Reciprocal Relationships between Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) and Job Satisfaction: A Cross‐Lagged Analysis

While previous research has mainly emphasised the importance of leader–member exchange (LMX) to job satisfaction, there is a lack of research on reciprocal relationships between job satisfaction and LMX. In this study, we not only suggest that good LMX increases job satisfaction, but that job satisfaction can also enhance high‐quality supervisor–employee relationships. A full cross‐lagged panel analysis was used to test reciprocal relationships between LMX and job satisfaction. Employees (N= 279) of a large information technology company filled out questionnaires at two times, with a time lag of 3 months. In line with our predictions, findings revealed a positive relationship between LMX and job satisfaction both at Time 1 and Time 2. Moreover, LMX at Time 1 predicted the increase of job satisfaction at Time 2, and job satisfaction at Time 1 predicted the increase of LMX at Time 2. The results demonstrate the need to consider reciprocal relationships between job satisfaction and LMX when explaining employees' workplace outcomes. Our findings are discussed in terms of positive psychology theory.     

Possession and Applicability of Signature Character Strengths: What Is Essential for Well-Being,Work Engagement,and Burnout?

Signature character strengths can foster health-related outcomes in work and private life, thus being particularly important for endangered occupational groups like physicians. However, situational circumstances need to allow character strengths demonstration (applicability) first to enable their application. Therefore, this study addresses the role of (1) applicability of signature character strengths in work and private life beyond their possession and (2) relationships with well-being, work engagement, and burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment). Hospital physicians (N = 274) completed an online survey examining their signature character strengths and applicability, well-being, work engagement, and burnout dimensions. The top-five individual signature character strengths were fairness, honesty, judgment, kindness, and love. Hierarchical multiple linear regressions revealed that the possession as well as the applicability of signature character strengths was important in work and private life, but to different degrees. Possessing fairness, honesty, or kindness indicated significant positive relations with subjective well-being, whereas judgment and kindness seemed to negatively interact with reduced personal accomplishment. Hospital physicians’ applicability of fairness, honesty, judgment, and love was particularly essential for their psychological well-being and work engagement, whereas the applicability of fairness (reduced personal accomplishment) and judgment (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization) at work interacted negatively with the respective outcomes. Therefore, creating awareness for individual signature character strengths as well as providing applicability in hospitals and private life could be a promising approach to improve physicians’ well-being and consequently patient care as well as the performance of the health-care system in general.

     

Psychometric Characteristics of the German Values in Action Inventory of Strengths 120-Item Short Form

The original Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) is an international 240 item validated self-report questionnaire measuring character strengths. A validated and reliable English 120-item short form (VIA-120) is available. However, there is limited information about the psychometric properties of the German VIA-120. This article addresses this gap and reports the reliability, validity and comparability of the German VIA-120 with the German VIA-240 version. Two independent samples were recruited: a general population sample (N = 1073, Sample 1) and a sample consisting of medical students and physicians (N = 685, Sample 2). Internal consistency of the VIA-120-scales ranged from α = .58 (modesty) to α = .87 (spirituality) in Sample 1 and α = .63 (honesty) to α = .90 (spirituality) in Sample 2. Intercorrelations between the scales of the 120-item version and the original 240-Items version (Sample 1) ranged from r = .52 (hope) to r = .89 (prudence). Criterion validity with the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Brief Inventory of Thriving (BIT) was demonstrated. The comparison of the factor structure between the original and the short form showed a good convergence (Tucker’s Phi .93–.99 Sample 1, .95–.98 Sample 2). Overall, the German VIA-120 was reliable, showed good convergence with the German VIA-240 and thus presents a similar level of validity for the assessment of character strengths. This study provides the first indication that the VIA 120 short form is comparable regarding the validity and reliability of the original VIA 240-item version indicating its potential to be used in large scale research studies.

     

Facilitating Adolescent Well‐Being: A Review of the Challenges and Opportunities and the Beneficial Roles of Parents,Schools, Neighborhoods,and Policymakers

Adolescents face exceptional challenges and opportunities that may have a lifelong impact on their consumption and personal and societal well‐being. Parents, community members (schools and neighborhoods), and policymakers play major roles in shaping adolescents and influencing their engagement in consumption behaviors that are either developmentally problematic (e.g., drug use and unhealthy eating) or developmentally constructive (e.g., academic pursuits and extracurricular activities). In this article, we discuss two main topics: (a) the challenges and opportunities that characterize adolescence, based primarily on research in epidemiology and neuroscience, and (b) the ways that parents, community members, and policymakers can facilitate positive adolescent development, based on research from many disciplines including marketing, psychology, sociology, communications, public health, and education. Our goal is to summarize the latest scientific findings that can be used by various stakeholders to help adolescents navigate this turbulent period and become well‐adjusted, thriving adults.     

