Scriptie onderwerpen

De medewerkers van de sectie doen onderzoek op verschillende gebieden. Ben je geïnteresseerd in een van deze onderwerpen, neem dan contact op met de desbetreffende docent en bespreek de mogelijkheden om je scriptie te schrijven.

NB: Wat hier vermeld staat geldt voor Oudestijl-studenten! De procedure en de onderwerpen voor de MSc Thesis S&O staan in de e-studiegids (bijv. Thesis Proposal) en worden aan ingeschreven Master studenten verstuurd.

Het 'rode boekje' met de criteria betreffende het schrijven van stage- en scriptieverslag (alleen voor oude-stijlers), is te verkrijgen op het secretariaat (kamer 2A27) van de sectie.

In het onderstaande document kun je meer lezen over de verschillende onderwerpen. S1        Wim van Breukelen (1)   The ‘need for leadership’: What do employees expect from their boss?   During the past century, leadership has been studied from many different angles and perspectives, leading to the emergence of a wide range of both practical and theoretical approaches to the subject. One of these approaches focuses on the expectations employees have towards (the behavior and activities of) their boss, thus taking the follower’s perspective as a starting point. Theoretically this approach is embedded within situational leadership theories, especially Kerr and Jermier’s (1978) Substitutes for Leadership theory and the concept of Need for Leadership as developed by De Vries (1997). A central assumption in these theories is that certain leader behaviors will only result in favorable outcomes if there is an objective or subjective need among employees for those behaviors. If, for example, a work situation is highly structured and employees know what to do in their work, then it is absolutely irrelevant and highly ineffective when a leader tells his/her employees exactly what to do. On the other hand, if people are very inexperienced they generally will have a high need for support and assistance from their leader. In that case support from the leader results in more favorable individual and organizational outcomes.   De Vries and his colleagues developed a questionnaire called the ‘need for leadership’ questionnaire (NFL). This NFL contained 17 items describing a series of specific work goals for which the subordinate/employee could need (or could not need) a contribution from his/her leader. It is assumed that this NFL is one-dimensional and that the employee’s score on this instrument is an indicator for his or her ‘need for leadership’ in general. On the basis of a number of studies in which modified and expanded versions of the NLF were used, we challenge this notion of one-dimensionality. We suggest that employees do differentiate with regard to their need for support from the leader in attaining the various work goals in the NFL and that there is more than one underlying dimension in the NFL. Students interested in this topic are expected to contribute to research exploring the dimensionality of the NLF. Their research should also pay attention to the role the need for leadership plays as a moderator between leader behaviors and individual and organizational outcomes.   S2        Lorenza S. Colzato (In samenwerking met Wilco van Dijk) (1)   De effect van Feromonen op aantrekkelijkheid van mannelijke gezichten   Vrouwelijke deelnemers (experimentele [met feromoon] vs controle [met placebo] conditie) moeten de aantrekkelijkheid van mannelijke gezichten beoordelen. 1 hypothese is dat vrouwen in de experimentele conditie de mannen als meer aantrekkelijk beoordelen en dat dit effect sterker is voor mannen met een dominant gezicht (hogere 'mating value'). We willen de deelnemers verschillende gezichten aanbieden een laten beoordelen op aantrekkelijkheid. De gezichten die we willen gebruiken zijn computer-geneerde gezichten die verschillen op de dimensie dominatie/submissiel of de dimensite betrouwbaar/onbetrouwbaar. De gebruikte stimuli zijn van Alex Todorov (Princeton, USA, zie hieronder voor links naar zijn website en naar de stimuli). Als cover story vertellen we deelnemers dat we geinteresseerd zijn in het beoordelen van 'avatars' (ivm met online games/communities), in die context zijn computer gegenereerde gezichten ook 'logisch'.     S3        Belle Derks (1) Female leaders in the Dutch Police Force: Feminists or Queen Bees?   Although the number of women in the workplace has increased a lot in the last decades, women all over the world still experience gender discrimination, receive lower payment than their male counterparts and are less likely to reach higher management positions in organizations. It is often assumed that sexist behavior in work settings mostly comes from men. However, recent research suggests that women who become in leaders in male-dominated settings can also play a negative role in the advancement of their female subordinates. Although it is often expected that female leaders are motivated to improve career opportunities for other women and serve as their role models, several studies have shown females in leadership roles to oppose rather than support attempts to improve the position of their female subordinates and to become quite masculine in order to fit in with the masculine organization. This behavior, whereby female leaders work against other women within their organization rather than help them, has been termed the ‘Queen Bee Syndrome’. In previous research we showed that women are most likely to behave like queen bees when they are in a masculine organization in which women are stereotyped and discriminated against. However, women are less likely to behave like queen bees when the organization values male and female employees equally. The current project will examine how discrimination and organizational context influence female leaders in their behavior towards their subordinates by examining women in a highly masculine context, namely female leaders in the Dutch police force.   