The contribution of supervisor behaviour to employee psychological well-being

Many employees affirm that supervisors affect employee well-being, and research has demonstrated associations between supervisor behaviour and employee psychological well-being. However, what hasn't been clear is the extent to which the association with supervisor behaviour compares with that of other variables known to affect well-being. This exploratory study addresses that issue. Our hypothesis was that supervisor behaviour can contribute to the prediction of psychiatric disturbance beyond the contribution of other influential variables. We created a new, questionnaire-based instrument to measure supervisor behaviour. We tested our hypothesis using stepwise regression with a convenience sample of 167 men and women working in a variety of organizations, occupations, and industries in the USA. Results supported our hypothesis: supervisor behaviour made a statistically significant contribution to the prediction of psychiatric disturbance beyond a step-one variate comprised of age, health practices, support from other people at work, support from home, stressful life events, and stressful work events. This provides additional evidence that supervisor behaviour can affect employee well-being and suggests that those seeking to create healthier workplaces should not neglect supervision. We believe that there is now ample justification for those concerned with psychosocial working conditions to consider supervisor behaviour as a potentially influential variable.

Furthermore, we believe that we have presented a new instrument for assessing supervisor behaviour that has the potential to be of value in future studies.     

Treatment for Juveniles Who Sexually Offend in a Southwestern State

A 25-item questionnaire was mailed to sex offender treatment providers from counties with 60 or more reported juvenile sex offenders in a Southwestern state to determine the most effective treatment for juvenile sex offenders. Results indicated that cognitive behavioral therapy was the most successful reported approach to treatment with an average success rate of 87%. The most commonly used approach was cognitive behavioral therapy with relapse prevention. The most common sexual offense was indecency with a child involving sexual contact, contrary to studies that found that in the Probation Commission data, aggravated sexual offense was the most common. These results have ramifications for state policies on treatment for juvenile sex offenders.     

Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—2012

This annual review of the 2012 career development/vocational psychology literature includes 191 empirical (69%) and conceptual (31%) articles from career, counseling, development, and international journals. The review is divided into 4 major areas: professional issues, work and well‐being, life‐span perspectives, and career theory and concepts. Subsumed within these clusters are foci on the status of career/vocational guidance around the globe, the career development experiences of immigrants, and the effects of economic stress. The authors offer three summarizing impressions. First, the 2012 collection is definitively global; this is a credit to the individual and institutional dimensions of the counseling profession. Second, the research articles represent a wide array of methodological approaches, and researchers have made wise research design choices for their areas of inquiry. Third, there is a true professional responsiveness to the needs of the world. It is suggested that the 2012 literature reflects Parsons's early vision of social justice and multiculturalism.     

Face attack and patients’ response strategies in a Kenyan hospital1

Social power can be exercised by face attack where power differentials are sufficiently great and significant retaliation or sanctions are unlikely. Such exercise of social power is common in military contexts. It is not commonly observed in hospital settings yet some nurses in Kenya's public hospitals routinely attack the face of their patients. Using data from interactions observed in a provincial hospital, it is illustrated how nurses initiate conflict and how patients counter the face‐attacking moves. The investigation shows that nurses use a high frequency of utterances that violate the dignity of patients while the latter prefer conflict avoidance strategies. Nurses generally make no attempt to mitigate the impact of most of their face‐threatening utterances while patients demonstrate awareness of the need to preserve mutual face and reclaim dignity. Three strategies used by patients to reclaim dignity – namely silence, retaliatory face damage and face repair – are illustrated. Nguvu za kijamii zinaweza kutekelezwa kwa kushambulia uso mahali kadri za nguvu ni mazito mno na ulipizaji kisasi wala vikwazo haviruhusiwi. Utekelezaji huu wa nguvu hudhihirika sana katika mazingira ya kijeshi. Hauonekani sana katika hospitali. Ingawaje, baadhi ya manesi katika hospitali za umma nchini Kenya mara kwa mara hushambulia uso ya wagonjwa wao. Huku tukitumia data ya miingiliano iliyotazamwa katika hospitali moja ya mkoa, twaonyesha jinsi manesi hubuni migogoro na vile wagonjwa hukabiliana nayo. Uchunguzi huu unaonyesha kuwa manesi hukiuka hadhi ya ubinafsi ya wagonjwa pakubwa ilhali wagonjwa huchagua mikakati ya kuepuana na migogoro. Kwa ujumla, manesi hawaonyeshi nia ya kupunguza athari za shambulio la uso katika matamshi yao ilhali wagonjwa huonyesha ufahamu wa kuhifadhi heshima na kudai tena hadhi. Mikakati mitatu ya wagonjwa ya kudai tena hadhi ikiwemo kimya, ulipizaji kisasi na urekebishaji uso inaelezwa humu.     

Effects of Duration on Perceptions of Teacher Sexual Misconduct

This study explored how respondent gender, gender dyad (male teacher–female student versus female teacher–male student) and duration/frequency (weekly sexual contact over 4 months versus a single incident) affected perceptions of teacher–adolescent student sexual involvement. Respondents were 224 undergraduates (104 men, 120 women) recruited from a psychology research pool. Most (87%) were 18–21 years old, and 59% were Caucasian. Each respondent read one of four scenarios (varied by gender dyad and duration/frequency) depicting a teacher–adolescent student sexual interaction and then completed a series of questions about his or her perceptions. Results indicated that men perceived these experiences less negatively than did women, and the female teacher–male student dyad was viewed less negatively than the male teacher–female student dyad. Relatively few significant interactions emerged, and the only main effect for duration/frequency was for commitment. Results are discussed in terms of the need for more research and education.