The illusion of courage in social predictions: Underestimating the impact of fear of embarrassment on other people

The results of two experiments support the thesis that emotional perspective taking entails two judgments: a prediction of one’s own preferences and decisions in a different emotional situation, and an adjustment of this prediction to accommodate perceived differences between self and others. Participants overestimated others’ willingness to engage in embarrassing public performances—miming (Experiment 1) and dancing (Experiment 2)—in exchange for money. Consistent with a dual judgment model, this overestimation was greater among participants facing a hypothetical rather than a real decision to perform. Further, participants’ predictions of others’ willingness to perform were more closely correlated with self-predictions than with participants’ estimates of others’ thoughts about the costs and benefits of performing.     

Selective approach to a male and subsequent receptivity to mounting comprise mate‐choice behavior of female mice1

Abstract: To ensure the effectiveness of the mate‐choice behavior of female house mice (Mus domesticus), we observed them in two different situations that involved restriction of the area of movement of the male mice. In Experiment 1, we observed 12 trios consisting of two male mice and an estrous female placed in a chamber in which none of the animals was restricted during the 6‐h test. It was found that the female was more receptive to the male that had ejaculated with it first. Additionally, when the female initiated the mating event by approaching the male, the lordosis quotient was higher than that when the male initiated the mating event. In Experiment 2, a female was able to visit two males that were prevented from getting out of small boxes. As a result of the 3‐h observation of 10 cases, it was found that the females were more receptive to the dominant male. The intromission ratio of the dominant male was also higher than that of the subordinate male. The behavioral roles of female mice in mating interactions and their adaptive validity are discussed.     

Social Dominance Theory: Its Agenda and Method

The theory has been misconstrued in four primary ways, which are often expressed as the claims of psychological reductionism, conceptual redundancy, biological reductionism, and hierarchy justification. This paper addresses these claims and suggests how social dominance theory builds on and moves beyond social identity theory and system justification theory.     

Linking Work Events,Affective States,and Attitudes: An Empirical Study of Managers' Emotions

The aim of the paper is to contribute to knowledge on the causes and consequences of affective states at work by identifying several job-related events likely to produce affective states and then studying the impact of the latter on work attitudes. Affective Events Theory was the theoretical framework used for the study and two main hypotheses were stated: experiencing certain work events leads to affective reactions, which in turn influence work attitudes. An empirical study based on 203 questionnaires was performed on a sample of French managers. The results support both research hypotheses, although the impact of affective states on work attitudes appeared larger than the impact of work events on affective states. The mediating effect of affective events with respect to the impact of work events was also tested, but only partially supported.     

Managing organizational commitment: Insights from longitudinal research

This article summarizes what is known about the active management of affective organizational commitment (AOC) through a review of 58 studies employing longitudinal research designs. The review yields six broad categories of antecedents that have empirically demonstrated effects on AOC: socialization practices, organizational changes, human resource practices, interpersonal relations, employee–organizational relations, and a residual “other” category. Insights from the review include (a) that perceptions of personal attachment to the organization are among the most substantiated (but tenuous) strategies for enhancing AOC, (b) that theorizing and research efforts have focused almost exclusively on achieving high levels of AOC, and (c) organizations have been reticent to address situations when AOC is low. Implications and recommendations for the theoretical, research and practical advancement of AOC are offered.     

The development of the still-face effect: Mothers do matter

The Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm (FFSF) has been used to investigate how infants react to stressful events. However, there is little developmental data on the FFSF effect, and whether it connects to a specific relationship (e.g., to a mother versus a stranger). This prospective longitudinal study aims to evaluate developmental changes in infant reaction to the FFSF presented by the mother or a stranger at 2, 4, 6, and 8 months of age (n = 39). Results show that infant negativity was expressed less in relation to a stranger, the identity effect. Results further suggest that from 6 to 8 months of age, stranger induced protest flattens out; whereas mother induced protest decreases. The results are discussed in relation to different theories regarding infant responsiveness.     

The roles of aggressive and affiliative behaviors in resource control: A behavioral ecological perspective

Extant literature in developmental psychology has documented the co-occurrence of aggressive and affiliative behaviors with various measures of social dominance. While these findings have been taken as evidence for the functional value of aggression, they have not been integrated into a more general theoretical frame accounting for contextual variation. In this paper the literature on aggression, agonism, affiliation, and social dominance is reviewed in light of behavioral ecological theory suggesting that different forms of competition (scramble and contest) determine, respectively, the use of affiliative and aggressive strategies. Results generally support the hypotheses advanced by this theory. In order to further integrate these findings suggestions for the study sequences of behavior, where reconciliations follow aggression, are made.     

Paradoxical cross-over due to attention to high or low spatial frequencies

The mechanisms underlying the right hemisphere's dominance for spatial and attentional functions lacks a comprehensively explanation. For example, perceptual biases, as observed in line bisection and related tasks, might be caused by an attentional asymmetry or by perceptual processes such as a specialization of the left and right hemisphere for high and low spatial frequencies (SFs), respectively. Here we used the gratingscales task to measure perceptual bias in SF judgements, and we cued participants' attention either to high or low SFs. Participants showed a leftward bias when comparing the high SF components of the stimulus, and a rightward bias when comparing the low SF components-opposite to what would be expected from a hemispheric lateralization for SFs. Two control experiments used different strategies to manipulate the width of the attentional window. However, we observed no influence on perceptual bias, thus ruling out the possibility that the results in Experiment 1 were due to differences in attentional window size. These data support the idea of an attentional asymmetry underlying perceptual bias. Our results provide novel support for the role of attentional asymmetry in perceptual biases.     

Individual and Couple Patterns of Self-views and their Implications for Working with Premarital Couple Relationship Dissatisfaction

A sample of 520 Australian heterosexual couples participating in the PREPARE premarital program completed the multidimensional PREPARE relationship assessment inventory (Olson D. H. Prepare-Enrich Counsellor’s Manual. Brisbane, Australia: Prepare-Enrich, 1996) providing measures of couple relationship satisfaction and individual levels of self-confidence, assertiveness, avoidance, and partner dominance. Multiple regression analyses indicated that, after controlling for idealistic distortion and couple relationship status, high individual male and female self-confidence and assertiveness, and low individual male and female avoidance and partner dominance, were all significant independent predictors of couple satisfaction. Couples in which both partners were high on self-confidence were significantly more satisfied than couples in which one or both of the partners were low on self-confidence. A similar result was evident for couple patterns involving mutually high assertiveness, low avoidance or low partner dominance, relative to couple patterns in which one or both partners were unassertive, highly avoidant or high in partner dominance. These aspects of self-view point to a salient evidence-based intrapersonal and interpersonal context in which to conduct couple therapy.