People People: Social Capital and the Labor-Market Outcomes of Underrepresented Groups

Despite indications that interpersonal interactions are important for understanding individual labor-market outcomes and have become more important over the last decades, there is little analysis by economists. This paper shows that interpersonal interactions are important determinants of labor-market outcomes, including occupations and wages. We show that technological and organizational changes have increased the importance of interpersonal interactions in the workplace. We particularly focus on how the increased importance of interpersonal interactions has affected the labor-market outcomes of underrepresented groups. We show that the acceleration in the rate of increase in the importance of interpersonal interactions between the late 1970s and early 1990s can help explain why women’s wages increased more rapidly, while the wages of blacks grew more slowly over these years relative to earlier years.education, training and the labour market;

Interpersonal Styles and Labor Market Outcomes

This paper develops a framework to understand the role of interpersonal interactions in the labor market including task assignment and wages. Effective interpersonal interactions involve caring, to establish cooperation, and at the same time directness, to communicate in an unambiguous way. The ability to perform these tasks varies with personality and the importance of these tasks varies across jobs. An assignment model shows that people are most productive in jobs that match their style and earn less when they have to shift to other jobs. An oversupply of one attribute relative to the other reduces wages for people who are better with the attribute in greater supply. We present evidence that youth sociability affects job assignment in adulthood. The returns to interpersonal interactions are consistent with the assignment model.Interpersonal Interactions, Wage Level, Wage Structure

Is It Me or Her? How Gender Composition Evokes Interpersonally Sensitive Behavior on Collaborative Cross-Boundary Projects

This paper investigates how professional workers’ willingness to act with interpersonal sensitivity is influenced by the gender and power of their interaction partners. We call into question the idea that mixed-gender interactions involve more interpersonal sensitivity than all-male interactions primarily because women demonstrate more interpersonal sensitivity than do men. Rather, we argue that the social category “women” can evoke more sensitive behavior from others such that men as well as women contribute to an increase in sensitivity in mixed-gender interactions. We further argue that the presence of women may trigger increased sensitivity such that men can also be the recipients of more sensitivity when one or more women are present on a team. In a study of 202 management consultants, we found that the willingness to act with interpersonal sensitivity increased in interactions with women. Moreover, this effect was greater in interactions with women who had low reward power—i.e., females who better fit the expectations associated with the social category “women.” We also found team-level effects. Professionals working with mixed-gender versus all-male client teams reported a greater willingness to act with interpersonally sensitive behavior toward male client team members. Our findings show that the willingness to act with interpersonal sensitivity is context dependent and shed light on the importance of studying interaction partner-level and team-level effects on willingness to act with interpersonal sensitivity

People People: Social Capital and the Labor-Market - Outcomes of Underrepresented Groups

Despite indications that interpersonal interactions are important for understanding individual labor-market outcomes and have become more important over the last decades, there is little analysis by economists. This paper shows that interpersonal interactions are important determinants of labor-market outcomes, including occupations and wages. We show that technological and organizational changes have increased the importance of interpersonal interactions in the workplace. We particularly focus on how the increased importance of interpersonal interactions has affected the labor-market outcomes of underrepresented groups. We show that the acceleration in the rate of increase in the importance of interpersonal interactions between the late 1970s and early 1990s can help explain why women’s wages increased more rapidly, while the wages of blacks grew more slowly over these years relative to earlier years.labour economics ;

Interpersonal Styles and Labor Market Outcomes

This paper develops a framework to understand the role of interpersonal interactions in thelabor market including task assignment and wages. Effective interpersonal interactionsinvolve caring, to establish cooperation, and at the same time directness, to communicate inan unambiguous way. The ability to perform these tasks varies with personality and theimportance of these tasks varies across jobs. An assignment model shows that people are most productive in jobs that match their style and earn less when they have to shift to other jobs. An oversupply of one attribute relative to the other reduces wages for people who are better with the attribute in greater supply. We present evidence that youth sociability affects jobs assignment in adulthood. The returns to interpersonal interactions are consistent with the assignment model.education, training and the labour market;

