Longitudinal relationships between workplace bullying,basic psychological needs,and employee functioning: a simultaneous investigation of psychological need satisfaction and frustration

The aim of this cross-lagged study was to provide new insight into the interplay between workplace bullying, basic psychological needs (for autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and employee functioning. Based on new developments in self-determination theory (SDT) research, we simultaneously examined the temporal relationships between workplace bullying, need satisfaction and frustration, as well as two indicators of psychological functioning: life satisfaction and psychosomatic complaints. Data were collected at two time points over a 12-month period from a sample of 508 Canadian nurses. Results suggest that bullying not only negatively predicted satisfaction for the needs of autonomy and competence, it actively frustrated all three needs. Frustration of the needs for competence and relatedness as well as satisfaction of the need for relatedness also predicted the psychological functioning of employees exposed to bullying behaviour over time. Taken together, the results suggest that evaluating need frustration provides in-depth insight into the detrimental effects of bullying on employees’ psychological inner resources and may explain the impoverishment of employees’ psychological functioning when confronted with bullying behaviour. The implications for the bullying and SDT literature are discussed.     

Interpreting functional analysis results using the real-time recording of independent and dependent variables

An extended series of functional analysis conditions were conducted to assess the operant function of aggressive behaviors emitted by a 33-year-old female with diagnoses of severe mental retardation and organic psychosis. Results from the primary test conditions were fairly undifferentiated, but response rates were elevated in the control condition. Independent-variable integrity data from the control condition indicated that aggressive behaviors were nearly always contiguous with the fixed-time delivery of experimenter attention. These results are discussed in the context of the current control condition functioning as a possible test for escape from social interaction. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Awareness of Genetic Counseling and Perceptions of its Purpose: A Survey of the Canadian Public

Genetic counseling can result in better outcomes when clients understand what to expect, and at least theoretically, at some point in their lifespan, anyone could be referred for or benefit from genetic counseling. Thus, in order to identify (and ultimately address) issues around awareness of genetic counseling and perceptions of its purpose, we surveyed the Canadian general population. We acquired 1,000 telephone numbers corresponding to a demographically representative sample of Canada from Survey Sampling International, and invited individuals to participate in a telephone-based survey. We administered a purpose-designed survey (in either French or English) comprising questions regarding: demographics, whether or not the individual had heard of genetic counseling, and 15 Likert scale-rated (strongly disagree—strongly agree) items about the possible purposes of genetic counseling. Responses to these 15 items were used to generate a total “knowledge score”. Of the 1,000 numbers, n?=?372 could not be reached, and the survey was successfully administered to n?=?188 individuals (response rate 30 %). Most respondents (n?=?129, 69 %) had not heard of genetic counseling, and substantial proportions thought that genetic counseling aims to prevent genetic diseases and abnormalities, help couples have children with desirable characteristics, and help people to understand their ancestry. These data could be used to inform the strategy for development of future awareness efforts, and as a baseline from which to measure their effects.     

Longitudinal associations between people's cessation-related experiences and their satisfaction with cessation

We sought to determine whether different social, psychological, emotional, and physiological experiences associated with quitting smoking related to people's satisfaction with cessation systematically, and whether the strength of the relations changes at different points during the cessation process and for different people (e.g., optimists). Using data from smokers enrolled in a cessation program, we used mixed models to assess the average longitudinal relation between people's experiences and satisfaction measured at seven time points and whether the relations were moderated by key variables. Eight of nine experiences were related to people's satisfaction (ps < 0.05) and the models accounted for 39–44% of the within-person variance in satisfaction. Current smoking behavior was more strongly related to people's satisfaction during their early efforts to quit, whereas some experiences (e.g., feedback from others) had a stronger relation with satisfaction during people's later efforts to quit or maintain abstinence (ps < 0.05). Individual differences in optimism and prior cessation experience moderated some of the relations (ps < 0.05). The findings mark the first evidence of factors that might influence how people determine their satisfaction with smoking cessation. The implications for tailoring interventions and potentially increasing the likelihood that people maintain abstinence are discussed.     

PREVENTING BACK INJURIES IN HOSPITAL SETTINGS: THE EFFECTS OF VIDEO MODELING ON SAFE PATIENT LIFTING BY NURSES

This study evaluated video scoring and feedback about scoring as a safety intervention among 6 nursing staff. The dependent variable was safety behavior on one‐person transfers. Following baseline, 5 nursing staff participated in an information phase. A video scoring phase was then introduced for all 6. A feedback phase was added for 2 participants. All participants experienced treatment withdrawal. Information resulted in improvements for all 5 participants who received it. Further improvements were observed during video scoring for the 5 participants who improved following information. No improvements were observed for the participant who received only video scoring. Safety feedback further improved safety for the 2 participants who received it. However, participants' behavior returned to video scoring levels during withdrawal.     

Effects of shifts in goal origin on goal acceptance and attainment

Current models of goal setting often fail to consider the potential negative effects of goal programs. Control over goal difficulty levels may be an important source of personal control in the workplace and psychological reactance may result from a shift in control over the setting of goals. The present experiment examined the effects of initial goal origin (assigned or self-set) and shifted goal origin (shifted or not shifted) on goal acceptance and attainment over two trial blocks of a verbal task. Several hypotheses based on psychological reactance theory were tested in a laboratory experiment with 160 college undergraduates. Overall analyses revealed significant interactions for goal acceptance and goal attainment over trial blocks. Simple effect analyses isolated this interaction for both dependent variables in a disordinal crossover pattern for the shifted origin groups over trial blocks, as expected. The discussion focuses on fitting these results into the current program guiding goal-setting research and on suggesting future avenues of research. Some implications for the application of goal setting are also discussed.