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We review the research on the psychology of entrepreneurship of the last decade. We focus on two key topics in entrepreneurship research: action and process. Combining action and process in a model of the psychology of entrepreneurship, we present the action theory process model of entrepreneurship and use it as a guiding framework for the review. We discuss theories of action, such as effectuation/causation, bricolage, theory of planned behavior, and action theory. Furthermore, we adopt a process perspective to discuss antecedents of actions in terms of cognition, motivation, and emotion and how they develop during the entrepreneurial process. The process perspective considers recursive relationships and dynamic changes in actions and their antecedents over time. We conclude that the action theory process model is a useful starting point to explain the psychological dynamics of entrepreneurship.

Few spheres in life are as universally relevant for (almost) all individuals past puberty as sexuality. One important aspect of sexuality concerns individuals’ sex drive—their dispositional sexual motivation. A vigorous scientific (and popular) debate revolves around the question of whether or not there is a gender difference in sex drive. Several theories predict a higher sex drive in men compared to women, with some theories attributing this difference to biased responding rather than true differences. Currently, there is little consensus on how to conceptualize sex drive, nor does a quantitative summary of the literature exist. In this paper, we present a theory-driven conceptualization of sex drive as the density distribution of state sex drive, where state sex drive is defined as momentary sexual motivation that manifests in sexual cognition, affect, and behavior. We conduct a comprehensive meta-analysis of gender differences in sex drive based on 211 studies, 856 effect sizes, and 621,463 persons. The meta-analysis revealed a stronger sex drive in men compared to women, with a medium-to-large effect size (g = 0.69, CI95 [0.58, 0.81]). Men more often think and fantasize about sex, more often experience sexual affect like desire, and more often engage in masturbation than women. Adjustment for biased responding reduced the gender difference (g = 0.54). Moderation analyses suggest that the effect is robust and largely invariant to contextual factors. There was no evidence of publication bias. The discussion focuses on validity considerations, limitations, and implications for psychological theory and people’s everyday lives.

Individuals prefer letter strings whose consonantal articulation spots move from the front of the mouth to the back (e.g., BAKA, inward) over those with a reversed consonant order (e.g., KABA, outward), the so-called in–out effect. The present research explores whether individuals hold an internal standard or scheme of consonant order that triggers this effect. If this were the case, the in–out effect should already occur in one-trial between-subjects designs. If not, the in–out effect should emerge over the course of trials in within-subjects designs. In Experiments 1a–e (1b–e preregistered; total N = 2973; German, English, and Portuguese samples) employing a one-trial between-subjects design, no in–out effect was found. In Experiment 2 (N = 253), employing within-subjects designs with either 1, 5, 10, 30, or 50 trials per consonant order category (inward vs. outward), the in–out effect was absent in the first trial, but already surfaced for the first 2 trials, reached significance within the first 10 trials and a solid plateau within the first 20 trials. Of the four theoretical explanations, the present evidence favors the fluency/frequency and letter-position accounts and is at odds with the eating-related embodiment and easy-first accounts.

Purpose The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has drastically affected the public discourse on tourism in news reporting and on social media, potentially changing social perceptions of travel and its utility for conspicuous consumption. Prestige enhancement is a common tourist motivation, yet, as tourists have been portrayed as irresponsible and even dangerous during the pandemic, the benefits of travel for personal prestige may have been affected. The purpose of this study is to monitor changes in tourists’ personal prestige during the early pandemic in 2020. Design/methodology/approach The authors developed an innovative study design implicitly measuring the personal prestige of tourists shown on experimentally manipulated social media posts. Three measurement waves were issued to compare the personal prestige of tourists just before, during and after the first lockdown situation in Germany. Findings Differences regarding evaluations of tourists’ prestige were found for prestige dimensions of hedonism, achievements, wealth and power, suggesting that prestige ascription to tourists has been affected by the changing discourse on leisure travel. Originality/value This study contributes to the discussion of the socio-psychological effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on customer benefits of leisure travel. It exposes possible impacts of the pandemic on tourisms’ value for conspicuous consumption and prestige enhancement.

