Toward Relational Empowerment

Psychological empowerment has been theorized as a construct with emotional, behavioral and cognitive components. Yet, many studies have stressed that empowerment processes are contingent on interpersonal relationships. Moreover, theory suggests that power is developed and exercised through relationships. This article makes the case that expanding our conceptions of psychological empowerment through the addition of a relational component can enhance our understanding of psychological empowerment and the effectiveness of empowerment-oriented community practice. Previous research on empowerment is reviewed for relational content, and additional insights into the relational context of empowerment processes are marshaled from other concepts in community research including social capital, sense of community, social networks, social support, and citizen participation. A new iteration of the nomological network for psychological empowerment is presented, including the elements of a relational component.     

The Influence of Participation, Gender and Organizational Sense of Community on Psychological Empowerment: The Moderating Effects of Income

This study explored the influence of participation, gender and organizational sense of community (SOC) on both the intrapersonal and interactional components of psychological empowerment (PE). Participants were residents (n = 562) involved in community organizing efforts in five U.S. communities. Measures of participation and SOC were tailored to community organization contexts. SOC assessed three dimensions: (1) connection of members to the organization; (2) perceptions about the organization as a bridge to other groups and organizations in the broader community; and (3) bond or attachment to the community at large. Income (low, middle and high-income) was tested as a moderator of these relationships. Results showed significant moderating effects of income on the relationship between participation, gender and SOC on both components of PE. Participation was positively related with intrapersonal empowerment across income levels, but positively related with interactional empowerment only for low-income individuals. Gender was only associated with intrapersonal empowerment, and only for low-income individuals. SOC, as expressed through bridging to the broader community, was positively related with interactional PE for all income levels, but with intrapersonal PE for only low and middle-income individuals. In contrast, member connection to the organization was not related to interactional empowerment and significantly related to intrapersonal empowerment only for individuals with higher income. The importance of participation, gender and SOC for different types of empowerment and the impact of income on the SOC-empowerment relationship are discussed.     

Measuring Relational and Intrapersonal Empowerment: Testing Instrument Validity in a Former Soviet Country with a Secular Muslim Culture

Research and evaluation studies measuring the construct of empowerment within international community development and human rights initiatives are rare due to a lack of validated measures appropriate for the cultural context. This study represents an initial effort to develop and test the Brief Azerbaijani Empowerment Scale (BAES), an instrument designed to assess relational and intrapersonal components of psychological empowerment among adult community residents (n = 350) in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet country with a predominantly Muslim culture. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine the underlying dimensionality of the BAES, and path analysis was used to examine relationships between subscales of the BAES and a set of conceptually relevant variables (i.e., alienation, sense of community, and involvement in community organizations). Findings supported the reliability and validity of the BAES, which may be useful to future efforts to develop more comprehensive measures of intrapersonal and relational empowerment. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Cognitive and emotional empathy in typically developing children: The influence of age,gender, and intelligence

In the current study, the influence of age, gender and IQ on cognitive and emotional empathy in school-aged children and adolescents was examined adopting two behavioural paradigms: participants were shown film clips with different scenes of social interaction to which they were asked to respond. Thus, 134 children aged seven to 17 years (mean age = 138.4 months, sd = 31.66 months) were tested for emotion recognition, perspective taking and emotional empathy. Age strongly influenced components of cognitive empathy and explained 33.5% to 39.1% of the variance. Gender and IQ also were significant predictors, yet only explained 3% to 5%, respectively 8% to 9% of the variance. In contrast, neither age, gender nor IQ were related to emotional empathy. Results suggest developmental maturation of cognitive, but not emotional empathy throughout childhood and adolescence. To explain variability in emotional empathy, additional biological and psychosocial factors need to be studied.     

The psychological impacts of global climate change

An appreciation of the psychological impacts of global climate change entails recognizing the complexity and multiple meanings associated with climate change; situating impacts within other social, technological, and ecological transitions; and recognizing mediators and moderators of impacts. This article describes three classes of psychological impacts: direct (e.g., acute or traumatic effects of extreme weather events and a changed environment); indirect (e.g., threats to emotional well-being based on observation of impacts and concern or uncertainty about future risks); and psychosocial (e.g., chronic social and community effects of heat, drought, migrations, and climate-related conflicts, and postdisaster adjustment). Responses include providing psychological interventions in the wake of acute impacts and reducing the vulnerabilities contributing to their severity; promoting emotional resiliency and empowerment in the context of indirect impacts; and acting at systems and policy levels to address broad psychosocial impacts. The challenge of climate change calls for increased ecological literacy, a widened ethical responsibility, investigations into a range of psychological and social adaptations, and an allocation of resources and training to improve psychologists' competency in addressing climate change-related impacts.     

