Professor in Social and Work Psychology Phone: 00352 466644 6644 Address: University of Luxembourg Campus Belval MSH 11, Porte des Sciences L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette
Anger and aggression are seen as interdependent aspects of human experience, standing in a narrow... more Anger and aggression are seen as interdependent aspects of human experience, standing in a narrow interrelation. Therefore, one often finds psychological anger intervention programs with the explicit purpose of directly or indirectly changing aggressive behavior. Furthermore, there is a multiplicity of trainings for the reduction of aggression in which the intention is to reduce aggression by changing the experience or regulation of anger. Some researchers place importance on the proximity and potential overlapping variance of these constructs when expanding theoretical models regarding anger and aggression. On the other hand, some investigators allude to evident differences in the experience and expression of anger and aggression, from which diverse paths to establish changes in these different constructs would be expected. Therefore, a basic question stemming from these different findings and approaches is whether anger treatment necessarily reduces aggressive behavior. As a first step towards answering this question, the notions of anger and aggression will be defined and differentiated in this review. Furthermore, the theoretical relationship between these two concepts will be thoroughly investigated. We will subsequently highlight different approaches for modifying anger processes on the one hand and aggressive behavior on the other. With reference to findings of comparative and meta-analytic studies, the specific effectiveness of intervention programs regarding anger is characterized. A summary of specific indication criteria and target groups also is presented. This article will then be concluded with a summary of principles for anger treatments that should be considered for reduction of aggressive behavior
Child poverty features on the agenda of the European Union (EU) since many years. In 2013, a Reco... more Child poverty features on the agenda of the European Union (EU) since many years. In 2013, a Recommendation on “Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage” argued that “preventing the transmission of disadvantage across generations is a crucial investment in Europe’s future” (European Commission, 2013). Most recently, the Recommendation on the European Child Guarantee proposed by the European Commission in March 2021 confirmed the importance of the fight against child poverty at the EU level.In terms of the monitoring of child poverty, the EU made a step forward in March 2018 by adopting a child-specific deprivation indicator. This allowed to go beyond the simple age group breakdowns of social indicators to monitor children’s living conditions and to capture the actual living conditions of children, which may differ from that of their parents.This chapter analyses the determinants of child deprivation in Luxembourg, using this new child deprivation indicator adopted a...
Im Rahmen einer Informationsveranstaltung des arbeitsmedizinischen Dienstes des luxemburger Finan... more Im Rahmen einer Informationsveranstaltung des arbeitsmedizinischen Dienstes des luxemburger Finanzdienstleistungssektors wurden 29 Bankangestellte, die Opfer von Überfällen waren, hinsichtlich posttraumatischer Belastungsreaktionen untersucht. Ziel des Beitrages ist es, ein ökonomischen und rationelles Verfahren zur Diagnose der „Posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung“ vorzustellen. Die Diagnosen ergaben, dass über ein Drittel der Befragten (34,5%) als hoch belastet anzusehen sind. Diejenigen, die mehr als einen Banküberfall miterlebt haben, weisen dabei im Durchschnitt eine höhere Zahl an posttraumatischen Symptomen auf. Eine hohe Komorbidität der PTBS mit Somatisierungs- und Angstreaktionen ist ebenfalls zu verzeichnen. Die Befunde belegen zudem, dass der auf Grundlage des „Diagnostischen Interviews bei Psychischen Störungen“ entwickelte Diagnose-Fragebogen sich als nützliches sowie aussagekräftiges Verfahren erweist. Weitergehende Analysen und Erprobungen sind jedoch erforderlich. Aufgrund der Ergebnisse der Untersuchung wurde für den luxemburgischen Bankensektor ein umfassendes Präventionsprogramm zu PTBS etabliert
