Eduardo J. R. Santos

The development and initial validation of the Decent Work Scale.

Decent work is positioned as the centerpiece of the recently developed Psychology of Working Theory (PWT; Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin, 2016). However, to date, no instrument exists which assesses all 5 components of decent work from a psychological perspective. In the current study, we developed the Decent Work Scale (DWS) and demonstrated several aspects of validity with 2 samples of working adults. In Study 1 (N = 275), a large pool of items were developed and exploratory factor analysis was conducted resulting in a final 15-item scale with 5 factors/subscales corresponding to the 5 components of decent work: (a) physically and interpersonally safe working conditions, (b) access to health care, (c) adequate compensation, (d) hours that allow for free time and rest, and (e) organizational values that complement family and social values. In Study 2 (N = 589), confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that a 5-factor, bifactor model offered the strongest and most parsimonious fit to the data. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance models were tested demonstrating that the structure of the instrument did not differ across gender, income, social class, and majority/minority racial/ethnic groups. Finally, the overall scale score and 5 subscale scores correlated in the expected directions with similar constructs supporting convergent and discriminant evidence of validity, and subscale scores evidenced predictive validity in the prediction of job satisfaction, work meaning, and withdrawal intentions. The development of this scale provides a useful tool for researchers and practitioners seeking to assess the attainment of decent work among employed adults.

Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire – short form: estudo de adaptação e validação para a população portuguesa

Job satisfaction is the most studied variable in Organizational Psychology (Spector, 1997). However, only a few recent researches on its instruments are available (Saane, Sluiter, Verbeek, & Frings-Dresen, 2003). This research aims to add a contribution to the study of the psychometric qualities of a widely used instrument in this context, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) – Short Form (Weiss, Dawis, England, & Lofquist, 1967), adapting it to the Portuguese population. In this sample (136 employees), the instrument showed adequate psychometric qualities, with a high values for internal consistency, adequate stability and satisfactory convergent validity (resulting from the correlation with the Cuestionario de Satisfaccion S20/23; Melia & Peiro, 1989). The exploratory factorial analysis revealed a structure that suggests as expected the existence of two factors of job satisfaction. The discussion of the results pinpoints the need for more studies on this field and raised some suggestions for future research.

Salud mental en menores españoles. Variables socioeducativas

Background. Research on minors’ mental health is a current necessity as a way to detect, analyze and prevent possible mental disorders. Objective The goal of this study was to analyze the influence of minors’ educational stage and their parents’ occupational social class as risk factors for minors’ mental health. Method We used the results obtained in the National Spanish Health Survey 2006, with a sample of 5812 minors between 4 and 15 years of age. Measures associated with the independent variables were estimated through the measurement of mental health on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-parents’ version). Results The relation between mental health and the variables occupational social class 1 (more privileged) (O.R. 0.256) and social class 2 (middle class) (O.R. 0.523) was significant (p 0.05) in comparison with secondary school. Discussion and conclusion It is concluded that high and middle occupational social classes are protector factors for minors’ mental health in comparison to belonging to a low occupational social class. However, being a student in pre-school or in primary school is not a risk factor for mental health in comparison to being a secondary school student.

Salud mental en el grupo de edad 4-15 años a partir de los resultados de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud 2006

Fundamentos: el Cuestionario de Capacidades y Dificultades (SDQ, segun sus siglas en ingles) es uno de los mas utilizados internacionalmente para la medicion de la salud mental. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la discriminacion del punto de corte del cuestionario en poblacion espanola y la asociacion entre la salud mental de los menores espanoles y las variables sexo, tamano del municipio y estado de salud en los ultimos doce meses. Metodo: se utilizaron los resultados obtenidos en la Encuesta Nacional de Salud Espanola 2006, con una muestra de 6.390 menores de 4 a 15 anos. Mediante un analisis discriminante y las curvas COR, se analizo la puntuacion de corte utilizada en el cuestionario SDQ-padres para la poblacion espanola y se estimaron las medidas de asociacion con respecto a las variables independientes. Resultados: el punto de corte igual a 20, utilizado en el SDQ-padres con poblacion espanola, aporta una sensibilidad de 0,964 y una especificidad de 0,945. La relacion entre la salud mental y las variables sexo (OR 1,17) y tamano del municipio (OR 0,85) aportaron valores no significativos (p>0,05). En la variable estado de salud del menor en los ultimos doce meses si se obtuvieron diferencias estadisticamente (OR 0,30; p<0,05). Conclusiones: la puntuacion de corte igual a 20 es adecuada para la discriminacion de la salud mental de los menores espanoles mediante el cuestionario SDQ- padres. Se acepta la influencia del estado de salud en los ultimos doce meses en la salud mental, frente a una falta de influencia del sexo y el tamano del municipio.

