Personality and work-home interaction among dual-earner couples in South Africa: Testing an actor-partner interdependence model

This study aimed to investigate the effect of personality on work-home interaction crossover effects among dual-earner couples in South Africa. The participants were dual-earner couples (n = 264; 132 couples) with young children. They completed measures on work-home interaction and personality. Multilevel modelling was used to analyse predictions for six personality variables and four work-home interaction outcome variables. Additionally, we examined interaction effects between husbands’ and wives’ actor effects, as well as between their partner effects. Results suggest only wives’ Extraversion, Emotional Stability, and Openness positively influenced husbands’ experience of work-home interaction. Work-home personality crossover actor effects were more pronounced for wives. Partner effects were stronger for husbands in that an increase in Extraversion in wives will increase husbands’ experience of positive home-work interaction. A gendered effect appears to influence work-home interaction among South African working couples; this knowledge is important for interventions to establish balanced work and home lives.     

Work stress,work–home interference and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in Zimbabwe

The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between work stress, work-home interference, and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in the Zimbabwean context. Data were collected from a sample of 190 employees (females=46%) who completed the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised (OSI-R), the Work-Home Interference Questionnaire (SWING), and the Organisational Culture Index (OCI). Data analysis consisted of correlational and standard multiple regression analyses. The results revealed significant positive correlations between the sub-scales Role Overload, Role Insufficiency, Role Ambiguity, Role Boundary, Responsibilities, and Physical Environment of the OSI-R, the sub-scales Positive Work-Home Interference and Negative Work-Home Interference of the SWING, and the sub-scales Bureaucratic, Innovative and Supportive Culture of the OCI. These findings contribute to new knowledge in terms of the work stress experienced by insurance employees who are always under continuous pressure from the industry. Furthermore, it could be used to gain insight to enhance the work-life balance of insurance employees and the effect of organisational culture as perceived by insurance employees.     

累并快乐着：服务型领导的收益与代价——基于工作-家庭资源模型视角

服务型领导被以往大量研究证实能够对下属产生积极的影响效果。然而, 我们对服务型领导如何影响领导者自己还知之甚少。基于此, 文章根据工作-家庭资源模型, 探讨了服务型领导的收益与代价。采用经验抽样法, 对广州市76名企业单位中的主管进行为期5天的日记研究, 并运用多层线性模型进行数据分析。结果表明：主管每日从事服务型领导行为既可以产生更多的积极情绪, 从而改善工作-家庭关系, 又可能会引发资源损耗, 从而恶化了工作-家庭关系。主管感知的组织支持是服务型领导行为双刃剑效应的“门阀”, 当主管感知到高的组织支持时, 从事服务型领导行为会带来更多的积极情绪, 而当主管感知到低的组织支持时, 从事服务型领导行为可能更容易增加资源损耗。以上结果能拓宽我们对服务型领导影响效果的认识, 并为如何干预服务型领导行为提供一些新的启发。     

Effects of work–family culture on employee well-being: Exploring moderator effects in a longitudinal sample

This present panel study had three aims: (1) to shed new light on the work–family culture (WFC)–well-being (work–family conflict, work engagement, job exhaustion) linkage by investigating lagged associations between the phenomena; (2) to consider the multidimensional nature of WFC by specifying whether its lagged effects on well-being would vary by its dimensions; and (3) to explore whether the positive aspects of WFC would prevent its negative ones from spilling over into employee well-being. The study was based on a 2-year longitudinal sample (N = 409) gathered among Finnish health care workers. The results showed that WFC was a bidimensional construct containing both negative (work–family barriers) and positive (work–family support) facets. Only its positive facets (work–family support) showed a lagged negative effect on the outcomes studied (work–family conflict). No signs of moderator effects were observed.     

