Delivering your daily dose of well-being to the workplace: a randomized controlled trial of an online well-being programme for employees

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a newly developed brief, cost-effective, flexible, and broadly accessible online programme designed to enhance employee well-being. Considering the demands of the working world, the development of the positive intervention (PI) programme was based on empirical findings and latest theoretical advances from the field of positive psychology, namely the PERMA model of well-being. The new PERMA-based programme’s effectiveness to increase employee well-being was evaluated with a longitudinal field experiment, including a wait list control group and an already established PI programme (i.e., gratitude programme) for comparison (three-armed randomized controlled trial; n = 303, N_male = 99, N_female = 203, M_age = 41.16, SD = 12.26). Repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) supported that on average, participants of the gratitude programme and the PERMA-based programme reported significant increases in employee well-being after the intervention, as compared to no increases in the wait list control group. The significant increases yielded small effect sizes for general subjective well-being and medium effect sizes for work-related subjective well-being. Post-hoc analyses controlling for baseline well-being also supported the efficacy of the PIs. Contrary to the prediction of the PERMA-based programme’s superiority, participants of both online PI programmes reported similar gains in employee well-being components. Practical implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.     

The effects of reinforcer choice on rates of challenging behavior and free operant responding in individuals with severe disabilities

A multielement design was used to evaluate the effects of three reinforcement conditions on the free-operant and challenging responses of two individuals with severe disabilities. Preference assessments identified three stimuli that could function as reinforcers for each participant. Reinforcers were delivered on a variable ratio schedule for a free-operant response. In the participant-selected condition, each reinforcer delivery consisted of placing an array of three different stimuli in front of the participant, who was allowed to select one. In the constant condition, each reinforcer delivery consisted of placing an array of three identical stimuli in front of the participant. Within each session the three stimuli were held constant, but varied across sessions. In the experimenter-selected condition, each reinforcer delivery consisted of an array of three identical stimuli being placed in front of the participant. Within each session, the three stimuli were presented in an order predetermined by the experimenter such that, on average, each stimulus was available every third reinforcer delivery. For both individuals, the participant-selected condition resulted in lower average rates of challenging responses and slightly higher average free-operant response rates. No differences in responding were noted between the constant condition and the experimenter-selected condition. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theologies of pastoral leadership

The disestablishment of mainline Protestantism as the default religiosity and public theological voice, lamented by many of its members, presents new opportunities for conceiving of pastoral leadership in faithful ways. The pastor as public leader is better imagined as a visionary possibilizer and convener of public conversations, exerting influence in indirectly persuasive ways, rather than as spokesperson for an institution.     

Assessment of Knowledge Gains in Proactive Training for Postvention

This paper describes the development of a knowledge measure for the evaluation of a proactive training program for suicide postvention and analyses of its psychometric properties. The 25-item true–false knowledge test was administered before and after each of 12 training sessions; a total of 205 school personnel participated in the training and evaluation. Participants showed significant improvement in overall test scores and on several individual items following the training. Analyses suggested that the measure has construct validity, and that it taps a single underlying dimension. Strengths and weaknesses of the measure, and measurement issues in program evaluation are discussed.     

The effects of establishing operations on preference assessment outcomes

Preference assessments were conducted for 4 individuals with developmental disabilities across conditions of (a) control, allowing equal access to all stimuli prior to the preference assessment; (b) deprivation, allowing no access to one stimulus for 48 hr prior to the assessment; and (c) satiation, allowing free access to one stimulus for 10 min immediately prior to the assessment. Deprivation resulted in increased preference, whereas satiation resulted in decreased preference compared to control conditions.     

ECOLOGICAL SAINTS: ADOPTING A GREEN GAZE OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF SAINT MARGUERITE BOURGEOYS

During this time of ecological crisis, spiritual guides are needed to provide inspiration and impel action. In the Roman Catholic tradition, saints act as role models and are associated with particular causes, locations, or professions. Who, then, are the ecological saints, whose witness can inspire hope and action in support of the environment? This article explores that question in two ways. First the writings and accounts of saints who are traditionally connected to the environment are examined to produce six indicators of the beliefs, characteristics, and actions of ecological saints. Second, a green gaze is applied to Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, a seventeenth-century educator who lived in what would become Montreal, Canada, by comparing her writings and accounts of her life to the six indicators of an ecological saint. Identifying more ecological saints can promote environmental responsibility, and the six indicators of an ecological saint can be the lens through which beloved saints are re-examined.     

The System‐Justifying Function of Gratitude Norms

We propose that gratitude norms function to motivate people to express system‐justifying beliefs and attitudes. When people feel grateful for the benefits they receive from sociopolitical institutions, they may feel compelled to express their appreciation by self‐censoring any grievances they may have about the functioning of their system. We review theory and research on the psychology of gratitude and integrate it with theory and research on the system‐justification motive. We illustrate how new insights into various effects in the literature on ideology and system justification might be gained by considering how the expression of system‐justifying opinions might function as an expression of gratitude toward one's system. We speculate that this system‐justifying function of gratitude is a consequence of social norms that overgeneralize the domain of gratitude from the context of interpersonal relations between peers to the context of relations with the larger, impersonal systems that govern people's lives.