Responses to formal performance appraisal feedback: the role of negative affectivity

This study examined the effects of performance appraisal feedback on job and organizational attitudes of tellers (N = 329) in a large international bank. Negative affectivity moderated the link between favorable appraisal feedback and job attitudes. Among the higher rated performers, attitudes were improved 1 month after being notified of favorable appraisal results (Time 2). Improved attitudes persisted 6 months after the performance appraisal (Time 3) among tellers with low negative affectivity but not among those with high negative affectivity. Among the lower rated performers, mean levels of attitudes did not change significantly during the study.     

Differential relations of narcissism and self‐esteem to romantic relationships: The mediating role of perception discrepancy

Recent research has suggested that narcissism and self‐esteem, though correlated, are qualitatively different. Little research, however, has examined narcissism and self‐esteem simultaneously to test their unique contributions. The aims of this study are twofold: to examine the unique contributions of narcissism and self‐esteem to romantic relationships, and to test the mediating role of perception discrepancy (PD) in these relationships. One hundred and three pairs of dating couples in Hong Kong were recruited to complete measures of narcissism, self‐esteem, relationship satisfaction and PD. Results from actor–partner interdependence modeling (APIM) indicate that narcissism had significant negative associations with both self‐ and partner‐reported relationship satisfaction, whereas the effects of self‐esteem were generally positive. In subsequent actor–partner interdependence mediation modeling (APIMeM), in which PD was used as the mediator, narcissism and self‐esteem continued to show differential relations to both the outcomes and the mediators. In particular, narcissism had positive actor effects on PD, which further negatively predicted both self‐ and partner‐reported relationship satisfaction. In contrast, the predictive effects of self‐esteem were reversed and weaker. Implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed.     

The Hong Kong version of the Oxford Cognitive Screen (HK-OCS): validation study for Cantonese-speaking chronic stroke survivors

This study reports the validation of the Hong Kong version of Oxford Cognitive Screen (HK-OCS). Seventy Cantonese-speaking healthy individuals participated to establish normative data and 46 chronic stroke survivors were assessed using the HK-OCS, Albert’s Test of Visual Neglect, short test of gestural production, and Hong Kong version of the following assessments: Western Aphasia Battery, MMSE, MoCA, Modified Barthel Index, and Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scale. The validity of the HK-OCS was appraised by the difference between the two participant groups. Neurologically unimpaired individuals performed significantly better than stroke survivors on the HK-OCS. Positive and significant correlations found between cognitive subtests in the HK-OCS and related assessments indicated good concurrent validity. Excellent intra-rater and inter-rater reliabilities, fair test–retest reliability, and acceptable internal consistency suggested that the HK-OCS had good reliability. Specific HK-OCS subtests including semantics, episodic memory, number writing, and orientation were the best predictors of functional outcomes.     

Family Therapy With Irish-Americans

This paper presents a paradigm for understanding the cultural values and family patterns of Irish-American families and offers suggestions for clinical intervention. Families' correspondence to the model described will depend upon their level of acculturation, socioeconomic status, and other contextual factors. The paradigm suggests a number of issues that may create difficulties for the therapist and for the family in therapy. In general, behavioral techniques, Bowen systems therapy, and strategic interventions may be more useful than techniques emphasizing expression of emotions in therapy or direct attempts to alter communication or family behavior in therapy sessions, as used in structural therapy.     

Family work for schizophrenia: some issues for Chinese immigrant families

This paper discusses some specific issues relevant to immigrant Chinese families in the context of family work for schizophrenia. The issues include shame and guilt, isolation and mistrust of officials, the importance of negotiation before details of problem-solving are worked out, high academic ambitions for children, and apparent ‘overprotectiveness’ in the Chinese culture. It is argued that cognitive-behavioural, goal-orientated family work could be adapted well for immigrant Chinese families with a member suffering from schizophrenia. A case study is presented to illustrate how such a family was helped.     

From teachers’ implicit theories of intelligence to job stress: The mediating role of teachers’ causal attribution of students’ academic achievement

To better understand the cognitive antecedents of teachers’ stress in the school setting, the effects of teachers’ beliefs regarding intelligence and their causal attributions of students’ academic performance on teachers’ job stress were examined in the current study. We recruited 271 teachers who voluntarily filled out an anonymous questionnaire. Findings demonstrated that teachers who endorsed the entity theory of intelligence tended to attribute students’ poor performance to students’ inability but not lack of effort. Results showed a positive relationship between teachers’ fixed view of intelligence and job stress, and this relationship was mediated by teachers’ attributing students’ poor performance to students’ lack of ability, even after controlling for teacher efficacy. We suggest to promote the psychological health of teachers by incorporating intelligence mindset and attribution training programs in preservice teacher education, professional development, and cognitive behavioral stress intervention for in-service teachers.     

Why Change Now? Cognitive Reappraisal Moderates the Relation between Anxiety and Resistance to Sunk Cost

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment - To minimize distress associated with choices with uncertain consequences, individuals with high levels of anxiety may continue with familiar...     

A Value-Added Health Systems Science Intervention Based on My Life,My Story for Patients Living with HIV and Medical Students: Translating Narrative Medicine from Classroom to Clinic

Journal of Medical Humanities - In 2018-2019, at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (KSOM), we developed and piloted a narrative-based health systems science...     

Self-determined work motivation predicts job outcomes,but what predicts self-determined work motivation?

Self-determined work motivation predicts important job outcomes, such as job satisfaction [Richer, S. F., Blanchard, C., & Vallerand, R. J. (2002). A motivational model of work turnover. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 2089–2113], but what predicts self-determined work motivation is less fully understood. We tested general causality orientation—specifically autonomy and control orientation—as a predictor of self-determined work motivation, which in turn was expected to predict job satisfaction and identification commitment as job outcomes. Regression analyses confirmed our hypotheses such that autonomy orientation predicted job outcomes via increased self-determined work motivation. Control orientation predicted self-determined work motivation but did not affect either of the two job outcomes. Findings are discussed with respect to the importance of individual differences in understanding job outcomes.     

When high achievers and low achievers work in the same group: The roles of group heterogeneity and processes in project‐based learning

Background . There has been an ongoing debate about the inconsistent effects of heterogeneous ability grouping on students in small group work such as project‐based learning. Aim . The present research investigated the roles of group heterogeneity and processes in project‐based learning. At the student level, we examined the interaction effect between students' within‐group achievement and group processes on their self‐ and collective efficacy. At the group level, we examined how group heterogeneity was associated with the average self‐ and collective efficacy reported by the groups. Sample . The participants were 1,921 Hong Kong secondary students in 367 project‐based learning groups. Method . Student achievement was determined by school examination marks. Group processes, self‐efficacy and collective efficacy were measured by a student‐report questionnaire. Hierarchical linear modelling was used to analyse the nested data. Results . When individual students in each group were taken as the unit of analysis, results indicated an interaction effect of group processes and students' within‐group achievement on the discrepancy between collective‐ and self‐efficacy. When compared with low achievers, high achievers reported lower collective efficacy than self‐efficacy when group processes were of low quality. However, both low and high achievers reported higher collective efficacy than self‐efficacy when group processes were of high quality. With 367 groups taken as the unit of analysis, the results showed that group heterogeneity, group gender composition and group size were not related to the discrepancy between collective‐ and self‐efficacy reported by the students. Conclusions . Group heterogeneity was not a determinant factor in students' learning efficacy. Instead, the quality of group processes played a pivotal role because both high and low achievers were able to benefit when group processes were of high quality.