Working adults’ positive coping and age: Their interaction effects on psycho-social career preoccupations

The present study explored positive coping behaviour and age interaction effects on workers’ psycho-social career preoccupations. Participants were workers employed within a chemical industry in South Africa (n?=?525). The sample was represented by younger (21–34 years, n?=?257) and older (35–55 years, n?=?268) workers (male?=?52%, black?=?51%). The participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Positive Coping Behavioural Inventory, and Psycho-social Career Preoccupations Scale. Hierarchical moderated regressions were computed to test whether workers’ age influenced the nature of the effect of their positive coping behaviour on their career preoccupations. Results indicated a positive coping and age interaction effect on career establishment preoccupations in that younger workers with low positive coping behaviour had significantly higher career establishment preoccupations than their older counterparts with low positive coping behaviour. High positive coping behaviour was significantly associated with low career establishment preoccupations for both younger and older workers. The findings suggest that helping adult workers identify positive coping behavioural strengths for managing their career preoccupations would be important for their career development in today’s uncertain and rapidly changing employment environment.     

职场排斥对员工家庭的溢出效应：归属需求和工作家庭区隔偏好的作用

以往研究证实了职场排斥会对员工组织内诸多方面产生危害, 然而关于职场排斥向组织外部特别是家庭领域的溢出效应还知之甚少。本研究基于资源保存理论构建了一个有调节的中介效应模型, 探讨职场排斥对员工家庭贬损和家庭满意度的溢出效应和具体机制, 研究结果表明：(1)职场排斥对员工家庭贬损有显著正向作用, 对家庭满意度有显著负向作用; (2)工作压力中介了职场排斥与家庭贬损和家庭满意度的关系; (3)员工归属需求调节了职场排斥对工作压力的影响, 同时调节了工作压力在职场排斥与家庭贬损、家庭满意度之间的中介效应; (4)员工工作家庭区隔偏好调节了工作压力对家庭贬损和家庭满意度的作用, 并且调节了职场排斥通过工作压力对家庭贬损和家庭满意度的中介效应。     

Job stressors, emotional exhaustion, and need for recovery: A multi-source study on the benefits of psychological detachment

This paper examines psychological detachment (i.e., mentally “switching off”) from work during non-work time as a partial mediator between job stressors and low work-home boundaries on the one hand and strain reactions (emotional exhaustion, need for recovery) on the other hand. Survey data were collected from a sample of protestant pastors (N = 136) and their spouses (N = 97). Analyses showed that high workload, emotional dissonance, and low spatial work-home boundaries were related to poor psychological detachment from work during non-work time. Poor psychological detachment in turn predicted high levels of emotional exhaustion and need for recovery. Psychological detachment was a partial mediator between job stressors and strain reactions. This study avoids same-source bias and demonstrates the importance of psychological detachment in the stressor–strain relationship.     

Gender minority as a risk factor of exposure to bullying at work: The case of male assistant nurses

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that male assistant nurses, representing a small gender minority in their profession and in the work organizations they inhabit, are more often exposed to bullying at work than their female colleagues. In 1999, a random sample of the assistant nurses organized in the Norwegian Union of Health and Social Workers were mailed a questionnaire; 7478 out of 12,000 (62.3%) completed the questionnaire. The sample of the present study comprised the 6485 respondents who were vocationally active and not on leave. 3.8% (n?=?247) of the respondents were men; 10.2% (n?=?25) of the men and 4.3% (n?=?265) of the women reported that they had been exposed to bullying at work during the previous 6 months, χ²?=?19.12, df?=?1, p?<?.0001. The association between gender and exposure to bullying at work remained strong and significant (odds ratio?=?2.29; 95% confidence interval?=?1.39?-?3.78; p?=?.001) even after adjustment for a series of background factors. The study supports the hypothesis that male assistant nurses are more often exposed to bullying at work than their female colleagues.     

