Taken with Surprise: Critical Incidents in Teaching

Abstract. This collection of essays tackles thorny questions related to critical incidents in teaching. By using different pedagogical methods and techniques, each author provokes creative thinking about how to address specific concerns common to teaching. The authors demonstrate that the teaching and learning process must make room for – if not celebrate – the surprises that happen not only to the students, but to the teachers as well. The discussion of critical incidents helps to promote reflection on teaching practice and prompt insights into the intricate dynamics shaping the increasingly diverse learning community. Each individual essay is accompanied by reflection questions that can be used to spark conversation among colleagues and/or prompt further personal reflection on teaching and learning.     

When Does Supervisor Support Encourage Innovative Behavior? Opposite Moderating Effects of General Self‐efficacy and Internal Locus of Control

Previous research is inconclusive about whether supervisor support always increases employee innovative behavior. To address this inconsistency, this research explores how and when supervisor support promotes innovative behavior by examining intrinsic motivation as a mediator and employee general self‐efficacy and internal locus of control as boundary conditions. Although these 2 positive self‐view variables are similar in terms of their positive effects on a variety of desirable work outcomes, we draw on self‐verification theory, which posits that self‐confirming information draws more attention, to reason that they exhibit opposite moderating effects on the influence of supervisor support. Based on 2 samples of employees in different industries and locations in China, this moderated mediated model was supported. General self‐efficacy showed an enhancement moderating effect, such that it amplified the mediated relationship between supervisor support and employee innovative behavior via intrinsic motivation. In contrast, internal locus of control showed a substitutional moderating effect, such that it weakened this mediated relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Depletion from Self‐Regulation: A Resource‐based Account of the Effect of Value Incongruence

Value incongruence between employees and organizations has been identified as a negative work condition. An attitude‐based account suggests that value incongruence gives rise to negative attitudes toward organizations and thus causes low performance. To complement this mechanism, we propose a resource‐based account based on ego‐depletion theory, which suggests that value incongruence consumes an individual's regulatory resources and leads to low work performance. In support of this view, results from 2 survey studies and a vignette experiment reveal that value incongruence is positively associated with ego depletion, which in turn is negatively related to work performance. The mediation effect of ego depletion is independent of the attitude‐based mechanism as represented by job satisfaction and affective commitment. Consistent with the affective consistency perspective, the relationship between value incongruence and ego depletion is stronger among employees high in positive affectivity and weaker among employees high in negative affectivity. The corresponding moderated mediation analysis shows that the indirect effects of value incongruence on work performance through ego depletion vary as a function of positive and negative affectivity. This investigation unravels the self‐regulatory consequence of value incongruence and shows that the resource‐based mechanism of value incongruence operates differentially as a function of dispositional affectivity.     

Allocentric versus idiocentric tendencies: Convergent and discriminant validation

Allocentric tendencies were studied with a multimethod questionnaire and Illinois undergraduates. Nine scales measuring different aspects of allocentrism were shown to have good reliability and to be intercorrelated, thus showing convergent validity. Factor analysis identified three aspects: subordination of personal to group goals, the ingroup as extension of the self, and ingroup identity. The scales also had satisfactory discriminant validity. Those high on idiocentric tendencies used equity and those high in allocentric tendencies used equality and need in distributing rewards. A second study found that those who are allocentric are more likely to emphasize the values of cooperation, equality, and honesty, and those who are idiocentric to emphasize the values of comfortable life, competition, pleasure, and social recognition. Those who were allocentric reported receiving more social support and a better quality of social support; those who were idiocentric were higher in achievement motivation, alienation, anomie, and reported greater loneliness.     

