Psychological pressure and compounded errors during elite-level tennis

Objectives: In the context of Grand Slam tennis, we sought to examine how situational pressure and prior errors can disrupt subsequent performance in elite performers. Methods: A retrospective analysis of more than 650,000 points across 12 Grand Slam tennis tournaments from 2016-2019 was conducted to identify pressurised in-game moments and unforced errors. A scoring system was used to index situational pressure based on the current match situation (e.g., break points, stage of the match) on a point-by-point basis. The occurrence of performance errors was identified based on double faults and unforced errors, as instances of controllable mistakes. Results: A mixed effects logistic regression model revealed that an increase in the pressure index (a 1-5 score) significantly increased the probability of a performance error (ps<.001), as did an error on the preceding point (OR=1.2, 95%CI [1.17, 1.23], p<.001). A multiplicative effect of pressure and prior errors also emerged, as the negative impact of prior errors on performance was greater when situational pressure was already high, in line with the predictions of Attentional Control Theory: Sport (ACTS). Analyses of the distribution of winners and unforced errors across individual players revealed that winning players were as susceptible to pressure and prior errors as losing players. Conclusions: These findings extend our understanding of how ongoing feedback from prior mistakes may further exacerbate the effects of pressure on performance.

Euthanasia and organ donation still firmly connected: reply to Bollen et al

Bollen et al, replying to my own article, describe, in great detail, administrative and logistical aspects of euthanasia approval and organ donation in the Netherlands. They seem to believe that no useful lessons can be drawn from experiences of related groups such as euthanasia patients (typically patients with cancer) who cannot donate organs; patients who chose assisted suicide as opposed to euthanasia; patients in intensive care units and their relatives and suicidal young people as if we can only learn about organ donation in euthanasia patients by studying this exact group and no other, no matter how closely related and obviously relevant. However, it is not only permissible but also absolutely essential to gather evidence that goes beyond immediate point of interest and carefully study groups that share important features with it. Also, groups eligible for euthanasia are constantly expanding, theoretically, legally and practically, and it would be irresponsible to not foresee what are likely future developments. Finally, myopic focus on the technicalities of the procedure misses psychological reality that drives decisions and behaviours and which rarely mimics administrative timelines. Patients proceeding through euthanasia pipeline already face substantial situational pressure and adding organ donation on top of it can make the whole process work as a commitment device. By allowing euthanasia patients to donate their organs, we are giving them additional reason to end their lives, thus creating an unbreakable connection between the two.

COVID 19: prioritise autonomy, beneficence and conversations before score-based triage

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, mounting demand overwhelmed critical care surge capacities, triggering implementation of triage protocols to determine ventilator allocation. Relying on triage scores to ration care, while relieving clinicians from making morally distressing decisions under high situational pressure, distracts clinicians from what is essentially deeply humanistic issues entrenched in this protracted public health crisis. Such an approach will become increasingly untenable as countries flatten their epidemic curves. Decisions regarding intensive care unit admission are particularly challenging in older people, who are most likely to require critical care, but for whom benefits are most uncertain. Before applying score-based triage, physicians must first discern if older people will benefit from critical care (beneficence) and second, if he wants critical care (autonomy). When deliberating beneficence, physicians should steer away from solely using age-stratified survival probabilities from epidemiological data. Instead, decisions must be based on individualised risk-stratification that encompasses evidence-based predictors of adverse outcomes specific to older adults. Survival will also need to be weighed against burden of treatment, as well as longer term functional deficits and quality-of-life. By identifying the robust older people who may benefit from critical care, clinicians should proceed to elicit his values and preferences that would determine the treatment most aligned with his best interest. During these dialogues, physicians must truthfully convey the emergent clinical reality, discern the older person’s therapeutic goals and discuss the feasibility of achieving them. Given that COVID-19 is here to stay, these conversations aimed at achieving goal-cordant care must become a new clinical norm.

A self-defense guide against situational pressure in organizations

<p>Book review of Øyvind Kvalnes: <em>Moral reasoning at work: Rethinking ethics in organizations</em>. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 108 pages.</p><p>First published online: 22 MARCH 2016</p>

The effect of government internal auditors� moral reasoning and situational pressure on the tendency to commit fraud when auditing: An experimental study

This study aims to examine the effect of government internal auditors moral levels and situational pressures on the tendency to commit fraud when conducting audit. Based on the hypothesis, despite the situational pressures, the government internal auditors who have a high moral level will not commit fraud at the time of auditing. Meanwhile, the government internal auditors who have a low moral level will com-mit fraud at the time of auditing when there is situational pressure. To test the hypothesis, a 22 factorial experiment is conducted involving 68 students of STAR-BPKP of Jenderal Soedirman University. The results indicate that the government internal auditors who have a high moral level will not commit fraud in the time of auditing despite some situational pressures. Meanwhile, the government internal auditors who have a low moral level will commit fraud at the time of auditing either there is a situational pressure or not. The implications of this study are to streng-then the supervisory system for the internal auditors at the time of auditing, to provide protection for whistle- blowers who report the presence of fraud committed by auditors, and to be consistent in giving reward to professional auditors and pu-nishment to auditors who are convicted of fraud at the time of auditing.

Cognitive Ability and Self-Reported Efficacy of Self-Presentation Predict Faking on Personality Measures

The main aim of the present study was to investigate whether faking on personality measures is predicted by cognitive ability and self-reported efficacy of positive self-presentation (ESP) assessed under honest conditions. 123 participants completed the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and the self-deceptive enhancement (SDE) and impression management (IM) scales of the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding Version 7 (BIDR) under four instructional sets: honest, fake bad, fake good, and two specifically formulated applicant instructions. In line with the assumption that personality measures lose their original meaning under the instruction to fake, it could be shown that the relationship between honest and faked NEO-FFI scales decreased with increasing situational pressure. In line with the hypothesis that faking reflects an ability, it could be demonstrated that general intelligence was related to the amount of faking, to the ability to perceive the situational requirements, and to the ability to fake in line with the situational requirements. In addition, self-reported ESP, but not SDE and IM, was positively related to positive self-presentation. Our findings imply that faking on personality measures should not only be seen as a threat to validity, but rather as a positive, adaptive, and probably predictive variable, which should be investigated in its own right.

SITUATIONAL PRESSURE, ATTITUDES TOWARD BLACKS, AND LABORATORY AGGRESSION

The importance of the situational context in producing discriminatory behavior cannot he overlooked. This experiment on laboratory aggression investigated the effect of racial attitudes on the willingness to shock a black victim. A second purpose was to compare two groups in the shock levels administered to a black or a white victim. The results showed that attitudes toward blacks are not related to the level of shock administered to blacks. A black victim is shocked less than a white victim. This discriminatory behavior can be understood as a function of the social pressures of the university community as influenced, for example, by the affirmative action programs.