Evaluation of a mental skills program for serving for an intercollegiate volleyball team.

A preseason mental skills program for serving was implemented for the 11 members of an intercollegiate volleyball team (M age = 20.0 yr.; SD = 1.1; years of intercollegiate volleyball experience M = 2.6; SD = 0.9). Key mental skills taught were relaxation, imagery, attentional focus, goal setting, behavioral modeling, and performance routine. A videotaped behavioral model articulated and demonstrated technical performance keys to effective serving. Players utilized a three-phase service routine to increase automaticity of performance and to incorporate key mental skills. End-of-season reported use of imagery was significantly correlated with Good Serve Percentage, as was reported use of a service routine. The mean Good Serve Percentage for the season was 49% (SD=7); the team goal was 50%. Serve-specific self-efficacy significantly increased from the pretraining program to the end of the season. Results indicated that implementing the mental skills training program was associated with enhanced service performance.

A laboratory study of satisfaction effects on mood state, withdrawal intentions, and organizational citizenship behavior.

154 undergraduates role-played a restaurant server experiencing positive, neutral, or negative Job or Life Satisfaction. Positive Satisfaction resulted in ratings of more positive reported mood state, lower expected absenteeism and turnover intentions, and greater expected Organizational Citizenship Behavior than did Neutral Satisfaction and Negative Satisfaction. Life Satisfaction was associated with reported mood states and intentions similarly to Job Satisfaction, except Negative Job Satisfaction was more negatively influential on expectations of quitting than Negative Life Satisfaction. Both Job and Life Satisfaction may be antecedents to affect and its consequences in work settings.