Relational Considerations in the Use of Influence Tactics1

It is proposed that the existing relationship between the influencing agent and the target of influence plays a central role in the choice of using hard and soft influence tactics. In a field study, 3 key aspects of the relation between agent and target were examined, and the results generally supported our hypotheses. First, the more unfairly people felt they were treated, the more often they wielded influence, especially using harder influence tactics. Second, the better the influencing agent liked the target, the relatively less often he or she used hard tactics. Finally, the more the influencing agent felt dependent upon the target, the fewer influence tactics, both hard and soft, were used. The discussion focuses on both the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.     

Strength of Subordinates’ Upward Influence Tactics and Gender Congruency Effects1

An empirical investigation with 117 superior-subordinate dyads examines the moderating effects of subordinate gender on the relationships between the strength of upward influence tactics and three outcome variables: performance ratings, psychosocial mentoring functions, and career-related mentoring functions. The results support predictions that men who employ stronger upward influence tactics obtain higher performance ratings and more career-related mentoring functions, and women who employ weaker upward influence tactics obtain more psychosocial mentoring functions. Implications of the findings for theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

管理者影响策略的结构

本研究根据中国企事业组织内管理者对他人发挥影响力的特点 ,选取反映中国文化的影响计策编成题目 ,并与西方背景下构建的组织影响策略量表汇编成问卷。 2 1 8位中国管理者用汇编的问卷评定他们与直接上司和直接下属在工作中相处时使用这些计策的频率。结果发现 ,在因素水平有“应变控制”和“温情说服”两个正交因素。这两个因素跨影响方向一致。对各因素内的题目做聚类分析 ,发现大多数聚类的内容跨影响方向的一致性不高。与西方的组织策略量表对照 ,因新题目的加入 ,汇编的影响计策量表内的聚类更好地反映了中国管理者使用影响计策的特点。     

The Use of Influence Tactics in Constructive Change Processes

The use of nine influence tactics by four groups in organizations in constructive change processes was investigated in a field study with 479 participants. Data were collected with a Dutch version of Yukl's Influence Behaviour Questionnaire. The frequency with which line managers, staff specialists, consultants, and works council, delegates used the various influence tactics was examined. Furthermore, differences in direction of influence (upward, downward, or lateral) were assessed and compared to results of previous research in different settings. It was found that rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and consultation were the most frequently used influence tactics. This is an encouraging finding because these three tactics are most effective for gaining target commitment to a proposal or request. In addition, it was found that the four groups used several influence tactics differently. Finally, only three directional differences in tactic use matched prior findings. This result suggests that constructive change processes lead employees to display different influence behaviour than they would in less uncertain and ambiguous circumstances.     

组织情境中的影响策略研究述评

影响策略是指个体采取的旨在使他人态度和行为产生预期改变的行为方式。组织情境下的影响策略受动机、场控制和自我监控等因素的影响,对工作绩效、薪酬、晋升和一些积极组织行为有显著的预测作用。本文侧重介绍了影响策略的结构、测量、前因后果变量以及跨文化研究等方面内容,总结了已有研究为管理实践提供的有价值参考,并指出研究方法的有效互补、对基层职员影响策略的关注和基于中国人行为观念的本土化研究是今后探讨的主要方向。     

Influence Tactics in Combination: The Interactive Effects of Soft Versus Hard Tactics and Rational Exchange

The effects of multiple influence tactics in dyadic compliance-gaining situations are underexplored. In a laboratory experiment, we exposed subjects to a scenario-based influence attempt within which tactics that convey a rational exchange of benefits were juxtaposed with soft tactics that project friendliness and flattery. We found support for the prediction that soft tactics would heighten compliance more in the absence, rather than presence, of an offered exchange. Implications and limitations are discussed.     

Military Influence Tactics: Lessons Learned in Iraq and Afghanistan

When deployed U.S. soldiers attempt to influence the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors of civilians, success can save lives and failure can be deadly. Survey data from 228 military personnel with deployment experience to Iraq and Afghanistan revealed that in a challenging wartime environment, empathy, respect, prior relationships, and familiarity with influence targets predicted success in cross-cultural influence attempts. Influence techniques involving resources and positive feelings were used more commonly in relatively successful influence attempts; negative tactics were used more commonly in unsuccessful attempts.     

领导者上行影响力策略与工作绩效的关系研究

本文首先基于Schriesheim等人提出的上行影响力策略结构模型,修订和编制了领导者上行影响力策略量表,经探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析表明,上行影响力策略结构的一阶六因素模型是合理的;修订后的Schriesheim量表具有较好的信度和效度.然后采用修订后的量表对重庆市220名处级干部进行调查,并考察领导者上行影响力策略与工作绩效的关系.结果表明,上行影响力策略的利益交易和越级诉讼两因素对总体工作绩效及其任务绩效因素有显著的负向影响;上行影响力策略中的联盟因素对总体工作绩效及其任务绩效因素有显著的正向影响.     

