Author: Administrator

Empathy and Leadership

  By Brad Bell

Leadership involves the development and implementation of plans and strategies to achieve positive results for an organization.   What are the attributes of a leader that may help to achieve positive results?    In this article, I will argue that empathy is a key attribute that helps a leader to achieve positive results.

Empathy can be conceptualized as the ability to understand and vicariously experience what another person is experiencing.   If you are experiencing empathy, you see things from the person’s perspective, and experience the same emotional state as the person.  

Greater empathy in a leader may foster effective leadership for a number of reasons.   In this article, I will present two possible reasons.   First, greater empathy may increase altruistic motivation, and greater altruistic motivation may lead to making more decisions that reflect the common good.   Second, increased empathy in a leader may increase the leader’s helping behavior, which in turn, may lead to helping behaviors becoming the norm in the organization.                                  

Altruistic Motivation and the Common Good

A person can be described as altruistically motivated if the person is motivated to help others.  Feeling empathy may increase altruistic motivation.   Empathy may foster concern for the welfare for another person.   If a person is altruistically motivated, the person may be more likely to make decisions that reflect the common good of the organization. The person may make a greater effort at finding win-win solutions, and have a greater understanding of what would reflect the common good.

 Making decisions that reflect the common good of the organization can be considered to be an indication of effective leadership.   If a decision reflects the common good, then many people in the organization may be happy with the decision. 

Helping Behavior and Norms

 Greater empathy may increase helping behavior.   Einolf (2008) found that empathic concern was positively correlated with some helping behaviors (e.g., giving to a charity).   However, because these findings are correlational, one cannot make causal conclusions  from the findings.

If a leader is more helpful, then others in the organization may also increase their helping behaviors. This may reflect observational learning.  Eventually, helping behaviors may become the norm in the organization.  This could result in more cooperation, and more cooperation in an organization may result in being able to achieve more positive outcomes.

References

 Einolf, C. J. (2008). Empathic concern and prosocial behaviors: A test of experimental results using survey data.  Social Science Research, 37, 1267-1279.

Laughter Yoga and Life Satisfaction

                   By Brad Bell

Life satisfaction is an important indicator of quality of life.  Thus, it is important to conduct research to find out what may influence life satisfaction.   Laughter yoga may be one technique that may influence life satisfaction.

Shahidi et al. (2011) conducted a study in which there was random assignment to three groups: a control group, an exercise therapy group, and a laughter yoga group. The participants were described as depressed women, and the mean age was 66.56 of the 60 participants who completed the study.  The laughter yoga involved a number of elements. Some of the elements included a simple chant, clapping hands, deep breathing exercises, and laughter exercises. The increase in life satisfaction in the laughter yoga group was statistically significant in comparison to the control group. However, based on the findings reported in Table 3 in their article, the difference in the increase in life satisfaction between the laugher yoga group and the exercise therapy group was not statistically significant. (1)   These findings suggest that laughter yoga may increase life satisfaction, but it may not be more effective than exercise.  However, there were only 20 participants in each condition of the experiment who completed the study. Also, it is not clear whether there would be any long-term effects of laughter yoga on life satisfaction.   It is important to conduct more research on the possible benefits of laughter yoga in which there is a larger number of participants and a longitudinal study.

References

Shahidi, M., Mojtahed, A., Modabbernia, A., Mojtahed, M., Shafiabady, A., Delavar. A.,  & Honari, H.  (2011).  Laughter yoga versus group exercise program in elderly depressed women:  A randomized controlled trial.  International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26, 322-327.  

Notes

1.  Their study also addressed the influence of laughter yoga on depression (see their article for other findings).

Confirmation Bias

By Brad Bell

There are a number of possible biases in judgment.  One of these biases is the confirmation bias.   The confirmation bias is an important concept in psychology.   What is the confirmation bias?   Below is a definition of the confirmation bias.

Confirmation Bias Definition:

The confirmation bias refers to the tendency to selectively search for and consider information that confirms one’s beliefs.

Confirmation Bias Examples:

There are a number of possible examples of the confirmation bias.  Below are a few examples.

1.   A student who is going to write a research paper may
primarily search for information that would confirm his or her beliefs.  The student may fail to search for or fully consider information that is inconsistent with his or her beliefs.

2.    A reporter who is writing an article on an important issue may only interview experts that support her or his views on the issue.

3.    An employer who believes that a job applicant is highly intelligent may pay attention to only information that is consistent with the belief that the job applicant is highly intelligent.

Can Watching a Happy Film Increase Life Satisfaction?

