This study focuses on burnout and its positive antipode—engagement. A model is tested in which burnout and engagement have different predictors and different possible consequences. Structural equation modeling was used to simultaneously analyze data from four independent occupational samples (total N = 1698). Results confirm the hypothesized model indicating that: (1) burnout and engagement are negatively related, sharing between 10 per cent and 25 per cent of their variances; (2) burnout is mainly predicted by job demands but also by lack of job resources, whereas engagement is exclusively predicted by available job resources; (3) burnout is related to health problems as well as to turnover intention, whereas engagement is related only to the latter; (4) burnout mediates the relationship between job demands and health problems, whereas engagement mediates the relationship between job resources and turnover intention. The fact that burnout and engagement exhibit different patterns of possible causes and consequences implies that different intervention strategies should be used when burnout is to be reduced or engagement is to be enhanced. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

/pdf/job-demands-job-resources-and-their-relationship-with-k0dg00q4k0.pdf

Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: a multi‐sample study

At the heart of emotion, mood, and any other emotionally charged event are states experienced as simply feeling good or bad, energized or enervated. These states--called core affect--influence reflexes, perception, cognition, and behavior and are influenced by many causes internal and external, but people have no direct access to these causal connections. Core affect can therefore be experienced as free-floating (mood) or can be attributed to some cause (and thereby begin an emotional episode). These basic processes spawn a broad framework that includes perception of the core-affect-altering properties of stimuli, motives, empathy, emotional meta-experience, and affect versus emotion regulation; it accounts for prototypical emotional episodes, such as fear and anger, as core affect attributed to something plus various nonemotional processes.

/pdf/core-affect-and-the-psychological-construction-of-emotion-4bds0c0fm7.pdf

Core Affect and the Psychological Construction of Emotion

This survey of attitude theory and research published between 1996 and 1999 covers the conceptualization of attitude, attitude formation and activation, attitude structure and function, and the attitude-behavior relation. Research regarding the expectancy-value model of attitude is considered, as are the roles of accessible beliefs and affective versus cognitive processes in the formation of attitudes. The survey reviews research on attitude strength and its antecedents and consequences, and covers progress made on the assessment of attitudinal ambivalence and its effects. Also considered is research on automatic attitude activation, attitude functions, and the relation of attitudes to broader values. A large number of studies dealt with the relation between attitudes and behavior. Research revealing additional moderators of this relation is reviewed, as are theory and research on the link between intentions and actions. Most work in this context was devoted to issues raised by the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior. The present review highlights the nature of perceived behavioral control, the relative importance of attitudes and subjective norms, the utility of adding more predictors, and the roles of prior behavior and habit.

http://psych415.class.uic.edu/Readings/Ajzen,%20Attitude%20theory,%20AnnRevPsy,%202001.pdf

Nature and Operation of Attitudes

This article describes the concept of posttraumnatic growth, its conceptual founda tions, and supporting empirical evidence. Posttraumatic growth is the experience of positive change that occurs as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life cri ses. It is nmanifested in a variety of ways, including an increased appreciation for life in general, more meaningful interpersonal relationships, an increased sense ofpersonal strength, changed priorities, and a richer existential and spiritual life. Although the term is new, the idea thatgreatgood can comefrom great suffering is ancient. We pro pose a modelfor understanding the process ofposttraumatic growth in which individ ual characteristics, support and disclosure, and niore centrally, significant cognitive processing involving cognitive structures threatened or nullified by the trauniatic events, play an important role. It is also suggested that posttraumatic growth mutually interacts with life wisdom and the development of the life narrative, and that it is an on going process, not a static outcome.

Posttraumatic Growth: Conceptual Foundations and Empirical Evidence

This article describes the concept of posttraumatic growth, its conceptual foundations, and supporting empirical evidence. Posttraumatic growth is the experience of positive change that occurs as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life crises. It is manifested in a variety of ways, including an increased appreciation for life in general, more meaningful interpersonal relationships, an increased sense of personal strength, changed priorities, and a richer existential and spiritual life. Although the term is new, the idea that great good can come from great suffering is ancient. We propose a model for understanding the process of posttraumatic growth in which individual characteristics, support and disclosure, and more centrally, significant cognitive processing involving cognitive structures threatened or nullified by the traumatic events, play an important role. It is also suggested that posttraumatic growth mutually interacts with life wisdom and the development of the life narrative, and t...

