“Faith Maturity Scale” for Chinese: A Revision and Construct Validation

Using a large sample of Chinese Christians (n = 2,196), we examined the internal structure, reliability, and validity of the Faith Maturity Scale (FMS). Despite its being developed in North America, and for a mainline Protestant population, the FMS was shown to have validity among non-Western, non-mainline Protestants. There is convergent validity with self-reported religious practices and a belief measure of religiosity. Our analyses also confirmed good construct validity with the Big Five personality dimensions, social axioms, attributional style, and quality of life. FMS remained associated with religious practices and high quality of life after personality was statistically controlled. Findings supported that the Chinese version of the FMS assesses the same theoretical construct as does the original scale and that the distinction between the vertical and horizontal dimensions of faith maturity is meaningful.     

Changes in Perceived Supervisor Embeddedness: Effects on Employees’ Embeddedness,Organizational Trust,and Voice Behavior

Guided by social information processing theory, this study examines how perceived supervisor embeddedness relates to employees’ own affect toward, attachment to, and behavior within the firm. Data were collected from 338 employees at 3 points in time over a 10‐month period. The results supported the proposed model in 3 key ways. First, perceived supervisor embeddedness was directly related to employees’ own embeddedness over time. Second, organizational trust mediated the relationship between perceived supervisor embeddedness and employees’ own embeddedness over time. Third, organizational trust and employee embeddedness were both related to employees’ voice behavior over time.     

Predictors of fear of crime: general fear versus perceived risk

Much of the literature on fear of crime (FOC) has focused on the role of risk perceptions in understanding FOC, with little consideration given to psychological factors not directly related to crime, but that can impact the levels of FOC. This study introduces general fear (GF) as an explanatory factor in understanding FOC. A proportional random sample of 1,197 respondents was obtained from 406 enumeration districts across Trinidad. The results revealed GF as the strongest predictor of FOC across ethnicity, sex, age, area of residence, and victim status. Explanations and areas for further investigation are offered.     

A comparison of two‐stage procedures for testing least‐squares coefficients under heteroscedasticity

This study explores the performance of several two‐stage procedures for testing ordinary least‐squares (OLS) coefficients under heteroscedasticity. A test of the usual homoscedasticity assumption is carried out in the first stage of the procedure. Subsequently, a test of the regression coefficients is chosen and performed in the second stage. Three recently developed methods for detecting heteroscedasticity are examined. In addition, three heteroscedastic robust tests of OLS coefficients are considered. A major finding is that performing a test of heteroscedasticity prior to applying a heteroscedastic robust test can lead to poor control over Type I errors.     

Resilience: enhancing well-being through the positive cognitive triad

The present study tested whether the relationships among resilience, life satisfaction, and depression could be explained by positive views toward the self, the world, and the future (positive cognitive triad). Structural equation modeling and mediation analyses were conducted based on 1,419 college students in Hong Kong. The model of positive cognitive triad as mediator between resilience and well-being fit the data (comparative fit index = .94, Tucker-Lewis index = .93, root-mean-square error of approximation = .08). Findings showed resilience to be significantly related to positive cognitions about the self, the world, and the future. Individuals who had higher level of resilience held significantly more positive cognitions and reported significantly higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of depression. The utility of the positive cognitive triad as the mechanism through which resilience enhances well-being was supported. Applications in cultivating resilience and positive cognitions in counseling services are discussed.     

The money attitude of covert and overt narcissists

The money attitude of covert and overt narcissists was studied. Both covert and overt narcissism predicted the power-prestige dimension of money attitude, which were both mediated by the need for social power. Interestingly, the relationship for covert narcissism was also mediated by the fear of negative social evaluation, confirming its socially vulnerable and hypersensitive features. In addition, the anxiety and distrust factors of money attitude were correlated with covert narcissism only. Anxiety was explained by the need for power and avoidance motivation, but no significant mediator was found for distrust. These findings provide evidence to the similarities and differences between the two types of narcissism. They also shed light on narcissists’ money-related behaviors, such as investment strategy and consumer behaviors.     

Combating Co‐witness contamination: Attempting to decrease the negative effects of discussion on eyewitness memory

Witnesses who discuss an event with others often incorporate misinformation encountered during the discussion into their memory of the event. Two experiments were conducted to establish whether this memory conformity also occurs in the context of an interview and whether it is possible to reduce the effect. Participants viewed a crime‐video which they then discussed with a co‐witness. Some participants were warned they may have been exposed to misinformation during the discussion before all were interviewed individually. In Experiment 1, participants made remember/know judgments about each component of their free recall, and in Experiment 2 they were asked to indicate the source of their memories. Co‐witness information was incorporated into participants' testimony, and this effect could not be significantly reduced using warnings and source‐monitoring instructions. Remember/know judgments may be useful in distinguishing ‘real’ memories from false memories. We make some recommendations regarding the interviewing of witnesses. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An intermediary enhances out‐group trust and in‐group profit expectation of Chinese but not Australians

In this research, we made a theoretical distinction between direct and intermediary‐mediated trust situations, and conducted a cross‐cultural (Chinese vs. Australians) investment trust game to test the overlooked effects of an intermediary on investors' trust decisions, with respect to how much to invest in and expect from trustees. Compared to situations of direct trust, a nominal intermediary increased the number of Chinese investors expecting in‐group trustees to repay a profit on their investments (Hypothesis 1) and raised their level of investment in out‐group trustees (Hypothesis 2). These results applied to Chinese, but not Australians in support of the proposal that a nominal intermediary would serve as a cue to activate different cultural stereotypes of the functions and meanings of an intermediary with respect to trust and expectation of reciprocity. Coexisting with these culture‐specific effects of an intermediary, the minimal categorisation of people into in‐group and out‐group on trivial grounds leads to a highly significant in‐group favouritism in investment levels of both Chinese and Australians (Hypothesis 3).     

Counseling in Malaysia: History,Current Status,and Future Trends

This article presents an overview of the history of counseling in Malaysia, provides an update of its current status, and discusses some anticipated future trends for the profession in light of recent developments in the country. Counseling in Malaysia began with school guidance in the 1960s and has now achieved recognition as a profession in school and community settings. Counseling in Malaysia continues to encounter challenges in training, service, and professional identity and development.     

New Generation,Great Expectations: A Field Study of the Millennial Generation

Purpose  

This study investigated the career expectations and priorities of members of the “millennial” generation (born in or after 1980) and explored differences among this cohort related to demographic factors (i.e., gender, race, and year of study) and academic performance.