Correction to: From Teachers’ Work Engagement to Pupils’ Positive Affect: a Weekly Diary Study on the Role of Pupils’ Autonomous Motivation

Applied Research in Quality of Life - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-021-09935-5     

Aligning Expatriate Managers’ Expectations with Complex Global Assignments

The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical, yet practical framework for managing unrealistic expectations of expatriate marketing managers relative to their role in complex global marketing assignments. The formation of these unrealistic expatriate marketing managers’ expectations is examined using relational contracting theory. We explore alternative HRM evaluation/support designs that can suppress the development of expatriate marketing managers’ entitlement process and thus enhance the reality of expatriate marketing managers’ expectations relative to the role in a subsidiary of the multinational enterprise.     

Culture and the distinctiveness motive: constructing identity in individualistic and collectivistic contexts

The motive to attain a distinctive identity is sometimes thought to be stronger in, or even specific to, those socialized into individualistic cultures. Using data from 4,751 participants in 21 cultural groups (18 nations and 3 regions), we tested this prediction against our alternative view that culture would moderate the ways in which people achieve feelings of distinctiveness, rather than influence the strength of their motivation to do so. We measured the distinctiveness motive using an indirect technique to avoid cultural response biases. Analyses showed that the distinctiveness motive was not weaker-and, if anything, was stronger-in more collectivistic nations. However, individualism-collectivism was found to moderate the ways in which feelings of distinctiveness were constructed: Distinctiveness was associated more closely with difference and separateness in more individualistic cultures and was associated more closely with social position in more collectivistic cultures. Multilevel analysis confirmed that it is the prevailing beliefs and values in an individual's context, rather than the individual's own beliefs and values, that account for these differences.     

Investigating the link between liking versus wanting self-esteem and depression in a nationally representative sample of american adults

The self‐esteem movement has been around since the 1970s, and may have influenced how much value people place on self‐esteem. We predicted a negative relationship between age and the amount of value placed on self‐esteem boosts. We also investigated the correlates of liking versus wanting self‐esteem boosts (and other pleasant rewards) on depression. A nationally representative sample of American adults (N = 867) indicated how much they liked and wanted several pleasant rewards (i.e., sex, food, alcohol, money, friendship, self‐esteem boost). They also completed a standardized measure of depressive symptoms. As expected, there was a negative relationship between age and valuing self‐esteem boosts, sex, and alcohol. People with depressive symptoms wanted self‐esteem boosts, even though they did not like them very much. Similar effects were obtained for depressive symptoms and alcohol and friendship. This is the first research to show that self‐esteem boosts are more valued among a nationally representative sample of younger American adults. It also is the first research to explore the association between depression and the motivation to boost self‐esteem. People with depressive symptoms want self‐esteem, and may pursue it, but this pursuit may feel unrewarding because they do not derive pleasure from it.     

Toward a cognitive view of trait mindfulness: distinct cognitive skills predict its observing and nonreactivity facets

Dispositional variations in mindfulness and its facets have garnered considerable recent interest in the clinical and personality literatures. Theoretically, high mindful individuals have been characterized as more attuned to momentary sensations and perceptions and/or better able to execute behavior in a controlled manner, yet data of this relatively cognitive type have not been reported. In addition, perceptual attunement and executive control are distinct skills that may underlie, or at least correlate with, distinct facets of mindfulness. In 3 studies involving college students (N = 297), support for the latter idea was found. Individuals high in the observing (but not nonreactivity) facet of mindfulness demonstrated superior perceptual abilities in visual working memory (Study 1) and temporal order (Study 2) tasks. On the other hand, individuals high in the nonreactivity (but not observing) facet of mindfulness exhibited greater cognitive control flexibility (Study 3). Implications for understanding the cognitive basis of mindfulness facets are discussed.     

