The Role of Workers’ Motivational Profiles in Affective and Organizational Factors

We used latent profile analyses to understand how the different forms of motivation proposed by self-determination theory combine with each other and how they relate to some organizational factors (i.e., perceived organizational support and procedural justice) and well-and ill-being indicators (i.e., work engagement, quality of working life, work satisfaction, job anxiety, and burnout). The research draws upon quantitative data collected by means of a questionnaire that was administered to 328 employees (Study 1) and 521 employees (Study 2) from various French companies. Results revealed that workers characterized by the two most autonomous motivational profiles displayed higher levels of work engagement, quality of working life, and work satisfaction, and lower levels of burnout and job anxiety than those with low levels of autonomous motivation, and introjected and external regulations (Low AU/INR/EXR profile), and those with moderate levels of autonomous motivation, moderate to high levels of introjected regulation, and moderate levels of external regulation (Mod AU/INR/EXR profile in Study 1 and Mod AU–High INR–Mod EXR profile in Study 2). Of interest is that the High AU–Low INR/EXR and High AU/INR–Low EXR profiles did not differ on well- and ill-being. In addition, perceived organizational support and procedural justice were associated with a greater probability of belonging to the High AU–Low INR/EXR and High AU/INR–Low EXR profiles, taking the Low AU/INR/EXR profile as a referent. The present research contributes towards a better understanding of the links between workers’ motivational profiles and affective and organizational factors.     

The influences of tropical climate on imagined walking time

This study investigated the effects of a Tropical Climate (TC) on actual and imagined walking times. Participants had to execute and imagine walking 3 distances with or without a 10-kg weight in either a TC or an Air Conditioning (AC) condition. The motor imagery quality was evaluated by computing the isochrony index. The results revealed that movement times were shorter for imagined walking than for actual walking and increased with the distance of the paths in both cases. By contrast, the effect of the load increased actual walking times for the 10- and 15-meter distances without affecting imagined walking times. Importantly, the isochrony index was negatively affected by the increase in load and distance and the effects of distance were amplified in a TC. These findings showed that the environmental climate in which motor imagery arises can modulate the subject’s ability to build up the temporal characteristics of simulated actions.     

The relationship between cognitive ability and personality scores in selection situations: A meta‐analysis

Several faking theories have identified applicants’ cognitive ability (CA) as a determinant of faking—the intentional distortion of answers by candidates—but the corresponding empirical findings in the area of personality tests are often ambiguous. Following the assumption that CA is important for faking, we expected applicants with high CA to show higher personality scores in selection situations, leading in this case to significant correlations between CA and personality scores, but not in nonselection situations. This meta‐analysis (66 studies, k = 115 individual samples, N = 46,265) showed this pattern of results as well as moderation effects for the study design (laboratory vs. field), the response format of the personality test, and the type of CA test.     

The effect of the two feet-in-the-door technique on tobacco deprivation

The ‘Foot-in-the-door’ (FITD) is a well-known compliance technique that increases compliance with a request. Many investigations on this paradigm have generally used prosocial requests to test the effect of the technique. A new evaluation of the effect of the FITD technique was carried out on tobacco deprivation. A two feet-in-the-door technique in which the target request was preceded by two small target requests was used to encourage students to stop smoking for 24 h. The results were compared with two single foot-in-the- door procedures in which the final request was only preceded by one small request, as well as with a control condition using only a 24 h stop-smoking request. Results showed that the single FITD and the two feet-in-the-door procedures were effective to increase verbal compliance (accepting to stop smoking) but only the two feet-in-the-door technique significantly increased behavioural compliance (not smoking for 24 h) with the request.     

Can the chronic exclusion-resignation link be broken? An analysis of support groups within prisons

Social exclusion, especially when prolonged over time––has a strong impact on the individuals’ health and wellbeing. According to the Temporal Need-Threat Model (Williams, 2009), the experience of chronic social exclusion inescapably leads to a condition of resignation, characterized by feelings of alienation, depression, helplessness, and unworthiness. However, few empirical studies have tested this prediction and its potential moderating factors. In this research, we identified the prison as a prototypical condition of chronic social exclusion, and aimed at (a) empirically testing the link between chronic exclusion and the resignation stage, (b) investigating whether situational factors—such as attending a support group in prison—can reduce the adverse outcomes of the resignation, and (c) exploring the role of individual differences (e.g., psychological flexibility) in mediating the effect of the support group on the resignation. The study involved 136 participants—68 detainees (31 of them participated in a support group) and 68 free citizens. Results showed that prisoners without the support group showed the highest levels of feelings of resignation. By contrast, prisoners in the support group were no different from nonprisoners in terms of resignation stage outcomes, and this beneficial effect of the support group was mediated by higher levels of perceived social support and psychological flexibility. Overall, this study suggests that the link between chronic exclusion and the resignation stage could be moderated by intervening social factors, highlighting the potential benefits of group-based interventions to tackle the negative consequences of chronic exclusion in chronically excluded populations.     

Complex and subtle structural changes in prefrontal cortex induced by inhibitory control training from childhood to adolescence

A number of training interventions have been designed to improve executive functions and inhibitory control (IC) across the lifespan. Surprisingly, no study has investigated the structural neuroplasticity induced by IC training from childhood to late adolescence, a developmental period characterized by IC efficiency improvement and protracted maturation of prefrontal cortex (PFC) subregions involved in IC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the behavioral and structural changes induced by a 5‐week computerized and adaptive IC training in school‐aged children (10‐year‐olds) and in adolescents (16‐year‐olds). Sixty‐four children and 59 adolescents were randomly assigned to an IC (i.e. Color‐Word Stroop and Stop‐Signal tasks) or an active control (AC) (knowledge‐ and vocabulary‐based tasks) training group. In the pre‐ and posttraining sessions, participants performed the Color‐Word Stroop and Stop‐signal tasks, and an anatomical resonance imaging (MRI) was acquired for each of them. Children's IC efficiency improved from the pre‐ to the posttraining session in boys but not in girls. In adolescents, IC efficiency did not improve after IC training. Similar to the neuroplastic mechanisms observed during brain maturation, we observed IC training‐related changes in cortical thickness and cortical surface area in several PFC subregions (e.g. the pars opercularis, triangularis, and orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyri) that were age‐ and gender‐specific. Because no correction for multiple comparisons was applied, the results of our study provide only preliminary evidence of the complex structural neuroplastic mechanisms at the root of behavioral changes in IC efficiency from pre‐ to posttraining in school‐aged children and adolescents.     

Expressing and receiving negative emotions: Comments on Myisha Cherry's The Case for Rage

Responding to Myisha Cherry's The Case for Rage, I discuss how the book touches on the difficulties of disentangling emotions and their expressions. Then I suggest two ways in which destructive rage might be good, one on Kantian grounds and another via extension from experience. Finally, I raise the issue of whether there might be other Lordean emotions.