The Role of a “Happy Personality” in the Relationship of Subjective Social Status and Domain-Specific Satisfaction in China

Most scholars have focused on group differences in overall life satisfaction, and little research has explored group differences in domain-specific satisfaction. This study investigated the variation in the effects of subjective social status on domain-specific satisfaction across personality styles (combined extraversion and neuroticism) in a sample of 1120 female and 745 male Chinese. Participants completed a questionnaire comprising demographics factors, MacArthur Scale, BFI personality scale and self-rated domain-specific satisfaction with interpersonal, health, political, financial, environmental, environmental, and cultural. The findings revealed that subjective social status positively, extraversion positively, and neuroticism negatively predicted six domain-specific satisfactions. Additionally, the results of the hierarchical regression analysis confirmed that the moderating roles of personality traits, but neither extraversion nor neuroticism alone moderated the effects of subjective social status on six domains of life satisfaction. Higher subjective social status related to a substantial increase in domainspecific satisfaction with health, political and environmental for respondents with high extraversion and low neuroticism. Taking together, from the “bottom-up” perspectives, these findings provide support to extend Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory to explain the relationship between subjective social status and domain-specific satisfaction.

     

Does Bullying Affect Work-to-Private-Life Interference? Testing the Mediating Role of Resilience

Objectives. The present study, using the conservation of resources theory as a theoretical framework, aims to establish whether work-related bullying is associated with the development of two different types of work-to-private-life interference, i.e., time based and strain based. The study also aims to test whether these relationships are mediated by resilience. Method. In total, 333 nurses filled out a self-report questionnaire. Data analyses were performed by using structural equation model. Results. Results confirmed the hypothesized model: work-related bullying is associated with both strain-based and time-based work-to-private-life interferences. The bootstrap test indicated the presence of an indirect effect of bullying on both types of work-to-private-life interference via resilience. Originality/Value. The present study contributes to improve the understanding on the mechanisms linking work-related bullying and worker well-being, by providing evidence for the mediating role of resilience between bullying and both time-based and strain-based work–life interferences. Practical implications. The present study suggests that the intervention programs, in order to be effectiveness in sustaining work–life balance among nurses, should take into great account the social climate in the organizational context, e.g., the quality of the social climate with particular reference to the bullying prevention.     

The Influence of Social Regard on the Customer–Service Firm Relationship: The Moderating Role of Length of Relationship

Purpose  

The authors examine the influence of employees’ social regard toward the customers on customer satisfaction, trust, and word of mouth. In addition, we analyzed the moderating role of length of relationship between the service provider and the customer on the effects of social regard on the customer relationship outcomes.     

Intergenerational Continuity in Qualities of the Parent–Child Relationship: Mediating and Moderating Mechanisms

Intergenerational continuity in parenting quality has been demonstrated but the mechanisms underlying this continuity are less understood. This study investigated whether the offspring personality and years of education mediate the continuity in qualities of the parent–child relationship and whether offspring personality moderates this association. The sample comprised 1308 Finnish offspring (G2; 62% female) and their mothers (G1). G1 (Mean age?=?37.7) reported self-perceived qualities of the parent–child relationship in terms of emotional warmth and acceptance towards G2 aged 3–18 years in 1980. Thirty-two years later, once having become parents themselves, G2 (Mean age?=?42.9) self-rated their own qualities of the parent–child relationship towards their children using the same scales. Between these follow-ups, G2 self-rated their personality (consisting of temperament and character traits) using the Temperament and Character Inventory and reported years of education. Results indicated that G2 character traits—Self-directedness and Cooperativeness—partially mediated the intergenerational continuity in self-perceived emotional warmth and explained 16% of this association. No mediating role of G2 temperament traits was found (all ps?>?.240). Character traits accounted for the indirect association better than education in a multiple mediator model. Moreover, no moderating role of either temperament or character traits was found (all ps?≥?.064). Study findings show that warm and accepting qualities of the parent–child relationship in childhood are related to offspring character traits that reflect personality maturity in adulthood, which in turn would predict their own positive parent–child relationship later in life.     

Balanced Time Perspective and Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of “Temporal Negative Affect”

Journal of Happiness Studies - The relationship between a balanced time perspective and life satisfaction has been demonstrated in previous studies, yet the potential mechanisms underlying this...     

Parent–Adolescent Attachment and Academic Adjustment: The Mediating Role of Self-Worth

Within the theoretical framework of attachment theory, this study examined associations between adolescents’ attachment relationships with both mother and father and their academic adjustment, and explored the potential mediation role of self-worth in the associations. Participants were 384 Chinese adolescents (49.6% male, average age?=?15.13 years) from public schools in Shanghai, China. They completed self-report measures of mother–adolescent attachment, father–adolescent attachment, general self-worth, academic engagement and school grades. The results indicated that adolescents’ attachments to both parents were associated with higher levels of academic engagement. There was partial support of the mediating role of self-worth, as adolescents who had high levels of parent–adolescent attachment were more likely to have high levels of self-worth, which in turn enhanced their academic engagement and then improved high school grades. The findings highlighted the importance of parental attachment-based intervention strategies to promote and maintain academic adjustment among adolescents.     

