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The present study aimed to assess interpersonal gratitude within the context of the Systemic Transactional Model (STM) which viewed stress and coping as a dyadic process. This model posited that the impacts of individuals' stress crossover to the partner causing him/her stress too. Both partners use various positive and negative coping strategies collectively called dyadic coping (DC). Based on the STM, a new form of gratitude i.e., Dyadic Coping Based Gratitude (DC-G) has been defined as an expression of gratitude on the part of the stressed partner in response to the problem-focused and emotion-focused positive DC behaviors of the non-stressed partner in the times of stress. To operationally define the DC-G, Dyadic Coping Based Gratitude Questionnaire (DC-GQ) has been developed that contains 12 items covering two subscales; emotion-focused DC-based gratitude (six items) and problem-focused DC-based gratitude (six items). For the empirical evaluation of DC-GQ, data were collected from the purposively drawn 600 Pakistani married adults (300 men & 300 women) with the men's age (M = 41.59, SD = 10.96) and women's age (M = 37.16, SD = 9.55) who had been in the marital relationship for at least two years. Results demonstrated the factor structure of the DC-GQ to be consistent with the theoretical framework of the STM and DC-GQ is a reliable and valid measure for use with Pakistani married adults. Implications of the study have been discussed within the cultural context of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-sectional study addressed the question of how peer rejection sensitivity may contribute to the relationship between teacher rejection sensitivity and psychological maladjustment among adolescents. Data were collected through Urdu version of Children Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (CRSQ; Shujja et al., 2017) and Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ; Naz & Kausar, 2013) from the conveniently drawn sample including boys (n =140) and girls (n = 160) of 14-18 years. Moderation analysis was carried out and results revealed that peers' angry reaction to ambiguously intentioned rejection positively moderated the relationship between teachers' angry reaction to ambiguously intentioned rejection and psychological maladjustment. It means that that the nature of relationship between teachers' angry reaction to ambiguously intentioned rejection and psychological maladjustment becomes positive when peers' angry reaction to ambiguously intentioned rejection is low. Partially inconsistent with the existing literature, girls were high on peer and teacher rejection sensitivity but low on psychological maladjustment compared to boys. Findings were discussed within indigenous perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated mediating role of social competence between perceived stepmothers' rejection and psychological maladjustment in stepdaughters living in stepfamilies. For this purpose, sample was drawn from different private and public schools of Lahore city through purposive sampling technique. The respondents (N = 141) exclusively belonged to stepmother families and their age ranged from 10-14 years (M = 12.34, SD = 1.01). Stepdaughters perceived their stepmothers less rejecting and showed lower level of psychological maladjustment. Baron and Kenny (1986) approach to test mediation revealed that social competence partially mediated between stepdaughters' perceived stepmother rejection and psychological maladjustment after controlling the effect of demographics. Findings are discussed in cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was conducted to develop a valid and reliable indigenous scale to measure social competence in adolescents. Keeping the cultural specificity of social competence in view, focus groups were conducted with teachers, expert psychologists, and parents. After careful scrutiny of constructs generated through this practice, researchers identified common sub-constructs covering social competence to optimal extent which included conflict management, individuality, self-efficacy, social adaptability, resolving identity crisis, acceptance of social norm. Similarly, behaviours were generated through separate focus groups conduced with school and college teachers, parents, and adolescents. The verbatim obtained from each focus group was transcribed and after eliminating repeated, culturally irrelevant, and age-wise inappropriate behaviours, 73 behaviours were finalized. These were, then, transformed into statements and drafted using response format Never (1), Sometime (2), Often (3) and Always (4). Psychometric properties were determined by administering finalized items pool on conveniently drawn sample (N = 398) from four cites of Punjab. Principle component factor analysis with varimax rotation, provided six exclusive factors i.e., self-efficacy, sociability, adaptability, leadership, selfconfidence and social initiative. Some of them were consistent with empirically generated constructs while others had theoretical relevance. The final scale contained 53 items with statistically derived six exclusive factors with recommended alpha coefficient ranges (.60-.87) (Peterson, 1994), significant inter-correlations of sub-scales with overall social competence, and among sub-scales. These factors have been discussed in terms of significance of the scale and its cultural relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigated relationship between social competence and academic achievement in high and low achievers children. Sample comprised 204 children; 107 high achievers and 97 low achievers from 4th to 8th grades with age ranged of 9 to 13 years. Children's percentage of marks obtained in their final examination of pervious grades was taken as indicator of academic achievement which was taken from school's records. An indigenously developed Social Competence Scale for Children (SCSC) and demographic form were used. Data was collected in small groups of 10-15 students. Results showed that social competence and school systems (public vs private) were significant predictors of academic achievement. High achievers and low