Being Helped and Being Harmed: A Theoretical Study of Employee Self-Concept and Receipt of Help

Employee self-concept has long been recognized as a critical factor determining employee performance-related outcomes. As such, a considerable amount of research attention has been paid to exploring employee self-concept. However, relatively little is known about how an employee’s self-concept may be affected when the employee is the recipient of help-giving behavior exhibited by other organizational members. Consequently, we attempt to develop a theoretical model describing how an employee’s self-concept, in the forms of task-specific self-efficacy (TSSE) and organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), is affected by receipt of help. Additionally, we investigate the moderating roles of locus of control (LOC) and individualism–collectivism. In particular, we propose that higher levels of help received result in lower levels of TSSE and OBSE perceived. Moreover, we posit that internal LOC strengthens the negative impact of receiving help on TSSE and OBSE. Furthermore, we argue that individualistic tendencies strengthen the negative relationship between receiving help and TSSE and OBSE. Consequently, our theoretical model provides important insights into understanding employee self-concept in the organization.     

Recall of two visual targets embedded in RSVP streams of distractors depends on their temporal and spatial relationship

In the present study, I examined how the temporal and spatial relationship between two visual targets (T1 and T2) affects the recall of both targets when they are embedded in rapidly displayed distractors. Presented on a trial were two synchronized streams of characters, one to the left and the other to the right of the fixation. Independent of their spatial relationship, a U-shaped curve described the recall of the second target (T2) as a function of stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between T1 and T2. It indicated the presence of the attentional blink with a T2 deficit sparing up to about 150- to 200-msec SOA. However, T2 deficit was greater at short SOAs (up to about 250 msec) when T1 and T2 occurred at different locations than when they occurred at a common location. When SOA was short (100 msec or so), recall of T1 was impaired when T1 and T2 occurred at a common location, but not when they were at different locations. The present findings can be reconciled with existing models (e.g., the interference model and the two-stage model) by distinguishing automatic and controlled attention gating processes at the transfer of perceptual representations to a more durable storage (e.g., visual short-term memory).     

Social dominance orientation and group context in implicit group prejudice

We tested the joint influence of individual difference and situational factors on implicit group prejudice. Participants in Experiments 1 and 2 were briefly shown in-group or out-group pronouns prior to evaluating good or bad trait adjectives. Under standard conditions (Experiment 1), there was no difference between participants with high and low social dominance orientation (SDO), but when the intergroup context was made more salient (Experiment 2), high-SDO participants alone showed implicit group prejudice. Implications for the malleability and consensuality of implicit prejudice are discussed.     

The Development and Validation of the Rational and Intuitive Decision Styles Scale

Decision styles reflect the typical manner by which individuals make decisions. The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a decision style scale that addresses conceptual and psychometric problems with current measures. The resulting 10-item scale captures a broad range of the rational and intuitive styles construct domain. Results from 5 independent samples provide initial support for the dimensionality and reliability of the new scale, as demonstrated by a clear factor structure and high internal consistency. In addition, our results show evidence of convergent and discriminant validity through expected patterns of correlations across decision-making individual differences and the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) Big Five traits. Research domains that would benefit from incorporating the concept of decision styles are discussed.     

The Influence of Supervisor and Supervisee Matching, Role Conflict, and Supervisory Relationship on Supervisee Satisfaction

In this study we explore how the “match” between supervisor and supervisee on contextual variables affects both conflict and the working alliance, which affects supervisee satisfaction. Participants included 132 supervisees in academic programs nationwide. The extent of match between supervisor and supervisee characteristics was not found to impact conflict, the working alliance, or supervisees’ satisfaction with supervision. Working alliance was highly predictive of supervisee satisfaction. Despite the findings that match was not related to working alliance or satisfaction, we believe that supervisors should still have open discussions with supervisees about their similarities and differences.     

Will a Category Cue Affect You? Category Cues,Positive Stereotypes and Reviewer Recall for Applicants

Social Psychology of Education - Most empirical research on stereotypes and recall has examined how a single social category of a target can influence a perceiver's recall. Will subtle cues of...     

Using eye movement measures to investigate effects of age on memory for objects in a scene

We examined whether there were age-related differences in eye movements during intentional encoding of a photographed scene that might account for age-related differences in memory of objects in the scene. Younger and older adults exhibited similar scan path patterns, and visited each region of interest in the scene with similar frequency and duration. Despite the similarity in viewing, there were fundamental differences in the viewing-memory relationship. Although overall recognition was poorer in the older than younger adults, there was no age effect on recognition probability for objects visited only once. More importantly, re-visits to objects brought gain in recognition probability for the younger adults, but not for the older adults. These results suggest that the age-related differences in object recognition performance are in part due to inefficient integration of information from working memory to longer-term memory.     

The impact of self‐confidence on the compromise effect

This research reports an investigation into whether the personality aspect of self‐confidence affects the compromise effect. We hypothesize that highly self‐confident people have greater certainty in making decisions and are more attracted to risk‐taking, which makes them less likely to choose the safe or middle option in a large choice set. The three studies involved are conducted using between‐ and within‐subjects experimental designs. Various product categories are used to generalize the findings. Study 1 looks at purchasing decisions and utilizes three scales of self‐confidence, risk preference, and uncertainty; it demonstrates that consumers with high self‐confidence are less likely to choose a compromise option due to high certainty in their decision‐making. Study 2 discovers that people with low self‐confidence are more likely to choose the middle option in a risky condition than in a nonrisky condition. Study 3 decomposes self‐confidence into general and specific self‐confidence, and reveals that people with low general self‐confidence and low specific self‐confidence are more likely to choose the middle option.     

The impact of the opinions of others on variety‐seeking behavior

One reason for consumer variety‐seeking behavior is interpersonal motivation. Building on previous theories, we suggest that the different information types of interpersonal sources influence the variety‐seeking behavior of individuals. Two laboratory experiments are conducted to examine the influence of the opinions of others on such behavior. The results support the author's contention that to derive more enjoyment from a shared product, an individual will make choices congruent with the opinions of others in online information. The managerial implications and study limitations are also discussed.