Directionality of the Association Between Social Support and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Longitudinal Investigation1

This study examined the nature of the association between social support and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology among 2,249 male veterans of the 1990‐1991 Gulf War. Using structural equation modeling, a cross‐lagged panel analysis indicated a strong negative relationship between PTSD at Time 1 and social support at Time 2, while social support at Time 1 did not predict PTSD at Time 2. Findings suggest that, over time, interpersonal problems associated with PTSD may have a detrimental influence on the quality and quantity of available social support resources. It is recommended that greater focus be placed on the interpersonal skills of those suffering from PTSD.     

The impact of exposure to media coverage of the 2012 Paralympic Games on mixed physical ability interactions

The current work assessed the impact of the 2012 Paralympic Games on psychological factors operating during interactions between physically disabled and nondisabled group members. In a two‐wave longitudinal design, the pre‐ to post‐Paralympic increase in exposure to Paralympic media coverage led to more positive in‐group norms about disabled people's competence and improved intergroup contact quality among both physically disabled and nondisabled participants. Moreover, more positive norms about disabled people's competence partially mediated the relationship between media exposure and contact quality. However, exposure to Paralympic media coverage did not appear to impact embarrassment about intergroup contact within either group. Findings are discussed in terms of the efficacy and limitations of Paralympic media coverage to improve intergroup relations in the mixed physical ability context.     

The Influence of External Recruitment Practices on Job Search Practices Across Domestic Labor Markets: A comparison of the United States and China

Job search theories traditionally assume that job seekers have open access to information about employment opportunities. This may be moderated by the degree that labor markets rely on external recruitment to convey information about employment opportunities. In particular, external recruitment may be more widely used in some countries than other countries. Accordingly, this paper hypothesizes that job search practices that rely on external recruitment and information sharing with potential recruits are more likely to be widely used in the United States than in China and that job search practices are more likely to influence starting wages in the United States than in China. Using samples of graduating undergraduate college students in both the United States and China, this study suggests that job seekers gather more information about employment opportunities in the United States than in China, and that job search effort is more likely to influence starting wages in the United States than in China. The research suggests that job search theories need to consider job seeker access to information as a significant moderating variable in job search theory.     

Spiritual emergency and counselling: An exploratory study

Growing up in a multicultural community in England brought me into close personal contact with the beliefs and perceptions about healing held by people of many different cultures. In many cases, no strong boundary was seen between physical, psychological and spiritual aspects of an illness, and experiences of hearing voices or seeing visions were accepted as normal everyday occurrences. During my training as a counsellor, I came into contact with the work of Stanislav Grof on the concept of spiritual emergency, which, together with the work of African and European authors who were exploring transpersonal aspects of psychology, provided a theoretical framework for researching how counsellors respond to clients wishing to explore experiences of spiritual crisis. This paper describes an exploratory study into the phenomenon of spiritual emergency within counselling. Questionnaires were distributed by post to people known to have been in counselling relationships, and interviews were conducted with three informants reporting different types of spiritual experience. All respondents who completed questionnaires reported having at least one of the ‘non‐ordinary’ experiences classified by Stanislav Grof as characteristics of a ‘spiritual emergency’. Several participants felt unable to explore this experience with their counsellors, some for fear of being labelled as mentally ill, while others found their counsellors helpful and sympathetic. Differences in dealing with spiritual phenomena were apparent between European and non‐European participants. These findings are discussed in relation to theory and practice.     

Codependency and gender-stereotyped traits

Sex Roles - This study examined the relationship between gender, positive and negative gender stereotyped traits, and eight codependency scales among 339 female and 115 male college students. The...     

Educational Reform through an Ethic of Performativity: Introducing the Special Issue

Serving as an introduction to the special issue of Studies in Philosophy and Education, Philosophical Transgressions: Performativity and Performance for Education, this paper situates the papers that follow in its own performative analysis, especially utilizing the insights of Jean-François Lyotard. From him two ideas are salient, one his conception of knowledge as performance and the other the aesthetic (through language and writing) that is a reformist response.     

