The UK has been continuously at war for the last eleven years and as a result there are growing c... more The UK has been continuously at war for the last eleven years and as a result there are growing concerns about the social and psychological problems that are emerging amongst servicemen. Many of the servicemen are parents and yet what is not mentioned in the research is how these issues may be impacting upon their children. Indeed although there is no official figure, there are estimated to be as many as 185,000 service children, and to date there has been no research in the UK that directly captures how young adolescents understand, interpret and feel about the transitions and challenges they encounter with the regular deployment of a parent(s) to war. By utilising grounded theory with uncensored blogs written by American military adolescents a new conceptual model is presented for consideration. Although Logan’s phase-based emotional cycle of deployment continues to offer a valuable portrayal of the transitions faced by military personnel and their spouses, an adolescent’s model shifts the perspective to the important and largely ignored process of childhood in the context of contemporary deployment and war. Also addressed are implications for practice and suggestions for future research.
London School of Economics and Political Science, Feb 16, 2016
People may associate political correctness with conformity but our research finds it also correla... more People may associate political correctness with conformity but our research finds it also correlates with creativity in work settings. Imposing a PC norm into a work environment-a norm that sets clear expectations of how women and men should interact with each other-unexpectedly encourages creativity among mixed-sex work groups by reducing uncertainty in relationships.
thank Joseph Goodman and Gülden Ülkümen for comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. 2 Po... more thank Joseph Goodman and Gülden Ülkümen for comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. 2 Power holders are constantly in the position of making decisions. Although much is known about how consumers make decisions in general, little is known about whether those with power cope with conflict. We examine this issue and show that the relationship between power and decision-making is not straightforward and requires the distinction between social and personal power. We demonstrate that social power (over others) versus personal power (over the self) has varying influences consumer decision making. We theorize that having personal power, compared to social power, highlights a sense of freedom. This salient sense of freedom for high personal (vs. social) power individuals will increase the likelihood to defer a choice and decrease the instances of compromise effect, effectively pushing these otherwise consistent context effects in opposing directions. In four studies we provide suppo...
They reduce uncertainty, write Jack A. Goncalo, Jennifer Chatman, Michelle M. Duguid and Jessica ... more They reduce uncertainty, write Jack A. Goncalo, Jennifer Chatman, Michelle M. Duguid and Jessica A. Kennedy
A long stream of research in attribution theory suggests that groups are biased toward attributin... more A long stream of research in attribution theory suggests that groups are biased toward attributing their success to factors that are internal to their group. However, the existing research has confounded two types of attributions that are both internal to the group, but theoretically distinct: (1) Attributions that differentiate between the contributions made by each individual group member and (2) attributions that focus on the group as a whole. This dichotomy is important because, drawing on theories of social influence, we predict that different types of attributions will have different consequences for the quality of group decision making. In experiment 1, individually focused attributions for past success caused groups to consider more divergent alternatives prior to making a shared decision. In experiment 2, individually focused attributions for past success facilitated the sharing of unique information and improved decision accuracy. These findings suggest that the group serv...
Women may only make up just under a quarter of senior leadership positions in organizations in th... more Women may only make up just under a quarter of senior leadership positions in organizations in the United States, but they still hold 52% of professional-level jobs – which require leadership and m...
There is a popular belief that in organizational settings men’s decision-making and behaviors ref... more There is a popular belief that in organizational settings men’s decision-making and behaviors reflect bias for attractive women. While extant literature has investigated the occurrence of this bias and the processes underlying the bias, the current research departs by exploring whether men assume others will see them as biased in favor of attractive women and thus change their behaviors to avoid these perceptions. Specifically, we propose and show that men’s concerns about being perceived as favorably biased toward attractive women will underlie the decision to distance themselves from and discriminate against attractive female candidates. Study 1 showed that men physically distanced themselves from an attractive opposite-sex candidate. The converse was shown when there was no risk of being judged as biased; men sat closer to a more attractive opposite-sex candidate. Regardless of whether or not there was a risk of being judged as biased, women preferred to sit closer to a more attractive male candidate. ...
As work organizations become increasingly gender diverse, existing theoretical models have failed... more As work organizations become increasingly gender diverse, existing theoretical models have failed to explain why such diversity can have a negative impact on idea generation. Using evidence from two group experiments, this paper tests theory on the effects of imposing a political correctness (PC) norm, one that sets clear expectations for how men and women should interact, on reducing interaction uncertainty and boosting creativity in mixed-sex groups. Our research shows that men and women both experience uncertainty when asked to generate ideas as members of a mixed-sex work group: men because they may fear offending the women in the group and women because they may fear having their ideas devalued or rejected. Most group creativity research begins with the assumption that creativity is unleashed by removing normative constraints, but our results show that the PC norm promotes rather than suppresses the free expression of ideas by reducing the uncertainty experienced by both sexes ...
