Engaging and disengaging work conditions, momentary experiences and cortisol response

There is a growing literature suggesting important associations between the perceived work situation, individual health, and organizational outcomes. Less research has investigated employee experiences in the moment, which might help explain why the broader outcomes emerge. We examined momentary affect and cortisol from a within-day and between-day perspective, comparing working time to nonworking time for employees in engaging and disengaging workplaces. Findings indicate significantly lower momentary happiness and interest and higher stress and sadness are associated with work, and, in particular, with disengaging work environments. The connections between momentary affect and cortisol confirmed prior research, but cortisol was higher during non-work weekday moments. Employees with engaging work conditions had lower cortisol during weekday (working) mornings in comparison to employees with disengaging work conditions. There was no difference on Saturdays. These results provide evidence that work, and especially the work situation, is associated with affective and physiological momentary states.     

Effect of Nb on nanoquasicrystalline Al-based alloys

Nanoquasicrystalline Al-based alloys, containing icosahedral particles in an α-Al matrix, exhibit high strength at elevated temperature. The metastability of the quasicrystals can limit the use of these alloys. In the present work, the microstructural evolution of Al₉₃(Fe₃Cr₂)₇ and Al₉₃Fe₃Cr₂Nb₂ (at%) alloys was studied using heat treatments and structural characterization by XRD, TEM and STEM-EDX analysis. It was observed that the Nb is dissolved in the Al–Fe–Cr icosahedral phase. This provides higher thermal stability, retaining the fine nanoquasicrystalline microstructure for longer times at high temperature.     

The Romantic Absolute

In this article I argue that the Early German Romantics understand the absolute, or being, to be an infinite whole encompassing all the things of the world and all their causal relations. The Romantics argue that we strive endlessly to know this whole but only acquire an expanding, increasingly systematic body of knowledge about finite things, a system of knowledge which can never be completed. We strive to know the whole, the Romantics claim, because we have an original feeling of it that motivates our striving. I then examine two different Romantic accounts of this feeling. The first, given by Novalis, is that feeling gives us a kind of access to the absolute which logically precedes any conceptualisation. I argue that this account is problematic and that a second account, offered by Friedrich Schlegel, is preferable. On this account, we feel the absolute in that we intuit it aesthetically in certain natural phenomena. This form of intuition is partly cognitive and partly non-cognitive, and therefore it motivates us to strive to convert our intuition into full knowledge.     

Second-Order Change in Marriage and Family Therapy: A Web-Based Modified Delphi Study

Second-order change is a central concept in Marriage and Family Therapy, but still remains poorly operationalized. We conducted a web-based modified Delphi study with 31 established faculty members currently teaching in COAMFTE-accredited Master's and Doctoral programs in the United States and in Canada to identify consensus regarding second-order change concepts, clinical operationalization, evaluation, and teaching principles. Numerous exemplars of first and second-order change were generated, but consensus on most items was low. Consensus was highest for pedagogy and low regarding concepts and clinical examples of first-order change and evaluation of second-order change. Results suggest clearer definitions and better measurement of systemic change are needed.     

Marital event appraisals and frequencies: A comparison of distressed and nondistressed husbands

Abstract

Frequencies of marital events have been shown to vary according to whether a marriage is classified as distressed or nondistressed, but it is not known if these two groups of subjects appraise or view marital events in the same ways. This study examined husbands' appraisals of five marital events which were recorded daily for 90 consecutive days. Subjects appraised events according to four qualities: desirability, changingness, meaningfulness, and control. Event frequencies of desirable and undesirable events replicated previous work, but contrary to our expectations, there were no differences in how husbands from distressed and nondistressed marriages viewed events.     

A Rasch Analysis of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory–3

Rasch analysis of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory–3 (SASSI‐3; F. G. Miller & Lazowski, 1999 ) indicated that the SASSI‐3 meets fundamental measurement properties; however, the authors of the current study recommend the elimination of nonfunctioning items and the improvement of response options for the face valid scales to increase functioning and ease of use.     

When your face doesn't fit: employment discrimination against people with facial disfigurements

This study aimed to investigate the recruitment prospects of people with facial disfigurement and a contrasting group of wheelchair users, representing a functional impairment with little aesthetic impact. Three applications were made to each of 144 vacancies using three CVs and cover letters rotated around conditions in which one applicant was described as a wheelchair user, another had a noncontagious facial disfigurement, and the third (control condition) had neither. There was evidence of discrimination against people with facial disfigurement in jobs requiring high (but not low) levels of customer contact, and against wheelchair users for jobs entailing high or low‐customer contact. Aesthetic considerations, social norms, and the possibility of stigma by association are discussed as potential underlying factors.     

Father Postdivorce Well-Being: An Exploratory Model

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model of the psychological well-being of fathers following divorce. The theory postulated that father postdivorce well-being was related to father role clarity, role satisfaction, age, income, education level, custody arrangement, encouragement from others, time since divorce, and involvement in an intimate relationship following divorce. Participants were 94 fathers from a midwestern city who completed self-administered questionnaires. Data were assessed using path analytic techniques. Involvement in an intimate relationship was found to have the greatest influence on father postdivorce well-being. Role satisfaction had direct effects on father postdivorce well-being and was important as a mediating variable for 4 constructs within the model. The findings suggest that father well-being following divorce is a complex phenomenon, influenced by all of the model variables except income, education level, and time since divorce. Implications for preventive intervention strategies, based on risk factors identified in this study, and suggestions for further research are discussed.