Inhibition of the LH Surge by Restraint Stress in Cyclic Rats: Studies on the Role of GABAA and GABAB Receptors

There is evidence that stress can alter the activity in the brain of gamma-aminobutyricacid (GABA), a neurotransmitter that has been implicated in the regulation of LH secretion. In the present study the role of GABA in the restraint stress-induced inhibition of the LH surge was investigated in the intact cyclic rat. Intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol (0.1, 0.5 or 1 μg) 5 min before the presumed onset of the pro-oestrous LH surge (at 0900 h) caused a dose dependent suppression of the surge. A single dose of the GABAB receptor agonist baclofen (1 μg; icv) injected at 0855 h postponed the onset of the LH surge, and repeated injections at 0855 and 1130 h suppressed the surge. These data indicate that GABA-ergic activity in the brain can inhibit the LH surge in the cyclic rat via GABAA and GABAB receptors. Pro-oestrous rats were subjected to 5 hrs of restraint starting at 0855 h. Pretreatment with the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculine (1 μg; icv) at 0840, 0940 and 1040 h or pretreatment with the GABAB receptor antagonist phaclofen (10 μg; icv) at 0840 h were ineffective in preventing the restraint-induced inhibition of the LH surge. The results suggest that GABAA and GABAB receptors are not involved in the inhibitory effect of restraint stress on the LH surge.     

Work-group characteristics and performance in collectivistic and individualistic cultures

The authors conducted a cross-cultural longitudinal investigation of the effects of culture (individualism-collectivism dichotomy) on group characteristics (functional heterogeneity, preference for teamwork, group potency, outcome expectation) and on performance of 83 work groups performing 2 decision-making tasks over a 15-week period. The individualists (U.S. students) reported higher levels of functional heterogeneity and group potency and attained higher levels of group performance than did the collectivists (Korean students). In addition, culture and time interacted to influence ratings of group potency and outcome expectation. The difference in ratings of group potency between individualists and collectivists increased over time. Outcome expectation was greater among the collectivists in Time 1 and among the individualists in Time 2. The authors discuss implications for future cross-cultural group research and international management.     

Adaptive self-regulation: meeting others' expectations of leadership and performance

The authors used longitudinal multisource field data to examine core aspects of the adaptive self-regulation model (A. S. Tsui & S. J. Ashford, 1994) in terms of linkages between self-monitoring, discrepancy in manager match-to-position, 5 measures of leadership, and manager performance. At Time 1, 64 superiors of focal managers rated the managers' matches to their positions within the organization; at Time 3, they rated the managers' performance. At Time 2, the 64 focal managers completed a measure of self-monitoring, and 192 subordinates rated the focal managers' leadership behaviors. Results of partial least squares analysis revealed that discrepancy in manager match-to-position was associated with reductions in laissez faire and passive management-by-exception behaviors and increases in transformational leadership behavior. Self-monitoring was positively associated with all 5 leadership behaviors. Performance was related positively to transformational leadership behavior and negatively to passive management-by-exception and contingent-reward behaviors     

Leadership styles and Deming's behavior factors

Although total quality management scholars, including W. Edwards Deming, consider leadership to be important, there has been little work which considers linkages between specific leadership styles and TQM behaviors/policies. This paper examines the relationship between a full range of leadership styles (Bass & Avolio, 1994) including laissez-faire, management-by-exceptionpassive, management-by-exception-active, transactional and transformational leadership, and five specific TQM behavior factors derived from Deming's (1986) Fourteen Points, i.e., change agency, teamwork, trust-building, short-term goal eradication and continuous improvement.The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful suggestions of Boas Shamir, Don Spangler, Bruce Avolio, Francis Yammarino, and Susan Kang to earlier versions of this paper.     

Taking levels of analysis in humor more seriously: comment on Romero and Arendt

Humor is a phenomenon that can simultaneously coexist at the individual, dyadic, and group levels, making its measurement and conceptualization complex. In a recent field study, Romero and Arendt (2011) examined relationships between four humor styles (i.e., affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, self-defeating) and four outcomes (i.e., stress, satisfaction with co-workers, team cooperation, organizational commitment), however, the latter was apparently measured as a self-report at the individual level of analysis. Their interesting results indicated different humor styles can have either positive or negative effects on these outcome variables. However, if their operational definition--and hence their conceptualization--of humor is based on self-report by the initiator, it may be problematic to use it at the dyadic and group levels because it potentially mixes levels of analysis and may cause misalignment between data and theory. Cautions and implications for future research are discussed.     

