Emotional Empathy as Related to Mimicry Reactions at Different Levels of Information Processing

The hypotheses of this investigation were based on conceiving of facial mimicry reactions in face-to-face interactions as an early automatic component in the process of emotional empathy. Differences between individuals high and low in emotional empathy were investigated. The parameters compared were facial mimicry reactions, as represented by electromyographic (EMG) activity, when individuals were exposed to pictures of angry or happy faces. The present study distinguished between spontaneous facial reactions and facial expressions associated with more controlled or modulated emotions at different information processing levels, first at a preattentive level and then consecutively at more consciously controlled levels: 61 participants were exposed to pictures at three different exposure times (17, 56, and 2350 ms). A significant difference in facial mimicry reactions between high- and low-empathy participants emerged at short exposure times (56 ms), representing automatic, spontaneous reactions, with high-empathy participants showing a significant mimicking reaction. The low-empathy participants did not display mimicking at any exposure time. On the contrary, the low-empathy participants showed, in response to angry faces, a tendency to an elevated activation in the cheek region, which often is associated with smiling.     

A note on the correlation betweenS 2 and the least squares estimator in the linear regression model

The online version of the original article can be found at     

Risk Perceptions and Alcohol Consumption among Young People

Swedish cross-sectional survey data on young individuals was used to analyse the determinants of perceived risks of alcohol use and how these perceptions relate to drinking behaviour. Three major conclusions were drawn: (1) that people overestimate the risks of alcoholism, (2) that these risk perceptions fall substantially with age, but nevertheless imply risk overestimation, and (3) that education about alcohol, narcotics and tobacco leads individuals to perceive risks more correctly and to have lower risk beliefs. An additional finding was that individuals with higher perceived risks were less likely to consume alcohol. Equations were estimated both separately and simultaneously.     

Smart Devices in Organisationen – Von Regelungen für die Allgegenwärtigkeit von computergestützter Kommunikation

Mobile communication devices like smart phones are keystones for improving efficiency, compacting and subjectifying work. They dissolve boundaries in multiple ways and influence organization of work alike exhaustion and recreation. Legal regulations are not implemented in organizations or do not fit. Organizations find it difficult even to find rules, because there are many contradictions. Nevertheless, it is for organizations in both competition concerns as issues of workplace health promotion advisable to conduct clarification processes to availability times. Consulting can support negotiation processes.     

The Business Model Paradox: A Systematic Review and Exploration of Antecedents

The business model has become a popular concept in business and management fields. Yet, it is suffering from a paradox between outstanding popularity and severe criticism, which appears to impede the positive development of the scholarly discourse on the business model concept. Against this background, the purpose of this study is to provide insight into the antecedents of this paradox and to understand their implications for the future development of the concept. The following contributions are made. First, the authors apply a narrative approach to recognizing and interpreting the paradox, and introduce the analysis of syntactics of scholarly discourse as a novel method of investigating management concepts. Second, as a result of elaborating on recurrent themes and tensions in scholarly discourse, the authors extend the literature on business models through theorizing on the core of the concept along the dimensions of classification, constitution and configuration. In particular, they identify the simultaneity of separation and attachment as the main antecedent of the business model paradox. Third, the authors offer implications for further advancing the development of this management concept, and highlight the need for spurring integrative research while at the same time maintaining a plurality of perspectives.     

Politics and Power within Multinational Corporations: Mainstream Studies,Emerging Critical Approaches and Suggestions for Future Research

Given the increased public interest in the use and misuse of power in multinationals in the aftermath of the financial crisis, it is notable that power relations in multinational corporations (MNCs) have not gained enhanced attention in the academic community. What is missing so far in the study of MNCs is a systematic examination of how power and politics within MNCs have been addressed in mainstream international business (IB) and sociological research studying the MNC. This paper starts by critically reviewing these two mainstream approaches in the study of MNCs as organizations and seeking to understand the shortcomings of former research. Next, it reviews new emergent critical perspectives, which the authors call socio‐political studies of MNCs, where power and politics are addressed not just more prominently, but also differently, from a more bottom‐up and actor‐centred perspective. After reviewing this emergent stream of research, the authors propose that future studies should take a more micro‐political perspective and focus in more detail on the micro‐foundations of power relations. In the concluding section, the authors show how future studies of MNCs can learn from both critical interactionist and discursive theories when analysing organizational politics and power relations. A framework is proposed for the study of micro‐level political game‐playing in MNCs, based on a three‐dimensional framework for organizational power (episodic, rules of the game and domination), and some key research questions for future studies are suggested.