Performance‐Appraisal Beliefs of Chinese Employees in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta

Working adults from Hong Kong (HK; N=102) and the Pearl River Delta (PRD; N=96) participated in a Chinese‐language, 20‐item, structured interview. The interview addressed five topics: performance criteria, implementation of the appraisal, factors attributed to performance, methods of feedback, and concerns about the use of performance appraisal (PA) at work. Results indicated that most respondents believe that PA facilitates communication between superiors and subordinates, that effective performance is a function of each individual's internal attributes (which may include aspects external to the workplace), and that feedback should be direct and frank, communicated by someone with authority and power. These results are consistent with the beliefs of people living in societies characterized as high in Confucian dynamism. We discussed implications of the findings for the use of PA in Chinese enterprises in HK and PRD.     

Costs and Benefits of Newcomer Adjustment Tactics

Research on information seeking, feedback seeking, and newcomer proactive behavior reveals that employees use various criteria in deciding how to act. This article investigates an integrative framework for such criteria proposed by Cooper‐Thomas and Wilson, comprising three domains (performance, ego, social) and two factors (cost, benefit). Three independent scenario‐based studies were used to test their model. The results supported some propositions of the model, such as the primacy of performance concerns, yet failed to support other propositions, with benefits consistently predominating over costs. Factors that might underlie the contradictory results were systematically controlled for, namely the sample, hypothetical scenario, and initial asset position. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

A Topsis‐Based Approach for Prioritized Aggregation in Multi‐Criteria Decision‐Making Problems

Aggregation in multi‐criteria decision‐making environments is a process of combining the values of a set of attributes into one representative value for the entire set of attributes. Many aggregation methods—ranging from the simple averaging approach to more sophisticated methods, such as ordered weighted averaging—have been applied in previous research. One challenge in aggregation arises in special cases of prioritized aggregation, wherein the prioritized relationships between attributes must be considered during aggregation. This paper presents a new approach to aggregating attributes with prioritized relationships. First, an overview of past research is conducted to identify different aggregation methods, classes and properties. Next, the concept of prioritized aggregation is explained in detail. A prioritized aggregation method utilizing the technique of order preference by similarity to ideal solution is then presented. Subsequently, the presented prioritized aggregation method is applied on an actual case study. According to the results, the aggregation method presented in this paper is, through the application of technique of order preference by similarity to ideal solution, capable of quantifying and considering the prioritized relationship between a set of attributes undergoing aggregation. Finally, conclusions are stated, and a discussion describing future work pertinent to this paper is presented. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Which studies test whether self‐enhancement is pancultural? Reply to Sedikides,Gaertner, and Vevea, 2007

What types of studies test the question of pancultural self‐enhancement? Sedikides, Gaertner, and Vevea (2007) have identified inclusion criteria that largely limit the question to studies of the better‐than‐average effect (i.e. 27 out of 29 effects that they include as ‘validated’ and ‘relevant’). In contrast, other effects which they labelled as ‘unvalidated’ or ‘irrelevant’ used methods other than the better‐than‐average effect (i.e. 24 out of 24 effects). Because Sedikides et al. are drawing conclusions about pancultural self‐enhancement and not the pancultural better‐than‐average effect, these excluded studies are relevant to the hypothesis under question. Ignoring the findings from other methods is highly problematic, in particular because these other methods yield results that conflict with those from the better‐than‐average effect. An analysis of effects from all studies reveals no support for pancultural self‐enhancement.     

