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The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore working men's perspectives about sleep health and the intersecting influences of gender and work, describing participant's views on current and potential programming and organizational support to promote sleep health. Twenty men employed in male-dominated industries in the north-central region of Alberta, Canada, participated in 4 consultation group discussions addressing motivators, facilitators and barriers to sleep health. Participants reported sleeping an average of 6.36 (SD ±1.1) hours per night, and the majority worked more than 40 hours per week. Data were analyzed using an inductive approach. The findings provided important insights. In normalizing sleep deprivation and prioritizing the need to "just keep going" on six or less hours of sleep, the men subscribed to masculine ideals related to workplace perseverance, stamina and resilience. Workplace cultures and practices were implicated including normative dimensions of overtime and high productivity and output, amid masculine cultures constraining emotions and conversations about sleep, the sum of which muted avenues for discussing, let alone promoting sleep. Challenges to good sleep were primarily constructed around time constraints, and worry about meeting work and home responsibilities. Men's preferences for workplace support included providing and incentivizing the use of sleep health resources, designing work for sleep health (e.g., shift schedules, overtime policies) and getting advice from experienced coworkers and experts external to the workplace organization. These findings hold potential for informing future gender-sensitive programming and organizational practices to support sleep health among working men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examined the relationships among identity, emotional intelligence, and intimacy. Participants were 325 emerging adults (69% women) who completed measures of identity processing styles (informational, normative, and diffuse-avoidant), identity commitment, and intimacy. A subsample (n = 174) completed the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. The informational and normative identity styles were positively related to intimacy, whereas the diffuse-avoidant identity style was inversely related to intimacy. The informational style was positively related to emotional intelligence, and the diffuse-avoidant style was inversely related to emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence was also positively related to intimacy. Mediation analyses revealed that emotional intelligence mediates the relationships between identity processing and intimacy for the informational (partial mediation) and diffuse-avoidant (full mediation) styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of relationships between identity processing styles and a range of beneficial and problematic coping strategies. Participants completed self-report measures of identity styles (informational, normative, and diffuse-avoidant), identity commitment, and 15 different coping strategies. The diffuse-avoidant style was positively associated with denial, disengagement, and substance use, and it was also positively related to humor. The normative and informational styles were positively correlated with active coping, planning, restraint, seeking social support, and turning to religion; however, the informational style was more highly correlated with all of these coping strategies except turning to religion. The informational style was the only identity style that was positively related to acceptance and positive reinterpretation and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationships among identity processing styles, defense styles, and life distress were examined in a sample of 276 emerging adults (M = 19.71 years). Respondents completed the Identity Style Inventory, Revised; the Defense Style Questionnaire; and the Life Distress Inventory. Correlations and structural equation analyses revealed that the informational identity style was positively related to the mature defense style, all three identity styles were positively related to the neurotic defense style, and the diffuse-avoidant identity style was positively related to the immature defense style. Mediation analyses revealed that the positive relationship between the diffuse-avoidant style and life distress was mediated by the immature defense style. The results suggest potential implications of the diffuse-avoidant style for maladjustment through the use of immature defenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of differences in proactive, adaptive forms of positive adjustment as a function of identity processing style. Three hundred undergraduate students (98 men, 202 women) completed self-report measures of identity styles (informational, normative, diffuse-avoidant), identity commitment, curiosity/exploration, proactive coping, and emotional intelligence. All three identity styles and identity commitment were found to be related to curiosity/exploration, proactive coping, and emotional intelligence. These relationships were positive with identity commitment and the informational and normative styles. When the overlapping variance accounted for by identity commitment was controlled via hierarchical regression, all three identity styles significantly predicted emotional intelligence, with positive predictions from the normative and informational styles. However, only the informational identity style made a unique positive contribution to curiosity/exploration and to proactive coping. These results are discussed in terms of the role of identity processing style in positive adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]