Precise asking-prices (e.g., $249,800), compared with round ones (e.g., $250,000), are stronger anchors, leading buyers to counter closer to the asking-price. This ‘precision effect’ is driven by (i) higher evaluation of the seller's competence, and (ii) buyers using a finer-grained numerical scale when the asking-price is precise compared with round. But are buyers more susceptible to precise anchors, the more they take the seller's perspective? If so, what are the underlying mechanisms leading to this increased susceptibility? We examine the potential moderating role of trait (Experiment 1) and manipulated (Experiment 2) perspective-taking on the price precision effect and its underlying mechanisms. We test the prediction that the more buyers take the seller's perspective, the more they will evaluate a precise-opening seller as competent, which in turn will increase buyers' susceptibility to precise prices (H1). We further test two competing predictions regarding the moderating role (H2a) of perspective-taking versus lack thereof (H2b) on buyers' use of a finer-grained numerical scale when countering a precise asking-price. Results revealed that precise asking-prices lead to counteroffers closer to the asking-price. This price precision effect was driven by the scale granularity, but not the perception of seller's competence mechanism. Further, perspective-taking did not moderate the price precision effect. Exploratory analyses revealed that perspective-taking leads to higher perception of seller's competence, which in turn leads to counteroffers that are closer to the asking-price. Overall, both price precision and perspective-taking shape counteroffers (but not in an interaction), making the two factors important in negotiation processes.

Why does entrepreneurship training work? We argue that the feedback loop of the opportunity development process is a training element that can explain the effectiveness of entrepreneurship training. Building on action regulation theory, we model the feedback loop as a recursive cycle of changes in the business opportunity, goals, performance outcomes, and feedback. Furthermore, we hypothesize that error orientation and monitoring can strengthen or weaken the cycle, and that going through the feedback loop during training explains short- and long-term training outcomes. To test our hypotheses, we collected data before, during, and after an entrepreneurship training program. Results support our hypotheses, suggesting that the feedback loop of the opportunity development process is a concept that can explain why entrepreneurship training is effective.

Abstract. Many occupational settings require individuals to make important decisions immediately after awakening. Although a plethora of psychological research has separately examined both sleep and anchoring effects on decision-making, little is known about their interaction. In the present study, we seek to shed light on the link between sleep inertia, the performance impairment immediately after awakening, and individuals’ susceptibility to the anchoring bias. We proposed that sleep inertia would moderate participants’ adjustment from anchors because sleep inertia leads to less cognitive effort invested, resulting in a stronger anchoring effect. One hundred four subjects were randomly assigned to an experimental group that answered anchoring tasks immediately after being awakened at nighttime or a control group that answered anchoring tasks at daytime. Our findings replicated the well-established anchoring effect in that higher anchors led participants to higher estimates than lower anchors. We did not find significant effects of sleep inertia. While the sleep inertia group reported greater sleepiness and having invested less cognitive effort compared to the control group, no systematic anchoring differences emerged, and cognitive effort did not qualify as a mediator of the anchoring effect. Bayesian analyses provide empirical evidence for these null findings. Implications for the anchoring literature and future research are discussed.

Research on measures for organizational practices targeted toward older employees has grown during the past decade. However, existing measures tend to capture the construct with unidimensional scales, use single-item operationalizations, or focus on specific domains. Thus, the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI) was developed to serve as a multidimensional framework for measuring organizational practices for the aging workforce. The LLWI covers 9 domains, namely organizational climate, leadership, work design, health management, individual development, knowledge management, transition to retirement, continued employment after retirement, and health and retirement coverage. The index has recently been operationalized and validated in Germany. Given that the quantitative evidence for the framework is limited to Germany so far, we aimed to translate and validate an English version of the LLWI using a sample of older U.S. employees (N = 279). Findings regarding the psychometric properties of the measure are presented, supporting the domain level factor structure through confirmatory factor analyses, but revealing some redundancy among the items for the overall 9 domain factor structure. Multigroup factor analyses comparing the U.S. sample to a German sample (N = 349) further confirmed configural and (partial) metric measurement invariance of the English version of the LLWI. Results also supported convergent and discriminant validity as well as criterion and incremental validity regarding individual level attitudinal, health-related, intention, and behavioral outcomes. Based on these findings, implications for the use of the LLWI in research and practice and future research directions are discussed.

From an international comparative point of view the paper deals with driving forces and potential obstacles for the labour market participation of older workers. It goes into depth by focusing on four case studies that seem to be typical for different contexts. Germany, Israel, Italy and Sweden were selected in order to examine the development and the situation of older workers in detail. Each country stands for a specific configuration, e.g. because it may represent a trend reversal, a continuously outstanding performance, or lasting problems. The cases also provde information on pension reforms and approaches to better manage ageing workforces, in some cases including a new balance of work and retirement. Being aware of the different country situations, it becomes obvious that one size of politics does not fit all. Independent of national policies, employability over the life cycle should gain more attention. Regarding future developments, continuous skill improvement and a healthy work environment are indispensable to keep older workers in work.

