On Fire or Burned Out?: The Role of Self-Monitoring on Burnout in the Workplace

Workplace burnout (i.e., exhaustion, disengagement, lack of professional efficacy) produces turnover which, in turn, increases costs (personnel recruitment, selection, training) for businesses (Maslach et al., 2001). Job demands predict workplace exhaustion whereas job resources predict workplace disengagement (Demerouti et al., 2001). Burnout is also related to individual differences in personality (Alessandri et al., 2018). In the present study, we explore the potential mediating effect of demands and resources on the connection between self-monitoring (Fuglestad & Snyder, 2010; Wilmot et al., 2015) and burnout. Self-monitoring can be conceptualized as either a single, dichotomous variable (Snyder, 1974) or two, continuous variables: protective and acquisitive (Wilmot et al., 2015). Using Amazon’ s Mechanical Turk Participants System (MTurk), we recruited 109 employees from mid- to large-sized companies. Participants completed one measure of self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974), two measures of burnout (Kristensen, Borritz, Villadsen, & Christensen, 2005; Maslach et al., 2001), and one measure of job demands and resources (Bakker, 2014). Demographic variables such as age and sex were also assessed. Mediation was assessed using Hayes’ PROCESS model (Hayes, 2013). No direct relationship between self-monitoring (all types) and burnout was found. An indirect effect -mediated by job resources – was found for univariate as well as acquisitive self-monitoring and burnout . No indirect effects were found for protective self-monitoring and burnout. Results were replicated across both burnout measures. Our findings offer a theoretical and empirical addition to the literature on self-monitoring and the workplace (Day & Schleicher, 2006) as well as workplace burnout (Maslach et al., 2001)

Self-Monitoring and Relationship Commitment: Mediating Effects of Satisfaction, Investment, and Quality of Alternatives

High self-monitors are concerned with social appropriateness, whereas low self-monitors are concerned with self-congruence (Fuglestad & Snyder, 2010; Snyder, 1974). These self-monitoring characteristics are related to the dynamics of close relationships – particularly commitment (Leone & Hall, 2003; Simpson, 1987). Commitment is predicted from relationship satisfaction, investment, and alternatives (Rusbult, Agnew, & Arriaga, 2012). We explored these three variables as mediators of the connection between self-monitoring and commitment. Fifty couples (50 wives, 50 husbands) ages 19 to 72 completed the 18-item Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder & Gangestad, 1986) and the satisfaction, investment, quality of alternatives, and commitment subscales of Rusbult’s Investment Model (Rusbult et al. 2012). Except for spouses’ relationship satisfaction (r=.53), spouses’ self-monitoring (r=.03), commitment (r=.19), investment (r=.03), and alternatives (r=.08) were uncorrelated. We therefore analyzed wives’ and husbands’ data separately. Using a parallel mediation model (Hayes, 2013), there was a reliable indirect effect – mediated by satisfaction – of self-monitoring on commitment for wives (r= -.31). For husbands, there were reliable indirect effects – mediated by satisfaction (r=-.26) and alternatives (r=.31) – of self-monitoring on commitment. For wives and husbands, there were no reliable direct effects of self-monitoring on commitment. These findings extend our understanding of self-monitoring differences in commitment within close relationships. These findings have been replicated with a sample of individuals in romantic relationships. Future directions include examining effects at a dyadic level (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006) as well as assessing protective versus acquisitive forms of self-monitoring (Wilmot, 2015)

"It is Quietly Chaotic. It Confuses Time"*: Final Report of Excavations at the Bordley-Randall Site in Annapolis, Maryland, 1993-1995 (18AP50)

