Policy conflict, policy consistency, and interpersonal understanding

Abstract.— A number of studies have shown that inconsistency in the subjects' policies is a major reason for disagreement in policy conflict. It has been hypothesized that the lack of consistency makes it hard for subjects to understand each other's policies. The present results provided evidence for this hypothesis by showing that subjects asked each other more questions about policy when their policies were less consistent in an experiment where policy consistency was manipulated by varying the predictability of the conflict task.     

An application of the variable perspective model in interpersonal conflict resolution

The perspective model of attitude judgment was used as a basis for making predictions concerning interpersonal confiict. Forty-four pairs of undergraduate males negotiated an annual wage increase in a simulated labor-management dispute. Subjects in pairs negotiated from either same or different perspectives. Psychological perspective was manipulated experimentally by the suggestion of either a narrow or broad range of typical wage increase settlements. As predicted, discrepant perspectives were either facilitative or debilitative to reaching agreement depending on the direction of the discrepancy. Increasing width of perspective by raising upper anchor did not significantly affect the amount of the settlement. The hypothesized dynamic aspects of the perspective model were confirmed in that holding amount of settlement constant, satisfaction with the settlement was a function of perspective.     

人际冲突中失望的个人效应及冲突类型的调节作用

通过两个计算机情景模拟实验, 分别采用“保证游戏”与“最后通牒博弈”范式, 考察了人际冲突中失望的个体对于威胁评价与冲突行为的影响。在此基础上进一步探讨了冲突类型对人际冲突中失望个人效应的调节作用。结果发现：(1)失望个体相比无情绪个体的威胁评价更高, 冲突行为更多。(2)冲突类型影响处于失望状态的个体的威胁评价, 即价值观冲突中失望个体的威胁评价要高于利益冲突中失望个体的威胁评价; 但是冲突类型并不影响失望个体的冲突行为。     

A closer look at first sight: Social relations lens model analysis of personality and interpersonal attraction at zero acquaintance

Based on a new theoretical framework—the Social Relations Lens Model—this study examined the influence of personality on real‐life attraction at zero acquaintance. A group of psychology freshmen (N = 73) was investigated upon encountering one another for the first time. Personality traits, attraction ratings and metaperceptions were assessed using a large round‐robin design (2628 dyads). In line with our model, personality differentially predicted who was a liker and who expected to be liked (perceiver effects), who was popular and who was seen as a liker (target effects), as well as who liked whom and who expected to be liked by whom (relationship effects). Moreover, the influence of personality on attraction was mediated by observable physical, nonverbal and audible cues. Results allowed a closer look at first sight and underline the importance of combining componential and process approaches in understanding the interplay of personality and social phenomena. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Situational influences on ethical sensemaking: Performance pressure,interpersonal conflict,and the recipient of consequences

Multiple situational influences are often present in organizational ethical dilemmas. This article explores the influences of recipient of the consequence, performance pressure, and interpersonal conflict on sensemaking processes, metacognitive reasoning strategies, and decision ethicality. Results suggest that decision ethicality is greater when individuals are the recipients of consequences. In addition, individuals analyzed causes of the dilemma to a greater extent when faced with low interpersonal conflict and when consequences occurred at an individual level. Individuals in the low interpersonal conflict condition anticipated consequences, looked within, and considered others more than those in the high interpersonal conflict condition. Additional research on performance pressure is needed given that the manipulation used in this study was not effective. Implications for theory and practice of ethics in organizational settings are discussed.     

Social anxiety and interpersonal perception: a social relations model analysis

Cognitive models of social phobia posit that an individual's negative beliefs about the way he or she is perceived by others (metaperceptions) are a core feature of the disorder. The social relations model () was used to analyze interpersonal perception data collected following unstructured social interactions in 62 socially anxious (SA) and 62 not socially anxious (NSA) individuals. Using this model, the interpersonal perceptions were analyzed to evaluate whether pathological levels of social anxiety are associated with self-perceptions, metaperceptions, and perceptions from others. SA participants saw themselves negatively and believed others saw them negatively. Although seen as more nervous by others, SA participants were not seen as less likeable. A mediational model demonstrated that the negative metaperceptions of SA individuals were more a function of their own self-perceptions than the negative perceptions of others. These findings were not attributable to depressive symptoms. Implications for theory and treatment of social phobia are discussed.     