Target Article: "Posttraumatic Growth: Conceptual Foundations and Empirical Evidence".

Is positive affect (PA) the bipolar opposite of, or is it independent of, negative affect (NA)? Previous analyses of this vexing question have generally labored under the false assumption that bipolarity predicts an invariant latent correlation between PA and NA. The predicted correlation varies with time frame, response format, and items selected to define PA and NA. The observed correlation also varies with errors inherent in measurement. When the actual predictions of a bipolar model are considered and error is taken into account, there is little evidence for independence of what were traditionally thought opposites. Bipolarity provides a parsimonious fit to existing data.

On the bipolarity of positive and negative affect.

Certain facial expressions have been theorized to be easily recognizable signals of specific emotions. If so, these expressions should override situationally based expectations used by a person in attributing an emotion to another. An alternative account is offered in which the face provides information relevant to emotion but does not signal a specific emotion. Therefore, in specified circumstances, situational rather than facial information was predicted to determine the judged emotion. This prediction was supported in 3 studies--indeed, in each of the 22 cases examined (e.g., a person in a frightening situation but displaying a reported "facial expression of anger" was judged as afraid). Situational information was especially influential when it suggested a nonbasic emotion (e.g., a person in a painful situation but displaying a "facial expression of fear" was judged as in pain).

/pdf/do-facial-expressions-signal-specific-emotions-judging-2uis98uce1.pdf

Do facial expressions signal specific emotions? Judging emotion from the face in context

Much theory and research on emotion are based on the facial expressions of amateurs asked to pose for still photographs. The theory of facial affect programs (FAPs; P. Ekman, 1972) was proposed to account for the resulting expressions, most of which are patterns consisting of distinguishab le parts. In the present study, 4 Hollywood films noted for fine acting and realism were examined for the facial expressions that accompany a basic emotion. In keeping with the theory of FAPs, professional actors judged as happy were found smiling in 97% (Duchenne smiling in 74%) of cases. In contrast, actors judged as surprised, afraid, angry, disgusted, or sad rarely showed the predicted pattern (found in 0 to 31% of cases). Typically, they used one or two parts from the full pattern. If these films represent real life, these findings favor a theory that assumes separable parts (e.g., components theory) over the older theory of FAPs.

Facial Expressions in Hollywood's Portrayal of Emotion

Affective feelings pervade every aspect of human life. Affect is implicated in human behavior, motivation, attitudes, cognition, psychopathology, health, and well-being. Affect is inevitably encountered in research laboratories, clinics, schools, and every human setting. Affect is increasingly incorporated into psychological research, theory, and practice. Success of this research, tests of these theories, and efficacy of these practices require the means to describe and to assess affect. Like the emergence of the "big five" structure for the description of personality or the Linnean system in biology, agreement on a descriptive structure of affect would be invaluable.

On the Psychometric Principles of Affect

Mothers modify both their voices and their faces when interacting with infants. Although considerable work has detailed the modifications in the voice, less is known about those in the face. In this paper, three specific types of infant-directed (ID) facial expressions were identified in videotapes of 10 English- and 10 Chinese-speaking mothers interacting with infants aged 4–7 months. Four measures were taken to examine the form and meaning of these ID facial expressions. In Measure one, 32 undergraduates easily differentiated the three identified facial expression types. In Measure two, the muscle movement of each type were described through Ekman and Friesen's facial action coding system (FACS). In Measure three, 35 mothers and 40 undergraduates provided different emotional descriptions and communicative messages for each type. In Measure four, rank correlations were conducted to identify the FACS units most indicative of each facial expression type. These four measures confirmed the appearance of three expression types in both Chinese and English mothers, the involvement of unique muscle movements in these expression types in comparison to adult-directed expressions which have been described, and the expression of distinct and consistent emotional messages. The meaning and importance of these expressions to mother-infant interactions are discussed, and directions for future research are identified. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

/pdf/three-facial-expressions-mothers-direct-to-their-infants-1u4os5y1wi.pdf

James M. Carroll

Papers

On the bipolarity of positive and negative affect.

Do facial expressions signal specific emotions? Judging emotion from the face in context

Facial Expressions in Hollywood's Portrayal of Emotion

On the Psychometric Principles of Affect

Three facial expressions mothers direct to their infants