Job insecurity and well-being: The moderating role of job dependence

Job insecurity has become more relevant during the last decades as more flexibility from the workforce and organizations is demanded in the labour market. It has frequently been suggested that job insecurity is a more severe stressor for those who are more dependent on their job. The present study investigates the association between job insecurity and employee well-being by focusing on how employees’ dependence on the job moderates this relationship. Two types of financial dependence (subjective financial dependence and relative contribution to the household income) were studied, along with an indicator of a more psychological dependence on work in general (work involvement). In addition to this, both quantitative and qualitative job insecurity were included. The proposed relations were tested in a sample of Swedish accountancy firm employees. The results of moderated hierarchical regression analyses showed that subjective financial dependence, household contribution, and work involvement moderated the relation between both job insecurity dimensions and job satisfaction. No moderations were found with mental well-being as an outcome. This implies that the extent to which someone depends on their job is important for how job insecurity relates to job satisfaction.     

压力性生活事件对青少年烟酒使用的影响：基本心理需要和应对方式的链式中介作用

采用压力性生活事件量表、基本心理需要量表、特质应对方式问卷和烟酒使用问卷对867名青少年进行调查,考察了基本心理需要和积极应对方式、消极应对方式在压力性生活事件与烟酒使用关系中的链式中介效应。结果表明：（1）基本心理需要是压力性生活事件与青少年烟酒使用之间的中介变量;（2）积极应对方式、消极应对方式是基本心理需要与青少年烟酒使用之间的中介变量。因此,基本心理需要和积极应对方式、消极应对方式在压力性生活事件与青少年烟酒使用之间起链式中介作用。研究结论对青少年烟酒使用的预防和干预具有重要价值。     

MULTICOMPONENT ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF CIGARETTE PICA

We conducted a multicomponent assessment and treatment for 4 individuals who engaged in cigarette pica. During Phase 1, three stimulus preference assessments were conducted to identify (a) the reinforcing component of the cigarette, (b) potential alternative reinforcers that may be used during treatment, and (c) whether the alternative reinforcer would compete effectively with cigarettes. Results were successful in identifying the reinforcing component of the cigarette and suggested the feasibility of using alternative reinforcers during treatment to eliminate cigarette pica. During Phase 2, the effects of two treatment procedures were evaluated. Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) with the alternative edible reinforcer reduced the pica of 2 of the participants, but effects were not maintained when the initial dense schedule of NCR was thinned. Subsequently, differential reinforcement of alternative behavior with the alternative edible reinforcer was effective in reducing pica for 3 participants. An evaluation of nine treatment procedures failed to identify an effective intervention for the remaining participant; consequently, preventive measures were designed to minimize occurrences of cigarette pica.     

The relative sensitivities of same-different and identification judgment models to perceptual dependence

Probabilistic models of same-different and identification judgments are compared (within each paradigm) with regard to their sensitivity to perceptual dependence or the degree to which the underlying psychological dimensions are correlated. Three same-different judgment models are compared. One is a step function or decision bound model and the other two are probabilistic variants of a similarity model proposed by Shepard. Three types of identification models are compared: decision bound models, a probabilistic multidimensional scaling model, and probabilistic models based on the Shepard-Luce choice rule. The decision bound models were found to be most sensitive to perceptual dependence, especially when there is considerable distributional overlap. The same-different model based on the city-block metric and an exponential decay similarity function, and the corresponding identification model were found to be particularly insensitive to perceptual dependence. These results suggest that if a Shepard-type similarity function accurately describes behavior, then under typical experimental conditions it should be difficult to see the effects of perceptual dependence. This result provides strong support for a perceptualindependence assumption when using these models. These theoretical results may also play an important role in studying different decision rules employed at different stages of identification training.We thank Robert Melara, Jerome Busemeyer and three anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Revisionary Dispositionalism and Practical Reason

This paper examines the metaphysically modest view that attributionsof normative reasons can be made true in the absence of a responseindependent normative reality. The paper despairs in finding asatisfactory account of normative reasons in metaphysically modestterms.     

