Flawed Self-Assessment

Sexual healing: daily diary investigation of the benefits of intimate and pleasurable sexual activity in socially anxious adults

A growing literature attests to deficits in social and romantic life quality in people with elevated social anxiety, but no research to date has explored how intense intimate encounters influence social anxiety symptoms. This study investigated whether the presence and quality of sexual activity on a given day predicted less social anxiety and negative cognitions on a subsequent day. We also explored whether the benefits of sexual activity would be stronger for more socially anxious individuals. Over 21 days, 172 undergraduate students described the presence and quality of sexual activity, social anxiety symptoms, and use of social comparisons on the day in question. Time-lagged analyses determined that being sexually active on one day was related to less social anxiety symptoms and the generation of fewer negative social comparisons the next day. Furthermore, more intense experiences of pleasure and connectedness during sex predicted greater reductions in social anxiety the next day for people high in trait social anxiety, compared to those low in trait social anxiety. These results were similar regardless of whether sex occurred in the context of romantic relationships or on weekdays versus weekends. The results suggest that sexual activity, particularly when pleasurable and intimate, may mitigate some of the social anxiety and negative comparisons frequently experienced by people with high trait social anxiety.

Self-Report Assessments of Emotional Competencies

This Special Issue of the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment offers a critical appraisal of the validity, applied utility, and limitations of self-report assessments of emotional competencies. Using self-concept theory as an integrative theoretical framework, this introductory editorial highlights key methodological and validity issues raised in the contributing articles: (a) distinction between emotional competence self-perceptions and objectively measured abilities, (b) effects of response biases and respondents’ age on the psychometric properties of self-reports, (c) importance of adopting a multi-dimensional assessment strategy, and (d) various aspects of construct validity (conceptual definitions and paradigms, gender differences, relationships with basic personality, mechanisms and scope of prediction). The added value of conceptualizing emotional competence self-reports as self-concepts (as proposed in this article) is illustrated in the discussion of practical implications, outstanding questions, and directions for future research on the meaning and uses of these assessments.

Veridicality of self-concept of strength in male adolescents

Changes in physical self-concept and veridicality (i.e., the appropriateness of one's self-perceptions to reality) during childhood and adolescence are related to performance in physical fitness, exercise, and global self-esteem, particularly in male adolescents. This cross-sectional study examined the relation between the self-concept of strength and actual strength in groups of male adolescents ages 12 to 15 years. For this purpose, 889 male adolescents (M age = 13.2 yr., SD = 1.0) were questioned about their self-concept of strength, after which a test of strength was carried out. The results showed that the correlation between self-concept of strength and actual strength was higher in older (14- and 15-year-old) than younger (12- and 13-year-old) adolescents. There was a statistically significant association between age group and veridicality, indicating that realistic self-concept is underrepresented among younger, but overrepresented among older adolescents. No association was found between the adolescents' physical activity and veridicality. The consequences for further research on the development of veridicality in the physical domain are discussed.

Ten tips for receiving feedback effectively in clinical practice

BACKGROUND

Despite being recognized as a fundamental part of the educational process and emphasized for several decades in medical education, the influence of the feedback process is still suboptimal. This may not be surprising, because the focus is primarily centered on only one half of the process - the teachers. The learners are the targets of the feedback process and improvement needs to be shifted. Learners need to be empowered with the skills needed to receive and utilize feedback and compensate for less than ideal feedback delivery due to the busy clinical environment.

METHODS

Based on the available feedback literature and clinical experience regarding feedback, the author developed 10 tips to empower learners with the necessary skills to seek, receive, and handle feedback effectively, regardless of how it is delivered. Although, most of the tips are directed at the individual clinical trainee, this model can be utilized by clinical educators involved in learner development and serve as a framework for educational workshops or curriculum.

RESULTS

Ten practical tips are identified that specifically address the learner's role in the feedback process. These tips not only help the learner to ask, receive, and handle the feedback, but will also ease the process for the teachers. Collectively, these tips help to overcome most, if not all, of the barriers to feedback and bridge the gaps in busy clinical practices.

CONCLUSIONS

Feedback is a crucial element in the educational process and it is shown that we are still behind in the optimal use of it; thus, learners need to be taught how to better receive and utilize feedback. The focus in medical education needs to balance the two sides of the feedback process. It is time now to invest on the learner's development of skills that can be utilized in a busy day-to-day clinical practice.

