Proactive Vitality Management and Creative Work Performance: The Role of Self-Insight and Social Support

Integrating proactivity and creativity literatures, we argue that people can perform more creatively at work when they proactively manage their levels of vitality. Proactive vitality management is defined as individual, goal-oriented behavior aimed at managing physical and mental energy to promote optimal functioning at work. We hypothesize that this process may be facilitated by being aware of one's own state and by support from others. A total of 242 employees participated in a weekly diary study for three consecutive weeks, yielding 610 observations. Results of multilevel analyses show that participants reported more creative work performance during weeks in which they had proactively used vitality management. In addition, in line with our predictions, self-insight and social support for creativity in the workplace acted as cross-level moderators and strengthened the relationship between proactive vitality management and creativity. We conclude that a proactive approach regarding physical and mental energy is an important bottom-up strategy that may foster creativity in work settings.     

Couple Adjustment and Differentiation of Self in the United States,Italy, and Spain: A Cross-Cultural Study

This study comprises a first attempt to explore a cross-cultural application of Bowen family systems theory and examines the relationship between differentiation of self and couple adjustment using measurement invariance. A sample of 2,141 individuals (n = 915 from the United States; n = 635 from Italy; n = 591 from Spain) completed measures of differentiation of self (DSI-R; Skowron & Schmitt, J Marital Fam Ther, 29, 2003, 209) and couple adjustment (DAS; Spanier, J Marriage Fam, 38, 1976, 15). Results showed evidence of partial measurement equivalence for the DSI-R across the three samples. Additionally, results from latent regression showed that less emotional cutoff predicted greater couple adjustment in the United States, Spain, and Italy, whereas greater emotional reactivity predicted poorer couple adjustment only in the more collectivistic cultures, Spain and Italy. Our findings are consistent with prior empirical studies, which suggest that emotional cutoff is a strong predictor of relationship adjustment. The use of measurement invariance provides a foundation for future studies to continue employing rigorous statistical methods when examining constructs across different cultures. The findings highlight culture-specific similarities and differences in differentiation that may benefit practitioners by informing psychotherapy with individuals, couples, or families from diverse populations.     

Assessment and treatment of response to name for children with autism spectrum disorder: Toward an efficient intervention model

Response to name (RTN) is an early developmental milestone, deficits in which are associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study extends previous research by evaluating an assessment and treatment model for RTN with 13 children with ASD. For all participants, phase 1 was a naturalistic social baseline. The 9 children who did not meet mastery criteria in phase 1 underwent a series of treatment conditions in phase 2. In phase 3, treatment components were removed, and generalization was assessed. Results indicated that tangible reinforcement procedures can produce rapid increases in discriminated RTN, sometimes without prompts. The total number of trials to mastery were reduced in the current study relative to previous research. Results also provide preliminary evidence to suggest that the phase 1 baseline condition may produce distinct patterns of RTN that could be used to predict treatment effects and further reduce trials to mastery in future work.     

Cross-cultural effects of parent warmth and control on aggression and rule-breaking from ages 8 to 13

We investigated whether bidirectional associations between parental warmth and behavioral control and child aggression and rule-breaking behavior emerged in 12 cultural groups. Study participants included 1,298 children (M = 8.29 years, standard deviation [SD] = 0.66, 51% girls) from Shanghai, China (n = 121); Medellín, Colombia (n = 108); Naples (n = 100) and Rome (n = 103), Italy; Zarqa, Jordan (n = 114); Kisumu, Kenya (n = 100); Manila, Philippines (n = 120); Trollhättan/Vänersborg, Sweden (n = 101); Chiang Mai, Thailand (n = 120); and Durham, NC, United States (n = 111 White, n = 103 Black, n = 97 Latino) followed over 5 years (i.e., ages 8–13). Warmth and control were measured using the Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire, child aggression and rule-breaking were measured using the Achenbach System of Empirically-Based Assessment. Multiple-group structural equation modeling was conducted. Associations between parent warmth and subsequent rule-breaking behavior were found to be more common across ontogeny and demonstrate greater variability across different cultures than associations between warmth and subsequent aggressive behavior. In contrast, the evocative effects of child aggressive behavior on subsequent parent warmth and behavioral control were more common, especially before age 10, than those of rule-breaking behavior. Considering the type of externalizing behavior, developmental time point, and cultural context is essential to understanding how parenting and child behavior reciprocally affect one another.     

“Coming Out” to Parents in a Christian Context: A Consensual Qualitative Analysis of LGB Student Experiences

Disclosures of same-sex attraction are some of the most difficult experiences for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals. For LGB individuals of faith, disclosure to parents is often complicated by the intersection of religion/spirituality and sexuality. This study presents a grounded theory about a particular subgroup to address gaps in the literature concerning how LGB students on Christian college campuses describe and experience their parental disclosures. Consensual qualitative research analysis (Hill, Knox, Thompson, Williams, & Hess, 2005; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997) revealed themes related to predisclosure influencing factors, the disclosure event experience, and longer term impacts of the disclosure. Implications for parents, counselors, and college faculty/staff are provided.     

Reading the Public: Political Action and Its Relationship to Constructions of Political Disagreement and Opinion Climate in the Context of Brexit

This study applied a social representations approach to investigate the ways in which constructions of perceived political disagreement and the prevailing opinion climate were implicated in people's construals of political participation in the context of the United Kingdom European Union referendum of 2016. Interviews were conducted with 19 residents of the United Kingdom who voted to remain in the referendum, located in constituencies which represented diverse opinion climates in relation to the referendum. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that public opinion was a dilemmatic social representation; it was inscrutable and often ill-informed but also volatile and disruptive, which left open the possibility of it moving towards a more pro-EU position. Importantly, constructions of a polarized and dysfunctional political system worked to sustain a mode of political engagement which prioritized and positioned as efficacious individual rather than collective anti-Brexit political behavior. This implies that people may prefer different types of political participation depending on the opinion climate which they occupy and the way in which they construe it. Findings are discussed in relation to previous work linking meta-representations to political behavior and expression, and the implications of the findings for emergent forms such as Brexit are elaborated.