A recent Forbes.com article states that “Women must take a special interest in supporting other w... more A recent Forbes.com article states that “Women must take a special interest in supporting other women in order to help make gender equality in business a reality” (Perkett, 2014). But to what extent do women actually serve as catalysts for reducing inequality? As women now hold about fifty-percent of all management positions (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013) and are becoming the majority of new entrants in high-status professions, such as medicine (American Association of Medical Colleges, 2013), management scholars are beginning to examine the impact of women leaders, in particular, on gender inequality (e.g. Hoff 2010; Perkins, Phillips & Pearce, 2013; Powell & Butterfield, 2013). Given the pervasiveness of gender inequality in terms of wages, job segregation, and access to resources, for example, it becomes pertinent to understand whether women leaders provide a potential lever for reducing this form of inequality. Thus, our proposed panel symposium will address the following central questions: What r...
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2015
Classical research on social influence suggested that people are the most conforming in the middl... more Classical research on social influence suggested that people are the most conforming in the middle of a status hierarchy as opposed to the top or bottom. Yet, this promising line of research was abandoned before the psychological mechanism behind middle status conformity had been identified. Moving beyond the early focus on conformity, we propose that the threat of status loss may make those with middle status more wary of advancing creative solutions in fear that they will be evaluated negatively. Using different manipulations of status and measures of creativity, we found that when being evaluated, middle status individuals were less creative than either high status or low status individuals (Studies 1 & 2). In addition, we found that anxiety at the prospect of status loss also caused individuals with middle status to narrow their focus of attention and to think more convergently (Study 3). We delineate the consequences of power and status both theoretically and empirically by showing that, unlike status, the relationship between power and creativity is positive and linear (Study 4). By both measuring status (Studies 2 & 3) and by manipulating it directly (Study 5), we demonstrate that the threat of status loss explains the consequences of middle status. Finally, we discuss the theoretical implications of our results for future research on status and problem solving on tasks that require either focus or flexibility.
In three experiments, we tested the prediction that individuals' experience of power influenc... more In three experiments, we tested the prediction that individuals' experience of power influences their perceptions of their own height. High power, relative to low power, was associated with smaller estimates of a pole's height relative to the self (Experiment 1), with larger estimates of one's own height (Experiment 2), and with choice of a taller avatar to represent the self in a second-life game (Experiment 3). These results emerged regardless of whether power was experientially primed (Experiments 1 and 3) or manipulated through assigned roles (Experiment 2). Although a great deal of research has shown that more physically imposing individuals are more likely to acquire power, this work is the first to show that powerful people feel taller than they are. The discussion considers the implications for existing and future research on the physical experience of power.
The UK has been continuously at war for the last eleven years and as a result there are growing c... more The UK has been continuously at war for the last eleven years and as a result there are growing concerns about the social and psychological problems that are emerging amongst servicemen. Many of the servicemen are parents and yet what is not mentioned in the research is how these issues may be impacting upon their children. Indeed although there is no official figure, there are estimated to be as many as 185,000 service children, and to date there has been no research in the UK that directly captures how young adolescents understand, interpret and feel about the transitions and challenges they encounter with the regular deployment of a parent(s) to war. By utilising grounded theory with uncensored blogs written by American military adolescents a new conceptual model is presented for consideration. Although Logan’s phase-based emotional cycle of deployment continues to offer a valuable portrayal of the transitions faced by military personnel and their spouses, an adolescent’s model shifts the perspective to the important and largely ignored process of childhood in the context of contemporary deployment and war. Also addressed are implications for practice and suggestions for future research.
London School of Economics and Political Science, Feb 16, 2016
People may associate political correctness with conformity but our research finds it also correla... more People may associate political correctness with conformity but our research finds it also correlates with creativity in work settings. Imposing a PC norm into a work environment-a norm that sets clear expectations of how women and men should interact with each other-unexpectedly encourages creativity among mixed-sex work groups by reducing uncertainty in relationships.
thank Joseph Goodman and Gülden Ülkümen for comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. 2 Po... more thank Joseph Goodman and Gülden Ülkümen for comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. 2 Power holders are constantly in the position of making decisions. Although much is known about how consumers make decisions in general, little is known about whether those with power cope with conflict. We examine this issue and show that the relationship between power and decision-making is not straightforward and requires the distinction between social and personal power. We demonstrate that social power (over others) versus personal power (over the self) has varying influences consumer decision making. We theorize that having personal power, compared to social power, highlights a sense of freedom. This salient sense of freedom for high personal (vs. social) power individuals will increase the likelihood to defer a choice and decrease the instances of compromise effect, effectively pushing these otherwise consistent context effects in opposing directions. In four studies we provide suppo...
