Innovation Motivation and Artistic Creativity

Innovation motivation is a social learning model of originality comprising two variables: the need to be different and innovation expectancy. This study examined their contribution to artistic creativity in a sample of undergraduates. Participants completed measures of both innovation motivation variables as well as intelligence, adjustment, and artistic training. Participants completed three drawings using colored pencils: a human artifact, a non‐human life form, and a person. Choice of main subject and details were tabulated for each drawing and originality scores were derived based on the infrequency of each thematic element. The drawings were also evaluated for technical proficiency and creativity by two master's level art therapists. The need to be different and innovation expectancy each predicted the originality of each drawing; together, they predicted 42% of the variance in the composite originality score. The need to be different and innovation expectancy also predicted proficiency and creativity ratings, especially the latter. The other variables yielded weaker, less consistent predictions. In general, both innovation motivation variables still predicted significant proportions of the variance in originality scores and creativity ratings even after controlling for other variables.     

Self‐esteem,perception of relationships,and emotional distress: A cross‐cultural study

This study examined the relative importance of self‐esteem, family cohesion, and support from friends in predicting depressed mood and anxiety in Japanese and American college students. Contrary to expectations, self‐esteem was the strongest predictor of emotional distress in both groups of students. Nevertheless, consistent with predictions derived from Markus and Kitayama's theory of self‐construals, family cohesion accounted for a significantly larger percentage of the variance in predicting emotional distress in Japan than in the United States. In both countries, the relations between support from friends and the measures of emotional distress were entirely mediated by self‐esteem. However, among Japanese students, family cohesion accounted for additional significant variance in predicting the measures of emotional distress, even after controlling for self‐esteem.     

The Effects of Leader Support for Creativity and Leader Gender on Subordinate Creative Problem-Solving Performance

Ample correlational research shows that leader support for creativity is related to subordinate creativity, yet research examining the causality of this relationship experimentally is scant. Furthermore, most studies that demonstrate support for this relationship have used relatively subjective creativity measures that do not tap as effectively into the creative problem-solving process. Thus, we experimentally examined whether leader support for creativity affects subordinate creative problem-solving performance. We also examined whether this relationship depends on leader gender. We used experimental vignette methodology and a sample of 247 working adults to test these relationships. We found that high (vs. low) leader support for creativity resulted in a significantly higher number of ideas generated. Additionally, posthoc analyses showed that high (vs. low) leader support for creativity resulted in a significantly higher number of original ideas and higher number of quality ideas generated. We also found that when the leader was a woman (vs. man), average originality of ideas was significantly higher. We found no significant interactive effects of leader support for creativity and leader gender. We discuss how this study further elucidates our understanding of leader support for creativity, as well as avenues for future creativity research involving leader gender.     

情绪创造力对员工创新行为的影响:情绪社会建构理论的视角

基于情绪社会建构理论,运用问卷调查法,通过分析708组配对数据,探讨情绪创造力对员工创新行为的影响机制。结果表明:情绪创造力对员工创新行为有显著的正向影响,创造性角色认同在其中具有部分中介作用;员工情绪创造力与领导激励创造性的交互作用通过员工创造性角色认同为中介,影响员工的创新行为,从而表现出有中介的调节作用。     

Life Satisfaction and Symptoms of Mental Disorder Among Older African American Public Housing Residents

This study examines life satisfaction and symptoms of mental disorder in a sample of 831 older African American residents of urban public housing developments. Symptoms of mental disorder included measures of emotional distress, alcohol-related problems, and cognitive impairment. Subjects reporting less life satisfaction had significantly greater emotional distress. Neither lifetime alcohol-related problems nor cognitive impairment were significantly related to life satisfaction. Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that emotional distress subscales accounted for most of the explained variance in life satisfaction. Social dysfunction was the strongest predictor of life satisfaction, accounting for 17% of the variance. Having a confidant, instrumental social support, religious support, or being female also contributed to the explained variance in life satisfaction.     

