Bullying in Danish work-life: Prevalence and health correlates

Given the pioneering role of Scandinavian research in the field of bullying at work, it is surprising that Danish researchers have largely ignored this problem. Presumably, this has led to a situation where many Danish company managers and unions ignore the high individual and organizational costs of workplace bullying. An additional effect of this lack of research is that it has been difficult to estimate the extent to which the prevalence of bullying varies in different sectors of Danish work-life. Furthermore, the scarcity of research has impeded us from determining whether a low prevalence of bullying is a general characteristic of Scandinavian work-life as indicated by previous Swedish and Norwegian studies. Yet again, making such between-nations comparisons in the prevalence of workplace bullying is difficult given the tendency amongst researchers to employ different ways of measuring bullying. The aims of the present study were: (1) to assess the prevalence of bullying in Danish work-life; (2) to investigate if exposure to bullying behaviours at work is related to self-reported psychological and psychosomatic stress symptoms; (3) to examine potential differences in the prevalence of bullying in various work sectors; (4) to explore the hypothesis that, generally, Scandinavian work-life is characterized by low levels of bullying; and (5) to investigate the extent to which using different criteria for assessing bullying results in disparate prevalence estimates. Results showed that 2-4% of the respondents reported being victims of bullying, in most cases only occasionally. Compared to self-reported bullying, prevalence levels based on an operational definition of bullying (i.e., weekly exposure to one act for at least 6 months) were higher in all the samples, between 8% and 25%. When using a more strict criterion of two acts a week, these figures were significantly reduced. Exposure to bullying was found to be associated with increased self-reported strain reactions.     

Job insecurity and the benefits of work

The presented study combines conservation of resource theory with latent deprivation theory to explain the negative relationship between job insecurity and mental health. Specifically, we propose that people who face the threat of job insecure would perceive worse access to the benefits of work, which would explain the negative effect of job insecurity on mental health. In a two-wave study, employees rated their perceived job insecurity, their access to the benefits of work, and their mental health. Cross-sectional multiple mediation analysis at Time 1 (n = 295) and Time 2 (n = 236) showed that the negative relationship between job insecurity and mental health was partly due to a perceived lack of the benefits of work. Longitudinal results (n = 173) revealed that job insecurity was related to a decrease in financial benefits, which in turn predicted mental health. However, this effect was only visible if it was not controlled for prior levels of the benefits of work. The results are discussed with regards to conservation of resource theory and latent deprivation theory and the potential of this framework for explaining negative mental health effects of job insecurity.     

Looking at selection from a social process perspective: Towards a social process model on personnel selection

Traditional selection practice and research has exclusively focused on ''product'' and ''procedural'' characteristics of selection (e.g., reliability, validity of selection tools). This perspective is characterized by assumptions underlying the ''psychometric'' model on selection. Mainly triggered by environmental changes and present-day assessment practices, a new perspective on selection has emerged since the beginning of the 1990s, namely the negotiation perspective. The negotiation perspective pays attention to the social-emotional processes during selection. In this article, we explore the process side of personnel selection to a further extent. Based on relevant literature and research findings, we present a conceptual model of job applicants' expectations and appreciation of the selection encounter. The Social Process model on Selection (SPS model) contains eight process characteristics. We assume job applicants to value/have expectations of: (1) provision of general information on the job opening, (2) participation and control, (3) openness to assertiveness, (4) creation of transparency of testing, (5) provision of feedback, (6) guarantee of objectivity and standardization, (7) assurance of human treatment, and (8) respect for privacy and job relevance of information gathering. Directions for further research are discussed.     

Cognitive Mechanisms Underlying Decrements in Mental Synthesis in Older Adults

The extent and nature of age-related differences in mental synthesis was examined in light of Baddeley's working memory model and resource theories. Mental synthesis performance of 30 young, young-old, middle-old and old-old adults was examined using a dual-task experiment and individual differences approach. Age-related differences in mental synthesis were shown, with an unprecedented heightened decrement evident after the age of 85. The central executive was not a mechanism of this decline. Executive function, speed of information processing, and working memory capacity were mechanisms underlying this decline, and together accounted for 86% of the age-related variance in mental synthesis. Environmental support enhanced mental synthesis.     

The contribution of imaging genetics to the development of predictive markers for addictions

A key challenge for intervention and prevention of addictions is the identification of genetic, neurobiological and cognitive risk profiles that can predict which adolescents are at risk for addiction. Abnormalities in reinforcement behaviour have been linked to addiction vulnerability and imaging genetic studies have begun to elucidate the mechanisms by which genetic and environmental factors influence brain function underlying individual variability in reinforcement behaviour. Most studies have examined associations between a few well-characterised candidate polymorphisms and task-related brain activation differences in individual regions of interest. Here we propose that integrating the imaging genetic strategy with biological network approaches and longitudinal adolescent designs in large multi-centre samples may offer promising opportunities to identify risk markers for early diagnosis, progression and prediction of addictions.     

