Salesperson moral identity and value co-creation

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the role of salesperson moral identity centrality in value co-creation. This study identified and tested an extended identity-based formation process of selling orientation, customer orientation and value co-creation. This was accomplished by examining the role of inclusion of others in the self and circle of moral regard in the mechanism through which moral identity centrality impacts selling orientation, customer orientation and value co-creation, taking into account the contingency role of salesperson self-construal. Design/methodology/approach An extended identity-behavior model grounded in identity theory and the social-cognitive perspective of moral identity centrality was tested. The study used survey data from business-to-business salespeople. Data collected was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that a central moral identity to a salesperson’s self-drives higher expansion of the salesperson’s circle of moral regard. This process facilitates the mechanisms for salesperson moral identity centrality to decrease selling orientation and increase customer orientation and value co-creation, leading to higher sales performance. Independent self-construal is found to deteriorate the positive effects of salesperson moral identity centrality on the inclusion of others in the self, expansion of the circle of moral regard and customer orientation. Research limitations/implications Through the conceptualized and tested framework, the study opens the door for additional research to inspect the role of moral identity centrality in sales. Practical implications Findings have implications for the human resource side of sales organizations in the areas of recruitment, mentoring, coaching and training. Moral identity centrality plays a vital role in the interface between salespeople and customers, leading to improved behavioral and sales outcomes. Sales managers must look for their salespeople’s moral identity centrality to improve morality in the attitudes and decision-making of their salesforce. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to uncover the vital impacts of salesperson moral identity centrality on selling orientation, customer orientation and value co-creation. Through the conceptualized and tested framework, the study opens the door for additional research to inspect the role of moral identity centrality in sales.

Cultural Differences in Children’s Recommended Punishment of Moral Transgressions

The purpose of this research was to examine the severity of punishment recommended by children for moral transgressions. Using Hofstede’s (1980) distinction between individualism and collectivism, we examined the severity of punishment recommended by eight to twelve year old children for moral transgressions that violated a cultural value. Participants were children of various nationalities enrolled in a summer camp on the island of Mallorca, Spain. The children were classified as either individualist or collectivist using the Children’s Self-Construal Scale (Lewis et al. 2000). Each child reacted to nine moral transgressions, two of which were universal and seven of which reflected transgressions of either individualist or collectivist values. The results indicated that children classified as collectivists recommended harsher punishments for transgressions of collectivist values, whereas individualists did not vary in their recommended level of punishment for transgressions against both collectivist and individualist values. Keywords: individualism, collectivism, moral judgments, cultural orientation, moral transgressions

The Impact of Culture and Social Distance on Humor Appreciation, Sharing, and Production

Building on the benign violation theory and self-construal theory, we conducted four studies to examine how culture and social distance would influence humor appreciation, sharing, and production. Study 1 found that Chinese participants appreciated and intended to share a joke involving distant others more than that involving close others. They also generated funnier titles for a joke involving distant others than close others. Studies 2a and 2b compared Chinese and Americans using various types of jokes, replicating the social distance effect among Chinese but finding little effect of social distance among Americans. In Study 3, interdependence-primed participants generated more humorous titles for a joke involving distant than close others, whereas independence-primed participants showed no effect of social distance. The research provides further support to the benign violation theory from a cultural perspective and has important implications for cross-cultural communications.

Sense of Coherence in Parents of Children With Cancer and Its Relationship With Self-Construal in Southeastern Iran

This study aimed to determine sense of coherence and its relationship with self-construal in parents of children with cancer in southeastern Iran. In this descriptive correlational study, 127 parents of children with cancer were studied using sense of coherence scale (SOC) and self-construal scale (SCS) in Iran. The results of the study showed that total mean score of SOC was 51.4 ± 14.2 and the interdependent self-construal (INT) in parents was higher than independent self-construal (IND). Also, the relationship between SOC and SCS showed that IND had a positive and statistically significant relationship with SOC manageability subscale. The weak SOC in the studied parents can cause more stress and suffering in dealing with their child’s disease. It is essential that health care providers provide a comprehensive program to enhance parents’ SOC and it should be noted that people who have a more INT felt less able to manage challenging situations.

The mediating role of competitive orientation in determining self-construal in unethical decision-making

PurposeThe ethics literature has focused on the influence of self-construal dimensions on unethical decision-making. However, the literature is unclear about why these self-construal dimensions (Independent-self, Relational-self, Collective-self) impact differently on unethical decision-making. Based on the theory of cooperation and competition, this study empirically examines the mediating role of competitive orientation and addresses the theoretically unexplained question of why self-construal dimensions influence differently on unethical decision-making.Design/methodology/approachBased on the deductive approach, a quantitative research study was conducted on the Sri Lankan banking industry because there have been many instances of unethical behavior reported in this sector lately. Data were collected from 305 bank branch managers using a structured survey questionnaire.FindingsThe findings revealed that competitive orientation mediates the self-construal dimensions and explained that competitive orientation is one reason why independent-self, relational-self and collective-self influence differently on unethical decision-making.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the unanswered question of why self-construal dimensions relate to unethical decision-making differently.