Predicting beauty: fractal dimension and visual complexity in art

Visual complexity has been known to be a significant predictor of preference for artistic works for some time. The first study reported here examines the extent to which perceived visual complexity in art can be successfully predicted using automated measures of complexity. Contrary to previous findings the most successful predictor of visual complexity was Gif compression. The second study examined the extent to which fractal dimension could account for judgments of perceived beauty. The fractal dimension measure accounts for more of the variance in judgments of perceived beauty in visual art than measures of visual complexity alone, particularly for abstract and natural images. Results also suggest that when colour is removed from an artistic image observers are unable to make meaningful judgments as to its beauty.     

Political Skill and Work Attitudes: A Comparison of Multiple Social Effectiveness Constructs

In the realm of social effectiveness constructs, political skill has seen increased attention as a predictor of work performance and attitudes. However, the extent that political skill is distinct from related variables in this area remains an important question. The current study examined the proportion of variance explained by political skill in job satisfaction and turnover intentions above and beyond other social effectiveness variables (i.e., social intelligence, emotional intelligence, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). Results indicated that political skill was the strongest predictor of these outcomes, and explained a significant proportion of variance in them, beyond the other four social effectiveness constructs.     

Changes in self-perceptions in children with ADHD: a longitudinal study of depressive symptoms and attributional style

This study examined positive self-perceptions in relation to depressive symptoms and attributional style in a sample of 88 boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessed at baseline and at a 2- to 3-year follow-up. Change in boys' self-perceptions of competency in the scholastic, social, and behavioral domains was examined as a predictor of changes in depressive symptoms and depressive attributional style. Additionally, teacher-rated perceptions of competency at baseline and follow-up were considered as unique predictors. Results indicated that across all three domains, a reduction in children's self-perceptions of competency over time predicted greater depressive symptoms at follow-up, even when controlling for teacher-rated competency. Analyses also suggested that a reduction in self-perceptions in the social domain was the strongest relative predictor of later depressive symptoms and also predicted greater depressive attributional style at follow-up. In contrast, teacher-rated competency was not a significant predictor of depressive symptoms or attributional style at follow-up. Results support a protective function of positive self-perceptions in regards to depressive cognitions over a 2- to 3-year period for children with ADHD. However, literature suggesting risks for other negative outcomes also is discussed.     

Loyalty and Creativity in a Disciplinary Organization

The relationship between loyalty to rules and the creativity that attempts to improve those same rules was examined among Norwegian army officers deployed in international operations. Today's army officers are faced with rapidly changing work conditions and unpredictable enemies, both of which challenge and outdate rules and routines. They thus may experience that they are either guided by too few or inadequate rules, or by many rules that need to be constantly updated. Assuming that following rules is advantageous to officers, then, contrary to classical theory, it was hypothesized that officers scoring both low and high on loyalty to rules would score high on creativity. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed a significant U‐shaped relationship between loyalty to rules and creativity.     

Emotional and informational support from different sources and employee creativity

This study examined relations between employee creativity and emotional and informational support provided by three sources: individuals in the primary work unit, other work‐related individuals and non‐work‐related individuals. I also examined whether openness to experience moderated these relations. Results showed significant relations between creativity and emotional support from primary unit and other work‐related individuals, and informational support from primary unit and non‐work‐related individuals. Emotional support from non‐work‐related individuals had a stronger relation to creativity for employees low on openness to experience than for those high on openness. Implications of these results for organizational research and practice are discussed.     

Creative Thinking Strategies for Life: A Course for Professional Adults Using Art

To thrive in today's economy and the workforce of the future, individuals need creativity and problem-solving skills. Emotion skills have been increasingly discussed as well, with companies listing emotional intelligence as one of the top skills needed for professional success. The present paper describes a course designed to teach professional adults two sets of creativity skills (problem finding and idea generation) and two sets of emotional intelligence skills (using emotions to facilitate thinking and understanding emotions) using visual art as a medium. The course consisted of eight, 60-min sessions in which professional adults participated in art observation and art engagement activities. Fifty-six professional adults completed measures of creative abilities and emotional intelligence skills in a pretest, posttest, and 2-month follow-up design. Participants who engaged in the course showed significant gains in the originality of their ideas on divergent thinking and problem construction tasks, as well as their self-reported creative behavior compared with controls. No significant changes in emotion understanding were detected. We discuss the course's distinct value to creativity and emotion skills training research.     

