Association of personality and disposional mindfulness with work engagement and performance

Treball Final de Grau en Psicologia. Codi: PS1048. Curs: 2018/2019.Mindfulness is becoming more and more important in the work context. Dispositional mindfulness refers to mindfulness as a personality-like trait and it is clearly associated with work-related variables such as work engagement and performance. This construct is also influenced by personality traits and associated with subjective well-being. The main aim of this study was to explore the relationship between dispositional mindfulness, work-related variables, and happiness in workers of an online marketing company. We also examined the association between subjective well-being and workrelated variables. Our hypotheses were: (1) Dispositional mindfulness scores would be related to work engagement and work performance; (2) the five facets of dispositional mindfulness would be associated with work-related variables; (3) the personality dimensions emotional stability and conscientiousness would be associated with workrelated variables; and (4) subjective well-being would correlate with work engagement and performance. Participants were 73 workers from a group of online marketing companies. The questionnaires used measured personality, dispositional mindfulness, work engagement and performance, and subjective well-being. The results partially confirmed the hypotheses. It was found that work-related variables were associated with mindfulness, especially work performance. In addition, the non-judging facet of dispositional mindfulness and the trait conscientiousness were also related to performance. Finally, happiness was significantly correlated with work-related variables. In conclusion, the non-judging facet of mindfulness and the personality trait conscientiousness are relevant factors in the work context, without forgetting the role of happiness.El mindfulness está adquiriendo cada vez más importancia en el ámbito laboral. El mindfulness disposicional hace referencia al mindfulness como rasgo y está claramente relacionado con variables relacionadas con el trabajo, como el compromiso y desempeño laborales. Este constructo, a su vez, puede verse influido por los rasgos de personalidad y se asocia con el bienestar subjetivo. El objetivo de este estudio fue explorar la relación entre el mindfulness disposicional y variables relacionadas con el trabajo, así como la felicidad en una empresa. Nuestras hipótesis fueron: (1) las puntuaciones de la escala del mindnfulness disposicional estarían asociadas con compromiso y desempeño laborales; (2) las cinco facetas del mindfulness se relacionarían con las dos variables del laborales; (3) las dimensiones de estabilidad emocional y responsabilidad se relacionarían con compromiso y desempeño laborales; y, (4) el bienestar subjetivo estaría relacionado con las variables laborales evaluadas.. La muestra estaba compuesta por 73 trabajadores de una empresa de marketing online. Los cuestionarios usados medían la personalidad, mindfulness disposicional, compromiso y desempeño laborales, y bienestar subjetivo. Los resultados que se obtuvieron confirmaron parcialmente las hipótesis planteadas. De este modo, encontramos que las variables laborales estaban asociadas con el mindfulness, siendo con desempeño la relación más alta. Asimismo, solamente una de las facetas del mindfulness, no juzgar, se asoció con desempeño laboral. En cuanto a las dimensiones de personalidad, la responsabilidad fue la que más se relacionó con las variables del trabajo. Finalmente, la felicidad correlacionaba significativamente con las variables asociadas al trabajo. Se concluyó que el mindfulness y la dimensión responsabilidad son factores importantes a tener en cuenta en el contexto laboral, así como los aspectos positivos como el bienestar subjetivo

Environmental management perspectives of soil fluoride in New Zealand's agricultural soils : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Environmental Management at the Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand

The prolonged use of phosphate (P) fertilisers has inherited an accumulation of F in topsoils and it is considered to be building up in most of New Zealand’s (NZ) agricultural soils. New Zealand research into soil F has been hampered by the lack of a reliable and simple test for soil F. The accuracy of different methods to quantify the presence of F in analytical preparations is dependent on interfering elements such as the aluminium (Al) content of the sample. The conventional methodology of NaOH fusion with an ion-specific electrode method is considered to be time consuming, expensive and very dependent on the abilities of the operating technician, thus it is not ideal for environmental monitoring. To improve the traditional method, an alternative technique to the standard fusion protocol was developed by the Fertilizer & Lime Centre Research (FLRC), Massey University, and that found that simple extraction of soil with dilute sodium hydroxide four molar (NaOH 4M) consistently reported 80% of the total soil F across volcanic soils. The initial FLRC initial work was further examined in this research to confirm the repeatability of the NaOH extraction technique to quantify soil F in a range of NZ soil orders. Also, to assess the relative accuracy of the NaOH extraction technique across different NZ soil orders by comparing different NaOH concentrations. The main aim was to compare different methods and NaOH concentrations to determine total soil F on a representative range of soil orders collected from 13 agricultural sites with a longterm P fertiliser application background. The variability between soils orders was assessed as a function of soil properties. Furthermore, microbiological analyses were performed to assess the impacts of total F, as determined by NaOH extraction method, on soil microbial activity. This study also provides a discussion on the environmental management implications of the emerging F issue in the NZ pastoral land. The total soil F concentration across seven different soil orders ranged between 152 mg F kg-1 and 708 mg F kg-1. The NaOH extraction method showed significant correlation with the alkali fusion/ISE technique (r>0.92). The accuracy of the F determination is very dependent on interfering elements such as Al/Fe oxy-hydroxide content, and NaOH 10M extraction method showed the lowest variation within allophane-rich soils compared to the 4M and 16M extractions. Results suggest that the NaOH 10M method can be used for wide-scale environmental studies and monitoring programmes across a variety of New Zealand soils, particularly for Allophanic soils. A significant correlation was found between dehydrogenase enzyme activity (DHA) and the labile or total Al and Fe content (r>82), whereas the microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) was positively correlated with the non-labile Al and Fe fraction in soils (r>0.89). These findings indicate that these microbial parameters can be used for environmental monitoring programmes. The DHA can be used to assess the effects of the labile F to microorganisms and the Cmic variable could be used as an indicator of the total F effects to livestock

Transport energy consumption in mountainous roads. A comparative case study for internal combustion engines and electric vehicles in Andorra

This paper analyses transport energy consumption of conventional and electric vehicles in mountainous roads. A standard round trip in Andorra has been modelled in order to characterise vehicle dynamics in hilly regions. Two conventional diesel vehicles and their electric-equivalent models have been simulated and their performances have been compared. Six scenarios have been simulated to study the effects of factors such as orography, traffic congestion and driving style. The European fuel consumption and emissions test and Artemis urban driving cycles, representative of European driving cycles, have also been included in the comparative analysis. The results show that road grade has a major impact on fuel economy, although it affects consumption in different levels depending on the technology analysed. Electric vehicles are less affected by this factor as opposed to conventional vehicles, increasing the potential energy savings in a hypothetical electrification of the car fleet. However, electric vehicle range in mountainous terrains is lower compared to that estimated by manufacturers, a fact that could adversely affect a massive adoption of electric cars in the short term.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft