Group power as a determinant of interdependence and intergroup discrimination

This experiment (N = 239) investigated the effects of group power and legitimacy of power differentials on intergroup discrimination, measured through negative outcome allocations and linguistic abstraction. Furthermore, it examined the mechanisms through which group power affects discrimination by testing the mediating role of perceived interdependence and social identification. Three power conditions were created by modifying the standard minimal group paradigm: equal, high and low power conditions. Power was directly proportional (legitimate conditions) or inversely proportional (illegitimate conditions) to group members' performance in a problem-solving task. Results showed that intergroup discrimination in the high and low power conditions was higher than in the equal power condition on both the allocation and the linguistic measures. Legitimacy moderated the effect of group power on negative outcome allocations, while it had a main effect on the linguistic abstraction. In addition, perceived interdependence turned out to be the main mediator of the effect of power on negative outcome allocations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neighborhoods as a Developmental Context: A Multilevel Analysis of Neighborhood Effects on Head Start Families and Children

Neighborhoods have been recognized in theory and research as an important context for child development. This study used data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) and Census 2000 to assess the underlying factor structure and impact of neighborhood factors on child cognitive and behavioral outcomes, including the critical family and social factors that may mediate and/or moderate these relationships. Factor analyses found five factors described Head Start neighborhoods. After controlling for family and child factors, multilevel analyses found significant direct effects of neighborhood factors on Head Start children’s cognitive and behavioral outcomes. There were no mediation effects found for family or social variables between neighborhood factors and child outcomes. A large number of moderation effects were found although there was not a clear pattern to the results. Future research, policy, and practice implications are discussed.     

Developing and Validating a Quantitative Measure of Organizational Courage

Purpose  

To present the Organizational Courage Assessment (OCA) and explore its construct validity.     

Evaluating advisors: A policy‐capturing study under conditions of complete and missing information

Decision‐makers' relative preferences for various advisor characteristics were investigated in two multilevel policy‐capturing studies. The characteristics under consideration were: advisor expertise, advisor confidence, advisor intentions, and whether that advisor was the sole available source of advice. In Study 1, decision‐makers had access to all relevant information about the advisors. In contrast, some relevant information about the advisors was systematically made unavailable in Study 2, which allowed an investigation of the effect of missing information on decision‐makers' evaluations of advisors. Results from both studies indicated that advisor expertise and intentions were most important in promoting decision‐makers' positive evaluations of advisors, that this effect was even more pronounced under conditions of missing information, and that advisor expertise and intentions also interacted synergistically. Given that expertise and good intentions are determinants of an advisor's trustworthiness, the results highlight the interpersonal nature of advice giving and taking. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.