When bystanders become bothersome: The negative consequences of bystander conflict and the moderating role of resilience

Bystander conflict is a situation in which employees are hindered in their work by parties not involved in the primary process. Public service employees and emergency care workers, such as ambulance employees and firefighters, often encounter this kind of conflict with potentially far-reaching detrimental effects for public or patient safety. Unfortunately, until now, bystander conflict has hardly received scientific attention. In this paper, we will present the results of an experiment (Study 1) and a simulation study (Study 2). Taken together, the results indicate that bystander conflict is negatively related to the affective, behavioural, and cognitive outcomes of individuals. Higher levels of bystander conflict were associated with more negative and less positive feelings (Studies 1, 2), unfavourable bystander appraisals (Studies 1, 2), and lower levels of performance (Study 2). Additionally, Study 2 revealed that bystander conflict was negatively and indirectly related to positive affect and performance through cognitive capacity. We investigated the moderating role of resilience, in order to provide insight into potential factors alleviating these negative associations. In both studies, resilience alleviated the negative associations of bystander conflict. Overall, the results of the two studies provide a first step towards a theory on bystander conflict.     

The roles of leader emotion management and team conflict for team members' personal initiative: A multilevel perspective

Employees' personal initiative (i.e., their active and future-oriented engagement at work) is of high relevance to organizations that strive for innovation and competitiveness. To better understand its drivers and diminishers, the present study refers to Affective Events Theory and examines the impact of leader emotion management, team conflict, and affective well-being on personal initiative. Data from 300 members of 59 work teams in Germany were gathered from multiple sources at three points in time over the course of 2 weeks. Multilevel analyses indicated that leader emotion management positively affected team members' personal initiative and that this effect was mediated by team members' affective well-being. Data also revealed a contrasting negative indirect effect of task conflict within the team on team members' personal initiative via team members' affective well-being. The study's results suggest that the improvement of leaders' emotion management as well as the establishment of work conditions and experiences that foster affective well-being should be seriously considered by organizations wishing to facilitate personal initiative in team settings.     

Angry at your boss: Who cares? Anger recognition and mediation effectiveness

The key to success for workplace mediators lies in establishing a relationship of understanding, empathy, and trust with the conflicting parties. Literature suggests that the recognition of parties’ emotions by the mediator is essential to obtain such a relation. Although anger is one of the most prevailing emotions in conflict, little is known about how parties react to the experience of anger recognition on the part of the mediator, how this affects their perceptions of mediation effectiveness, and whether this is moderated by the hierarchical position parties occupy. Drawing on theories of power, emotions, and conflict, this study tests the hypothesis that conflicting parties in workplace mediation who experience anger recognition on the part of the mediator perceive the mediation as more effective and that this is more so for subordinates than for supervisors. Data collected in real labour mediations support this. Implications for mediation theory and practice are discussed.     

When and why creativity‐related conflict with coworkers can hamper creative employees' individual job performance

We examined when and why focal employees' creativity-related conflict with coworkers is related to their individual job performance. As hypothesized, a survey among 113 employees in 14 manufacturing work groups showed that creativity-related conflict with coworkers escalates into dysfunctional relationship conflict when focal employees have low rather than high trust in those coworkers. In its turn, relationship conflict with coworkers was found to be negatively associated with focal employees' individual job performance when they lack support from their supervisor. Finally, the indirect effect of creativity-related conflict on job performance through relationship conflict was found to be significant when both the first stage moderator of coworker trust and the second stage moderator of supervisory support were low rather than high.     