This study examines what individuals expect will be the most important impacts of climate change on their respective countries, and how these expectations relate to individual risk judgments. Open-ended responses from representative samples in four European countries (each n > 1000), were sorted into six categories: expectations of climate change leading to changes in attitudes and goals, human activities, emissions and pollution, environmental changes, impacts on humans, or few or no impacts. The results showed that the most frequently mentioned climate change impacts were related to environmental changes. Although most results were consistent across the UK, Norway, Germany, and France, some differences were identified. For example, respondents in the UK and Norway more frequently mentioned changes in human actions and activities among the most important climate change impacts. We also found differences between demographic groups; men, those in the oldest age groups, and those placing themselves further right on the political spectrum were more likely to expect few or no consequences of climate change on their country. Additional analyses examined relationships between the six impact categories and two different measures of individual risk judgments. Those expecting climate change to lead to changes in attitudes and goals, environmental changes, or impacts on humans reported higher levels of worry about climate change and expected more negative effects on their country. Climate change worry, but not the evaluation of how positive or negative effects will be on one’s country, was further related to the number of consequences mentioned in response to the open-ended question and the specificity conveyed. In dieser Studie wird untersucht, welche Auswirkungen des Klimawandels die Menschen in ihren jeweiligen Ländern erwarten und wie diese Erwartungen mit individuellen Risikobewertungen zusammenhängen. Offene Antworten von repräsentativen Stichproben in vier europäischen Ländern (jeweils n > 1000) wurden in sechs Kategorien eingeteilt: Erwartungen, dass der Klimawandel zu Veränderungen von Einstellungen und Zielen, menschlichen Aktivitäten, Emissionen und Verschmutzung, Umweltveränderungen, Auswirkungen auf den Menschen oder wenigen oder keinen Auswirkungen führen wird. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die am häufigsten genannten Auswirkungen des Klimawandels mit Umweltveränderungen zusammenhingen. Obwohl die meisten Ergebnisse in Großbritannien, Norwegen, Deutschland und Frankreich übereinstimmten, wurden einige Unterschiede festgestellt. So nannten die Befragten im Vereinigten Königreich und in Norwegen häufiger Veränderungen bei menschlichen Handlungen und Aktivitäten als wichtigste Auswirkungen des Klimawandels. Auch zwischen den demografischen Gruppen wurden Unterschiede festgestellt: Männer, Personen in den ältesten Altersgruppen und Personen, die sich im politischen Spektrum weiter rechts verorten, erwarteten eher wenige oder keine Folgen des Klimawandels für ihr Land. Weitere Analysen untersuchten die Beziehungen zwischen den sechs Auswirkungskategorien und zwei verschiedenen Maßen der individuellen Risikoeinschätzung. Diejenigen, die davon ausgingen, dass der Klimawandel zu veränderten Einstellungen und Zielen, Umweltveränderungen oder Auswirkungen auf den Menschen führen würde, gaben an, sich mehr Sorgen über den Klimawandel zu machen und erwarteten mehr negative Auswirkungen auf ihr Land. Die Besorgnis über den Klimawandel, nicht aber die Einschätzung, wie positiv oder negativ sich die Auswirkungen auf das eigene Land auswirken werden, hing außerdem mit der Anzahl der in der Antwort auf die offene Frage genannten Folgen und der damit verbundenen Spezifität zusammen.

Synchronous discussions in distributed computer-supported learning environments are usually conducted employing chat tools. Lack of coordination and coherence among the contributions is a typical problem with chat. In this paper, we propose to apply learning protocols to increase coordination, coherence, and as a consequence the efficiency of learning. Learning protocols are system controlled cooperation scripts, which impose constraints on the learning discourse: Participants explicitely identify the reference of their contributions as well as the type of contribution; furthermore, the order of contributions is predetermined ... Lack of coordination and coherence among contributions is a typical problem with the use of chat for netbased learning. We propose so-called learning protocols to increase coordination, coherence, and, hence, the efficiency of learning via chat. Learning protocols are system controlled cooperation scripts: Participants explicitely identify the reference and the type of their contributions, and the order of contributions is predetermined. As an example, the explanation protocol is described and empirical results confirming that structured discourse leads to superior learning are presented.

Successful employment of experienced employees becomes more important for both, individuals and organizations. To identify organizational practices that foster the motivation, health, and performance of experienced employees in particular, a holistic assessment of relevant organizational factors is needed. The Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI) provides such a measure for organizational practices for older employees by differentiating nine domains, namely organizational climate, leadership, work design, health management, individual development, knowledge management, transition to retirement, continued employment after retirement, and health and retirement coverage. So far, a German-language and an English-language version of the LLWI have been validated in Germany and the U.S in a multi-study procedure. The psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the English-language version of the LLWI will be presented. Preliminary findings from Japan and Portugal show promising results regarding reliability and validity of the LLWI in the respective country. The findings suggest that the multidimensional measurement model developed in Germany and the U.S. could be applicable to other regulatory and cultural contexts as well. A focus group consisting of the original authors of the LLWI and international scholars, whose research expertise lies in the field of employment and older employees, is currently developing a short version of the LLWI. We aim to provide researchers and practitioners from different countries with a validated measurement to holistically assess organizational practices. Researchers can utilize the LLWI to gain a comprehensive understanding of organizational influences on later life work, while practitioners are able to assess their organizational readiness for an aging workforce.

