Longitudinal analysis of stressors,stress, coping and coping effectiveness in elite esports athletes

ObjectiveThe current study aimed to longitudinally examine the stressors, stress appraisal, coping, and coping effectiveness experienced by elite esports athletes.DesignSix elite male League of Legends (LoL) athletes, competing in the Oceanic Challenger Series (OCS), completed diaries over the 2020 competitive season (87 days).MethodAthletes completed weekly diaries after three events: solo training, team training, and competitive matches. Each diary collected data on the stressors experienced, stressor intensity and threat/challenge perception (appraisal), coping strategies used, and perceived coping effectiveness.ResultsGeneral performance, outcome, critical moment performance, and teammate mistakes accounted for 55% of the stressors reported. More stressors were reported in competitive diaries than in training diaries. Competitive stressors were rated as being more intense than training stressors. There were no differences in overall challenge and threat perception, but performance stressors were more likely to be perceived as a challenge, and teammate stressors were more likely to be perceived as a threat. Problem-focused coping (PFC) was the most frequently employed coping strategy. PFC and emotion-focused coping (EFC) strategies were perceived as more effective at reducing stress than avoidance coping (AC).ConclusionsElite LoL athletes experienced a small number of reoccurring stressors over an 87-day competitive period. Athletes reported more stressors around competitive matches and perceived competitive stressors as more intense than team and solo training stressors. Similarly to traditional sports athletes, PFC strategies were the most frequently employed and, PFC and EFC were rated as being more effective than AC.     

From “blessing in disguise” to “what do I do now?”: How Canadian Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls perceived,experienced, and coped with the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Games

The purpose of this study was to explore how Canadian elite athletes perceived, experienced, and coped with the Covid-19 pandemic and postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Games. We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven Paralympic and 14 Olympic hopefuls (n = 21). Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Due to halting of training and competition and inabilities to live out the coveted performance narrative emphasizing winning above all, participants experienced complex emotional webs and questioned their purpose as athletes, which catalyzed psychological disruption. They coped by reframing the postponement as an opportunity for growth and risk-free chance to challenge the performance narrative through the embodiment of a reclaimed time narrative and associated attempts to diversify identities in non-sport domains. The findings highlight how the sociocultural environment impacts athletes’ agency to self-regulate in response to unexpected and dynamic athletic career-related events, thereby prompting the negotiation of concomitant psychological (dis)stress and growth.     

基于胜任特征模型的人才招聘与选拔

胜任特征模型理论在企业人力资源管理过程中应用越来越广泛。尤其是在人才招聘与选拔过程中的作用更为重要。本文以胜任特征模型为切入点,分析该模型的基本理论和特点、模型的构建过程以及在实际人才聘任与选拔过程中的应用,为企业人力资源管理者更好地实现人职匹配提供方法和依据,有助于企业人力资源得到合理配置,提高组织绩效,赢得竞争优势。     

Objective work–nonwork conflict: From incompatible demands to decreased work role performance

Research on work–nonwork conflict (WNC) is based on the assumption that incompatible demands from the work and the nonwork domain hamper role performance. This assumption implies that role demands from both domains interact in predicting role performance, but research has been largely limited to main effects. In this multi-source study, we analyze the incompatibility of demands by testing the interaction of work and nonwork demands on task performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The sample consisted of 61 employees of a German hospital and we used three independent sources of data: self-ratings of work demands, partner-ratings of nonwork demands, and colleague-ratings of performance. Results from hierarchical regression analyses revealed an interaction effect of work and nonwork demands on OCB, but not on task performance. We conclude that people maintain their effort invested in task-related aspects of the job even when conflicts between work and nonwork demands exist, but that they reduce their investment in activities that are perceived as more marginal and extra-role.     

