Dysfunctional Behavior among Sales Representatives: The Effect of Supervisory Trust,Participation, and Information Controls

This study investigates the efficacy of supervisory trust, participation, and information controls in curbing dysfunctional salesperson behavior so that salesperson actions are in line with organizational goals. Using a sample of 210 salespeople, we develop and test a model incorporating supervisory trust, participation, information controls (output information, activity information, and capability information), and dysfunctional behavior. Output and activity information controls directly affect dysfunctional behavior, whereas capability information controls work positively through trust in the supervisor to reduce dysfunctional behavior. Providing sales representatives with information about their capabilities appears to enhance the supervisor–salesperson trust relationship. Results also indicate that salespeople’s supervisory participation is an effective lever for reducing dysfunctional salesperson behavior through the intervening role of trust in the supervisor.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Group CBT for Parents of ADHD Children

Improvements in parenting skills do not necessarily lead to improvements in child and parent outcomes for children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Cognitive factors such as parental cognitions and parenting self-efficacy may influence such outcomes. Clinical research on the effects of cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) on parental cognitions, parenting self-efficacy and mental health in Chinese parents of children with ADHD is lacking. This quasi-experimental study intended to assess the effects of a culturally attuned group CBT treatment on the mental health and quality of life of Chinese parents aged 26–58 years, with children with ADHD in Hong Kong. Participants in the experimental group received group CBT and standard treatment and their counterparts in the control group received standard treatment. Primary outcome variables of mental health and quality of life and process variables including parenting stress, parenting efficacy and dysfunctional attitudes were measured at baseline, post-treatment and 3-month follow-up. Data were analysed using 2?×?3 ANCOVAs, Cohen’s d statistics and multiple mediation analyses. Group by time interactions were found for most outcome variables. Effect size statistics indicated that group CBT had small to moderate effects on most outcome variables at post-treatment and follow-up assessments. The effect of CBT on mental health was mediated by the reduction in parenting stress and the effect of CBT on quality of life was mediated by the reductions in parenting stress and dysfunctional attitudes. Given its potential benefit, it is worth considering incorporating this group CBT programme into interventions for Chinese parents with ADHD children.     

Goal-Focused Leadership,Leader-Member Exchange,and Task Performance: The Moderating Effects of Goal Orientations and Emotional Exhaustion

An important role of leaders is to foster followers’ performance through goal setting processes, which involve reciprocal interactions between leaders and followers (Locke & Latham in American Psychologist, 57, 705–717, 2002). Drawing upon the theory of role-making processes and a resource allocation framework, this study examined (a) how leaders’ goal setting activities interact with employees’ goal orientations and emotional exhaustion in predicting leader-member exchange (LMX), and (b) how LMX intervenes between goal-focused leadership and followers’ task performance. Hypotheses were tested using data collected from a sample of 187 leader-subordinate dyads from South Korea. Follower learning goal orientation (LGO) weakened the positive relationship between goal-focused leadership and LMX and, indirectly, task performance, contributing to the literature on goal orientations by revealing a “backfire effect” of LGO. Additionally, employee emotional exhaustion also reduced the positive relationship of goal-focused leadership to LMX and, ultimately, task performance. Integrating the theory of role-making processes from the LMX literature and a resource allocation perspective on self-regulation behavior, the present findings indicate that LMX is a key process through which goal-focused leadership relates to follower task performance. Furthermore, this study contributes to the goal-focused leadership literature by pointing out the importance of adopting an interactional perspective on leaders’ influence. Specifically, findings suggest that followers with divergent characteristics in terms of goal orientations and resourcefulness respond differently to leaders’ goal setting activities. This is one of the few studies that have examined the mechanisms and boundary conditions by which leaders’ goal-focused behaviors relate to followers’ task performance.     

Body Hair Removal: The ‘Mundane’ Production of Normative Femininity

Although womens body hair removal is strongly normative across contemporary Western cultures, only two studies of mundane depilation have been published, and they were based on data from the US (Basow, 1991) and Australia (Tiggemann & Kenyon, 1998), respectively. The present survey, comprised of a sample of 678 women, extends this work. We investigated UK practices, a wider array of body regions and removal methods, and the relationship between depilation and age. Over 99% of participants reported removing some hair, most commonly from the underarms, legs, pubic area, and eyebrows. Shaving and plucking were the most common removal methods. Significant relationships between age and leg, pubic, and facial depilation were found. Results document the normativity of hair removal, and we argue that hair removal is part of the taken-for-granted work of producing an acceptable femininity.     

The value-congruence model of memory for emotional experiences: an explanation for cultural differences in emotional self-reports

In 3 studies, the authors found support for the value-congruence model that accounts for cultural variations in memory for emotional experiences. In Study 1, the authors found that in the made-in-the-U.S. scenario condition, European Americans were more accurate than were Asian Americans in their retrospective frequency judgments of emotions. However, in the made-in-Japan scenario condition, European Americans were less accurate than were Asian Americans. In Study 2, the authors demonstrated that value orientation mediates the CulturexType of Event congruence effect. In Study 3 (a daily event sampling study), the authors showed that the congruence effect was explained by the importance of parental approval. In sum, emotional events congruent with personal values remain in memory longer and influence retrospective frequency judgments of emotion more than do incongruent events.     

