Relational humility: conceptualizing and measuring humility as a personality judgment

The study of humility has progressed slowly due to measurement problems. We describe a model of relational humility that conceptualizes humility as a personality judgment. In this set of 5 studies, we developed the 16-item Relational Humility Scale (RHS) and offered initial evidence for the theoretical model. In Study 1 (N = 300), we developed the RHS and its subscales--Global Humility, Superiority, and Accurate View of Self. In Study 2, we confirmed the factor structure of the scale in an independent sample (N = 196). In Study 3, we provided initial evidence supporting construct validity using an experimental design (N = 200). In Study 4 (N = 150), we provided additional evidence of construct validity by examining the relationships between humility and empathy, forgiveness, and other virtues. In Study 5 (N = 163), we adduced evidence of discriminant and incremental validity of the RHS compared with the Honesty-Humility subscale of the HEXACO-PI (Lee & Ashton, 2004).     

The locus of the benefits of repetition-lag memory training

The repetition-lag training procedure developed by Jennings and Jacoby (2003 , Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 14, 417) has been shown to improve older adults' performance in the recognition memory task used for training, and to improve performance in a variety of other memory and executive function tasks ( Jennings, Webster, Kleykamp, & Dagenbach, 2005 , Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 12, 278). The present study examined the effects of concurrent interference tasks during the study or test phases of training to localize the source of gains. Overall, the results suggest that training is resilient and resistant to interference, but also that the processes used during the test phases of training are more important to the gains seen in the primary task and in the transfer tasks than those used in the study phases.     

Duty orientation: Theoretical development and preliminary construct testing

We develop and test the construct of duty orientation that we propose is valuable to advancing knowledge about ethical behavior in organizations. Duty orientation represents an individual’s volitional orientation to loyally serve and faithfully support other members of the group, to strive and sacrifice to accomplish the tasks and missions of the group, and to honor its codes and principles. We test the construct validity and predictive validity of a measure of duty orientation across five studies and six samples. Consistent with the conceptualization of duty orientation as a malleable construct, we found in separate field studies that duty orientation mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and ethical and unethical behaviors, and between transformational leadership and ethical behavior. In predicting ethical and unethical behavior, duty orientation demonstrated incremental predictive validity beyond the effects of affective organizational commitment, organizational identification, experienced job responsibility, collective self-construal, and organizational values congruence.     

An assessment of needed sales management skills

The skills required of sales managers are vitally important to the success of the firm's selling effort; however, there has not been a recent review that identifies these needed skills. Based on a survey of sales executives from 145 companies, this research develops a taxonomy of key sales management skills. The perceived importance of these skills is reported based on the level of management, gender and the performance level of the firm. In addition to identifying the relative importance of the various sales management skills, they were found to group into three conceptual dimensions relating to interpersonal, technical and strategic skills. The results also indicate that significant differences in the perceived level of skill importance exist based on level of management, years managing salespeople, gender and on three dimensions of the respondent's firm performance.     

Developmental Trajectories of Maternal and Paternal Attachment and Delinquency in Adolescence

The present study sought to address two research questions: (1) Are there distinct trajectories of maternal and paternal attachment among adolescents? And if so, (2) How do these trajectories of maternal and paternal attachment relate to delinquent trajectories over the ages of 12 to 16? Using a subsample (n = 383) of the longitudinal Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) data, the results from semi-parametric group-based modeling (SPGM) suggested five groups of maternal attachment, where one trajectory exhibited little to no maternal attachment; another group appeared to have an initially low rate of maternal attachment but increased rather noticeably over time; a third trajectory demonstrated high initial levels of maternal attachment but a general decline over time; and the last two groups exhibited high and rather stable rates of maternal attachment, although one of these groups showed evidence of a decline. Comparatively, the same number of trajectory groups was estimated for paternal attachment, with relatively similar patterns over time as for the maternal attachment trajectories, with the exception of one trajectory that appeared to decline initially before demonstrating a substantial increase. Finally, the results from the joint trajectory analysis indicated that as maternal and paternal attachment increased the likelihood for delinquency decreased. Implications for future research and policy are also discussed.     

Psychology in the Service of the School by M. F. Cleugh

Abstract

Forgiveness intervention has been shown to be effective in dealing with problems caused by interpersonal hurt. Problems caused by courtship hurt could also be resolved by this approach. This paper describes the theoretical foundations and application of a group forgiveness treatment program which reflected some elements of collectivist Chinese culture positivity for individuals hurt in romantic relationships. Thirty-one female students from a Chinese university were randomly assigned to three groups (forgiveness group, general group, and control group). They completed a Scale of Courtship Forgiveness, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Index of Well-Being &; Index of General Affect at entry (baseline), at the end of treatment, and at a four-week follow-up. Compared with the control group, clients both from forgiveness and general groups showed significant improvement in anxiety, depression, and well-being at the end of treatment, but only the forgiveness group showed significant improvement in courtship forgiveness. Further, the effectiveness of treatment for the forgiveness group lasted longer than for the general group. The findings suggest that the forgiveness treatment can be beneficial for college students hurt in romantic relationship.     

Tactical Military Leader Requisite Complexity: Toward a Referent Structure

The U.S. Army has focused on developing leader competencies in order to promote adaptability for asymmetric warfare. Expanding leader adaptive capacity, however, requires integrating competencies with deeper knowledge structures and leader identity. We conduct a three-stage exploratory study using semistructured interviews and three separate samples of experienced combat leaders to assess the organization of tactical leader functional roles. We identify the breadth of roles, tasks, skills, and attributes representative of expert tactical military leaders. We hope to take a first step in circumscribing the requisite cognitive and behavioral complexity required of tactical leaders and thereby provide a referent structure for future research on what constitutes requisite complexity for tactical military leaders.     

Temporal Changes in Mood Repair Through Music Consumption: Effects of Mood,Mood Salience,and Individual Differences

Prior research on mood management through media consumption has encountered mixed results. This study seeks to address these discrepancies by incorporating time of measurement into the examination of regulatory outcomes and by identifying trait-like cognitive moderators that presumably are involved in the regulation of negative moods. Results showed that sad mood initially fostered longer listening to mood-compatible music but such preference decreased over time, suggesting the merits of considering temporal changes in the mood-repair process. In addition, ruminative trait was found to be a significant factor in how people cope with their sad moods, whereas mood salience was not.     

Developmental change in feedback processing as reflected by phasic heart rate changes

Heart rate was recorded from 3 age groups (8-10, 12, and 20-26 years) while they performed a probabilistic learning task. Stimuli had to be sorted by pressing a left versus right key, followed by positive or negative feedback. Adult heart rate slowed following negative feedback when stimuli were consistently mapped onto the left or right key (response-dependent condition) but not when responses to stimuli were always followed by negative feedback (uninformative condition). Young children's heart rate showed slowing following both response-dependent and uninformative negative feedback. These findings suggest that the ability to assess the relevance of performance feedback improves with age, resulting in improved adjustment to dynamical changes in the task environment.