THE MAGICIAN IN THE WORLD: BECOMING, CREATIVITY, AND TRANSVERSAL COMMUNICATION

This essay interprets the meaning of one of the cards in aTarot deck, "The Magician," in the context of process philosophy in the tradition of Alfred North Whitehead. It brings into the conversation the philosophical legacy of American semiotician Charles Sanders Peirce as well as French poststructuralist Gilles Deleuze. Some of their conceptualizations are explored herein for the purpose of explaining the symbolic function of the Magician in the world. From the perspective of the logic of explanation, the sign of the Magician is an index of nonmechanistic, mutualist or circular, causality that enables self-organization embedded in coordination dynamics. Its action is such as to establish an unorthodox connection crossing over the dualistic gap between mind and matter, science and magic, process and structure, the world without and the world within, subject and object, and human experience and the natural world, thereby overcoming what Whitehead called the paradox of the connectedness of things. The Magician represents a certain quality that acts as a catalytic agent capable of eliciting transmutations, that is, the emergence of novelty. I present a model for process∼structure that uses mathematics on the complex plane and the rules of projective geometry. The corollary is such that the presence of the Magician in the world enables a particular organization of thought that makes pre-cognition possible.     

Equity Sensitivity Revisited: Contrasting Unidimensional and Multidimensional Approaches

Purpose  Past research has shown little support for direct relationships between equity sensitivity and various equity-relevant criteria. Recent work by Davison and Bing (J Manag Issues 20: 131–150, 2008) suggests that equity sensitivity consists of separate input- and outcome-focus dimensions and that these dimensions are associated with such criteria in an interactive fashion. The current study extends this research by theoretically strengthening and empirically testing their two-dimensional model. Design/methodology/approach  We surveyed adults who were working at least 30 h a week at three time periods to temporally separate measurement of predictors and criteria (n = 172). Findings  Results provide support for the two-dimensional model. Input and outcome focus interacted to explain variance in individuals’ satisfaction and self-reported job performance even after controlling for demographic characteristics, personality, and social desirability. By contrast, the original ESI only significantly predicted one of 10 dependent variables. Implications  Whereas a ratio has been historically used as the basis for evaluating equity, employing independent dimensions and investigating their interaction seems more appropriate to assess individuals’ equity sensitivity. The current study suggests a multidimensional measure of equity sensitivity may better reflect the original theoretical underpinnings of the construct. Originality/value  The current study enhances our understanding of equity theory in general, and equity sensitivity in particular, by drawing attention to the multidimensional nature of the equity sensitivity construct. In particular, it extends the work of Davison and Bing (J Manag Issues 20: 131–150, 2008) by revisiting Huseman et al.’s (Acad Manag Rev 12: 222–234, 1987) original conceptualization of equity sensitivity. In doing so, we broaden its utility as a potential unique predictor of organizationally relevant criteria.     

Drive for muscularity, body comparison, and social physique anxiety in men and women

The presented study tested a model of the relationship between the drive for muscularity (DM), three aspects of body comparison (general, weight-, and muscle-related), and social physique anxiety in college men and women. The findings demonstrated that those with higher levels of DM engaged in more frequent body-related comparisons in all three areas. Greater frequency of both Weight- and Muscle-Related Body Comparison was then predictive of higher levels of social physique anxiety. Constraints placed on the path coefficients showed that the association between DM and Muscle-Related Comparisons was significantly stronger than the association between DM and Weight-Related Comparisons. The model was similar for both genders. The results from the structural models were discussed in terms of Cash's (2002) cognitive-behavioral model of body image and the dual pathway model of boys' and men's body image (Jones & Crawford, 2005).     

The acoustic similarity effect

The latency of reading 5-word sequences of 3 levels of acoustic similarity was measured. Highly similar sequences were found to have longer latencies than sequences of low similarity or control sequences. The implications of this finding for the acoustic similarity effect in STM are discussed.     

Place recognition and way finding by children and adults

Children and adults were escorted on their first walk across our university campus and were periodically led off the original route during the return trip. During the return, we stopped prior to intersections on and off the original route to obtain estimates of place recognition accuracy and confidence. The subjects were then asked to point to the path that led back to the start and were corrected if wrong. Accuracy of place recognition was intermediate in a way-finding task requiring reversal of an incidentally learned novel route. However, accuracy increased as subjects were farther from the original route, indicating that the presence of novel landmarks boosted the discrimination of old and new places. Eight-year-old children were less accurate than 12-year-old children and 25-year-old adults, who did not differ in accuracy. There was a similar age difference in the ability to point to the direction to return when subjects correctly recognized that they were off route. The results are used to develop a model of way finding by place recognition.