Ability to Manage Resources in the Impression Management Process: The Mediating Effects of Resources on Job Performance

Purpose

Based on the conservation of resource (COR) theory, we hypothesize that one’s ability to manage resources will moderate the relationship between the use of positive impression management (IM) and other desired resources, such that those able to manage resources will have higher levels of social resources (reputation and leader–member exchange) when expending energy through the use of positive IM tactics. Additionally, we expect higher levels of these social resources will lead to higher performance ratings.

Design/Methodology/Approach

We conducted a two-study replication. In Study One (n = 213), data were collected at two time points. Dyadic data were collected in Study Two (n = 83) to demonstrate consistent relationships across two different study designs.

Findings

Our findings indicate that the ability to manage resources is associated with higher levels of social resources, such as reputation and high quality LMX, which are ultimately associated with positive workplace outcomes, specifically job performance.

Implications

The ability to manage one’s resources is a crucial individual capability that allows individuals to secure positive work outcomes. This research highlights the utility of resources management initiatives that organizations might want to provide to their workers, such as equipment, support personnel, and the autonomy to pace oneself during hectic endeavors.

Originality/Value

We investigate an individual difference in the COR process, which is lacking in the current literature (Hobfoll and Shirom 2000). Further, this research examines COR consequences beyond stress-related outcomes. Lastly, our research highlights the value of examining IM in light of COR theory.

     

The Relationship Between SME Job Experience and Job Analysis Ratings: Findings with and without Statistical Control

This investigation examined the relationship between SME job experience and job analysis ratings. Managerial job incumbents (N = 209) provided job analysis ratings which measured 9 task frequency and 6 skill importance components. Job experience was operationalized as both job tenure and residualized job tenure (i.e., statistically-controlled for SME characteristics correlated with job tenure). Respondents were categorized into low, medium, and high groups for each tenure measure. MANOVA results indicated that task ratings differed across residualized tenure groups, while skill ratings did not. Statistical control of the job tenure measure made a substantial difference in results. For the non-residualized tenure groups, findings were reversed: skill ratings differed across non-residualized tenure groups, while task ratings did not. The results of this research are integrated with the existing literature and implications for future research and practice are offered.     

Tú velas por los tuyos: Weak Labor Markets and the Importance of Social Networks

Literature on the economic incorporation of immigrants to new destinations has been missing a discussion on how the strength of the local economy affects immigrants’ need for social networks and how it might also affect the relative importance of strong versus weak ties for immigrant job seekers. Through the use of in-depth interviews, the role and importance of social networks in the labor market incorporation of Hispanic immigrants in economically weak cities is examined, as well as the consequences to those immigrants who are unable to command or lack access to social networks and/or ethnic resources. This paper contextualizes the importance of strong ties for immigrants in economically weak new destinations and argues that in places with such a constricted labor market and stagnant economies, it is imperative for recent arrivals to access and/or construct these strong ties in order to more effectively gain entry into the host society’s labor market.     

Do Subtle Linguistic Interventions Priming a Social Identity as a Voter Have Outsized Effects on Voter Turnout? Evidence From a New Replication Experiment

An ongoing debate in political psychology is about whether small wording differences have outsized behavioral effects. A leading example is whether subtle linguistic cues embedded in voter mobilization messages dramatically increase turnout. An initial study analyzing two small‐scale field experiments argued that describing someone as a voter (noun) instead of one who votes (verb) increases turnout rates 11 to 14 points because the noun activates a person's social identity as a voter. A subsequent study analyzing a large‐scale field experiment challenged this claim and found no effect. But questions about the initial claim's domain of applicability persist. The subsequent study may not have reproduced the conditions necessary for the psychological phenomenon to occur, specifically the electoral contexts were not competitive or important enough for the social identity to matter. To address the first of these critiques, as well as other potential explanations for different results between the first two studies, we conduct a large‐scale replication field experiment. We find no evidence that this minor wording change increases turnout levels. This research provides new evidence that the strategy of invoking the self does not appear to consistently increase turnout and calls into question whether subtle linguistic cues have outsized behavioral effects.     

