Does Work-Home Interference mediate the relationship between workload and well-being?

Drawing on the Effort-Recovery (E-R) model, the current study investigated to what extent Work-Home Interference (WHI) mediated the relationship between workload and two indicators of well-being, that is, (a) affective well-being (i.e., work-related negative affect and depressive mood) and (b) subjective health (i.e., health complaints). In Part I of this study, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test several competing models of mediation—full, partial, or no mediation—in three homogeneous samples (166 medical residents, 194 child care workers, and 224 bus drivers). In Part II of this study, we cross-validated the best fitting model in an independent heterogeneous sample (1421 Dutch workers). The results provided support for the E-R model in that WHI played a significant role in mediating the impact of workload on workers’ well-being. WHI fully mediated the relationship of workload with depressive mood and health complaints, and partially mediated the relationship with work-related negative affect. This differential role of WHI indicates that WHI might play a more crucial mediating role with respect to general (context-free) indicators of well-being than with respect to work-related indicators of well-being. In general, the findings of the current study suggest that workload exerts its negative effects on well-being (at least partly) through a process of spillover of negative load-effects that impede recovery during the non-working hours.     

Reinforcement,Rationality, and Intentions: How Robust Is Automatic Reinforcement Learning in Economic Decision Making?

Reinforcement learning is often observed in economic decision making and may lead to detrimental decisions. Because of its automaticity, it is difficult to avoid. In three experimental studies, we investigated whether this process could be controlled by goal intentions and implementation intentions. Participants' decisions were investigated in a probability‐updating task in which the normative rule to maximize expected payoff (Bayes' rule) conflicted with the reinforcement heuristic as a simple decision rule. Some participants were asked to set goal intentions designated to foster the optimization of rational decision making, while other participants were asked to furnish these goal intentions with implementation intentions. Results showed that controlling automatic processes of reinforcement learning is possible by means of goal intentions or implementation intentions that focus decision makers on the analysis of decision feedback. Importantly, such beneficial effects were not achieved by simply instructing participants to analyze the feedback, without defining a goal as the desired end state from a first‐person perspective. Regarding intentions supposed to shut down reinforcement processes by controlling negative affect, effects were more complex and depended on the specified goal‐directed behavior. The goal intention to suppress the disappointment elicited by negative feedback was not effective in controlling reinforcement processes. Furnishing this goal with an implementation intention even backfired and strengthened unwanted reinforcement processes. In contrast, asking participants to keep cool in response to negative decision outcomes through the use of goal intentions or implementation intentions increased decisions in line with Bayes' rule. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Core Self-Evaluations in Explaining Depression and Work Engagement among Managers

The present study tests interaction effects between working characteristics and core self-evaluations (CSE) among managers. Based on the job demands-resources model, we outline that CSE is a buffer for negative health-related consequences initialized by facing high job demands. Moreover, we hypothesize that CSE is positively linked to job resources and motivation. A sample of 282 managers participated in the study in Germany. Results based on hierarchical regression analysis confirmed that high CSE significantly weakens the positive relationship between high job demands and depression among managers. Furthermore, a significant interaction effect between job resources and CSE on work engagement was found. Therefore, the study reveals that it seems unlikely that CSE biases how managers appraise the environment since individuals low in CSE benefitted more from favorable working conditions than those high in CSE. Suggestions for future research as well as implications for theory and practice are derived.     

Prospective Evaluation of Predictive DNA Testing for Huntington’s Disease in a Large German Center

We present a prospective study of counselees seeking predictive testing for Huntington’s disease at the Huntington Center North Rhine-Westphalia (Bochum, Germany) between 2010 and 2012. The aim was to observe the decision-making process of at-risk individuals and explore their experiences following the decision as well as the impacts of positive and negative mutation results. Data were collected using two standardized questionnaires as well as via a semi-standardized telephone interview one year after the initial counseling session. Seventy-two  individuals participated in at least one of the three phases of the survey, including 31 individuals in the telephone interview. Sociodemographic data were in accordance with previous reports. The process of predictive testing was generally perceived in a positive manner, with almost all interviewees reporting a balanced emotional state one year after initial counseling, regardless of the decision for or against the test. The most important reasons named in favor of or against testing were assembled as well as different aspects regarding the satisfaction with the reached decision. In line with and expanding previous observations on gender-related differences in decision-making, our results suggest that gender-related aspects should be more strongly taken into account in genetic counseling during the predictive testing and counseling processes.     

