The Intuitive Psychologist And His Shortcomings: Distortions in the Attribution Process

Co-worker phubbing: A qualitative exploration of smartphone use during work breaks

INTRODUCTION

The present study qualitatively explores co-worker "phubbing" (from "phone" and "snubbing") during communal work breaks. Phubbing, or ignoring others by paying attention to one's phone, has been linked to a range of negative interpersonal and intrapersonal outcomes. Although most research has targeted private relationships, there are indications that lateral work relationships may be similarly affected, with potential consequences at the individual, group, and organizational levels.

METHODS

Interviews were conducted with 25 Swedish employees in the electrical trade (n = 13) and health care (n = 12), groups that typically work alongside colleagues and regularly take communal breaks. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Five main themes were identified: (1) phubbing as a social barrier, (2) the socially integrated smartphone, (3) intentional and unintentional phubbing, (4) navigating phubbing norms, and (5) generational differences in phubbing behavior and attitudes.

CONCLUSION

The findings indicate that work break phubbing could potentially undermine interpersonal aspects of the psychosocial work environment. However, this was also seen as contingent on social norms and individual needs and preferences. Discussing phubbing in the workplace may be a way of mitigating negative effects by bridging disparate expectations.

The mediating role of attributions of poverty and wealth in the relationship between perceptions of economic inequality and redistribution preferences

Previous research has identified that the relationship between perceived economic inequality and supporting redistribution is mediated by beliefs about what causes poverty. Despite its usefulness, this approach has failed to recognize the role of perceived causes of wealth in explaining the relationship between these two variables. We conducted correlational (N = 523) and experimental (N = 226) studies, demonstrating that in contexts with high inequality, attributing poverty and wealth primarily to external factors resulted in greater support for redistribution. Furthermore, the attributions that served as mediators varied depending on the proposed redistributive measure. We delve into the significance of wealth attributional processes in understanding attitudes toward redistribution.

To stand out or to conform: Stereotypes and meta-stereotypes as barriers in the transition to sustainable diets

What factors hinder the reduction of meat and/or dairy intake? In this study, we explored the perceived barriers that meat and/or dairy reducers experienced when shifting their diets. We particularly focused on how meat and/or dairy reducers were affected by their beliefs about how omnivores stereotype vegans (i.e., meta-stereotypes), as meta-stereotypes have not been previously explored in this context. Through open-ended questions in an online survey, we explored the experiences and perceived barriers among female meat and/or dairy reducers (n = 272), as well as their perceptions of vegans (i.e., stereotypes and meta-stereotypes), and how these perceptions affected their lived experiences. We analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis and generated six themes. We highlighted perceptions of cost (Theme 1) and perceptions of health concerns (Theme 2) as the most dominant barriers to the reduction of meat and/or dairy intake. Regarding (meta) stereotypes, participants' perceptions of vegans were shaped by personal experiences and encounters with vegans (Theme 3), and how participants related to vegans was sometimes reflected in the language they used to describe vegans (Theme 4). Participants felt that they, or reducers more generally, were occasionally judged as vegans (Theme 5), which might influence participants' choices and conformity to eating norms (Theme 6). Meta-stereotypes may play a role in polarised dietary group perceptions, and we discuss how they are shaped by social identity processes as well as by aspects of Western food systems.

Minds of Monsters: Scary Imbalances Between Cognition and Emotion

Four studies investigate a fear of imbalanced minds hypothesis that threatening agents perceived to be relatively mismatched in capacities for cognition (e.g., self-control and reasoning) and emotion (e.g., sensations and emotions) will be rated as scarier and more dangerous by observers. In ratings of fictional monsters (e.g., zombies and vampires), agents seen as more imbalanced between capacities for cognition and emotion (high cognition-low emotion or low cognition-high emotion) were rated as scarier compared to those with equally matched levels of cognition and emotion (Studies 1 and 2). Similar effects were observed using ratings of scary animals (e.g., tigers, sharks; Studies 2 and 3), and infected humans (Study 4). Moreover, these effects are explained through diminished perceived control/predictability over the target agent. These findings highlight the role of balance between cognition and emotion in appraisal of threatening agents, in part because those agents are seen as more chaotic and uncontrollable.

Why do acute healthcare staff behave unprofessionally towards each other and how can these behaviours be reduced? A realist review

Background

Unprofessional behaviour in healthcare systems can negatively impact staff well-being, patient safety and organisational costs. Unprofessional behaviour encompasses a range of behaviours, including incivility, microaggressions, harassment and bullying. Despite efforts to combat unprofessional behaviour in healthcare settings, it remains prevalent. Interventions to reduce unprofessional behaviour in health care have been conducted - but how and why they may work is unclear. Given the complexity of the issue, a realist review methodology is an ideal approach to examining unprofessional behaviour in healthcare systems.

Aim

To improve context-specific understanding of how, why and in what circumstances unprofessional behaviours between staff in acute healthcare settings occur and evidence of strategies implemented to mitigate, manage and prevent them.

Methods

Realist synthesis methodology consistent with realist and meta-narrative evidence syntheses: evolving standards reporting guidelines.

Data sources

Literature sources for building initial theories were identified from the original proposal and from informal searches of various websites. For theory refinement, we conducted systematic and purposive searches for peer-reviewed literature on databases such as EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and MEDLINE databases as well as for grey literature. Searches were conducted iteratively from November 2021 to December 2022.