A qualitative examination of the work–family interface: Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder

Within the work–family literature little is known about the work–family challenges and opportunities faced by families that have one or more children with autism spectrum disorder. However, it has been consistently demonstrated that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder are at a higher risk of experiencing a host of negative outcomes. Using a qualitative design, within grounded theory, the present study sheds light on the needs, experiences, and challenges that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder face and also offers insight into ways to expand the scope of work–family research in this area. The present research provides evidence of how the family domain can greatly impact experiences and decisions made in the work domain for families with special needs. The present research adds to the small but growing literature examining the interplay between home and work life for families with special needs and demonstrates that this is an important research domain in need of additional conceptual and empirical consideration.     

Emotional enhancement of immediate memory: Positive pictorial stimuli are better recognized than neutral or negative pictorial stimuli

We examined emotional memory enhancement (EEM) for negative and positive pictures while manipulating encoding and retrieval conditions. Two groups of 40 participants took part in this study. Both groups performed immediate implicit (categorization task) and explicit (recognition task) retrieval, but for one group the tasks were preceded by incidental encoding and for the other group by intentional encoding. As indicated by the sensitivity index (d'), after incidental encoding positive stimuli were easier to recognize than negative and neutral stimuli. Participants' response criterion was more liberal for negative stimuli than for both positive and neutral ones, independent of encoding condition. In the implicit retrieval task, participants were slower in categorizing positive than negative and neutral stimuli. However, the priming effect was larger for emotional than for neutral stimuli. These results are discussed in the context of the idea that the effect of emotion on immediate memory enhancement may depend on the intentionality to encode and retrieve information.     

Modesty in self‐presentation: A comparison between the USA and Japan

Japanese participants in Study 1 exhibited a self‐effacing tendency when no reason for their self‐evaluation was provided. However, they exhibited a self‐enhancing tendency when they were offered a monetary reward for the correct evaluation. In Study 2, Americans, especially American men, exhibited a self‐enhancing tendency whereas Japanese exhibited a self‐effacing tendency when no reason for making the evaluation was presented. This cultural difference disappeared when participants were provided with a monetary reward for correctly evaluating their performance level. These results support the view that the modesty observed in self‐evaluation among Japanese participants is a ‘default strategy’ to avoid offending others.     

Stable Strategies for Personal Development

In her short story “Stable Strategies for Middle Management,” Eileen Gunn imagines a future in which Margaret, an office worker, seeks radical genetic enhancements intended to help her secure the middle-management job she wants. One source of the story’s tension and dark humor is dramatic irony: readers can see that the enhancements Margaret buys stand little chance of making her life go better for her; enhancing is, for Margaret, probably a prudential mistake. This paper argues that our positions in the real world are sufficiently similar to Margaret’s position in Gunn’s fictional world that we should take this story seriously as grounding an argument from analogy for the conclusion that radical genetic enhancements are, for us, probably a prudential mistake. The paper then defends this method. When the question at hand is one of speculative ethics, there is no method better fit to the purpose than argument from analogy to speculative fiction.     

Psychophysiological response to cognitive workload during symmetrical,asymmetrical and dual-task walking

Walking with a lower limb prosthesis comes at a high cognitive workload for amputees, possibly affecting their mobility, safety and independency. A biocooperative prosthesis which is able to reduce the cognitive workload of walking could offer a solution. Therefore, we wanted to investigate whether different levels of cognitive workload can be assessed during symmetrical, asymmetrical and dual-task walking and to identify which parameters are the most sensitive. Twenty-four healthy subjects participated in this study. Cognitive workload was assessed through psychophysiological responses, physical and cognitive performance and subjective ratings. The results showed that breathing frequency and heart rate significantly increased, and heart rate variability significantly decreased with increasing cognitive workload during walking (p < .05). Performance measures (e.g., cadence) only changed under high cognitive workload. As a result, psychophysiological measures are the most sensitive to identify changes in cognitive workload during walking. These parameters reflect the cognitive effort necessary to maintain performance during complex walking and can easily be assessed regardless of the task. This makes them excellent candidates to feed to the control loop of a biocooperative prosthesis in order to detect the cognitive workload. This information can then be used to adapt the robotic assistance to the patient’s cognitive abilities.