The web of coping resources and pathways to reemployment following a job loss.

Structural equation modeling analyses of data from 2 longitudinal community studies of recently laid-off workers examined the interrelationships and pathways from personal coping resources to job-search intensity and the extent and quality of reemployment at 2 follow-ups (at 6 months and at 12 or 24 months). In both studies, the proposed models for predicting reemployment and reemployment quality provided a good fit to the data with the same pattern of results, which demonstrated that job-search motivation increased reemployment at all follow-ups but did not affect reemployment quality. At both the 6- and 12-month follow-ups, level of depressive symptoms decreased the extent and quality of reemployment. The results also highlighted the dual role of financial strain, which on the one hand facilitates reemployment by increasing job-search motivation and job-search intensity and on the other hand inhibits it by increasing depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ruminative coping with depressed mood following loss.

In a longitudinal study of 253 bereaved adults, people with poorer social support, more concurrent stressors, and higher levels of postloss depression reported more rumination than people with better social support, fewer stressors, and lower initial depression levels. Women reported more rumination than men. People with a ruminative style at 1 month were more likely to have a pessimistic outlook at 1 month, which was associated with higher depression levels at 6 months. People with a more ruminative style were more depressed at 6 months, even after controlling for initial depression levels, social support, concurrent stressors, gender, and pessimism. Additional stressors and high depression scores at 1 month were also associated with higher levels of depression at 6 months. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The myths of coping with loss.

Drawing from theory and clinical lore, we consider how individuals are assumed to cope following irrevocable loss. Several assumptions are reviewed reflecting beliefs concerning the grieving process. Specifically, we examine the expectation that depression is inevitable following loss; that distress is necessary, and failure to experience it is indicative of pathology; that it is necessary to "work through" or process a loss; and that recovery and resolution are to be expected following loss. Although limited research has examined these assumptions systematically, available empirical work fails to support and in some cases contradicts them. Implications of our analysis for theoretical development and research are explored. Finally, we maintain that mistaken assumptions held about the process of coping with loss fail to acknowledge the variability that exists in response to loss, and may lead others to respond to those who have endured loss in ways that are unhelpful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Satisfaction with a new job after unemployment: Consequences of job loss for older professionals.

Participants were surveyed after joining a self-help group for unemployed professionals over the age of 40 and again 1 year later. A hidden cost of job loss, especially for older workers, may be decreased satisfaction with the new job obtained after a period of unemployment. Of the 24 initially unemployed participants who sought jobs, 1 year later 16 were reemployed, and 8 were still seeking jobs. The 16 reemployed participants indicated significantly less satisfaction in their new positions, compared to the ones held previously, with regard to pay and benefits. There was no change in satisfaction with co-workers. Satisfaction with supervision, the nature of the work, and prospects for promotion had increased. Positive self-esteem and internal locus of control at the initial survey were positively correlated with job satisfaction after reemployment. Contrary to expectations, age was also positively correlated with satisfaction in the new job. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job seeking, reemployment, and mental health: A randomized field experiment in coping with job loss.

Cognitive theories of adherence to difficult courses of action and findings from previous survey research on coping with a major life event—job loss—were used to generate a preventive intervention, tested by a randomized field experiment. The aim was to prevent poor mental health and loss of motivation to seek reemployment among those who continued to be unemployed and to promote high-quality reemployment. Ss were 928 recently unemployed adults from southeastern Michigan, representing a broad range of demographic characteristics; they were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control condition. The experimental intervention included training in job-seeking with a problem-solving process emphasizing inoculation against setbacks and positive social reinforcement. A pretest was administered, followed by posttests 1 and 4 months after the experiment. The experimental condition yielded higher quality reemployment in terms of earnings and job satisfaction, and higher motivation among those who continued to be unemployed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A model of the net effect of job loss on violence.

The authors extend frustration–aggression theory to hypothesize that increasing frequency of layoffs has countervailing influences on violence depending on how many people lose jobs compared to how many fear job loss. The authors offer a model that estimates the net effect of these processes on the incidence of violence in a community. The model specifies a parabolic function in which small increases in layoffs are associated with increased incidence of violence, but large increases are associated with reduced incidence. The model was tested with time-series methods by using weekly data from San Francisco. The independent variable was initial claims for unemployment compensation; the dependent variable was civil commitments for behavior that is dangerous to others. The model fit the data for both men and women. Implications of the model for economic policy and the provision of preventive services are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hostility, job attitudes, and workplace deviance: Test of a multilevel model.

