The Age and Gender Effect on Four Forms of Peer Victimization among Chinese Children and Adolescents

Applied Research in Quality of Life - This study is the first to examine the effects of age and gender on different forms of peer victimization among local Chinese schoolchildren in Hong Kong. The...     

A Case Study of the Decline of the Buddhist Funeral Ritual,the Guangdong Yuqie Yankou

This article contextualizes the decline of the Buddhist death ritual, the Guangdong Yuqie Yankou (廣東瑜伽焰口), through an examination of external and internal factors that might have affected its development in contemporary Hong Kong. During the last two decades, its popularity has dramatically declined, so much so that it now occupies an insignificant place among the pool of local funeral rituals. Its waning is not only a result of changing socioeconomic factors, such as contemporary lifestyles, commercialization of the funeral industry, ‘fast-food’ mortuary practices, and diminished religiosity of the Hong Kong laity, but is also caused by the scarcity of presiding Buddhist masters and competition from Buddhist rituals imported from other provinces of China. These intertwining factors have worked together to foster the decline of the ritual. The data for this ethnographic study were mainly collected in interviews and through the observation of participants.     

Exploring the Relationships Between Perceived Coworker Loafing and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Mediating Role of a Revenge Motive

Purpose  The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between perceived coworker loafing and counterproductive work behaviors toward the organization (CWB-O) and toward the coworkers (CWB-I). Design/Methodology/Approach  Data were collected from 184 supervisor–employee pairs from multiple sources (i.e., self-rated and supervisor-rated). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses were conducted to test our hypotheses. Findings  The results of SEM showed that perceived loafing was positively related to CWB-O (self-rated) and CWB-I (self-rated and supervisor-rated). Moreover, a revenge motive toward the organization fully mediated the relationship between perceived loafing and CWB-O, whereas a revenge motive toward coworkers fully mediated the relationship between perceived loafing and CWB-I. Implications  This study advances our understanding as to how and why perceived coworker loafing increases employees’ CWB-I and CWB-O. Our investigation also highlights the important cognitive mediator: revenge motive in the perceived loafing–CWB linkage. Originality/Value  This is one of the first studies which examines the relationships between perceived coworker loafing and two facets of CWB, and investigates a cognitive mediator (i.e., a revenge motive) that underlines the perceived loafing–CWB linkage. In addition, we respond to Bennett and Robinson’s (J Appl Psychol 85:349–360, 2003) call to test the nomological network of CWB in a collectivist culture (i.e., Taiwan).

Self-Interest, Economic Beliefs, and Political Party Preference in New Zealand

This study explored the associations among income level, economic beliefs, and political party preference in terms of self-interest and ideological theories of party preference. Results from a survey of 487 New Zealand voters showed that the income levels and economic beliefs of supporters of the four major parties were organized along a single dimension: ACT supporters had the highest income and strongest neoliberal economic beliefs, followed closely by National supporters, whereas Alliance supporters had the lowest income and strongest welfare-state economic beliefs, followed by Labour supporters. However, the prediction of party preference from income and economic beliefs showed a different pattern: Income significantly predicted support for ACT, National, and Alliance; economic beliefs had the strongest influence on National and Labour support; and economic beliefs interacted with income to influence ACT and National support, but not Labour and Alliance support. The results suggest that voters who have gained or lost the most from the implementation of neoliberal policies—in this case, those with the highest and lowest incomes (i.e., ACT and Alliance supporters), respectively—form political party preference mainly from economic self-interest, whereas middle-income voters (i.e., National and Labour supporters) form party preference from ideological congruence. Moreover, higher status individuals may be more likely to use ideology to express self-interested motivation.     

Postural Precursors of Postboxing Motion Sickness in a Manual Aiming Task

We asked whether body sway during performance of a visual-manual task would differ between boxers who experienced post-match motion sickness and those who did not. Before and after boxing we measured standing body sway while participants performed a manual precision aiming task. After boxing, participants stated, yes/no, whether they were motion sick; they also reported motion sickness symptoms, and concussion-related symptoms. Seven of thirteen boxers reported motion sickness after boxing. We compared boxers who reported post-boxing motion sickness versus those who did not. Body sway before boxing differed between boxers who reported post-bout motion sickness and those who did not. Immediately after boxing, motion sickness symptoms and concussion-related symptoms were elevated among boxers who stated that they were motion sick. The results suggest that patterns of body sway may be related to individual differences in susceptibility to motion sickness and concussion-like symptoms in adult male boxers, such that objective measurements of body sway might be used to predict susceptibility in individuals.     

Why employees with higher challenging appraisals style are more affectively engaged at work? The role of challenging stressors: A moderated mediation model

Challenging stressors have been positively linked to various work outcomes. However, the role of individual differences in stress appraisal in shaping the function of challenging stressors and work outcomes has been rarely discussed. Drawing on the individual differences perspective, the authors propose that employees higher in challenge appraisal are more likely to have challenging stressors and are more responsive to such stressors to have a higher positive affect at work. Results obtained from 117 employees supported the hypotheses. The results indicated that challenge appraisal is positively related to challenging stressors. In addition, challenging stressors has a positive association with positive affect at work when challenge appraisal is high but has a null association when challenge appraisal is low. The findings suggest that challenging stressors does not necessarily bring positive work outcomes as suggested in past studies and highlight the importance of considering dispositional tendency in stress appraisal when looking into the function of challenging stressors and work outcomes.     

The Olympic Games and the Improvement of Economic Well Being

This paper investigates whether hosting the Olympic Games will improve economic well being of host countries. It is shown that the economic benefits of hosting the Games can last for up to 16 years. The economy of the host country improves after announcement of successful bid. The improvement peaks in the year of the Games and remains significant for 8 years after the Games.     

Ethical Work Climate and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the Taiwanese Military

This is the first study to examine how types of ethical work climates (EWCs) are related to facets of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in military units. Research hypotheses were examined using sample data collected from 508 military officers in Taiwan. The results indicated that the overall EWC and some climate types are significantly positively or negatively associated with overall OCB, OCB-organization (OCBO), OCB-individual (OCBI), and in-role behavior (IRB). Implications of EWC and practical management are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.     

Living with Gratitude: Spouse’s Gratitude on One’s Depression

Research has shown that gratitude makes people happier (McCullough and Tsang in Psychol Gratitude, Oxford University Press, pp 123–141, 2004; Wood et al. in Clin Psychol Rev 30(7):890–905, 2010), healthier (McCullough et al. in J Pers Soc Psychol, 86(2):295–309, 2004), more considerate (Bartlett and DeSteno in Psychol Sci 17(4):319–325, 2006), and better evaluated (Gordon et al. in Pers Individ Differ 50(3):339–343, 2011), enabling more stable relationships (Algoe et al. in Pers Relationsh 17(2):217–233, 2010; Algoe et al. in Emotion 8(3):425–429, 2008; Lambert et al. in Psychol Sci 21(4):574–580, 2010). However, no study has extended research beyond individual persons to investigate the impact of one’s gratitude on the mental well-being of those who surround her or him. Thus, we tested this possibility and found in Study 1 that within marriage, husbands’ depositional gratitude negatively correlated with their wives’ depressive emotion. The results of Study 2 validated Study 1 by showing that a wife’s depression would be relatively palliated if her husband was assigned to express appreciation to her and not share daily hassles. While a causal relationship was demonstrated as hypothesized, a difference between genders also emerged. We discuss in particular the latter in terms of its mechanism, limitations, and practical implications for marriage.