Managerial Stress, Locus of Control, and Job Strain in Taiwan and UK: A Comparative Study

This study investigated managerial stress in Taiwan and UK using the Occupational Stress Indicator-2 (OSI-2) and the Work Locus of Control (WLCS) scale. Results showed that the reliability and validity of the measures used were acceptable and comparable in the two samples. There were similarities as well as differences in managerial stress in the two countries. Recognition and Managerial role were important predictors of strain for the Chinese managers, whereas Relationships, Organizational climate, and Personal responsibility were important predictors of strain for UK managers. There were consistent moderating (vulnerability) effects of internal control for the Taiwanese managers. Results corroborated some previous studies conducted in the West. However, caution was also suggested for generalizing Western-originated concepts and theories across cultural boundaries.     

An introduction to Bayesian hierarchical models with an application in the theory of signal detection

Although many nonlinear models of cognition have been proposed in the past 50 years, there has been little consideration of corresponding statistical techniques for their analysis. In analyses with nonlinear models, unmodeled variability from the selection of items or participants may lead to asymptotically biased estimation. This asymptotic bias, in turn, renders inference problematic. We show, for example, that a signal detection analysis of recognition memory data leads to asymptotic underestimation of sensitivity. To eliminate asymptotic bias, we advocate hierarchical models in which participant variability, item variability, and measurement error are modeled simultaneously. By accounting for multiple sources of variability, hierarchical models yield consistent and accurate estimates of participant and item effects in recognition memory. This article is written in tutorial format; we provide an introduction to Bayesian statistics, hierarchical modeling, and Markov chain Monte Carlo computational techniques.     

“组织学习障碍”研究

组织要进行真正的学习 ,就必须克服“组织学习障碍”。“组织学习障碍”分为“单环学习障碍”和“双环学习障碍”两大类。为了克服“组织学习障碍”,首先必须消除组织的习惯性防御机制 ,然后进行“学习型组织”的各项修炼。     

Contesting Chineseness: An Examination of Religion and National Identity in Mainland China

For citizens of many countries around the world, religion is a necessary—though often contested—component of their national identity. From the vantage point of the symbolic boundaries approach, we argue that the Chinese government and various other social actors are in contestation to define “Chineseness” in religious terms. Using data from the 2007 Spiritual Life Study of Chinese Residents, this study explores the extent to which religion functions as a constitutive part of Chinese national identity. We find that the effectiveness of the Chinese government's demarcation of the symbolic boundaries around Chineseness related to religion varies across religious groups. Believers of each religion are likely to be strong advocates for their own religion's connection to Chinese national identity. Among the religions, traditional Chinese religions tend to demonstrate a stronger affinity with one another than with Christianity. Daoists are a particularly strong contestant in aligning Daoism with Chineseness, to the extent that they discredit the other religions’ suitability for the Chinese. We discuss the implications of these findings and point out directions for future research.     

Risk and Prisoner's Dilemma: A Reinterpretation of Coombs' Re‐parameterization

We propose a model to measure risk in a prisoner's dilemma based on Coombs' (1973) re‐parameterization of the game as an individual risk decision‐making task that chooses between a gamble of cooperation and another gamble of defection. Specifically, we propose an index, r, to represent the risk associated with cooperation relative to defection. In conjunction with Rapoport's (1967) index of cooperation (K), our formulation of risk allows us to construct games that vary in risk (as indexed by r) while controlling for cooperativeness (as indexed by K). Following utility analysis that models risk seeking as a convex utility function and risk averse as a concave function, we predict that risk‐seeking people cooperate more in games that the cooperation choice is more risky, whereas risk‐averse people cooperate more in games that the cooperation choice is less risky. In the three studies that we varied game parameters, used different measures of risk orientation and prosocial orientation and used different experimental procedures, we found robust results supporting our predictions. Theoretical analysis of our formulation further suggests that risk and cooperativeness of a prisoner's dilemma game is not entirely independent. Games that have a higher cooperativeness index are necessarily more risky. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of self-brand connections on responses to brand failure: A new look at the consumer–brand relationship

We argue that consumers with high self-brand connections (SBC) respond to negative brand information as they do to personal failure — they experience a threat to their positive self-view. After viewing negative brand information, high (vs. low) SBC consumers reported lower state self-esteem. Consumers with high SBC also maintained favorable brand evaluations despite negative brand information. However, when they completed an unrelated self-affirmation task, they lowered their brand evaluations the same as low SBC consumers. This finding suggests that high SBC consumers' reluctance to lower brand evaluation might be driven by a motivation to protect the self rather than the brand.     

Sports spectator behavior: a test of the theory of planned behavior

The theory of planned behavior has been applied to sports and exercise behaviors. According to this theory, human intention to take action in a specific context is guided by three antecedents: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Behavioral intention mediates the relationships between these three considerations and its ultimate performance. However, this theory has seldom been applied to the behaviors of spectators of sporting events. A sample of 269 volleyball spectators in Taiwan was studied to examine whether people's intention mediated their attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control toward a given behavior, watching the 2010 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball World Grand Prix in Taipei. Regression analyses did not support behavioral intention as a mediator. This result is discussed in the context of planned behavior.     

Predicting school achievement from cognitive and non-cognitive variables in a Chinese sample of elementary school children

The present study had two aims: First, to investigate the joint and specific roles of working memory (WM) and intelligence as predictors of school achievement. And second, to replicate and extend earlier findings (Spinath, Spinath, Harlaar, & Plomin, 2006) on the incremental validity of non-cognitive over cognitive abilities in the prediction of school achievement. The present sample consisted of N = 179 Chinese primary school children in the fourth grade. All measures including working memory (WM), intelligence and motivational items were assessed in class. Teachers provided test scores for the domains of Chinese and Math. We found that WM was a good predictor of school achievement and comparable in predictive power to intelligence. Together, cognitive ability including both WM and intelligence explained 17.8% and 36.4% of the variance in children's Chinese and Math scores, respectively. The relative importance of WM and intelligence varied with school domains with greater predictive power of WM for Math while intelligence explained a greater proportion of the variance in Chinese although the magnitude of this difference was only moderate. Domain-specific motivational constructs contributed only marginally to the prediction of school achievement for both Chinese and Math.     

Confucian Dynamism,the Role of Money and Consumer Ethical Beliefs: An Exploratory Study in Taiwan

Consumer ethics is the moral principles and standards that guide consumers to determine the certain consumption behaviors are ethically right or wrong. Whereas cultural and personal dimensions are crucial constructs affecting individual ethical attitudes and behaviors, few studies consider Confucian dynamism and the role of money in consumer ethics. Confucian dynamism, a cultural dimension based on Confucianism, has played a central role in guiding moral obligations and ethics in human relations in several East Asian countries. Thus, this study tested its hypotheses using a sample of 521 respondents obtained via a systematic random sampling technique. The authors find that individuals with a higher tendency to Confucian dynamism are less tolerant of unethical practices. These findings also show that the role of money partially influences consumer ethical beliefs. Finally, we examine the impact of demographic variables and find age and education affect consideration of ethical values.     

A Game a Day Keeps Cognitive Decline Away? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Commercially-Available Brain Training Programs in Healthy and Cognitively Impaired Older Adults

Neuropsychology Review - The rising prevalence rates of age-related cognitive impairment are a worldwide public concern, bringing about a surge in the number of “brain training”...