In Dükers action theory Anspannung, which we translated as “psychological tension” (PT), is described as a directly experienced valid indicator for the extent of mental strain. In German-speaking regions the Category Partitioning technique (CP) has proven to be a useful method for accurately quantifying the experienced PT. Outside Germany, however, the concept of PT and the CP technique for measuring it have found little resonance, as it seemed that the central terms could not be meaningfully translated into English. To challenge these language barriers, test the applicability and usefulness of the PT concept, and evaluate the CP scaling method, we used the CP technique to quantify the level of PT required by 32 imagined everyday situations. To do this we adapted descriptions of the everyday situations from the German into English, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese, and enrolled N = 158 participants from five countries (Canada, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan). The results show a remarkable agreement between the data collected in the five cohorts. The experimental data point to the universality of the experience of mental load in culturally and linguistically diverse societies. They also point to the need to design scaling techniques so that respondents can describe their immediate sensations as they would in everyday life.

We investigate whether communication strategies that portray climate change as a nonlinear phenomenon provoke increases in laypeople’s climate change risk perceptions. In a high-powered, preregistered online experiment, participants were exposed to linear or nonlinear predictions of future temperature increases that would be expected if global greenhouse gas emissions were not reduced. We hypothesized that the type of climate change portrayal would impact perceptions of qualitative risk characteristics (catastrophic potential, controllability of consequences) which would, in turn, affect laypeople’s holistic risk perceptions. The results of the study indicate that the type of climate change portrayal did not affect perceptions of risk or other social-cognitive variables such as efficacy beliefs. While participants who were exposed to a nonlinear portrayal of climate change perceived abrupt changes in the climate system as more likely, they did not perceive the consequences of climate change as less controllable or more catastrophic. Notably, however, participants who had been exposed to a linear or nonlinear portrayal of climate change were willing to donate more money to environmental organizations than participants who had not been presented with a climate-related message. Limitations of the present study and directions for future research are discussed.

People’s estimates are biased toward previously considered numbers (anchoring). We have aggregated all available data from anchoring studies that included at least two anchors into one large dataset. Data were standardized to comprise one estimate per row, coded according to a wide range of variables, and are available for download and analyses online (https://metaanalyses.shinyapps.io/OpAQ/). Because the dataset includes both original and meta-data it allows for fine-grained analyses (e.g., correlations of estimates for different tasks) but also for meta-analyses (e.g., effect sizes for anchoring effects).

Using a network approach, we addressed in two studies interrelations among potential antecedents of vaccine intentions, related to both COVID-19 risk perception and epistemic beliefs (i.e., trust in scientists and conspiracy beliefs). In Study 1 and 2, we assessed a US (N = 994) and an international sample (N = 902) during spring and summer 2020. The network analysis reveals a complex interplay of factors where trust in scientists, the closest predictor of vaccine intention, is associated with conspiracy beliefs and danger perception. Furthermore, we found evidence for unrealistic optimism, with participants perceiving the risk of getting infected with COVID-19 as lower compared to the risk they attributed to other people. However, this bias was not associated with vaccine intention. Study 2 corroborated these results. The results call for a global change in the narrative which should highlight the epistemic authority of science in order to build a stronger trust in the scientific community. However, tackling trust in scientists needs a wider field of persuasion that includes conspiracy beliefs and risk perception factors.

Abstract. Emotional labor is ubiquitous in service work, but little is known about what enables service employees to use desirable strategies such as deep acting. Applying conservation of resources theory, we hypothesized that being recovered is a crucial resource for deep acting, especially for employees with low customer orientation and low positive affectivity, and even needed for surface acting when employees have high negative affectivity. Sixty-five service employees answered 298 daily surveys. Multilevel analysis showed that morning being recovered predicts daily deep acting, but not surface acting. When being recovered, employees with low customer orientation engaged more in deep acting, whereas employees with high negative affectivity engaged more in surface acting. The findings highlight the role of different resources for emotional labor.

