Effects of Reward Structures on Academic Performance and Group Processes in a Classroom Setting

Researchers have suggested that cooperative, intergroup competitive, and individualistic reward structures result in different patterns of academic performance and group processes. In this study, we investigated these relationships in an undergraduate business school setting. A reward structure was manipulated across four separate classes, and outcomes were measured using self-reports of group effectiveness, academic performance as graded by instructors, and peer evaluations from group members. The results indicated that group effectiveness was rated significantly higher under the cooperative and no-reward conditions compared to the intergroup competitive reward condition. Peer evaluations in the intergroup competitive condition were significantly lower then those under the other three conditions.     

An Inventory of Affective Tolerance

The two dimensions of personality, extraversion (E) and neuroticism (N) as measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), were tested for their social desirability response set and their independence. Results from a collegiate sample (N = 282) show that E and N scales were susceptible to social desirability response bias for males and females, respectively. This bias could not be overcome by eliminating Ss who reported higher scores on the lie scale included in the EPI. The dimensionality of the two scales for the male Ss is questionable.     

Health Policies and Bioethics: A Psychosocial Perspective in Managing the Moral Question

In Western democratic society, the specificity of the bioethical debate over the life-sciences involves bringing together many different study factors. The dilemmas raised by the new scientific discoveries highlight how contemporary common sense is plagued by a profound feeling of anguish over possible future anthropological developments. One of the central problems is the social construction of consent as a psychological strategy seeking to orient public opinion toward accepting new applications of science and technology. On the one hand, the general features in the epistemological analysis of the mind-brain identity are called into question; and on the other, together with all those research directions concerned with the “meaning of life,” we enter the dimension of the complex issue inherent in the possibility of establishing if there exists something transcending thought and what it may be. In both cases a problem is raised on which the meaning of human life and the world depend, while between the two universes described by medical science and ethical-philosophical thought a window of opportunity for important psychological research is opened. In order to understand such phenomena the present article defends the theory that social psychology must adopt as its subject matter “thinking society,” that is, society characterized by discussion and reasoning on themes relevant to bioethics.     

Ervin Laszlo's Akashic Field and The Dilemmas of Modern Consciousness Research

Ervin Laszlo's revolutionary concept of the Akashic Field and his connectivity hypothesis offer elegant solutions for the baffling paradoxes associated with “anomalous phenomena”—otherwise unexplainable observations which many scientific disciplines encountered in the course of the 20th century. This article explores the ground-breaking contributions that Laszlo's work has made to psychology by providing a plausible conceptual framework for a large number of observations and experiences amassed by modern consciousness research, which challenge the most fundamental assumptions of the traditional scientific worldview.     

Effects of facial expression and gaze direction on approach–avoidance behaviour

Humans must coordinate approach–avoidance behaviours with the social cues that elicit them, such as facial expressions and gaze direction. We hypothesised that when someone is observed looking in a particular direction with a happy expression, the observer would tend to approach that direction, but that when someone is observed looking in a particular direction with a fearful expression, the observer would tend to avoid that direction. Twenty-eight participants viewed stimulus faces with averted gazes and happy or fearful expressions on a computer screen. Participants were asked to grasp (approach) or withdraw from (avoid) a left- or right-hand button depending on the stimulus face's expression. The results were consistent with our hypotheses about avoidance responses, but not with respect to approach responses. Links between social cues and adaptive behaviour are discussed.     

Induction of implicit evaluation biases by approach–avoidance training: A commentary on Vandenbosch and De Houwer (this issue)

Vandenbosch and De Houwer (this issue) reported a series of failures to induce an implicit evaluation bias by means of an approach–avoidance training paradigm. In this commentary, we point out issues raised by Vandenbosch and De Houwer that we interpret differently or that we would like to emphasise more thoroughly. In addition, we report recent results from a replication study from our lab in which we found the effects in question. Finally, we provide an overview of potential future studies needed to replicate and validate the approach–avoidance training effects.     

