Jennifer Loh

Consequences of Workplace Bullying on Employee Identification and Satisfaction Among Australians and Singaporeans

This study responds to the call for cross-cultural investigations of workplace bullying by examining the relationship between workplace bullying and attitudes among employees from two countries. The authors argue that employees from societies that are less inclined to accept that power differences exist as a result of structure (low power distance countries, e.g., Australia) will respond to workplace bullying more negatively than will employees from cultures that accept that power differences exist as a result of structure (high power distance, e.g., Singapore). In all, 165 Singaporean and 152 Australian employees completed surveys designed to assess workplace bullying, workgroup identification, and job satisfaction. Results showed that workplace bullying was negatively related to both workgroup identification and job satisfaction among employees from both countries. Moreover, national culture influenced the relationship between bullying and job satisfaction and workgroup identification such that the negative relationships between bullying and these attitudinal outcomes were stronger for Australians than Singaporeans.

Cyberbullying at work

We investigated the mediating role of optimism on job outcomes in adult employees.Cyberbullying is negatively associated with job satisfaction.Cyberbullying is positively associated with stress.Optimism acts as a protective factor against the negative impact of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has become a prominent concern as technological advancements provide bullies with an alternative medium through which they can target their victims. Recently, this phenomenon has been investigated among adult populations with findings indicating that cyberbullied employees suffered great strain and poor job outcomes. Despite important recent findings in this area, not much is known about the underlying mechanism responsible for cyberbullying among adult workers. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of optimism in the relationship between cyberbullying and job related outcomes. To achieve this, an online survey was conducted with white collar employees in Australia. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationships between cyberbullying and job outcomes. Results indicated that optimism partially mediated the relationships between cyberbullying and stress as well as job satisfaction. Implications and future directions were discussed.

Don’t rock the boat: The moderating role of gender in the relationship between workplace incivility and work withdrawal

Purpose – There is a vast array of literature which investigates the concept and impact of workplace incivility. Evidence suggests that compared to male employees, female employees tend to experience and put up more with workplace incivility. However, there is limited research on how this affects female employee’s willingness to complete work-related tasks. The purpose of this paper is to set out to examine whether gender moderates the role between tolerance for workplace incivility and those behaviours characterised by work withdrawal. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 317 employees from a range of business industries and governmental agencies completed a quantitative survey of measures relating to their work withdrawal behaviour and their perception of their workplaces’ tolerance for uncivil behaviours. Findings – Results revealed that when females perceived high levels of tolerance for workplace incivility, they decreased their work withdrawal behaviour. No relationship between tolerance for work...

The Role of Optimism in Health-Promoting Behaviors in New Primiparous Mothers

Background:Perceived stress has been associated with fewer health-promoting behaviors in new primiparous mothers, but less is known about the mechanisms responsible for such effects. Objective:The objective of this study was to examine the hypothesis that the relationship between perceived stress and health-promoting behaviors is mediated partially by a primiparous mothers sense of optimism. The transactional model of stress and coping and the model of behavioral self-regulation were used as the theoretical framework for the study. Methods:An ex post facto cross-sectional design was used for this study. Participants consisted of 174 primiparous mothers who had given birth within the previous 12 months. Participants completed a self-reported online questionnaire consisting of the Perceived Stress Scale, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II, and the revised Life Orientation Test. Results:Results indicated that perceived stress predicted less health-promoting behaviors in new primiparous mothers (p < .001). Importantly, this relationship was mediated partially by the optimism displayed by the mother (p < .001). Conclusions:The findings indicated that optimism partially mediated the relationship between perceived stress and health-promoting behaviors in new primiparous mothers. The implications for psychological practice are discussed.

Factors Associated With Battered Filipino Women’s Decision to Stay in or Leave an Abusive Relationship

There is a dearth of research on battered Filipino women’s stay or leave decision-making process. The present study interviewed 40 battered women in the Philippines to explore factors associated with their decisions to stay or leave their husbands or partners. Results revealed that (a) battered women’s decision to stay was associated with intrapersonal and interpersonal factors such as personality characteristics, lack of personal resources, absence of social support, presence of children, length of relationship, and sociocultural factors and (b) battered women’s decision to leave their abusive partners was associated with factors such as personality characteristics, personal resources, social support, nature of abuse, and spousal factors. Implications for research and practice were discussed.

