Measuring positive,psychological rewards: The validation of the Intrinsic Work Rewards Scale

This study sought to validate the Intrinsic Work Rewards Scale (IWRS) using a transnational sample. Respondents were 486 non-profit employees from Australia, South Africa and the United States of America (females = 72.0%; managerial/ supervisory job level employees = 57.4%). Data analysis included reliability testing, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and concurrent validity testing with established measures to which the IWRS is theoretically linked. The scores from the IWRS obtained an overall acceptable reliability coefficient of 0.86. Factor analysis confirmed its five factor structure, and correlations indicated that intrinsic rewards are positively related to work engagement, and negatively related to intention to quit. The IWRS appears to yield reliable scores for human resource managers advising in the non-profit employment sector.     

Conceptualizing and Measuring Self-Criticism as Both a Personality Trait and a Personality State

Blatt's (2004 Blatt, S. J. (2004). Experiences of depression: Theoretical, clinical, and research perspectives. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2008 Blatt, S. J. (2008). Polarities of experience: Relatedness and self-definition in personality development, psychopathology, and the therapeutic process. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) conceptualization of self-criticism is consistent with a state–trait model that postulates meaningful variation in self-criticism both between persons (traits) and within person (states). We tested the state–trait model in a 7-day diary study with 99 college student participants. Each evening they completed a 6-item measure of self-criticism, as well as measures of perceived social support, positive and negative affect, compassionate and self-image goals during interactions with others, and interpersonal behavior, including overt self-criticism and given social support. As predicted, self-criticism displayed both trait-like variance between persons and daily fluctuations around individuals' mean scores for the week; slightly more than half of the total variance was between persons (ICC = .56). Numerous associations at both the between-persons and within-person levels were found between self-criticism and the other variables, indicating that individuals' mean levels of self-criticism over the week, and level of self-criticism on a given day relative to their personal mean, were related to their cognitions, affect, interpersonal goals, and behavior. The results supported the construct validity of the daily self-criticism measure. Moreover, the findings were consistent with the state–trait model and with Blatt's theoretical analysis of self-critical personality.     

Linking Item Response Model Parameters

With a few exceptions, the problem of linking item response model parameters from different item calibrations has been conceptualized as an instance of the problem of test equating scores on different test forms. This paper argues, however, that the use of item response models does not require any test score equating. Instead, it involves the necessity of parameter linking due to a fundamental problem inherent in the formal nature of these models—their general lack of identifiability. More specifically, item response model parameters need to be linked to adjust for the different effects of the identifiability restrictions used in separate item calibrations. Our main theorems characterize the formal nature of these linking functions for monotone, continuous response models, derive their specific shapes for different parameterizations of the 3PL model, and show how to identify them from the parameter values of the common items or persons in different linking designs.     

Religious versus Conventional Internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression

The accessibility and efficacy of two Internet-supported interventions for depression: conventional cognitive behavioral therapy (C-CBT) and religious CBT (R-CBT) were investigated. Depressed participants (N = 79) were randomly assigned to either active treatment or wait-listed control group. Self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and life quality were collected before, immediately after, and 6 months after the intervention. Significant differences among the three conditions emerged at post-intervention with medium to large effect sizes (Cohen’s d between 0.45 and 1.89), but no differences between the R-CBT and C-CBT were found. However, the addition of religious components to CBT contributed to the initial treatment appeal for religious participants, thus increasing the treatment accessibility.     

“I remember/know/guess that I knew it all along!”: Subjective experience versus objective measures of the knew-it-all-along effect

The knew-it-all-along (KIA) effect occurs when individuals report that they previously knew something that they learned only recently. People often err when reporting the level of knowledge they had prior to feedback, but there is no research exploring the subjective experience of this effect. We incorporated a remember/just know/ guess judgment into a traditional (Experiment 1A: rating scale) and a modified-traditional (Experiment 1B: two-alternative forced choice) KIA procedure. Experiments 2A, 2B, and 3 were similar in format to Experiments 1A and 1B, but the trivia stimuli were replaced with word puzzles, which were expected to be better suited to inducing a feeling of having known it all along, because answers to trivia questions typically seem arbitrary, whereas word puzzles often give rise to ah-ha experiences. A KIA effect was observed in all the experiments, but an accompanying subjectivefeeling of having known it all along arose only with word puzzles.     

Political support for self-determination,wealth, and national subjective well-being

The present paper explored the relation of wealth and support for self-determination to national subjective well-being (SWB). Support for self-determination was considered from both a political and cultural values standpoint. The results confirmed associations between wealth, support for self-determination, and well-being in a large sample of countries. Importantly, political and cultural value supports for self-determination remained significantly associated with national well-being (as measured by happiness reports and life expectancy) even after controlling for national differences in wealth.

Sex Differences in the Pathway from Low Birth Weight to Inattention/hyperactivity

Inattention/hyperactivity is a childhood outcome of low birth weight. However, the mechanisms by which low birth weight leads to inattention/hyperactivity are unclear. This study examined arousal, activation, motor speed, and motor coordination as possible mechanisms, attending to sex differences. 823 children (400 males) from Detroit and surrounding suburbs were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist and the Teacher Report Form and completed experimental tasks to assess vigilance and activation (Continuous Performance Test signal detection parameters) and motor output speed and control (Grooved Pegboard) at 6 years of age. The relationship between birth weight and inattention/hyperactivity was slightly, but not significantly, stronger for boys than for girls. Arousal, motor speed, and motor coordination significantly partially mediated the relationship between birth weight and inattention/hyperactivity for boys and girls. Moderated mediation was found for the pathway between motor coordination and inattention/hyperactivity such that this relationship was stronger for boys than for girls. Sex differences in the associated features of attention symptoms may reflect partially distinct etiological pathways.     

Midlife Women’s Physical Activity Goals: Sociocultural Influences and Effects on Behavioral Regulation

A better understanding of midlife women’s exercise goals could offer insight into the psychosocial facilitators and barriers to their participation. A random sample of US working women (40–60 years) was taken, and resulted in 262 participants. Cluster analysis identified participants’ most important physical activity goal. A five goal cluster solution was identified: (1) sense of well-being; (2) weight loss; (3) health benefits; (4) stress reduction; and (5) weight maintenance/toning. The goal cluster solution was validated and suggested relevant sociocultural influences and potential effects on behavioral regulation (p?<?.05). Data showed that weight- and health-related goals have sociocultural influences and are associated with more extrinsic and less intrinsic behavioral regulation compared to stress reduction and sense of well-being goals.     

Birds of a feather don't always fly farthest: similarity in Big Five personality predicts more negative marital satisfaction trajectories in long-term marriages

Decades of research suggest that similarity in demographics, values, activities, and attitudes predicts higher marital satisfaction. The present study examined the relationship between similarity in Big Five personality factors and initial levels and 12-year trajectories of marital satisfaction in long-term couples, who were in their 40s and 60s at the beginning of the study. Across the entire sample, greater overall personality similarity predicted more negative slopes in marital satisfaction trajectories. In addition, spousal similarity on Conscientiousness and Extraversion more strongly predicted negative marital satisfaction outcomes among the midlife sample than among the older sample. Results are discussed in terms of the different life tasks faced by young, midlife, and older adults, and the implications of these tasks for the "ingredients" of marital satisfaction.