The Role of the Family in Childhood Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

While obsessive–compulsive disorder is widely recognized to have a strong genetic component, psychosocial factors are also acknowledged to be important. The primary focus of this paper is on familial factors associated with OCD in children and adolescents. It explores the family context as a possible risk factor in the development and maintenance of the disorder, including parental modeling, expressed emotion, parenting style, and family accommodation of the child's symptoms. The involvement of the family in the treatment of the disorder is also reviewed. Finally, future directions for research investigating familial factors in childhood OCD are presented.     

The Role of Husbands’ and Wives’ Emotional Expressivity in the Marital Relationship

The current investigation was designed to examine the role of positive and negative emotional expressivity in the marital relationship. Data from 58 married couples were used to assess spouses’ levels of emotional expressivity and how these levels predicted reports of marital functioning. Regression analyses indicated that positive emotional expressivity had limited influence on marital functioning. Negative expressivity, however, had a strong impact on marital love, conflict, and ambivalence. Post-hoc analyses revealed significant differences between pairings in which the husband was high in negative expressivity, irrespective of wives’ negative emotional expressivity, and pairings in which both partners were low in negative emotional expressivity. These findings are discussed with respect to previous research that suggests that wives’ emotional expressivity is the major determinant of marital functioning.     

Stressors, Quality of the Child–Caregiver Relationship, and Children's Mental Health Problems After Parental Death: The Mediating Role of Self-System Beliefs

Investigated whether three self-system beliefs, fear of abandonment, coping efficacy, and self-esteem, mediated the relations of stressors and caregiver–child relationship quality with concurrent and prospective internalizing and externalizing problems in a sample of children who had experienced parental death in the previous 2.5 years. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 340 children ages 7–16 and their surviving parent/current caregiver; the longitudinal analyses employed a subset of this sample that consisted of 100 children and their parents/caregivers who were assessed at three time points. A multirater, multimethod measure of caregiver–child relationship quality and a multirater measure of children's mental health problems were used. The cross-sectional model supported a mediational relation for fear of abandonment, coping efficacy, and self-esteem. The three-wave longitudinal model showed that fear of abandonment at Time 2 mediated the relation between stressors at Time 1 and internalizing and externalizing problems at Time 3. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of mental health problems in parentally bereaved children and designing interventions for this at-risk group are discussed.

The Mediating Role of Moral Ownership in the Relationship Between Organizational Support and Employees’ Ethical Behavior: A Study of Higher Education Faculty Members

We examined the mediating role of employee moral ownership in the relationship between employees’ perception of organizational support and their actual ethical behavior. Data were collected from 689 faculty members affiliated with different educational institutions in India. Structural equation modeling analysis showed that perceived organizational support significantly impacts employee ethical behavior. In addition, the results revealed that employee moral ownership mediates the relationship between perceived organizational support and employee ethical behavior. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.     

Emerging Adults’ Outlook on the Future in the Midst of COVID-19: The Role of Personality Profiles

Journal of Adult Development - Classic lifespan developmental theory describes emerging adulthood and the transition to adulthood as important periods for thinking about one’s future life...     

Empathy,Depressive Symptoms,and Self-Esteem in Adolescence: The Moderating Role of the Mother–Adolescent Relationship

A large body of literature provides support for the role of empathy as a prominent factor in socio-emotional development and functioning. Although deficits in empathy are known to associate with maladaptive behaviors, less literature documents the effects of excessive empathy, which has been found to relate to various internalizing problems such as depression. There are two types of empathy, cognitive and affective, which manifest themselves in different ways and thus, have differential effects on outcomes. Therefore, in a sample of 724 Belgian adolescents (M_age?=?13.83?±?.96), the present study sought to elucidate the effects of cognitive and affective empathy on depressive symptoms and self-esteem. We also explored the interactive effects of empathy and adolescent perceived mother–child relationship quality in the prediction of our outcomes. Results revealed affective and cognitive empathy predicted outcomes concurrently, with affective empathy predicting more maladaptive outcomes and cognitive empathy predicting more positive outcomes. Interaction effects emerged between affective empathy and the relationship quality indicators. However, no interactions occurred with cognitive empathy. Further, longitudinal data revealed only cognitive empathy had long-term effects (predicting positive outcomes such as lower levels of depression and higher levels of self-esteem) suggesting that cognitive empathy may be a protective factor. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

It’s All About the Relationship: The Role of Attachment in Child-Parent Psychotherapy

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology -     

The Role of Gender Identification in Social Dominance Orientation: Mediating or Moderating the Effect of Sex?1

Previous research has shown that people's gender identification correlates with their social dominance orientation (SDO). A question is whether gender identification mediates or moderates the effect of biological sex on SDO. We examined the correlations of sex and gender identification with SDO using the Bem Sex Role Inventory in Study 1 and a gender diagnostic measure in Study 2. Both studies showed that gender identification was significantly associated with SDO. In Study 1, gender identification partially mediated the effect of sex on SDO; and in Study 2, this mediation was complete. There were no indications that gender identification moderated the effect of sex on SDO. The results are discussed against the background of the gender invariance hypothesis of SDO.     

