Whether and how to regulate: Emotion regulation in negative-feedback situations.

Emotion-regulation goals are often studied in isolation, despite them typically occurring in the presence of alternative goals. Negative feedback situations offer an intriguing context to study the interplay of emotion-regulation goals (wanting to feel better) and performance goals (wanting to perform better). Across five preregistered online studies (N = 1,087), we investigated emotion-regulation choice (i.e., whether and how to regulate) in feedback situations. Challenging the assumption that the goal to perform better is the focal goal in negative-feedback situations, we show that negative feedback increases the salience of the goal to feel better via negative affect in Studies 1-2. Moving beyond the question of whether people regulate their emotions when they receive negative feedback, we examined how they regulate their emotions in Studies 3-5. Focusing on the relative importance of the goals to feel and to perform better, we found that the goal to perform better but not the goal to feel better influences negative-feedback recipients' emotion-regulation strategy choice. A salient goal to perform better was associated with a preference for reappraisal over distraction. These results have critical implications for the emotion-regulation literature and models of feedback processing from an emotion-regulation perspective. They demonstrate that affect-oriented processes such as emotion regulation operate when people receive negative feedback. They also highlight the importance of studying alternative goals given their relevance for how people regulate their emotions. From a practical standpoint, the findings may help us to better understand why people sometimes fail to perform better following negative feedback. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Empathising with masked targets: limited side effects of face masks on empathy for dynamic, context-rich stimuli.

Multiple studies revealed detrimental effects of face masks on communication, including reduced empathic accuracy and enhanced listening effort. Yet, extant research relied on artificial, decontextualised stimuli, which prevented assessing empathy under more ecologically valid conditions. In this preregistered online experiment (N = 272), we used film clips featuring targets reporting autobiographical events to address motivational mechanisms underlying face mask effects on cognitive (empathic accuracy) and emotional facets (emotional congruence, sympathy) of empathy. Surprisingly, targets whose faces were covered by a mask (or a black bar) elicited the same level of empathy motives (affiliation, cognitive effort), and accordingly, the same level of cognitive and emotional empathy compared to targets with uncovered faces. We only found a negative direct effect of face coverings on sympathy. Additional analyses revealed that older (compared to young) adults showed higher empathy, but age did not moderate face mask effects. Our findings speak against strong negative face mask effects on empathy when using dynamic, context-rich stimuli, yet support motivational mechanisms of empathy.

The rise and fall of job insecurity during a pandemic: The role of habitual coping.

Crises like the COVID-19 pandemic can trigger concerns about loss of employment and changes in work conditions, and thereby increase job insecurity. Yet, little is known about how perceived job insecurity subsequently unfolds over time and how individual differences in habitual coping moderate such a trajectory. Using longitudinal data from 899 US-based participants across 5 waves (March to June 2020), we investigated the trajectory of job insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic and how this trajectory depended on habitual coping strategies such as planning, reappraisal, and distraction. Results from latent growth curve analysis indicated that, on average, job insecurity initially increased and then decreased after signing of the coronavirus stimulus bill, suggesting a pattern of shock followed by adjustment. During the shock phase, habitual use of distraction was related to less increases in job insecurity. Later during the adjustment phase, decreases in job insecurity were more pronounced for individuals with higher habitual use of planning, but were not affected by reappraisal or distraction. Hence, different coping strategies appear beneficial in different phases of adjustment, and the beneficial effect of planning may take time to manifest. Altogether, our study highlights how in the context of extraordinary and uncontrollable events, coping strategies can impact the trajectory of a stressor.

From dementia mindsets to emotions and behaviors: Predicting person-centered care in care professionals.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: High-quality care standards for dementia care are increasingly based on person-centered care principles. To better understand facilitating factors of person-centered care this research focuses on individual characteristics of care professionals. Applying mindset theory to dementia care, we examined dementia mindsets (viewing dementia symptoms as either malleable or fixed) in care professionals. We tested whether there is a positive relationship between a malleable dementia mindset and person-centered care as well as a negative relationship between a fixed dementia mindset and person-centered care. Moreover, we examined whether care professionals' emotional responses in care situations help explain associations between dementia mindsets and person-centered care. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD: In two cross-sectional studies, care professionals of long-term care facilities (total N = 370) completed a measure of dementia mindsets and reported their emotional and behavioral responses to five care scenarios. Regression and mediation analyses were performed. FINDINGS: The tested hypotheses were partially supported. A fixed dementia mindset predicted reported person-centered care negatively, while a malleable dementia mindset did not. Mediation analyses suggest that reduced negative emotions may underlie the association between a malleable mindset and reported person-centered care, while reduced positive emotions in care situations may underlie the association of a fixed mindset and reported person-centered care. Study 2 partially replicated these findings. A fixed mindset and positive emotional responses were the most robust predictors of reported person-centered care. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This study extends knowledge on facilitators (positive emotional responses to care situations) and barriers (fixed dementia mindset) to person-centered care in care professionals working with persons with dementia. We discuss how dementia mindsets and emotional responses to care situations may be a fruitful target for trainings for care professionals.

