Charisma attribution during organizational change: the importance of followers' emotions and concern for well‐being

Taking a follower‐centric perspective, we examined how charisma attribution to a change leader was influenced by the well‐being concerns and emotions of organizational members. We conducted three studies to examine how college business students and Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) students responded to a grading policy reform aimed at reducing grade inflation. We found that emotions and well‐being concerns such as school year and grade point average influenced charisma attribution by the undergraduate students and that there was a greater divergence of emotional reactions and charisma attribution among undergraduate students than among the executive MBAs. Future directions for follower‐centric leadership research on charismatic leadership are discussed.     

Regulatory Focus and Subjective Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Coping Styles and the Moderating Role of Gender

Abstract

Although previous research has suggested that regulatory focus may exert considerable impacts on individuals’ subjective well-being (SWB), little research has explored the mechanism for this relation and the potential gender difference. The current study investigated the potential mediating effects of coping styles on the relationship between regulatory focus and three aspects of SWB (indicated by life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) among Chinese adolescents. Total of 2943 Chinese adolescents participated in this cross-sectional survey and completed self-reported questionnaires (M_age = 14.47, SD?=?1.59, 44.50% boys). Hypothesized pathways were tested by structural equation models. Results showed that regulatory foci were significantly associated with SWB. Promotion focus predicted SWB mainly through problem-focused coping, and the mediating effects of emotion-focused coping were also observed; Prevention focus predicted SWB mainly through emotion-focused coping, and the mediating effects of problem-focused coping were observed. Furthermore, relative to boys, the prediction of problem-focused coping on life satisfaction was stronger and the prediction of promotion focus on life satisfaction was weaker for girls. These findings provide a new approach to understand the mechanism for the relationship between regulatory foci and SWB, and indicate the gender differences of this process.     

What I Look Like: College Women, Body Image, and Spirituality

Despite public acknowledgment of the importance of spiritual development, little has been written globally on female young adults’ personal views of their spiritual values and body image. This article briefly presents the findings of a pilot study that explored female college students’ reflections on body image and spirituality. Responses from participants showed that (1) many students are interested in faith and spiritual development; (2) body dissatisfaction affects those women who viewed themselves as spiritual (92%) as well as those who said they were free thinkers (49%). Nevertheless, religion and spiritual values seemed to confer some behavioral protection. Implications for educational programs that will address the spiritual dimension of learning are discussed.     

Player–Spectator Discrepancies on Risk Preference during Decision Making

Risk preference during decision making depends not only on the potential risk and profits but also on the roles taken in the current task. Those who perform tasks are more risk-seeking than those who only watch. Given the prominent effect of experiencing the task, the player–spectator discrepancies are supposed to arise in the experiencing phase instead of the choosing phase. In the present study, the authors separated the experiencing role and the choosing role through a stylus maze task in which participants first performed in pairs—one as the player and the other as the spectator—and then chose from two rewarding options for themselves or their partners. The findings show that the experience as players induced a risk-seeking tendency in decision making, which suggests that it was the experiencing role, rather than the choosing role, that caused the difference of risk preference, at least for financially motivated groups and under similar task conditions.     

Inside the leader relationship: constructive controversy for team effectiveness in China

Research is needed to understand the dynamics by which high‐quality leader relationships have their productive effects on followers. This study proposes that these leader relationships do not simply induce compliance but encourage employees and managers to discuss their diverse views open‐mindedly and constructively. Team leaders indicated leader–member relationship with employees who rated their constructive controversy and their team's effectiveness and feelings of respect, support, and reduced stress. Structural equation analysis suggested that leader–member relationship affects employee team productivity and emotions through constructive controversy. The study's findings and previous research were interpreted as suggesting that high‐quality leader relationships coupled with constructive controversy provide a foundation for effective team leadership in China.     

The Impact of Publicity and Subsequent Intervention in Recruitment Advertising on Job Searching Freshmen's Attraction to an Organization and Job Pursuit Intention

This study investigates the impacts of publicity exposure and recruiting advertisement sequence on freshmen's job search attraction to organizations and their job decisions. The current research uses a two‐factor experiment design, publicity (positive vs. negative) and recruiting ads (detailed vs. general), and recruits 415 undergraduates (seniors are the majority). Results indicate that negative publicity has greater effect on applicant attraction than positive publicity. The perceived truthfulness of sequential intervening recruiting advertisement rules the reaction to job ad, then further impacts on organizational attractiveness and job pursuit intention. With negative publicity exposure, higher specificity of recruiting advertisement has more significant mitigation effects than lower specificity. This work discusses implications and directions for future research.     

