Friend or foe? Evidence that anxious people are better at distinguishing targets from non‐targets

Armed conflict necessitates the ability to quickly distinguish friend from foe. Failure to make accurate shooting decisions may result in harm either to oneself or to innocent others. The factors that predict such rapid decision making, however, remain unclear. Based on social defense theory, we contend that people high on attachment anxiety possess characteristics that are particularly advantageous in this domain such that anxiously attached individuals will show greater vigilance and accuracy in a realistic shooting paradigm in which they must quickly distinguish between militants (people holding a gun) and innocents (people holding an item with the same color and shape as a gun—Coca‐Cola bottle, black wallet, and black mobile phone). Using signal detection theory algorithms, we calculated sensitivity in performing the behavioral shooting task [D_(prime)]. Results indicate that as expected, anxious people demonstrated significantly better shooting accuracy. Implication for contemporary violent conflict is discussed.     

Professional burnout and work stress among Israeli dental assistants

Professional burnout and work-related stress are known problems that have been the subject of in-depth examination among dentists. Nevertheless, these issues have not been widely studied among dental assistants. The aims of this study were threefold: to confirm the structure of a Work Stress Inventory (WSI) for Dental Assistants which was originally developed for Jordanian dental assistants (factor analysis); to evaluate work stress and burnout among Israeli dental assistants and to discover the factors predicting Israeli assistants’ burnout (regression analyses). The Maslach Burnout Inventory and the WSI were distributed by mail and in person. Varimax factor analysis revealed that the items which contribute to different aspects of work stress are similar among both Jordanian and Israeli populations. Among the 299 Israeli dental assistants who completed the questionnaires, the most stressful work-related factors were income, workload, and work hazards. Eighteen percent of the participants exhibited a high to very high level of burnout. Participants exhibited a moderate level of emotional exhaustion (EE), low level of depersonalization (DP), and high level of personal accomplishment (PA). Most WSI factors were found to correlate positively with EE and DP. Linear stepwise regression analyses revealed that the best predictor of EE was the dentist?assistant relationship, followed by workload, patient type, and salary. The best predictor of DP was patient suffering followed by dentist?assistant relationship, years of professional experience, and work hazards. Professional stress and burnout among dental assistants are important factors that can possibly affect the wellbeing of both dental personnel and their patients. Further studies are necessary to better understand these factors in addition to the effects of personal relationships on burnout among dentists and their assistants.     

The one-of-us effect in decision evaluation

Judgment-by-outcomes denotes basing retrospective evaluation of decisions on the valence of their outcomes (success versus failure). Although decisions are typically evaluated in social contexts, so far judgment-by-outcomes has been studied without regard to this context. This study examines the moderating effect of evaluator's identification with the decision maker (the one-of-us-effect) on the influence of outcome information on the evaluation of Arab and Jewish subjects were presented with two cases recounting operations by either Arab or Jewish underground directed against the British authorities in Palestine. One case was a success (from the underground's point of view) and one ended in failure. Consistent with the one-of-us effect, identification with the decision maker variably canceled the influence of outcome information altogether, accentuated or weakened its influence, or determined which outcome constituted successful and unsuccessful outcomes. The one-of-us effect exercised a differential influence over different facets of decision evaluation, influencing most strongly the assignment of sanctions (in-group decision makers were mostly rewarded, out-group decision-makers were mostly punished regardless of outcomes). Next, in order of potency, the effect influenced the evaluation of decision justification, the evaluation of the decision maker, and the evaluation of the quality of decision process.     

Reassuring sex: Can sexual desire and intimacy reduce relationship‐specific attachment insecurities?

