Framing, Uncertainty, and Hostile Communications in a Crisis Experiment

During times of crisis, do cognitive processes shape leaders’ procurement decisions in predictable ways? Drawing on psychological literature, we propose four factors that may have a substantial influence on how much money leaders engaged in ongoing disputes allocate to their military: (1) striving for superiority versus striving for parity in military resources; (2) uncertainty regarding the characteristics of weapons systems; (3) ambiguity regarding the overall capacities of weapons systems; and (4) the tone of messages that adversaries send to one another. The effects of these factors are investigated using a laboratory simulation that combines both experimental and quasi‐experimental elements. The results indicate that striving for superiority has a significant effect on defense spending, as does the tone of an opponent’s message. By way of contrast, neither uncertainty nor ambiguity exerts a statistically discernable impact on the level of defense spending.     

Separating the Developmental and Evaluative Performance Appraisal Uses

The multiple uses of performance appraisal (PA) have been the focus of much research, often yielding conflicting findings and conclusions. This study used an untreated control group design to examine the effects of separating the developmental and evaluative PA uses (in time and by person) on employee attitudes and behavioral intentions. Results indicated no effect on employee attitudes, however, employees in the separated PA group reported they were less likely to use development in the future.     

Ethnic and Gender Differences in Distress Among Anglo American, African American, Japanese American, and Mexican American Spousal Caregivers of Persons with Dementia

Distress, coping, and social resources were compared in a sample of 202 Japanese-, Anglo-, African-, and Mexican American spousal caregivers of persons with dementia using a Stress-Coping model. Both ethnicity and gender showed differential effects on the outcome and on the moderating variables. Female caregivers in all ethnic groups reported significantly higher levels of psychiatric symptomatology. All 4 ethnic groups reported high rates of psychological distress, with Mexican Americans reporting significantly higher rates of depression than Anglo or African Americans. Ethnicity was related to (1) the kind of caregiving appraisals (spiritual, pessimistic, and lack of support), (2) coping styles (escape-avoidance and seeking social support), and (3) social support. African Americans were more likely to be spiritual appraisers, to have more positive appraisals, and to have more social support available to them. Gender differences were evident on 4 out of the 6 caregiver appraisals, but none of the coping styles. Although males tended to have more perfectionistic appraisals, they were also more likely to view caregiving with a less negative and more self-efficacious outlook.     

Expanding the concept of birthparent loss to orphans: Exploratory findings from adolescents in institutional care in South Korea

Conservative estimates of the number of orphaned and abandoned children suggest there are approximately 132 million worldwide, of whom the majority reside in Asia followed by Sub-Saharan Africa. Research on alternative care for children in need of parental protection have largely been siloed by care setting (i.e. institutional care, adoption, foster care) without consideration of risk factors across care types. One factor specific to alternative care that occurs for all children across care settings is disruption and disconnection of birth parents as a consequence of out-of-home placement. Thus, the purpose of this cross-sectional study of 170 adolescents in institutional care in South Korea was to explore whether a common risk factor specific to the experience of family removal and placement in alternative care, cognitive appraisal of birth parent loss, was present and was a risk factor for more mental health and behavior problems. Findings affirmed the majority of adolescents in institutional care had thoughts about birth parents, but most did not express negative emotions towards birth parents. A more negative appraisal of birth parent loss was found to be a significant predictor of more depressive symptoms, PTSD symptoms, and internalizing behavior problems, but not more externalizing behavior problems. Findings suggest cognitive appraisal of birth parent loss may be a risk factor for more mental health and internal behavior problems for youth in institutional care and that systems of alternative care need to assist youth in having information about their birth parents regardless of contact.     

攻击动机对特质愤怒与反应性攻击关系的中介作用：一项纵向研究

特质愤怒是影响反应性攻击的重要人格因素, 反应性攻击的提出是基于攻击动机, 但是特质愤怒影响反应性攻击的动机机制尚不清楚。本研究假设特质愤怒可以通过增强反应性攻击的特异性动机(即敌意性动机)以及反应性攻击与主动性攻击的共同性动机(即道德准许动机)来纵向预测反应性攻击。为了检验该假设, 对5个省市共1007名大学生的特质愤怒、敌意归因偏向(代表敌意性动机)和道德推脱(代表道德准许动机)、反应性攻击与主动性攻击进行了3次追踪调查。结果显示：(1)在控制性别后, 第一个时间点的特质愤怒可以通过第二个时间点的敌意归因偏向和道德推脱预测第三个时间点的反应性攻击; (2)敌意归因偏向只能纵向预测反应性攻击, 而不能跨时间预测主动性攻击; (3)道德推脱可以纵向预测反应性攻击和主动性攻击。这一结果支持了特质愤怒影响反应性攻击的动机模型, 发展了人格与攻击关系的理论与研究, 对于揭示反应性攻击形成的动机机制具有积极作用。     

Work–family conflicts,cognitive appraisal,and burnout: Testing the mediation effect with structural equation modelling