A Moderated Mediation Model of Self-Construal, Social Trust, and Compliance on Covid-19 Public Health Regulation: A Cross-country Analysis

To address the global Covid-19 pandemic, governments around the world require on the collective cooperation of their citizens to comply with public health regulation. Earlier studies examined the extent to which self-construal has an impact on individual compliance to law. However, existing literature has paid little significant attention to behavioural outcome of self-construal in the pandemic context across countries and cultures. The aim of this study was; 1) to determine whether interdependent self-construal predicts compliance of Covid-19 public health regulation, 2) to examine if the association was mediated by individual social trust, and 3) to test whether these associations were moderated by respondent's country of residence (US x Indonesia). General adult respondents from US (N=231) and Indonesia (N=440) were voluntary participated in a survey measuring their trust to the government, interdependent self-construal orientation and compliance toward Covid-19 public health regulation. While our moderated mediation model involving respondent’s country residence did not support the hypothesis, the mediation analysis demonstrated significant association between interdependent self-construal and compliance via social trust. Our additional simple moderation analysis on direct effect of interdependent self-construal and compliance showed significant findings. Further, theoretical and practical implications of these findings were discussed in the following paper.

Communication, the Heart of a Relationship: Examining Capitalization, Accommodation, and Self-Construal on Relationship Satisfaction

The study of processes that enrich positive relationships has been an under-researched area within positive psychology practice. The way an individual responds during couple conflicts (accommodation response) and toward the disclosure of good news of a partner (capitalization response) has been linked to relationship quality. Although the accommodation and capitalization communication processes are part and parcel of our everyday lives, the two processes have been examined separately and dominated by the Western perspectives in past research. Prior work has suggested that Western and Asian cultures differ in expressing and perceiving beneficial communication behaviors. Yet, it is still unclear which accommodation and capitalization responses matter the most from an Asian lens. To date, there is no research examining these interconnected variables simultaneously in Asia, specifically in Malaysia. In this study, two forms of communication processes, namely, (1) accommodation and (2) capitalization, were explored concurrently to disentangle the unique associations and influence on relationship satisfaction. This study also sought to understand the moderating effects of culture in terms of interdependent self-construal on the link between these two communication processes and relationship satisfaction. Responses of 139 Malaysians in dating relationships between the age of 18 and 30 years (Mage = 23.15) were collected through online surveys. An active and constructive reaction was captured as the most favorable response through both the capitalization and accommodation processes. Prominently, an active-constructive capitalization response bore the strongest influence on relationship satisfaction above and beyond other responses. A passive and constructive response was revealed only fruitful for disclosures of positive news and not during conflicts. Conversely, in the destructive paradigm, passive-destructive responses were the most detrimental factor in relationships compared to other destructive responses. The results also uncovered that interdependent self-construal did not moderate the two forms of communication processes. However, the findings discovered unexpected individual and cultural variations. This pioneering study is a noteworthy addition to the positive psychology literature from an Asian standpoint. It highlights the significance of not only protecting relationships through better conflict management but also enriching relationships by capitalizing on the positive aspects across the lives of the couple, ultimately providing a greater holistic insight into cultivating flourishing lives.

Cultural Models of the Self and Environmentalism: A Cross-cultural and Experimental Investigation

<p>Previous research suggests human–nature relations are influenced by human–human relations, particularly those related to the inclusion of others in self. Individuals who construe the self as more interdependent from others are more likely to protect nature than those who construe the self as more independent from others. We conducted cross-cultural and experimental studies to examine this proposition systematically using a recently developed seven-dimension model of self-construal. Study 1 (N = 7,279, k = 55) confirmed that those who saw themselves as more connected and committed to others were more likely to endorse environmental protectionism. Multilevel moderation analysis indicated that the association between commitment to others and environmental protection was stronger in societies that express greater difference to others and have greater self-expression, commitment to others, environmental performance, and societal development. However, experimentally priming interdependent versus independent self-construals in Study 2 (N = 419) did not increase participants’ connectedness with nature, but nature connectedness mediated the relationships between connection to others and pro-environmental attitudes. Results indicate that inclusion of others in self translates into inclusion of nature in self and environmental protection but inducing this effect may be challenging.</p>

Constructivist Self-Construal: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Building on independent versus interdependent self-construal theory, three studies provide initial empirical evidence for a third way of construing the self: the constructivist self-construal. People with a constructivist view perceive the self as constantly changing (impermanence), as a collection of distinct phenomena from moment to moment (discontinuity), as lacking an essence (disentification), and as psychologically overlapping with other people and things in the universe (boundlessness/boundaries). In Study 1, we piloted a new Constructivist Self-Construal Scale and established preliminary evidence for the discriminant validity of the scale. Studies 2 and 3 found that across seven countries with diverse cultural backgrounds, the self was consistently cognitively represented on the four dimensions of constructivist self. People from collectivistic cultures where Buddhist philosophy is more prevalent tended to endorse the dimensions of the constructivist self-construal to a greater degree than people from other cultures. Implications regarding the development of the constructivist self-construal and future research recommendations are discussed.