The Impact of Childhood Emotional Abuse on Adolescents’ Subjective Happiness: the Mediating Role of Emotional Intelligence

Subjective happiness has been considered a key indicator of adolescents’ healthy development. The present study aimed at identifying the impact of childhood emotional abuse on adolescents’ subjective happiness and the possible role of emotional intelligence as a mediating variable. Using convenience sampling, a cross-sectional survey was conducted with 9 secondary schools in Hong Kong, China. Participants included a total of 1710 grade 8 to grade 9 secondary school students. The mean age was 13.6, and 61.2% were boys. Measures included child abuse and trauma, emotional intelligence, and subjective happiness. The results showed that childhood emotional abuse in adolescents’ childhood is a significant risk factor for subjective happiness. Emotional intelligence has a partial mediation effect on the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and subjective happiness. It is noteworthy that parenting practices in childhood have a significant impact on children’s happiness even after a period of time. It is suggested that students’ emotional intelligence be enhanced to increase their subjective happiness. Although the conventional parenting style may be rooted in Chinese culture, a paradigm shift in parenting seems to be needed for Chinese parents. Efforts should be made to promote appropriate parenting methods and emotional intelligence in Chinese societies. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are also discussed.

     

Justice for all? Progress in Research on Cultural Variation in the Psychology of Distributive and Procedural Justice

Nous passons en revue les apports des recherches concernant l'impact de la culture sur la perception de la justice. Nous pre´sentons les mode`les qui rendent compte de la faµon dont les gens appre´cient l'e´quite´ de l'attribution des allocations d'une part, l'e´quite´ des processus de de´cision d'autre part. Suite a` l'examen de recherches interculturelles, nous prenons en conside´ration des diffe´rences entre pays pour mettre a` l'e´preuve des hypothe`ses sur les liens entre des valeurs culturelles ge´ne´rales (ex.: individualisme‐collectivisme) et des crite`res particuliers (ex. les re`gles d'e´quite´). Nous ne manquons pas toutefois de souligner les e´cueils que rencontre cette strate´gie de recherche qui a entraîne´ une meilleure pre´cision des conceptions de l'influence culturelle (pre´cision dans les valeurs, les contextes sociaux qui renvoient a` des crite`res d'e´quite´ particuliers et les structures de savoirs qui pre´sident a` l'interpre´tation des conduites)     

Cognitive-behavioral treatment groups for people with chronic physical illness in Hong Kong: reflections on a culturally attuned model

This study describes and evaluates a cognitive-behavioral treatment group for people with chronic physical illness in Hong Kong. We developed a group protocol based on the understanding that Chinese people generally prefer a structured group format, expect group leaders to be active and directive, and are not used to expressing opinions and emotions in groups. The experimental and waitlist control groups had 38 and 35 participants, respectively. A standardized questionnaire was administered to all participants before and after the group treatment. Results suggest that members of the experimental group showed improvements in mental health, negative automatic thoughts, and negative emotions when compared to those in the waitlist control groups, and at the end of group treatment. Implications for designing and running a culturally attuned CBT group for Chinese people are discussed.     

Influence of Student-Teacher and Parent-Teacher Relationships on Lower Achieving Readers' Engagement and Achievement in the Primary Grades

Participants were 443 (52.6% male, 47.4% female) ethnically diverse, 1st-grade, lower achieving readers attending 1 of 3 school districts in Texas. Using latent variable structural equation modeling, the authors tested a theoretical model positing that (a) the quality of teachers' relationships with students and their parents mediates the associations between children's background characteristics and teacher-rated classroom engagement and that (b) child classroom engagement, in turn, mediates the associations between student-teacher and parent-teacher relatedness and child achievement the following year. The hypothesized model provided a good fit to the data. African American children and their parents, relative to Hispanic and Caucasian children and their parents, had less supportive relationships with teachers. These differences in relatedness may be implicated in African American children's lower achievement trajectories in the early grades. Implications of these findings for teacher preparation are discussed.     

Stress, social support, and teacher burnout in Macau

The present study attempts to document the difficulties that teachers in Macau encountered in their work, the extent to which the job-related difficulties would induce burnout, and whether or not social support could buffer the adverse effects of stress on burnout. In-service teachers enrolled in a teacher training program filled out questionnaires addressing the variables of interest. The results indicated that difficulties with fellow teachers, supervisors, students, and parents of students were associated with burnout. Conjectures were made regarding the noneffectiveness of social support.