International journal of psychology : Journal international de psychologie
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Comparative Study
Dispositional optimism among American and Jordanian college students: are Westerners really more upbeat than Easterners?
The present study aimed at assessing some previous research conclusions, based primarily on comparisons of North Americans and East Asians, that Westerners tend to be optimistic while Easterners tend to be pessimistic. Two samples of European American and Jordanian college students were administered a questionnaire consisting of items measuring dispositional optimism along with items pertaining to risk and self-protective behaviors (e.g., seatbelt use, vehicular speeding, smoking) and social and demographic factors (e.g., sex, socioeconomic status, religiosity). The findings uncovered dispositional optimism to be stronger for American compared to Jordanian participants. ⋯ Las resultados no mostraron una asociación entre optimismo disposicional y conductas de riesgo o autoprotectoras. Los análisis de regresión múltiples mostraron que el contexto cultural y la sexualidad son los mejores predictores de estas conductas. Las implicaciones de estos hallazgos fueron discutidas.
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Using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory method, Smith and Hunt ( 1998 ) first reported the modality effect on false memory and showed that false recall from DRM lists was lower following visual study than following auditory study, which led to numerous studies on the mechanism of modality effect on false memory and provided many competing explanations. In the present experiment, the authors tested the modality effect in false recognition by using a blocked presentation condition and a random presentation condition. The present experiment found a modality effect different from the results of the previous research; namely, false recognition was shown to be greater following visual study than following auditory study, especially in the blocked presentation condition rather than in the random presentation condition. ⋯ En comparación con las palabras inglesas, los grafemas visuales de las palabras críticas en chino tienen probabilidad de ser activadas y codificadas en las mentes de los participantes, por tanto, es más difícil discriminar posteriores grafemas internos de los que fueron presentados en la modalidad visual. Por tanto, la presentación visual podría conducir a más falsos reconocimientos que la presentación auditiva en los listados de palabras chinas. Los resultados del presente experimento demostraron que la activación semántica durante las fases de codificación y recuperación jugó un rol importante en el efecto de falso reconocimiento según modalidad y que nuestros resultados se pueden explicar teniendo en cuenta la activación y la vigilancia.
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Dysfunctions in role performance have been associated with a large number of consequences, almost always negative, which affect the well-being of workers and the functioning of organizations. An individual's experience of receiving incompatible or conflicting requests (role conflict) and/or the lack of enough information to carry out his/her job (role ambiguity) are causes of role stress. According to previous theory, role ambiguity and conflict decrease workers' performance and are positively related to the probability of workers leaving the organization. ⋯ The hypotheses were confirmed by means of path analysis carried out with data obtained from a sample of Spanish blue-collar workers employed by a bus company and a water supply company. Role stressors were negatively related to affective commitment mediated through job satisfaction. Affective commitment to the organization exerted a positive influence on performance and reduces the withdrawal behaviour analysed— intention to leave and absenteeism—although the strongest predictor of intention to leave was, in this study, job satisfaction.
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Using telephone surveys, we examined exposure to terror, coping, and mental health response in randomly selected Jewish-Israelis (n = 100) and Arab-Israelis (n = 100) living in five Israeli cities affected by terrorism. Jewish-Israelis and Arab-Israelis were randomly selected for study participation and completed telephone surveys in May 2002, following an extended string of terror attacks and hostilities. Although terrorism is designed to target Jewish-Israelis, the rates of exposure were similar in the two groups. ⋯ Arab-Israelis may not have the same access to overarching sources of patriotic support that are readily available to their Jewish compatriots, and civilian and economic inequity experienced by the Arab minority may add to a sense of diminished resources. Our findings justify outreach efforts to overlooked minorities at risk for posttraumatic distress. Women seem to be at particular risk for the development of mental health symptoms following terrorism, which should also be noted for outreach purposes.
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From a proactive agentic perspective, social support is not just seen as a protective cushion against environmental demands. Rather, support may facilitate an individual's self-regulation by enhancing perceived self-efficacy (i.e., enabling hypothesis). In the present study, patient-reported indicators of mobilized and received spousal support as predictors of their own and their spouses' self-efficacy beliefs were investigated within 1 year following radical prostatectomy. ⋯ Results indicated that patients' received spousal support was associated with higher levels of patients' self-efficacy only cross-sectionally, but not longitudinally. Support mobilized by the patient prior to and 1 year after surgery, however, positively predicted spouses' levels and changes in self-efficacy. Results, thus, did not fully confirm predictions by the enabling hypothesis of social support; rather, associated aspects, such as the degree of being mobilized as a provider of support or being needed, seem to enhance agency beliefs in spouses.