Results

Initial theory-building drew on 38 sources. Searches resulted in 2878 titles and abstracts. In total, 148 sources were included in the review. Terminology and definitions used for unprofessional behaviours were inconsistent. This may present issues for policy and practice when trying to identify and address unprofessional behaviour. Contributors of unprofessional behaviour can be categorised into four areas: (1) workplace disempowerment, (2) organisational uncertainty, confusion and stress, (3) (lack of) social cohesion and (4) enablement of harmful cultures that tolerate unprofessional behaviours. Those at most risk of experiencing unprofessional behaviour are staff from a minoritised background. We identified 42 interventions in the literature to address unprofessional behaviour. These spanned five types: (1) single session (i.e. one-off), (2) multiple sessions, (3) single or multiple sessions combined with other actions (e.g. training session plus a code of conduct), (4) professional accountability and reporting interventions and (5) structured culture-change interventions. We identified 42 reports of interventions, with none conducted in the United Kingdom. Of these, 29 interventions were evaluated, with the majority (n = 23) reporting some measure of effectiveness. Interventions drew on 13 types of behaviour-change strategy designed to, for example: change social norms, improve awareness of unprofessional behaviour, or redesign the workplace. Interventions were impacted by 12 key dynamics, including focusing on individuals, lack of trust in management and non-existent logic models.

Conclusions

Workplace disempowerment and organisational barriers are primary contributors to unprofessional behaviour. However, interventions predominantly focus on individual education or training without addressing systemic, organisational issues. Effectiveness of interventions to improve staff well-being or patient safety is uncertain. We provide 12 key dynamics and 15 implementation principles to guide organisations.

Future work

Interventions need to: (1) be tested in a United Kingdom context, (2) draw on behavioural science principles and (3) target systemic, organisational issues.

Limitations

This review focuses on interpersonal staff-to-staff unprofessional behaviour, in acute healthcare settings only and does not include non-intervention literature outside the United Kingdom or outside of health care.

Study registration

This study was prospectively registered on PROSPERO CRD42021255490. The record is available from: www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021255490.

Funding

This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme (NIHR award ref: NIHR131606) and is published in full in Health and Social Care Delivery Research; Vol. 12, No. 25. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information.

Transmission of social bias through observational learning

People often rely on social learning-learning by observing others' actions and outcomes-to form preferences in advance of their own direct experiences. Although typically adaptive, we investigated whether social learning may also contribute to the formation and spread of prejudice. In six experiments (n = 1550), we demonstrate that by merely observing interactions between a prejudiced actor and social group members, observers acquired the prejudices of the actor. Moreover, observers were unaware of the actors' bias, misattributing their acquired group preferences to the behavior of group members, despite identical behavior between groups. Computational modeling revealed that this effect was due to value shaping, whereby one's preferences are shaped by another's actions toward a target, in addition to the target's reward feedback. These findings identify social learning as a potent mechanism of prejudice formation that operates implicitly and supports the transmission of intergroup bias.

A Multilevel Person-Centered Perspective on the Role of Job Demands and Resources for Employees' Job Engagement and Burnout Profiles

The present study examined the configurations, or profiles, taken by distinct global and specific facets of job engagement and burnout (by relying on a bifactor operationalization of these constructs) among a nationally representative sample of Canadian Defence employees (n = 13,088; nested within 65 work units). The present study also adopted a multilevel perspective to investigate the role of job demands (work overload and role ambiguity), as well as individual (psychological empowerment), workgroup (interpersonal justice), supervisor (transformational leadership), and organizational (organizational support) resources in the prediction of profile membership. Latent profile analyses revealed five profiles of employees: Burned-Out/Disengaged (7.13%), Burned-Out/Involved (12.13%), Engaged (18.14%), Engaged/Exhausted (15.50%), and Normative (47.10%). The highest turnover intentions were observed in the Burned-Out/Disengaged profile, and the lowest in the Engaged profile. Employees' perceptions of job demands and resources were also associated with profile membership across both levels, although the effects of psychological empowerment were more pronounced than the effects of job demands and resources related to the workgroup, supervisor, and organization. Individual-level effects were also more pronounced than effects occurring at the work unit level, where shared perceptions of work overload and organizational support proved to be the key shared drivers of profile membership.

What Happens When Payments End? Fostering Long-Term Behavior Change With Financial Incentives

Financial incentives are widely used to get people to adopt desirable behaviors. Many small landholders in developing countries, for example, receive multiyear payments to engage in conservation behaviors, and the hope is that they will continue to engage in these behaviors after the program ends. Although effective in the short term, financial incentives rarely lead to long-term behavior change because program participants tend to revert to their initial behaviors soon after the payments stop. In this article, we propose that four psychological constructs can be leveraged to increase the long-term effectiveness of financial-incentive programs: motivation, habit formation, social norms, and recursive processes. We review successful and unsuccessful behavior-change initiatives involving financial incentives in several domains: public health, education, sustainability, and conservation. We make concrete recommendations on how to implement the four above-mentioned constructs in field settings. Finally, we identify unresolved issues that future research might want to address to advance knowledge, promote theory development, and understand the psychological mechanisms that can be used to improve the effectiveness of incentive programs in the real world.

The dual reality of challenging behaviours: Overlapping and distinct perspectives of individuals with TBI and their caregivers

Challenging behaviours significantly impact the lives of people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their family caregivers. However, these behaviours are rarely defined from the perspectives of both individuals, a necessary step to developing interventions targeting meaningful goals for individuals and caregivers. This study aimed to (1) explore and confirm the perspective of individuals with TBI living in the community and their family caregivers on behaviours they consider challenging and, (2) identify overlapping or distinct views on challenging behaviours. A qualitative descriptive design was used. Twelve caregivers (8 females; 59.67 ± 11.64 years old) and 14 participants with mild-severe TBI (6 females; 43.21 ± 10.98 years old; time post-injury: 21.71 ± 10.84 years) were interviewed (10 dyads and two triads). Data were analysed using inductive qualitative analysis. Challenging behaviours most frequently reported by all participants were aggressive/impulsive behaviours, inappropriate social behaviours, and behavioural manifestations of cognitive impairments. Overlapping perspectives were identified regarding aggressive behaviours. Distinctions exist as inappropriate social behaviours and cognitive difficulties were mainly reported by caregivers. Our results confirm that perspectives may vary between dyad members. Interventions should include dyad inputs to formulate goals that are significant to the person with TBI and their caregiver.

