The current study investigates how discrete negative emotions are related to specific facets of counterproductive work behaviors (CWB). The sample consisted of 241 employees who reported their frequency of experiencing negative emotions and their frequency of committing CWBs in the workplace. For 103 employees, supervisor reports of employee CWB were also obtained. The findings provide evidence that a wide range of negative emotions are related to most of the sub facets of CWB. There was also some evidence that supervisor reports differ systematically from employee reports of CWB. The theoretical, methodological, and organizational implications are discussed.

In the current project, I examined the distinct elicitors and behavioral outcomes of anti-gay anger and anti-gay disgust. The CAD triad hypothesis (Rozin, Lower, Imada, & Haidt, 1999) suggests that anger and disgust are elicited by distinct moral violations and cognitive appraisals. A plethora of research has documented the strong link between disgust and sexual prejudice, but very little attention has been given to the role of anger in sexual prejudice. The biocultural framework of stigmatization (Neuberg, Smith, & Asher, 2000) suggests that people who counter-socialize against prevailing social norms are stigmatized by others. If homosexual sexual behavior does not elicit anti-gay anger (Giner-Sorrolla, Bosson, Caswell & Hettinger, 2012), then anti-gay anger might be elicited by promoting positive views of homosexuality. In Study 1, participants were induced to feel anger, disgust, or no emotion and then rated one of two gay male target groups. I expected that cognitive appraisals of morality violation would increase when the emotional state was congruent with the perceived threat posed by the target, but the emotion induction failed to elicit differences in cognitive appraisals. The results of Study 2, collected from a non-student sample, were also inconsistent with my hypothesis. Sexually explicit behavior did not elicit disgust, and behavior which resulted in more tolerant attitudes toward homosexuality failed to elicit anger and harm appraisals. These results suggest that sexual prejudice research requires stricter experimental control than online data collection methods currently allow.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of hostile attribution style (HAS) on the processes linking job stressors and CWB. Self and peer data were collected via online questionnaires from employed participants recruited from undergraduate classes and non-student employees. Using data from 147 dyads of employees and coworkers, the effects of HAS on three areas were examined: the influence of HAS on the appraisal of psychosocial (incivility, interactional justice, and interpersonal conflict) and nonsocial (organizational constraints and workload) stressors; HAS as a moderator of the link between stressors and CWB; and HAS as mediator of the link between CWB and the individual difference variables of negative affectivity (NA), trait anger, and Machiavellianism. Regarding appraisals, HAS was more strongly related to psychosocial stressors than to workload (nonsocial stressor). However, results regarding the comparisons of the HAS-psychosocial stressor correlations with the HAS-organizational constraints (nonsocial stressor) correlations were mixed. Moreover, contrary to what was hypothesized, correlations of HAS with interpersonal constraints and job context constraints were not significantly different in magnitude. HAS was shown to moderate the relationship between CWB and the stressors of interpersonal conflict and organizational constraints. Individuals high on HAS engaged in more CWB when stressors were high, whereas individuals low on HAS engaged in low levels of CWB overall. HAS partially mediated the relationship between NA and CWB, in addition to the relationship between trait anger and CWB. It fully mediated the relationship between Machiavellianism and CWB. The influence of Machiavellianism on the occupational stress process also was explored. It was expected that high Machiavellians would appraise and respond to stressors in a negative fashion. However, contrary to what was expected, Machiavellianism was positively associated with informational justice and negatively related to incivility and CWB. Furthermore, it was negatively associated with NA and HAS. An alternative explanation for the results regarding Machiavellianism was presented. Although all hypotheses regarding the effects of HAS were partially supported, results of this study were generally demonstrative of the merits of including attributional processes (i.e., hostile attribution style) in CWB research within the occupational stress framework.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This dissertation studies models of belief-dependent motivations in three essays.The first essay studies the Koszegi-Rabin model of reference-dependent preferences in a laboratory experiment. The propose a model where the reference point to which consumption outcomes are compared is endogenously determined as a function of lagged, probabilistic beliefs. This paper presents an experiment designed to test some predictions of the Koszegi-Rabin model. The experimental design controls for potential confounds suggested by their theory. The experimental results support their prediction of an endowment effect but do not show the attachment effect predicted by their model.The second essay, coauthored with Martin Dufwenberg and Matt Van Essen, studies how revenge may mitigate the hold-up problem from contract theory. When contracts are incomplete or unenforceable, inefficient levels of investment may occur due to hold-up. If individuals care for negative reciprocity these problems may be reduced, as revenge becomes a credible threat. However, negative reciprocity has this effect only when the investor holds the rights of control of the investment proceeds. We explore this issue analytically, deriving predictions for hold-up games which differ as regards assignment of rights of control. We also test and support these predictions in an experiment.Revenge may be driven by anger. The third essay proposes two belief-dependent models of anger: frustrated anger and anger from blame, which correspond to differing views of the emotion in the psychology literature. Both models build upon the idea that anger occurs when outcomes differ from players expectations. They differ in that anger from blame also incorporates updated beliefs and a notion of other-responsibility. The models are compared with each other and with existing models of negative reciprocity in several examples.

