Generational differences in workplace behavior

Popular stereotypes suggest that generational differences among workers present challenges for workplace managers. However, existing empirical research provides mixed evidence for generational differences in important values and attitudes. The current study extends generational effects research by examining differences in actual workplace behaviors. Drawing from commonly held generational stereotypes, the authors hypothesized that Baby Boomers would exhibit (Hypothesis 1) fewer job mobility behaviors and (Hypothesis 2) more instances of compliance‐related behaviors in comparison with both GenXers and Millennials, while (Hypothesis 3) GenXers would be less likely to work overtime in comparison with Baby Boomers and Millennials. A sample of 8,040 applicants at two organizations was used to test these predictions. Results provided support for Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 3 and partial support for Hypothesis 2, but the effect sizes for these relationships were small. It appears the effects of generational membership on workplace behavior are not as strong as suggested by commonly held stereotypes. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Succeeding in Rural Mental Health Practice: Being Sensitive to Culture by Fitting in and Collaborating

Sustainable solutions to the access to mental health care problems are complex and must address both the availability of mental health care resources and the acceptability of those resources to consumers. The purpose of this study was to determine how to address the acceptability problem by learning from medical and mental health care providers what mental health therapists need to know to be successful in providing care in rural communities. Using a qualitative design, focus groups were conducted in three rural communities (<2,500) with medical and mental health care providers practicing in these communities. Data were analyzed using inductive qualitative methods. Results indicate that in addition to sound clinical skill, mental health therapists should (A) be sensitive to the culture of the rural community in which they are working and (B) practice in a way that accommodates to the care culture of the community. The latter includes spending time with patients commensurate with what is expected by other providers, engaging in generalist practice, and collaborating with local providers in patient care. An important implication of these results is that mental health care must be acceptable to both the residents of the community and the gatekeepers to health care.     

PTSD and the influence of context: The self as a social mirror

The principal accepted models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are based on both memory processing and biological/brain changes occurring when one's life or well-being is threatened. It is our thesis that these models would be greatly informed by community studies indicating that PTSD is predicted to a greater extent by earlier life experience and experiences that occur distant from the threatening event. These findings suggest posttraumatic responding is best conceptualized through the lens of the self-in-context, as opposed to imprinting that results from a given event at a given time. Moreover, studies of non-Western populations often do not express trauma as PTSD, or at least not primarily as PTSD, which argues against specific neural or memory encoding processes, but rather for a more plastic neural process that is shaped by experience and how the self develops in its cultural context, as a product of a broad array of experiences. We posit that fear and emotional conditioning as well as the ways traumas are encoded in memory are only partial explanatory mechanisms for trauma responding, and that issues of safety and harm, which are long term and developmental, are the common and principal underpinnings of the occurrence of posttraumatic distress, including PTSD.     

“My iPhone Changed My Life”: How Digital Technologies Can Enable Women’s Consumption of Online Sexually Explicit Materials

Digital technologies continue to change the ways women can access and consume sexual materials online, including pornography. Yet, limited research has considered the possibilities of digital technologies to enhance women’s access and consumption of online pornographic materials. In this paper, we use a cyberfeminist lens to examine women’s experiences consuming online sexually explicit materials, which most women defined as pornography including videos and images. In particular, we consider the ways women who identify as porn consumers can use digital technologies to enable and enhance their consumption of these pornographic materials. Drawing on qualitative, in-depth interviews with 11 women, our findings illustrate the ways women can use digital technologies to consume pornography online in ways that help them to fulfill their sexual needs, embrace and explore their sexual selves, connect in sexual relationships, and normalize their sexual desires.     

The Role of Reflective Functioning in Predicting Marital and Coparenting Quality

Reflective functioning (RF) is a measure of mentalization—the capacity to think about one’s own and others’ thoughts and feelings and to understand the connections between mental states and behaviors. Previous research indicates a decline in marital quality across the transition to parenthood, and some studies have found that parents are less happy than non-parents. Thus, researchers have called for research into possible moderators of these patterns. RF may help couples navigate this transition by more easily taking each other’s (and the infant’s) perspective and understanding each other’s behaviors. Much of the research on RF has focused on mothering behavior; research has not yet examined associations between RF and other family interactions. We examined associations between RF and marital and coparenting quality for both wives and husbands. Reflective functioning was coded from Adult Attachment Interviews conducted during pregnancy. We assessed marital quality at 3.5 months, and coparenting quality at 13 months, after the birth of the target child. Wives’ higher RF was associated with higher levels of positive—and lower levels of negative—marital and coparenting interactions. Wives who were better able to reflect on their early experiences with their parents were involved in marital interactions that were more positive and supportive and less conflicted and undermining. Husbands’ RF did not predict marital or coparenting quality. These findings highlight the importance of reflective functioning in understanding family functioning.     

Dynamic measures of anxiety-related threat bias: Links to stress reactivity

Exaggerated attention to threatening information, or the threat bias, has been implicated in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Recent research has highlighted methodological limitations in threat bias measures, such as temporal insensitivity, leading to the development of novel metrics that capture change and variability in threat bias over time. These metrics, however, have rarely been examined in non-clinical samples. The present study aimed to explore the utility of these trial-level metrics in predicting anxiety-related stress reactivity (stress-induced negative mood state) in trait anxious adults (N?=?52). Following a stressor, participants completed the dot probe task to generate threat bias scores. Stress reactivity was measured via stress-induced changes in subjective mood state. More variability in trial-level bias scores (TL-BSs) and greater bias away from threat (both mean and peak negative TL-BSs) predicted increased stress reactivity. The temporal characteristics of threat bias and implications for clinically-relevant measurement are discussed.     

Behavioral Genetics and the Forensic Mental Health Provider: An Overview

The area of behavioral genetics has sufficiently entered the area of forensic mental health work that providers should have some working knowledge of the strengths and limitations of these exciting technical advances. Using MAOA as an example, this essay reviews some of the recurring themes in forensic behavioral genetics and suggests additional ways in which the technology might be used in legal matters. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.