Transformational Leadership and Follower Task Performance: The Role of Susceptibility to Positive Emotions and Follower Positive Emotions

Purpose

The aim of the present study is to examine transformational leadership (TFL) from an emotion-based perspective. We apply susceptibility to positive emotions (STPE) as the moderator and follower positive emotions (PE) as the mediator in the relationship between follower perceptions of TFL and follower task performance (TP).

Design/Methodology/Approach

Survey data were collected from multiple sources, comprising 304 supervisor-subordinate dyads in 42 functional units of the Taiwanese military. Hierarchical linear analysis (HLM) was performed to examine our proposed model.

Findings

The HLM results confirmed that follower perceptions of TFL were positively related to follower PE. Further, individual differences in STPE moderated the relationship between follower perceptions of TFL and follower PE. Finally, follower PE mediated the moderated relationship among TFL, STPE, and follower TP.

Implications

This study advances understanding of when, how, and why TFL can enhance follower TP. The findings also address the complex role of STPE and follower PE in the relationship between follower perceptions of TFL and follower TP.

Originality/Value

Emotions have attracted increasing attention in the leadership literature recently, particularly with regard to the transformational leader–follower relationship. This study enhances understanding of how TFL functions by accounting for followers’ STPE. In addition, we respond to Avolio et al.’s (Ann Rev Psychol 60:421–449, 2009) call to test the mediated-moderation effect that links TFL to follower outcomes.     

A molecular dissociation between cued and contextual appetitive learning

In appetitive Pavlovian learning, animals learn to associate discrete cues or environmental contexts with rewarding outcomes, and these cues and/or contexts can potentiate an ongoing instrumental response for reward. Although anatomical substrates underlying cued and contextual learning have been proposed, it remains unknown whether specific molecular signaling pathways within the striatum underlie one form of learning or the other. Here, we show that while the striatum-enriched isoform of adenylyl cyclase (AC5) is required for cued appetitive Pavlovian learning, it is not required for contextual appetitive learning. Mice lacking AC5 (AC5KO) could not learn an appetitive Pavlovian learning task in which a discrete signal light predicted reward delivery, yet they could form associations between context and either natural or drug reward, which could in turn elicit Pavlovian approach behavior. However, unlike wild-type (WT) mice, AC5KO mice could not use these Pavlovian conditioned stimuli to potentiate ongoing instrumental behavior in a Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer paradigm. These data suggest that AC5 is specifically required for learning associations between discrete cues and outcomes in which the temporal relationship between conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) is essential, while alternative signaling mechanisms may underlie the formation of associations between context and reward. In addition, loss of AC5 compromises the ability of both contextual and discrete cues to modulate instrumental behavior.In Pavlovian learning, animals form associations between discrete or contextual stimuli in their environment to shape their behavior and make appropriate responses. In discrete cue appetitive Pavlovian conditioning, a single cue with a defined onset and offset that typically activates one sensory modality is provided, immediately followed by reward delivery (Hall 2002; Domjan 2006; Ito et al. 2006). Alternatively, behavior can be driven by context, an assortment of stimuli activating a number of sensory modalities that contribute to the representation of environmental space (Balsam 1985; Rudy and Sutherland 1995; Smith and Mizumori 2006). Collectively, these stimuli make up a context that is paired with reward delivery in contextual appetitive learning. One important distinction between these two forms of learning is that in cued conditioning, there is a discrete temporal relationship between conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US). Thus, an animal can effectively anticipate timing of reward delivery from onset and offset of CS. In vivo studies of dopamine (DA) neuron activity have suggested this discrete temporal relationship can be encoded by DA neurons (Schultz et al. 1997; Schultz 1998a). In contrast, in many contextual Pavlovian conditioning tasks, US delivery is not predicted, it is delivered as the animal explores the environment; thus, the temporal relationship between contextual stimuli and reinforcement is not an essential component of the learned associations (Fanselow 2000). These two types of environmental stimuli may be encoded differently and mediated by different neural substrates.Lesion studies have elucidated the anatomical dissociations between cued and contextual appetitive learning. Using a modified Y-maze procedure, it has been suggested that contextual appetitive learning is hippocampus- and nucleus-accumbens (NAc) dependent, while cued learning is dependent on the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) and the NAc (Ito et al. 2005, 2006). In addition, as the NAc processes glutamatergic inputs from the amygdala and the hippocampus (Groenewegen et al. 1999; Goto and Grace 2008), recent studies have indicated that disconnecting the hippocampus from the NAc shell can disrupt contextual appetitive conditioning (Ito et al. 2008). In addition to glutamatergic inputs, the NAc, as part of the ventral striatum, receives dense dopaminergic input from midbrain nuclei (Groenewegen et al. 1999). Temporal shifts in phasic DA release in striatal regions has been correlated with appetitive Pavlovian learning (Day et al. 2007), and models of striatal function suggest that DA-dependent modification of glutamatergic transmission in the striatum may underlie reinforcement learning (Reynolds et al. 2001; Reynolds and Wickens 2002).The cAMP pathway has been implicated in plasticity and learning in a number of neuronal structures (Abel et al. 1997; Ferguson and Storm 2004; Pittenger et al. 2006). Adenylyl cyclase (AC), the enzyme that makes cAMP, has nine membrane-bound isoforms, each with different expression patterns and regulatory properties (Hanoune and Defer 2001). AC5 is highly enriched in the striatum, with very low levels of expression in other regions of the brain (Mons et al. 1998; Iwamoto et al. 2003; Kheirbek et al. 2008, 2009), and genetic deletion of AC5 (AC5KO) severely compromises DA''s ability to modulate cAMP levels in the striatum (Iwamoto et al. 2003). Previous studies have shown that AC5KO mice were severely impaired in acquisition of a cued appetitive Pavlovian learning task, while formation of action–outcome contingencies in instrumental learning was intact (Kheirbek et al. 2008). Yet, it remains unknown whether the cAMP pathway in the striatum underlies all forms of appetitive Pavlovian learning, or how it contributes to the ability of Pavlovian cues to modulate instrumental behavior.In this study, we asked if genetic deletion of AC5 selectively impairs cued or contextual appetitive learning. In addition, we tested whether loss of AC5 affects the ability of conditioned cues or contexts to modulate instrumental behavior. Our data indicate that although loss of AC5 abolishes cued appetitive learning, contextual learning is spared. Although contextual stimuli could elicit approach behavior in AC5KO mice, they could not potentiate an ongoing instrumental response, highlighting the importance of this isoform of AC in Pavlovian–instrumental interactions.     

