Interdependence in negotiation: effects of exit options and social motive on distributive and integrative negotiation

This study extends past research on the impact of alternatives in dyadic negotiation by (a) providing negotiators with the mere possibility to negotiate with an outside party and (b) examining the moderating role of the negotiators' social motive. Business students engaged in face‐to‐face negotiations, which were audio‐taped and transcribed. None, one, or both dyad members were provided with an exit option—the possibility to leave the current negotiation and start new negotiations with someone else. Dyads were also given instructions to maximize own outcomes (egoistic motive) or to consider both own and the other's outcomes (prosocial motive). Results showed that, as expected, dyads with a one‐sided exit option engaged in more distributive and less integrative behavior, and obtained lower joint outcomes than dyads having either two‐sided or no exit options. However, this effect occurred only under an egoistic rather than a prosocial motive. No differences were found for negotiations with two‐sided exit options compared to negotiations without exit options, suggesting one's own exit option is counterbalanced by the other's escape possibility. Our results indicate that negotiators who wish to maximize personal as well as joint outcomes should try to combine a power advantage in terms of exit options with a shared prosocial orientation. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mindful Learning

Mindfulness, achieved without meditation, is discussed with particular reference to learning. Being mindful is the simple act of drawing noveldistinctions. It leads us to greater sensitivity to context and perspective, and ultimately to greater control over our lives. When we engage in mindfullearning, we avoid forming mind-sets that unnecessarily limit us. Many of our beliefs about learning are mind-sets that have been mindlessly accepted to be true. Consideration is given to some of the consequences that result from a mindful reconsideration of these myths of learning.     

Thinking about psychoanalytic curricula: an epistemological perspective

The author discusses the role that curriculum development can play in preparing psychoanalytic candidates to understand the challenges created by theoretical pluralism in our field and by the growth of knowledge in neighboring disciplines. Curriculum design can be used to encourage the development of epistemological perspectives that can serve as organizing frameworks to help candidates think critically about psychoanalytic knowledge. It is possible to teach these complex matters in a way that students find accessible and useful. The author presents exemplars taken from the curriculum at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research in New York.     

The influence of induced mood on the inhibition of emotional information

The ability to inhibit affective information plays a major role in efficient cognitive processing. In this study the effect of mood induction on inhibitory processing of emotional material was investigated. In Experiment 1, performance on a negative affective priming task (NAP) following negative and positive mood induction (MIP) was compared to a neutral mood condition. Results revealed that, as compared with the neutral mood condition, inhibitory function for affective material was unaffected by negative MIP. However, after the positive MIP, inhibitory processes were significantly impaired. In Experiment 2, we replicated and extended the findings on positive affect and inhibition. The data concerning positive mood fit with the general findings that positive mood often leads to a “loose, flexible” processing mode. The null-finding concerning negative mood and inhibition is discussed in the light of research on inhibition in depression.     

The IPIP–HEXACO scales: An alternative, public-domain measure of the personality constructs in the HEXACO model

Recently, Lee and Ashton (2004) described the HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI), a new instrument designed to assess the six dimensions observed in lexical studies of personality structure of various languages. Here, we describe the development of an alternative measure of the HEXACO factors and their facets, using the items of the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). The scales of the resulting IPIP–HEXACO inventory showed satisfactory psychometric properties, as assessed by internal-consistency reliability, convergent and discriminant correlations with the original HEXACO-PI scales, and factor structure. We discuss the potential usefulness of the new IPIP–HEXACO inventory and its strengths and limitations.     

Sequence effects in a spatial cueing task: Endogenous orienting is sensitive to orienting in the preceding trial

In a spatial cueing paradigm it was investigated whether endogenous orienting is sensitive to orienting processes in the previous trial. Specifically, the effect of the previous cue direction, the previous trial type (valid, invalid, neutral, catch) and target alternation effects were studied. Strategic effects were shown as attentional costs and benefits were larger after a valid than after an invalid trial. Following catch trials, an overall response slowing was observed, but costs and benefits were unaffected. This was interpreted as a reduction in alertness and as support for the dissociation between spatial and temporal attentional mechanisms. Repetition of target position per se had no effect, but in neutral trials responses were slower to targets appearing at the location that was cued in the previous trial, independent of validity of the preceding trial. This suggests that long-term inhibition-of-return can occur between trials when attention is controlled endogenously.     

Response-specific effects of pain observation on motor behavior

How does seeing a painful event happening to someone else influence the observer's own motor system? To address this question, we measured simple reaction times following videos showing noxious or innocuous implements contacting corporeal or noncorporeal objects. Key releases in a go/nogo task were speeded, and key presses slowed, after subjects saw a video of a needle pricking a fingertip. No such effect was seen when the observed hand was replaced by a sponge, nor when the needle was replaced by a cotton bud. These findings demonstrate that pain observation modulates the motor system by speeding withdrawal movements and slowing approach movements of the finger. This illustrates a basic mechanism by which visual information about pain is used to facilitate appropriate behavioral responses.     

Religion,the Culture of Biomedicine,and the Tremendum: Towards a Non-Essentialist Analysis of Interconnection

The question of the extent of the interconnection, if any, between religion and the Western culture of biomedicine has received considerable scholarly attention over the past several decades. However, any phenomenological analysis that begins by positing an essence of religion is, if not doomed, deeply flawed from the outset. This paper employs William Alston’s non-essentialist notion of ‘religion-making characteristics’ to assess the extent of the interconnection. The conclusion is that the culture of biomedicine does share many, if not all of these characteristics, and that both religion and medicine overlap in significant ways on, to use Erwin Goodenough’s metaphor, the painted curtain that separates man from the tremendum.

Suicide Terrorists: Are They Suicidal?

Are suicide terrorists suicidal? A review of the worldwide literature on suicide terrorism uncovered five published empirical studies describing data collected from potential suicide terrorists or the surviving friends and families of deceased terrorists. The many discrepancies uncovered between suicide terrorists and other suicides on key factors known to underpin suicidality, suggest that such terrorists are not truly suicidal and should not be viewed as a subgroup of the general suicide population. Nonetheless, methods developed by suicidologists, such as the psychological autopsy, will help increase our understanding of the individual and group factors that underpin suicide terrorism.