Gender and contextual differences in social responsibility in Thai schools: a multi-study person versus situation analysis

Social responsibility has been linked to the moral development of students, but little prior research has examined how personal and situational variables influence students’ willingness to show care and concern for social issues that reflect higher levels of moral development. We theorised and tested the hypotheses that females would endorse social responsibility to a greater extent than males, and that school/programme context would moderate this relationship. In Study 1, levels of social responsibility were greater for girls than boys and in academic versus vocational high schools, and school type moderated levels of social responsibility for boys. Study 2 replicated the male–female difference in social responsibility, and demonstrated greater differences in social responsibility across university academic programmes for female than male students. These studies expand the understanding of personal versus situational influences on social responsibility and their implications for moral education in schools.     

Empirical support for the gender‐as‐culture hypothesis.

This investigation provided a test of the gender‐as‐culture, or ‘two cultures’, hypothesis proposed by Maltz and Borker (1982) to explain male/female differences in language use. Analysis of previous empirical investigations located 16 language features that had consistently been shown to indicate communicator gender and these were tested within the framework of the four dimensions of intercultural style proposed by Gudykunst and Ting‐Toomey (1998): direct versus indirect, succinct versus elaborate, personal versus contextual and instrumental versus affective. Study 1 provided preliminary evidence supporting the hypothesized language‐feature‐by‐dimension relationships (e.g., male directives were rated more direct and female uncertainty verbs more indirect). In Study 2, respondents rated multiple exemplars of the 16 language features, as well as 16 contrasting foil sentences, on all four dimensions, finding that nearly all of the variables fell on the hypothesized intercultural dimensions. In Study 3, respondents rated four sets of naturally occurring target sentences and matching foil sentences, representing all language variables, on their appropriate intercultural dimensions in order to establish dimensional polarity. Results across the three studies supported the hypothesized language feature‐by‐stylistic dimension relationship for 15 of the 16 variables: The 6 male language features were rated as more direct, succinct, personal, and instrumental, whereas 9 of the 10 female features were perceived as more indirect, elaborate, and affective. The findings demonstrate that gender preferences for language use function in ways that are consistent with stylistic preferences that distinguish national cultures.     

Anticipatory Processing and Post‐Event Processing in Social Anxiety Disorder: An Update on the Literature

Two repetitive thinking processes that have been proposed in prominent maintenance models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) are anticipatory processing and post‐event processing. Research into these two processes has steadily increased over the last 20 years. This review highlights the main lines of existing research on anticipatory processing and post‐event processing, including studies on the nature of these processes, their association with social anxiety, the predictors, and consequences of these processes, as well as how these processes respond to treatments for SAD. The review also highlights some of the conceptual and methodological issues that have prevented the literature on anticipatory processing and post‐event processing from being more integrated and focused. Finally, the review draws together some new directions in terms of theory and research to further advance the field.     

Developmental relationships and managerial promotability in organizations: A multisource study

Managers are now focusing on developmental relationships by providing career-related mentoring to their direct reports, but research is lacking in showing whether such mentoring is in fact related to outcomes that benefit the manager. This study investigates whether self- and direct report ratings of the extent to which focal-managers provide career-related mentoring are associated with perceptions of their promotability as perceived by their bosses (n = 1623) and peers (n = 1597). Results of hierarchical regression indicated that both self- and direct report ratings of focal-managers' career-related mentoring were significant and positively related to boss and peer ratings of focal-managers' promotability. Within a self-other rating agreement framework, results of polynomial regression indicated that higher ratings of career-related mentoring by focal-managers and their direct reports were positively related to both boss and peer ratings of focal-managers' promotability. Furthermore, underrating (i.e., when self-ratings are lower than direct report ratings) was more positively related to promotability than overrating (i.e., when self-ratings are higher than direct report ratings).