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Room
Vestibül K
Friday, September 14
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10:30
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12:00
Poster - Session 2
Poster Session 2
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P02-01
Sabrina Verardi
A cross-cultural study of the higher-order structures underlying personality disorders in French-speaking Africa and Switzerland
Authors
Sabrina Verardi (University of Lausanne)
Christine Rigozzi (University of Lausanne)
Jérôme Rossier (University of Lausanne)
Donatien Dahourou (University of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso))
Jennifer Ah-Kion (University of Mauritius)
Uma Bhowon (University of Mauritius)
Caroline Ng Tseung (University of Mauritius)
Denis Amoussou-Yeye (University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin))
Marcel Adjahouisso (University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin))
Cherifa Bouatta (Algerian Society for Psychological Research)
Daouda Dougoumalé Cissé (University of Bamako (Mali))
Mamadou Mbodji (University Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal))
Oumar Barry (University Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal))
David Minga Minga (University of Kinshasa (Republic of Congo))
François Ondongo (University of Brazzaville (Republic of Congo))
Dieudonné Tsokini (University of Brazzaville (Republic of Congo))
Most studies about the higher-order dimensions to be considered in order to describe parsimoniously personality disorders (PDs) have identified between two and four factors but there is still no consensus about the exact number. In this context, the cultural stability of these structures might be a criterion to be considered. The aim of this study was to identify stable higher-order structures of PD traits in a French-speaking African and Swiss sample (N = 2718). All subject completed the IPDE screening questionnaire and the reliability coefficient for both samples were low but similar. Using Everett’s criterion and conducting a series of principal component analyses, a cross-culturally stable two- (total congruence coefficient of .98) and four-factor structure (total congruence coefficient of .94) were identified. The four-factor structure presented the advantage of being similar to Livesely’s four components and of describing more accurately the ten PDs.
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P02-02
Bozana Veres-Injac
Orientation Independent Processing of Internal and External Facial Features
Authors
Bozana Veres-Injac (University of Zurich)
Franziska Hofer (University of Zurich)
Adrian Schwaninger (University of Zurich and Max Planck Institute, Tübingen )
The time course of processing internal and external features was studied in a face matching task in which participants had to match target and test faces, which differed in their internal features (eyes, nose, mouth), external features (hair and face outline) or both. To this end, two different definitions of “same trials” were defined: In Experiment 1, same trials were defined as full congruency or congruency in external features, whereas in Experiment 2 same trials were defined as full congruency in internal features only. The exposure time (90 ms, 120 ms, 150 ms and self – placed) of the test faces and orientation (upright and inverted) were varied systematically. Reaction times and matching errors were recorded. In both experiments, best performance was found when all features between target and test faces were matched or mismatched (identical or completely different faces). Increase of exposure time did not increase performance – accuracy stayed stable independent of exposure time. In both experiments, there was no effect of orientation, which suggests orientation invariant processing of external and internal features.
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P02-03
K. Åberg
Can roving in perceptual learning be explained by overlapping populations of neurons?
Authors
K. Åberg (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)
E. Tartaglia (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)
M. H. Herzog (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)
Perceptual learning is the ability to learn to perceive. For example, training improves performance in a bisection task, whereas randomly interleaving two bisection stimuli with different outer distances prevents learning- so called roving (Otto et al., 2006). The underlying mechanisms yielding roving are largely unknown. Top-down influences might play an important role, as well as overlapping populations of neurons being involved in the improvement of both bisection stimuli. In a first experiment, we randomly interleaved two bisection stimuli that were rotated 45° clockwise and counter-clockwise. These two stimuli were clearly distinguishable from each other and we expect that the overlap of neurons involved in the improvement of the respective bisection stimuli is rather small. In a second experiment, we randomly interleaved two bisection stimuli where the lines of one bisection stimulus were twice as long as for the other bisection stimulus. In this condition, stimuli were again clearly distinguishable, but the overlap of neurons was assumed to be much larger. Perceptual learning was found for the rotated bisection stimuli, but no learning occurred for the stimuli of different lengths. These results suggest that overlapping populations of neurons are one reason why perceptual learning does not occur in roving conditions.
This research was supported by the Pro*Doc “Processes of Perception” of the SNF.
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P02-04
Roinishvili
Deteriorated backward masking in healthy relatives of schizophrenic patients
Authors
Roinishvili ()
Chkonia ()
Kezeli ()
Brand ()
Herzog
Schizophrenic patients show strong deficits not only in cognitive and mental functions but also in visual information processing as revealed, for example, with visual backward masking. We presented a vernier target that was followed by a grating mask. We determined the SOA between the vernier and the grating onset for schizophrenic patients, their healthy first order relatives, and a healthy control group. Different neuropsychological tests were assessed to determine verbal and non-verbal intelligence, working memory, learning capacity, and sustained attention (LPS3, CVLT, WCST, and CPT). Schizophrenic patients need SOAs about three times longer than healthy controls to obtain comparable performance. Neuropsychological testing shows clear deficits compared to the healthy controls. Surprisingly, also the healthy relatives show significantly longer SOAs than the controls but better performance compared to the schizophrenic patients. The neuropsychological scores of the relatives are comparable to the controls. It seems that deteriorated performance in visual backward masking reveals an innate vulnerability to suffer from schizophrenia. Hence, in the relatives there must be altered circuits in the brain accounting for deteriorated processing. Therefore, studies on healthy relatives of schizophrenic patients allow one to study prolonged processing without the effects of the illness itself or a corresponding drug treatment.
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P02-05
Bernadette von Dawans
Oxytocin and Social Support Buffer Autonomic Stress Response in Social Phobia
Authors
Bernadette von Dawans (University of Zurich)
Leila M. Soravia (University of Zurich)
Inga D. Neumann (University of Regensburg (D))
Dominique J.-F. de Quervain (University of Zurich)
Sue Carter (University of Illinois at Chicago (USA))
Ulrike Ehlert (University of Zurich)
Markus Heinrichs (University of Zurich)
Social Phobia ranks as the third most common mental health disorder after depression and alcoholism. Besides marked and persistent fear of social interactions, patients report various autonomically regulated physical symptoms including sweating or tachycardia, which in turn reinforce phobic fear. Both cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological therapy have been shown to be effective in less than two thirds of all patients. A new approach could be the nonapeptide oxytocin which is associated with positive social interaction and reduced stress reactivity in animals and humans. The combination of oxytocin and social support was shown to suppress cortisol during psychosocial stress. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind study, 44 men with social phobia were exposed to a socio-evaluative stressor (TSST), consisting of 5 min of an unprepared speech followed by a 5 min mental arithmetic task in front of an audience. They where randomly assigned to receive intranasal oxytocin (24 I.U.) or placebo 50 min. before stress, and either social support from their spouse during the preparation period or no support. Oxytocin significantly reduced heart rate responses to stress over the entire stress protocol. The combination of oxytocin and social support exhibited the lowest heart rate reactivity during the unprepared speech. The results concur with previous findings from animal and human research, thereby emphazising possible therapeutic implications of oxytocin in social anxiety disorders.
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P02-06
Mara Kottlow
Presentation of announced positive pictures in depressed subjects
Authors
Mara Kottlow (Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich)
Tina Kaffenberger (Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich)
Thomas Baumgartner (University of Zurich)
Lutz Jäncke (University of Zurich)
Uwe Herwig (Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich and University of Ulm (D))
Recent studies and unpublished experiments from our group showed a negative biased emotion expectation in healthy and depressed subjects, increasing with higher depression scores.
We suggest that one cause of this negative bias may be an altered perception of positive stimuli in depressed subjects.
16 depressed subjects were biased to expect and then perceive visual stimuli with known or unknown emotional valence, which consisted of neutral, positive or negative IAPS pictures, while being scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging.
After unknown anticipation as compared to announced anticipation the presentation of negative pictures resulted in higher activations of the right inferior and medial frontal gyri, the right precentral gyri, the right insula, and the bilateral middle occipital gyri. The right posterior cingulate cortex showed stronger activation for the unknown conditions in both contrasts. Announced positive pictures as compared to pictures of previously unknown positive valence mainly induced higher activations in the right middle temporal gyrus, the left claustrum and the left cuneus.
Concluding from these results unknown negative pictures did not serve as emotional new information but produced higher attention. In contrast, the processing of announced positive pictures was altered in depressed subjects as compared to the literature using healthy subjects, possibly inducing sad emotions in depressed subjects.
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P02-07
Marie Hennecke
Interpretation of metaphorical proverbs and executive functioning in schizophrenia
Authors
Marie Hennecke (University of Zurich)
Patrizia Thoma (Ruhr University Bochum)
Martin Brüne (Westfälisches Zentrum für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Bochum)
Georg Juckel (Westfälisches Zentrum für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Bochum )
Irene Daum (Ruhr University Bochum)
The aim of the study was to investigate the processing of metaphoric language and its relationship to executive dysfunction in schizophrenia. A self-developed german single-choice proverb test was administered to a group of patients suffering from paranoid schizophrenia (n = 10). In line with former investigations (e.g. Barth & Küfferle, 2001; Gorham, 1956) the schizophrenia group showed a significant preference for concretistic over abstract proverb interpretations compared to normal controls (n = 14). The inability of schizophrenia patients to interpret proverbs adequately was neither related to any of the cognitive dysfunctions, which the patients showed in the domains of context updating and cognitive flexibility, nor to the severity of negative symptoms. The results are discussed taking into account fronto-subcortical neuropathology in schizophrenia as well as the cognitive- computational model of context-processing proposed by Braver and his colleagues (e.g. Braver & Barch, 2000).
