Thomas, Howard, O'Neal, Don and Ghertman, Michael (Eds). Strategy, structure and style. Chichester: John Wiley, 1997

Book review

Impaired sustained attention and executive dysfunction:bipolar disorder versus depression-specific markers of affective disorders

Objective - To identify neurocognitive measures that could be used as objective markers of bipolar disorder. Methods - We examined executive function, sustained attention and short-term memory as neurocognitive domains in 18 participants with bipolar disorder in euthymic state (Beuth), 14 in depressed state (Bdep), 20 with unipolar depression (Udep) and 28 healthy control participants (HC). We conducted four-group comparisons followed by relevant post hoc analyses. Results - Udep and Bdep, but not Beuth showed impaired executive function (p = 0.045 and p = 0.046, respectively). Both Bdep and Beuth, but not Udep, showed impaired sustained attention (p = 0.001 and p = 0.045, respectively). The four groups did not differ significantly on short-term memory. Impaired sustained attention and executive dysfunction were not associated with depression severity, duration of illness and age of illness onset. Only a small number of abnormal neurocognitive measures were associated with medication in Bdep and Beuth. Conclusion - Impaired sustained attention appears specific to bipolar disorder and present in both Beuth and Bdep; it may represent an objective marker of bipolar disorder. Executive dysfunction by contrast, appears to be present in Udep and Bdep and likely represents a marker of depression.

Proactive and politically skilled professionals:what is the relationship with affective occupational commitment?

The aim of this study is to extend research on employee affective commitment in three ways: (1) instead of organizational commitment the focus is on occupational commitment; (2) the role of proactive personality on affective occupational commitment is examined; and (3) occupational satisfaction is examined as a mediator and political skills as moderator in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Two connected studies, one in a hospital located in the private sector and one in a university located in the public sector, are carried out in Pakistan, drawing on a total sample of over 400 employees. The results show that proactive personality is positively related to affective occupational commitment, and that occupational satisfaction partly mediates the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. No effect is found for a moderator effect of political skills in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Political skills however moderate the relationship between proactive personality and affective organizational commitment. © 2011 The Author(s).

Leadership and style in the French Fifth Republic:Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency in historical and cultural perspective

This article contributes to the body of the developing theoretical research in leadership and presidential studies by adding analysis of what I have termed ‘comportmental style’ as a factor in leader/follower relations. Within institutionalism and the wider structure/agency debate in political science, one of the challenges as regards the study of leadership is to identify factors that offer scope to or else militate against leaders’ performance. The comportmental style of Nicolas Sarkozy (President of the French Republic 2007–2012), deployed in the context of the – changing – institution of the presidency, was a major factor in his extreme unpopularity, and contributed to his defeat in 2012. What this tells us about the nature of the changing French presidency and the role of style will be discussed in the conclusion.

Marine Le Pen and the 'New' FN:a change of style or of substance?

The electoral challenge of the far right is an enduringly problematic feature of contemporary French politics. In the first rounds of the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections, the Front National (FN) under new leader Marine Le Pen attracted a combined total of ten million votes, bringing its ultra-nationalist policies to the centre of national political debate. This article examines the FN's impact on these elections and its implications for French politics. Drawing on official FN programmes, detailed election results and a range of opinion polling data, it assesses the strength of support for Le Pen and her party and seeks to explain their electoral appeal. In particular, it subjects to analysis the claim that the new leader has ‘de-demonised’ the FN, transforming it from perennial outsider to normal participant in mainstream French politics; and it reflects on the strategic dilemma posed for the centre-right by this newly invigorated far-right challenge.