Further explorations in empowerment theory: An empirical analysis of psychological empowerment

Developed empowerment theory and replicated previous research on citizen participation and perceived control. Few investigators have designed studies that specifically test empowerment theory. This research further extends a theoretical model of psychological empowerment that includes intrapersonal, interactional, and behavioral components, by studying a large randomly selected urban and suburban community sample and examining race differences. Results suggest that one underlying dimension that combines different measures of perceived control may be interpreted as the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment, because it distinguishes groups defined by their level of participation in community organizations and activities (behavioral component). The association found between the intrapersonal and behavioral components is consistent with empowerment theory. Interaction effects between race groups and participation suggest that participation may be more strongly associated with the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment for African Americans than for white individuals. Implications for empowerment theory and intervention design are discussed. The authors express appreciation to Steven Rosenstone who was the Principal Investigator for the Detroit Area Study from which the data for our study is based. We also thank Deborah A. Salem and the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Emotional Intelligence,Social Problem‐Solving Skills,and Psychological Distress: A Study of Chinese Undergraduate Students1

This study examines how emotional intelligence (EI), personality, and social problem‐solving skills were linked to depression and life dissatisfaction in 144 Chinese undergraduate students in Hong Kong. Factor analyses of questionnaire responses yielded 3 separate dimensions of depression (affective, somative, and cognitive). Structural equation modeling showed that EI (self‐emotions appraisal and use of emotion) was linked to somatic and cognitive symptoms of depression, after controlling for personality. Also, social problem solving was linked to psychological distress, and moderated its links with personality and EI. These results underscore the differences among the links between the components of EI and of psychological health, and support the possibility of promoting people's psychological health through EI and social problem‐solving interventions.     

心理授权对农村小学校长工作工作满意度的影响：职业认同的中介作用与情绪智力的调节作用

基于授权认知模型、社会认同理论等理论考察了心理授权对农村小学校长工作满意度的影响以及职业认同的中介效应和情绪智力的调节效应。采用心理授权量表、职业认同量表、情绪智力量表与工作满意度量表对随机抽取的269名农村小学校长进行调查。结果显示：（1）心理授权、职业认同、情绪智力与工作满意度这四个变量均两两正相关;（2）心理授权、职业认同会正向预测农村小学校长工作满意度,心理授权会正向预测职业认同;（3）职业认同在心理授权与工作满意度之间起中介作用;（4）情绪智力调节了职业认同对农村小学校长工作满意度的影响。因此,心理授权对农村小学校长工作满意度的影响是一个有调节的中介效应。     

幼儿教师共情的负面效应：一个有调节的中介模型

为探讨共情负面效应的作用机制及条件,采用共情量表、Maslach职业倦怠问卷教育版、情绪劳动策略量表和领悟社会支持量表对253名幼儿教师进行调查。结果发现：(1)幼儿教师的情绪共情正向影响情绪枯竭,该影响作用可以通过情绪劳动这一中介实现;(2)幼儿教师的认知共情负向影响情绪枯竭;(3)社会支持调节了幼儿教师情绪劳动对情绪共情与情绪枯竭关系的中介过程的后半段路径。研究结果对幼儿教师心理健康有重要意义。     

Psychological and socioeconomic health of community‐dwelling older adults

Different dimensions of health are intertwined. The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate the psychological and socioeconomic health status of community‐dwelling older adults in Taiwan, and (2) to compare the psychological and socioeconomic health differences among people of different age groups, gender, marital status, and exercise habits. Using stratified random sampling, 384 Taiwanese community‐dwelling older adults were recruited for this survey research. Based on the Health Model of Older Adults, seven constructs were measured: (1) psychological health: sleep quality, emotional health, cognitive functioning, and health promotion behaviors; (2) socioeconomic health: social engagement, social support, and financial status. Results showed that most participants were in a good state of psychological and socioeconomic health, except that 38.02% of them suffered from sleep disruptions, and the majority of them were not involved in any social group, nor engaged in any volunteer work. Young‐old older adults had better psychological and socioeconomic health than middle‐old and old‐old older adults. Male older adults had better psychological health than female older adults; however, they had less social engagement and social support than female older adults. Married older adults and exercisers performed better in most of the psychological and socioeconomic health indicators than single/widowed older adults and non‐exercisers.     