This project is part of a larger project consisting of multiple studies with the Police force (see also Police project offered by Dr. Colette van Laar).   S4        Wilco van Dijk (5)   1.          When bad things happen to other people: Schadenfreude (several positions available)   When another person suffers a mishap, a setback, a downfall or another type of misfortune, people’s emotional reactions can take different forms. Often, they will experience sympathy and have feelings of concern and sorrow for the other. However, sometimes they also experience schadenfreude (leedvermaak)—an emotion defined as deriving pleasure from another’s misfortune or suffering. Although schadenfreude typically carries a negative connotation, the experience of schadenfreude is very common. Based on the many displays of schadenfreude in magazines, television shows, web logs, and interpersonal communication (e.g., in gossip), this experience is seemingly inherent to social being. We will investigate the emotion schadenfreude, that is, when and why people sometimes enjoy the misfortunes of others. In different projects we will examine the following questions: (a) do self-threats intensifies schadenfreude?, (b) do people with low self-esteem have more schadenfreude?, (c) when and why do we experience schadenfreude or vicarious embarrassement (plaatsvervangendeschaamte) toward candidates of talent shows on TV?, and (d) what is the role of (benign and malicious) envy in the experience of schadenfreude?   2.          Is revenge really sweet?   People often think that taking revenge on somebody who has hurt them will make them will feel good. But is this really the case? Does revenge really tastes as sweet as we think? We will examine the differences between how people think they will feel when something happens (affective forecasts) and how they actually feel when when this something happens (affective experiences). Overall, previous research suggests that people are inaccurate in predicting their affective reactions to future events. They grossly overestimate the intensity and duration of their affective reactions to events (i.e., they display an impact bias). People expect to react more emotionally to events than they actually do. In this project we will focus on this impact bias concerning feelings of revenge and schadenfreude.  
  S5        Naomi Ellemers (1) Giving and receiving voice   Literature on voice and legitimacy mainly addresses these issues from the perspective of the party that receives voice, and examines the relational, instrumental, and behavioral consequences of this. The present research has two main goals. A first aim is to further examine why people think they have received voice, and whether the inferred motives of the other party for (not) giving voice matter. The second aim is to provide people with different types of norms (cf. organizational climate/ organizational norms) and then examine how effective these norms are in leading them to give voice to others. We tap into the recent literature on morality vs. competence evaluations and the behavioral impact of moral vs. competence norms. The introduction of different types of norms also makes it possible to examine whether voice (which is generally considered a positive thing) may be seen as less desirable when norms emphasize the disadvantages of doing so, for people who give vs. receive voice.   Giving voice in decision making can be seen in terms of competence, or morality. Decision makers can give people voice because of competence concerns (this is a smart thing to do, because people are more satisfied and committed, or this is a stupid thing to do, because it raises a lot of trouble and expectations that cannot be fulfilled). But provision of voice can also be evaluated in moral terms (this is a moral thing to do, because it is morally just to let people have a say in decisions that affect them, or this is an immoral thing to do, because people are fooled into thinking they have decision power, while this is not the case).   In this research, we will emphasize either competence or moral aspects of voice, and examine how this affects those who give and receive voice. Overall, we predict that moral considerations should have a greater impact than competence considerations for those who (don’t) receive voice. That is, even though the literature suggests that having voice is always more attractive than not having voice, this effect may disappear or even reverse when voice is characterized as an immoral strategy to ‘fool’ people. We currently know very little about giving voice, but we might predict that here too the effectiveness of moral norms for (not) giving voice should overrule competence concerns, so that people are more likely to give voice when this is considered normative rather than counter-normative, but this effect should be more pronounced when norms are defined in terms of morality.   Depending on the student’s preference, different methods for data collection are possible: survey, internet study, scenario study, laboratory simulation, or field study in organization.   S6       Fieke Harinck (1) 1)       Being touched There is relatively little research about being touched (ontroering). In this pioneer project we will take a closer look at the circumstances that elicit being touched. This project is for the students who dare to explore new subjects. 