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Veterinarian work may take an emotional toll on practitioners and their mental health, potentially driving premature exit from the profession. Performing animal euthanasia is frequently identified as a potential risk factor for sustainable mental health. Yet, research has demonstrated mixed results between euthanasia performance and detrimental mental health outcomes, suggesting the potential for factors that moderate this association. In this three‐wave longitudinal survey study, including 110 currently practicing veterinarians (88% female), we examined whether the type of empathy experienced by these practitioners plays a role in the association between performing animal euthanasia and career sustainability. Two types of empathy, cognitive empathy (i.e., understanding the affective experience of another) and emotional empathy (i.e., experiencing another's emotional state) were assessed. Job disengagement at 12 months was predicted by the interaction between animal euthanasia frequency in the past 12 months and emotional empathy in the past 6 or 12 months. Perceived resilience at 12 months was predicted by the interaction between animal euthanasia frequency in the past 12 months and emotional empathy a year prior. For these outcomes, the effects of performing animal euthanasia on career sustainability were moderated by emotional empathy. Higher levels of emotional empathy were associated with worse outcomes. Veterinarians may seek to understand the affective experience of the client or patient and provide compassionate care in a sustainable way. However, they should do so while avoiding the costs of emotional empathy. This work has implications for veterinarian training to support career sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research applies self‐determination theory (SDT) to the context of unhealthy eating. The extent to which each of the six types of motivations stemming from the SDT continuum applies to unhealthy eating is examined, as well as the contribution of each motivation for eating unhealthily in predicting psychological well‐being and frequency of unhealthy eating. A three‐wave longitudinal study (N = 379) was conducted before, during, and after the Christmas holidays. Results demonstrated that three types of motivations (i.e., identified, introjected, and external regulation) for unhealthy eating fluctuated over time and peaked during the holidays, a time when unhealthy eating becomes especially salient in Western societies. However, amotivation for unhealthy eating reached its lowest level during the holidays. While identified regulation was associated with greater well‐being, introjected regulation, and amotivation for unhealthy eating were linked with lower well‐being. Integrated regulation was associated with lower well‐being only before and after the holiday period. Finally, the integrated, introjected, external regulations, and amotivation were linked to higher frequency of unhealthy eating. These results confirm that each type of motivation presents distinct patterns of associations with well‐being and actual behavior. Results also demonstrate that the social context in which eating takes place can have an impact on the relationship between motivations and well‐being as well as behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research applies a self-determination theory framework to capture the broad spectrum of reasons why individuals engage in harmful normative behaviors. This correlational study ( N = 242) focused on harmful behaviors that were either supported by one's in-group or not. Participants whose in-group encourages them to engage in a harmful behavior reported stronger motivation, both self-determined and non-self-determined. Perceiving strong in-group norms in favor of these behaviors was associated positively with the non-self-determined motivation pertaining to introjected regulation. The more participants agreed with an in-group norm in favor of a harmful behavior, the stronger their self-determination for engaging in this behavior. Results are discussed in light of self-determination theory, normative models of social influence, and intergroup theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]