People Reject Free Money and Cheap Deals Because They Infer Phantom Costs

If money is good, then shouldn't more money always be better? Perhaps not. Traditional economic theories suggest that money is an ever-increasing incentivizer. If someone will accept a job for US$20/hr, they should be more likely to accept the same job for US$30/hr and especially for US$250/hr. However, 10 preregistered, high-powered studies (N = 4,205, in the United States and Iran) reveal how increasing incentives can backfire. Overly generous offers lead people to infer "phantom costs" that make them less likely to accept high job wages, cheap plane fares, and free money. We present a theory for understanding when and why people imagine these hidden drawbacks and show how phantom costs drive judgments, impact behavior, and intersect with individual differences. Phantom costs change how we should think about "economic rationality." Economic exchanges are not merely about money, but instead are social interactions between people trying to perceive (and deceive) each others' minds.

Unpredictable volatility and trust: The VISA model of person perception

By accounting for perceptions of volatility and predictability of key character dimensions (e.g., the predictable volatility of sociability), I advance our understanding of person perception and interpersonal relationships. I incorporate volatility into person perception theory by introducing the volatility, integrity, sociability, and ability (VISA) model. I illustrate the importance of unpredictable volatility and the VISA model by analyzing the use of humor, and I propose three moderators of the effects of humor on trust: content, context, and intent. In doing so, I develop a foundation for future person perception research and bridge the impression formation (warmth and competence), trust (ability, benevolence, and integrity), and status (competence, generosity, and commitment) literature.

America's perceptions of opioid related impairment: A national randomized study examining how different individuals may stigmatize addiction in response to different terminology

INTRODUCTION

Prior research has found that different ways of describing opioid-related impairment influences the types and degrees of stigmatizing beliefs held by the American public. In this study we examined the extent to which different characteristics of the American public (i.e., age, gender, race/ethnicity, religiosity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, personal history of addiction/mental health problem) are associated with holding different types and degrees of stigmatizing beliefs when asked to consider someone treated for opioid-related impairment. We also assessed whether any observed differences in stigmatizing beliefs related to participant characteristics are dependent on how an opioid-impaired patient is described in terms of both the nature of the impairment (e.g., as a "chronically relapsing brain disease", "brain disease", "disease", "illness", "disorder", or "problem") as well as the gender of the depicted opioid-impaired person.

METHODS

A nationally representative sample of the U.S. population (N = 3643) was randomized to one of six vignettes describing a patient being treated for opioid-related impairment that differed only in the way the impairment was described (as a "chronically relapsing brain disease", "brain disease", "disease", "illness", "disorder", or "problem"). Participants subsequently were asked to rate statements assessing five stigma dimensions (blame, prognostic pessimism, continuing care, dangerousness, and social distance).

RESULTS

Several characteristics were associated with different types and higher levels of stigmatizing beliefs: older age, male gender, White race, heterosexual orientation, being religious, Republican political affiliation, and having no prior alcohol/drug or mental health problem history (ps < 0.001). With very few exceptions, the way the opioid-impairment was described or whether the depicted patient was a man or a woman did not influence the strength of these associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Certain characteristics of members of the US population were associated with holding different types and degrees of stigmatizing attitudes when asked to consider someone receiving treatment for opioid-related impairment and these were largely unaffected by how the impairment was labeled or the opioid-impaired person's gender. Depending on the specific target of clinical and public health anti-stigma campaigns, both addiction terminology and the beliefs held by certain population sub-groups will need to be considered when creating opioid use disorder related anti-stigma campaigns.

Qualitative Ascriptions of Autistic Behavior by Non-Autistic College Students

In studies that assess perceptions of autistic people by non-autistic people, researchers often ask participants to review vignettes depicting fictional autistic characters. However, few studies have investigated whether non-autistic peers accurately identify these hypothetical individuals as being on the autism spectrum. Accurately ascribing autism as a cause of depicted behaviors likely influences perceptions about autistic peers. In this study, 469 college students (Mage = 18.62; 79.3% female) ascribed cause(s) of an autistic peers' behaviors as depicted in a written vignette. We reviewed and categorized open-ended responses into 16 categories. Non-autistic college students primarily attributed an autistic vignette character's behavior to non-autistic origins. The most commonly ascribed causes of behavior were: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (55.4%), inattention symptoms (20.9%), autism (12.8%), generalized anxiety disorder (11.7%), hyperactivity (11.3%), an unspecified diagnosis (10.7%), an environmental influence (9.6), anxiety or insecurity (8.3%), irritability or anger or annoyance (6.0%), social anxiety disorder (5.3%), and learning disorder (5.1%). Additional ascribed causes include other mental health diagnoses; environmental stressors; and cognitive, emotional, behavioral, biological, or personality characteristics/etiologies. Non-autistic young adults may not always recognize their autistic peers as autistic, which may affect acceptance and inclusion. Future anti-stigma interventions should assess the impact of helping non-autistic peers to accurately identify and better understand behaviors associated with autism. Additionally, autism-focused researchers using vignettes should assess participants' awareness of the character as autistic and interpret their findings with this in mind.

Computational Social Psychology

Social psychologists attempt to explain how we interact by appealing to basic principles of how we think. To make good on this ambition, they are increasingly relying on an interconnected set of formal tools that model inference, attribution, value-guided decision making, and multi-agent interactions. By reviewing progress in each of these areas and highlighting the connections between them, we can better appreciate the structure of social thought and behavior, while also coming to understand when, why, and how formal tools can be useful for social psychologists.

Recommendations for creating a collaborative NICU environment to support teamwork and trainee education

In a 2022 survey, a majority of neonatology program directors reported regular conflict between neonatal-perinatal fellows and frontline providers (FLPs) (i.e., neonatal nurse practitioners (NNPs), neonatal physician assistants (PAs), and neonatal hospitalists). This paper reviews recommendations of a multidisciplinary workgroup for creating a more collaborative unit environment that supports teamwork and education. The self-study framework is a helpful tool to identify specific pressure points at individual institutions. Implementing clear guidelines for procedural distribution and role clarification are often critical interventions. FLPs and Pediatric Physician Trainees may benefit from conflict management coaching and communication training. At the same time, we recommend that respective leaders support a psychologically safe environment for team members to feel safe to solve problems on their own. Going forward, more work is important to optimize teamwork in the setting of anticipated staffing shortages, limitations to resident neonatology exposure, changes in training requirements, and ongoing development of the FLP role.

