Unable to resist temptation: How self-control depletion promotes unethical behavior

Across four experimental studies, individuals who were depleted of their self-regulatory resources by an initial act of self-control were more likely to “impulsively cheat” than individuals whose self-regulatory resources were intact. Our results demonstrate that individuals depleted of self-control resources were more likely to behave dishonestly (Study 1). Depletion reduced people’s moral awareness when they faced the opportunity to cheat, which, in turn, was responsible for heightened cheating (Study 2). Individuals high in moral identity, however, did not show elevated levels of cheating when they were depleted (Study 3), supporting our hypothesis that self-control depletion increases cheating when it robs people of the executive resources necessary to identify an act as immoral or unethical. Our results also show that resisting unethical behavior both requires and depletes self-control resources (Study 4). Taken together, our findings help to explain how otherwise ethical individuals predictably engage in unethical behavior.     

低家庭社会阶层大学生为何更容易社交焦虑？——心理社会资源和拒绝敏感性的多重中介作用

在阶层的社会认知理论和备用容量模型框架下,探讨心理社会资源、拒绝敏感性在家庭社会阶层与大学生社交焦虑间的多重中介作用。选取1400名在校大学生为被试,采用与积极心理变量结果相关度最高的乐观、控制感、自尊和外向性四种人格特质问卷作为心理社会资源的测量工具,同时施测了MacArthur主观社会阶层量表、拒绝敏感性问卷、Liebowitz社交焦虑量表,还收集了被试的父母亲职业、受教育程度及月收入水平等客观家庭社会阶层指标。Bootstrap中介效应检验结果表明,家庭社会阶层显著负向预测大学生社交焦虑,心理社会资源水平、拒绝敏感性在二者间起到中介作用,同时家庭社会阶层还顺序性地通过先影响心理社会资源、再影响拒绝敏感性这一链式路径对社交焦虑产生影响。因此为了预防和干预低阶层大学生社交焦虑,未来可以考虑提升心理社会资源水平和降低拒绝威胁敏感性两种途径。     

Emotional resources link work demands and experiences to family functioning and employee well-being: the emotional resource possession scale (ERPS)

ABSTRACT

Work-family research predominantly focused on role incompatibilities with theorizing often rooted in resource depletion mechanisms derived from Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. However, researchers have largely neglected resource accumulation processes also part of COR, due to the lack of appropriate conceptualization and operationalization of resource possession. To address this deficiency, we propose that emotional resource accumulation, as a COR mechanism, is distinct from emotional resource depletion in explaining work-family linkages; to enable empirical tests of this mechanism, we develop the Emotional Resource Possession Scale (ERPS), at both state and trait levels. We describe four studies demonstrating that the ERPS has discriminant validity against emotional exhaustion and emotional energy, and differential relationships with positive and negative affect. Our results show that resource-generating (work engagement and co-worker support) and resource-depleting (quantitative job demands and emotional labour) constructs have differential associations with the ERPS (and also with emotional exhaustion). Finally, our findings show that the ERPS has incremental validity, over and above emotional exhaustion, in predicting family performance and life satisfaction. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of considering resource depletion and accumulation as distinct processes, and assessing them as such, for theory on work and family and on employee well-being.     

On the temporal stability of self-determined work motivation profiles: a latent transition analysis

ABSTRACT

This study extends the research and theory on work motivation by examining temporal stability and change in employees’ self-determined work motivation profiles and their differential relations to various predictors and outcomes. We gathered data at two time points over a 24-month period from a sample of 438 newly registered public health care nurses. Results of latent profile and latent transition analyses revealed four distinct profiles (strongly, moderately, self-determined, and poorly motivated), estimated from the position of global and specific behavioural regulations on the motivation continuum proposed by self-determination theory. These profiles were entirely stable at the within-sample level, although within-person changes in profile membership occurred for 30–40% of employees. Of particular interest, perceptions of job resources were consistently associated with greater likelihood of membership in the strongly and moderately motivated profiles. These profiles were also consistently associated with lower emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave the occupation and the organization and with higher in-role performance compared to the self-determined and poorly motivated profiles.     

A Peaceful Clash: The U.S. And China: Which Model Holds Out Promise For The Future?