A Social-Cognitive Moderated Mediated Model of Psychological Safety and Empowerment

This study examines the indirect role of psychological safety in shaping the four cognitions of psychological empowerment (i.e., meaning, competence, self-determination, impact) through three social mechanisms: authentic interactions, spiritual development, and perceived organizational voice. Data were collected from 229 congregation members of a nondenominational church. Preliminary analyses reveal psychological safety is: (a) linked to all four empowerment cognitions, (b) associated with the three proximal social mechanisms, and (c) indirectly predicts three of the four empowerment cognitions through heightened level of authentic interactions, spiritual development, and perceived organizational voice. Moreover, extraversion moderated the relationship of psychological safety with authentic interactions which, in turn, strengthened the size of the indirect effect for the meaning subcomponent of empowerment. Overall, this study suggests empowerment research can draw upon the potential, but frequently untapped, benefits of cultivating a secure space to facilitate member motivation through sincerity, personal development, and perceived voice.     

Channeling Power Across Ecological Systems: Social Regularities in Community Organizing

Relational and social network perspectives provide opportunities for more holistic conceptualizations of phenomena of interest in community psychology, including power and empowerment. In this article, we apply these tools to build on multilevel frameworks of empowerment by proposing that networks of relationships between individuals constitute the connective spaces between ecological systems. Drawing on an example of a model for grassroots community organizing practiced by WISDOM—a statewide federation supporting local community organizing initiatives in Wisconsin—we identify social regularities (i.e., relational and temporal patterns) that promote empowerment and the development and exercise of social power through building and altering relational ties. Through an emphasis on listening-focused one-to-one meetings, reflection, and social analysis, WISDOM organizing initiatives construct and reinforce social regularities that develop social power in the organizing initiatives and advance psychological empowerment among participant leaders in organizing. These patterns are established by organizationally driven brokerage and mobilization of interpersonal ties, some of which span ecological systems. Hence, elements of these power-focused social regularities can be conceptualized as cross-system channels through which micro-level empowerment processes feed into macro-level exercise of social recommendations for theory and designpower, and vice versa. We describe examples of these channels in action, and offer of future action research.     

情绪劳动工作人员心理授权与离职意向的关系：工作倦怠的中介作用

本研究目的是考察心理授权、工作倦怠和离职意向的关系。研究以某大型通讯企业呼叫中心的309名客服代表为研究对象,采用问卷调查方式对客服代表的心理授权、工作倦怠和离职意向进行调查。结构方程模型的结果显示,心理授权对离职意向有负向影响,工作倦怠对离职意向有正向影响。其中,心理授权先影响情绪衰竭,再影响玩世不恭,最后对离职意向起负向预测作用。研究结果支持了工作倦怠在心理授权和离职意向之间的中介作用。     

Citizen participation,perceived control,and psychological empowerment

The research integrates the citizen participation literature with research on perceived control in an effort to further our understanding of psychological empowerment. Eleven indices of empowerment representing personality, cognitive, and motivational measures were identified to represent the construct. Three studies examined the relationship between empowerment and participation. The first study examined differences among groups identified by a laboratory manipulation as willing to participate in personally relevant or community relevant situations. Study II examined differences for groups defined by actual involvement in community activities and organizations. Study III replicated Study II with a different population. In each study, individuals reporting a greater amount of participation scored higher on indices of empowerment. Psychological empowerment could be described as the connection between a sense of personal competence, a desire for, and a willingness to take action in the public domain. Discriminant function analyses resulted in one significant dimension, identified as pyschological empowerment, that was positively correlated with leadership and negatively correlated with alienation.     

幼儿教师职业幸福感的特点及其与职业承诺的关系

为探索幼儿教师职业幸福感的特点及其与职业承诺的关系,随机选取川渝两地幼儿教师533名,用修编的幼儿教师职业幸福感量表（KTOWBS）和教师职业承诺问卷（TOCS）进行调查。结果表明：（1）除认知幸福感外,幼儿教师职业幸福感整体水平较高。其中,城市幼儿教师的心理幸福感和情绪幸福感显著高于农村,公办园幼儿教师的社会幸福感显著高于民办园;（2）月薪超过1000元的幼儿教师其社会幸福感显著高于月薪低于1000元者,月薪超过2000元者其心理幸福感、情绪幸福感和认知幸福感显著高于月薪低于2000元者,但心理幸福感随日工作时间增加而降低;（3）幼儿教师职业幸福感各因子与情感承诺、规范承诺和继续承诺存在不同关系。分层线性回归分析显示,社会幸福感、认知幸福感、情绪幸福感和心理幸福感对情感承诺的正向预测作用为17%,认知幸福感和社会幸福感对规范承诺的正向预测作用为7%,社会幸福感对继续承诺的正向预测作用为1%。     