Within-Family Differences in Internalizing Behaviors: The Role of Children’s Perspectives of the Mother-child Relationship

The goal of this exploratory, within-family, longitudinal study was to examine whether children’s perspectives of the mother-child relationship explained within-family differences in children’s responses to a shared family stressor (maternal depressive symptoms) over time. Children (ages 8 to 15 years; N = 68) residing in 34 families were drawn from a general population study in the UK. Predictor variables were assessed at Time 1 and change in internalizing behavior from Time 1 to Time 2 (2 years later) was examined. As children were nested within families, data were analyzed using multilevel modeling, controlling for previous child behavior. Child perspective of the mother-child relationship, in interaction with maternal depressive symptoms, was found to explain within-family differences in internalizing over time. Children with a negative perspective (compared to mothers’ perspectives) were the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of maternal depressive symptoms.     

Caregiving Burden and Parent–Child Quality of Life Outcomes in Neurodevelopmental Conditions: The Mediating Role of Behavioral Disengagement

The aim of this study was to analyze the direct and indirect effects, via parents’ behavioral disengagement coping, of caregiving burden on the quality of life (QL) of parents and their children with neurodevelopmental conditions. Self-completion questionnaires on the target variables were administered to a sample of 156 parents who had a child with a neurodevelopmental condition, namely epilepsy (n = 65) and cerebral palsy (n = 91). Structural equation modeling was used to test a mediation model and ascertain direct and indirect effects among study variables. Significant direct effects of caregiving burden on parents’ and their children’s QL were found. Additionally, caregiving burden had a significant indirect effect on parents’ QL, via behavioral disengagement, but not on their children’s QL. Finally, this model was found to be invariant across conditions and patients’ age groups. Caregiving burden may be elected as a strategic intervention target to improve parent–child QL outcomes in neuropediatric settings. Parents should be encouraged to avoid or reduce behavioral disengagement coping in relation to their caregiving stress, and alternatively adopt active coping strategies that may positively affect their children’s QL and impede or attenuate the deleterious effects of caregiving burden on their own QL.     

E-nabled for E-Learning? The Moderating Role of Personality in Determining the Optimal Degree of Learner Control in an E-Learning Environment

This paper investigates the moderating role of specific Big Five personality traits on the relationship between learner control and training performance in an e-learning environment. Specifically, we examined the role of openness to experience, conscientiousness, and extraversion. Participants completed a video-based e-learning program with either a high or low level of learner control. Results demonstrated that the personality traits of openness to experience and extraversion moderated the relationship between learner control and training performance. Specifically, training performance was higher for trainees higher in openness and extraversion when they were in an environment with high learner control versus low learner control. Conversely, for trainees lower in these traits, performance was higher with low learner control versus high learner control. Future research and practical applications are discussed.     

Students’ Oppositional Behaviors and Engagement in School: The Differential Role of the Student-Teacher Relationship

Students presenting oppositional behaviors often display lower behavioral and emotional engagement in class as compared to their peers. Moreover, children in general are known to be deeply affected by their relationships with teachers while in school. It is therefore possible that such relationships could also influence the engagement of students presenting higher levels of oppositional behavior. As a way of verifying this hypothesis, the present study investigated the contribution of students’ levels of oppositional behavior to their behavioral and emotional engagement in literacy. Furthermore, it examined whether these relationships were different for boys and girls, or changed as a function of two components of student-teacher relationships: closeness and conflict. Three hundred and eighty five third and fourth grade students and their teachers participated in the study. Two series of linear regressions were conducted. Findings indicate that students who presented higher levels of oppositional behavior showed lower behavioral engagement than their peers. Moreover, students who had close relationships with their teachers reported higher behavioral engagement. Although closeness in student-teacher relationships protected students from behavioral disengagement, students with higher oppositional behaviors were less protected than students who presented lower levels of oppositional difficulty. Having a warm relationship with a teacher was also more beneficial for the behavioral engagement of girls, whereas a high level of conflict between student and teacher was more harmful for the emotional engagement of boys. This was deemed to be true whether the boys or girls presented high levels of oppositional behavior or not. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of the student-teacher relationship in fostering all students’ engagement in school.     

Pathways of Growth in the Mother–Daughter Relationship

I focus on two central pathways of growth and change in the mother–daughter relationship—empathic attunement, which promotes a secure and cohesive sense of self, and mutual recognition of separate subjectivities, which advances differentiation of mother and daughter. A continually fluctuating balance between these two pathways of relating provides opportunities for self and mutual enhancement or possibly compromise of the relationship. Two nodal points during the life cycle, that of the daughter's adolescence and the mother's old age, are taken up through the use of film and a clinical vignette to illustrate, from a nonlinear dynamic systems theoretical perspective, movement toward maturity and transformation.