Self-reported leadership experiences in relation to inventoried social and emotional intelligence

Leadership has both social and emotional components. Social intelligence appears to tap the social component found in leadership. Recently, emotional intelligence has surfaced as a stable individual difference variable and appears to tap the emotional component of leadership. Mayer and Salovey (1993) suggested that the emotional intelligence and social intelligence constructs overlap. This study examined the power of both emotional and social intelligence to account for variance in self-reported leadership experiences. One hundred ninety-two university students completed measures of social and emotional intelligence and a measure of leadership experiences. Regression analyses showed that both social intelligence and emotional intelligence accounted for variance in leadership experiences. Although emotional intelligence was found to account for variance in leadership, it did not add unique variance beyond social intelligence. Social intelligence appears to play a principal role in leadership.     

The relationship of work stressors and emotional support to strain in police officers

This study tested whether quantity and quality of social support and two sources of work stress (organizational stressors and job risk) predicted work strain in police officers, a high-risk occupational group. The participants were 135 police officers from a large metropolitan law enforcement agency who responded to questionnaires for assessing work stress, social support, exhaustion, and other strain symptoms. Emotional support and work stressors accounted directly for significant variance in emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and symptom frequency. Conflicted relationships, which are a source of both work stress and support, also contributed to strain. In contrast to previous findings, a reverse buffering effect for social support did not contribute to predicting strain. Stress management programs for police and other high-stress occupations should target increasing emotional support from supervisors and peers, and reducing conflict in job and family relationships.     

Academic Performance of High School Students as a Function of Mental Capacity,Cognitive Style,Mobility‐Fixity Dimension,and Creativity

The purpose of this study is to explore how creativity and the cognitive variables (mental capacity, cognitive style & mobility‐fixity dimension) can explain academic performance of high school students. Students at a high school in Maturin (Venezuela) were tested to determine creativity (Torrance Tests), cognitive variables and academic performance. Results based on multiple regression analyses showed that the mobility‐fixity dimension was the most consistent predictor of academic performance, by explaining a significant amount of the variance in Spanish, English, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Mathematics, Physics and the Mean score. Creativity scores explained a significant amount of the variance in Spanish, Geography, Earth Science and the Mean score. It appears that the mobility‐fixity dimension and creativity although related, perhaps represent different aspects of academic performance.     

Predicting Military Performance from Specific Personality Measures: A validity study

This study examined the criterion‐related validity of the dimensions of a customized personality inventory in predicting different aspects of military performance. A cross‐validity study was also carried out to establish the stability of the obtained regression weights. The sample consisted of 733 non‐commissioned officers who filled out the personality inventory. Three different measures of performance (i.e., commendations, reprimands, and cumulative ranking) were used as the criteria in validating the inventory. Among the 11 dimensions of the inventory, emotional stability, directing and monitoring, self‐discipline, and military bearing predicted commendations; determination was the only predictor for reprimands, and cumulative ranking was predicted by determination and adaptability. The cross‐validity procedure showed that the obtained regression weights were stable, providing further support for the validity of the personality measures. Results yielded support for the argument that specific personality measures could be respectable predictors of different aspects of military performance.     