论美国宗教事务管理模式及其对我国的启示

美国由于较早开始社会的近现代化,其宗教事务管理模式相对成型.借鉴美国宗教事务管理模式,确立宗教事务管理的基本哲学理念,诉诸法律,并不断在宗教管理的支持性政策与限制性政策上取得弹性平衡是我国宗教事务管理的策略选择.     

工作-家庭冲突与幼儿教师离职意向的关系：职业认同感与职业倦怠的序列中介作用

为了探讨工作−家庭冲突与幼儿教师离职意向的关系。采用工作−家庭冲突量表、幼儿教师职业认同感量表、教师职业倦怠量表和离职意向量表对992名幼儿教师进行测验。结果表明：（1）工作−家庭冲突、职业认同感、职业倦怠和幼儿教师离职意向水平彼此之间显著相关。（2）工作−家庭冲突可以显著预测幼儿教师离职意向水平。（3）工作−家庭冲突可以通过职业认同感和职业倦怠形成的链式中介作用预测幼儿教师离职意向水平。职业认同感和职业倦怠在工作−家庭冲突对幼儿教师离职意向的预测路径中起序列中介作用。     

汉语儿童读词者的认知特征及其影响因素

读词者是指能够流畅地进行字词识别和解码, 却难以很好地理解文本内容的学生。以840名小学一到六年级学生为研究对象, 对其进行阅读速度、阅读理解、语素意识(包括同音语素意识、同形语素意识和复合语素意识)、汉字识别、口语词汇、工作记忆、一般智力等测查, 通过现状描述和多分类logistic回归分析, 结果发现：(1)一年级汉语儿童读词者的检出率为0.7%, 二年级之后的检出率在6.5%~10.1%之间; (2)在语言特异性认知因素上, 控制了年龄和智力后, 与其他学生相比, 读词者在汉字识别任务上表现较好, 在语素意识各个任务及口语词汇上表现较差; (3)年龄和智力是造成读词者比率增加的一般因素; (4)同音语素意识和口语词汇是造成读词者比率增加的语言特异性认知因素。     

心血管疾病微创治疗的未来

心血管疾病的治疗正在经历从创伤到微创到预防的过程,实现微创的关键是如何适度、合理地使用技术,在循证医学评价系统的指导下,以人为本,以最小的创伤、最合理的成本达到最佳的疗效.达到微创医学的目的:为人类提供最人性、最科学、最先进、最规范和最全面的医疗保健服务,要求硬技术必须软着陆,需要政府的干预和政策的引导,需要社会的参与,需要学科重构.     

内隐和外显记忆的发展研究

采用Buchner等人（1995）提出的加工分离范式的修正模型,对内隐和外显记忆进行分离。结果表明：内隐记忆水平随年龄的变化不大．而外显记忆水平在12岁左右达到高峰;内隐记忆与外显记忆均不具有性别差异。     

别跟“4”过不去

不知从什么时候开始,数字中最普通的“4”竟然成了人们最忌讳的符号。车牌号忌讳有“4”;结婚绝对不选带“4”的日子。有些人对“4”的忌讳甚至到了迷信的程度:遇“4”“14”“24”日时而谨慎出门;就餐时“4”号桌绝对不坐;四层带“4”号的楼绝对不买,生怕“4”带来晦气和不吉利。有的人为了得到一个所谓的吉利号“6”和“8”,而不惜花重金。连续号为888的车号被某富商花巨资购买;连续号为6666的手机号,同样有人愿意出高价,而“444”号绝少有人问津。于是南方的某个城市干脆将车号尾数的“4”取消了;一些开发商给楼层编号时,也取消4层和14层…     

试论《管子》的养老思想

《管子》是我国古代一部重要的典籍。它内容丰富,博大精深,涉及经济、政治、哲学、军事、社会保障等诸多学科,在养老方面也有诸多的阐述。梳理《管子》养老思想中的孝道传统,研究其推行的“爱亲善养,思敬奉教”的家庭养老模式和社会养老保障制度,总结其实施养老政策过程中的政治智慧,对解决我们今天的养老问题可以提供有益的启示和借鉴。