When Do Employees Speak up for Their Customers? A Model of Voice in a Customer Service Context

We develop a conceptual model of customer‐focused voice and test it in a hospital setting. Drawing from theory and research on voice, we find that customer orientation and job autonomy are positively associated with customer‐focused voice. In addition, consistent with social information processing theory, these relationships are moderated by service climate, such that a high service climate compensates for the less desirable aspects of employees or their jobs. Finally, we provide evidence for a critical but untested assumption of the voice literature by linking hospital‐level customer‐focused voice to hospital‐level service performance. Results based on data from four unique data sources, provided at varying points in time, and at different levels of analysis demonstrate support for our conceptual model.     

The Entanglement Structure of Quantum Field Systems

This article discusses the peculiar features of quantum entanglement and quantum non-locality within the algebraic approach to relativistic quantum field theory (RQFT). The debate on the ontology of RQFT is considered in the light of these well-known but little discussed features. In particular, this article examines the ontic structural realist understanding of quantum entanglement and quantum non-locality and its contribution to this debate.     

Atomistic study of structural fluctuations during radiation-induced amorphization in the ordered intermetallic compound NiTi

We have carried out an atomistic study of electron-induced amorphization of an ordered intermetallic compound NiTi by means of in-situ high-resolution high-voltage electron microscopy observations and molecular dynamics simulations. Both theoretical and experimental results show that metastable nanometre-size atomic clusters form and disappear during irradiation, so that a spatiotemporal fluctuation under amorphization is induced. Mean-lifetime measurements of these clusters demonstrate that high-energy particle irradiation provides a useful tool to study dynamic fluctuations of the local atomic structure in the non-equilibrium open systems.     

The relationship between daily stress and health: Replicating and extending previous findings

Abstract

The present study was an attempt to investigate the impact of daily stress, or hassles, on the physical and psychological health status of 112 adolescents over 10 consecutive days. Measures of hassles, daily somatic symptoms and mood, overall health status, and perceived social support were taken. A principal components analysis of the newly designed Secondary School Students' Hassles Scale generated four factors of which “management of time and work” accounted for 41 percent of the variance. Results supported previous findings that hassles levels were related inversely to daily health, daily mood, and overall health status. Perceived social support was found to be associated with general health but not with daily health and mood, and results from partial correlation analyses challenged the buffering role of social support between hassles and adaptational outcomes. The cross-cultural applicability of the hassles concept was discussed.     

Validating a New Measure of Self-Complexity

The construct of self-complexity has been recognized as important for understanding psychological adjustment. However, research in this area has been impeded by measurement problems. In particular, the most commonly used measure, Linville's (1985, 1987) H statistic, cannot assess this construct appropriately. In this article, we present a new measure designed to tap two components of self-complexity separately: the number of self-aspects and the average distinction among them. We conducted a validation study with 131 Chinese college students. The results indicate that (a) this new measure is not confounded with conscious social desirability bias, (b) it has incremental validity beyond existing measures, and (c) the two components as assessed by this new measure are relatively independent and have different psychological functions. We discuss the implications of these findings for future studies of self-complexity and clinical practice.     

Changes in achievement goals and competence perceptions across the college semester

We investigated the relationship between changes in perceptions of competence and changes in achievement goals across a college semester for students enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Two types of competence perceptions were examined: self-efficacy for learning and normative perceived ability. Changes in normative perceived ability were predicted to relate to changes in performance goals, but not mastery goals. Because mastery goals rely on self-referent standards to evaluate ability, we predicted changes in self-efficacy for learning would relate to changes in mastery goals. We also expected changes in self-efficacy for learning to relate to changes in performance goals because learning can lead to the demonstration of superior competence. The predictions were supported for mastery and performance-approach goals, but not for performance-avoidance goals. Very little change in performance-avoidance goals was observed. Scores on the first course exam also predicted change in performance-approach goals, with this effect partially mediated by competence perceptions.     

Movement duration does not affect automatic online control

Pisella et al. (2000) have shown that fast aiming movements are automatically modified on-line in response to a change in target position. Specifically, when a movement is less than 300 ms in duration the reach is completed to a target’s new location even when one never intended to respond to the target jump. In contrast, when movements are slower, the reach is completed according to instructions. At present, it is unclear if it is possible for one’s intentions to guide the initial stages of these slow movements. To determine if the intentional control mechanism can guide the initial stages of a slow aiming movement, participants aimed to targets that could jump at movement onset, with a slow and very slow movement time goal. In particular, participants were to point towards (“pro-point”) or away from (“anti-point”) the target jump, with a movement time goal of 500 or 1200 ms. Results showed that in the anti-point condition, movement trajectories first deviated in the same direction as the target jump, followed by a response in the intended (opposite) direction. This suggests that while movement outcome is controlled by the intentional system, even in these slow aiming movements the automatic system is engaged at movement onset.     

Influence of stimulus–response assignment on the joint-action correspondence effect

Sebanz et al. (Cognition 88:B11–B21, 2003) have shown that spatial correspondence effects are observed even when the two-choice reaction time task is distributed between two people, such that each person is assigned only one of two possible stimulus–response (S–R) pairings. The effect is similar to when one person is assigned and responds to both S–R pairings. These results have been taken to suggest that two people performing a complementary task co-represent each other’s response alternatives. In our experiment, we examined performance when paired participants responded to the same S–R alternative. We reasoned that co-representation would be of little advantage as the task alternatives would be the same for both participants. Correspondence effects were absent when paired participants responded to the same S–R alternative but emerged when they responded to different alternatives.     

Estimating Independent Locally Shifted Random Utility Models for Ranking Data

We present a mixed-effects location scale model (MELSM) for examining the daily dynamics of affect in dyads. The MELSM includes person and time-varying variables to predict the location, or individual means, and the scale, or within-person variances. It also incorporates a submodel to account for between-person variances. The dyadic specification can accommodate individual and partner effects in both the location and the scale components, and allows random effects for all location and scale parameters. All covariances among the random effects, within and across the location and the scale are also estimated. These covariances offer new insights into the interplay of individual mean structures, intra-individual variability, and the influence of partner effects on such factors. To illustrate the model, we use data from 274 couples who provided daily ratings on their positive and negative emotions toward their relationship – up to 90 consecutive days. The model is fit using Hamiltonian Monte Carlo methods, and includes subsets of predictors in order to demonstrate the flexibility of this approach. We conclude with a discussion on the usefulness and the limitations of the MELSM for dyadic research.