Objective: Maintaining safe physical distance is paramount to slowing the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)/coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly indoors (e.g., while shopping). We used a health message intervention to motivate grocery store customers to engage in distancing behavior. Method: In an online experiment (N = 206) and a field experiment (N = 268; preregistered on OSF), we used a 2 × 2 between-subjects design and manipulated health messages (a) as gain-framed (“to foster health”) versus loss-framed (“it could be deadly”) and (b) as targeting different beneficiaries (customers themselves versus fellow citizens). In the field experiment, observers rated customers’ distancing behavior during a random confederate encounter and a subsequent interview. We assessed customers’ perceptions of risk and worry, perspective-taking, and state optimism as concurrent psychological processes to investigate customers’ distancing behavior in correlational mediation analyses. Results: Contrary to previous research, the intervention was more effective when pertaining to customers themselves than to their fellow citizens (Experiments 1–2). In addition, loss-framed messages were more effective than gain-framed ones (Experiment 2). The former behavioral effect was accompanied (and statistically mediated) by a concurrent psychological increase in customers’ perceived risk and worry. Conclusions: Owing to their low cost and easy implementation, health messages constitute a promising means to promote physical distancing. Our results show that their effectiveness significantly depends on the framing and target of the health behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Technological advancements in the virtual assistants' domain pave the way to implement complex autonomous agents like diagnostic chatbots. Drawing on the assumption that chatbots are perceived as both technological tools and social actors, we aim to create a deep understanding of trust-building processes towards diagnostic chatbots compared to trust in medical professionals. We conducted a laboratory experiment in which participants interacted either with a diagnostic chatbot only or with an additional telemedicine professional before we interviewed them primarily on trust-building factors. We identified numerous software-related, user-related, and environment-related factors and derived a model of the initial trust-building process. The results support our assumption that it is equally essential to consider dimensions of physician and technology trust. One significant finding is that trust in a chatbot arises cognitively, while trusting a human agent is affect-based. We argue that the lack of affect-based trust inhibits the willingness to rely on diagnostic chatbots and facilitates the user's desire to keep control. Considering dimensions from doctor-patient trust, we found evidence that a chatbot's communication competencies are more important than empathic reactions as the latter may evoke incredibility feelings. To verify our findings, we applied the derived code system in a larger online survey.

Smartphones cause self-control challenges in people's everyday lives. Supporting this notion, our studies corroborate that trait self-control is negatively associated (1) with students' distraction (via smartphones) during their learning endeavors (Study 1, N = 446) and (2) with several aspects of problematic smartphone-use (Study 2, N = 421). Study 3 (N = 106) investigated whether distinct aspects of smartphone-use also account for the link between students' trait self-control and academic performance. Specifically, we examined (1) smartphone procrastination (i.e., irrational task delays via smartphone), (2) beneficial smartphone habits (placing in a bag [placement habit] or turning the sound off [setting habit]), and (3) the objective amount of smartphone-use (minutes spent on the smartphone [screentime] and times picked up [pickups]). In line with our predictions, students higher in trait self-control showed better academic performance (β = 0.22). Smartphone procrastination (β = −0.23) and placement habits (β = 0.21) were significantly associated with academic performance and both also mediated the self-control-performance-link. Our findings suggest that it is not the objective amount of smartphone-use but the effective handling of smartphones that helps students with higher trait self-control to fare better academically. Implications for future research are discussed from a self-regulatory perspective on smartphone-use.

Do people learn from failure or do they mentally "tune-out" upon failure feedback, which in turn undermines learning? Recent research (Eskreis-WinklerFishbach, 2019) has suggested the latter, whereas research in educational and work settings indicates that failure can lead to more learning than can success and error-free performance. We conducted two preregistered experiments to replicate the tune-out effect and to test two potential boundary conditions (N = 520). The tune-out effect fully replicated in those experimental conditions that represented close replications of the original study, underscoring the reliability of the original effect. However, the effect disappeared when the same monetary incentives for participation were expressed in terms of a loss (i.e., losing money for each wrong answer) rather than a gain (i.e., earning money for each correct answer; Experiment 1). The effect also disappeared when additional corrective feedback was given (Experiment 2). It seems that switching from gain to loss framing or giving corrective feedback (vs. no corrective feedback) are substantial and meaningful variations of the original paradigm that constitute boundary conditions of the tune-out effect. These results help explain the conflicting findings on learning from failure and suggest that in many applied settings, tuning out upon failure might not be an option. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Sport injury-related growth (SIRG) describes the possibility for athletes to benefit psychologically from an injury. The present, preregistered online study examined an international sample of 335 athletes with impressive athletic biographies who sustained a severe sport-related injury. Expanding the extant literature, we empirically contrasted numerous psychological, situational, and demographic predictors of perceived SIRG—specifically, athletes’ optimism, coping style, self-efficacy, athletic identity, social support, need satisfaction, and injury centrality. Our data first provide empirical evidence for perceived SIRG, even when statistically controlling for a potential social-desirability bias in athletes’ responses. In addition, frequentist and Bayesian regression analyses showed that several psychological variables predicted perceived SIRG—particularly athletes’ informational social support, positive reframing, optimism, and injury centrality. Finally, post hoc mediation analyses showed how these psychological variables account for different levels of perceived SIRG as a function of demographic variables. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, along with directions for future research.