This article analyzes some prospects for the economic and political development of the United States and China. The first part of the article is devoted to the consideration of strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. model and of the Chinese one. The second part of the article considers the most probable scenarios of the future struggle for world leadership. The first scenario suggests that China will continue developing at a faster rate in the several coming decades and will be gradually catching up with the United States in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) production. However, after several crises in 2008–2020 the United States will likely regain a number of advantages over China as a result of assimilation of the newest technologies. The second scenario suggests that the United States will come across a whole range of internal social and political problems related to internal political splits. In this case, the United States will have to share its global leadership with China. The article attempts to answer the following questions: What scenario is more probable? Will the old world order change? What are the main conclusions for the European Union and for Russia?     

Asertividad: definiciones y dimensiones

Resumen

En este artículo se revisan diferentes definiciones y dimensiones que se ban dado sobre la asertividad, así como también se bosquejan las raíces de este concepto y la tendencia actual que existe entre los profesionales para usar otras expresiones en sustitución del término «asertividad». No hay ninguna definición que baya sido universalmente aceptada, ni un grupo de dimensiones que se hayan establecido definitivamente. Se revisan una serie de características que diferentes autores atribuyen al individuo asertivo y, finalmente se especifican unos elementos que son comunes a la mayoría de las definiciones de la conducta asertiva.     

Leaders under pressure: time pressure and state core self-evaluations as antecedents of transformational leadership behaviour

ABSTRACT

This study examines situational antecedents of transformational leadership by (a) studying the effect of time pressure on the emergence of transformational leadership behaviours, and (b) examining the mediating role of leaders’ state core self-evaluations. Twice per day for 10 consecutive working days, 42 leaders reported on their state core self-evaluations, transformational leadership behaviours and the time pressure they experienced, yielding 531 observations. Using multilevel path analysis, we found that time pressure had an indirect effect on transformational leadership through leaders’ state core self-evaluations. This mediated relationship was curvilinear; with time pressure having little to no effect on transformational leadership via state core self-evaluations when time pressure is below a leader’s average level of time pressure. However, once this characteristic average level is exceeded, time pressure has a negative effect on transformational leadership via its negative relationship with state core self-evaluations, and this relationship becomes stronger for increasing levels of time pressure.     

Countering anti-Muslim attitudes among Christian and religiously unaffiliated 13- to 15-year-old students in England and Wales: testing the contact hypothesis

ABSTRACT

Drawing on data provided by 5,811 students from schools in England, Wales, and London who self-identified as either ‘no religion’ or as Christian, this study explored the effect of the contact hypothesis (having friends who are Muslims) on scores recorded on the seven-item Scale of Anti-Muslim Attitude (SAMA), after controlling for type of school (with or without a religious character), location (England, Wales, and London), personal factors (sex and age), psychological factors (extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism) and religious factors (self-assigned affiliation as Christian, worship attendance, and belief in God). The data demonstrated the positive effect of having friends who are Muslim on lowering anti-Muslim attitudes. The path is then described from educational research to curriculum development in the design of resources that offer young learners vicarious experience of having friends who are Muslims.     

Drivers and outcomes of salespersons’ value opportunity recognition competence in solution selling

Abstract

In B2B markets, firms seek to provide customer solutions instead of merely selling goods or services. As boundary-spanners, salespeople are pivotal for implementing this strategic shift. Yet, extant literature provides limited insights into salesperson’s resources and competencies required for customer solutions, particularly in the early phases of solution selling. This research focuses on salesperson’s value opportunity recognition competence (VOR), which is a central requirement for salespeople to be able to navigate the early phases of solution selling. Analyzing large-scale, multi-level data of 799 salespeople and their respective sales managers in 29 sales organizations, the authors investigate the role of different salesperson resources and work environment characteristics for strengthening their VOR. The authors find that salespeople need both customer and technical knowledge, but customer knowledge is more important. Salespeople also can substitute individual technical knowledge with strong internal relations, but strong customer relations are no substitute for individual knowledge about customers’ business models and processes. Formalization turned out to be a double-edged sword in the context of VOR development, while transformational leadership has positive effects only. The findings bear concrete implications for improving the selection, training, and work environment of solution salespeople.