The Gap Between Perceived and Actual Learning From Group Reflection

Group reflection is often used as an intervention to facilitate group performance, but reflecting in groups may also affect individual learning. In this article, we compare the effects of individual and group reflection on individuals’ learning in two pairs of decision-making tasks. In two studies, we found that individuals who reflected in groups improved their performance from Task 1 to 2. However, individuals who reflected in groups did not realize greater performance improvements than individuals who reflected alone. Furthermore, individuals who reflected alone perceived that they learned more than individuals who reflected in groups. We discuss the implications of the gap between perceived and actual learning and describe the implications of our findings for group research, as well as recommendations for future research.

All blogs are not created equal: the role of narrative formats and user-generated comments in health prevention

This study examined the extent to which narative versus nonnarrative blogs and compliant versus defiant user comments affect optimistic bias and behavioral intentions related to skin cancer prevention. Participants (N = 181) read one of four versions of a blog post about skin cancer that described a blogger's journey with skin cancer diagnosis and treatment, and included specific recommendations for skin cancer prevention. The post was written in either narrative or nonnarrative style, and was accompanied by reader comments that either agreed or disagreed with the prevention recommendations provided. Findings indicate that blog format reduces optimistic bias and increases behavioral intentions. Specifically, narrative blogs affect the two outcomes by way of eliciting transportation into the narrative world. Blog comments, on the other hand, were shown to have inconsistent effects on optimistic bias and behavioral intentions, via perceived social norms. While the social norms elicited by compliant blog comments had a direct positive effect on behavioral intentions, the indirect effect (via optimistic bias) was negative. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as suggestions for future research, are discussed.

Selecting Null Distributions When Calculating rwg

rwg is a common metric used to quantify interrater agreement in the organizational sciences. Finn developed rwg but based it on the assumption that raters’ deviations from their true perceptions are influenced by random chance only. James, Demaree, and Wolf extended Finn’s work by describing procedures to account for the additional influence of response biases. We demonstrate that organizational scientists have relied largely on Finn’s procedures, at least in part because of a lack of specific guidance regarding the conditions under which various response biases might be present. In an effort to address this gap in the literature, we introduce the concept of target-irrelevant, nonrandom forces (those aspects of the research context that are likely to lead to response biases), then describe how the familiar “5Ws and an H” framework (i.e., who, what, when, where, why, and how) can be used to identify these biases a priori. It is our hope that this system will permit those who calculate rwg to account for the effects of response biases in a manner that is simultaneously rigorous, consistent, and transparent.

Norm perception and communication for vasovagal symptoms in blood donation

BACKGROUND

Blood is a valuable resource, but most people do not donate. One deterrent to blood donation is the anticipation of vasovagal symptoms (e.g., dizziness, nausea, and fainting), despite the fact that such symptoms typically affect a small proportion of donors. The current research examined norm perceptions regarding vasovagal symptom experiences and used a message-framing paradigm to communicate accurate norm information and increase future donation intentions.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

Three studies were conducted using young adult samples. In Study 1, donors and nondonors estimated the percentage of people who experience vasovagal symptoms. In Studies 2 and 3, nondonors and donors (respectively) were provided with accurate, positively framed, or negatively framed norm messages and indicated their intentions to donate.

RESULTS

In Study 1 we found that participants vastly overestimated how normative it was to experience vasovagal symptoms and this overestimation was stronger among nondonors. In Studies 2 and 3, we showed that positively framed normative messages ("90% of donors do not experience vasovagal symptoms") were generally more influential than negatively framed messages ("10% of donors do experience vasovagal symptoms"), except among past donors who had unfavorable donation experiences.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that targeting and correcting norm perception may be a critical step toward improving blood donation rates.

Intercultural Competence

We review recent theoretical and empirical developments in the intercultural competencies literature, highlighting contemporary models and empirical research in organizational contexts. We survey the current conceptualizations of intercultural competencies and propose that intercultural competencies can be classified based on traits, attitudes and worldviews, capabilities, or a combination of these dimensions. We identify key psychological, behavioral, and performance outcomes associated with these models. We review empirical studies of intercultural competencies at the group level and discuss emerging models of dyad-level, firm-level, and multilevel intercultural competencies. We evaluate the current measurement of intercultural competencies and suggest alternative approaches. Finally, we examine research on selection, training, and development of intercultural competencies. We end each section by identifying future research foci, and we offer an integration of the literature at the end of the review.