The adolescent friendship structure inventory (AFSI): A review and empirical consolidation of existing measures

Abstract

The aim of this study was to empirically consolidate previous friendship measures in order to identify a set of items to include in a tool for assessing positive and negative qualities of adolescents’ friendships. Existing self-report measures were identified and 91 items were selected from the measures. Following a pilot study undertaken to reduce the number of items for use in a larger study, the primary study included 415 Australian adolescents (249 boys and 166 girls, aged 12–17 years) who completed a questionnaire at school. The questionnaire included a reduced set of 47 of the 91 items. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted with 50% of the sample (n = 208). In the final factor analysis, 26 items loaded highly on one of four factors. The factors were labeled emotional support, positive interactions, coercive power, and conditional social regard. The factor structure was confirmed with the other 50% of the sample (n = 207). This confirmatory factor model had a good fit to the data and the four subscales on the new Adolescent Friendship Structure Inventory (AFSI) had sound inter-item correlations. In addition, the AFSI subscales were validated against a measure of friendship satisfaction, with all four subscales associated with satisfaction in the expected direction.     

Development and validation of a test on Anasakti (non-attachment): an Indian model of well-being

Deriving our theoretical model from the Hindu religious text Srimad Bhagvad Gita, gaps in the existing frameworks on the concept of Anasakti (non-attachment) were found. The purpose of the study was to develop and test psychometric properties of a scale based on this Indian concept. We pooled 46 items which included items from existing scales as well as new items. The data were collected from 366 students (236 females and 130 males; mean age?=?23.55 years, SD?=?8.30 years). The final scale consists of 22 items comprising six subscales: Outcome Vulnerability, Faith in God, Empathy, Frustration Tolerance, Effort Orientation and Emotional Equipoise. The scale is psychometrically robust, explaining 50.79 per cent of variance and also acceptable levels of reliability (α?=?.70). We tested for convergent validity by correlating the new scale with the Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences (SPANE), the Mental Health Continuum (MHC) and the Flourishing Scale (FS). The new scale demonstrated acceptable convergent validity showing significant positive correlation with SPANE-P, SPANE-B, FS and MHC (.23?<?r?<?.38, p?<?.01) and a significant negative correlation with SPANE-N (r?=??.29, p?<?.01).     

Negative cognitive emotion regulation as a predictor of adolescent heart rate variability and entropy under social stress

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives: Negative cognitive emotion regulation (ER) strategies are particularly important within the framework of anxiety problems amongst youths and how they cope with stressful events. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between both negative and positive ER style and cardiac regulation under stressful conditions.

Design: Eighty-nine adolescents (M?=?13.31 years, SD?=?0.68, 44.94% girls) were exposed to a socially relevant stress induction protocol.

Methods: Participants’ emotion regulation strategies were assessed and their cardiac function was recorded.

Results: A negative ER style predicted heart rate (HR) entropy at the stressful stage after controlling for anxiety scores. In addition, heart rate variability reactivity and recovery and HR entropy recovery were larger (p?<?.05) in the low negative ER style group (n?=?16) than in the high negative ER style group (n?=?23).

Conclusions: Results suggest that individuals with a highly negative ER style have diminished autonomic flexibility.     

Antecedents of flourishing at work in a fast-moving consumer goods company

The aims of this study were to investigate antecedents of flourishing in the workplace. A cross-sectional survey design was used with a stratified random sample of 779 employees in a fast-moving consumer goods company in South Africa (females = 40.4%, blacks = 33.4%). The participants responded to the Flourishing-at-Work Scale -Short Form, Job Demands-Resources Scale, one subscale of the Survey Work-Home Interaction – Nijmegen, and Authentic Leadership Questionnaire. The results showed that advancement, negative work-home interaction (inverse), and authentic leadership predicted flourishing at work. Workload, job insecurity, and compensation did not predict workplace flourishing or languishing. The study confirms the relevance of the Job Demands-Resources model for understanding flourishing in the workplace.     

