Academic performance: A longitudinal study on the role of goal-directed rumination and psychological distress.

BACKGROUND: In this research, we examine the relationship between goal-directed rumination, psychological distress, and performance. Although previous research has largely contributed to our understanding of how these constructs are related, the direction of their relationships remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: We argue that goal-directed rumination and psychological distress (conceived as perceived stress and strain) are reciprocally related, and that goal-directed rumination has a positive effect on performance when controlling for the negative effect of psychological distress. DESIGN: We explored these relationships in a longitudinal field study, drawing on multiple sources: self-reports of 147 students on goal-directed rumination and psychological distress and objective ratings of academic performance. METHOD: Based on structural equation modelling, we employed a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model and hierarchical regressions to examine our hypotheses. RESULTS: We demonstrated that goal-directed rumination predicted perceived stress one week later but not vice versa, while its relationship to strain was less clear. Furthermore, goal-directed rumination positively predicted academic performance when we controlled for psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence for a unidirectional relationship between goal-directed rumination and psychological distress, especially for perceived stress. Additionally, we observed that psychological distress diminishes the beneficial effect of goal-directed rumination on academic performance.

Beneficial, adverse, and spiraling health-promotion effects: Evidence from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of working at sit-stand desks.

In a 6-month longitudinal randomized field experiment, we examined how using height-adjustable sit-stand desks could have beneficial, adverse, and spiraling effects on people's musculoskeletal and psychovegetative complaints, and on positive (vitality and vigilance) and negative psychological symptoms, namely, stressor uncontrollability (i.e., perceived uncontrollability of workload), psychological tension, and mental tiredness. A total of 127 employees in various, mostly sedentary, occupations were randomly assigned to either the intervention or the control group. Variables were assessed monthly for 6 months on a self-reported basis. Bayesian structural equation modeling showed that the intervention produced large inhibiting between-subjects effects for musculoskeletal problems in the neck, back, and shoulders (ß ranged between -.26 and -.21). Within-subject analyses revealed that the intervention produced large inhibiting effect sizes for intensity (g = 3.06) and prevalence of musculoskeletal (g = 1.19) and psychovegetative complaints (g between 0.76 and 1.57). For negative psychological symptoms (i.e., psychological tension and mental tiredness), participants in the intervention group showed a steeper decrease than participants in the control group (g between 2.34 and 3.74). For positive indicators (i.e., vitality and vigilance), the intervention produced large promoting effects for participants in the intervention group compared with participants in the control group (g between 0.70 and 1.65). There was no change in stressor uncontrollability between the two groups. Finally, findings suggest that sit-stand desks can be effective in improving occupational health by weakening a downward-spiraling effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Reflexivity in Teams: A Review and New Perspectives.

Team reflexivity posits that the extent to which teams reflect upon and adapt their functioning is positively related to team performance. While remarkable progress has been made to provide evidence of this relationship, the underlying framework is missing elements of current theoretical streams for analyzing and describing teamwork, leaving the diversity of effects of team reflexivity often untouched. In this article, we present an update for this framework, by reviewing previous research on reflexivity, addressing gaps in the literature, and revising the original model by integrating feedback and dynamic team effectiveness frameworks for describing temporal developments of reflexivity. We furthermore propose a new dimensional structure for reflexivity, relying on prior work conceptualizing teams as information-processing systems that learn and advance through social-cognitive elements. Our model is therefore not only suitable for explaining the diverse set of relationships between team reflexivity on outcomes, but also provides valuable directions for viewing reflexivity as process that takes place during both transition and action phases of teamwork. We conclude with implications for managers, identify limitations, and propose an agenda for further research into this area. This article contributes an extended perspective relevant for further theory development and for effectively managing reflexivity in teams.