Family Functioning and Social Support in Men and Women Diagnosed with Depression in China

Previous research has demonstrated the association between family functioning and depression. This study evaluated family functioning and perceived social support in men and women in Shanghai who had received a diagnosis of a major depressive disorder (N = 100), including sixty-six women and thirty-four men. The relationship between family functioning and social support of outpatients with major depressive disorders was explored using the Chinese Family Assessment Device and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. The scores from all dimensions of family functioning for both men and women indicated that depressed men and women all reported experiencing unhealthy family functioning. The clinical implications of these findings for the developing practice of family therapy in China are discussed.     

Responsibility and Self-Defense: Can We Have It All?

The role of responsibility in our common-sense morality of self-defense is complex. According to common-sense morality, one can sometimes use substantial, even deadly, force against people who are only minimally responsible for posing a threat to us. The role of responsibility in self-defense is thus limited. However, responsibility is still sometimes relevant. It sometime affects how much force you can use against a threatener: less if they are less responsible and more if they are more responsible. Is there a well-motivated theory that can explain both why the role of responsibility is limited and why it is sometimes relevant? It is hard to see what theory could unify these disparate elements of our common-sense morality, and if one cannot be found then we may simply have to revise some of our pre-theoretic beliefs. But it would be an important advantage of a theory if it could justify those beliefs. I will argue that there is a theory of this kind: surprisingly, the familiar rights theory of self-defense, defended by Judith Thomson, can do so if it is suitably supplemented. Along the way I will survey some alternative theories of self-defense and show why they are not up to the task.     

In Defence of Non-conceptual Content

In recent times, Evans’ idea that mental states could have non-conceptual contents has been attacked. McDowell (Mind and World, 1994) and Brewer (Perception and reason, 1999) have both argued that that notion does not have any epistemological role because notions such as justification or evidential support, that might relate mental contents to each other, must be framed in conceptual terms. On his side, Brewer has argued that instead of non-conceptual content we should consider demonstrative concepts that have the same fine grainess of non-conceptual contents while having conceptual structure. In what follows I will argue that, first, that the notion of demonstrative concept is not viable and, second, that there is an epistemological role for non-conceptual content.

Development of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention Program to Treat Anxiety and Social Deficits in Teens with High-Functioning Autism

Anxiety is a common co-occurring problem among young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Characterized by deficits in social interaction, communication problems, and stereotyped behavior and restricted interests, this group of disorders is more prevalent than previously realized. When present, anxiety may compound the social deficits of young people with ASD. Given the additional disability and common co-occurrence of anxiety in ASD, we developed a manual-based cognitive-behavioral treatment program to target anxiety symptoms as well as social skill deficits in adolescents with ASD [Multimodal Anxiety and Social Skills Intervention: MASSI]. In this paper, we describe the foundation, content, and development of MASSI. We also summarize data on treatment feasibility based on a pilot study that implemented the intervention.     

Disentangling the Relations Between Wisdom and Different Types of Well-Being in Old Age: Findings from a Short-Term Longitudinal Study

Wisdom has been shown to be positively related to well-being in past cross-sectional research, but it is not clear whether wisdom affects well-being, well-being affects wisdom, or whether the association is reciprocal. This 10-month two-wave longitudinal study attempted to determine the direction of the relations between old age wisdom and physical, psychological (eudaimonic), and subjective (hedonic) well-being, using a sample of 123 older (M = 72 years) residents from a community in Florida, USA. The analyses of cross-lagged autoregressive models showed that baseline wisdom, assessed by cognitive, reflective, and compassionate (affective) dimensions of the three-dimensional wisdom scale (3D-WS), was significantly related to greater subjective well-being, mastery, purpose in life, and physical well-being at Time 2, but only baseline physical well-being was positively related to composite three-dimensional wisdom at Time 2 after controlling for baseline wisdom and well-being scores and significant control variables. The findings corroborate the hypothesis that wisdom in old age can exert a beneficial impact on physical, psychological, and subjective well-being. Helping individuals grow wiser might pay dividends in later life.