Sense of humor as a moderator of the relation between stressors and moods.

Three studies, conducted with 143 undergraduates, are reported that investigated the hypothesis, long held by theorists, therapists, and laypersons alike, that a sense of humor reduces the deleterious impact of stressful experiences. In each study a negative-life-events checklist was used to predict stress scores on a measure of mood disturbance. These studies made use of different measures of Ss' sense of humor, including 4 self-report scales and 2 behavioral assessments of Ss' ability to produce humor under nonstressful and mildly stressful conditions. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that 5 of the 6 humor measures produced a significant moderating effect on the relation between negative life events and mood disturbance. Ss with low humor scores obtained higher correlations between these 2 variables than did those with high humor scores. Results provide initial evidence for the stress-buffering role of humor. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Providing help and desired relationship type as determinants of changes in moods and self-evaluations.

Observed in 2 initial studies was converging evidence that helping improves the helpers' moods and self-evaluations. In these studies Ss induced to help showed improved moods and self-evaluations relative to Ss not given an opportunity to help. A 3rd study examined the moderating effects of desired relationship type on reactions to having helped. In this study Ss were led to desire either a communal or an exchange relationship with another. They then helped the other or were not allowed to help. Among Ss led to desire a communal relationship, but not among those led to desire an exchange relationship, helping was associated with greater improvements in moods than not helping. Helping tended to improve self-evaluations regardless of desired relationship type. However, this effect reached statistical significance only among subjects led to desire a communal relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Appraised changeability of a stressor as a modifier of the relationship between coping and depression: A test of the hypothesis of fit.

The goodness of fit among the appraised changeability of a stressor, coping, and depression in people with psychiatric, physical health, work, and family problems was examined (N?=?46). It was expected that problem-focused coping (as opposed to emotion-focused coping) would be used more and be more adaptive in situations appraised as changeable as compared with situations appraised as not changeable. Although few relationships existed between appraisal and coping, tests of fit between coping and depressed mood (maladaptation) were much stronger. In people with nonpsychiatric conditions, problem-focused coping and depressed mood were negatively related when a stressor was appraised as changeable but were unrelated when a stressor was appraised as not changeable. Emotion-focused coping was positively related to depression when a stressor was appraised as changeable. No general relations were observed in the people with psychiatric conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support as a moderator of the relationship between work stressors and psychological dysfunctioning: A longitudinal study with objective measures.

The match hypothesis proposed by S. Cohen and T. A. Wills (1985) is extended, and the buffer effect of social support is tested within a longitudinal study with objective measures (N?=?90 male blue-collar workers in the German metal industry). Stressors at work were ascertained by observers and a variant of a peer rating. Psychological, physical, and social stressors at work and leisure time stressors were ascertained. The dependent variables of dysfunctioning were psychosomatic complaints, depression, irritation/strain, and (social) anxiety. There were moderator effects of social support on the relationship between stressors and psychological dysfunctioning. Results are in line with the match hypothesis as social stressors and socially oriented aspects of psychological dysfunctioning were affected most strongly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control as a measure of ineffectiveness in anorexia nervosa.

Using D. W. Reid and E. E. Ware's (1974) Internal–External Locus of Control Scale (I–E scale), scores of 54 female anorexia nervosa patients were compared to norms. Younger anorexic patients (mean age 16.3 yrs) demonstrated higher internal control compared to norms on items related to fatalism and social-system control. I–E scores for older patients (mean age 21.2 yrs) could not be differentiated from the norms. Comparison of high (external) with low (internal) scorers within the sample revealed significant differences on clinical variables related to weight history, eating habits, and psychosocial behavior. In addition, externality was associated with symptomatic scores on the Beck Depression Scale, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Restraint Scale, and 16 PF. It is concluded that the I–E scale may provide a useful prognostic index for the subgroup of anorexic patients who demonstrate external I–E orientation. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employee personality as a moderator of the relationships between work stressors and counterproductive work behavior.

