Role ambiguity, role conflict, and satisfaction: Moderating effects of individual differences.

Conducted a study with 90 military and civil service personnel to investigate the moderating effects of need for achievement and need for independence on relationships between role ambiguity, role conflict, and job satisfaction. Results indicate that need for achievement moderated relationships between intersender role conflict and satisfaction and between task ambiguity and satisfaction, while need for independence moderated the relationship between intersender conflict and satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal self-discrepancies, interrole conflict, and negative affect among married professional women with children.

This study applied self-discrepancy theory (E. T. Higgins, R. N. Bond, R. Klein, & T. Strauman, 1986) to the study of the maternal self-concept and interrole conflict for married professional women with children. The participants, 103 married professional women with young children, completed questionnaires. Each of the 4 self-discrepancy variables was a positive predictor of positive interrole conflict and, with one exception (actual–own:ought–own self-discrepancy), a negative predictor of coping effectiveness. Both structural role redefinition and superwoman coping strategies were positively related to coping effectiveness. Use of the structural role redefinition strategy was positively associated with work support, spousal support, and social support. Work support was negatively related to anxiety and depression, but no significant relations were found between spousal support and other variables. In regression models, self-discrepancy was related to both anxiety and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Career status and satisfaction of women psychologists in medical schools.

Through a questionnaire survey of 794 medical school psychologists, it was found that (a) there has been an increase in the number of women since 1964, but it is not proportionate to the number of qualified women in the labor force; (b) women generally had lower rank and salaries than men; and (c) there were no significant differences between the sexes in job satisfaction. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Male gender role conflict, depression, and anxiety: Clarification and generalizability to women.

The purpose of this study was (a) to determine whether the relationship between male gender role conflict variables and mental health generalizes to women and (b) to investigate other aspects of social gender roles and mental health. An adaptation of the Gender Role Conflict Scale (I. M. O'Neil, B. J. Helms, R. K. Gable. L. David, & L. S. Wrightsman, 1986) and measures of depression and anxiety were administered to male and female college students. Men showed more restricted emotionality. more restricted affection, greater appropriate and inappropriate success, and more restricted affection, particularly for other men; there were no gender differences related to the conflict between work and family. However, for the most part these variables were related to depression and anxiety in similar ways in men and women. The major predictor of depression and anxiety for men and women was conflict between work and family. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job needs, job satisfaction, and job behavior of women manual workers.

Administered a forced-choice questionnaire and unstructured interview to 2159 female workers and 236 female ex-workers associated with electronics firms to investigate their attitudes to various aspects of their jobs. 21% of the present workers and 36% of the ex-workers expressed overall dissatisfaction with their jobs, which were of a highly rationalized type. Analysis of responses indicate the overriding importance of the actual work done as a determinant of job dissatisfaction. Analysis of reasons for leaving given by the ex-workers indicate that voluntary labor turnover resulted mainly from job dissatisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual satisfaction among married and cohabiting individuals.

Examined the extent to which relationship variables, intrapsychic dimensions, and ecological factors are related to sexual satisfaction. 148 married or cohabiting Ss completed instruments including the Marlowe-Crown Approval Motive Scale, Mosher Sex Guilt Scale, and Rahe Recent Life Changes Questionnaire. The frequency of sex was indeed correlated with sexual satisfaction. Analysis separated 3 factors: Sexual Satisfaction, Age and Duration of Relationship, and Sexual Frequency. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of behavioural exchanges and cognitions on the relationship satisfaction of dating and married persons.

Investigated (1) contributions of cognitive appraisals and behavioral (BHV) exchanges to relationship satisfaction and (2) whether relationship stage affected BHV exchanges and/or cognitions. Ss were 44 dating and 64 married individuals (aged 18–49 yrs). Ss completed 4 self-report inventories (e.g., Dyadic Adjustment Scale) and provided demographic information yielding 3 demographic, 3 BHV, and 5 cognitive predictors, as well as a measure of relationship satisfaction. BHV and cognitive predictor sets each contributed uniquely to the prediction of relationship satisfaction. There was a significant interaction between BHV and cognitive sets, indicating that each set of predictors mediated the impact of the other set on relationship satisfaction Ss who had been in relationships longer reported engaging in fewer activities and experiencing less pleasure from those activities and had a smaller discrepancy between the actual and desired number of activities. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Similarity, convergence, and relationship satisfaction in dating and married couples.

