Differences in the Perceived Effectiveness of Influence Tactics Among Jews and Arabs: The Mediating Role of Cultural Values1

The study investigates differences between Jewish and Arab employees vis‐à‐vis their evaluation of the effectiveness of several influence tactics, and examines whether these differences are mediated by cultural differences. Rational persuasion was the only influence tactic that was evaluated as more effective by Jewish employees, in comparison with Arab employees. In contrast, ingratiation, pressure, and coalition were evaluated as more effective by Arab employees, in comparison with Jewish employees. Regarding cultural values, we found indulgence higher among Jewish employees than among Arabs, whereas uncertainty avoidance was higher among Arab employees. Examination of the mediating processes indicates that even after removing the influence of cultural values, Arab employees still judged these 3 tactics as more effective than did Jewish employees.     

Effects of Information on Preference for an Occupation

Thirty-two undergraduate female volunteers were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups in which occupational information was presented in these ways: glamorous-reinforced, glamorous-nonreinforced, objective-reinforced, and objective—nonreinforced. They were given the Holland Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and shown a 5 minute slide/tape presentation about an occupation with the appropriate glamour and model reinforcement variation. Posttesting used a modified semantic differential scale and a ranking questionnaire. The results of an analysis of variance (ANOVA) suggest that the glamorous groups rated the occupation as more professional and more rewarding than the nonglamorous groups. While there were no effects for reinforcement and no significant differences on the ranking test, they were in the expected direction, as were the results on 13 of 14 semantic differential scales. Within limitations, the results are discussed with respect to the impact of information on career preference.