Leading to Stimulate Employees' Ideas: A Quantitative Review of Leader–Member Exchange,Employee Voice,Creativity, and Innovative Behavior

Through social exchange, leaders can offer relational support or resources to facilitate employees' proactive attempts to bring positive change (voice) or novel ideas (creativity) and behaviors (innovative behavior) to their work. We consider these three outcomes under the same nomological network as they all represent employees' idea contribution to the organisation. The present paper thus meta‐analytically reviews the findings of research relating leader–member exchange (LMX) to voice (37 samples), creativity (53 samples), and innovative behavior (29 samples). Results show that LMX positively predicts voice, creativity, and innovative behavior. Moreover, LMX is more strongly related with creativity than with voice or innovative behavior, a significant difference maintained even after controlling for study characteristics that may act as confounding variables. Implications of our findings and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Self-reported leadership experiences in relation to inventoried social and emotional intelligence

Leadership has both social and emotional components. Social intelligence appears to tap the social component found in leadership. Recently, emotional intelligence has surfaced as a stable individual difference variable and appears to tap the emotional component of leadership. Mayer and Salovey (1993) suggested that the emotional intelligence and social intelligence constructs overlap. This study examined the power of both emotional and social intelligence to account for variance in self-reported leadership experiences. One hundred ninety-two university students completed measures of social and emotional intelligence and a measure of leadership experiences. Regression analyses showed that both social intelligence and emotional intelligence accounted for variance in leadership experiences. Although emotional intelligence was found to account for variance in leadership, it did not add unique variance beyond social intelligence. Social intelligence appears to play a principal role in leadership.     

IMPACT OF JOINT ATTENTION ON SOCIAL‐COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN INTERNATIONALLY ADOPTED CHILDREN

Internationally adopted (IA) children have often experienced early adversity and are at risk for long‐term deficiencies in multiple developmental domains. This study examined the association between IA children's joint attention (JA) soon after arrival and later cognitive, communicative, and socioemotional competency 6 months’ postadoption. We expected a child's initial JA would positively predict later cognitive, communication, and social ability. IA children (n = 63) adopted from Eastern Europe were seen soon after their arrival into the United States to assess their JA. Their socioemotional competency, social communication, and cognitive abilities were measured at a follow‐up session 6 months’ postadoption. We found that higher order JA was positively associated with measures of social relatedness. Furthermore, individual hierarchical regressions of each measure of JA (higher order JA, initiating JA, responding to JA, and initiating behavior requests [BR]) considered with age‐at‐adoption showed that each measure was an independent and positive predictor of Mullen outcomes in the receptive and expressive language domains. These results suggest that JA may be a sensitive predictor of subsequent functioning in the social, communicative, and cognitive domains. Thus, assessing JA soon after arrival has the potential to identify at‐risk IA children, and interventions targeting JA may support those children in overcoming the negative impacts of early adversity.     

Personal and Professional Discord: Examining Religious Conservatism and Lesbian‐, Gay‐, and Bisexual‐Affirmative Counselor Competence

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) orientations can evoke strong reactions that are often based on personal beliefs that seemingly conflict with professional standards calling for LGB‐affirmative counseling. This study examined the relationship between religious conservatism and LGB‐affirmative counselor competence. Controlling for education level, political conservatism, and LGB interpersonal contact, the results indicate that, as religious conservatism increased, LGB competency significantly decreased. The strongest predictor of LGB‐affirmative counselor competency was religious fundamentalism, whereas multicultural course work was not a significant predictor.     

Unawareness of social interaction and emotional control deficits in alzheimer's disease

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine unawareness of deficit in Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a previously unexplored functional domain: social interaction and emotional control competency. Impairment of awareness was measured by calculating the degree to which patients and their caregivers disagreed on ratings of patient functioning. to assess potential underlying mechanisms or associated features of social/emotional unawareness, a regression equation examining disease and demographic correlates was created. In addition, to provide a basis of comparison for the social/emotional domain, unawareness of deficit was also assessed in two previously examined domains of functioning (i.e., cognitive and self-care competency). Results revealed that, as compared to caregivers, AD-diagnosed patients overestimated their social/emotional competency but to a lesser extent than they overestimated cognitive and self-care competencies. Regression analysis suggested that impaired awareness of social interaction and emotional control deficits was positively correlated with dementia severity and negatively correlated with education.