A bumpy train ride: a field experiment on insult, honor, and emotional reactions

The present research examined the relationship between adherence to honor norms and emotional reactions after an insult. Participants were 42 Dutch male train travelers, half of whom were insulted by a confederate who bumped into the participant and made a degrading remark. Compared with insulted participants with a weak adherence to honor norms, insulted participants with a strong adherence to honor norms were (a) more angry, (b) less joyful, (c) less fearful, and (d) less resigned. Moreover, insulted participants with a strong adherence to honor norms perceived more anger in subsequent stimuli than not-insulted participants with a strong adherence to these norms. The present findings support a direct relationship among insult, adherence to honor norms, and emotional reactions.     

Collective coping with stress: group reactions to fear, anxiety, and ambiguity.

A review of studies examining the fear-affiliation relationship revealed that none had ever observed groups in interaction while awaiting a fearful event. It was predicted that such groups would, consistent with individual member's previously studied affiliative preferences, spend more time interacting in the service of social comparison needs than would groups facing anxiety or ambiguity. This prediction was strongly supported, and in addition, it was found, as expected, that groups in the fear condition developed a relatively high degree of cohesiveness as measured by intragroup attraction ratings. The implication of these results for the interpretation of the functional relationship between stress and cohesiveness was discussed.     

Sociotechnical systems in health care: a field experiment.

This article describes an intervention that employed sociotechnical systems (STS) analysis in the laboratory of a major health care institution in the Midwest. The analysis was performed on two departments of the laboratory to determine opportunities for improving effectiveness, facilitating the introduction of new technology, and enhancing the work experience of technologists. The authors measured the results of the intervention by conducting a survey of technologists before and after the change effort and through follow-up interviews with a sample of physicians, supervisors, and technologists. The intervention did not achieve the results intended, and the authors present their explanation for why this occurred and suggest implications and recommendations for future STS applications to health care settings.     

Differences, not ratios, control choice in an experimental analogue to foraging

In choice between outcomes with different delays to reinforcement, most theories require that choice be governed by the ratio of the delays, not by the difference between them, a requirement also consistent with Weber's law. Instead, delay-reduction theory and optimal-foraging theory stipulate, under conditions of the present experiments, that the difference between the delays, and not the ratio between them, controls choice. This prediction was assessed using a procedure, widely used in foraging experiments, in which pigeons chose between accepting and rejecting either of two delays when offered. Across conditions, the delays either differed by a constant amount, with the ratio between the delays varying, or differed by changing amounts, with the ratio between the delays constant. In each of six experiments, rate of acceptance of the longer delay depended only on the difference between the two delays and not on the ratio between them, supporting delay-reduction and foraging theory.     

Oxytocin responsivity in mothers of infants: a preliminary study of relationships with blood pressure during laboratory stress and normal ambulatory activity.

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) enhances maternal behavior and decreases blood pressure (BP) and stress responses in animals. Thus, the relationship of OT responsivity to BP in 14 breast- and 11 bottle-feeding mothers of infants was examined. Laboratory BP was assessed during baseline, speech preparation, active speech, and recovery on 2 days, 1 in which baseline and speech were separated by 10 min of baby holding and the other by no baby contact. Systolic BP reactivity to speech was lower after baby contact. Plasma OT change from baseline to speech after baby contact defined OT increase, minimal OT change, and OT decrease groups. OT increase mothers were primarily breast-feeders, and they had lower BP throughout both stress sessions and after baby feeding at home than OT decrease mothers, who also had greater BP reactivity to preparation and recovery. These results suggest that oxytocin has antistress and BP-lowering effects in humans.     

Job seeking, reemployment, and mental health: a randomized field experiment in coping with job loss

Cognitive theories of adherence to difficult courses of action and findings from previous survey research on coping with a major life event--job loss--were used to generate a preventive intervention, tested by a randomized field experiment. The aim was to prevent poor mental health and loss of motivation to seek reemployment among those who continued to be unemployed and to promote high-quality reemployment. Ss were 928 recently unemployed adults from southeastern Michigan, representing a broad range of demographic characteristics; they were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control condition. The experimental intervention included training in job seeking with a problem-solving process emphasizing inoculation against setbacks and positive social reinforcement. A pretest was administered, followed by posttests 1 and 4 months after the experiment. The experimental condition yielded higher quality reemployment in terms of earnings and job satisfaction, and higher motivation among those who continued to be unemployed.     