Work–family conflict constitutes an important source of occupational stress predicting teachers’ burnout, and cognitive variables have shown to be core structures in explaining human adaptation to stress. Nevertheless, the role of cognitive appraisal needs to be fully analysed to comprehend how it can mediate the relationship between stress and burnout. In order to understand the potential mediation of cognitive appraisal in the relationship between stress and burnout, we adopted conceptual models of stress that highlighted the value of cognitive appraisal on positive and negative reactions to work demands. Also, we analysed the potential moderation of sex and age in the relationship between work–family conflict, cognitive appraisal, and burnout due to inconsistent findings on how these personal variables can interfere on these relations. In this study, we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the mediating of cognitive appraisal in the relationship between work–family conflicts and burnout. A survey with measures of work–family conflicts, cognitive appraisal, and burnout was administered to the participants consisting of 438 Portuguese teachers from kindergarten through high school, aged between 28 and 67 years (M = 46.85; SD = 7.88), 304 of whom were females (69.41%). The results confirmed that cognitive appraisal partially mediated the relationship between work–family conflict and burnout. The mediation effect of cognitive appraisal on the relationship between work–family conflict and burnout was invariant regardless of teachers’ sex or age. In sum, cognitive appraisal should be considered in order to understand teachers’ adaptation to work.     

Toward an Integrative Perspective on Distinct Positive Emotions for Political Action: Analyzing,Comparing, Evaluating,and Synthesizing Three Theoretical Perspectives

Which emotions explain why people engage in political action (e.g., voting, protesting)? To answer this question, theory and research in psychology and political science predominantly focused on distinct negative emotions such as anger. The current article conceptually explores the motivational potential of distinct positive emotions by developing an integrative perspective that specifies which positive emotions can be differentiated (i.e., their form), which function these emotions have, and which implications these have for explaining political action. To this end, I analyze, compare, evaluate, and synthesize three approaches to positive emotions (affective intelligence theory, appraisal theories of emotion, and broaden-and-build theory). This perspective generates new hypotheses for the field to test, including the role played by distinct positive emotions such as joy, inspiration, interest, hope, and pride in motivating political action. I discuss how this perspective may help restore a balance in research on emotions and political action by focusing on the motivational potential of distinct positive emotions.     

失败恐惧的形成及对创业行为的影响

创业活动的高风险性和不确定性导致创业者时常体验失败恐惧。对于创业者而言, 失败恐惧亦敌亦友。已有研究较多关注失败恐惧对创业行为的抑制作用, 忽略了失败恐惧的形成及其对创业行为的激励作用。本研究基于情绪和认知属性分析创业情境下失败恐惧, 认为损失相关和暴露能力不足的创业事件可能诱发失败恐惧, 创业者的执念激情和预防定向能够诱发失败恐惧; 然后, 阐述失败恐惧对创业行为的3种不同影响：激励、抑制和压抑, 并考察创业环境特征对失败恐惧与创业行为的调节效用。本研究拓展了失败恐惧的应用范围和适用情境, 丰富心理学的情绪认知评价理论、情感事件理论和经典压力理论, 也为理解复杂多样的创业行为提供新视角, 深化创业心理与创业行为关系的理论认知。     

Relationships between emotional intelligence,perceived and actual leadership effectiveness in the military context

Despite the importance of emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness, few studies have been conducted in real-life contexts and few have distinguished between perceived and actual leadership effectiveness. This repeated-measures study involving 86 officer cadets from the Republic of Singapore Air Force investigated these relationships in a military context. Quantitative data were collected from two self-report questionnaires: the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale and the Perceived Leadership Effectiveness Scale. These two self-report tools were also administered to the participants’ peers to examine the agreement between self and other assessments of emotional intelligence. A behavior-based leadership assessment rubric completed by the participants’ supervisors was used to determine actual leadership performance. Significant positive relationships were found between emotional intelligence and both perceived and actual leadership effectiveness, as assessed by peers and supervisors, respectively. This study contributes to the understanding of emotional intelligence as a global construct and demonstrates that it is significantly associated with leadership effectiveness in a military training context. The findings have practical implications for using emotional intelligence to enhance leadership effectiveness.     

Reflecting on how we remember the personal past: missing components in the study of memory appraisal and theoretical implications

The current paper offers a selective review of the study of memory appraisal, focusing on recollections of the personal past, with the goal to bring attention to a missing component in this study. To date, memory appraisal studies have concentrated on participants’ assessments of the content of their personal recollections (e.g., their perceptual detail and story-like feel), including beliefs about the accuracy of that content. Participants’ assessments of reflection processes accompanying their recollections (e.g., a sense of piecing-together recollection fragments) have yet to be extensively examined. The lack of information on process-based appraisals is related to prior studies’ procedural constraints (e.g., kinds of cue prompts and their timing, minimal opportunities for reflection). Reasons for addressing this missing component provide the central themes of the paper. The reasons emerge from the analysis of autobiographical cueing studies, including integration of narrative research studies and autobiographical works. The analysis leads to suggestions for future research involving the use of personal narratives that are intended to address critiques of reconstruction accounts and unresolved questions in the study of memory appraisal.