Effects of a rival's perceived motives on constructive competition within organizations: A competitive dynamics perspective

Previous work on constructive competition has focused on competitors' motives and strategies; however, competition is an interactive process that is affected by both the competitor and the rival. Based on the competitive dynamics perspective and attribution theory, this study examines the impact of a perceived rival's motives on the constructiveness of competition. The results of a survey of 521 employees from 25 companies in the banking and insurance industry in Taiwan revealed that the perceptions of rivals' motives significantly affected the constructiveness of competition. By introducing the perspective of rival analysis to individual‐level competition, the present study provides a more comprehensive understanding of constructive competition within organizations.     

Values and Corporate Social Responsibility Perceptions of Chinese University Students

The purpose of this study is to analyse the effects of personal demographic factors on Chinese university students’ values and perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues, and to identify the link between personal values and perceptions of CSR. The quantitative data consisted of 980 Chinese university students, and were collected by using a structured self-completion questionnaire. This study found that: 1) the importance of values education should be stressed, because we found that altruistic values associate negatively with perception of CSR, in contrast, egoistic values associate positively; 2) a CSR education programme should be designed accordingly to fit different student characteristics and needs such as gender and major differences; 3) values should be used as criteria for education and recruitment purposes, e.g., we found that female students represent more ethical values than male students, and have a more negative perception of the CSR performance; 4) the importance of environment performance should be recognised by Chinese corporations and policy-makers, because we found that Chinese corporations perform better in economic and social responsibilities than environmental responsibility. It provides an insight of the value structures of Chinese university students and the forces that shape ethical perceptions. It offers a comprehensive study of Chinese companies’ CSR performance, and the results improve the awareness of scholars and managers in solving the current problems and developing their CSR performances further.     

阻碍效应范式中主题知识对类别学习的影响

三个实验采用阻碍效应研究范式探讨主题知识对类别学习的影响。实验1探讨定义特征维度为机械特征时,主题知识对类别学习的影响;实验2和实验3,通过考察定义特征维度为知识特征时,类别学习中阻碍效应的大小,继续探讨主题知识对类别学习的影响。实验结果发现：（1）当定义特征维度为机械特征时,主题知识的存在没有促进类别学习。这可能因为定义特征维度为机械特征,主题知识难以发现所致;（2）当定义特征维度为知识特征时,类别学习中的阻碍效应消失,证明主题知识的存在促进了类别学习。研究结果再次支持了类别学习不仅仅受到减少归类错误驱动的观点。     

论西方社会保障的伦理嬗变及启示

父爱主义是19世纪后期德国建立社会保障制度的观念基础.公民权利取代父爱主义,成为现代社会保障制度安排的理论支撑.20世纪70年代以来,西方福利国家发展出一系列新的趋势、特点和问题,罗尔斯等人对社会分配正义理论的提出,将社会保障的价值诉求导向社会的公平正义.中国,正处于社会转型期,“社会主义和谐社会”的建设目标对社会保障的理论和实践提出了新的要求.     

羞怯:来自行为遗传学的观点

羞怯是指社交情境中的不舒服和/或者抑制,会妨碍个体对人际目标或职业目标的追求;表现为过分地自我关注、全神贯注于个人的想法,以及某些情绪和生理的反应.近几年,从行为遗传学的角度探讨羞怯的成因成为该领域研究的前沿与热点.早期的双生子研究与分子遗传学的研究结果表明,羞怯与遗传密切相关;5-HTTLPR短型基因与羞怯的关系尤为密切;羞怯可能是多种基因以及基因与环境交互作用的结果.     

语义性别刻板印象对注意返回抑制的影响——来自行为和ERP的证据

采用ERP技术,以线索提示任务检验了性别刻板印象在返回抑制下的激活过程.实验以性别特征词为线索刺激,性别范畴词为目标刺激,要求被试忽略线索与目标语义仅对目标空间位置做出判断.反应时和ERP显示,线索化条件下刻板语义激活对位置判断产生显著影响,体现为女性刻板语义冲突增强了返回抑制.但非线索化条件下未观察到任何效应.实验结果表明,特定任务下性别刻板印象能够诱发注意偏向,但此过程易受注意线索影响,显示其有条件性.     

