Quality of Work Life as a Mediator Between Emotional Labor and Work Family Interference

Purpose  We adopted the conservation of resources model (COR, Hobfoll Am Psychol 44:513–524, 1989; Hobfoll in Stress, culture, and community: the psychology and philosophy of stress, Plenum, New York, 1998) to examine the associations among emotional labor, work family interference, and quality of work life. Design/Methodology/Approach  Cross-sectional, self-reported data were obtained from 442 Hong Kong Chinese service employees. Findings  Correlation and hierarchical regression analyses showed that surface acting was a salient correlate of work-to-family interference, even when organizational display rules and employees’ demographic information were controlled. Furthermore, quality of work life had partially mediated the relationship between surface acting and work-to-family interference. However, deep acting and expression of naturally felt emotion did not relate to work-to-family interference. Finally, we found that family-to-work interference was a salient correlate of the use of surface acting in workplace. Implication  This study provided useful information of how adopting different emotional labor strategies related to work family interference. Based on our results, the use of deep acting should be promoted in workplace because it related positively to quality of work life and it did not amplify the work-to-family interference. Originality/value  While past studies often explored the role of emotional labor as the precursor of work family interference, our study is among the first attempt to examine family-to-work interference as the antecedent of emotional labor. Additionally, we had also confirmed the role of quality of work life as an important mediator between emotional labor-work-to-family interference.     

Emulation vs. indigenization in the reception of western psychology in Republican China: An analysis of the content of Chinese psychology journals (1922–1937)

The present study examines the practice of empirical psychology in China during the Republican period using a content analysis of its journals. By seeking answers to questions of what kinds of psychology from the West first attracted the Chinese; whether they found a way of developing a psychology more in tune to their own cultural assumptions of selfhood; and to what uses they felt the new discipline could be put, it shows the extent to which its journal content adopted a Western or an indigenous orientation. It thus contributes to the recent debate about indigenization of psychology globally and situates the origins of these issues in China much earlier than has been envisaged by contemporary Chinese indigenous psychologists. Throughout this period, indigenous concerns informed the research agenda, the dominant practice being psychometrics. But because of a lack of social support, they remained largely confined to the pages of psychology journals. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Validation of the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ) in Taiwanese Undergraduate Students

The aim of this study was to translate and validate the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ; McCullough et al. 2002) using Taiwanese undergraduate students. A total of 608 college students (M _age = 20.19, SD = 2.08) were recruited for the current study and they completed the GQ, optimism, happiness, and big five personality questionnaires. Confirmation factor analysis indicated that a five item model was a better fit than the original six item model. Cross-validation also supported the modified Chinese version of the GQ. In addition, the Chinese version of the GQ was, as expected, positively correlated with optimism, happiness, agreeableness, and extraversion, which supported its construct validity. The Cronbach’s α was .80 for the Chinese version of the GQ, indicating satisfactory validity and reliability in a Taiwanese student sample. It was concluded that the Chinese version of the GQ would be useful for assessing individual differences in dispositional gratitude.     

The Perception of Ideal Best Friends by Chinese Adolescents

This study examines the characteristics of ideal best friends endorsed by Chinese adolescents. A comprehensive measure of person perception was used in order to assess those dimensions of personality where gender, similarity, and complementarity might be related to the rating of ideal best friends. Results indicated that ideal female best friends were rated higher on the communal dimension of Helpfulness; ideal male best friends were rated higher on the agentic dimensions of Extroversion, Assertiveness, and Application. Similarity effects were found for Openness to Experience, Extroversion, and Emotional Stability; complementarity effects for Assertiveness. These results were explained in terms of Chinese gender stereotypes and the requirements for harmonious dyadic interaction.     

Self-discrepancy and Depressive Experiences among Chinese Early Adolescents: Significance of Identity and the Undesired Self

The paper addresses the cultural bias in the conceptualization and assessment of the self construct inherent in self-discrepancy theory proposed by Higgins. It argues that discrepancies between actual and undesired selves conceived in terms of salient identity should be better predictors of depressive experiences among Chinese early adolescents than the popular notion of actual:ideal discrepancies conceived in terms of individuated self. Eighty-four Chinese early adolescents drawn from the normal population in Hong Kong participated in the study, adopting a short-term two-wave prospective design. Empirical support was obtained showing that self-discrepancies conceived in terms of salient identity and discrepancies between actual and undesired selves were stronger predictors of depressive experiences over time. The findings were interpreted from the perspectives of Chinese culture and the development of self understanding.     

Effects of Gender and Profession Type on Definitions of Violence Against Women in Hong Kong

This study investigated the criteria chosen by male and female Chinese public servants (clinical psychologists, social workers, police officers, physicians, nurses, teachers, and lawyers) in Hong Kong to classify and define violence against women. Data were gathered via questionnaires completed by 2589 (686 male) public servants from 10,476 polled (response rate 24.7%). The questionnaires included a 14-item check-list of various behaviors constituting violence against women and a 10-item check-list of criteria that could be used to categorize behavior as violence against women. It was found that for this population, use of physical force and lack of consent were the main determinants of violence against women. Only half of respondents considered murder a form of violence against women, the rest categorized it as a crime that was "not merely violence." Most respondents defined sexual harassment, rape, and unwanted physical contact as forms of violence against women. The female public servants were more likely to define behaviors as violence against women and to use more criteria to define violence against women. Public servants who worked with the law enforcement and legal system were more likely than others to choose narrow definitions and rigid criteria.     

Accounting for Missing Correlation Coefficients in Fixed-Effects MASEM

Meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) is increasingly applied to advance theories by synthesizing existing findings. MASEM essentially consists of two stages. In Stage 1, a pooled correlation matrix is estimated based on the reported correlation coefficients in the individual studies. In Stage 2, a structural model (such as a path model) is fitted to explain the pooled correlations. Frequently, the individual studies do not provide all the correlation coefficients between the research variables. In this study, we modify the currently optimal MASEM-method to deal with missing correlation coefficients, and compare its performance with existing methods. This study is the first to evaluate the performance of fixed-effects MASEM methods under different levels of missing correlation coefficients. We found that the often used univariate methods performed very poorly, while the multivariate methods performed well overall.     

The rosy side and the blue side of emotional brand attachment

This paper examines the rosy side (positive emotion) and the blue side (negative emotion) of brand attachment in consumer–brand relationships and their distinct motivational triggers. Adopting attachment theory, self‐determination theory, and the relationship investment model, this paper provides a richer understanding of the positivity and negativity of emotional brand attachment in terms of consequential branding outcomes. Two hierarchical constructs—autonomous and controlled motivations—are proposed and examined using partial least squares path modelling. Data were collected through a 3‐stage survey to gain 507 samples of customers' brand attachments to 9 international car brands. This research reveals that customers' positive‐side (rosy‐side) emotional brand attachments are driven by autonomous motivations including satisfying the intrinsic motivation of pursuing pleasure and fulfilling needs for self‐determination and self‐congruence in the car brand consumption context. Customers' negative‐side (blue‐side) emotional brand attachment reflects feelings of separation distress, anxiety, and sadness that are triggered by their controlled motivations in car brand consumption contexts. The results indicate that positive emotions (the rosy side) of brand attachment are a more effective predictor of brand repurchasing intentions and word‐of‐mouth behaviours than are negative emotions (the blue side) of brand attachment. This study applies Deci and Ryan's autonomous and controlled motivations to explain the positivity and negativity of consumers' emotional brand attachment in brand–consumer relationships.