Past research has shown that attachment orientations shape sexual processes within relationships. Yet, little has been done to explore the opposite direction. In the present research, we examined whether sexual desire and emotional intimacy reduce attachment insecurities over time in emerging relationships. In an 8‐month longitudinal study, we followed 62 newly dating couples across three measurement waves. At Time 1, romantic partners discussed sexual aspects of their relationship and judges coded their displays of sexual desire and intimacy. Participants also completed measures of relationship‐specific attachment anxiety and avoidance in each wave. The results indicated that men's displays of desire predicted a decline in their own and their partner's relationship‐specific insecurities. Conversely, women's displays of desire inhibited the decline in their partner's relationship‐specific insecurities, whereas women's displays of intimacy predicted a decline in their partner's relationship‐specific insecurities. These findings suggest that different sex‐related processes underlie attachment formation in men and women.     

Omission and commission in judgment and decision making: Understanding and linking action‐inaction effects using the concept of normality

Research on action and inaction in judgment and decision making now spans over 35 years, with ever‐growing interest. Accumulating evidence suggests that action and inaction are perceived and evaluated differently, affecting a wide array of psychological factors from emotions to morality. These asymmetries have been shown to have real impact on choice behavior in both personal and interpersonal contexts, with implications for individuals and society. We review impactful action‐inaction related phenomena, with a summary and comparison of key findings and insights, reinterpreting these effects and mapping links between effects using norm theory's (Kahneman & Miller, 1986) concept of normality. Together, these aim to contribute towards an integrated understanding of the human psyche regarding action and inaction.     

Examination of the Relationships among General and Work-Specific Self-Evaluations, Work-Related Control Beliefs, and Job Attitudes

Les auteurs ont décrit et mis à l’épreuve les liens supposés exister entre les différences individuelles (les auto‐évaluations spécifiques au travail et générales), les variables contextuelles (les croyances relatives au contrôle des tâches) et trois attitudes professionnelles (la satisfaction relative à l’emploi, l’engagement organisationnel et l’implication liée au poste). Les résultats tirés d’une investigation portant sur 159 salariés des services de santé montrent que les auto‐évaluations, en particulier l’estime de soi liée à l’organisation, prédisent fortement les attitudes professionnelles. En outre, les auto‐évaluations spécifiques au travail permettent d’expliquer pourquoi et comment les auto‐évaluations générales et les croyances relatives au contrôle des tâches sont reliées aux attitudes professionnelles. En dernière analyse, les corrélations entre les auto‐évaluations générales et l’estime de soi liée à l’organisation étaient modulées par les croyances relatives au contrôle des tâches. On réfléchit à ce que ces résultats peuvent apporter à la théorie et à la pratique organisationnelles. Et des pistes pour de futures rechèrches sont suggérées. The authors delineated and tested the relationships among individual differences (general and work‐specific self‐evaluations), contextual variables (work‐related control beliefs), and three job attitudes (job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and job involvement). Results from a study of 159 healthcare employees found that work‐specific self‐evaluations, particularly organisation‐based self‐esteem, strongly predicted job attitudes. Moreover, work‐specific self‐evaluations helped explain why and how general self‐evaluations and work‐related control beliefs relate to job attitudes. Finally, the correlations between general self‐evaluations and organisation‐based self‐esteem were moderated by work‐related control beliefs. Contributions to organisational theory and practice, as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Understanding and estimating the power to detect cross-level interaction effects in multilevel modeling

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 97(5) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2012-18665-001). The article contained production-related errors in a number of the statistical symbols presented in Table 1, the Power in Multilevel Designs section, the Simulation Study section, and the Appendix.] Cross-level interaction effects lie at the heart of multilevel contingency and interactionism theories. Researchers have often lamented the difficulty of finding hypothesized cross-level interactions, and to date there has been no means by which the statistical power of such tests can be evaluated. We develop such a method and report results of a large-scale simulation study, verify its accuracy, and provide evidence regarding the relative importance of factors that affect the power to detect cross-level interactions. Our results indicate that the statistical power to detect cross-level interactions is determined primarily by the magnitude of the cross-level interaction, the standard deviation of lower level slopes, and the lower and upper level sample sizes. We provide a Monte Carlo tool that enables researchers to a priori design more efficient multilevel studies and provides a means by which they can better interpret potential explanations for nonsignificant results. We conclude with recommendations for how scholars might design future multilevel studies that will lead to more accurate inferences regarding the presence of cross-level interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

