Research Ethics Board (REB) Members’ Preparation for,and Perceived Knowledge of Research Ethics

The Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS) was first developed to establish a standard of practice in research ethics by the three federal agencies responsible for funding institutional research in Canada: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). In 2010, a second edition of the policy, known as the TCPS 2, was released with updated information and expanded coverage of research ethics issues. According to the TCPS 2, the Agencies’ mandate is “to promote research that is conducted according to the highest ethical standards,” and the TCPS 2 serves as a benchmark for this with respect for human dignity as its underlying value. Research institutions receiving Agency funding are to comply with this policy statement by forming Research Ethics Boards (REBs) to review all research involving human participants. The intention behind this review requirement is to provide a proportionate assessment of the benefit-to-risk ratio of the research, and in that process, to safeguard “respect for persons”, express a “concern for welfare”, and uphold “justice” (CIHR, SSHRC, NSERC 2010, p. 8). Research may not proceed until ethics approval is granted by an institution’s REB. The current study evaluates REB members’ perspectives on their knowledge of research ethics, and juxtaposes these perceptions with those of researchers. Specifically, we are interested in the extent to which REB members with less experience read the TCPS 2, and whether those with less experience have decreased confidence in their ethics knowledge.     

Salespeople’s Renqing Orientation, Self-esteem, and Selling Behaviors: An Empirical Study in Taiwan

Purpose  The purpose of this study was to investigate how salespeople’s renqing orientation and self-esteem jointly affect their selling behavior. Design/Methodology/Approach  Data were obtained from a survey of salespeople from 17 pharmaceutical and consumer-goods companies in Taiwan (n = 216). Findings  Salespeople’s renqing orientation (i.e., their propensity to adhere to the accepted norm of reciprocity) compensates the negative effect of self-esteem on their selling behaviors, such as adaptive selling and hard work. Implications  Our study results underscore the critical role of the character trait of renqing orientation in a culture emphasizing a norm of reciprocity. Therefore, it would be useful to consider a strategy of recruiting salespeople with either a high self-esteem or a combination of high renqing orientation and low self-esteem. Originality/Value  The existing literature of industrial/organizational psychology and marketing primarily relies on constructs that are derived from Western cultural contexts. However, the present paper extended these literatures by investigating the possible joint effects of self-esteem with a trait originated from the Chinese culture on salespeople’s selling behaviors.     

Exploring the Relationships Between Perceived Coworker Loafing and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Mediating Role of a Revenge Motive

Purpose  The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between perceived coworker loafing and counterproductive work behaviors toward the organization (CWB-O) and toward the coworkers (CWB-I). Design/Methodology/Approach  Data were collected from 184 supervisor–employee pairs from multiple sources (i.e., self-rated and supervisor-rated). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses were conducted to test our hypotheses. Findings  The results of SEM showed that perceived loafing was positively related to CWB-O (self-rated) and CWB-I (self-rated and supervisor-rated). Moreover, a revenge motive toward the organization fully mediated the relationship between perceived loafing and CWB-O, whereas a revenge motive toward coworkers fully mediated the relationship between perceived loafing and CWB-I. Implications  This study advances our understanding as to how and why perceived coworker loafing increases employees’ CWB-I and CWB-O. Our investigation also highlights the important cognitive mediator: revenge motive in the perceived loafing–CWB linkage. Originality/Value  This is one of the first studies which examines the relationships between perceived coworker loafing and two facets of CWB, and investigates a cognitive mediator (i.e., a revenge motive) that underlines the perceived loafing–CWB linkage. In addition, we respond to Bennett and Robinson’s (J Appl Psychol 85:349–360, 2003) call to test the nomological network of CWB in a collectivist culture (i.e., Taiwan).