The current study, which is framed within the context of the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, examined counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) as a response to ineffective coping with work stressors. More specifically, we examined whether the relationship between work stressors and CWBs was moderated by employee personality. Analyses using data collected from 726 adults employed in a diverse set of occupations found that work stressors were more strongly related to CWBs among workers who were low in conscientiousness, or high in negative affectivity (NA) than among workers who were high in conscientiousness, or low in NA. We found less consistent support, however, for the moderating effects of agreeableness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between stressors and creativity: A meta-analysis examining competing theoretical models.

Competing theoretical models and equivocal evidence leave unanswered questions regarding stressors’ effect on creativity. The present meta-analysis of 76 experimental studies (including 82 independent samples) aims to clarify this association and identify factors that may explain differences between studies. Our results suggest that the effect of stressors on creative performance depends on how stress-inducing the stressor is and what type of stress is induced. We found a curvilinear relationship between evaluative stress and creativity such that low evaluative contexts increased creative performance over control conditions, whereas highly evaluative contexts decreased creative performance. We found a linearly negative relationship between uncontrollability and creativity such that more uncontrollability decreased creative performance. The results suggest that stressors’ effect on creativity is more complex than previously assumed and points to the need for understanding boundary conditions that shed light on inconsistent findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining Type A behavior pattern to explain the relationship between job stressors and psychosocial outcomes.

Despite cautions against using a global measure of Type A behavior pattern (TABP), few studies have examined the TABP components of Achievement Striving (AS) and Impatience/Irritability (II). The authors examined these 2 components to assess whether they moderated the relationships between job stressors and psychosocial outcomes. Results based on 106 employees from a large Canadian organization supported the independence of the 2 TABP components. After controlling for the job stressors (i.e., overload, ambiguity, intrarole conflict, and lack of job control), II and AS accounted for additional variance in job satisfaction, perceived stress, and life satisfaction, although these components were uniquely related to different outcomes. Finally, AS and II moderated several of the stressor-psychosocial outcome relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control and extreme behavior.

Explored the relationship between locus of control and extreme behavior in regard to risk taking, persistence, shifts in level of aspiration, and estimation of success. 173 high school freshmen girls completed Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale and a questionnaire assessing extreme behavior. Analysis of the data indicate that external Ss, as opposed to internal Ss, were characterized by a preference for extreme risks, low persistence, and atypical shifts in level of aspiration; they were more extreme in their estimation of success when responding to items related to academic, occupational, and cognitive activities. The findings, along with an integration of the literature are related to several methodological and theoretical issues. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control and social desirability.

Hypothesized that there would be a negative correlation between the Edward's Social Desirability Scale and Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale. 102 army mental health clinic outpatients, 218 army stockade prisoners, 99 alcoholic inpatients, and 48 new careers participants were administered both tests. All correlations were negative, ranging from -.7 to -.29, and were significant at the .025 level or greater. It is suggested that since internalizers feel that they have some control over reinforcements, they may try to influence the dispensers of these reinforcers by behaving in socially acceptable ways, while externalizers, who feel they have no control over reinforcements, may not be so motivated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control and interpersonal evaluations.

21 male and 21 female undergraduates took Rotter's internal-external (I-E) scale, then participated in a group test with 2 peers during which they exchanged evaluations of one another's answers. The evaluations Ss received were experimentally controlled so that they received mostly positive evaluations from 1 peer (positive evaluator) and mostly negative evaluations from the other peer (negative evaluator). As a manipulation of the perceived controllability of others' evaluations, 1/2 of the Ss were told that the test measured an ability and that there were right and wrong answers to the items (ability condition), and 1/2 were told that the answers represented personal opinions and that there were no right and wrong answers (opinion condition). Differences in Ss' evaluations of the answers given by the positive and negative evaluators showed that externals reciprocated more than internals and that this difference tended to be stronger in the opinion condition than in the ability condition. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intelligence as a modifier of the behavior of character disorders.

2additional studies were reported which suggest that IQ mediates the expression of psychopathy, as measured by the Insolence Scale. Prior work has suggested that the scale was most valid among individuals with IQs of 100 or more. The 1st study tested the hypothesis that there would be a stronger relationship between failure to complete high school and the Insolence Scale among more intelligent than less intelligent Ss. Using Navy recruits as Ss, this hypothesis was supported (p     

Psychache as a mediator in the relationship between perfectionism and suicidality.