Scaling the Information Load of Occupations: Preliminary Findings of the Fit Between Individual Capacities and Environmental Demands

Person—Environment (P-E) fit models provide a conceptually powerful way to think about career development, vocational choice, and occupational success. The work reported here focuses on yet another pair of P-E criteria: self-reported individual capacity for information processing (the ability to tolerate information overload from a variety of stimulus sources), and the corresponding demand characteristics for information processing of the occupational environment. To achieve the aims of this project, the authors have borrowed from the literature on information processing, anthropology, and human factors to define the information load context of the occupational environment. The authors have constructed a P-E congruence scheme for five domains of information processing: information load, interpersonal load, change load, activity structure, and time structure, and employed the methods of psychophysics to quantify occupational environments across these domains. The results of this preliminary work, replicated across two cultures, are presented here.

Development and Validation of a Revised Measure of Individual Capacities for Tolerating Information Overload in Occupational Settings

The anthropologist Edward Hall wrote extensively on the concept of polychronicity in which he documented the differences between people and cultures in the extent to which they differentially managed their daily activities in the context of space and time. In the work reported here, we have broadened the definition of the polychronicity concept that we define as the capacity of the individual to tolerate multiple sources of stimuli and information occurring in both time and space without suffering psychological distress or disorientation. In earlier work, summarized in several publications, we have constructed and validated a 25-item measure of individual capacity for tolerating stimulus loads across the following five information processing dimensions namely, information load, interpersonal load, change load, activity structure, and time structure. Several previous studies by our research group have found significant connections to a variety of behavioral criteria, including the capacity for visual and motor multitasking, arousal levels, speed of processing, and cross-cultural differences. In this article, we report on how we have augmented the number of items in each of the five dimensions, performed item analysis, reassessed the internal consistency reliability of the five subscales, and evaluated the validity of the new subscales against several criteria with a contemporary sample of 431 employed adults drawn from each of the Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (RIASEC) categories of Holland’s taxonomy.

Individual Differences in Capacity for Tolerating Information Overload Are Related to Differences in Culture and Temperament

Individual differences in the capacity for information processing in complex tasks can be predicted from both personality and temperament that derive from both the biological and social substrates of human development and behavior. If there are cultural differences in brain structure and function that govern information processing, then two different cultures may show biologically based temperamental differences in sensitivity to stimulation (e.g., Pavlov’s Strength of the Nervous System) which in turn may predict individual differences in capacity for tolerating environmentally determined stimulus overloads. We examined the relationship between biologically based measures of Pavlovian Temperament (Strength of Excitation, Inhibition, and Mobility) and an individual differences measure consisting of five dimensions of capacity for tolerating information load. Both direct and indirect effects of country of origin on capacity for information processing were tested in a mediated path analytic model in which Pavlovian Excitation, Inhibition, and Mobility were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between culture and self-reported information processing capacities.

Unemployment: transitions experiences

Work appears as an important determinant in psychological health and well-being (Blustein, 2008). However, the current structure of the labor market is complex, unpredictable and unstable, making it necessary to rethink the meaning of work in human existence. This article focuses on the different types of transitions (voluntary vs. involuntary) as well on the different reactions to unemployment, and presents some intervention strategies in the context of career counseling, conceived as a (possible) response to changes in employment.

Current status of psychiatric rehabilitation in Portugal: A national survey.

OBJECTIVE This article reports on the current state of psychiatric rehabilitation in Portugal. METHOD A paper-and-pencil survey was sent to 70 institutions to inquire about the provision of psychiatric rehabilitation services and programs. RESULTS With a response rate of 40%, 14% of institutions indicated that supported education was provided, 36% offered nonmainstream vocational training, and 29% provided supported employment; none provided evidence-based Individual Placement and Support. Permanent group homes in the community (29%) followed by transitional group homes on institutional grounds (18%) were the most common residential services, with supported housing services (14%) offered less frequently. Finally, 93% of institutions offered occupational activities, 61% provided multifamily psychoeducation, and 36% provided single-family psychoeducation. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Despite recent national initiatives promoting effective psychiatric rehabilitation services, supported employment, supported education, and supported housing are not widely implemented in Portugal. To achieve better outcomes for clients, it is critical that evidence-based and promising practices be extensively disseminated.

Big Five personality traits in simulated negotiation settings

After a hiatus in the research on individual differences in negotiation, there has been a surge of renewed interest in recent years followed by several new findings. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects that personality, as structured by the five-factor model, have over negotiation behavior and decision making in order to create new knowledge and prescribe advice to negotiators.,This study replicates observations from earlier studies but with the innovation of using a different methodology, as data from a sample of volunteer participants were collected in regard to their personality and behavior during two computerized negotiation simulations, one with the potential for joint gains and the other following a more traditional bargaining scenario.,Significant results for both settings were found, with the personality dimensions of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion systematically reoccurring as the most statistically relevant, although expressing different roles according to the type of negotiation and measure being registered. The findings thus suggest a multidimensional relationship between personality and situational variables in which specific traits can either become liabilities or assets depending upon whether the potential for value creation is present or not.,The new findings on the impacts of personality traits on both distributive and integrative negotiations allow negotiators to improve their performance and to adapt to specific distributive or integrative negotiation situations.