The Development and Validation of the Multi‐Dimensional Identification Scale (MDIS)

Based on recent identity research, we developed the Multi‐Dimensional Identity Scale (MDIS), and the psychometric properties of the MDIS are examined. We report the results of 3 studies used for item generation and analyses and exploratory factor structure analysis (Study 1), confirmatory factor structure analyses (Studies 1, 2, and 3), and construct validity (Study 3). Collectively, these studies illustrate the psychometric properties of a new measure of identity that is multidimensional and adaptable to various identity bases (i.e., organizational, family, social). Based on exploratory and confirmatory studies, our measure demonstrates the same factor structure for organization‐based identity and social‐based identity and a similar factor structure for family‐based identity. Convergent and discriminant validity are demonstrated.     

BEYOND PERSONALITY TRAITS: A STUDY OF PERSONALITY STATES AND SITUATIONAL CONTINGENCIES IN CUSTOMER SERVICE JOBS

Although the interactionist approach has been applied to understanding situational influences on the expression of personality at work, examination of within‐person variation in personality trait expression in the workplace is lacking. Using experience sampling methodology, this study examined the moment‐to‐moment influences of situational characteristics on personality states (i.e., situational contingencies) during social interactions on 56 customer service employees over 10 days at work. At the within‐individual level, state Conscientiousness was associated with the immediacy of the task, and state Extraversion and Agreeableness were associated with the friendliness of the other party in the interaction. At the between‐individual level, self‐monitoring did not moderate the associations between situational characteristics and personality states but predicted the mean level of state Conscientiousness at work over and above trait Conscientiousness. Contrary to expectations, the relationship between state Extraversion and friendliness was weaker in customized service jobs than in noncustomized ones.     

Davidson's Transcendental Externalism

One of the chief aims of Donald Davidson's later work was to show that participation in a certain causal nexus involving two creatures and a shared environment–Davidson calls this nexus "triangulation"–is a metaphysically necessary condition for the acquisition of thought. This doctrine, I suggest, is aptly regarded as a form of what I call transcendental externalism. I extract two arguments for the transcendental-externalist doctrine from Davidson's writings, and argue that neither succeeds. A central interpretive claim is that the arguments are primarily funded by a particular conception of the nature of non-human animal life. This conception turns out to be insupportable. The failure of Davidson's arguments presses the question of whether we could ever hope to arrive at far-reaching claims about the conditions for thought if we deny, as does Davidson, the legitimacy of the naturalistic project in the philosophy of mind.     

‘A DESIRE UNTO DEATH’: THE DECONSTRUCTIVE THANATOLOGY OF JEAN‐LUC MARION*

One of the most persistent questions in modern theology has been that of how we can adequately acknowledge the stranger. Drawing upon the work of post‐Heideggerian theorist of language and death, Jacques Derrida, and his own creative re‐reading of Martin Heidegger and Emmanuel Levinas, the Catholic theologian and phenomenologist Jean‐Luc Marion has attempted to reconstruct what he regards as a genuinely Husserlian phenomenology. In so doing he has mapped out a phenomenology of love and a phenomenology of that divine gift as ‘being given as givenness’; that is, a condition of life itself. In fact, as I will argue, this rests on the boundary between theology and thanatology (the philosophy of our encounter with that most radical stranger, death) and in his recent reflections upon ‘saturated phenomena’ Marion has explored the interplay between traditional theological topics such as hope and death and contemporary arguments on meaning, symbol and ritual. Christian hope resides in an act of remembrance and Marion argues for the eucharist – in its recollection of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – as the site of human hope; only this crucial eucharistic move upwards and outwards can overcome the burden of Western metaphysics. It is a literary move which takes us some way towards elevating the language which we use in talking about and recognising the other beyond that of the narrow model offered to us by some commentators of Levinas and one which encourages us to look again at poetry, hymn and Scripture.     

JUSTICE IN TEAMS: ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF PROCEDURAL JUSTICE CLIMATE

This study examined antecedents and consequences of procedural justice climate (Mossholder, Bennett, & Martin, 1998; Naumann & Bennett, 2000) in a sample of manufacturing teams. The results showed that climate level (i.e., the average procedural justice perception within the team) was significantly related to both team performance and team absenteeism. Moreover, the effects of climate level were moderated by climate strength, such that the relationships were more beneficial in stronger climates. In addition, team size and team collectivism were significant antecedents of climate level, and team size and team demographic diversity predicted climate strength.     

The Construct of Creativity: Structural Model for Self‐Reported Creativity Ratings

Several thousand subjects completed self‐report questionnaires about their own creativity in 56 discrete domains. This sample was then randomly divided into three subsamples that were subject to factor analyses that compared an oblique model (with a set of correlated factors) and a hierarchical model (with a single second‐order, or hierarchical, factor subsuming all of the first order factors). After model refinement, both models were then tested on a confirmation sample. The hierarchical model had a better fit with the data than the oblique model, providing support for theories that have proposed a hierarchical structure to creativity, such as the Amusement Park Theoretical Model. The analysis provided evidence of both an over‐arching general factor and seven more specific General Thematic Areas of creative performance (Artistic‐Verbal, Artistic‐Visual, Entrepreneur, Interpersonal, Math/Science, Performance, and Problem‐Solving).     

KNOWLEDGE WORKER TEAM EFFECTIVENESS: THE ROLE OF AUTONOMY, INTERDEPENDENCE, TEAM DEVELOPMENT, AND CONTEXTUAL SUPPORT VARIABLES

This study investigated how autonomy, interdependence, and team development, along with process and contextual support variables, were related to the effectiveness of teams of "knowledge workers." The sample included 231 knowledge workers from 27 work teams. Team members completed surveys measuring the design, process, and contextual factors. Effectiveness measures included multiple key stakeholder evaluations of team performance and self-report measures of attitudinal outcomes. The results suggest that interactions among design, process, and contextual support factors have important implications for team effectiveness. In particular, the positive relationship between team autonomy and team job motivation was reduced as teams worked under more interdependent conditions. This interaction effect also varied across the types of autonomy (e.g., planning-related, product-related, and people-related) the team was given. Results also demonstrated that the relationship between job motivation and team process behaviors (helping, sharing, and innovating) was more positive in teams who were developmental mature. Process behaviors were positively related to effectiveness, but those relationships became more positive in the presence of certain contextual factors (high-quality goals and efficient information transmission), and less positive in the presence of others (feedback and time pressure). Future research needs and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

With partners like you,who needs strangers? Ostracism involving a romantic partner

Being ostracized by others threatens the satisfaction of fundamental needs, although less so when individuals first are reminded of a close relationship. What remains unknown is the effect of being ostracized directly by a relationship partner, which may vary depending on attachment security. We examined how a partner's involvement in ostracism affects need satisfaction and relationship evaluations, and explored attachment security. One hundred and twenty‐seven couple members played Cyberball in a between‐subjects experiment manipulating ostracism and partner involvement. Need satisfaction was more strongly affected by the partner's presence (vs. absence). Individuals evaluated their relationship more negatively as a function of partner ostracism and high attachment avoidance. Attachment anxiety was associated with lower need satisfaction. The results highlight relational expectations and influences on belonging needs.