Shiri Lavy

The Effects of Attachment Heterogeneity and Team Cohesion on Team Functioning

Attachment research to date has focused mostly on individuals and dyads and has demonstrated the disadvantages of attachment insecurities. The present study focuses on the potential positive effects of team-level heterogeneity of attachment orientations on team functioning (suggested by social defense theory) and examines the role of team cohesion in facilitating these effects. Students enrolled in courses that included a team project (N = 178 students comprising 52 teams) completed measures of attachment anxiety and avoidance, team cohesion, and team functioning. Their team performance evaluations were also assessed. Regression analyses revealed that when team cohesion was high, team heterogeneity in anxiety and avoidance scores was associated with better performance evaluations, and team heterogeneity in anxiety was also associated with better perceived functioning. Results highlight potential contributions of insecure team members to project teams’ functioning, which were heretofore overlooked in the literature, and suggest benefits of teams with heterogeneity in attachment orientations.

Strengths deployment as a mood-repair mechanism: Evidence from a diary study with a relationship exercise group

Character strengths represent positive durable attributes of individuals, and their deployment is hypothesized to positively affect mood and well-being. Furthermore, strengths deployment may serve as a mood-repair strategy which promotes growth. Close relationships, being potential facilitators of personal growth, were hypothesized to amplify these two effects. These hypotheses were examined in a quasi-experimental diary study. Participants (N = 150) completed daily measures of strengths deployment and mood. They were randomly assigned to a relationship-exercise condition (writing a daily note to a loved one), or to one of two control conditions. Previous-day strengths deployment was associated with more positive daily mood, and previous-day adverse mood predicted increased strengths deployment. The first effect seemed to be somewhat stronger in the relationship-exercise condition. These results highlight positive daily effect of strengths deployment, demonstrate the use of strengths to combat adverse mood, and suggest that close relationships enhance the positive effects of strengths deployment.

My Better Self: Using Strengths at Work and Work Productivity, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and Satisfaction

Character strengths are hypothesized to contribute to human thriving. However, the effects of their use on individuals’ behaviors and attitudes at work, an important domain of modern life, have rarely been studied. In the present study, we examined associations of employees’ use of character strengths at work with productivity, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and job satisfaction. Based on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, we suggested a multiple mediation model demonstrating how these associations are mediated by positive affect and engagement. Participants (N = 1,095) completed measures of strengths use, work productivity, OCB, job satisfaction, positive affect, and work engagement. As hypothesized, using strengths at work was associated with productivity, OCB, and job satisfaction, and these associations were mediated by higher positive emotions and engagement. The findings highlight the potential benefits of encouraging employees to use their strengths and point to positive affect and work engagement as mediating these effects.

Going the Extra Mile: Perseverance as a Key Character Strength at Work

Character strengths are durable positive attributes that contribute to well-being in life and at work. They are also hypothesized to contribute to the growth and flourishing of individuals and organizations. However, their associations with work performance and counterproductive work behaviors have rarely been studied. The present study seeks to identify character strengths most highly associated with work performance and counterproductive work behaviors and explores the role of individuals’ sense of meaning at work and work orientation in mediating these associations. An international sample (N = 686) completed the measures of strengths endorsement, work performance, counterproductive work behaviors, sense of meaning at work, and work orientation. Results pointed to perseverance as most highly associated with work performance and most negatively associated with counterproductive work behaviors. These associations were mediated by working individuals’ sense of meaning at work and perceptions of work as a career and as a calling. These findings highlight the contribution of perseverance to work performance and counterproductive behaviors, beyond the role of other character strengths, and highlight work meaningfulness and work orientation as psychological mechanisms underlying its effects.

The Wind Beneath My Wings Effects of Social Support on Daily Use of Character Strengths at Work

Using character strengths at work has been associated with desirable feelings, attitudes, and functioning. However, factors promoting strengths use at work have rarely been studied. In the present study, we focused on social support, a key contributor to employees’ functioning and well-being, and examined the effects of supervisor and colleague support on employees’ strengths use. Participants (N = 120) completed daily measures of their supervisors’ and colleagues’ support, and their use of strengths at work, over 10 workdays. Results indicated that supervisor support (but not colleague support) on a given day predicted increased strengths use on the following day. These results point to the potentially unique role of supervisors (and not colleagues) in promoting employees’ fulfillment of their potential at work and call for examination of strengths use as a mechanism underlying desirable effects of supervisor support on employees’ attitudes and behaviors.

My Better Half Strengths Endorsement and Deployment in Married Couples

Character strengths, representing positive attributes of individuals, have been linked with several positive psychological qualities, such as life satisfaction and well-being. However, the effects of character strengths and their deployment on married couples, at the dyadic level, have not been studied to date. The present study focuses on married partners’ strengths endorsement and on their opportunities to deploy their strengths in the relationship, and explores the associations between these variables and both partners’ relationship satisfaction. The results reveal significant associations of strengths endorsement and deployment with relationship satisfaction, as expected. However, unexpectedly, men’s idealization of their wives’ character strengths was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. These findings hold theoretical and practical implications for couples and therapists, regarding dyadic effects of strengths endorsement and deployment, and their perception.