Maintenance Communication in Superior-Subordinate Work Relationships

In a series of two studies, this research (a) identified strategic situations in which superiors and subordinates felt the need to maintain their relationships, (b) delineated communication tactics and strategies that supervisors and subordinates consciously enacted to maintain their relationships, and (c) investigated how superiors and subordinates in different kinds of relationship exchanges employed maintenance communication behaviors and activities in strategic maintenance situations. Findings indicated that approximately 50% of the maintenance situations that respondents identified concerned deteriorating interactional contexts, 25% concerned escalating situations, and 25% concerned routine situations. In addition, results suggested that although there may be similarities across situations with respect to the overall strategies that superiors and subordinates use to maintain their relationships, how they enact those strategies is fairly unique depending on the situation and the quality of the leader-member relationships (as perceived by subordinates).     

THE STRUCTURE OF ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR

The subjects were 25 foremen, 5 general foremen, and the production manager of a manufacturing plant. Each supervisor described the leader behavior of his immediate superior, and each in turn was described by several subordinates. Both superiors and the subordinates of a supervisor rated or described the productivity, morale, and cohesiveness of the group that he supervised. Thirty variables were intercorrelated and factor analyzed. The resulting 14 factors describe dimensions of employee satisfaction, supervisory behavior and status, and group performance.     

组织中上下级的双向信任：影响及机制

研究采取双向信任的视角,同时考虑组织中员工感知到的来自上级的信任(即,被信任感)和员工对上级信任对员工心理和行为的影响及机制。以737名企业员工为被试、运用问卷调查法、采用结构方程模型分析数据,结果显示：下级的被信任感与对上级的信任正相关;下级对上级的信任对下级工作绩效的影响主要通过心理安全的完全中介作用实现;而下级的被信任感分别通过感激和心理授权的完全中介作用影响下级工作绩效和满意度。     

Changes in children's appraisals of marital discord from childhood through adolescence.

The study examined how children's appraisals of marital conflict (threat and self-blame) changed across development, whether changes in exposure to marital conflict were associated with corresponding changes in appraisals, and whether the appraisal process was different for boys and girls. Data were collected on 112 families (224 children) at 4 time points. At each wave, children (mean ages ranged from 8 to 19) provided information on their appraisals of marital conflict, and parents provided information on children's exposure to marital conflict. Results indicated that appraisals of threat declined rapidly from childhood to adolescence and then declined less rapidly across adolescence; appraisals of self-blame showed little change over time. Second, changes in exposure to marital discord covaried with changes in threat over time, but not with changes in self-blame. Finally, boys experienced more self-blame than girls on average, and gender moderated the association between exposure to marital discord and threat. Results suggest that development, exposure to marital conflict, and gender are important in determining why some children appraise their parents' disputes negatively.     

The introduction of a group of alien mice (Mus musculus L.) into hierarchically organized groups of five male mice

Groups of 3 male or female Mus musculus were introduced into hierarchically organized colonies of 5 male mice for a period of 8 days. The colonies were of 2 kinds; high-level aggressive (HLA), which had been set up 3 days prior to the introduction of the aliens, and low-level aggressive (LLA), which had been established for 21 days before strangers were introduced. Both males and anestrous females were attacked, but males were attacked 5 times more frequently than females. In HLA colonies most of the attacks on the aliens were by the dominant; in LLA colonies there was no difference in the behavior of dominant and subordinate mice toward strangers. Both aggression toward aliens and intracolony aggression declined over the 8 day experimental period. In HLA colonies the dominant mouse mounted females 5 times more frequently than did either his subordinates or male mice in the LLA colonies. In HLA colonies aliens huddled with subordinates to form a single colony with 1 dominant and 7 subordinates. In LLA colonies alien males remained as a discrete group spatially separated in the cage. Female aliens were incorporated into the main colony. In all cases dominant male mice made more attacks on aliens as compared with familiar mice.     

