Staff-patient relationships and outcomes in schizophrenia: the role of staff attributions

We investigated associations between staff-patient relationships and outcomes in a randomised controlled trial of motivational interventions for drug and alcohol misuse in schizophrenia. Participants were 204 patients and their care co-ordinators. We assessed relationship status (positive versus neutral) and staff attributions of control using Five Minute Speech Samples collected at baseline. We examined associations between this baseline data and symptoms at 12-months follow-up. We found that dyads with positive relationships at baseline had significantly less symptoms at 12-months compared to those dyads with neutral relationships. As predicted, care co-ordinators with positive relationships were less likely to attribute patients' problems as being within their control. The findings highlight the potentially important role of positive staff-patient relationships in outcomes. Our findings are also in line with the hypothesis that staff attributions may contribute to the development of more positive relationships.     

Starting high and ending with nothing: The role of anchors and power in negotiations

Most research suggests that negotiators gain value by making first offers in negotiations. The current research examines the proposition that extreme first offers offend their recipients and cause them to walk away, resulting in an impasse. Results across two experiments support this proposition. As a result, extreme offers can be risky: even though they can anchor counteroffers and final outcomes, bringing benefit to the offerer, they only do so when impasses are avoided. In addition, we find support for the proposition that power moderates the relationship between extreme offers and impasses: although low- and high-power negotiators are equally offended by extreme offers, it is the low-power negotiators who walk away from the negotiation.     

The dark side of career preference: dark side traits,motives, and values

Over 2000 people completed two validated questionnaires: one measuring “dark side” personality traits and the other a measure of values and preferences that indicates the type of work that an individual would like to do and is best suited for. Dark side variables (and demographics) accounted for between 11% (science) and 46% (affiliation) variance in specific vocation related values. Factor analysis suggested three overall value/vocation factors (enterprising, traditional, and social) and three dark side variables (moving against, away from, and toward others). The three dark side factors predicted around a third of the variance in favoring enterprising and social occupations. Implications for vocational guidance and limitations of the study are considered.     

Alienation and Therapy in Existentialism: A Dual Model of Recognition

Many philosopers and social theorists pursue the notion that recognition is a fruitful framework for engaging with a social analysis of moral and political life, and – more critically – that the failure of recognition is a feature of alienation. This article argues that the thrust of these arguments can be properly attuned by deploying a dual model of recognition that draws especially on Sartre’s work. Where there is struggle for recognition between subjects, the object of struggle is not the recognition of identity, or even of difference, but the recognition of non-identity. The claim will be that this practical attitude of recognition designates inter-subjective attitudes that can institute normative practices whereby agents’ claims are motivated by the epistemic virtue of non-identity.     

BIS Sensitivity,Negative Affect and Performance: Dynamic and Multilevel Relationships

This study examined the dynamic and multi-level relationships among the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS), negative affect and performance. Participants performed multiple trials of a simulated air traffic control task. A single measure of BIS was taken before practice, whereas negative affect and performance were measured at repeated intervals. As expected, there was a negative relationship between negative affect and performance at both an inter- and intraindividual level of analysis. The key findings from this research relate to dynamic effects. The detrimental effect of negative affect on task performance strengthened across practice, at both levels of analysis. The negative relationship between BIS and performance was also found to change over time. These findings are discussed by drawing on resource allocation theory and reinforcement sensitivity theory. This study emphasizes the importance of examining dynamic and multilevel relationships to understand how BIS and negative affect relate to task performance.     

Cognitive and Affective Regulation: Scale Validation and Nomological Network Analysis

This research examined the nomological network of cognitive and affective regulation with two scales developed to operationalise these constructs within complex performance domains. Data demonstrated that cognitive and affective regulation were differentially related to self‐regulatory, affective, and achievement variables at the inter‐ and intra‐individual levels. Psychometric properties of each scale were supported via confirmatory factor analyses and multilevel modeling. Study 1 established support for internal consistency, unidimensionality, and construct validity; Study 2 cross‐validated the scales in a different performance context; and Study 3 demonstrated utility for capturing intra‐individual changes in self‐regulation and predicting performance. This research highlights the importance of examining cognitive and affective regulation at the intra‐individual level of analysis; and the new measures provide a valid tool for advancing progress in this area.