The current work investigates how personality and interpersonal processes combine to predict change in relationship quality. Measures of personality and emotion similarity were collected during laboratory interactions from a cross-sectional sample of dating couples (Study 1) and a 1-year longitudinal study of newlywed married couples (Study 2). Results showed that emotion similarity mediated the association between personality similarity and relationship quality (Studies 1 and 2) and that emotion convergence mediated the association between personality convergence and relationship satisfaction (Study 2). These results indicate that similarity and convergence in personality may benefit relationships by promoting similarity and convergence in partners' shared emotional experiences. Findings also lend support to models that integrate partners' enduring traits and couples' adaptive processes as antecedents of relationship outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and citizenship behavior: The mediating role of job satisfaction.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 95(2) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2010-04488-016). The path coefficients presented in the figures are slight overestimates. For example, in Figure 1 (p. 952), the paths from Agreeableness and Conscientiousness to Job Satisfaction should be .11 and .23 instead of .12 and .28, the direct effects from Agreeableness and Conscientiousness to Citizenship Behavior should be .10 and .16 instead of .11 and .18, and the paths from Job Satisfaction to Citizenship Behavior should be .28 (.22) instead of .34 (.26). The statistical significance of the path coefficients is correct, and so are the substantive conclusions based on the better fit of the partially mediated models relative to the fully mediated models. Also, the meta-analytic estimates presented in Table 1 (p. 949), Table 2 (p. 950), and Table 3 (p. 951) are correct.] Using meta-analytic path analysis, the authors tested several structural models linking agreeableness and conscientiousness to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Results showed that the 2 personality traits had both direct effects and indirect effects—through job satisfaction—on overall OCB. Meta-analytic moderator analyses that distinguished between individual- and organization-targeted citizenship behaviors (OCB-I and OCB-O) showed that agreeableness was more closely related with OCB-I and conscientiousness with OCB-O. Finally, the path analyses predicting OCB-I and OCB-O offered further support for the general hypothesis that these 2 constructs are distinct. That is, the results of these analyses revealed that agreeableness had both direct and indirect effects on OCB-I but only indirect effects on OCB-O, and that for conscientiousness the pattern of direct and indirect effects was exactly opposite (direct and indirect effects on OCB-O but only indirect effects on OCB-I). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender role conflict and family environment as predictors of men's marital satisfaction.

Investigated the relationship between male gender role conflict, family environment, and marital satisfaction. 70 married men completed self-report instruments measuring 4 aspects of male gender role conflict, 2 aspects of family environment, and marital satisfaction. Results indicate that restrictive emotionality, conflicts between work or school and family relations, and family cohesion are related to marital satisfaction. The various factors of male gender role conflict and family environment account for 46.8% of the variance in marital satisfaction. The results suggest that men who have lower levels of marital satisfaction are less able or willing to express emotions, have higher levels of conflict between work or school and family relationship, and have lower levels of family cohesion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of role conflict on counselor trainees' self-statements, anxiety level, and performance.

Counselor trainees play a dual role—subordinate in relation to their supervisors, superordinate in relation to their clients. The present study investigated if and how role conflict affects trainees' self-statements, anxiety level, and performance. 52 graduate student counselors responded to a counseling dilemma and then were exposed to 1 of 4 experimental manipulations: conflict (the supervisor recommended action contradictory to the trainee's intended action), no conflict (the supervisor supported the trainee's intended action), neutral (the supervisor stated that the trainee's intent and the opposing option were equally valid), or control (no supervisory input). Measures included the State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, a self-efficacy inventory, and a thought-listing procedure. Results suggest that role conflict produced few adverse effects on Ss' self-evaluations, affect, or behavior. Ss' performance, however, was inversely related to anxiety level, and anxiety was inversely related to the strength of Ss' self-efficacy expectations. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivated decision making: Effects of activation and self-centrality of values on choices and behavior.

Six studies examined the value-behavior relation and focused on motivational properties of values, the self, and value activation. Priming environmental values enhanced attention to and the weight of information related to those values, which resulted in environmentally friendly consumer choices. This only occurred if these values were central to the self-concept. Value-congruent choices were also found in response to countervalue behavior in an unrelated context. Donating behavior congruent with central altruistic values was found as a result of enhanced self-focus, thus demonstrating the importance of the self in the value-behavior relation. The external validity of the value-centrality measure and its distinction from attitudes were demonstrated in the prediction of voting. Values were thus found to give meaning to, energize, and regulate value-congruent behavior, but only if values were cognitively activated and central to the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Number of choices and perceived decision freedom as a determinant of satisfaction and consumer behavior.

