Franciska Krings

Life Markers in Biographical Narratives of People from Three Cohorts: A Life Span Perspective in Its Historical Context

Human development is often understood as an interplay between biological, sociohistorical, and social factors, as well as individual developmental actions. However, historical influences on development have rarely been investigated. The present study discusses societal change in the course of this century and investigates its impact on the life course by analyzing biographical narratives. This impact is illustrated by results from a study where participants from three birth cohorts (1920–25; 1945–50; 1970–75) were interviewed about important markers in their experienced and expected biographies. Although distribution of life markers over the life span was analogous across cohorts, participants from the younger cohorts perceived themselves as having more control on setting important life markers across their biographies. Their narratives referred more often to personal and less often to contextual and sociohistorical themes.

Lay perceptions of collectives at the outbreak of the H1N1 epidemic: heroes, villains and victims

Lay perceptions of collectives (e.g., groups, organizations, countries) implicated in the 2009 H1N1 outbreak were studied. Collectives serve symbolic functions to help laypersons make sense of the uncertainty involved in a disease outbreak. We argue that lay representations are dramatized, featuring characters like heroes, villains and victims. In interviews conducted soon after the outbreak, 47 Swiss respondents discussed the risk posed by H1N1, its origins and effects, and protective measures. Countries were the most frequent collectives mentioned. Poor, underdeveloped countries were depicted as victims, albeit ambivalently, as they were viewed as partly responsible for their own plight. Experts (physicians, researchers) and political and health authorities were depicted as heroes. Two villains emerged: the media (viewed as fear mongering or as a puppet serving powerful interests) and private corporations (e.g., the pharmaceutical industry). Laypersons’ framing of disease threat diverges substantially from official perspectives.

Organizational Justice and Men's Likelihood to Sexually Harass: The Moderating Role of Sexism and Personality.

This study demonstrated relations between mens perceptions of organizational justice and increased sexual harassment proclivities. Respondents reported higher likelihood to sexually harass under conditions of low interactional justice, suggesting that sexual harassment likelihood may increase as a response to perceived injustice. Moreover, the relation between justice and sexual harassment proclivities was especially marked for men low in agreeableness and high in hostile sexism. This finding is consistent with an interactionist perspective, suggesting that individual differences in hostility in general and toward women in particular affect how a person reacts to perceived unfairness.

A dynamic model of applicant faking

In the past years, several authors have proposed theoretical models of faking at selection. Although these models greatly improved our understanding of applicant faking, they mostly offer static approaches. In contrast, we propose a model of applicant faking derived from signaling theory, which describes faking as a dynamic process driven by applicants’ and organizations’ adaptations in a competitive environment. We argue that faking depends on applicants’ motivation and capacity to fake, which are determined by individual differences in skills, abilities, and stable attitudes, as well as by perceptions of the competition, but also on applicants’ perceived opportunities versus risks to fake, which are contingent upon organizations’ measures to increase the costs of faking. We further explain how selection outcomes can trigger adaptations of applicants, such as faking in subsequent selection encounters, and of organizations, such as changes in measures making faking costly for applicants in the long term.

Personal goals at age 25 in three generations of the twentieth century : young adulthood in historical context

The possibility of a historically determined shift in developmental tasks of young adulthood was investigated. Personal goals at age 25 of participants from three cohorts spanning twentieth-century Swiss history were studied in an interview combining current and retrospective measures. Members of the oldest cohort (Between the Wars) were born beween 1920 and 1925. Members of the middle cohort (Early Baby Boomers) were born between 1945 and 1950. Members of the youngest cohort (Generation X) were born between 1970 and 1975. Results show significant shifts in goal content which reflect well-documented historical changes. For example, BTW participants mainly mention work- and family-related goals (corresponding to classical developmental tasks). However, GEX participants mention more goals related to education and leisure, and less family-related goals than earlier generations. This suggests that classical formulations of developmental tasks of young adulthood (e.g. starting work, founding a family) may be less adequate today.

Collective symbolic coping with disease threat and othering: a case study of avian influenza.

Much research studies how individuals cope with disease threat by blaming out-groups and protecting the in-group. The model of collective symbolic coping (CSC) describes four stages by which representations of a threatening event are elaborated in the mass media: awareness, divergence, convergence, and normalization. We used the CSC model to predict when symbolic in-group protection (othering) would occur in the case of the avian influenza (AI) outbreak. Two studies documented CSC stages and showed that othering occurred during the divergence stage, characterized by an uncertain symbolic environment. Study 1 analysed media coverage of AI over time, documenting CSC stages of awareness and divergence. In Study 2, a two-wave repeated cross-sectional survey was conducted just after the divergence stage and a year later. Othering was measured by the number of foreign countries erroneously ticked by participants as having human victims. Individual differences in germ aversion and social dominance orientation interacted to predict othering during the divergence stage but not a year later. Implications for research on CSC and symbolic in-group protection strategies resulting from disease threat are discussed.

