A Longitudinal Person-Centered Perspective on Positive and Negative Affect at Work

Abstract

This research examines how the direction and intensity of employee’s positive and negative affect at work combine within different profiles, and the relations between these profiles and theoretically-relevant predictors (psychological need satisfaction and supervisor autonomy support) and outcomes (work-family conflict, absenteeism, and turnover intentions). A total sample of 491 firefighters completed our measures initially, and 139 of those completed the same measures again four months later, allowing us to examine the stability of these affect profiles over time. Latent profile analyses and latent transition analyses revealed five identical profiles across the two measurements occasions: (1) Low Negative Affect Facilitators; (2) Moderately Low Positive Affect Incapacitators; (3) High Positive Affect Facilitators; (4) Very Low Positive Affect Incapacitators; and (5) Normative. Membership into Profiles 3, 4, and 5 was very stable over time. In contrast, Profiles 1 and 2 were associated with a highly unstable membership over time. The highest levels of work-family conflict, absenteeism, and turnover intentions were associated with the Very Low Positive Affect Incapacitators. In contrast, the lowest levels of turnover intentions were associated with the Low Negative Affect Facilitators and High Positive Affect Facilitators.     

ON THE BENEFITS OF PHILOSOPHY AS A WAY OF LIFE IN A GENERAL INTRODUCTORY COURSE

Philosophy as a way of life (PWOL) places investigations of value, meaning, and the good life at the center of philosophical investigation, especially of one’s own life. This essay argues that PWOL is compatible with general introductory philosophy courses, further arguing that PWOL-based general introductions have several philosophical and pedagogical benefits. These include the ease with which high-impact practices, situated skill development, and students’ ability to “think like a disciplinarian” may be incorporated into such courses, relative to more traditional introductory courses, as well as the demonstration of philosophy’s value to students by explicitly tying philosophical investigation to students’ own lives.     

Enhancing social diffusion theory as a basis for prevention intervention: A conceptual and strategic framework

Social diffusion theory has recently been recognized as a promising approach for large-scale disease prevention and health promotion efforts. This paper describes how principles and tactics from social cognitive theory, operant psychology, social psychology, social marketing, and the overarching stages of change model can be used to further develop the conceptual and strategic (technological) bases of social diffusion theory. Within an integrative framework, we discuss in detail more effective ways to train peer mediators of behavior change as one example of how social diffusion theory can benefit from this conceptual and strategic reformulation. We then further illustrate the use of peer mediators of change in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and cancer prevention intervention studies with both interventions training peer mediators to diffuse information, norms, and risk reduction strategies. Although the results of these studies showed reductions in high-risk behaviors across population segments, more closely following the framework discussed in this article should further increase the behavior change potential of future interventions based on social diffusion theory.     

Cyberbullying,cyber aggression,and cyber victimization in relation to adolescents’ dating and sexual behavior: An evolutionary perspective

This study examined adolescents’ cyberbullying, cyber aggression, and cyber victimization from an evolutionary perspective, extending previous research showing that traditional forms of bullying, aggression, and victimization are associated with reproductively relevant outcomes. Consistent with hypotheses based on theory and research linking bullying and aggression to intrasexual competition for mates, results indicated that cyber victimization was positively associated with a number of dating and sexual partners. Findings for cyber aggression were more complex, depending on the degree of cyber victimization experienced by the perpetrator, and the balance of power between the perpetrator and victim. Specifically, nonbullying cyber aggression by perpetrators with equal or less power than the victim had stronger positive relations with the number of dating or sexual partners when perpetrators experienced a high level of cyber victimhood. In contrast, cyberbullying by perpetrators with more power than the victim was negatively associated with the number of dating partners when the perpetrators’ exposure to cyber victimization was low. Although cyber aggression and cyber victimization are new forms of aggression that involve the use of modern electronic devices, the results of this study demonstrate the usefulness of viewing this behavior from an evolutionary perspective and show that adolescents are likely to use cyber aggression against rivals in the context of intrasexual competition for mates.     

The effects of gendered information in stories on preschool children’s development of gender stereotypes

Social-cognitive theory posits that children learn gender stereotypes through gendered information. The present study examined whether children learn new gender stereotypes from stories when unknown words are linked to a gendered protagonist or context information. In Experiment 1, 40 3- to 6-year-old preschoolers were read stories with either a gendered protagonist embedded within a non-gendered context, or a non-gendered protagonist embedded within a gendered context. In Experiment 2, the same sample of children were read stories with the protagonist and the context displaying congruent or incongruent gender information. Each story featured an unknown activity linked with the stereotypical content. Both experiments indicate that the children rated the activity according to both the gender of the context and of the protagonist; however, the effect of the latter was stronger. In addition, children showed higher interest in the unknown activity if the protagonist’s gender matched their own sex. Thus, gender information in stories influences how children perceive unknown words.     

