Master Narratives, Expectations of Change, and Their Effect on Temporal Appraisals

People hold narrative expectations for how humans generally change over the course of their lives. In some areas, people expect growth (e.g., wisdom), while in others, people expect stability (e.g., extroversion). However, do people apply those same expectations to the self? In five studies (total N = 1,372), participants rated selves as improving modestly over time in domains where stability should be expected (e.g., extroversion, quick-wittedness). Reported improvement was significantly larger in domains where growth should be expected (e.g., wisdom, rationality) than domains where stability should be expected. Further, in domains where growth should be expected participants reported improvement for selves and others. However, in domains where stability should be expected, participants reported improvement for selves but not others. Hence, participants used narrative expectations to inform projections of change. We discuss implications for future temporal self-appraisal research, heterogeneity of effect sizes in self-appraisal research, and between-culture differences in narratives.

Sex and Culture Differences in Cultural Intelligence: A Study Comparing Saudi Arabians and Egyptians

Cultural Intelligence (CI) refers to the motivation and ability to understand and deal with cultural differences. As such, it is assumed to play a role in the effectiveness of social contact and communication between people from different cultures. Given its relevance to international relations, it is imperative to test which individual and group factors are associated with CI. Therefore, in the present study we examine cross-cultural and gender differences in CI. In one of their classes at their university, students ( N = 829) from Egypt and Saudi Arabia completed a multidimensional measure of CI. The results showed an interesting pattern of interactions between country and gender, which indicated that Egyptian men did not significantly differ from co-national women, but Saudi men scored significantly lower than women. We suggest that the different patterns of results in the two countries may partly arise from different levels of exposure to different cultures and partly from subtle differences in the constitution of the samples. Knowledge of individual and group differences in cultural intelligence may potentially contribute to explaining differential levels of success in individuals or countries in dealing with cultural differences.

Relationships Between Parents-In-Law and Children-In-Law of Differing Racial and Ethnic Backgrounds

In-law relationships have drawn recent interest from family scholars. Historical trends demonstrate a significant rise in newlyweds marrying someone of a different race or ethnicity. Given this growing population of inter-racial marriage, the need to know more about these couples and their families is paramount. This article describes four themes that emerged from qualitative interviews with nine parents-in-law discussing their relationships with their child-in-law who is of a different race. The overarching themes identified for in-laws included: being initially hesitant based on race and/or culture; managing barriers pertaining to communication, language, and/or culture; differences that were enriching to the in-law relationship; and bonding related to shared minority status. Based on these findings, social workers may assume a supportive role for members of interracial families as they navigate not only social barriers but also their in-law relationships.

Peranan Sanggar Tarara dalam pelestarian Tari Tandhang

This study aims to describe the values of the Tandhang dance, explain the role of the Tarara Studio, obstacles, and solutions to obstacles in the preservation of the Tandhang dance in Bangkalan Regency. This study uses a qualitative approach to the type of descriptive research. Data collection was carried out by means of interviews, observation, and documentation. Data analysis used interactive analysis by Miles and Huberman. Tandhang dance has good values which are used as life guidelines for the Madurese, the role of the Tarara Studio is very good in preserving the Tandhang dance with training and staging, the obstacles faced are, delays, differences in ability, laziness, outside culture, differences in public opinion. The solutions taken were reminding, dividing groups, motivating oneself, attracting interest, and accepting differences of opinion. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan nilai-nilai tari Tandhang, menjelaskan peranan Sanggar Tarara, hambatan, dan solusi dari hambatan dalam pelestarian tari Tandhang di Kabupaten Bangkalan. Kajian ini menggunakan metode pendekatan kualitatif dengan jenis penelitian deskriptif. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan cara wawancara, observasi, dan dokumentasi. Analisis data menggunakan analisis interaktif milik Miles dan Huberman. Tari Tandhang memiliki nilai-nilai baik yang dijadikan sebagai pedoman hidup orang Madura, peranan Sanggar Tarara sangat baik dalam pelestarian tari Tandhang dengan pelatihan dan pementasan, hambatan yang dihadapi yaitu, keterlambatan, perbedaan kemanpuan, malas, budaya luar, perbedaan pendapat masyarakat. Solusi yang diambil yaitu, mengingatkan, membagi kelompok, memotivasi diri, menarik minat, dan menerima perbedaan pendapat.

Acquisitions, Organizational Culture and Performance: Empirical Evidence from Acquired Company in Serbia

Research question: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine the effects of acquisitions on organizational culture in terms of the degree of change in certain organizational culture dimensions, and second, to examine effects of organizational culture differences on the acquired company’s performance. Motivation: Although many studies have examined the relationships among acquisitions, organizational culture and performance, especially the relationship between organizational culture differences and company performance in developed economies (Chatterjee et al., 1992; Weber & Camerer, 2003; Krishnan et al., 1997), little attention has been paid to the research into these relationships in the emerging economies. Understanding the cultural issues in the context of acquisition in the emerging economy will contribute to the literature and enable comparison of research results with results obtained in developed economies. Idea: The core idea of this paper was to empirically evaluate the relationship among acquisitions, organizational culture and performance on the example of an acquired company in the Republic of Serbia, as the emerging economy. The paper focuses on exploring the employees' perceptions of organizational culture change in the period after the acquisition, as well as managers’ perceptions of the acquired company’s performance. Data: The survey was conducted in the company operating in the Republic of Serbia which was the subject of cross-border acquisition. The sample consists of 344 respondents (managers and employees) from the acquired company. Tools: Descriptive statistical analysis, Mann-Whitney U-test and regression analysis were applied in the study. Findings: The results of the research demonstrate that innovation as a dimension of organizational culture has changed to a greatest extent. Further, the results show that there are no statistically significant differences in the ways of how managers and employees perceive changes in organizational culture. Additionally, the results of the research show that organizational cultural differences have a positive influence on performance of the acquired company. Contribution: This paper contributes to a better understanding of the significance of organizational culture changes in an acquired company in the emerging economy and formulates practical suggestions for the managers in future acquisitions.

Comment: Advances in Studying the Vocal Expression of Emotion: Current Contributions and Further Options

I consider the five contributions in this special section as evidence that the research area dealing with the vocal expression of emotion is advancing rapidly, both in terms of the number of pertinent empirical studies and with respect to an ever increasing sophistication of methodology. I provide some suggestions on promising areas for future interdisciplinary research, including work on emotion expression in singing and the potential of vocal symptoms of emotional disorder. As to the popular discussion of the respective role of universality versus language/culture differences, I suggest to move on from exclusively studying the accuracy of recognition in judgment studies to a more differentiated approach adding production aspects, taking into account the multiple vocal and acoustic features that interact to communicate emotion.