The effects of alignments: examining group faultlines, organizational cultures, and performance

By integrating literature on group faultlines, organizational cultures, and value congruence, this research presents a framework that explains how cultural alignment across organizational levels may influence the relationship between faultlines and performance. The hypotheses were tested using representatively sampled multisource qualitative and quantitative data on 138 teams from a Fortune 500 company. The present findings demonstrate that although informational faultlines were detrimental for group performance, the negative relationship between faultlines and performance was reversed when cultures with a strong emphasis on results were aligned, was lessened when cultures with a weak emphasis on results were aligned, and remained negative when cultures were misaligned with respect to their results orientation. These findings show the importance of recognizing alignments not only within groups (group faultlines) but also outside groups (cultural alignments between the group and departments) when considering their implications for group performance.     

Role of emotions and behavioural responses in mediating the impact of face loss on relationship deterioration: Are Chinese more face‐sensitive than Americans?

Face loss, defined as the deterioration in one's social image, has been regarded as a consequence of interpersonal conflict and a provocation for counter-attack. The present research was aimed at assessing whether the role of face loss in leading to relationship deterioration has more impact for Chinese than for Americans. We hypothesized that the linkage from face loss to relationship deterioration is mediated by two social-emotional complexes (anger and shame) and two behavioural reactions (retaliation and avoidance) arising from interpersonal harm. Structural equation modelling confirmed this mediation model, and indicated that in both cultures, the linkage between face loss and relationship disintegration was mediated by shame and avoidance, but not by anger and retaliation. Consistent with widely held hypotheses, face loss was found to be more influential in directly provoking a target's anger and relationship deterioration, and more influential in inhibiting a target's retaliating responses, for Hong Kong Chinese than for Americans.     

The Relation of the Galvanic Skin Reflex Recovery Curve to Reactivity,Resistance Level,and Perspiration

The effect of stimulus compounding in classical conditioning was investigated by conditioning one group of rats to a compound CS consisting of a buzzer and light and then conditioning separate groups of rats to the individual elements of the compound CS. On hurdle-jump test trials, the group of Ss conditioned to the compound CS performed better than Ss conditioned to the elements of the compound. Strength of conditioning to each of the elements of the compound CS was about equal. There was some evidence of a summation effect resulting from conditioning to the compound CS. Strength of conditioning to the compound CS was somewhat greater than the sum of the response strengths conditioned to the elements of the compound CS.     

Attention deficit disorder in reading-disabled twins: Evidence for a genetic etiology

In order to assess the genetic etiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the basic regression model for the analysis of selected twin data (DeFries & Fulker, 1985, 1988) was fitted to questionnaire data (DICA: Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents; Herjanic, Campbell, & Reich, 1982) for 37 identical and 37 fraternal twin pairs tested in the Colorado Reading Project. Results of this analysis suggest that ADHD is highly heritable. Moreover, adjusting DICA scores for either IQ or reading performance differences did not substantially change parameter estimates. In future analyses of larger data sets, distinguishing between possible subtypes of attentional problems (e.g., ADD with or without hyperactivity) may facilitate tests of more searching etiological questions.This work was supported in part by program project and center grants from NICHD (HD-11681 and HD-27802) to J. C. DeFries. This report was prepared while J. Gillis was supported by NIMH training grant MH-16880, and J. Gilger was supported by a Fellowship in Developmental Psychobiology through the University of Colorado (MH-15442). B. Pennington was also supported by NIMH grants MH-38820 and MH-45916. The invaluable contributions of staff members and families who participated in the Colorado Reading Project are gratefully acknowledged. We also acknowledge the expert editorial assistance of the late Rebecca G. Miles.     

The Relation of Cognitive and Memorial Processes to Persuasion in a Simulated Jury Trial

Four experiments investigated the dependence of persuasion on cognitive factors. All experiments employed a court case for which 795 subjects acted as jury members, reading summaries of both the prosecution and defense's testimony. The amount of objective information on both sides of the case was varied. Persuasion was a position function of the number of prosecution arguments and the number of defense arguments. This finding was extended by obtaining measures of the subjects'cognitive reactions to the case as well as their opinions and by following both of these measures over time. Both analysis of variance and multiple regression techniques showed that subjects could have derived their opinions from their cognitions about the case. This relationship also held up over time. These results suggest the general form of an information-processing theory of persuasion. One prediction of this theory is for an asymptotic function relating objective information to persuasion. This prediction received empirical support.     

The survival of a cooperative tradition in the intergroup discontinuity context

Interindividual-intergroup discontinuity is the tendency, in mixed-motive situations, for groups to interact more competitively, or less cooperatively, than individuals, even though mutual competition yields worse results that mutual cooperation. The present laboratory experiment attempted to assess whether the discontinuity effect could be reduced by the establishment of an intergroup cooperative tradition. Cooperation between intact pairs of groups was induced by placing in each group confederates who successfully convinced their fellow group members of the long-term advantage of trust and cooperation. On subsequent blocks of trails, the confederate was replaced by an actual subject, and then each of the original subjects was replaced so as to simulate generational turnover. By the time all initial members were replaced, their level of cooperation had eroded to the level of groups never experiencing mutual cooperation. The results are discussed in the context of other means of reducing discontinuity. This research was supported by National Science Foundation grants (BNS-9007414 and SBR-9408760) to John Schopler and Chester A. Insko.