mail and Web use, and about potential affective and cognitive mediators of use. Based on a general model of Internet use, we predicted and found that females used e-mail more than did males, males used the Web more than did females, and females reported more computer anxiety, less computer self-efficacy, and less favorable and less stereotypic computer attitudes. Path analysis to identify mediators of gender differences in Internet use revealed that computer self-efficacy, loneliness, and depression accounted in part for gender differences, but that gender continued to have a direct effect on use after these factors were considered. Implications for realizing the democratizing potential and benefits of Internet use are discussed.     

Dimensions of Support Among Abused Women in the Workplace

The authors draw on social support theory to examine supervisor support match (support wanted and received), support mismatch (support not wanted and received) and work outcomes for abused low‐wage working women, and to determine if supervisor support match and mismatch are more strongly associated with work outcomes than global supervisor support Face‐to‐face interviews were conducted with a community sample of abused, employed women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in the past year (N = 163). Using hierarchical regression, we found, after accounting for global supervisor support; a higher level of supervisor support match was associated with greater job satisfaction, fewer job reprimands and less job termination. Findings from the study inform theories of social support and have practical implications for workplace interventions for IPV.     

Creativity in the Workplace: People,Problems, and Structures

In a dynamic global economy, creativity and innovation are essential requirements for organizational success. Creativity, unfortunately, has not always been seen as playing an important role in the design and structure of organizations. In this article, we argue that creativity and innovation are key requirements for the growth and adaptation of organizations. Subsequently, we review a series of articles, appearing in this issue, about how we might encourage creativity and innovation in the workplace. Some potentially useful directions for future research are discussed along with the methodological issues likely to arise as we seek to understand creativity in the workplace.