Sociological aspects of Heidegger's being and time

Heidegger's phenomenological approach, as exhibited in Being and Time, provides a conceptual background to discussions in role‐theory. His work was not meant as an empirical contribution to sociology, nor does he assimilate sociology to conceptual inquiry. Heidegger's contention is, rather, that if we understand the way in which human beings exist (the nature of Dasein) we shall understand why empirical role‐theoretical inquiries are possible. Without experience, without paying attention to the facts of human life, there could be no phenomenological enterprise. But by eliciting the fundamental structure of Dasein Heidegger has pointed to what makes the empirical data ultimately intelligible. The enterprise is a transcendental one, in the Kantian sense.     

The temporal orientation of memory: It's time for a change of direction

Common wisdom, philosophical analysis and psychological research share the view that memory is subjectively positioned toward the past: specifically, memory enables one to become re-acquainted with the objects and events of his or her past. In this paper I call this assumption into question. As I hope to show, memory has been designed by natural selection not to relive the past, but rather to anticipate and plan for future contingencies – a decidedly future-oriented mode of subjective temporality. This is not to say memory makes no reference to the past. But, I argue, past-oriented subjectivity is a by-product of a system designed by natural selection to help us face and respond to the “now and the next”. I discuss the implications of the proposed temporal realignment for research agendas as well as the potential limitations of measures designed to explore memory by focusing on its retentive capabilities.     

Recruiting Global Travelers: The Role of Global Travel Recruitment Messages and Individual Differences in Perceived Fit,Attraction, and Job Pursuit Intentions

Organizations often require managers to travel globally to fill international roles. Attending to fit with an organization's need for international mobility and global openness during recruiting could increase the proportion of effective global managers in an organization's applicant pool. We use recruitment research and theory to develop and test a conditional process model of the relationship between recruitment messages and job seeker perceived fit, attraction, and job pursuit intentions, depending on job seekers’ global openness and willingness to travel globally. Recruitment messages include information about a job's travel requirements and the global presence of the business. Two studies were undertaken to test our hypotheses. Analyses were conducted with conditional process modeling using nonlinear bootstrapping. Study 1, involving 230 job seekers, found that applicants’ willingness to travel interacted with recruiting messages about a job's global travel requirements to relate to job pursuit intentions through perceived job fit and job attraction. Study 2, involving 260 participants recruited through Mechanical Turk, indicated that global openness interacted with a global recruitment message, and willingness to travel interacted with a travel recruitment message, to relate to job pursuit intentions through job and organizational dimensions of perceived fit and attraction.     

The Web-Based Assessment of Suicidal and Suicide-Related Symptoms: Factors Associated With Disclosing Identifying Information to Receive Study Compensation

With the increasing utilization of Web-based surveys for suicide and suicide-related research, it is critical to understand factors that affect participants' decision to request study compensation (and thus potentially reveal their identity) or remain anonymous. This study evaluated differences in demographics, suicidal symptoms, and suicide-related constructs between participants electing and declining to provide identifying information to receive study compensation. A sample of 931 firefighters (91.5% male) participated in a Web-based mental health survey; on survey completion, individuals had the option to provide contact information to receive a $10 gift card. Logistic regression analyses were employed to investigate differences between those who did and did not provide this information. Overall, 82.8% provided identifying information, with younger individuals significantly more likely to do so. Participants reporting more severe suicidal symptoms and greater levels of suicide-related constructs appeared equally, and in some cases, significantly more, willing to provide identifying information. Findings indicate that individuals reporting more sensitive or stigmatizing experiences might not systematically opt out of receiving study compensation to remain anonymous on Web-based surveys. Additional research is warranted to replicate these findings in more representative samples and further delineate personality and other factors influencing the disclosure of contact information to receive study compensation.     

Disaffected Pollyannas: The influence of positive affect on salary expectations,turnover, and long‐term satisfaction

Using a longitudinal sample of MBA graduates, the present study investigates why employees who are high in positive affect (PA) sometimes display higher rates of turnover, as well as the consequences of frequent turnover for long‐term satisfaction. Results show that high PA employees had higher salary expectations than other employees, and that the relationship between low salary and frequent turnover in the 4 years following graduation was stronger among employees higher in PA. High PA employees who changed organizations more frequently in the first 4 years following graduation reported lower job satisfaction and lower life satisfaction 8 years into their careers, a trend that was reversed for low PA employees.     

On the home front: stress for recently deployed Army couples

Military couples who have experienced deployment and reintegration in current U.S. military operations frequently experience stress regarding the dangers and effects of such experiences. The current study evaluated a sample of 300 couples with an active duty Army husband and civilian spouse who experienced a deployment within the year before the survey (conducted in 2007). Wives generally reported greater levels of emotional stress compared with husbands. Overall, higher levels of stress were found for couples who reported lower income and greater economic strain, perceive the need for more support and are unsure about how to get support, have more marital conflict, and are generally less satisfied with the Army and the current mission. Husband combat exposure was also associated with more stress for husbands and wives. Additionally, for wives, stress was related to greater child behavior problems and a sense of less Army concern for families. The results suggest areas of intervention with military couples to help them cope with the challenges of military life and deployment.     

Age-related differences in profiles of mood-change trajectories

As a group, older adults report positive affective lives. The extent to which there are subgroups of older adults whose moods are less positive, however, is unclear. Our aim in the present study was to identify and characterize different subgroups of adults who exhibit distinct trajectories of mood change across a relatively short time period. Seventy-nine young and 103 older adults continuously reported their moods while viewing emotional and neutral faces. Cluster analysis revealed four subgroups of mood-change trajectories. Both the most positive and the most negative subgroups included more older than young adults (ps < .05), suggesting that not all older adults exhibit higher positive affect than young adults. Analyses of variance revealed that the most negative group exhibited slower processing speed, more state anxiety and neuroticism, and looked less at happy faces than the other groups (ps < .05). The results are discussed from an adult developmental perspective, focusing on the increased variability of mood trajectories in the older adults and whether this is a reflection of adaptive functioning or a potential harbinger of dysfunction.