An organizational climate of error management is associated with favorable organizational outcomes, including firm success, innovation, and safety. But how can an error management climate be induced? The present research used newly formed teams in a controlled setting as a model and tested the effect of two brief interventions on team climate and performance. In three-person teams, 180 participants worked on two team tasks that required communication and coordination, under 1 of 3 experimental conditions. Two of these were designed to induce an error management climate either indirectly, via the communication of social norms, or more directly, via explicit encouragement of experimentation and learning from errors. The third condition served as an error avoidant comparison group. In line with predictions, the climate induction increased processes of error management climate as perceived by teams, which in turn positively affected objectively measured team performance (mediation effect). These results strongly suggest that team error management climate can indeed affect performance and is not merely a correlate of unknown third variables that were unmeasured in previous correlational research. From a practical perspective, this research provides guidance on how principles of social influence may be leveraged to induce an error management climate.

When confronted with others’ fortunes and misfortunes, emotional reactions can take various forms—ranging from assimilative (happy-for-ness, sympathy) to contrastive emotions (envy, schadenfreude) and from prosocial (reward) to antisocial behavior (punish). We systematically tested how social comparisons shape reactions to others’ (mis)fortunes with a newly developed paradigm with which we investigated envy, happyfor- ness, schadenfreude, and sympathy in a joint rigorous experimental setup, along with individuals’ ensuing behavioral reactions. In nine experiments (Ntotal = 1,827), (a) participants’ rankings on a comparison dimension relative to other people and (b) others’ (mis)fortunes (changes in relative rankings) jointly determined how much individuals experienced the emotions. Upward comparisons increased envy and schadenfreude, and downward comparisons increased sympathy and happy-for-ness, relative to lateral comparisons. When the relevance of comparison standards (Experiment 4a) or the comparison domain (Experiment 4b) was low, or when participants did not have their own reference point for comparison (Experiment 4c), the effect of comparison direction on emotions was attenuated. Emotions also predicted the ensuing behavior: Envy and schadenfreude predicted less, whereas happy-for-ness and sympathy predicted more prosocial behavior (Experiments 5 and 6). Overall, the strongest social comparison effects occurred for envy and sympathy, followed by schadenfreude and happy-for-ness. The data suggest that envy and sympathy arise when comparative concerns are threatened, and happy-for-ness and schadenfreude arise when they are satisfied (because inequality increases vs. decreases, respectively) and predict behavior aimed at dealing with these concerns. We discuss implications for the function of fortunes-of-others emotions, social comparison theory, inequity aversion, and prospect theory.

Destination marketing organisations (DMOs) seek to provide positive pre-travel online destination experiences (ODEs) to attract tourists. Thereby, DMOs understand official destination websites (ODWs) as central sources of information influencing tourists’ travel decisions. Although experiential marketing theory postulates that customers are reached through sensory, affective, intellectual, behavioural or social experiences, this theory has rarely been applied to analysing tourist experiences on ODWs. Past research and theories remain similar to models from product brands, yet fail to acknowledge the peculiarities of destination experiences. This research explores how users of ODWs experience unfamiliar tourist destinations in the pre-travel phase. To gain a deeper understanding of the nature of ODEs on ODWs, a qualitative multi-method study was conducted involving eye-tracking, retrospective think-aloud protocols, semi-structured interviews and video observations with 15 German millen­nials selected via purposeful sampling. Data was analysed in a qualitative directed content analysis following an abductive approach. Findings expand on previous theory by adding a spatio-temporal experience dimension. In the pre-travel phase, potential tourists explore the spatio-temporal accessibility of expected experiences and the experience density in the destin­ation. Furthermore, this research provides new insights into the different dimensions of ODEs and proposes an advanced conceptual framework.

Errors can be a source of learning. However, little is known to what extent learning from errors depends on error characteristics and the context in which the error was made. We tested the assumption that more learning occurs from errors with severe consequences and when the error was made by oneself. We further investigated if and how learning from errors and organizational error culture differs between countries. In two vignette studies (Study 1, N = 118 from the United States; Study 2, N = 588 from the United States, Hungary, and Germany), participants responded to error scenarios that happened to employees at work. As expected, people learned more from errors in terms of affective error learning (Studies 1 and 2) and cognitive error learning (Study 1) if consequences were severe and if the error was made by themselves. Furthermore, we found differences between countries (Study 2) in that participants from the United States learned more from errors and reported more error management culture than participants from Hungary or Germany. Furthermore, the relationship of country and learning was mediated by error management culture. With our studies, we aim to contribute to a better exploitation of the learning potential inherent in errors.