*This extract is from Gay P. Crowther's description of the Randall Court pathway (Cowther 1985).Part of the State Circle Site: http://hdl.handle.net/1903/11004During the summers of 1993, 1994, and 1995, the Archaeology in Annapolis project conducted excavations at the Bordley-Randall site (1 8AP50) in Annapolis, Maryland. The site now consists of the central portion of the block formed by North Street, College Avenue, Prince George Street, Maryland Avenue, and State Circle. The excavations were undertaken as part of the University of Maryland, College Park's Field School in Urban Archaeology and were organized to be support for dissertation research being done by Christopher Matthews of Columbia University. This report provides a background, summary, and interpretation of these archaeological investigations of the Bordley-Randall site. The site was tested in five areas: the Front Yard, the Back Yard, the West Wing Yard, the East Wing Yard, and the interior of the East Wing. The excavations revealed significant deposits from several different periods of occupation. These deposits show the progression of the site from the early Settlement Period in Annapolis through the Modem Period (as defined in Weissman 1986). In many areas of the site the excavations discovered deposits dating to the early 1700s when the site was first occupied and built on by Thomas Bordley. These deposits also helped to date the house and the East Wing to before 1748. Later alterations to the site, dating to the third quarter of the 18th century, were associated with the construction of and use of a terrace around the East Wing. The landscape of the front and rear yards were discovered to have been altered in the mid-19th century by the laying in of an extensive kitchen garden in the rear yard and the building of a park-like garden in the front. These alterations were predominantly defined by fill soils and the definition of garden paths. Later alterations made the city block fully modern as the street front lots were sold off and built over with businesses on Maryland Avenue and residences on the other streets beginning in the 1870s. In the interior, around 1895, an oval-shaped path was built in the front yard to which many of the new residences faced forming an enclosed, semi-private, semi-public space, now known as Randall Court. This space has remained essentially in tact since the early years of the 20th century. The appendices to this report include a transcription of several key historic documents related to the site, the report to the Maryland Humanities Council for funding in support of a public program at the site in 1995, the level and feature reports, and the staff qualifications. The attached diskette has a zipped file of the Bordley-Randall site artifact database

Effects of Sex Stereotypes: Causal & Moral Attributions for Child Physical Abuse

According to Fiske (2018), sex stereotypes are characteristics ascribed to men (e.g., aggressive) and women (e.g., nurturant) as well as boys (tough) and girls (vulnerable. Stereotypes provide a basis for social judgments (Macrae & Quadflieg, 2010). For example, sex stereotypes play a role in individuals’ attitudes about child physical abuse (Leone, Hawkins, & Bright, 2018). We investigated whether these stereotypes played a role in attributions that individuals make about parents and children involved in physical altercations. Participants read scenarios in which mothers or fathers slapped either daughters or sons after those children had been verbally provocative. Participants then indicated whether parents and/or children (a) caused the face-slapping and (b) should be blamed for this behavior. A 2 (mothers vs. fathers) x 2 (daughters vs. sons) ANOVA produced the following effects. Parents were most often seen as the cause of the altercations when parents were fathers and children were daughters (p = .013); both parents were blamed more when children were daughters rather than sons (p = .069). Participants thought boys were more likely than girls to cause these altercations (p = .003); boys and girls were perceived as equally blameworthy (p = .284). In short, these findings are consistent with the stereotypes that (a) girls are weaker than boys, (b) boys are more provocative than girls, and (c) fathers are more aggressive than mothers. Future directions include sampling individuals with children, using other unobtrusive measures of stereotyping (e.g., blood glucose) and identifying moderator variables (e.g., benevolent/hostile sexism)

Did That Just Happen? Sex Differences, Protectiveness, and Perceptions of Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment (SH) is any unwanted sexual advance, request, or verbal/physical sexual behavior. It must explicitly/implicitly affect employment, interfere with work performance, and create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive atmosphere (Quick & McFadyen, 2017). SH can happen to anyone, but more frequently occurs to females and is perpetrated by men (Gibson et al., 2016; Pryor, 1995). Having a good quality friend has been linked to decreased victimization (Kendrick et al., 2012). The current study looks at the interpretation and identification of SH. Based on the literature, the hypotheses are participants will more likely identify SH when (H1) they are female compared to male (Fitzgerald, 1993; Gibson et al., 2016) and (H2) they score high on friendship quality (Kendrick et al., 2012). It is also hypothesized (H3) that male pronouns will be assigned to the perpetrator and female pronouns will be assigned to the target (Pryor, 1995). Participants were recruited from Amazon MTurk. Participants completed a demographic survey, read one of two scenarios, answered 4-5 questions about what they read, and then answered a 7-question friendship quality scale (Bukowski et al., 1994). In these scenarios, the target of harassment was either the participant or participant’s friend. After reading a scenario, participants were asked to (a) provide a summary of the event, (b) give three words to describe it, (c) decide if it is SH, (d) identify the perpetrator’s gender, and (e) identify the friends’ gender (if applicable). Data collection and preliminary analyses are ongoing

Nonverbal Synchrony Between Dyads as a Function of Protective Versus Acquisitive Self-Monitoring

