When and why do central employees speak up? An examination of mediating and moderating variables.

We examined the proposition that employees' work-flow centrality (i.e., the extent to which they are critical to the task-related interaction networks of their work groups) enhances their personal influence within their work groups and, therefore, motivates them to engage in voice behaviors. In support of this proposition, in a study of 184 bank employees nested within 42 work groups, we found that employees' work-flow centrality was positively related to voice behaviors, with their personal influence mediating this relationship. Further, work-flow centrality was more strongly related to personal influence when employees had higher task performance, and personal influence was more strongly related to voice behaviors when employees had higher levels of work-group identification. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Opportunity for interaction? A naturalistic observation study of dual-earner families after work and school.

Everyday patterns of interaction can strengthen or undermine bonds between family members. This naturalistic observation study focused on an understudied facet of family life: opportunities for interaction among dual-earner family members after work and family members’ responses to these opportunities. Thirty dual-earner couples and their children were observed and video-recorded in their homes throughout two weekday afternoons and evenings. Two interaction opportunities were analyzed: (1) the behavior of family members toward a parent returning home from work and (2) the physical proximity of family members throughout the evening. Three main findings emerged. Women, who tended to return home before men, were greeted with positive behavior and reports of the day’s information from family members. Men, in contrast, returned home later in the day and received positive behavior or no acknowledgment from family members distracted by other activities. Throughout the evening, mothers spent more time with children whereas fathers spent more time alone. Couples were seldom together without their children. The implications of observed interaction patterns and the contribution of naturalistic observation methods to the study of family relationships are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How do people with different attachment styles balance work and family? A personality perspective on work–family linkage.

This study explored whether different models of work–family relationship were possible for individuals with different attachment styles. A mail survey was conducted using employees (N?=?481) at a midwestern university in the United States. Results suggested that (a) individuals with a preoccupied attachment pattern were more likely to experience negative spillover from the family/home to the work domain than those with a secure or dismissing style, (b) securely attached individuals experienced positive spillover in both work and family domains more than those in the other groups, and (c) preoccupied individuals were much less likely to use a segmentation strategy than the other 3 attachment groups. However, when the conventional job satisfaction–life satisfaction relationship was examined, the data provided unique support for the spillover model. Implications of the findings for both attachment and work–family relationship literatures are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are associations between parental divorce and children's adjustment genetically mediated? An adoption study.

The hypothesis that the association between parental divorce and children's adjustment is mediated by genetic factors was examined in the Colorado Adoption Project, a prospective longitudinal study of 398 adoptive and biological families. In biological families, children who experienced their parents' separation by the age of 12 years exhibited higher rates of behavioral problems and substance use, and lower levels of achievement and social adjustment, compared with children whose parents' marriages remained intact. Similarly, adopted children who experienced their (adoptive) parents' divorces exhibited elevated levels of behavioral problems and substance use compared with adoptees whose parents did not separate, but there were no differences on achievement and social competence. The findings for psychopathology are consistent with an environmentally mediated explanation for the association between parent divorce and children's adjustment; in contrast, the findings for achievement and social adjustment are consistent with a genetically mediated explanation involving passive genotype–environment correlation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do positive work-related states mediate the association between psychosocial work characteristics and turnover? A longitudinal analysis.

This study investigated whether positive work-related states—affective organizational commitment and experience of meaning at work—mediated the association between psychosocial work characteristics and turnover. A prospective cohort study was conducted among employees in eldercare services in Denmark. Employees no longer working in eldercare at follow-up were interviewed with questionnaires. Respondents to this questionnaire were coded as cases of turnover (n = 730) and were compared with employees who had not changed jobs during the follow-up period (n = 5,262). Data on positive work-related states and psychosocial work characteristics were measured at baseline in the cohort study. We used logistic regression analyses to investigate whether positive work-related states mediated the association between psychosocial work characteristics and turnover. Initial analyses showed that psychosocial work characteristics significantly predicted turnover. Subsequent analyses showed that affective organizational commitment and experience of meaning at work significantly reduced the risk of turnover, and the mediators attenuated the associations between psychosocial work characteristics and turnover. Accordingly, the results show that positive work-related states mediate the longitudinal association between psychosocial work characteristics and turnover. The results furthermore imply that turnover among staff in eldercare can be reduced by enhancing positive work-related states and improving the psychosocial work environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do promises matter? An exploration of the role of promises in psychological contract breach.

