Europe’s Journal of Psychology (PsychOpen)
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A Review and Critique of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Etiologies
No full textThe present review and critique of extant etiological theories centers on a single finding: Obsessive-compulsive personality is highly heritable (0.78) and not significantly influenced by “common, shared-in-families environmental factors” (Torgersen et al., 2000, p. 424). This finding, though twelve years old, has remained dissociated from existing etiological accounts. Psychoanalytic theories anachronistically maintain that obsessive personality is familially forged. Biological theories, few, unelaborated and weakened by postulating proximate instead of ultimate explanations, fail to seriously reckon with Torgersen’s findings. Truly integrating heritability estimates into a functional etiological account of obsessive character, it is argued in the discussion section, will come from an evolutionary model that understands obsessive personality to be an evolved strategy rather than a dysfunctional disorder
The Humor Styles Questionnaire in Italy: Psychometric Properties and Relationships With Psychological Well-Being
No full textThis study investigated the psychometric properties of the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) and the relation between humor and psychological well-being within the context of Italy. A total of 293 (178 females, 115 males) Italian high school and undergraduate university students – whose ages ranged from 14 to 25 years – completed the Italian versions of the HSQ and the Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being scales (RPWB). The HSQ scale reliabilities were generally acceptable, and intercorrelations among the scales were rather low; the confirmatory factor analysis supported the four-factor structure. Males reported significantly more use of Aggressive humor than did females; no differences were found between adolescents and young adults in the use of humor styles. Affiliative and Self-enhancing humor styles were positively associated with the six dimensions of the RPWB, whereas Self-defeating humor was negatively correlated with the RPWB scales. SEM analysis showed a significant and positive relationship between humor as measured by the HSQ and psychological well-being as assessed by the RPWB. Overall, the findings supported the theoretical structure and usefulness of the HSQ in an Italian context and the differential role of humor components in the various dimensions of psychological well-being
Organizational Emotional Intelligence and Top Selling
No full textThe purpose of this study is to explore emotional intelligence in association with effective sales performance. The participants involved in this study were sellers in a home furniture company and completed a new tool measuring emotional intelligence at the beginning of their employment with the company. After four months, their volume of sales was calculated and compared with other results. Briefly, evidence from this study indicates that emotional intelligence skills are relevant in association with job performance, particularly relationship management and self-management. The final results support the main hypothesis. Subsequent implications for sales organizations and researchers are discussed
Self-Esteem, Coping Efforts and Marital Adjustment
No full textThe main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between self-esteem, specific coping strategies and marital adjustment. The sample consists of 216 subjects from 108 couples who completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Ways of Coping Checklist. The results confirm the presence of a relationship between self-esteem, specific coping strategies and marital adjustment in men and women. High self-esteem and marital adjustment are associated with the use of problem solving strategies and less avoidance as a way of coping. Moreover, cross analyses reveal that one’s feelings of self-worth are associated with his/her spouse's marital adjustment. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed
The Quality of the Evidence: Qualitative Research in Trauma Psychology
No full textThe efficacy of evidence-based practices with underprivileged groups and non-Western cultures has been a subject of controversy in the trauma psychology and disaster mental health literature. There has been a debate as to whether evidence based assessments and interventions work equally well for diverse populations. Resolving this controversy has been difficult in part because of the methodological challenges involved in the study of cultural mediation of psychological phenomena. The authors argue that adding qualitative research to the evidence base supporting trauma treatments, as a matter of standard practice, can fill this need. Qualitative research can provide a rigorous research basis for the identification of cultural factors to be accounted for in quantitative outcome studies, as well as a rigorous means of understanding the real-world meaning of quantitative outcome findings. This would address Evidence-based practices (EBP) advocates’ concerns about the unscientific nature of the multicultural literature’s critique, and multiculturalism advocate’s concerns about the lack of contextualism in EBP outcome studies of trauma treatments
Rumination, Suicidal Ideation, and the Mediating Effect of Self-Defeating Humor
No full textResearch has demonstrated that a self-defeating humor style is related to indicators of psychopathology and interpersonal dysfunction, including depression, anxiety, loneliness, thwarted belongingness, and perceived burdensomeness. The current study continued this investigation by examining how self-defeating humor is related to suicidal ideation and a ruminative response style. Analyses indicated that a self-defeating humor style was positively associated to rumination, brooding, reflection, and suicidal ideation. Results of bootstrapping analyses indicated that self-defeating humor mediated the relationship between rumination and suicidal ideation. This same effect was seen for both brooding and reflection individually. Results indicate that self-defeating humor may serve as an interpersonal means of ruminating as this humor style involves consistent focus on perceived flaws and weaknesses. The assessment of this humor style may provide additional information about the maintenance of suicidal thinking
“Does Community Make Any Sense?” A Semantic Analysis of the Term “Community” Among Albanian Immigrants and Italian Majority Residents
No full textBridging Community Psychology and the Theory of Social Representations, the study was aimed at exploring how the concept of community and sense of belonging to various communities vary across diverse ethno-cultural groups (namely, immigrant and native-born groups) and how the meanings and the experience of community affect or are affected by the relationships that each group establishes with the other group. Participants were 30 native-born Italians and 30 immigrants from Albania living in an area located in the south-east of Italy. They participated in an open-ended semi-structured interview, which was analysed using T-Lab software. Results indicated that the concept of community and sense of belonging to multiple communities do vary across diverse ethno-cultural groups and that each group is cross-cut by multiple axes of differentiation, one of which is linked to the experience of inter-cultural relations. Furthermore, the findings indicated that the functions served by the diverse communities affect the representations shared by the distinct sub-groups and that the simultaneous orientation of individuals toward multiple communities stimulate the development of a compound and even conflicting sense of attachment towards them. Implications for acculturation processes are discussed
Investigating the Role of Humor in Psychological Health and Well-Being
No full textNo abstract available
Individual Differences in Work-Related Well-Being: The Role of Attachment Style
No full textIntegrating theories of adult attachment and well-being at the workplace, the present study tested the role of attachment style in predicting work-related well-being in terms of job satisfaction and job involvement, over and above dispositional trait measures (emotional traits and work-related traits). A sample of workers took part in a correlational study that explored the relationships among a) adult attachment, b) emotional traits, c) work-related traits, and d) work-related well-being indices. The results showed that both secure and anxious attachment style explained workers’ job involvement, whereas the secure and avoidant attachment styles explained workers’ job satisfaction. The current findings thus confirm and expand the literature's emphasis on studying the variables and processes that underlie people's mental health in the work setting, and have implications for assessing and promoting well-being in the workplace
The Relationship Between Physical Health and Meaning in Life Among Parents of Special Needs Children
No full textWhereas former research has studied the psychological health of parents raising a special needs child (a child with a disability or chronic disease), the present study focused on their perceived physical health in relation to meaning in life. Specifically, it was investigated whether physical health is positively related to the meaning in life dimensions self-actualization, self-acceptance and self-transcendence. Visitors of Dutch internet forums (N = 115) completed the Existential Fulfillment Scale and an inventory of subjective health, the VOEG-21. Parents of special needs children were found to suffer more health problems than the average population. In addition, self-actualization and self-acceptance were positively related to their perceived physical health. For self-transcendence, however, a negative relationship was established. The perceived poor health of these parents raising a special needs child implies a need for interventions for this group. The Existential Fulfillment Scale appears to be a useful instrument for identifying those parents in need of such interventions. Self-actualization and self-acceptance seem to be relevant subjects for therapeutic interventions and further research