Additive Theories of Rationality: A Critique

Additive theories of rationality, as I use the term, are theories that hold that an account of our capacity to reflect on perceptually‐given reasons for belief and desire‐based reasons for action can begin with an account of what it is to perceive and desire, in terms that do not presuppose any connection to the capacity to reflect on reasons, and then can add an account of the capacity for rational reflection, conceived as an independent capacity to ‘monitor’ and ‘regulate’ our believing‐on‐the‐basis‐of‐perception and our acting‐on‐the‐basis‐of‐desire. I show that a number of recent discussions of human rationality are committed to an additive approach, and I raise two difficulties for this approach, each analogous to a classic problem for Cartesian dualism. The interaction problem concerns how capacities conceived as intrinsically independent of the power of reason can interact with this power in what is intuitively the right way. The unity problem concerns how an additive theorist can explain a rational subject's entitlement to conceive of the animal whose perceptual and desiderative life he or she oversees as ‘I’ rather than ‘it’. I argue that these difficulties motivate a general skepticism about the additive approach, and I sketch an alternative, ‘transformative’ framework in which to think about the cognitive and practical capacities of a rational animal.     

Optimizing the scientific study of suicide with open and transparent research practices

Suicide research is vitally important, yet—like psychology research more broadly—faces methodological challenges. In recent years, researchers have raised concerns about standard practices in psychological research, concerns that apply to suicide research and raise questions about its robustness and validity. In the present paper, we review these concerns and the corresponding solutions put forth by the “open science” community. These include using open science platforms, pre‐registering studies, ensuring reproducible analyses, using high‐powered studies, ensuring open access to research materials and products, and conducting replication studies. We build upon existing guides, address specific obstacles faced by suicide researchers, and offer a clear set of recommended practices for suicide researchers. In particular, we consider challenges that suicide researchers may face in seeking to adopt “open science” practices (e.g., prioritizing large samples) and suggest possible strategies that the field may use in order to ensure robust and transparent research, despite these challenges.     

Trade‐off ranking method for multi‐criteria decision analysis

Multi‐criteria decision analysis presumes trade‐off between different criteria. As a result, the optimal solution is not unique and can be represented by the Pareto frontier in the objective space. Each Pareto solution is a compromise between different objectives. Despite a limited number of Pareto optimal solutions, the decision‐maker eventually has to choose only one option. Such a choice has to be made with the use of additional preferences not included in the original formulation of the optimization problem. The paper represents a new approach to an automatic ranking that can help the decision‐maker. In contrast to the other methodologies, the proposed method is based on the minimization of trade‐off between different Pareto solutions. To be realized, the approach presumes the existence of a well‐distributed Pareto set representing the entire Pareto frontier. In the paper, such a set is generated with the use of the directed search domain algorithm. The method is applied to a number of test cases and compared against two existing alternative approaches.     

A Comprehensive Literature Review of the Rank Reversal Phenomenon in the Analytic Hierarchy Process

During the last few decades, several multi‐criteria decision analysis methods have been proposed to help in selecting the best compromise alternatives. Among them, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and its applications have attracted much attention from academics and practitioners. However, since the early 1980s, critics have raised questions regarding its proper use. One of them concerns the unacceptable changes in the ranks of the alternatives, called rank reversal, upon changing the structure of the decision. Several modifications were suggested to preserve ranks. In this paper, a classification scheme and a comprehensive literature review are presented in order to uncover, classify and interpret the current research on AHP methodologies and rank reversals. On the basis of the scheme, 61 scholarly papers from 18 journals are categorized into specific areas. The specific areas include the papers on the topics of adding/deleting alternatives and the papers published in adding/deleting criteria. The scholarly papers are also classified by (1) year of publication, (2) journal of publication, (3) authors' geographic location and (4) using the AHP in association with other methods. It is hoped that the paper can meet the needs of researchers and practitioners for convenient references of AHP methodologies and rank reversals and hence promote the future of rank reversal research. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scientific value

Criteria of scientific value are of different kinds. This paper concerns ultimate criteria, i.e. the axiology of science. Most ultimate criteria are multi‐dimensional. This gives rise to an aggregation problem, which cannot be adequately solved with reference to attitudes and behaviour within the scientific community. Therefore, in many cases, there is no fact of the matter as to whether one theory is better than another. This, in turn, creates problems for methodology.     