Do People Have Insight Into Their Abilities? A Metasynthesis

Having insight into one’s abilities is essential, yet it remains unclear whether people generally perceive their skills accurately or inaccurately. In the present analysis, we examined the overall correspondence between self-evaluations of ability (e.g., academic ability, intelligence, language competence, medical skills, sports ability, and vocational skills) and objective performance measures (e.g., standardized test scores, grades, and supervisor evaluations) across 22 meta-analyses, in addition to considering factors that moderate this relationship. Although individual meta-analytic effects ranged from .09 to .63, the mean correlation between ability self-evaluations and performance outcomes across meta-analyses was moderate ( M = .29, SD = .11). Further, the relation was stronger when self-evaluations were specific to a given domain rather than broad and when performance tasks were objective, familiar, or low in complexity. Taken together, these findings indicate that people have only moderate insight into their abilities but also underscore the contextual factors that enable accurate self-perception of ability.

Using mixed-method assessment to advance adolescent HIV prevention

This two-phase, community-based pilot study examined the impact of an innovative calendar-based assessment on HIV risk perception and risk reduction planning with racially diverse youth aged 14 to 21 at a public health clinic. Participants (N = 232) completed a Sexual Health History Calendar (SHHC) assessing behaviors over the previous 12 months, risk self-appraisals, and future behavioral intentions. Youths' narratives included negative self-appraisals (36%), named a risk-related critical incident (13%) or regret (9%), or expressed increased risk awareness (9%) and need for behavior change (18%). A minority were positive (28%) or reflected improvement (7%). All Phase 2 participants (n = 122) identified at least one specific risky behavior they intended to change. These data and the SHHC's visual cues facilitated risk-reduction intervention tailored to the unique circumstances in which each youth's risk taking occurred. For nurses and other providers in clinical settings, the SHHC can offer a critical link between assessment and intervention.

How well do doctors think they perform on the General Medical Council's Tests of Competence pilot examinations? A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

To investigate how accurately doctors estimated their performance on the General Medical Council's Tests of Competence pilot examinations.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey design using a questionnaire method.

SETTING

University College London Medical School.

PARTICIPANTS

524 medical doctors working in a range of clinical specialties between foundation year two and consultant level.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Estimated and actual total scores on a knowledge test and Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE).

RESULTS

The pattern of results for OSCE performance differed from the results for knowledge test performance. The majority of doctors significantly underestimated their OSCE performance. Whereas estimated knowledge test performance differed between high and low performers. Those who did particularly well significantly underestimated their knowledge test performance (t (196)=-7.70, p<0.01) and those who did less well significantly overestimated (t (172)=6.09, p<0.01). There were also significant differences between estimated and/or actual performance by gender, ethnicity and region of Primary Medical Qualification.

CONCLUSIONS

Doctors were more accurate in predicating their knowledge test performance than their OSCE performance. The association between estimated and actual knowledge test performance supports the established differences between high and low performers described in the behavioural sciences literature. This was not the case for the OSCE. The implications of the results to the revalidation process are discussed.

Correcting Psychotherapists' Blindsidedness: Formal Feedback as a Means of Overcoming the Natural Limitations of Therapists

PURPOSE

Monitoring of client progress in psychological therapy using formal outcome measures at each session has been shown to increase the effectiveness of treatment. It seems likely that this 'feedback' effect is achieved by enabling therapists to identify clients at risk of treatment failure so that therapists can pay greater attention to client difficulties, which may be hindering therapeutic work. To date, little attention has been given to understanding relevant mechanisms of formal feedback in psychological therapy. In order to understand and maximize the benefits of feedback, it is essential to explore potential mechanisms contributing to this effect. Research in social psychology may help to explain how feedback works.

METHODS

Findings on cognitive biases in the field of social psychology are explored and linked to preliminary findings in the field of psychotherapy research.

RESULTS

Research on cognitive biases and expertise is congruent with indications that clinical prediction in psychotherapy is unreliable and that it may be difficult for clinicians to detect errors in their judgement as a result of a lack of clear corrective feedback. This problem is linked to the fact that clinical outcomes occur in a complex 'noisy' environment where prediction is inherently difficult.

