Two experiments tested the value people attach to the leadership potential and leadership performance of female and male candidates for leadership positions in an organizational hiring simulation. In both experiments, participants (
Total N
= 297) valued leadership potential more highly than leadership performance, but only for male candidates. By contrast, female candidates were preferred when they demonstrated leadership performance over leadership potential. The findings reveal an
overlooked potential effect
that exclusively benefits men and hinders women who pursue leadership positions that require leadership potential. Implications for the representation of women in leadership positions and directions for future research are discussed.
By leaving their engines idling for long periods, drivers contribute unnecessarily to air pollution, waste fuel, and produce noise and fumes that harm the environment. Railway level crossings are sites where many cars idle, many times a day. In this research, testing two psychological theories of influence, we examine the potential to encourage drivers to switch off their ignition while waiting at rail crossings. Two field studies presented different signs at a busy rail crossing site with a 2-min average wait. Inducing public self-focus (via a “Watching Eyes” stimulus) was not effective, even when accompanied by a written behavioral instruction. Instead, cueing a private-self focus (“think of yourself”) was more effective, doubling the level of behavioral compliance. These findings confirm the need to engage the self when trying to instigate self-regulatory action, but that cues evoking self-surveillance may sometimes be more effective than cues that imply external surveillance.
Previous research has examined the impact of stereotypes on outcomes such as career progression and hiring decisions. We present a novel approach to examine the role of stereotypes in predicting self-rated leadership potential across gender and age groups. This research sheds light on the impact of leadership-incongruent and detrimental stereotypes about one's gender and age, for women and older workers, on self-ratings of leadership potential. Across three studies (total
N
= 640), correlational and experimental evidence shows differential effects of stereotypes about women (vs. men) and older (vs. younger) people on self-ratings of their own leadership potential. Results suggest that both gender and age stereotypes affect older workers more than their younger counterparts (Study 1). Specifically, effects on self-rated leadership potential at the intersectional level show that endorsement of stereotypes has opposite effects on older women to younger men (Study 1). Furthermore, stereotyped workplace cultures impacted women's and older worker's perceptions of job fit (Studies 2 and 3), also extending to job appeal for older workers (Study 3). Results are discussed in terms of career implications for both women and older workers, with a particular focus on older women, whose intersecting identities are leadership stereotype-incongruent.
Idling engines are a substantial air pollutant which contribute to many health and environmental problems. In this field experiment (N = 419) we use the subjective group dynamics framework to test ways of motivating car drivers to turn off idle engines at a long wait stop where the majority leave their engines idling. One of three normative messages (descriptive norm, in‐group prescriptive deviance, outgroup prescriptive deviance) was displayed when barriers were down at a busy railway level‐crossing. Compared to the baseline, normative messages increased the proportion of drivers that turned off their engines. Consistent with subjective group dynamics theory, the most effective approach was to highlight instances of in‐group prescriptive deviance (47% stopped idling, compared with 28% in the baseline). Implications for health and environmental outcomes and future research are discussed.
Los Angeles: Sage 256 pages, ISBN 9781452268392, £20.99 (spiral bound) This book sets out to provide the reader with an easy overview of how to use the American Psychological Association's (APA) writing guidelines and referencing style. The APA style is commonly used by psychologists and other social and behaviour-related disciplines. For psychologists in particular, it is the 'definitive' guide on how to structure your research paper in a publishable format.The book consists of six sections, of which the first two are relatively generic in nature. The first section is an overview of what APA style is as well as a visual table of contents (a QuickFinder). The QuickFinder is a simple (and creative) way of ensuring that readers can easily find what they need to within the book. It consists of a sample paper that is annotated with APA style examples and the page numbers where you can find further information about the particular example. The underlying idea is that the reader may not know the correct terminology for what they wish to do and hence will be unable to look it up in a traditional index. Equally it is also possible that the reader is unaware of a particular rule and will therefore not know to look for it at all. Both the previous examples are problems that the QuickFinder overcomes beautifully.In section two the authors tackle general tips about writing such as when to use active or passive voice, common grammar mistakes, paraphrasing, and biased language issues. This section is clear and concise even though it is far too brief to be truly helpful for those who need a lot of support with issues particularly related to grammar and writing style. The authors recognise this and do suggest other books that may be useful to consult if needed.In the third section of this book the reader is finally faced with more specific details about the APA style. It is somewhat unfortunate that the first chapter in this section (7) is titled Whodunit (or Said It)? as it distracts somewhat from how nice the rest of the book is. Presumably such a title is to keep student readers amused. Having said that the section is otherwise great, it is well structured, and guides the reader easily through topics such as how to use citations, how to format your method section, and how to write your references properly. There is also a chapter in this section on statistics that could possibly have been a little longer and more in-depth. Presenting statistics in a clear and concise manner is something that students often struggle with. Consequently it would have been nice if the authors had provided a few more examples of commonly occurring problems. Nevertheless, the statistically based chapter has some great parts that students should really benefit from reading such as the section on effect size and power. It is really clearly explained and should not leave anybody in doubt about how and why it should be reported.Section four provides an overview of how to present your work in APA format. This section takes a look at when to use nume...
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