The world turns at 33 and 45: Defining simple cutoff scores for the Negative Acts Questionnaire–Revised in a representative sample

Workplace bullying is a serious hazard in every day working life that needs to be assessed carefully. In order to achieve such a goal, both victims of severe bullying as well as targets of less intensive bullying need to be identified, the latter in order to prevent further escalation into severe bullying. Previous research has mainly offered simple and crude measures of who is and who is not a victim of bullying. In this article we show how cutoff scores for the scale Negative Acts Questionnaire–Revised (NAQ-R) can be calculated. Based on a representative sample of the Norwegian workforce, we formulated 2 cutoff points or thresholds for the NAQ-R with a Receiver Operation Characteristic curve. Employees with a score lower than 33 are not bullied, employees with a score between 33 and 45 may be considered as being bullied occasionally, and employees who score above 45 can be considered to be victims of workplace bullying. As the NAQ-R is used in more than 300 research projects worldwide, we hope to inspire other scholars to define similar cutoff points. In addition, we hope that clear cutoff scores may be of assistance to practitioners for designing interventions regarding workplace bullying in line with the identified problems.     

The depiction of men and women within Iranian high school EFL textbooks,tested against Islamic custom

The construction of social identity is an interdisciplinary term, which is a favourite topic for many scholars worldwide. Religion and identity are intertwined regarding the concept of identity construction. In Iran, this relation can best be seen through English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks. To achieve this, this study investigates the depiction of men and women within Iranian high school EFL textbooks, tested against Islamic custom, utilizing linear and nonlinear approaches. Or, to put it another way, the content and pictures of these textbooks were tested with regards to Islamic customs. Finally, the concept of nationhood and identity were elaborated upon, regarding religious content in the EFL high school textbooks of Iran.     

Problems of assessment in religious and moral education: the Scottish case

This article is concerned with assessment issues in Religious and Moral Education (RME) offered in Scottish non-denominational schools. The analysis of the findings in this article is weighed against the framework of the new ‘3–18’ Scottish curriculum called ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ (CfE). CfE was introduced in primary schools in 2009 and a year later in secondary schools as replacement of the much criticised ‘5–14’ Curriculum which had been in use since 1992. It is based on qualitative data collected from schools in five Scottish local authorities between 2009 and 2011 as part of a moderation project. What is being problematised in this article is the revelation from the data about issues that impact adversely on good assessment in RME in five key areas, namely: planning, religious knowledge, progression, self and peer assessment, literacy and values. The implications of these assessment problems for effective teaching and learning in RME are analysed.     

The journey of gestational surrogacy: religion,spirituality and assisted reproductive technologies

This article discusses the intersection of women’s experiences with the assisted reproductive technological practice of gestational surrogacy and spirituality and religion. During the interviews of eight gestational surrogates themes of spirituality-, religion- and faith-based language emerged as these women shared their narratives of assisted reproductive technologies in this Canadian study. Professionals supporting women before, during and after the experience of gestational surrogacy need to be mindful of the significance of spirituality and religion in third party reproduction practices for many women. In discussing these topics with gestational surrogates counsellors, child and youth care practitioners, faith leaders, social workers, and educators need to remain open and attentive to a multiplicity of diverse theological negotiations.     

Strength of faith and body image in Muslim and non-Muslim women

A questionnaire was completed by 98 Muslim and 91 non-Muslim Australian women to examine the relationship between Islam and body image. Path analyses revealed that for Muslim women (but not non-Muslim women) strength of religious faith was inversely related to body dissatisfaction, body self-objectification, and dietary restraint. These relationships were mediated by increased use of modest clothing and by reduced media consumption. These results are consistent with the proposition that adherence to Islam can indirectly protect women's body image from appearance-based public scrutiny and from exposure to Western media.     

Koran reading and negotiation with jinn: strategies to deal with mental ill health among Swedish Somalis

In this paper, we discuss traditional Somali concepts of mental ill health. Qualitative interviews were conducted with some 20 Swedish Somali interviewees about factors causing mental ill health, traditional classification, strategies to deal with mental ill health, and attitudes to the mental health care services in Sweden. Social mobilisation and religious healing are cornerstones of traditional Somali measures to deal with mental suffering. Traditional Somali views of mental ill health stand in stark contrast to classification of mental ill health in the western biomedical model. These views deserve attention since they may have an impact on health-seeking behaviour among Somali immigrants in western countries. Yet a too strong focus on cultural aspects may over-shadow the fact that much mental suffering among Somali migrants must be understood within social, economic, and political contexts.