EMG and kinematics analysis of the trunk and lower extremity during the sit-to-stand task while wearing shoes with different heel heights in healthy young women

This study investigated the EMG characteristics and the kinematics of the trunk and lower extremity during the sit-to-stand (STS) task while wearing 1-, 4-, and 8-cm high-heeled shoes. We examined differences in the EMG data of the internal oblique, erector spinae, medial hamstring, and rectus femoris muscles during the STS task. The motion of the hip joint during an STS task was measured with a NorAngle Electrogoniometer System. Twelve young healthy women were recruited to this study. EMG characteristics and the hip joint angle were recorded during the performance of an STS task by subjects wearing high-heeled shoes of three different heel heights. The muscle onset time and EMG activity during this task were analyzed. In 8-cm high-heeled shoes, the onset time for the erector spinae muscle was significantly delayed, and the onset latency for the medial hamstring and the rectus femoris was significantly decreased. There was increased activity in the erector spinae and rectus femoris muscle during this task when wearing 8-cm high-heeled shoes. The initial hip flexion angle at the start point of the STS task did not differ among the 1-, 4-, and 8-cm heel-height conditions, but the trunk flexion angle, corresponding to the displacement between the peak hip flexion and initial hip flexion, was significantly larger in the 8-cm heel-height condition than in the 1- and 4-cm heel-height conditions. The findings suggest that excessive heel height has the potential to induce muscle imbalance during the STS task.     

Intrinsic Finks and Dispositional/Categorical Distinction

The central theme of this paper is the dispositional/categorical distinction that has been one of the top agendas in contemporary metaphysics. I will first develop from my semantic account of dispositions what I think the correct formulation of the dispositional/categorical distinction in terms of counterfactual conditionals. It will be argued that my formulation does not have the shortcomings that have plagued previously proposed ones. Then I will turn my attention to one of its consequences, the thesis that dispositional properties are not susceptible to intrinsic finks. This thesis was first advanced by me and has ever since stirred up a big controversy, endorsed by some philosophers like Handfield, Bird, and Cohen but rejected by others like Clarke and Fara. Against this background, I will remedy my defense of the impossibility of intrinsically finkable dispositions and then refute some of apparently powerful criticisms of it. And so the upshot is that it is much more reasonable to hold on to the thesis that dispositions are intrinsically unfinkable. This will have the effect of putting the dispositional/categorical distinction on firmer and more secure ground.     

Individual and Contextual Predictors of Creative Performance: The Mediating Role of Psychological Processes

Studies on creativity have identified critical individual and contextual variables that contribute to individuals' creative performance. However, the psychological mechanisms through which these factors influence creative performance have not yet been systematically investigated. This study explored potential psychological processes that mediate the effects of various individual and contextual variables on the creative performance of individuals. The results, based on longitudinal, multisource data, show that underlying psychological processes (creative self-efficacy and creativity intention) completely mediated the effect of individual (motivation, personality, ability) and contextual factors (social influences from leaders and peers) on creative performance. This study informs the literature of potential psychological mechanisms through which individual and contextual factors influence the creative performance of individuals.     

Self-esteem as a Mediator Between Instrumentality, Gender Role Conflict and Depression in Male Korean High School Students

This study examined the effects of self-esteem as a mediator of the relationship between instrumentality, gender role conflict and depression in 464 Korean high school boys using structural equation modeling. The primary findings were: (a) instrumentality did not directly influence depression, but indirectly did so through the mediational variable of self-esteem, and (b) gender role conflict demonstrated direct and indirect effects on depression through the mediational variable of self-esteem. These results are consistent with the previous findings conducted in the U.S. and support applying these findings to different culture contexts. Implications of these findings for counseling practice with male adolescents and for future research are discussed.     

Motivated information processing, social tuning, and group creativity

The extent to which groups are creative has wide implications for their overall performance, including the quality of their problem solutions, judgments, and decisions. To further understanding of group creativity, we integrate the motivated information processing in groups model (De Dreu, Nijstad, & Van Knippenberg, 2008) with work on epistemic social tuning (Lunn, Sinclair, Whitchurch, & Glenn, 2007). Three propositions were advanced: (a) Groups produce more ideas when members have high rather than low epistemic motivation, especially when members also have a prosocial rather than pro-self motivation; (b) these ideas are more original, appropriate, or feasible when a group norm favors originality, appropriateness, or feasibility; and (c) originality is valued more in individualistic cultures (e.g., the Netherlands), whereas appropriateness is valued more in collectivist cultures (e.g., Korea). Four studies involving 3-person groups generating ideas supported these propositions: Epistemic motivation (mild vs. intense time pressure; presence vs. absence of process accountability) stimulated production and originality, especially when prosocial rather than pro-self motives were present and participants were Dutch or originality norms were experimentally primed. When appropriateness norms were primed or participants were Korean, epistemic motivation stimulated production and appropriateness, especially when prosocial rather than pro-self motives were present. We discuss implications for research on group processes and for work on culture and creativity.