Enhanced visual performance in obsessive compulsive personality disorder

Visual performance is considered as commanding modality in human perception. We tested whether Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) people do differently in visual performance tasks than people without OCPD. One hundred ten students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and non‐student participants were tested by Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID‐II), among whom 18 (mean age = 29.55; SD = 5.26; 84% female) met the criteria for OCPD classification; controls were 20 persons (mean age = 27.85; SD = 5.26; female = 84%), who did not met the OCPD criteria. Both groups were tested on a modified Flicker task for two dimensions of visual performance (i.e., visual acuity: detecting the location of change, complexity, and size; and visual contrast sensitivity). The OCPD group had responded more accurately on pairs related to size, complexity, and contrast, but spent more time to detect a change on pairs related to complexity and contrast. The OCPD individuals seem to have more accurate visual performance than non‐OCPD controls. The findings support the relationship between personality characteristics and visual performance within the framework of top‐down processing model.     

System‐justifying behaviors: When feeling dependent on a system triggers gender stereotype‐consistent academic performance

Based on system‐justification theory, we hypothesized that men and women would perform in accordance with gender stereotypes mainly when justification of the system is necessary. In this research, system‐justification motivation was triggered using a system‐dependency manipulation. Study 1 shows that when feeling highly (vs. less) dependent on the system, people endorsed system‐justifying beliefs more. In Study 2, men performed better in math than in verbal domains, while women showed the reverse pattern, but only when they felt highly dependent on the system. Similar results were obtained on performance self‐evaluation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive behaviours of attacking futsal teams to opposition defensive formations

This study evaluated tendencies towards flexibility/stability of coordinated behaviours in international futsal teams, considered as complex collective systems, according to changes in opposition defensive formations. Six games of two international futsal teams (Spain and Portugal) were selected for Social Network Analysis to capture the coordination tendencies that emerge in the tactical behaviours of players when performing against different defensive formations. Ball trajectories in each offensive pattern of play were notated in an adjacency matrix where each entry accounted for the linkages between 12 spatial field areas. Each offensive play was coded according to the defensive formation of an opposing team (i.e. conservative or risky formation). Results revealed similar network properties between teams when competing against more risky defensive formations, while notable differences were observed against conservative defences. Effect of defensive formation of opponents on macro network properties was observed in both the Portuguese and Spanish teams. At a meso-level, only the Spanish national team exhibited notable changes, suggesting a greater level of adaptability to unfolding performance events. The observed flexibility in tactical behaviours of the Spanish team appeared to express their greater expertise levels.     

Perceptual-motor learning benefits from increased stress and anxiety

The purpose of this study was to manipulate psychological stress and anxiety to investigate effects on ensuing perceptual-motor learning. Thirty-six participants attended two experimental sessions separated by 24 h. In the first session, participants were randomized to either a mental arithmetic task known to increase stress and anxiety levels or a control condition and subsequently completed training on a speeded precision pinch task. Learning of the pinch task was assessed at the second session. Those exposed to the high stress-anxiety mental arithmetic task prior to training reported elevated levels of both stress and anxiety and demonstrated shorter movement times and improved retention of movement accuracy and movement variability. Response execution processes appear to benefit from elevated states of stress and anxiety immediately prior to training even when elicited by an unrelated task.     

Examining the impact of salesperson interpersonal mentalizing skills on performance: the role of attachment anxiety and subjective happiness

Due to the dynamic and interpersonal nature of selling, understanding affective and cognitive relationships and their influence on performance has gained the attention of sales scholars. Moreover, recent literature has created opportunities to study the impact of cognitions, such as salesperson theory-of-mind, on sales performance. This research develops a model involving salesperson interpersonal mentalizing skills (i.e. rapport building, detecting nonverbal cues, taking a bird’s-eye view, shaping the interactions), subjective happiness, attachment anxiety, and sales performance. Although salesforce optimization is critical in any economy, emerging economies are the growth frontier for many global companies. Using three samples from Brazil, we investigate the telecom, banking, and retail industries, providing generalizable results from one such emerging economy. We find that, in general, it is the influence of attachment anxiety and subjective happiness on interpersonal mentalizing skills which ultimately impacts sales performance. Based on these findings, we discuss several theoretical and managerial implications.     

Short-term and long-term relationships between reflection and performance in teams: evidence from a four-wave longitudinal study

Previous theory and research suggest that team reflection is beneficial for team performance. We argue that results remain inconclusive because prior studies have not accounted for the dynamic nature of this relationship. This paper addresses this research gap by examining time-specific relationships among variables and the intra-team variability of changes across time. In a four-wave longitudinal field study with 97 teams (N = 453 team members) performing a business simulation task, short-term (i.e., autoregressive, cross-lagged effects) and long-term (i.e., latent trajectories) relationships between team reflection and performance were explored. We found evidence that reflection had negative autoregressive effects and that there were direct positive short-term relationships between reflection and performance. Reflection trajectories were seen to decline across time and performance trajectories to increase across time. In addition, teams with either low initial reflection or low initial performance showed higher increases in reflection across time, whilst higher increase in reflection was negatively related to change in performance. Findings are discussed with respect to how they extend the previous literature and what directions they suggest for future research.     

A self-determination perspective of strengths use at work: Examining its determinant and performance implications

We investigate the role of strengths use in the workplace by drawing on self-determination theory (SDT) to propose that strengths use at work can yield performance benefits in terms of task performance and discretionary helping, and that the social context, in the form of leader autonomy support, can promote employees’ strengths use. Further, consistent with an interactional psychology perspective, we contend that the relationship between autonomy support and strengths use will be stronger among individuals with strong independent self-construal. We tested the model using matched data from 194 employees and their supervisors and found evidence for the relevance of strengths use at work, even after accounting for the role of intrinsic motivation. In addition to providing practical implications on developing employee strengths use and how to do so, this study advances theory and research on workplace strength use, SDT, and positive organizational behavior.     

Measuring emotional management abilities: Further evidence of the importance to distinguish between typical and maximum performance

Freudenthaler and Neubauer (2005) have recently developed and validated performance measures of emotional management abilities (EMA), requiring subjects to indicate their typical behaviour in emotional situations (typical-performance instruction, TP) instead of assessing the effectiveness of different behavioural alternatives or indicating the most adequate response (maximum-performance instruction, MP). In the present study (n = 176), we examined the effects of these two instruction forms (TP vs. MP) on the EMA-scores in a between-subject design. In addition, the relations of typical and maximum EMA to cognitive intelligence components and personality traits were tested. Instruction-related comparisons of the EMA-scores yielded not only lower means but also higher standard deviations and higher reliabilities in the TP-condition. As expected, maximum EMA were significantly correlated with cognitive intelligence components but not with personality traits. In contrast, the typical EMA were moderately associated with personality traits but not related to cognitive abilities, providing further evidence of the importance to distinguish between typical and maximum performance.     

Effects of Participation in Decision Making on Performance and Employee Attitudes: A Quality Circles Meta-analysis

This study explores the effects of a participative technique, quality circles (QCs), on several employee attitudes and performance. The sample included 36 studies with 42 independent samples. Mean effect sizes were small for employee attitudes and moderate for job performance suggesting QCs affected job performance to a greater degree than employee attitudes. For organizations involved in quality management these results seem to suggest that quality interventions have a stronger impact on job performance than on employee attitudes. The study conclusions provide a positive outlook on the effects of total quality management interventions on productivity.