"In-group love" and "out-group hate" as motives for individual participation in intergroup conflict: a new game paradigm

What motivates individual self-sacrificial behavior in intergroup conflicts? Is it the altruistic desire to help the in-group or the aggressive drive to hurt the out-group? This article introduces a new game paradigm, the intergroup prisoner's dilemma-maximizing difference (IPD-MD) game, designed specifically to distinguish between these two motives. The game involves two groups. Each group member is given a monetary endowment and can decide how much of it to contribute. Contribution can be made to either of two pools, one that benefits the in-group at a personal cost and another that, in addition, harms the out-group. An experiment demonstrated that contributions in the IPD-MD game are made almost exclusively to the cooperative, within-group pool. Moreover, preplay intragroup communication increases intragroup cooperation, but not intergroup competition. These results are compared with those observed in the intergroup prisoner's dilemma game, in which group members' contributions are restricted to the competitive, between-group pool.     

Sources of motivation, interpersonal conflict management styles, and leadership effectiveness: a structural model

126 leaders and 624 employees were sampled to test the relationship between sources of motivation and conflict management styles of leaders and how these variables influence effectiveness of leadership. Five sources of motivation measured by the Motivation Sources Inventory were tested-intrinsic process, instrumental, self-concept external, self-concept internal, and goal internalization. These sources of work motivation were associated with Rahim's modes of interpersonal conflict management-dominating, avoiding, obliging, complying, and integrating-and to perceived leadership effectiveness. A structural equation model tested leaders' conflict management styles and leadership effectiveness based upon different sources of work motivation. The model explained variance for obliging (65%), dominating (79%), avoiding (76%), and compromising (68%), but explained little variance for integrating (7%). The model explained only 28% of the variance in leader effectiveness.     

Social anxiety and interpersonal stress generation: the moderating role of interpersonal distress

Background and Objectives: Existing models of social anxiety scarcely account for interpersonal stress generation. These models also seldom include interpersonal factors that compound the effects of social anxiety. Given recent findings that two forms of interpersonal distress, perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness, intensify social anxiety and cause interpersonal stress generation, these two constructs may be especially relevant to examining social anxiety and interpersonal stress generation together.

Design: The current study extended prior research by examining the role of social anxiety in the occurrence of negative and positive interpersonal events and evaluated whether interpersonal distress moderated these associations.

Methods: Undergraduate students (N?=?243; M?=?20.46 years; 83% female) completed self-report measures of social anxiety, perceived burdensomeness, and thwarted belongingness, as well as a self-report measure and clinician-rated interview assessing negative and positive interpersonal events that occurred over the past six weeks.

Results: Higher levels of social anxiety were associated only with a higher occurrence of negative interpersonal dependent events, after controlling for depressive symptoms. This relationship was stronger among individuals who also reported higher levels of perceived burdensomeness, but not thwarted belongingness.

Conclusions: It may be important to more strongly consider interpersonal stress generation in models of social anxiety.     

Policy conflict and policy change as a function of task characteristics III. The effects of the distribution of the validities of the cues in the conflict task

Abstract.— The effects of the distribution of the validities of the cues in the conflict task on policy conflict, as studied in Hammond's "lens model" interpersonal conflict paradigm, was investigated in a 2 (levels of task predictability) by 2 (levels of cue validity distribution: only one cue valid vs. two equally valid cues) factorial experiment. The results showed that the level of agreement was higher when only one cue was valid than when both cues were valid, but this effect was obtained only when task predictability was high. In the low predictability condition, there were no differences between the two levels of cue validity distribution. In agreement with earlier findings, the results also showed that agreement was a positive function of the predictability of the task. These results show that, to understand policy conflict, it is not sufficient to analyse only the characteristics of the parties to the conflict; it is also necessary to analyse the characteristics of the task facing the parties.     

