Offline: The possible effects of Internet-related behavior on work values,expectations, & behavior among Ultra-Orthodox millennials

ABSTRACT

This work examines differences in the work-related values, expectations, and behaviors between millennials who are significant users of technology and social media, and those who are not. We delineate the development of millennial behavior using a unique group of millennials, those in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish (known as “Haredi”) community in Israel. Due to religious and community norms, many Haredi millennials were shielded from digital technology, and particularly the Internet and the various technologies associated with it, such as text messaging and social media. Those who were raised and remained in Haredi communities did not encounter the Internet with any regularity as children. Many as adults are still unfamiliar with social media. Thus, this community presents a unique natural experiment, comparing Haredi millennials who are immersed in social media with those who are not.     

Work,leisure, and psychological well-being in a sample of young adults

This study of 20 ‘white-collar’ workers aged 20–30 measured motivation, enjoyment and access to various categories of experience in both work and leisure, and examined their relationship with psychological well-being on a number of dimensions. The method used a short questionnaire, psychological scales and the innovatory ‘experience sampling methodology’ (ESM) where respondents answer questions in a diary on the receipt of a signal from a pre-programmed watch or radio pager eight times a day for 1 week. The results show, in line with other studies, that intrinsic motivation in daily life is correlated with happiness but that, not previously reported, when motivation at work is examined both extrinsic motivation and instances where a person had to do the activity but did not wish to be doing something else, i.e. ‘positive motivational change’, are correlated with positive aspects of psychological well-being, while instances where a person wanted to do the activity but wished to be doing something else, i.e. ‘negative motivational change’, correlated with negative aspects. The results also show that enjoyment in both work and leisure correlates with aspects of psychological wellbeing; and that macro ‘flow’ experiences, where high skills and high challenges are perceived as equal, are enjoyable and interesting and come primarily from work. The study also shows that categories of experience considered important for psychological well-being and deemed to come primarily from work can be obtained in leisure. The results are discussed in the context of person—situation interactions and processes, and it is advocated that these should be studied in a variety of samples.     

The effects of ethanol intoxication on phobic anxiety

Behavioral conceptions of alcohol abuse often include the hypothesis that drinking behavior is a negatively reinforced operant, with ethanol intoxication viewed as alleviating aversive environmental and internal states. This hypothesis has not been confirmed or refuted by previous studies which employed mild stressors and limited assessment methodology. In the present experiment, 22 patients with severe phobias approached their phobic animal under two consecutive conditions—first while sober and second after drinking either a placebo or an intoxicating dose of ethanol. The severe anxiety induced was assessed behaviorally, physiologically and by the patient's self-report of fear. The intoxicated patients did not experience decreased anxiety, tachycardia or avoidance, compared to the placebo group. These results have clinical implications and suggest the need to reconsider tension-reduction theories of alcohol abuse.     

Effects of early hospital-based intervention on mothers and their preterm infants

Mothers of eight Israeli preterm infants were exposed to a standardized but individualized intervention during their stay in the hospital and before their infants were discharged. Mothers and infants in the intervention group were compared to eight control subjects using various outcome measures. While the intervention did not affect maternal personal attitudes and feelings, it positively affected the mother-infant interactions and mothers' perceptions of their infants. The importance of individualized interventions with parents of preterm infants is discussed.     

Mindfulness-based programs,perceived stress and well-being at work: The preferential use of informal practices

IntroductionOrganizations which engage in the promotion of well-being are likely to prevent mental health issues in workers. Mindfulness-based interventions offer new perspectives to increase well-being at work. However, the issue of finding time and framework to practice at work is important. Recent studies suggested that informal mindfulness practices could be useful in reducing stress and increasing well-being.ObjectiveThe present study aimed to study how the duration and type of mindfulness practice may enhance employees’ well-being.MethodA multi-method (qualitative and quantitative), controlled pre/post design study (N = 72) was conducted to collect data about the type of preferred mindfulness practices used during an 8-week MBSR program, and to analyse the effects of the program on employees’ well-being. Number of sessions, number of days of practice, and practice time per day were used as moderators.ResultsParticipants reported a preferential use of brief, informal practices. Employees who followed the MBSR program reported higher levels of well-being compared to the wait-list control group (η² = .194). Those who preferentially used informal practices showed the same increase in well-being as those who reported preferentially using formal practices. The number of days of practice did not moderate the effect of the intervention on well-being.ConclusionBrief and informal mindfulness practices appear to be a promising means of increasing well-being in everyday life. Further research is needed to compare an 8-week mainly informal mindfulness-based program to a classical MBSR program to identify whether informal practices may be sufficient to increasing employees’ well-being.     

Le harcèlement : évolution du droit français et problématiques de l’évaluation des victimes

Medical doctors are often asked by patients victim of harassment, or even by the authorities, to establish medical certificate. Harassment is a complex phenomenon, covering a wide range of behaviours occurring in multiple situations. The writing of such a certificate can prove to be difficult, can be a cause of legal proceedings for clinicians, especially at a disciplinary level. Moreover, the evaluation is all the more complex since the qualification of harassment by the judge sometimes requires an evaluation of the impact on the victims under the form of a Total Work Incapacity (TWI) duration, but not under all the circumstances existing in French law. In this article, we first propose to address general consideration towards the writing of the certificate, before doing a systematic review of the successive evolutions of French penal and labour law regarding harassment in its most frequent forms. Finally, we propose to address the matter of victims evaluation, especially towards TWI duration evaluation, which does not seem to us an adapted tool regarding the fact that harassment is usually a chronical and durable phenomenon.     

Analysis of driver’s decision distance and merging distance in work zone area based on parametric survival models: With the aid of a driving simulator experiment

Work zones affect traffic safety and efficiency by changing the road condition and drivers’ maneuver. Therefore, it is important to fully understand drivers’ merging behavior in work zone related areas. In this study, a model framework composed of decision-distance analysis and merging-distance analysis was proposed, which could describe both decision-making and lane-changing process of merging behavior. A road environment with work zone was developed based on a driving simulator, and six scenarios composed of two levels of traffic volume and three different lane-end sign’s locations were designed. Forty-two licensed participants, including 21 females (10 professional drivers vs. 11 normal drivers) and 21 males (15 professional drivers vs. 6 normal drivers) finally completed the experiment. Based on the experimental data, parametric survival models were established to analyze the effects of traffic sign location, traffic situation and driver characteristics on drivers’ decision distance and merging distance. The results showed that: (i) the lane-end sign’s location affected the decision point of lane changing and further affected the merging distance. However, the effect was weakened when the sign was placed far away from the work zone; (ii) merging distance in high traffic volume condition was shorter than that in low traffic volume condition; (iii) work zone posed greater challenges for female drivers as they merged later than males, and females were reluctant to adjust their merging distance according to different gap conditions. The findings shed some light on the future improvement of traffic design and management in work zones.     

« Conciliation vie privée vie professionnelle » : plusieurs termes pour une même réalité ? Proposition de modélisation à travers l’usage français

The aim of this paper is to define the vocabulary used about interactions between people's work and their private lives. Several terms exist and are used as synonyms despite of their slightly different meanings are different: balance, conflict, interaction, enrichment; personal life, family life… Based on an analysis of 45 French articles in psychology, management and human resources, we notice that the terms used are rarely defined. In a thematic analysis of these articles, we suggest a model which defines all words usually used.