Risk factors of workplace bullying for men and women: The role of the psychosocial and physical work environment

Workplace bullying has been shown to be a severe social stressor at work, resulting in high costs both for the individuals and organizations concerned. The aim of this study is to analyze risk factors in a large, nationally representative sample of Finnish employees (n = 4,392). The study makes three important contributions to the existing literature on workplace bullying: first, it demonstrates the role of the physical work environment alongside the psychosocial work environment – employees with a poor physical work environment are more likely than others to report having been subjected to or having observed bullying. Second, contrary to common assumptions, the results suggest that performance‐based pay is associated with a lower, rather than higher risk of bullying. Third, the findings suggest that there are gender differences in risk factors, thereby constituting a call for more studies on the role of gender when identifying risk factors. Increased knowledge of risk factors is important as it enables us to take more effective measures to decrease the risk of workplace bullying.     

Do Common Factors Account for Counseling Outcome?

This study drew from common factors as an explanatory model for how counseling produces client change. Client self‐report measures for 3 common factors—client factors, client–counselor relationship factors, and client expectancy factors—were examined at a counseling training clinic. Regression analyses revealed that 2 factors significantly predicted treatment outcome: client expectancy and the therapeutic alliance. One variable from client factors—abuse history—had a nonsignificant but modest relationship with outcome.     

The Special Science Dilemma and How Culture Solves It

I argue that there is a tension between the claim that at least some kinds in the special sciences are multiply realized and the claim that the reason why kinds are prized by science is that they enter into a variety of different empirical generalizations. Nevertheless, I show that this tension ceases in the case of ‘cultural homologues’—such as specific ideologies, religions, and folk wisdom. I argue that the instances of such special science kinds do have several projectable properties in common due to their shared history of reproduction, and that the social learning involved means that we should also expect these kinds to be multiply realized.     

Employees' satisfaction with retention factors: Exploring the role of career adaptability

Given the rising concerns about staff retention and the increased importance attached to individuals' career adaptability, the present paper explored how career adaptability relates to employees' satisfaction with factors that organizations regard important for their retention. A canonical correlation analysis was conducted on a sample of 321 employees in a South African automotive industry. The results showed that career adaptability, especially career concern, significantly explained the participants' level of satisfaction with their experiences of the career opportunities, work–life balance, training and development opportunities and characteristics of the jobs offered by the company. The study findings suggest that employees' career concerns, goals and plans and how these relate to retention practices are important for retaining them. Black and white participants also differed significantly regarding the variables. This study extends prior research on career adaptability by adding insights about the usefulness of the construct in the retention context.     

Mixed Picture of Readiness for Adoption of Evidence-Based Prevention Programs in Communities: Exploratory Surveys of State Program Delivery Systems

An emerging literature highlights the potential for broader dissemination of evidence‐based prevention programs in communities through existing state systems, such as the land grant university Extension outreach system and departments of public education and health (DOE–DPH). This exploratory study entailed surveying representatives of the national Extension system and DOE–DPH, to evaluate dissemination readiness factors, as part of a larger project on an evidence‐based program delivery model called PROSPER. In addition to assessing systems’ readiness factors, differences among US regions and comparative levels of readiness between state systems were evaluated. The Extension web‐based survey sample N was 958 and the DOE–DPH telephone survey N was 338, with response rates of 23 and 79 %, respectively. Extension survey results suggested only a moderate level of overall readiness nationally, with relatively higher perceived need for collaborative efforts and relatively lower perceived resource availability. There were significant regional differences on all factors, generally favoring the Northeast. Results from DOE–DPH surveys showed significantly higher levels for all readiness factors, compared with Extension systems. Overall, the findings present a mixed picture. Although there were clear challenges related to measuring readiness in complex systems, addressing currently limited dissemination resources, and devising strategies for optimizing readiness, all systems showed some readiness‐related strengths.     

