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.     

职场变革情境下的工作与工余塑造:基于自我认同理论的双路径模型

工作非一成不变。即使组织借助工作设计设定了特定职位的工作内容和工作方式,员工也会出于维护积极自我形象、控制感和与人建立联结的核心需求而开展工作塑造——主动调整对工作的认识、工作任务和人际交往——从而获得自我价值感和意义感。尽管工作塑造的前因后效研究已较充分,但较少研究触及自我认同这一核心。鉴于此,本研究以自我认同理论为主线,探寻当个体面临重大外部挑战时,如何通过自我提升与自我防御两种机制应对环境变革,进而借助工作塑造及工余塑造完成自我认同的重构。通过4个研究探讨消除自我认同威胁作为自我防御机制,把握自我成长机会作为自我提升机制,揭示工作环境重大变革激发个体自我塑造行为的中介机制;基于压力应对的认知评价模型,探讨个体特征在初级评估阶段,组织情境特征在次级评价阶段的调节效应;开展现场干预研究,探讨结合自我建构进行工作塑造的效果。本项目将工作塑造和自我认同重新连结起来,构建了工作环境变革情境下个体自我塑造的双路径模型,以望对两个领域均有贡献。     

Crafts as Leisure-Based Coping: Craft Makers’ Descriptions of Their Stress-Reducing Activity

The goal of this study was to explore how crafts help women, who do crafting as a leisure activity, cope with stress. This qualitative study is based on the narratives of 15 textile craft makers aged 27–57 who were reporting stress in work and non-work settings. The participants reported that their crafting varied depending on the specific life circumstances they encountered. The analysis revealed that crafts provided recreation, satisfaction, optimism, positive relationships, and support as well as helped participants to cope with negative feelings. Crafts served as a leisure-coping resource and a leisure-based coping strategy.     

Turning to art as a positive way of living with cancer: A qualitative study of personal motives and contextual influences

Why do some women turn to creative art-making after a diagnosis of cancer? Eleven women provided qualitative accounts that were analysed following guidelines for interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Some described taking up artistic leisure activities initially in order to manage emotional distress. Others emphasized their need for positive well-being, taking up art to experience achievement and satisfaction, to regain a positive identity, and to normalize family dynamics in the context of living with cancer. Participants’ turn to art-making was facilitated by biographical and contextual factors, including pre-existing craft skills, long-standing personal values and coping philosophies, family role models for managing adversity, and the supportive encouragement of family and friends. Other research has acknowledged that positive lifestyle change and posttraumatic growth can occur after a cancer diagnosis, and this study reveals a multi-faceted process. The findings suggest a need for further research into the experiences that facilitate positive lifestyle change and subjective well-being among people who are living with cancer.     

Cognitive reserve and cognitive function in healthy older people: a meta-analysis

The associations between proxy measures of cognitive reserve (CR) and cognition vary across studies and cognitive domains. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the relationship between CR and cognition in multiple domains (memory, executive function, visuospatial ability, and language). CR was considered in terms of three key proxy measures – educational level, occupational status, and engagement in cognitively stimulating activities – individually and in combination. One-hundred and thirty-five studies representing 128,328 participants were included. Of these, 109 used a measure of education, 19 used a measure of occupation, 31 used a measure of participation in cognitively stimulating activities, and 6 used a combination of these. All three proxy measures had a modest positive association with cognition; occupational status and cognitive activities showed the most variation across cognitive domains. This supports the view that the commonly used proxy measures of CR share an underlying process but that each additionally provides a unique contribution to CR.     

Analyzing individual differences in vocational, leisure, and family interests: A multitrait-multimethod approach

This study investigates the latent structure of individual differences in vocational, leisure, and family interests. The participants consisted of 302 French adults who rated their like or dislike for activities based on Holland’s RIASEC typology and presented in three life domains: work, family and leisure. The multitrait-multimethod model proposed by Eid [Eid, M. (2000). A multitrait-multimethod model with minimal assumptions. Psychometrika 65, 241-261.] was used with the vocational interests as standard comparison, and was applied separately on each of the 6 RIASEC types. Results indicated that interests strongly intercorrelated whatever their vocational vs. leisure or family contextualization. However, since these correlations were controlled for measurement error, the results also suggested that the effects of these contextualizations of the activities could not be ignored because they accounted for a non negligible part of the variance for several activities. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed and directions for future research are presented.     

中学生科技创造力和课外科技活动关系的测查研究

运用创造性能力测验与中学生课外科技活动调查表,对初中预备班,初二及高二年级学生共２７５名作测查,结果表明：中学生的科技创造力和课外科技活动存在很显著的相关;中学生的科技创造力水平受学校、年级、性别的影响：重点中学优于非重点中学,高二优于初中预备班及初二,男优于女。     

A GROUP-ORIENTED CONTINGENCY TO INCREASE LEISURE ACTIVITIES OF ADULTS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

An interdependent group-oriented contingency and graphic feedback were used to increase the activity levels of residents of a group home for persons with traumatic brain injury. Results showed that the intervention was effective for 4 of the 6 subjects. Individual performances must be examined when implementing group contingencies because all subjects may not respond.     

TEACHING LEISURE SKILLS TO SEVERELY HANDICAPPED ADULTS: AN AGE-APPROPRIATE DARTS GAME

This study demonstrates the acquisition and generalization of dart skills by three severely multihandicapped adults. The program took place in a community adult development center. By identifying the motor responses required to play darts, a 7-step task analysis was generated to facilitate instruction. Systematic training procedures using applied behavior analysis were implemented. A combination multiple baseline across subjects and changing criterion design was used. The results indicated that not only could this supposedly difficult skill be acquired by severely multihandicapped individuals, but that they could also generalize to other appropriate environments. Acquisition of this skill could help optimize their use of free time for leisure pursuits in a variety of settings.     

THE MODIFICATION OF LEISURE BEHAVIOR IN A HALF-WAY HOUSE FOR RETARDED WOMEN1

A multi-element baseline design combined with a multiple-baseline design, was used to investigate the effect of availability of materials, prizes for participation, and instruction on the leisure behavior of 14 mentally retarded women in a half-way house. A leisure program was conducted on weekday evenings, during which residents could choose to participate in any of six activities offered: puzzles, card games, clay, painting, weaving, and rug making. It was found that instruction in weaving and rug making significantly increased the percentage of residents participating in these activities, and that following instruction, prizes were not necessary to maintain high levels of participation. In contrast, prizes were more effective than mere availability of materials in maintaining participation in the other activities.