Exploring the factors contributing to empowerment of Turkish migrant women in the UK

This study examined the role of demographic factors (length of stay, education and language level), perceived discrimination, social support, four acculturation attitudes, and psychological distress in predicting empowerment among Turkish migrant women in the UK. The study sample comprised 248 Turkish migrant women (mean age: 34.38; SD: 7.6) living in London. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess empowerment, social support, acculturation attitude and psychological distress. The study hypothesized that perceived discrimination; acculturation attitudes of separation, assimilation and marginalization; and psychological distress would be negative predictors of empowerment and that social support and an integration acculturation attitude would be positive predictors of empowerment. To some extent, the study findings supported this hypothesis. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated psychological distress to be the most significant predictor of empowerment, with other significant predictors including level of education and social support. More specifically, lower levels of psychological distress and higher levels of education and social support appeared to predict greater empowerment. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that level of education and social support may function as protective factors and that psychological distress may function as a risk factor for empowerment in the migration context. The paper discusses the findings of this study in relation to the previous literature and notes their implications for future research and practice.     

Will growth bring more good than harm to my business? The role of regulatory focus in small business growth beliefs

The two studies presented in this paper investigated the psychological processes underlying small business growth beliefs (SBGBs) (i.e., expected consequences of small business growth) by focusing on the role of regulatory focus and perceived competence as predictors of SBGBs. We assessed participants' (students and small business owners) cognitive and emotional responses to anticipated business growth by means of online questionnaires. As predicted, individuals with a strong promotion focus expected predominantly positive consequences of small business growth, whereas individuals with a strong prevention focus expected predominantly negative consequences of small business growth. In addition, regardless of their regulatory focus, individuals who perceived themselves as competent to grow a business had positive growth beliefs, particularly growth beliefs concerning emotional consequences of business growth. These findings illuminate the importance of acknowledging individual differences in SBGBs. They also shed more light on the critical role of perceived competence, suggesting that empowerment is a key factor in promoting small business growth.     

The Role of Social and Cognitive Processes in the Relationship Between Fear Network and Psychological Distress Among Parents of Children Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

The current study examined whether cognitive and social processing variables mediated the relationship between fear network and depression among parents of children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Parents whose children were initiating HSCT (N = 179) completed survey measures including fear network, Beck Depression Inventory, cognitive processing variables (positive reappraisal and self-blame) and social processing variables (emotional support and holding back from sharing concerns). Fear network was positively correlated with depression (p < .001). Self-blame and holding back emerged as individual partial mediators in the relationship between fear network and depression. Together they accounted for 34.3 % of the variance in the relationship between fear network and depression. Positive reappraisal and emotional support did not have significant mediating effects. Social and cognitive processes, specifically self-blame and holding back from sharing concerns, play a negative role in parents’ psychological adaptation to fears surrounding a child’s HSCT.     

Cognitive Therapy and Theories of Knowing: A Social Constructionist View

It is argued that current theory and practice of cognitive therapy are encapsulated by a set of epistemic values that assign causative primacy for psychological problems to the cognitive processes of the individual knower. Social contructionism represents an alternative to this state of affairs by underscoring the inextricable connection between the personal and the social, challenging the merit of decontextualized accounts of psychological problems, and identifying empowerment and social change as viable therapeutic options.     

‘It all boils down to respect doesn't it?’: Enacting a sense of community in a deprived inner‐city area

Audio recordings of meetings of two community groups in a deprived inner‐city area were analysed, using discursive psychological and conversation analytic techniques to explore situated enactments of ‘community’. Participants situated themselves as members of a geographical community, of an ‘imagined’ community and of other constitutive communities. A sense of community was enacted through five interactional strategies: Affirming moral codes, ‘defending’ other members, distinguishing insiders from outsiders, enacting empowerment and challenging institutions. Participants regularly employed emotional displays and affirmed moral positions, both to constitute ‘community’ and to take action in it. In so doing they worked up social capital and positioned community concerns in ways more reflective of their own situated values than of criminal law or government policy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.