Suicide in Ibsen's Plays

ABSTRACT: The suicides and homicides in Ibsen's plays are examined in relation to Hendin's hypotheses about Scandinavian suicide. In general, the suicides had dependency loss characteristics; the victim-precipitated homicides had characteristics of guilt over transgression, as expected. However, elements of suicide as a vehicle for preserving or restoring an ideal self-image were also present in many of the characters, suggesting that Hendin's conclusions about the Scandinavians may be oversimplifications.     

Differences in the Perceived Effectiveness of Influence Tactics Among Jews and Arabs: The Mediating Role of Cultural Values1

The study investigates differences between Jewish and Arab employees vis‐à‐vis their evaluation of the effectiveness of several influence tactics, and examines whether these differences are mediated by cultural differences. Rational persuasion was the only influence tactic that was evaluated as more effective by Jewish employees, in comparison with Arab employees. In contrast, ingratiation, pressure, and coalition were evaluated as more effective by Arab employees, in comparison with Jewish employees. Regarding cultural values, we found indulgence higher among Jewish employees than among Arabs, whereas uncertainty avoidance was higher among Arab employees. Examination of the mediating processes indicates that even after removing the influence of cultural values, Arab employees still judged these 3 tactics as more effective than did Jewish employees.     

How Sweetness Plays Sweetly in Persuasion

Three experiments explored how sweetness metaphors affect individuals’ attitudes. The results indicated that sweetness metaphors led to positive responses to the target advertisement and the advertised product, both when the sweetness was actually experienced (Experiment 1) and when the sweetness experience was imagined (Experiment 2 and 3). In Experiment 1, participants who directly experienced a sweet taste evaluated a mineral water advertisement more positively than those who did not experience a sweet taste. Experiment 2 showed that an imagined sweet taste generated favorable attitudes toward the same targets as in Experiment 1. Results of Experiment 3, which used advertisements of various product categories, were similar to those of the previous two experiments, where both direct experience and mental imagination of sweetness were advantageous for forming favorable attitudes.     

In Love With Hatred: Rethinking the Role Hatred Plays in Shaping Political Behavior1

This paper addresses the problem of isolating and measuring the influence of hatred on political behavior by analyzing a nationwide panel study conducted during the 2006 election campaign in Israel. We argue that collective hatred is composed of 2 distinct emotional aspects: chronic and immediate. The core of this paper is an analysis of the influence of these 2 types of group‐based hatred on 3 aspects of political behavior: political learning, party identification stability, and partisan support. The results indicate that both aspects of collective hatred—chronic and immediate—are incongruously crucial for the understanding of political outcomes, particularly political learning. We discuss the broader implications of these findings in assessing the impact of group‐based hatred on the political process.     

Effectiveness of Impression Management Tactics Across Human Resource Situations1

An experimental study was undertaken to explore the effectiveness of impression management tactics in various situations. To manipulate the variables of interest, 6 different scenarios were created by crossing 2 independent variables: impression management tactics (self-focused or other-focused) and situation (employment interview, performance appraisal, or training session). Respondents, 178 human resource professionals, were mailed a survey that contained 2 of the 6 scenarios. In each scenario, respondents rated the person described in the scenario on performance, provided their affective impressions, and determined the appropriateness of the impression management cues given the situation. Results indicated a significant interaction between the use of impression management and the situation. These findings are compared to past research, and suggestions for future directions for the study of impression management are outlined.     

Police-Public Interactions: The Impact of Conflict Resolution Tactics1

Following Hammock and Richardson (1992), it was hypothesized that a preference among some police officers for confrontational rather than conciliatory tactics when dealing with the public may serve to escalate a conflict and thereby explain the documented individual differences in reports of officer assaults. In order to test this possibility, preferred conflict tactics and officers' recent experiences of citizen compliance (and non-compliance) were measured for a sample of 115 English police and 48 Australian police. The results supported the hypothesized relationship by indicating a significant correlation between preferences for specific confrontational and coercive tactics and experiences of noncompliance from the public.     

Mediation Tactics: A Comparison of Field and Laboratory Research1

This article responds to a concern that laboratory experiments, relative to field research, are poorly suited for the study of mediation. An overview of the study of mediation is presented. Methods of field and laboratory research on mediation are described. Then the issue of the generalizability of laboratory research to field settings is discussed. Finally, the results of field and laboratory research on mediation tactics are compared. Most research on when mediators choose to use specific tactics has been field research, but the few laboratory studies have provided comparable results. Both laboratory and field research have been employed to determine the effectiveness of mediation tactics in helping the parties to settle the dispute and fairly consistent results have been obtained across these settings. We conclude that laboratory experiments on mediation should not be considered inferior to field research methods, but rather should be considered complementary.