Profound vision loss impairs psychological well-being in young and middle-aged individuals.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of profound vision loss on psychological well-being in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults with regard to mood, interpersonal interactions, and career-related goals. In addition, we assessed the significance of the resources that may be used to enhance psychological well-being in cases of profound vision loss, and in particular, examined the utility of low vision aids and the role of the ophthalmologist as a provider of emotional support.MethodsA questionnaire was issued to individuals aged 13-65 years with profound vision loss resulting from Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Depression prevalence was evaluated with questions regarding major depressive disorder symptomatology. Participants appraised the effects of vision loss on their interpersonal interactions and career goals by providing an impact rating (IR) on a 21-point psychometric scale from -10 to +10. Social well-being index was defined as the average of interpersonal IR and career IR. Subjects were additionally asked about the use of low vision aids and sources of emotional support.ResultsA total of 103 participants (mean age =26.4±11.2 years at LHON diagnosis; mean ± standard deviation) completed the questionnaire. Nearly half (49.5%) met the depression criteria after vision loss. Negative impacts on interpersonal interactions (median IR = -5) and career goals (median IR = -6) were observed; both ratings were worse (P<0.001) for depressed versus nondepressed subjects. Older age at diagnosis corresponded to higher depression prevalence and increased incidence of negative interpersonal IR and career IR. Sixty-eight percent of subjects used electronic vision aids; controlling for age, social well-being index was higher among these individuals than for those who did not use electronic aids (P=0.03). Over half of the participants (52.4%) asserted that they derived emotional support from their ophthalmologist.ConclusionProfound vision loss in adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults is associated with significant negative psychological and psychosocial effects, which are influenced by age and use of electronic vision aids. Ophthalmologists, in addition to managing vision loss, may serve an important role in the emotional adaptation of these patients

Insistence among family and friends in Quiteño Spanish: from connectedness to empowerment?

Drawing on sociopragmatics and some ethnographic work in communication studies, in this paper I examine the occurrence of insistence in interactions among family and friends in middle-class Quiteño society (Ecuador) in relation to suggestions, offers and invitations. I interpret insistence in these contexts as a marker of affiliation through which an interpersonal ideology of connectedness (cf. Fitch, 1998) is recreated. However, I find that there is some generational variation in the use of this practice. I suggest that this may be an indication of a possible shift in interpersonal ideology –from connectedness towards empowerment– gradually taking place in middle-class Quiteño society

Inhibition of left anterior intraparietal sulcus shows that mutual adjustment marks dyadic joint-actions in humans

Creating real-life dynamic contexts to study interactive behaviors is a fundamental challenge for the social neuroscience of interpersonal relations. Real synchronic interpersonal motor interactions involve online, inter-individual mutual adaptation (the ability to adapt one's movements to those of another in order to achieve a shared goal). In order to study the contribution of the left anterior Intra Parietal Sulcus (aIPS) (i.e. a region supporting motor functions) to mutual adaptation, here, we combined a behavioral grasping task where pairs of participants synchronized their actions when performing mutually adaptive imitative and complementary movements, with the inhibition of activity of aIPS via non-invasive brain stimulation. This approach allowed us to investigate whether aIPS supports online complementary and imitative interactions. Behavioral results showed that inhibition of aIPS selectively impairs pair performance during complementary compared to imitative interactions. Notably, this effect depended on pairs' mutual adaptation skills and was higher for pairs composed of participants who were less capable of adapting to each other. Thus, we provide the first causative evidence for a role of the left aIPS in supporting mutually adaptive interactions and show that the inhibition of the neural resources of one individual of a pair is compensated at the dyadic level

Technology in Practice (Section 2.31 of the Comprehensive Clinical Psychology: Vol. 2. Professional Issues)

The contemporary practice of psychology requires a prudent balance of traditional and emerging communication methods. Interpersonal interactions in the context of human relationship (e.g., speech, emotional expressions, and nonverbal gestures) have been a vital part of emotional healing throughout many centuries, and research findings in the 1990s underscore the importance of relational factors in effective psychological interventions (Whiston & Sexton, 1993). In addition to the time honored interpersonal communication methods of professional psychology, rapid technological advances have propelled psychologists into another sphere of communication. Today\u27s professional psychologist is increasingly expected to attain mastery in both of these communication methods-the very old and the very new

Learning a musical instrument: the influence of interpersonal interaction on outcomes for school-aged pupils

Researchers in recent years have increasingly placed an emphasis on seeking pupils' perceptions of educational settings. Alongside this shift towards attaching value to the pupil viewpoint has been a growing interest concerning how interpersonal relationships, manifested as control or responsiveness between teachers and pupils or parents and pupils, impact on learning processes and outcomes. This study aimed first to elicit pupils' perceptions of their interpersonal interactions with teachers and parents, in the context of learning a musical instrument. The second aim was to explore whether dimensions of interpersonal interaction could account for variability in learning outcomes. Three hundred and thiry-seven violin pupils were surveyed, and measures for the interpersonal dimensions of control and responsiveness, as well as measures for outcomes that were defined as self-esteem, self-efficacy, motivation, enjoyment of music and musical attainment, were collected. A principal component analysis of the control and responsiveness scales was carried out. Multiple regressions revealed that receptiveness to parental support and pupil-teacher accord accounted for significant variability in the learning outcomes. The research reported here adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the interpersonal dynamics of pupil-parent and pupil-teacher dyads represent a powerful influence in pupils' experiences of learning musical instruments. © The Author(s) 2011