Studied how the number of choices confronting an individual influences his perceived decision freedom and, consequently, his satisfaction and consumption level. 72 college students, randomly assigned to 1 of 2 experimental conditions, were asked to select one soft drink flavor. Perceived decision freedom and consumption levels were significantly greater for those selecting from an enlarged-choice set, but there was no significant difference in the Ss' stated satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and citizenship behavior: The mediating role of job satisfaction: Correction.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 95(3) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2010-09357-015). The volume number of the original article was incorrectly identified. It should have been identified as Vol. 94.] Reports an error in Personality and citizenship behavior: The mediating role of job satisfaction by Remus Ilies, Ingrid Smithey Fulmer, Matthias Spitzmuller and Michael D. Johnson (Journal of Applied Psychology, 2009[Jul], Vol 94[4], 945-959). The path coefficients presented in the figures are slight overestimates. For example, in Figure 1 (p. 952), the paths from Agreeableness and Conscientiousness to Job Satisfaction should be .11 and .23 instead of .12 and .28, the direct effects from Agreeableness and Conscientiousness to Citizenship Behavior should be .10 and .16 instead of .11 and .18, and the paths from Job Satisfaction to Citizenship Behavior should be .28 (.22) instead of .34 (.26). The statistical significance of the path coefficients is correct, and so are the substantive conclusions based on the better fit of the partially mediated models relative to the fully mediated models. Also, the meta-analytic estimates presented in Table 1 (p. 949), Table 2 (p. 950), and Table 3 (p. 951) are correct. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2009-10167-018.) Using meta-analytic path analysis, the authors tested several structural models linking agreeableness and conscientiousness to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Results showed that the 2 personality traits had both direct effects and indirect effects—through job satisfaction—on overall OCB. Meta-analytic moderator analyses that distinguished between individual- and organization-targeted citizenship behaviors (OCB-I and OCB-O) showed that agreeableness was more closely related with OCB-I and conscientiousness with OCB-O. Finally, the path analyses predicting OCB-I and OCB-O offered further support for the general hypothesis that these 2 constructs are distinct. That is, the results of these analyses revealed that agreeableness had both direct and indirect effects on OCB-I but only indirect effects on OCB-O, and that for conscientiousness the pattern of direct and indirect effects was exactly opposite (direct and indirect effects on OCB-O but only indirect effects on OCB-I). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of a role conflict questionnaire for women: Some preliminary findings.

Describes a 252-item questionnaire which assesses 8 potential role-conflict areas: Time Management, Relations with Husband, Household Management, Financial, Child Care, Expectations for Self, Expectations of Others, and Guilt. Preliminary data from 242 female respondents suggest that the greatest role conflict for women today involves their self-image and that those areas which deal directly with self-concept are more stressful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of gender-role identity on women's self-esteem, lifestyle satisfaction and conflict.

541 female college students were screened on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the Attitudes Toward Women Scale. Ss scoring in the "feminine"/traditional (TD) or "masculine"/nontraditional (NNT) categories on both tests provided data on their self-esteem, lifestyle satisfaction, and anxiety/conflict over their TD/NNT life choices. TD Ss scored significantly lower on self-esteem and lifestyle satisfaction and higher on anxiety/conflict. Results were interpreted in terms of the differential (i.e., higher) social value attributed to masculine/NNT vs feminine/TD traits and behaviors. Furthermore, the value of intrinsic rewards that accrue to women who lead their lives according to their own preferences and beliefs, regardless of social costs, was explored. Demographically, in comparison to the TD Ss, the NNT Ss were older and were more likely to be married. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction: A meta-analysis.

This study provides a meta-analysis of research on the associations between relationship conflict, task conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. Consistent with past theorizing, results revealed strong and negative correlations between relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. In contrast to what has been suggested in both academic research and introductory textbooks, however, results also revealed strong and negative (instead of the predicted positive) correlations between task conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. As predicted, conflict had stronger negative relations with team performance in highly complex (decision making, project, mixed) than in less complex (production) tasks. Finally, task conflict was less negatively related to team performance when task conflict and relationship conflict were weakly, rather than strongly, correlated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Career involvement of women in dual-career families: The influence of sex role identity.

Studied the influence of sex-role identity on the career involvement of 70 25–45 yr old professional women who were members of dual-career families that included young children. As predicted, Ss categorized as masculine on the Personality Research Form, ANDRO scales, were employed a significantly greater proportion of time after having children than Ss categorized as feminine. In addition, the more equalitarian the marriage, the more likely S was to continue her career participation after having children. Regardless of employment status and the equalitarianism of the marriage, Ss reported that they spent significantly more time alone with their children than their husbands did. Implications for various counseling situations are noted. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-appraisal, life satisfaction, and retrospective life choices across one and three decades.

This research investigated the relationship of a self-appraisal of having lived up to one's intellectual abilities at midlife (average age of 49 years) with life satisfaction and retrospective life choices 1 and 3 decades later among 383 participants in the Terman Study of the Gifted. Study 1 showed that participants who reported living up to their intellectual abilities were higher in satisfaction with occupational success, satisfaction with family life, and joy in living 11 years later. Study 2 showed that participants who reported living up to their abilities were higher in overall life satisfaction and were less likely to report that they would make different life choices in work or family life 3 decades later. In an integrative structural equation model, the relation between the midlife self-appraisal of having lived up to intellectual abilities and overall satisfaction at age 80 was mediated by life satisfaction discrepancy at age 61. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)