The relationship between core self-evaluations, views of god, and intrinsic/extrinsic religious motivation.

Core self-evaluations refer to a higher-order construct that subsumes four well-established traits in the personality literature: self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, (low) neuroticism, and (internal) locus of control. Studies that have examined the relationship between various measures of religiosity and individual components of core self-evaluations show no clear pattern of relationships. The absence of a clear pattern may be due to the failure of most previous studies in this area to use theory to guide research. Therefore, theories related to core self-evaluations, religious motivation, and views of God were used to develop and test four hypotheses. 220 adults completed measures of four religious attitudes (intrinsic religious motivation, extrinsic religious motivation, viewing God as loving, and viewing God as punitive), general religiosity, and core self-evaluations, separated by 6 weeks (with the order of measures counterbalanced). Multivariate multiple regression, controlling for general religiosity, showed that core self-evaluations were positively related to viewing God as loving, negatively related to viewing God as punitive, and negatively related to extrinsic religious motivation. The hypothesis that core self-evaluations would be positively related to intrinsic religious motivation was not supported.

Workaholism and work-life imbalance: does cultural origin influence the relationship?

In recent years, workaholism has become prevalent throughout organizations and has captured the attention of organizational leaders as well as the academic and scientific communities. Most research in this area has focused on the negative consequences of workaholism, specifically work-life imbalance. One area of research that has largely been ignored is the potential influence of demographic variables on the relationship between workaholism and work-life imbalance. Therefore, the current study focused on how cultural origin might influence the intensity of this relationship. Based on relative deprivation theory and previous empirical work, it was expected that cultural origin would moderate the relationship between workaholism and work-life imbalance. Specifically, it was predicted that Caucasian participants would score higher on levels of workaholism than Black participants, and that the relationship between workaholism and work-life imbalance would be stronger for Caucasians than for Blacks. The results revealed that high levels of workaholism were significantly correlated with high levels of work-life imbalance. However, results also indicated that cultural origin did not moderate the relationship between workaholism and work-life imbalance, and there was no significant mean difference between Caucasian and Black participants on our measure of workaholism. These findings are important in that it is essential for employers to be aware of workaholic tendencies so they can better handle the negative consequences that result for the organization, and to also help promote the well-being of their employees. En los últimos años la adicción al trabajo se ha vuelto muy popular en las organizaciones y ha capturado la atención tanto de líderes organizacionales, así como de las comunidades científicas y académicas. La mayoría de investigaciones en esta área se han focalizado en las consequencias negativas de la adicción al trabajo (workoholismo), específicamente en el desequilibrio entre trabajo-vida. Una área de investigación que ha sido ignorada por mucho tiempo es la influencia potencial de las variables demográficas sobre la relación entre adicción al trabajo y el desequilibrio trabajo-vida. Por este motivo es que el presente estudio se focalizó en como el origen cultural puede influenciar la intensidad de esta relación. Tomando como base la teoría de la deprivación relativa y estudios empíricos previos, se esperó que el origen cultural moderaría la relación entre adicción al trabajo y desequilibrio trabajo-vida. Específicamente se pudo predecir que los participantes caucásicos mostraron más elevados puntajes en los niveles de adicción al trabajo que los participantes negros, y que la relación entre adicción al trabajo y desequilibrio trabajo-vida era más intensa entre los caucásicos que entre los negros. Los resultados revelaron que elevados niveles de adicción al trabajo correlacionaron significativamente con altos niveles de desequilibrio trabajo-vida. Sin embargo los resultados también revelaron que el origen cultural no moderaba la relación entre adicción al trabajo y desequilibrio trabajo-vida, y que además no había una diferencia significativa de medias entre los participantes caucásicos y negros respecto de nuestras mediciones de adicción al trabajo. Estos resultados son importantes en la medida en que es esencial para los empleadores el ser conscientes respecto de las tendencias de adicción al trabajo, lo que les permitirá manejar con mayor efectividad las consequencias negativas para la empresa resultantes de estas tendencias, y por otro lado apoyar a sus empleados en la promoción de su bienestar. Au cours des dernières années, le travaillolisme (workaholism) a pris de l'ampleur dans les organisations et a capté l'attention à la fois des dirigeants d'organisations et des communautés académique et scientifique. La majorité de la recherche dans ce domaine fut orientée sur les conséquences négatives du travaillolisme et, plus spécifiquement, sur le conflit travail-vie. Un champ de recherche qui a été largement ignoré est l'influence potentielle des variables démographiques sur la relation entre le travaillolisme et le conflit travail-vie. La présente étude visait à comprendre comment l'origine culturelle peut influencer l'intensité de cette relation. Se basant sur la théorie de la privation relative et sur les travaux empiriques antérieurs, il était attendu que l'origine culturelle allait jouer un rôle modérateur dans la relation entre le travaillolisme et le conflit travail-vie. Plus spécifiquement, il était prédit que les participants caucasiens allaient obtenir des scores plus élevés de travaillolisme comparativement aux participants noirs, et que la relation entre le travaillolisme et le conflit travail-vie allait être plus forte pour les caucasiens que pour les noirs. Les résultats ont révélé que des niveaux élevés de travaillolisme étaient significativement corrélés avec des niveaux élevés de conflit travail-vie. Cependant, les résultats ont aussi indiqué que l'origine culturelle ne modère pas la relation entre le travaillolisme et le conflit travail-vie. De plus, il n'y avait pas de différence significative entre les participants caucasiens et les participants noirs sur notre mesure de travaillolisme. Ces résultats sont importants puisqu'il est essentiel pour les employeurs d'être à l'affût des tendances travaillolistes pour qu'ils puissent mieux en gérer les conséquences négatives pour l'organisation, ainsi que pour aider à promouvoir le bien-être de leurs employés. diferenciaban en algunos aspectos.