Toward Parsimony in Bias Research: A Proposed Common Framework of Belief-Consistent Information Processing for a Set of Biases

One of the essential insights from psychological research is that people's information processing is often biased. By now, a number of different biases have been identified and empirically demonstrated. Unfortunately, however, these biases have often been examined in separate lines of research, thereby precluding the recognition of shared principles. Here we argue that several-so far mostly unrelated-biases (e.g., bias blind spot, hostile media bias, egocentric/ethnocentric bias, outcome bias) can be traced back to the combination of a fundamental prior belief and humans' tendency toward belief-consistent information processing. What varies between different biases is essentially the specific belief that guides information processing. More importantly, we propose that different biases even share the same underlying belief and differ only in the specific outcome of information processing that is assessed (i.e., the dependent variable), thus tapping into different manifestations of the same latent information processing. In other words, we propose for discussion a model that suffices to explain several different biases. We thereby suggest a more parsimonious approach compared with current theoretical explanations of these biases. We also generate novel hypotheses that follow directly from the integrative nature of our perspective.

Blame and Praise cross-culturally: An fMRI investigation into causal attribution and moral judgment

People from independent cultures are more likely to causally explain others' behaviors by their disposition [vs. situation] compared to those from interdependent cultures. However, few studies have directly examined how these differences in attribution shape individuals' moral judgment, nor the underlying neural mechanisms of this process. Aiming to address these questions, in the scanner, participants rated the blameworthiness or praiseworthiness of protagonists who did either a negative or positive behavior, respectively. These behaviors were pretested and found to be perceived as dispositionally or situationally caused to different extents on average. Regardless of their self-construal, participants showed enhanced dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) activity in response to the behaviors that were evaluated as more situationally caused on average. Importantly, relatively independent participants reduced their blame for the behaviors that they showed greater dmPFC activity to. Relatively interdependent participants reduced blame for the behaviors that they themselves inferred more situational causes for, but dmPFC activity did not explain their blame. These findings suggest that while dmPFC might support relatively independent participants' effortful consideration of situational contributors to a behavior to make moral judgments, relatively interdependent participants might engage in this process automatically and relied less on dmPFC recruitment.

Holism and Causal Responsibility: The Role of Number and Valence of Event Consequences

The present research examines the effect of holistic-analytic thinking style on causal responsibility. Across seven studies (N = 4,103), participants' thinking style was either measured or manipulated. Then, the valence or number of consequences varied in several scenarios involving a cause-consequence relationship. As a dependent measure, participants indicated the degree of responsibility attributed to the cause mentioned in each scenario. The results revealed that holistic (vs. analytic) participants assigned more responsibility to the cause when the consequences presented were a combination of positive and negative outcomes (vs. univalent), and when multiple (vs. single) consequences were triggered in the scenario. To explore the explanatory factor for these results, a final study manipulated the complexity of the consequences, along with the number. The results of this research suggested that holistic (vs. analytic) individuals consider the degree of complexity of consequences to establish causal attribution.

Humans perceive warmth and competence in artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (A.I.) increasingly suffuses everyday life. However, people are frequently reluctant to interact with A.I. systems. This challenges both the deployment of beneficial A.I. technology and the development of deep learning systems that depend on humans for oversight, direction, and regulation. Nine studies (N = 3,300) demonstrate that social-cognitive processes guide human interactions across a diverse range of real-world A.I. systems. Across studies, perceived warmth and competence emerge prominently in participants' impressions of A.I. systems. Judgments of warmth and competence systematically depend on human-A.I. interdependence and autonomy. In particular, participants perceive systems that optimize interests aligned with human interests as warmer and systems that operate independently from human direction as more competent. Finally, a prisoner's dilemma game shows that warmth and competence judgments predict participants' willingness to cooperate with a deep-learning system. These results underscore the generality of intent detection to perceptions of a broad array of algorithmic actors.

The relation between authoritarian leadership and belief in fake news

Individual factors such as cognitive capacities matter when one is requested to spot fake news. We suggest, however, that social influence-specifically as exercised by an authoritarian leader-might matter more if one is expected to agree with the fake news. We developed a single-item prototype measure of leadership styles and recruited participants from four Western democratic countries (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, N = 501) who identified their immediate boss as an autonomous, paternalistic, or authoritarian leader. Then they were asked to evaluate the accuracy of several fake news articles and their expectations to agree with their boss when asked about these articles. People with authoritarian bosses were less accurate in spotting fake news (Cohen's d = 0.32) compared to employees with autonomous bosses. The bigger effect, however, was that they would agree with their boss about the fake news article when it was shared by their authoritarian boss compared to employees with autonomous (Cohen's d = 1.30) or paternalistic bosses (Cohen's d = 0.70). We argue that in addition to effects on the perceived accuracy of information, social influence, conformity, and obedience are crucial and unacknowledged factors of how misinformation may be maintained and propagated by authoritarian leaders.

The role of mean item ratings, topic distance, direct leadership, and voice climate in action planning after employee surveys

This study contributes to the literature on employee surveys as a tool for organizational development and, specifically, the post-survey action planning process by examining key variables that affect this process. Using data from one large company in Germany, this study investigates team-level action planning in three consecutive years of 5,875 organizational units [OUs] in 2016, 5,673 OUs in 2017, and 5,707 OUs in 2018. Ratings per item on the employee survey and topic distance, which refers to the extent to which a survey topic can be addressed within the boundaries of the OU, predicted choice of topics for action planning. Furthermore, direct leadership and voice climate did not predict whether OUs conducted action planning. However, consistent with hypotheses, results showed that direct leadership and voice climate were associated with significantly less action planning in comparison to other topics of the employee survey. Direct leaders and OU members that experience shortcomings in direct leadership or voice climate need to improve on these topics. However, at the same time, these deficits could hinder leaders and members in planning actions in general and for these specific topics, as they represent important requirements for conducting effective action planning in the first place. This creates an organizational paradox. Based on the findings, it is recommend that organizations take topic distance into account when designing questionnaires that entail action planning expectations and consider offering additional resources and support to OUs and direct leaders to enable effective action planning.

