Genetic Correlations Between Photosynthetic and Yield Performance in Maize Are Different Under Two Heat Scenarios During Flowering

Chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) parameters are reliable early stress indicators in crops, but their relations with yield are still not clear. The aims of this study are to examine genetic correlations between photosynthetic performance of JIP-test during flowering and grain yield (GY) in maize grown under two heat scenarios in the field environments applying quantitative genetic analysis, and to compare efficiencies of indirect selection for GY through ChlF parameters and genomic selection for GY. The testcrosses of 221 intermated recombinant inbred lines (IRILs) of the IBMSyn4 population were evaluated in six environments at two geographically distinctive locations in 3 years. According to day/night temperatures and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), the two locations in Croatia and Turkey may be categorized to the mild heat and moderate heat scenarios, respectively. Mild heat scenario is characterized by daytime temperatures often exceeding 33°C and night temperatures lower than 20°C while in moderate heat scenario the daytime temperatures often exceeded 33°C and night temperatures were above 20°C. The most discernible differences among the scenarios were obtained for efficiency of electron transport beyond quinone A (QA) [ET/(TR-ET)], performance index on absorption basis (PIABS) and GY. Under the moderate heat scenario, there were tight positive genetic correlations between ET/(TR-ET) and GY (0.73), as well as between PIABS and GY (0.59). Associations between the traits were noticeably weaker under the mild heat scenario. Analysis of quantitative trait loci (QTL) revealed several common QTLs for photosynthetic and yield performance under the moderate heat scenario corroborating pleiotropy. Although the indirect selection with ChlF parameters is less efficient than direct selection, ET/(TR-ET) and PIABS could be efficient secondary breeding traits for selection under moderate heat stress since they seem to be genetically correlated with GY in the stressed environments and not associated with yield performance under non-stressed conditions predicting GY during flowering. Indirect selection through PIABS was also shown to be more efficient than genomic selection in moderate heat scenario

The relevance of decision-making styles across the samples and outcomes

Across three studies and three different samples, we investigated whether decision-making styles exhibit incremental validity in predicting various real-life outcomes over and above cognitive abilities and personality traits. In Study 1, we showed that decision-making styles (especially avoidant and spontaneous one), but not cognitive abilities, predict important real-life and academic outcomes in a sample of undergraduate students. In Study 2, on a sample of employed adults, we showed that although the effects of decision-making styles were diminished once the effects of personality traits were taken into account, styles nevertheless remained important for several important work-related outcomes. Finally, in Study 3, on a sample of entrepreneurs, decision-making styles generally exhibited stronger correlations with indices of entrepreneurial success and employee work-related attitudes than the need for achievement, a motivational trait that was meta-analytically shown to be one of the most important traits for the entrepreneurial success. In sum, we believe that our research program fills the gap in research of decision-making in vocational and organizational behavior domain, offering convincing evidence that decision-making styles matter for various important work-related outcomes

Incremental validity of decision-making styles in predicting work-related outcomes

Across three studies and three different samples, we investigated whether decision-making styles exhibit incremental validity in predicting various real-life outcomes over and above cognitive abilities and personality traits. In Study 1, we showed that decision-making styles (especially avoidant and spontaneous one), but not cognitive abilities, predict important real-life and academic outcomes in a sample of undergraduate students. In Study 2, on a sample of employed adults, we showed that although the effects of decision-making styles were diminished once the effects of personality traits were taken into account, styles nevertheless remained important for several important work-related outcomes. Finally, in Study 3, on a sample of entrepreneurs, decision-making styles generally exhibited stronger correlations with indices of entrepreneurial success and employee work-related attitudes than the need for achievement, a motivational trait that was meta-analytically shown to be one of the most important traits for the entrepreneurial success. In sum, we believe that our research program fills the gap in research of decision-making in organizational behavior domain, offering convincing evidence that decision-making styles matter for various important work-related outcomes

Rationality factor and its validity

The goal of this study was twofold. First, we investigated the dimensionality of several prominent cognitive bias tasks across two studies to see whether a single robust rationality factor can explain a performance on these tasks. Second, we validated this factor by correlating it with a number of constructs from its nomological network (fluid intelligence, numeracy, actively open-minded thinking, conspiracy and superstitious thinking, personality traits) and several real-life outcomes (decision-outcome inventory, job and career satisfaction, peer-rated decision-making quality). We found that, although a two-factor structure of biases was the best one in Study 1, in both studies one factor (called Rationality factor) was able to explain a substantial portion of variance in the tasks. Furthermore, across both studies, the two strongest correlations of Rationality factor were with numeracy and actively open-minded thinking measures. We conclude that there seems to exist a robust Rationality factor and that abilities and dispositions assessed with numeracy and actively open-minded thinking measures largely underpin it. We discuss how our findings relate to dual-process theories and offer our view on the place of rationality in a broader model of human intelligence