Psychophysiological effects of emotional dissonance in a face-to-face service interaction

Abstract

Current research demonstrates that requirements to express emotions which are not genuinely felt in the particular situation (emotional dissonance) are associated with negative long and short-term effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate: (a) the psychophysiological short-term effects of emotional dissonance in a face-to-face service interaction and (b) the moderating role of gender and neuroticism. In total, 32 women and 27 men were instructed to play the role of a service employee, who had to interact with an angry and rude customer. Half of the sample was given information that the organization expected them to be friendly (emotional dissonance), the other half was told they were expected to act naturally and show their genuine feelings (no emotional dissonance). Subjective and behavioral responses revealed that participants in the “friendly” condition modulated their emotional expressions to a greater extent than those in the “naturally” condition. Participants in the “friendly” condition showed stronger systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analyses yielded that gender and neuroticism partly moderated the association between emotional dissonance and participants' psychophysiological response.     

Dimension‐specific intertrial facilitation in visual search for pop‐out targets: Evidence for a top‐down modulable visual short‐term memory effect

In visual search for pop‐out targets, target detection is expedited when the target‐defining dimension (e.g., colour) is repeated on consecutive trials, but not (or less) when the target feature (e.g., red) is repeated (Found & Müller, 1996). The present study examined whether this dimension‐specific intertrial facilitation (ITF) is mediated by an explicit or an implicit memory of the target on the previous trial. In Experiment 1, observers had no above‐chance knowledge of the target dimension (or feature) when this information was not to be encoded and retained explicitly; yet, they exhibited dimension‐specific ITF. In Experiment 2, the nature of the ITF effect was unaffected by whatever attribute of the target was to be explicitly encoded and memorized, its dimension or feature; however, ITF was increased compared to a no‐memory control condition. In Experiment 3, ITF was not increased when observers had to determine the target dimension, but without having to maintain a memory of it during the intertrial interval. These results suggest that, although an implicit memory is sufficient for producing dimension‐specific ITF, ITF is top‐down modulable by explicit memory instructions.     

Kriminologische Beiträge

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Kriminologischer Beitrag

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Feststellungen zur T?terpers?nlichkeit im Strafverfahren

This article describes the difficulties in investigating the mental elements of offences in criminal procedures. It is shown that despite these difficulties the aim of finding out the truth in criminal procedures should be adhered to and the possible contributions by forensic psychiatry to this aim are discussed.     

Physiological aspects of flow experiences: Skills-demand-compatibility effects on heart rate variability and salivary cortisol

This research addresses flow theory according to which the compatibility of skills and task demands involved in an activity elicits flow experiences that render the activity intrinsically rewarding. Departing from correlational research, we applied experimental paradigms designed to test the impact of a skills-demands-compatibility on the emergence of flow in computerized tasks. On the one hand, the results from self-reports support the balance hypothesis and indicate that skills-demands-compatibility results in a pleasurable flow experience. On the other hand, the results also indicate that skills-demands-compatibility resulted in (a) reduced heart rate variability indicating enhanced mental workload, and (b) stress as indicated by relatively high levels of salivary cortisol. These results indicate that flow experiences combine subjectively positive elements with physiological elements reflecting strainful tension and mental load.     

Productive conflict in group decision making: genuine and contrived dissent as strategies to counteract biased information seeking

Decision-making groups in organizations are often expected to function as a “think tank” and to perform “reality testing” to detect the best alternative. A biased search for information supporting the group's favored alternative impairs a group's ability to fulfill these requirements. In a two-factorial experiment with 201 employees and managers from various economic and public organizations, genuine and contrived dissent were investigated as counterstrategies to biased information seeking. Genuine dissent was manipulated by forming three-person groups whose members either all favored the same alternative individually (homogeneous groups) or consisted of a minority and a majority faction with regard to their favored alternative (heterogeneous groups). Contrived dissent was varied by the use or nonuse of the “devil's advocacy” technique. The results demonstrate that heterogeneity was more effective in preventing a confirmatory information-seeking bias than devil's advocacy was. Confidence was identified as an important mediator. Implications for the design of interventions aimed at facilitating reality testing in group decision making are discussed.