The authors tested a model, inspired by affective events theory (H. M. Weiss & R. Cropanzano, 1996), that examines the dynamic nature of emotions at work, work attitudes, and workplace deviance. Sixty-four employees completed daily surveys over 3 weeks, reporting their mood, job satisfaction, perceived interpersonal treatment, and deviance. Supervisors and significant others also evaluated employees' workplace deviance and trait hostility, respectively. Over half of the total variance in workplace deviance was within-individual, and this intraindividual variance was predicted by momentary hostility, interpersonal justice, and job satisfaction. Moreover, trait hostility moderated the interpersonal justice-state hostility relation such that perceived injustice was more strongly related to state hostility for individuals high in trait hostility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test performance as an involuntary function of interpersonal relationships.

The hypothesis that tension aroused by making a new acquaintance might adversely affect test performance is here investigated. Two person teams of subjects are given the Vigotsky Blocks Tests. In the control group, the subjects knew each other before the experiment and knew the experimenter. In the experimental group, the subjects were unacquainted before the experimental session. Analysis of the results shows that the experimental groups took significantly longer to complete the test. Although this result tends to support the hypothesis, several alternate explanations are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responses to stress in adolescence: Measurement of coping and involuntary stress responses.

The development of a measure of coping and involuntary stress responses in adolescence is described. The Responses to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ) reflects a conceptual model that includes volitional coping efforts and involuntary responses to specific stressful events or specified domains of stress. The psychometric characteristics of the RSQ were examined across 4 domains of stress in 3 samples of adolescents and parent reports obtained in 2 samples. The factor structure of the RSQ was tested and replicated with an adequate degree of fit using confirmatory factor analysis across 3 stressors in -2 samples. Internal consistency and retest reliability for the 5 factors were adequate to excellent. Concurrent validity was established through correlations with another measure of coping, heart rate reactivity, and correlations of self- and parent-reports. Significant correlations with both adolescents' and parents' reports of internalizing and externalizing symptoms were consistent with hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of anticipated job loss on employee behavior.

Compared the behavior (i.e., productivity, absenteeism, and lateness) of 100 employees who knew that they were to be laid off or not laid off. No significant changes in the absenteeism, lateness, or production were found in either group during the 3-mo period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A linear model of job satisfaction.

Data relevant to 5 separate areas of a worker's job satisfaction (satisfaction with: work, pay, promotion opportunities, co-workers, and supervision) and 6 independent variables (age, tenure on the job, tenure with the company, job level, salary, and salary desired minus salary received) were gathered from a sample of 185 male workers and 75 female workers employed in 2 plants of an electronics manufacturing firm in New England. Multiple-regression analyses were done on these data to determine the validity of two hypotheses of Herzberg that age and tenure bear U-shaped relationships to job satisfaction. No support was found for these hypotheses. For the male workers a linear model of job satisfaction predicted work and pay satisfaction. None of the other dependent variables for the male or female workers could be predicted significantly and consistently. An explanation based on discrepancies between expectations and environmental return is offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The job demands-resources model of burnout.

The job demands-resources (JD-R) model proposes that working conditions can be categorized into 2 broad categories, job demands and job resources, that are differentially related to specific outcomes. A series of LISREL analyses using self-reports as well as observer ratings of the working conditions provided strong evidence for the JD-R model: Job demands are primarily related to the exhaustion component of burnout, whereas (lack of) job resources are primarily related to disengagement. Highly similar patterns were observed in each of 3 occupational groups: human services, industry, and transport (total N?=?374). In addition, results confirmed the 2-factor structure (exhaustion and disengagement) of a new burnout instrument—the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory—and suggested that this structure is essentially invariant across occupational groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test of a model for opinion change.

"Two experiments designed to test a mathematical model for opinion change were presented. In each experiment, subjects read 17 successive arguments summarized from the testimony and procedure of a jury trial." It was hypothesized that final judgment would be affected by serial position in being read (recency) and strength of the argument. The hypothesis was supported. 12 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adjustment to multiple sclerosis: Application of a stress and coping model.