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P02-08
Robin Jossen
Cognitive Interference while Gambling: Pilot Study
Authors
Robin Jossen (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Coralie Zumwald (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
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Joseph Studer (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Mélina Andronicos (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Margret Rihs (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Olivier Simon (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Jacques Besson (CHUV)
Past research provides (1) evidence of the presence of a major deficit in regard to their attention accompanied by significant deficits in concentration and (2) a positive correlation between anxiety and selective disturbances of the visuo-spatial memory. This study investigates whether these deficits will have an influence on their capacities of spatial memorization. This research aims to compare the intellectual activation of excessive gamblers with control subjects of incoming visuo-spatial information.
The gambler’s memory processes are to be studied through a visuo-spatial gambling task. The influence of a reward will also be examined. The methods of investigation include an instrument estimating the state of anxiety. Finally, cerebral imaging will be used for a small number of subjects. It will investigate the influence of various variables on the activation patterns of the subjects.
We expect to find an attention deficit in the pathological gambler when a lack of production of dopamine is found in the individual. This lack is believed to reinforce the deficit, reducing the encoding of spatial information while gambling. In addition, it maintains the player in a negative emotional state, which enters in cognitive competition with the function of spatial memorization that lead to an altered performance during the recovery phase. Lastly, the reward has shown to effect an increase or decrease in the performance of the participants’ memory.
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P02-09
Sophie Tapparel
Visuo-spatial ability associated with trait anxiety: An EEG pilot-study
Authors
Sophie Tapparel (University of Lausanne)
Luzia Grabherr (University of Lausanne)
Catherine Brandner (University of Lausanne)
The aim of this experiment was to investigate the presumed influence of anxiety on spatial information processing. EEG (evoked potential and frequency band analyses) and behavioural (reaction times and error rates) responses were measured in eight subjects showing high scores and eight subjects showing low scores in the Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; 1983) while they were solving a visuo-spatial discrimination task (evaluation of distances). In this task, the subjects had to indicate by pressing a hand-held button whether the target stimuli were identical or not compared to a reference stimulus. Differences between the target stimuli and the reference stimulus resulted in the space formed by 7 objects (furniture) always presented in the same configuration: only the distances between objects varied. The furniture was arranged in such a way as to give the impression of a living room. In addition, the subjects had to solve a control task (discrimination of colour saturation) in which the same arrangement of objects was used. Stimuli were presented with a head-mounted display.
Preliminary results indicate significant differences in subjects with high STAI scores compared to subjects with low STAI scores in the visuo-spatial discrimination task. We suggest that anxiety interferes with visuo-spatial abilities. Future research aims to conduct this task in a sample of psychiatric patients suffering from anxiety, especially agoraphobia.
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P02-10
Linda Charvoz
Is the partner who decides to divorce more attractive? A comparison between initiators and noninitiators
Authors
Linda Charvoz (University of Lausanne)
Guy Bodenmann (University of Fribourg)
580 divorced individuals from Germany, Italy and Switzerland provided retrospective reports on the perceived similarity and differences between themselves and their former partner and on their own and their partner’s attractiveness. Initiators and noninitiators were compared with regard to these different variables. Based upon theories such as mate selection, social exchange theory, equity theory and initiator theory as a guiding framework, results demonstrated that most divorcees perceived themselves to be quite similar to their former partner. Initiating women were more numerous than nonintiating to perceive themselves to be different from their former partner in several areas (personality, norms, needs). Moreover the first ones evaluated their former partner to be less attractive than the second ones. Initiating men were more numerous than nonitiating to perceive differences with regard to the personality between themselves and their partner.
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P02-11
Veronica Gomez
Cohort and Sex Differences in Personal Goals and Well-Being in Young Adulthood
Authors
Veronica Gomez (University of Basel)
Franciska Krings (University of Lausanne)
Alexander Grob (University of Basel)
Adrian Bangerter (University of Neuchâtel)
This study investigated the influence of changing socio-historical conditions on developmental tasks and personal goals in young adulthood. It was hypothesized that socio-historical changes related to individualization have resulted in shifts in goal pursuit. Participants from three birth cohorts completed a questionnaire about their reconstructed important goals when they were 20 years old. Members of the oldest cohort were born between 1920 and 1925. Members of the middle cohort were born between 1945 and 1950. Members of the youngest cohort were born between 1970 and 1975. Goal content, perceived social sharedness of goals, perceived control over goal attainment, success in attainment, and life satisfaction at age 25 were measured in a retrospective study. Results show consistent shifts in goal content and goal processes between the cohorts. Whereas members of older cohorts mentioned goals related to classical developmental tasks, members of younger cohorts mentioned more individualistic, self-related goals and goals related to education. The processes through which goal pursuit influenced life satisfaction also changed. Perceived social sharedness was a direct predictor of life satisfaction for the oldest cohort. For the younger cohorts, perceived control influenced success which in turn influenced life satisfaction. Sex differences were found for typically masculine goals (work, material) and feminine goals (marriage, family).
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P02-12
Corinne Schmid
Working Memory, Inhibition, and Selective Attention in 6- and 7-Year-Olds
Authors
Corinne Schmid (University of Berne)
Claudia M. Roebers (University of Berne)
In everyday life, it is crucial for children to deliberately control their attentional focus, to inhibit predominant responses, and to temporarily memorize information whilst constantly updating it and processing additional information. We document developmental progression for working memory and attentional processes, and investigate the interrelations between these domains and their facets as well as age-related changes in the patterns of these interrelations in 6- and 7-year-olds. At this time, children face the transition from kindergarten to school, when these processes become increasingly important for formal instruction. We administered complex working memory tasks, measured inhibition and selective attention in 120 6- and 7-year-olds. Preliminary results suggest that we are able to measure distinct aspects of these cognitive processes in this age group, and that our tasks are sensitive to age-related improvements within this narrow age range. The pattern of interrelations of these functions, however, does not correspond to patterns typically found in research with adults. Instead, we observed that performance on inhibition tasks correlates with performance on a task measuring constant updating of information, whereas selective attention in the face of distractors seems to be associated with performance in complex working memory span tasks. Results will be discussed in terms of the underlying theoretical constructs and developmental changes in these functions.
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P02-13
Pearl Ghaemmaghami
Forgiveness and the Perception of Time Remaining in Younger, Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults
Authors
Pearl Ghaemmaghami (University of Zurich)
Mathias Allemand (University of Zurich)
Previous research has suggested that people become more willing to forgive with age. However, little is known about age differences in forgiveness of real-life interpersonal transgressions. The present study aimed at investigating this aspect. Moreover, building on the theory of socioemotional selectivity, the study aimed further at investigating whether the perception of time remaining in life plays a role in forgiveness. In a convenience sample comprised of 77 young, 68 middle-aged and 69 elderly adults, participants described a transgression and completed the TRIM-18 Inventory which measured participants’ revenge, avoidance and benevolence motivation toward the transgressor. The TRIM-18 was completed twice: once under a “normal” time perspective and once under a hypothetically limited time perspective. The results indicate that middle-aged adults have a stronger motivation to avoid the transgressor than younger adults, and that younger adults have a stronger inclination to seek revenge than middle-aged and elderly adults. As expected, the perception of time influenced forgiveness. Under limited time perspective participants of all age groups became significantly more forgiving. Moreover, although gender differences in forgiveness are not widely reported, the results indicate that young men are more likely to report a higher revenge motivation than women of all age groups as well as a higher revenge motivation than middle-aged and elderly men.
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P02-14
Sonja Perren
Transitions and well-being in young adulthood: Development of an instrument to measure hedonic adaptation
Authors
Sonja Perren (Jacobs Center, University of Zurich
)
Marco Passardi (Jacobs Center, University of Zurich)
Transitions can be defined as long-term processes which result in a qualitative reorganisation of the inner life and the external behaviour. The temporary loss of the inner and outer balance can lead to a stimulation of personal growth as well as to dysfunction. According to the hedonic treadmill model, good and bad events temporarily affect well-being, but people quickly adapt back to hedonic neutrality. Whereas many studies have investigated the short- and long-term effects of non-normative transitions (i.e. critical life events) on well-being, only few studies have investigated the theoretically postulated adaptation processes in normative transitions. This is partly due to methodological problems to measure processes, i.e. the uncertainties regarding the length of time and the frequency to measure well-being in order to depict the processes. In the current study an instrument was developed to measure changes of well-being across transitions (Well-being Curves: WBC). 160 young adults of various higher education institutions participated in the study. They completed well-being curves regarding three normative transitions (leaving the parental home, University entry, and work entry) and one (negative) non-normative transition. Moreover, we assessed personality traits (NEO-FFI). Results regarding reliablity and validity of the instrument are presented. The potential applicability and limitations of the instrument are discussed.
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P02-15
Steiner Vanessa
The Picnic Game: a way to look at the interplay between co-parental and marital interactions
Authors
Steiner Vanessa (CHUV)
France Frascarolo (CHUV)
Nicolas Favez (University of Lausanne)
In a family, the couple constitute two subsystems, the marital (husband-wife’s relationship) and the co-parental (father-mother’s relationship involving the child). Even if both of them are linked, they also have their own specificity. McHale found that conflicts affect more the child if they also concern the co-parental level and are centered on the child than if they concern the marital relationship only.
Our aim is to examine these two subsystems in a standardized situation close to a daily activity called « Picnic Game ».
In the present study, 40 volonteer families with one or more children (the oldest was 5 years-old) were received in a laboratory and requested to pretend play picnicing with material at their disposal (doll’s tea party, children’s game, a table and a bench).
We use a 5 points Lickerts scale to evaluate the presence and quality of marital sharing and the quality of co-parenting plus other dimensions of family fonctioning like family warmth, quality of participation, leaderships’ distribution, task’s structure, richness of configurations, limits application to child(ren) and child(ren)’s autonomy.
Preliminary results indicate a significant correlation between the quality of co-parental and marital interactions. Likewise, both subsystems are differently correlated to other dimensions like family warmth and child(ren)’s autonomy. These results will be discussed in research and clinical perspectives.
