The Need for Synergy in Academic Policies: An Introduction to the Dialogue on Pre‐registration

There has been much debate on the need for preregistering experimental studies. Opinions differ with some people believing that “pre‐registration should be required—for us to believe the results of papers,” and others believing that “pre‐registration makes no difference to science and just adds work.” This research dialogue brings differing viewpoints together, in an open academic dialogue. Two target articles and two commentaries discuss what pre‐registration does for replicability of studies, and what cost it adds on authors and reviewers. Additionally, in my introduction to the research dialogue, I deliberate on the need for synergy between our journals, review teams, authors, and institutions, in order for any new policies on pre‐registration to be successfully adopted.     

Perceived overqualification,felt organizational obligation,and extra-role behavior during the COVID-19 crisis: The moderating role of self-sacrificial leadership

Past research has found that employees who view themselves as overqualified for their jobs tend to hold negative job attitudes and be unwilling to go beyond the call of duty. In challenging situations such as during the COVID-19 crisis, when having “all hands-on deck” may be important to an organization's survival, mitigating the negative tendencies of these employees becomes important. Adopting a sensemaking perspective on crisis management, we examine whether supervisors' self-sacrificial leadership can mitigate these negative tendencies. First, we propose that employee perceived overqualification is associated with lower levels of felt obligation to the organization and thereby lower levels of extra-role behaviors (i.e., helping and proactivity). We next propose that supervisors' self-sacrificial leadership during the COVID-19 crisis can evoke, especially when COVID-19 more strongly impacts the organization, a sense of collectivism toward the organization, which mitigates the negative association of perceived overqualification with felt obligation and thus extra-role behaviors. We tested our theorizing in samples from the UK (n = 121, pilot study) and US (n = 382, main study) in studies with a multi-wave, time-lagged design. Findings from both studies provide support for our theorizing. We discuss implications for research and practice concerning perceived overqualification during a crisis.     

Reflexiones sobre la asistencia psicológica y psicoterapéutica a los afectados por el Síndrome del Aceite Tóxico (SAT)

RESUMEN

En este artículo se pone de manifiesto la determinación plurifactorial de los trastornos, en general, y del síndrome del aceite tóxico, en particular, y la imposibilidad de entenderlos a partir de los modelos mecanicistas dominantes en otros tiempos en la Psicología clínica y la medicina. Se realiza una reflexión sobre las características socioculturale s del grupo afectado por SAT, así como, las características físicas y psíquicas de dicho grupo. Para posteriormente proponer un modelo del análisis e intervención a este colectivo desde una perspectiva interdisciplinar, centrado en este caso en los factores psicológicos.     

Rediscovering Meaning

The present crisis of the Western countries involves not just the world of politics, finance, and the economy, but also the ecosystem balance, the world of the values on which the model of social organization and economic development is based. The crisis is therefore systemic, epoch-making, and overcoming it will require radical changes, above all in the way we think, in our scale of values, and therefore our culture. On the other hand, for decades the world—in particular the West—has been experiencing a cultural sea-change that is challenging many of the pillars of society that have stood for centuries. The young people of today and their use of technological social networks to develop non-profit initiatives for social change may create a more positive future while maintaining our human values.     

A Novel “Planetary Man”: From the Philosophical Paradigm of Modernity to Contemporary Anthropological Mutation: The Perspective of Ernesto Balducci

Italian priest, essayist, and intellectual of the twentieth century, Ernesto Balducci identified the crucial turning points of the new millennium by advancing original perspectives capable of opening unusual future scenarios. Sensitive to emergences of society (pollution, wars, ecological collapse), he retraces the causes in the more general “crisis of modernity,” proposing a new paideia and a new model of thought. He theorizes the construction of a novel planetary horizon that presupposes not only the building of new organizational structures, but also the achieving of an authentic “anthropological mutation” capable of inverting the course of history. While the old ethics were anthropocentric, founded on the supremacy of humankind over the world and nature, the new ethics is planetary, meaning that humankind must no longer be used as the parameter, but instead, the global horizon over which the effects of his or her actions extend.     

Not Staying Home: The Experience of Uzbek Women Crisis Counselors and Therapists

This study explored the experiences of Uzbek women therapists and counselors working to end violence against women through their involvement in nongovernmental organizations. A content analysis was used, which elicited four themes: (a) participants' early interactions provided them with an awareness of gender injustices that led them into adult leadership roles with the support of family members; (b) motivation to work with nongovernmental organizations developed due to perceived barriers that impeded women's access to resources and personal freedoms; (c) participants struggled with how to create crisis centers without a grassroots foundation and with the limitations placed on them by the Uzbek government; and (d) the paradox of feminism: participants held views of Western feminism that both inspired and disturbed them, resulting in distance from feminist identities but general respect for its philosophies.     

Community-Based Interventions in New York City After 9/11

Abstract

The horrors of 9/11 have created tremendous psychosocial needs in the population of New York. For all major providers in this field, this has meant taking up the challenge of learning within the new situation, creating new frameworks for intervention, and implementing programs that previously had not been a part of the traditional social services environment. In this article, we will describe the process of transforming this challenge into an opportunity for organizational, professional and conceptual growth.     

Training and Mobilizing Volunteers for Emergency Response and Long-Term Support

Abstract

This article offers guidelines for the screening, assignment, and ongoing training of volunteers for active outreach, which are based on the experience of the Israel Crisis Management Center's countrywide volunteer network. Given ongoing support, volunteers can provide the vital immediate and long-term support that is particularly important to vulnerable populations. Issues in training include: (a) responding to loss and trauma, (b) collaboration, and (c) cultural sensitivity. Ways to minimize burnout through nurturing a sense of belonging, connectedness, and meaning are discussed. The unique contribution and need for special support of volunteer trauma survivors who are models of post-traumatic growth is described.     

The impact of the socio-economic crisis on intrapsychic and intersubjective processes within the therapeutic relationship: Implications for the ethical practice of counselling psychology and psychotherapy

Using attachment and mentalisation theories as a framework, the present paper aims to explore the impact of the current socio-economic crisis on the micro-processes and interpersonal dynamics that emerge between client and therapist as well as the ethical dilemmas that surface within the context of the therapeutic relationship. The first part of the paper focuses on the intrapsychic level and the subjective appraisal and experience of the crisis, as this may differ from individual to individual as well as the unique meaning-making processes that take place for clients and therapists alike. It is argued that the socio-economic crisis itself cannot be seen as an entity that is entirely independent and external to the individual but as a phenomenon that interacts in unique ways with the individual’s inner current and past experience. The second part focuses on the exploration of intersubjective processes that emerge between client and therapist, in particular the transference-countertransference dynamic, as this develops within conditions of increased arousal and anxiety. The role and responsibility of counselling psychologists in preserving reflexivity, empathy and a mentalising stance (through supervision and personal therapy) are highlighted in order to safeguard the ethical and competent practice of counselling psychology.