The role of working hours,work environment and physical leisure activity on the need for recovery following a day's work among UK white-water raft guides: A within-subjects multilevel approach

BackgroundWhite-water raft guides are a growing workforce of the outdoor sector but little is known about how the working environment, workload and physical leisure activity impacts on the need for occupational recovery (the desire to replenish internal resources and recuperate in the time immediately following work) of those working in this physically demanding occupation.MethodsLongitudinal data were collected across an eight month working season at three month intervals. Multilevel analyses tested the within-subject associations between work environment, hours worked and physical leisure activity had on the need for recovery.ResultsWorking longer across the working season and participating in more physical leisure activity were directly associated with a lower need for occupational recovery. Furthermore, working on natural rivers significantly reduced the need for recovery experienced compared to work on man-made courses. This was regardless of the number of hours of worked in these environments.DiscussionPhysical leisure activity may provide a distraction from work, allowing employees to replenish their physical and psychological energy, thus protecting themselves against work-related fatigue. The findings also expand upon the previous literature identifying that working in a natural environment reduces the risk of experiencing work-related fatigue.     

儒道禅文化的自我觉解与心理和谐修养

心理和谐是社会和谐的基本要素之一,而不同层次的自我意识间的和谐又是心理和谐的核心。通过对当代中国人心理现状的分析,发现在自我意识的层次中缺乏高层精神性自我对各层自我的整合,是影响个体心理和谐因素中最根本的。儒道禅文化对宇宙自我的觉解及其对各层自我的关照,对增进当代中国人心理和谐具有极大理论意义和可操作性价值。     

Affective commitment,trust, and the psychological contract: contributions matter,too!

ABSTRACT

Employees’ receipt of inducements is associated with trust and affective commitment, and employees pay for their inducements with their contributions (e.g., time, and physical and intellectual effort). Yet this relationship does not fully mirror events as they occur in an employment relationship where employees’ promises and delivery of inducements and contributions are ongoing, and relatively continuous. Our premise is that promising and delivering contributions may enhance or reduce employees’ trust in and commitment to the organization depending on how well they fulfill psychological needs. We tested a social exchange theory model and our alternative model. Survey results favoured our alternative model and suggested that employees’ contributions were related to trust and commitment, independent of the role of inducements. Tests of the social exchange model exhibited worse fit to the data. Breach and fulfilment results from polynomial regression and response surface analyses revealed that commitment was higher when delivered contributions equal promised contributions and declined when delivered amounts were deficient of, or exceeded, promised amounts. Employees’ promised and delivered contributions to organizations may constitute a path to their feelings of commitment, but commitment was highest when delivered contributions were within close range of promised amounts.     

Facets of the NEO-PI-R and smoking cessation

Knowing more about the personality of smokers may help to increase the effectiveness of smoking cessation treatments and can contribute to relapse prevention. The aim of the present study was to analyze the influence of 30 specific facets of the Five-Factor Model of personality on the outcomes at the end of treatment and at 12-month follow-up, in a sample of 281 smokers seeking psychological treatment to stop smoking. Personality facets were assessed with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Results showed that nicotine dependence and several facets of personality (Self-discipline, Depression, Aesthetics, Trust, and Modesty) contribute to explain short- and long-term outcomes after smoking cessation. These findings support the need of integrate information about individual smoker’s personality facets into smoking cessation programs.     

ON AGGRESSION TURNED AGAINST THE SELF

Deliberate self‐harm is a common presenting problem suffered by young people. Several patients referred to the NHS outpatient clinic where I work have been able to stop harming themselves during intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy. In this paper, I shall discuss a variety of motives for persistent cutting by one adolescent girl. I am most interested to show how the healthier part of her personality overcame her motives for harming herself, and eventually allowed her to make use of my understanding of a sadomasochistic internal object that worked against us.