The Differential Focus of Supervisors and Peers in Evaluations of Managerial Potential

This study proposes that evaluations of managerial potential by supervisors and peers differentially relate to the personality of the job candidate being evaluated. Specifically, we hypothesized that supervisors would focus on more task‐based personality traits, such as Conscientiousness and its facet of Self‐discipline while peers would instead focus on more contextual personality traits, such as Agreeableness and its facet of Tender‐mindedness. We applied a path analysis SEM approach to data collected from a field study of 114 triads of incumbents, supervisors, and peers of retail managers in a Fortune 500 organization. This approach provided support for our overall hypothesized models. A further analysis of significant paths suggested that ratees with high levels of Conscientiousness and Achievement‐striving appeal to supervisors when making evaluations of managerial potential. Ratees with high levels of Agreeableness, Altruism, and Tender‐mindedness and low levels of Openness to Experience, in contrast, appeal to peers.     

Seeing vs. believing: Is believing sufficient to activate the processes of response co-representation?

It has been suggested that the observation of another person's action affects the behavior of the observer because the observation of action leads to the excitation of similar response codes in the observer. It is unknown, however, if one must witness the action or if it is sufficient for one to believe that the other agent is responding for response co-representation to occur. To this end, participants in the present study performed a joint spatial-compatibility task with a confederate when: (1) the confederate sat beside the participant; and, (2) the confederate left the room and told the participant that they would continue to perform their component of the task on a networked computer in another room. Even though participants believed that the confederate performed the task in another room, joint spatial-compatibility was only observed when the confederate was present. These results reveal that the actions of another person may only be represented by the observer when the observer is able to witness a portion of the action.     

To Tell or Not to Tell: Disclosure and the Narrative Self

ABSTRACT Drawing from a narrative identity framework, we present the results of three studies examining the nature of what people do and do not disclose about their life experiences. Across three studies, our findings indicate that (1) the major difference in what people do and do not disclose concerns the emotionality of the events and whether or not the events are transgressions; (2) for everyday memorable events, increased negative emotion is associated with greater likelihood of disclosure; but (3) for more important and/or longer retained events, increased negative and decreased positive emotion were associated with lower likelihoods of disclosure. We also found that socioemotional consequences are an important reason for nondisclosure of important past experiences and are predictably related to the extent to which events induce positive and negative emotions. Findings are considered in terms of their implications for narrative identity.     

Changing Marriage Role Expectations: 1961–1996

The present study is an update of a longitudinal study of marriage role expectations begun in 1961. Data collected in 1990 and 1996 have been added to the data set, allowing for comparisons of female college students' marriage role expectations from 1961, 1972, 1978, 1984, 1990, and 1996. Comparisons include the females' traditional vs. egalitarian expectations for their marriage overall as well as on the seven subscales of authority, homemaking, child care, personal characteristics, social participation, education, and employment and support. There were significant changes toward more egalitarian expectations overall and on all subscales except authority from 1961 to 1972. Since 1972, the only significant changes were on the subscales of authority, homemaking, and child care, with no significant changes on any subscales or on overall expectations since 1978.     

Partisan Provocation: The Role of Partisan News Use and Emotional Responses in Political Information Sharing in Social Media

Citizens increasingly rely on social media to consume and disseminate news and information about politics, but the factors that drive political information sharing on these sites are not well understood. This study focused on how online partisan news use influences political information sharing in part because of the distinct negative emotions it arouses in its audience. Using panel survey data collected during the 2012 U.S. presidential election, we found that use of proattitudinal partisan news online is associated with increased anger, but not anxiety, directed at the opposing party's presidential candidate and that anger subsequently facilitated information sharing about the election on social media. The results suggest partisan media may drive online information sharing by generating anger in its audience.     

The influence of advance information about target location and visual feedback on movement planning and execution.

This study was designed to determine if movement planning strategies incorporating the use of visual feedback during manual aiming are specific to individual movements. Advance information about target location and visual context was manipulated using precues. Participants exhibited a shorter reaction time and a longer movement time when they were certain of the target location and that vision would be available. The longer movement time was associated with greater time after peak velocity. Under conditions of uncertainty, participants prepared for the worst-case scenario. That is, they spent more time organizing their movements and produced trajectories that would be expected from greater open-loop control. Our results are consistent with hierarchical movement planning in which knowledge of the movement goal is an essential ingredient of visual feedback utilization.     

Belief and believing

Conclusion This essay has been somewhat programmatic in quality but that is not accidental. It has tried to identify some elements, historical and philosophical, that might provide a context within which an adequate discussion of the concept of belief and its recent diverse employment might be measured. Not very much has been solved, but perhaps some issues have become clearer.