Social challenge and threat predict performance and cardiovascular responses during competitive video gaming

Individuals tend to compare themselves with others, and the results of these self-evaluations influence subsequent performance. When individuals perceive an advantage over their rivals (challenge-type response), they achieve higher levels of performance. According to the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat, benefits of favourable appraisals are partly mediated by cardiovascular efficiency, which is increased by challenge and decreased by threat evaluations. In this study, we tested whether the biopsychosocial model can be extended to predict behavioural outcomes in esports. We expected that challenge-type evaluations would increase performance compared to threat-type evaluations. Eighty-two men were assigned to a challenge or threat group and completed three rounds of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – a video game popular in esports. Individuals with the highest scores were awarded cash prizes. Cardiovascular markers of challenge and threat, cognitive appraisals, and game scores were recorded. We manipulated the social challenge and social threat evaluation by informing participants that their performance in the initial round was superior (challenge) or inferior (threat) compared with other gamers. We found that individuals with more gaming experience, believed they were better than other gamers, had higher heart rate and, in turn, achieved higher scores. These effects were related to initial situational appraisal at the baseline and were not boosted by feedback provided during the actual performance. These results are the first to document that social comparisons among gamers are accurate in the prediction of future physiological and behavioural outcomes. Furthermore, these findings emphasize that physiological responses mediate relationships between action-related cognitions and performance.     

Obsessive-compulsive behaviours in specific situations: the relative influence of appraisals of control, responsibility and threat

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by repeated and persistent attempts by the individual to control their thoughts and by taking action through rituals in order to prevent feared or personally distressing outcomes. While cognitive theories of OCD have generated supportive research findings and effective treatments, they have not considered broader control beliefs that may motivate aspects of OC-phenomenology. We have previously proposed that broader control beliefs, specifically desire for control and sense of control, may play a role in OC-symptoms (Moulding & Kyrios, 2006). In the present study, non-clinical participants (N=219) were presented with four hypothetical scenarios relevant to an OCD-checking concern, and using a manipulation paradigm, the relationship between control constructs and appraisals hypothesized to be relevant to OCD (threat, responsibility) was examined. Desire for control was moderately affected to responsibility and threat appraisals, while sense of control did not relate to these constructs. The relationship between aspects of OC-phenomenology and appraisals of control, responsibility and threat were also investigated. Higher desire for control predicted both affect and action, while a lower sense of control predicted higher distress and action, over-and-above appraisals of threat and responsibility. Control appraisals were particularly relevant to use of action, and to affect in the low responsibility situations. A possible interactive model of desire for control, threat and responsibility is discussed.     

Hard and soft emotion during conflict: Investigating married couples and other relationships

Three studies investigated the function of 2 types of negative emotion during interpersonal conflict. Hard emotion includes feeling angry or aggravated. Soft emotion includes feeling sad or hurt. In both Study 1 (including 236 married people) and Study 2 (including 140 college students), participants recalled 3 different previous conflict episodes. In the third study, 77 married couples were observed in 4 different conflict conversations, completed during 2 assessment sessions. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to investigate the extent to which change in emotion predicted corresponding change in behavior and appraisal. Hard emotion predicted increases in negative communication, whereas soft emotion predicted more benign forms of communication. Soft emotion also predicted increases in appraisals that interpersonal conflicts are important to resolve.     

Why do Managers Engage in Trustworthy Behavior? A Multilevel Cross‐Cultural Study in 18 Countries

Drawing on theories of generalized exchange and the norm of indirect reciprocity, we conceptualize subordinates’ organizational citizenship behavior directed toward the organization (OCBO) and directed toward peers (OCBI) as antecedents of managerial trustworthy behavior and examine how managers’ affective trust in subordinates mediates this relationship. We also investigate the extent to which this mediation is moderated by the level of collectivism in a society. Data were collected from 741 managers and 2,111 subordinates in 18 countries representing all major cultural regions of the world. We find support for our hypothesized moderated mediation in that managers’ affective trust in subordinates mediates the relationships between both subordinates’ OCBO and managerial trustworthy behavior, and subordinates’ OCBI and managerial trustworthy behavior across the different countries studied. Further, managers’ affective trust in subordinates only mediates the relationships between both types of citizenship behavior and managerial trustworthy behavior when collectivism is low to medium but not when it is high. Implications for research on cross‐cultural psychology, trust, and organizational citizenship behavior are discussed.     

