No abstract

Power is known to promote effective goal pursuit, especially when it requires one to overcome distractions or bias. We proposed that this effect involves the ability to engage and implement cognitive control. In Study 1, we demonstrated that power enhances behavioral performance on a response conflict task and that it does so by enhancing controlled processing rather than by reducing automatic processing. In Study 2, we used an event-related potential index of anterior cingulate activity to test whether power effects on control were due to enhanced conflict sensitivity or action implementation. Power did not significantly affect neural sensitivity to conflict; rather, high power was associated with a stronger link between conflict processing and intended action, relative to low power. These findings suggest a new perspective on how social factors can affect controlled processing and offer new evidence regarding the transition between conflict detection and the implementation of action control.

In this article, we argue that nonconscious goal conflicts are accompanied by a mindset that has wide-ranging implications for reasoning and thinking in content areas that are not part of the conflict itself. Specifically, we propose that nonconscious goal conflicts induce a mode of processing information that increases the likelihood of approaching an issue from opposing perspectives. This hypothesis is examined by investigating the effects of nonconscious goal conflicts on confirmatory thinking, that is, a way of thinking that narrowly focuses on confirmation rather than on broader examination of information. In 5 experiments, we show that nonconscious goal conflicts significantly reduce confirmatory hypothesis testing (Experiments 1 through 3) and anchoring (Experiments 4 and 5). We further show that these effects result from a goal conflict by rejecting explanations based on priming of semantic opposites, and priming of multiple goals that do not conflict (Experiments 2 and 3), and by examining decision times as a conflict process variable (Experiment 5). Using various probes, we show that these changes in confirmatory judgments are not accompanied by changes in conflict phenomenology. Together, these results suggest that nonconscious goal conflicts attenuate the robust confirmatory thinking strategy that characterizes human thinking in numerous domains.

The present study examined the relationships between two measures of career readiness and difficulties—the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) and the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ)—as well as the relations between these measures and the individual’s degree of decidedness regarding his or her career plans. A total of 192 university students enrolled in a career-planning class filled out both questionnaires. As hypothesized, the two measures overlapped significantly. There was a highly significant correlation (corrected for attenuation) between the total scores of the questionnaires ( r= .82), but the correlations between the questionnaires’ subscales varied between –.03 and .83. Both the CTI and the CDDQ distinguish among individuals at different stages of the career decision-making process. As hypothesized, participants with a higher degree of decidedness reported lower levels of difficulties. Implications of the unique features of each of the measures for career-related interventions and further research are discussed.

This research develops and tests a procedure for interpreting individuals' responses in multiscale career assessments, using the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ). In Study 1, criteria for ascertaining the credibility of responses were developed, based on the judgments of 39 career-counseling experts. In Study 2, the proposed estimate of the responses' differentiation was validated, using the judgments of 140 experts. In Study 3, the procedure for assessing the relative salience of the difficulties was developed and validated by the judgments of Study 2 experts. In Study 4, criteria for determining the confidence in the interpretive feedback, and the need to add reservations to the feedback provided, were validated by the judgments of Study 1 experts. In Study 5, the four stages of interpretation were implemented, using English and Hebrew versions of the CDDQ and Internet and paper-and-pencil versions. Implications for the interpretation of other multiscale career-related measures are discussed.