[The effect of humor in the workplace on mental/physical health and self-evaluation of job performance].

In this study we aimed to examine the contents of humor in the Japanese workplace and to understand the effects of humor on mental/physical health and self-evaluation of job performance. Japanese workers (N = 436) responded to questionnaires addressing workplace humor, feelings about workplace, workplace communication, mental/physical health, and perceived job performance. An exploratory factor analysis indicated that there are five types of workplace humor: norm-violating humor, experience-sharing humor workplace-enjoying humor, people-recalling humor, and outside-mocking humor. A covariance structural analysis showed that norm-violating humor and workplace-enjoying humor decreased mental and physical health by promoting both negative feelings in the workplace and self-disclosure about the negative side of work. Results also revealed that experience-sharing humor, people-recalling humor, and outside-mocking humor had a positive effect on the self-evaluation of job performance as well as mental and physical health, by promoting both positive feelings and mutual communication in the workplace. Results suggest that humor in the workplace has various influences on workers depending on the type of workplace humor.

[Communication with weak ties and its effect on career reflection].

This study examined the hypothesis that communicating with the weak ties promotes professional self-efficacy and work engagement, which mediates reflection of one's past career. As a preliminary survey, semi-structured interviews were conducted with incumbent employees and analyzed regarding career reflection arising from communication with weak ties. As part of this survey, Japanese employees (n = 340) were asked to respond to questionnaires that measured communication between weak ties, career reflection, professional self-efficacy, and work engagement. Factor analysis of the scores for career reflection extracted four factors: re-evaluation of own work styles, rebuilding of non-work activities, improvement of work autonomy, and evocation of work crisis awareness. Covariance structure analysis indicated that communication about work-related contents and expectations of the future with weak ties promoted the re-evaluation of the employees' own work styles, which was shown to promote professional self-efficacy and work engagement. These results support the original hypothesis and suggest that communicating with weak ties is an important resource for promoting positive change in employees' sense of work.

The positive role of authentic leadership in organizations negatively affected by cognitive diversity.

Workplace diversity has recently gained increasing significance and urgency in business organizations. This promotion may stem from information processing, and specifically from information elaboration. Information elaboration leverages diverse task-related information and skills possessed by members, fostering the exchange of diverse perspectives, elaborate discussions, and achieving high team performance. In this context, cognitive diversity, encompassing members' knowledge, skills, and perspectives, may have a positive impact. However, some previous studies suggest that cognitive diversity can lead to affective conflict and impede information processing. In organizations with highly homogeneous social and cultural backgrounds, cognitive diversity may not be effectively utilized in the information elaboration process, potentially yielding negative effects. Authentic leadership is recognized as a significant contributor to facilitating team processes including information processing, with various studies demonstrating its effectiveness. This study hypothesized that cognitive diversity negatively affects the information elaboration process, while authentic leadership has a positive effect. To test these hypotheses, we employed multilevel structural equation modeling analysis based on data collected from 375 respondents in 90 teams across various industries in Japan. The results showed that cognitive diversity negatively affects information elaboration at the individual level. By contrast, authentic leadership positively affects information elaboration at both individual and team levels. These findings suggest that the effect of cognitive diversity on information processing in the workplace may not always be positive, particularly in a sociocultural context that values homogeneity, as observed in Japanese organizations. This study advances the literature on authentic leadership by validating its effect on information elaboration and provides practical implications for diversity management. Additionally, it underscores the effectiveness of authentic leadership in leveraging team members' cognitive diversity to facilitate information elaboration.

[Determinants of information-seeking about crime and crime prevention: information-seeking on the Internet].

This study explores determinants of information-seeking about crime and crime prevention on the Internet, including how it was influenced by personal conversations with others. An analysis of a web survey of mothers (N = 1,040) of 3-12 years old children in Japan indicated that many mothers briefly saw basic information about crime on the Internet, while only a few mothers sought further details. Structural equation modeling indicated the following results. Overall, an increased frequency of conversations about children's safety with family and friends made mothers realize their own responsibility for crime prevention. It also encouraged mothers to seek more information about crime prevention by increasing their willingness to cooperate with neighbors. However, when individuals' realization of responsibility for crime prevention strengthened their attitudes toward the responsibility of the police and government for crime problems, then these attitudes decreased mothers' information-seeking. Finally, while a heightened frequency of conversations about news contents directly increased information-seeking about crime, such conversations could indirectly weaken mothers' information-seeking when mothers emphasized the responsibility of the police and government.

Social Comparison on Social Media Increases Career Frustration: A Focus on the Mitigating Effect of Companionship.