Job definition discrepancy between supervisors and subordinates: The antecedent role of LMX and outcomes

This study proposed that leader–member exchange (LMX) might encourage an employee to define job breadth close to or beyond the level of his/her supervisor's expectation (enlargement effect), while simultaneously fostering a reduction in supervisor–subordinate definition discrepancy on job content (congruence effect). Using data from 184 subordinate–supervisor dyads in Taiwan, we examined the relationships among LMX, job definition discrepancy, in‐role/extra‐role behaviour, and performance rating. Results showed that LMX was positively related to employee relative job breadth and the supervisor–subordinate congruence on job content, supporting the existence of enlargement effect and congruence effect. Additionally, employee relative job breadth was positively related to extra‐role behaviour and the congruence on job content was positively related to in‐role behaviour. However, neither in‐role nor extra‐role behaviour was related to performance rating. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

快乐感与社会支持的关系

采用量表法以304个成年人为被试研究了快乐感和社会支持的关系。差异检验表明,男性的正向情感和社会支持源显著多于女性;而女性对社会支持的利用度显著高于男性;在快乐感、负向情感和人际支持上没有显著的性别差异。回归分析表明,社会支持中的人际支持(主要包括配偶、父母、朋友、邻里、同事的支持)和支持利用度(包括遇到烦恼时对支持的利用以及团体参与程度)对快乐感、正向情感和负向情感具有较好的预测作用。     

家庭功能及其相关因素研究

采用家庭亲密度和适应性量表(FACESⅡ)调查了304个城市家庭的家庭功能状况和影响因素。结果表明：(1)平衡型家庭所占比例最大,为58．0％,中间型占25．9％,极端型只有16．1％;(2)家庭功能随婚姻发展历程发生变化;(3)家庭亲密度受经济收入水平影响,但与受试者年龄、性别、受教育水平等变量无关。     

Suicidality Among Gay and Bisexual Men in Taiwan: Its Relationships with Sexuality and Gender Role Characteristics,Homophobic Bullying Victimization,and Social Support

This study aimed to examine the associations of suicidality in emerging adulthood with time of coming out, gender role nonconformity, sexual orientation, traditional and cyber homophobic bullying victimization, and family and peer support during childhood in gay and bisexual men in Taiwan. The frequency of “experiencing suicide ideation” and “attempting suicide” in the past year among 500 gay or bisexual men was examined. The participants’ time of coming out, level of subjective masculinity, sexual orientation, experiences of traditional and cyber homophobic bullying victimization, and levels of family and peer support during childhood were also evaluated. In total, 31% (n = 155) of participants reported experiencing suicide ideation (n = 82) or attempting suicide (n = 73). Early coming out, traditional homophobic bullying victimization, and low family support during childhood increased the risk of suicidality in emerging adulthood; by contrast, family support did not moderate the association of early coming out or traditional bullying victimization with current suicidality. A high proportion of participants reported experiencing suicide ideation and attempt in emerging adulthood. Hence, effective suicide prevention is required for gay and bisexual men. Suicide prevention programs should consider time of coming out, traditional homophobic bullying victimization, and level of family support.     

Cognitive processes in evaluating reference letters

This study simultaneously evaluates confirmatory information search theory and dual‐process theory in a selection process that uses reference letters as the evaluation tool. Confirmatory information search suggests that evaluators give attention to information that is congruent with first impressions. Dual‐processes theory suggests that evaluators give attention to information that is incongruent with first impressions. Using a sample of undergraduate students, in two separate experiments, we found that a poor impression from the résumé led to more positive information and less negative information searching in reference letters than did a good impression. These results of both experiments suggest that reference letter evaluators are likely to use cognitive processes associated with dual‐process theory. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does Image Matter to Different Job Applicants? The influences of corporate image and applicant individual differences on organizational attractiveness

This research examined both the effects of various corporate image dimensions on organizational attractiveness and the moderating effects of applicant individual difference variables on the aforementioned relationships. Two studies were conducted for this research, which involved 40 bank samples and 360 student participants ( Study 1 ) and 538 employee–student mixed samples ( Study 2 ). By implementing different research designs, samples, and industry targets in the two studies, we found that corporate product image, corporate citizenship image, and corporate credibility image were important antecedents to organizational attractiveness. One of the proposed applicant individual difference variables, environmental sensitivity, was found to moderate the relationship between corporate citizenship image and organizational attractiveness.