CONCLUSION

Formal feedback may derive its benefits from its ability to help correct naturally occurring biases in therapists' assessment of their work. If these biases are seen as normal, but often avoidable if feedback is used, this may pave the way to greater acceptance of formal feedback by clinicians and enhanced outcomes for clients.

KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE

The use of formal feedback tools can help therapists overcome inevitable limitations in their ability to predict poor response to treatment, enhancing the likelihood of detecting and resolving client difficulties in therapy.

Clinical supervision in a competency-based era

Since clinical supervision has become recognized as a distinct professional practice, competency-based supervision has gained considerable traction internationally. Competency-based supervision enhances accountability and is compatible with evidence-based approaches. Competency-based supervision is defined by supervisor and supervisee collaboratively and explicitly identifying the knowledge, skills and attitudes comprising each clinical competency, determining specific learning strategies, and monitoring and evaluating the development of those. Recommendations for supervision practice are described based on the growing evidence base for practice and responsive to emerging ethical and legal issues.

Disentangling Task and Contextual Performance

This study among 244 employees and their colleagues working in various sectors investigated the dimensionality of self-ratings and peer-ratings of task and contextual performance, using the scales of Goodman and Svyantek (1999) . By applying the multitrait-multimethod approach, we examined the degree to which responses to performance items are influenced by the trait (task or contextual performance) and the method factors (self- or peer-ratings). Results of confirmatory factor analyses showed that while the two performance dimensions (i.e., traits) can be differentiated, responses to their items are influenced by the method factor. Specifically, peer-ratings explain more variance in task performance, while self-ratings explain more variance in contextual performance. Moreover, the measurement of task and contextual performance is invariant across self- and peer-ratings. Finally, the positive relationships between task and contextual performance on the one hand and work-related flow on the other hand are of equal strength. These findings support the validity of the performance measure but also highlight some impact of the method factors.

Predicting biases in very highly educated samples: Numeracy and metacognition

We investigated the relations between numeracy and superior judgment and decision making in two large community outreach studies in Holland (n=5408). In these very highly educated samples (e.g., 30–50% held graduate degrees), the Berlin Numeracy Test was a robust predictor of financial, medical, and metacognitive task performance (i.e., lotteries, intertemporal choice, denominator neglect, and confidence judgments), independent of education, gender, age, and another numeracy assessment. Metacognitive processes partially mediated the link between numeracy and superior performance. More numerate participants performed better because they deliberated more during decision making and more accurately evaluated their judgments (e.g., less overconfidence). Results suggest that well-designed numeracy tests tend to be robust predictors of superior judgment and decision making because they simultaneously assess (1) mathematical competency and (2) metacognitive and self-regulated learning skills.

Behind bars but above the bar: prisoners consider themselves more prosocial than non-prisoners

That people evaluate themselves more favourably than their average peer on desirable characteristics - the better-than-average effect (BTAE) - is one of the most frequently cited instances of motivated self-enhancement. It has been argued, however, that the BTAE can be rational when the distribution of characteristics is skewed such that most people lie above the mean. We addressed whether the BTAE is present even among people liable to be objectively below average on such characteristics. Prisoners compared their standing on pro-social characteristics - such as kindness, morality, law abidingness - with non-prisoners. Prisoners exhibited the BTAE on every characteristic except law abidingness, for which they viewed themselves as average. Given that prisoners are unlikely to be objectively above average on pro-social characteristics, the findings push for a motivational interpretation of the BTAE.

Hubris in leadership: A peril of unbridled intuition?

Research attests to the perils of hubristic leadership in politics, the military and business organizations, however whilst researchers have identified hubris’ correspondences with personality disorders and various organizational and individual level factors, the cognitive and affective antecedents of hubris have been largely overlooked. In this paper we argue that intuition, existing as it does at the nexus of cognition and affect, is a central factor and that when intuition becomes misunderstood, unchecked or unbridled within the ‘cognitive economy’ of a powerful individual hubristic behaviour is more likely to appear. In what follows we will: review the concepts of hubris, Hubris Syndrome and intuition; propose intuition as an overlooked cognitive and affective source of leaders’ hubris; discuss the relationship between unbridled intuition and hubris; suggest how the perils of hubristic leadership stemming from unbridled intuition might be avoided or mitigated.