By Brad Bell

You have decided to go see a comedy film.  After seeing the film, you reflect on your life.  You seem to have a higher opinion of your life after seeing the film.  Did the viewing of the comedy film increase your life satisfaction?   In one study (Forgas & Moyan, 1987), people in a control group were asked to complete a questionnaire before seeing a film.  Other people in the study were asked to complete the same questionnaire after seeing a film.  Some of the questions pertained to satisfaction with one’s social, private, and work lives.   On the average, life satisfaction was higher for people who completed the questionnaire after seeing a happy film than for the people who completed the questionnaire before seeing a film (control group).  Moreover, judgments of life satisfaction completed after watching a film were higher, on the average, for people who saw a happy film than for people who saw an aggressive film or a sad film. (1)  These findings may suggest that may be more beneficial to see happy films than aggressive or sad films.

Notes

1.  See their article for information on other findings.

References

Forgas, J. P., & Moylan, S. (1987).  After the movies:  Transient mood and social judgments.  Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 13, 467-477.

Can a Walk in a Park Increase Happiness?

By Brad Bell

Parks are beautiful and tranquil places.  Consequently, a walk in a park might might foster greater happiness. In their second study, Hartig, Mang, and Evans (1991) had participants either take a walk in a park, a walk in an urban setting, or read magazines for forty minutes in a laboratory setting (relaxation condition).  All the participants completed tasks for 40 minutes that were intended to produce cognitive fatigue. These tasks occurred prior to taking the walk or the relaxation condition.   They found that overall happiness was somewhat higher for people who took a walk in the park than for people who took a walk in the urban setting or participated in the relaxation condition.  They reported that the natural environment group differed significantly from the other two group with respect to overall happiness. (1)  These findings may have some important implications.  A walk in a park may foster greater happiness than a walk in an urban setting or just relaxing (e.g., reading a magazine).

Notes

1.  See their article for more information about the study and other findings.

References

Hartig, T., Mang, M., & Evans, G. W.  (1991).  Restorative effects of natural environment experiences.  Environment and Behavior, 23, 3-26.

Classical Conditioning

By Brad Bell

There are many important concepts in psychology.   Classical conditioning is one of a number of important concepts.  The concept may explain a variety of phenomenon.  Thus, it is important to define classical conditioning.  What is classical conditioning?  Below is one definition of classical conditioning.

Classical Conditioning Definition:

Classical conditioning is a type of conditioning and learning process in which something (conditioned stimulus) that had not previously produced a particular response becomes associated with something (unconditioned stimulus) that produces the response.  As a result, the conditioned stimulus will elicit the response that the stimulus produces.

Classical Conditioning Examples:

There are a number of possible examples of classical conditioning.  Below are two classical conditioning examples.

Imagine that you took a trip with some friends.  You traveled down a winding road in the mountains.  You got car sick while traveling on this road.  While riding in the car, you ate an apple.  Now, you have nausea when you see an apple.  You do not eat apples anymore.  

 Now imagine you went on a date at a restaurant where the food was very good.  You really like the person and wish to go on another date with the person.  It is possible that your liking for the person is partly a reflection of classical conditioning.   The food at the restaurant can be considered an unconditioned stimulus that naturally produces a pleasant feeling.  The person may become associated with the food, consequently you have a pleasant feeling about the person.

Illusory Correlation

By Brad Bell

Illusory correlation is an important concept in psychology.  It is
important to define illusory correlation.  What is an illusory
correlation?  Below is a definition of illusory correlation.

Illusory Correlation Definition

An illusory correlation is a belief that two things are associated
when there is no actual association.

Illusory Correlation Examples

There are a number of possible examples of an illusory correlation.  
Below are two illusory correlation examples:

1.    A person catches many fish in one place at a lake.  After that day,
the person believes that the place where he or she caught many fish is a place where there are more fish than at other places at the lake.  However, it is possible that it is actually just a chance event.

2.    On a vacation, a person travels to a city that she or he had not
visited before and a few people there are rude to the person.  The
person concludes that the people in this city are generally ruder than people in many other cities.  However, this may just reflect random events.

Silence in the Classroom is Not Perceived to be Golden

By Brad Bell


Imagine you are taking a psychology class and most of the students ask questions and participate in class discussions.  However, some students are very quiet and rarely ask questions or participate in class discussions.  Would you infer that they are quiet people and attribute their quietness to their personality, or would you attribute it to them being bored with the class?  If you attributed their behavior to their personality, what personality characteristics do you feel they would have?

  In a study I conducted (Bell, 1995), participants were randomly assigned to read a brief description of a hypothetical student who was described as either very quiet or very talkative in a particular psychology class. The description involved several other things about the student (e.g.,  has a 3.2 overall GPA and attends several parties each month).  The sex of the student was also varied in this study (by the name of the student).  After reading the brief description of the student, the participants evaluated the student on how talkative, shy, friendly, creative, sincere, intelligent, helpful, dynamic, and honest they perceived him or her to be.  The hypothetical student was perceived to be more talkative, friendly, creative, and dynamic when described as very talkative than when described as very quiet.  Moreover, the hypothetical student was also judged to be less shy when described as very talkative than when described as very quiet.  There were no statistically significant effects for the sex of the hypothetical student. 