Resilience during Crisis and the Role of Age: Involuntary Telework during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

We investigated the relationship between age, resilience, job demands and resources, and self-regulation in 1715 university employees during the COVID-19 pandemic (February 2021) by means of an online survey with closed and open questions. Correlation, regression, and qualitative analyses showed that older employees reported higher resilience than younger employees. This finding was robust after controlling for background factors (i.e., gender, expat status, job type, living alone). Age and resilience were directly related to higher job resources (i.e., job security and equipment), work-life balance, and seeing positives, whereas the relationship to demands was ambiguous. Age was unrelated to workload, negatively related to childcare, and positively to eldercare. Resilience was negatively related to workload but unrelated to childcare or eldercare demands. When all variables were combined to jointly predict resilience, age, job resources, and self-regulation resources predicted resilience, whereas demands (i.e., workload, childcare, and eldercare demands) did not. Our findings suggest that age-related advantages in well-being have persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Older workers were more likely to reframe the crisis and see it as an opportunity for personal growth. They possess and utilize resources in unique and beneficial ways, which could also benefit younger workers.

Development and validation of film stimuli to assess empathy in the work context.

A growing body of research suggests that empathy predicts important work outcomes, yet limitations in existing measures to assess empathy have been noted. Extending past work on the assessment of empathy, this study introduces a newly developed set of emotion-eliciting film clips that can be used to assess both cognitive (emotion perception) and affective (emotional congruence and sympathy) facets of empathy in vivo. Using the relived emotions paradigm, film protagonists were instructed to think aloud about an autobiographical, emotional event from working life and relive their emotions while being videotaped. Subsequently, protagonists were asked to provide self-reports of the intensity of their emotions during retelling their event. In a first study with 128 employees, who watched the film clips and rated their own as well as the protagonists' emotions, we found that the film clips are effective in eliciting moderate levels of emotions as well as sympathy in the test taker and can be used to calculate reliable convergence scores of emotion perception and emotional congruence. Using a selected subset of six film clips, a second two-wave study with 99 employees revealed that all facet-specific measures of empathy had moderate-to-high internal consistencies and test-retest reliabilities, and correlated in expected ways with other self-report and test-based empathy tests, cognition, and demographic variables. With these films, we expand the choice of testing materials for empathy in organizational research to cover a larger array of research questions.

Exceptional circumstances: Changes in teachers' work characteristics and well-being during COVID-19 lockdown.

The COVID-19 pandemic extensively changed the work life of many employees. Teachers seemed particularly challenged, confronted with sudden remote teaching due to school closures. Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, we investigated (a) changes in seven work characteristics (job demands: emotional demands, interpersonal conflict, workload; job resources: autonomy, social support, feedback, task variety) and three job-related well-being indicators (fatigue, psychosomatic complaints, job satisfaction), (b) how changes in work characteristics correlated with well-being, and (c) the impact of two individual difference factors (caretaking responsibilities, career stage). Data were collected in two waves (just prior to and a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic) across Germany from 207 teachers with an average work experience of 6 years (range: 1-36 years). Using latent change score (LCS) modeling, we found significant, small-to-medium-sized decreases over time for both job demands and resources as well as fatigue, with variability in the magnitude of changes. Decreases in job demands correlated with decreases in fatigue and psychosomatic complaints, whereas decreases in job resources correlated with decreases in job satisfaction. Teachers with caretaking responsibilities and more experienced teachers were more vulnerable to the crisis as they experienced a smaller or no decrease in job demands in concert with diminished job resources. These findings reveal the double-edged consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for teachers' work life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Face masks reduce emotion-recognition accuracy and perceived closeness.