Young children’s analogical problem solving: Gaining insights from video displays

This study examined how toddlers gain insights from source video displays and use the insights to solve analogous problems. The sample of 2- and 2.5-year-olds viewed a source video illustrating a problem-solving strategy and then attempted to solve analogous problems. Older, but not younger, toddlers extracted the problem-solving strategy depicted in the video and spontaneously transferred the strategy to solve isomorphic problems. Transfer by analogy from the video was evident only when the video illustrated the complete problem goal structure, including the character’s intention and the action needed to achieve a goal. The same action isolated from the problem-solving context did not serve as an effective source analogue. These results illuminate the development of early representation and processes involved in analogical problem solving. Theoretical and educational implications are discussed.     

The Interim Service Preferences of Parents Waiting for Children’s Mental Health Treatment: A Discrete Choice Conjoint Experiment

Parents seeking help for children with mental health problems are often assigned to a waiting list. We used a discrete choice conjoint experiment to model preferences for interim services that might be used while waiting for the formal assessment and treatment process to begin. A sample of 1,059 parents (92 % mothers) seeking mental health services for 4 to 16 year olds chose between hypothetical interim services composed by experimentally varying combinations of the levels of 13 interim service attributes. Latent Class analysis yielded a four–segment solution. All segments preferred interim options helping them understand how agencies work, enhancing their parenting knowledge and skill, and providing an opportunity to understand or begin dealing with their own difficulties. The Group Contact segment (35.1 %) preferred interim services in meetings with other parents, supported by phone contacts, frequent checkup calls, and wait–time updates. Virtual Contact parents (29.2 %) preferred to meet other parents in small internet chat groups supported by e–mail contact. Membership in this segment was linked to higher education and computer skills. Frequent Contact parents (24.4 %) preferred face–to–face interim services supported by weekly progress checks and wait time updates. Limited Contact parents (11.3 %) were less intent on using interim services. They preferred to pursue interim services alone, with contacts by phone, supported by fewer check–up calls and less frequent wait time updates. All segments were more likely to enroll in interim services involving their child.     

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Adolescent Rumination and its Association with Depressive Symptoms

Rumination is an important cognitive vulnerability for adolescent and adult depression. However, little is known about the aetiological origins of rumination, as well as its association with depression. Adolescent rumination (self-report) and depressive symptoms (self- and parent-report) were assessed in 674 pairs of same-gender Chinese adolescent twins (11–17 years of age). Females accounted for 53.7 % of the sample. There were significant correlations between self-reported rumination and self-reported depression (r?=?0.41), as well as parent-reported adolescent depression (r?=?0.22). Genetic influences were significant and modest on all three measures, ranging from 24 % to 42 %. The three measures were also significantly influenced by shared environment, ranging from 20 % to 28 %, and non-shared environmental factors, ranging from 30 % to 56 %. Moreover, the genetic correlations between rumination and depression were significant (within-rater: r _g?=?0.99; cross-rater: r _g?=?0.59) and largely accounted for the phenotypic correlations (within-rater: 68 %; cross-rater: 77 %), while non-shared environmental correlations were also significant (within-rater: r _e?=?0.26; cross-rater: r _e?=?0.12) and accounted for the remainder of the phenotypic correlations (within-rater: 32 %; cross-rater: 23 %). The shared environmental correlations were non-significant. No significant gender and age differences were found in aetiological models. These findings suggest that rumination may be an endophenotype reflecting genetic risk for depression.     

Sinful flesh: Sexual objectification threatens women's moral self

The current investigation examined whether sexual objectification leads to perceived contamination in women victims, which, in turn, triggers sinful feelings. The results of three experiments provide converging support for these predictions. Female participants reported greater sinful feelings than their non-objectified counterparts, after receiving objectifying comments on their physical appearance from an alleged male partner (Experiment 1) or recalling a past experience of objectification (Experiments 2 and 3). Furthermore, perceived contamination mediated the effect of objectification on sinful feelings. We also found that perceived personal responsibility of being objectified moderated the above effects, such that the effects were only observed among participants who perceived themselves as highly responsible for objectification experience, but not among those who perceived low personal responsibility. These findings contribute to the literature by explaining why objectification elicits sinful feelings in female victims and who is more susceptible to this influence.