 It is not clear whether these findings reflect negative beliefs about people who are quiet, positive beliefs about people who are talkative, or both.  However, other research findings suggest it might be more of a negative view of quiet people than a positive view of talkative people.  Daly, McCroskey, and Richmond (1976) had people evaluate a hypothetical person who varied in the percentage of time he or she was described as talking in a small group.  They had them answer questions pertaining to the hypothetical person that reflected a number of dimensions (e.g., sociability, competence, and composure).  The vocal activity varied from 0 to 95 percent.  On some dimensions, the effect clearly appears to be more of a negative perception of quiet people than a positive view of talkative people.  For example, the mean for the sociability measure was 9.6 for the 0 percent vocal level, 20.0 for the 50 percent vocal level, and 20.8 for the 95 percent vocal level.

In my study (Bell, 1995), the student was described as being very quiet or very talkative in only one particular class.  The participants did not know how the student behaved in other situations.  Yet participants made judgments about the student’s personality based on this one situation. The participants in the study may have dismissed plausible situational explanations for the student’s behavior.  The possible situational explanations would include being bored with the class and having personal problems that reduced their normal level of talkativeness.

The findings are important because expectations about students can affect the scoring of essays (e.g., Chase, 1979).  It’s possible that students who are very quiet in a class may be judged as less creative in their written work.  If they are judged to be less creative, they may receive lower grades for their papers.  Thus, it is important that teachers be aware of this possible bias.   Being aware of the possible bias may help to reduce it.

References

Bell, B. E. (1995).  Judgments of the attributes of a student who is talkative versus a student who is quiet in a class.  Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 10, 827-832.
Chase, C.I. (1979).  The impact of achievement expectations and handwriting quality on scoring essay tests. Journal of Educational Measurement,16, 39-42.
Daly, J. A., McCroskey, J.C., & Richmond, V. P. (1977).  Relationships between vocal activity and perception of communicators in small group interaction.  Western Journal of Speech Communication, 41, 175-187.

 Can Including Extracurricular Activities Make a Resume More Persuasive?

By Brad Bell

You may not have any full-time work experience.  Nonetheless, there may be a way to make the resume more persuasive.   An entry level resume or college student resume may be made more persuasive by including information concerning extracurricular activities. 

Nemanick and Clark (2002) investigated the influence of the number of extracurricular activities on a resume (2 vs. 5), the type of activities (social, business, or both) and whether the person held leadership positions in the organizations.  The participants evaluated fictitious resumes on nine questions.  One of the nine questions concerned the likelihood of recommending the person for an interview.  Half of the people evaluated accounting major resumes for an accounting position that was entry level.  The other people evaluating marketing major resumes for a sales position that was entry level.  

On the average, a resume with more extracurricular activities was rated higher with respect to the likelihood of recommending for an interview.  Moreover, on the average, holding leadership positions resulted in higher ratings of likelihood of recommending for an interview.  Also, on the average, having only business-related activities resulted in higher ratings of likelihood of recommending for an interview than having only social-related activities.  (1)

Implications for How to Write a Resume

 The above findings suggest that for entry level resumes it may be good to list extracurricular activities and leadership positions.  This may increase the likelihood of interview for a job.  However, one limitation of the study is that it did not involve actual interview decisions.  Thus, it is unclear whether the findings would generalize to actual interview decisions.

Notes

See their article for information on other findings.

References

Nemanick, R. C. Jr., & Clark, E. M. (2002).  The differential effects of extracurricular  activities on attributions in resume evaluation.  International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 10, 206-217.

Are Lottery Winners Any Happier in the Long Run?

By Brad Bell

We may see lottery winners as quite ecstatic on television.  However, we may not see how happy they are at a later time.  Can money buy happiness?  Would they still be as happy as they were when they first learned the news?  Could they adapt to their new situation and return to the same level of happiness they had before winning the lottery? Brickman, Coates, and Janoff-Bulman (1978) asked lottery winners, accident victims who were paralyzed, and a control group about their happiness.  All of the lottery winners in the study had won 50,000 dollars or more.  Seven of the 22 lottery winners in the study had won 1 million dollars.  There was no statistically significant difference between the lottery winners and the control group with respect to how happy they were at this stage of their lives.  Moreover, the difference between the lottery winners and the control group with respect to how happy thought they would be in a couple of years was not statistically significant.  It is interesting that the lottery winners did not judge how happy they would be in a couple of years as higher than the accident victims! (1)

The findings are consistent with the idea that the relation between money and happiness is not linear.  Increases in the amount of money you have may not, in some situations (e.g., winning the lottery), increase your happiness.

These findings may also suggest that happiness may be relative.  We may not be able to reach a higher level of happiness as a result of winning the lottery.  Winning the lottery may simply raise our standards.

Notes

1. See their article for other findings.

References

Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R.   (1978).  Lottery
winners and accident victims:  Is happiness relative?  Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 917-927.