Diversity „spielerisch“ trainieren: Auswirkungen auf Einstellungen und Sensibilität gegenüber Diversity bei Führungskräften

Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt ein Diversity-Training fur Fuhrungskrafte sowie eine Studie zur Uberprufung der Wirksamkeit des Trainings vor. Trainingsziele waren die positive Beeinflussung der Einstellungen gegenuber Diversity-Management sowie eine erhohte Sensibilitat gegenuber und Kompetenz im Umgang mit Diversity-Themen am Arbeitsplatz. Das Training wurde mit 87 Fuhrungskraften aus verschiedenen Organisationen durchgefuhrt und bestand aus einem Spiel, bei welchem sich die Teilnehmer mit Dilemmasituationen auseinandersetzen mussen. Die unmittelbare Wirksamkeit wurde anhand eines Fragebogens gemessen, den die Teilnehmer vor und nach dem Training ausfullten. Die Resultate zeigen, dass die Teilnehmer nach dem Training eine positivere Einstellung gegenuber Diversity-Management hatten und von einer erhohten Sensibilitat gegenuber Diversity am Arbeitsplatz berichteten. Das Spiel regte Perspektivubernahmefahigkeiten, selbstkritische Reflektionen und arbeitsrelevante Kompetenzen im Umgang mit Diversity an. Daru...

Longitudinal Investigation of Public Trust in Institutions Relative to the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic in Switzerland

Background The 2009 H1N1 pandemic left a legacy of mistrust in the public relative to how outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases are managed. To prepare for future outbreaks, it is crucial to explore the phenomenon of public trust in the institutions responsible for managing disease outbreaks. We investigated the evolution of public trust in institutions during and after the 2009 pandemic in Switzerland. We also explored respondents’ perceptions of the prevention campaign and the roles of the government and media. Methodology/Principal Findings A two-wave longitudinal survey was mailed to 2,400 members of the Swiss public. Wave 1 was in Spring 2009. Wave 2 was in Spring 2010. Six hundred and two participants responded in both waves. Participants indicated moderate to high levels of trust in medical organizations, the WHO, the Swiss government, the pharmaceutical industry, and the EU. On the other hand, trust in the media was low. Moreover, trust in almost all institutions decreased over time. Participants were satisfied with the amount of information received and indicated having followed official recommendations, but widespread concerns about the vaccine were evident. A large majority of participants agreed the vaccine might have unknown or undesirable side effects. Perceptions of the government’s and the media’s role in handling the outbreak were characterized by a substantial degree of skepticism and mistrust. Conclusions/Significance Results show clear patterns of skepticism and mistrust on the part of the public relative to various institutions and their actions. Results underscore the importance of systematically investigating trust of the public relative to epidemics. Moreover, studies investigating the evolution of the public’s memories of the pandemic over the coming years may be important to understand reactions to future pandemics. A systematic research program on trust can inform public health communication campaigns, enabling tailored communication initiatives.

Believing in a personal just world helps maintain well-being at work by coloring organizational justice perceptions

Justice is a core fundamental theme for individuals in organizations. This study suggests that believing the world is just where one gets what one deserves, and deserves what one gets, is an important personal resource that helps maintain well-being at work. Further, it suggests that personal belief in a just world, but not general belief in a just world, exerts its influence on well-being through increasing overall justice perceptions of the work environment. Using two waves of data drawn from a large random sample of working adults in Switzerland, results showed that personal belief in a just world at time 1 indeed augmented perceptions of overall organizational justice, and this in turn increased job satisfaction at time 2, that is, 1 year later. As expected, this effect was only evident for personal and not general belief in a just world, highlighting personal belief in a just world as an important yet largely overlooked resource for the work context, and suggesting the need to consider individual’s beliefs about justice as drivers of overall organizational justice perceptions.

Looking Too Old? How an Older Age Appearance Reduces Chances of Being Hired

Building on theories of impression formation based on faces, this research investigates the impact of job candidates’ facial age appearance on hiring as well as the underlying mechanism. In an experiment, participants decided whether to hire a fictitious candidate aged 50 years, 30 years or without age information. The candidates age was signalled either via chronological information (varied by date of birth) or via facial age appearance (varied by a photograph on the resume). Findings showed that candidates with older‐appearing faces – but not chronologically older candidates – triggered impressions of low health and fitness, compared to younger‐appearing candidates. These impressions reduced perceptions of person–job fit, which lowered hiring probabilities for older‐appearing candidates. These findings provide the first evidence that trait impressions from faces are a determinant of age discrimination in personnel selection. They call for an extension of current models of age discrimination by integrating the effects of face‐based trait impressions, particularly with respect to health and fitness.