Darbas skirtas Lietuvos vairuotojų agresyvumo ir saviveiksmingumo įvertinimui bei analizei. Tyrimo tikslas: išanalizuoti Lietuvos vairuotojų agresyvumo lygį ir jo sąsajas su saviveiksmingumu. Patogiosios atrankos metodu apklausta buvo 18-74 metų 196 respondentai. Psichologiniam įvetinimui naudotas A.H. Buss’o ir M. Perry „Agresijos klausimynas“, J. L. Deffenbacher’o ir bendraautorių “Vairavimo pykčio skalė”, bei S. George ir kolegų „Adelaidės vairavimo saviveiksmingumo skalė“. Rezultatai atskleidė, kad vairuotojams pasižymintiems aukštesniu agresijos lygiu būdingesnis didesnis pyktis už vairo negu mažiau agresyviems vairuotojams. Taip pat vairuotojai su žemesniu saviveiksmingumu labiau linkę pykti už vairo, negu vairuotojai su aukštesniu saviveiksmingumu. Vertinant lyties skirtumus, vyrai vairuotojai pasižymi aukštesniu agresijos lygiu negu vairuotojos moterys. Moterys vairuotojos nėra labiau linkusios pykti už vairo negu vairuotojai vyrai. Tuo tarpu, vyrų vairuotojų saviveiksmingumas yra aukštesnis negu moterų vairuotojų. Logistinė regresijos analizė nustatė, kad vairuotojų agresyvumas ir žemas saviveiksmingumas didina eismo įvykio tikimybę. / The paper was designed to analize and evaluate the aggressiveness and self- efficacy of Lithuanian drivers. The aim of this study was : to evaluate the level of aggressiveness of Lithuanian drivers and to eveluate the reliationship between self- efficacy and aggressive driving. The data was collected from 196 participants ( 18-74 years old). Buss - Perry Aggression Questionnaire, Deffenbacher and his colleagues’ Driving Anger Scale (DAS) and George and his joint authors’ Adelaide Driving Self-Efficacy Scale (ADSES) were used for psychological evaluations. The results showed that more aggressive drivers tend to express the higher levels of driving anger, than less aggressive drivers. Drivers with lower self- efficacy reported more driving anger than drivers with higher self- efficacy either. The results of sex differences revealed that men are more aggressive drivers than women. Women didn’t express the higher level of driving anger compared with men. The level of driving self- efficacy was higher for men than for women. The Logistic regression found the drivers’ aggressiveness and low self- efficacy to increase the probability to crash involvement.