Effects of work‐related norm violations and general beliefs about the world on feelings of shame and guilt: A comparison between Turkey and the Netherlands

This paper aimed at investigating the effects of work‐related norm violations (i.e., violations of interpersonal and work regulation norms) and individuals' general beliefs about the world (i.e., social axioms: reward for application, social cynicism) on feelings of shame and guilt in Turkey and in the Netherlands. An experimental study involving 103 Turkish and 111 Dutch participants showed that work norm violations elicited feelings of guilt and shame differently in Turkey and the Netherlands. Specifically, interpersonal norm violation in Turkey elicited feelings of shame and guilt more strongly than did violation of a work regulation norm, whereas no differential effects were found in the Netherlands. As expected, violation of a work regulation norm elicited feelings of shame and guilt more strongly in the Netherlands than in Turkey, whereas violation of an interpersonal norm elicited feelings of shame and guilt more strongly in Turkey than in the Netherlands. The findings provide further evidence for the moderating effects of social axioms: in both countries, participants high in social cynicism felt less ashamed when they violated a work regulation norm than did those low in social cynicism. Our findings are relevant for understanding the underlying mechanisms of norm violations at work, thereby offering a new avenue for investigating cultural differences in the workplace. The latter may be of particular relevance in times of globalization and diversity in the workplace.     

Affect bursts: dynamic patterns of facial expression

Affect bursts consist of spontaneous and short emotional expressions in which facial, vocal, and gestural components are highly synchronized. Although the vocal characteristics have been examined in several recent studies, the facial modality remains largely unexplored. This study investigated the facial correlates of affect bursts that expressed five different emotions: anger, fear, sadness, joy, and relief. Detailed analysis of 59 facial actions with the Facial Action Coding System revealed a reasonable degree of emotion differentiation for individual action units (AUs). However, less convergence was shown for specific AU combinations for a limited number of prototypes. Moreover, expression of facial actions peaked in a cumulative-sequential fashion with significant differences in their sequential appearance between emotions. When testing for the classification of facial expressions within a dimensional approach, facial actions differed significantly as a function of the valence and arousal level of the five emotions, thereby allowing further distinction between joy and relief. The findings cast doubt on the existence of fixed patterns of facial responses for each emotion, resulting in unique facial prototypes. Rather, the results suggest that each emotion can be portrayed by several different expressions that share multiple facial actions.     

Attentional bias in post-traumatic stress disorder diminishes after symptom amelioration

Background

Avoidance and hypervigilance to reminders of a traumatic event are among the main characteristics of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Attentional bias toward aversive cues in PTSD has been hypothesized as being part of the dysfunction causing etiology and maintenance of PTSD. The aim of the present study was to investigate the cognitive strategy underlying attentional bias in PTSD and whether normal cognitive processing is restored after a treatment suppressing core PTSD symptoms.

Methods

Nineteen healthy controls were matched for age, sex and education to 19 PTSD patients. We used the emotional stroop and detection of target tasks, before and after an average of 4.1 sessions of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.

Results

We found that on both tasks, patients were slower than controls in responding in the presence of emotionally negative words compared to neutral ones. After symptoms removal, patients no longer had attentional bias, and responded similarly to controls.

Conclusion

These results support the existence of an attentional bias in PTSD patients due to a disengagement difficulty. There was also preliminary evidence that the disengagement was linked to PTSD symptomatology. It should be further explored whether attentional bias and PTSD involve common brain mechanisms.     

Social rank and affiliation in social anxiety disorder

The present study examined the interpersonal lives of individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD). According to evolutionary and interpersonal theories, we construed the interpersonal world using the social rank and the affiliation psychological systems. Two studies assessed measures of social rank, affiliation, social anxiety and depression among a population of treatment-seeking individuals with SAD. In study 1, individuals with SAD without major depressive disorder (MDD; n=42) were compared to healthy controls (n=47). In study 2, individuals with SAD and MDD (n=45) were compared to individuals with other anxiety disorders and MDD (n=31). Results indicated that SAD was related to perceiving oneself as having low social rank, being inferior, and behaving submissively, as well as to low perceived intimacy and closeness among peer relations, friendships and romantic relations. SAD was distinctly associated with these perceptions above and beyond the symptomatic (study 1) and the syndrome-level (study 2) effects of depression. These findings were further supported by a path analysis of the SAD participants from both studies. Our findings highlight the need to address both social rank and affiliation issues in the assessment and treatment of SAD.     

Cognitive styles in an international perspective: cross-validation of the Cognitive Style Indicator (CoSI)

This study examines the cross-cultural validity of the Cognitive Style Indicator (CoSI). Measurement equivalence tests were performed on data collected from a Belgian (n = 300) and a South African (n = 246) sample of students and employees. Confirmatory factor analyses within each sample showed the best fit to the data for a three-factor model underlying the CoSI. Measurement invariance tests, using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, indicated that the relationships among the scales showed equivalence across cultures. Although the study is an important first step toward the cross-validation of the CoSI, further research in other international samples is particularly needed to strengthen these results.