Key words : marital interaction ; coparenting ; family
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P02-16
Andrea Pfyffer
Improving computer literacy of socially disadvantaged adolescents in Siberia
Authors
Andrea Pfyffer (University of Basel)
Uta Vogelwiesche (University of Dortmund)
Alexander Grob (University of Basel)
Objectives: Social disadvantage in adolescence may cause negative outcomes and reduces the probability for a successful transition into professional life. To improve the chances of socially disadvantaged adolescents the program „pc4youth“ was first established in Germany and was then transferred to a Siberian context.
Method: In an extra-scholar training, 347 socially disadvantaged adolescents acquired basic computer skills (i.e., general introduction, text processing, creating diagrams, internet). The courses were based on the method of tutorial learning, i.e., each participant was instructed by his/her own tutor of the same age. The tutors attended the program in a former course as a tutee. At the end of the courses, the tutees had to pass a criteria-based test that assessed the learning goals. The multi-level individual changes were assessed prospectively and compared with a control group.
Results and Conclusions: The adolescents in the intervention group improved significantly their computer skills and some further psycho-social variables. Results will be presented and discussed at the conference.
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P02-17
Luca Tateo
A contextual model of teacher professional identity
Authors
Luca Tateo (University of Salerno (I))
Giuseppina Marsico (University of Salerno (I) )
Monica Mollo (University of Salerno (I) )
Antonio Iannaccone (University of Salerno (I))
Teachers professional identity (TPI) is a fully developed research field, drawing form educational, psychological and sociological paradigms of teaching (Beijaard et al., 2000; Beijaard et al., 2004; Connelly and Clandinin, 1999; Samuel and Stephens, 2000). Less attention has been payd to the relationship between individual, social and cultural factors in elaborating TPI (Resnick, Pontecorvo and Säljö, 1997; Coldron and Smith, 1999).
Teachers are facing continous changes in their school context and, in the end, in the whole society – such as migration flows, new educational practices, new technologies, laws, etc. – with dramatic effects on their personal and professional identity (Beijaard, Meijer and Verloop, 2004).
The contribution aims at outlyning a psico-social model in which personal biography, social representations, situated educational practices and relationships with significant Others are taken into account in understanding TPI construction process. First, state of the art of TPI research will be discussed. Then, two studies conducted by a research team of the University of Salerno with semi-structured narrative interviews (Bruner, 1992, Vermersch, 1994) on two groups of 74 and 40 (PRASSI and LEAD projects) Italian teachers will be presented.
Such interesting results draw a model w.r.t. TIP as an ongoing process throughout teachers professional trajectory, involving personal biography, practices, artefacts, representations of teaching and organisational culture.
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P02-18
Martin Dobricki
Multiple choice tests: Who passed the test and who didn’t? A new solution of an old problem.
Authors
Martin Dobricki (University of Zurich)
Matthias Häne (University of Zurich)
Damian Läge (University of Zurich)
The common way to analyze results of a multiple choice test is to count the correct answers. This method is solid but bears a number of well known possible flaws (quality of distractors, discriminatory power etc.). A new approach in analyzing such test results is therefore introduced that does not depend on these factors: It determines a person’s performance by comparing the answering pattern with the patterns of all other tested persons: Whilst two individuals of a high degree of knowledge should tend to choose the same plausible (but possibly wrong) option, people with lesser knowledge differ much more in the alternatives chosen. The similarities in the answering patterns can be transformed by NMDS into a two dimensional structure (each tested person represented by a dot): Persons with the best knowledge should get positioned close to each other in the central part of the structure whereas people with less knowledge should be positioned around and scattered more at the circumference of the structure. In consequence, the distance from the central position of the field can serve as a measure to pass the test or to fail.
To test these hypotheses an experiment is conducted choosing four groups of test persons differing systematically in their knowledge of psychopathology. A multiple choice test consisting of 40 questions is performed, and the resulting map shows whether the structure corroborates the stated hypotheses.
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P02-19
Christina Klöckner
What Makes Patients Satisfied? Female and Male Physicians’ Nonverbal Behavior Correlates of Patient Satisfaction
Authors
Christina Klöckner (University of Neuchâtel
)
Marianne Schmid Mast (University of Neuchâtel
)
Judith Hall (Northeastern University Boston
)
Elisa Choi (Psychologin FSP )
In the present study, we investigated the correlation of specific physician nonverbal behaviors with patient satisfaction depending on physician and patient gender. Video tapes of 11 real physicians in medical encounters were presented to 163 analogue patients (students taking on the role of a patient) who indicated their satisfaction with each physician on the video tape. Physician nonverbal behavior was coded and correlated with patient satisfaction ratings. Correlations served as indicators of the relevance of a specific nonverbal behavior for satisfaction ratings. An ANOVA showed no main effect for patient gender but several significant effects for physician gender on the relation between patient satisfaction and specific physician nonverbal behaviors. Results suggest that patients are most satisfied with female physicians when they behave according to their female gender role (more gazing, softer voice, less distance, talk less, more self-touch) and stress their medical proficiency (lab coat, medical-looking examination room). Male physicians elicited satisfaction with a broader range of behaviors only partly related to their gender role (less self-touch, more interpersonal distance, louder voice, less medical-looking examination room, less frowning, more gesturing). Another remarkable result is that for many behaviors female and male physicians should behave in the opposite way to make patients satisfied.
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P02-20
Claudia Walther
Social support and its influence on the relation between activity-referred stressors and well-being
Authors
Claudia Walther (University of Fribourg)
Petra L. Klumb (University of Fribourg)
The available poster asks the question whether social support can moderate the relation between activity-referred stressors and well-being. A sample of 67 men is examined. It turns out, that no significant correlations exists between the stressors and well-being. This can be explained by the fact that the social support moderates this relation. The significant interactions, which explain additional variance beside the explained variance of control variables, stressors and social support, speak for this assumption. Therefore the initial question can be regarded as clearly confirmed in the present case.
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P02-21
Tanja Wranik
The role of personality and emotional competences for the health and well-being of dementia caregivers
Authors
Tanja Wranik (University of Geneva
)
Catherine Bassal (University of Applied Sciences, Western Switzerland)
Providing care to a family member with dementia is a unique challenge. Not only do individuals with dementia suffer from a range of cognitive, physical, and affective deficits; but the family member also needs to deal with the emotional charge of watching a loved one “disappear” or undergo extensive personality changes. To make sure that the burden of this task does not lead to physical, psychological, or social problems for the caretaker, it is important to determine how and why some individuals are more effective in dealing with the challenges of dementia caretaking than others. The purpose of this research is therefore to examine how individual differences (e.g., personality, emotional competences) influence the ability of individuals to care effectively for dementia without succumbing to stress, burnout, and other social or emotional difficulties. As a first step, we are examining personality differences and emotion regulation skills of professional caretakers, to establish best practices in dementia caretaking for different types of people. In a second step, we will compare professional caretakers with family caretakers. The final aim of this research is to establish personality profiles and emotional skills which are most effective in filling the caretaker role, and to make recommendations for family caregiver training and support.
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P02-22
Priska Hagmann
Historical Origins of the Intelligence and Developmental Scales
Authors
Priska Hagmann (University of Basel)
Alexander Grob (University of Basel)
Objectives: This contribution focuses on the historical background of the Intelligence and Developmental Scales (Grob, Meyer, & Hagmann, in prep.; IDS), a new test designed at the University of Basel, assessing children’s level of development in six domains: cognition, language, mathematics, achievement motivation, psychomotoricity, and socio-emotional competence. As it is the case for other psychological tests, the IDS are influenced by other psychological assessments. We show the origins of the subtests and items from a historical perspective. Method: We first broadly describe the history of intelligence tests, starting from Binet and Simon (1905). German developments (Binetarium; Kramer-Test), as well as Anglo-American descendants (Stanford-Binet Test; Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children), all having their initial roots in the Binet-Simon Test, are examined and put into historical context. In a second more detailed step, we trace the origins of specific IDS tasks in the tests mentioned above. Conclusion: It is shown that the IDS are designed in the tradition of Binet. Furthermore, IDS tasks assessing the domains of cognition (in particular perception, memory, and reasoning), language skills, psychomotoricity, parts of socio-emotional competence, as well as mathematics were used previously in well-known assessments.
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P02-23
Sébastien Fernandez
Age-differences in a computerized Letter Comparison Task: Growing slower but more accurate
Authors
Sébastien Fernandez (University of Geneva )
Céline Bürki (University of Geneva)
Catherine Ludwig (University of Geneva )
Anik de Ribaupierre (University of Geneva)
It is usually assumed that an increase in task difficulty is reflected by an increase in response times and in error rates. Moreover, an increase in difficulty usually yields a larger performance decrement in older adults, as compared to younger ones, because of an age-related decrease in cognitive resources. The present study investigated age-related differences in a computerized Letter Comparison Task in which the difficulty was varied. The task adapted from Salthouse (1991) was administered to 22 older and 22 younger adults. Pairs of 6 and 9 letters were administered and participants were asked to judge whether the two series of a pair were identical; there was an equal number of identical and different pairs. Results demonstrate that older adults take overall more time to provide a correct response than younger ones. Age differences were larger in the 9-letter condition, as compared to the 6-letter one, and this effect was larger for identical trials than for different ones. As concerns accuracy, younger adults made more errors than older ones. A finer analysis of accuracy considering the letter position showed that differences were the largest on the last letter positions. Findings thus suggest an age-related speed-accuracy trade-off. More, the fact that younger adults made more omission errors on different trials suggests that they draw less on controlled resources than older ones. Results are discussed in the light of age-related qualitative differences in processing.
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P02-24
Simona Gagliardi
Individual project B of the sesam-study: An experimental variation of family socialization factors and their significance for the child’s development
Authors
Simona Gagliardi (University of Fribourg)
Guy Bodenmann (University of Fribourg)
Meinrad Perrez (University of Fribourg)
Yves Hänggi (University of Fribourg)
Simone Gmelch (University of Fribourg)
The overall goal of this study is to investigate the etiology of the children’s behavioural and mental disorders. Family socialization factors (beside genetic predisposition and unfavourable social environment) are of great importance for the development of such disorders.
