Being engaged when resources are low: A multi-source study of selective optimization with compensation at work

This study examined self-regulation in the form of selective optimization with compensation (SOC) at work as a moderator of the relationships of job control (as a job resource) and feeling recovered and energized in the morning (as a personal energy resource) with self- and coworker-rated work engagement. SOC was hypothesized to offset low levels of job control and low levels of personal energy. Based on a sample of 405 public-service employees in Germany, including a multi-source subsample of 141 employees and their respective coworkers, the results showed that SOC use moderated the relationship between the level of personal energy and self-ratings as well as coworker ratings of work engagement such that SOC mitigated low levels of personal energy. SOC at work did not offset low job control. The results suggest that using SOC is particularly important when employees lack energy. SOC strategies should, therefore, be fostered by managers and organizations.     

My father,Herbert Rosenfeld

Abstract

This is the modified version of the powerpoint that Angela Rosenfeld, the elder daughter of Herbert Rosenfeld (1910–1986) – one of Melanie Klein's most important collaborators – presented in Nuremberg, his native town, on October 5, 2014, upon the invitation of the German Psychoanalytic Society (DPG). In it, Angela Rosenfeld reconstructs not only her father's main life events, but also her personal relationship to him and the family climate in which she grew up. The traumas brought about by Hitler's rise to power in 1933 are partly still reflected in the holes and/or open questions that the author herself became aware of while writing and presenting the paper – and which profoundly touched and moved her audience.     

Empathie organisationnelle,soutien organisationnel perçu et efficacité des équipes de travail dans l’industrie nucléaire

This research studies social climate's role in the efficacy of work teams. The referential work frame is based on the concept of organizational empathy (Guédon & Bernaud, 2008), which is specifically operationalized on a tri-dimensional model basis and the perceived organizational support from Eisenberger's model (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). A total of 274 employees, belonging to 3 professional groups, who worked in a nuclear power house participated in this research. Linear regression analysis’ results show a major effect of organizational empathy on the efficacy of work teams, nevertheless predictors’ hierarchy varies upon occupied professional function.     

Le bilan de compétences : effets sur l’état émotionnel des bénéficiaires

Bilan de compétences (BC)’ effects on workers’ emotional states remain little explored. BC may reduce work-related negative emotional states and enhance positive ones. This was tested using a two-study design. In the first study, 38 respondents filled in the POMS-f, a questionnaire on emotional states, at the beginning or/and at the end of their BC. Six of them were also interviewed one week after the end of their BC. In the second study, 59 respondents filled in the same questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of their BC. In both studies, BC significantly reduced most of negative emotional states and increased positive ones.     

Personality change via work: A job demand–control model of Big-five personality changes

Based on the job demand–control model and Gray's biopsychological theory of personality, the author proposed a model to suggest that time demand and job control can drive changes in Big-five personality traits, especially neuroticism and extroversion, by shaping an individual's stress experiences at work. Five waves of data from 1814 employees over a five-year period from the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia Survey were analyzed. Time demand, job control and job stress were measured in all five waves, and Big-five personality was assessed in the first and last waves. The results showed that time demand and job control shaped job stress positively and negatively at a given time; and over time, an increase in time demand predicted an increase in job stress, which subsequently predicted an increase in neuroticism and a decrease in extroversion and conscientiousness. Results also showed that an increase in job control predicted an increase in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness directly, but did not predict change in neuroticism and extroversion. Finally, the buffering effect of job control on the association between time demand and job stress was only observed in two of five waves and such buffering effect was not observed in a change process. The implications on personality development and work design research are discussed.     

Influence of the median opening length on driving behaviors in the crossover work zone—A driving simulation study

Work zone safety has been a major concern for drivers and transportation agencies. Considering the severe consequences of crossover work zone crashes coupled with the limited literature on the median opening length, this paper aims to investigate the influence of the median opening length on driving behaviors from a behavioral perspective in crossover work zones. A driving simulation study with 32 participants was carried out to investigate the driving performance by metrics (speed, acceleration, maximum steering wheel speed, and lane-changing trajectory) with respect to five median opening lengths. The significant differences of each driving performance metric among various median opening lengths were found in the process of crossing through the median opening on the entrance by-pass and exit by-pass. The results indicated that drivers’ speeds were always higher than the speed limits for all median opening lengths. A narrower median opening may induce risky driving behaviors such as sharp deceleration and decelerating while lane-changing, which may increase speed variance. When crossing through the median opening with a larger length, high speed variance, sluggish lane-changing operations, and improper lane-using behaviors were observed because the excessive lane-changing space provided by the larger median opening length would decrease the situation awareness and increase the speed preference heterogeneity among drivers. Finally, some traffic management strategies were proposed, which can improve the safety and mobility of crossover work zones and further provide a basis for the formulation of related standards.     

Religion and Spirituality among American Indian,South Asian,Black, Hispanic/Latina,and White Women in the Study on Stress,Spirituality, and Health

Social scientists have increasingly recognized the lack of diversity in survey research on American religion, resulting in a dearth of data on religion and spirituality (R/S) in understudied racial and ethnic groups. At the same time, epidemiological studies have increasingly diversified their racial and ethnic representation, but have collected few R/S measures to date. With a particular focus on American Indian and South Asian women (in addition to Blacks, Hispanic/Latinas, and white women), this study introduces a new effort among religion and epidemiology researchers, the Study on Stress, Spirituality, and Health. This multicohort study provides some of the first estimates of R/S beliefs and practices among American Indians and U.S. South Asians, and offers new insight into salient beliefs and practices of diverse racial/ethnic and religious communities.     

Functional Equivalence of Sleep Loss and Time on Task Effects in Sustained Attention

Research on sleep loss and vigilance both focus on declines in cognitive performance, but theoretical accounts have developed largely in parallel in these two areas. In addition, computational instantiations of theoretical accounts are rare. The current work uses computational modeling to explore whether the same mechanisms can account for the effects of both sleep loss and time on task on performance. A classic task used in the sleep deprivation literature, the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT), was extended from the typical 10‐min duration to 35 min, to make the task similar in duration to traditional vigilance tasks. A computational cognitive model demonstrated that the effects of time on task in the PVT were equivalent to those observed with sleep loss. Subsequently, the same mechanisms were applied to a more traditional vigilance task—the Mackworth Clock Task—providing a good fit to existing data. This supports the hypothesis that these different types of fatigue may produce functionally equivalent declines in performance.     

Attention and the Cognitive Penetrability of Perception

One sceptical rejoinder to those who claim that sensory perception is cognitively penetrable is to appeal to the involvement of spatial attention. While the sceptic is correct that some putative cases are accurately deflected in this way, the rejoinder oversimplifies the possible roles that attention might play in relevant contexts. This paper identifies alternative ways that selective attention might play a role in cognitive effects on perception. What emerges is a plausible and well-evidenced mental schema that describes attention-mediated cognitive penetration.