The state of the psychological contract and its relation with employees' psychological health

In the present paper the role of the state of the psychological contract to predict psychological health results is studied in a sample of 385 employees of different Spanish companies. Results indicate that the state of the psychological contract significantly predicts life satisfaction, work-family conflict and well-being beyond the prediction produced by the content of the psychological contract. In addition, trust and fairness, two dimensions of the state of psychological contract, all together contribute to explain these psychological health variables adding value to the role as predictor of fulfillment of the psychological contract. The results support the approach argued by Guest and colleagues.     

Lack of symmetry in employees' perceptions of the psychological contract

Despite debate on the nature of employees' perceptions of their psychological contract, little research has compared employees' and employers' sides of the psychological contract. All 80 items from both scales in the Psychological Contract Inventory were used in a survey of 436 currently working, non-student respondents. Structural equation modeling yielded nonsymmetrical perspectives on promises and obligations, highlighting the validity of approaching the issues via individual perceptions.     

The nonuse of psychological research at two federal agencies

In 1994 the Government Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report critical of some features of the proposal review processes at the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. I provide two examples of procedures the agencies could have adopted to address the GAO's criticisms. I also relate the history of the two agencies' reluctance to use the psychological research literature to guide them as their new review procedures were instituted. Finally, I enumerate possible reasons for the agencies' decision not to follow or even test suggestions based on the judgment and decision-making research literature.     

The federal role in injury control.

Early federal injury control programs in the 1960s and 1970s were centered first in the Division of Accident Prevention (Public Health Service) and subsequently in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Department of Transportation) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the early 1970s also began to investigate injuries, particularly in the home and recreational environment. The field expanded in the 1970s and 1980s to include injuries that occur in many settings and both intentional injuries (violence) and unintentional injuries. After a 1985 report, Injury in America, CDC was chosen to be the national coordinating agency because of its mission of prevention. The current program also includes acute care, rehabilitation, and biomechanics.     

Work conditions and employees' self-set goals: goal processes enhance prediction of psychological distress and well-being

Although previous theory and research suggest that employee well-being should be predicted by work conditions (viz., Karasek and colleagues' job demands-control-social support [J-DCS] model), other factors are also likely to be important. In this study, the authors consider correlates of employee psychological distress and well-being using a goal-focused approach grounded in Ford's (1992) motivational systems theory. Specifically, work conditions and midlevel work goal processes (WGP) were examined in a questionnaire study of health care employees. Regarding predictions derived from the J-DCS model, the authors found full support for the iso-strain, partial support for the nonlinearity, and no support for the buffer hypothesis. Of importance, however, WGP (i.e., cognitions and emotions involved in the pursuit of self-set work goals) explained variance in job satisfaction, burnout, depression, and somatic complaints, over and above that of the J-DCS model. This suggests that investigation of WGP can enhance our understanding of employee psychological distress and well-being.     

When distress hits home: the role of contextual factors and psychological distress in predicting employees' responses to abusive supervision

We developed a model of the relationships among aggressive norms, abusive supervision, psychological distress, family undermining, and supervisor-directed deviance. We tested the model in 2 studies using multisource data: a 3-wave investigation of 184 full-time employees (Study 1) and a 2-wave investigation of 188 restaurant workers (Study 2). Results revealed that (a) abusive supervision mediated the relationship between aggressive norms and psychological distress, (b) psychological distress mediated the effects of abusive supervision on spouse undermining, (c) abusive supervision had a direct positive relationship with supervisor-directed deviance, (d) the positive relationship between psychological distress and spouse undermining was stronger for men as opposed to women, and (e) employees engaged in relationship-oriented occupations reported greater levels of abusive supervision and psychological distress. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

The role of job security in understanding the relationship between employees' perceptions of temporary workers and employees' performance

On the basis of psychological contract and social cognition theories, the authors explored the role of full-time employees' perceived job security in explaining their reactions to the use of temporary workers by using a sample of 149 full-time employees who worked with temporaries. As hypothesized, employees' perceived job security negatively related to their perceptions that temporaries pose a threat to their jobs, but it did not relate to their perceptions that temporaries are beneficial. Furthermore, employees' job security moderated the relationships between benefit and threat perceptions and supervisor ratings of job performance. For those with high job security, there was a positive relationship between benefit perceptions and performance. For those with low job security, there was a negative relationship between threat perceptions and performance.     

