Till death do us part: Terror management and forgiveness in close relationships

Two experiments extended terror management theory to investigate forgiveness in close relationships. We hypothesized that mortality salience would elicit less forgiveness in less committed relationships. In Experiment 1, participants were primed with either mortality salience or a physical pain control condition, recalled a recent hurtful interpersonal offense, and reported their degree of forgiveness. Mortality salience evoked less forgiveness in less committed relationships. In Experiment 2, participants were assigned to recall an offense that occurred in a low‐commitment or high‐commitment relationship. Again, mortality salience elicited less forgiveness in less committed relationships; it elicited more forgiveness in more committed relationships. Moreover, this interaction was mediated by empathy. Existential considerations may play an important role in the functioning of close relationships.     

PERSUASIVE REASONING AND DEFECTIVE ACTION1

The idea that the operations of the mind are carried out discursively, even linguistically, has won wide acceptance among contemporary Thomists. What has not been explored, however, is the role of persuasion in motivating the actions of the intellect and will. This paper explores the possibility that some form of persuasive discourse is employed by the mind to move the intellect and will to precipitate action. Drawing on essentialism as a foundational ontology, I offer a prefatory theory of persuasive reasoning –‘natural rhetoric’– to explain how it is that we persuade ourselves (and others) to do things, including things that are defective.     

ISSUES AND STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING THE LENGTH OF SELF-REPORT SCALES

Greater understanding of the complex interrelationships among work-relevant constructs has increased the number of constructs on organizational surveys. Good psychometric practice also dictates the use of multiple items per construct. The net result has been longer surveys. Longer surveys take more time to complete, tend to have more missing data, and have higher refusal rates than short surveys. Arguably, then, techniques for reducing the length of scales while maintaining psychometric quality are worthwhile. Little guidance exists on how to reduce the length of a multi-item scale and we argue that the most common technique, maximizing internal consistency, is problematic and should be avoided. We present a set of item "quality indices" to help conceptualize the competing issues that influence item retention decisions. Statistical analysis of an example case using these indices suggested that there are 3 key aspects of item quality to consider when reducing a scale. We describe strategies that can assist scale developers in using these 3 aspects of item quality when making scale reduction decisions.     

EFFECTS OF ROTATED LEADERSHIP AND PEER EVALUATION ON THE FUNCTIONING AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-MANAGED TEAMS: A QUASI-EXPERIMENT

In a quasi-experiment of 38 self-managed undergraduate teams, we examined the effects of team designs that differed with respect to the form of member evaluation and team leadership. Relative to teams that relied on external evaluations, teams with peer evaluations had higher levels of workload sharing, voice, cooperation, performance, and member satisfaction. Relative to teams that relied on leader emergence, teams that rotated leadership among members had higher levels of voice, cooperation, and performance. Overall, results of the study demonstrate the potential importance of team-design decisions in self-managed teams.     

A Prospective Validation Study of Inclination,Belief, and Context Predictors of Family-Focused Prevention Involvement

Prior research by the authors tested a model of factors influencing parent inclination to participate in parenting interventions. Family context, belief, attitude, and inclination to participate variables from this model were used to predict the actual participation of 1,121 families in assessment and intervention activities of a family-focused preventive intervention research project. Invitations to the project assessment and intervention components were, respectively, about 6 months and 10 months following the initiation of a telephone survey collecting predictor variable data. Logistic regression analyses examining each predictor individually showed that a number of family context, belief, attitude, and inclination variables were predictive of project participation. Subsequently, multiple logistic regressions were conducted, entering variables by blocks corresponding to theoretical model components. These analyses showed that prospectively stated inclination to participate in a parenting intervention and level of education were consistently significant predictors of both assessment participation and intervention enrollment. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.     

REVISITING MET EXPECTATIONS AS A REASON WHY REALISTIC JOB PREVIEWS WORK

This study reanalyzed data from an examination by Hom, Griffeth, Palich, and Bracker (1998) of the mechanisms by which posthire realistic job previews reduce turnover. Irving and Meyer (1999) argued that Hom et al. overstated support for their mediation theory by calculating residual difference scores (errors derived from predicting experienced attainment of job outcomes from initial expectations of outcomes) to operationalize met expectations. Rather, Irving and Meyer showed that methodological weaknesses associated with difference scores also plague residual difference scores. Prompted by their demonstration, this research applied partial correlations (partialing out experienced outcomes from residual differences) and Edwards' (1994) polynomial regression approach to verify whether met expectations underlie realistic previews' effectiveness. These reanalyses disputed met expectations. As a result, this inquiry revised the formulation advocated by Hom et al. (1998), positing that coping strategies and perceptions of employer concern account for how posthire previews work.     

A Peer Advisory Consumer Program for the Elderly

A demonstration project using a volunteer peer advisory approach to consumer education for the elderly was developed. The authors describe program successes and failures, with emphasis on personnel selection, timetable for development, publicity, acceptance, and value of a peer advisory approach. Enthusiastic involvement by individuals trained indicates the possibility of using a peer advisory system for employing lifetime consumer experiences of the elderly, of providing avenues for continued societal involvement, and of extending needed consumer information to other elderly individuals.     

INFLUENCES OF THE VIRTUAL OFFICE ON ASPECTS OF WORK AND WORK/LIFE BALANCE

Millions of employees now use portable electronic tools to do their jobs from a "virtual office" with extensive flexibility in the timing and location of work. However, little scholarly research exists about the effects of this burgeoning work form. This study of IBM employees explored influences of the virtual office on aspects of work and work/life balance as reported by virtual office teleworkers ( n = 157) and an equivalent group of traditional office workers ( n = 89). Qualitative analyses revealed the perception of greater productivity, higher morale, increased flexibility and longer work hours due to telework, as well as an equivocal influence on work/life balance and a negative influence on teamwork. Using a quasi-experimental design, quantitative multivariate analyses supported the qualitative findings related to productivity, flexibility and work/life balance. However, multivariate analyses failed to support the qualitative findings for morale, teamwork and work hours. This study highlights the need for a multi-method approach, including both qualitative and quantitative elements, when studying telework.     

Is There a Natural Sexual Inequality of Intellect? A Reply to Kimura

The noted psychologist, Doreen Kimura, has argued that we should not expect to find equal numbers of men and women in various professions because there is a natural sexual inequality of intellect. In rebuttal I argue that each of these mutually supporting theses is insufficiently supported by the evidence to be accepted. The social and ethical dimensions of Kimura's work, and of the scientific study of the nature-nurture controversy in general, are briefly discussed.