The Situated Assessment Method (SAM2): Establishing individual differences in habitual behavior

From the perspectives of grounded, situated, and embodied cognition, we have developed a new approach for assessing individual differences. Because this approach is grounded in two dimensions of situatedness-situational experience and the Situated Action Cycle-we refer to it as the Situated Assessment Method (SAM2). Rather than abstracting over situations during assessment of a construct (as in traditional assessment instruments), SAM2 assesses a construct in situations where it occurs, simultaneously measuring factors from the Situated Action Cycle known to influence it. To demonstrate this framework, we developed the SAM2 Habitual Behavior Instrument (SAM2 HBI). Across three studies with a total of 442 participants, the SAM2 HBI produced a robust and replicable pattern of results at both the group and individual levels. Trait-level measures of habitual behavior exhibited large reliable individual differences in the regularity of performing positive versus negative habits. Situational assessments established large effects of situations and large situation by individual interactions. Several sources of evidence demonstrated construct and content validity for SAM2 measures of habitual behavior. At both the group and individual levels, these measures were associated with factors from the Situated Action Cycle known to influence habitual behavior in the literature (consistency, automaticity, immediate reward, long-term reward). Regressions explained approximately 65% of the variance at the group level and a median of approximately 75% at the individual level. SAM2 measures further exhibited well-established interactions with personality measures for self-control and neuroticism. Cognitive-affective processes from the Situated Action Cycle explained nearly all the variance in these interactions. Finally, a composite measure of habitualness established habitual behaviors at both the group and individual levels. Additionally, a composite measure of reward was positively related to the composite measure of habitualness, increasing with self-control and decreasing with neuroticism.

The barriers and facilitators to hand hygiene practices in Nigeria: A qualitative study: "There are so many barriers ... the barriers are limitless."

BACKGROUND

Health care associated infections (HCAIs) are a global challenge and hand hygiene is the primary measure to reduce these. In developing countries, patients are between 2 and 20 times more likely to acquire an HCAI compared with developed countries. Estimates of hand hygiene in Sub-Saharan Africa suggests 21% concordance. There are few studies investigating barriers and facilitators and those published tend to be surveys. This study aimed to understand barriers and facilitators to hand hygiene in a hospital in Nigeria.

METHODS

A theoretically underpinned in-depth qualitative interview study with thematic analysis of nurses and doctors working in surgical wards.

RESULTS

There were individual and institutional factors constituting barriers or facilitators: (1) knowledge, skills, and education, (2) perceived risks of infection to self and others, (3) memory, (4) the influence of others and (5) skin irritation. Institutional factors were (1) environment and resources and (2) workload and staffing levels.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study presents barriers and facilitators not previously reported and offers nuances and detail to those already reported in the literature. Although the primary recommendation is adequate resources, however small local changes such as gentle soap, simple skills and reminder posters and mentorship or support could address many of the barriers listed.

Who attributes what to whom? Moral values and relational context shape causal attribution to the person or the situation

Eight preregistered studies (total N = 3,758) investigate the role of values and relational context in attributions for moral violations, focusing on the following questions: (1) Do people's values influence their attributions? (2) Do people's relationships with the violator (self, close other, distant other) influence their attributions? (3) Do the principles intrinsic to the violated values (e.g., loyalty to close others) further influence their attributions? We found that participants were more likely to attribute violations by distant others to the person committing the violation, rather than the situation in which the violation occurred, when participants endorsed the violated values themselves. The tendency to make dispositional attributions did not obtain for violations of participants' less highly endorsed moral values or non-moral values. Relationship with the violator also influenced participants' attributions-participants were more likely to attribute their own and close others' moral violations to situational factors, relative to distant others' violations. This relational pattern was pronounced for violations of "binding" moral values, in which protection of personal relationships and groups is primary. Collectively, these results support a relational-values account of causal attribution for moral violations, whereby attributions systematically vary based on (1) the relevance of the violated values to the attributor's moral values, (2) the attributor's personal relationship to the violator, and (3) an interaction between (1) and (2) such that the principles intrinsic to the violated values influence the effects of one's relationship to the violator.

The Impact of Work-Related Barriers on Job Satisfaction of Practitioners Working with Migrants

The work environment of practitioners working with migrants may be very demanding as they are frequently exposed to the sad narratives of such a vulnerable population, the lack of professional support, or the frequent change of policies towards refugees and asylum seekers. Little research has been conducted to explore the job satisfaction of practitioners working with migrants and the organizational characteristics that can hinder or promote such satisfaction. The present study investigated the relationship between work-related barriers (i.e., intra-organizational, legal, and interaction-related barriers) and job satisfaction of practitioners working with migrants, also testing if perceived organizational efficacy is mediating this relation. This study was part of a larger European funded project, and participants were 428 First-Line Practitioners working with migrants in various sectors (e.g., social and health services, immigration and asylum services, or border guards) and working in several European countries. Data were collected through an online survey in the period between October and December 2020. Results showed that intra-organizational and legal barriers had a negative impact on job satisfaction, while interaction-related barriers did not have any. Perceived organizational efficacy mediated the relationship between two work-related barriers (intra-organizational and interaction-related barriers) and job satisfaction. These findings suggest that organizations working with migrants should focus on addressing intra-organizational and legal barriers, and on implementing actions aimed at building employees’ collective efficacy beliefs to improve their job satisfaction.

