Spurious prospective effects between general and domain-specific self-esteem: A reanalysis of a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

A recent meta-analysis, of 38 studies with data from 43 independent samples (total N = 24,668), claimed evidence for positive reciprocal prospective effects, and hence for both top-down and bottom-up processes, between general and domain-specific self-esteem. However, the meta-analytic cross-lagged effects were estimated while adjusting for a prior measurement of the outcome variable and it is known that such adjusted cross-lagged effects may be spurious due to correlations with residuals and regression to the mean. In the present reanalyses, we found all of the prospective effects to be spurious. Consequently, claims about increasing prospective effects and top-down and bottom-up processes between general and domain-specific self-esteem can be questioned. It is important for researchers to be aware of the limitations of cross-lagged panel analyses, and of analyses of correlational data in general, in order not to overinterpret findings.

Self-Esteem and Income Over Time

There is robust evidence that people with higher incomes tend to have higher self-esteem, but little is known about how changes in income and self-esteem are related within individuals. Some theories predict that increased earnings lead to higher self-esteem, others that increased self-esteem leads to higher earnings, and still others that there should be no within-person associations between these variables. We tested these theories in 4-year longitudinal data from more than 4,000 adult participants from a Dutch representative sample. Results indicated significant between-person associations between income and self-esteem, consistent with prior research. Within-person effects suggested that increases in self-esteem are a function of previous increases in income more than the other way around. These links held when analyses controlled for employment status, and they generalized across gender, age, and educational background. Overall, the findings provide evidence for theories that consider self-esteem as both a source and a consequence of personal earnings.

Unmasking artifactual links: A reanalysis reveals No direct causal relationship between self-esteem and quality of social relations

A meta-analysis conducted by Harris and Orth (2020) found positive prospective cross-lagged effects between quality of social relations and self-esteem in included longitudinal studies. Harris and Orth concluded that the link between self-esteem and quality of social relations is reciprocal and characterized by a positive feedback loop. However, meta-analytic effects were estimated while controlling for a prior measurement of the outcome and such effects are known to be susceptible to artifactual (i.e. spurious) effects due to correlations with measurement errors and reversion to mediocrity. We reanalyzed the same data and found paradoxical effects indicating, simultaneously, both increasing and decreasing effects between self-esteem and social relations. These findings suggest that prospective effects between self-esteem and quality of social relations are artifactual rather than due to a true reciprocal effect. Thus, these findings have important theoretical implications and challenge both the risk regulation model, which posits that self-esteem has a causal effect on quality of social relations, and the sociometer theory, which claims that quality of relations is the cause and self-esteem the effect. The present results prompt further investigation into the underlying mechanisms driving these artifactual associations. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of considering methodological limitations in future meta-analyses to improve the accuracy of causal inferences.

Linguistic Analysis for Identifying Depression and Subsequent Suicidal Ideation on Weibo: Machine Learning Approaches

Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses but remains underdiagnosed. Suicide, as a core symptom of depression, urgently needs to be monitored at an early stage, i.e., the suicidal ideation (SI) stage. Depression and subsequent suicidal ideation should be supervised on social media. In this research, we investigated depression and concomitant suicidal ideation by identifying individuals' linguistic characteristics through machine learning approaches. On Weibo, we sampled 487,251 posts from 3196 users from the depression super topic community (DSTC) as the depression group and 357,939 posts from 5167 active users on Weibo as the control group. The results of the logistic regression model showed that the SCLIWC (simplified Chinese version of LIWC) features such as affection, positive emotion, negative emotion, sadness, health, and death significantly predicted depression (Nagelkerke's R2 = 0.64). For model performance: F-measure = 0.78, area under the curve (AUC) = 0.82. The independent samples' t-test showed that SI was significantly different between the depression (0.28 ± 0.5) and control groups (-0.29 ± 0.72) (t = 24.71, p < 0.001). The results of the linear regression model showed that the SCLIWC features, such as social, family, affection, positive emotion, negative emotion, sadness, health, work, achieve, and death, significantly predicted suicidal ideation. The adjusted R2 was 0.42. For model performance, the correlation between the actual SI and predicted SI on the test set was significant (r = 0.65, p < 0.001). The topic modeling results were in accordance with the machine learning results. This study systematically investigated depression and subsequent SI-related linguistic characteristics based on a large-scale Weibo dataset. The findings suggest that analyzing the linguistic characteristics on online depression communities serves as an efficient approach to identify depression and subsequent suicidal ideation, assisting further prevention and intervention.

