Interpersonal Deception

Interpersonal deception theory (IDT) frames deception as a communication activity and examines deception within interactive contexts. One key element of the theory is the role of suspicion in prompting behavior changes. An experiment testing several suspicion-related hypotheses paired participants (half friends, half strangers) for interviews during which interviewees (EEs) lied or told the truth and interviewers (ERs) were induced to be (moderately or highly) suspicious (or not). Results confirmed that suspicion and deceit were perceived when present, suspicion was manifested through nonverbal behaviors but with different behavioral patterns for moderately versus highly suspicious ERs, and suspicion affected sender behavior. Relational familiarity moderated some behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of mutual influence processes and the dynamic nature of communication in interpersonal deception.     

Test reliability and correction for attenuation

Evidence is cited to show that specificity, or lack of equivalence, in the comparable forms of tests has a tendency to lower the value of reliability coefficients but has no tendency to lower the value of observed trait coefficients. This implies that the greater the lack of equivalence, the higher will be coefficients corrected for attenuation. Errors of measurement are supposed to reduce the magnitude of observed trait coefficients. Since specificity does not lower the correlation between two tests and since the split-half and equivalent-form reliability coefficients treat specificity as error, it follows that these two coefficients cannot legitimately be used in Spearman's correction-for-attenuation formula.     

Marital satisfaction and topographical assessment of marital interaction: A longitudinal analysis of newlywed couples

Despite numerous tests of social learning hypotheses relating to marriage, important questions remain concerning how best to quantify behavior displayed in marital interaction. In the present study, 60 newlywed couples reported their marital satisfaction, engaged in a 15-minute problem-solving discussion, and reported their marital satisfaction again 6 and 12 months later. The interactions were microanalytically coded, the codes were assigned a numeric value, and each spouse's cumulative point totals were plotted as a function of time in the interaction. This was done separately for all 60 couples. Graphs were divided into groups based on the topography of the graphically represented interactions. These groups differed cross-sectionally and longitudinally in their level of marital satisfaction. Couples tended to have lower satisfaction scores when their initial interactions were characterized with behavioral parity between the spouses at the beginning of a discussion, changing to asymmetrical patterns of behavior later in the conversation. This method was found to be more predictive of marital satisfaction than were standard methods of assessing dyadic interaction (i.e., base rates of behavior and sequential analysis). Implications of these data for understanding how interactions relate to the course of newlywed marriage are discussed.     

Problem Finding,Creativity Style and the Musical Compositions of High School Students

This study sought to understand the effect of problem finding and creativity style on the creative musical product. Participants (N = 32) were categorized by creativity style (adaptor or innovator) using the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory. The participants completed two musical composition problems involving two different degrees of problem finding behaviors: an open (ill defined) and a closed (more defined) problem. The resulting products were scored for creativity by three judges using a modified version of Amabile's “consensual assessment technique.” A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data. The independent variables were composition problem type and creativity style, and the dependent variable was the creativity score on the open and closed problems. No significant differences due to problem type, creativity style, or the interaction of the two factors was found. This research supports the assertion of Kirton that adaption-innovation theory is a measure of creativity style rather than creativity level, but calls into question its use in individual creativity style.     

Facing a breakup: Electromyographic responses moderate self‐concept recovery following a romantic separation

Romantic breakups arouse fundamental questions about the self: Who am I without my partner? This study examined self‐concept reorganization and psychological well‐being over an 8‐week period in the months following a breakup. Multilevel analyses revealed that poorer self‐concept recovery preceded poorer well‐being and was associated with love for an ex‐partner, suggesting that failure to redefine the self contributes to post‐breakup distress. Psychophysiological data revealed that greater activity in the corrugator supercilia facial muscle while thinking about an ex‐partner predicted poorer self‐concept recovery and strengthened the negative association between love for an ex‐partner and self‐concept recovery. Thus, the interaction between self‐report and psychophysiological data provided information about the importance of self‐concept recovery to post‐breakup adjustment not tapped by either method alone.     

Learning Emotional Intelligence: An Exploratory Study in the Domain of Health

This research examines the role of emotional intelligence (EI) on the adoption and maintenance of a healthy weight. We implemented an intervention over a 6‐week period demonstrating that EI can be learned to promote the use of cognitive health knowledge in the adoption and maintenance of a healthy weight. Results suggest that improving EI reduces the negative impact of low EI on positive health outcomes, and promotes quality decision making related to health (i.e., reduced calorie intake).     

A TRICKLE‐DOWN MODEL OF ABUSIVE SUPERVISION

Much of the abusive supervision research has focused on the supervisor–subordinate dyad when examining the effects of abusive supervision on employee outcomes. Using data from a large multisource field study, we extend this research by testing a trickle‐down model of abusive supervision across 3 hierarchical levels (i.e., managers, supervisors, and employees). Drawing on social learning theory and social information processing theory, we find general support for the study hypotheses. Specifically, we find that abusive manager behavior is positively related to abusive supervisor behavior, which in turn is positively related to work group interpersonal deviance. In addition, hostile climate moderates the relationship between abusive supervisor behavior and work group interpersonal deviance such that the relationship is stronger when hostile climate is high. The results provide support for our trickle‐down model in that abusive manager behavior was not only related to abusive supervisor behavior but was also associated with employees’ behavior 2 hierarchical levels below the manager.     

INTELLECTUAL VIRTUE AND THE JUSTIFICATION OF PERSONS

In this paper, I develop a model of personal justification that is rooted in the intellectual virtues and the concept of epistemic praise. In particular, I show how a character‐based understanding of the virtues gives rise to an important emphasis on agents and how this provides the resources for dealing with several problems in epistemology.