The role of identity and work-family support in work-family enrichment and its work-related consequences

Despite growing research on the positive connections between work and family, antecedents and consequences of work-family enrichment are understudied. Using a sample of employees from a major insurance company, we assessed the relationship of (i) individual (i.e., work and family identities), (ii) family (emotional and instrumental support), and (iii) organizational (benefit use and work-family culture) antecedents to work-family and family-work enrichment. We also examined whether enrichment predicted important work outcomes including organizational commitment and turnover intentions. The strength of an individual’s identity and informal or emotional support within a domain, rather than formal or instrumental support, were associated with greater enrichment. Work-family enrichment positively predicted affective organizational commitment, and family-work enrichment negatively predicted turnover intentions. Implications for individuals and organizations wanting to foster enrichment are discussed.     

Side-bet theory and the three-component model of organizational commitment

We tested Becker’s (1960) side-bet conceptualization of commitment within the context of Meyer and Allen’s (1991) three-component model of organizational commitment. Employees (N=202) from various organizations completed a survey including measures of (a) seven categories of side bets (b) affective, normative, and continuance commitment, and (c) turnover intention. The findings provided strong support for Becker’s theory. All seven side-bet categories correlated significantly with a revised measure of high-sacrifice continuance commitment, and structural equation modeling analyses revealed that the relations between the side bets and turnover intention were fully mediated by commitment. The findings also address issues pertaining to the dimensionality and measurement of continuance commitment, and help to explain relations among the three components of commitment.     

Protégé-mentor agreement about the provision of psychosocial support: The mentoring relationship, personality, and workload

Protégé-mentor agreement (PMA) about the provision of psychosocial support was examined in relation to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work self-esteem. One-hundred and sixty-six junior administrative and information technology (IT) staff at an Australian university and their matched mentors completed a questionnaire that assessed three antecedents to PMA: (1) structural and experience aspects of the mentorship (type and length of relationship, frequency of meetings, previous experience with mentoring, and gender-mix); (2) protégé and mentor personality (agreeableness, openness, extroversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness); and (3) protégé and mentor workload. Structural Equation Modeling using Partial Least Squares revealed that PMA was predicted by structural and experience aspects of the mentorship (type of mentorship, frequency of meetings, and experience of the mentor), protégé personality (agreeableness, openness, extroversion, and conscientiousness), mentor personality (agreeableness, openness, and extroversion), and mentor workload. Protégé-mentor agreement was positively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment for protégés and mentors.     

Introducing the Expectations and Preference Scales for Couple Therapy (EPSCT): Development,Psychometric Evaluation,and Suggested Use in Practice and Research

While it is known that client factors account for the largest proportion of outcome variance across treatment modalities, little is known about how clients’ characteristics affect the process and effectiveness of couple therapy. To further knowledge in this area, we created a brief, practice‐friendly measure, the Expectation and Preference Scales for Couple Therapy (EPSCT). Three self‐report scales assess clients’ Outcome expectations (e.g., I expect our relationship to improve as a result of couple therapy) and role expectations for Self (e.g., I expect to listen to my partner's concerns) and Partner (e.g., I expect my partner to blame me). Three Cognitive‐Behavioral, Emotionally Focused, and Family Systems preference scales use a forced‐choice format to measure the comparative strength of respondents’ preferences for interventions broadly reflective of each approach. A large item pool was developed from relevant literature and clinical experience and refined based on face and content analyses with two panels of experienced couple therapists and researchers. Across four studies with 1,175 participants, the scales’ internal consistency reliabilities were similar and their construct validity was supported with confirmatory factor analyses and significant correlations with several established measures, including expectation measures developed for individual psychotherapy and measures of attitudes toward professional help seeking and valuing personal growth. Across all studies, participants had stronger role expectations for themselves than their partners, although gender effects differed by sample. We discuss how to use the 15‐item EPSCT in clinical practice and in future research as a predictor of couple therapy processes and outcomes.     

Understanding the Relationship Between Commitment Anxiety and Career Tension

Many college students experience a degree of anxiety and indecision related to choosing a major or career path. This study examined the relationship between commitment anxiety, as defined by cognitive information processing theory, and career tension in 101 undergraduate college students enrolled in a career planning class. Results of Pearson product–moment correlations showed a significant positive relationship and medium effect size between a student’s commitment anxiety and career tension levels. The results suggest that commitment anxiety and career tension are distinct but related constructs and that career counselors can help clients by reducing and managing these emotional concerns that often accompany career concerns.     