Immediate-early Fos protein levels in brainstem neurons of male and female gonadectomized mice subjected to cold exposure

The expression of the immediate early gene c-fos has been used extensively as a marker for neural activation in response to acute and chronic stressful stimuli in brain and spinal cord. The present study examined the expression of Fos protein in the brainstem nuclei of male and female gonadectomized mice in response to cold stress. Free-floating sections were processed immunohistochemically for Fos protein using standard avidin-biotin complex methods. The number of Fos-positive neurons in each nucleus was determined. Although the experiment was designed to look for gender differences, results were equivalent between females and males. After mice were exposed to a cold ambient temperature (4 degrees C) for 2 h, elevated numbers of Fos-positive neurons were counted in the medullary gigantocellular reticular nucleus, medullary raphe nucleus, nucleus of the solitary tract and in locus coeruleus. However, no elevated expression was found in nucleus ambiguus, nor in neurons of the A1 group, nor the C2 or C3 group. Similar to rats, these results with mice reveal a widespread arousal system in the lower brainstem activated by cold stress in both genders. These findings in gonadectomized mice have set the stage for investigations following hormonal and genetic manipulations.     

Stability in optimism-pessimism in relation to bad news: a study of women with breast cancer

In this study, we investigated the stability of optimism-pessimism in relation to receiving bad news (i.e., positive lymph nodes, more advanced cancer stage) after breast cancer surgery and in comparison to the stability of anxiety and depression level. The women (n = 165) completed the Life Orientation Test-Revised (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Zigmond & Snaith, 1983) at time of diagnosis, 3 months, and 12 months after surgery. Overall, women's optimism-pessimism levels remained stable over the follow-up period whether they received bad news or not. In contrast, women's anxiety and depression level decreased significantly over the same time period with 1 exception. Women's level of depression remained fairly stable among those who received bad news. Optimism-pessimism appears to remain stable over situations as well as time and regardless of negative affects.     

Beziehungsmuster und Beziehungskonflikte

Zusammenfassung  Die Veränderung pathogenetisch bedeutsamer Beziehungsmuster gilt als wesentliches psychotherapeutisches Behandlungsziel. Um zielgerichtete Veränderungen von Beziehungsstrukturen zu erreichen, bedarf es sowohl einer Diagnostik und Beschreibung solcher Beziehungsmuster, einer darauf zielenden Behandlungstechnik als auch einer Verlaufskontrolle und Evaluation der angestrebten Veränderungen. Nach einem Überblick über verschiedene Methoden zur Erfassung von Beziehungsmustern wird die Methode des Zentralen-Beziehungskonflikt-Themas (ZBKT) von Luborsky näher beschrieben; ausgewählte Ergebnisse der ZBKT-Forschung werden dargestellt und die Methode kritisch bewertet.

Repressive and defensive coping during fear and anger

In this study, the relationship between repressive and defensive coping styles and somatovisceral responses as well as emotion self-reports were investigated in 2 situational contexts conceived to induce fear and anger. Anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; L. Laux, P. Glanzmann, P. Schaffner, and C. D. Spielberger, 1981) x Defensiveness (Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale; D. P. Crowne and D. Marlowe, 1960) x Emotion (fear, anger) moderated regression analyses revealed that compared with baseline during fear, defensiveness was related to a decrease in heart rate variability. Also during fear, repressive-defensive copers had lower self-reports of negative affect but showed higher behavioral negative affect (m. corrugator reactivity) than other participants. During anger, defensiveness was positively related to both diastolic blood pressure reactivity and m. zygomaticus reactivity. Additional analyses showed that emotional responses of repressive-defensive copers were strongly moderated by the situational context.     

Association between just world beliefs and perceptions of counterproductive workplace behaviors

320 adults rated 48 counterproductive workplace behaviors (CWBs) on a 9-point scale, from petty to serious offense, and also completed the Just World Beliefs scale. Ratings of the seriousness of the CWBs indicated considerable variability in perceptions, with theft and physical violence rated most strongly. A factor analysis yielded five interpretable factors. Older participants were more likely to rate as more serious all counterproductive workplace behaviors.