Self-injury and disordered eating: expressing emotion dysregulation through the body

Previous research has suggested that emotion dysregulation, body‐related concerns, and depressive symptoms are associated with nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) and disordered eating (DE) separately and in combination. However, it has been difficult to ascertain to what extent these constructs contribute to NSSI and DE given the relatively small number of studies examining their co‐occurrence, particularly among nonclinical samples. Based on responses to self‐report questionnaires, college‐aged women who completed the study were divided into three groups: NSSI only; DE only; and NSSI + DE based on clinical cutoff criteria. Results support hypotheses that emotion dysregulation is a shared vulnerability and that body‐related concerns and depression exhibit unique patterns of association across the three groups. It appears that NSSI is best understood as a response to negative affective states relative to DE, which is best understood as a set of behaviors motivated by body image concerns. The presence of both NSSI and DE is primarily influenced by emotion dysregulation and the dominant difficulties linked to each behavior; depression and body dissatisfaction. These findings suggest that treatment and prevention efforts should emphasize emotion regulation skills and differentially target body concerns or depressive symptoms according to the primary behavioral dysfunction that is present.     

Fuzzy MCDM based on the concept of α‐cut

In a fuzzy multiple criteria decision‐making (MCDM) problem, with a hierarchical structure of more than two levels and involving multiple decision‐makers (DMs), to find the exact membership functions of the final aggregation ratings of all feasible alternatives is almost impossible. Thus, ranking methods based on exact membership functions cannot be utilized to rank the feasible alternatives and complete the optimal selection. To resolve the above‐mentioned complexity and to incorporate assessments of all DMs' viewpoints, in this paper a fuzzy MCDM method with multiple DMs, based on the concepts of fuzzy set theory and α‐cut, is developed. This method incorporates a number of perspectives on how to approach the fuzzy MCDM problem with multiple DMs, as follows: (1) combining quantitative and qualitative criteria as well as negative and positive ones; (2) using the generalized means to develop the aggregation method of multiple DMs' opinions; (3) incorporating the risk attitude index β to convey the total risk attitude of all DMs by using the estimation data obtained at the data input stage; (4) employing the algebraic operations of fuzzy numbers based on the concept of α‐cut to calculate the final aggregation ratings and develop a matching ranking method for proposed fuzzy MCDM method with multiple DMs. Furthermore, we use this method to survey the site selection for free port zone (FPZ) in Taiwan as an empirical study to demonstrate the proposed fuzzy MCDM algorithm. The result of this empirical investigation shows that the port of Kaohsiung, the largest international port of Taiwan as well as the sixth container port in the world in 2004, is optimal for the Taiwan government in enacting the plan of FPZ. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reasons,Coherence, and Group Rationality

If groups can have beliefs and other attitudes of their own, what determines which such attitudes the group rationally ought to have? A widespread presupposition is that group‐level beliefs should be a function of the beliefs of the group's members, and similarly for other attitudes. But a host of impossibility theorems show that no such aggregation function can satisfy intuitively attractive constraints while ensuring coherent group‐level attitudes. I argue that this presupposition is false. Group‐level attitudes should be a function of group‐level reasons (evidence, in the epistemic case), not individual‐level attitudes. This allows for a theory of group rationality that (i) bypasses a host of pessimistic results in the literature on judgment aggregation and (ii) treats rational individual‐level attitudes and rational group‐level attitudes in parallel.     

