Implicit Theories of Organizational Power and Priming Effects on Managerial Power‐Sharing Decisions: An Experimental Study1

Over 60 years of research on participative leadership has documented the many benefits of power sharing in organizations. However, a common obstacle to power sharing is the unwillingness of those with power to share it. An experimental study is presented that investigated the effects of managers' implicit theories of power in organizations on their willingness to share power with subordinates. The study proposed that chronic differences in implicit power theories (the degree of competitive vs. cooperative beliefs and ideals regarding organizational power relations) would affect managers' decisions to share or withhold power. Subliminal priming was predicted to temporarily enhance the accessibility of these differences in implicit power theories, thereby fostering or inhibiting spontaneous decisions to share power. Results indicate that the subliminal priming of competitive theories of organizational power negatively influenced managers' immediate, spontaneous decisions to share power, whereas chronic differences in their implicit theories similarly affected their more systematic decisions to share power. The theoretical and applied contributions of the study are discussed.     

Changes in Attitudes Toward Religion Among Those with Mental Illness

Despite the increased attention given to the religious experiences of those with mental illness, the specific nature of the changes in religious attitudes that occur within this population remain yet unknown. In this study, 406 individuals with persistent mental illness who attended one of 13 Los Angeles County Mental Health facilities completed a demographic questionnaire, an adapted version of the Religious Coping Index, and the Symptom Checklist 90-R. Over 54% of the participants reported a change in their religious beliefs such that their faith became stronger or weaker as a result, and 66% perceived these changes to be positive in nature. Qualitative codings suggest that a constructive or destructive use of religion and the quality of one's self-image and relationship with God are the primary themes underlying these changes. Those changes that were predominantly positive were associated with less severe symptomatology and more religious coping when compared to predominantly negative changes. These findings suggest that religious attitudes may be an ongoing and dynamic part of the experience of mental illness that should be considered in the treatment and research afforded by mental health professionals.     

Sunk Cost and Commitment to Dates Arranged Online

The influence of prior, irretrievable, investment (sunk cost) on commitment to a date arranged online was investigated. Participants were recruited from an undergraduate population. There were 145 participants (86 female) with a mean age of 19.42 years. Participants took part in a computer simulation of the process of arranging a date online. Participants invested one of five amounts of sunk cost into this process. Participants were then presented with the choice of attending the date arranged online or attending a (superior) blind date. Participants chose how much time that they wanted to commit to the (inferior) date arranged online. Results revealed a significant sunk cost effect (p = 0.003). The implications of the sunk cost effect having an influence over human relationships are discussed.     

Preschoolers’ nonsymbolic arithmetic with large sets: Is addition more accurate than subtraction?

Adult and developing humans share with other animals analog magnitude representations of number that support nonsymbolic arithmetic with large sets. This experiment tested the hypothesis that such representations may be more accurate for addition than for subtraction in children as young as 3½ years of age. In these tasks, the experimenter hid two equal sets of cookies, visibly added to or subtracted from the sets, and then asked 3½-year-olds which set had more cookies. Initial set size was either large (7 or 9) or very large (18 or 30), and the final sets differed by either a high proportion (ratio of 1:2) or a low proportion (difference of 1 cookie). Children’s addition performance exceeded chance, as well as their subtraction performance, across set sizes and proportions, whereas subtraction performance did not exceed chance. Arithmetic performance was also independent of counting ability. Addition performance was remarkably accurate when ratios between outcomes were close to 1, in contrast to previous findings. Interpretations for the asymmetry between addition and subtraction are discussed with respect to the nature of representations for nonsymbolic arithmetic with large sets.     

A method for the delivery of reinforcement during exercise

The purpose of this study was to develop an automated system for positively or negatively reinforcing subjects while they exercised on an electronically braked bicycle ergometer. The circuitry used to interface the subject’s pedal speed responses with the delivery of auditory reinforcement is presented, as well as a study designed to test the utility of the system. Twenty 18- to 25-year-old male subjects exercised on an electronically braked ergometer at a constant workload of 50 W for three 5-min blocks. During the first 5 min, subjects pedaled at their preferred rate, and during the next two 5-min blocks, they pedaled faster or slower than their baseline pedal speed to turn on a comedy tape for positive reinforcement, or turn off 90 dB of white noise for negative reinforcement. Circuits that interfaced the subject’s pedal response with the delivery of reinforcement are discussed in detail. Both positive and negative reinforcement increased the targeted pedaling rates, with no differences as a function of targeting increased or decreased pedal speed. This system could be used with various reinforcers, such as video and other audio equipment to increase exercise behavior.