Face masks became the symbol of the global fight against the coronavirus. While face masks' medical benefits are clear, little is known about their psychological consequences. Drawing on theories of the social functions of emotions and rapid trait impressions, we tested hypotheses on face masks' effects on emotion-recognition accuracy and social judgments (perceived trustworthiness, likability, and closeness). Our preregistered study with 191 German adults revealed that face masks diminish people's ability to accurately categorize an emotion expression and make target persons appear less close. Exploratory analyses further revealed that face masks buffered the negative effect of negative (vs. non-negative) emotion expressions on perceptions of trustworthiness, likability, and closeness. Associating face masks with the coronavirus' dangers predicted higher perceptions of closeness for masked but not for unmasked faces. By highlighting face masks' effects on social functioning, our findings inform policymaking and point at contexts where alternatives to face masks are needed.

Empathy at work: The role of age and emotional job demands.

Empathy-which typically instigates prosocial behavior-comprises both cognitive and affective facets. Research suggests that the cognitive facet of empathy (empathic accuracy) declines with age, whereas the affective facets of empathy (emotional congruence and sympathy) remain stable or increase with age. Going beyond main effects of age, we tested whether working in occupations with varying emotional job demands (EJDs) moderates the effects of age on empathy. We predicted that emotionally demanding occupations provide opportunities to practice empathy and, as a result, may lessen the negative relationship between age and empathic accuracy and/or strengthen the (positive) relationship between age and the affective facets of empathy. A sample of 128 employees (19-65 years) who differed in self-reported EJDs was recruited. Participants viewed film clips portraying different persons retelling a work event during which they experienced positive or negative emotions. After each clip, participants rated the intensity of the protagonist's and their own emotions. Consistent with prior research, our analyses revealed a negative association between age and empathic accuracy, while there were no age differences in emotional congruence and a positive association between age and sympathy. Only the relationship between age and emotional congruence was moderated by EJDs. Contrary to our prediction, relatively older employees in emotionally demanding jobs experienced lower emotional congruence than younger employees. This may suggest that people learn about the double-edged nature of sharing other's feelings as they progress in their career, and thus, keep a healthy distance. Implications for age-comparative research on prosocial processes across adulthood are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Experience, vulnerability, or overload? Emotional job demands as moderator in trajectories of emotional well-being and job satisfaction across the working lifespan.

Employees exert emotional effort in order to perform their work effectively, albeit to varying degrees based on their occupation. These emotional job demands (EJDs) affect employees' well-being, yet evidence is mixed as to whether these effects are positive or negative. One limiting factor in extant studies is that they investigated short-term effects or cross-sectional relationships between EJDs (usually assessed at the employee level) and work outcomes. The present study used an accelerated longitudinal design with a 10-year timespan of data (effectively covering the whole working lifespan) to test the effects of EJDs at the occupational level on long-term trajectories of well-being. Drawing on the model of strengths and vulnerabilities integration (SAVI) from the lifespan psychology literature, we tested three competing effects: an experience effect (EJDs predict increased well-being), a vulnerability effect (EJDs predict diminished well-being), and an overload effect (a non-linear relationship in which very high levels lead to more unfavorable trajectories). Using data of N = 2,478 working adults in Germany drawn from the Socioeconomic Panel Study (SOEP), in tandem with data on EJDs from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), we found an overload effect of EJDs on trajectories of positive affect and job satisfaction. However, EJDs did not influence trajectories of negative affect. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Dementia as Fixed or Malleable: Development and Validation of the Dementia Mindset Scale.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Care professionals differ in how they experience and respond to dementia caregiving. To explain such differences, we developed a new measure: the Dementia Mindset Scale. This scale captures the extent to which care professionals view dementia as stable and fixed (akin to the biomedical perspective) or as flexible and malleable (akin to the person-centered approach). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted four studies to develop the scale. We tested items for comprehensibility, assessed the scale's factorial structure and psychometric properties, and investigated its predictive validity for care professionals' well-being. RESULTS: A new scale with a two-factor structure-distinguishing a malleable dementia mindset from a fixed dementia mindset-was developed. Results showed good convergent and divergent validity. Moreover, the dementia mindsets predicted aspects of job-related well-being in care professionals. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The scale allows for the assessment of individual differences in how care professionals see dementia. This insight can be used to improve interventions aimed at enhancing care professionals' well-being and quality of care.

Predicting real-world behaviour: Cognition-emotion links across adulthood and everyday functioning at work.