2)       Conflict in Honor Cultures   Nowadays, there are a lot of (second-generation) immigrants in the Netherlands who originally come from countries with honor cultures, such as Morocco, Turkey or other countries around the Mediterranean sea, or certain parts of Asia such as Pakistan or Afghanistan. Honor values are a special type of values, because they are closely related to individual’s reputation, and the need to defend oneself fiercely when offended. Therefore, individuals from an honor culture will be extra sensitive to conflicts that threaten their values, and their honor. In this project, we will focus on increasing our insights concerning the reconciliation of honor value conflicts. We will continue the line of research by Harinck and Beersma and will focus on the effects of a) private or public insults, and b) private or public apologies.   3)       Promotion or prevention focus in soccer teams   In this project we will investigate whether a specific position as a soccer player (defense versus attack) is reflected is the players’ prevention focus (aimed at avoiding failure) or a promotion focus (aimed at reaching goals). The idea is that there is a better fit between a defense player and a prevention focus (make sure the other teams does not score) and a attacking player (“spits”) and a promotion focus (aimed at making goals). This project is especially suitable to students who have a network in a soccer club (or other sports clubs).   S7       Peter de Heus (1) Reconciliation among parents and children   We know much more about how people start conflicts than about how they put them to an end and how they repair their relationship after conflict (reconciliation). In previous masters theses, we have looked at gender differences (Francine Knüppe) and differences between Dutch and Hindustani (Ashwin Malahe) in reconciliation strategies in romantic couples, at differences between supervisors and subordinates in reconciliation at work (Lotte van Munster), and at gender differences in friendships (Ada Vakiari), with some interesting results. In the present study, I want to investigate conflict resolution and reconciliation among parents and (older) children, and compare this with how persons other kinds of relationships handle conflict. Method will be a questionnaire for parents and children.   S8        Hans Knegtmans (1) Ego depletion and humor   Ego depletion is the phenomenon that an individual lacks the mental energy to regulate his or her behavior properly. For instance, when people are depleted, they quit faster or make more mistakes on tasks that demand a certain amount of self-regulation (concentration, persistence), like solving difficult puzzles. It has been shown that relatively ‘harmless’ activities – telling a story while avoiding the words ‘uh’ or ‘um’, or thinking about anything except a white bear – reduces people’s capacity for self-regulation.   Different studies show that in a state of ego depletion people often have trouble with sticking to socially approved behavior. This can result in aggression (DeWall et al., 2007), ineffective ways of self-presentation like talking too much or intimate disclosure (Vohs et al., 2005), and expressing prejudice (Muraven, 2008).   An interesting area where normative beliefs seem to be rather strong is the telling of jokes, especially the kind that violates ‘good taste’: Jokes about the disabled and the diseased, sexually tinted jokes and discriminative jokes. Generally, people are reluctant to tell these kinds of jokes, at least in the public domain, and are embarrassed when someone else does not seem to share this aversion. Though experimental research in this area is scarce, other studies suggest that this pattern is moderated by gender, in the sense that women adhere stronger to these norms than men.   In an experimental setting it will be investigated if inducing ego depletion in male and female participants will lead to an increase in their willingness to engage in reading or even telling different types of jokes.     S9        Erik de Kwaadsteniet (1) The volunteer’s dilemma   Imagine a situation in which a group of people have to do an unpleasant task. Only one group member is sufficient to fulfill the task, and everyone benefits if the task is fulfilled, but no one wants to step forward to do it. Although such instances occur very frequently in everyday life (e.g., Who takes the garbage out? Who does the dishes?), very little research has been done to investigate what factors determine who volunteers to do the job in such situations. The present research project aims to find an answer to this question.   S10      Colette van Laar (1) Leadership in the Police Force: Challenging women to pursue high leaderships positions   The police force has long been a domain in which mostly men worked. More and more women are however joining the police force. This will also mean increasing numbers of women in the higher positions within the police force. As in many organizations, this increase is not happening as fast as the police force would like. This project will examine what factors may prevent women from applying for higher positions within the police force and how women can be challenged to go for these positions. Data collection will occur likely in late April. This project is part of  a larger project consisting of multiple studies with the Police force (see also Police project offered by Dr. Belle Derks).   