Compulsive exercise or exercise dependence? Clarifying conceptualizations of exercise in the context of eating disorder pathology

ObjectiveMaladaptive exercise relates to eating disorder (ED) pathology and impairment in clinical and non-clinical populations. At present, two different conceptualizations of maladaptive exercise are often studied in relation to ED pathology: compulsive exercise and exercise dependence. Compulsive exercise functions to avoid negative affect (e.g., guilt and anxiety) associated with not exercising, whereas exercise dependence is associated with tolerance to exercise benefits and avoidance of exercise withdrawal. At present, clinicians and researchers struggle to determine the most appropriate term for describing problematic exercise in individuals with ED pathology. This study aimed to directly compare these conceptualizations of maladaptive exercise in relation to severity of ED pathology.DesignThis study examined cross-sectional data.MethodUndergraduate participants (N = 235, 78% female) with elevated ED pathology completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), Compulsive Exercise Test (CET), and Exercise Dependence Scale (EDS). Multiple linear regression analyses evaluated associations between EDE-Q and CET and EDS scores and dominance analysis determined which qualities of exercise were uniquely associated with EDE-Q scores.ResultsResults suggest that compulsive qualities of exercise, including exercise to control shape and weight and to avoid negative affect are more strongly associated with severity of ED pathology than qualities of exercise dependence.ConclusionsClinicians and researchers working with ED populations can benefit from prioritizing assessments that capture compulsive qualities of exercise. Additionally, these results suggest that interventions that effectively target other compulsive behaviors (e.g., exposure and response prevention) may be promising treatment options for problematic exercise in the context of EDs.     

Context,content, and relativism

This paper argues against relativism, focusing on relativism based on the semantics of predicates of personal taste. It presents and defends a contextualist semantics for these predicates, derived from current work on gradable adjectives. It then considers metasemantic questions about the kinds of contextual parameters this semantics requires. It argues they are not metasemantically different from those in other gradable adjectives, and that contextual parameters of this sort are widespread in natural language. Furthermore, this paper shows that if such parameters are rejected, it leads to an unacceptably rampant form of relativism, that relativizes truth to an open-ended list of parameters.

Comparing score tests and other local dependence diagnostics for the graded response model

Score tests for identifying locally dependent item pairs have been proposed for binary item response models. In this article, both the bifactor and the threshold shift score tests are generalized to the graded response model. For the bifactor test, the generalization is straightforward; it adds one secondary dimension associated only with one pair of items. For the threshold shift test, however, multiple generalizations are possible: in particular, conditional, uniform, and linear shift tests are discussed in this article. Simulation studies show that all of the score tests have accurate Type I error rates given large enough samples, although their small‐sample behaviour is not as good as that of Pearson's Χ² and M₂ as proposed in other studies for the purpose of local dependence (LD) detection. All score tests have the highest power to detect the LD which is consistent with their parametric form, and in this case they are uniformly more powerful than Χ² and M₂; even wrongly specified score tests are more powerful than Χ² and M₂ in most conditions. An example using empirical data is provided for illustration.     

题组反应理论及其在中学英语考试中的应用研究

题组作为众多测验中的一种常见题型,由于项目间存在一定程度的依赖性而违背了局部独立性假设,若用项目反应模型进行参数估计将会出现较大的偏差.题组反应理论将被试与题组的交互作用纳入到模型中,解决了项目间相依性的问题.笔者对题组反应理论的发展、基本原理及其相关研究进行了综述,并将其应用在中学英语考试中.与项目反应理论相对比,结果发现：（1）题组反应模型与项目反应模型在各参数估计值的相关系数较强,尤其是能力参数和难度参数;（2）在置信区间宽度的比较上,题组反应模型在各个参数上均窄于项目反应模型,即题组反应模型的估计精度优于项目反应模型.     

Guidance systems across Europe: heritage,change and the art of becoming

Guidance systems exist within learning, working and welfare cultures, which are upheld by prevailing institutions and stakeholders. Implementing a lifelong approach questions rooted codes and idiosyncrasies of the sectors across which guidance is distributed. To support individuals' careers, unlock their potential and increase their contribution to the economy i.e. support their process of becoming, lifelong guidance must strive for effective systems' integration across policy fields, cultures and organisations. This article departs from national experiences and discusses how cultures and institutional contexts generate resistance to change, but can also be the departure point for the successful development of lifelong support to people's careers.