Psychological functioning following an acute disaster.

We investigated personal and organizational functioning following an acute disaster in an explosives factory in which 14 people were killed and 14 others were injured. Multivariate analyses of covariance (controlling for age and organizational tenure) assessed whether there were any differences between the experimental group (40 individuals physically exposed to the explosion) and two control groups (one from the same site performing a different job, the second from a separate site performing the same job; n?=?76 and n?=?40, respectively). During the 2nd week following the blast and 2 months afterward, there were no between-group differences in terms of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, marital satisfaction, or psychological distress. Failure to find any differences was attributed to the acute (as opposed to chronic) nature of the disaster. At both time periods, family support was correlated with personal functioning, whereas supervisory support was associated with job satisfaction; this is discussed in terms of the source of the stressor being consistent with the source of the support and the nature of the outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting sales performance, job satisfaction, and depression by using the Achievement Strivings and Impatience-Irritability dimensions of Type A behavior.

Recent research suggested that two dimensions of Type A behavior, namely, Achievement Strivings (AS) and Impatience-Irritability (II), differentially predict physical health and performance outcomes. The present study extends this research and examines whether AS and II differentially predict work performance (number of insurance policies sold), work attitudes (job satisfaction), and depression in a sample of 117 life insurance salespersons. As hypothesized, after statistically controlling for relevant biographical variables and II, AS predicted the number of policies sold and job satisfaction but was not related to depression. After partialing out the effect of relevant biographical variables and AS, II was associated with depression but not with the number of policies sold. In addition, controlling for the same variables, II was negatively associated with job satisfaction. Implications for the prediction of sales performance, job satisfaction, and depression, and interventions designed to decrease the negative consequences of Type A by reducing II but not AS, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)