Promises are positioned centrally in the study of psychological contract breach and are argued to distinguish psychological contracts from related constructs, such as employee expectations. However, because the effects of promises and delivered inducements are confounded in most research, the role of promises in perceptions of, and reactions to, breach remains unclear. If promises are not an important determinant of employee perceptions, emotions, and behavioral intentions, this would suggest that the psychological contract breach construct might lack utility. To assess the unique role of promises, the authors manipulated promises and delivered inducements separately in hypothetical scenarios in Studies 1 (558 undergraduates) and 2 (441 employees), and they measured them separately (longitudinally) in Study 3 (383 employees). The authors’ results indicate that breach perceptions do not represent a discrepancy between what employees believe they were promised and were given. In fact, breach perceptions can exist in the absence of promises. Further, promises play a negligible role in predicting feelings of violation and behavioral intentions. Contrary to the extant literature, the authors’ findings suggest that promises may matter little; employees are concerned primarily with what the organization delivers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When do procedural fairness and outcome fairness interact to influence employees’ work attitudes and behaviors? The moderating effect of uncertainty.

Prior research has shown that procedural fairness interacts with outcome fairness to influence employees’ work attitudes (e.g., organizational commitment) and behaviors (e.g., job performance, organizational citizenship behavior), such that employees’ tendencies to respond more positively to higher procedural fairness are stronger when outcome fairness is relatively low. In the present studies, we posited that people’s uncertainty about their standing as organizational members would have a moderating influence on this interactive relationship between procedural fairness and outcome fairness, in that the interactive relationship was expected to be more pronounced when uncertainty was high. Using different operationalizations of uncertainty of standing (i.e., length of tenure as a proxy, along with self-reports and coworkers’ reports), we found support for this hypothesis in 4 field studies spanning 3 different countries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What do psychotherapists really do in practice? An Internet study of over 2,000 practitioners.

Over 2,200 North American psychotherapists completed a Web-based survey concerning their clinical work, including theoretical orientation, client characteristics, and use of specific psychotherapy techniques. Psychotherapeutic integration was common, with the majority of respondents identifying with more than one theoretical orientation or as having an eclectic orientation. The modal patient was a White female adult suffering from a mood or anxiety disorder and interpersonal problems. Individual psychotherapy was the preferred treatment modality. The most frequently endorsed techniques were relationship-oriented such as conveying warmth, acceptance, understanding, and empathy. The least frequently endorsed techniques were biofeedback, neurofeedback, body and energy therapies, and hypnotherapy. Efforts to disseminate empirically based therapies require understanding and accommodating clinicians' tendencies to integrate techniques. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compatibility of Stainless Steel 316L with Lead-17?at.% Lithium with Reference to Indian-TBM

Corrosion of SS316L steel in flowing lead?Clithium eutectic alloy melt has been investigated with respect to eutectic melt velocity and temperature gradient in a thermal buoyancy loop. Preferential dissolution of major constituent elements namely, Fe, Ni, Cr from the tube walls with the formation of a porous corroded layer has been observed in the hot leg maintained at 773?K. Nickel and chromium rich deposits were found on the cold leg surface which was at 673?K. However, no porous corroded layer has been observed in the cold leg. Chemical analysis of the eutectic showed a substantially high concentration of Ni.     

Do individual coping strategies help or harm in the work–family conflict situation? Examining coping as a moderator between work–family conflict and well-being.

In this study we examined the moderator role of coping (problem-, emotion-, and avoidance-focused coping strategies) between work-to-family and family-to-work conflict and well-being (work engagement, job satisfaction, and family satisfaction). The study was based on a sample of 527 Finnish workers. Hierarchical moderated regression analyses showed that emotion-focused coping buffered against job dissatisfaction in a high family-to-work conflict situation. On the other hand, emotion-focused coping was harmful for family satisfaction in the same stressful situation: Those who used more emotion-focused coping were less satisfied with their family life under the conditions of high family-to-work conflict. Furthermore, avoidance coping was beneficial in a high family-to-work conflict situation: Those who used more avoidance coping were more satisfied with their family life in this situation. No buffering effects were found for work engagement or for problem-focused coping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do young and older adults rely on different processes in source memory tasks? A neuropsychological study.