The family competence of the parents plays thereby a key role. Within the framework of a longitudinal study (15 years) we plan to enhance the family competence of 200 parents having their first child. We want to investigate the effect on the child’s development compared with that of an untreated control group (100 parents). The focus is in the enhancement of the ability to be emphatic toward the child as well as the partner. When the toddler reaches an age of 6 months the intervention group gets a sensitivity training (Fribourger Feinfühligkeitstraining für Eltern, Hänggi, Schweinberger, Perrez, 2006) and a marital distress prevention program (CCET, Couples Coping Enhancement Training, Bodenmann 1997).
For the child’s development it is furthermore indispensable that the parents widen their sensitive parenting with other upbringing competencies (e.g. clear limitations); therefore, when the child reaches the age of 2½, the parents receive a parenting training. It is also planned to follow the parents during important transitions (like beginning the kindergarten) by the assistance of information sheets or DVDs.
Our poster shows the empirical background, the theoretical framework and the design of the study.
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P02-25
Achim Elfering
A smile is just a smile: But only for men. Gender differences in response to faces scales
Authors
Achim Elfering (University of Berne)
Simone Grebner (University of Berne)
This study tests psychometrics of the so called faces scale that is often used in organizational psychology to assess emotions, attitudes and well-being, e.g., job satisfaction. In analyzing 10584 two-alternative-two-forced-choice judgments (sad versus happy) of 11 faces from 72 participants, women judged a “neutral face” more often sad than happy and significantly more often sad than men did. Moreover, women adapted their judgments to the range of faces under study in showing a significant contrast effect. In a range of neutral to bright smiling faces a face showing a mild smile was judged to be sad, while in a range of neutral to heavy griming faces a mild grim was judged to be happy. Gender differences in meaning of faces within faces scales and their implications for the use of the faces scale in work and organizational psychology are discussed.
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P02-26
Andrea Gurtner
Member satisfaction in virtual teams in organizations
Authors
Andrea Gurtner (Berner Fachhochschule Wirtschaft und Verwaltung
)
Michaela Kolbe (ETH Zurich)
Teams in organizations are no longer purely virtual or purely face-to-face teams, but fall into the large hybrid category using technology according to the needs of their task and team structure (Griffith, Sawyer, & Neale, 2003). Considering the assumption that the level of a team's virtuality (Kirkman & Mathieu, 2005) may influence virtual team members' satisfaction, we explored the effects of team virtuality on member satisfaction in a sample of virtual team members (N = 159) from a broad variety of organizations in Germany and Switzerland using an online questionnaire.
We defined two dimensions of virtuality: the proportion of e-mail vs. face-to-face communication and the proportion of co-located team members. By assessing satisfaction with different measures we were able to describe distinctive relationships between level of virtuality and member satisfaction. We found that virtual team members reported rather low job satisfaction. Results showed negative relationships between team virtuality and job satisfaction and satisfaction with working relationships in the team, respectively. We found no effects of team virtuality on resigned attitude towards ones job, satisfaction with team task performance, and satisfaction with computer-mediated communication. However, context variables other than level of virtuality had stronger effects on job satisfaction. Especially trust in other team members and adequate management information policies improved member satisfaction.
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P02-27
Annick Darioly
How does a team become productive: The role of diversity, team development and reflexivity
Authors
Annick Darioly (University of Neuchâtel)
The aim of the research was to study how diversity (gender, age, education, and tenure on the team), stages of team development, and reflexivity – the extent to which teams reflect upon and modify their functioning – impact on team outcomes (satisfaction, commitment, effectiveness, and innovation). Previous research showed homogeneous teams to be more satisfied and involved than heterogeneous teams and reflexivity as a possible key factor in the effectiveness of work teams. In the present research, the stages of team development, team reflexivity, and team performance were all assessed with questionnaires. Participants (236 people, mean age = 38 years) were 43 work teams (3-10 members) from 21 different organizations in French-speaking Switzerland. Results showed that the stage of team development was positively related to team reflexivity whereas diversity was negatively related to team reflexivity. In turn, reflexive teams were more effective, more satisfied, more involved, and more innovative than less reflexive teams. The main result was that the team has to be both reflexive and advanced in its stage of development to obtain the best team performance, regardless of how diverse the team was. In sum, team composition becomes less important when the team members trust each other and are task-oriented in their interactions.
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P02-28
Barbara Künzle
Adaptive leadership processes in Anesthesia teams
Authors
Barbara Künzle (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich)
Enikö Zala-Mezö (University of Zurich)
Gudela Grote (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich)
Johannes Wacker (University Hospital Zurich)
Background: The work of anesthesia teams is characterized by routine procedures but also by uncertainty and rapidly shifting priorities. Effective performance depends on the coordinated activity amongst team members and leadership is vital during critical situations.
Hypotheses: Adaptive leadership means that leadership patterns and the leading person vary according to situational factors. In critical situations we expect that
1. Teams show more leadership behavior,
2. The formal leader (responsible physician) takes over leadership,
3. High performing teams show more task-oriented leadership.
Methods: The study relies on video recordings of 15 anesthesia teams in a simu-lated setting with occurrence of a critical event. The speed of adequate team reaction to this event is the measure for technical team performance. Leadership is categorized in task-oriented (e.g. information request) and structuring leadership (e.g. assigning tasks)
Results: The results support our hypotheses. During critical events,
1) Teams use twice as much leadership (paired samples t-test, P<0.05).
2) The formal leader takes on the main part of leadership.
3) Well performing teams use more task-oriented and less structuring leadership.
Conclusions: The results show the relevance of adaptive leadership behavior. We found an interrelation between the level of workload and the frequency of leadership behavior. Furthermore, well and poor performing teams use different leadership patterns.
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P02-29
Bettina S. Wiese
Positive transfer: The neglected side of the work-family interplay
Authors
Bettina S. Wiese (University of Zurich)
Alexandra M. Freund (University of Zurich)
Christine P. Seiger (University of Zurich)
There is an increasing scientific interest in the interplay between work and family. So far, however, psychological research has mainly dealt with negative relationships between these domains. To add to our understanding of the work-family interplay, our research focusses on positive facets, i.e., on the extent to which individuals’ participation in one domain is made easier by the skills/experiences gained by the participation in the other domain. In two studies with a sum of 112 Swiss and German employees (20 to 65 years; 50 % females), we assessed competence-related contents of positive transfer in an open response format. Content analyses showed that social and self-regulatory competencies were mentioned most often as being transferred. In a third study with 100 working mothers from Switzerland, we used a new questionnaire, which focuses on three theoretically distinct dimensions of positive transfer: a) transferred competencies (see above), b) transferred positive moods, and c) compensatory mechanisms (i.e., positive experiences in one domain help to deal with stress/disappointment in the other domain). These transfer components were associated with a number of important work-related and family-related outcomes (e.g., partnership satisfaction, work engagement). In sum, our results suggest that it is useful to broaden the topics of work-family research to also include positive functional links between work and family roles.
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P02-30
Birgit Michel
Female Leaders and Male Subordiantes: How to behave in Situations of Role (In)Congruity
Authors
Birgit Michel (University of Geneva)
Marianne Schmid Mast (University of Neuchâtel)
Women in leadership positions are evaluated more negatively than men and even more so if they adopt a male-typical leadership style. Role congruity theory posits that this effect is due to the incongruity between the female gender role and the role as leader.
We assumed that (1) people in a situation of role congruity have more freedom to behave in both a male- or female-typical way without being evaluated unfavorably whereas (2) people in a situation of role incongruity are evaluated more favorably when they behave in accordance with gender role expectations.
Participants were 285 freshman students which evaluated one of 16 person descriptions varying on status, gender, gender-typicality, and work domain in terms of perceived social competence and perceived job competence. As predicted, we found that (1) evaluations of perceived social competence of people in congruent roles is less affected by the way they behave in terms of male- or female-typicality. We could not find such an effect for evaluations of perceived job competence. According to our assumptions concerning role incongruity (2) we found that women leaders were evaluated more favorably when they behaved in accordance with the gender role expectations. Yet for men in incongruent situations we found a reversed effect showing that male subordinates were evaluated more positively when they adopted a female-typical behavior thus a behavior congruent with their actual status role and not with their gender role.
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P02-31
Christine Seiger
Support and work-family conflicts in everyday life of working mothers - quantitative and qualitative findings
Authors
Christine Seiger (University of Zurich)
Bettina S. Wiese (University of Zurich)
In a two-week diary study, we investigated how different sources of support influence working mothers’ (N = 45) well-being and experience of work-family conflicts. As expected, support by partner, colleagues and supervisor was negatively linked to time-based conflicts between work and family, as well as worries about work while being at home. Women with higher support experienced more positive emotions, less negative emotions, and were more satisfied with both their work life and family life. Partner support and mothers’ relationship satisfaction were highly correlated, which suggests that support is one aspect of marital quality. We additionally asked participants to list which partner activities they experienced as particularly helpful. These activities were classified as either practical, emotional, or informational support. Quantitative content analysis revealed that practical support (e.g., help with household tasks, childcare, cooking) was mentioned most often. When considering additional support activities they desired, women listed mostly emotional support (e.g., more personal communication and time together). Interestingly, if women desired more practical help, they frequently added that men should give it without being asked.
