The Role of Numeracy and Intelligence in Health‐Risk Estimation and Medical Data Interpretation

Despite ample evidence that numeracy is an important influence on patient understanding and use of health‐related information, there is a dearth of studies examining the concept's relationship to other individual differences measures that may underlie complex judgments in the health domain. In this study, we compared the relative contributions of selected extant numeracy measures and general intelligence and other measures to varied judgment and decision‐making outcomes. Two hundred participants completed numeracy items, subscales of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales, the need for cognition scale, and four relevant outcome measures including risk estimation and medical data interpretation. A numeracy scale constructed using item response and confirmatory factor analyses was consistently the strongest predictor across all outcome measures and accounted for unique variance over and above general intelligence. The results support the concept of numeracy as an independent construct that merits consideration in patient communication. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emotional intelligence as a predictor of employees' career adaptability

Emotional intelligence and career adaptability are crucial psychosocial meta-capacities for successful adaptation in various spheres of life, including the realm of careers. However, little is known about the relationship between emotional intelligence and Savickas's (2005) notion of career adaptability. The current research examines the relation of emotional intelligence to career adaptability. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of 409 early career black call center agents (Mean age = 32) employed in three of the largest outsourced financial call centers in Africa. Canonical correlation analysis and structural equation modeling confirmed the predictive validity of emotional intelligence in relation to career adaptability. The results showed that managing one's own emotions contributes the most in explaining overall emotional intelligence a n d the variance in overall career adaptability with its four domains of career concern, career control, career confidence and career curiosity. The results of the study highlight the importance of developing individuals' emotional intelligence in order to strengthen their career adaptability. The research contributed new and valuable insights that may inform career development interventions for call center agents.     

Psychological contract breach and workplace deviance: Does emotional intelligence matter?

This study investigated the influence of emotional intelligence on the relationship between psychological contract breach and workplace deviance with feelings of violation. The participants were 232 employees of a Nigerian public sector organisation (125 males and 107 females). The employees completed measures of workplace deviance, psychological contract breach, feelings of violation, and emotional intelligence. Results of the moderated hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that psychological contract breach was positively related to feelings of violation and workplace deviance. Emotional intelligence significantly buffered the negative effect of psychological contract breach on feelings of violation and workplace deviance. This implies that emotionally intelligent employees who perceived contract breach are less likely to experience feelings of violation and engage in workplace deviance. Emotional regulation appears to reliably moderate between breach-outcome relationships.     

Emotional intelligence and aggression among South African adolescents: Preliminary evidence

We investigated gender differences in emotional intelligence and aggression among South African adolescents. Four hundred and forty-four adolescents (female =51.4 %; mean age =15.5 years, SD= 1.42 years; rural residence = 35.5%, urban residence = 65.5%) completed an emotional intelligence scale and an aggression expression survey. Exploratory independent sample t-test analysis revealed female adolescents to score higher on perception of and management of emotions than male adolescents. Female adolescents also scored higher on verbal aggression than their male peers, whereas male adolescents scored higher on physical aggression than the female adolescents.     

Performing the imago Dei: human enhancement,artificial intelligence and optative image-bearing

If the imago Dei is not a taxonomic definition but rather something that is performed in context, what are the implications for questions of human enhancement and the development of artificial intelligence (AI)? The author considers Alistair McFadyen’s performative vision of the imago Dei, one that actively seeks humanity in concrete situations, in the context of human enhancement and AI, asking the questions, ‘Does becoming cyborg through human enhancement make us less bearers of the divine image?’ And, ‘Can AI ever be considered to be in the image of God?’ Briefly tracing the shift in perspectives on the imago Dei, before considering what a performance of the image might look like, the author proposes three performances that have significant implications for questions about what it means to be human. To be an image-bearer is not dependent upon human DNA or species membership, but on an optative performance of the imago Dei.     

Images behind bars: The evaluation of a phototherapeutic intervention in prison

This article follows a previous study that has been published in Narrare i Gruppi and that described an intervention using photographic techniques within treatment programs addressed to inmates. The aim of the treatment was promoting inmates' re-socialization and re-education. Photography and other creative media have been reported to promote emotional intelligence (EI) and reduce recidivism among inmates. We hypothesized that the use of photography may increase the inmates' EI and promote their well-being. This study reports on the efficacy of a 10-session phototherapeutic intervention (called Talking Pictures Group Intervention) with two different categories of inmates (minimum custody and protective custody inmates) in terms of enhancing EI skills, reducing depression, and increasing the ability to cope with trauma. Results show an increase in EI in the minimum custody group while depression symptoms are found to increase in the protective custody group, possibly as a result of a greater awareness of their condition. The ability to cope with trauma remains unvaried before and after the intervention.     

Emotional intelligence and OCB: The moderating role of work locus of control

This study sought to identify linkages between Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso’s (2008) four dimensions of emotional intelligence (EI) and organizational citizenship behavior, and the moderating influence of locus of control. Using a sample of 290 employed students, the present study examines the effects of the dimensions of EI on OCB directed at individuals (OCB-I) and OCB directed at the organization (OCB-O). Emotionally intelligent individuals were hypothesized to engage in more organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) than individuals with lower EI. Work locus of control was hypothesized to moderate the emotional intelligence—OCB linkage, with high internals having a stronger emotional intelligence to OCB linkage. Results indicate that the EI dimensions of perceiving, understanding, and managing emotions had positive effects on OCB-I and OCB-O. Using emotions was not linked to OCB. Locus of control strengthened the EI to OCB-I link, but had no effect on the OCB–O linkage.     

What Does the DAP:IQ Measure?: Drawing Comparisons between Drawing Performance and Developmental Assessments

Human figure drawing tasks such as the Draw-a-Person test have long been used to assess intelligence (F. Goodenough, 1926). The authors investigate the skills tapped by drawing and the risk factors associated with poor drawing. Self-portraits of 345 preschool children were scored by raters trained in using the Draw-a-Person Intellectual Ability test (DAP:IQ) rubric (C. R. Reynolds & J. A. Hickman, 2004). Analyses of children's fine motor, gross motor, social, cognitive, and language skills revealed that only fine motor skill was an independent predictor of DAP:IQ scores. Being a boy and having a low birth weight were associated with lower DAP:IQ scores. These findings suggest that although the DAP:IQ may not be a valid measure of cognitive ability, it may be a useful screening tool for fine motor disturbances in at-risk children, such as boys who were born at low birth weights. Furthermore, researchers who use human figure drawing tasks to measure intelligence should measure fine motor skill in addition to intelligence.     

Effort as Person-Focused Praise: “Hard Worker” Has Negative Effects for Adults After a Failure

Although work with children demonstrates a benefit of process-focused praise relative to person-focused praise on post-failure motivation, few studies have examined this result in adults. We tested the effect of three types of praise on adults' post-failure outcomes: person-focused intelligence (“high intelligence”), person-focused effort (“hard worker”), and process-focused effort (“worked hard”) in a sample of 156 adults recruited from Amazon's MTurk. Participants completed a set of easy visual pattern recognition problems and were told that they performed better than most adults and were given one of the three types of feedback. They then completed more difficult problems and were told that they had not performed well. Participants in the “hard worker” condition (compared to “worked hard”) were more likely to endorse intelligence as a reason for failure. They also reported lower perceived success and less enjoyment than participants in other conditions. Participants in the “high intelligence” condition were more likely to attribute their failure to intelligence than participants in the “worked hard” condition. The results suggest that the benefit of process-focused praise typically found in children (worked hard compared to intelligent) was mostly not replicated in adults, and person-focused effort praise was detrimental in a non-college student adult sample.