Mechanisms of Empowerment: Psychological Processes for Members of Power-based Community Organizations

The paper reports a study of participatory experiences among members of power-based community organizations. A path model of psychological empowerment was tested. Perceived relational characteristics of the community organization were hypothesized as exogenous to participation, perceived organizational power and psychological empowerment. An alternative model was reproduced with the strongest relationships between perceived organizational intimacy and psychological empowerment and an inverse relationship between perceived organizational regulation and perceptions of organizational power.     

Triggering Creative Self-Efficacy to Increase Employee Innovation Behavior in the Hospitality Workplace

This study investigated how creative personality, psychological empowerment, and job stress affect creative self-efficacy and innovative behavior in hospitality employees. A hypothesized moderating role of knowledge-sharing role in the relationship between creative self-efficacy and innovative behavior was also tested. Three hundred and thirty-nine employees and 89 supervisors employed by International Tourist Hotels in Taiwan participated in the study. A structural equation modeling analysis indicated that creative self-efficacy significantly mediates the effects of creative personality and psychological empowerment on innovative behavior in the hospitality industry. The positive effect of creative self-efficacy on innovative behavior was larger in high knowledge-sharing work environments than in low knowledge-sharing work environments. Theoretical and practical implications are further discussed.     

Self-Compassion and Need Frustration Moderate the Effects of Upward Appearance Comparisons on Body Image Discrepancies

Abstract

Drawing from diverse theoretical frameworks, we examined predictors of discrepancy between current and ideal body image in a sample of 396 Greek adolescents. The participants completed assessments of the frequency of comparing oneself with someone of perceived better appearance, appearance evaluations, frustration of basic psychological needs, and appearance self-compassion. We found that upward appearance comparisons negatively predicted appearance evaluation, which in turn was a negative predictor of body image discrepancy. Moderated mediation analyses showed that appearance self-compassion buffered, whereas psychological need frustration augmented the negative effects of upward comparisons on appearance evaluation. Our findings contribute to the growing literature on body image discrepancies in adolescence by examining moderating factors that amplify or buffer such discrepancies, hence identifying viable intervention pathways.     

Does Approach Crafting Always Benefit? The Moderating Role of Job Insecurity

Abstract

By integrating job demands-resources theory with social information processing theory, we examined how and when seeking challenges and seeking resources influence employees’ turnover intention and helping behavior. We propose that seeking challenges and seeking resources increase employees’ psychological capital. We furthermore suggest that the effects of seeking challenges and seeking resources on psychological capital are moderated by job insecurity, such that employees with high job insecurity will gain more psychological capital through seeking challenges and less psychological capital through seeking resources. Results from a multiwave, multisource study using a sample of 245 supervisor-subordinate dyads provided support for our hypotheses. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Effect of autonomy support and dialogic learning on school children’s physical activity and sport

This study applies an intervention based on autonomy support through dialogic learning to examine effects on motivation and the promotion of physical activity and sport involvement during schoolchildren’s leisure time. One hundred and two primary school students, aged 11–13 years, participated (M = 10.93, SD = 0.75). The sample was divided into two groups: an experimental group (49 students) and a control group (53 students). A quasi-experimental study was conducted in physical education classes over the course of 9 months. Assessments of autonomy support from teachers, family, and peers; basic psychological needs; self-determined motivation in physical education and during leisure time; planned behavior variables; physical activity intention; and estimated and actual physical exercise behavior time were included in the model. Following the intervention, the results revealed that greater autonomy support by the teacher, the family and peers, satisfaction of the basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation during physical education class and during free time, greater perceived control, favorable attitude and intention to engage in physical activity contributed to the explanation of student physical activity involvement. These results suggest that when students receive extensive social support from diverse social agents that essential precursors to physical activity are strengthened and contribute to increased motivation and actual physical activity involvement. Efforts to promote effective communications with students and other pedagogical efforts, such as providing dialogic learning opportunities, should be considered in order to strengthen physical activity motivation and involvement in students.     

Effect of Acute Psychological Stress on Motion-in-Depth Perception: An Event-Related Potential Study

The present study explored the intrinsic event-related potential (ERP) features of the effects of acute psychological stress on the processing of motion-in-depth perception using a dual-task paradigm. After a mental arithmetic task was used to induce acute psychological stress, a collision task was used to evaluate motion-in-depth perception. The error value and average amplitude of late slow waves (SW) were significantly larger for the earlier colliding spheres’ than for the later colliding spheres. The P1 peak latency in the left occipital region was significantly shorter than that of the right occipital region in the motion-in-depth perception task. Compared to the control condition, the estimated value of residual time-to-collision and error value were significantly reduced, and the N1 peak amplitude and the SW averaged amplitude were significantly increased in the stress condition. Longer motion-in-depth time improved discrimination accuracy and decreased the investment of cognitive resources. Acute psychological stress increased behavioral performance and enhanced attention resources on the motion-in-depth perception task together with greater investment of cognitive resources.     

The psychological adjustment of young immigrants in Norway

In order to examine the adjustment of young immigrants to their new cultural environment, questionnaires were administered to young Third World immigrants living in Norway. Responses (N = 568) obtained from these children aged 10 through 17 years old, indicated that even though they evaluated their health and present life as satisfactory, a good deal of low self-image, depressive tendencies and psychological and somatic symptoms were present among them. Approximately between 11 and 14% of the children were found to have from high to extreme levels of symptomatology. Anti-social behaviors were on the other hand almost entirely absent among the sample, a situation believed to be an artifact of the measuring instrument used. While no differences were observed between boys and girls with respect to how they evaluated their health and present life, girls were found to report more disorders than boys. Boys on the other hand reported engaging in more anti-social behaviours than girls. Using Norwegians of similar age as a reference group, these children were found to be worse off than their native peers. The children's psychological disorders were found to be related to their mode of acculturation, and that integration may be the most adaptive mode of acculturation.     

蔡元培在中国现代心理学史上的先驱地位与贡献

本文较全面系统地论述了蔡元培在中国现代心理学史上的先驱地位与贡献：留德跟冯特学习实验心理学,奠定了专业基础;扶持创建我国第一个心理实验室和第一个心理研究所,奠定了组织基础;关于心理学性质与方法之思想,提供了方法学基础;重视心理学在教育中的应用,推动了儿童与教育心理学的研究;文艺与美育心理之思想,开了我国现代文艺与美育心理学之先河;主张西方心理学与中国传统文化相结合,对心理学研究仍有指导意义。