Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence and Their Relationships with Social Coping Among Gifted Adolescents in Hong Kong

Two hundred and fifty-nine gifted adolescents were assessed on their emotional intelligence and social coping strategies using the Emotional Intelligence Scale (N. S. Schutte et al., Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 167–177, 1998) and the Social Coping Questionnaire (M. A. Swiatek, Gifted Child Quaterly, 39, 154–161, 1995). An item factor analysis yielded four dimensions of emotional intelligence, leading to the construction of 4 empirical scales of emotional intelligence. Students scored most highly on Social Skills and Self-Management of Emotions, followed by Empathy, and Utilization of Emotions. In coping with their being gifted, students endorsed to different degrees their use of 6 coping strategies, which were Valuing Peer Acceptance, Involvement in Activities, Attempting Avoidance, Denying Giftedness, Prizing Conformity, and Discounting Popularity. Social Skills emerged as the most important component of emotional intelligence predicting the use of strategies of Valuing Peer Acceptance and Involvement in Activities. Implications of the findings for enhancing emotional intelligence of adolescents in coping with problems arising from their being gifted and the need for further studies using longitudinal data are discussed.     

情感教育在大学生思想政治教育中的价值

当代大学生是一个情感丰富、求知欲强、自我意识不断增强但同时情绪化倾向、逆反心理又十分明显的特殊群体,他们在接受思想政治教育时的情感心理对高校思想政治教育工作实效有着显著的影响。由于当前高校普遍只重视对大学生进行思想理论的教育,而忽视从情感上加强与学生的沟通与交流,从而导致高校思想政治教育工作效果不够理想。因此,高校必须充分认识情感教育的巨大作用,充分运用情感教育手段,充分认识大学生的心理特点和情感需求,积极开展情感教育活动,以此来增强高校思想政治教育工作的针对性与实效性、吸引力与感染力,全面推进大学生素质教育,促进大学生全面健康发展。     

Work redesign in development perspective: An empirical study of multitasking among civil servants in Malawi

Civil servants in many developing countries are increasingly faced with multitask situations at work to improve the efficiency of public sectors. Although multitasking might boost employee productivity, its potentially negative impact on other areas of employees’ lives has been ignored. Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, our research aims to investigate whether, how, and when multitasking at work decreases the subjective well-being of employees in the public sector. Using a two-wave survey of 164 civil servants in Malawi, our findings showed that multitasking at work was positively related to employees’ negative affect and negatively related to their satisfaction with life and positive affect through emotional exhaustion. Moreover, the study found that polychronicity, which refers to one's preference to handle more than one task at the same time, moderated the relationship between multitasking and emotional exhaustion, such that the association described above was weaker when an employee's polychronicity was higher. Finally, the indirect impact of multitasking on positive affect through emotional exhaustion was also moderated by polychronicity. These findings provide some theoretical and managerial implications for public sector in developing countries on how to focus on employee well-being while using multitasking work design.     

More than meets the eye: the role of psychopathic traits in attention to distress

ABSTRACT

Although psychopathic traits have long been associated with predation and violence, it is unclear how individuals high in psychopathic traits choose victims. Victim selection and violence perpetration may be facilitated by attention to, or unawareness of, distressful facial expressions. Using a novel eye-tracking paradigm, the present study aimed to identify whether psychopathic traits are associated with unconscious attentional biases to expressions of distress. A sample of 138 undergraduates (23 males, 115 females, M_age?=?20.4) viewed 80 paired images portraying a neutral, and authentic expression of either fear, pain, embarrassment, startle, or sadness. Psychopathic traits did not predict initial orientation to distressing over neutral expressions. However, callous-affective traits negatively predicted attentional maintenance to expressions of embarrassment and pain, whereas criminal tendencies and erratic lifestyle positively predicted attentional maintenance to embarrassment and pain, respectively. Findings offer insight into perceptual processing of others’ distress, with implications for violence and victim selection.     

A Gender Perspective on Teachers as Crisis Managers

Stressful conditions affect communities at different levels and may involve occupational groups not normally associated with issues of crisis and security. Teachers in the compulsory school system are members of such a group. The purpose of this study is to examine teachers’ view of their own role as crisis management actors in a female-dominated occupation. A Grounded Theory approach applying a gender perspective was used as an analytical tool for data processing. In total, 16 informants from four different schools in two different municipalities in Sweden were interviewed. The analysis of these interviews shows that teachers’ perceptions of risk, crisis, and security are influenced and characterized by social and emotional regulation aimed at (a) reducing vulnerability, (b) increasing the sense of security, and (c) regaining or restoring a sense of order and control. These strategies have been discussed from a gender perspective as teachers do not regard themselves as legitimate crisis management actors.     

