Retraction statement: Judging the unexpected: Disconfirmation of situation‐specific expectancies

The following article from European Journal of Social Psychology, “Judging the unexpected: Disconfirmation of situation‐specific expectancies” by Marret K. Noordewier and Diederik A. Stapel published online on 1 January 2009 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the co‐author, the journal Editor in Chief, Tom Postmes, and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed following the results of an investigation into the work of Diederik A. Stapel ( https://www.commissielevelt.nl/ ). The Levelt Committee has determined that this article contained data that was fabricated as supplied by Diederik A. Stapel. His co‐author was unaware of his actions, and not in any way involved. REFERENCE Noordewier, M. K. & Stapel, D. A. (2009). Judging the unexpected: Disconfirmation of situation‐specific expectancies. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 944–956. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.591     

Expectancy‐effects without expectancies: Illusory correlations based on cue‐overlap

Expectancy‐based illusory correlations have been observed in numerous experiments. Simulations using the connectionist computer model BIAS (Fiedler, 1996 ) show that such illusory correlations may not always reflect expectancy biases but influences of similarity via cue‐overlap. Cue‐overlap means that some of the probabilistic cues that indicate the presence of one variable are also indicative of another variable. In an experiment, participants learned two novel concepts pertaining to a fictitious painter and a fictitious artistic style in separate runs. Both concepts were defined by multiple probabilistic cues observable in paintings. For half the participants, the cue systems underlying the perception of the two concepts overlapped, whereas for the other half they did not. In addition, we manipulated whether or not participants expected a positive contingency between artist and artistic style. In the second part of the experiment, a series of paintings was presented that constituted an objective zero correlation between artist and artistic style. Participants' subsequent contingency judgments were assessed by direct and indirect measures. Data analyses revealed main effects for expectancy induction and cue‐overlap but no interaction on the direct measure and nearly identical results on the indirect measure. Thus, cue‐overlap and expectancy induction independently triggered the development of illusory correlations. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Generalized and specific expectancies: Sequential mediators of interpersonal behavior1

Two experiments confirmed sequential mediation of social interaction by investigating the effects of generalized expectancies on specific expectancies and the effects of specific expectancies on performance. Both experiments used a simulated tutoring task in which the subject took the role of tutor while a confederate took the role of student. In Experiment 1 subjects combined generalized expectancies about the effectiveness of certain tutoring responses with specific situational information to produce specific expectancies about the results of the tutoring responses under the experimental circumstances. Experiment 2 replicated this finding and showed that specific expectancies of the relative effectiveness of different responses influenced which response was performed more. Results were discussed in terms of cognitive motivation theory and social learning theory.     

Judging Knowledge in the Digital Age: The Role of External‐Memory Organization

Two studies examined relations between features of external‐memory repositories (personal computers) and confidence in knowing. Participants judged their confidence in knowledge related to their work or studies and then answered questions about the way they store and use information. Participants who maintained more organized repositories were more confident in their knowledge. Furthermore, moderation analyses showed that the participants who navigated through their files by manually clicking through folders to find documents, but not those who use an automated search feature, felt more knowledge confident if they maintained a well‐organized electronic repository. These results provide evidence for relation between assessments of internally ‘stored’ knowledge and the degree of organization of their externally stored ‘knowledge.’ Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Linking Service Climate and Disconfirmation of Expectations as Predictors of Customer Satisfaction: A Cross‐Level Study1

Research addressing customer satisfaction has not been conducted within an integrated framework. Two approaches have been developed separately with different levels of construct and analysis: organizational behavior and consumer behavior. Our research study provides an initial step in developing integrative strategies with the joint consideration of service climate and disconfirmation of expectations. We link these 2 concepts to customer satisfaction with services, using a cross‐level approach. Data from 105 work units and 1,033 customers confirmed the existence of a dual corridor of relationships, with independent and significant links from disconfirmation and service climate to customer satisfaction. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Children's utilization of emotion expectancies in moral decision‐making

