Relations between female students' personality traits and reported handicaps to rhythmic gymnastics performance

The present study evaluated the relative contributions of Self-esteem, Trait anxiety, and Public Self-consciousness to self-handicapping on a sex-typed task, within a specific academic sport context. Prior to the competitive examination used to recruit French Physical Education Teachers, female sport students (N = 74) were asked to list and rate on a 7-point scale handicaps which could be disruptive to their Rhythmic Gymnastics performance. Self-esteem did not account for significant variance in any category of handicaps. Trait Anxiety was negatively related to handicaps related to Rhythmic Gymnastics and to Social and Work Commitments. Public Self-consciousness was significantly related to endorsement of Friends and Family Commitments handicaps. These results were discussed in relation to the literature.     

Visual representations of dynamic actions from static pictures

We investigated how subjects used their knowledge of biomechanical constraints when judging whether different items were in balance or in the process of falling, as a function of their angle of slant. In the first experiment, the stimuli were pictures of postures of a human body, of a wooden mannequin, and of a skeleton. The results show that for these 3 items, fall responses appeared for a smaller slant angle for a backward slant than for a forward one. This difference may reflect the influence of biomechanical constraints. To verify whether the asymmetry of the responses to the mannequin and the skeleton was genuine or due to some semantic context effect, a second experiment was run with only pictures of a wooden mannequin. The same asymmetry was observed. In a third experiment, falling judgments were obtained for pictures of a human body and of a structurally comparable artifactual object. The asymmetry of the fall responses appeared only for the human body.     

The moderating role of autonomous motivation in the job demands-strain relation: A two sample study

Although job demands are known to be detrimental to employees’ psychological health, research suggests that certain individual characteristics moderate this relationship to some extent. This two-sample study investigated whether autonomous motivation moderates the relationship between specific job demands (role overload, role ambiguity, and role conflict) and psychological distress. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed clear moderating effects, indicating that highly autonomously motivated employees experience less psychological distress in the presence of job demands than their less autonomously motivated counterparts. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in light of the job demands–strain perspective and self-determination theory.     

An Accumulation of Negative Life Events and the Construction of Alexithymia: A Longitudinal and Clinical Approach

We began the study with a theoretical comparison of the concepts of alexithymia and operative thought in terms of etiology as well as with a specific approach to comparing the concepts using the Rorschach Inkblot Method (Rorschach, 1921 Rorschach, H. 1921. Psychodiagnostic, Paris, , France: Presses Universitaires de France.  [Google Scholar]) with both Exner's (1986) Comprehensive System and the Parisian School (Chabert, 1983 Chabert, C. 1983. Le Rorschach en clinique adulte: Interprétation psychanalytique [The Rorschach in adult clinical settings: Psychoanalytic interpretation], Paris, , France: Dunod.  [Google Scholar], 1987 Chabert, C. 1987. La Psychopathologie à travers le Rorschach [Psychopathology throughout the Rorschach], Paris, , France: Dunod.  [Google Scholar]; Rausch de Traubenburg, 2000) methods of coding and interpretation. We then present a longitudinal clinical study of a woman suffering perinatal depression starting at 8 months gestation until 34 months postpartum. The case shows how an accumulation of stressful and traumatic life events in the early perinatal period generates a reactive, structured alexithymia. This psychic process transforms an initial acceptance of therapy into a refusal to engage in a therapeutic alliance along with persistent depressive symptoms, impaired quality of life, and maladaptive coping strategies.     

Characteristics and Effectiveness of an Intensive Military Outpatient Treatment Program for PTSD

This study describes the characteristics and global effectiveness of treatment of a military intensive outpatient treatment program for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Thirty-nine military personnel completed treatment outcome questionnaires. Results showed a statistically significant reduction in depression and PTSD symptoms after the participants completed 3 weeks of intensive outpatient therapy. The findings have clinical and research implications for the length, intensity, and focus of PTSD treatment.     

Importance models of the physical self: Improved methodology supports a normative‐cultural importance model but not the individual importance model

We examine theoretical and methodological issues associated with the roles of individual and group‐normative importance in self‐esteem determination. Critical issues include multicollinearity among the physical self‐subdomains, which may have affected previous results, and the need for a multidimensional perspective on importance models. We apply state‐of‐the‐art methodologies, including exploratory structural equation modelling and the product‐of‐indicators approach to latent interactions. Positive interactions would be required to support the individually importance‐weighted average model, but none were observed in the multidimensional model estimated on the full sample. Nonetheless, some interaction effects were found in the country‐specific version of the model. Rather, we found support for the alternative group importance‐weighted average model. We conclude that domain‐specific self‐concepts are weighted differently and thus differentially affect self‐esteem, but these weights do not seem to depend on individual differences in importance. Although awaiting confirmation from further studies, our results suggest the idea that individuals use mainly normative importance processes based on cultural factors in weighting each domain‐specific component of self‐concept. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Virtues of Ingenuity: Reasoning and Arguing without Bias

This paper describes and defends the “virtues of ingenuity”: detachment, lucidity, thoroughness. Philosophers traditionally praise these virtues for their role in the practice of using reasoning to solve problems and gather information. Yet, reasoning has other, no less important uses. Conviction is one of them. A recent revival of rhetoric and argumentative approaches to reasoning (in psychology, philosophy and science studies) has highlighted the virtues of persuasiveness and cast a new light on some of its apparent vices—bad faith, deluded confidence, confirmation and myside biases. Those traits, it is often argued, will no longer look so detrimental once we grasp their proper function: arguing in order to persuade, rather than thinking in order to solve problems. Some of these biases may even have a positive impact on intellectual life. Seen in this light, the virtues of ingenuity may well seem redundant. Defending them, I argue that the vices of conviction are not innocuous. If generalized, they would destabilize argumentative practices. Argumentation is a common good that is threatened when every arguer pursues conviction at the expense of ingenuity. Bad faith, myside biases and delusions of all sorts are neither called for nor explained by argumentative practices. To avoid a collapse of argumentation, mere civil virtues (respect, humility or honesty) do not suffice: we need virtues that specifically attach to the practice of making conscious inferences.     

Linking job demands and resources to burnout and work engagement: Does passion underlie these differential relationships?

This study examined the role of passion for work in the health impairment and motivational processes proposed by the job demands-resources model. Based on the dualistic model of passion, we proposed that harmonious and obsessive passion intervene simultaneously in the relationship between (1) job demands and burnout/engagement, and (2) job resources and burnout/engagement. This model was tested in two occupational samples: nurses (n = 1,179) and teachers (n = 745). Results from structural equation modeling support the proposed model in both samples. That is, both types of passion partially mediated the relationship between job demands and burnout, while harmonious passion partially mediated the relationship between job demands and engagement. Moreover, harmonious passion partially mediated the relationship between job resources and burnout/work engagement. Implications for burnout research and management practices are discussed.