Attribution Impacts Implicit (And Explicit) Evaluations

Two studies examined whether the attributional framing of negative events affected explicit evaluations, as measured by differences in liking, and implicit evaluations, as measured by the Implicit Association Test (Greenwald et al., 1998). In Study 1, participants read negative information about a novel target ordered to elicit internal or external attributions. Participants in the internal attribution condition evaluated the target more negatively than did those in the external attribution condition on both implicit and explicit measures. Study 2 replicated these results and tested the effects of attribution on recently formed negative evaluations. Participants who evaluated targets before and after receiving additional negative information about them demonstrated implicit and explicit evaluative change consistent with the attributional framing of that information. This research provides clear evidence that attribution influences the formation and change of implicit evaluations; however, these effects were weaker than those on explicit measures of evaluation.

Behavioural and cognitive-behavioural theories in oral health research: Current state and future directions

OBJECTIVES

Behavioural and cognitive-behavioural theories, models and frameworks have been incorporated for decades in behavioural and social oral health sciences, oral health care, and education of dentists, hygienists, and other oral healthcare professionals.

METHODS

While a myriad of these conceptualizations have been incorporated in this work, there are six of them that have had the greatest impact in the oral health arena: (a) Health Belief Model; (b) Theory of Reasoned Action, Theory of Planned Behavior and Integrated Behavioral Model, which are considered in unison; (c) Social Learning Theory and Social Cognitive Theory which are considered together; (d) Transtheoretical Model/Stages of Change Model; (e) Salutogenesis Model/Theory and Sense of Coherence Framework; and the (f) Behavior Change Wheel, Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behavior Model and Theoretical Domains Framework, which are categorized together.

RESULTS

An analysis of nomenclature (i.e. theories, models, frameworks and conceptualizations) is provided in the context of a description of each of these theories and models, with discussion about their aspects that particularly relate to oral health. Additionally, a quantitative, longitudinal view is provided of the frequency of use of these theories and models in the oral health arena. Given the benefits of theory-based intervention development, dissemination and implementation, it is important to consider these theories and models in a collective context.

CONCLUSIONS

At a basic level, these theories and models help in identifying and acting on mechanisms, both of behaviour itself and behaviour change. Future directions are discussed in terms of need for theory evolution and development.

Users taking the blame? How service failure, recovery, and robot design affect user attributions and retention

Firms use robots to deliver an ever-expanding range of services. However, as service failures are common, service recovery actions are necessary to prevent user churn. This research further suggests that firms need to know how to design service robots that avoid alienating users in case of service failures. Robust evidence across two experiments demonstrates that users attribute successful service outcomes internally, while robot-induced service failures are blamed on the firm (and not the robot), confirming the well-known self-serving bias. While this external attributional shift occurs regardless of the robot design (i.e., it is the same for warm vs. competent robots), the findings imply that service recovery minimizes the undesirable external shift and that this effect is particularly pronounced for warm robots. For practitioners, this implies prioritizing service robots with a warm design for maximizing user retention for either type of service outcome (i.e., success, failure, and failure with recovery). For theory, this work demonstrates that attribution represents a meaningful mechanism to explain the proposed relationships.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12525-022-00613-4.

Student Perceptions of Academic Integrity: A Qualitative Study of Understanding, Consequences, and Impact

Background

Academic integrity (AI) is of increasing importance in higher education. At the same time, students are becoming more consumer-oriented and more inclined to appeal against, or complain about, a penalty imposed for a breach of AI. This combination of factors places pressure on institutions of higher education to handle alleged breaches of AI in a way acceptable to students that motivates them to continue to engage with their studies.

Method

Students (n = 8) were interviewed to discover their perceptions of the process for dealing with breaches of AI. All students were based in one university in a very diverse area of London which has many first-generation students from non-traditional academic backgrounds.

Results

Students reported strong emotional reactions featuring high levels of anxiety and stress. Some found the process to be threatening and demotivating and questioned continuation on their course of study, while others used more adaptive coping strategies. Students also went to great pains to make it clear that their own, and their friends', breaches of AI were unintentional, while expressing the view that other people were deliberately cheating and should be penalised.Key recommendations include: support for students to re-engage after the intervention; support for students to develop effective self-regulatory learning strategies and time management; provision of specific examples to clarify what is, and is not, acceptable academic practice; recognition of the strong emotions likely to be invoked, especially if accompanied by declarations of unintentionality.

Waiving goodbye to youth: Jurors perceive transferred juveniles differently from adults but render similar verdicts

Juveniles are developmentally different from adults but are often treated similarly in the criminal justice system. In case processing, many juveniles are transferred to adult courts. Before case processing, many juveniles are interrogated with the same tactics used against adults. Limited research has examined jurors' decisions in juvenile transfer cases, particularly those involving confession evidence. In two studies, we built on this small line of research and extended it to examine whether jurors make different decisions for juvenile versus adult defendants with differing types of confession evidence. Participants listened to a trial that varied in defendant age (Study 1: 16, 23; Study 2: 13, 16, 23, 42), interrogation pressure (low, high), and interrogation outcome (denial, confession). They rendered a verdict and rated the defendant on dangerousness and maturity. Age did not affect verdict in either study, but it did affect perceptions of dangerousness and maturity in both studies. Study 2 replicated and extended our findings by showing that differences in dangerousness and maturity were driven by participants' preexisting stereotypes about juveniles as superpredators. Overall, jurors recognized juveniles' lesser maturity but did not account for it in their verdicts. The stigma associated with the superpredator stereotype may limit jurors' sensitivity to the developmental vulnerabilities of juvenile defendants.

Crowds’ malice behind the screen: The normative influences of online dehumanization on discrimination against foreigners

With the ubiquitous presence of the Internet, comments that dehumanize foreigners are frequently found on social networking platforms. These comments may function as dehumanizing norms and facilitate discrimination against foreigners in the offline world. In the current research, three studies were conducted to explore this possibility. Study 1 was a correlational study that revealed a positive association between dehumanizing norms and discrimination against foreigners. Studies 2 and 3 manipulated dehumanizing norms and found that these norms promoted discrimination against foreigners via increased prejudice toward them. Study 3 further measured perceived online anonymity and revealed that decreasing perceived online anonymity buffered the destructive influences of dehumanizing norms. In conclusion, to our knowledge, the current research represents the first attempt to empirically explore the normative influences of dehumanization on discrimination against foreigners and provides practical implications for comment management on the Internet.

