Links among theory, research, and practice: cornerstones of clinical scientific progress

Discusses how explicit links among clinical theory, research, and practice are necessary if a clinical discipline is to survive in the managed care marketplace of today. Robust links among theory, research, and practice enable the elaboration of a systematic body of clinical knowledge that is practical in its deployment, effective in its methods, and compelling in its rationale. Moreover, theoretical advances are increasingly necessary, in that they allow scientists to categorize and prioritize the growing amount of empirically derived information, determine how pieces of multilevel data fit together, identify knowledge gaps, and set priorities for future studies. As shown by some of the articles in this special section, evolving theories of behavior have several characteristics in common; namely that they are developmental, transactional, contextual, adaptational, multilevel, and multidetermined. Concerns may be raised, however, as to whether current research methods are fully adequate to test these newer, more complex, multilevel theories or the clinical phenomena they seek to characterize. To address these difficulties, as well as to increase the pace of scientific advances that may result from propitious links among theory, research, and practice, I offer several recommendations to clinical psychology in general and to clinical child psychological research in particular.     

Personality and stress

Recent years have witnessed an upsurge of interest in how personality affects the stress process. This paper reports on a broad spectrum of findings on the relationships between personality and stress, taking transactional stress theory as the point of departure. A first part outlines the different approaches stress research has taken within personality psychology as opposed to research based on transactional stress theory and discusses the debate between these two paradigms. The second part gives an overview of empirical findings, with a focus on the Big Five personality factors, in order to demonstrate that personality affects the stress process in every aspect. The discussion suggests that we address unresolved problems of transactional stress research in the framework of interactionist personality psychology. Special attention ought to be given to developing a better understanding of situational characteristics, stress-producing mechanisms, and the functions of situational choices and coping strategies for personality.     

Rethinking the biopsychosocial model of health: Understanding health as a dynamic system

The biopsychosocial model has dominated research and theory in health psychology. This article expands the biopsychosocial model by applying systems theories proposed by developmental scholars, including Bronfenbrenner's ecological models and Sameroff's transactional model, as well as contemporary philosophical work on dynamic systems. The proposed dynamic biopsychosocial model construes human health as a product of the reciprocal influences of biological, psychological, interpersonal, and macrosystem contextual dynamics that unfold over personal and historical time. The importance, or centrality, of these influences varies within a person over time. The model is explicated using two hypothetical case studies derived from existing interdisciplinary health research. Implications for health, theory, research, and policy are discussed.     

On the perceived effectiveness of transformational–transactional leadership: The role of encouraged strategies and followers' regulatory focus

The present research sought to examine when and why transformational and transactional leadership are perceived by followers to be effective. A series of five studies revealed that perceived effectiveness of transformational and transactional leadership is influenced by the fit between leadership style‐driven encouraged strategies and followers' preferred strategies. Specifically, we found that transformational leadership primarily encourages promotion‐focused strategies and, accordingly, creates a regulatory fit for promotion‐focused followers. In contrast, transactional leadership primarily encourages prevention‐focused strategies, creating a regulatory fit for prevention‐focused followers. As a consequence of this regulatory fit, leadership is perceived as more effective and predictive of enhanced effort. By integrating literature on self‐regulation with insights from leadership research, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the leadership process and of interpersonal influences on self‐regulatory experiences. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transformational,transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: a meta-analysis comparing women and men

A meta-analysis of 45 studies of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles found that female leaders were more transformational than male leaders and also engaged in more of the contingent reward behaviors that are a component of transactional leadership. Male leaders were generally more likely to manifest the other aspects of transactional leadership (active and passive management by exception) and laissez-faire leadership. Although these differences between male and female leaders were small, the implications of these findings are encouraging for female leadership because other research has established that all of the aspects of leadership style on which women exceeded men relate positively to leaders' effectiveness whereas all of the aspects on which men exceeded women have negative or null relations to effectiveness.     

绩效薪酬对员工突破性创造力和渐进性创造力的影响

研究分别从认知评价理论和习得性努力理论视角考察了绩效薪酬对员工突破性创造力和渐进性创造力的影响及其作用机制, 并检验了变革型领导和交易型领导对上述两条路径的调节效应。基于24家企业的364对上下级匹配数据的研究结果表明：绩效薪酬对内在动机和突破性创造力没有显著的影响, 对外在动机和渐进性创造力有显著的正向影响。变革型领导调节绩效薪酬与突破性创造力的关系：高变革领导情境下, 绩效薪酬通过正向影响内在动机间接对突破性创造力产生正向影响; 低变革领导情境下, 绩效薪酬通过负向影响内在动机间接对突破性创造力产生负向影响。交易型领导调节绩效薪酬与渐进性创造力的关系：交易型领导通过强化绩效薪酬对外在动机的影响进而放大了绩效薪酬对渐进性创造力的正向效应。针对上述结果, 讨论了本文的理论与实践意义。     