"Understanding and estimating the power to detect cross-level interaction effects in multilevel modeling": Correction to Mathieu, Aguinis, Culpepper, and Chen (2012)

Reports an error in "Understanding and Estimating the Power to Detect Cross-Level Interaction Effects in Multilevel Modeling" by John E. Mathieu, Herman Aguinis, Steven A. Culpepper and Gilad Chen (Journal of Applied Psychology, Advanced Online Publication, May 14, 2012, np). The article contained production-related errors in a number of the statistical symbols presented in Table 1, the Power in Multilevel Designs section, the Simulation Study section, and the Appendix. All versions of this article have been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2012-12670-001.) Cross-level interaction effects lie at the heart of multilevel contingency and interactionism theories. Researchers have often lamented the difficulty of finding hypothesized cross-level interactions, and to date there has been no means by which the statistical power of such tests can be evaluated. We develop such a method and report results of a large-scale simulation study, verify its accuracy, and provide evidence regarding the relative importance of factors that affect the power to detect cross-level interactions. Our results indicate that the statistical power to detect cross-level interactions is determined primarily by the magnitude of the cross-level interaction, the standard deviation of lower level slopes, and the lower and upper level sample sizes. We provide a Monte Carlo tool that enables researchers to a priori design more efficient multilevel studies and provides a means by which they can better interpret potential explanations for nonsignificant results. We conclude with recommendations for how scholars might design future multilevel studies that will lead to more accurate inferences regarding the presence of cross-level interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Status conferral in intergroup social dilemmas: behavioral antecedents and consequences of prestige and dominance

Bridging the literatures on social dilemmas, intergroup conflict, and social hierarchy, the authors systematically varied the intergroup context in which social dilemmas were embedded to investigate how costly contributions to public goods influence status conferral. They predicted that contribution behavior would have opposite effects on 2 forms of status-prestige and dominance-depending on its consequences for the self, in-group and out-group members. When the only way to benefit in-group members was by harming out-group members (Study 1), contributions increased prestige and decreased dominance, compared with free-riding. Adding the option of benefitting in-group members without harming out-group members (Study 2) decreased the prestige and increased the dominance of those who chose to benefit in-group members via intergroup competition. Finally, sharing resources with both in-group and out-group members decreased perceptions of both prestige and dominance, compared with sharing them with in-group members only (Study 3). Prestige and dominance differentially mediated the effects of contribution behavior on leader election, exclusion from the group, and choices of a group representative for an intergroup competition. Taken together, these findings show that the well-established relationship between contribution and status is moderated by both the intergroup context and the conceptualization of status.     

Effectiveness of Primiparae and Multiparae at Soothing Their Newborn Infants

To examine the effectiveness of new parents at soothing their infants, the authors filmed primiparae (20 mothers, 20 fathers) and, for comparison, multiparae (25 mothers, 25 fathers) during an interaction with their crying 2- to 3-day-old infants. Data were derived from loudness ratings of the infants' distress signals and by measuring the time it took parents to quiet their infants. In addition, specific parental behaviors were coded by microanalysis. From these data, measures of soothing effectiveness and behavioral profiles were derived. Data analyses showed that most primiparae were effective at soothing their infants' cries and that there were no parity effects on measures of soothing effectiveness. However, mothers, regardless of parity, were more effective at quieting their infants than were fathers, and there were significant differences in mothers' and fathers' caregiving behaviors. These data suggest that primiparae are effective at quickly soothing their newborns and that their skill, as measured, does not depend on parenting experience. Moreover, the data point to significant differences in mothers' and fathers' competence at quieting their newborns whether or not they are experienced at parenting.