Underestimating Our Influence Over Others’ Unethical Behavior and Decisions

We examined the psychology of “instigators,” people who surround an unethical act and influence the wrongdoer (the “actor”) without directly committing the act themselves. In four studies, we found that instigators of unethical acts underestimated their influence over actors. In Studies 1 and 2, university students enlisted other students to commit a “white lie” (Study 1) or commit a small act of vandalism (Study 2) after making predictions about how easy it would be to get their fellow students to do so. In Studies 3 and 4, online samples of participants responded to hypothetical vignettes, for example, about buying children alcohol and taking office supplies home for personal use. In all four studies, instigators failed to recognize the social pressure they levied on actors through simple unethical suggestions, that is, the discomfort actors would experience by making a decision that was inconsistent with the instigator’s suggestion.

Right hemisphere role in cognitive reserve

High levels of education, occupational complexity, and/or premorbid intelligence are associated with lower levels of cognitive impairment than would be expected from a given brain pathology. This has been observed across a range of conditions including Alzheimer's disease (Roe et al., 2010), stroke (Ojala-Oksala et al., 2012), traumatic brain injury (Kesler et al., 2003), and penetrating brain injury (Grafman, 1986). This cluster of factors, which seemingly protect the brain from expressing symptoms of damage, has been termed "cognitive reserve" (Stern, 2012). The current review considers one possible neural network, which may contribute to cognitive reserve. Based on the evidence that the neurotransmitter, noradrenaline mediates cognitive reserve's protective effects (Robertson, 2013) this review identifies the neurocognitive correlates of noradrenergic (NA) activity. These involve a set of inter-related cognitive processes (arousal, sustained attention, response to novelty, and awareness) with a strongly right hemisphere, fronto-parietal localization, along with working memory, which is also strongly modulated by NA. It is proposed that this set of processes is one plausible candidate for partially mediating the protective effects of cognitive reserve. In addition to its biological effects on brain structure and function, NA function may also facilitate networks for arousal, novelty, attention, awareness, and working memory, which collectively provide for a set of additional, cognitive, mechanisms that help the brain adapt to age-related changes and disease. It is hypothesized that to the extent that the lateral surface of the right prefrontal lobe and/or the right inferior parietal lobe maintain structural (white and gray matter) and functional integrity and connectivity, cognitive reserve should benefit and behavioral expression of pathologic damage should thus be mitigated.

(Re)Introducing communication competence to the health professions

Despite the central role that communication skills play in contemporary accounts of effective health care delivery in general, and the communication of medical error specifically, there is no common or consensual core in the health professions regarding the nature of such skills. This lack of consensus reflects, in part, the tendency for disciplines to reinvent concepts and measures without first situating such development in disciplines with more cognate specialization in such concepts. In this essay, an integrative model of communication competence is introduced, along with its theoretical background and rationale. Communication competence is defined as an impression of appropriateness and effectiveness, which is functionally related to individual motivation, knowledge, skills, and contextual facilitators and constraints. Within this conceptualization, error disclosure contexts are utilized to illustrate the heuristic value of the theory, and implications for assessment are suggested. Significance for public healthModels matter, as do the presuppositions that underlie their architecture. Research indicates that judgments of competence moderate outcomes such as satisfaction, trust, understanding, and power-sharing in relationships and in individual encounters. If the outcomes of health care encounters depend on the impression of competence that patients or their family members have of health care professionals, then knowing which specific communicative behaviors contribute to such impressions is not merely important - it is essential. To pursue such a research agenda requires that competence assessment and operationalization becomes better aligned with conceptual assumptions that separate behavioral performance from the judgments of the competence of that performance.

People Believe That They Are Prototypically Good or Bad

People have been shown to view their beliefs as being prototypical (modal) but their abilities as (falsely) unique (above or below average). It is possible that these two viewpoints - self as prototypical and self as unique - can be reconciled. If the distribution of ability for a given skill is skewed such that many others have high (low) ability and few others have low (high) ability, it is possible that a majority of peoples' self-assessments can be above (below) average. Participants in 5 studies demonstrated an understanding that various skills have skewed ability distributions and their self-assessments were related to distribution shape: high when negatively skewed and low when positively skewed. Further, participants tended to place themselves near the mode of their perceived skill distribution. Participants were most likely to think that they were good at skills for which they thought that most others were also good.