A Cross-Cultural Reflection on Shusterman’s Suggestion of the “Transactional” Body

This short article explores the meaning of Shusterman’s “transactional body,” derived from his statement that the will is not a purely mental affair that is independent of physical modality but is always an interaction with its environment. While he appreciates the Deweyan interactional model, he develops the “transactional mode,” which he implies should expand the body-mind unity to the level of social and cultural conditions. Shusterman finds similar integrations and transactions among the mental, psychophysical and physical levels in Asian philosophical traditions. This article conducts a comparative study between his theory and Mencius’ understanding of the body. Within the discussion, the analysis of aesthetic experience explicated by Dewey and Shusterman is reviewed as the link to the comparison.     

A focus on commitment: the roles of transformational and transactional leadership and self-regulatory focus in fostering organizational and safety commitment

The concept of employees’ commitment is one of the most challenging concepts in the management, organizational behaviour and human resource management literatures and research. The current study focuses on the construct of commitment as an emotional attitude, and expands the concept of general organizational commitment to a new more specific form of commitment, commitment to safety. Furthermore, commitment theorists commonly identify leadership as an important contributing factor to the development of organizational commitment. We aim to explain an underlying motivational mechanism, self-regulatory foci, through which leadership styles foster followers’ commitment. Results of three studies that used different methods (field and experimental), within different samples, demonstrated that transformational leadership was positively associated with followers’ promotion focus, which in turn was positively associated with both followers’ general and affective commitment to safety. Prevention focus mediated the positive relationship between a transactional active leadership style and both followers’ general and continuance commitment to safety. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are further discussed.     

工作压力理论及其在研究中的重要性

有关工作压力的研究是在西方心理学和管理学界都发展较快的一个领域。然而,这一领域中具有广泛和概括意义的理论还不多。该文介绍了工作压力研究中影响较大的4种理论,特别是对Lazarus提出的交互理论做了较详细的介绍。还分析了它们的局限性并讨论了理论在研究工作中的重要性的问题。     

运动行为领域中的调节匹配

调节匹配理论认为个体更倾向于采用与自身调节定向方式相匹配的行为策略, 并且当个体处于调节匹配状态时, 其行为表现会更好。通过梳理近年来运动领域关于调节匹配的研究发现, 调节匹配可以对运动行为的多个方面产生影响, 如促进运动员的运动表现、提高运动员的决策效能、增强体育锻炼参与度等。未来研究应注重对运动中调节匹配研究内容的扩充, 探讨调节匹配的内在机制, 并完善调节匹配的研究方法。     

跨期决策的神经机制：基于体素形态学和弥散张量成像研究的证据

目前神经经济学的首要目标是探讨人们经济决策背后的认知机制和神经基础。随着脑成像技术的发展, 人们对于脑结构和功能的认识也越来越深入。跨期决策作为经济决策领域的一个重要分支, 对其理解可以丰富决策的理论内容。首先, 梳理了关于跨期决策神经机制研究, 阐述了跨期决策的四种理论, 分别为单一评价理论(single-valuation theory)、双评价理论(dual-valuation theory)、自我控制理论(self-control theory)和自我参照加工理论(self-referential processing theory), 以及脑损伤研究证据。其次, 分别整理了基于体素形态学和弥散张量成像技术在跨期决策领域中的应用, 并揭示前额叶灰质和白质体积以及背外侧前额叶-纹状体神经纤维连接对于决策冲动性的影响。最后, 未来研究需要注意其在研究方法、认知过程、决策冲动性评估模型上的创新与突破。     

Transformational leadership and moral reasoning

Terms such as moral and ethical leadership are used widely in theory, yet little systematic research has related a sociomoral dimension to leadership in organizations. This study investigated whether managers' moral reasoning (n = 132) was associated with the transformational and transactional leadership behaviors they exhibited as perceived by their subordinates (n = 407). Managers completed the Defining Issues Test (J. R. Rest, 1990), whereas their subordinates completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (B. M. Bass & B. J. Avolio, 1995). Analysis of covariance indicated that managers scoring in the highest group of the moral-reasoning distribution exhibited more transformational leadership behaviors than leaders scoring in the lowest group. As expected, there was no relationship between moral-reasoning group and transactional leadership behaviors. Implications for leadership development are discussed.     