This study investigated the relevance of emotion expectancies for children's moral decision‐making. The sample included 131 participants from three different grade levels (M = 8.39 years, SD = 2.45, range 4.58–12.42). Participants were presented a set of scenarios that described various emotional outcomes of (im)moral actions and asked to decide what they would do if they were in the protagonists' shoes. Overall, it was found that the anticipation of moral emotions predicted an increased likelihood of moral choices in antisocial and prosocial contexts. In younger children, anticipated moral emotions predicted moral choice for prosocial actions, but not for antisocial actions. Older children showed evidence for the utilization of anticipated emotions in both prosocial and antisocial behaviours. Moreover, for older children, the decision to act prosocially was less likely in the presence of non‐moral emotions. Findings suggest that the impact of emotion expectancies on children's moral decision‐making increases with age. Contrary to happy victimizer research, the study does not support the notion that young children use moral emotion expectancies for moral decision‐making in the context of antisocial actions.     

Predicting hopelessness: The interaction between optimism/pessimism and specific future expectancies

Improving our understanding of hopelessness is central to suicide prevention. This is the first study to investigate whether generalised expectancies for the future (optimism/pessimism) and specific future-oriented cognitions (future thinking) interact to predict hopelessness and dysphoria. To this end, participants completed measures of future thinking, optimism/pessimism and affect at Time 1 and measures of affect and stress at Time 2, 10–12 weeks later. Results indicated that changes in hopelessness but not dysphoria were predicted by the interaction between positive future thinking (but not negative future thinking), optimism/pessimism and stress beyond initial levels of hopelessness and dysphoria. Additional moderating analyses are also reported. These findings point to the fruits of integrating personality and cognitive processes, to better understand hopelessness.     

Alcohol‐aggression expectancies and dispositional aggression moderate the relationship between alcohol consumption and alcohol‐related violence

Alcohol consumption increases aggression, but only in some drinkers. This study examines how expectancies for alcohol‐induced aggression and dispositional aggression moderate the link between alcohol consumption and alcohol‐related violence, building on previous studies that have employed limited measures of alcohol‐related violence and included few women. A sample of 212 men and women reported their alcohol consumption, alcohol‐aggression expectancies, dispositional aggression, and incidents of alcohol‐related aggressive acts. Alcohol‐aggression expectancies and quantity of alcohol consumed interacted to predict alcohol‐related aggression. Alcohol‐aggression expectancies covaried with alcohol‐related aggressive acts, particularly in heavier drinkers. Dispositional aggression also correlated with alcohol‐related aggression among heavier drinkers. These results help identify that alcohol might increase aggression only among heavy drinkers who expect alcohol to increase aggression or who are dispositionally aggressive. Aggr. Behav. 32:517–527, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The lasting effects of process‐specific versus stimulus‐specific learning during infancy

The capacity to tell the difference between two faces within an infrequently experienced face group (e.g. other species, other race) declines from 6 to 9 months of age unless infants learn to match these faces with individual‐level names. Similarly, the use of individual‐level labels can also facilitate differentiation of a group of non‐face objects (strollers). This early learning leads to increased neural specialization for previously unfamiliar face or object groups. The current investigation aimed to determine whether early conceptual learning between 6 and 9 months leads to sustained behavioral advantages and neural changes in these same children at 4–6 years of age. Results suggest that relative to a control group of children with no previous training and to children with infant category‐level naming experience, children with early individual‐level training exhibited faster response times to human faces. Further, individual‐level training with a face group – but not an object group – led to more adult‐like neural responses for human faces. These results suggest that early individual‐level learning results in long‐lasting process‐specific effects, which benefit categories that continue to be perceived and recognized at the individual level (e.g. human faces).     

