What good leaders actually do: micro-level leadership behaviour,leader evaluations,and team decision quality

We supplement broad definitions of leadership behaviour with the concept of micro-level leadership behaviour, leaders’ verbal and non-verbal visible conduct and interaction. For the context of team decision-making, we identify two potentially beneficial micro-level leadership behaviours, question asking and behavioural mimicry. Specifically, we propose that under conditions of informational complexity and unshared information, participative leadership is most appropriate for team decision-making, that its effects are mediated by inquiring and empathy, and that question asking and mimicry are the behavioural micro-level manifestations of inquiring and empathy. We thus hypothesize that the effect of participative leadership on team decision quality and leader evaluation is mediated by question asking and mimicry. We conduct a laboratory experiment with student teams working on a hidden profile decision-making task and measure question asking through behavioural coding and mimicry with motion sensors. Results show that the effect of participative leadership on decision quality is mediated by question asking, and that the effect of participative leadership on leader evaluation as transformational is mediated by leaders’ behavioural mimicry and question asking. Under control of these micro-level behaviours, team decision quality and leader evaluations were unrelated.     

The Professional Context as a Predictor for Response Distortion in the Adaption-Innovation Inventory—An Investigation Using Mixture Distribution Item Response Theory Models

The Adaption-Innovation Inventory (AII), originally developed by Kirton (1976), is a widely used self-report instrument for measuring problem-solving styles at work. The present study investigates how scores on the AII are affected by different response styles. Data are collected from a combined sample (N = 738) of students, employees, and entrepreneurs. Using mixture distribution item response theory, we identify individuals with normal and distorted response styles. Additionally, we investigate antecedents and consequences of distorted responses. For antecedents, results indicate influences of cognitive schemata resulting from an individual's professional work context. For consequences, distorted responses show different relationships with occupational outcomes in comparison to normal responses.     

Generalizing empirical adequacy I: multiplicity and approximation

I provide an explicit formulation of empirical adequacy, the central concept of constructive empiricism, and point out a number of problems. Based on one of the inspirations for empirical adequacy, I generalize the notion of a theory to avoid implausible presumptions about the relation of theoretical concepts and observations, and generalize empirical adequacy with the help of approximation sets to allow for lack of knowledge, approximations, and successive gain of knowledge and precision. As a test case, I provide an application of these generalizations to a simple interference phenomenon.     

The effects of co-witness discussion on confidence and precision in eyewitness memory reports

We examined the influence of co-witness discussion on the metacognitive regulation of memory reports. Participants (N?=?92) watched a crime video. Later, a confederate confidently agreed with (gave confirming feedback), disagreed with (gave disconfirming feedback), or gave no feedback (control) regarding participants’ answers to questions about the video. Participants who received disconfirming feedback reported fewer fine-grain details than participants in the confirming and control conditions on a subsequent, individual recall test for a different question set. Unexpectedly, this decrease in fine-grain reporting was not accompanied by a decrease in participants’ confidence in the accuracy of their fine-grain responses. These results indicate that receiving social comparative feedback about one’s memory performance can affect rememberers’ metamemorial control decisions, and potentially decrease the level of detail they volunteer in later memory reports. Further research is needed to assess whether these results replicate under different experimental conditions, and to explore the effects of social influences on metamemory.     

Good,Evil, and the Necessity of an Act

Kant asserts that the formula of the schools “nihil appetimus, nisi sub ratione boni” is undoubtedly certain when clearly expressed (KpV 177). Conversely, doubt reflects a failure clearly to express it. Once we comprehend the concepts of the formula, of the good (bonum) and of desire (appetitus), there is no doubting it. In recent times, the formula has fallen into doubt. If Kant is right, then this shows a lack of clarity with respect to the concepts the formula conjoins. I want to suggest that Kant is right: the formula of the schools is undoubtedly certain. I first explain in Kant’s own terms why there is no such thing as doubting the formula. Then I approach it from a different angle, provided by what I take to be the unclarity that affects current thought on the topic.     

Muscle Dysmorphia Research Neglects DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria

This systematic review aimed to collect, evaluate, and synthesize the research on muscle dysmorphia (MD) post official recognition as a specifier for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) in the DSM-5, and provide recommendations for future research. Literature searches were conducted in four databases to see if inclusion criteria were met. Results revealed 33 studies meeting inclusion criteria, none of which utilized DSM-5 criteria for MD or acknowledged the criterion in their research. Few studies acknowledged the association between MD and BDD, and the methodological quality of recent MD research was considered low due to a lack of clinical samples, measurements not using validated cutoff scores, and the research designs. In conclusion, future MD research is encouraged to utilize DSM-5 diagnostic criteria to better inform clinical practice and significantly improve the methodological quality. As such, more effective treatment options may be developed, reducing the risk of health-harming consequences in these individuals.     

Can self-compassion improve sleep quality via reduced rumination?

ABSTRACT

Poor sleep quality is highly prevalent in modern societies and can be associated with a multitude of problems for individuals and organizations, and also for society at large. Thus, there is a demand for efficient treatments. We suggest that short self-compassion interventions will improve sleep quality via reducing ruminative thoughts, a key variable associated with poor sleep quality. We ran three studies to test this hypothesis. In Study 1 (correlational data), a positive relationship between self-compassion and sleep quality emerged in students’ self-reports. This effect was mediated by rumination. In Study 2, students in two different self-compassion intervention conditions reported higher sleep quality compared to a control condition. Again, rumination mediated this effect. In Study 3, patients with major depressive disorder reported a significant increase in sleep quality and a significant decrease of ruminative thoughts after one week in a daily self-compassion intervention (compared to patients in a control condition). Limitations and implications for future research, such as the need of placebo control groups, objective sleep quality measures, and person–intervention fit designs are discussed.     

Parental Discipline,Child Inhibitory Control and Prosocial Behaviors: The Indirect Relations via Child Sympathy

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Parents’ discipline and children’s inhibitory control are important predictors of children’s prosocial behaviors. Yet few studies have...