When goals loom darker: Goal ambivalence moderates the effect of goal proximity on goal-related motivation

This research extends previous work on the self-regulation of goal striving as well as effects of temporal and psychological distance on motivation. Borrowing from classic work on goal gradients and approach-avoidance conflicts, we predicted that the experience of ambivalence toward a personal goal moderates the extent to which feeling or being close to goal attainment affects motivation, such that greater proximity to the goal has a negative effect on motivation at higher levels of experienced goal ambivalence. We find evidence for the hypothesized effect across three studies examining different goals (pursuing a degree, running a half-marathon) with varying operationalizations of goal proximity (self-reported, manipulated, temporal) and motivation (goal commitment, intention strength). These results validate that classic concepts of motivation science such as goal gradients and approach-avoidance conflict are both relevant and applicable to the everyday pursuit of self-set personal goals.     

“操作性定义”和“证伪标准”不足以为心理学奠基

在学科的主流叙事中, “科学性”被视为心理学的基本特征。长久以来, 实证主义的方法论为心理学提供了学科精神内涵。具体而言, “操作性定义”和“证伪标准”成为了心理学“科学性”甚至知识的合法性的判断标准。可心理学的这个方法论基础存在几个方面的问题：首先, 并非所有的科学概念都可以给予操作性定义; 其次, 全称存在命题和统计规律无法经验证实和证伪; 其三, 共有的自然科学方法不足以体现心理学的独特价值。因此, 来自于成熟自然科学的方法论并不足以为作为独立学科的心理学奠基, 心理学背后的本体论承诺对本学科的方法选取有自己特殊的要求, 只有本体论承诺才能为心理学作为独立学科提供逻辑起点。重新反思心理学作为独立学科的逻辑基础, 对于解决学科分裂危机具有建设性意义。     

Working in the hangar: The impact of psychological capital on work outcomes among army aircraft mechanics

Based on positive organizational behavior, this study aimed to explore the impact of psychological capital (PsyCap) on task performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, affective commitment, and job satisfaction among army aircraft mechanics. Data was obtained from 260 aircraft mechanics working in various Turkish Army aviation units. The hypotheses were tested using a series of hierarchical regressions. The results indicated that those with higher PsyCap are more likely to depict task performance, engage in highly extra-role behaviors, be more committed to their organizations, and be highly satisfied with their jobs that are advantageous to army aviation settings. The authors concluded that promoting the levels of PsyCap could be effective in elevating aircraft mechanics’ work attitudes and behaviors. Military aviation units are encouraged to establish human resource development programs to foster the PsyCap of their soldiers, which in turn, enhances crucial work attitudes.     

Physician Aid-in-Dying and Suicide Prevention in Psychiatry: A Moral Crisis?

Involuntary psychiatric commitment for suicide prevention and physician aid-in-dying (PAD) in terminal illness combine to create a moral dilemma. If PAD in terminal illness is permissible, it should also be permissible for some who suffer from nonterminal psychiatric illness: suffering provides much of the justification for PAD, and the suffering in mental illness can be as severe as in physical illness. But involuntary psychiatric commitment to prevent suicide suggests that the suffering of persons with mental illness does not justify ending their own lives, ruling out PAD. Since both practices have compelling underlying justifications, the most reasonable accommodation might seem to be to allow PAD for persons with mental illness whose suffering is severe enough to justify self-killing, but prohibit PAD for persons whose suffering is less severe. This compromise, however, would require the articulation of standards by which persons’ mental as well as physical suffering could be evaluated. Doing so would present a serious philosophical challenge.     

Test of a mediation model of perceived organizational support

This study examined the mediating influence of trust in organization (TIO) and organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) on the relationship between perceived organization support (POS) and its work outcomes. Data were obtained from employee-supervisor dyads from multiple organizations located in a major city in southern China. Structural equation modeling results revealed that: (a) POS related to TIO and OBSE and (b) TIO and OBSE fully mediated the relationship between POS and the work outcomes of organizational commitment and in-role performance, but partially mediated the POS-organizational citizenship behavior relationship.