Euthanasia-related strain and coping strategies in animal shelter employees.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and evaluate coping strategies advocated by experienced animal shelter workers who directly engaged in euthanizing animals. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SAMPLE POPULATION: Animal shelters across the United States in which euthanasia was conducted (5 to 100 employees/shelter). PROCEDURES: With the assistance of experts associated with the Humane Society of the United States, the authors identified 88 animal shelters throughout the United States in which animal euthanasia was actively conducted and for which contact information regarding the shelter director was available. Staff at 62 animal shelters agreed to participate in the survey. Survey packets were mailed to the 62 shelter directors, who then distributed them to employees. The survey included questions regarding respondent age, level of education, and role and asked those directly involved in the euthanasia of animals to provide advice on strategies for new euthanasia technicians to deal with the related stress. Employees completed the survey and returned it by mail. Content analysis techniques were used to summarize survey responses. RESULTS: Coping strategies suggested by 242 euthanasia technicians were summarized into 26 distinct coping recommendations in 8 categories: competence or skills strategies, euthanasia behavioral strategies, cognitive or self-talk strategies, emotional regulation strategies, separation strategies, get-help strategies, seek long-term solution strategies, and withdrawal strategies. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Euthanizing animals is a major stressor for many animal shelter workers. Information regarding the coping strategies identified in this study may be useful for training new euthanasia technicians.

What shelters can do about euthanasia-related stress: an examination of recommendations from those on the front line.

Shelter employees with euthanasia responsibilities are an at-risk population for a variety of psychological and emotional ailments. This study surveyed 305 employees from 62 shelters throughout the United States to gather first-hand perspectives on what should be done to assist shelter workers in dealing with euthanasia-related stress. Researchers conducted a qualitative analysis of 359 improvement suggestions to identify broad common themes and sorted the suggestions into 26 thematic categories. The most common participant suggestion concerned management supportive-ness (13.17% of participants). Some other issues raised involved providing counseling, job rotation, assistance or more help, breaks and time off, support groups and meetings, better communication, skills-based training, stress and coping seminars, and employee appreciation and morale-boosting initiatives.

Impact of euthanasia rates, euthanasia practices, and human resource practices on employee turnover in animal shelters.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of euthanasia rates, euthanasia practices, and human resource practices on the turnover rate among employees with euthanasia responsibilities at animal shelters. DESIGN: Cross-sectional original study. SAMPLE POPULATION: 36 shelters across the United States that employed at least 5 full-time employees and performed euthanasia on site. PROCEDURES: By mail, 1 survey was sent to each shelter. Surveys were completed by a senior member of management and were returned by mail. Questions assessed characteristics (eg, euthanasia rates) and practices of the animal shelter, along with employee turnover rates. By use of correlation coefficients and stepwise regression analyses, key predictors of turnover rates among employees with euthanasia responsibilities were investigated. RESULTS: Employee turnover rates were positively related to euthanasia rate. Practices that were associated with decreased turnover rates included provision of a designated euthanasia room, exclusion of other live animals from vicinity during euthanasia, and removal of euthanized animals from a room prior to entry of another animal to be euthanized. Making decisions regarding euthanasia of animals on the basis of factors other than behavior and health reasons was related to increased personnel turnover. With regard to human resources practices, shelters that used a systematic personnel selection procedure (eg, standardized testing) had comparatively lower employee turnover. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Data obtained may suggest several specific avenues that can be pursued to mitigate turnover among employees with euthanasia responsibilities at animal shelters and animal control or veterinary medical organizations.

Are the characteristics of narrative comments related to improvement in multirater feedback ratings over time?

Researchers have paid almost no attention to the narrative comments that typically accompany multirater feedback reports despite the fact that both anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest that feedback recipients devote considerable attention to such comments. The authors examined improvement in upward feedback ratings over a 1-year period for 176 managers as a function of (a) the number of narrative comments each manager received, (b) whether those comments were favorable (vs. unfavorable), and (c) whether the comments were behavior/task focused (vs. trait focused). The authors found that managers who received a small number of unfavorable, behavior/task-focused comments improved more than did other managers, whereas managers who received a large number of unfavorable, behavior/task-focused comments declined more than did other managers.