Synchrony is coordinated nonverbal behavior between two individuals (Ramseyer & Tschacher, 2006). Dispositional differences in self-monitoring involves responsivity to others (Fuglestad & Snyder, 2010). Acquisitive self-monitoring entails responsivity for gain social/nonsocial rewards, whereas protective self-monitoring entails responsivity for avoiding social/nonsocial losses (Wilmot, 2015). We explored the connection between self-monitoring and nonverbal synchrony. Pairs of participants had 5-minute conversation on a non-controversial topic to control for the influence of affect on synchrony (Tschacher et al., 2014). We utilized Motion Energy Analysis and Windowed Crossed Correlation software to quantify nonverbal synchrony. Participants completed the 25-item Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1974), and responses were score or protective and acquisitive impression management motives (Wilmot et al, 2017). Dyad self-monitoring was calculated as the product of partners’ self-monitoring scores. Controlling for self-reported partner familiarity, separate regression analyses revealed that protective, β=+.21, p = .048, but not acquisitive, β=+.11, p = .287, self-monitoring reliably predicted nonverbal synchrony. These findings extend the literature on (a) synchrony by identifying individual differences in this process and (b) self-monitoring by illuminating the two-dimensional nature of this individual difference variable. Future research should further extend these literatures by examining moderator (e.g., relationship closeness) and mediating (e.g., state anxiety) variables

Global CNS gene transfer for a childhood neurogenetic enzyme deficiency: Canavan disease.

The neurogenetic prototypic disease on which we chose to test our gene therapy strategy is Canavan disease (CD). CD is an autosomal recessive leukodystrophy associated with spongiform degeneration of the brain. At present the disease is uniformly fatal in affected probands. CD is characterized by mutations in the aspartoacylase (ASPA) gene, resulting in loss of enzyme activity. In this review, recent evidence is summarized on the etiology and possible treatments for CD. In particular, we discuss two gene delivery systems representing recent advances in both viral and liposome technology: a novel cationic liposome-polymer-DNA (LPD) complex, DCChol/DOPE-protamine, as well as recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors

Examining the Neural Activity of Self-Monitoring Using fNIRS

In social psychology, self-monitoring refers to the way in which individuals regulate the manner in which they present themselves to others. High self-monitors are those who are driven to fit in, and strategically adapt their presentation of self to cultivate a specific image of themselves. Low self-monitors are driven more by their personal values and are less likely to adjust their behaviors situationally. One component of self-monitoring is emotional regulation, where high self-monitors are more adept at regulating the presentation of their emotions, (e.g. concealing and faking them), than low self-monitors. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to study how brain activation differs in high and low self-monitors in a self-monitoring task. fNIRS uses two wavelengths of near-infrared light to measure cortical activity by detecting levels of oxygenated hemoglobin. Participants were asked to fill out a self-monitoring questionnaire to determine whether they are high or low self-monitors. Then, while monitoring neural activity with fNIRS, participants viewed a series of positive, neutral, and negative images while completing one of three self-monitoring tasks: inhibiting facial expressions, producing a facial expression consistent with the emotion elicited by the image, and producing an expression inconsistent with the emotion elicited by the image. High self-monitors, being more skilled at emotional regulation, are expected to have an easier time inhibiting facial expressions and producing inconsistent facial expressions in comparison to low self-monitors. We hope to determine the regions of the brain involved with self-monitoring, and to detect any differences between high and low self-monitors while performing this self-monitoring task

Direct and Simultaneous Observation of Ultrafast Electron and Hole Dynamics in Germanium

Understanding excited carrier dynamics in semiconductors is crucial for the development of photovoltaics and efficient photonic devices. However, overlapping spectral features in optical/NIR pump-probe spectroscopy often render assignments of separate electron and hole carrier dynamics ambiguous. Here, ultrafast electron and hole dynamics in germanium nanocrystalline thin films are directly and simultaneously observed by attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (ATAS) in the extreme ultraviolet at the germanium M_{4,5}-edge (~30 eV). We decompose the ATAS spectra into contributions of electronic state blocking and photo-induced band shifts at a carrier density of 8*10^{20}cm^{-3}. Separate electron and hole relaxation times are observed as a function of hot carrier energies. A first order electron and hole decay of ~1 ps suggests a Shockley-Read-Hall recombination mechanism. The simultaneous observation of electrons and holes with ATAS paves the way for investigating few to sub-femtosecond dynamics of both holes and electrons in complex semiconductor materials and across junctions.Comment: Includes Supplementary Informatio