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P02-32
Cornelius J. König
Fabulous Fakers on the Big Five: The Ideal Employee Factor and the Ability to Identify Criteria
Authors
Cornelius J. König (University of Zurich)
Ute-Christine Klehe (University of Amsterdam)
Martin Kleinmann (University of Zurich)
Thomas Hartstein (Deka-Bank)
Klaus G. Melchers (University of Zurich)
Previous research has shown that personality assessments, including social desirability scales, can be faked during personnel selection. This results in a common “ideal-employee factor” that underlies ratings of theoretically unrelated personality constructs. Even though this indicates a lack of construct validity, faking does not seem to be accompanied by a lack of criterion-related validity: personality measures filled out in personnel selection situations are valid predictors of performance. The current study attempts to explain this paradox by combining the literature on faking during personality assessments with the literature on candidates' ability to identify the criteria (ATIC) required for good performance. 149 participants filled out Big Five and social desirability measures under application conditions in the course of an application training program. They also participated in various high- and low-fidelity simulations in order to provide an assessment of their ATIC and their performance. Structural equation modeling showed that ATIC accounted for common variance between the ideal-employee factor (underlying the personality and social desirability assessments) and performance. This finding strengthens the view that faking during personality assessment may in part not be such a bad thing but rather constitute a form of adaptive behavior.
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P02-33
Klaus G. Melchers
Cognitive load and rating accuracy during the observation of an assessment center exercise
Authors
Klaus G. Melchers (University of Zurich)
Marion Meyer (University of Zurich)
Martin Kleinmann (University of Zurich)
Although assessment centers (ACs) have good criterion-related validity, they usually lack construct-related validity. One of the factors that has long been suggested to contribute to these construct validity problems are the assessors’ large cognitive demands during the observation of the AC participants. It is assumed that increases of the cognitive demands impair the accuracy of construct measurement in the AC. An AC design aspect that might be especially relevant with regard to these demands is the number of candidates in a group discussion that assessors have to observe and evaluate at the same time. In the present study we therefore experimentally manipulated whether assessors had to observe only one candidate (low cognitive demands) in a group discussions or all six candidates at the same time (high cognitive demands). Participants (N = 71) were shown three different videotaped group discussions and had to evaluate candidates on three different performance dimensions. The results confirmed that participants subjectively experienced a significantly higher degree of cognitive load when they had to observe a larger number of candidates. Furthermore, they showed a significantly lower level of rating accuracy in that condition. These results suggest that the number of candidates that assessors have to observe simultaneously has indeed a negative effect on the rating quality of the assessors.
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P02-34
Maria Vetterli
“Dead times” in cardiopulmonary resuscitation: What medical teams do during cardiac arrests if they don't resuscitate.
Authors
Maria Vetterli (University of Neuchâtel)
Franziska Tschan (University of Neuchâtel)
Norbert Semmer (University of Berne)
Stephan Marsch (University of Basel)
Our goal was to assess performance levels of 20 teams of 3 general practitioners (GP) confronted with a cardiac arrest in a simulation setting, and to investigate underlying causes of performance losses. Performance was assessed by a second-by-second coding system based on videotapes. All but 2 groups did perform the main prescribed treatments, indicating that they know the resuscitation algorithm. Because resuscitation outcomes also depend on continuous support, we measured the unnecessary interruptions. In our study, almost 50% of the time the patient had no pulse, the groups did not resuscitate. Analyses showed that during these “dead times” the group members either focused on technical problems (39% of the time), which can be interpreted as performance losses due to lack of familiarity with the equipment provided; were preoccupied with observing the monitor (56%), indicating insecurities with the diagnosis; or did check for vital signs (17%), which may be interpreted a sign of general insecurity. We conclude that general knowledge about the resuscitation algorithm does not ensure high performance when confronted with the actual situation. Process losses due to technical problems, even with standard medical equipment leads to the recommendation that GP should use automatic external defibrillators (AED), because they provide automatic interpretation of the heart rhythm, which may reduce diagnostic insecurities, and are easy to use, which may reduce dead times.
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P02-35
Martina Stamm
Work-Family Balance and Career Success in Young Physicians
Authors
Martina Stamm (University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich)
Barbara Buddeberg-Fischer (University Hospital Zurich )
For the last decade, about half of medical school graduates have been women. Because residency programmes last 5 to 9 years, women in particular are confronted with the problem of combining their career with starting a family. This study investigates the gender-specific aspects of work-family balance and career success of young physicians specializing in internal medicine and surgical fields.
In a longitudinal study, a cohort of 2002 graduates of the three medical schools in German-speaking Switzerland were sent a questionnaire during their first year of residency (2003) and are followed up in 2007. In 2003, participants were asked about five scenarios of future work-life balance. The participants aspiring to surgical specialties (n=63) showed higher career orientation and less interest in part-time employment than the participants aspiring to internal medicine (n=82). The male residents (n=85) were more orientated to their careers than the females (n=60), who were more likely to consider part-time employment.
The analysis of 2007 data will focus on how personal factors (e.g. gender role orientation), career development factors (e.g. workplace and mentoring experiences) and private situation (e.g. having children) relate to the young physicians’ career success. We expect to see that female physicians with children are less advanced in their careers. Gender-related factors that promote or impede the career prospect of young physicians will be discussed.
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P02-36
Petra C. Schmid
Does it Matter Whether a Boss Wants to Be Boss? Effects of the Superior’s Power Motivation on Task Performance in Dyads
Authors
Petra C. Schmid (University of Neuchâtel)
Marianne Schmid Mast (University of Neuchâtel)
The aim of this study was to investigate whether the motivation to take on a high or low power position influences a dyad’s task performance in a laboratory experiment. To assess the power motivation, participants were asked whether they preferred the high power role (owner of an art gallery) or the low power role (assistant to the owner) in a dyadic interaction and were then randomly assigned to either the high or the low power role (33 all-women and 36 all-men dyads). Their task was to come to a consensus decision about selecting a painting for exhibition in their art gallery. The interaction was videotaped and uninvolved coders rated task performance as the degree of quality of the superior’s and the subordinate’s task contributions. Results showed that team performance as well as individual performance were better if the boss preferred the high power role to the low power role. The subordinate’s role preference did not affect the performance quality. We concluded that the power motivation is an important prerequisite to lead a successful team.
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P02-37
Sandra Schumacher
An empirical job analysis in the five Swiss nuclear power plants
Authors
Sandra Schumacher (University of Zurich)
Peter Hofmann (University of Zurich)
Martin Kleinmann (University of Zurich)
In connection with global warming, nuclear energy is becoming more and more important. An often discussed question in this field is the security aspect. According to estimations, between 20 – 70% of all system failures are caused by human error. In the literature we find different methods to improve the quality of human work; methods such as selecting the better people, offering trainings and individual support and optimising the ergonomic aspect of the workplace. The basis for all these methods is job analysis.
In the past, job analysis methods were not systematically used in Swiss nuclear power plants. In our study, we attempted to create an empirically accepted ability profile. It was also our intention to find out whether or not the "Fleishman Job Analysis Survey” is suitable for Swiss nuclear power plants or not. Therefore we have carried out a job analysis that included 187 job incumbents in four different Swiss nuclear power plants. Our results demonstrate that the Fleishman Job Analysis Survey is in fact adequate for practice in nuclear power plants. The method was sensitive enough to also detect small differences between different job functions in nuclear power plants.
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P02-38
Sylvia Manchen Spörri
Developing a Competence Model for Management Including Gender Mainstreaming and Diversity
Authors
Sylvia Manchen Spörri (Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur )
Developing a Competence Model for Management Including Gender Mainstreaming and Diversity
The public administration of a Swiss city developed a new competence model for management. The process was organized - driven by a participative and constructivist philosophy - in a project group consisting of representatives of the human resources department, an external consultant, management representatives of all departments and the equal opportunity commissioner. Based on task descriptions, documents and interviews, a collection of desirable competencies was created and visualized as collective map for the dimensions self, leadership, social and professional competence. In several workshops the competencies were discussed, selected and underlain with measurable behaviour as indicator.
The development process itself and the contents were reflected from a gender and diversity perspective. The goal was to avoid a reproduction of the male managerial model (Schein et al., 1996), to unmask sex-role stereotypes, to open the model for employees with a multifaceted background and circumstances. Examples for gender stereotypes and their improvement in the model are pointed out in the presentation. Need, approach and (dis-) advantages of gender mainstreaming and diversity for management are discussed.
Schein, V.E., Mueller, R., Lituchy, T. & Liu, J. (1996). Think manager - think male: a global phenomenon? Journal Of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 17, pp. 33 – 41.
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P02-39
Ulrike Schraps
Modern work structure and its´implications for life organization
Authors
Ulrike Schraps (Freie Universität Berlin (D))
As a result of the changing structure of work, many young employees experience the necessity of a work-centred life style. Little research has been carried out into how such a life style is evaluated during different career phases. In our three-year longitudinal project “New forms of work-centred life: Competence development among IT employees”, 54 men and 31 women employed in IT start-ups were interviewed about their life organization. These highly qualified interviewees initially evaluated their work-centred life as overwhelmingly positive due to a greater control and decision latitude at work, and adapted their lives appropriately – despite extremely long working hours and clear tendencies towards a breakdown of boundaries between working and private life. The negative sides of a unilateral domination of life by paid work and the necessity of a work-life balance were not recognized until employees experienced and reflected on significant crises. Gender differences in life organization only emerged after employees became parents. As a whole, the gender comparison resulted in a mixed picture of increasing equality and inequality: On the one hand, women use the opportunities of new forms of work just as men do. On the other hand, during the family phase, such working conditions make higher demands on women’s than men’s ability to reconcile work and family.
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P02-40
Bernhard Erne
Comparison of rumination, reflection, action vs. state orientation and exhilaratability: Can the concepts predict depressive symptoms?
