The Spreading of Alternatives: Is it the Perceived Choice or Actual Choice that Changes our Preference?

After making a difficult choice, the preference rating of a chosen alternative tends to increase, and the rating of the rejected one tends to decrease. Such a change of preference is called spreading of alternatives. It is unclear whether it is the choice itself, or the choice one believes one has made that leads to preference change. Using a facial attractiveness task, we addressed this question by setting up an experiment to measure how the actual choice and perceived choice changed the preference. In the current study, participants first rated the attractiveness of female faces, and then made a choice between two faces that they had rated the same, after which, they re‐rated the female faces. Notably, in the re‐rating session, participants were given either veridical, false, or no feedback about their prior choice. This way, we were able to measure the functions of actual choice and perceived choice in rating changes. Results showed that both actual action and perceived action exert significant influence in shaping preference. The veridical feedback enhanced the spreading of alternatives effect whereas the false feedback weakened this effect, indicating that preference can be modulated by explicit manipulation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of newcomer proactive behaviours on socialization outcomes: A meta-analysis

Organizational researchers and practitioners have shown increasing interest in how newcomer proactivity contributes to socialization. This meta-analysis synthesizes the existing empirical research that examines the relationships between frequently performed newcomer proactive behaviours (sensemaking, relationship building, positive framing and job change negotiation) and proximal and distal socialization outcomes. Proximal outcomes include role clarity, task mastery and social integration; distal outcomes include job performance, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention. Based on 45 independent samples (N = 11,508), proactive behaviours were found to be generally beneficial for newcomer socialization. Relative weight analyses identified positive framing as the strongest predictor of five of the seven reviewed outcomes while relationship building accounted for the greatest part of the variance in social integration. Job change negotiation was the weakest predictor of socialization outcomes. The study also explored the impact of boundary conditions, including culture, study design and sample type, on the magnitude of these effects. The paper concludes by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, along with the study's limitations and suggestions for future research.     

非暴力视频游戏中竞争情境对玩家合作倾向和攻击倾向的影响

使用中性视频游戏和亲社会视频游戏，采用单次双人给予倾向困境任务和辣酱范式分别测量被试的合作倾向和攻击倾向，旨在探究竞争性视频游戏情境对玩家合作倾向和攻击倾向的影响。结果发现：（1）在对合作倾向的影响上，无论是玩中性视频游戏还是亲社会视频游戏，竞争情境相比单人情境均能显著降低玩家的合作倾向；（2）在对攻击倾向的影响上，玩中性视频游戏，竞争情境相比单人情境能显著提高玩家的攻击倾向；但玩亲社会视频游戏，竞争情境与单人情境对玩家攻击倾向的影响差异不显著。本研究表明，游戏情境是影响玩家行为倾向的重要因素之一，在非暴力视频游戏中竞争情境对玩家行为倾向会产生消极影响，亲社会视频游戏在一定程度上能抑制竞争情境的消极效应。