Linking Job Characteristics and Mental Health among Middle Level Indian Managers: Testing the Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment

The present study examined the relationship between job characteristics and mental health by testing the mediating role of psychological empowerment. Data were obtained on a sample of middle level Indian managers (n=290) from two manufacturing organizations of North India. Results of the hierarchical regression analyses revealed that all the core job characteristics significantly positively predicted psychological empowerment and mental health after controlling for the effects of demographic variables. The results also showed that psychological empowerment significantly positively predicted mental health over and above the demographic variables. The mediated regression analyses procedure developed by Baron and Kenny (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51:1173–1182, 1986) was used to test the mediating effect of psychological empowerment. Results of mediated regression analyses indicated that psychological empowerment significantly mediated the relationship between overall job characteristics and mental health. Further it partially mediated the relationship between core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, feedback from work) and mental health. In addition the Sobel test for mediation confirmed the statistical significance of the mediated relationships. The implications of the findings are discussed in order to confirm the importance of core job characteristics to empower employees.     

Beliefs About Tobacco, Health, and Addiction Among Adults in Cambodia: Findings from a National Survey

There remains a very high rate of smoked and smokeless tobacco use in the Western Pacific Region. The most recent findings from national adult tobacco surveys indicate that very few daily users of tobacco intend to quit tobacco use. In Cambodia, a nation that is predominantly Buddhist, faith-based tobacco control programs have been implemented where, under the fifth precept of Buddhism that proscribes addictive behaviors, monks were encouraged to quit tobacco and temples have been declared smoke-free. In the present study, we included items on a large national tobacco survey to examine the relation between beliefs (faith-based, other) about tobacco, health, and addiction among adults (18 years and older). In a stratified, multistage cluster sample (n = 13,988) of all provinces of Cambodia, we found that (1) 88–93% believe that Buddhist monks should not use tobacco, buy tobacco, or be offered tobacco during a religious ceremony; (2) 86–93% believe that the Wat (temple) should be a smoke-free area; (3) 93–95% believe that tobacco is addictive in the same way as habits (opium, gambling, alcohol) listed under the fifth precept of Buddhism; and (4) those who do not use tobacco are significantly more likely to cite a Buddhist principle as part of their anti-tobacco beliefs. These data indicate that anti-tobacco sentiments are highly prevalent in the Buddhist belief system of Cambodian adults and are especially evident among non-users of tobacco. Our findings indicate that faith-based initiatives could be an effective part of anti-tobacco campaigns in Cambodia.     

Contemplating the Self: A Brief Phenomenological Participatory Action Study

This study examines Self contemplation from a heuristic phenomenological and applied psychological perspective using a participatory action research approach. The participant authors (n = 6; females = 50%, majority ethnicity = isiZulu = 67%) engaged in reflective contemplation of the Self to generate qualitative data that captured its core features and psychological applications. The data were thematically analyzed. Core features of the Self were revealed in contemplative, spiritual, ancestral, healing and psychotherapeutic themes. Specific psychological applications consisted of various universal characteristics of healing including the therapeutic relationship, therapeutic moments, integrity, dialogue, authenticity, intentionality, will, belief, practice and breath-work.     

Individual Differences in Monitoring Failures of Automation

Subjects included 24 non-pilots who performed simulated flight-related tasks of tracking, fuel-management, and system monitoring. Tracking and fuel management were performed manually, whereas system monitoring was automated. Subjects were required to detect system malfunctions not detected by the automation (automation failures). The reliability of the automation remained constant or varied over time. Subjects detected significantly fewer automation failures in the constant-reliability automation condition than in the variable-reliability condition. Inefficiency in monitoring for automation failure was examined in relation to three individual-difference measures: the Complacency Potential Rating Scale, the Eysenck Personality Inventory (introversion-extraversion), and a modified version of Thayer's Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List (energetic arousal). These measures were not significantly intercorrelated, suggesting their relative independence. For subjects with high-complacency-potential scores, there was a correlation of - .42 between complacency potential and detection rate of automation failures. Introversion-extraversion was unrelated to monitoring performance. Finally, high energetic-arousal subjects had initially higher detection rates in the constant-reliability condition than did low-arousal subjects. The results suggest a modest relationship between individual differences in complacency potential and energetic-arousal and automation-related monitoring inefficiency.     

Ethics of Globalization: Challenges and Prospects

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research - Globalization has enormous implications. As convergence of technologies facilitated people to connect, people not only communicated but also...     

To Each His God: an Upanishadic Approach to Religion

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research - Vedanta refrains from giving God any name, singular or plural. If ever Vedanta has to refer to the God, it refers to it as Tat, meaning...     

Electromechanical behaviour of nanoporous metallic glass

Understanding the electrical and mechanical behaviour of nanoporous materials is critical for their use in energy applications. A palladium-rich nanoporous film, 500 nm thick with pore size ranging from 10 to 50 nm, was obtained by electrochemical dealloying of a Ni–Pd–P–B metallic glass. Nanomechanical and electrical properties were measured simultaneously, as a function of depth, for the nanoporous structure as well as the unaltered metallic glass substrate. The elastic modulus for the nanoporous structure was found to be 22 GPa compared to 131 GPa for the metallic glass substrate. The ratio of moduli scales with the square of the relative density in agreement with linear elasticity models for cellular materials. The electrical resistivity of the nanoporous layer was found to be 2.2 times higher compared to the metallic glass substrate, which was attributed to the tortuosity of current path in cellular structures.     

The Third Ghallughara: On the Sikh Dilemma Since 1984

This article examines the enduring impact of 1984 tragedy upon the Sikh community. After outlining the initial reaction to the Government of India's army action in the Golden Temple Amritsar, it looks at some of the ways common Sikhs made sense of the loss of the Sikh heritage and the hurt of desecration of their holiest shrine. While the Indian stately discourse enforced by the media tried to justify its ghastly action, this was challenged, by a section of the Sikh elite. Even after three decades the reverberations of the tragedy seem unending, reminding Sikhs individually as well as collectively about the precarious public space available for community's cultural, linguistic, and political expressions. The article points towards the persistent dilemma of the Sikh elite as it makes sense of various compulsions, choices, and strategies in the postcolonial Indian polity.     

Yoking Gnosis and Logos: On the Knowledge Function of Some Exceptional Mental States for Well-Being

Earlier religious formations everywhere dynamically engaged in pursuit of knowledge. Of particular interest is direct experience of knowledge rather by learning through practice; former approximates gnosis and latter refers to logos. Study of transcendental experiences was an ambitious project of William James, the founder of modern psychology. The present paper makes it more explicit by looking into correlative thinking and paranormal experiences. Second, the advances in cognitive science of religion (CSR) indicate integration of gnosis and logos, and they perhaps access discrete cognitive processes analogous to Kahneman’s (American Psychologist 58:697–720, 2003) System I (intuition) and System 2 (reasoning). Third, gnosis, trance and intuition are correlated. Lastly, exceptional mental states have significance for psychological well-being.