Indonesian civilians’ attributions for anti-Chinese violence during the May 1998 riots in Indonesia

The present research examines the perceptions of Indonesian civilians regarding the May 1998 riots, which occurred at the end of the period of military dictatorship in Indonesia and included looting, rapes, and murders, disproportionately targeting Chinese Indonesians. Using a mixed methods approach, the research explores the intersectionality of ethnicity and gender as factors associated with perceptions of the extent and causes of the riots. It aims to contribute to the literature concerning the Ultimate Attribution Error, and to the psychology of intergroup relations in non-WEIRD contexts more broadly. An online survey with qualitative and quantitative components was administered to 235 participants (134 Pribumi and 101 Chinese Indonesian participants). The present research provides what may be the first documentation of civilian perceptions of the May 1998 riots. Significant differences consistent with the Ultimate Attribution Error were found between perpetrator and victim groups’ accounts. Participants who are Pribumi (the group involved in perpetrating the violence) attributed the causes of the violence to external factors more strongly, while participants who are Chinese Indonesians (the victim group) attributed the causes of the mass violence more strongly to the internal factors of perpetrators. There was no evidence, however, that gender affected perceptions, despite the gendered nature of the violence.

Freedom and Constraint in Digital Environments: Implications for the Self

We evaluate how features of the digital environment free or constrain the self. Based on the current empirical literature, we argue that modern technological features, such as predictive algorithms and tracking tools, pose four potential obstacles to the freedom of the self: lack of privacy and anonymity, (dis)embodiment and entrenchment of social hierarchy, changes to memory and cognition, and behavioral reinforcement coupled with reduced randomness. Comparing these constraints on the self to the freedom promised by earlier digital environments suggests that digital reality can be designed in more freeing ways. We describe how people reassert personal agency in the face of the digital environment's constraints and provide avenues for future research regarding technology's influence on the self.

Culture, theory-of-mind, and morality: How independent and interdependent minds make moral judgments

Although the investigation of the neural mechanisms of morality has increased in recent years, the neural underpinnings of cultural variations in judgments of morality is understudied. In this paper, we propose that the well-established cultural differences in two cognitive processes, consideration of mental state and causal attribution, would lead to differences in moral judgment. Specifically, North Americans rely heavily on the mental state of a protagonist and dispositional attributions, whereas East Asians focus more on situational attributions and place less emphasis on the mental state of a protagonist. These differences would be accounted for by activity in brain regions implicated in thinking about others' minds, or theory-of-mind (ToM), which would underlie the cultural shaping of moral judgment. This proposed cultural neuroscience approach may broaden the scope of morality research, better predict moral behavior, and reduce disparities in diverse groups' moral judgment.

Exposure to incivility does not hinder speaking up: a randomised controlled high-fidelity simulation-based study

BACKGROUND

Speaking up with concerns is critical for patient safety. We studied whether witnessing a civil (i.e. polite, respectful) response to speaking up would increase the occurrence of further speaking up by hospital staff members as compared with witnessing a pseudo-civil (i.e. vague and slightly dismissive) or rude response.

METHODS

In this RCT in a single, large academic teaching hospital, a single simulated basic life support scenario was designed to elicit standardised opportunities to speak up. Participants in teams of two or three were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions in which the degree of civility in reacting to speaking up was manipulated by an embedded simulated person. Speaking up behaviour was assessed by behaviour coding of the video recordings of the team interactions by applying 10 codes using The Observer XT 14.1. Data were analysed using multilevel modelling.

RESULTS

The sample included 125 interprofessional hospital staff members (82 [66%] women, 43 [34%] men). Participants were more likely to speak up when they felt psychologically safe (γ=0.47; standard error [se]=0.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.09-0.85; P=0.017). Participants were more likely to speak up in the rude condition than in the other conditions (γ=0.28; se=0.12; 95% CI, 0.05-0.52; P=0.019). Across conditions, participants spoke up most frequently by structuring inquiry (n=289, 31.52%), proactive (n=240, 26.17%), and reactive (n=148, 16.14%) instruction statements, and gestures (n=139, 15.16%).

CONCLUSION

Our study challenges current assumptions about the interplay of civility and speaking up behaviour in healthcare.

Accent Speaks Louder than Ability: Elucidating the Effect of Nonnative Accent on Trust

Nonnative accent often leads to prejudicial judgments. In this paper, we examine the effect of a job candidate’s Mandarin Chinese accent on a hiring manager’s perceptions of trust and the three dimensions of trustworthiness. The results of an online experiment with 179 working adults suggest that speaking with a nonnative accent (vs. no accent) adversely affects hiring decision-makers’ perceptions of trust and the ability dimension of trustworthiness, but not the benevolence and integrity dimensions. We also examined the effects of perspective taking (vs. no perspective taking) on trust and trustworthiness to test its beneficial role in interpersonal evaluations. The findings suggest that perspective taking may significantly mitigate the effect of language-based stigma on people’s judgments, providing evidence-based insights for organizational leaders and HR professionals.

Situated Affectivity and Mind Shaping: Lessons from Social Psychology*

Proponents of situated affectivity hold that “tools for feeling” are just as characteristic of the human condition as are “tools for thinking” or tools for carpentry. An agent’s affective life, they argue, is dependent upon both physical characteristics of the agent and the agent’s reciprocal relationship to an appropriately structured natural, technological, or social environment. One important achievement has been the distinction between two fundamentally different ways in which affectivity might be intertwined with the environment: the “user-resource-model” and the “mind-invasion-model.” The twofold purpose of this paper is to complement the debate about situated affectivity in general and about “mind invasion” in particular by, firstly, connecting it to situationist research in social psychology and, secondly, broadening the perspective to not only accommodate decidedly detrimental “invasions” but also potentially beneficial forms of “mind shaping” that include the manipulation of an agent’s experiential life and behaviour through the moulding of both the agent’s environment and the agent’s body.

