Environmental influences on psychological restoration

Research on psychological restoration and restorative environments is a needed complement to work on stress and environmental stressors. Two laboratory experiments tested the utility of two restorative environments theories, one concerned with directed attention capacity renewal and the other with stress reduction and associated changes in emotion. Various strategies were employed to distinguish restorative effects from other effects, to limit the role of arousal reduction in attentional restoration, and to begin mapping the time course for the emergence of outcomes. Both experiments tested for differential emotional and performance effects as a function of photographic environmental simulation (natural or urban environment). Across the experiments the natural environment simulation engendered generally more positive emotional self-reports. That consistent performance effects were not found in either study suggests that attentional restoration as reflected in performance is a more time-intensive process.     

The Logical Levels of Complementary,Symmetrical, and Parallel Interaction Classes in Family Dyads

It was postulated that the parallel interaction class is a higher logical order than complementary and symmetrical interaction, which appear to be of the same logical type. Father-mother, father-child, and mother-child dyads of 48 families were categorized into complementary, symmetrical, and parallel classes using the Relationship Styles Inventory. Each of the dyads in these three categories was then randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions in which they jointly resolved a moral dilemma. In one condition, the dyads were asked to follow complementary rules, while in the second condition they were instructed to follow symmetrical rules. Results indicated that parallel dyads adjusted to both the complementary and symmetrical conditions, whereas symmetrical and complementary dyads did not successfully accommodate rules outside their own class. The implications in terms of therapeutic intervention and further research are discussed.     

Perceptions of Family Environment Among Psychiatric Patients and Their Wives

This study compared the perceived family environments of former psychiatric inpatients with thought, affective, and substance abuse disorders to those of normative comparison couples using the Family Environment Scale. Family environment was assessed among patients and wives separately at hospital discharge and at three- and twelve-month follow-ups. Patients and their wives were consistently more incongruent in their perceptions of their shared environment than normative couples. In addition, low-functioning patient couples reported less family cohesion, expressiveness, and recreational emphasis than their higher functioning counterparts; the high-functioning patient couples more closely resembled the norm. The paper discusses possible relationships between positive family contact and better patient functioning.     

JOB STRESS,EMPLOYEE HEALTH,AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS: A FACET ANALYSIS,MODEL, AND LITERATURE REVIEW1

Job stress (and more generally, employee health) has been a relatively neglected area of research among industrial/organizational psychologists. The empirical research that has been done is reviewed within the context of six facets (i.e., environmental, personal, process, human consequences, organizational consequences, and time) of a seven facet conceptualization of the job stress–employee health research domain. (The seventh facet, adaptive responses, is reviewed in the forthcoming second article of this series.) A general and a sequential model are proposed for tying the facets together. It is concluded that some of the major problems of the research in this area are: confusion in the use of terminology regarding the elements of job stress, relatively weak methodology within specific studies, the lack of systematic approaches in the research, the lack of interdisciplinary approaches, and the lack of attention to many elements of the specific facets.     

WORK SAMPLE TESTS IN PERSONNEL SELECTION: A META‐ANALYSIS OF BLACK–WHITE DIFFERENCES IN OVERALL AND EXERCISE SCORES

Work sample exams are generally thought to have either low or comparatively low levels of ethnic group differences when used for personnel selection. Such exams are sometimes called “simulation exercises” and involve having applicants perform a set of tasks that are similar to those performed on the job. The nearly ubiquitous meta‐analytic value of Black–White subgroup differences in the literature is d= .38. Unfortunately, this estimate is plagued by a variety of problems (e.g., range restriction, inclusion of nonwork sample tests). Further, there are virtually no analyses that examine how the saturation of different constructs influence work sample tests. We gathered available data for Black–White ethnic group differences and found that overall work sample differences were markedly larger for samples of job applicants (d= .73) than previously thought. We also examined how different exercises and saturation of different constructs influenced work sample ds. For example, work sample test ratings of cognitive and job knowledge skills were associated with a mean observed d= .80, whereas ratings of various social skills were associated with mean observed ds that varied from .21 to .27. We urge scientists and practitioners to consider both the method and the constructs that are targeted when forecasting predictor ds.     

Predictors of Male and Female Servers' Average Tip Earnings1

Tips represent a substantial portion of restaurant waiters' and waitresses' incomes. We report a study that examines several potential predictors of the differences in servers' average tip earnings. Our results indicate that servers earn larger average sales‐adjusted tips if they are attractive females, better service providers, and high self‐monitors. However, these effects hold up only for evening tips. None of the variables in this study predicted servers' average lunch tips. The methodological, theoretical, and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.     

Social Support and the Job Satisfaction of Female Clerical Workers

The beneficial effects on job satisfaction of social support at work and home were established in this study of 85 randomly selected female clerical workers. Partners were found to be effective buffers of adverse work conditions as well.     

Experiential and Physiological Responses to Interpersonal Influence

In this study, we examined the linkages between two important features of influence messages, explicitness and dominance, and emotional response. Two positions were considered. From politeness theory, we deduced that judgments of the politeness of the message would mediate the effects of message form on emotional response. Consideration of cognitive appraisal theories suggested judgments of goal blockage and legitimacy would assume the role of mediators. Participants took part in two role-plays in which they adopted the role of the influence target and listened to an audiotape of a request to change their behavior. Self-report and physiological data were gathered as indicators of their emotional responses to the influence messages. The findings indicated some support for both politeness and appraisal theories, but also suggested that neither one constituted a thorough explanation of the effects of influence messages on emotions.