Turnover Intentions of Volunteer Resource Managers: The Roles of Work Motivations,Person–Organization Fit,and Emotional Labor

Volunteer management careers and the influence of workplace factors on volunteer manager turnover intentions have received relatively little attention in the empirical research literature. This study uses original survey data collected from over 400 volunteer managers to examine relationships between turnover intention and work motivation factors, person–organization fit (P-O fit), and emotional labor. Work motivation factors includes perceptions of advancement opportunities, task significance, autonomy, and pay satisfaction. P-O fit reflects the degree of congruence between an individual’s values and goals, and the characteristics of their workplace. Emotional labor reflects the degree to which employees are engaged in the management of emotions to adhere to the emotional expectations of their jobs. Results emphasize a lack of advancement opportunities as the primary driver of turnover, and P-O fit as a main factor for retention. In addition, the ability to regulate emotions was found to result in reduced quit intentions.     

Employee Readiness for Change in Public Higher Education Institutions: Examining the Joint Effect of Leadership Behavior and Emotional Intelligence

This study aimed to examine the effects of leadership behavior and emotional intelligence (EI) on readiness for change and to investigate the moderating effects of organizational commitment on the relationship among leadership behavior, EI, and readiness to change. Data was collected using surveys and Partial least squares structural equations modeling (PLS SEM) was employed. The findings of the study indicated that leadership behavior and EI have significant effects on employees’ readiness for change. More importantly, it confirmed the moderating effect of organizational commitment. This study provides an empirical explanation of the joint effect of some crucial change management determinants.     

Are We Being Served? Emotional Labour in Local Government in Victoria,Australia

This paper explores how front‐line street‐level bureaucrats (SLBs) cope with the expectations of citizens, clients, or ‘customers’ in daily work and how SLBs may be impacted by emotional labour. The study analyses data from 41 interviews with SLBs in local councils in Victoria, Australia. Although exploratory, it builds awareness and understanding of the emotional labour associated with public service. The situations that SLBs engage with on a daily basis are many and varied and take the form of increased expectations and intense encounters. Respondents experienced abuse, threats, violence, but also ‘sparkle moments’. Resources that helped SLBs cope are diverse and located both within and outside organisations. Implications are discussed and issues that merit additional investigation are raised concerning how SLBs can be supported to better meet the demands of the public. The research is of value to public managers and SLBs operating in a changing society with increased ‘customer’ expectations.     

The Relationship between the Leadership Effectiveness and Emotional Competence of Managers in the Public Sector

This article reports on the perceived relationship between leadership effectiveness and the emotional competencies of managers in the public sector, and the impact of this relationship on service delivery. In the light of continual protests over government’s poor service delivery to the public, doubts are raised about the leadership effectiveness of public officials. Research has identified the leadership effectiveness of managers in the public service as crucial for quality service delivery. Industrial psychologists have also identified leadership effectiveness and emotional competencies as important ingredients for success in organizations. This is due to the facts that effectiveness and efficiency can be attained only if an appropriate leadership style and manager’s emotional competencies or abilities are in place. Findings from the research indicate that currently managers in the public sector possess insufficient emotional competencies to subdue emotional outbursts and achieve effective leadership. Based on the findings and the literature, the conclusion is that it is imperative for managers of public entities to acquire effective leadership skills and become emotionally competent. Relevant training and interventions, and a comprehensive management recruitment process, should be put in place.     

Attachment, Emotional Regulation, and the Function of Marital Violence: Differences Between Secure, Preoccupied, and Dismissing Violent and Nonviolent Husbands

The purpose of this study was to investigate behavioral differences among nonviolent, unhappily married husbands and violent husbands with different attachment classifications on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; Main and Goldwyn, 1994). Twenty-three Domestically Violent (DV) husbands and 13 maritally distressed but non-violent (DNV) husbands were interviewed using the AAI. Violent husbands (74%) were more likely than the distressed/nonviolent husbands (38%) to be classified into one of the insecure categories on the AAI. As predicted, during laboratory arguments with their wives, dismissing husbands were the most controlling and distancing, and preoccupied husbands the least distancing, during marital interactions. Secure husbands were significantly more defensive than the two insecure types. Sequential analyses of reports of violent arguments at home revealed different patterns among different types of batterers. For the preoccupied batterers only, wife withdrawal was a significant predictor of husband violence. For the dismissing batterer only, wife defensiveness was a significant precursor to husband violence. It is theorized that preoccupied batterers' violence and emotional abuse is related to expressive violence in response to abandonment fears; whereas dismissing batterers use instrumental violence to assert their authority and to control their wives. The overlap between this and other typologies of violent men is explored.Deceased