Work-Home Role Conflict,Family Climate,and Domestic Responsibilities Among Men and Women in Dual-earner Families1

Correlates of work-home role conflict for dual-earner couples were examined. Respondents (N= 208) were an equal number of married, employed men and women with children. Data were collected in the northeastern U.S.A. through a survey which measured work-home role conflict, family climate, domestic responsibilities, and activities performed during one's free time. LISREL was used to determine if domestic responsibilities mediate the correlation between gender and work-home conflict. A regression analysis was used to determine the relative effects of domestic responsibilities and family climate on work-home conflict. Results indicate that (a) work-home role conflict is negatively related to family climate for men as well as for women, (b) gender differences in role conflict are partially attributable to gender differences in domestic responsibilities, and (c) domestic responsibilities and family climate each correlate significantly with work-home role conflict. Findings suggest that how one works hard (the conditions under which one lives) may be just as important as how hard one works (the number of tasks one performs).     

Majority group children expect that ethnic out-group peers feel fewer positive but more negative emotions than in-group peers

Across two studies majority group children’s (8–13 years) perception of positive and negative emotions in ethnic in-group and disadvantaged ethnic out-group peers was examined. Study 1 (N?=?302) showed that children expected in-group peers to feel better in a positive situation compared to out-group peers. Whereas, in a negative situation, children expected in-group peers to feel less bad compared to out-group peers, particularly when they evaluated the in-group as very positive. Study 2 (N?=?201) replicates these findings across multiple positive and negative situations, and additionally shows that in very negative situations children expect in-group and out-group peers to feel equally bad. These results suggest that children’s perception of emotions in others is influenced by ethnic group membership.     

Lonely adolescents exhibit heightened sensitivity for facial cues of emotion

Contradicting evidence exists regarding the link between loneliness and sensitivity to facial cues of emotion, as loneliness has been related to better but also to worse performance on facial emotion recognition tasks. This study aims to contribute to this debate and extends previous work by (a) focusing on both accuracy and sensitivity to detecting positive and negative expressions, (b) controlling for depressive symptoms and social anxiety, and (c) using an advanced emotion recognition task with videos of neutral adolescent faces gradually morphing into full-intensity expressions. Participants were 170 adolescents (49% boys; M_age?=?13.65 years) from rural, low-income schools. Results showed that loneliness was associated with increased sensitivity to happy, sad, and fear faces. When controlling for depressive symptoms and social anxiety, loneliness remained significantly associated with sensitivity to sad and fear faces. Together, these results suggest that lonely adolescents are vigilant to negative facial cues of emotion.     

Workaholism and work–family spillover in a cross-occupational sample

This study examined the relationship between three components of workaholism (work involvement, drive, enjoyment of work) and work–family spillover. A cross-occupational sample consisting of 661 Norwegian employees from six different organizations responded to a Web-based questionnaire measuring workaholism and work–family spillover. A short and revised version of the WorkBAT showed that work involvement was positively related to both positive family-to-work spillover and to negative work-to-family spillover. Drive was positively related to both negative work-to-family and negative family-to-work spillover, and negatively related to positive work-to-family spillover. Enjoyment of work was positively associated with positive work-to-family and positive family-to-work spillover. Workaholism is clearly related to spillover. The findings imply that interventions for workers scoring high on work involvement and drive should be emphasized as these dimensions were associated with negative spillover. More research on this area is warranted.     

A longitudinal panel study on antecedents and outcomes of work-home interference

Theoretical models of the antecedents and outcomes of work-home interference (WHI) suggest that work characteristics (e.g., job stressors, working hours) increase the probability that an individual experiences work-home interference. Since work-home interference is considered as a role stressor, these experiences should be detrimental for long-term well-being. In this 2-wave panel study, the authors compared this suggested pathway with competing models that propose reverse causation and reciprocal effects in a sample of 365 employees (N at T2 = 130) from the German workforce using structural equation modeling. In particular, a model with two proposed antecedents (job stressors, working hours) of WHI and two proposed consequences (depression, turnover motivation) was analyzed in alternative configurations. The results support a cyclical model with a job stressors → depression → WHI → job stressors pathway. Furthermore, working hours affected WHI, and turnover motivation emerged as an outcome of WHI.     

