Research Ethics in a Business School Context: The Establishment of a Review Committee and the Primary Issues of Concern

This paper describes the establishment of and the issues experienced by the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of a Business School within a University in Ireland. It identifies the issue of voluntarily given informed consent as a key challenge for RECs operating in a Business School context. The paper argues that whilst the typology of ethical issues in business research are similar to the wider social sciences, the fact that much research is carried out in the workplace adds to the complexity of the REC deliberations. The use of deception in the design of research studies, pestering the local community and the potential for harm to the researcher are also discussed briefly in the context of business research. The experiences of the authors’, two of whom have served as respective chairpersons of the business school REC since its inception in addition to being members of the university level REC, inform the discussion.     

Children’s Gender–Emotion Stereotypes in the Relationship of Anger to Sadness and Fear

Children’s perceptions of the emotional reactions of same- and different-sex characters in stories containing ambiguous and unambiguous emotional contexts were examined. According to the Parallel-Constraint-Satisfaction Theory (Kunda and Thagard. Psychological Review, 103, 284–308, 1996), stereotypes are more likely to be utilized in ambiguous contexts, defined here as those likely to elicit multiple emotional responses. Seventy suburban U.S. preschoolers were read vignettes describing boys or girls in ambiguous or unambiguous emotion-inducing events and reported how the vignette characters were feeling. Results suggest that the perceptions of participants were more likely to reflect gender–emotion stereotypes (e.g. perceiving males as angry and females as sad) in ambiguous contexts than in unambiguous contexts. Results are discussed in terms of children’s emerging understanding of gender–emotion stereotypes.     

Modeling the Information Preferences of Parents of Children with Mental Health Problems: A Discrete Choice Conjoint Experiment

Although materials informing parents about children’s mental health (CMH) problems can improve outcomes, we know relatively little about the design factors that might influence their utilization of available resources. We used a discrete choice conjoint experiment to model the information preferences of parents seeking mental health services for 6 to 18 year olds. Parents completed 30 choice tasks presenting experimentally varied combinations of 20 four-level CMH information content, transfer process, and outcome attributes. Latent class analysis revealed three segments with different preferences. Parents in the Action segment (43%) chose materials providing step-by-step solutions to behavioral or emotional problems. They preferred weekly meetings with other parents and coaching calls from a therapist. The Information segment (41%) chose materials helping them understand rather than solve their child’s problems. These parents were more sensitive to logistical factors such as receiving information in groups, the location where information was available, the modality in which the information was presented, and the time required to obtain and use the information. The Overwhelmed segment (16%) reported more oppositional and conduct problems, felt their children’s difficulties exerted a greater adverse impact on family functioning, and reported higher personal depression scores than those in the Action or Information segments. Nonetheless, they did not choose information about, or solutions to, the problems their children presented. Simulations predicted that maximizing utilization and realizing the potential benefits of CMH information would require knowledge transfer strategies consistent with each segment’s preferences.

Yours or mine? Ownership and memory

An important function of the self is to identify external objects that are potentially personally relevant. We suggest that such objects may be identified through mere ownership. Extant research suggests that encoding information in a self-relevant context enhances memory (the so-called 'self-reference effect'), thus an experiment was designed to test the impact of ownership on memory performance. Participants either moved or observed the movement of picture cards into two baskets; one of which belonged to self and one which belonged to another participant. A subsequent recognition test revealed that there was a significant memory advantage for objects that were owned by self. Acting on items (i.e., moving them) had no impact on memory. Results are discussed with reference to the importance of self-object associations in cognition.     

Importance of friendship potential in reducing the negative effects of dissimilarity

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of friendship potential on perceptions of dissimilarity among persons in diverse groups. The author gathered data at the beginning and end of a 15-week semester from college students enrolled in physical activity classes. Structural equation modeling indicated that friendship potential was negatively related to perceptions of deep-level dissimilarity at the end of the semester. This relation was moderated by perceptions of such dissimilarity at the beginning of the semester. The author found the perceived dissimilarity to be negatively associated with affective reactions to the class. The author discusses findings in terms of contributions and implications for diverse groups.     

The Role of Perceived Demographic Dissimilarity and Interaction in Customer‐Service Satisfaction1

The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of perceived demographic dissimilarity and interaction on customer‐service satisfaction. Data were collected from 301 spectators at a professional men's tennis tournament. Results indicate that perceived demographic dissimilarity was negatively associated with customer service satisfaction. Further, this relationship was moderated by the amount of interaction between the employee and customer, such that the negative relationship was strongest when interaction was high. Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical implications related to relational demography and practical implications in terms of the “business case” for diversity.     

Effects of Applicant Pregnancy on Hiring Decisions and Interview Ratings

The effects of pregnancy on hiring decisions during employment interviews are examined in a United States sample of 210 undergraduate business school students at a Midwestern university. A pregnant applicant was compared to a non-pregnant applicant with identical credentials and interview performance to explore any differences in interviewer ratings of qualifications and hiring by having participants view videotaped interviews. Results show that in spite of being viewed as equally qualified and well-suited for the job, the pregnant applicant received significantly lower hiring recommendation ratings. The pregnant applicant was also rated as more likely to need time off, miss work and quit compared to the non-pregnant applicant, indicating a concern about absenteeism regarding the pregnant applicant.     

Using goal setting, task clarification, and feedback to increase the use of the hands-free technique by hospital operating room staff

We evaluated the effects of a behavioral treatment on the safe passing of sharp instruments using the hands-free technique among hospital operating room personnel during surgical procedures. Treatment consisted of participative goal setting, task clarification, and feedback. The average percentage of sharp instruments passed safely increased from 32% to 64% and 31% to 70% between baseline and treatment phases in the inpatient and outpatient surgery units, respectively. Five-month follow-up data suggested maintenance of treatment effects. These findings suggest the utility of organizational behavior management strategies in reducing risky behavior in hospital settings.     

Role Ambiguity and Intra-Team Communication in Interdependent Sport Teams

This study explored relationships between perceptions of intra-team communication and role ambiguity within an interdependent team sport environment. Participants were 116 intercollegiate-level team sport athletes ( M age = 20.6 years). For males, the intra-team communication dimension of acceptance was found to predict the majority of role ambiguity dimensions for both performance contexts of offense and defense (.09 ≤  R ²_adj. ≤ .16). However, limited support for this relationship was found for females, as acceptance communication predicted only one role ambiguity dimension (evaluation of role performance on defense). These findings have implications for applied practice in terms of reducing group members' perceptions of role ambiguity in interdependent team sport.     

On helping lower status out-groups: The nature of the help and the stability of the intergroup status hierarchy

The current research expanded upon previous theoretical and empirical arguments regarding the nature of intergroup helping. In doing so, we considered the role of relative in-group status, the stability of this status, and the type of help provided. In a scenario study, we observed that members of a relatively high status group more strongly supported the provision of assistance to in-group members than members of a lower status out-group when the assistance was empowering in nature and when the high in-group status was unstable. When the intergroup status differences were stable, however, support for empowerment help to members of a lower status out-group was not significantly lower than support for such help to in-group members. We discuss these data with reference to realistic intergroup conflict theory and social identity theory.