Beyond Reciprocity: Forgiveness, Generosity, and Punishment in Continuing Dyadic Interactions

There is a long-standing debate in philosophy and the social sciences about how selfishness and cooperation function in dyadic social exchanges. Dyads are the foundation of our social lives, and reciprocity has long been considered the dominant strategy for dyadic interactions. We will argue the repertoire of human behavior during social exchanges ranges from punishment to generosity, and that the nuances of the relationship and interaction will dictate which behavior is likely to occur. We will examine emotional consequences of punishment, reciprocity, and forgiveness in long-term dyadic social exchanges. Finally, we argue that dyads move beyond reciprocity to a more forgiving, generous strategy to reestablish cooperation, and continue the relationship when noncooperation arises, once the motivations shift has occurred.

Perceptions About Local ART Adherence Norms and Personal Adherence Behavior Among Adults Living with HIV in Rural Uganda

Although misperceived norms often drive personal health behaviors, we do not know about this phenomenon in the context of antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence. We conducted a cross-sectional study including all persons living with HIV (PLWH) on ART across eight villages in one parish in a rural region of southwestern Uganda. We used surveys to measure personal reports of ART adherence (not missing any doses of ART in the past 7 days was considered optimal adherence whereas missing doses was considered suboptimal adherence) and perceived norms about the local ART adherence norm (whether or not each individual thought 'most other PLWH on ART in this parish' missed any doses in the past 7 days). Multivariable Poisson regression models were used to estimate the association between perceived norms and personal adherence. Among 159 PLWH on ART (95% response rate), 142 (89%) reported no missed doses. However, 119 (75%) thought most individuals in this population of PLWH on ART were sub-optimally adherent. This misperception about the local ART adherence norm was prevalent in every subgroup of PLWH. Misperceiving the local ART adherence norm to be sub-optimal adherence was associated with a reduced likelihood of optimal adherence among married PLWH (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-0.97). The association was similar but imprecisely estimated for all PLWH (aRR = 0.91; 95% CI 0.82-1.01). Interventions to correct misperceived ART adherence norms as a stand-alone intervention or as a complement to other adherence promotion programs may influence ART adherence behavior and perhaps reduce HIV-related stigma.

Differences between managers' and safety professionals' perceptions of upwards influence attempts within safety practice

INTRODUCTION

The ability to influence upwards and gain management commitment has been identified as an essential capability for safety professionals, yet little is known about managers' perceptions of their subordinates use and effectiveness of influence tactics. This study utilizes intra-organizational influence theory to explore how safety professionals influence managers who are making important safety decisions.

METHOD

Survey data were collected from managers (n = 145) on influence tactics used by safety professionals, perceived outcomes, and factors that promote and impede influence. Survey data from a previous study of safety professionals (n = 385) were used to compare the differences in perceptions between the two groups.

RESULTS

Managers perceive that the use of influence tactics provides explanation for safety professionals' effectiveness, with rational persuasion being positively associated with influencing effectiveness, and personal appeals and legitimating being negatively associated with effectiveness. Certain factors (i.e., knowledge, understanding organizational context, interpersonal skills, and experience) were more frequently perceived by managers to enable influence, while others were more frequently reported as barriers (i.e., organizational culture, safety beliefs, and leadership styles of managers). Managers and safety professionals agreed on many of these findings, although safety professionals reported a broader range of tactics as being effective than did managers.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides important contributions to understanding the upward influence behavior of safety professionals, and to our knowledge is the first study to report this behavior from the perspective of managers.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

These findings may prompt safety professionals to reflect on current tactic usage and associated efficacy from managers' perspectives. Safety professionals should also consider the culture of the organization, safety beliefs, and the leadership style of managers prior to influencing, as these factors may negatively impact influencing outcomes. Developing knowledge and skills in both technical and non-technical domains may enhance the strategic influence of safety professionals.

The (Un)real Existence of ADHD-Criteria, Functions, and Forms of the Diagnostic Entity

The contemporary conceptualization of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a complex, multifactorial neurodevelopmental disorder cannot be understood as such without a complex assemblage of political, economic, and cultural processes that deem the conceptualization to be valuable and useful. In this article we use the notion of psychiatrization as a lens through which to see parts of these processes that make up ADHD what it is. In the first part of the article, we critically assess the scientific basis of the ADHD diagnosis via examining its diagnostic criteria as presented in the current fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the so called "Bible" of modern psychiatry. The second part of the article asks what is done with the ADHD diagnostic entity and with the idea that it represents a natural neurodevelopmental state within an individual-something an individual has-as represented in the DSM-5. Drawn from our previous research, we analyze how ADHD becomes real in discourse practice as a powerful semiotic mediator through analysis of the various functions and forms in which it takes shape in institutional, social, and individual levels. We conclude that the frequent changes in the diagnostic criteria of ADHD do not reflect any real scientific progress. Among other reasons, they change to match better the maneuvers of individuals when navigating an increasingly psychiatrized society in the search for recognition, support, category membership, immunity, sympathy, and sense of belonging.

Are You for Real? Perceptions of Authenticity Are Systematically Biased and Not Accurate

Can people accurately perceive who is authentic? Laypeople believe they can tell who is authentic, and they report that authenticity is an important attribute in others (Studies 1a and 1b; N = 369). However, when we directly tested the accuracy of perceived authenticity, we found no significant correlation between self- and other-rated authenticity in two cohorts of adult students in randomly assigned teams (Studies 2 and 3; 4,040 self-other observations). In addition, we found that perceived authenticity was biased in two ways: (a) Other-rated authenticity showed a positivity bias compared with self-ratings, and (b) other-rated authenticity was biased by the rater's own authenticity. In Study 3, we also investigated authenticity meta-perceptions; although people expect their authenticity to be accurately perceived by others, their meta-perceptions did not correlate with other-rated authenticity. That is, beliefs about the visibility of one's authenticity are similarly not accurate. Overall, we found no evidence that people can accurately identify who is authentic.