Asymmetric intergroup bullying: the enactment and maintenance of societal inequality at work

What does inequality mean for dysfunctional organizational behaviours, such as workplace bullying? This article argues that workplace bullying can be understood as a manifestation of intergroup dynamics originating beyond the organization. We introduce the construct of asymmetric intergroup bullying: the disproportionate mistreatment of members of low status groups, with the intended effect of enhancing the subordination of that group in society at large. Analysis of data from 38 interviews with public and private sector workers in Turkey depicts a pattern of asymmetric intergroup bullying, undertaken to achieve organizational and broader sociopolitical goals. Respondents reported bullying acts used to get rid of unwanted personnel, with the goal of avoiding severance pay, or of removing supporters of the former government from positions of political and economic influence. Bullying was also described as working towards the dominance of the sociocultural worldview of one political group over another. We discuss asymmetric intergroup bullying as one mechanism through which acute intergroup hierarchy in the broader society corrupts management practice and employee interactions, in turn exacerbating economic inequality along group lines

Observation of Vortex Pinning in Bose-Einstein Condensates

We report the observation of vortex pinning in rotating gaseous Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). The vortices are pinned to columnar pinning sites created by a co-rotating optical lattice superimposed on the rotating BEC. We study the effects of two different types of optical lattice, triangular and square. With both geometries we see an orientation locking between the vortex and the optical lattices. At sufficient intensity the square optical lattice induces a structural cross-over in the vortex lattice.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures. Replaced by final version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Renormalization group approach to the normal phase of 2D Fermi gases

We present results on the effect of short-range, attractive interactions on the properties of balanced 2D Fermi gases in the non-superfluid (normal) phase. Our approach combines the renormalization group (RG) with perturbation theory, yielding observables such as the equation of state and compressibility. We find good agreement with recent experiments that measured the equation of state in trapped gases in the balanced regime, showing that these results are consistent with logarithmic corrections in the equation of state.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Oscillatory pairing of fermions in spin-split traps

As a means of realizing oscillatory pairing between fermions, we study superfluid pairing between two fermion "spin" species that are confined to adjustable spin-dependent trapping potentials. Focusing on the one-dimensional limit, we find that with increasing separation between the spin-dependent traps the fermions exhibit distinct phases, including a fully paired phase, a spin-imbalanced phase with oscillatory pairing, and an unpaired fully spin-polarized phase. We obtain the phase diagram of fermions in such a spin-split trap and discuss signatures of these phases in cold-atom experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, RevTe

Data, Data Everywhere, and Still Too Hard to Link: Insights from User Interactions with Diabetes Apps

For those with chronic conditions, such as Type 1 diabetes, smartphone apps offer the promise of an affordable, convenient, and personalized disease management tool. How- ever, despite significant academic research and commercial development in this area, diabetes apps still show low adoption rates and underwhelming clinical outcomes. Through user-interaction sessions with 16 people with Type 1 diabetes, we provide evidence that commonly used interfaces for diabetes self-management apps, while providing certain benefits, can fail to explicitly address the cognitive and emotional requirements of users. From analysis of these sessions with eight such user interface designs, we report on user requirements, as well as interface benefits, limitations, and then discuss the implications of these findings. Finally, with the goal of improving these apps, we identify 3 questions for designers, and review for each in turn: current shortcomings, relevant approaches, exposed challenges, and potential solutions

Approximating Nearest Neighbor Distances

Several researchers proposed using non-Euclidean metrics on point sets in Euclidean space for clustering noisy data. Almost always, a distance function is desired that recognizes the closeness of the points in the same cluster, even if the Euclidean cluster diameter is large. Therefore, it is preferred to assign smaller costs to the paths that stay close to the input points. In this paper, we consider the most natural metric with this property, which we call the nearest neighbor metric. Given a point set P and a path $\gamma$, our metric charges each point of $\gamma$ with its distance to P. The total charge along $\gamma$ determines its nearest neighbor length, which is formally defined as the integral of the distance to the input points along the curve. We describe a $(3+\varepsilon)$-approximation algorithm and a $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximation algorithm to compute the nearest neighbor metric. Both approximation algorithms work in near-linear time. The former uses shortest paths on a sparse graph using only the input points. The latter uses a sparse sample of the ambient space, to find good approximate geodesic paths.Comment: corrected author nam

Hierarchy in the eye of the beholder: (anti-)egalitarianism shapes perceived levels of social inequality

Debate surrounding the issue of inequality and hierarchy between social groups has become increasingly prominent in recent years. At the same time, individuals disagree about the extent to which inequality between advantaged and disadvantaged groups exists. Whereas prior work has examined the ways in which individuals legitimize (or delegitimize) inequality as a function of their motivations, we consider whether individuals’ orientation toward group-based hierarchy motivates the extent to which they perceive inequality between social groups in the first place. Across 8 studies in both real-world (race, gender, and class) and artificial contexts, and involving members of both advantaged and disadvantaged groups, we show that the more individuals endorse hierarchy between groups, the less they perceive inequality between groups at the top and groups at the bottom. Perceiving less inequality is associated with rejecting egalitarian social policies aimed at reducing it. We show that these differences in hierarchy perception as a function of individuals’ motivational orientation hold even when inequality is depicted abstractly using images, and even when individuals are financially incentivized to accurately report their true perceptions. Using a novel methodology to assess accurate memory of hierarchy, we find that differences may be driven by both antiegalitarians underestimating inequality, and egalitarians overestimating it. In sum, our results identify a novel perceptual bias rooted in individuals’ chronic motivations toward hierarchy-maintenance, with the potential to influence their policy attitudes

Social Comparisons, Social Support, and Self-Perceptions in Group Exercise for People With Parkinson's Disease

People with Parkinson's disease (PD) may experience declining function and limited interaction with others with PD. Group exercise provides opportunities for physical accomplishment and social support, as well as potential social challenges. We used interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine experiences of social comparison, social support, and self-perceptions of 20 people with PD in group exercise. Participants experienced (a) reticence evolving to inspiration, (b) anxiety relief through camaraderie and breaking taboos, and (c) maintaining athletic identity through participating and helping others. Practical implications include facilitating a safe space and support to alleviate anxiety and sustain participation

Guidelines for research into the effectiveness of Assistive Technologies (AT)

An ESRC funded seminar series entitled Researching the use of assistive technologies by children and young people: interdisciplinary perspectives took place in 2010-2011. The seminars were organised by Dr Chris Abbott, King’s College London and Professor Jannet Wright, De Montfort University, Leicester. The focus of the seminars was on research involving children and young people with disabilities within Education, Health and Social Care. The seminars brought together researchers and users of research: teachers, therapists and developers, including those undertaking Doctoral research. One of the aims of the seminar series was to provide information for practitioners, researchers and developers and to help to build research capacity in this area. These guidelines are one of the outputs from the seminars. Those contributing to this document include Professor Jannet Wright, Dr Kieron Sheehy, the Open University, Dr Sarah Parsons, the University of Southampton and Dr Chris Abbott. The bibliography provided is intended to help people extend their knowledge in this area of research