Constructing Gender in Chat Groups

We investigated the construction of gender in chat groups. Four unacquainted persons chatted in two gender-anonymous conditions and a non-anonymous control condition. In one anonymous condition, the gender focus was made salient. The other groups did not know about the gender focus. All participants had to guess the gender of the others and give reasons for their decisions. Results suggest that (a) overall, 2/3 of gender guesses fit the sex category of the targets, (b) gender anonymity was more comfortable for women, (c) participants used mostly gender-stereotypic cues to infer gender, however, men and women used syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic cues (with different predictive value) to different degrees, (d) conversational behavior varied depending on gender anonymity, and (e) degree of gender salience was irrelevant for the use of gender as an organizing category.     

Sensibiliser les filles à l'orientation vers les métiers scientifiques et techniques. Évaluation d'un dispositif

Girls’s diversification of career choices seem relatively resistant to training program. One explanation of this situation is the lack or even absence of procedures for evaluating this program. The article proposes an evaluation of a training program entitled “female engineer” designed exclusively for high school girls. The objective was to encourage female students guidance in this profession. The results are mixed and are interpreted in terms of cognitive dissonance and upward social comparison. The results also show the need to develop in the same time the training program and his evaluation.     

Équité, Solidarité et Justice Perçue des Décisions de Recrutement Professionnel : Effets du Point de Vue de l'Observateur,de la Valence de la Décision et du Caractère contrôlable de la Cause du Besoin

The experience tested the effects of the observer’s point of view, of the valence of the decision, and of the controllable causality of the need on the consideration of the contributions and of the needs in the fairness perceptions from a decision of recruitment. Some recruiters and job- seekers judged the fairness of decisions of the recruitment of applicants which were described by their performance during a work sample test and by their professional position. The results showed that both variables had an effect on the judgments. Nevertheless the recruiters attached more importance to the performance and less to the professional position and to the hiring decision than the job seekers. Some implications in terms of affirmative action policies and communication were discussed.     

Would I bet on beating you? Subtly increasing other-focus helps overcome egocentrism

Two studies investigated egocentrism in competitive situations. Specifically, the aim was to test novel subtle debiasing techniques for the shared-circumstance effect whereby people bet more money on winning in easy than difficult knowledge quizzes. In Study 1, participants took part in a quiz competition with a friend. Being asked to complete 10 sentence stems about the opponent eliminated the shared-circumstance effect, compared to completing 10 sentences about the self. In Study 2, circling third-person pronouns in an unrelated task eliminated the shared-circumstance effect compared to circling first-person pronouns. The research is the first to show that subtly directing attention to the opponent or to a generic third person can eliminate egocentrism effects.     

Predictors of depressive symptoms among resettled unaccompanied refugee minors

This study investigated the level and predictors of depressive symptoms among unaccompanied refugee minors after resettlement in Norway. Participants (N = 414) were resettled in 26 municipalities from all regions of the country. The average length of resettlement time was 3.4 years. They originated from 33 different countries, mainly Afghanistan (n = 116), Somalia (n = 74), Sri Lanka (n = 41) and Iraq (n = 43). Participants completed a self-report questionnaire administered in groups. Findings show that unaccompanied minors are a high-risk group for mental health problems also after resettlement in a new country. A multilevel model predicting depressive symptoms from individual and contextual demographic factors indicated that, controlling for post-traumatic stress, females had more symptoms than males and Somalis had fewer symptoms than participants from other countries. Variation in symptom levels as a function of gender and ethnic background indicates that some groups may have inherent protective or vulnerability factors that need to be further studied to understand differences in psychosocial adaptation among unaccompanied minors. Further, findings imply that researchers, policy makers and mental health care workers need to expand their attention beyond the first phases of arrival of unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee minors to the continuing experience of mental health problems after resettlement.     

How does a vacation from work affect employee health and well-being?

Health and well-being (H&W) improve during vacation. However, it is unclear whether this general development applies to all employees, while also little is known about the underlying processes causing such an improvement. Our research questions were: (1) Does every worker experience a positive effect of vacation on H&W? and (2) Can vacation activities and experiences explain changes in H&W during vacation? In a 7-week longitudinal field study, 96 workers reported their H&W 2 weeks before, during, 1 week, 2 and 4 weeks after a winter sports vacation on 6 indicators (health status, mood, fatigue, tension, energy level and satisfaction). Sixty percent of the sample experienced substantial improvement of H&W during and after vacation. Yet, a small group experienced no (23%) or a negative effect of vacation (17%). Spending limited time on passive activities, pleasure derived from vacation activities, and the absence of negative incidents during vacation explained 38% of the variance in the vacation effect. Although vacation has a positive, longer lasting effect for many, it is not invariably positive for all employees. Choosing especially pleasant vacation activities and avoiding negative incidents as well as passive activities during active vacations apparently contributes to the positive effect of vacation on H&W.