They reduce uncertainty, write Jack A. Goncalo, Jennifer Chatman, Michelle M. Duguid and Jessica ... more They reduce uncertainty, write Jack A. Goncalo, Jennifer Chatman, Michelle M. Duguid and Jessica A. Kennedy
A long stream of research in attribution theory suggests that groups are biased toward attributin... more A long stream of research in attribution theory suggests that groups are biased toward attributing their success to factors that are internal to their group. However, the existing research has confounded two types of attributions that are both internal to the group, but theoretically distinct: (1) Attributions that differentiate between the contributions made by each individual group member and (2) attributions that focus on the group as a whole. This dichotomy is important because, drawing on theories of social influence, we predict that different types of attributions will have different consequences for the quality of group decision making. In experiment 1, individually focused attributions for past success caused groups to consider more divergent alternatives prior to making a shared decision. In experiment 2, individually focused attributions for past success facilitated the sharing of unique information and improved decision accuracy. These findings suggest that the group serv...
Women may only make up just under a quarter of senior leadership positions in organizations in th... more Women may only make up just under a quarter of senior leadership positions in organizations in the United States, but they still hold 52% of professional-level jobs – which require leadership and m...
There is a popular belief that in organizational settings men’s decision-making and behaviors ref... more There is a popular belief that in organizational settings men’s decision-making and behaviors reflect bias for attractive women. While extant literature has investigated the occurrence of this bias and the processes underlying the bias, the current research departs by exploring whether men assume others will see them as biased in favor of attractive women and thus change their behaviors to avoid these perceptions. Specifically, we propose and show that men’s concerns about being perceived as favorably biased toward attractive women will underlie the decision to distance themselves from and discriminate against attractive female candidates. Study 1 showed that men physically distanced themselves from an attractive opposite-sex candidate. The converse was shown when there was no risk of being judged as biased; men sat closer to a more attractive opposite-sex candidate. Regardless of whether or not there was a risk of being judged as biased, women preferred to sit closer to a more attractive male candidate. ...
As work organizations become increasingly gender diverse, existing theoretical models have failed... more As work organizations become increasingly gender diverse, existing theoretical models have failed to explain why such diversity can have a negative impact on idea generation. Using evidence from two group experiments, this paper tests theory on the effects of imposing a political correctness (PC) norm, one that sets clear expectations for how men and women should interact, on reducing interaction uncertainty and boosting creativity in mixed-sex groups. Our research shows that men and women both experience uncertainty when asked to generate ideas as members of a mixed-sex work group: men because they may fear offending the women in the group and women because they may fear having their ideas devalued or rejected. Most group creativity research begins with the assumption that creativity is unleashed by removing normative constraints, but our results show that the PC norm promotes rather than suppresses the free expression of ideas by reducing the uncertainty experienced by both sexes ...
A recent Forbes.com article states that “Women must take a special interest in supporting other w... more A recent Forbes.com article states that “Women must take a special interest in supporting other women in order to help make gender equality in business a reality” (Perkett, 2014). But to what extent do women actually serve as catalysts for reducing inequality? As women now hold about fifty-percent of all management positions (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013) and are becoming the majority of new entrants in high-status professions, such as medicine (American Association of Medical Colleges, 2013), management scholars are beginning to examine the impact of women leaders, in particular, on gender inequality (e.g. Hoff 2010; Perkins, Phillips & Pearce, 2013; Powell & Butterfield, 2013). Given the pervasiveness of gender inequality in terms of wages, job segregation, and access to resources, for example, it becomes pertinent to understand whether women leaders provide a potential lever for reducing this form of inequality. Thus, our proposed panel symposium will address the following central questions: What r...
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2015
Classical research on social influence suggested that people are the most conforming in the middl... more Classical research on social influence suggested that people are the most conforming in the middle of a status hierarchy as opposed to the top or bottom. Yet, this promising line of research was abandoned before the psychological mechanism behind middle status conformity had been identified. Moving beyond the early focus on conformity, we propose that the threat of status loss may make those with middle status more wary of advancing creative solutions in fear that they will be evaluated negatively. Using different manipulations of status and measures of creativity, we found that when being evaluated, middle status individuals were less creative than either high status or low status individuals (Studies 1 & 2). In addition, we found that anxiety at the prospect of status loss also caused individuals with middle status to narrow their focus of attention and to think more convergently (Study 3). We delineate the consequences of power and status both theoretically and empirically by showing that, unlike status, the relationship between power and creativity is positive and linear (Study 4). By both measuring status (Studies 2 & 3) and by manipulating it directly (Study 5), we demonstrate that the threat of status loss explains the consequences of middle status. Finally, we discuss the theoretical implications of our results for future research on status and problem solving on tasks that require either focus or flexibility.
In three experiments, we tested the prediction that individuals' experience of power influenc... more In three experiments, we tested the prediction that individuals' experience of power influences their perceptions of their own height. High power, relative to low power, was associated with smaller estimates of a pole's height relative to the self (Experiment 1), with larger estimates of one's own height (Experiment 2), and with choice of a taller avatar to represent the self in a second-life game (Experiment 3). These results emerged regardless of whether power was experientially primed (Experiments 1 and 3) or manipulated through assigned roles (Experiment 2). Although a great deal of research has shown that more physically imposing individuals are more likely to acquire power, this work is the first to show that powerful people feel taller than they are. The discussion considers the implications for existing and future research on the physical experience of power.
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Papers by Michelle Cross