On the Importance of the Superior's Interpersonal Sensitivity for Good Leadership

This research is aimed at showing that interpersonal sensitivity (being attuned to and correctly inferring another person's thoughts and feelings) is an important aspect of what people expect from a good leader and that interpersonally sensitive leaders have more satisfied subordinates. In the first study, participants indicated how much they expected a good superior to be interpersonally sensitive (among other characteristics). People expect leaders to be interpersonally sensitive more so than subordinates. In the second study, participants interacted in same‐gender dyads as leaders and subordinates. We measured subordinate satisfaction and leader interpersonal sensitivity. More interpersonally sensitive leaders had more satisfied subordinates. Interpersonal sensitivity is important for good leadership: It is expected from leaders, and it contributes to increased subordinate satisfaction.     

Message Derogation and Self‐Distancing Denial: Situational and Dispositional Influences on the Use of Denial to Protect Against a Threatening Message1

Five types of denial to protect against the implications of a personal health threat message (cardiovascular disease or CVD) were examined. Undergraduates (N = 150) were randomly assigned to levels of threat and difficulty, read the message, and completed measures of objective risk for CVD, optimistic denial threat orientation, measures of 1 type of message‐oriented denial (message derogation) and 4 types of self‐oriented denial, and intentions to engage in protective action. High threat and difficulty both provoked message derogation, but low threat led to more self‐oriented denial. Individual differences were evident: Those higher in optimistic denial used more self‐oriented denial and had lower intention to engage in protective actions. Self‐oriented denial mediated the relationship between optimistic denial and behavioral intentions.     

Seeing through your daughter's eyes: Factors associated with maternal meta‐accuracy

Dyadic meta‐accuracy reflects the ability to judge how one is viewed by a relationship partner. Drawing from the attachment literature on parental mentalization, it is tested whether maternal meta‐accuracy is associated with (a) mothers' history of maltreatment or maternal absence during her childhood and (b) observed relational behaviors during an interaction task. Participants included 182 low‐income mother–daughter dyads (adolescent mean age = 15.1). Mothers were modestly accurate in judging how daughters rated their warmth and hostility. Mothers with histories of maltreatment or maternal absence showed less meta‐accuracy, but the nature of their inaccuracies (e.g., self‐enhancement) differed. Differences in maternal meta‐accuracy were also associated with relationship quality as rated by independent observers. The relevance of meta‐accuracy for mentalization‐based interventions with families is discussed.     

Low Subjective Social Status Promotes Ruminative Coping1

Correlational research has shown that lower social standing is associated with poorer health, but it is unknown if this association is causal. Two experiments tested whether randomly assigned low subjective social status would promote ruminative coping, a mechanism leading to the development of poor health outcomes. Participants were college females, split about evenly between Blacks and Whites. Experiment 1 (N = 39) found those imagining themselves at the bottom (vs. top) of a social ladder showed more ruminative coping using rater‐assessed responses. Experiment 2 (N = 42) replicated these results, extended them with a self‐report outcome measure, and demonstrated that negative affect did not mediate between subjective social status and ruminative coping. Across both experiments, race/ethnicity had no effect.     

The long-lasting now: Disorganization in subjective time in long-standing pain

This paper presents a phenomenological-hermeneutical case study on long-standing pain (LP), a public health problem of great importance. Although there has been intensive research interest in this phenomenon, most studies have been based on traditional medical and cognitive-behavioral approaches. Our thesis is that new frames of reference can provide additional heuristic insights.
The phenomenon of LP shows a strong association with existential factors. Our case study focuses on the meaning-structure of lived temporality , a fundamental existential constituent in the lifeworld of the pain patient. A series of in-depth interviews with four subjects showed that lived temporality is disrupted in pain experience, causing a disorganization of the patient's being in the world. The results generate several hypotheses about implications for time estimation in pain experience.     

A Teambuilding Model: Appreciating Differences Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator with Developmental Theory

Effective teambuilding is a critical aspect of management. The concept of appreciation of differences through understanding personality types and female/male developmental theory adds previously unexplored dimensions to teambuilding. The authors present a teambuilding model using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and female/male developmental theory. “And in understanding me you might come to prize my differences from you, and, far from seeking to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences.” (Keirsey & Bates, 1984, p. 1)