Authors
Bernhard Erne (University of Zurich)
The theoretical interrelationships between the trait concepts of rumination and reflection, action and state orientation as well as a cheerful mood state, a serious state and a bad mood state are verified empirically. Rumination and state orientation contain tendencies to engage in negative thoughts and emotions which are associated with bad mood states. Reflection and action orientation are in contrast more focused on possible action alternatives. Cheerfulness, seriousness and bad mood belong to the concept of exhilaratability which denotes the threshold for getting in a cheerful mood. Aim of the present study was to investigate the prediction of depressive symptoms and absence from work by the trait concepts with the sample of an airport company using a survey. Sample size is about 250 subjects. Gender-specific models are suggested to predict depressive symptoms by rumination and state orientation. The interrelationships between the trait concepts, the mood states and depressive symptoms are discussed. The results are interpreted as an effect of self-alienation which could be associated to depressive illness and higher absence from work.
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P02-41
Delphine Courvoisier
How to assess mood in daily life by mobile phones
Authors
Delphine Courvoisier (University of Geneva)
When individuals are asked to summarize experiences or behavior over a period of time, different biases may contaminate recall (for example, "peak" and "recency" effects, use of semantic memory instead of true recall). By collecting momentary reports of experiences or behavior, researchers can minimize the potential for recall biases when studying mood states and mood variability. Currently, handheld computers are the method of choice for assessing behavior and feelings in daily life. In a research project we examined whether mobile phones can be used instead of handheld computers. In 2002, Switzerland counted 78 mobile phones per 100 inhabitants – and these rates are even higher among young adults. Combined with a computer program that manages the calls, poses pre-programmed questions, stores answers (given via phone keypad or voice), computerized mobile phone assessment (CMPA) seems a very promising advancement in Ambulatory Assessment. It shares the benefits of handheld computer assessment (e.g., branching of questions, compliance check, measurement of response latencies), but is of easier use for subjects and researchers. Using CMPA, we collected data on mood 6 times per day for 7 consecutive days. We also collected data about weather and subjects’ occupational activities at the time of data collection. We will present first data on the psychometric quality of mood assessments by mobile phones as well as specific hypotheses on causes of mood variability.
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P02-42
Gebhard Hüsler
Workload of physicians
Authors
Gebhard Hüsler (University of Fribourg)
We studied 48 hospital physicians differing in practical experience (0-9 years). The sample consisted 17 female (mean age 29.1, SD 1.96), and 31 male (mean age 30.6, SD 3.89) physicians. To discover whether workload varies according the number of professional years, we used the three categories of practical experience (0-1 year, 2-4 years, >5 years). They were interviewed twice within 6 months concerning their workload. To ascertain whether personality and stress perception differ in physicians and other academics we compared academic professionals other than physicians with physicians in our sample. Physiological stress reaction was measured by a standardized stress-reaction test (SOFT®med) in combination with measures of the sIgA level.
Results
There are only marginal differences between physicians and other academic professionals. A small group (N=11) of physicians was detected as stress vulnerable. The only variable on which physicians differ was emotionality a personality variable. Physicians high in emotionality react quite differently with regard to psychological and physical parameters at the workplace.
Conclusion
The consequences of this are that screening for stress vulnerability should be offered for the physicians. Thereafter interventions should be made available, to improve both a) their stress resistance in the short term and b) better job and life satisfaction in the long term.
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P02-43
Guillaume Fuerst
Idea Production, Personality & Affect: Are Happy Schizos the Most Creative?
Authors
Guillaume Fuerst (University of Geneva)
High levels of psychoticism, schizotypy and positive affect have long been associated with highly creative thinking (e.g. Eysenck, 1993; Schuldberg, 1990). Within this context, the present study aimed at confirming these relationships from a multivariate perspective, and going beyond mere simplifications (e.g., this article's subtitle). The following psychological dimensions were assessed in a sample of undergraduate students (N=122): idea production (divergent thinking abilities; self reported ideational behavior), personality (psychoticism, extraversion, neuroticism; schizotypy), and current affect (positive, negative). Applying a multitrait-multimethod model, it is first shown that idea production is a valid and reliable construct. Next, it is demonstrated that (a) only one factor of schizotypy (i.e. disorganization) was strongly and positively related to idea production (simple and interactive effects with affective measures); (b) positive affect moderately predicted high divergent thinking scores; and (c) the positive intercorrelation between many factors (self-report ideational behavior, schizotypy, negative affect) might be interpreted in terms of a common factor (i.e. low latent inhibition). These findings, in line with previous studies, provide new insights, and their implications for creativity research are discussed from both a theoretical and methodological perspective.
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P02-44
Jérôme Rossier
A cross-cultural study of the relationship between personality disorders and the five-factor model
Authors
Jérôme Rossier (University of Lausanne)
Christine Rigozzi (University of Lausanne)
Sabrina Verardi (University of Lausanne)
Donatien Dahourou (University of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso))
Jennifer Ah-Kion (University of Mauritius)
Uma Bhowon (University of Mauritius)
Caroline Ng Tseung (University of Mauritius)
Denis Amoussou-Yeye (University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin))
Marcel Adjahouisso (University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin))
Cherifa Bouatta (Algerian Society for Psychological Research)
Daouda Dougoumalé Cissé (University of Bamako (Mali))
Mamadou Mbodji (University Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal))
Oumar Barry (University Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal))
David Minga Minga (University of Kinshasa (Republic of Congo))
François Ondongo (University of Brazzaville (Republic of Congo))
Dieudonné Tsokini (University of Brazzaville (Republic of Congo))
Mohamed Nouri Romdhane (Institut Supérieur des Sciences Humaines de Tunis)
Nicole Sfayhi (Institut Supérieur des Sciences Humaines de Tunis)
Several authors have suggested that Personality Disorders (PDs) might be more accurately described using a dimensional model instead of a categorical one. The aim of this study was to describe the relationship between PDs and the Five-Factor Model (FFM) in two different cultural settings. Subjects from nine French-speaking African countries (N=2,014) and from Switzerland (N=697) completed both the French-version of the IPDE screening questionnaire, assessing the ten DSM-IV PDs, and the French-version of the NEO-PI-R, assessing the five domains and thirty facets of the FFM. Correlations between PDs and the five domains of the FFM were similar in both samples. The total rank-order correlation (rho) between the two correlation matrices was very high (rho=.93) and significant (p<.001), as were the rhos for all domains of the FFM and all PDs, except Paranoid and Dependent PDs. However, the rhos for PDs across facet-scales were all highly significant (p<.001). Moreover, 80% of Widiger and colleagues’ predictions and 70% of Lynam and Widiger’s prototypes, concerning the relationship between PDs and the FFM, were confirmed in both samples. The relationship between PDs and the FFM was stable in two samples separated by a great cultural distance. These results suggest that a dimensional approach and in particular the FFM might be useful for describing PDs in a variety of cultural settings.
Financed through the grant no 100013-108290 from the Swiss National Science Foundation.
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P02-45
Joel Billieux
The role of impulsivity in actual and problematic use of the mobile phone
Authors
Joel Billieux (University of Geneva
)
Martial Van der Linden (University of Geneva
)
Lucien Rochat (University of Geneva)
Several authors have investigated the risks arising from the growth in mobile phone use (e.g. large debts incurred by young people, banned or dangerous use, dependence). The aims of the present study are (1) to validate a new questionnaire assessing problematic mobile phone use: the Problematic Mobile Phone Use Questionnaire (PMPUQ), and (2) to investigate the relationships between the PMPUQ and the multi-faceted construct of impulsivity. 339 subjects were screened using the PMPUQ and the French adaptation of the UPPS Impulsive Behaviour Scale. Firstly, confirmatory factor analyses showed that the PMPUQ has an acceptable fit and assesses four distinct facets of problematic mobile phone use, namely (a) dangerous use (phoning while driving), (b) prohibited use (phoning in banned areas), (c) dependence related symptoms, and (d) financial problems. Secondly, structural equation modeling highlighted that the various components of impulsivity have specific influences on both actual and problematic use of the mobile phone. In particular, results showed that the Urgency facet of impulsivity, defined as “the tendency to experience strong impulses in condition of negative affect”, plays a prominent role in problematic mobile phone use. Results are discussed by considering motivational and executive processes underlying the various components of impulsivity. The influence of time since acquisition of the mobile phone and gender differences in mobile phone use were also considered.
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P02-46
Klaus Rink
The role of dysfunctional parental attitudes in the development of child-psychopathology
Authors
Klaus Rink (University of Zurich)
Evelyn Bernhard (University of Zurich)
Catrina Bolli (University of Zurich)
Main objective of this study is the assessment of parental attitudes which are correlated with dysfunctional parent-child interactions and abnormal child behaviour. The construction and validation of the Dysfunctional Parental Attitude Scale (DyPAS) is part of a longitudinal study on aetiological factors in the development of abnormal child-behaviour and long term emotional instability, relationship problems and personality disorders (Rink 2007). The raw-version of the DyPAS consists of 277 items covering the domains conflict management, overinvolvement, dominance/control, fostering dependency and modelling cognitive or manifest behaviour. 266 parents of a child from 1.5 to 6 years of age answered the DyPAS and measures of parent personality/pathology (MMPI, SCL-90, EPI), child-temperament (IBQ/ECBQ/CBQ) and child pathology (CBCL). Item- and scale properties of the DyPAS were analyzed by factor-analysis, homogeneity and reliability tests. Items with weak item-total correlation were eliminated. Validity of the DyPAS was assessed by correlating sets of items with distinct parental attitudes with the frequency of parental behaviours of the same type and by regression analysis with sets of parental attitudes as predictors and child pathology as criterion. By the selection of dysfunctional attitudes (substantive correlation with child pathology) the number of items could be further reduced. Results of these analyses will be presented and discussed in detail.
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P02-47
Manuela Keller-Schneider
The influence of personality factors on the developement of competences in the first phase of professional developement
Authors
Manuela Keller-Schneider (Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich)
Teacher in the biographically important phase of teacher induction are challenged by new requirements. The induction phase is described as task of development, which is determined by professional phasespecific requirements and factors of the personality.
The study represented here with 300 teachers of the elementary and secondary school in the canton Zurich (160 beginners in the first and second year of professional work and 140 teachers with at least seven years of professional experience), will examine, if personality factors or the stage of development of competences has a direct impact on which requirements challenges the vocational task of development.
