Studying employee well-being: moving forward

In this article, we attempt to integrate the commentaries to our position paper on intra-individual models of employee well-being (EWB; Ilies, R., Aw, S. S. Y., & Pluut, H. (2015). Intraindividual models of employee well-being: What have we learned and where do we go from here? European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Advance online publication) of Bakker (2015. Towards a multilevel approach of employee well-being. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Advance online publication) and Cropanzano and Dasborough (2015. Dynamic models of well-being: Implications of affective events theory for expanding current views on personality and climate. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Advance online publication) with our original suggestions into a discussion and a set of recommendations aimed at moving theory and research on EWB forward. We hope that this effort, along with our position paper and the two commentaries, will lead to the development of a more comprehensive model of EWB and will stimulate new and interesting research on the topic.     

Towards a multilevel approach of employee well-being

In this commentary, I respond to Ilies, Aw & Pluut’s (Intraindividual models of employee well-being: What have we learned and where do we go from here?, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, in press) call for a theory that distinguishes between traits and states of employee well-being. I use Job Demands–Resources theory to illustrate how we may integrate within- and between-person approaches and findings to design an overall multilevel model of employee well-being. My perspective builds on Ilies et al. and recent findings of research combining relatively stable “traits” with fluctuating states of employee well-being. My goals with this commentary are three-fold: (1) give more insight into possible differences between variables at different levels of analysis; (2) use research to show how trait and state levels of (predictors of) employee well-being may interact; (3) propose a multilevel model that may stimulate future research on the topic.     

Defining health and unhealthiness: Perceptions held by Native American Indians with persistent mental illness1

Discrepancies in definitions of health exist. These discrepancies, if not acknowledged, create major communication gaps between health-care professionals and their clients, which interferes with the provision of culturally responsive care. The purpose of this study was to understand how Native American Indians experiencing persistent mental illness (PMI) define/describe being healthy and being unhealthy. Grounded theory design was used in conducting data gathering (semistructured interviews) and analysis (constant comparative) because the study focuses on generating social/psychological phenomena or process. Forty-four audiotaped interviews were conducted and transcribed. Symbolic interactionism is this study's framework. During data analysis, health emerged as being in balance/equilibrium, having a sense of harmony, and not being out of control of spiritual, cognitive, emotional, and physical domains. Furthermore, as this study reflects, the modified Circle of Wellness model emerges as a better fit for Native American Indians with PMI than the traditional Medicine Wheel because it more effectively presents the social nature/needs and the centrality of spiritualism of this population. Clearly, deficits in healthy social environments and relationships affect the ability of a Native American Indian with PMI to maintain health. To provide culturally competent care, professionals and native healers need to work the integration of spirituality into treatment processes, and advocate the creation and maintenance of healthy environments for improved social opportunities.     

Values,Life Events,and Health: A Study in a Finnish Rural Community

The relationships between individual values (Schwartz, 1992), life events, and psychological symptoms were analyzed in a general population sample from a Finnish rural community. The design was a cross‐sectional survey. Data were gathered in 1993 (n = 174) and 2007 (n = 226). We investigated whether personal values would predict the number of life events. Results showed that openness to change values was positively and conservation values, negatively related to life events (those over which the individual had certain degree of control, e.g. getting a new job) in 1993. As expected, an increase in the importance of conservation values from 1993 to 2007 weakened the association between values and life events so that in 2007, only stimulation values were related to events. Although no consistent direct relations were found between single values and symptoms, we found that the higher the value congruence between individual and group values, the fewer the reported symptoms, for both time points. This research provided evidence suggesting that life events are also related to one's personal value priorities. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conceptualizing stress to study effects on health: Environmental,perceptual, and emotional components

Abstract

Stress has been operationalized in numerous ways across studies of physical and mental health, raising questions about the appropriate definition of stress and the construct validity of stress measures. The present paper discusses the theoretical and operational strengths of three prominent approaches to stress definition and then attempts to integrate them into a comprehensive and robust multidimensional definition of stress. In a study of socioeconomically disadvantaged pregnant women, structural equation modelling techniques were used to test whether a single latent construct underlies environmental, perceptual, and response-based indicators of stress. Results suggested a two-factor, rather than a single-factor, model of stress. Stress perception and emotion were part of a single underlying latent factor, a phenomenological stress construct, whereas environmental conditions in the form of major life events represented a second and distinct component of stress. Failure to find a single latent stress construct is interpreted as evidence for the importance of individual perception or appraisal as a mediator of response to difficult environmental conditions. The findings suggest that multidimensional models of stress are theoretically justified and that enhancement of stress measurement in this manner may enable researchers to better identify health effects of stress.     

Verbally Expressed Wishes of Children and College Women Students

This research examined the relationship between locus of control and two academic-related variables: study habits and attitudes, and college academic performance. Subjects were administered (a) the Brown-Holtzman Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes and (b) the Levenson Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance scales, the latter providing separate measures of two external control dimensions. Results indicated that internal control was related positively to effective study habits and attitudes and to college academic success, while the opposite was true for powerful others and chance control. Additional findings demonstrated significant differences between powerful others and chance control as related to study habits and attitudes and to college grade-point averages.     

Mothers' Psychological Adjustment Following Disaster Affecting Their Children

The authors investigated the psychological adjustment of 37 British women whose adolescent children survived the cruise ship Jupiter's sinking in 1988, about 6 years previously. They compared these women with a group of widows (N = 18) and a group of women who had suffered no major negative life event (N = 15). Psychological adjustment of the 37 women was assessed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia Lifetime Version (SADS-L; R. L. Spitzer & J. Endicott, 1975) and various standard questionnaires. The women whose children had been involved in the disaster were found to have suffered a greater number of incidents of psychological distress in the period since the disaster than the women who had suffered no major negative life events but fewer incidents of psychological distress than the widows. The significance of these findings and clinical implications are discussed.     

Mechanisms of change in adolescent life satisfaction: A longitudinal analysis

This study explored the psychosocial mechanisms of change associated with differences in levels and linear change of adolescents' global life satisfaction across a 2-year time period. Based on a theoretical model proposed by Evans (1994), this study tested the relations between selected personality (i.e., extraversion and neuroticism) and environmental (stressful life events) variables and global life satisfaction when mediated by internalizing and externalizing problems. The results suggested support for internalizing problems as a mediator of the relationship of personality and environmental variables with life satisfaction. Pathways mediated by internalizing problems significantly predicted levels and linear change of life satisfaction across a 2-year time span. Furthermore, pathways mediated by externalizing problems significantly predicted the level but not the linear change of life satisfaction. Thus, behavior problems and their antecedents appear to relate significantly to adolescents' perceptions of their quality of life. Implications for adolescent mental health promotion were discussed.     

Life Events and Prosocial Behaviors Among Young Adults: Considering the Roles of Perspective Taking and Empathic Concern

The authors examined the altruism born of suffering model in a culturally diverse sample of young adults. They hypothesized that major life events would interact with perspective taking to predict empathic concern, which would predict multiple types of prosocial behaviors among young adults. The sample included 202 young adults (M age = 20.94?years; 76.5% girls; 36.5% White, 50.5% Latino) who reported on their exposure to major life events, perspective taking and empathic responding, and tendency to engage in six forms of prosocial behaviors. Life events indirectly, positively predicted prosocial behaviors via empathic concern. Empathic concern and perspective taking also interacted to predict empathic responding. The results demonstrated links that support the altruism born of suffering model, suggesting that life stressors might not always be negative and might promote resilience and social connection among young adults under specific conditions.