The present three studies focused on the development and validation of a multifaceted measure of organizational practices for the aging workforce, the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI). The first study developed a comprehensive item pool based on expert interview evidence from Germany and the United States. Two further studies among workers across industries in Germany (N = 609, N = 349) provided psychometric evidence. The LLWI comprises nine distinct domains of organizational practices for the aging workforce, namely an age-friendly organizational climate and leadership style, certain work design characteristics, health management, individual development opportunities, knowledge management, the design of the retirement transition, continued employment opportunities, and health and retirement coverage. The final LLWI consists of 80 items in total. In addition, the studies demonstrated that the LLWI measures correlated with older workers’ work outcomes such as stress level, workability, person-organization fit, and post-retirement work intentions in meaningful ways. Applications for the LLWI in research and practice are discussed.

Conventionally, identity centrality has been conceived of as a stable and transsituational construct, with situational variability in identity centrality treated as being of little informational value. In contrast to past research, we develop a theoretical model arguing that a portion of within-person variability in identity centrality is systematic and meaningful. Drawing on identity control theory, we examine the within-person relationship flowing from perceived role progress to state identity centrality, which is conventionally viewed as reverse causal at the between-person level. We further explain the intermittent effect of an intense positive emotion-passion for the role-and investigate the contingent effect of in-role effort. The results from 2 repeated-measures studies showed that a significant proportion of total variance in identity centrality occurred at the within-person level and perceived role progress influenced state identity centrality by engendering passion for the role contingent on in-role effort. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings for management and organizations to inspire new intellectual debate and novel viewpoints to advance the microfoundation of identity theory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The meta‐analysis by Chen et al. (2020) opened up an area for new research—priming of goals works to enhance performance similar to goal setting theory. This commentary uses an action theory point of view to add some research questions to be answered in the future.

We adopt a self-regulation perspective to present a model of the development of passion in entrepreneurship. We argue that entrepreneurial self-efficacy and performance influence the two components of passion—positive feelings and identity centrality—over shorter and longer time horizons, respectively. Furthermore, we argue for the recursive effects of passion on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and performance. Three longitudinal studies with measurements over three weeks ( n = 65) and three months ( n = 150 and n = 180) support our hypotheses. We contribute to a theory of passion that integrates the different time horizons over which the components of passion change.

We present a dynamic account of self-efficacy in entrepreneurship that integrates social-cognitive and control theory. According to our dynamic account, variability in self-efficacy energizes action because it involves self-motivation and discrepancy perception as competing motivational processes. We argue that variability and the average level in self-efficacy nascent entrepreneurs display over time support the enactment of entrepreneurial intentions and predict business ownership. The proposed positive effect of variability further implies an inverted u-shaped relationship between self-efficacy at a single point in time and business ownership. To test these hypotheses, we repeatedly assessed entrepreneurial self-efficacy of nascent African entrepreneurs during a 12-week entrepreneurship training program (total N = 241). Twelve months later, we assessed business ownership (total N = 190). We found that variability and the average level in entrepreneurial self-efficacy participants displayed during the training program were positively related to business ownership. Furthermore, for participants with strong entrepreneurial intentions, we found an inverted u-shaped relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy after the training program and business ownership. The study suggests that social-cognitive and control theory highlight different facets of self-regulation that both need to be accounted for to explain goal achievement in entrepreneurship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Errors at work can lead to learning but little is known about error attributes and person attributes that make learning more or less likely. This research tested the role of severity of error consequences (error attribute) and trait negative affectivity (person attribute) for learning from error. In two experimental vignette studies, participants responded to written error scenarios that typically happen to university students (Study 1, N = 216) or to employees at work (Study 2, N = 121). In support of the view that error consequences need to be severe enough to attract attention, severity of error consequences increased both affective learning (perceived utility of the error; Studies 1 and 2) and cognitive learning (correctly recalled error scenarios; Study 2). In both studies, trait negative affectivity was associated with decreased affective learning when error consequences were severe (interaction effect). The results suggest that some errors at work – at least errors with minor consequences – may not receive much attention and are easily forgotten. To fully exploit learning opportunities, organizations should give attention to all errors and take them seriously, irrespective of severity of immediate error consequences. Practitioner points: Whether errors in organizations receive attention seems to depend on severity of error consequences, rather than on errors per se and their informational value. This implies that valuable learning opportunities of errors may be missed. To fully exploit learning opportunities, managers should encourage open communication and learning from error and avoid unproductive blaming. This particularly applies to dispositionally anxious individuals who may feel threatened by errors more easily and who may, in turn, respond defensively.