Method: 80 items for occupation-referred challenges were identified by content analytanlysis. Two groups of teachers (beginners and experienced teachers) did rate them focused on the aspects of importances, competence and demand.
Results from a factor analysis show that the 80 items could be reduced to four scales, with which clusters can be described. The result of the cluster analysis shows, that the clusters do not separate between the groups (beginners and teacher with experience). Findings from the study reveal that other factors contribute the successfully coping of teacher induction.
In this research the influence of personality factors on the perception of requirements and on the developement of compenteces will be discussed.
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P02-48
Roberto La Marca
Attachment quality and autonomic reactions to acute psychosocial stress
Authors
Roberto La Marca (University of Zurich
)
Thanh Thuy Nguyen (University of Zurich
)
Ulrike Ehlert (University of Zurich
)
Marina Zulauf-Logoz (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zurich)
Stress is known to influence the HPA axis and the autonomic nerve system. Furthermore it is related to several disorders. Little is known about the effect of attachment quality on acute stress reaction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between attachment quality and biopsychological stress reactivity. Thirty healthy children (18 female) participated at the age of 15 on an attachment interview (CAI) and a psychosocial stress test (TSST-C). Salivary amylase were repeatedly collected before and after the stress test. Heart rate and heart rate variability were measured continuously. The data is based on a prior project which was performed by Zulauf-Logoz (1997). The TSST-C resulted in a significant increase amylase (p<.01), heart rate (p<.01), LF/HF-ratio of heart rate variability (p<.01) and a significant decrease of HF (p<.01). Secure attached adolescents showed lower heart rate and higher HF during baseline conditions (both p<.05), when considering the attachment to the mother. In the present study the TSST-C induced an increase in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, while reducing the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system. Attachment quality was shown to influence baseline and stress reaction of different biological stress systems. This data shows the importance of attachment quality in stress research. Further research is needed to investigate the role of attachment quality on negative effects of stress.
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P02-49
Sandra Rusch
Respressor or Sensitizer - that's the question! A multi-method verification of the Repressor-Sensitizer construct
Authors
Sandra Rusch (University of Zurich)
Heidi Stolz (University of Zurich)
Philipp Drack (University of Zurich)
René T. Proyer (University of Zurich)
Willibald Ruch (University of Zurich)
In an experimental setting in which participants had to recognize 99 five letter-words with positive, neutral, and negative connotations (e. g., apple, raped, clean, whore, happy, death). Bruner and Postman (1947) described two different strategies in coping with fearful and threatening situations. First, the defense process that was characterized by an increase in association time to emotionally charged stimuli (defense against emotional stimuli related to anxiety). Second, the sensitization process that was characterized by a lowering of thresholds for stimulus-objects of great personal relevance. The main aim of the present study is a replication of this experiment and to explore its relation to five well-established questionnaires for the R-S construct and a measure of the cortical activation that was applied before and after the experiment. A sample of N = 53 participants completed the questionnaires and the experimental setting. Results suggest that the results from the experiment and from the questionnaires (Q-data) did not converge well. However, the questionnaires showed meaningful relations in the expected direction. Thus, it is concluded that the measures for the subjective assessment of the two coping strategies are similar to a high degree but are not measuring the construct in its original conceptualization as suggested by Bruner and Postman. Implications of the results will be discussed with respect to the current literature.
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P02-50
Christian Fichter
The Differences between Political Parties' Images and their Real Actions
Authors
Christian Fichter (University of Zurich)
Political parties have brand images, just like brand products do. Parties value their images and try to communicate them. This is most remarkable in the USA, where a whole industry of political marketing exists, but is now a common practice even in Europe and Switzerland. Our research question was: Do the images that Swiss people have of their political parties match the actions and political agendas of their parties, or are the images different from how the parties act in reality? To answer this, a subjective image measure was applied to 60 participants, capturing the 9 most relevant dimensions that constitute a typical image profile for the political domain. Then, these image differentials were compaired against the database of the swiss parliament's voting behaviour. With this procedure, it was possible to reveal how different the political images are from the real behaviour of the parties. For the two parties SP and SVP, we were able to identify the dimensions on which this difference was largest, and if a specific dimension was over- or underestimated.
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P02-51
Flora Di Donato
The legal construction of the fact
Authors
Flora Di Donato (University of Naples)
The research aims to analyse the intersubjective process of construction of the legal fact - between the lawyer, the client and the judge - and the way this process fits into the more wide-ranging social and cultural Italian framework.
The method used for analysing the data (judgments, all the official documents produced by the parties, interviews with clients, interviews with lawyers) will be of a qualitative nature and will refer to a series of pre-established criteria, like a narrative analysis .
At the intersubjective analysis level, I expect the narratives to be the product of interaction: the lawyer will take up the client's speech, and the judge will take up that of the lawyer (and the client).
Also on this level, I expect to be able to show, as is widely documented in the literature, how the client plays a fundamental role in the way the lawyer becomes apprised of the fact.
Thus I expect to be able to compare the lawyer's story with that of the client to understand how the fact is constructed in the introductory proceedings to the judgment, and how the objective constraints are expressed in the narrative, which cause/time connections are present, and what use is made of the evidence and above all how the findings of an investigation are interpreted.
Lastly, I expect to contribute to the clarification of the way in which the judge, in turn, narrates the fact starting from the elements of reality incorporated into the stories of the parties and supported by evidence.
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P02-52
Christian Fichter
Online Survey Software: The Tools, the Traps and the Tips & Tricks
Authors
Christian Fichter (University of Zurich)
Online surveys are becoming ever more important, not only in market research, but also for empirical psychological research. But when it comes to implement such a survey, researchers without substantial technical background and support all to often experience unforseen hurdles that may hinder or even ruin a research project. Software choice and implementation recommendations are therefore very important. In this contribution, this is being be addressed. We want to help out by giving an overview of the tools available, the hidden traps and dangers that they have, and give tips and tricks on how one can quickly and inexpensively start data collection. Experience of years of online research shall be condensed in a case study and shared with the scientific community. From the many survey tools we have used, we prototypically pick out two of the most popular ones, one open source, the other one commercial. We compare them in any respect relevant for researchers in the psychology domain, give recommendations on the mistakes that are to be avoided and we showcase the two tools.
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P02-53
Christiane Gillièron Paléologue
The use of Balanced Incomplete Blocks in a Triadic Comparisons Task with animal names
Authors
Christiane Gillièron Paléologue (University of Geneva)
Christine Busset (University of Geneva)
Triadic comparisons have been used in anthropology for studying conceptual domains in alien cultures, in combination with other tasks. The technique then entered neuropsychology for studying the (dis)organization of semantic memory in various groups of patients. However, using Chan’s et al. (2001) set of ten images in four experimental variants, Schneitter (2002) concluded that TCT with images was not valid. On the other hand, we showed in a simulation study that interpreting the maps as a cue to dimensional reasoning is undue. Simulations were done with three lists of twelve animals often found in the literature. Four criteria were systematically used in order to produce dissimilarity matrices, on which Multidimensional Scaling was applied. It was not possible to reconstruct the criteria from the maps, and, due the ecological correlations proper to the items, maps falsely suggested the use of criteria absent from the simulation (Gillièron et al., 2005). The present study addresses the problem of contextual constraints and use 12 animal names selected for the numerous associations they suggest. In order to avoid the 220 comparisons usually required from subject, a BIB with 44 triads was constructed, with each pair coming twice and position counterbalanced, as well as order of presentation. Ninety lists were used with 90 subjects. Results show that no dimensional solution is acceptable.
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P02-54
Dominique Desbiez-Piat
Studying the semantics of animals with a mapping task
Authors
Dominique Desbiez-Piat (University of Geneva)
Judith Czellar (Univesity of Geneva)
Most studies on the semantics of animals infer dimensional models from lists produced in free-recall tasks (e.g. Henley, 1969) or from proximity data stemming from comparisons, paired or triadic (e.g., Brazill & al., 1995 ; Chan & al., 1993, 2001 ; Henley, 1969). Principal Components Analysis or Multidimensional Scaling most frequently end in three factors : size, domesticity, and predation. Now, in an objective study devoted to the ecological and constitutional correlates of sleep in Mammels, Allison and Cicchetti (1976) give a 2D map which explains 80% of variance (for 9 measures and 39 species). The first two factors are labelled Size and Danger. We chose a top-down procedure and provided the subjects with a partial map on a 38 x 38 cm board with the names of thirteen Mammels which appear in the lists of Henley, of Chan et al. and in Battig and Montague (1969) as well. The subjects had to place 12 other animals on the map according to the weight given to both dimensions using labels attached to needles they could pin into the board. In this manner the 25 animals most frequently used in psychological studies, and which are the most prominent to subjects as well, are related one to the other. Results show that the participants can use the bi-dimensional space as proposed in the task. However what remains to be settled is whether their reasoning rests upon dimensions or rather upon proximities.
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P02-55
Judith Czellar
Constancy and change in writing: A Q-sums investigation
Authors
Judith Czellar (University of Geneva)
Authorship attribution studies rely on the psychological assumption that texts produced by an individual reflect his personality and style which expresses themselves independently of the contexts of production or the literary genre. Each person has unconscious linguistic habits which are unique as are fingerprints and can be described by means of statistical tools. The aim of this study is to examine if linguistic habits are stable over time or, on the contrary, sensitive to changes that occur during life. At this effect we use a technique that has been validated in other languages but non in French, the technique of cumulative sums (Q-sums). One of its assets is it is effective even with texts as short as 20 sentences. We apply it to the case of George Sand. Two studies address the question of stability in writing, using 35 letters written between ages 21 and 66. Fourteen indicators were defined to measure the linguistic fingerprint, and 9'450 comparisons done by means of wQsums and quasi-t test. Letters written between 21 and 30 years differ from those written later which show the same linguistic fingerprint (Study 1). The writer goes through a period of stylistic transition at the beginning of her career: her linguistic habits are more variable between 21 and 30 years and stabilize afterward (Study 2).