Do Applicants Fake Their Personality Questionnaire Responses and How Successful are Their Attempts? A Case of Military Pilot Cadet Selection

This paper presents the results of three interrelated studies investigating the occurrence of response distortion on personality questionnaires within selection and the success of applicants in faking situations. In Study 1, comparison of the Big Five personality scores obtained from applicants in a military pilot cadet selection procedure with participants responding honestly, faking good, and faking an ideal candidate revealed that applicants responded more desirable than participants responding honestly but less desirable than respondents under fake instructions. The occurrence of faking within the military pilot selection process was replicated in Study 2 using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and another comparison group. Finally, in Study 3, comparison of personality profiles obtained in selection and ‘fake job’ situations with experts' estimates indicated that participants were partially successful in faking the desirable profile.     

Daily Activities and Happiness in Later Life: The Role of Work Status

The aim of this study was to examine the role of work status (i.e. working versus not working) in the relationship between time-use and momentary happiness. We employed a longitudinal research design using monthly assessments via the day reconstruction method over 3 years among 579 older adults. In total, participants reported 84,247 daily activities and accompanying momentary happiness levels. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that working older individuals are not happier than nonworking individuals in the overall. However, involvement in work as a daily activity does coincide with higher levels of momentary happiness. Furthermore, working older individuals experience more happiness during relaxing activities, and during weekends, whereas nonworking older individuals experience more happiness during administrative activities. These findings provide novel information on intraindividual differences in lifestyle relating to the everyday happiness between working and nonworking older people which cannot be accurately captured by global survey methods.     

On Being Moved by Art: How Reading Fiction Transforms the Self

An experiment tested the hypothesis that art can cause significant changes in the experience of one's own personality traits under laboratory conditions. After completing a set of questionnaires, including the Big-Five Inventory (BFI) and an emotion checklist, the experimental group read the short story The Lady With the Toy Dog by Chekhov, while the control group read a comparison text that had the same content as the story, but was documentary in form. The comparison text was controlled for length, readability, complexity, and interest level. Participants then completed again the BFI and emotion checklist, randomly placed within a larger set of questionnaires. The results show the experimental group experienced significantly greater change in self-reported experience of personality traits than the control group, and that emotion change mediated the effect of art on traits. Further consideration should be given to the role of art in the facilitation of processes of personality growth and maturation.     

How challenging was your work today? The role of autonomous work motivation

The main aim of this study was to investigate whether autonomous motivation for work can explain the distinctive associations between hindrance and challenge demands and work-related well-being (i.e., positive affect and work engagement) on a within-person level. Autonomous work motivation represents the degree to which motivation for putting effort in work is intrinsic (i.e., with a sense of volition and personal choice) or has been internalized (i.e., without feelings of internal or external pressure). In order to test our hypotheses, we employed a diary methodology and followed 153 secondary school teachers throughout five consecutive working days. The results of multilevel modelling provided support for the hypothesized research model. On days when teachers experienced more challenges, they also experienced more positive affect and more engagement in their work on the same day, and this relationship could be explained by (higher) autonomous work motivation on that day. In contrast, on days when teachers experienced more hindrance demands, they experienced less positive affect and less work engagement, and this process was explained by (reduced) autonomous work motivation that day. Our findings add to the literature by showing that daily autonomous motivation as a motivational process can explain why daily challenge and hindrance demands are differentially related to positive well-being at work.     

Assessing the Role of the Self‐Concept on the Destructive Impact of Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder in Managers

Managers can have personal afflictions that may interfere with their role as managers in an organization. One of these maladies is obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD), a condition frequently identified with excessive patterns of seemingly unnecessary behavior. OCD compels individuals to seek “perfection” in the accomplishment of primarily routine tasks. This overt routine of behaviors distracts individuals from accomplishing their goals and those they manage. This paper examines the role of self‐concept as being central in identifying and understanding the characteristics of the behavioral disorder OCD and how to modify the self‐concept to prevent disruption in the workplace. In addition, the paper explores how to measure OCD and the impact of maladies on peers, subordinates, and superiors in the organization. I've learned . . . that we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we pray for. —My father