Workplace bullying (WB) is a serious phenomenon that has serious detrimental effects on victim’s ... more Workplace bullying (WB) is a serious phenomenon that has serious detrimental effects on victim’s health, attitudes, and work-related behavior (Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012). WB is seen as an escalated conflict, where both parties engage in increasing overt acts of aggression (e.g., Einarsen et al., 2011). This perspective is supported by one of the most robust finding in WB and aggression literature, the association between experienced workplace aggression and enacting in workplace aggression (e.g., Baillien et al., 2016). However, there are only a few studies that have researched the mechanism between these phenomena (Samnani & Singh 2012). Self-determination theory (SDT) might explain this link. As need frustration is linked to less self-control (Vansteenkiste & Ryan, 2012), the frustration of the need for relatedness might also lead to increased aggressive behavior. Drawing on SDT, we propose that bullying exposure thwarts employee’s need for relatedness that increase aggressive behavior. Thus, the aim of our study was to test this mediation in a longitudinal design with short time intervals (i.e. monthly). A six-wave online survey design with monthly time lag was employed and data were collected among U.S. employees. The sample consists of 1,595 respondents (55.8% females, n=890, ageM = 36.9, ageSD =10.3). Workplace bullying exposure was assessed with the S-NAQ (Notelaers et al., 2018). Being a perpetrator of bullying was measured by the same nine items of the S-NAQ, however, formulated in an active manner (e.g., Baillien et al., 2011). Finally, frustration of the need for relatedness was assessed with the Psychological Needs Thwarting Scale (Bartholomew et al., 2011). Cross-lagged mediation analysis within a path modeling framework only partially confirmed the proposed model: WB exposure was significantly related to a change in frustration of relatedness. However, frustration of relatedness did (most of the time) not increase WB perpetration, but WB exposure. These longitudinal findings underline the vicious circle nature of WB exposure
Anger and aggression are seen as interdependent aspects of human experience, standing in a narrow... more Anger and aggression are seen as interdependent aspects of human experience, standing in a narrow interrelation. Therefore, one often finds psychological anger intervention programs with the explicit purpose of directly or indirectly changing aggressive behavior. Furthermore, there is a multiplicity of trainings for the reduction of aggression in which the intention is to reduce aggression by changing the experience or regulation of anger. Some researchers place importance on the proximity and potential overlapping variance of these constructs when expanding theoretical models regarding anger and aggression. On the other hand, some investigators allude to evident differences in the experience and expression of anger and aggression, from which diverse paths to establish changes in these different constructs would be expected. Therefore, a basic question stemming from these different findings and approaches is whether anger treatment necessarily reduces aggressive behavior. As a first step towards answering this question, the notions of anger and aggression will be defined and differentiated in this review. Furthermore, the theoretical relationship between these two concepts will be thoroughly investigated. We will subsequently highlight different approaches for modifying anger processes on the one hand and aggressive behavior on the other. With reference to findings of comparative and meta-analytic studies, the specific effectiveness of intervention programs regarding anger is characterized. A summary of specific indication criteria and target groups also is presented. This article will then be concluded with a summary of principles for anger treatments that should be considered for reduction of aggressive behavior
Child poverty features on the agenda of the European Union (EU) since many years. In 2013, a Reco... more Child poverty features on the agenda of the European Union (EU) since many years. In 2013, a Recommendation on “Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage” argued that “preventing the transmission of disadvantage across generations is a crucial investment in Europe’s future” (European Commission, 2013). Most recently, the Recommendation on the European Child Guarantee proposed by the European Commission in March 2021 confirmed the importance of the fight against child poverty at the EU level.In terms of the monitoring of child poverty, the EU made a step forward in March 2018 by adopting a child-specific deprivation indicator. This allowed to go beyond the simple age group breakdowns of social indicators to monitor children’s living conditions and to capture the actual living conditions of children, which may differ from that of their parents.This chapter analyses the determinants of child deprivation in Luxembourg, using this new child deprivation indicator adopted a...