This study examined the use of a stress and coping model of adjustment to multiple sclerosis (MS). A total of 122 MS patients were interviewed and completed self-administered scales at Time 1 and 12 months later, Time 2 (n?=?96). Predictors included stressful life events, illness (duration, severity, and disability), social support, appraisal (threat and control/challenge), and coping (problem focused and emotion [wishful thinking, self-blame, and avoidance] focused). Adjustment outcomes were Time 2 depression, global distress, social adjustment, and subjective health status. Results from hierarchical regression analyses indicated that after controlling for the effects of Time-1 adjustment, better Time-2 adjustment was related to less disability, greater reliance on problem-focused coping, and less reliance on emotion-focused coping. There was limited support for the stress buffering effects of coping and social support. Findings offer some support for the use of a stress and coping model of adaptation to MS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Joint relation of experience and ability with job performance: Test of three hypotheses.

Data from four different jobs (N?=?1,474) were used to evaluate three hypotheses of the joint relation of job experience and general mental ability to job performance as measured by (a) work sample measures, (b) job knowledge measures, and (c) supervisory ratings of job performance. The divergence hypothesis predicts an increasing difference and the convergence hypothesis predicts a decreasing difference in the job performance of high- and low-mental-ability employees as employees gain increasing experience on the job. The noninteractive hypothesis, by contrast, predicts that the performance difference will be constant over time. For all three measures of job performance, results supported the noninteractive hypothesis. Also, consistent with the noninteractive hypothesis, correlational analyses showed essentially constant validities for general mental ability (measured earlier) out to 5 years of experience on the job. In addition to their theoretical implications, these findings have an important practical implication: They indicate that the concerns that employment test validities may decrease over time, complicating estimates of selection utility, are probably unwarranted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support and the impact of job loss on older professionals.

Unemployment presents important psychological problems for all age groups, but the impact of job loss may be particularly severe for older workers. Participants in our study were 35 members of a self-help organization for unemployed professionals over the age of 40. Three types of variables were measured, (a) stressors, which were length of unemployment, financial concerns, and six functionally different types of social support; (b) stress symptoms, which were self-esteem, depression, physical health symptoms, psychological symptoms, and locus of control; and (c) job seeking behaviors. Our results indicated that financial concerns and social support stressors significantly predicted a number of the stress symptoms. Specific types of social support exhibited varied patterns of relations to these stress symptoms. The perceived availability of "reassurance of worth" support, provided in other contexts frequently by work colleagues, seemed to be most strongly related to positive self-esteem, internal locus of control, and more job-seeking efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of a realistic job preview on job acceptance, job attitudes, and job survival.

A field experiment was conducted in a telephone company to assess the effects of a realistic job preview vs an unrealistic (i.e., "traditional") preview. Of 80 newly hired female telephone operators, those who saw a realistic job preview film subsequently had more realistic job expectations, fewer thoughts of quitting, and slightly higher job survival than those who saw a traditional preview film. There was no difference in job acceptance rates between the 2 groups. Results are discussed in light of the general process of individuals joining new organizations, and suggestions for future research are offered. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the robustness of the job demands-resources model.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 14(2) of International Journal of Stress Management (see record 2007-07240-008). Several corrections of errata in a paper by the authors published in the 2006 issue of the International Journal of Stress Management are presented: (1) The sentence beginning on page 385, line 16 should read "To avoid identification problems, the error variance of Organizational commitment and Emotional load were constrained using the formula (1 - α) × sigma2." (2) The sentence on page 385, line 18, should be deleted. (3) Degrees of freedom for M3 in Table 2 were incorrectly reported. The correct degrees of freedom were 54. The corrected table is provided.] According to the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, job demands and resources evoke two relatively independent processes: health impairment and employee motivation. The robustness of the JD-R model was tested in two different occupational samples, the first of 654 Spanish employees and the second of 477 Dutch employees. Structural equation modeling analyses provided partial evidence for the two processes. Multigroup analyses showed that the structural paths of the model were invariant across countries, although the strength of the relationships differed. We conclude that the basic structure of the JD-R model is maintained, even when applied in different national and occupational contexts, when using different ways of gathering data (computerized versus paper and pencil), and when using slightly different measures to assess the key variables of the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)