Source memory has consistently been associated with prefrontal function in both normal and clinical populations. Nevertheless, the exact contribution of this brain region to source memory remains uncertain, and evidence suggests that processes used by young and older adults may differ. The authors explored the extent to which scores on composite measures of neuropsychological tests of frontal and medial temporal function differentially predicted the performance of young and older adults on source memory tasks. Results indicated that a frontal composite measure, consistently associated with source memory performance in older adults, was unrelated to source memory in young adults, although it was sensitive to a demanding working memory task. The memory composite score, however, predicted performance in the young group. In addition, item and source memory were correlated in young but not older people. Findings are discussed in terms of age-related differences in working memory and executive functions, and differential binding processes necessary for item and source memory. The requirement to integrate item and source information at encoding appears to place greater demands on executive or working memory processes in older adults than in younger adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social desirability or acquiescence in the MMPI? A case study with the SD Scale.

In this, his Presidential Address to the Division of Evaluation and Measurement of the American Psychological Association, September 1960, the author reviews the research pertinent to the measurement of the dimensions of "social desirability" and "acquiescent response set." Results of new data derived from an analysis of responses to the MMPI were presented to indicate the validity of the explanation in terms of the dimension of social desirability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is the donut in front of the car? An electrophysiological study examining spatial reference frame processing.

Notes that the process of describing an object's location relative to another object results in ambiguity. How do people handle this ambiguity? The present 3 studies, using a total of 88 undergraduates, examined spatial language processing when use of different reference frames results in ambiguity. This study investigated whether electrophysiological measures of cognitive processing may elucidate underlying reference frame processing; in particular, the authors were interested in semantic integration. Electrophysiological results show a larger N400, peaking between 300 and 375 ms, when the intrinsic frame was not used. Behavioral results mirrored this finding, indicating a reduced cognitive processing requirement for the intrinsic reference frame. Previous work has not definitively tied spatial reference frame processing to specific electrophysiological components and their associated cognitive processes. Although the N400 peak seen in this data is early, additional work supports the N400 interpretation, thereby linking spatial frame processing to semantic integration. Results are discussed within the larger context of spatial reference frame processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do bantams (Gallus gallus domesticus) experience amodal completion? An analysis of visual search performance.

Whereas many mammals (some primates and mice) experience amodal completion, previous data split for avian species. However, experimental procedures have been quite different among the species, and thus a direct comparison of various avian species in the same experimental situation is needed. We tested whether bantams (Gallus gallus domesticus) would complete partly occluded figures using a visual search task on the touch monitor, which was successfully used in our previous study with pigeons. First, we trained 3 participants to search for a notched red diamond (a target) among complete diamonds (distracters). Next, white squares accompanied each figure with a small gap of a fixed size. In test, the location of the accompanying white squares sometimes changed. In some trials, the white squares exactly covered, or “occluded,” the notched portion of the target. Humans are known to have great difficulty in finding such targets due to “automatic” completion of the notched part. However, bantams met no such difficulty at all. This result and the demonstration by Forkman (1998) of hens' amodal completion of figures placed on a perspective background, suggest that the perspective cue may have an important role in amodal completion in this species. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do reef fish, variola louti and scarus niger, perform amodal completion? Evidence from a field study.

In terms of visual perception, coral reefs are structurally complex habitats. Therefore, visual stimuli that invoke territorial behavior in fish, causing them to respond to potential intruders and competitors, may be fragmented. Amodal completion was recently shown in a fish species. Here, we presented a mirror covered by occluders, with different squared openings arranged in a vertical or a horizontal broken line or a checkerboard formation, within their natural territories in the reef. Single small openings in the occluders did not trigger an attack on the reflected image, while specific configurations of them did so, suggesting that fish recognized an intruder in the fragmented image. The results suggest the use of amodal completion by fish although other possibilities cannot be rejected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spinodal decomposition in Fe-Cr alloys: Experimental study at the atomic level and comparison with computer models—I. Introduction and methodology

A three-part series of papers is presented concerning the atomic scale analysis of spinodal decomposition in Fe-Cr alloys. This first part deals with the experimental techniques and computer simulations, the second part discusses the dynamics of early stage phase separation, and the third part describes the morphological and structural characterization of spinodal microstructures. In this first paper, three-dimensional reconstructions of the atomic structure of a series of thermally aged Fe-Cr alloys are shown. Two methods for computer simulation of the decomposition process are described. The first is an atomistic simulation based on the Monte Carlo algorithm and the second is a numerical solution to the Cahn—Hilliard—Cook theory. The three-dimensional atomic scale structures resulting from decomposition within the low temperature miscibility gap are reconstructed. It is shown that both models generate microstructures which are qualitatively similar to those observed experimentally.     

