Profiling work-related signature strengths of “Born Free” South Africans: A gender perspective

This study investigated the importance of signature strengths of South African trainees in the hospitality industry who are the “Born Free” generation, who have only lived in a democracy, and were given equal opportunities. Utilising a cross-sectional research design, we sampled hospitality industry trainees (n = 290) attending a large South African university (females = 70.3%; black = 91%; mean age = 20.59 years, SD = 3.86 years). For the data analysis we rank order scored the hospitality trainees’ key strengths, and differentiating these by gender. Results indicated the participants to rank Honesty, Love, and Fairness as most important; while Love of learning and Self-regulation were ranked least important of the strengths. Both males and females ranked Fairness highly, while the males ranked Hope as most important, and the females viewed Honesty as an important strength. Moreover, the males scored Leadership significantly higher than the females, while the females scored Forgiveness and Kindness significantly higher than the males. Recognising the signature strengths valued by the South African “Born Free” generation may be important for their self-awareness to provide superior service to guests by using their positive skills.     

Roost-mate communication in adult Indian false vampire bats (Megaderma lyra): an indication of individuality in temporal and spectral pattern

The remarkable cognitive abilities of bats indicate that they may recognise particular conspecifics. Because of their highly developed auditory system, it is obvious that vocalisations of bats may give information about the individual emitting them. In a field study of the social behaviour in the Indian false vampire bat (Megaderma lyra), two different types of vocalisation were recorded and analysed. The bats emitted these vocalisations only while aggregating with conspecifics inside the day roost. The “landing strophe” consisted of a number of brief multiharmonic downward frequency-modulated (FM_down) sounds which levelled off as a constant frequency (CF), and the “clatter strophe” was composed of a number of multiharmonic FM_down sounds which became shallow at the end as a short CF. The sounds of the landing strophe and the ¶clatter strophe differed in repetition rate, duration, harmonic components and frequency. Time pattern and peak frequency of the two sound types differed highly significantly between single, unidentified bats. The sounds were inter-individually distinct when the three parameters were combined as an acoustical space. Therefore, these vocalisations might be used for individual recognition in adult bats.     

签名对个体诚实度和道德感的影响

探讨签名的位置以及是否预告签名信息对个体诚实行为的影响, 同时探究不同承诺形式对个体道德行为的调节作用, 从而揭示签名对个体道德行为影响的机制。实验1比较不同签名的位置与是否预告签名信息两种条件下, 被试在有奖抛掷骰子的游戏中的诚实性表现。结果发现, 当游戏前告知需要签名时, 签名位置对被试的诚实行为没有显著影响; 而在游戏前不告知需要签名时, 上位签名的被试比下位签名的被试更倾向于做出诚实行为。实验2比较口头承诺方式与签名方式对个体诚实行为的影响, 结果发现, 口头承诺与上位签名均能促使个体做出诚实行为。结果表明, 签名对个体道德行为的影响, 是通过启动个体的自我认同感而实现的; 签名位置的效应, 实际上是由于启动的时段不同造成; 同时, 通过口头承诺的方式, 同样可以启动个体的自我认同感, 从而促进其实施道德行为。     

Signature tunes in mothers' speech to infants

The purpose of the present investigation was to determine whether mothers use discernible tunes (i.e., specific interval sequences) in their speech to infants and whether such tunes are individually distinctive. Mothers were recorded speaking with their infants on two occasions separated by 1 week or more. Examination of the tunes of each mother revealed discernible tunes and frequent repetitions of tunes within and across sessions. Comparisons of utterances with the most common pitch contour (i.e., rising), both within and across mothers, revealed interval patterns that were individually distinctive, or unique. The findings confirm the prominence of tunes and the presence of signature tunes in maternal speech to infants.     

Horse (Equus caballus) whinnies: a source of social information

Many animal species that rely mainly on calls to communicate produce individual acoustic structures, but we wondered whether individuals of species better known as visual communicants, with small vocal repertoires, would also exhibit individual distinctiveness in calls. Moreover, theoretical advances concerning the evolution of social intelligence are usually based on primate species data, but relatively little is known about the social cognitive capacities of non-primate mammals. However, some non-primate species demonstrate auditory recognition of social categories and possess mental representation of their social network. Horses (Equus caballus) form stable social networks and although they display a large range of visual signals, they also use long-distance whinny calls to maintain contact. Here, we investigated the potential existence of individual acoustic signatures in whinny calls and the ability of horses to discriminate by ear individuals varying in their degree of familiarity. Our analysis of the acoustic structure of whinnies of 30 adult domestic horses (ten stallions, ten geldings, ten mares) revealed that some of the frequency and temporal parameters carried reliable information about the caller’s sex, body size and identity. However, no correlations with age were found. Playback experiments evaluated the behavioural significance of this variability. Twelve horses heard either control white noise or whinnies emitted by group members, familiar neighbours or unfamiliar horses. While control sounds did not induce any particular response, horses discriminated the social category of the callers and reacted with a sound-specific behaviour (vigilance and attraction varied with familiarity). Our results support the existence of social knowledge in horses and suggest a process of vocal coding/decoding of information.     

医疗文书签字扩大化失去意义的原因分析

随着近年医患关系的紧张,越来越多的医疗工作需要履行签字手续,呈现了签字扩大化的态势。签字扩大化是防御性医疗的一种表现形式,但并未带来医疗纠纷减少,也不是医疗纠纷产生的主要原因,又给医疗工作增加了繁琐程度,而且并未达到知情同意的内涵。所以,签字扩大化失去了其应有的意义。     

Efficient versus flexible mentalizing in complex social settings: Exploring signature limits

Wu, Sheppard, and Mitchell (Br. J. Psychol., 2016; 107, 1–22) investigate in a fascinating study the fact that adults can detect empathic traits in others after only briefly watching or listening to a person. In this commentary, we highlight how the processes of an efficient, implicit, but inflexible mentalizing system are likely to operate in such situations. Further, we specify how testing signature limits over time‐, attribute‐, and protagonist‐restrictions can help distinguish whether an efficient‐implicit or flexible‐explicit mentalizing system is of relevance when processing complex social settings.     

A social identification approach to the effects of religious disclosures in business communication

This research expands on prior research into the effects of religious disclosures on interpersonal attraction by drawing from social identification theory to explain attributions stemming from religious disclosures in professionals’ e-mail signature blocks. Participants (N = 268) were randomly exposed to one of three experimental conditions (a Christian, Islamic, or secular quotation in a signature block) and completed measures of social identification and perceptions of professionalism. Results indicate that, contrary to prior research, merely disclosing one’s religion does not increase attributions; rather, attributions of a sender’s professionalism are positively derived from the receiver’s social identification with the sender’s religion. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to social identity theory, as well as for professional practice in developing signature blocks as a means of self-presentation.     

人格心理学研究中新的探索——从模拟情境中寻找个体行为无序背后的有序

个体自身内在行为变异（个体在不同情境中行为的变化）蕴含着有关个体特征的大量信息,并且具有时间稳定性。这种稳定的变化模式被称为个体的“行为识别标志”,它刻画了个人行为的稳定性和独特性。相对于特质范式的静止性和流于现象学描述而言,自身内在变异规律可能从另一个侧面反映了人格的内在机制和动力过程。作者以模拟情境研究为例,介绍了人格学家在使用系统化、数量化方法揭示上述内在机制和动力过程方面所做的尝试。