The undershoot bias: learning to act optimally under uncertainty

Abstract - Learning in stochastic environments is increasingly viewed as an important psychological ability. To extend these results from a perceptual to a motor domain, we tested whether participants could learn to solve a stochastic minimal-time task using exploratory learning. The task involved moving a cursor on a computer screen to a target. We systematically varied the degree of random error in movement in three different conditions; each condition had a distinct time-optimal solution. We found that participants approximated the optimal solutions with practice. The results show that adults are sensitive to the stochastic structure of a task and naturally adjust the magnitude of an undershoot bias to the particular movement error of a task.     

Psycholegal standards and the role of psychological assessment in personal injury litigation

Conceptual and procedural aspects of the forensic practitioner's role in personal injury litigation are identified relative to the provision of evaluative, consultative, and court-related services. A model is presented for comprehensive clinical and psychodiagnostic assessment consistent with concepts of legal relevance and probative value. The model facilitates rendering psycholegal formulations and opinions regarding compensatory damages when retained to examine mental and emotional elements entered as causes of action in tort. The differential contribution of state and trait level conditions, and of proximate, pre-existing, and coexisting factors to the causal nexus of impairment is considered in this context toward establishing preincident baseline functioning and making pre-post comparisons. Approaches toward delineating the range and severity of impairments that are related to the instant event, and separating these from nonproximate factors and from the dynamics of primary and secondary gain, are considered.     

The role of partners for employees' recovery during the weekend

We examined the effects of positive and negative experiences with the partner (absorption in joint activities and conflict with the partner) during the weekend on affective states at the beginning of the following work week and tested whether recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, and mastery experiences) mediated these effects. In total, 269 university faculty members completed online surveys before and after the weekend. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that absorption in joint activities with the partner predicted recovery experiences during the weekend and increased positive affective states (vigor, joviality, serenity) at the beginning of the following work week. Relaxation mediated the effects of absorption in joint activities on positive affective states. Conflict with the partner increased negative affective states (negative activation, fatigue), but was unrelated to recovery experiences. Our findings emphasize the importance of experiences with the partner for employees' recovery and show that the social environment of employees matters for their recovery.     

The role of hyperarousal in the manifestation of posttraumatic psychological distress following injury

The authors examined the temporal relation among posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters, using data derived from a longitudinal study of survivors of orofacial injury (N = 264). They conducted cross-lagged panel analyses, with self-reported symptom data collected at 1, 6, and 12 months postinjury. Results demonstrate that hyperarousal was a potent predictor of subsequent symptoms of reexperiencing and avoidance as well as hyperarousal. By contrast, neither reexperiencing nor avoidance was significantly related to other symptom clusters other than themselves over time. These findings underscore the distinctive nature of hyperarousal in the manifestation of posttraumatic psychological distress over time. Implications for theory, clinical intervention, and future research are discussed.     

The dark side of bodybuilding: the role of bodybuilding activities in compensation of frustrated basic psychological needs

The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the explanatory mechanism of the drive for muscularity on the relations between frustrated basic needs and diverse indicators of muscle dysmorphia. To achieve this purpose, in the first place, as a pilot study needed to pursue the hypotheses of the main study, Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Scale was adapted to Turkish and its psychometric properties were examined. In the main study, data were collected from 245 men with a mean age of 22.73 (SD = 3.86), who were engaged in regular bodybuilding activities. After the adaptation of Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale, the indirect predictive effects of frustrated basic needs on muscle dysmorphia symptoms through the drive for muscularity were examined via two structural equation models. Also, the moderating role of the drive for muscularity in the associations between each of the frustrated needs and muscle dysmorphia symptoms was tested via another structural equation model. Results revealed that (1) both the composite score of frustrated basic needs and frustrated relatedness are indirect predictors of all muscle dysmorphia symptoms through drive for muscularity and (2) drive for muscularity has a moderating role only in the relation between frustrated relatedness and muscle dissatisfaction (i.e., an indicator of muscle dysmorphia). These findings did not only support the assumptions of Self Determination Theory (SDT) indicating the link between frustrated needs and ill-being situations but also provided preliminary evidence for a new direction of SDT studies.

