The socio-emotional basis of human interaction and communication: How we construct our social world

A review of dimensional research about (the perception of) feelings, non-verbal and verbal communication, behavior and personality reveals in each domain three very similar dimensions. They originated from diverse research areas, often received different names and are conceptually not identical. Yet, the first dimension seems to share in all five areas a general positive versus negative evaluation (e.g. happiness–disgust or friendliness–hostility), the second a strong versus weak characterization (e.g. anger–fear or dominance–submission) and the third dimension an active versus passive impression (e.g. ecstasy–boredom or high–low arousability). These three dimensions are likely to function as fundamental dimensions of interaction and communication as perceived and enacted by humans of all (investigated) cultures. They are interpreted as a universal socio-emotional space that corresponds to an evolutionary need for coordination between individuals. They are implied in the logic of game, exchange or interdependence theory, and manifest themselves in the cultural meanings predicted by affect control theory. The presented overview and reconstruction combines the largely fragmented views of several diverse research domains into a perspective that fosters interdisciplinary understanding and integrative theory-building about human sociality within and between the social sciences with extensions into the natural sciences and humanities.Un passage en revue de la recherche dimensionnelle sur les sentiments (et leur perception), la communication verbale et non-verbale, le comportement et la personnalité, met en évidence trois dimensions très similaires pour chacun de ces domaines. Elles proviennent de différents domaines de recherche, ont souvent reçu des dénominations différentes et ne sont pas identiques conceptuellement. Cependant, la première dimension semble partager dans ces cinq domaines une évaluation positive versus négative (e.g., joie–dégoût ou amitié–hostilité), la deuxième une caractérisation fort versus faible (e.g. colère–peur ou dominance–soumission) et la troisième une impression actif versus passif (e.g. extase–ennui ou stimulation haute–basse). Ces trois dimensions fonctionnent vraisemblablement comme des dimensions fondamentales d’interaction et de communication perçues et émises par les humains de toutes les cultures (étudiées). Elles sont interprétées comme un espace socio-émotionnel universel qui correspond à un besoin au cours de l’évolution de coordination entre les individus. Elles sont impliquées dans la logique du jeu, de l’échange et la théorie de l’interdépendance, et se manifestent dans les significations culturelles prédites par la théorie du contrôle des affects. La présente étude combine les visions largement fragmentées de nombreux et divers domaines de recherche en une perspective qui veut promouvoir une compréhension interdisciplinaire et construire une théorie intégrative sur la socialité humaine dans et entre les sciences sociales avec des ramifications vers les sciences naturelles et les humanités.Peer Reviewe

Illiberalism, populism and democracy in East and West

The emergence and persistence of right-wing populist parties (RWPs) in almost all advanced democracies in Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and across the Atlantic is a result of a new cleavage that revolves around the question of how open borders should be for goods, services, capital, migrants, refugees, human rights, and the transfer of political power to supranational institutions: Cosmopolitans opt for opening the nation states’ borders, while communitarians prefer more closed and controlled borders in a broader sense. An economic and cultural-discursive representation gap on the communitarian side allowed RWPs to enter the political stage along this cleavage. The composition of their electorate, their thematic focus and their discourse support our hypothesis. We demonstrate that whether RWPs pose a danger for democracy crucially depends on whether they are in government or opposition and whether the context is that of well-established or less consolidated democracies. We also discuss whether polarization is deemed harmful to democracy. RWPs can indeed have a positive impact on a re-intensified political participation. However, if the illiberalism of RWPs dominates policies, politics, and the political discourse in less consolidated democracies, such as in Hungary and Poland, liberal democracy is in danger

Success of Process Innovations Through Active Works Council Participation

Successful innovations are deemed to be necessary requisites for enterprise success. On the other hand, works council participation (“co-determination” in Germany) and employee participation are judged differently as either fostering employee and enterprise benefits or only the former or even none. Both forms of participation have found diverging theoretical and empirical argumentations regarding innovations. Here, we argue and show empirically that both forms of participation deliver positive contributions to innovation success, economically and employee-related, substantiated with qualitative reports from 36 process innovation cases and quantitative data from 44 cases. Qualitative case analyses reveal different profiles of works council participation depending on the innovation type. Independent of the innovation types, more successful innovations are marked by more intensive participation. Quantitative examinations of a causal model with path analysis specify how this is achieved: works council and employee participation further the growth of appropriate knowledge and the former also raises the coordination capability; both are essential preconditions for innovation success. A direct impact of works councils on innovation success complements the indirect effects. The slightly modified path analysis explains 53% of the innovation success variance.Peer Reviewe

Aktionärsschutz in der AG falsch verstanden? Die Leica-Entscheidung des LG Frankfurt am Main

This article analyses the recent Leica judgement of the Higher Regional Court Frankfurt/Main and its consequences. In this judgement, the court has established an infringement of special formal requirements with respect to Leica´s invitation to the Annual General Meeting which, if correct, would bear dire consequences for a variety of listed companies, even in DAX. On the other hand, there is a recent decision of the Higher Regional Court Munich in a similar case concerning Hypovereinsbank, coming to the opposite conclusion. Besides the fact that, in the opinion of the authors, the Leica decision not only is legally unfounded and based on a completely unbalanced evaluation of formalistic requirements, it again proves the formalistic approach of German stock corporation law and leaves companies, especially with a respective regulation in their articles of association, their advisors and investors in a situation of uncertainty that has to be clarified urgently by the legislator

Heuristische Verfahren

Heuristische Verfahren dienen zur näherungsweisen Lösung von komplexen Entscheidungs- und Optimierungsproblemen bzw. zugehörigen Optimierungsmodellen. Eröffnungsverfahren konstruieren eine (erste) zulässige Lösung, während Verbesserungsverfahren durch sukzessive Lösungstransformation zu verbesserten (lokal optimalen) Lösungen führen. Metastrategien steuern Verbesserungsverfahren im Hinblick auf die Untersuchung vielversprechender Lösungsbereiche und die Überwindung lokaler Optimalität.Heuristisches Verfahren, Heuristik, Optimierungsmodell, Metastrategie

Fouling pathways in emulsion polymerization differentiated with a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) integrated into the reactor wall

Emulsion polymerization fouling at hot interfaces is studied in situ, making use of a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). The resonator crystal is heated with a ring-shaped thermal pad from the back, turning it into a plate with elevated temperature. Configured to be one of the walls of a small reactor for emulsion polymerization, this resonator is prone to heat-transfer fouling, similar to regular heated parts of process equipment. The fouling kinetics is readily quantified with this QCM. During polymerization at constant temperature (80 °C), some deposition is always observed. However, a film with a thickness of less than 1 μm (determined gravimetrically with the QCM) is sometimes found, which stabilizes the surface against the deposition of much thicker layers. When reaction fouling proceeds directly to thick deposits, a small increase in resonance bandwidth often occurs a few minutes prior to the main transition, presumably caused by coagulum formed in the bulk making first contact with the surface. Furthermore, particle fouling is studied with temperature ramps on nonreactive dispersions. Fouling, if present, is readily observed