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Published By Springer-Verlag

1860-1839, 1593-7879

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryszard Praszkier ◽  
Agata Zabłocka

AbstractThis article argues that the propensity to perceive impossible challenges as doable is a personality trait, and presents a method for measuring it. The name coined for this concept is “possibilitivity,” a portmanteau of “possible” and “creativity.” Possibilitivity is related to such personality traits as self-efficacy and locus of control. This article shows that this trait is embedded in individual cognitive processes, whilst targeting social issues; in this vein, it may be seen as an important mechanism facilitating change-making and transgressing the seemingly impossible. Methodology for assessing this trait is presented, i.e., the process of constructing and validating a questionnaire, its psychometric properties, and some comparisons within the sample (N = 1117). One of the findings is that women are significantly more prone to perceive difficult challenges as doable than men. Seeing this study as the first step, further research recommendations are presented, e.g., comparing possibilitivity between various segments of society, as well as analyzing potential correlations with other traits, e.g., empathy or ambiguity tolerance.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Castellani ◽  
Linda Alengoz ◽  
Niccolò Casnici ◽  
Flaminio Squazzoni

AbstractThis paper investigates how reports concerning a given country’s prospects affect investment decisions in two stylized, artificial organizational settings. We designed a role-game laboratory experiment, where subjects were asked to make investment decisions for two types of fictitious companies from the same country. We found that when available reports included positive country prospects, subjects strategized more on investments regardless of the characteristics of their organization. When reports included negative prospects, however, certain organizational peculiarities influenced the subjects’ interpretations, with decision-makers opting for more prudent plans when managing a more traditional company. Cognitive maps of decision makers showed that subjects considered investment strategies as a means to fulfil a company’s role expectations regarding appropriate decisions. Notwithstanding all caveats due to the artificial and simplified nature of our experimental setting, our findings indicate the need for more research on the effect of reports and prospect analysis on strategic decisions of companies, especially when business prospects are uncertain.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Dennis

AbstractValue-sensitive design theorists propose that a range of values that should inform how future social robots are engineered. This article explores a new value: digital well-being, and proposes that the next generation of social robots should be designed to facilitate this value in those who use or come into contact with these machines. To do this, I explore how the morphology of social robots is closely connected to digital well-being. I argue that a key decision is whether social robots are designed as embodied or disembodied. After exploring the merits of both approaches, I conclude that, on balance, there are persuasive reasons why disembodied social robots may well fare better with respect to the value of digital well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-251
Author(s):  
Olga Khokhlova ◽  
Nishtha Lamba ◽  
Aditi Bhatia ◽  
Marina Vinogradova

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Martignon ◽  
Shabnam Mousavi ◽  
Joachim Engel

AbstractPreparing people for dealing with hazards, diseases and disasters requires teaching them statistics, and ideally doing so by means of good representation formats in a dynamic fashion. Translating these dynamics to simple communication is what governments need from scientists.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Pavlovskaya ◽  
Daria Kurenova ◽  
Gulsina Murtazina ◽  
Olga Kolosova
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp E. Otto

AbstractThe Monty Hall game is one of the most discussed decision problems, but where a convincing behavioral explanation of the systematic deviations from probability theory is still lacking. Most people not changing their initial choice, when this is beneficial under information updating, demands further explanation. Not only trust and the incentive of interestingly prolonging the game for the audience can explain this kind of behavior, but the strategic setting can be modeled more sophisticatedly. When aiming to increase the odds of winning, while Monty’s incentives are unknown, then not to switch doors can be considered as the most secure strategy and avoids a sure loss when Monty’s guiding aim is not to give away the prize. Understanding and modeling the Monty Hall game can be regarded as an ideal teaching example for fundamental statistic understandings.


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