Gender-based rejection sensitivity and academic self-silencing in women

Building on prior work on rejection sensitivity, we propose a social-cognitive model of gender-based rejection sensitivity (Gender RS) to account for individual differences in how women perceive and cope with gender-based evaluative threats in competitive, historically male institutions. Study 1 develops a measure of Gender RS, defined as anxious expectations of gender-based rejection. Studies 2-5 support the central predictions of the model: Gender RS is associated with increased perceptions of gender-based threats and increased coping by self-silencing--responses that reinforce feelings of alienation and diminished motivation. Study 2 shows that Gender RS is distinct from overall sensitivity to rejection or perceiving the world through the lens of gender. Study 3 shows that Gender RS becomes activated specifically when gender-based rejection is a plausible explanation for negative outcomes. Study 4 provides experimental evidence that Gender RS predicts lower academic self-confidence, greater expectations of bias, and avoidance of opportunities for further help from a weakness-focused expert evaluator. Study 5 tests the Gender RS model in situ, using daily diaries to track women's experiences during the first weeks in a highly competitive law school. Implications for women's coping with the subtle nature of contemporary sexism are discussed as well as the importance of institution-level checks to prevent the costs of gender-based rejection.     

Promoting Social Nurturance and Positive Social Environments to Reduce Obesity in High-Risk Youth

Nurturing environments within the context of families, schools, and communities all play an important role in enhancing youth’s behavioral choices and health outcomes. The increasing prevalence rates of obesity among youth, especially among low income and ethnic minorities, highlight the need to develop effective and innovative intervention approaches that promote positive supportive environments across different contexts for at-risk youth. We propose that the integration of Social Cognitive Theory, Family Systems Theory, and Self-Determination Theory offers a useful framework for understanding how individual, family, and social-environmental-level factors contribute to the development of nurturing environments. In this paper, we summarize evidence-based randomized controlled trials that integrate positive parenting, motivational, and behavioral skills strategies in different contexts, including primary care, home, community, and school-based settings. Taken together, these studies suggest that youth and parents are most likely to benefit when youth receive individual-level behavioral skills, family-level support and communication, and autonomous motivational support from the broader social environment. Future investigators and healthcare providers should consider integrating these evidence-based approaches that support the effects of positive social climate-based interventions on promoting healthy eating, physical activity, and weight management in youth.     

The rejection-rage contingency in borderline personality disorder

Though long-standing clinical observation reflected in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.) suggests that the rage characteristic of borderline personality disorder (BPD) often appears in response to perceived rejection, the role of perceived rejection in triggering rage in BPD has never been empirically tested. Extending basic personality research on rejection sensitivity to a clinical sample, a priming-pronunciation experiment and a 21-day experience-sampling diary examined the contingent relationship between perceived rejection and rage in participants diagnosed with BPD compared with healthy controls. Despite the differences in these 2 assessment methods, the indices of rejection-contingent rage that they both produced were elevated in the BPD group and were strongly interrelated. They provide corroborating evidence that reactions to perceived rejection significantly explain the rage seen in BPD.     

Recruitment Consultant Revenue: Relationships with IQ,personality, and emotional intelligence

The objective of this paper is to address the predictive validity of the workplace Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test. The first aim of this research project was to identify whether financial revenue earned by consultants in an Australian professional recruitment company were related to their levels of emotional intelligence (EI). The second aim was to assess whether EI competencies were more strongly related to revenue performance than measures of IQ and personality. The study consisted of 100 recruitment consultants from a large Australian‐based company who had their IQ assessed and completed a questionnaire battery consisting of measures of personality and EI. Revenue accrued by the recruitment consultants was also collected and related to the psychometric measures. Results showed that emotional competencies and personality traits are valuable predictors of job performance as measured by the revenue accrued by recruitment consultants. Further to this, the EI competencies were observed to be more strongly related to this measure of performance, and were able to predict a significant proportion of variance in performance in comparison to IQ and personality.     

When School Fits Me: How Fit Between Self-Beliefs and Task Benefits Boosts Math Motivation and Performance

We hypothesized that college students would engage more and perform better in math when the benefits of learning it were described in a manner that fit their self-beliefs, such as whether they view themselves as interdependent or as independent and unique. In three studies, fit predicted greater performance on math problems. Fit also predicted greater use of tutorials after answering problems incorrectly, and choosing to work on problems framed in the service of students' beliefs. Results highlight the potential power for strengthening math motivation and performance by creating a fit between the portrayal of math's utility and students' self-beliefs.     

I get by with a little help from my friends: Examining the peer context of satisfaction with casual sexual relationships and experiences

We examined the role of peers in understanding satisfaction with casual sexual relationships and experiences (CSREs) in young adulthood. Specifically, we examined how perception of peer CSRE engagement, communication with peers about CSREs and peer approval of CSRE engagement were associated with satisfaction both immediately following CSRE engagement and one month after the CSRE occurred. Participants from non-college and college samples completed an online battery of questionnaires at two time points surrounding a high alcohol-consumption event in the USA: Halloween. Path analysis results indicated that peer approval was positively associated with later satisfaction, but only for those in college. Additionally, intentions to communicate with peers were positively associated with satisfaction a month following CSRE, but only for those who engaged in non-penetrative sex. None of the tested associations was qualified by gender.     

Relative Importance and Utility of Positive Worker States: A Review and Empirical Examination

Our purpose was to identity the unique contribution, relative importance, and utility of positive worker states. Using Luthans et al.'s (2007) five positive organizational behavior criteria, a variety of positive worker states were reviewed and then empirically tested to establish if they met these criteria. Data were collected from 724 restaurant employees. Positive worker states included: job involvement, perceived organizational support, engagement, and vigor. Criteria were self-reported performance, customer service, turnover intention, satisfaction, and quality of life. Our review indicated consistency between predictor adequacy of meeting the criteria and their empirical relationship with key outcomes. This research found the positive worker states to be independent constructs that had differential effects depending on the focused outcome. Regression and relative weights analyses showed involvement was a weak predictor of outcomes, while perceived organizational support was the most consistent predictor. Vigor was most useful when predicting job performance. Quality of life was poorly explained.