Job satisfaction among Swedish soldiers: Applying the Job Characteristics Model to newly recruited military personnel

A professional military organization was introduced in Sweden in 2010. This means that the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) need to attract and employ soldiers, and to retain them within the organization. This scenario creates new types of challenges in manning the organization. The transition to an all-volunteer force puts job satisfaction in focus in order to retain personnel. This cross-sectional study of the relations between working conditions and job involvement among 300 recently employed soldiers showed that the dimensions of the Job Characteristics Model related significantly to job satisfaction and work motivation and (negatively) to turnover intentions from the SAF. The results further showed that all the critical psychological states contributed independently to the variance in the outcome variables.     

Visuospatial counter‐interrogation strategies by liars familiar with the alibi setting

This study examines counter‐interrogation strategies employed by liars giving false alibis. Participants (N = 144) visited a restaurant to buy a sandwich (truth‐tellers) or to use it as a false alibi (liars). Half of the liars were informed they might be asked for a drawing of the alibi setting if interviewed (informed liars). Participants spent either 10 min (high familiarity condition) or 30 s (low familiarity condition) in the restaurant. All participants were asked to provide two visuospatial statements, which were assessed for salient details, nonsalient details, between‐statement consistency, and statement‐alibi setting consistency. Informed liars provided significantly more salient and nonsalient details than uninformed liars and truth‐tellers, particularly in the high familiarity condition. No differences emerged for statement consistency types. The results suggest that liars are more concerned than truth‐tellers about making a positive impression on the interviewer, and they fail to accurately reflect on truth‐tellers' visuospatial statements.     

The effects of gender,long-term need for recovery and trait inhibition-rumination on morning and evening saliva cortisol secretion

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term effects of need for recovery from work and trait rumination on saliva cortisol secretion. The sample consisted of 76 white-collar workers, 52 men and 24 women who had previously provided baseline data four years earlier and volunteered to participate in the present study. In the present study, saliva cortisol secretion was measured over seven consecutive days, on awakening, and at 10 p.m. No relationships were found between the independent variables and morning saliva cortisol levels. High trait rumination at baseline, however, was significantly related to higher evening cortisol levels for both women and men. Baseline need for recovery from work was strongly related to evening cortisol secretion for women, but in the opposite direction than expected. The present results add to the small but equivocal body of literature that has examined the long-term effects of work strain on cortisol secretion.     

Evaluation of the school-based smoking-prevention program "BE smokeFREE"

This article examines the impact of the school-based smoking-prevention program "BE smokeFREE" on adolescent smoking. A national representative sample of 99 schools (195 classes, 4,441 students) was used when the intervention started in November 1994. Schools were allocated to one of four groups: a comparison group (A) and three intervention groups (B, C, and D). Group B received the most comprehensive intervention. A baseline (autumn 1994) and three follow-up data collections (1995, 1996, and 1997) were conducted. There were no significant differences in smoking habits among the four groups at baseline. The smoking habits in the group that was involved in the most comprehensive intervention (group B) changed more favourably than those of students in the comparison schools over the three follow-up data collections. At the third follow-up, the proportion of students smoking weekly or more in the comparison group was 29.2%, compared with 19.6% in the model intervention group. The two less comprehensive interventions (no teacher in-service courses in group C, and no involvement of parents in group D) appeared to be less effective than the model intervention. Multilevel multiple logistic regression analyses, comparing changes in smoking habits between students in group B with those among students in the comparison schools, confirm the conclusion that the comprehensive intervention was the most effective. This school-based intervention, based on a social influence approach, proved to be effective at reducing smoking rates among participants.     

Eyewitness testimony: tracing the beliefs of Swedish legal professionals

This paper examines beliefs held by Swedish legal professionals about eyewitness testimony. In a survey including questions about 13 key issues of eyewitness testimony, three groups were investigated: police officers (n = 104), prosecutors (n = 158), and judges (n = 251). The response rate was 74%. Examples of findings are that the beliefs were in line with scientific findings concerning the weapon focus effect, but were not in line for simultaneous vs. sequential lineups. Between-group differences were found for seven items. Judges were much more sceptical than police officers about the reliability and completeness of children's testimonies. The groups seldom agreed about one answer alternative, and they reported not being up to date about scientific research on eyewitness testimony. The results suggest that some important research findings have reached those working on the field. However, they hold many wrongful beliefs about eyewitness testimony, beliefs that might compromise the accuracy of legal decisions.     

Concrete spatial language: see what I mean?

Conveying complex mental scenarios is at the heart of human language. Advances in cognitive linguistics suggest this is mediated by an ability to activate cognitive systems involved in non-linguistic processing of spatial information. In this fMRI-study, we compare sentences with a concrete spatial meaning to sentences with an abstract meaning. Using this contrast, we demonstrate that sentence meaning involving motion in a concrete topographical context, whether linked to animate or inanimate subjects nouns, yield more activation in a bilateral posterior network, including fusiform/parahippocampal, and retrosplenial regions, and the temporal-occipital-parietal junction. These areas have previously been shown to be involved in mental navigation and spatial memory tasks. Sentences with an abstract setting activate an extended largely left-lateralised network in the anterior temporal, and inferior and superior prefrontal cortices, previously found activated by comprehension of complex semantics such as narratives. These findings support a model of language, where the understanding of spatial semantic content emerges from the recruitment of brain regions involved in non-linguistic spatial processing.     

Observations on regional cerebral blood flow in cortical and subcortical structures during language production in normal man

Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was studied by single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) of inhaled xenon-133 in six normal volunteers during various language, articulatory, and control conditions. Language production increased rCBF in predominantly left-sided cortical and subcortical areas. The involved regions were anatomically related to a left frontal area (Broca's), to both caudate nuclei, to a left thalamic/pallidal area, and bilaterally in retrorolandic areas. The failure to demonstrate lateralized retrorolandic activity is thought to reflect the complexity of the tasks.     

The picture superiority effect in a cross-modality recognition task

Words and pictures were studied, and recognition tests were given in which each studied object was to be recognized in both word and picture format. The main dependent variable was the latency of the recognition decision. The purpose was to investigate the effects of study modality (word or picture), of congruence between study and test modalities, and of priming resulting from repeated testing. Experiments 1 and 2 used the same basic design, but the latter also varied retention interval. Experiment 3 added a manipulation of instructions to name studied objects, and Experiment 4 deviated from the others by presenting both picture and word referring to the same object together for study. The results showed that congruence between study and test modalities consistently facilitated recognition. Furthermore, items studied as pictures were more rapidly recognized than were items studied as words. With repeated testing, the second instance was affected by its predecessor, but the facilitating effect of picture-to-word priming exceeded that of word-to-picture priming. The findings suggest a two-stage recognition process, in which the first is based on perceptual familiarity and the second uses semantic links for a retrieval search. Common-code theories that grant privileged access to the semantic code for pictures or, alternatively, dual-code theories that assume mnemonic superiority for the image code are supported by the findings. Explanations of the picture superiority effect as resulting from dual encoding of pictures are not supported by the data.