Voice and Culture: A Prospect Theory Approach

The present study examines the congruence of individuals' minimum preferred amounts of voice with the prospect theory value function across nine countries. Accounting for previously ignored minimum preferred amounts of voice and actual voice amounts integral to testing the steepness of gain and loss functions explicated in prospect theory, we use curve fitting to show that ratings of procedural justice fit prospect theory's value function specifically. Further, we investigate the form of this function across nine countries that range in power distance. Results suggest that the form of the value function is congruent with prospect theory, showing an S‐shaped curve that is steeper in the loss than in the gain domain. Further, this pattern is similar across countries. Theoretical and practical implications of these results for both decision making and organizational justice are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“孤芳自赏”还是“茕茕孑立”:儿童社交淡漠适应功能的文化差异

社会退缩行为是指在社会情境中,儿童不参与社会互动并频繁表现出独自消遣的行为。社会退缩有多种亚类型,其中社交淡漠指儿童仅仅喜欢一个人独处,对社会互动没有兴趣。有趣的是,社交淡漠的适应功能存在一定的文化差异,主要表现为:社交淡漠行为在个人主义文化中较少产生适应困难,在心理与情绪适应方面尤为明显;但其在集体主义文化里却会引起多方面的适应困难。这种差异可能与文化价值观的内涵有关,也可能与特定国情有关。未来的研究亟需提高研究方法的多面性,关注年龄与文化的交互作用,进行直接的跨文化比较,探索与文化相关的风险与保护因子,以及关注互联网环境的影响。     

What Do We Compare When We Compare Religions? Philosophical Remarks on the Psychology of Studying Comparative Religion Abroad

The issue of comparison is a vexing one in religious and theological studies, not least for teachers of comparative religion in study abroad settings. We try to make familiar ideas fresh and strange, in settings where students may find it hard not to take “fresh” and “strange” as signs of existential threat. The author explores this delicate pedagogical situation, drawing on several years' experience directing a study abroad program and on the thought of figures from the Western existentialist tradition and Chinese Confucian philosophy. The article focuses particularly on “oh events” – defined as moments when one learns one has something to learn and something to unlearn. The author argues that the experience of shame that is typical of oh events can become a valuable resource for cross‐cultural learning and personal transformation, if teachers assist students to reflect on the experience as a sign of differing, but potentially harmonizable, cultural expectations. This essay is published alongside of six other essays, including a response from John Barbour, comprising a special section of the journal (see Teaching Theology and Religion 18:1, January 2015).     

Explanatory models of mental illness: a qualitative study with Emirati future mental health practitioners

Cultural traits have an influence on the person's interpretation of mental illness, the expression of distress and help-seeking attitudes. UAE has a unique sociological context where Eastern and Western traditions coexist. Given that there is a scarcity of mental health studies and no study on the explanatory models (EM) of mental illness, it is important to examine the connections between Western biomedical approaches and traditional Emirati illness explanations and how those affect the Emirati EM. In order to explore the influence of those connections on Emirati future clinicians, the present study focuses on young Emirati psychology students in a Western-oriented university. In-depth interviews were performed regarding their EM. The results highlighted the influence of cultural traits on the EM formulation, the importance of family in the Emirati society and the impact of the UAE socio-economic and religious reality in forming the participants’ beliefs on mental illness.     

The power of rituals in dealing with traumatic stress symptoms: cleansing rituals for former child soldiers in Northern Uganda

International guidelines for emergency response note the importance of cultural adaptions and facilitation of local spiritual and religious healing practices when appropriate. Deciding whether traditional medicine is safe, effective and appropriate is a complex matter. This study explores the therapeutic factors of a local cleansing ritual in Northern Uganda aimed at healing former child soldiers. The components of the ritual are analysed and compared with research-based therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Participant observation was used during the ritual, followed by qualitative in-depth interviews and follow-up interviews over three years. The key informant is a former child soldier participating in the ritual. He was abducted and forced to commit several killings during a three-year period. The collective mobilisation of social support, the collective forgiveness and the strength of the psycho-education appear central for the effect of the ritual. In addition, the ritual draws on common therapeutic factors. The findings indicate that such a ritual involves elements that safely and effectively deal with symptoms in accordance with modern research on trauma therapy, perhaps more powerfully than Western-style therapy. Implications for collaboration with local healers in emergency settings are indicated.