Do gender differences in help avoidance vary by ethnicity? An examination of African American and European American students during early adolescence.

The present research examined whether the nature of gender differences varies by race for two types of academic engagement in the classroom (help avoidance and voice with the teacher) in a sample of early adolescents (N = 456; 55% female, 60% African American and 40% European American) making the transition to middle school. Growth curve analyses indicated that help avoidance increased over time, voice remained stable, and achievement declined. In line with hypotheses based on cultural variations in the female role, there were no gender differences in help avoidance for African American students, whereas for European American students, girls were lower in help avoidance than were boys. For African American students, there were no gender differences in voice with the teacher, whereas for European American students, girls were higher than were boys. These group differences were present at all 3 waves. For all students, increases in help avoidance negatively predicted changes in achievement, whereas increases in voice positively predicted achievement. Results underscore the importance of examining gender and ethnicity together to understand academic adjustment during early adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is it better to be moral than smart? The effects of morality and competence norms on the decision to work at group status improvement.

Three studies examined strategies of status improvement in experimentally created (Study 1 and 2) and preexisting (Study 3) low-status groups. Theory and prior research suggested that an in-group norm that established a particular strategy of status improvement as moral (rather than competent) would have a greater effect on individuals' decision to work at this strategy. Both Study 1 and Study 2 found that morality norms had a greater impact than competence norms on individuals' decision to work at group (rather than individual) status improvement. In both studies participants also needed less time to decide on a strategy of status improvement when it is was encouraged by a morality norm rather than a competence norm. Study 3 used a preexisting low-status group (i.e., Southern Italians) to further confirm that morality norms have a greater effect on the decision to work at group status improvement than do competence norms. Results are discussed in terms of social influence and identity management strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does audiovisual speech offer a fountain of youth for old ears? An event-related brain potential study of age differences in audiovisual speech perception.

The current study addressed the question whether audiovisual (AV) speech can improve speech perception in older and younger adults in a noisy environment. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to investigate age-related differences in the processes underlying AV speech perception. Participants performed an object categorization task in three conditions, namely auditory-only (A), visual-only (V), and AVspeech. Both age groups revealed an equivalent behavioral AVspeech benefit over unisensory trials. ERP analyses revealed an amplitude reduction of the auditory P1 and N1 on AVspeech trials relative to the summed unisensory (A + V) response in both age groups. These amplitude reductions are interpreted as an indication of multisensory efficiency as fewer neural resources were recruited to achieve better performance. Of interest, the observed P1 amplitude reduction was larger in older adults. Younger and older adults also showed an earlier auditory N1 in AVspeech relative to A and A + V trials, an effect that was again greater in the older adults. The degree of multisensory latency shift was predicted by basic auditory functioning (i.e., higher hearing thresholds were associated with larger latency shifts) in both age groups. Together, the results show that AV speech processing is not only intact in older adults, but that the facilitation of neural responses occurs earlier in and to a greater extent than in younger adults. Thus, older adults appear to benefit more from additional visual speech cues than younger adults, possibly to compensate for more impoverished unisensory inputs because of sensory aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do cognitive models help in predicting the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder, phobia, and depression after motor vehicle accidents? A prospective longitudinal study.

The study investigated the power of theoretically derived cognitive variables to predict posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), travel phobia, and depression following injury in a motor vehicle accident (MVA). MVA survivors (N = 147) were assessed at the emergency department on the day of their accident and 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months later. Diagnoses were established with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Predictors included initial symptom severities; variables established as predictors of PTSD in E. J. Ozer, S. R. Best, T. L. Lipsey, and D. S. Weiss's (2003) meta-analysis; and variables derived from cognitive models of PTSD, phobia, and depression. Results of nonparametric multiple regression analyses showed that the cognitive variables predicted subsequent PTSD and depression severities over and above what could be predicted from initial symptom levels. They also showed greater predictive power than the established predictors, although the latter showed similar effect sizes as in the meta-analysis. In addition, the predictors derived from cognitive models of PTSD and depression were disorder-specific. The results support the role of cognitive factors in the maintenance of emotional disorders following trauma. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)