Climate change is beginning to have drastic effects on everyday life, and the consequences are increasingly dire. Three important greenhouse gases (GHGs), methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide, set new year-to-date records for atmospheric concentrations in both 2020 and 2021. GHG emissions have caused the average global temperature to rise 1.5 ºF since 1900, and this trend is projected to continue. As a result of this temperature rise, the frequency of dangerous extreme weather events, including hurricanes and flooding, is projected to increase. Other risks, such as disease caused by food, animals and water could pose fatal risks for humans if emissions are not reduced. Green energy innovations can be used to reduce or offset emissions in energy production, transportation, and industry. Moving towards a carbon-neutral world will undoubtedly require restructuring of business models and shifts in policy if the world is to successfully reverse the effects of climate change. The technical research project examines how insulation affects heat loss in a net-zero carbon home. The three-dimensional model for testing the insulation materials was structured as a cube with a heat source inside, with one side on the cube modeled after a wall in a house. This side had the insulation to be tested inside a wooden frame, with drywall nailed to both sides to seal the frame. Heat transfer was measured across the insulation materials in order quantify the experimental thermal conductivities of each material, which were compared with the values in literature. Our results demonstrated that interior convective currents negatively affected the performance of different materials. This was especially true when there were air gaps between the drywall and the insulation. Our results also showed that each insulation material behaved with the same experimental thermal conductivity at two different temperatures. Additionally, we were able to verify that the experimental R-values for each material was negligibly different experimental thermal conductivity and the highest experimental R-value, which aligned with what was expected. To maintain a larger temperature gradient across the wall of a house and minimize energy losses, the results support that convective currents need to be minimized inside the walls, and the insulation should be made thicker when possible. The socio-technical research project assesses ExxonMobil’s current business model through the documented frameworks on commitment escalation and greenwashing. Through analysis, the research paper examines the extent to which ExxonMobil is engaging in the aforementioned business strategies in order to build consumer trust, and the effectiveness and implications of those techniques. Through press releases and reports, there is evidence to suggest that ExxonMobil is engaging in escalation of commitment to carbon reduction. Escalation of commitment is defined as the tendency of a company to maintain support for a course of action, despite negative effects in some cases. In just eight years, ExxonMobil escalated from publicly acknowledging climate change to later committing to be a net-zero carbon company by 2050. These actions are consistent with business escalation techniques and help ExxonMobil to build consumer trust in the company. There is also some evidence to suggest ExxonMobil is engaging in greenwashing, which refers to a company engaging in false or misleading information about their stance towards the environments. Climate Solutions reports published by ExxonMobil indicate that they are reducing emissions by reducing methane intensity in their products. However, ExxonMobil maintains leadership positions in trade associations like the American Petroleum Institute, which actively work to advance the agendas of oil companies, mainly through lobbying. These attempts to build trust are not working well; only 68% of Americans claimed to trust oil companies in a recent study. However, ExxonMobil remains the top ranked oil company in the U.S. and may continue to have negative impacts to climate change in the future if action is not taken. The technical project resulted in interesting conclusions about insulation and heat loss, but not necessarily what was expected. The goal was to test out the effect on heat loss in the reCOVER house at UVA’s Milton Airfield, and it was disappointing that the research was unable to move in that direction due to logistical and time constraints. Future researchers might be able to develop an automated controller for a heating system for use in a carbon-neutral house to minimize energy usage to heat the space. The socio-technical research project was very fruitful and turned-out better evidence than expected. There was good evidence to provide insight into the business strategies of ExxonMobil and what that might mean for the company. Future work could be done to analyze ExxonMobil’s progress towards becoming a carbon-neutral company and propose how they will theoretically offset those emissions.

There has been growing interest in approaches to business training that incorporate insights from psychology to develop soft skills associated with successful entrepreneurship. The empirical evidence on the causal effects of these approaches on entrepreneurs’ business outcomes is encouraging, but still not substantial enough to be conclusive. This study contributes to this literature by designing and evaluating two training programs, which are adapted to the Jamaican context. The first program provides soft-skills training on personal initiative, including the development of a proactive mindset and perseverance after setbacks. The second program combines soft-skills training on personal initiative with traditional training on hard skills aimed at changing business practices. Both programs are evaluated using a randomized controlled trial involving 945 entrepreneurs in Jamaica. Entrepreneurs are randomly assigned in equal proportion to one of the two training programs or to a control group. The research develops three survey instruments to collect information from entrepreneurs: a baseline survey, a short-term follow-up survey conducted 3 months after the intervention, and a second follow-up survey conducted 12 months after the intervention. Findings indicate statistically significant effects of the intensive soft-skills training, but not of the training combining soft and hard skills, on business outcomes in the short-term survey. The analysis of the data suggests that the main channel through which the intensive soft-skills training improves short-term business outcomes is an increased adoption of business practices. The positive short-term effects of the soft-skills training are concentrated among men and are not significant for female entrepreneurs. Neither the effects on business practices nor those on business outcomes are statistically significant in the second follow-up survey. However, the soft-skills training has persistent effects on targeted soft skills, which are measured with both self-reported and incentivized measures. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in the paper.