Present Contemporaries and Absent Consociates: Rethinking Schütz's “We Relation” Beyond Copresence

This article analyzes the structure of the “we relation” drawing on Alfred Schütz's theoretical framework. It argues for a flexibilization of the initial framework in order to capture not only the tension, but also the variations in the relation between the lived experience of the other in lived duration and the reflection upon the other, through which meaning is constructed. In order to do so, it revisits Schütz’s claims about immersion into togetherness as part of the experience of copresence and it bridges them with the apparently opposite Sartrian view of the other as either objectifying or being objectified. This leads to certain shifts in the distinction between consociates and contemporaries and sheds light upon the ways in which the process of constructing the other as meaningful is not an added layer, but a co-constitutive element in the vivid experience of copresence and of absence.     

Awareness of memory task impairment versus everyday memory difficulties in dementia

The study investigated different types of awareness of memory dysfunction in dementia, specifically judgements concerning memory task performance or appraisal of everyday memory functioning and also exploring the neuropsychological correlates of such awareness. This was investigated in 76 people with dementia, comprising 46 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 30 patients with vascular dementia (VaD). The Memory Awareness Rating Scale (Clare et al., 2002, Neuropsychol Rehabil, 12, 341–362) was used, which includes an Objective‐Judgement Discrepancy (OJD) technique involving comparison of subjective evaluation of performance on specific memory tasks with actual performance, and a Subjective Rating Discrepancy (SRD) technique, which compares self versus informant judgement of everyday memory function. The AD and VaD groups showed lower awareness than a normal control group for both types of measures, the AD group showing less awareness than the VaD group on the OJD measure. Regression analyses supported associations for both groups between memory impairment and the OJD measure and between naming impairment and the SRD measure. The findings are discussed in terms of neurocognitive theories accounting for loss of awareness in dementia.     

Life After Facing Cancer: Posttraumatic Growth,Meaning in Life and Life Satisfaction

Although it is known that facing cancer may be accompanied by a range of chronic and acute stress reactions, it can also contribute to positive psychological changes and influence one's life perception. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate relationship between posttraumatic growth (PTG), meaning in life and life satisfaction to determine whether the presence of meaning or the search for meaning mediated the relationship between PTG and life satisfaction. The study was conducted with 149 cancer survivors who were at least one-month post-completion of all medical cancer therapy. The results indicate positive associations between PTG, the presence of meaning in life, the search for meaning and life satisfaction. Moreover, the relationship between PTG and life satisfaction could be explained by the mediating effect of the presence of meaning in life. Thus, it is important for clinicians to systematically facilitate PTG, meaning in life and life satisfaction as protective factors to one's daily functioning.

     

When workplace bullying goes online: construction and validation of the Inventory of Cyberbullying Acts at Work (ICA-W)

There has been an increase in the use of Information Communication Technologies in the workplace. This change extends the scope of bullying behaviours at work to the online context. However, a generally accepted measure of workplace cyberbullying is still lacking. The purpose of the present paper is to construct and validate the Inventory of Cyberbullying Acts at Work, in order to contribute to this emerging field. Building on existing knowledge, we expected three types of cyberbullying behaviours to emerge in the work context: person related, work related and intrusive. First, the items of the scale were constructed and the three-dimensional structure of the scale was tested in two different samples. Then, the reliability and the convergent validity of the scale were assessed. Finally, we tested the predictive validity of the scale by assessing the impact of exposure to cyberbullying acts at work to individuals’ mental well-being six months later. Our analyses confirmed the three-dimensional structure of the scale. In addition, the scale was found reliable and valid. The construction of this scale offers an avenue for further research on cyberbullying in the work context.     

Self-Efficacy,Emotions and Work Engagement Among Teachers: A Two Wave Cross-Lagged Analysis

The aim of this study was to examine the reciprocal relations between teachers’ work engagement and their emotions, both positive and negative, and experienced in relation to their students, by implementing a two-wave panel design. The predictive role of self-efficacy with respect to teachers’ emotions and work engagement was also explored. The study included a sample of 941 teachers from various state schools in Croatia. A cross-lagged analysis demonstrated the reciprocal nature of the relationship between emotions and work engagement. Teachers who reported higher levels of positive emotions of joy, pride and love at first time point, tended to be more engaged in their work at subsequent assessment. The association between negative emotions and work engagement showed the opposite direction—teachers who experienced more anger, fatigue, and hopelessness in the first measurement point, were also less engaged at second time of assessment. Furthermore, teachers who were more engaged in their work in the first time point, also reported about lower levels of negative emotions but higher levels of positive emotions 6 months later. At last, teachers with higher perceived self-efficacy are more engaged in their work, experience more joy, pride and love, and less anger, fatigue and hopelessness, towards their students. However, these effects did not hold upon control of baseline levels of emotions and work engagement.     

