How do job characteristics contribute to burnout? Exploring the distinct mediating roles of perceived autonomy,competence, and relatedness

This study aimed to better understand the psychological mechanisms, referred to in the job demands–resources model as the energetic and motivational processes, that can explain relationships between job demands (role overload and ambiguity), job resources (job control and social support), and burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment). Drawing on self-determination theory, we examined whether psychological resources (perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness) act as specific mediators between particular job demands and burnout as well as between job resources and burnout. Participants were 356 school board employees. Results of the structural equation analyses provide support for our hypothesized model, which proposes that certain job demands and resources are involved in both the energetic and motivational processes—given their relationships with psychological resources—and that they distinctively predict burnout components. Implications for burnout research and management practices are discussed.     

Principals' transformational leadership and teachers' collective efficacy

The study was designed to test the relationship of principals' transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership with teachers' collective efficacy. Bandura's theory of efficacy applied to the group and Bass's transformational leadership theory were used as the theoretical framework. Participants included 487 French Canadian teachers from 40 public high schools. As expected, there were positive and significant correlations between principals' transformational and transactional leadership and teachers' collective efficacy. Also, there was a negative and significant correlation between laissez-faire leadership and teachers' collective efficacy. Moreover, regression analysis showed transformational leadership significantly enhanced the predictive capabilities of transactional leadership on teachers' collective efficacy. These results confirm the importance of leadership to predict collective efficacy and, by doing so, strengthen Bass's theory of leadership.     

Loneliness and self-efficacy in education majors.

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between loneliness and self-efficacy for a sample of 314 French Canadian education majors who were administered French Canadian versions of the UCLA Loneliness Scale and Teacher Efficacy Scale. Analysis yielded, as expected, a negative and significant correlation of -.25 between scores on loneliness and self-efficacy.     

Repeated checking really does cause memory distrust

Memory phenomena associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have received increased attention in the recent literature. Some debate remains about whether OCD is characterized by deficits in memory per se, or by poor memory confidence. Following from a recent study that demonstrated memory distrust results from repeated checking of a virtual computerized stove, we asked 50 undergraduate students to repeatedly turn on, turn off and check either a real kitchen stove (relevant checking) or a real kitchen faucet (irrelevant checking) in a standardized, ritualized manner. All participants completed a final check of the stove following these 19 checking trials. Results indicated that following repeated relevant checking, participants reported significantly reduced memory confidence, vividness and detail. Repeated irrelevant checking did not produce these decreases. Results are discussed in terms of cognitive-behavioural formulations of OCD and in terms of the effects of repetition on memory and metamemory.     

Does parental concern about their child performance matter? Transactional links with the student's motivation and development of self-directed learning behaviors

Social Psychology of Education - The nature of the links between students’ motivation and their perception of parental concern about school performance is still controversial, and whether...     

Questioning the Specificity of ASRS-v1.1 to Accurately Detect ADHD in Substance Abusing Populations

Objective: To assess the specificity of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1) in detecting ADHD among individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs). Method: A chart review of 183 SUD patients was conducted. Patients were screened for ADHD with the ASRS-v1.1 and were later assessed by a psychiatrist specialized in ADHD. Results: Among SUD patients scoring positive results on the ASRS-v1.1 for the presence of ADHD, the ADHD diagnosis could only be confirmed in 26% of the sample by an expert psychiatrist. Conclusion: The ASRS-v1.1 reports low specificity in detecting ADHD among SUD populations.     

Wakefield’s harmful dysfunction analysis of disorder and the problem of defining harm to nonsentient organisms

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics - This paper criticizes Jerome Wakefield’s harmful dysfunction analysis (HDA) of disorder by arguing that the conceptual linkage it establishes between the...     

Teachers' self-efficacy and organizational citizenship behaviors

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between teachers' instructional efficacy and their organizational citizenship behavior. Questionnaires were sent to a sample of 1,100 French Canadian high school teachers. A response rate of 44.36% was obtained (279 women and 208 men whose mean age was 40.4 yr.) Teachers' instructional efficacy was assessed with a French Canadian version of the Teacher Efficacy Scale and organizational citizenship behavior was assessed with a questionnaire constructed for the study. Analysis yielded positive and significant correlations (rs ranging from .19 and .34, p<.01) between teachers' personal teaching efficacy and organizational citizenship behaviors such as altruism, courtesy, conscientiousness, and civic virtue. General teaching efficacy was only related to sportsmanship (r=.15, p <.01). So the predictions were partially supported by the results.