THE ADOLESCENT'S CONSTRUCTION OF PROCEDURAL JUSTICE AS A FUNCTION OF AGE,FORMAL THOUGHT AND SEX*

The adolescent's understanding of procedural justice and its possible relationships with age, formal thought and sex were investigated. Based on social cognition literature, four predictions were tested: (1) juridical understanding develops along a number of levels; (2) it is fully, partially, or not dependent on formal thought; (3) its dependence, if any, is limited to some of the abilities composing formal thought, i.e., the experimental abilities; (4) no sex differences exist. A battery of formal tasks and a questionnaire tapping juridical understanding were addressed to 120 adolescents, equally sampled from grades 8, 10, and 12, in order to test these predictions. Qualitative analysis showed the understanding of justice developed on four levels: naive realism, integrated realism, inquisitive thinking, intersystemic thinking. ANOVA applied on justice scores and the regression of justice on the formal scores validated predictions 2(b), 3, and 4. The kind of formal and postformal thought contributions to social cognition and the relationships among various social cognition domains were discussed.     

Psychophysical features of the transition from pure heat perception to heat pain perception

The psychophysical features of the transition from the pure heat to the heat pain range were studied in 25 healthy subjects (mean age 28.8 years). Thirty short heat stimuli from ?1.6° C to + 1.6° C relative to the pain threshold were applied to the thenar of the left hand with an apparatus containing a Peltier thermode (nine different temperatures at 0.4°C intervals). The subjects rated the sensation intensity on a visual analogue scale. The resulting stimulus/sensation intensity relations could be explained equally well (same goodness of fit) by a model with a power function (PF) and by a model with two linear regression lines (TLR), one for stimulus intensities below and one for those above the pain threshold and intersecting at the pain threshold. The slopes of the TLR model were significantly larger above the pain threshold than below it. The PF model produced exponents between 1.8 and 1.9. We conclude that to describe the transition area, it is sufficient to use simple linear models for both the pure heat and the heat pain ranges.     

FORMAL OPERATIONAL THINKING IN YOUNG ADULTS AS A FUNCTION OF EDUCATION AND SEX*

The integration of formal operations in a lattice–INRC group structure was tested in young adults. For this purpose the equilibrium in balance, the combination of liquids and the conservation of motion tasks were employed. To test the possibility of differential integration because of differences in developmental history, the factors of education and sex were manipulated systematically. Thus, four groups were constituted of educated males, educated females, uneducated males, and uneducated females, forming a total of 40 subjects. The results revealed a consistent patterning of performance on the three tasks across groups and across subjects which is in disagreement with the Piagetian model. Education and sex were important factors in respect to formal thought attainment. A theory of formal thought spheres is formulated to account for the patterning obtained and the implications for further research discussed.     

Modern Essentialism and the problem of individuation of spacetime points

In this paper Modern Essentialism is used to solve a problem of individuation of spacetime points in General Relativity that has been raised by a New Leibnizian Argument against spacetime substantivalism, elaborated by Earman and Norton. An earlier essentialistic solution, proposed by Maudlin, is criticized as being against both the spirit of metrical essentialism and the fundamental principles of General Relativity. I argue for a modified essentialistic account of spacetime points that avoids those obstacles.     

Career proactivity: Conceptual and theoretical reflections

This article adds several conceptual and theoretical reflections to the article “Career proactivity: A bibliometric literature review and a future research agenda” by Jiang et al. The authors conducted a timely and relevant study by analyzing and integrating literature on career proactivity from the domains of organizational and vocational behavior. Prior research has clearly demonstrated that these areas are still largely operating as separate “islands,” both conceptually and methodologically. As such, systematically analyzing the literature and synthesizing the many existing proactivity-related constructs are important steps forward in taking research on career proactivity to the next level. Though their bibliometric analysis confirms the gap between vocational psychology and OB research, there is also a hopeful message in the article, as several clusters showed considerable connections. Thus, it seems that scholars are starting to build bridges between the islands. Building on their analysis and future research suggestions, in this article, we further explore three specific considerations related to (1) conceptual issues, (2) theoretical issues, and (3) additions to their future research agenda.     

Why do leaders engage in destructive behaviours? The role of leaders’ working environment and stress

Complementing previous research on antecedents of destructive leadership, we examined the role of work stressors in the emergence of active and passive destructive leadership behaviours. Building on conservation of resources theory, we examined direct and indirect relations between leaders’ perceptions of workload, role ambiguity and intragroup conflict on ratings of their own destructive leadership, as well as mediating paths through perceived stress. We used a two-wave survey design consisting of a random sample of 1311 managers. Structural equation modelling revealed that work stressors were only related to passive forms of destructive leadership, whereas personality was related to both active and passive forms of destructive leadership. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Levels and change in autonomous and controlled work motivation in older workers—The role of proximity to retirement and sense of community at work

Previous studies suggest a preretirement disengagement process from work, which includes reduced work motivation. In this study, we investigated changes in autonomous and controlled work motivation over two years among participants of the Health, Aging and Retirement Transition in Sweden (HEARTS) study. We found stability in both types of motivation; however, those who retired after the study period showed more distinct declines in autonomous motivation. A stronger sense of community at work was related to level, but not change in autonomous motivation. Intra-individual fluctuations in the expected retirement age did not predict work motivation or vice versa. Future studies are needed to better understand the antecedents and consequences of preretirement declines in autonomous work motivation.     

The participation of children and adolescents in family counselling: The German experience

This paper reflects the experiences of young people in child guidance and family counselling. For this purpose, first the institutional background of these counselling services in Germany is outlined. The fact that the adolescents concerned feel partly excluded and insufficiently integrated into the counselling process is illustrated through qualitative analysis of the experiences 17 young people had during their counselling process. These empirical findings are critically discussed in terms of the institutional conditions and methodical approaches which counteract the involvement of the actual addressees of the counselling service. The paper concludes that professionals need to attend more to facilitating the participation of young people.