Attitudinal outcomes of boundary permeability: A comparison of Australian and Singaporean employees

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of culture in the relationship between boundary permeability and cooperation and work group identification. In addition, the levels of boundary permeability of Australians and Singaporeans are compared.Design/methodology/approach – Survey questionnaires were administered to 134 employees (87 Singaporeans and 47 Australians) working in multinational corporations in both Australia and Singapore. Hierarchical moderated regression was used to test whether culture moderated the relationship between boundary permeability and cooperation and workgroup identification.Findings – Results indicated that workplace boundary permeability was marginally and positively related to cooperation but not to workgroup identification. Further analysis revealed that culture moderated the relationships between workplace boundary permeability and cooperation and workgroup identification. Specifically, a stronger positive relationship was found between boundary p...

RESILIENCE AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT: A QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL INDONESIAN WOMEN

The development of female entrepreneurs in Indonesia is an integral part of Muslim womens economic contributions and empowerment. However, there is a lack of reliable research about female entrepreneurship and how gender may affect the experiences of business ownership in Indonesia. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the challenges encountered by these women entrepreneurs on a daily basis. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 female Indonesian entrepreneurs. Participants were recruited using theoretical and maximum variation sampling techniques. Content analysis was then used to analyze the data. Results revealed high levels of variations, both within and between women, suggesting that the quality of business entrepreneurship and success depended largely on the personal characteristics of these women, rather than on any system of formal education or training. This study also found that many women displayed resilient coping strategies when dealing with business failures. As a consequence, they were able to thrive despite restrictive social, cultural and political constraints. The paper highlights the importance of the experiences of female entrepreneurs in a developing country and the need to integrate the development of female entrepreneurship as a part of women empowerment effort.

The psychology of Vietnamese tiger mothers: Qualitative insights into the parenting beliefs and practices of Vietnamese-Australian mothers

Abstract To remedy the obscurity in perceptions linked with the Tiger mother phenomenon, and the dearth of research within immigrant-Asian subgroups, we attempted to provide an exploratory analysis on the parenting beliefs and practices of Vietnamese mothers. The voices of seven immigrant Vietnamese-Australian mothers from Western Australia were presented through Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The emergent themes revealed the development of a bi-cultural identity, education, respect, and parental control. Moreover, we found that many beliefs and practices hinge upon the cultural concepts of filial piety and Confucianism. Our findings also support the growing concern which suggest that parenting styles under Baumrinde (1971) typology are inaccurate for cross-cultural populations. Implications pertaining to culturally competent practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Words That Hurt: A Qualitative Study of Parental Verbal Abuse in the Philippines

This article investigated opinions on what constitute parental abuse with interviews of 30 high school students, 30 parents, and 28 counselors. Despite increased reported cases of emotional abuses and child maltreatments in the Philippines, few empirical studies have explored the exact nature of parental verbal abuses in this country. This study is designed to address this gap in the literature. The results revealed nine categories of parental verbal abuses namely: (a) Put downs and shaming, (b) Rejection, (c) Blaming, (d) Fault Exaggerating, (e) Threat, (f) Invoking harm, (g) Regrets, (h) Unfair comparison, and (i) Negative prediction. Implications for research and practice were discussed.

To Stay in or Leave an Abusive Relationship Losses and Gains Experienced by Battered Filipino Women

The present study aimed to describe and analyze the losses and gains experienced by battered Filipino women as a result of their decision to stay in or leave an abusive relationship. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 60 battered women, 30 of the women were still living with their abusive husbands/partners and 30 have left their abusive husbands/partners. Results from the phenomenological data analysis of the qualitative data revealed that the women who stayed in and left their abusive partners experienced both losses and gains. For the women who stayed in an abusive relationship, they lost a sense of self, the opportunity for a better life, peace of mind, psychological well-being, and love for their partners. However, these women had the benefits of having a complete family and a partner to help raise their children. In contrast, despite not having a complete family or a partner to help them raise their children, women who left an abusive relationship gained back their sense of self, peace of mind, freedom, inner strength, and hope. Implications for counseling practice were discussed.