Anxiety management: Developing effective strategies

This paper focuses on three aspects of generalised anxiety; anxious cognitions, avoidance behaviour and the efforts made to cope with symptoms. It presents information from structured interviews and informal observations which were collected during a clinical trial of anxiety management for generalised anxiety disorder. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for future modifications of anxiety management.     

An Ethical Issue Scale for Community Pharmacy Setting (EISP): Development and Validation

Many problems that arise when providing pharmacy services may contain some ethical components and the aims of this study were to develop and validate a scale that could assess difficulties of ethical issues, as well as the frequency of those occurrences in everyday practice of community pharmacists. Development and validation of the scale was conducted in three phases: (1) generating items for the initial survey instrument after qualitative analysis; (2) defining the design and format of the instrument; (3) validation of the instrument. The constructed Ethical Issue scale for community pharmacy setting has two parts containing the same 16 items for assessing the difficulty and frequency thereof. The results of the 171 completely filled out scales were analyzed (response rate 74.89 %). The Cronbach’s α value of the part of the instrument that examines difficulties of the ethical situations was 0.83 and for the part of the instrument that examined frequency of the ethical situations was 0.84. Test–retest reliability for both parts of the instrument was satisfactory with all Interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values above 0.6, (for the part that examines severity ICC = 0.809, for the part that examines frequency ICC = 0.929). The 16-item scale, as a self assessment tool, demonstrated a high degree of content, criterion, and construct validity and test–retest reliability. The results support its use as a research tool to asses difficulty and frequency of ethical issues in community pharmacy setting. The validated scale needs to be further employed on a larger sample of pharmacists.     

Book reviews

Techniques of Photostimulation in Biology. Edited by B. H. Crawford. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Company. 1968. Pp. 317. £5 17s.

The Figure-ground Phenomenon in Experimental and Phenomenological Psychology. By Jan C. Bauman. Stockholm: Published by the author. 1968. Pp. 269.

Methods for the the Measurement of Psychological Performance. (IBP Handbook No. 10). By S. Bieshevel. Oxford and Edinburgh: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1969. Pp. iv + 98. 20s.

Experimental Neuropsychology—A Laboratory Manual. By Benjamin L. Hart. San Francisco. W. H. Freeman and Company. 1969. Pp. 102. £2.

Studies in Cognitive Development. Edited by D. Elkind and J. H. Flavell. London: Oxford University Press. 1969. Pp. xix + 502. 84s.     

Sexual abuse and HIV-risk behaviour among black and minority ethnic men who have sex with men in the UK

Black and minority ethnic (BME) men who have sex with men (MSM) face a major burden in relation to HIV infection. It was hypothesised that sexual abuse would predict sexual risk-taking, and that this relationship would be mediated by victimisation and maladaptive coping variables. Four hundred and thirty-two BME MSM completed the survey; 54% reported no sexual abuse and 27% reported sexual abuse. Mann–Whitney tests showed that MSM with a history of sexual abuse reported higher frequency of drug use, and of homophobia and racism than those reporting no prior sexual abuse. A structural equation model showed that the experience of sexual abuse was positively associated with sexual risk-taking and that this relationship was mediated by victimisation variables: frequency of racism and frequency of homophobia and by the maladaptive coping variable: frequency of drug use. The findings can inform the design of psycho-sexual and behavioural interventions for BME MSM.     

Chemosignalling effects of human tears revisited: Does exposure to female tears decrease males’ perception of female sexual attractiveness?

Gelstein et al. reported the results of three experiments suggesting a dampening influence of inhalation of female emotional tears on males’ arousal and perception of female sexual attractiveness, specifically in non-sexual situations. This prompted the hypothesis that crying exerts its influence on others not only via the auditory and visual mode but also via chemosignals. In three studies, we attempted to replicate and extend Gelstein et al.’s findings by including an additional condition with irritant tears, by using pictures of sexually attractive women, and by testing related hypotheses on the pro-social effects of exposure to tears. All three studies, separately or combined in a meta-analysis, failed to replicate the original inhibitory effects of tears. In addition, sniffing tears did not affect measures of connectedness, aggression and pro-social behaviour. It is concluded that the effects of female tears on male arousal and perception of female sexual attractiveness, if any, are very weak at best. Rather, it seems that crying exerts its strong inter-personal effects through the visual and auditory sensory channels.