Long-term outcome after discontinuation of benzodiazepines for insomnia: a survival analysis of relapse

Discontinuation of benzodiazepine (BZD) treatment for insomnia can be a difficult task. Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for insomnia, combined with a supervised medication taper, can facilitate withdrawal but there is limited evidence on long-term outcome after discontinuation. The objective of this study was to examine medication-free survival time and predictors of relapse (i.e., resumed BZD hypnotics) over a 2-year period in 47 older adults (mean age 62.1 years) with persistent insomnia and prolonged BZD use (average duration of 18.9 years), who had successfully discontinued BZD following CBT for insomnia, a supervised medication taper program, or a combined approach. The Kaplan-Meier product-limit method was used to estimate survival time, defined as time between end-of-treatment and relapse or end of follow-up. By the end of the 24-month follow-up, 42.6% of the samples had resumed BZD use. Participants in the Combined (33.3%) and Taper (30.8%) groups relapsed significantly less than their counterparts from the CBT group (69.2%). Survival rates at 3 months were 61.5% (CBT), 100% (Taper), and 80.9% (Combined). At 12 months, they were 38.5%, 83.3%, and 70.8%, respectively; and, at 24 months, they were 28.9%, 64.8% and 64.9%, respectively. Mean survival time was significantly longer for both the Taper (18.6 months, SE = 2.1) and Combined groups (12.6 months, SE = 1.4), relative to the CBT group (8.5 months, SE = 1.8). Significant predictors of relapse included treatment condition, end of treatment insomnia severity, and psychological distress. In conclusion, there is a substantial relapse rate following BZD discontinuation among prolonged users. CBT booster sessions might enhance compliance with CBT and prove useful in preventing relapse.     

Innovation across cultures: Connecting leadership,identification, and creative behavior in organizations

Innovation is considered essential for today's organizations to survive and thrive. Researchers have also stressed the importance of leadership as a driver of followers' innovative work behavior (FIB). Yet, despite a large amount of research, three areas remain understudied: (a) The relative importance of different forms of leadership for FIB; (b) the mechanisms through which leadership impacts FIB; and (c) the degree to which relationships between leadership and FIB are generalizable across cultures. To address these lacunae, we propose an integrated model connecting four types of positive leadership behaviors, two types of identification (as mediating variables), and FIB. We tested our model in a global data set comprising responses of N = 7,225 participants from 23 countries, grouped into nine cultural clusters. Our results indicate that perceived LMX quality was the strongest relative predictor of FIB. Furthermore, the relationships between both perceived LMX quality and identity leadership with FIB were mediated by social identification. The indirect effect of LMX on FIB via social identification was stable across clusters, whereas the indirect effects of the other forms of leadership on FIB via social identification were stronger in countries high versus low on collectivism. Power distance did not influence the relations.     

Green career choices: The influence of ecological stance on recruiting

Ecological issues have become a growing concern to businesses. This experimental study examined the effect of a pro-environmental stance on the recruiting efforts of a fictitious firm. Results supported the idea that a proactive company stance on the environment would be positively related to perceived company attractiveness, intentions to pursue employment with that company, and acceptance of a job offer (n=303). Further, personal environmental stance influenced only the intent to pursue employment. This suggests that a positive environmental stance articulated in a recruitment brochure could positively affect potential recruits, even when a recruit does not personally see herself or himself as being particularly pro-environmental.The authors would like to thank Margaret L. Williams for helping with the generation of the recruitment brochures and Chris J. Berger for his support of this research project. In addition, David K. Palmer and Frances L. Dobbs are thanked for help with data collection. Additional thanks are given to Chris J. Berger, Stephen G. Green, David K. Palmer, and Margaret L. Williams for reviewing an earlier draft of this article.This article was presented at the 1993 Industrial Organizational and Organizational Behavior graduate student conference in Chicago, IL, where it won the Wherry award. Therefore, it was presented at the 1995 meeting of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists in Orlando, FL.The materials for this study were recycled when possible and the ink on the recruitment brochures is environmentally friendly soy ink.