Mapping modalities of self-awareness in mindfulness practice: a potential mechanism for clarifying habits of mind

To better understand the neurobiological mechanisms by which mindfulness-based practices function in a psychotherapeutic context, this article details the definition, techniques, and purposes ascribed to mindfulness training as described by its Buddhist tradition of origin and by contemporary neurocognitive models. Included is theory of how maladaptive mental processes become habitual and automatic, both from the Buddhist and Western psychological perspective. Specific noting and labeling techniques in open monitoring meditation, described in the Theravada and Western contemporary traditions, are highlighted as providing unique access to multiple modalities of awareness. Potential explicit and implicit mechanisms are discussed by which such techniques can contribute to transforming maladaptive habits of mind and perceptual and cognitive biases, improving efficiency, facilitating integration, and providing the flexibility to switch between systems of self-processing. Finally, a model is provided to describe the timing by which noting and labeling practices have the potential to influence different stages of low- and high-level neural processing. Hypotheses are proposed concerning both levels of processing in relation to the extent of practice. Implications for the nature of subjective experience and self-processing as it relates to one's habits of mind, behavior, and relation to the external world, are also described.

Three ways in which midline regions contribute to self-evaluation

An integration of existing research and newly conducted psychophysiological interaction (PPI) connectivity analyses suggest a new framework for understanding the contribution of midline regions to social cognition. Recent meta-analyses suggest that there are no midline regions that are exclusively associated with self-processing. Whereas medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is broadly modulated by self-processing, subdivisions within MPFC are differentially modulated by the evaluation of close others (ventral MPFC: BA 10/32) and the evaluation of other social targets (dorsal MPFC: BA 9/32). The role of DMPFC in social cognition may also be less uniquely social than previously thought; it may be better characterized as a region that indexes certainty about evaluation rather than previously considered social mechanisms (i.e., correction of self-projection). VMPFC, a region often described as an important mediator of socioemotional significance, may instead perform a more cognitive role by reflecting the type of information brought to bear on evaluations of people we know well. Furthermore, the new framework moves beyond MPFC and hypothesizes that two other midline regions, ventral anterior cingulate cortex (VACC: BA 25) and medial orbitofrontal cortex (MOFC: BA 11), aid motivational influences on social cognition. Despite the central role of motivation in psychological models of self-perception, neural models have largely ignored the topic. Positive connectivity between VACC and MOFC may mediate bottom-up sensitivity to information based on its potential for helping us evaluate ourselves or others the way we want. As connectivity becomes more positive with striatum and less positive with middle frontal gyrus (BA 9/44), MOFC mediates top-down motivational influences by adjusting the standards we bring to bear on evaluations of ourselves and other people.

The utility of vignettes to stimulate reflection on professionalism: theory and practice

Professionalism remains a substantive theme in medical literature. There is an emerging emphasis on sociological and complex adaptive systems perspectives that refocuses attention from just the individual role to working within one's system to enact professionalism in practice. Reflecting on responses to professional dilemmas may be one method to help practicing physicians identify both internal and external factors contributing to (un) professional behavior. We present a rationale and theoretical framework that supports and guides a reflective approach to the self assessment of professionalism. Guided by principles grounded in this theoretical framework, we developed and piloted a set of vignettes on professionally challenging situations, designed to stimulate reflection in practicing physicians. Findings show that participants found the vignettes to be authentic and typical, and reported the group experience as facilitative around discussions of professional ambiguity. Providing an opportunity for physicians to reflect on professional behavior in an open and safe forum may be a practical way to guide physicians to assess themselves on professional behavior and engage with the complexities of their work. The finding that the focus groups led to reflection at a group level suggests that effective reflection on professional behavior may require a socially interactive process. Emphasizing both the behaviors and the internal and external context in which they occur can thus be viewed as critically important for understanding professionalism in practicing physicians.

I Am a Better Driver Than You Think: Examining Self-Enhancement for Driving Ability

We examined whether people recognized that others might disagree with their high self-assessments of driving ability, and, if so, why. Participants in four experiments expressed a belief that others would assess them as worse drivers than they assessed themselves. This difference appears to be caused by participants' use of their own, idiosyncratic definition of driving ability. In Experiments 2 and 3 participants reported that others would supply similar assessments of their ability when the skill was less ambiguous. Results of Experiment 4 indicate that participants recognize that there may be more than one way to view driving performance. Participants appear aware that others likely disagree with their self-assessment of driving ability due to differences in how others define driving ability.

