Pragmatic Inconsistency and Credibility

A critic may attack an arguer personally by pointing out that the arguer’s position is pragmatically inconsistent: the arguer does not practice what he preaches. A number of authors hold that such attacks can be part of a good argumentative discussion. However, there is a difficulty in accepting this kind of contribution as potentially legitimate, for the reason that there is nothing wrong for a protagonist to have an inconsistent position, in the sense of committing himself to mutually inconsistent propositions. If so, any such charge seems to be irrelevant. The questions to be answered in this essay are: what, if any, is the dialectical rationale for this type of criticism, and in what situations, if any, is this kind of charge dialectically legitimate? It will be shown that these attacks can be dialectically legitimate, in special circumstances, and that they can be seen as strategic?manoeuvres where a party attempts to reconcile his dialectical and his rhetorical objectives.     

Test of a social cognitive model of work satisfaction in teachers

Lent and Brown [Lent, R. W., & Brown, S. D. (2006). Integrating person and situation perspectives on work satisfaction: A social-cognitive view. Journal of Vocational Behavior,69, 236-247] recently proposed an integrative model of work satisfaction linked to social cognitive career theory. The model posits that work satisfaction is predicted by five classes of variables: work conditions, goal progress, self-efficacy, goal and efficacy relevant supports, and personality traits (e.g., positive affect). We tested this model in a sample of 366 teachers, finding good overall model-data fit. Of the five predictor classes, work conditions, self-efficacy, and positive affect were each found to explain unique predictive variance. This suggests that teachers who are most satisfied with their jobs see their work environment as supportive, are confident in their abilities to complete work-related tasks and goals, and report high levels of trait positive affect. Findings also offered support for the contention that measures of subjective person-environment fit may not be empirically distinct from work satisfaction. Implications of these findings for future research and applied efforts are considered.     

Development and validation of an instrument for assessing job demands arising from accelerated change: The intensification of job demands scale (IDS)

Accelerated societal and organizational changes have placed new pressures on employees. Especially, service employees are exposed to intensified workloads, planning and decision-making, and learning demands. Despite the growing attention given to this intensification of job demands, a comprehensive measure is missing. In the present study, we developed the Intensification of Job Demands Scale (IDS) and validated it in four samples (N = 1363). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the differentiation into five subscales, namely work intensification, intensified job-related planning and decision-making demands, intensified career-related planning and decision-making demands, intensified knowledge-related learning demands, and intensified skill-related learning demands. This five-factor structure holds for both the German and the English versions of the instrument. Convergent and discriminant validity tests showed that the IDS subscales are moderately related to established measures of job demands, but at most have small correlations with negative affectivity. Providing support for the incremental validity, the IDS subscales were found to add to the prediction of burnout and job satisfaction beyond established job demands. Finally, the IDS subscales helped to identify employees who experienced changes in their work situation. In sum, the results indicate that the IDS is a valid and reliable measure to assess the intensification of job demands.     

Effects of Mediated Learning Experience,Tutor Support and Peer Collaborative Learning on Academic Achievement and Intellectual Functioning among College Students

If the practice of psychology is to be relevant to environmental realities and context sensitive then conscious consideration must be given to the psychology training programme. Training programmes should give due recognition to the historical, political, social, economic and cultural contexts of human behaviours so as to understand how these interacting contexts may contribute to placing people at risk for ill-health. The main aim of this article is to present an analysis of African environmental realities to which training programmes in psychology must respond. In view of the under-utilization of psychological services within healthcare systems in many parts of Africa, this article also provides some suggestions for the development of appropriate training and practice modalities that may be geared towards effective healthcare service delivery in Africa.     

Analysing driver’s decision in dilemma zone at signalized intersections under disordered traffic conditions

Delay in the decision-making process of stop or go during the amber phase of the signal cycle often leads to abrupt hard deceleration or red light violations at signalized intersections. The indecisiveness or the dilemma in decision making often results in compromised safety of the road users. The present study attempts to analyze the driver’s behaviour in order to make the decision of stop or go and developed a binary logistic regression model while considering different traffic behaviour parameters exhibited and observed after the onset of the amber phase. Empirical vehicular trajectory data from three signalized intersections covering 121 signal cycles and 1347 vehicles are used in the study. The study presents two dilemma zone identification models based on distance from the stop line, focusing on easy-to-use and static driver assistance and dynamic-realtime driver assistance systems. Both the models are observed to show good fit and prediction accuracy. The models are validated internally and externally for their adaptability in the field. The effect of different traffic parameters on the dilemma zone is explored, and a possible real-time application of the dynamic model as a driver assistance system in decision-making is explored.     

