A comparison of general and work-specific measures of core self-evaluations

During the past decade, considerable research attention has been given to core self-evaluations (CSEs). Although this research has found that CSE is related to several important work-related outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction, job performance), we believe that researchers’ reliance on general rather than work-specific CSE has resulted in underestimates of the importance of CSE. Based on the literature on frame-of-reference effects in personality assessment, we predict that work-related CSE will yield stronger relationships with work-related criteria than general CSE will and that work-specific CSE will be related to work-specific criteria after general CSE has been controlled. Using two independent samples, we found that when compared with general CSE, work-specific CSE generally failed to yield significantly stronger zero-order relationships with work-related criteria. However, we found several instances in which work-specific CSE predicted incremental variance in work-related criteria after the effects of general CSE were controlled.     

Anxiety Sensitivity and Negative Interpretation Biases: Their Shared and Unique Associations with Anxiety Symptoms

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is a psychological risk factor for anxiety disorders. Negative interpretation biases are a maladaptive form of information-processing also associated with anxiety disorders. The present study explored whether AS and negative interpretation biases make independent contributions to variance in panic and generalized anxiety symptoms and whether particular interpretation bias domains (e.g., of ambiguous arousal sensations) have specific associations with panic and/or generalized anxiety symptoms. Eighty-nine female undergraduates (44 low AS; 45 high AS) completed measures of AS, interpretation biases, and panic and generalized anxiety symptoms. Findings showed that AS and negative interpretation biases both significantly added to the prediction of anxiety symptoms. Negative interpretations of ambiguous arousal sensations were uniquely associated with panic symptoms, while negative interpretations of ambiguous general and social events were uniquely associated with generalized anxiety symptoms. Findings support the conceptual validity of AS and negative interpretation biases and their unique and shared contributions to anxiety symptoms.     

Productive and Counterproductive Attendance Behavior: An Examination of Early and Late Arrival to and Departure From Work

Although previous research has examined late arrival to and early departure from work, little is known about early arrival and late departure. Using data from 227 participants employed in a number of different organizations, the current study found that early arrival, late arrival, early departure, and late departure represent four distinct constructs. Furthermore, early arrival and late departure loaded onto the same second-order factor as organizational citizenship behaviors and late arrival and early departure loaded onto the same second-order factor as counterproductive work behaviors. Additional analyses found that Conscientiousness and job attitudes predicted significant variance in each of these attendance behaviors. We also collected qualitative data from a second sample (N = 176), which found that early employees generally spend their extra time at work engaging in work-related activities.     

Effects of Job Satisfaction and Conscientiousness on Extra-Role Behaviors

Purpose  

Objective of this study was to examine conscientiousness as a moderator of the relationship between job satisfaction and extra-role behaviors.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of Loneliness Among Older People in Great Britain

Longitudinal studies of loneliness among older people are comparatively rare. At 8 years after the initial survey in 1999–2000, we followed up on the 999 people aged 65+ years who were living in the community in the United Kingdom. We found that 583 participants were still alive, and 287 (58%) participated in the follow-up survey. The overall prevalence of loneliness at both time points was very similar, with 9% reporting severe loneliness; 30% reporting that they were sometimes lonely, and 61% reporting that they were never lonely. We developed a 12-category typology to describe changes in loneliness across the follow-up period and report that 60% of participants had a stable loneliness rating, with 40–50% rating themselves as never lonely, and 20–25% rating themselves as persistently lonely; 25% demonstrated decreased loneliness, and approximately 15% demonstrated worse loneliness. Changes in loneliness were linked with changes in marital status, living arrangements, social networks, and physical health. Importantly improvements in physical health and improved social relationships were linked to reduced levels of loneliness. This result suggests that strategies to combat loneliness are not confined to the arena of social interventions such as befriending services, which aim to build and support social embeddedness, but may also result from the treatment of chronic and long-term health conditions.     

Positive and Negative Affectivity and Facet Satisfaction: A Meta-analysis

Although several studies have investigated the dispositional approach to global job satisfaction, less direct attention has been given to the relationship between dispositions and facet satisfaction. The current meta-analysis examined the relationships of trait positive affectivity (PA) and trait negative affectivity (NA) with satisfaction toward the following five job facets: work itself, supervision, co-workers, pay and promotion. In general, results suggested the presence of a dispositional component to facet satisfaction. Moderator analyses examined whether the strength of these relationships depended on the particular scales used to assess dispositions.     

The Role of Anxiety Sensitivity Components in Mediating the Relationship Between Childhood Exposure to Parental Dyscontrol and Adult Anxiety Symptoms

This retrospective study investigated the relationship between childhood exposure to parental dyscontrol (i.e., loss of control behaviors) and levels of anxiety sensitivity (AS) components in early adulthood. Four-hundred-and-sixty-five undergraduate students completed self-report measures including the Dyscontrol Experiences Questionnaire. Specificity emerged between AS components and particular dyscontrol experiences. Although exposure to parental dyscontrol related to negative emotional states was significantly positively correlated with all AS dimensions, exposure to parental dyscontrol related to drinking was significantly positively correlated with psychological concerns only. Mediator regression analyses showed AS psychological concerns to play a significant mediating role between parental dyscontrol related to anger and drinking and both general and panic-related anxiety symptoms in the adult offspring. Results suggest that specific parental behaviors may be etiologic in the development of AS, and acquired AS may help explain relations between childhood learning experiences and the development of psychopathological symptoms in young adulthood.     

A Construct Validation of the Neutral Objects Satisfaction Questionnaire (NOSQ)

Purpose  

We address concerns regarding the affective-orientation of affective disposition; a personality characteristic assessed using the Neutral Objects Satisfaction Questionnaire (NOSQ). In addition, we examine the utility of affective disposition while controlling for other affective-oriented personality characteristics.     

The Emphasis on Cognitive‐Behavioural Therapy within Clinical Psychology Training at Australian and New Zealand Universities: A Survey of Program Directors

Surveys of clinical psychologists' self‐reports of professional practice exist in Australia and New Zealand, but comparatively little data exist on the training available in universities. The present study was designed to gather data on the training and assessment of cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT). A semi‐structured phone interview was designed for use with clinical psychology training directors, or equivalent, in Australia and New Zealand. Out of a total of 48 universities in the region, 40 clinical directors were successfully contacted: One declined involvement, and 39 agreed to participate, yielding a response rate of 81% (six in New Zealand and 33 in Australia). The data showed that it is common for clinical training programmes in our region to provide clinical trainees with foundational knowledge in CBT (i.e., 29 of the 39 surveyed). However, CBT is mainly incorporated into the auspices of clinical training programmes, there is a wide range of assessment methods to evaluate competence in providing therapy, and relatively few academic units exist that focus exclusively on CBT.