Applicant reactions to face-to-face and technology-mediated interviews: a field investigation

This field study examined applicant reactions (N = 802) toward face-to-face as compared with technology-mediated interviews (through videoconferencing or by telephone) for 346 organizations. Face-to-face interviews were perceived as more fair and led to higher job acceptance intentions than were videoconferencing and telephone interviews. Perceived interview outcomes were higher with face-to-face and telephone interviews over videoconferencing. Self-monitoring moderated the relationship between interview medium and perceptions of fairness. Specifically, this relationship was (a). positive for face-to-face, (b). negative for telephone, and (c). nonsignificant for videoconferencing interviews. Moreover, the number of offers an applicant received moderated the relationship between interview medium over, and perceived fairness. The relationship between number of offers and perceived fairness was positive for face-to-face and negative for technology-mediated interviews.     

Production workers' reactions to a plant closing: The role of transfer,stress, and support

Abstract

This study investigated the reactions of Canadian unionized production workers following a plant closing announcement. Workers who had been transferred reported significantly greater job security, more trust in the company, greater commitment to the company, and higher job performance than workers who remained at the plant. They also reported less trust in their union than the remaining workers. Perceived supervisor support was positively related to company trust and company commitment and perceived union support was positively associated with union trust and union commitment. High stress appraisal (perceived injustice and job insecurity) was associated with increased strain, lower job performance, reduced trust in the company, and reduced company commitment, but had no significant effect on the union-related outcomes. The implications of these findings for companies and unions are discussed.     

Useful visual field in patients with schizophrenia: a choice reaction time study

This study examined the size of the useful visual field in patients (9 men, 6 women) with schizophrenia. A choice reaction task was conducted, and performances at 2.5, 5, 7, 10, and 25 degrees in both visual fields were measured. Three key findings were shown. First, patients had slower choice reaction times (choice RTs) than normal controls. Second, patients had slower choice RTs in the right visual field than in the left visual field. Third, patients and normal controls showed the same U-shaped choice RT pattern. The first and second findings were consistent with those of other studies. The third finding was a clear indication of the patients' performance in peripheral vision, and a comparison with normal controls suggested that there was no difference in the size of the useful visual field, at least within     

Conscientiousness and reactions to psychological contract breach: a longitudinal field study

The authors examined the role of employee conscientiousness as a moderator of the relationships between psychological contract breach and employee behavioral and attitudinal reactions to the breach. They collected data from 106 newly hired employees within the 1st month of employment (Time 1), 3 months later (Time 2), and 8 months after Time 1 (Time 3) to observe the progression through contract development, breach, and reaction. Results suggest that conscientiousness is a significant moderator for 4 of the 5 contract breach-employee reaction relationships examined (turnover intentions, organizational loyalty, job satisfaction, and 1 of 2 facets of job performance). Specifically, employees who were lower in conscientiousness had more negative reactions to perceived breach with respect to turnover intentions, organizational loyalty, and job satisfaction. In contrast, employees who were higher in conscientiousness reduced their job performance to a greater degree in response to contract breach. Future research directions are discussed.     

Repression-sensitization,gender, and discrepancies in psychobiological reactions to examination stress

Psychobiological responses to examination stress in repressors and sensitizers have rarely been investigated with respect to intraindividual response discrepancies. Furthermore, possible sex differences have rarely been taken into consideration. Therefore the present study investigated if repressors and sensitizers differ in their psychobiological responses to stress and if gender plays a modulating role. 30 and 29 students of both sexes selected from a total group of 96 students were classified as repressors or sensitizers each according to the repression-sensitization-coping-inventory (RSCI, Huwe et al.). State anxiety, heart rate, and cortisol in saliva served as indicators of stress. Sensitizers reported higher state anxiety and showed higher physiological stress responses than repressors. On the intraindividual level sensitizers reported high anxiety as compared to their low cortisol responses whereas repressors reported low anxiety as compared to their high cortisol increases. Gender had no modulating influence on stress responses in repressors and sensitizers.     