No Time to Waste: Restricting Life‐Span Temporal Horizons Decreases the Sunk‐Cost Fallacy

In three studies, we examined the influence of restricted and expansive temporal horizons on the sunk‐cost fallacy. The sunk‐cost fallacy occurs when prior investments instead of future returns influence decisions about future investments. When making decisions about future investments, rational decision makers base decisions on future consequences, not already‐invested costs that are “sunk” and cannot be recovered. In Study 1, we restricted young adult college students' temporal horizons by instructing them to imagine that they did not have much longer to live; this manipulation decreased the sunk‐cost fallacy. In Study 2, we replicated Study 1 and also found that the consequences of manipulating temporal horizons were most pronounced for prior investments of time and that prior investments of time and money had different implications for the sunk‐cost fallacy, depending on the social or nonsocial decision domain. In Study 3, we manipulated temporal horizons by instructing students to imagine their time as a college student was coming to an end. Results were mostly similar to Study 2 but also suggested that focusing on one's mortality may have unique consequences. Implications of the three studies for understanding age differences in sunk‐cost decisions, interventions to improve sunk‐cost decisions, and the situations in which interventions might be most needed are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Fuzzy Topsis Method for Prioritized Aggregation in Multi‐Criteria Decision Making Problems

Aggregation in a decision making environment requires the fusion of opinions of a group of decision makers. The group of decision makers are required to analyse a set of interrelated criteria that are usually measured on a linguistic scale. This process requires, in many instances, to capture experts experience, intuition and thinking that are traditionally expressed in a linguistic fashion rather than a numerical fashion. Furthermore, the necessity of considering the relationship between the criteria to the overall decision must be considered by the group of decision makers. This paper extends the application of fuzzy numbers, fuzzy relative importance scores (FRIS), fuzzy relative weights (FRW) and the fuzzy technique of order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) in prioritized aggregation. This extension provides a mean to systematically aggregate a group of decision makers' views for a set of interrelated criteria that are measured on a linguistic scale. First, an overview of the application of fuzzy numbers and the characteristics of aggregating fuzzy numbers in multi‐criteria decision making problems are presented. Then, the application of TOPSIS in fuzzy environments is presented. Next, past research is highlighted to present prioritized aggregation and the different aggregation operators' classes. Subsequently, a new prioritized aggregation method is presented. This method utilizes fuzzy TOPSIS with prioritized aggregation in fuzzy environments. Finally, the fuzzy prioritized aggregation method presented in this paper is applied on an actual case study. According to the results, the method presented in this paper provides a systematic approach to capture the uncertainty and imprecision associated with quantifying linguistic measurements in multi‐criteria decision making problems. Furthermore, it considers the relationship between the set of linguistically measured criteria undergoing prioritized aggregation in a fuzzy environment. Lastly, findings, conclusions and future work are presented. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new fuzzy multicriteria evaluation method for group site selection in GIS

Multiple criteria group site selection problems involve a group of individuals evaluating a set of alternative sites on the basis of multiple criteria. This paper presents an application of a new fuzzy algorithm for finding and exploring potential solutions to these problems in a raster Geographical Information System (GIS) environment. Linguistic assessments from decision‐makers are represented as triangular fuzzy numbers (TFN's), which are adjusted for uncertainty in the source data and their relationship to suitability by using an approach based on type‐2 fuzzy sets. The first aggregation of inputs is a compensatory one based on fuzzy multiattribute decision‐making (MADM) theory. An adjusted aggregation then factors in conflicts, risks and uncertainties to enable a variety of compensatory and non‐compensatory outcomes to be generated based on decision‐maker preferences. The algorithm was implemented in ArcView GIS as part of an ongoing collaborative project with Brisbane Airport. This paper outlines the fuzzy algorithm and its use in site selection for a recycling facility on the Brisbane Airport site. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Different Ways of Being Authoritarian: The Distinct Effects of Authoritarian Dimensions on Values and Prejudice

The traditional and still dominant approach to authoritarianism measures it as a unidimensional construct. However, in the past few years some studies have assessed the three hypothesized authoritarianism components (i.e., authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, and conventionalism) separately. The aims of this study are to verify that the three‐correlated‐factor structure fits the data better than the one‐factor model and to analyze the distinct effects of the three dimensions of authoritarianism on values and prejudice. A total of 169 Italian citizens responded to a questionnaire. As hypothesized, a structural equation model shows that the dimension of authoritarian submission is mainly related to the openness to change vs. conservation values opposition; the dimension of authoritarian aggression is more characterized on the self‐transcendence vs. self‐enhancement values opposition; conventionalism is mainly linked to traditional values. As concerns prejudice, this variable is predicted just by authoritarian aggression. Theoretical implications as concerns the conceptualization of authoritarianism are discussed.     

APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS IN ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY REHABILITATION: A META‐ANALYSIS OF SINGLE‐CASE DESIGN INTERVENTION RESEARCH

The purpose of this meta‐analysis was to complete a systematic evidence‐based review of published behavioral treatment studies employing single‐case designs with both children and adults with acquired brain injury. Peer‐reviewed journals were searched using PsycINFO, Medline, and ERIC databases with combinations of terms such as brain injury, behavior disorder, behavior therapy, behavior modification, behavior analysis, and verbal behavior. A total of 112 acquisition and reduction studies met the established inclusion criteria. The data extracted from each study included specific details about the participants, target responses, intervention characteristics, use of functional assessment, and outcome characteristics. A data extraction software program was also used to extract data from graphs to calculate percentage of nonoverlapping data as an effect size_. The studies were then evaluated along several dimensions from multiple evidence‐based practice frameworks. Collectively, interventions targeted a wide range of behaviors for acquisition and reduction, but only five interventions were classified as well established according to the American Psychological Association Division 12 criteria. Furthermore, methodology of the identified studies was found to be relatively poor. A variety of methodological concerns are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measurement scales and scale independence in the analytic hierarchy process

One approach to evaluate the relative performance of decision alternatives with respect to multiple criteria is provided by the analytic hierarchy process. The method is based on pairwise comparisons between attributes, and several numerical measurement scales for the ratio statements have been proposed. The choice of measurement scale is re‐examined, and new arguments supporting the measurement scale of geometric progression are derived. Separately from the measurement scale considerations, the effects of the scale parameter in geometric measurement scale are also studied. By using a regression model for pairwise comparisons data, it is shown that the statistical inference does not depend on the value of the scale parameter in the case of a single pairwise comparison matrix. It is also shown when the scale independence of statistical inference can be achieved in a decision hierarchy. This requires the use of the geometric‐mean aggregation rule instead of the traditional arithmetic‐mean aggregation. The results of the case study demonstrate that the measurement scale and the aggregation rule have potentially large impacts on decision support. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of Selected Ethical Information Resources on Counselor Educators' Decision‐Making Regarding Boundary Crossings

A random sample of 207 counselor educators used 4 ethical information resources in the context of 16 boundary‐crossing scenarios. Burian and Slimp's (2000) social dual‐role relationship model was the only resource to change counselor educators' boundary‐crossing decision‐making in a manner that could mitigate boundary‐crossing concerns with students. Curiously, almost 60% of counselor educators stated that they would not use Burian and Slimp's model in the future when this was the only ethical decision‐making resource that made a difference in boundary‐crossing decision‐making for counselor educators.     

Preselection Methods Prior to the Internal Assessment Center for Personnel Selection in German Companies

Companies frequently use preselection methods in order to identify eligible candidates before conducting assessment centers (ACs). The present study was the first to investigate current practices of preselection in German companies that use ACs for internal selection. Results of a survey among 109 German companies show that companies typically apply general qualification criteria (e.g., work experience), appraisals, or unstructured interviews for preselection, but rely less on trait‐oriented methods (e.g., intelligence tests) and structured interviews. In their subjective evaluations, however, companies rate structured interviews and trait‐oriented methods as particularly valid methods. The results also show that the number of preselection methods used is positively correlated with company size, diagnostic skills of the responsible persons in the preselection, and DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normierung [German Institute for Standardization]) 33430 certification status. The implications of these findings for practice and research are discussed.