Psychological Entitlement and Work-related Outcomes during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The Role of Telecommuting as a Moderator

Telecommuting is a necessary change imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, little is known about its interactions with the employees’ personal traits and their impact on work-related outcomes. With this study, we aimed to test the moderating role of telecommuting on the relationship between psychological entitlement and three work outcomes (job satisfaction, counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship behavior). Also, job satisfaction was included as a mediator between psychological entitlement and counterproductive work behavior, respectively organizational citizenship behavior. Our sample consisted of 253 employees who were either telecommuting or working from their workplace. The moderated mediation analyses showed significant differences between the two groups. The outcomes of telecommuting and their managerial implications are discussed.

The role of social comparison and type of feedback on self-criticism in people with high levels of depressive symptoms

This research explores the relation between social comparison and self-criticism on a group of participants with elevated rates of depressive symptoms. In addition, the study investigated whether the type of feedback could moderate the relation between social comparison and self-criticism. The sample included 36 psychology students in the first year (N = 28 women, M age = 24.6, SD = 4.66) with high depressive symptoms. Results show that higher rates of negative social comparison are correlated with higher levels of self-criticism. Participants that received negative feedback reported an increase level of self-criticism compared to those from positive feedback condition. The type of feedback moderated the relation between social comparison and self-criticism. Our findings are discussed from the perspective of their practical implications for young adults experiencing high levels of depressive symptoms.

Effectiveness of immediate vs. delayed recall in detecting invalid performance in coached and uncoached simulators: Results of two experimental studies

Objective: Two experimental studies were conducted to compare the ability of immediate and delayed recall indicators to discriminate between performances of simulators and full-effort clinical and nonclinical participants. Methods: Three groups of simulators (uncoached, symptom-coached, and testcoached), one group of community controls, and one group of cognitively impaired patients were assessed with four experimental memory tests, in which the immediate and delayed recall tasks were separated by three other tasks. Results: Across both studies, delayed recall demonstrated higher accuracy than immediate recall in classifying simulated performances as invalid, as compared to performances of bona fide clinical participants. ROC curve results showed sensitivities below 50% for both indicators at specificities of ≥ 90%. Computing performance curves across recall trials revealed descending trends for all three simulator groups indicating a suppressed learning effect as a marker of noncredible performances. Among types of coaching, test-coaching proved to decrease differences between simulators and patients. Discussion: The effectiveness of such indicators in clinical evaluations and their vulnerability to information about test-taking strategies are discussed.

Vulnerability to COVID-19, prejudice, and support for economic restrictions towards countries with high level of contamination

Recent research has extensively investigated how the current COVID-19 pandemic can affect intergroup relations. Much less is known about the impact of COVID-19 on economic and trade decisions. Could the intergroup effects of this pandemic shape support for international economic policies? The aim of this study was to examine the support for restrictive economic policies towards countries with very high levels of COVID-19 contamination (China and Italy) during the first lockdown period (March - April 2020). The survey was conducted in Romania (N = 669) and included measures of COVID-19 vulnerability, prejudice, and support for economic restrictive policy (e.g., to reduce international trade; to set higher taxes). Results showed that higher support for restrictive policies toward China was associated with greater perceived vulnerability to COVID-19 and this link was partially mediated by prejudice toward China. In contrast, support for economic restrictive policies toward Italy was greater when perceived vulnerability to COVID-19 was high, but this relationship between variables was not explained by negative attitudes towards Italy. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Psychometric properties of the HEXACO-PI-R self-evaluation form in Slovak translation

The study aimed to verify the psychometric properties of the 100-item HEXACO-PI-R questionnaire. The sample consisted of 1624 adults aged from 16 to 79 years (M=34.5, SD=13.35) who filled the paper-pen self-report form of the HEXACO-PI-R. The average internal consistency of the six factors was α=.78 (from .72 for Openness to .81 for Honesty-Humility) and α=.60 for facets. The Altruism scale in the Slovak translation did not reach a satisfactory internal consistency (α=.29). Mean values in the Slovak-speaking sample were 3.29, and standard deviations .53 for factor level and .74 at the facet level. Sex differences showed the higher Emotionality (d=.99) and Honesty-Humility (d= .38) in women. Age differences in Honesty-Humility showed a medium effect size. Factors did not inter-correlate, or they correlated weakly, except for r=.34 in the relationship between Agreeableness and Honesty-Humility. The factors were well distinguished from one another. The exploratory factor analysis with Promax rotation confirmed the six-factor model, which explained in total 44% of data variance, with an average loading of .60. Individual one-factor models met most of the goodness of fit criteria in confirmatory factor analysis, but the six-factor model did not meet them. The controversy associated with assessing the internal structure of multidimensional personality inventories by confirmatory factor analysis is discussed. According to the currently published research studies, the research findings supported the reliability and internal validity of HEXACO-PI-R in Slovak translation.

