Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Coping With Emotional Labor: An Intervention Study, Adam D. Weaver, Joseph A. Allen, Rebekka Erks Byrne

Psychology Faculty Publications

Purpose

Emotional labor is generally seen as a response to organizational display rules, which seek to guide the employee’s emotional expressions in such a way as to benefit the organization – generally by increasing customer satisfaction and fostering a positive regard for the organization itself. This study aims to investigate the degree to which a workshop intervention providing information about emotional labor and targeting effective coping strategies could have an effect on teachers’ burnout.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of educators in primary and secondary schools, participants completed a pre-intervention survey, the training intervention and a post-intervention survey six months after …

Career Regret: An Analysis Of Physician Assistants, Talia Sierra, Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez, Jennifer Forbes

Psychology Faculty Publications

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify life and career variables that differ between physician assistants (PAs) with and without career regret. The information in this article may be useful to PAs and PA students in their search for a professional environment that is associated with a lower risk of career regret. Methods: A survey was emailed to 5,000 PAs nationally. Aspects of their life and careers were compared between those with career regret and those without. Results: 26.9% of respondents indicated career regret. Differences were found between …

Mindfulness And Acceptance-Based Trainings For Fostering Self-Care And Reducing Stress In Mental Health Professionals: A Systematic Review, Myriam Rudaz, Michael P. Twohig, Clarissa W. Ong, Michael E. Levin

Psychology Faculty Publications

This review summarizes the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to foster self-care and reduce stress in mental health professionals. Twenty-four quantitative articles from PsycInfo and PubMed were identified that focused on mindfulness, self-compassion, psychological flexibility, stress, burnout, or psychological well-being. All MBSR and MBCT studies lacked active control conditions, but some of the ACT studies and one MSC study included an active control. Most studies support evidence that all training programs tend to improve mindfulness and some also self-compassion. In addition, psychological flexibility was measured in …

Grin And Bear It: An Examination Of Volunteers’ Fit With Their Organization, Burnout And Spirituality, Lisa L. Scherer, Joseph A. Allen, Elizabeth R. Harp

Psychology Faculty Publications

Volunteers are an essential asset to the success of nonprofits, government, business and philanthropic organizations. About 64.5 million people, or 26.5% of the U.S. population, volunteered at least once between September 2011 and September 2012, donating a median of 50 hours (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). Despite these encouraging statistics, volunteer turnover presents a significant problem for nonprofits. Though considerable evidence has been amassed on antecedents and mechanisms predicting employees’ intentions to quit, surprisingly few studies have examined volunteer intentions to quit. Based on both Conservation of Resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989, 2001, 2011) and person–organization (PO) fit theory (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, …

The Revolving Door: A Closer Look At Major Factors In Volunteers’ Intention To Quit, Joseph A. Allen, Stephanie L. Meuller

Psychology Faculty Publications

In nonprofit organizations, volunteer coordinators deal with high rates of volunteer turnover due, in part, to increased levels of volunteer burnout. This study sought to identify how burnout can help explain volunteers’ intention to quit and identify two potential antecedents of burnout: voice and role ambiguity. Specifically, it is hypothesized that volunteer voice and role ambiguity affects volunteers’ intention to quit through their relationship with volunteer burnout. Data were obtained from volunteers working in an animal welfare organization in the western United States (N = 151). An online survey was administered to volunteers who responded to a variety of questions …

Identifying And Learning From Exemplary Volunteer Resource Managers: A Look At Best Practices In Managing Volunteer Resources, Amanda M. Backer, Joseph A. Allen, Daniel L. Bonilla

Psychology Faculty Publications

Nonprofit organizations thrive to the extent that their volunteer resource manager follows best practices for hiring, training, and managing volunteers. In an effort to identify some of the best practices in volunteer management, exemplary volunteer resources managers were identified from a consulting outreach program. These managers were then interviewed and the results from these interviews are presented here. Volunteer resource managers shared their best practices for improving volunteer organizational commitment, organizational recognition of volunteers, volunteer satisfaction with communication, volunteer perception of voice, volunteer competence & volunteer contribution, and volunteer burnouts & intentions to quit. In addition to presenting these practices, …

Shouldering A Silent Burden: The Toll Of Dirty Tasks, Benjamin E. Baran, Steven G. Rogelberg, Erika Carello Lopina, Joseph A. Allen, Christiane Spitzmüller, Mindy Bergman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Dirty work involves tasks that are stigmatized owing to characteristics that the public finds disgusting, degrading, or objectionable. Conservation of resources theory suggests such experiences should induce strain and decreased work satisfaction; social identity theory suggests such work should lead to strong psychological investment in the work, among other outcomes. Integrating these two perspectives, this study hypothesizes and presents quantitative evidence from 499 animal-shelter workers, demonstrating how dirty-work engagement relates to higher levels of strain, job involvement, and reluctance to discuss work while negatively influencing work satisfaction. Additionally, this study takes a unique perspective on dirty work by focusing on …

Euthanasia-Related Strain And Coping Strategies In Animal Shelter Employees, Benjamin E. Baran, Joseph A. Allen, Steven G. Rogelberg, Christiane Spitzmüller, Natalie A. Digiacomo, Jennifer B. Webb, Nathan T. Carter, Olga L. Clark, Lisa A. Teeter, Alan G. Walker

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective—To identify and evaluate coping strategies advocated by experienced animal shelter workers who directly engaged in euthanizing animals.

Design—Cross-sectional study.

Sample Population—Animal shelters across the United States in which euthanasia was conducted (5 to 100 employees/shelter).

Procedures—With the assistance of experts associated with the Humane Society of the United States, the authors identified 88 animal shelters throughout the United States in which animal euthanasia was actively conducted and for which contact information regarding the shelter director was available. Staff at 62 animal shelters agreed to participate in the survey. Survey packets were mailed to the 62 …

Dbt, Fap, And Act: How Empirically Oriented Are The New Behavior Therapy Technologies?, S. C. Hayes, Akihiko Masuda, R. Bissett, J. Luoma, L. F. Guerrero

Psychology Faculty Publications

Empirically validated methods for reducing stigma and prejudice toward recipients of behavioral healthcare services are badly needed. In the present study, two packages presented in one day workshops were compared to a biologically oriented Educational Control condition in the alleviation of stigmatizing attitudes in drug abuse counselors. One, Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT), utilized acceptance, defusion, mindfulness, and values methods. The other, Multicultural Training, sensitized participants to group prejudices and biases. Measures of stigma and burnout were taken pre-training, post-training, and after a three month follow-up. Results showed that Multicultural Training had an impact on stigmatizing attitudes and burnout post-intervention …

The Impact Of Acceptance And Commitment Training And Multicultural Training On The Stigmatizing Attitudes And Professional Burnout Of Substance Abuse Counselors, S. C. Hayes, R. Bissett, N. Roget, M. Padilla, B. S. Kohlenberg, G. Fisher, Akihiko Masuda, J. Pistorello, A. K. Rye, K. Berry, R. Niccolls

Psychology Faculty Publications

Empirically validated methods for reducing stigma and prejudice toward recipients of behavioral healthcare services are badly needed. In the present study, two packages presented in one day workshops were compared to a biologically oriented Educational Control condition in the alleviation of stigmatizing attitudes in drug abuse counselors. One, Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT), utilized acceptance, defusion, mindfulness, and values methods. The other, Multicultural Training, sensitized participants to group prejudices and biases. Measures of stigma and burnout were taken pre-training, post-training, and after a three month follow-up. Results showed that Multicultural Training had an impact on stigmatizing attitudes and burnout post-intervention …