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P02-56
Judith Dirk
Comparing estimation methods for ex-Gaussian distribution analysis: An empirical example of reaction time (RT) in the Stroop task
Authors
Judith Dirk (University of Geneva)
Delphine Fagot (University of Geneva)
Paolo Ghisletta (University of Geneva)
Anik de Ribaupierre (University of Geneva)
The ex-Gaussian function, convolution of an exponential and a Gaussian function, has been proposed to more precisely describe RT distributions than indices of central tendency. Two different algorithms are available to estimate ex-Gaussian parameters: Cumulative Maximum Likelihood (CML; needing at least 100 RTs/ experimental condition) and Quantile Maximum Probability (QMP; needing only 40 RTs/ experimental condition). Heathcote, Brown, and Mewhort (2002) have shown in a simulation that QMP outperforms CML. However, it is not clear how the two algorithms compare with empirical data. By applying CML and QMP to data collected within the ongoing Geneva Variability Study on 106 young adults on the Stroop task, counting 144 trials by condition, we aimed at exploring the minimum number of RTs necessary to reliably estimate ex-Gaussian parameters. QMP1 obtained with one RT per quantile outperformed CML and thus served as standard of comparison. Number of RTs per person and per quantile were systematically varied, and bias and efficiency of parameter estimates were evaluated graphically. The likelihood to obtain reliable ex-Gaussian parameter estimates increased with the number of trials. Bias decreased and efficiency increased with a larger number of trials and a smaller number of RTs per quantile. Little difference was observed between 97 and 144 RTs per person. Results will be discussed in light of their impact on the planning of further studies on intraindividual variability.
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P02-57
Oliver Michel
The Congress Map: Documenting the similarity of conference contributions by information retrieval from the scientific abstracts
Authors
Oliver Michel (University of Zurich)
The similarity relation of a number of texts is important not only for congress organisers (who need to group the proposed contributions to meaningful sessions) but to everybody who wants to find certain information within a larger number of texts. Hence, information retrieval methods have been developed to compare texts according to their similarity. We apply these methods to model the semantic structure of the SGP congress contributions.
In order to find an optimal structure related to the meanings of texts, we compare the four most suitable methods, ranging from simple trigramming (treating text as an undistinguished stream of letters) over keyword method (focussing on the joint occurance of the most important terms), Überlappungskoeffizient (counting identical words in pairs of texts) to Hofmethode (the latter method compares the surrounding semantic "environment" in which the keywords appear). The coefficients of pairwise similarity which derived from these methods are transformed into maps (using a robust version of Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling). The overall structure represents each congress contribution by a dot surrounded by several other talks and posters. All particpants of the SGP congress are welcome to visit the poster, identifying their own congress contribution and evaluating its position in each of the four maps.
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P02-58
Thomas Ledermann
Analysis of mediation effects in dyadic research in multilevel models
Authors
Thomas Ledermann (University of Fribourg)
Siegfried Macho (University of Fribourg)
Guy Bodenmann (University of Fribourg)
Multilevel models are increasingly used to estimate effects in hierarchical designs. For analyzing mediation effects in multilevel models based on the three-variable mediator model Bauer, Preacher and Gil (2006) have proposed a new procedure that can be adapted for testing mediation effects in dyadic data using the Actor-Partner Mediator Model (Ledermann & Bodenmann, 2006). The method allows the estimation of direct, indirect and total effects when all variables are measured at level 1. The model and the procedure permit the analysis of repeated measures designs (e.g., diary studies) as well as designs in which individuals are nested in groups (individuals nested in nations). The estimation of random effects in form of random intercepts and random slopes is a key advantage of this technique. The application of the model and procedure for testing mediation effects is demonstrated using data from 212 heterosexual couples on daily stress in form of relationship external and internal stress and marital quality collected at three time points within one year.
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P02-59
Julia Nentwich
New Racism? The discursive construction of inclusion and exclusion
Authors
Julia Nentwich (University of St. Gallen)
Anja Ostendorp (University of St. Gallen)
Internationally, the phenomenon of “New Racism” has been widely researched and discussed (Barker, 1981; Rapley, 1998; Wetherell & Potter, 1992). It describes very distinctive rhetorical and discursive strategies aiming at excluding “the other” without positioning the speaker as “racist”. However, until today there has been no study investigating the phenomenon and its consequences for anti-discriminatory practices in Switzerland. This is exactly where our empirical research project is aiming at. We conducted 20 group discussions (Steyaert & Bouwen, 2004) and 16 problem centred interviews (Witzel, 2000) in three very distinctive neighbourhoods of a Swiss city. The discourse analysis (Potter, 2003; Potter & Wetherell, 1987; Wetherell & Potter, 1992) conducted focused on the question, how differences were discursively constructed segregating a dominant “us” from “the others”. Presenting our results, we will firstly explicate four very distinctive “language games” (Wittgenstein, 1997) re-sulting in different version of exclusion and possibilities of inclusion. Secondly, we will explain the ideological dilemma (Billig et al., 1988) and interpretative repertoires (Wetherell, 1998; Wetherell & Potter, 1992) in use. Thirdly, we will illustrate the rhetorical strategies available (Condor, 2000; Van Dijk, 1989, 1992) and how they contribute to the phenomenon of “New Racism”. Finally, we will dis-cuss the consequences of our findings for change projects.
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P02-60
Caspar Coninx
Image-effects in the telecommunication industry: The use of a company’s image as a heuristic to evaluate its brands
Authors
Caspar Coninx (University of Zurich)
Luisa Sirianni (University of Zurich)
Christian Fichter (University of Zurich)
The purpose of this study was to determine by the Elaboration likelihood model how the image of a telecommunication firm as a heuristic affects the evaluation of its brands and which factors influence this effect. A 4 x 2 x 2 online-experiment was designed to test the hypotheses. The subjects were 790 students who assessed a fictitious product of an internet service provider. The brand name was manipulated whereas knowledge and involvement were measured as quasi-experimental variables. The results confirmed that the image of a telecommunication company had an effect on the evaluation of its brands. Further, our data supported the hypothesis that this image effect occurs independently from the participants’ knowledge and involvement. The Image mainly affected the awareness of the brand’s emotional dimension. The assumption that involvement and knowledge moderate the image-effect was not supported, but a main effect of these two variables was significant. These results support previous research that has found experts to also use heuristics in decision making. On the basis of these findings we recommend that marketing managers allow for the emotional component of their brand promotion. Whereas image research is normally based on correlative or qualitative data this study was able to demonstrate by an experimental setup that the image of an internet provider has an effect on the evaluation of its brands independently from a person’s involvement or knowledge.
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P02-61
Gabriela Nietlisbach
Impaired empathy in PTSD
Authors
Gabriela Nietlisbach (University of Zurich)
Andreas Maercker (University of Zurich)
Helene Haker (University of Zurich)
Purpose: PTSD is not only characterized by its symptom pattern but also by significant psychosocial impairments. Patients with PTSD often feel lonely and isolated after the traumatic experience. The aim of the general study is to reveal differences in social perception and the construct of empathy between PTSD patients and non traumatized controls.
Methods: A sample of 25 – 30 patients with PTSD and a sample of 30 non traumatized controls complete the following empathy tests: Contagious Yawning test (Platek et al, 2003), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983), theory of mind-tests (Baron-Cohen et al, 1997; 1999), Affect Prosody Recognition (Edwards et al, 2001), Social Dysfunction Index (Munroe-Blum & McCleary, 1996).
Results: First results of this ongoing study will be presented.
Conclusions: We expect a reduced ability of empathy among PTSD patients which could lead to impaired social interactions. The results should be considered in context with further results of our groups on decreased self-perceived social acknowledgment as victim or survivor (Maercker & Müller, 2004) or impaired disclosure of traumatic experiences (Müller & Maercker, 2006).
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P02-62
Johannes O. Ritter
Restriction of Choice: Regret or Relief?
Authors
Johannes O. Ritter (University of Zurich)
Alexandra M. Freund (University of Zurich)
How do people react when they encounter a restriction in choice before having made a decision? On the basis of a newly developed process model of choice restriction, we predict that the excluded option serves as a standard in evaluating the remaining options. Salient features of the standard highlight comparison dimensions, influencing the resulting evaluative judgment of the remaining options. In a first study, we investigated if information about an excluded option is, in fact, more salient than information about the remaining options in a choice set. N = 30 participants read descriptions of three car, expecting to make a decision about which one they liked best. Before making the choice, one of the three cars was excluded. As expected, people remembered more descriptive adjectives of the excluded car than of the remaining cars (F(1,27)= 4.39, p<.05, ?2=.14). Thus, the features of an excluded option seem to be highly salient and are therefore in turn likely to be used for evaluating the remaining options as predicted by our model. This result is currently being replicated with a different set of options in a real choice situation.
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P02-63
Olivia Santella
Does Name-Dropping Cause Trait Inference and Trait Transference?
Authors
Olivia Santella (University of Zurich
)
Carmen Lebherz (University of Zurich
)
Klaus Jonas (University of Zurich)
In our research we were interested in whether purposeful name-dropping could cause an audience to think of an actor’s specific traits, and whether using different forms of name-dropping suggest different traits. We define name-dropping as a self-presentational tactic by which an actor associates himself positively with another person.
Our pretest showed that specific VIP’s elicit specific trait inferences. In the main study, we were interested in whether the audience transfers those specific traits from the VIP to a speaker who practices name-dropping.
For the trait “friendly” we could substantiate the above mentioned process: The audience inferred the trait from the mentioned VIP and also transferred this trait to the speaker who mentioned the VIP. We also discuss the possibility that the audience assimilates or contrasts the speaker to the mentioned VIP.
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