A study of the discrepancy between self- and observer-ratings on managerial derailment characteristics of European managers

Managerial derailment is costly to managers, their co-workers, and their organization. Knowing whether discrepancies (i.e., differences, dissimilarity, disagreement, incongruity) exist between self- and observer- (subordinates, peers, and bosses) ratings about derailment may help to lessen or prevent the detrimental outcomes of derailment on managers, their co-workers, and their organization. Results from 1742 European managers revealed a statistically significant difference between a manager's self-ratings and observer-ratings on the extent to which a manager displayed derailment behaviours and characteristics. The discrepancy also widened as managerial level increased, and was mostly due to inflated self-ratings. In addition, discrepancies between self – boss, self – direct report, and self – peer were examined, as well as differences between European and American managers. A discussion of these findings and implications for practice conclude this article.     

The simple man: The consumption behavior of the principled life

In this study, we analyze the Simple Man, a label for those men who have above-average means in education, household income, or net worth but who consume inconspicuously and modestly below their means. We interviewed 27 men in the Northwest, Midwest, Southeast and Northeast regions of the United States and found that these men have highly individualistic identities and backgrounds yet appear to stray from products that separate them from others. These men also seem to have reached a level of contentment, not needing products or material possessions to achieve fulfillment, status, or a particular masculine identity. These men have practical and durable tastes that reflect low cultural capital (LCC) consumption but have the means and education in many instances to engage in high cultural capital (HCC) consumption. The men in this study adamantly proclaim that they do not define themselves by what they own nor do they appear to define themselves primarily by what they do, at least in terms of occupation. In short, these men appear complex in many ways yet live simple lives, or what might be termed complex simplicity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Therapeutic Assessment With Children: A Pilot Study of Treatment Acceptability and Outcome

Therapeutic Assessment (TA) with children is a hybrid of psychological assessment and short-term intervention. It uses the ongoing process and results of psychological assessment to enhance parents' understanding of their child and to facilitate change. Clinical reports and single case studies suggest that TA with children is an acceptable and effective brief intervention. However, no aggregate data have been published to support this claim. This pilot study investigated the acceptability and preoutcome–postoutcome of TA with 14 clinically referred children with emotional and behavior problems and their parents. Results indicated high treatment acceptability as well as significantly decreased child symptomatology and enhanced family functioning as reported by children and mothers. In addition, mothers demonstrated a significant increase in positive emotion and a significant decrease in negative emotion pertaining to their children's challenges and future. The findings, although limited due to the design and small sample size, support assertions from published single case studies that TA is possibly an efficacious child and family intervention for children with emotional and behavioral problems and should be studied in a larger, comparison design.     

Trauma Competency: An Active Ingredients Approach to Treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Meta‐analytic studies have extracted 4 common elements among effective posttraumatic stress disorder treatments: cognitive restructuring and psychoeducation, a deliberate and continually improving therapeutic relationship, relaxation and self‐regulation, and exposure via narrative of traumatic experiences. The authors present a clinical treatment structure catalyzing these active ingredients into discrete therapeutic tasks that counselors can focus on to maximize treatment effectiveness. The 4 tasks represent an attempt to identify critical competencies and baseline standards for the field of trauma counseling.     

Self–Observer Rating Discrepancies of Managers in Asia: A study of derailment characteristics and behaviors in Southern and Confucian Asia

Antecedents to self–observer rating discrepancies in multisource instruments have been established at the individual and organizational level. However, research examining cultural antecedents is limited, which is particularly relevant as multisource instruments gain popularity around the world. We investigated multisource ratings of 860 Asian managers from the regions of Southern Asia (n=261) and Confucian Asia (n=599) and analyzed cultural differences in self–observer rating discrepancies. Multivariate regression procedures revealed that the self–observer rating discrepancy was wider for managers from Southern Asia as compared with Confucian Asia. The reason for the discrepancy was driven by managers' self‐ratings being different across cultures than by observer ratings from managers' bosses, direct reports, or peers; the predictor is related to self‐ratings not observer ratings, producing differential self–observer ratings due to self‐ratings. We discuss cultural differences in self‐ and observer ratings within Asia and provide implications for the practice of multisource assessments.     

Examining career-related mentoring and managerial performance across cultures: A multilevel analysis

The benefits of the mentoring relationship for protégés have been a primary focus in the mentoring literature. Researchers have recently begun to examine how mentoring can benefit the mentor. The purpose of the present study is to examine whether direct report-ratings of a manager’s career-related mentoring behaviors are related to boss-ratings of that manager’s performance. In addition, this study assesses whether the cultural background of the manager moderates the career-related mentoring-performance relationship via multilevel methodology. Results reveal that managers who are rated by their direct reports as engaging in career-related mentoring behaviors are perceived as better performers by their bosses. Moreover, the GLOBE societal culture dimension of Performance Orientation was a significant cross-level moderator of the career-related mentoring-performance relationship. Implications for the practice of mentoring in cross-cultural contexts across multiple disciplines are discussed.     

Views of Managerial Derailment From Above and Below: The Importance of a Good Relationship With Upper Management and Putting People at Ease1

Managerial derailment can harm the manager, the morale of coworkers, and can be costly to the organization. Using the logic of social exchange theory and “trickle‐down” studies, managers who work effectively with upper management may also work effectively with others. In a field study using a sample of 1,978 practicing managers, the effectiveness of a manager's relationships with upper management positively related to the manager's ability to put people at ease, relating to lessened boss, direct‐report, and self‐ratings of the extent to which the manager displays the behaviors and characteristics that may lead to potential derailment. Effectively working with upper management may thus have positive implications for the treatment of others, and the potential to derail.     

Intractable properties of responding under a fixed-interval schedule

The behavior engendered by the fixed-interval schedule is characterized by its variability within and across intervals. The present experiment was designed to assess further the magnitude of interval-to-interval dynamics and to explore conditions which might enhance control by response number for subsequent output. Pigeons were exposed to three experimental manipulations after responding had stabilized under a fixed-interval five-minute schedule. First, a discrete five-stimulus counter was added so that the key color changed after a fixed number of responses. Then additional grain presentations were made at the end of the interval so that high response output was differentially reinforced in the presence of the counter stimuli. Finally, the counter stimuli were presented as an irregular clock (i.e., independently of responding), but the durations were yoked to performance under the counter condition. The data show that response number can exert influence from one interval to the next, but this source of control is weak and not influenced by the experimental manipulations. Results from the clock arrangement indicate that behavior is controlled largely by the stimulus conditions prevailing at the time of interval onset.