How checking as a cognitive style influences working memory performance

Compulsive checking is known to influence memory, yet there is little consideration of checking as a cognitive style within the typical population. We employed a working memory task where letters had to be remembered in their locations. The key experimental manipulation was to induce repeated checking after encoding by asking about a stimulus that had not been presented. We recorded the effect that such misleading probes had on a subsequent memory test. Participants drawn from the typical population but who scored highly on a checking-scale had poorer memory and less confidence than low scoring individuals. While thoroughness is regarded as a quality, our results indicate that a cognitive style that favours repeated checking does not always lead to the best performance as it can undermine the authenticity of memory traces. This may affect various aspects of everyday life including the work environment and we discuss its implications and possible counter-measures. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Individual differences in cognitive style:preference for complexity-simplicity

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Talking about depression:an analogue study of physician gender and communication style on patient disclosures

Objectives: To disentangle the effects of physician gender and patient-centered communication style on patients' oral engagement in depression care. Methods: Physician gender, physician race and communication style (high patient-centered (HPC) and low patient-centered (LPC)) were manipulated and presented as videotaped actors within a computer simulated medical visit to assess effects on analogue patient (AP) verbal responsiveness and care ratings. 307 APs (56% female; 70% African American) were randomly assigned to conditions and instructed to verbally respond to depression-related questions and indicate willingness to continue care. Disclosures were coded using Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). Results: Both male and female APs talked more overall and conveyed more psychosocial and emotional talk to HPC gender discordant doctors (all p <.05). APs were more willing to continue treatment with gender-discordant HPC physicians (p <.05). No effects were evident in the LPC condition. Conclusions: Findings highlight a role for physician gender when considering active patient engagement in patient-centered depression care. This pattern suggests that there may be largely under-appreciated and consequential effects associated with patient expectations in regard to physician gender that these differ by patient gender. Practice implications: High patient-centeredness increases active patient engagement in depression care especially in gender discordant dyads. © 2014.

Building bank brands:how leadership behavior influences employee commitment

Front line employees are critical to service brand success, as their performance brings brand promises to life. Banking employees, like others, must remain committed to their employers, to live the brand, particularly during periods of economic uncertainty and customer frustration. Employees' commitment influences their brand adoption and brand-supporting behavior during service encounters. Effective leadership fosters employee commitment and brand supporting behaviors. This study examines the nature of employee commitment in banking, distinguishing between affective, continuance and normative commitment. The study explores bank leaders, examining whether initiating structure leader behavior or considerate leader behavior is most effective in encouraging employee commitment. Data from a sample of 438 employees in a leading Irish bank reveals the optimal leadership style for employee commitment. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Student response to a pub quiz style first year psychology assessment

The deterioration in staff-student ratios in UK higher education has had a disproportionate impact on assessment and feedback, meaning that contemporary students may have fewer assessments and much less feedback than a generation ago (Gibbs, 2006). Early use of a quiz assessment may offer a blend of social benefits (social comparison, shared problem solving leading to engagement, belonging and continuation), academic benefits (early formative assessment, immediate feedback) and administrative benefits (on-the-spot verbal marking and feedback to 230 students simultaneously). This study sought student views on the acceptability and contribution to learning of the quiz. Social benefits were apparent but difficulties in creating questions to elicit deeper reasoning and problem solving are discussed and the quiz had limited pedagogic value in the eyes of participants. The use of assertion-reason questions are considered as a way of taking the table quiz to a higher level and extending its pedagogic value.

Gender differences in the sensitivity to negative stimuli:cross-modal affective priming study

Background: There is evidence showing that men and women differ with regard to the processing of emotional information. However, the mechanisms behind these differences are not fully understood. Method: The sample comprised of 275 (167 female) right-handed, healthy participants, recruited from the community. We employed a customized affective priming task, which consisted of three subtests, differing in the modality of the prime (face, written word, and sound). The targets were always written words of either positive or negative valence. The priming effect was measured as reaction time facilitation in conditions where both prime and target were emotional (of the same positive or negative valence) compared with conditions where the emotional targets were preceded by neutral primes. Results: The priming effect was observed across all three modalities, with an interaction of gender by valence: the priming effect in the emotionally negative condition in male participants was stronger compared with females. This was accounted for by the differential priming effect within the female group where priming was significantly smaller in the emotionally negative conditions compared with the positive conditions. The male participants revealed a comparable priming effect across both the emotionally negative and positive conditions. Conclusion: Reduced priming in negative conditions in women may reflect interference processes due to greater sensitivity to negative valence of stimuli. This in turn could underlie the gender-related differences in susceptibility to emotional disorders.