Changing epistemological beliefs: The unexpected impact of a short‐term intervention

Background Previous research has shown that sophisticated epistemological beliefs exert a positive influence on students' learning strategies and learning outcomes. This gives a clear educational relevance to studies on the development of methods for promoting a change in epistemological beliefs and making them more sophisticated. Aims To investigate the potential for influencing domain‐specific epistemological beliefs through a short instructional intervention. Sample On the basis of their performance on a preliminary survey of epistemological beliefs, 58 students at a German university (87.7% females) with a mean age of 21.86 years (SD = 2.88) were selected. Half of them had more naive beliefs and the other half had more sophisticated ones. Methods Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: one whose epistemological beliefs were challenged through refutational epistemological instruction or another receiving non‐challenging informational instruction. The treatment effect was assessed by comparing pre‐ and post‐instructional scores on two instruments tapping different layers of epistemological beliefs (DEBQ and CAEB). Data were subjected to factor analyses and analyses of variance. Results According to the CAEB, the naive group receiving the refutational epistemological instruction changed towards a more sophisticated view, whereas the sophisticated students receiving the informational instruction changed towards an unintended, more naive standpoint. According to the DEBQ, all research groups except the naive refutational group revealed changes towards a more naive view. Conclusions This study indicates the possibility of changing domain‐specific epistemological beliefs through a short‐term intervention. However, it questions the stability and elaborateness of domain‐specific epistemological beliefs, particularly when domain knowledge is shallow.     

Self‐efficacy in the Workplace: Linking personality to domain‐specific efficacy beliefs

Based on a social cognitive approach to personality, the role of domain‐specific efficacy beliefs were examined in two studies. Study 1 developed a measure of expectations about success in 10 different domains of common work activities with domain‐specific expectancy ratings obtained for 157 individuals along with self‐ and peer ratings of personality. Results showed that predictable relationships emerged, with the traits of the five‐factor model being important determinants of construct‐relevant efficacy beliefs. Study 2 focused on expectations about activities related to conscientiousness as a link between personality and performance across jobs. Results (N = 97) confirmed the proposed relationships and found that efficacy beliefs about trait‐relevant tasks functioned as a mediator linking conscientious and supervisor ratings of performance.     

Outcome Satisfaction in Negotiation: A Test of Expectancy Disconfirmation

The post-settlement processes that occur after negotiation outcomes are known have not been extensively studied. We propose one such process model of satisfaction using expectancy disconfirmation principles. Based on measurement of profit expectations before a bargaining session, knowledge of the profit outcomes achieved, and comparison operations between the two, analysis of data obtained from 42 negotiators provided evidence for this paradigm in negotiators′ post-settlement cognition. Expectations of one′s performance and profits attained had opposite effects on disconfirmation and later satisfaction judgments. High expectations served to decrease satisfaction and high profit outcomes had the effect of increasing satisfaction via their fully mediated effects through expectancy disconfirmation. Moreover, a negotiator′s willingness to negotiate with the partner again is shown to be primarily a function of satisfaction. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Retracted: Trinitarian Roots of Francis Bacon’s Pragmatism

The following article from The Heythrop Journal, ‘Trinitarian roots of Francis Bacon’s pragmatism’ by A. Artis, published online on 15 November 2013 in Wiley Online Library ( http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com ), has been retracted as it was an erroneous duplication of the same article (which remains on Wiley Online Library at 10.1111/heyj.12493 ).     

The Estonian version of the NEO‐PI‐R: an examination of universal and culture‐specific aspects of the Five‐Factor Model

In this article, we examine universal and culture‐specific aspects of the Five‐Factor Model measured with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. First, our purpose was to test the replicability of the original (North American) factor structure in the Estonian‐speaking population. The translation was administered to 711 Estonian men and women aged 18 to 82. When the 30 facet scales were factored, parallel analysis suggested that five components should be retained. In the interpersonal plane defined by Extraversion and Agreeableness factors, Estonian facets formed a semicircular array that resembled the American pattern at a distance of about 21°. After these axes were aligned by Procrustes rotation, all five factor congruences exceeded 0.96, providing further evidence that the underlying five‐factor structure of the personality instrument is replicable in languages and cultures which differ substantially from those in which it was originally identified. Second, we tested the hypothesis that the orientation of varimax axes in the interpersonal plane is associated with the culture's degree of individualism–collectivism. We calculated the angular degree of difference between E and A factors in the American sample and in 21 other available samples, correlated it with individualism ratings, and found mixed support for the hypothesis, suggesting that continued research on this issue is merited. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Domain‐specific impulsivity in school‐age children

Impulsivity is a salient individual difference in children with well‐established predictive validity for life outcomes. The current investigation proposes that impulsive behaviors vary systematically by domain. In a series of studies with ethnically and socioeconomically diverse samples of middle school students, we find that schoolwork‐related and interpersonal‐related impulsivity, as observed by teachers, parents, and the students themselves, are distinct, moderately correlated behavioral tendencies. Each demonstrates differentiated relationships with dimensions of childhood temperament, Big Five personality factors, and outcomes, such as report card grades. Implications for theoretical conceptions of impulsivity as well as for practical applications (e.g. domain‐specific interventions) are discussed.     