Predicting Healthy Eating: Conscientiousness versus the Health Belief Model

The present paper aimed to investigate the incremental validity of conscientiousness over the Health Belief Model (i.e., HBM) components in predicting students' eating habits. Using a non-experimental, longitudinal design, data from 200 Romanian students (181 females; Mage = 20.75, SDage = 3.89) were initially collected (T1). After one month (T2), the second wave of data was received from 150 students. Hierarchical regression results with eating habits from T2 as a criterion showed that self-efficacy for healthy eating was the only significant predictor for students' eating habits (β = .45, t(145) = 5.41, p < .01). Self-efficacy alone explained 27% of the variance in eating habits. Contrary to expectations, the perceived benefits of healthy eating did not correlate with the participants' eating habits. Conscientiousness did not bring additional predictive value, besides the HBM components (β = .03 , t(145) = .38, p = .70 ). These results reinforce the value of the HBM as a frame of reference for explaining eating habits in young people. From a practical standpoint, the findings suggest the need to strengthen self-efficacy in youth, which, in turn, can help them develop healthier eating habits. Limitations and other implications were further discussed.

Just like me: Effects of value congruence on work-family enrichment

Work-family enrichment (WFE), also known as positive spillover between work and family, often improves employees’ well-being, physical health, and performance. Our study explores a process through which employees experience higher WFE when maintaining congruent values with the organization and supervisor based on segmentation-integration boundary management strategies. Using a sample of 287 employees from diverse industries and employment settings across the U.S., the results indicated that value congruence between subordinates and their organization/supervisor both positively predicted work-to-family enrichment. Family-supportive supervisor behaviors significantly mediated the relationship. Supervisor/subordinate gender matching did not significantly moderate the value congruence-FSSB relationship. In studying these effects with PROCESS mediation analysis, we merge and extend three major bodies of literature on spillover theory, person-environment fit theory, and boundary theory to explicate the process through which WFE develops when having congruent segmentation styles at work.

Is Discrimination against disabled job candidates increased by previously acquired non-discriminatory moral credentials?

Previous studies showed that people are more willing to express prejudiced attitudes towards others when their past behavior has established their credentials as non-prejudiced persons. We examined this moral licensing effect in organizational contexts on a sample of 318 elementary school teachers. First, participants were given the opportunity to disagree with a set of discriminatory sentences. Next, all participants were required to express their attitudes towards hiring a disabled person for a specific job within the educational working environment in a hypothetical scenario. We also investigated the associations of participants' decisions with other personal characteristics such as gender, age, and previous contact with persons with disabilities. We found that participants in the moral licensing condition expressed a stronger endorsement of the discriminatory decisional alternative. Results are discussed concerning the educational context regarding the inclusion of people with physical or mental disabilities within the academic working environment.

Perceived Organizational Injustice and Corrupt Tendencies in Public Sector Employees: Mediating Role of Life Satisfaction

Studies have shown that corruption may adversely affect the functionality of the law and institutions; and may frustrate socio-economic development. Most developing countries focus the fight against corruption on the deterrence perspective, which emphasizes the promptness and severity of punishment as a way of preventing and discouraging corrupt behaviors. Punishment may not adequately deter corruption, especially when employees are less satisfied with life or feel unjustly treated and may, therefore, engage in corruption as a justice-restoring act. This study, therefore, adopted a justice-focused approach to investigate the extent to which perception of organizational injustice and life satisfaction correlated with corrupt tendencies in public sector employees. The participants were 285 public sector employees (188 males; 97 females), whose ages averaged 39.09 years (SD = 8.40) with a range of 20 to 58 years. They were selected across large sections of two public sector organizations in Nigeria. Results of the 3-step hierarchical regression showed that perception of organizational injustice was significantly related with increased level of corrupt tendencies. As the participants’ level of life satisfaction increased, their tendencies of engaging in corruption reduced. Results of the mediation tests showed that, despite an increased perception of organizational injustice, life satisfaction was significantly related with low tendencies of engaging in corruption among employees. In order to reduce corrupt tendencies, organizations should efficiently handle perceived wrongdoing among employees and institute programmes that promote employees’ happiness and well-being.

Adult psychological outcomes of former left behind children in Romania

In the context of adult labor migration in Europe, Romania is one of the leading work force sending countries, with 93 648 left behind children according to the ANPDCA (2017). The purpose of this empirical study is to investigate the perceived difficulties and outcomes of young adults with a left behind background. The sample size was 193 adults (83% F, mean age 24.93 years). The subjects were tested online with psychological measures assessing anxiety, depression, clarity of Self-Concept, generalized self-efficacy and school difficulties. The study found that contextual factors such as one or both parents left to work abroad, the duration of the separation, the age of separation may partly explain the inter-individual variations in the perceived psychological consequences related to labor migrant parents. The practical importance for educational actors of the results of this study resides in offering information on how to approach students whose parents left the country. Also the findings can inspire the optimization of the support policies for these children.