Vol.27,No.3 March,2012
- Title
- Development and validity check of a scale measuring individual teamwork competency in a group
- Author
- Atsushi AIKAWA（Tokyo Gakugei University）
Masahiro TAKAMOTO (University of Tsukuba)
Shinkichi SUGIMORI (Tokyo Gakugei University)
Atsushi FURUYA (Affiliated Schools Division, Tokyo Gakugei University) - Summary
- The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to measure individual teamwork competency in a group. In Study 1, we constructed a preliminary version of the teamwork competency scale consisting of five subscales: communication, team orientation, back up, monitoring, and leadership. Undergraduate students (N=409) answered these preliminary subscales. Based on the results of item analysis, a final and reliable version of the five subscales was constructed. The validity of these subscales was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and multiple population analysis. In Study 2, members (N=58) of university student clubs answered these subscales. The self-evaluated scores of the members whose teamwork behavior was highly evaluated by the club leader were statistically higher than those with a lower evaluation. Study 3 addressed industrial workers (N=76) in a company whose scores of these subscales had a moderately positive or negative correlation with other measures, including self-rated and peer-rated teamwork behavior. It was concluded that these five subscales measure different aspects of teamwork competency with a certain validity.
- Key words
- teamwork, competency, scale, validity
- Title
- Clari cation of a mutually supportive process between expectation and behavior in relationships with asymmetric information
- Author
- Motoko KOSUGI（ Socio-economic Research Center, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry）
- Summary
- This study clarifies why information providers conceal risk information in a continual relationship with asymmetric information, even though it possibly causes damage to the provider in long-term interaction. In an experiment, participants were divided into pairs of “provider” and “receiver,” and they interacted repeatedly. The results of the experiment were as follows. （1） Information asymmetry possibly elicited risk aversion in receivers, and the providers’ expectation of the degree of this risk aversion influenced the behavior of the providers. （2） Concealing risk information generated benefit as long as the receivers did not detect it, but once they learned of it, they became more risk averse and decreased trust in the provider. The providers, however, did not change their behavior, continuing to conceal the risk information instead of becoming honest. These results suggest certain circumstances in which concealing risk information might benefit providers in the short term and could prevent damage caused by a receiver’s risk-averse behavior in the long term.
- Key words
- information asymmetry, expectation, trust, risk aversion, concealing information
- Title
- Anger as a signal of the violation of relational norms: The role of mediation of perceived responsibility for needs violation
- Author
- Shunsuke UEHARA （Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University）
Tomohiro NAKAGAWA （Faculty of Applied Sociology, Kinki University）
Takemi MORI （College of Humanities, Iwaki Meisei University）
Kanako SHIMIZU （Tokyo Kohsei Nenkin Hospital）
Ken-ichi OHBUCHI （Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University） - Summary
- A core relational norm regulating social interaction is the idea of responsibility for needs （RN）. Assuming that anger is a signal indicating a violation of RN, we attempted to test the mediation model that the perception that one’s needs are frustrated by a close other （romantic partner） would generate a perceived RN violation, which in turn would increase anger. Further, we attempted to examine whether mediation also works in relationships with friends. In a role-taking study providing participants with a series of scenarios depicting the other （either romantic partner, friend, or mere acquaintance） as responding or not responding to one’s needs, we asked them to rate the intensity of anger and the perceived RN violation. The results showed that in the romantic partner condition, the frustration increased the perception of RN violation, which in turn intensified anger. Further, this mediation was also confirmed in the friend condition, suggesting that RN also operates within friend relationships.
- Key words
- anger, norm violation, relationships
- Title
- Effects of the predictability and controllability of crime on criminal risk perception and fear of crime in Japanese students
- Author
- Kenji Omata（Department of Psychology, Surugadai University）
- Summary
- Effects of the predictability and controllability of crime on risk perception and the fear of crime were investigated in 688 Japanese university students （362 males, 323 females, and 3 unidentified; mean age 19.9 years）. It was hypothesized that both predictability and controllability would be directly related to risk perception, whereas these variables would have a direct as well as an indirect relation via risk perception to the fear of crime. This hypothesis was examined for two types of risk perception, assessments of personal risk and crime trends, and two types of crimes, face-to-face and non-face-to-face crimes. Results indicated the following. （1） There was a significant relationship between the predictability and controllability of crime and risk perception, regardless of the type of crime. （2） The indirect paths from predictability and controllability to fear of crime via risk perception were significant for the two types of crimes. （3） A significant direct relationship between predictability and the fear of crime was found only for face-to-face crimes. The significance of these findings is discussed.
- Key words
- controllability of crime, predictability of crime, criminal risk perception, fear of crime, Japanese students
- Title
- The influence of construal level and achievement goal on prediction
- Author
- Osamu HIGUCHI（Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University）
Masayuki Harashima （Center for Sustainable Tourism Creation, Chiba University） - Summary
- The purpose of this study was to test the effect of construal level and achievement goal on predictions of how long it would take to complete an academic task. According to Construal Level Theory （Liberman & Trope, 2008; Trope & Liberman, 2010）, when we predict the distant future （i.e., we construe the future in abstract features）, those predictions are based on abstract information. We hypothesized that participants who reported a stronger achievement goal predicted that they would spend a greater amount of time on the task when they construed the task abstractly. Two experiments tested the hypothesis. First, we assessed a participant’s achievement goals. Then, we manipulated their construal level （e.g., the deadlines for submission of an essay: experiment 1）, and asked them to estimate the amount of study time required. The results of the two experiments supported our hypothesis. The role of construal level on predictions is discussed.
- Key words
- construal level, temporal distance, achievement goal, prediction
