Antecedents and consequences of customer-company identification: expanding the role of relationship marketing

This article presents an empirical test of organizational identification in the context of customer-company (C-C) relationships. It investigates whether customers identify with companies and what the antecedents and consequences of such identification are. The model posits that perceived company characteristics, construed external image, and the perception of the company's boundary-spanning agent lead to C-C identification. In turn, such identification is expected to impact both in-role behavior (i.e., product utilization) as well as extra-role behavior (i.e., citizenship). The model was tested in a consultative selling context of pharmaceutical sales reps calling on physicians. Results from the empirical test indicated that customers do indeed identify with organizations and that C-C identification positively impacts both product utilization behavior and extra-role behavior even when the effect of brand perception is accounted for. Second, the study found that the organization's characteristics as well as the salesperson's characteristics contributed to the development of C-C identification.     

The molecular basis of cognitive deficits in pervasive developmental disorders

Persons with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) exhibit a range of cognitive deficits that hamper their quality of life, including difficulties involving communication, sociability, and perspective-taking. In recent years, a variety of studies in mice that model genetic syndromes with a high risk of PDD have provided insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms associated with these disorders. What is less appreciated is how the molecular anomalies affect neuronal and circuit function to give rise to the cognitive deficits associated with PDD. In this review, we describe genetic mutations that cause PDD and discuss how they alter fundamental social and cognitive processes. We then describe efforts to correct cognitive impairments associated with these disorders and identify areas of further inquiry in the search for molecular targets for therapeutics for PDD.     

Meaning in Life: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Life of Young Adults

The present study explores the relationship of meaning in life with subjective well-being among a sample of young adults launching their career. Using a qualitative approach, ten young adults were asked to share their life experiences using a semi structured interview schedule. A grounded theory analysis revealed that happiness forms a core concern for an individual where it depends not only on the cultural norm involving an individual where social relationships form an important part, but also goals and aims (s) he/she wishes to achieve in life. It exists in temporality but is impacted by the larger dimension of meaning in life which is relatively stable and covers a huge expanse of an individual’s existence. Finding a meaning in life involves both personal goals such as self growth and attainment of peace, and also professional goals like fulfillment of one’s academic aim. Meaning in life is also seen as being impacted by an individual’s past happenings, belief in self- worth and social responsibility.     

A phase-field model for deformation twinning

We propose a phase-field model for modeling microstructure evolution during deformation twinning. The order parameters are proportional to the shear strains defined in terms of twin plane orientations and twinning directions. Using a face-centered cubic Al as an example, the deformation energy as a function of shear strain is obtained using first-principle calculations. The gradient energy coefficients are fitted to the twin boundary energies along the twinning planes and to the dislocation core energies along the directions that are perpendicular to the twinning planes. The elastic strain energy of a twinned structure is included using the Khachaturyan's elastic theory. We simulated the twinning process and microstructure evolution under a number of fixed deformations and predicted the twinning plane orientations and microstructures.     

Cārvāka Miscellany III

Since all that we know of the Cārvāka/Lokāyata is derived from fragments and allusions, the reconstruction of the materialist system has to depend on new sources and their interpretations. Some such allusions and references have been collected and analyzed here to show how materialism appears in the most unexpected places and how the verses attributed to the materialist are subjected to strange interpretations.

     

Humility: An Emerging Construct in Moral Psychology

The virtue of humility is lauded by most authorities but opinions of what it is, what it includes and what it does not are multifarious. Religious and philosophical traditions in India stress its role in emancipating the ego and providing an understanding for one’s perspective as contrasted against the magnanimity of the Almighty, the Supernatural or the Universe. Most academicians within the scientific psychological realm also look upon humility as a virtue. Accredited as a powerful tool for personal, social and organisational well-being, humility, as a moral construct, deserves a thorough and detailed exploration to reveal what it entails, what its corollaries are and how it can be measured. It is particularly useful in Indian context, as indigenous traditions have always emphasised humility. However, such efforts have remained relatively neglected till recent years. Of course, a few researchers with emphasis on moral and positive psychology have probed and prodded this concept to lay bare its comprising elements and to build tools to measure it. These attempts have been discussed here. Information was culled from surveying the scientific literature of the past four decades from psychological and philosophical journals and handbooks. Its overlap with Indian concept of humility has been discussed, and the unresolved questions about its nuances are put forward for future research endeavour.     

Numeracy Predicts More Effortful and Elaborative Search Strategies in a Complex Risky Choice Context: A Process‐Tracing Approach

The goal of the current study was to explore information search and processing differences between individuals who are less and more numerate in an attempt to better understand the mechanisms that might differentiate the choices they make. We did so using a computerized process‐tracing system known as MouseTrace, which presented monetary gambles in an alternative × attribute matrix with outcome (dollar amount) and probability information as attributes. This information was initially occluded but could be revealed by clicking on the cell that contained the desired information. Beginning with nine gambles offering the chance of gaining or losing a specified amount, participants (N = 110) narrowed down the options (to three and then one) using an inclusion or exclusion strategy. Consistent with previous research, inclusion was a more effortful strategy, and individuals who were higher in numeracy were more likely to select prospects with the highest expected value. Process measures revealed these individuals expended more effort (i.e., attended to and sought out more information and processed it in greater depth) and exhibited more compensatory processing than those who were lower in numeracy, but this sometimes depended on whether one was asked to include or exclude. These results serve as further evidence that individuals with higher levels of numeracy often engage in more elaborative processing of the decision task, which tends to lead to more optimal choices. However, they also suggest that individuals are adaptive and that the specific situation can matter. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ethical Value Positioning of Management Students of India and Germany

This study attempts to compare ‘the ethical value positioning’ of students of Business and Management studies from India and Germany. A complete enumerative survey was conducted for management students using the Ethical Positioning Questionnaire (EPQ) of Forsyth (1980). There were 134 respondents from India and 57 from Germany. The objective was to confer the differences in ethical positioning of students of two economically and culturally diverse nations. By the end of the research, it was constituted that both German and Indian students demonstrate a high degree of Idealism and Relativism and can be qualified as situationists. Exploratory analysis of the responses resulted in extraction of four factors (values): Non-Violence, Individualism, Non-Consequential, and Situational value. Within the analysis, Indian students displayed a higher preference for Individualism compared to their German counterparts. This study contributes to the literature in cross-cultural ethical value positioning of young managers. This study also opens a window for future research in the factors such as educational qualification, closed social groupings, and background of the students.