Strategy compatibility: The time versus money effect on product evaluation strategies

We show that time priming leads consumers to adopt an alternative-based evaluation strategy, whereas money priming elicits the use of an attribute-based evaluation strategy. In Experiment 1, we used process tracing in Mouselab to test this proposition, and the results suggested that the effect of time versus money priming on the choice of product-evaluation strategy was mediated by a holistic versus piecemeal information-processing. The results of Experiments 2A and 2B showed that the use of time versus money priming to trigger the choice of an alternative-based versus attribute-based evaluation strategy may result in systematic preference reversals. Specifically, when time (versus money) was primed, the participants were found to be more likely to choose a product dominating on a verbally described (versus numerically described) attribute (Experiment 2A), and one dominating on a non-alignable (versus alignable) attribute (Experiment 2B).     

Neighborhood Social Context and Individual Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposures Associated with Child Cognitive Test Scores

Childhood cognitive and test-taking abilities have long-term implications for educational achievement and health, and may be influenced by household environmental exposures and neighborhood contexts. This study evaluates whether age 5 scores on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R, administered in English) are associated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure and neighborhood context variables including poverty, low educational attainment, low English language proficiency, and inadequate plumbing. The Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health enrolled African-American and Dominican-American New York City women during pregnancy, and conducted follow-up for subsequent childhood health outcomes including cognitive test scores. Individual outcomes were linked to data characterizing 1-km network buffers around prenatal addresses, home observations, interviews, and prenatal PAH exposure data from personal air monitors. Prenatal PAH exposure above the median predicted 3.5 point lower total WPPSI-R scores and 3.9 point lower verbal scores; the association was similar in magnitude across models with adjustments for neighborhood characteristics. Neighborhood-level low English proficiency was independently associated with 2.3 point lower mean total WPPSI-R score, 1.2 point lower verbal score, and 2.7 point lower performance score per standard deviation. Low neighborhood-level educational attainment was also associated with 2.0 point lower performance scores. In models examining effect modification, neighborhood associations were similar or diminished among the high PAH exposure group, as compared with the low PAH exposure group. Early life exposure to personal PAH exposure or selected neighborhood-level social contexts may predict lower cognitive test scores. However, these results may reflect limited geographic exposure variation and limited generalizability.     

Examining the Structure,Reliability, and Validity of the Chinese Personal Growth Initiative Scale–II: Evidence for the Importance of Intentional Self-Change Among Chinese

We examined the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Chinese version of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale–II (CPGIS–II) using data from a sample of 927 Chinese university students. Consistent with previous findings, confirmatory factor analyses supported a 4-factor model of the CPGIS–II. Reliability analyses indicated that the 4 CPGIS–II subscales, namely Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, and Intentional Behavior, demonstrated good internal consistency reliability and adequate test–retest reliability across a 4-week period. In addition, evidence for convergent and incremental validity was found in relation to measures of positive and negative psychological adjustment. Finally, results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the 4 personal growth initiative dimensions, especially planfulness, accounted for additional unique variance in psychological adjustment beyond resilience. Some implications for using the CPGIS–II in Chinese are discussed.     

Reduced repetition suppression in the occipital visual cortex during repeated negative Chinese personality‐trait word processing

Reduced neural activation have been consistently observed during repeated items processing, a phenomenon termed repetition suppression. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether and how stimuli of emotional valence affects repetition suppression by adopting Chinese personality‐trait words as materials. Seventeen participants were required to read the negative and neutral Chinese personality‐trait words silently. And then they were presented with repeated and novel items during scanning. Results showed significant repetition suppression in the inferior occipital gyrus only for neutral personality‐trait words, whereas similar repetition suppression in the left inferior temporal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus was revealed for both the word types. These results indicated common and distinct neural substrates during processing Chinese repeated negative and neutral personality‐trait words.