The occurrences and correlates of bullying and harassment in the restaurant sector

The aim of this study was to explore the occurrence of bullying in the restaurant sector and its potential consequences. The sample consisted of 207 superiors and employees in 70 restaurants. The findings indicated that bullying prevails in the restaurant industry, with apprentices as a risk group. Bullying was negatively related to job satisfaction, commitment, employees' perceptions of creative behavior, and external evaluations of restaurant creativity level, and positively related to burnout and intention to leave the job. Some support was found for a mediation hypothesis, where bullying was the predictor, job satisfaction, commitment and burnout were mediators, and intention to leave was dependent variable. One implication of this study is that there is a need to challenge the attitude, common in this sector, that aggression and bullying is a natural and even necessary part of the work environment.     

Exploring the conjunction fallacy within a category learning framework

The literature presents two major theories on the cause of the conjunction fallacy. The first attributes the conjunction fallacy to the representativeness heuristic. The second suggests that the conjunction fallacy is caused by people combining p(A) and p(B) into p(A&B) in an inappropriate manner. These two theories were contrasted in two category‐learning experiments. As predicted by the latter theory, data showed that participants that could assess p(A&B) directly made fewer conjunction fallacies than participants who had to compute p(A) and p(B) separately and then combine them into p(A&B). Least conjunction fallacies were observed in the cases where the representativeness heuristic was applicable. Overall, data showed that an inability to appropriately combine probabilities is one of the key cognitive mechanisms behind the conjunction fallacy. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of Instructions Prioritizing Speed or Accuracy on Kinematics and Kicking Performance in Football Players

The authors' purpose was to investigate if there is a speed accuracy trade-off in soccer kicking by using instructions prioritizing velocity, accuracy, or both upon soccer kicking performance and kicking direction in experienced soccer players. In addition, kinematics were measured to investigate the eventual differences in performance. Thirteen experienced male footballers performed penalty kicks with different instructions prioritizing velocity, accuracy or both. Three-dimensional kinematics, together with maximal ball velocity and hitting accuracy, were measured on all kicks. The main findings were that when the main aim was accuracy, accuracy increased, while the velocity reduced, which supports Fitts' law (Fitts, 1954 Fitts, P. M. (1954). The information capacity of the human motor system in controlling the amplitude of movement. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 47, 381–391.[Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar]). In addition, kicking accuracy was higher when kicking to the contralateral side. The slower ball velocity was caused by lower segmental and in run velocities. These lower segmental velocities were mainly caused by the lower maximal knee extension and pelvis rotation during the accuracy priority kicks.     

Prevalence and correlates of tattooing in Norway: A large‐scale cross‐sectional study

To our knowledge, no previous large‐scale study has examined the prevalences and correlates of having only easily concealed tattoos, or readily visible tattoos. We conducted an exploratory online survey in Norway asking 15,654 (6,151 females) persons aged 16–91 (m = 33.65 ± 12.27) about various demographic, sports, substance use, mental health, personality, and tattooing questions. The estimated prevalence of tattooing was 20.8% (females: 23.8%, males: 17.9%), of which 13.3% had readily visible tattoos. Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that females, being older than 19 years, higher body mass index, lifetime anabolic‐androgenic steroid use (AAS), and higher scores on extraversion were associated with higher odds of having a tattoo. Factors associated with higher odds of having only easily concealed tattoos were being 40–49 (versus those ≤ 19) years old, being only high school or tertiary (versus being only primary school) educated, often or not (versus always) exercising in a gymnasium, and high scores on agreeableness. Females, and higher scores on extraversion and neuroticism were associated with higher odds of having at least one readily visible tattoo. Our findings delineate the significance of demographic variables, gymnasium exercise, AAS, and personality in the practice of tattooing.     

Cultivating Mindfulness Through The Practice Of Iaidō

Iaidō is a Japanese swordsmanship art that teaches the practitioner, iaidokan, a series of sword techniques known as kata. The number, and severity of [sword] techniques increases as the practitioner achieves higher grades (kyu and dan). To understand and conduct the [spiritual] core of iaidō, the iaidoka must learn how to be attentive and bodily and mindfully present when carrying out these [sword] techniques. In this respect, mindfulness training could be of great help by enhancing the ability of the iaidokan skills in this regard. Additionally, mindfulness training may be used to teach the practitioner of iaidō how to develop a being-mode. This article discusses, from both an outside-in perspective, as academic researcher and an inside-out perspective as a mindfulness and iaidō practitioner, the meaning of iaidō in terms of attention, [mindfulness] meditation and a being-mode. This discussion may prepare the way for a new and inspiring understanding of Asian spiritual practices in a Western guise.     

