Predicting well-being in managers: Test of a positive psychology model

Contemporary scholars in vocational, applied, and organizational psychology have emphasized that working must be understood as a relational act with important implications for worker well-being. Drawing upon emergent research extending the constructs of adult attachment security and authenticity to the workplace, this study tested a positive psychological model linking adult attachment orientations, and both experienced and expressed features of work authenticity, to the prediction of well-being within a sample of business managers. Findings indicated that, controlling for their gender and length of managerial experience, managers’ levels of adult attachment security and work authenticity accounted for significant and incremental variance in their reported levels of work stress and job satisfaction. In general, managers with high levels of adult attachment security and work authenticity reported lower work stress and higher job satisfaction. Implications of these findings for the counseling of distressed managers are briefly discussed.     

The impact of balance‐focused attitudes on job stress: Gender differences evidenced in American and Chinese samples

Based on gender role expectations model, we examined how balance‐focused attitudes would affect job stress by influencing individuals' perceptions of family interference with work (FIW), and investigated whether a gender difference would exist in the relationships among balance‐focused attitudes, FIW and job stress. Using two independent samples from the United States and China, we found support for the indirect influence of balance‐focused attitudes on job stress, through FIW. Participants with balance‐focused attitudes experienced lower levels of job stress as they perceived less interference from family to work. As expected, such indirect effect was more pronounce among male participants, meaning that the male participants benefited more from having balance‐focused attitudes. Discussion, theoretical and practical implications are provided.     

人格测验的参照情境效应

人格测验的参照情境效应是指,在一般人格测验的基础上,设置某种特定的参照情境,进而使测验的效标关联效度得以提高的现象。在过去十余年里,参照情境效应的考察重心从早期的效度证据搜集逐渐转向内部机理的探讨。研究者试图通过参照情境与效标的逻辑关联、参照情境的被试间变异及被试内变异来解释现象背后的测量学原理。在构念层面则提出“人格和角色认同层级模型”,以此说明参照情境效应的人格机制问题。然而,该主题的探索尚处于初始阶段,未来研究可从参照情境的操作范式、参照情境效应的调节机制等方面继续寻求突破。     

A Sex Difference on a Novel Spatial Working Memory Task in Humans

Neurophysiological and behavioral evidence suggests that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) may be sexually differentiated in nonhuman primates. The present study examined whether there are sex differences in working memory in humans that might reflect sexual differentiation of human PFC. Male and female undergraduates were administered a novel multitrial spatial working memory task (SPWM) and a verbal working memory task. In three experiments, females committed significantly fewer working memory errors and took significantly less time to reach criterion than males on the SPWM task. The female advantage was not accounted for by differences in general intellectual ability, attention, perceptual speed, incidental memory, or speed of verbal access. In Study 3, a sex difference was also observed on a measure of verbal working memory. The findings suggest that some prefrontal functions may be sexually differentiated in humans.     

Psychopathic Personality Traits and Somatization: Sex Differences and the Mediating Role of Negative Emotionality

Although a number of investigations have provided evidence for an association between antisocial personality disorder and somatization disorder, the variables underlying this association remain unknown. We examined the relations among measures of primary and secondary psychopathy, somatization, and negative emotionality (NE) in 150 undergraduates. Somatization was positively and significantly correlated with measures of secondary, but not primary, psychopathy, and the relations between secondary psychopathy indices and somatization tended to be significantly stronger in females than in males. Some support was found for the hypothesis that the association between secondary psychopathy and somatization is mediated by NE, but not for the hypothesis that low levels of behavioral inhibition lead to somatization. Although the present findings are consistent with the possibility that somatization is a sex-differentiated manifestation of secondary psychopathic traits, replication of these findings in clinical samples will be necessary.     

Preparing Students for Family Practice

This paper highlights the content of a course designed to prepare students for family practice, with emphasis on mothers as primary caregivers. A model is presented of relatively healthy family interactions characterized by co-parenting and equitable division of labor in the home. The strengths perspective is applied to family practice with mother-headed families where noncustodial fathers share responsibilities for childrearing. Challenges inherent in carrying out dual roles of wage labor and family caregiving are linked to social support and differences among women based on class, race, and ethnicity.     

Understanding Workaholism: Data Synthesis, Theoretical Critique, and Future Design Strategies

Workaholism involves a personal reluctance to disengage from work, which is evidenced by the tendency to work irrespective of external demands. While the term workaholism has been widely used by the public for over 30 years, scientists are only beginning to explore the behavior in depth. To date, most research has occurred on an ad hoc basis, emerging from a wide variety of paradigms without being explicitly linked to theory. The current article presents three methods for defining workaholism and a précis of relevant measures, then provides an integrated overview of research relating workaholism to individual well-being. Three models implicit in existing workaholism research (addiction, learning, and trait theory) are expounded and critiqued, and four new procedures for researching workaholism are suggested. Finally, an integrated, multidisciplinary approach is proposed as an essential element in encouraging rigorous debate and continued development of workaholism theory.     

Workaholic Tendencies and the High Potential for Stress Among Co-Workers

The dangers associated with excessive time at work do not apply equally to all people. Attempts to specify how much is too much have often referenced underlying motives as a factor in whether time at work is excessive and, therefore, likely to lead to undesirable outcomes. The literature on workaholism separates joy in work and perfectionism as two contrasting characteristics, either of which can lead to long hours at work. This study categorized subjects on those two characteristics to examine how the differences might relate to stress among coworkers. In line with suggestions of earlier studies, the joy/perfectionism difference was not linked to standard demographic breakdowns. However, tendencies toward one or the other did correspond to perceptions that may affect the quality of personal interaction in the workplace and, therefore, the level of stress among coworkers.