新瓶旧酒或推陈出新：包容性领导是一种独立的领导类型吗？

包容性领导是解决当前职场中员工多样性问题的一种新型领导类型。由于领导类型众多且存在交叉重叠现象,包容性领导是否是一种独立的领导类型值得检验。176份纵向调查数据分析结果表明：与变革型领导、交易型领导和家长式领导相比,包容性领导具有独立的概念结构,在对领导成员交换和工作满意度的预测上具有显著的增进效应和优势效应。     

行为免疫系统理论及其研究:新视野下的再考察

行为免疫系统理论认为, 为了应对流行病威胁, 人类进化出了一套特殊的行为反应倾向, 包括对疾病线索的警觉、厌恶, 对健康配偶的偏好, 对外群体的排斥, 对集体主义的推崇等。已有研究主要从宏观(群体)和微观(个体)两个水平开展, 虽然有大量研究结果支持该理论, 但也存在不少不一致甚至相反的发现。研究方法、理论基础和现代适用性等方面的不足可能是出现这种情况的原因。未来研究需克服上述问题, 并进一步拓展该理论的研究内容, 检验理论和相关研究的边界, 探讨行为免疫背后的生理机制等。     

Motivated or Demotivated to Be Creative: The Role of Self‐Regulatory Focus in Transformational and Transactional Leadership Processes

Numerous studies have recognised the importance of transformational leadership style for encouraging employees’ creativity. Self‐regulation studies have highlighted the influence of a promotion focus on employees’ creative behaviours. Yet both leadership and self‐regulation theories have paid less attention to the role transactional leadership style and situational prevention regulatory focus may play in affecting employees’ creativity. In this article we present a theoretical model which examines transformational and transactional leadership styles and both promotion and prevention situational self‐regulatory focus (SRF). The model suggests that while transformational leadership promotes creativity, at least partially by enhancing follower's situational promotion SRF, transactional leadership style (transactional active) is aligned with followers’ prevention situational SRF, which is associated with leaders’ hindering of followers’ creativity. Findings from two studies, an experimental study (N = 189) and a field study (N = 343 employees and 75 managers), support this model, showing that the relationship between different types of leadership and creativity are more complex than previously regarded. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

死亡提醒对员工绩效的双刃效应：压力交互理论的视角

职场内外部死亡提醒对员工绩效具有双刃效应已得到诸多研究的支持,但该现象背后的统一理论解释缺乏深入探讨。基于压力交互理论构建的模型指出,死亡提醒通过压力源认知评估与状态死亡意识的链式中介影响员工绩效。具体而言,员工对死亡提醒这一压力源的威胁性评估与挑战性评估分别影响其状态死亡焦虑与状态死亡反思,进而对任务绩效、组织公民行为和反生产行为产生双刃效应。最后,基于模型梳理了个体资源与情境资源等相关边界条件,并提出未来可探析死亡提醒双刃效应的过程机制、边界条件以及组织干预策略。     

Interacting Minds: A Framework for Combining Process- and Accuracy-Oriented Social Cognitive Research

A number of problems posed by cognitive-mediational theories of emotion offer major challenges for theory and research. I address five problems that seem particularly important and vexing, and I offer some possible solutions. My purpose is to stimulate additional thought and interdisciplinary discussion. The problems include unconscious appraising; confusions about the bares of emotional variations across cultures; irrationality in our emotional life; research demands imposed by the transactional nature of emotion; and the potential for tautology when we treat appraisal as a cause of emotions. Although these problems are widely recognized, they have not been thoroughly dealt with, and they call for renewed efforts to seek solutions in the design of our research.     

Transactionalism and the coordinator of pupil personnel services

The transactional style of leadership is proposed as a method of operation for the coordinator of pupil personnel services, and Getzels and Guba's view of social behavior is used as the theoretical framework for the discussion. Two important factors affecting the coordinator's role are reviewed: the bureaucratic structure of the educational system and the roles of various pupil personnel specialists. Use of superordinate goals is suggested as being congruent with the transactional style of leadership.     

Principals' transformational leadership and teachers' collective efficacy

The study was designed to test the relationship of principals' transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership with teachers' collective efficacy. Bandura's theory of efficacy applied to the group and Bass's transformational leadership theory were used as the theoretical framework. Participants included 487 French Canadian teachers from 40 public high schools. As expected, there were positive and significant correlations between principals' transformational and transactional leadership and teachers' collective efficacy. Also, there was a negative and significant correlation between laissez-faire leadership and teachers' collective efficacy. Moreover, regression analysis showed transformational leadership significantly enhanced the predictive capabilities of transactional leadership on teachers' collective efficacy. These results confirm the importance of leadership to predict collective efficacy and, by doing so, strengthen Bass's theory of leadership.