Direct and indirect relationship between social stressors and job performance in Greater China: The role of strain and social support

This study examined the direct relationship between two social stressors (interpersonal conflict and organizational politics) and supervisor-rated job performance among employees in three Chinese societies in Greater China. The potential moderating effects of social support on the relation between social stressors and job performance were also investigated. Further, the potential mediating role of strain between stressors and job performance was tested. Data were collected from 1032 employees in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei. The results showed that both types of social stressors were positively correlated with strain, and negatively related with job performance. There was evidence supporting that social support was a significant moderator of the social stressor–performance relationship. Further, results were consistent with the hypothesis that strain could be a mediator between social stressors and job performance.     

How perpetrators and targets construe knowledge hiding in organizations

Research has begun to document the negative organizational consequences of knowledge hiding, or the intentional attempt to conceal knowledge, among employees. However, different knowledge hiding behaviours exist, and we explore whether some types of knowledge hiding are more harmful than others. Although theory would suggest that knowledge hiders rationalize their behaviours and fail to anticipate the negative consequences of their behaviours, we found that they did anticipate harmed relationships and retaliation. In addition, targets of knowledge hiding did not always construe the behaviour as harmful or as necessitating retaliation. Overall, our research suggests that not all knowledge hiding is equally harmful. Some types of knowledge hiding may actually enhance the relationships between colleagues and might break the cycle of knowledge hiding in organizations.     

Managing diversity in organizations: An integrative model and agenda for future research

The literature on policies, procedures, and practices of diversity management in organizations is currently fragmented and often contradictory in highlighting what is effective diversity management, and which organizational and societal factors facilitate or hinder its implementation. In order to provide a comprehensive and cohesive view of diversity management in organizations, we develop a multilevel model informed by the social identity approach that explains, on the basis of a work motivation logic, the processes by, and the conditions under which employee dissimilarity within diverse work groups is related to innovation, effectiveness, and well-being. Building on this new model, we then identify those work group factors (e.g., climate for inclusion and supervisory leadership), organizational factors (e.g., diversity management policies and procedures, and top management's diversity beliefs), and societal factors (e.g., legislation, socioeconomic situation, and culture) that are likely to contribute to the effective management of diversity in organizations. In our discussion of the theoretical implications of the proposed model, we offer a set of propositions to serve as a guide for future research. We conclude with a discussion of possible limitations of the model and practical implications for managing diversity in organizations.     

Intergroup predictors of older workers' attitudes towards work and early exit

Using self-determination theory (Deci &; Ryan, 2008) as the guiding theoretical framework, the present study tested a model that incorporates workers' perceptions of organizational support and supervisor autonomy support, global and domain specific (i.e., work) motivation, work satisfaction, and turnover intentions. The hypothesized model was tested using a sample of 735 workers (362 men and 373 women). Results revealed that work motivation was significantly related to both intraindividual (global motivation) and contextual factors (organizational support and supervisor autonomy support). In addition, perceived organizational support and work autonomous motivation were positively related to work satisfaction, whereas turnover intentions were negatively related to perceived organizational support and work autonomous motivation, and positively related to work controlled motivation. The present results underscore the importance of understanding the mechanisms through which higher turnover intentions and lower worker satisfaction take place, eventually leading to appropriate interventions.     

Hoody,goody or buddy? How travel mode affects social perceptions in urban neighbourhoods

When travelling through a new environment people can and do make very quick judgements about the local conditions. This paper explores the idea that such judgements are affected by the travel mode they use. We hypothesise that drivers generate a more superficial impression of the things they observe than those who walk because they are exposed to less information. This prediction is based on social psychological research that demonstrates that information that becomes available in “thin slices” affects superficial judgements. A survey study (n = 644) demonstrated that perceptions of a less affluent area are indeed negatively related to more driving and positively related to more walking, but only for those who do not live there. Perceptions of a neighbouring affluent area are positively related to more driving. Two experimental studies (n = 245 and n = 91) demonstrated that explicit (but not implicit) attitudes towards a group of young people in an ambiguous social situation are more negative when they are viewed from the perspective of a car user in particular in relation to a pedestrian perspective. These findings suggest that mode use may affect communities by influencing social judgements.     

