Modeling the antecedents of proactive behavior at work

Using a sample of U.K. wire makers (N = 282), the authors tested a model in which personality and work environment antecedents affect proactive work behavior via cognitive-motivational mechanisms. Self-reported proactive work behaviors (proactive idea implementation and proactive problem solving) were validated against rater assessments for a subsample (n = 60) of wire makers. With the exception of supportive supervision, each antecedent was important, albeit through different processes. Proactive personality was significantly associated with proactive work behavior via role breadth self-efficacy and flexible role orientation, job autonomy was also linked to proactive behavior via these processes, as well as directly; and coworker trust was associated with proactive behavior via flexible role orientation. In further support of the model, the cognitive-motivational processes for proactive work behavior differed from those for the more passive outcome of generalized compliance.     

Exploring the Effects of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy on the Irrational Beliefs and Self-Determined Motivation of Triathletes

The present study addresses proposals that Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) can influence self-determined motivation. Triathletes received REBT education, followed by either Rational Emotive Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing (REPDMS) or Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing. Measurements of irrational beliefs and self-determined motivation were collected prior to REBT (baseline), during the REBT education period, and after the REPDMS session (postintervention). An ABC single-case design was adopted, allowing for statistical and visual analysis of data over time and between groups. Findings indicate that REBT led to decreased irrational beliefs and increased self-determined motivation. REPDMS appeared to have no influence on irrational beliefs over and above REBT education.     

Individuality and the prejudiced personality

Many researchers maintain that individual psychological processes related to our human evolutionary inheritance, a person's particular genetic make-up, and/or childhood learning and socialisation patterns are a root cause of prejudice. The effects of collective processes on the individual are considered to be largely in the past, producing individual personalities and social attitudes that are relatively fixed and enduring. There is, however, an alternative perspective on the impact of the collective embodied in self-categorization theory (SCT). From the SCT perspective, the self is both personal and collective, and shifts in the nature of self-categorisation produce qualitative shifts in judgements of oneself and others. Through one's identity as a group member, contemporary social forces can shape the psychology of the person. This analysis not only has direct implications for how we understand the relationship between personality and prejudice, but also offers an alternative way of thinking about personality itself. What emerges from our own and related research on prejudice is a more complex analysis of individuality, one that is ineluctably embedded in contemporary intragroup and intergroup identities and the societal and ideological realities that define group life as well as in past learning and maturation.     

Opposite effects of anxiety and depressive symptoms on executive function: The case of selecting among competing options

People constantly face the need to choose one option from among many, such as when selecting words to express a thought. Selecting between many options can be difficult for anyone, and can feel overwhelming for individuals with elevated anxiety. The current study demonstrates that anxiety is associated with impaired selection across three different verbal tasks, and tests the specificity of this finding to anxiety. Anxiety and depression frequently co-occur; thus, it might be assumed that they would demonstrate similar associations with selection, although they also have distinct profiles of symptoms, neuroanatomy and neurochemistry. Here, we report for the first time that anxiety and depressive symptoms counter-intuitively have opposite effects on selection among competing options. Specifically, whereas anxiety symptoms are associated with impairments in verbal selection, depressive symptoms are associated with better selection performance. Implications for understanding the mechanisms of anxiety, depression and selection are discussed.     

Combating the mental health stigma with nostalgia

We report research implicating nostalgia as an intrapersonal means of warding off the stigmatization of persons with mental illness. We hypothesized and found that nostalgia about an encounter with a person with mental illness improves attitudes toward the mentally ill. In Experiment 1, undergraduates who recalled an encounter with a mentally ill person while focusing on central (vs. peripheral) features of the nostalgia prototype reported a more positive outgroup attitude. This beneficial effect of nostalgia was mediated by greater inclusion of the outgroup in the self (IOGS). In Experiment 2, undergraduates who recalled a nostalgic (vs. ordinary) interaction with a mentally ill person subsequently showed a more positive outgroup attitude. Results supported a serial mediation model whereby nostalgia increased social connectedness, which predicted greater IOGS and outgroup trust. IOGS and outgroup trust, in turn, predicted more positive outgroup attitudes. We ruled out alternative explanations for the results (i.e., mood, perceived positivity, and typicality of the recalled outgroup member). The findings speak to the intricate psychological processes underlying the prejudice‐reduction function of nostalgia and their interventional potential. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.