ABSTRACT
Background: Infertility negatively affects nearly all aspects of women's life and is a source of demotion in the rank/status of women that they have achieved after marriage. This social rank/status demotion due to infertility may result in depression and several other psychopathologies. No extant instrument is available to measure the phenomenon of social rank in women with infertility in Pakistan. Objective: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and validate the Social Rank Scale for women experiencing infertility in Pakistan. Methodology: This study was conducted in four phases. The data were collected from women with primary infertility who visited hospitals all over Pakistan from 2016 to 2018. Social Rank Scale for Women with Infertility (SRS-WI) comprising of two scales, the Social Comparison Scale for Women with Infertility (SCS-WI) and the Submissive Behavior Scale for Women with Infertility (SBS-WI), was developed. Results: The factor structure of 37 items of SCS-WI and of 21 items of SBS-WI was determined through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on a sample of 215 women with primary infertility with an age range of 20-45 years (Mage = 31.03; SD = 6.18). Principal component analysis with varimax rotation method yielded a three-factor solution for SCS-WI, and 32 items were retained for SCS-WI that accounted for 62.38% variance. For SBS-WI, a uni-factor solution was obtained, and 20 items were retained for SBS-WI, which collectively accounted for 42.01% variance. The factor structure for both scales was confirmed via confirmatory factor analysis among a sample of 210 participants with good model fit indices. Conclusion: The study provides acceptable psychometric properties of the SRS-WI in Pakistan. Testing of psychometric properties in different groups of samples would justify the generalized use of the instrument.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: We seek to understand why and how leaders' actions that are positive from organizational perspectives, drive to engage employees in cheating behaviors. Design/methodology/approach: The proposed mediated moderation model was tested in two separate studies, study 1 and study 2, with data collected from police officers and employees of Islamic banking respectively, and then analyzed with Mplus for random coefficient models for direct effects, indirect effects, and for mediated moderation. Findings: It was found that leaders' ambitions may enhance performance pressure on the subordinates, which in turn promotes their cheating behavior. Overall, we found that the traditional view of ambition theory only emphasizes good mechanisms such as motivation. However, to integrate with a social identity perspective, ambition would also cause pressure and pressure rather than motivation. Additionally, leaders' ambitions are more strongly and positively related to the performance pressure and cheating behaviors of employees when subordinates also have high leader identification. The findings of this research suggested that leaders' positive workplace behavior could also spawn subordinates' unethical behaviors. Practical implications: Through this research, we can help policymakers understand that leaders' positive desire in general and ambition, in particular, may not be necessarily associated with subordinates' positive behaviors. Our results revealed that internalized with performance pressure, the leaders' ambition is associated with subordinates' cheating behavior. The findings of this research will help policymakers understand what might be promoting unethical behavior of employees. The cheating behavior of employees is not a singular level phenomenon of subordinates, it could also be triggered by contextual factors. Therefore, in developing policies for reducing the chance of cheating at work, the policymakers should also focus on the contextual factors that might be promoting cheating. Originality/value: Ambitious leaders tend to demonstrate high performance, also, performance pressure literature focuses efforts of the employees toward high performance. The dark side of these lines of researches is still underexplored. We shifted the conventional focus of understanding to the positive side of ambition and performance pressure by explaining the potential cost in the form of employees' enhanced cheating behavior. The interplay between the relationship between leaders' ambition and subordinates' perception of leader identification also enhanced our understating about the boundary condition of the relationship between leaders' ambition, performance pressure, and cheating behavior of subordinates.
ABSTRACT
Background: Identification of prior mental events of suicide attempts has immense importance in suicide prevention. However, it has not been studied in Bangladesh as there was no available psychometrically valid instrument measuring it. Objectives: We aimed to test the psychometric properties of the interpersonal needs questionnaire (INQ-15) and acquired capability for suicide scale-fearlessness about death (ACSS-FAD) in Bangla along with the determination of the level of thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability for suicide. Materials and methods: We collected data between 29 March and 14 April 2022 from 1,207 students of medical colleges and universities in Bangladesh by Google form. We assessed the psychometric properties of Bangla INQ and ACSS-FAD scales and examined factors associated with thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability for suicide. Results: The mean age of the participants was 22.82 ± 1.68 (range 18-29) years, 51% were females, 84% were graduate students, and 92% were unmarried. Both of the scales revealed acceptable levels of reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure of Bangla INQ after dropping three items from thwarted belongingness domain (item 9, 11, and 12) and a single factor structure for Bangla ACSS-FAD after dropping three items (item 1, 4, and 6). Perceived burdensomeness was significantly higher in females, students with a history of mental illness, family history of suicide, and the history of suicidal attempts. Fearlessness about death was significantly higher among females, non-Muslim participants, and history of suicidal attempts. Conclusion: The current study revealed psychometric properties of two suicide scales (INQ and ACSS-FAD) in Bangla that can be used in subsequent studies. Prevention strategies targeting to females, persons with psychiatric disorder, history of previous attempt(s) should be prioritized specially among the young age group.
