Some Suggestions for Mapping Organizational Members’ Sense of Fit

Despite its importance in the organizational behavior literature, person–organization (P–O) fit remains an elusive construct. One reason for this is the lack of research about organizational members own sense of their P–O fit. In this paper we discuss the criteria required of suitable research tools to explore this domain. Drawing on arguments from the cognition literature, we argue that storytelling and causal mapping techniques are suitable for exploring organizational members sense of fit. We conclude with a short example of the method in action and a discussion of some of the practical issues that researchers will face.     

The effects of fear and anger facial expressions on approach- and avoidance-related behaviors

The facial expressions of fear and anger are universal social signals in humans. Both expressions have been frequently presumed to signify threat to perceivers and therefore are often used in studies investigating responses to threatening stimuli. Here the authors show that the anger expression facilitates avoidance-related behavior in participants, which supports the notion of this expression being a threatening stimulus. The fear expression, on the other hand, facilitates approach behaviors in perceivers. This contradicts the notion of the fear expression as predominantly threatening or aversive and suggests it may represent an affiliative stimulus. Although the fear expression may signal that a threat is present in the environment, the effect of the expression on conspecifics may be in part to elicit approach.     

Detecting event-based prospective memory cues occurring within and outside the focus of attention

Event-based prospective memory cues are environmental stimuli that are associated with a previously established intention to perform an activity. Such cues traditionally have been placed in materials that receive focal attention during an ongoing activity. This article reports a direct comparison of event-based cues that occurred either within the focus of attention or at the periphery of such attention. When the cue occurred outside focal attention, manipulating that cue changed event-based prospective memory. The identical manipulation had no effect on event-based responding if the cue occurred within focal attention. These results suggest that cue characteristics can compensate for attention being directed away from an aspect of an ongoing task that contains event-based prospective memory.     

Effects of visual and verbal interaction on unintentional interpersonal coordination

Previous research has demonstrated that people's movements can become unintentionally coordinated during interpersonal interaction. The current study sought to uncover the degree to which visual and verbal (conversation) interaction constrains and organizes the rhythmic limb movements of coactors. Two experiments were conducted in which pairs of participants completed an interpersonal puzzle task while swinging handheld pendulums with instructions that minimized intentional coordination but facilitated either visual or verbal interaction. Cross-spectral analysis revealed a higher degree of coordination for conditions in which the pairs were visually coupled. In contrast, verbal interaction alone was not found to provide a sufficient medium for unintentional coordination to occur, nor did it enhance the unintentional coordination that emerged during visual interaction. The results raise questions concerning differences between visual and verbal informational linkages during interaction and how these differences may affect interpersonal movement production and its coordination.     

Roman Catholic couples: wrath and religion.

Qualitative methods were used to research the effects of the religious beliefs and practices of ten Roman Catholic couples on the ways in which they managed anger and conflict in their marital relationship. The couples were interviewed separately, twice each, using Grounded Theory techniques in the first, semi-structured interview, and Repertory Grids in the second. Religious beliefs supported a broad range of positions on anger management from self-control through to the thoughtful expression of anger. It is suggested that religious beliefs and practices can be thought of as expanding or restricting "space" by reducing the intensity of anger experienced and by providing an opportunity for reflection which enabled participants to take greater responsibility for their part in conflicts. The relationship with God affected the "space" in the couple relationship by meeting some of the unmet needs of individuals and by detouring anger away from the spouse to God where it was felt to be safely contained. This procedure was used more by wives; their husbands seemed more often to fear and avoid conflicts and the expression of anger. Links were made between the marital relationship and the relationship with God. It was proposed that these systems are both evolving interactively with changes in one resulting in changes in the other. However, there can be a delay before changes in one system can be integrated with conflicting beliefs or practices in the reciprocal system, which may result in ambivalent attitudes toward anger and conflict. Clinical implications and directions for future research were suggested.     

The law and lawyers: Through psychodynamic eyes

Abstract

This article looks at some of the unconscious processes that operate among solicitors in general practice. In particular it considers various defences against the anxiety felt by solicitors partly because of the nature of their work and partly because of what is projected onto them by their clients. It argues that these defences have become embodied in the legal system itself as ‘socially structured defence mechanisms’ (Menzies Lyth 1989).     

The effects of free recall testing on subsequent source memory

The testing effect is the finding that prior retrieval of information from memory will result in better subsequent memory for that material. One explanation for these effects is that initial free recall testing increases the recollective details for tested information, which then becomes more available during a subsequent test phase. In three experiments we explored this hypothesis using a source-monitoring test phase after the initial free recall tests. We discovered that memory is differentially enhanced for certain recollective details depending on the nature of the free recall task. Thus further research needs to be conducted to specify how different kinds of memorial details are enhanced by free recall testing.     

Receiving right/wrong feedback: Consequences for learning

Prior work suggests that receiving feedback that one's response was correct or incorrect (right/wrong feedback) does not help learners, as compared to not receiving any feedback at all (Pashler, Cepeda, Wixted, & Rohrer, 2005). In three experiments we examined the generality of this conclusion. Right/wrong feedback did not aid error correction, regardless of whether participants learned facts embedded in prose (Experiment 1) or translations of foreign vocabulary (Experiment 2). While right/wrong feedback did not improve the overall retention of correct answers (Experiments 1 and 2), it facilitated retention of low-confidence correct answers (Experiment 3). Reviewing the original materials was very useful to learners, but this benefit was similar after receiving either right/wrong feedback or no feedback (Experiments 1 and 2). Overall, right/wrong feedback conveys some information to the learner, but is not nearly as useful as being told the correct answer or having the chance to review the to-be-learned materials.     

Focused attention on one contextual attribute does not reduce source memory for a different attribute

In three experiments, participants were asked to learn a particular contextual dimension of a study episode for a later memory test. The hypothesis being evaluated was that focused attention towards learning a particular source‐specifying attribute would decrease memory for a different attribute dimension. Although source memory for the attribute dimensions in the focus of attention were generally improved, memory was not diminished for contextual attributes ostensibly outside the focus of primary attention. The absence of any decrease in memory appears to be a somewhat general phenomenon because it was found with external–external, internal–external, and internal–internal combinations of attribute dimensions. The results may be most consistent with a model of cognitive processing in which people have separate pools of attentional resources rather than a single pool of general resources.     

What Happens to Physical Activity Behavior,Motivation, Self-Concept,and Flow After Completing School? A Longitudinal Study

With particular focus on the year following completion of high school, the present study sought to establish the status of young people's physical activity behavior, physical activity motivation, physical activity flow, and physical self-concept. Among a sample of 213 Australian participants assessed in their final year of school and then one year later, findings suggested a significant increase in physical activity behavior and a significant reduction in maladaptive behavioral motivation. On other physical measures, females demonstrated significant improvements in their general physical self-concepts and males demonstrated significant improvements in their health self-concepts. Implications for gender-specific and developmentally targeted interventions are discussed.