Need for achievement as a vulnerability factor in a politicized work setting

In this paper, I will illustrate the changing nature and complexity of faculty employment in college and university settings. I will use existing higher education research to describe changes in faculty demographics, the escalating demands placed on faculty in the work setting, and challenges that confront professors seeking tenure or administrative advancement. Boyer’s (1990) framework for bringing traditionally marginalized and neglected functions of teaching, service, and community engagement into scholarship is examined as a model for balancing not only teaching, research, and service, but also work with everyday life.

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Why Can’t I Stop Thinking About It?

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185/a000150 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 74 (2) ◽

pp. 75-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Monique C. Pfaltz ◽

Beatrice Mörstedt ◽

Andrea H. Meyer ◽

Frank H. Wilhelm ◽

Joe Kossowsky ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thought Suppression ◽

Positive Association ◽

Repetitive Behaviors ◽

Thought Processes ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Vulnerability Factor ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Order Factor ◽

Maladaptive Thought ◽

Severe Anxiety

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe anxiety disorder characterized by frequent obsessive thoughts and repetitive behaviors. Neuroticism is a vulnerability factor for OCD, yet the mechanisms by which this general vulnerability factor affects the development of OCD-related symptoms are unknown. The present study assessed a hierarchical model of the development of obsessive thoughts that includes neuroticism as a general, higher-order factor, and specific, potentially maladaptive thought processes (thought suppression, worry, and brooding) as second-order factors manifesting in the tendency toward obsessing. A total of 238 participants completed questionnaires assessing the examined constructs. The results of mediator analyses demonstrated the hypothesized relationships: A positive association between neuroticism and obsessing was mediated by thought suppression, worry, and brooding. Independent of the participant’s sex, all three mediators contributed equally and substantially to the association between neuroticism and obsessing. These findings extend earlier research on hierarchical models of anxiety and provide a basis for further refinement of models of the development of obsessive thoughts.

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