Culture of honour theory and social anxiety: Cross-regional and sex differences in relationships among honour-concerns,social anxiety and reactive aggression

According to the Appraisal-Tendency Framework (Han, Lerner, & Keltner, 2007), certainty-associated emotions increase risk taking compared with uncertainty-associated emotions. To date, this general effect has only been shown in static judgement and decision-making paradigms; therefore, the present study tested the effect of certainty on risk taking in a sequential decision-making task. We hypothesised that the effect would be reversed due to the kind of processing involved, as certainty is considered to encourage heuristic processing that takes into account the emotional cues arising from previous decisions, whereas uncertainty leads to more systematic processing. One hundred and one female participants were induced to feel one of three emotions (film clips) before performing a decision-making task involving risk (Game of Dice Task; Brand et al., 2005). As expected, the angry and happy participants (certainty-associated emotions) were more likely than the fearful participants (uncertainty-associated emotion) to make safe decisions (vs. risky decisions).     

Freud and narcissism: Developing links for inclusion of the ‘object’

Abstract

The problematic of narcissism in the way Freud visualized forces us to acknowledge the dualism of drives inside the subject; the object relations theory then builds up on the inherent need and the structuring potential of the object. The paper traces the growth of this concept in Freud's thinking in a bid to show how the object's otherness is not fully metabolized within the Freudian corpus. On the other hand, recent criticisms of object relations theory point to the perfunctory role ascribed to Freud's most radical discovery of the dualism of drives. Winnicott, Laplanche and Green have all developed theories that have provided pertinent rejoinders to the problematic of narcissism and object relations. The paper discusses how deconstructing and “going back over Freud” helps us to redefine object relations and give the drive functioning due importance. Hence the main thesis of the paper – that of narcissism – reveals the decentered subject's tussle with itself and with the alienness emanating from the object's otherness. If used creatively, ideas such as “otherness”, “objectalizing function” and Green's conceptualization of the clinical significance of negative and positive narcissism then seek to enrich the theorization on narcissism.     

Influencing the salesforce through perceived ethical leadership: the role of salesforce socialization and person–organization fit on salesperson ethics and performance

With today's emphasis on building strong customer relationships in the business-to-business sales environment, appropriate leadership is necessary to instill ethical and provide the proper guidance among employees to ensure ethical decision-making and improve sales performance. This research examines the role of perceived ethical leadership as it relates to both formal and informal marketing control mechanisms (i.e. salesforce socialization) that influence person–organization fit, and how this fit relates to salesperson unethical intent and performance. Results from a study of 408 business-to-business salespeople suggest that perceived ethical leadership both directly, and indirectly via salesforce socialization, affects salesperson ethical values person–organization fit, which in turn affects salesperson performance. Based on these findings, both theoretical and managerial implications are provided, as well as directions for future research.     

Emotional expressions facilitate human–human trust when using automation in high-risk situations

This study investigated the utility of emotional expression for human decision aids, when human aids conflict with an automated decision support system (DSS). The increasing presence of automation in society has resulted in critical, and often life threatening, situations when information from human and automated sources disagree. It has been known that reliance on human aids decrease during high-risk situations, while reliance on automated aids increase. However, it is also possible that human decision aids gain credibility from users when they embody the charismatic and emotionally expressive gesticulations seen in successful organizational leaders. The present study tested how a human agent's expressiveness when providing information would influence participants' behavioral reliance. Using the program Convoy Leader, participants (n=56) engaged in three decision-making scenarios where risk was manipulated as a within-subject factor and emotional expression as a between-subject factor. Emotional susceptibility, perceived risk, and trust for human as well as automated aids were measured. Overall trust was higher for the automated tool than human decision aid, and that pattern was amplified in conditions without an emotionally expressive human aid. Reliance was greater for emotionally expressive human aids, than stoic human aids, particularly during high risk conditions. The findings suggest that emotional expression of a human aid significantly impacts both reliance and trust of a decision aid, especially at higher risk levels. Emotionally expressive human agents should be utilized in decision conflicts where the automated system has certainly failed.