Inspired by the discovery of positive age trends in emotional well-being across adulthood, lifespan researchers have uncovered fascinating age differences in cognition-emotion interactions in healthy adult samples, for example in emotion processing, memory, reactivity, perception, and regulation. Taking stock of this body of research, I identify four trends and five remaining gaps in our understanding of emotional functioning in adulthood. In particular, I suggest that the field should pay stronger attention to the prediction of real-world behaviour. Using the sample case of work functioning, I outline gaps in current knowledge, including the lack of data on middle-aged adults, the neglect of relevant cognitive-emotional mechanisms, and the unclear role of life experience. Filling these gaps will enable progress in research on emotional aging in and beyond the work setting and enhance its practical utility for individuals, organisations, and society.

Age-related differences in levels and dynamics of workplace affect.

Affective experiences at work are a key contributing factor to long-term job-related well-being and effectiveness, yet may systematically change as workers get older. Given the central role of affect in work settings, it is important to obtain a thorough understanding of older workers' strengths and vulnerabilities in affective functioning. This paper's goal was to comprehensively study age differences in mean levels and dynamics of affect (affect stability, occurrence of positive and negative daily work events, and affective reactivity) and to link these with perceptions of global occupational well-being and effectiveness. In three diary studies, employees of different occupational and cultural backgrounds (Hong Kong Chinese managerial employees, German hospital employees, German office workers) reported daily affective work events and affect across multiple workdays. Higher age was associated with more positive and less negative affect (Study 1), more frequent positive daily work events (Study 2 and 3), and lower variability of negative affect (Study 1 and 2). Age was unrelated to frequency of negative work events and positive event reactivity (all studies). There were mixed age differences in negative event reactivity (lower reactivity in Study 1 and on subtypes of affect in Study 2, but higher worry in Study 3). Several of the indicators of affective experience emerged as mediators of positive age differences in work engagement and self-rated task performance. Overall, with one exception, results point at maintenance or improvement of workers' affective functioning with age. Through improved affective functioning, older workers likely contribute to organizational effectiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Dynamic, not stable: Daily variations in subjective age bias and age group identification predict daily well-being in older workers.

This work examines the hypothesis that older workers' responses to negative events at work depend, in part, on daily fluctuations of subjective age bias (SAB; how old people feel compared to their actual age) and age group identification (age GI). We tested whether SAB and age GI fluctuate over time, whether they influence attributions of negative daily work events as age-related, and thereby predict older workers' daily affect and cognitive engagement in their work. A diary study with 169 older workers (aged 50-70 years) demonstrates that there are substantial daily variations in SAB and GI. Daily fluctuations of SAB and age GI respectively predicted attributions of negative personal (e.g., forgetfulness) and social (e.g., social exclusion) work events to age. Age attributions, in turn, negatively predicted affect and daily cognitive engagement over and above event occurrence. In other words, when confronted with negative daily work events, the short-term dissociation from one's chronological age and age group (i.e., feeling younger and identifying less with other older adults) seems to benefit older workers' well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record

Feeling younger and identifying with older adults: Testing two routes to maintaining well-being in the face of age discrimination.

Integrating the social identity and aging literatures, this work tested the hypothesis that there are two independent, but simultaneous, responses by which adults transitioning into old age can buffer themselves against age discrimination: an individual response, which entails adopting a younger subjective age when facing discrimination, and a collective response, which involves increasing identification with the group of older adults. In three experimental studies with a total number of 488 older adults (50 to 75 years of age), we manipulated age discrimination in a job application scenario and measured the effects of both responses on perceived health and self-esteem. Statistical analyses include individual study results as well as a meta-analysis on the combined results of the three studies. Findings show consistent evidence only for the individual response, which was in turn associated with well-being. Furthermore, challenging previous research, the two responses (adopting a younger subjective age and increasing group identification) were not only theoretically, but also empirically distinct. This research complements prior research by signaling the value of considering both responses to discrimination as complementary rather than mutually exclusive.

Permeability of Group Boundaries: Development of the Concept and a Scale.

