Age‐related differences in work motivation

This paper examines age‐related differences in work motivation in two samples of 9,388 and 2,512 individuals who completed a comprehensive motivation questionnaire for selection or development purposes. In the first sample, age differences were examined by controlling for gender and investigating whether relationships between age and motivation were non‐linear. Statistically significant relationships between motivation and age were found for most motivation scales, explaining up to 12% of the variance in specific scales. The second sample was used to confirm these results and to determine whether differences on these motivation scales could be explained by additional demographic variables, which were not available in the first sample. When controlling for demographic variables, such as gender, managerial experience, and university education, the pattern of results was similar in the second data set although effects were smaller. Results generally support propositions from the literature, which suggest a shift in people's motives rather than a general decline in motivation with age: older employees were less motivated by extrinsically but more by intrinsically rewarding job features.     

Parenting and Conduct Problems: Moderation by Child Empathy

Child empathy was examined as a moderator of the relations between positive and negative parenting behavior and child conduct problems. Participants were 56 mother-child dyads (child age M?=?10.8 years; 64 % male) and children were recruited with a range of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Parenting was assessed by direct observations of mothers’ praise and criticism during parent–child interactions and child empathy was measured with mother report. Child conduct problems were assessed via observation and mother-report measures, and a composite variable was created. In regression analyses, child ADHD symptoms were uniquely related to child conduct problems. Second, as hypothesized, child empathy moderated the relations between parenting and conduct problems. Mother praise was negatively related to child conduct problems at lower levels of child empathy, but this relation was not significant at higher levels of child empathy. On the contrary, mother criticism was positively related to child conduct problems at high levels of child empathy, but this relation was not significant at low levels of empathy. The results suggest that different types of parenting behavior may be differentially beneficial to children, depending on their level of empathy.     

Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic (MBMD) Predicts Health-Related Quality of Life (HrQoL) Over Time Among Men Treated for Localized Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer treatment presents multiple challenges that can negatively affect health-related quality of life (HrQoL), and that can be further compromised by maladaptive personality styles and psychological adjustment difficulties. This study examined the utility of a comprehensive psychosocial screening tool to identify psychosocial traits that prospectively predict HrQoL status among men treated for localized prostate cancer. The Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic (MBMD) was administered to 66 men (M age = 68 years, 59% White) treated by either radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy along with standard measures of general and prostate-cancer-specific quality of life assessed at a 12-month follow-up. Higher scores on both summary MBMD Management Guides (Adjustment Difficulties and Psych Referral) and higher scores on personality styles characterized by avoidance, dependency, depression, passive aggressiveness, and self-denigration predicted lower HrQoL (β range = –.21 to –.50). Additionally, higher scores on the MBMD Depression, Tension-Anxiety, and Future Pessimism scales predicted lower HrQoL. Finally, higher scores on the MBMD Intervention Fragility and Utilization Excess scale also consistently predicted poorer mental and physical health functioning over time. These results point to the utility of the MBMD to help screen for potential impairments in mental and physical health functioning in men undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.     

‘Seeking permission’: an interviewing stance for finding connection with hard to reach families

The systemic therapy literature is dominated by clinic‐based accounts of therapy. The work of an outreach, home‐based therapy team is described, in a tradition of systemic therapies which directly seek to challenge service access constraints and social injustice. In paying careful attention to the micro‐interactions of initial contact, seeking permission is suggested as an interviewing stance for connecting with families who are not engaged with services, where there have been histories of partner violence.     

Research and Practice in Talent Identification and Development—Some Thoughts on the State of Play

Although there has been considerable growth in talent identification and development research in sport over the last 20 years, in this commentary we argue that the mixed quality (e.g., the uncritical employment of retrospective and autobiographical data) and lack of applied focus of much of this research, together with organizational inertia, means that relatively little has changed in the applied landscape at the systems level. In an effort to clarify and redirect work in this important area, we propose the Performance-Outcome-Process continuum, a structure that examines ideas based on what and how they contribute to the talent development process and the multiple approaches that exist. Reflecting a pracademic focus, and the need to generate effective and applicable answers, we also highlight the importance of understanding the processes and underlying mechanisms of development-focused constructs to best support the integration of these ideas into applied talent development procedures. To close the research–practice divide, we conclude by suggesting a pragmatic approach that prioritizes both the quality of research and the importance of applied impact, at least in research that claims to be for sport.     

Source Handler telephone interactions with covert human intelligence sources: An exploration of question types and intelligence yield

Law Enforcement Agencies gather intelligence in order to prevent criminal activity and pursue criminals. In the context of human intelligence collection, intelligence elicitation relies heavily upon the deployment of appropriate evidence-based interviewing techniques (a topic rarely covered in the extant research literature). The present research gained unprecedented access to audio recorded telephone interactions (N = 105) between Source Handlers and Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) from England and Wales. The research explored the mean use of various question types per interaction and across all questions asked in the sample, as well as comparing the intelligence yield for appropriate and inappropriate questions. Source Handlers were found to utilise vastly more appropriate questions than inappropriate questions, though they rarely used open-ended questions. Across the total interactions, appropriate questions (by far) were associated with the gathering of much of the total intelligence yield. Implications for practise are discussed.     

What are you hiding? Initial validation of the reaction time-based searching concealed information test

The reaction time-based concealed information test (RT-CIT) has been used to judge the veracity of an examinees claim to be naïve by using RTs to test for recognition of relevant details. Here, we explore the validity of the RT-CIT to generate new knowledge about the incident—the searching CIT. In a mock terrorism study (n = 60) the RT-CIT not only allowed to link suspects to known crime details, but also allowed to reveal new crime details well above chance. A simulation study confirms the potential of the searching RT-CIT and identifies conditions under which it performs best. We used an archival dataset that met these conditions (high CIT effect, large number of item repetitions), and found better item classification performance than in the mock terrorism study. The searching RT-CIT could be a new, promising investigative tool to reveal new (e.g., crime) details to the investigative party.     

Does personality moderate the relationship between stress and health behavior? Expanding the nomological network of the five-factor model

The present study tested the hypothesis that personality would moderate the stress to health behavior relationship. Using a community sample, 706 adults (Mean age = 37 years) were administered a set of five-factor model adjective rating scales, measures of stress and distress (i.e., negative life stress, physical symptom intensity, negative mood), health behaviors, as well as a demographic questionnaire. Using hierarchical multiple regression, Openness to Experience, Extraversion, and Neuroticism were found to moderate the stress to health behavior relationship. Supplementary analyses were conducted to determine if the five-factors would also moderate a life event to distress relationship. While several main effects were found, Conscientiousness was found to buffer the stress to distress connection. The factors that may influence both moderator models, suggestions for integration, and future research are discussed.