Determinants of Attitudes toward Affirmative Action in a Swiss Sample

162 Swiss employees were surveyed to assess knowledge of and attitudes toward different types of affirmative action programs (AAPs) for women. Findings show that knowledge of AAPs was limited and AAPs were most frequently associated with child care measures. Attitudes toward opportunity enhancement programs, especially toward child care, were more positive than toward preferential selection and positive discriminatory programs. Women held more positive attitudes toward AAPs. However, for some attitudes, gender differences were entirely mediated by symbolic prejudice toward working women. Independently of gender, symbolic prejudice was a key predictor of all attitudes. Measures of self-view (self-esteem and gender self-concept) were largely unrelated to attitudes toward AAPs. Implications for research and organizations are discusse

Ethical Blindness

Many models of (un)ethical decision making assume that people decide rationally and are in principle able to evaluate their decisions from a moral point of view. However, people might behave unethically without being aware of it. They are ethically blind. Adopting a sensemaking approach, we argue that ethical blindness results from a complex interplay between individual sensemaking activities and context factor

Cohort Differences in Personal Goals and Life Satisfaction in Young Adulthood: Evidence for Historical Shifts in Developmental Tasks

This study investigated the influence of changing socio-historical conditions on personal goals in young adulthood. It was hypothesized that socio-historical changes related to individualization have resulted in shifts in goal pursuit. Participants from three birth cohorts reconstructed their important goals when they were 20years old. Members of the oldest cohort were born between 1920 and 1925. Members of the middle cohort were born between 1945 and 1950. Members of the youngest cohort were born between 1970 and 1975. Goal content, the degree to which goals were perceived as being shared by members of the same cohort (social sharedness), perceived control over goal attainment, success in attainment, and life satisfaction at age 25 were measured in a retrospective study. Results show consistent shifts over time. Whereas members of older cohorts mentioned goals related to classical developmental tasks, members of younger cohorts mentioned more individualistic, self-related goals and goals related to education. The processes through which goal pursuit influenced life satisfaction also changed. Perceived social sharedness of goals was a direct predictor of life satisfaction for the oldest cohort. For the younger cohorts, perceived control over goal attainment influenced success which in turn influenced life satisfaction. These changes support the contention that developmental tasks and processes are historically varian

Age Bias in Selection Decisions: The Role of Facial Appearance and Fitness Impressions

This research examined the impact of facial age appearance on hiring, and impressions of fitness as the underlying mechanism. In two experimental hiring simulations, one with lay persons and one with Human Resource professionals, participants evaluated a chronologically older or younger candidate (as indicated by date of birth and age label) with either younger or older facial age appearance (as indicated by a photograph). In both studies, older-looking candidates received lower hireability ratings, due to less favorable fitness impressions. In addition, Study 1 showed that this age bias was reduced when the candidates provided counter-stereotypic information about their fitness. Study 2 showed that facial age-based discrimination is less prevalent in jobs with less costumer contact (e.g., back office)

Trust in medical organizations predicts pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccination behavior and perceived efficacy of protection measures in the Swiss public

Following the recent avian influenza and pandemic (H1N1) 2009 outbreaks, public trust in medical and political authorities is emerging as a new predictor of compliance with officially recommended protection measures. In a two-wave longitudinal survey of adults in French-speaking Switzerland, trust in medical organizations longitudinally predicted actual vaccination status 6months later, during the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccination campaign. No other variables explained significant amounts of variance. Trust in medical organizations also predicted perceived efficacy of officially recommended protection measures (getting vaccinated, washing hands, wearing a mask, sneezing into the elbow), as did beliefs about health issues (perceived vulnerability to disease, threat perceptions). These findings show that in the case of emerging infectious diseases, actual behavior and perceived efficacy of protection measures may have different antecedents. Moreover, they suggest that public trust is a crucial determinant of vaccination behavior and underscore the practical importance of managing trust in disease prevention campaign

Compréhension du public de la COVID-19 (COP – COVID) : influence du genre et de l’âge sur la compréhension de la pandémie après la 1ère vague

En décembre en 2019, le premier cas de COVID-19 est détecté en Chine. Le nombre de cas augmentant rapidement sur le plan international, l’OMS donne à la COVID-19 le statut de pandémie en mars 2020 et le Conseil Fédéral Suisse instaure un semi-confinement dès le 13 mars 2020. Dès lors, les services de santé suisses ont été contraints de se réorganiser et d’augmenter leur capacité pour prendre en charge les patient·e·s COVID-19. En parallèle, le gouvernement a émis des recommandations afin de protéger les personnes vulnérables et d’éviter la surcharge des hôpitaux. Ces recommandations sont basées sur le respect de règles de distanciation sociale et de gestes barrières (p.ex. : l’hygiène des mains et le port du masque), et ont été accompagnées de mesures exceptionnelles telles que la fermeture ponctuelle des restaurants, des commerces, des espaces culturels et sportifs, la généralisation du télétravail, etc. L’adhésion de la population à ces mesures, qui ont pu être parfois contraignantes, dépend des représentations et de la compréhension qu’elle a de la maladie : quelles sont ses origines, son mode de propagation, les stratégies efficaces pour s’en protéger, les enjeux sanitaires, etc. Connaître ces représentations et la façon dont la population appréhende la maladie et ses enjeux est dès lors crucial pour adapter la communication et les politiques publiques et, ainsi, lutter efficacement contre la propagation du virus. Dans ce but, nous avons réalisé une étude par questionnaire auprès d’un échantillon de la population adulte de trois cantons suisses : Genève, Vaud et Fribourg. Nous présentons, dans ce document, les principaux résultats en fonction de l’âge et du genre des répondant·e·s

Faking to Fit in: Applicants' Response Strategie to Match Organizational Culture

We examine applicant faking as an adaptive response to the specific environment that applicants are confronted with. More specifically, we propose that applicants fake by adapting their responses to the culture of the hiring organization so that they display the personality profile that best matches the organization’s culture. In other words, they fake in a targeted manner, to increase their person-organization (P-O) fit. We tested this proposition in six studies, including experiments and surveys, and focused on competitiveness and innovativeness as two central elements of organizational culture. Results confirm that applicants infer an ideal personality profile from elements of organizational culture and then adapt their responses on personality inventories accordingly. Faking to increase P-O fit was present, albeit slightly weaker, when accounting for the fact that applicants choose organizations that fit their values. Overall, this research highlights the adaptive component of faking and underlines that it should not be considered a behavior that only dishonest individuals show