The perceived possibility of movement between groups, referred to as permeability of group boundaries, is considered a key factor in explaining intergroup relations. However, so far, permeability has been conceptualized in different ways and there exists no validated measure. Integrating different conceptualizations, we developed a scale distinguishing membership permeability (e.g., a person changing from one sport team to another) versus status permeability (e.g., a person acquiring a higher social status). Scale validation occurred across samples representing five lower status groups (older adults, women, obese, lower educated, ethnic minorities). Our scale was related to central indicators of intergroup relations such as self-reported intergroup attitudes (e.g., identification) and endorsement of behavioral strategies (individual mobility, collective action). Moreover, it distinguished permeability characteristics of different types of social groups. The scale provides a novel theoretical conceptualization of permeability and can be used to examine levels and correlates of permeability perceptions across social groups.

Let it be and keep on going! Acceptance and daily occupational well-being in relation to negative work events.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 22(1) of Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (see record 2016-25216-001). In the article, there were errors in the Participants subsection in the Method section. The last three sentences should read "Job tenure ranged from less than 1 year to 32 years, with an average of 8.83 years (SD 7.80). Participants interacted with clients on average 5.44 hr a day (SD 2.41). The mean working time was 7.36 hr per day (SD 1.91)."] Negative work events can diminish daily occupational well-being, yet the degree to which they do so depends on the way in which people deal with their emotions. The aim of the current study was to examine the role of acceptance in the link between daily negative work events and occupational well-being. We hypothesized that acceptance would be associated with better daily occupational well-being, operationalized as low end-of-day negative emotions and fatigue, and high work engagement. Furthermore, we predicted that acceptance would buffer the adverse impact of negative work events on daily well-being. A microlongitudinal study across 10 work days was carried out with 92 employees of the health care sector, yielding a total of 832 daily observations. As expected, acceptance was associated with lower end-of-day negative emotions and fatigue (though there was no association with work engagement) across the 10-day period. Furthermore, acceptance moderated the effect of negative event occurrence on daily well-being: Highly accepting employees experienced less increase in negative emotions and less reduction in work engagement (though comparable end-of-day fatigue) on days with negative work events, relative to days without negative work events, than did less accepting employees. These findings highlight affective, resource-saving, and motivational benefits of acceptance for daily occupational well-being and demonstrate that acceptance is associated with enhanced resilience to daily negative work events. (PsycINFO Database Record

Help or hindrance? Day-level relationships between flextime use, work-nonwork boundaries, and affective well-being.

Flexible working time arrangements are becoming increasingly popular around the globe, but do they actually benefit employees? To address this question, we take a differentiated look at employees' day-specific use of flextime and its effect on the intersection of work and nonwork life. Specifically, we examined whether links between day-specific flextime use and affective well-being at work and at home can be explained by level of goal completion and the subjective boundaries around one's work and private life domains (i.e., the strength of work-nonwork boundaries). During 2 consecutive workweeks, 150 bank employees from various functions (Study 1) and a heterogeneous sample of 608 employees (Study 2) reported their day-specific use of flextime, boundary strength at work and home, and affective well-being in the evening and the next day. Multilevel structural equation modeling of 2,223 (Study 1) and 3,164 (Study 2) observations revealed that flextime use was associated with stronger boundaries at home in both studies and stronger boundaries at work in Study 2. Stronger boundaries were, in turn, positively associated with affective well-being, both in the same evening and the next day. Study 2 further revealed that day-specific nonwork goal completion mediated the positive association between daily flextime use and boundary strength at work. However, whereas occasional flextime use had unequivocal positive consequences, chronic flextime use undermined the completion of work goals. Overall, findings suggest that flextime use benefits employees when used in moderation. (PsycINFO Database Record

Positive messages enhance older adults' motivation and recognition memory for physical activity programmes.

Although physical activity is an effective way to cope with ageing-related impairments, few older people are motivated to turn their sedentary lifestyle into an active one. Recent evidence suggests that walking can be more effectively promoted in older adults with positive messages about the benefits of walking than with negative messages about the risks of inactivity. This study examined motivation and memory as the supposed mechanisms underlying the greater effectiveness of positively framed compared to negatively framed messages for promoting activity. Older adults (N = 53, age 60-87 years) were introduced to six physical activity programmes that were randomly paired with either positively framed or negatively framed messages. Participants indicated how motivated they were to participate in each programme by providing ratings on attractiveness, suitability, capability and intention. They also completed surprise free recall and recognition tests. Respondents felt more motivated to participate in physical activity programmes paired with positively framed messages than in those with negatively framed ones. They also had better recognition memory for positively framed than negatively framed messages, and misremembered negatively framed messages to be positively framed. Findings support the notion that socioemotional selectivity theory-a theory of age-related changes in motivation-is a useful basis for health intervention design.