Defending and reducing belief in memories: An experimental laboratory analogue

When receiving disconfirmatory social feedback about recollected events, people sometimes defend and sometimes reduce their belief that the event genuinely occurred. To improve estimates of the rates of memory defense and reduction, and of the magnitude of the change in belief in occurrence that results, in the present studies we examined the effect of disconfirmatory social challenges made to correctly recalled memories for actions performed in the lab. Adult participants performed, imagined, or heard action statements and imagined some of the initial actions multiple times. One week later, they completed a source-monitoring test and rated the actions on belief in their occurrence, recollection, visual detail, vividness, and reexperiencing. Four of the correctly recalled performed actions were challenged either prior to making the ratings during the test (Study 1, N = 44) or after making initial ratings after completing the test, following which the ratings were taken again (Study 2, N = 85). Across both studies, challenges were associated with lower belief-in-occurrence and recollection ratings on average than for control items, and belief in occurrence was affected to a greater extent than recollective features. Challenges that occurred during the test produced more instances of defense, whereas challenges that occurred after the test produced more instances of reduction. A closer analysis showed that some participants always defended, some always reduced, and some both defended and reduced belief. Responses to the first challenge positively predicted the responses to subsequent challenges. In addition, the procedure in Study 2 produced a variety of types of nonbelieved memories.     

Loneliness, social support and cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stress

Self-reported or explicit loneliness and social support have been inconsistently associated with cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) to stress. The present study aimed to adapt an implicit measure of loneliness, and use it alongside the measures of explicit loneliness and social support, to investigate their correlations with CVR to laboratory stress. Twenty-five female volunteers aged between 18 and 39 years completed self-reported measures of loneliness and social support, and an Implicit Association Test (IAT) of loneliness. The systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) reactivity indices were measured in response to psychosocial stress induced in the laboratory. Functional support indices of social support were significantly correlated with CVR reactivity to stress. Interestingly, implicit, but not explicit, loneliness was significantly correlated with DBP reactivity after one of the stressors. No associations were found between structural support and CVR indices. Results are discussed in terms of validity of implicit versus explicit measures and possible factors that affect physiological outcomes.     

Social rejection and ADHD in young adults: an analogue experiment

Poor outcomes in ADHD may be related to problematic social functioning and consequences of social rejection. This study examines how ADHD symptom expression affects mood and social rejection. Working from findings in depression that describe maintenance through negative interpersonal interactions, the authors seek to examine this theory's applicability to poor outcomes in ADHD. In a completely randomized design, 130 participants are exposed to one of several videotape segments that include displays of ADHD, depression, and social anxiety. A normal control is also used. All abnormal videotapes are met with greater rejection than the control. Displays of ADHD elicit similar levels of rejection to those elicited by displays of depression. Additionally, ADHD elicits greater levels of hostile mood, whereas depression elicits high levels of depression and fatigue. Implications for an interpersonal theory of vulnerability in ADHD are discussed along with implications for future research, prevention, and intervention.     

Simultaneous multiple stressors in the environment: physiological stress reactions, performance, and stress evaluation

Interactive effects of two environmental stressors when simultaneous ly present, i.e., noise and crowding, were analyzed. Four experimental conditions with two intensities of stress for each stressor (high versus low) were created. The stressors were concurrently introduced in laboratory conditions and their effects analyzed using several methodological approaches. More intense and negative effects were expected when the two highest intensities of noise and crowding concurred. 40 people (20 men and 20 women) participated in a study with a 2 x 2 factorial design. Analysis showed an increase in the measures of hemodynamic, endocrine, and neuroendocrine values of participants after being exposed simultaneously to noise and crowding. Similarly, their performance on complex tasks decreased, and they reported a subjective increase in stress. Capacity to cope was indicated by a statistically significant lower mean on the Dimension of Stress scale, tolerance of frustration during the multiple stress condition.     

Perceived susceptibility and self-protective behavior: a field experiment to encourage home radon testing

Tested in a field experiment (N = 647) the hypothesis that perceptions of personal susceptibility are important in decisions to test one's home for radioactive radon gas. Experimental group subjects received a personal telephone call to tell them they lived in a high-risk area and a personal letter to reinforce the telephone message. After the intervention, experimental subjects were significantly more likely than minimal-treatment subjects to acknowledge the possibility of high radon levels in their homes. Perceptions of susceptibility and illness severity were significantly correlated with orders of radon test kits and with testing intentions. Nevertheless, there were no differences between groups in test orders or intentions. Results are discussed in terms of the difficulty of getting people to acknowledge susceptibility and the factors other than risk perceptions that influence self-protective behavior.