Aiming at a Moving Target: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations in the Study of Intraindividual Goal Conflict between Personal Goals

Upward Feedback: Exploring Learner Perspectives on Giving Feedback to their Teachers

Introduction

Feedback from learners is known to be an important motivator for medical teachers, but it can be de-motivating if delivered poorly, leaving teachers frustrated and uncertain. Research has identified challenges learners face in providing upward feedback, but has not explored how challenges influence learners' goals and approaches to giving feedback. This study explored learner perspectives on providing feedback to teachers to advance understanding of how to optimize upward feedback quality.

Methods

We conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 learners from the MD program at the University of British Columbia. Applying an interpretive description methodology, interviews continued until data sufficiency was achieved. Iterative analysis accounted for general trends across seniority, site of training, age and gender as well as individual variations.

Findings

Learners articulated well-intentioned goals in relation to upward feedback (e.g., to encourage effective teaching practices). However, conflicting priorities such as protecting one's image created tensions leading to feedback that was discordant with teaching quality. Several factors, including the number of feedback requests learners face and whether learners think their feedback is meaningful mediated the extent to which upward feedback goals or competing goals were enacted.

Discussion

Our findings offer a nuanced understanding of the complexities that influence learners' approaches to upward feedback when challenges arise. In particular, goal conflicts make it difficult for learners to contribute to teacher support through upward feedback. Efforts to encourage the quality of upward feedback should begin with reducing competition between goals by addressing factors that mediate goal prioritization.

A within-study cross-validation of the values-as-ideals measure: levels of value orientation explain variability in well-being

There is a consensus that values serve as ideal standards that motivate and influence behavior. Previous research concludes that certain universal values promote well-being and others undermine it. In line with the idea that values behave as a dynamic system and do not influence well-being as independent elements, the present findings indicate that all universal values may contribute to well-being. A new measure assessing the degree 10 universal value domains serve as ideals is administered on an online sample (N = 933) from the United Kingdom. Participants completed three well-being measures. Latent Profile Analysis in a within study cross-validation (Sample 1: n = 468, Sample 2: n = 465) replicates three distinct latent value profiles denoting high, moderate and low levels of value orientation. Analysis of Variance shows that the level of value orientation explains differences in average levels of well-being. A high-level of value orientation is associated with higher average levels of well-being compared to a low-level of value orientation. This evidence suggests that the degree values influence well-being depends on the level they represent people's ideals. In conclusion, the type of value pattern and not the type of prioritized values can systematically explain variability in well-being. Implications are discussed.

Study protocol for an adapted personal project analysis to measure vertical inter-goal relations on physical activity and diet

Background

The promotion of multiple healthy lifestyles has been implemented as part of public health efforts to prevent and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases. However, these interventions have shown a heterogeneity in their effectiveness. The pursuit of multiple daily goals may influence overall progress in achieving health goals. Horizontal inter-goal relations can be conflicting (due to time constraints) or facilitating (due to goal compatibility) and impact progress towards goal achievement. Personal values also play an important role in health promotion. Personal values direct attention towards accomplishing a higher-level goal through goal setting. Identifying the conflicting or facilitating relationships between health goals and personal values would provide insights in how individuals value health and the personal values that may support the adoption of a healthy behavior. The health goals that this study will focus on are physical activity and a healthy diet.

Methods

Participants between 18 and 30 years old residing in Belgium and interested in a healthy diet and/or physical activity, will be recruited. The study will be a mixed-methods research study based on an adapted personal project analysis for goal elicitation, goal appraisal, and rating of inter-goal conflicting or facilitating relations on a cross-impact matrix. The main objectives include examining the conflicting and facilitating relations between health goals and personal values. Secondary objectives include: examining correlations between horizontal and vertical goal relations; and the goal self-concordance score as a method of data triangulation of facilitating relations between goals and personal values.

Discussion

This study will provide insights into how the emerging adult population relate healthy behaviors, specifically physical activity and a healthy diet, to their personal values. The degree to which individuals are able to pursue a health goal is also influenced by other life goals, and therefore the conflicting and facilitating relations between health goals and other life goals will also be examined. This study contributes to multiple health behavior change theories and has implications for the formulation of interventions for the promotion of healthy behaviors.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-022-00931-4.

Providers' perspectives on implementing resilience coaching for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic severely exacerbated workplace stress for healthcare workers (HCWs) worldwide. The pandemic also magnified the need for mechanisms to support the psychological wellbeing of HCWs. This study is a qualitative inquiry into the implementation of a HCW support program called Resilience Coaching at a general hospital. Resilience Coaching was delivered by an interdisciplinary team, including: psychiatrists, mental health nurses allied health and a senior bioethicist. The study focuses specifically on the experiences of those who provided the intervention.

Methods

Resilience Coaching was implemented at, an academic hospital in Toronto, Canada in April 2020 and is ongoing. As part of a larger qualitative evaluation, 13 Resilience Coaches were interviewed about their experiences providing psychosocial support to colleagues. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for themes by the research team. Interviews were conducted between February and June 2021.

Results

Coaches were motivated by opportunities to support colleagues and contribute to the overall health system response to COVID-19. Challenges included finding time within busy work schedules, balancing role tensions and working while experiencing burnout.

Conclusions

Hospital-based mental health professionals are well-positioned to support colleagues’ wellness during acute crises and can find this work meaningful, but note important challenges to the role. Paired-coaches and peer support among the coaching group may mitigate some of these challenges. Perspectives from those providing support to HCWs are an important consideration in developing support programs that leverage internal teams.

Teachers Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Goal Conflicts Affect Teaching Motivation Mediated by Basic Need Satisfaction

Teaching is a highly demanding profession that requires handling multiple and potentially contradictory goals. Therefore, it is likely that teachers experience conflict between work-related goals on a daily basis. Intraindividual goal conflict may occur when individuals pursue multiple goals drawing on the same limited resources (resource-based goal conflict), or when two or more goals are incompatible in terms of goal attainment strategy or desired end states (inherent goal conflict). Because goal conflict is typically associated with negative effects such as attenuated motivation and wellbeing, teacher goal conflict may jeopardize teaching motivation. This cross-sectional study investigated the effects of in-service teachers' (N = 302) goal conflicts on their autonomous (intrinsic and identified regulation) and controlled (introjected and extrinsic regulation) teaching motivation and tested the satisfaction of teachers' basic need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness as mediators. In line with our hypotheses, results from structural equation modeling showed that frequently experiencing resource-based goal conflict leads to a lower satisfaction of the basic need for autonomy, which, however, was unrelated to teaching motivation. In contrast, frequently experiencing inherent goal conflict attenuates the satisfaction of the basic need for competence, which, in turn, positively predicted autonomous teaching motivation and negatively predicted extrinsic regulation. As expected, relatedness was not associated with the experience of goal conflict. The discussion focuses on differential effects of the two types of goal conflict on teaching motivation and on the relevance to expand research on teachers' intraindividual goal conflicts.