Problematic video game use: estimated prevalence and associations with mental and physical health

A nationwide survey was conducted to investigate the prevalence of video game addiction and problematic video game use and their association with physical and mental health. An initial sample comprising 2,500 individuals was randomly selected from the Norwegian National Registry. A total of 816 (34.0 percent) individuals completed and returned the questionnaire. The majority (56.3 percent) of respondents used video games on a regular basis. The prevalence of video game addiction was estimated to be 0.6 percent, with problematic use of video games reported by 4.1 percent of the sample. Gender (male) and age group (young) were strong predictors for problematic use of video games. A higher proportion of high frequency compared with low frequency players preferred massively multiplayer online role-playing games, although the majority of high frequency players preferred other game types. Problematic use of video games was associated with lower scores on life satisfaction and with elevated levels of anxiety and depression. Video game use was not associated with reported amount of physical exercise.     

Social anxiety as a basis for friendship selection and socialization in adolescents' social networks

Socially anxious children and adolescents have previously been found to have friends with similarly socially anxious, withdrawn behavioral characteristics. How peers might socialize social anxiety over time has, however, not been thoroughly investigated. We examined this in a sample of 834 youths (339 girls and 495 boys; M=14.29), followed for 3 years. We used the social network analysis software SIENA to analyze the data. The results showed that youths who were socially anxious were less popular and chose fewer friends in the network. They also tended to choose friends who were socially anxious, and over time they influenced each other into becoming more socially anxious--over and above other effects. Finally, girls' social anxiety was more influenced than boys' by their friends' social anxiety levels. The results showed the significance of looking at socially anxious youths' friendships over time and embedded in social networks.     

Deliberate self-harm and psychological problems in young adolescents: evidence of a bidirectional relationship in girls

The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that there is a bidirectional prospective relationship between mental health and deliberate self-harm, in the sense that (1) psychological problems are a risk factor for the development of self-harm; (2) self-harm is a risk factor for the development of psychological problems; and (3) the relative absence of psychological problems is a protective factor against the continued use of self-harm in adolescents who have started to harm themselves. This was studied in a community sample of 879 young adolescents by means of a 2-wave longitudinal design with a one-year interval, with self-harm measured by a nine-item version of the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory (DSHI-9r) and psychological problems by the self-report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The hypothesis of bidirectional relationship between psychological problems and self-harm was supported among girls, but not among boys - although there was evidence of psychological problems as a risk factor of self-harm in boys, the converse was not the case. The relative absence of psychological problems was found to be a protective factor against self-harm only among boys, but not among girls. The results are discussed in terms of self-harm having a different role in the development of psychopathology among girls than among boys.     

Adulthood EAS-temperament and carotid artery intima-media thickness: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study

We examined the association between adulthood emotionality-activity-sociability temperament scale and preclinical atherosclerosis and, whether this association is mediated by cardiovascular risk factors (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and body-mass index (BMI)). The participants were a nationally representative sample of 537 men and 811 women from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study aged 15-30 years at the baseline in 1992 and aged 24-39 years at the follow-up in 2001. Carotid atherosclerosis was assessed by ultrasound scans of the common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and brachial flow-mediated dilation (FMD). In men, there was an association between the temperament dimension activity and IMT (β = 0.08, p = 0.036) which was partially mediated by BMI (β decreased from 0.08 to 0.05; p-value of Sobel test = 0.002). However, after correction for multiple comparisons the association between IMT and the temperament dimension activity in men was only of borderline significance. In women, there were no associations between temperament and IMT or FMD. These results suggest that a highly active temperament may contribute to early signs of atherosclerosis in men and that body mass may mediate this association.     

Parents’ Reactions to Youths’ Hyperactivity,Impulsivity, and Attention Problems

Hyperactivity, impulsivity, and attention problems (HIA) in children and adolescents are stressful for parents. In this study, we used theories of parents’ perceived power and attributions for youths’ behaviors to develop a model to understand parents’ reactions to their youths’ HIA. We followed 706 youths (376 boys and 330 girls, aged 10–12 years at T1) and their parents in a community-based project over 5 years. Measures of youths’ HIA, youths’ unresponsiveness to correction, parents’ feelings of powerlessness, parental monitoring, and parents’ negative behaviors toward their youths, were used. HIA in youths predicted increases in parents’ perceptions that their youths were unresponsive to correction, which in turn prompted parents to feel more powerless over time. Further, parents’ feelings of powerlessness were associated with increases in negative parenting behaviors over time. These results indicate a movement to more negative parenting practices over time as a result of youths’ HIA.