The other side of the coin: Vocational interests,interest differentiation and annual income at the occupation level of analysis

This research examined the effects of vocational interest levels and differentiation on annual income. Following the environmental perspective, we investigated whether relationships existed at the occupation level of analysis. Using data from 665 occupations in the U.S. obtained from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*Net, we demonstrated that certain vocational interests – namely investigative, enterprising, and realistic interests – were most critical in predicting annual income for occupations. Controlling for interest levels, differentiation not only positively predicted annual income but also moderated each interest's relationship with income. In addition, occupations' education and training requirement partially mediated the effects of interest profiles on income. Our findings reveal the need for a better understanding of how characteristics of an occupation's interest profile may shape the experiences of its workers.     

Parental Attitudes,Attachment Styles,Social Networks,and Psychological Processes in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

In this study the authors used a cross-cultural approach to examine parental attitudes, attachment styles, social networks, and some of the psychological processes involved in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Fifty-two children (aged 4–11 years) took part in the study: 30 Italians (15 with ASD and 15 controls) and 22 Cubans (11 with ASD and 11 controls). Findings indicated significant differences between the two cultural groups in terms of the structure of the children's social network and parental attitudes toward their children. However, the mother–child attachment relationship and cognitive and emotional functioning of the study participants were independent of culture.     

Microtransitions and the Dynamics of Family Functioning

This paper presents a qualitative observational study aimed at exploring microtransitions in the relational dynamics of family functioning when the children are adolescents. Three concurrent levels were considered central for family functioning in this period: the acknowledgment of emerging competences, the redefinition of the power structure, and the regulation of interpersonal distances. Twenty-eight non-clinical Italian families with at least one adolescent child were interviewed and video-recorded in their homes. A stance-taking process analysis was carried out on the family interactive sequences arising in the course of the interviews. This analysis was based on the stances taken by all family members in relation to their reciprocal evaluations, positions, and alignments, which allowed us to point out the interlocking of competences, power and distances. Out of all the possible theoretical combinations of these three dimensions, we identified four forms of interaction. In two forms, the emerging changes were not incorporated in the families’ interactive repertoires by either reconfirming family stability or resisting family changes. In these ways of interacting competences, power, and distances were not reorganized. In the other two forms, instead, family microtransitions were observable in the extent to which family members either explored family changes or legitimated family reorganizations. In these processes, they could redefine and readdress their ways of interacting.     

Parent–Child Joint Reading in Traditional and Electronic Formats

There is little question that parent–child joint reading is related to a number of positive childhood outcomes, such as vocabulary acquisition and school success. With the growth of tablet computers, parents are now able to read to their children using different platforms. This study used a repeated-measures design with parents and their preschool-aged children to test the difference between reading interactions and child comprehension on two platforms: traditional books and electronic iPad books. Results indicated that in the electronic reading condition, parents used more talk about the book format and environment than in the traditional book condition, where they used more evaluative comments about content. Children comprehended significantly more in the traditional book condition than in the electronic book condition. Additional analyses suggested that this finding was related to the increase in distraction talk by parents in the electronic book condition. Results suggest that it is important to consider the specific content of parent–child reading interactions and the increased cognitive load these interactions can place on children, as parent questions about the book format and the environment were related to decreases in child comprehension.     

Effects of Metacontingencies on Cooperative Behavior: A Systematic Replication Using Innovative Procedures during Isolation

The Psychological Record - The study replicated research on metacontingencies that used a chessboard simulating a simplified chess game, in a completely online environment, with participants in...     

‘The child's past in the adult's present’: The trauma of the Siege of Leningrad (1941–1944)

This study deals with the individual and collective memory of Leningrad Siege survivors who experienced mass and prolonged wartime trauma during childhood (1941–44). While much has been published about the Siege, there has to date been no investigation by psychologists into the effects of extreme deprivation on Siege victims apart from one pilot study (Gulina et al., 2005). This study is still underway. Interviews with 80 participants (68 female and 12 male) are analysed and discussed here. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and content analysis are utilized. Unpublished archival writings by children caught in the Siege have been analysed. The principal method of interpretation is based on a psychoanalytic understanding of child development, mourning and the metabolizing of traumatic experience. The subjective meaning of the Siege experience to individual children is considered     

Work Passion Through the Lens of Culture: Harmonious Work Passion,Obsessive Work Passion,and Work Outcomes in Russia and China

Purpose

This cross-cultural study with employee–supervisor dyads in Russia and China examines links between harmonious and obsessive work passion and four job- and organization-focused outcomes (job satisfaction, intentions to quit, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors) and two career-focused outcomes (career satisfaction and occupational commitment).

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected from employee–supervisor dyads in Russia (N = 223) and China (N = 193). We undertook a series of hierarchical regressions to examine the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

We found considerable support for the harmonious passion–work outcome relationships and less support for the obsessive passion–work outcome relationships. In both Russia and China, harmonious passion predicted all six hypothesized outcomes. However, obsessive work passion predicted job satisfaction and occupational commitment in Russia, but was unrelated to any of the hypothesized outcomes in China. We also identified several culture-specific work passion–outcome relationships.

Implications

Our research extends the duality of the work passion construct to non-Western cultures. The examination of a variety of work passion outcomes provides a finer-grained approach to how two types of passion uniquely link to different work consequences. Several culture-specific findings refute the traditionally held assumption that harmonious passion relates to solely positive outcomes, whereas obsessive passion relates to solely negative outcomes. Collectively, the results augment the nomological framework of the passion construct. The study informs managerial practices by suggesting when work passion needs to be encouraged or tamed.

Originality/Value

This is the first study that examines a variety of job-, organization-, and career-focused outcomes of work passion in non-Western organizations.