The generous elderly: naturalistic studies of donations across the life span

The relation between age and altruism was examined in two experiments conducted in naturalistic settings. In both studies, individuals from 5 to over 75 years of age had opportunities to donate money to a charity concerned with the welfare of infants with birth defects. The effect of a variable designed to evoke the needs rule was also observed by using both pregnant and nonpregnant charitable solicitors. Results of both studies yielded a significant main effect of solicitor condition on donations. Study 1 yielded a linear increase with age in numbers of people donating; however, retired persons generally donated less money than did younger adults. In Study 2, which controlled for financial costs, elderly persons proved to be the most generous. These results underscore the importance of personal resources and helping opportunities in influencing altruism among older persons.     

Effects of nitrous oxide on reactions to “stress”

It has been demonstrated that exposure to the stress of a situation involving conflict or frustration may interfere significantly with subsequent learning. Behaviour under stress is characterized by experiences of “anxiety” and by widespread physiological changes. Inhalation of nitrous oxide has the general effect of reducing the extent of these symptoms.

The present investigation using insoluble and soluble problems has demonstrated that both nitrous oxide and exposure to stress impair learning; but that, when subjects are exposed to stress while under the influence of the drug, the effects of the stress on subsequent learning are abolished. It is suggested that these empirical results may be accounted for either in terms of “anxiety-reduction” or in terms of transfer effects.     

Psychological and neurological predictors of abusive supervision

Although the negative effects of abusive supervision are well documented, less is known about the individual differences that drive supervisors to be abusive. We use a self‐control perspective to understand the unique roles of both psychological and neurological characteristics of supervisors in the prediction of abusive behavior. Specifically, we find a positive relationship between narcissism and abusive supervision, whereas political skill and intrinsic neurological connectivity in executive control regions of the brain negatively relate to abusive supervision. Our results further show that the relationship between narcissism and abusive supervision diminishes for those who are strong in terms of political skill. In addition, neurological executive control moderates the relationship between political skill and abusive behavior. When connectivity in executive control regions of the brain is lower, political skill becomes a more important factor in reducing the display of abusive behavior. Overall, we demonstrate how combinations of characteristics (both psychological and neurological) can provide a more in‐depth understanding of the emergence of abusive supervision.     

Rule-violations sensitise towards negative and authority-related stimuli

Rule violations have usually been studied from a third-person perspective, identifying situational factors that render violations more or less likely. A first-person perspective of the agent that actively violates the rules, on the other hand, is only just beginning to emerge. Here we show that committing a rule violation sensitises towards subsequent negative stimuli as well as subsequent authority-related stimuli. In a Prime-Probe design, we used an instructed rule-violation task as the Prime and a word categorisation task as the Probe. Also, we employed a control condition that used a rule inversion task as the Prime (instead of rule violations). Probe targets were categorised faster after a violation relative to after a rule-based response if they related to either, negative valence or authority. Inversions, however, primed only negative stimuli and did not accelerate the categorisation of authority-related stimuli. A heightened sensitivity towards authority-related targets thus seems to be specific to rule violations. A control experiment showed that these effects cannot be explained in terms of semantic priming. Therefore, we propose that rule violations necessarily activate authority-related representations that make rule violations qualitatively different from simple rule inversions.     

On the dynamics of work identity in atypical employment: setting out a research agenda

Starting from the notion that work is an important part of who we are, we extend existing theory making on the interplay of work and identity by applying them to (so called) atypical work situations. Without the contextual stability of a permanent organizational position, the question “who one is” will be more difficult to answer. At the same time, a stable occupational identity might provide an even more important orientation to one’s career attitudes and goals in atypical employment situations. So, although atypical employment might pose different challenges on identity, identity can still be a valid concept to assist the understanding of behaviour, attitudes, and well-being in these situations. Our analysis does not attempt to “reinvent” the concept of identity, but will elaborate how existing conceptualizations of identity as being a multiple (albeit perceived as singular), fluid (albeit perceived as stable), and actively forged (as well as passively influenced) construct that can be adapted to understand the effects of atypical employment contexts. Furthermore, we suggest three specific ways to understand the longitudinal dynamics of the interplay between atypical employment and identity over time: passive incremental, active incremental, and transformative change. We conclude with key learning points and outline a few practical recommendations for more research into identity as an explanatory mechanism for the effects of atypical employment situations.