Perceived Overqualification: A Multi-Source Investigation of Psychological Predisposition and Contextual Triggers

ABSTRACT. Although employee (subjective) perceived overqualification (POQ) has recently been explored as a meaningful organizational construct, further work is needed to fully understand it. We extend the theoretical psychological underpinnings of employee POQ and examine both its determinants and outcomes based on established and newly proposed theoretical developments. Four-hundred and fifteen employees completed an online questionnaire and 208 of their supervisors completed corresponding surveys about the employees’ withdrawal behaviors and job-related attitudes, in order to explore potential predictors and outcomes of subjectively experienced POQ. Among the predictors, work conditions (uniform requirements and repetitive tasks) were most strongly associated with POQ. In terms of individual differences, narcissism predicted higher POQ while general mental ability only did when holding other variables constant. In addition, among the outcomes, higher POQ was related to lower job satisfaction and organizational commitment, but was not related to withdrawal behaviors such as truancy, absenteeism, and turnover intentions.     

Le workaholisme dans une université française : une perspective transactionnelle

The aim of this research is to examine the phenomenon of workaholism with the staff of a French University. Three hundred and four employees completed measures of workaholism, personality and working conditions in order to study this phenomenon from a transactional perspective. Data analysis confirms the four hypotheses. Personality–in particular neuroticism–appears associated with workaholism. Working conditions also explain an additional proportion of variance of the phenomenon. In addition, workaholism does not appear to have serious consequences in terms of adaptation or professional medical and psychological disorders. Finally, interest is noted in direction of a differentiated study of the publics: if professors and teachers have higher level of workaholism than the technical and administrative staff, the origin is more for the professors and the teachers in individual characteristics expressed. The discussion raises some limitations of the research and outlines future prospects.     

Alcohol use and problem drinking in South Africa: Results from a national-population-based survey 2014-2015

The aim of this study was to estimate the pattern of alcohol use among South African adults by their socio-demographic and health status indicators. We analysed data from a 2014–2015 South African national population-based survey which sampled 22 752 adults (mean age 37.1 years, SD?=?17.6, age range of 15–109 years). Results indicate 3.9% were hazardous or harmful alcohol users. In adjusted logistic regression analysis, both men and women who self-reported to use tobacco, and women to have hypertension, were at higher risk for harmful alcohol use. Age and socioeconomic status moderated harmful alcohol use among men so that those in middle age (35–49 years) and with above average household income were at lower risk for hazardous or harmful alcohol use. Socio-demographic factors appear to primarily influence risk for hazardous or harmful alcohol use among South African adults.     

Practical Conditions for Revealing Kabbalistic Knowledge

In this lecture, given on 17 June 2004, the author describes the conditions for proper disclosure of the wisdom of Kabbalah. He explains that today everyone is entitled and indeed is required to know about its true meaning. Expounding on the three past bans—“no need to disclose,” “impossible to disclose,” and “the Creator's personal secret”—Makaron demonstrates why today they have been (at least partially) lifted.     

Predicting the job and life satisfaction of Italian teachers: Test of a social cognitive model

This study tested a social cognitive model of work and life satisfaction (Lent & Brown, 2006, 2008) in a sample of 235 Italian school teachers. The model offered good overall fit to the data, though not all individual path coefficients were significant. Three of five predictors (favorable work conditions, efficacy-relevant supports, and positive affectivity) produced significant, direct paths to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction, progress at personal work goals, and positive affectivity were predictive of teachers' life satisfaction. Task self-efficacy was related indirectly both to job satisfaction (via work conditions) and life satisfaction (via goal progress). Implications of the findings for future research and efforts to promote teachers' job satisfaction are discussed.