Adaptation of the "Recovery Experience Questionnaire" in a Spanish sample

The aim of this work was to examine the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the "Recovery Experience Questionnaire" developed by Sonnentag and Fritz. The sample was made up of 941 professionals from the security sector. Results from the exploratory factor analysis suggested the possibility of considering a four-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the four-factor model with three correlated items each provided the best fit to the data (CFI=0.97, GFI=0.96, NNFI=0.96, RMSEA=0.05 y AIC=171.76). Therefore, the questionnaire maintains the four recovery experiences -psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery experiences and control over leisure time--but with 12 items instead of 16 items as in the original scale. Reliability analysis showed good internal consistency for this scale with Cronbach alpha coefficients for the factors ranging from .75 to .88. Significant correlations were found between the recovery experiences and various external variables, providing evidence of construct validity. Thus, this Spanish version shows adequate psychometric properties and may help to achieve a better understanding of this topic.     

The effect of workplace byllying on insomnia: the role of psychological detachment and rumination

A recent number of studies have focused on the relations between psychosocial factors and sleep disturbances. Like other work-related stressors, workplace byllying is associated with several negative consequences. However, few studies have investigated the influence of workplace byllying on disturbed sleep. Insomnia is the most frequent sleep complaint. Several models have highlighted the importance of cognitive factors in the development and maintenance of insomnia. Cognitive styles such as psychological detachment and rumination may be relevant in this process. The aim of the present study is to examine the moderating role of psychological detachment and rumination on the relationship between workplace byllying and insomnia. To minimize the effect of common method variance, we tested our hypothesis using a research design in which we collected data at two points in time separated by 1 month. A total of 523 individuals responded to both phases, with 511 useable surveys. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis provide evidence for the moderating role of psychological detachment and rumination in the workplace byllying process. Thus, these findings are in line with the cognitive models of insomnia.     

Resistance and vulnerability to trauma: the moderator effect of personality variables on secondary traumatic stress

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of several personality variables (empathy, comprehensibility, challenge and sense of humour) as moderators of the relationship of job demands (traumatic task and overload) with secondary traumatic stress. 175 emergency professionals of the Community of Madrid completed the Secondary Traumatic Stress Measure (STSM). The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis provide evidence for the moderator role of personality variables in the secondary traumatic stress process. Lastly, the discussion emphasises the need to focus on the interaction between personality and job demand variables in order to advance our understanding of the process of trauma in emergency professionals.     

Social valuation and punishment assignment in transgressions of environment protection laws

The of breaches of environmental law is not always evident. This characteristic contributes to making the study of people's evaluation of anti-ecological behaviour of special interest for the understanding of environmental law compliance. In this study, 573 participants evaluated seven transgressions of environmental law, on seven scales. The results show that participants differentially evaluate the transgressions; that Indignation and the Severity of the consequences are the scales that best predict the punishment that participants think should be assigned to these transgressions; that women are stricter in evaluating; and that there are marginal differences related to area of residence and age.     

Test anxiety: associations with personal and family variables

Test anxiety is a common behavior among students facing social pressure centered on mastery. Only a few studies have analyzed the relations between test anxiety, academic procrastination, personal and family variables and math grades. This work focus on the analysis of the impact of students' social-personal variables such as parents' education level, number of siblings and under-achievement by performing ANOVAs in two samples of 533 and 796 students from junior high-school. Corroborating the findings in other studies, the data stress that test anxiety is higher in girls and decreases when students' parents have higher educational levels, with the number of courses flunked, and when students' math grades were lower. Test anxiety and procrastination correlate positive and significantly. Findings are discussed and compared with those of previous researches. The implications for teaching practice are also analyzed.     