Im Rahmen einer Informationsveranstaltung des arbeitsmedizinischen Dienstes des luxemburger Finan... more Im Rahmen einer Informationsveranstaltung des arbeitsmedizinischen Dienstes des luxemburger Finanzdienstleistungssektors wurden 29 Bankangestellte, die Opfer von Überfällen waren, hinsichtlich posttraumatischer Belastungsreaktionen untersucht. Ziel des Beitrages ist es, ein ökonomischen und rationelles Verfahren zur Diagnose der „Posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung“ vorzustellen. Die Diagnosen ergaben, dass über ein Drittel der Befragten (34,5%) als hoch belastet anzusehen sind. Diejenigen, die mehr als einen Banküberfall miterlebt haben, weisen dabei im Durchschnitt eine höhere Zahl an posttraumatischen Symptomen auf. Eine hohe Komorbidität der PTBS mit Somatisierungs- und Angstreaktionen ist ebenfalls zu verzeichnen. Die Befunde belegen zudem, dass der auf Grundlage des „Diagnostischen Interviews bei Psychischen Störungen“ entwickelte Diagnose-Fragebogen sich als nützliches sowie aussagekräftiges Verfahren erweist. Weitergehende Analysen und Erprobungen sind jedoch erforderlich. Aufgrund der Ergebnisse der Untersuchung wurde für den luxemburgischen Bankensektor ein umfassendes Präventionsprogramm zu PTBS etabliert
Workplace bullying (WB) is a serious phenomenon that has serious detrimental effects on victim’s ... more Workplace bullying (WB) is a serious phenomenon that has serious detrimental effects on victim’s health, attitudes, and work-related behavior (Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012). WB is seen as an escalated conflict, where both parties engage in increasing overt acts of aggression (e.g., Einarsen et al., 2011). This perspective is supported by one of the most robust finding in WB and aggression literature, the association between experienced workplace aggression and enacting in workplace aggression (e.g., Baillien et al., 2016). However, there are only a few studies that have researched the mechanism between these phenomena (Samnani & Singh 2012). Self-determination theory (SDT) might explain this link. As need frustration is linked to less self-control (Vansteenkiste & Ryan, 2012), the frustration of the need for relatedness might also lead to increased aggressive behavior. Drawing on SDT, we propose that bullying exposure thwarts employee’s need for relatedness that increase aggressive behavior. Thus, the aim of our study was to test this mediation in a longitudinal design with short time intervals (i.e. monthly). A six-wave online survey design with monthly time lag was employed and data were collected among U.S. employees. The sample consists of 1,595 respondents (55.8% females, n=890, ageM = 36.9, ageSD =10.3). Workplace bullying exposure was assessed with the S-NAQ (Notelaers et al., 2018). Being a perpetrator of bullying was measured by the same nine items of the S-NAQ, however, formulated in an active manner (e.g., Baillien et al., 2011). Finally, frustration of the need for relatedness was assessed with the Psychological Needs Thwarting Scale (Bartholomew et al., 2011). Cross-lagged mediation analysis within a path modeling framework only partially confirmed the proposed model: WB exposure was significantly related to a change in frustration of relatedness. However, frustration of relatedness did (most of the time) not increase WB perpetration, but WB exposure. These longitudinal findings underline the vicious circle nature of WB exposure
This report updates and deepens the understanding of cross-national differences among the countri... more This report updates and deepens the understanding of cross-national differences among the countries surveyed in EU Kids Online. It examines the range and type of online opportunities, risks and harm experienced by the children in each country. It also takes into account the ways in which parents mediate or regulate their children’s internet use in each country. Clusters of countries are most clearly distinguished in terms of sexual content risks. Children who are bullied or who give away personal data are uniformly distributed across the countries. Using these and many other factors, the report identifies four country clusters overall: unprotected networkers, protected by restrictions, semi supported risky gamers, and supported risky explorers. This new analysis reveals that differences within countries are substantially larger than differences between countries, whether measured in terms of online opportunities, risk of harm or forms of parental mediation. The advantage of such pan-European similarities is that it makes sense for policy makers in one country to learn from the best practice initiated in another.
Few empirical studies in higher education consider the importance of the physical environment on ... more Few empirical studies in higher education consider the importance of the physical environment on students' satisfaction with the learning environment. The present study first examined the effects of a move to a new campus on students' satisfaction with the physical and learning environments. Then, it examined how students' satisfaction with a physical environment affects students' satisfaction with the learning environment. It was hypothesised that the move to a new and modern university campus with better study facilities would increase students' satisfaction both with the physical and learning environment, and that these two would be linked. Results contained 771 students' assessments of the Bachelor Evaluation Questionnaire, which included students' satisfaction with five aspects of their learning environment as well as five items assessing satisfaction with the physical environment. Findings showed that students were overall more satisfied with the physical environment in the new campus than in the old campus. These differences were even greater when comparing only students in their last study year than students of all study years. Furthermore, results showed that students' satisfaction with lecturers and teaching was predicted by increased satisfaction with classrooms. The implications of these findings for the need to design physical learning environments are discussed.
Uploads
Papers by Georges Steffgen
Online. It examines the range and type of online opportunities, risks and harm experienced by the children in each country. It also takes into account the ways in which parents mediate or
regulate their children’s internet use in each country.
Clusters of countries are most clearly distinguished in terms of sexual content risks. Children who are bullied or who give away personal data are uniformly distributed across the countries. Using these and many other factors, the report identifies four country clusters overall: unprotected networkers, protected by restrictions, semi supported risky gamers, and supported risky explorers.
This new analysis reveals that differences within countries are substantially larger than differences between countries, whether measured in terms of online opportunities, risk of harm or forms of parental mediation. The advantage of such pan-European similarities is that it makes sense for policy makers in one country to learn from the best practice initiated
in another.