Social media has become a platform for the daily exchange of information. Although some studies have explored the role and influence of social media on career development, few have examined how daily social media use impacts individuals' perceptions and emotions regarding their careers. The present study examined this issue using two surveys. We predicted that social comparison would mediate the link between social media usage and its psychological impact. Moreover, we hypothesized that the impact would be mitigated by social interactions (companionship). Study 1 (a self-reported survey that included 309 Japanese employees) demonstrated that viewing other users' positive posts about their careers could lead to career frustration through social comparison. Concurrently, this study revealed that daily casual interaction with others reduced career frustration. Study 2 was based on an analysis of 1,254 responses obtained from a 7-day experience sampling method survey. It revealed that viewing other people's career-related posts was associated with upward, downward, and non-directional social comparison. In turn, upward social comparison evoked career frustration at both between- and within-person levels, while downward comparison decreased career frustration at a between-person level. Similar to Study 1, the results of Study 2 indicated that career frustration was mitigated by casual communication with others. Both studies provide evidence that (1) daily social media use affects one's perception and feelings about their career through social comparison, and (2) career frustration evoked through virtual interactions with others is mitigated by casual interactions in a face-to-face setting.

[The influences of interaction during online gaming on sociability and aggression in real life].

This study examined the influences of online gaming on sociability and aggression in real life. It was hypothesized that the effects of online gaming would differ depending on the interaction style of the online-gamers. Online-gamers in Japan (n = 1 477) were asked to respond to questionnaires that measured interaction style during online gaming, the effects of sociability and aggression, as well as social and individual orientation in real life. Factor analysis of the scores for interaction style extracted five factors. Covariance structure analysis indicated that sociable interactions such as "Broadening relations" and "Feeling of belonging" promoted sociability in real life. In addition, "Release from daily hassles" promoted sociability and decreased aggression. In contrast, non-sociable and aggressive interactions decreased sociability and increased aggression. The results also suggested that a social orientation in real life promoted sociable interactions during game playing, while an individual orientation promoted non-sociable and aggressive interactions. These results supported the hypotheses and suggested that online gaming resulted in positive outcomes for those who are socially, but negative outcomes for those who are not.

[The effects of information about crime on mother's anxiety about crime].

This study examined a causal model that the effect of information about crime on risk perception, anxiety about crime, and crime prevention is mediated by the informational content and source. We measured risk perception and anxiety about crime from a social and an individual perspective. A web-based survey was conducted with mothers (N=1040) who have children aged 3-12 years. The results of structural equation modeling indicated the following. (a) Information about crime given by the mass media, Internet, and hearsay increased the risk perception and anxiety about crime through the impact of informational content (i.e., "feeling that crime is close," "emotional fluctuations," "sympathy for the victims," and "remembering a similar crime"). (b) Hearsay information directly controlled optimistic cognitions. (c) Mass media and hearsay information directly promoted crime prevention. (d) Cognition about the deterioration of security advanced cooperative crime prevention in the neighborhood.

COVID Feel Good-An Easy Self-Help Virtual Reality Protocol to Overcome the Psychological Burden of Coronavirus.

BACKGROUND: Living in the time of the COVID-19 means experiencing not only a global health emergency but also extreme psychological stress with potential emotional side effects such as sadness, grief, irritability, and mood swings. Crucially, lockdown and confinement measures isolate people who become the first and the only ones in charge of their own mental health: people are left alone facing a novel and potentially lethal situation, and, at the same time, they need to develop adaptive strategies to face it, at home. In this view, easy-to-use, inexpensive, and scientifically validated self-help solutions aiming to reduce the psychological burden of coronavirus are extremely necessary. AIMS: This pragmatic trial aims to provide the evidence that a weekly self-help virtual reality (VR) protocol can help overcome the psychological burden of the Coronavirus by relieving anxiety, improving well-being, and reinforcing social connectedness. The protocol will be based on the "Secret Garden" 360 VR video online (www.covidfeelgood.com) which simulates a natural environment aiming to promote relaxation and self-reflection. Three hundred sixty-degree or spherical videos allow the user to control the viewing direction. In this way, the user can explore the content from any angle like a panorama and experience presence and immersion. The "Secret Garden" video is combined with daily exercises that are designed to be experienced with another person (not necessarily physically together), to facilitate a process of critical examination and eventual revision of core assumptions and beliefs related to personal identity, relationships, and goals. METHODS: This is a multicentric, pragmatic pilot randomized controlled trial involving individuals who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic and underwent a lockdown and quarantine procedures. The trial is approved by the Ethics Committee of the Istituto Auxologico Italiano. Each research group in all the countries joining the pragmatic trial, aims at enrolling at least 30 individuals in the experimental group experiencing the self-help protocol, and 30 in the control group, over a period of 3 months to verify the feasibility of the intervention. CONCLUSION: The goal of this protocol is for VR to become the "surgical mask" of mental health treatment. Although surgical masks do not provide the wearer with a reliable level of protection against the coronavirus compared with FFP2 or FFP3 masks, surgical masks are very effective in protecting others from the wearer's respiratory emissions. The goal of the VR protocol is the same: not necessarily to solve complex mental health problems but rather to improve well-being and preserve social connectedness through the beneficial social effects generated by positive emotions.