Adam J. Vanhove

STRESS AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING IN MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS

This chapter examines the role of stress and emotional well-being as critical antecedents of important outcomes in the military context. In it, we provide a framework for understanding the sources of stress among military personnel. Using this model, we review the risk factors associated with combat and deployment cycles in addition to protective factors, such as personality characteristics and social support, which mitigate the effects of stress on emotional well-being and performance. Finally, we evaluate efforts by military organizations to enhance the emotional well-being of service members through training programs designed to build resiliency.

Development and Validation of the Five-by-Five Resilience Scale:

This article introduces a new measure of resilience and five related protective factors. The Five-by-Five Resilience Scale (5×5RS) is developed on the basis of theoretical and empirical considerations. Two samples (N = 475 and N = 613) are used to assess the factor structure, reliability, convergent validity, and criterion-related validity of the 5×5RS. Confirmatory factor analysis supports a bifactor model. The 5×5RS demonstrates adequate internal consistency as evidenced by Cronbach’s alpha and empirical reliability estimates. The 5×5RS correlates positively with the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), a commonly used measure of resilience. The 5×5RS exhibits similar criterion-related validity to the CD-RISC as evidenced by positive correlations with satisfaction with life, meaning in life, and secure attachment style as well as negative correlations with rumination and anxious or avoidant attachment styles. 5×5RS scores are positively correlated with healthy behaviors such as exercise and negatively correlated with sleep difficulty and symptomology of anxiety and depression. The 5×5RS incrementally explains variance in some criteria above and beyond the CD-RISC. Item responses are modeled using the graded response model. Information estimates demonstrate the ability of the 5×5RS to assess individuals within at least one standard deviation of the mean on relevant latent traits.

Leading across cultures in the human age: an empirical investigation of intercultural competency among global leaders

This article reports on a major, large-scale two-year empirical study to investigate intercultural competencies among global leaders and the relationship of these competencies to criteria of high performance global leadership. The study was designed to contribute to the emerging field of global leadership research by identifying and measuring proximal attributes and leadership criteria as suggested by Zaccaro’s trait-based leadership model (American Psychologist 62: 6-16, 2007). Only global leaders were included in the study – CEO’s, General Managers, Function Heads, or those with Profit and Loss responsibility for their businesses. These 1867 leaders of 13 nationalities were engaged in leading people across cultures – either on international assignment or working from their home base. A set of six intercultural competencies and three criteria of global leadership success were identified and compared across nationalities. The competencies were measured and used to predict success over time. Applications are discussed in terms of global leadership assessment and development.

The Abbreviated Character Strengths Test (ACST): A Preliminary Assessment of Test Validity

ABSTRACT The 24-item Abbreviated Character Strengths Test (ACST) was developed to efficiently measure character strengths (Peterson, Park, & Castro, 2011). However, its validity for this purpose has not yet been sufficiently established. Using confirmatory factor analysis to test a series of structural models, only a modified bifactor model showed reasonably acceptable fit. Further analyses of this model failed to demonstrate measurement invariance between male and female respondents. Relationships between ACST dimension and Big Five personality trait scores were generally weak-to-moderate, and support for hypotheses regarding each ACST virtues expected correspondence with specific Big Five dimensions was mixed. Finally, scores on ACST dimensions accounted for a combined 12% of the variance in satisfaction with life scores, after controlling for socially desirability. Although an abbreviated measure of character strengths represents a practical need, considerable improvements to the ACST are needed for it to adequately meet this purpose.

Leading by Serving: Redefining the Roles of Leaders and Followers in Today’s Workplace

The competencies the scholarly literature has ascribed to effective leaders and effective followers are surprisingly similar. Due to economic and workplace trends, today’s followers are increasingly being tasked with carrying out work responsibilities traditionally assigned to leaders. Consequently, leaders are increasingly being tasked with a higher-order, superordinate responsibilities. Thus, it is important that theory and research catch up with practice in recognizing this shift. We present servant leadership as a starting point for understanding the superordinate leadership role. We integrate existing literature to present a parsimonious model of key servant leadership competencies and compare these to existing models of followership and leadership. Finally, we discuss work characteristics in which the superordinate leadership role, and consequently servant leadership competencies, will likely present the greatest utility.

Rater agreement, accuracy, and experienced cognitive load: Comparison of distributional and traditional assessment approaches to rating performance

ABSTRACT Error in performance ratings is typically believed to be due to the cognitive complexity of the rating task. Distributional assessment (DA) is proposed to improve rater accuracy by reducing cognitive load. In two laboratory studies, raters reported perceptions of cognitive effort and difficulty while assessing rating targets using DA or the traditional assessment approach. Across both studies, DA raters showed greater interrater agreement, and Study 2 findings provide some support for DA being associated with greater true score rating accuracy. However, DA raters also reported experiencing greater cognitive load during the rating task, and cognitive load did not mediate the relationship between rating format and rater accuracy. These findings have important implications regarding our understanding of cognitive load in the rating process.

Team Cohesion and Individual Well-Being: A Conceptual Analysis and Relational Framework

Abstract The relationship between team cohesion and individual well-being is clear. Being part of a highly cohesive team is likely to contribute to the well-being of individual team members. A multidirectional relationship is likely as individual well-being is also likely to contribute to team cohesion. This chapter examines such critical relationships in the context of team performance. To do so, we draw on the dominant literatures related to these concepts, focusing on two specific types of team cohesion – social cohesion and task cohesion – and two specific types of well-being – subjective well-being (SWB) and psychological well-being (PWB). We contend that social cohesion and SWB are likely to be strongly related, while task cohesion and PWB are likely to share a strong relationship. Therefore, the chapter focuses on the evidence regarding the transactional relationship between social team cohesion and SWB, and transactional relationship between task team cohesion and PWB. Of course, we also recognize the close relationships between social and task cohesion, and between SWB and PWB. We consider the practical implications of studying the relationships between these concepts and put forth a number of recommendations for future research in this area.

Development and Validation of the Five-by-Five Resilience Scale

Resilience is a key component of positive organizational scholarship and positive psychology. Resilience is a protective factor which allows individuals to adapt to and manage stress or adverse cir...