Stereotype threat and feedback seeking in the workplace

This study examined stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995) in workplace settings and investigated relationships of stereotype threat to feedback seeking and feedback acceptance. Results from a sample of 166 African American managers showed that solo status in the work group predicted perceptions of stereotype threat. In addition, stereotype threat related positively to indirect feedback seeking and discounting of performance feedback from superiors. These findings have important implications for understanding the causes of group differences in job performance.     

Gang involvement: psychological and behavioral characteristics of gang members,peripheral youth,and nongang Youth

Research has noted the existence of a loose and dynamic gang structure. However, the psychological processes that underpin gang membership have only begun to be addressed. This study examined gang members, peripheral youth, and nongang youth across measures of criminal activity, the importance they attach to status, their levels of moral disengagement, their perceptions of out‐group threat, and their attitudes toward authority. Of the 798 high school students who participated in this study, 59 were identified as gang members, 75 as peripheral youth, and 664 as nongang youth. Gang members and peripheral youth were more delinquent than nongang youth overall; however, gang members committed more minor offenses than nongang youth and peripheral youth committed more violent offenses than nongang youth. Gang members were more anti‐authority than nongang youth, and both gang and peripheral youth valued social status more than nongang youth. Gang members were also more likely to blame their victims for their actions and use euphemisms to sanitize their behavior than nongang youth, whereas peripheral youth were more likely than nongang youth to displace responsibility onto their superiors. These findings are discussed as they highlight the importance of examining individual differences in the cognitive processes that relate to gang involvement. Aggr. Behav. 36:423–436, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

规则的不同特点对儿童判断的影响

本研究探讨不同领域的规则(安全领域规则,个人领域规则)和不同的规则提出者(成人权威,同辈权威)对儿童判断的影响。研究考察了48名4~7岁的儿童在道义推理、奖惩判断、愿望理解和行为判断的发展变化特点。结果表明:(1)直到7岁儿童才能根据规则的不同特点做出不同的判断,7岁儿童预测更不应该违反安全领域规则,违反安全领域规则和成人权威制定的规则后应该受到更多的批评,而4岁组和5岁组儿童在不同规则情境下的判断没有显著差异;(2)各年龄组儿童预测应该给予表扬的数量在各情境下没有显著差异;(3)在规则与愿望相冲突时,高年龄组儿童比低年龄组儿童更多地报告主人公会坚持自己的愿望;(4)在预测主人公是否会违反规则上,各年龄组在不同规则情境下均无显著差异。     

From appraisal to emotion: Differences among unpleasant feelings

Recent research has indicated strong relations between people's appraisals of their circumstances and their emotional states. The present study examined these relations across a range of unpleasant situations in which subjects experienced complex emotional blends. Subjects recalled unpleasant experiences from their pasts that were associated with particular appraisals and described their appraisals and emotions during these experiences. Situations defined by particular appraisals along the human agency or situational control dimensions were reliably associated with different levels of anger, sadness, and guilt, as predicted. However, predicted differences in emotion were not observed for situations selected for appraisals along the certainty or attention dimensions. Most subjects reported experiencing blends of two or more emotions, and correlation/regression analyses indicated that even in the context of these blends, patterns of appraisal similar to those observed previously (Smith & Ellsworth, 1985, 1987) characterized the experience of the individual emotions. The regressions further indicated that appraisals along some dimensions were more important to the experience of particular emotions than were appraisals along other dimensions. Thesecentral appraisals are compared with the adaptive functions their associated emotions are believed to serve, and the implications of these findings are discussed.This research was supported in part by a Stanford University graduate fellowship and in part by a National Institute of Mental Health training grant to Craig Smith. Part of the writing was done while Phoebe Ellsworth was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and by the James McKeen Cattell Fund.     

Appraisal-coping goodness of fit: a daily internet study

Using an Internet daily diary methodology, this study tested the goodness of fit hypothesis, which highlights the importance of the match between controllability appraisals and coping efforts in adjustment to stressful events. For 28 days, 190 undergraduates described their most stressful event and its controllability, how they coped, and their daily positive and negative mood. Individuals demonstrated fit across situations, with control appraisals associated positively with problem-focused coping and negatively with emotional approach coping and avoidance coping. A pooled within-person interaction indicated that problem-focused coping had a stronger positive association with positive mood when dealing with high versus low control stressors. Significant variation also was found in several other within-person interactions between control appraisals and coping, and some evidence was found for the notion that individual differences in the degree of matching coping to control appraisals were associated with person-level adjustment.     