Holacracy, a modern form of organizational governance predictors for person-organization-fit and job satisfaction

This study compares illegitimate tasks and appreciation in traditional work organisations and holacracy work organisations based in Switzerland and Germany. In addition, the study tests whether the fit between employees and holacracy organisations depends on personality characteristics. Ninety-five employees working in holacratic companies participated in an online survey with standardised questionnaires on illegitimate tasks, Big Five personality dimensions, perceived holacracy satisfaction and person-organisation fit. For the comparison of illegitimate tasks and appreciation, a propensity-matching comparison group of people working in traditional companies was used. The results revealed significantly lower illegitimate tasks t(53) = -2.04, p < 0.05, with a lower level (2.49) in holacracy than in traditional work (2.78). Concerning appreciation, the results showed significantly higher values for holacratic (5.33) than for traditional work [4.14, t(53) = 4.86, p < 0.001]. Multiple linear regression of holacracy satisfaction on personality dimensions showed neuroticism (b = -4.72, p = 0.006) as a significant predictor. Agreeableness showed marginally significant results (b = 2.39, p = 0.06). This indicates that people scoring low on neuroticism and high in agreeableness may thrive better in holacracy organisations. Based on the results, theoretical and practical implications as for example implications for corporates hiring strategy, are discussed. Finally, this study presents numerous directions for future research.

The Influence of Physical Activities on Job Satisfaction: Mediating Role of Self-efficacy, Self-esteem and Moderating Role of Stress Management

Objectives: Job satisfaction has been an essential element for the success of any organization, which has drawn the attention of several recent studies and policymakers. The aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of physical activities, self-efficacy and self-esteem on job satisfaction in manufacturing companies in Vietnam. The mediating impact of self-efficacy and self-esteem among physical activities and job satisfaction was also investigated. As a novel element, the study also examined the moderating impact of stress management among physical activities and job satisfaction in manufacturing companies in Vietnam. Methods: The study used survey questionnaires to gather the primary data from the selected employees of leading manufacturing companies of Vietnam. Using the PLS-SEM and Smart-PLS packages, the study analyzed the linkages among all variables. Results: The results revealed that physical activities, self-efficacy and self-esteem have a positive linkage with job satisfaction in manufacturing companies in Vietnam. The findings also exposed that self-efficacy and self-esteem significantly mediate among physical activities and job satisfaction. Conclusion: The findings also expressed that stress management significantly moderated between physical activities and job satisfaction. These findings will provide useful guidance and assistance to the strategists and policy makers to design policies related to job satisfaction using self-efficacy, stress management and self-esteem.

The Role of Perceived Social Support and Stress in the Relationship between Hope and Depression among Chinese Shadow Education Tutors: A Serial Mediation Model

The association between hope and depression has been studied, leaving the underlying mechanism of how hope might predict depression unexplored. With a cross-sectional design, this study investigated two possible mediating factors in the relationship between hope and depression among Chinese shadow education tutors, who confront a high turnover rate and are at high risk for depression. Altogether, 221 tutors participated in the survey, and reported their dispositional hope, perceived social support (PSS), perceived stress (PS), and depression. Results indicated that both PSS and PS mediated the relationship between hope and depression. Results also supported the hypothesized serial mediating effect. In other words, hope as a positive disposition may promote PSS, which can mitigate PS. The reduced PS, in turn, alleviates depression. This finding not only shed light on the independent and accumulative mediating effects of PSS and PS, but also has implications for preventive interventions among Chinese shadow education tutors experiencing the enormous pressure of instability. This serial mediation model should be confirmed by further longitudinal study.