A Self‐Determination Approach to Understanding Individual Values as an Interaction Condition on Employees' Innovative Work Behavior in the High‐Tech Industry

Drawing on self‐determination theory (SDT; E.L. Deci & R.M. Ryan, 1985, 2000) and using corporate samples (N = 284; 63% Male; Mean Age = 34, SD = 6.09) from high‐tech firms in China, this empirical study explored the path model from satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, through autonomous motivation to employees' innovative work behavior (“IWB”; J. De Jong & D. Den Hartog, 2010). It also simultaneously examined the interactions between autonomous work motivation and individual values (collectivism, H.C. Triandis (1995); uncertainty avoidance, R. J. House, P. J. Hanges, M. Javidan, P. W. Dorfman, & V. Gupta (2004); and power distance, J. Farh, R.D. Hackett, & J. Liang (2007)) in the conditioned path model. The regression results obtained from conditional PROCESS analysis (A.F. Hayes, 2013, 2018) suggest that basic psychological needs satisfaction is positively related to employees' IWB via autonomous motivation, but that these indirect effects were weaker when employees' power distance value orientation was high. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.     

Should I stay or should I go?: Penalties for briefly de-prioritizing work or childcare

We examined penalties against individuals who temporarily de-prioritize their employee or parenting role. Experiment 1 (N = 488) utilized vignettes depicting a mother/father who briefly left their child with a babysitter to engage in work/self-care/did not leave (control). Both mothers and fathers were viewed as less parentally competent, likeable, dedicated to their family (and putting their child at greater risk) when they very briefly de-prioritized their caregiving role by leaving their child for either reason, relative to controls. Experiment 2 (N = 494) utilized vignettes depicting a female/male employee who briefly left work to engage in childcare/self-care/did not leave (control). Both male and female employees were rated as less professionally competent, likeable, dedicated to their work and deserving of organizational rewards (and more deserving of organizational penalties, and putting their organization at greater risk) when they very briefly de-prioritized their employee role by leaving work for either reason, compared to controls. However, employees who left for self-care were viewed more negatively than those who left to engage in childcare. Unexpectedly, results did not reveal target gender differences; they were also largely unaffected by participant gender. This suggests that parents and employees face penalties when they must de-prioritize either of these important roles for even very short periods. Implications for well-being, work-life balance, and productivity are discussed.     

Trauma and Relationship Satisfaction in Treatment Seeking Couples: A Dyadic Investigation of Differentiation as a Mediator

Contemporary Family Therapy - The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between interpersonal trauma history and relationship satisfaction, and the mediating effect of...     

Gender and Changes in Trauma Narrative Following CBT for PTSD

Our study explored whether the characteristics of pretreatment trauma narratives could be used as indicators of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity before treatment. We also studied whether pretreatment characteristics could predict treatment efficacy. Although several studies suggest that fragmentation, proportion of internal events, and length in trauma narratives are associated with PTSD symptomatology, there are contradictions in the findings. Given the differences in trauma response between men and women, we considered the potential influence of gender. Before beginning a cognitive-behavioral therapy treatment, 66 participants verbally recounted their traumatic event during a diagnostic interview. After treatment, 48 participants once again provided a trauma narrative. PTSD symptom severity was assessed using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale. Linear regression analyses revealed that none of the pretreatment characteristics predicted treatment efficacy. Furthermore, the length of the trauma narrative was the only pretreatment characteristic that correlated with pretreatment PTSD symptomatology. This suggests that more severe symptomatology is associated with shorter narratives. We only found a significant gender difference in narrative length, which was longer in women than in men. Our findings not only highlight the need for additional research on the link between trauma narratives and PTSD symptomatology, but also stress the necessity of considering gender in this field of research. This could allow for enhanced treatments to target gender-specific needs, thus leading to more individualized care for PTSD patients.     

Challenge and threat emotions as antecedents of recovery experiences: findings from a diary study with blue-collar workers

The aim of this study was (1) to investigate whether threat (e.g., anxiety, fear) and challenge (e.g., confidence, excitement) emotions that employees experience before work while thinking about the upcoming workday predict their recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control) after work and (2) to explore the moderating role of job control on the effect of threat and challenge emotions on recovery experiences. For two to four weeks, 57 blue-collar workers at an airport’s hub station completed a diary. Multilevel analyses (N = 1104) reveal that threat emotions in the morning decrease psychological detachment and relaxation after work. Job control buffers this negative effect. Furthermore, challenge emotions in the morning boost mastery after work. Next, when employees have low job control, challenge emotions also boost the recovery experience control. Practical implications and the need for future studies to examine more fine-grained mechanisms for better understanding how threat and challenge emotions experienced before starting work affect recovery experiences after work are discussed.     

Views of a good life and allostatic load: Physiological correlates of theories of a good life depend on the socioeconomic context

This research examines the relationship between one’s theory of a good life and allostatic load, a marker of cumulative biological risk, and how this relationship differs by socioeconomic status. Among adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher, those who saw individual characteristics (e.g. personal happiness, effort) as part of a good life had lower levels of allostatic load than those who did not. In contrast, among adults with less than a bachelor’s degree, those who saw supportive relationships as part of a good life had lower levels of allostatic load than those who did not. These findings extend past research on socioeconomic differences in the emphasis on individual or relational factors and suggest that one’s theory of a good life has health implications.