Cognitive effects of life stress and learned helplessness

Abstract Stressful life events and learned helplessness attributional styles have been shown to impact a variety of personal outcomes. This study examined how these factors influence two classes of cognitive behaviors: the occurrence of intrusive thoughts and performance in memory and verbal-spatial reasoning tasks. Negative life change and attributions for negative events predicted different types of cognitive responses. Individuals reporting higher levels of life stress were more likely to experience distracting thoughts that were unrelated to the current task, whereas individuals with learned helplessness attributional styles tended to have more worrisome thoughts about their task performance. In general, individuals reporting high levels of negative life stress tended to perform more poorly in tasks, whereas individuals with learned helplessness attributional styles tended to perform better than those who did not share this explanatory style. These results suggest that life stress and attributional style have important influecnes on cognitive processes, and that a learned helplessness attributional style can have beneficial effects on behavior in some situations.     

The effects of an appraisal manipulation: Affect,intrusive cognitions,and performance for two cognitive tasks

We examined the relationship between trait measures of general appraisal and test anxiety, state measures of stress appraisals, affect, and intrusive cognition, and performance measures on two cognitive tests (mental math and Raven matrices). Participants were randomly assigned to threat, challenge, or control conditions that were created by manipulating both primary and secondary appraisals. We predicted that the threat condition would lead to more negative affect, stress appraisals, intrusive cognitions, and more errors. While our manipulated conditions led to inconsistent effects, path analyses tended to confirm predictions that negative task appraisals and trait test anxiety lead to negative affect and to intrusive cognitions, and that for mental math test performance a path from intrusive cognitions to test errors was established. The importance of understanding dispositionaland situational variables and their interactions during stress encounters are discussed, as is future research involving the general appraisal dimension. The authors wish to thank the many students who acted as experimenters and helped with data entry. Thanks go to James Johnson, Ann Schuller, and Brandon Vancura for all their hard work. Special thanks go to Roger Lott for his expert performance as the main investigator in the threat and challenge conditions. An enormous debt of gratitude also goes to my wife Kathy for all her patience and support, and for her help with the audio tapes used in this study. This study was completed as partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master’s Degree for the first author. Portions of this work will be presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, 1997.     

Self-serving Bias and Actor-Observer Differences In Organizations: An Empirical Analysis1

Self-serving attributional bias is the tendency for a subordinate to attribute personal (internal) cause for successful performance but to assign cause for failures to external factors. The actor-observed difference in attribution is the tendency for concerned observers (managers) of a subordinate's performance to attribute cause for the performance to factors internal to the subordinate, in direct opposition to the subordinate's external attribution for the same performance. This research investigated both phenomena. Twenty-four experienced managers served as manager/subjects in simulated appraisal situations. Subjects with prior work experience served as subordinate/subjects. Each manager participated in four separate simulated performance appraisals, under differing conditions of objective performance and work history, for a total of 96 interactions. The results revealed a strong self-serving bias on the part of subordinates. The results also strongly supported the notion of an actor-observer difference in performance attribution. Subordinates tended to attribute more externally and managers tended to attribute more internally (to the subordinate), regardless of performance level. The research also served to delineate and articulate the relationship between self-serving bias and actor-observer differences.     

Compensation and Control Systems: A New Application of Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory

Compensation and control systems offer much for study. In this paper, we provide directions for future research by considering the system of influences that operate to shape salesperson behavior in the presence of formal and informal systems attempting to influence behaviors and outcomes. By applying vertical dyad linkage theory to the issue of control, we illustrate how the field remains fertile for continued study to improve the understanding of how incentives influence sales managers, salespeople, and customers. Of particular interest is the interplay between superiors and subordinates across sales force management layers and in the context of compensation/control. Further, the chain of linkages extends to customers, also providing fruitful opportunities for research.