Vowel bias in Danish word‐learning: processing biases are language‐specific

The present study explored whether the phonological bias favoring consonants found in French‐learning infants and children when learning new words (Havy & Nazzi, 2009; Nazzi, 2005) is language‐general, as proposed by Nespor, Peña and Mehler (2003), or varies across languages, perhaps as a function of the phonological or lexical properties of the language in acquisition. To do so, we used the interactive word‐learning task set up by Havy and Nazzi (2009), teaching Danish‐learning 20‐month‐olds pairs of phonetically similar words that contrasted either on one of their consonants or one of their vowels, by either one or two phonological features. Danish was chosen because it has more vowels than consonants, and is characterized by extensive consonant lenition. Both phenomena could disfavor a consonant bias. Evidence of word‐learning was found only for vocalic information, irrespective of whether one or two phonological features were changed. The implication of these findings is that the phonological biases found in early lexical processing are not language‐general but develop during language acquisition, depending on the phonological or lexical properties of the native language.     

Predicting global and topic‐specific certainty beliefs: Domain‐specificity and the role of the academic environment

Background. Epistemological beliefs are subjective theories of the structure and acquisition of knowledge. The instruments used to measure epistemological beliefs in educational psychology (see Duell & Schommer‐Aikins, 2001 ) typically consist of questionnaires tapping general, decontextualized beliefs about knowledge or knowledge acquisition in a specific field or in general. Aims. Using specific theories as stimuli, we determine the degree of topic‐specificity of certainty beliefs as well as the association between certainty beliefs and the learning environment. Sample. Participants were 662 upper secondary school students (Study 1) and 211 college students (Study 2). Method. A global instrument and a topic‐specific instrument were used to collect responses to up to 10 stimulus theories. Factor analysis, multiple regression analysis and multi‐level modelling were carried out. Results. Students' topic‐specific certainty beliefs varied markedly across the stimulus theories. Furthermore, students in different academic environments differed more strongly on global certainty beliefs than on topic‐specific certainty beliefs, and global certainty beliefs were only loosely connected to topic‐specific certainty beliefs. Conclusion. Researchers should critically assess the validity of decontextualized global questionnaires for assessing certainty beliefs. If possible, global measures should be complemented by topic‐specific measures.     

Block‐wise conflict adaptation of visual selectivity: Role of hemisphere‐dependent and location‐specific mechanisms

Three experiments investigated views on modulation of visual selectivity that involve hemisphere‐dependence and conflict frequency based views for a whole display. In each experiment, 16 participants completed a flanker task with compatible/incompatible stimulus arrays presented in the left, center, or right visual fields. The relative frequency of the compatible stimulus‐arrays within a trial block was varied as a function of the visual field. In Experiment 1, the relative compatibility frequency in the lateral visual fields was varied (75% / 25%) but not in the center visual field (50%). The results showed that in the lateral visual fields, the performance between the compatible and incompatible trials differed more in conditions with few (vs. many) compatibility trials. Experiments 2 and 3 validated these findings. In Experiment 2, the compatibility frequency varied in the center visual field but not in the lateral fields, resulting in performance effects in all three visual fields. Experiment 3 varied the magnitude of the differences between the compatibility and incompatibility frequencies. Together, the findings showed that participants adjusted to the frequencies of compatible stimuli in all visual fields, indicating conflict adaptation that depends on the relative frequencies of compatible stimuli. The results also suggest that this adaptation is associated with hemisphere‐dependent and location‐specific mechanisms.