achievers showed significant differences on overall social competence. MANOVA showed significant effect of gender for social competence and school types on GPA. Children from government schools were score higher on social competence than children of private schools but lower in overall academic achievement. Both boys and girls of high achievers' group have significant differences on social competence with low achievers' group. Moreover, high achievers and low achievers showed significant difference on social skills, obedience, and antisocial behaviors. The results were discussed in the light of Pakistani cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An indigenous measure namely Social Competence Scale for Children (SCSC) was developed for children with age range of 9-13 years. Specific constructs of social competence were identified with relation to the Pakistani cultural context while using both theoretical and empirical methods. Initially, a pool of 103 items was generated with the help of preexisting literature, experts, university students, parents, teachers and children. Two hundred children; 100 boys and 100 girls were taken from 8 private and government schools in Lahore and Sargodha. Principle component factor analysis provided six factors comprising of 40 items; selection criterion was factor loadings of .35 and above. Factors were listed as Self-control, Empathy and Helping Behavior, Social Skills and Obedience, Antisocial behavior, Assertiveness and Communication. Item analysis and Cronbach’s alpha revealed significantly high internal consistency for SCSC and its 6 subscales. Final SCSC comprised of 40 items; 24 positive and 16 negative statements encompassing social competence. Scoring procedure was devised by analyzing percentile scores, three categories were identified in terms of low, moderate and high social competence to differentiate among groups. The results are discussed in particular to Pakistani socio-cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological adjustment in nurses serving in emergency and non-emergency wards of private and government hospitals. Sample comprised of nurses (N=200) with the age range 20-30 years (M= 25.6, SD=3.4). EQ-i 125 (Bar-On, 1997) and Psychological Adjustment Scale (Sabir, 1999) were administered on designated sample to measure emotional intelligence and psychological adjustment respectively. A demographic form was used to collect data on other variables i.e., wards, hospitals, professional experience. Findings indicated the positive correlation between emotional intelligence and psychological adjustment of nurses. Simple regression analysis indicated that psychological adjustment, hospitals (private/government) and professional experience emerged as significant predictor of EQ while wards (emergency/nonemergency) were neither correlated with other variables of interest nor significantly predicted EQ. In addition, nurses of private hospital were more emotionally intelligent and psychologically adjusted than their counterparts in government hospitals. Nurses with low experience(less than 5 years) were found to be more emotionally intelligent and psychological adjustment compared to nurses with high experience (greater than 5 years). Findings have been discussed with reference to Pakistani cultural and social context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research examined the role of perceived authentic leadership (AL), work overload (job demand), and autonomy on the job (job resource) in strain and motivational paths of the JD-R model. The sample of the present study was recruited through purposive sampling technique and it comprised 500 university teachers from Islamabad and the Punjab province. Decision Authority Subscale of Job Content Questionnaire (Karasek, 1985), Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing, & Peterson, 2008), Quantitative overload subscale of Role Overload Scale (Dekker & Barling, 1995), Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale (Williams & Anderson, 1991), Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator Survey (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter 1996), In-Role Performance Scale (William & Anderson, 1991), and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003) were used in the current research. Findings of structured equation modeling indicated that perceived AL positively predicted job autonomy, in-role performance, work engagement (WE), and extra-job execution, and contrarily anticipated job over-burden and burnout. Employment self-rule decidedly anticipated extra-job execution and WE and adversely anticipated burnout. Burnout was the negative predictor of in-role performance as well as extra-role performance. Burnout suppressed the negative effect of role overload on in-role performance. Job autonomy and role overload mediated the relationships of perceived AL with extra-role performance, burnout, and WE; and burnout mediated the relationships of perceived AL with in-job and extra-job execution. Implications of the results and proposals for future investigations have been reflected upon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current study was to examine predictive relationship pattern between emotional intelligence (EI), and career decision making. Sample of the study comprised of (N = 203) university undergraduates. EI, its facets and career decision making were operationalized through Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (Wong & Law, 2002) and Career Decision Profile (Jones & Lohmann, 1998) respectively. Correlational analysis revealed that emotional intelligence was positively correlated with career decision making. More specifically, the constructs of EI most related to career decision making were examined. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that among EI factors self-emotional appraisal, and utilization of emotions were found significantly correlated with career decision making. Finally linear regression yielded overall EI as significant positive predictor of career decision making. Limitations and suggestions of the current study have been discussed for future research endeavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]