     

Substantiating Byzantium: The role of artifacts in the co‐construction of narratives

Acknowledging the abundance of narrative elements in servicescapes and anchored on the premise that consumption experiences are co‐constructed, this research extends existing servicescapes scholarship by theorizing the role of material objects in the co‐construction of narratives at storyscapes, that is, those servicescapes where narratives are at the center stage of the consumption experience. Using a museum exhibition of Byzantine heritage in Thessaloniki, Greece, the findings provide insight on the way in which consumers engage and “read” material artifacts in narrative co‐construction. The emergent framework theorizes consumer participation as narrative substantiation and sheds light on its four constitutive narrative‐construction processes (completing, relating, recontextualizing, and imagining) and on the ways in which consumers anchor these processes on artifact's materiality (artifactual knowledge, practicalness, intermateriality, and realness). Furthermore, this research offers an alternative approach to the existing language analogy according to which objects have their own voice and rhetoric. I see objects, instead, as contributing an evocative engagement according to which consumers unpack objects not only in their reference to the servicescape narrative but also in reference to their own personal and collective lives. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An exploration of psychological and physical injury schemas in civil cases

Civil plaintiffs often seek compensation for their psychological injuries. Yet little is known about jurors' preconceived notions (or schemas) for a prospective plaintiff's pain and suffering. The present studies examined (a) whether jurors have psychological injury schemas (Studies 1 and 2), (b) whether their existence and development vary by the type of civil case (Studies 1 and 2) or its severity (Study 2), and (c) how psychological injury schemas compare with physical injury schemas on a number of theoretically and legally relevant judgments (e.g., injury severity, availability, and plaintiff credibility; Study 2). Study 1 (N = 233) presented undergraduate mock jurors with 2 negligence incidents (car accident and slip and fall) and 2 intentional tort incidents (sexual assault and kidnapping) and asked them to report the typical incident and injuries that would result from the defendant's conduct. Results supported the sparse existence of psychological injury schemas but found that they were more developed in the kidnapping and sexual assault incidents than in the car accident and slip and fall incidents. Study 2 (N = 288) additionally manipulated incident schema severity (mild vs. severe) while having participants separately report and rate their psychological and physical injury schemas on judgments of legal and theoretical interest. Results indicated that although mock jurors' psychological injury schemas contained fewer injuries than their physical injury schemas, the reported psychological injuries were rated as more severe than physical injuries. We discuss how schemas may underlie the disparate treatment of psychological and physical injuries by legal decision‐makers.     

Forecasting the impact of the federal sentencing guidelines

The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, which created the U.S. Sentencing Commission, required that the commisson consider prison capacity in drafting sentencing guidelines. As part of the commission's efforts to meet this requirement, we developed a computer simulation capable of projecting the impact of the commission's guidelines on future sentences and prison populations. According to our projections, “straight” probation sentences will be reduced significantly under the guidelines. However, reducing the use of probation will generate only modest demands on the prisons, and then mostly for community corrections phased in over the course of 5 years. We also project that, while average time served for violent offenses will increase substantially, average time served for most property crimes will remain largely the same. Finally, while we forecast that federal prison populations will grow markedly by the end of this century, this is more a result of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and the career offender provision of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 than a result of the guidelines.     

Assertiveness, social support, and psychological adjustment following spinal cord injury.

Tested predictions that assertiveness and social support would be significantly predictive of psychological adjustment. Furthermore, it was anticipated that assertiveness and certain types of social relationships would differentially interact to predict adjustment, since positive and negative effects of both variables have been noted in prior research. Trained raters interviewed 156 persons receiving either in-patient or out-patient care for cord injuries and administered measures of assertiveness, social support, depression and psychosocial impairment. Persons who reported a keen sense of responsibility for the welfare of another reported more depression and impairment. Persons reporting higher levels of support facilitating social integration and reassuring personal worth were less depressed. Several significant interactions between assertiveness and different social support relationships revealed beneficial and deleterious effects on depressive behavior and impairment secondary to the disability. Results are discussed as they advance theoretical understanding of the effects of assertiveness and social support. Implications for discriminate cue learning in assertion training for persons with physical disability are proposed.