Effective behaviors to de-escalate organizational conflicts in the process of escalation

The goal of the present study was to determine what behaviors negotiators can use to help to quell an escalating conflict. In doing so, we formed a sample of professionals who took on the role of negotiator when we provoked an organizational conflict between a superior and subordinate that escalates due to the intervention of research confederates. Trained judges analyzed the negotiators' behaviors that most effectively mitigated the intensity of the conflict in which they were involved. The results demonstrate that the behaviors most effective at de-escalating an escalating conflict are problem-solving and accommodation, especially when said conflict has escalated considerably. Similarly, jointly employing problem-solving and direct fighting behaviors also seems to help de-escalate conflict. The results do not, however, consistently support using a forceful behavioral strategy to de-escalate a conflict in the early stages of escalation.     

Predicting women's and men's reactions to geographic separation: relational interdependence matters

Participant sex and a theorized correlate of biological sex, relational interdependence, were tested as relative predictors of the extent to which daters 1) missed and 2) used emotional support to cope when geographically separated from their dating partners. One hundred twenty-four daters completed multiple measures of missing and coping during their colleges' winter breaks. Results from regression analyses indicated that levels of missing and seeking emotional support differed as a function of biological sex. Further, relational interdependence was reliably associated with missing and seeking emotional support in theoretically consistent ways. Mediation analyses highlighted the importance of considering relational interdependence or other individual differences that covary with biological sex when studying close relationship phenomena.     

Following the standard form: Effects of equation format on algebraic modeling

When people construct algebraic equations to represent quantitative relations, they often reverse the roles of the variables (6S = P instead of 6P = S). Results from three experiments show that a major reason for such reversal errors is people’s adherence to, and interpretation of, the Standard Form of algebraic models. College students constructed, selected, and interpreted algebraic models that either had the standard multiplication format (MF: ax = y), or the mathematically equivalent division format (DF: y/a = x). A large minority of participants constructed reversed MF models, whereas most participants who were instructed to use DF equations constructed correct models (Experiment 1). Most participants understood that MF and DF models of the same relation should be mathematically equivalent (Experiment 2), but they drew a conceptual distinction between these models (Experiment 3). The authors discuss the impact of notational conventions on people’s interpretation and use of representational tools.     

Tracking without perceiving: a dissociation between eye movements and motion perception

Can people react to objects in their visual field that they do not consciously perceive? We investigated how visual perception and motor action respond to moving objects whose visibility is reduced, and we found a dissociation between motion processing for perception and for action. We compared motion perception and eye movements evoked by two orthogonally drifting gratings, each presented separately to a different eye. The strength of each monocular grating was manipulated by inducing adaptation to one grating prior to the presentation of both gratings. Reflexive eye movements tracked the vector average of both gratings (pattern motion) even though perceptual responses followed one motion direction exclusively (component motion). Observers almost never perceived pattern motion. This dissociation implies the existence of visual-motion signals that guide eye movements in the absence of a corresponding conscious percept.     

Self-control training decreases aggression in response to provocation in aggressive individuals

One common cause of aggression is self-control failure, yet research suggests that practicing self-control over time can improve subsequent self-control. This experiment tested whether self-control training over a 2-week period could decrease anger and aggression in response to provocation. Seventy undergraduates completed 2 weeks of self-control training or a control task. At the end of the 2 weeks, participants were insulted and given the opportunity to retaliate by delivering a blast of loud white noise. Self-control training reduced aggression among those high in trait aggression. Participants who received the training also reported less anger than those in the control condition. These results provide initial support that self-control training might prove beneficial for assisting aggressive individuals to overcome aggressive impulses.     

Picture Perfect: The Relationship between Selfie Behaviors,Self-Objectification,and Depressive Symptoms

Sex Roles - Social media use has been linked to depression, although there is evidence that how one uses social media matters. Self-objectification may influence social media-related behaviors,...     

Developmental grey matter changes in superior parietal cortex accompany improved transitive reasoning

The neural basis of developmental changes in transitive reasoning in parietal regions was examined, using voxel-based morphometry. Young adolescents and adults performed a transitive reasoning task, subsequent to undergoing anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans. Behaviorally, adults reasoned more accurately than did the young adolescents. Neural results showed (i) less grey matter density in superior parietal cortex in the adults than in the young adolescents, possibly due to a developmental period of synaptic pruning; (ii) improved performance in the reasoning task was negatively correlated with grey matter density in superior parietal cortex in the adolescents, but not in the adult group; and (iii) the latter results were driven by the more difficult trials, requiring greater spatial manipulation. Taken together, the results support the idea that during development, regions in superior parietal cortex are fine-tuned, to support more robust spatial manipulation, resulting in greater accuracy and efficiency in transitive reasoning.     

Family processes as pathways from income to young children's development

A variety of family processes have been hypothesized to mediate associations between income and young children's development. Maternal emotional distress, parental authoritative and authoritarian behavior (videotaped mother-child interactions), and provision of cognitively stimulating activities (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment [HOME] scales) were examined as possible mediators in a sample of 493 White and African American low-birth-weight premature infants who were followed from birth through age 5. Cognitive ability was assessed by standardized test, and child behavior problems by maternal report, when the children were 3 and 5 years of age. As expected, family income was associated with child outcomes. The provision of stimulating experiences in the home mediated the relation between family income and both children's outcomes; maternal emotional distress and parenting practices mediated the relation between income and children's behavior problems.