Perspectives on international collaboration in sales research

Abstract

International research collaboration and co-authorship among scholars is always encouraged, yet it comes with its share of difficulties. While globalization brings its own challenges in sales, this special issue focuses on the challenges of fostering international collaboration in sales research. Such perspective is important in today’s academic context for three main reasons. First, international collaboration in research forces scholars to take an international perspective on research problems and thus consider fields of study that may transcend cultural boundaries. Second, with international research collaboration indubitably comes broader exchanges of ideas. Having a breadth of perspectives is at the very essence of scholastic work. Third, international research collaborations can drive intellectual communities to embrace important global challenges confronting modern sales organizations.     

Efficacy and predictors of long-term treatment success for Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment and Behavioral Weight-Loss-Treatment in overweight individuals with binge eating disorder

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to assess the long-term efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment (CBT) and Behavioral Weight-Loss-Treatment (BWLT) in patients with binge eating disorder (BED) and to identify potential predictors of long-term treatment success.MethodIn a sample of overweight to obese BED patients from a randomized comparative trial we evaluated the efficacy of four months of CBT or BWLT, followed by 12 months extended care, and a final follow-up assessment 6 years after the end of active treatment. Outcomes included binge eating, eating disorder pathology, depressive feelings, and body mass index.ResultsAfter a strong improvement during active treatment, outcomes worsened during follow-up, yet remained improved at 6-year follow-up relative to pretreatment values. Long-term effects between CBT and BWLT were comparable. Rapid response during the early treatment phase was the only characteristic that was predictive of favorable treatment outcome in the long term.ConclusionsBoth CBT and BWLT can be considered to be comparably efficacious in the long-term. Patients not responding strongly enough during the first four therapy sessions might be in need of tailored interventions early during the treatment phase.     

Countervailing Forces: Religiosity and Paranormal Belief in Italy

Due to the unique cultural niche inhabited by “paranormal” beliefs and experiences, social scientists have struggled to understand the relationship between religion and the paranormal. Complicating matters is the fact that extant research has primarily focused upon North America, leaving open the possible relationship between these two spheres of the supernatural in less religiously pluralistic contexts. Using data from a random, national survey of Italian citizens, we examine the nature of the relationship between religiosity and paranormal beliefs in a largely Catholic context. We find a curvilinear relationship between religiosity and paranormal beliefs among Italians, with those at the lowest and highest levels of religious participation holding lower average levels of “paranormal” belief than those with moderate religious participation. This pattern reflects how two influential social institutions, religion and science, simultaneously define the paranormal as outside of acceptable realms of inquiry and belief.     

When Clients No-Show: An Empirical Analogue Study of Psychologists’ Response Strategies

Empirical studies of psychotherapists’ responses to clients who no-show, i.e., fail to attend appointments without notification or follow-up, are notably absent from the literature. The current study surveyed licensed psychologists to assess their responses to outpatient no-show situations. Participants responded to one of two vignettes depicting a client diagnosed with either major depression with a history of suicidality or generalized anxiety disorder. Results indicated that across conditions, the majority of psychotherapists would attempt to contact the client who no-showed; would make their first attempt within a few days of the no-show; would make repeat attempts if necessary; and would rely primarily on phone calls to the client’s cell and home numbers as methods of contact. Compared to those who responded to the vignette featuring the anxious client, participants who responded to the vignette featuring the depressed client reported a significantly shorter wait between the no-show and the contact attempt and a significantly greater number of contact attempts. Implications and clinical relevance are discussed.     

Nice or smart? Task relevance of self-characteristics moderates interpersonal projection

Two studies investigated the impact of trait relevance to a specific task on people's projection of their characteristics onto a cooperative partner. We either measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2) the relevance of a trait to a specific cooperative task. In both studies, participants first rated themselves on a list of traits. Then they imagined completing a cooperative task with an unknown partner. Finally, they rated the partner on the same list of traits. In Study 1, we found partner ratings to be positively influenced by self ratings and the idiosyncratic measure of trait relevance. In Study 2, participants rated the self and the partner on competence and warmth traits while completing an intellectual or a social task. We found partner ratings to be positively influenced by self ratings more on competence than on warmth in the intellectual task, but more on warmth than on competence in the social task. These results suggest that people project onto others in a way that maximizes their chances to succeed in cooperation.     

On the unidentifiability of a certain class of skill multi map based probabilistic knowledge structures

In the process of fitting a probabilistic knowledge structure to data, standard goodness-of-fit statistics only partially describe the correctness of the fitted model. Irrespectively of how good the fit is, a too-high value of the error rates (careless error and lucky guess probabilities) might be a symptom of a misspecification of the model. In this situation, it could be critical to interpret those values as error rates. A more reasonable solution would be to hypothesize that some modifications have to be introduced in the model. In this paper, we show that in specific cases, these modifications yield basic local independence model parameterizations that are not identifiable. The applicative consequences of the theoretical results are displayed by means of an example carried out on a set of clinical data collected through the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Questionnaire.     

Maternal Over-Control Moderates the Association Between Early Childhood Behavioral Inhibition and Adolescent Social Anxiety Symptoms

Behavioral inhibition (BI) and maternal over-control are early risk factors for later childhood internalizing problems, particularly social anxiety disorder (SAD). Consistently high BI across childhood appears to confer risk for the onset of SAD by adolescence. However, no prior studies have prospectively examined observed maternal over-control as a risk factor for adolescent social anxiety (SA) among children initially selected for BI. The present prospective longitudinal study examines the direct and indirect relations between these early risk factors and adolescent SA symptoms and SAD, using a multi-method approach. The sample consisted of 176 participants initially recruited as infants and assessed for temperamental reactivity to novel stimuli at age 4?months. BI was measured via observations and parent-report across multiple assessments between the ages of 14?months and 7?years. Maternal over-control was assessed observationally during parent–child interaction tasks at 7?years. Adolescents (ages 14–17?years) and parents provided independent reports of adolescent SA symptoms. Results indicated that higher maternal over-control at 7?years predicted higher SA symptoms and lifetime rates of SAD during adolescence. Additionally, there was a significant interaction between consistently high BI and maternal over-control, such that patterns of consistently high BI predicted higher adolescent SA symptoms in the presence of high maternal over-control. High BI across childhood was not significantly associated with adolescent SA symptoms when children experienced low maternal over-control. These findings have the potential to inform prevention and early intervention programs by indentifying particularly at-risk youth and specific targets of treatment.