Targeting the Good Target

A person’s judgeability, or the extent to which a person is easy to understand, plays an important role in how accurately a target will be perceived by others. Research on this topic, however, has not been systematic or well-integrated. The current review begins to remedy this by integrating the available research on judgeability from the fields of personality perception, nonverbal communication, and social cognition. Specifically, this review summarizes the characteristics that are likely to promote judgeability and explores its potential consequences. A diverse range of characteristics are identified as predictors of judgeability, all relating to three broader categories: psychological adjustment, social status, and socialization. Furthermore, being judgeable has a variety of potential, largely positive, consequences for the target, leaving good targets poised for greater personal and interpersonal well-being. Nevertheless, many questions on this topic remain and it is crucial for this relatively understudied topic to receive more systematic empirical attention.

To Know or Not to Know, Is That the Question? Exploring the Role and Assessment of Metacognition in Cross-Cultural Contexts

Findings from research in educational and cognitive psychology have shown that metacognition, defined as the awareness, monitoring, and evaluation of one’s knowledge and cognitive processes, exerts substantial influence on individual performance. The majority of this research, however, has only examined metacognitive skill as it applies to academic settings, and has largely overlooked its applications to other contexts, such as cross-cultural performance. To better understand the role of metacognition in cross-cultural contexts, as well as the means by which it should be assessed, two studies were conducted that jointly explored the construct validity of a well-established self-reported measure of metacognition (i.e., the Metacognitive subscale of the Cultural Intelligence Scale; CQS), as well as its relative utility in predicting cross-cultural performance. Results from Study 1 indicated that self-reported metacognition (as measured by the CQS) is distinct from personality, but highly correlated with the other subfacets of self-reported cultural intelligence. Analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) further revealed that peers ( n = 206) were more accurate in rating participants’ cultural intelligence than were participants themselves ( n = 206). Results from Study 2, which explored the criterion-related validity of the Metacognitive subscale of the CQS, in particular, demonstrated that self-reported metacognition did not predict international students’ adaptation ( n = 50). These findings are discussed in light of other research that has called into question the validity of self-reported measures of metacognition, in general.

You May Think You’re Right … Young Adults Are More Liberal Than They Realize

Do people have biased perceptions of their political orientation? Based on the link between political conservatism and in-group loyalty, we predicted that people would underestimate their liberalism and that this effect would be more pronounced among political conservatives. Young adults indicated their self-perceived political orientation and completed an objective measure of political orientation, which placed them along a liberal-conservative continuum by comparing their attitudes on 12 core issues (e.g., gay marriage, welfare) to population norms. Participants showed a significant bias toward perceiving themselves as more conservative than they actually were, and this effect was more pronounced among independents and conservatives than liberals. Further, biased self-perceptions of political orientation predicted voting behavior in the 2012 Presidential Election after controlling for objective political orientation scores. Discussion highlights theoretical implications for self-knowledge research and practical implications for American politics more broadly.

Assessing leadership derailment factors in 360° feedback

Purpose

This paper aimed to examine the relationship between 360° assessment of leadership derailment factors and leadership effectiveness, differences across position levels, and impact of self‐other agreement.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were from an archive of 360° feedback (N=523). Boss ratings of leadership effectiveness were regressed on leadership derailment factors as rated by other rater sources (e.g. peers and direct reports). Polynomial regressions were conducted to examine the impact of self‐other agreement.

Findings

As hypothesized, derailment factors had statistically significant negative correlations with leadership effectiveness. Higher‐level managers were rated higher on derailment factors than lower‐level managers. In‐agreement high ratings of derailment factors (i.e. rated high by both self and others) were associated with lower effectiveness than in‐agreement low ratings (i.e. rated low by both self and others). Self under‐ratings of derailment factors (i.e. self ratings lower than others’ ratings) were related to lower effectiveness than self over‐ratings (i.e. self ratings higher than others’ ratings). It also was found that self ratings were less accurate than ratings from other rater sources.

Research limitations/implications

Leadership derailment induces significant direct as well as indirect costs to organizations. The 360° feedback process can be used to help managers enhance their self‐awareness of derailment potential. Findings of this study can be used to help interpret 360° assessment results.

Originality/value

Past research on 360° feedback has focused primarily on positive leadership characteristics. This study represents one of the few in the literature that empirically has examined the assessment of negative leadership characteristics in 360° feedback.