Political intolerance: the role of intergroup threat and negative intergroup emotion

This study investigated whether the perception of intergroup threat, and intergroup emotion, are related to political intolerance. One hundred and twenty three South African undergraduate students (females?=?76%; males?=?24%; White?=?65%; Coloured?=?24%; Indian?=?8%; Chinese?=?2%; mean age =?19.8, SD?=?3.03 years) were randomly assigned to either a heightened (n?=?68) or low intergroup threat condition (n?=?55). Data on intergroup threat, intergroup emotion and political intolerance were collected utilising a questionnaire. T-test effect comparisons including multiple regression analyses were computed to determine effects of intergroup threat and negative intergroup emotion on political intolerance. Results revealed negative intergroup emotion and perceived intergroup threat to predict political intolerance. Negative intergroup emotion mediated the relationship between perceived threat and political intolerance. These findings suggest that intergroup threat may lead to the rise of negative intergroup emotion which in turn creates an environment conducive to the development of political intolerance.     

Good and Bad Sides of Self-Compassion: A Face Validity Check of the Self-Compassion Scale and an Investigation of its Relations to Coping and Emotional Symptoms in Non-Clinical Adolescents

To demonstrate that the positive and negative subscales of Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) are very different in nature, we conducted a series of face validity checks on the items of this questionnaire among psychologists and psychology students (Study 1). Furthermore, a survey was administered to a convenience sample of non-clinical adolescents to examine the relations between various SCS subscales and symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as coping styles (Study 2). The results of the face validity checks revealed that the positive subscales seem to be well in line with the protective nature of self-compassion as they were mainly associated with cognitive coping and healthy functioning, whereas the negative subscales were chiefly associated with psychopathological symptoms and mental illness. The survey data demonstrated that the positive SCS subscales were positively correlated with adaptive coping (r’s between .22 and .50) and negatively correlated with symptoms of anxiety and depression (r’s between ?.19 and ?.53), while the negative subscales were positively correlated with symptoms (r’s between .49 and .61) and maladaptive coping strategies such as passive reacting (r’s between .53 and .56). Additional analyses indicated the negative subscales of the SCS accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in symptoms, whereas the unique contribution of the positive SCS subscales was fairly marginal. We caution to employ the total SCS score that includes the reversed negative subscales as such a procedure clearly inflates the relation between self-compassion and psychopathology.     

The Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire in Norway

The aim of this study was to adapt the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) for use in Norway. Three studies involving three different samples of university students (mean age 22 years, total N = 792) were conducted. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a five factor structure provided an acceptable fit to the data. All five factors loaded significantly on the overall mindfulness factor. As expected, correlations between the FFMQ total scores and subscales were positive and significant, ranging from 0.45 to 0.65. Correlations between FFMQ total/subscales and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) were significant and negative (since low scores on the MAAS indicate high mindfulness), ranging from r = ?0.17 to ?0.69. The Norwegian FFMQ total score was inversely correlated with all indicators of psychological health: neuroticism (r = ?0.61), ruminative tendencies (r = ?0.41), self‐related negative thinking (r = ?0.40), emotion regulation difficulties (r = ?0.66) and depression (r = ?0.46 to r = ?0.65). In contrast to the other FFMQ subscales, the FFMQ Observe subscale did not have a positive relation to psychological health in our mostly non‐meditating sample. However, being able to non‐judgmentally observe one's inner life and environment is a part of the mindfulness construct that might emerge more clearly with more mindfulness training. We conclude that the Norwegian FFMQ has acceptable psychometric properties and can be recommended for use in Norway, especially in studies seeking to differentiate between different aspects of mindfulness and how these may change over time.