The influence of functional social support on executive functioning in middle-aged African Americans

ABSTRACT

Social support has a positive influence on cognitive functioning and buffers cognitive decline in older adults. This study examined the relations between social support and executive functioning in middle-aged adults. A community-based sample of African Americans completed the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, a measure of functions of social support, and two measures of executive functioning, the Stroop Color and Word Test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Hierarchical regression analyses were used to explore the hypothesis that different facets of perceived social support influence performance on measures of executive functioning. After controlling for age, gender, and education, social support facets including belonging support, selfesteem support, appraisal support, and tangible support were significant predictors of Stroop performance. In addition, tangible support significantly predicted WCST performance. These findings add to previous literature on social support and cognition; however, findings for middle-aged adults are unique and suggest that social support has a positive influence on some executive functions in African Americans prior to old age.     

On graves and graven images: A terror management analysis of the psychological functions of art

Functional approaches to emotion are rapidly gaining in popularity. Thus far the functions of emotions have been conceptualised and studied mainly at the intrapersonal level of analysis, the key question being how individuals are influenced by the emotions they experience. Relatively little is known about the interpersonal effects of emotions; that is, how one person's emotions influence other people's cognitions, attitudes, and behaviours. We propose that a primary function of emotion at this interpersonal level of analysis is to engender social influence. Our analysis is informed by emotion as social information theory (EASI; Van Kleef, 2009 Van Kleef, G. A., Homan, A. C., Beersma, B., van Knippenberg, D., van Knippenberg, B. and Damen, F. 2009. Searing sentiment or cold calculation? The effects of leader emotional displays on team performance depend on follower epistemic motivation. Academy of Management Journal, 52: 562–580. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This theory posits that emotional expressions produce interpersonal effects by triggering affective reactions and/or inferential processes in targets, depending on the target's information processing and the perceived appropriateness of the emotional expression. We review supportive evidence from various domains of social influence, including negotiation, leadership, attitude change, compliance, and conformity in groups. We consider the viability of emotional expressions as tools of social influence, discuss the functional equivalence of various forms of emotional expression, and address implications for theorising about emotion regulation and the functionality and evolution of emotion.     

Emerging perspectives on the structure and function of attitude strength

For more than 20 years, scholars have used the term “attitude strength” to refer to the durability and impactfulness of attitudes, and a large literature attests to the important leverage that this concept offers for understanding and predicting behaviour. Despite its prominence, however, a number of fundamental questions remain regarding the structure and function of attitude strength. In this chapter we draw on a wide range of evidence to clarify the nature of attitude strength. Rather than conceiving of attitude strength as a meaningful psychological construct, we argue that it is better conceptualised as an umbrella term that refers in only the most general way to multiple, separable classes of attitude outcomes, instigated by different antecedents and produced by distinct psychological processes. Although strong attitudes share a set of general qualities—resistance to change, persistence over time, impact on thought and behaviour—there are many distinct routes by which attitudes come to possess these qualities, and many diverse ways in which these qualities manifest themselves. Our analysis shifts the focus away from the structural properties of attitude strength and towards a fuller appreciation of the distinct sources from which attitudes derive their strength. We argue in particular for the value of attending more closely to the social bases of attitude strength, and we illustrate the value of this approach by reviewing several lines of research.     

Leader endorsement in social dilemmas: Comparing the instrumental and relational perspectives

This chapter examines the role of leadership in overcoming social dilemmas within groups. First, based on prior theorising and research we present two alternative perspectives on leader endorsement in social dilemmas, an instrumental and a relational perspective. Next, we systematically compare these perspectives in a series of experiments investigating leadership in social dilemmas created within small groups in the laboratory. The results of our studies suggest that when their personal identity is salient, group members more strongly endorse leaders who are perceived to be instrumental in solving the freerider problem. In contrast, when a social identity is salient, members more strongly endorse leaders who fulfil their relational needs. Based on these findings we propose a differential needs model of leader endorsement in social dilemmas.     

A sociocultural framework for understanding partner preferences of women and men: Integration of concepts and evidence

In the current sociocultural framework for understanding mating preferences, we propose that gender roles affect sex differences and similarities in mate preferences. Gender roles, in turn, are shaped by the unequal division of labour between women and men. As a consequence, mating preferences and choices should converge across the sexes as the weakening of this division puts the sexes in more similar social roles in their societies. To evaluate these assumptions, we review relevant findings from three domains that show variability in gender roles: (a) cross-cultural variability related to differences in societies’ division of labour, (b) historical variability related to temporal changes in the division of labour, and (c) individual variability in gender attitudes that reflects the gradual and uneven spread of shifts toward gender equality throughout each society. The bringing together of multiple lines of evidence puts the sociocultural framework on a new and more secure foundation.