Thresholds, productivity, and context: an experimental study on determinants of distributive behaviour

In our questionnaire experiment we confronted students of economics, law and medicine with distributive situations in different contexts characterised by two features inspired by medical decision problems: First, individual threshold values indicate minimal amounts needed by potential recipients of the given resource to obtain positive benefits. Second, recipients differ with respect to their ability to benefit from the given quantity, which indicates the productivity of the resource. Allocations offered in the questionnaire are theoretically grounded. However, respondents were also able to make their own proposals. Well-known allocation rules, but also new procedures, were witnessed. Two multistage principles were most prominent: After distributing all minimal amounts, in a second step one aims for resource-equality while the other principle in the second step demands the maximisation of the sum of payoffs. Besides threshold values and productivity, the acceptance of different principles also depended on the field of study, the degree of scarcity of the resources and the sequential order of situations.     

Facial Mimicry of Spontaneous and Deliberate Duchenne and Non-Duchenne Smiles

Increasing evidence suggests that Duchenne (D) smiles may not only occur as a sign of spontaneous enjoyment, but can also be deliberately posed. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether people mimic spontaneous and deliberate D and non-D smiles to a similar extent. Facial EMG responses were recorded while participants viewed short video-clips of each smile category which they had to judge with respect to valence, arousal, and genuineness. In line with previous research, valence and arousal ratings varied significantly as a function of smile type and elicitation condition. However, differences in facial reactions occurred only for smile type (i.e., D and non-D smiles). The findings have important implications for questions relating to the role of facial mimicry in expression understanding and suggest that mimicry may be essential in discriminating among various meanings of smiles.     

Individual Differences in Interpersonal Accuracy: A Multi-Level Meta-Analysis to Assess Whether Judging Other People is One Skill or Many

Research into individual differences in interpersonal accuracy (IPA; the ability to accurately judge others’ emotions, intentions, traits, truthfulness, and other social characteristics) has a long tradition and represents a growing area of interest in psychology. Measuring IPA has proved fruitful for uncovering correlates of this skill. However, despite this tradition and a considerable volume of research, very few efforts have been made to look collectively at the nature of the tests involved in assessing IPA, leaving questions of the broader structure of IPA unresolved. Is IPA a single skill or a clustering of many discrete skills or some combination of partially overlapping skills? In a multi-level meta-analysis of 103 published and unpublished participant samples (13,683 participants), we analyzed 622 correlations between pairs of IPA tests (135 different IPA tests altogether). The overall correlation between IPA tests was r = .19, corrected for the nesting of correlations within the studies that administered more than two IPA tests and reported several correlations for the same participant sample. Test domain and characteristics were evaluated to explain differences in effect sizes; in general, tests in similar domains and using similar methodologies were more highly correlated with each other, suggesting that there are domains within which individual differences cluster. Implications for future research and IPA measurement were discussed.     

Volunteers' Power and Resistance in the Struggle for Shelter Animal Survival

This article presents an analysis of how volunteers use different forms of capital to resist the practices and discourses of the organization for which they volunteer. Volunteers at a large public animal shelter do not share the shelter's institutionally held belief that shelter death is an inevitable result of homelessness among companion animals; to reduce shelter death, they craft challenges to the shelter practice of putting dogs down and work to construct shelter death as an avoidable and problematic outcome. Their repertoire of resistance includes educational, health‐based, relational, moral, reputational, and legal strategies. The findings illuminate that volunteers’ social location outside of the shelter provides them with capital to engage in resistance within the shelter.     

Distribution and selection of experts in the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES): the case of the regional assessment for Africa

In 2013, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) agreed to carry out a regional assessment for Africa. Since then, roughly 100 authors have been working to deliver, in 2018, a document that not only synthesises existing knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services for the African region but to distil from it knowledge that is relevant, credible, and legitimate for both societal and scientific practise. This requires, firstly, to carefully constituting the group of authors and, secondly, to design an assessment process that allows for deriving at an integrated perspective amongst these experts. Such a joint process of knowledge production that encompasses both interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration can be framed as co-creation. In this contribution, we analyse whether the IPBES African assessment accounts for these two prerequisites for an effective assessment process. Our particular interest lays in the question whether scholars from social sciences and the humanities are sufficiently involved. Our analysis is based on the curriculum vitae of 97 members of the expert group, and reads quite straightforward: there is an overall lack of non-natural science perspectives and expertise that might lead to essential knowledge and data gaps when wishing to understand the effects of the diverse human concepts of and activities on biodiversity and ecosystem services. In order to address these gaps and to derive at an assessment report truly relevant for policy makers as well as other social and scientific actors, IPBES needs to widen its outreach to networks of scholars from the social sciences and the humanities and to inform them appropriately about the specific roles they could play within IPBES processes, particularly assessments.     

„Manchmal muss es einfach sehr schnell gehen …“

In career counseling, time and resources can sometimes be scarce. One case in point are scholarship holders. Some scholarship programmes include succinct individual career counseling sessions. This condensed counseling programme consists of a group workshop, a one-on-one coaching session and an individual remote follow-up. This consultation programme includes values clarification, an analysis of biography and career as well as a profile development. For this succinct form, intensive preparatory work on both sides is essential. The participants receive tasks and instructions beforehand. The results thereof are then the basis for the workshop and coaching session. Despite these challenging general conditions excellent results can be achieved.     

Trajectories of Prosocial Behavior and Physical Aggression in Middle Childhood: Links to Adolescent School Dropout and Physical Violence

Trajectories of prosocial behavior and physical aggression between 6 and 12 years of age were identified for a sample (N=1,025) of males. The trajectories were then used to predict school dropout and physical violence at age 17. Using a group‐based semi‐parametric method, two trajectories of prosociality (low and moderate declining) and three trajectories of physical aggression (low, moderate, and high declining) were obtained. Only a small minority (3.4%) of the boys were characterized by both high aggression and moderate prosociality. Physical aggression predicted both school dropout and physical violence, but contrary to expectations, prosocial behavior did not have additive or protective effects.     

Überall ist unterdessen „E“ – E‑Coaching als ein adäquates Format

More travelling, increasingly flexible working hours, omnipresent technologies, more complex tasks: coaching using digital channels and tools perfectly dovetails with modern work routine. This article explains what virtual coaching is (and can be) and presents the variants blended coaching and immersive coaching. The advantages and potential points of criticism of virtual coaching are also described. Finally, the seven phases of the ideal-typical virtual coaching process are presented.