Applying prospect theory to pilot weather-related decision-making: The impact of monetary and time considerations on risk taking behaviour

One of the key findings of prospect theory is that people tend to treat potential gains differently to potential losses. Consistent with earlier findings across a range of areas, pilots were risk averse when faced with an uncertain situation involving monetary gains and risk seeking when faced with a monetary loss. Prospect theory has largely been used to explore monetary decision-making; however, “time” is potentially a more important consideration for pilots than money. For example, how much time can be flown with the current fuel onboard. It was found that pilots' decision behaviour changed when faced with a decision involving time, with pilots risk averse for both a time gain and a time loss situation. Pilots appeared to prefer to know precisely the time required for a journey, rather than take a gamble on a potential short cut. Evidence also suggests pilots were more likely to take risks in situations that they perceive they have more control over (e.g. air traffic delays) compared to dynamic weather-related events. There was some evidence to suggest pilots do not consider a decision in terms of an end state, but rather in terms of losses and gains from their current state. The final part of the study found evidence that it may be possible to predict pilot risk taking behaviour using self-report decision frames.     

How representations of number and numeracy predict decision paradoxes: A fuzzy-trace theory approach

Higher numeracy has been associated with decision biases in some numerical judgment-and-decision problems. According to fuzzy-trace theory, understanding such paradoxes involves broadening the concept of numeracy to include processing the gist of numbers—their categorical and ordinal relations—in addition to objective (verbatim) knowledge about numbers. We assess multiple representations of gist, as well as numeracy, and use them to better understand and predict systematic paradoxes in judgment and decision-making. In two samples (Ns = 978 and 957), we assessed categorical (some vs. none) and ordinal gist representations of numbers (higher vs. lower, as in relative magnitude judgment, estimation, approximation, and simple ratio comparison), objective numeracy, and a nonverbal, nonnumeric measure of fluid intelligence in predicting: (a) decision preferences exhibiting the Allais paradox and (b) attractiveness ratings of bets with and without a small loss in which the loss bet is rated higher than the objectively superior no-loss bet. Categorical and ordinal gist tasks predicted unique variance in paradoxical decisions and judgments, beyond objective numeracy and intelligence. Whereas objective numeracy predicted choosing or rating according to literal numerical superiority, appreciating the categorical and ordinal gist of numbers was pivotal in predicting paradoxes. These results bring important paradoxes under the same explanatory umbrella, which assumes three types of representations of numbers—categorical gist, ordinal gist, and objective (verbatim)—that vary in their strength across individuals.     

高校教师教学水平评价概化理论预算限制下最佳样本量估计

使用“高校教师教学水平评价问卷”,要求566名学生对19名教师进行评价,对收集到的数据作不同的概化设计,包括t×i、（s：t）×i、（s：t）×（i：v）和（s：t）×（i：v）×o四种设计。基于概化理论,结合预算限制,统一LaGrange乘法公式,自行推导不同设计的最佳样本量公式,联合估计的方差分量,计算出不同设计的最佳样本量。结果表明：（1）LaGrange乘法统一公式表现出较强的通用性,能够适用于预算限制下各种概化设计;（2）评价场合是影响高校教师教学水平评价一个相当重要的因素;（3）（s：t）×（i：v）×o是高校教师教学水平评价概化理论预算限制下最优概化设计;（4）高校教师教学水平评价概化理论预算限制下,每位教师最佳评价学生人数为20人,每个维度最佳评价题目数为3题。     

Decision-makers use social information to update their preferences but choose for others as they do for themselves

People's risky decisions are susceptible to the social context in which they take place. Across three experiments using different paradigms, we investigated the influence of three social factors upon participants' decisions: the recipient of the decision-making outcome (self, other, or joint), the nature of the relationship with the other agent (friend, stranger, or teammate), and the type of information that participants received about others' preferences: none at all, general information about how previous participants had decided, or information about a specific partner's preference. We found that participants' decisions about risk did not differ according to whether the outcome at stake was their own, another agent's, or a joint outcome, nor according to the type of information available. Participants did, however, adjust their preferences for risky options in light of social information.