Social relationships and intraindividual variability in interpersonal behavior: correlates of interpersonal spin

Personality constructs are typically conceptualized as central tendencies of the individual. We explore whether dynamic personality constructs that quantify the within-individual variability of behavior across situations and over time predict the closeness of social relationships. We focused on interpersonal spin, defined as the degree of dispersion in a person's interpersonal behaviors around the interpersonal circumplex across situations and over time. We predicted that individuals with high spin would have social relationships that are less close than individuals with low spin. In 3 studies with different measures of relationship closeness, we found that (a) higher spinners reported that a larger proportion of their contacts in their workplace social networks were distant (Study 1); (b) co-workers were less satisfied and less often engaged in pleasant activities with higher spinners (Study 2); and (c) co-workers avoided higher spinners with whom they were well acquainted (Study 3). Moderated mediation analyses in Study 3 revealed that co-workers avoided well-acquainted higher spinners because they felt more negative affect when interacting with these individuals. The findings suggest the potential of dynamic personality constructs for improving our understanding of the characteristics of individuals' social relationships.     

Context change and retrieval difficulty in the list-before-last paradigm

Using the "list-before-last" paradigm (Jang & Huber, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34, 112-127, 2008; Shiffrin, Science, 168, 1601-1603, 1970), we examined whether the difficulty involved in retrieving a previously studied list affects the recall of the current list. Participants studied three lists (L1, L2, and L3), and between L2 and L3 study they either engaged in retrieval of L1 or solved math problems for the same duration of time. After L3 encoding, all participants recalled L2. We examined accurate recall of L2, intrusions from L3, and also the first-response function from L2 across all four experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2, retrieval difficulty was manipulated by presenting participants with variable numbers of letter cues for the L1 words, with some participants receiving more cues than others. In Experiment 1, L1 and L2 words shared the first two letters in common to create potential item interference, whereas in Experiment 2, they did not share common cues. In Experiments 3 and 4, we manipulated retrieval difficulty using a delay manipulation-L1 was encoded 1, 24, or 72?h prior to the session during which L2 and L3 were encoded. In Experiment 3, L1 retrieval involved a cued recall test, whereas in Experiment 4, it involved a free recall test. The results of all of these experiments showed that, as compared to solving math problems, retrieving L1 led to forgetting of L2, reduced intrusions from L3, and reduced first-response functions from L2. However, all of the dependent measures were invariant across the various manipulations of retrieval difficulty. We discuss the results in terms of the context-change interpretation of prior-list retrieval.     

Potential influence structures as sources of interpersonal conflict in groups and organizations

It is argued that conflict in organizations can be interpreted, in many cases, as conflict over who is to exert influence, and that this conflict, in turn, is caused by structural incongruencies in the distribution of potential influence in groups and organizations. Potential influence is described in terms of the structural relations defined by Structural Role Theory. At the psychological level, conflict is explained as a result of incompatible expectations among people about their relative influence, their desire to protect valued roles, and to maintain a sense of freedom. The implications of the present hypothesis for specifying the range of conflict situations, the type of conflict behavior, and conflict management are explored.     

Interparental conflict,parental intrusiveness,and interpersonal functioning in emerging adulthood

The current study examined the effects of interparental conflict (IPC) on interpersonal functioning and psychopathology in emerging adulthood. In a sample of 188 emerging adult college students, IPC was associated significantly with greater symptoms of depression and loneliness. Furthermore, parental intrusiveness and romantic competence, as assessed by a novel interview methodology, mediated the links between IPC and depression symptomatology and loneliness. Links with prior research and implications for emerging adult functioning are discussed.     

The Parallel Episodic Processing (PEP) model: Dissociating contingency and conflict adaptation in the item-specific proportion congruent paradigm

The present work introduces a computational model, the Parallel Episodic Processing (PEP) model, which demonstrates that contingency learning achieved via simple storage and retrieval of episodic memories can explain the item-specific proportion congruency effect in the colour-word Stroop paradigm. The current work also presents a new experimental procedure to more directly dissociate contingency biases from conflict adaptation (i.e., proportion congruency). This was done with three different types of incongruent words that allow a comparison of: (a) high versus low contingency while keeping proportion congruency constant, and (b) high versus low proportion congruency while keeping contingency constant. Results demonstrated a significant contingency effect, but no effect of proportion congruence. It was further shown that the proportion congruency associated with the colour does not matter, either. Thus, the results quite directly demonstrate that ISPC effects are not due to conflict adaptation, but instead to contingency learning biases.