Assessing workplace bullying: Spanish validation of a reduced version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire

The aim of the present study was to validate a reduced Spanish version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ; Einarsen & Raknes, 1997). This instrument, which has been widely used in various studies, was developed to measure workplace bullying. Two samples, the first comprising 352 employees from 11 organizations, and the second comprising victims of bullying who were recruited from 15 Spanish associations against bullying, participated in the study. Exploratory factor analysis conducted with the data from the first sample revealed a two-factor solution that accounted for 63.3% of the total variance. The data from the second sample were used for confirmatory factor analyses to compare three structure models of the NAQ (one factor, two independent factors, and two correlated factors). The results indicate that the correlated two-factor model provided the best fit to the data (chi2/df = 2.1, CFI = .93, GFI = .95, RMR = .04, RMSEA = .06, AIC = 215.4). Reliability analysis showed that this 14-item Spanish version had high internal consistency. Significant correlations between the NAQ and its dimensions and diverse health and perceived stress scales were found, which provided evidence of construct validity. Taken conjointly, the results of this study support the use of the Spanish version of the reduced NAQ in future research.     

Task Specificity in the Use of Words in Mathematics: Evidence from Bilingual Problem Solvers

Mathematics is often said to be a different language in itself. Three experiments were conducted to show some evidence for this common notion. It was hypothesized that in math word problem solving, people interpret words like “more” and “less” in specialized ways that are specific to the task of math word problem solving. Subjects were given texts with quantitative information, but the texts were framed either as math problems or as stories, and were written either in English or Filipino. Subjects were then asked to verify statements that describe quantitative relations given in the text; these relations either stated an exact or an inexact quantitative difference. The verification responses and verification times in three experiments show that subjects more often accepted the inexact difference as true when the text was framed as a story compared to when framed as a problem. These results support the hypothesis that the use of the specialized meaning is specific to the task of solving word problems in math. The data were equivocal about the role of the language used in the operation of this knowledge. The results were discussed in terms of the implications of specificity of knowledge, context sensitivity, and the possible role of language use in the process of learning and developing mathematical knowledge.     

Comparing implicit and explicit attitudes of gay,straight, and non-monosexual groups toward transmen and transwomen

Background: Transphobia studies have typically relied on self-report measures from heterosexual samples. However, there is evidence suggesting the need to use indirect measures and to explore transphobia among other populations. Aims: This study examined how explicit and implicit attitudes toward transwomen and transmen differ between people of different sexual orientations. Methods: Cisgender participants (N = 265) completed measures of explicit feelings toward transmen and transwomen, as well as Implicit Association Tests (IAT) for each group. Comparisons were made between 54 gay, 79 straight, and 132 non-monosexual (asexual, bisexual, pansexual) individuals. Results: An interaction was found between measurement type (explicit, implicit) and sexual orientation (straight, gay, non-monosexual). With regard to transmen, gay respondents’ explicit and implicit scores diverged such that they explicitly reported lower bias than their straight counterparts, but their Transmen-IAT showed an implicit preference for biological men over transmen. For attitudes toward transwomen, implicit measurement scores were consistently negative and did not differ by group. Gay participants also reported positive explicit attitudes toward transwomen, similar to non-monosexual people. Discussion: Overall, findings show that gay people tend to report positive attitudes toward transgender people explicitly, but tend to have implicit bias against both transmen and transwomen. Future studies need to explore the origins of these biases and how they relate to the complex interplay of sex, gender, and sexual orientation.     

Language and modeling word problems in mathematics among bilinguals

The study was conducted to determine whether the language of math word problems would affect how Filipino-English bilingual problem solvers would model the structure of these word problems. Modeling the problem structure was studied using the problem-completion paradigm, which involves presenting problems without the question. The paradigm assumes that problem solvers can infer the appropriate question of a word problem if they correctly grasp its problem structure. Arithmetic word problems in Filipino and English were given to bilingual students, some of whom had Filipino as a first language and others who had English as a first language. The problem-completion data and solution data showed similar results. The language of the problem had no effect on problem-structure modeling. The results were discussed in relation to a more circumscribed view about the role of language in word problem solving among bilinguals. In particular, the results of the present study showed that linguistic factors do not affect the more mathematically abstract components of word problem solving, although they may affect the other components such as those related to reading comprehension and understanding.