The role of gender in the construction and evaluation of feedback effectiveness

This study investigated factors that influence managers’ conceptions and subordinates’ perceptions of effective feedback. A social rules perspective was used to operationalize male and female managers’ conceptions of effective negative feedback. In the first study, 68 male and female managers identified their optimal strategies for providing feedback to subordinates. Male and female managers endorsed different goals and tactics for giving negative feedback, particularly in terms of levels of participation and directness. In the second study, 116 male and female subordinates evaluated the comparative effectiveness and difficulty of these and other standard approaches to feedback. The female manager strategy was evaluated by both men and women as generally more task and relationship effective but not more difficult to enact.

Attributional analysis of rumour denials

Politicians do it, corporations do it, and defendants in court do it. Many social encounters involve denials of rumours or accusations of wrongdoing. However, denials are not always effective. Sometimes, denials lead to an even more negative evaluation of the target of the rumour (in other words, the denial 'boomerangs'). We argue that this is more likely to happen in situations where people only hear the denial and are not aware of the rumour. Denial in the absence of a rumour leads to uncertainty about the reasons for the denial and the audience attributes the denial to internal reasons ('there must be something wrong about you') instead of external masons ('you are just responding to false rumours'). We conducted two studies comparing conditions involving denial in the presence of a rumour (rumour + denial) versus denial in the absence of a rumour (denial only). Study 1 found greater uncertainty about the reasons for denial and negative evaluation of the rumour target in denial-only condition, confirming the boomerang effect. Study 2 replicated the boomerang effect. Further, as predicted, the denial was attributed more to internal rather than external causes in the denial-only condition. Finally, mediation analysis revealed that attributions underlie the boomerang effect.

An attachment perspective on adult sibling relationships

This study investigated adult sibling relationships from an attachment perspective. A total of 817 adults (253 males; 564 females) ranging in age from 16 to 90 years completed a modified version of the WHO-TO measure of attachment strength (Hazan & Zeifman, 1994). This measure records multiple attachment figures, in order of importance, across four functions of attachment. One hundred and seventy four siblings of the participants also completed the measure as part of a larger sibling study. There were 29 brother dyads, 83 sister dyads and 62 brother-sister dyads. Results revealed that siblings have the potential to fulfil attachment-related functions, with 37% of the sample judged to be attached to a sibling. Females, and those not in romantic relationships reported stronger attachment to a sibling. Furthermore, sibling dyads were generally congruent in their perception of their relationship as an attachment bond. More than half of the sister-sister dyads (54%) agreed their relationship was an attachment bond, compared to 33% of brother-brother dyads and 24% of brother-sister dyads. Taken together, the findings support the applicability of attachment theory as a framework for investigating sibling relationships in adulthood.