Anger rumination, or persistently dwelling on feelings of anger, is associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and related features, such as aggressive behavior and cognitive distortions. To develop more effective treatments, it is crucial to understand why individuals with BPD engage in anger rumination despite its negative outcomes. The activation of energy associated with anger, as well as feelings of justification and validation, may be experienced in the short-term as rewarding. This may prevent individuals with BPD from attempting to reduce their rumination. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral methods were utilized to examine this theory in a sample of women diagnosed with BPD (n=13) and healthy controls (n=15). In an initial session, all participants were an administered a diagnostic interview for BPD, as well a series of self-report measures. In a second session, all participants completed an essay-writing task prior to the fMRI scan. All participants were provided with identical, highly critical feedback about their essays from a supposed essay evaluator. In response to this interpersonal provocation, participants with BPD demonstrated higher activation in brain regions associated with self-conscious reactivity to errors (insula, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex). Subsequent directed provocation-focused thought, compared to neutral-focused thought, produced greater activation in regions previously associated with anger rumination (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, lateral orbitofrontal cortex) across groups. As hypothesized, anger rumination, relative to neutral-focused thought, produced greater activation in brain regions associated with reward and pleasure (nucleus accumbens) for the BPD group only. No significant differences were observed for self-focused thought. Following the directed rumination task, participants completed a competitive reaction time task that provides an opportunity for participants to act aggressively, supposedly against their essay evaluator. The BPD group demonstrated significantly higher levels of aggressive behavior; however, no significant group differences emerged in neural functioning during the task. These findings suggest that anger rumination may be positively reinforcing for individuals with BPD, which has implications for treatment approaches.

Two prominent emotions in borderline personality disorder (BPD) are anger and shame. Rumination has been demonstrated to occur in response to shame and to escalate anger, and rumination, particularly anger rumination, has been shown to predict BPD symptoms. The present study examined whether one way that shame leads to the features of BPD is via increased anger and anger rumination. A sample of 823 undergraduates completed self-report measures of global and situational shame, trait- level anger, anger'rumination, and BPD features. A structural equation model was constructed using these measures. The hypothesized model of shame to anger and anger rumination to BPD features was largely supported. Bootstrapping was used to establish significant indirect effects from both forms of shame via anger rumination to BPD features, and from global shame via anger to BPD features. Recognizing this function of anger rumination may be important in developing and practicing interventions to reduce it. Further research into other ways individuals maladaptively respond to shame and functions of anger rumination is recommended.

South African schools are quickly, and progressively, becoming arenas for violent behaviour. These days, schools are no longer considered safe and protected environments where children can go to learn, develop, enjoy themselves, and feel secure. Rather, schools are being defined as unsafe and dangerous settings for teaching and learning, plagued by various forms of school violence (Van Jaarsveld, 2008). According to De Wet (2003), the causes of school violence are numerous and exceptional to each violent incident. Research indicates that most perpetrators of school violence are in the adolescent stage of development (O‟Toole, 2000). Adolescence as a transition stage implies severe changes on both an anatomical and a psychological level, presenting psycho-social adjustment demands that could be too much for certain adolescents and end in dysfunctional adaptive behaviour such as aggression (Louw & Louw, 2007; Sigelman & Rider, 2006). According to Meece and Daniels (2008), there seems to be no single cause for aggression and it is seen as an interaction of the adolescent’s own characteristics, family environment, culture, peer relations and community. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether intra- and inter-psychological factors such as self related well-being, coping self-efficacy, general health and inter-personal relations contribute to manifested anger/hostility/aggression of learners in secondary schools. A quantitative research design of the cross sectional survey type was used to reach the aims of this study. The population included grade nine learners of four secondary schools who fitted the selection criteria. The size of the research group was N=512, which included male (N=217) and female (N=295), African (N=311) and White (N=201) adolescent learners. Quantitative data collection was done by means of the Personal, Home, Social and Formal Relations Questionnaire (PHSF) of Fouché and Grobbelaar (1971), the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE) of Chesney, Neilands, Chambers, Taylor, and Folkman (2006), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) of Goldberg and Hillier (1979) and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) of Buss and Perry (1992). A biographical questionnaire was also included to collect the participants‟ socio-demographic information. The empirical research was described and results reported in two manuscripts intended for publication. Descriptive statistics, reliability and validity of the measuring instruments used, correlations among the operationalized constructs, significance of differences on the scales for subgroups and regression analyses to identify predictors of aggression and moderating variables, were calculated. The results of the study indicated that although means and standard deviations correspond to those reported in literature for the same scales, the participants in this study manifested only moderate levels of the phenomena measured. The reliability and validity of the measuring instruments were mostly acceptable, with a few exceptions. Correlational results indicated that psychological factors have significantly negative relationships with aspects of aggressive behaviour, suggesting that the more psychological wellness and adjustment youth experience, the less they will experience or express aggressive behaviour. Significance of differences on several of the variables investigated was found between the gender and racial sub-groups with moderate to large practical effect. Furthermore, aspects of personal and social adjustment and of coping self-efficacy and mental health, significantly predicted features of aggression in youth who participated. Intra- and inter-personal aspects of psychological adjustment significantly moderated the strength of the relationships between coping self-efficacy and aggression as well as general mental health and aggression. These findings were theoretically expected and could be explained by means of research findings reported in literature and relevant theories. Conclusions and recommendations were discussed. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Lately scientists highlight the necessity of better understanding the subjective side of psychotherapeutic process. The aim of this research was to reveal subjectively important psychotherapeutic changes, significant therapeutic factors, and the transformation of anger expression in psychotherapy. Seven female clients, who had accomplished their long-term therapy course and finished it in 1 – 3-year period, participated in the study. Data were collected using the method of psychotherapeutic story. Participants were asked to tell their psychotherapy story, mentioning what was most important in the process of their psychotherapy. The processing of data was based on the principles of thematic analysis (Braun, Clarke, 2006). The analysis of psychotherapeutic stories revealed a dynamic and miscellaneous picture of the respondents’ therapeutic change, encompassing their direct therapeutic experience, its prehistory, and after-therapy processes. Emotional experiences, the development of interpersonal relationship, awareness of the motivational sphere of needs are mentioned as subjectively important therapeutic changes. Psychotherapeutic stories revealed the importance of change of anger expression in subjective psychotherapeutic experience. Respondents relate psychotherapeutic changes to their own active involvement, the quality of therapeutic relationship, and the dynamics of inner processes. / Pastaraisiais dešimtmečiais pabrėžiama būtinybė tyrinėti psichoterapijos pokyčius bei veiksnius pasitelkiant kokybinius tyrimo metodus, pažvelgti į psichoterapijos procesą per kliento prizmę. Šiame darbe siekiama atskleisti subjektyviai išgyvenamus psichoterapinius pokyčius, su jais siejamus terapinius veiksnius ir pykčio kaitą psichoterapiniame procese. Tyrime dalyvavo septynios moterys, per pastarųjų 1-3 metų laikotarpį baigusios ilgalaikę psichoterapiją. Tyrime buvo pritaikyta nauja interviu struktūruojanti forma – psichoterapinės istorijos pasakojimas. Tiriamųjų buvo prašoma papasakoti savo psichoterapijos istoriją įvardijant tai, kas joms buvo svarbiausia terapijoje. Tyrimo rezultatai buvo analizuojami remiantis teminės analizės metodu (Braun, Clarke, 2006). Psichoterapinių istorijų analizė atskleidė dinamišką ir daugialypį terapinių pokyčių vaizdą, apimantį tiek tiriamųjų tiesioginę terapinę patirtį, tiek jos priešistorę bei po terapijos vykstančius procesus. Subjektyviai išgyvenami terapiniai pokyčiai apima emocinius išgyvenimus, tarpasmeninių santykių kaitą, motyvacinės poreikių srities įsisąmoninimą. Pykčio raiškos kaita subjektyviai patiriama kaip svarbus terapinis pokytis. Kalbėdamos apie terapinius veiksnius, tiriamosios akcentuoja savo aktyvaus indėlio į terapiją svarbą, kalba apie terapinių santykių kokybę, vidinių procesų dinamiką.