E. S. Shneidman (1993) has proposed that psychache (i.e., unbearable psychological pain) is directly associated with suicide and mediates the effects of all other relevant psychological factors. The present research tested this proposition by examining whether psychache mediates the relationship between perfectionism and suicidality. Furthermore, the link between perfectionism and psychache was examined for mediation by unfulfilled psychological needs. Participants were 264 undergraduate students. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapped estimates determined that psychache fully mediated the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and suicidality. Additionally, the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and psychache was partially mediated by unfulfilled psychological needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between rumination and impaired memory in dysphoric moods.

College students in dysphoric or nondysphoric moods studied pairs of words and later took a fragment-completion test of memory for targets from the pairs (under process-dissociation procedures for obtaining estimates of controlled and automatic retrieval; L. L. Jacoby, 1996). Between the study and test phases, some participants waited quietly for 7 min; others rated self-focused materials designed to invoke ruminations in the dysphoric group; and still others rated self-irrelevant and task-irrelevant materials. A dysphoria-related impairment in controlled retrieval occurred in the first 2 conditions but not in the 3rd condition. These results show that the nature of task-irrelevant thoughts contributes to memory impairments in dysphoria and suggest that self-focused rumination might also contribute to similar impairments under unconstrained conditions that permit mind wandering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fit as a mediator of the relationship between work hours and burnout.

The authors studied number of hours worked and estimated its relationship to burnout in a nonrandom sample of 141 married physicians. It was hypothesized that this relationship is mediated by a process called fit, conceptualized as the extent to which workers realize the various components of their work–family strategies. Results of structural equation modeling supported the mediation hypothesis. Employees whose work hours are more or fewer than they and their partner prefer and whose work hours are distributed differently than they and their partner prefer will be more disengaged, distracted, and alienated at work than will their counterparts who are working their preferred schedules. Thus, the relationship between number of hours worked and burnout depends on the extent to which work schedules meet the needs of the worker, her or his partner, and their children, if any. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy as a moderator of the relationship between job attitudes and turnover.

Tested the hypothesis that the strength of the predictive relationship of job attitudes on turnover is moderated by the expectancy of finding a comparable job. Tests were made separately with a sample of 222 office workers and a sample of 354 managers. Results, while supporting this hypothesis, show little enhancement of the typical relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control and female occupational aspiration.

Investigated the relationship of locus of control to the ideal and real occupational aspirations (innovative, moderate, and traditional) of 139 11th-grade females. All Ss were given Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale and an occupational aspiration questionnaire constructed by the author. Innovative occupations are those in which fewer than 30% of the workers are women; moderate occupations are those in which 30-50% are women; and traditional occupations are those in which more than 50% are women. Innovative choices were made more often as an ideal aspiration than as a real aspiration; and reciprocally, traditional occupations were chosen less often as an ideal aspiration than as a real aspiration. Significant association was found between locus of control and ideal occupational aspiration and between locus of control and the presence or absence of discrepancy between ideal and real occupational aspiration. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control and attention during meditation.

20 undergraduates were assigned to an internal or external group on the basis of scores on Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale. A meditation task required Ss to focus their attention on an actual stimulus or an imagined stimulus while recording intruding thoughts by pressing a button on a counter. Results show that an internal locus of control was related to fewer intrusions than an external locus and that the actual stimulus resulted in fewer intrusions than did the imagined stimulus. Results suggest that performance in meditation, and possibly in other self-control procedures, may be influenced by individual differences in deployment of attention. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control and the response to aversive events.

Reports on a previous series of studies by the author and his colleagues which used locus of control as an independent variable and provided evidence in support of data from situationally contrived studies of perceived control. It is concluded that the impact of stressors seems to be diminished in situations in which participants can exercise some degree of control. Likewise, persons assessed as holding internal control expectancies seem to be better able to withstand the assault of stressors than externals. Fatalistic persons seem to have less recourse to cognitions that can lessen the impact of stressful events. (French abstract) (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)