S11      Romy van der Lee (1) Morality, competence and motivation in group contexts   Morality judgments, for example how honest people are, play a central role in social identification processes. That is, people belong to groups and derive part of their self-esteem from the groups they belong to. Recent research shows that people are more positive and feel better about a group that is moral (honest, reliable) than about a group that is competent (successful). People are also more inclined to adjust (e.g. motivate) their own behaviour to the moral judgments of other ingroup members than to their competence judgments. When you emphasize the morality (e.g. honesty) of the group, people work more for the group’s best interest than for their own individual best interest, compared to when you emphasize the competence (successfulness) of the group. However, we know very little about the reasons why morality is more important than competence in group contexts, and how this affects the motivation and goal oriented behavior of individual group members. This project examines how moral vs. competent judgments of groups motivates the behaviour of group members.   Time Schedule 1.   S12     Gert-Jan Lelieveld (1) The interpersonal effects of emotions in bargaining   Negotiations are often very emotional. But how exactly do emotions influence the negotiation process? In the current thesis, you will study the social functions of emotions. That is, how emotions affect the behavior of others. Research has shown that different emotions have different effects on opponents in negotiations. In a lab experiment there will be investigated how the communication of emotions affect the bargaining process and in what situations the effects of different emotions, such as anger, happiness, hope and disappointment, are advantageous, detrimental and/or different. In addition, since much research has shown which emotion is effective in which situation, we are interested if people actually choose the most effective emotion in a specific situation.   Planning: Time schedule 1 Data collection in May S13      Jesanne Mastop (1) Mimicry, complementary behavior and status   In everyday life we mimic a lot. In fact, mimicry happens so automatically we do not even notice we are mimicking someone. Mimicking has a social function to bond people, it makes conversation smoother, increases liking between people, and has many other benefits.   One important limitation of the current research is however that the above findings only apply to situation in which people have equal status. We argue that status is a key moderator of whether mimicry has positive effects or not. Imagine yourself sitting opposite of your boss and imagine your boss displaying high status behavior, for example sitting with an expanded posture or talking loud. If in this case you would mimic your boss, it would mean you also display high status behavior. By doing so, you would convey that you are also having high status. This of course violates the actual status hierarchy, and may certainly not increase liking by your boss. This example demonstrates that status determines whether mimicry is successful or not.   Currently little is known about mimicry processes in situations where people have different levels of status. The opposite behavior of mimicry, however, called complementary behavior, might be more beneficial in the situations where status differs. Research has demonstrated that complementary behavior is, like mimicry, also an automatic response to nonverbal behavior of others, and it has similar benefits as mimicry. Until now this behavior has been studied in situations with varying levels of status. In the current research we will examine when people will use mimicry and when they will use complementary behavior towards people with equal, higher or lower status. We will also look at the consequences of mimicking or complementing on for example liking. This will give us some crucial insights into the ways that people react nonverbally to status in different situations. Our research will in principle be conducted using laboratory experiments using videos, but other options can also be discussed.  Planning: Time schedule 1.   S14     Marijke van Putten (4) Project 1 & 2:   Money talks selfishly. When do monetary incentives reduce cooperation?   Over the last years, many studies found that money reduces cooperation, and makes people more selfish (e.g., Frey & Oberholzer-Gee, 1997; Vohs, Mead & Goode, 2006). Thus, these studies show that paying people as a motivation to cooperate, for instance offering money for each blood donation they make, backfires and in the end decreases the number of cooperating people. But is this always the case? Why are people still cooperative and give to charity foundations in this world where we are confronted with money on a daily basis? The aim of this project is to understand when money reduces cooperation and when it does not. This will be tested experimentally with scenario studies and/or a field study.   Frey, B.S., & Oberholzer-Gee, F. (1997). The cost of price incentives: An empirical analysis of motivation crowding out. American Economic Review, 87, 746-755.   Vohs, K.D., Mead, N.L., & Goode, M.R. (2006). The psychological consequences of money. Science, 314, 1154-1156.   Project 3:   Gratitude. Thinking about what might have been can make you more miserable and more blessed   What makes people happy and what makes people depressed? The literature has many answers to this question. One important answer is that people who think a lot about how things could have been different in life are especially vulnerable of dissatisfaction and of becoming depressed (e.g., Diefendorff, Hall, Lord, & Strean, 2000). These people, called state-oriented people, thus seem to be highly dysfunctional when it comes to living a happy and fulfilling life. But is this really true, or might there also be an advantage to being state-oriented? In this project the hypothesis is tested that thinking about what might have been is also a key factor in being grateful. Thus, the aim is to show that state-oriented people may be prone to depression, but probably also to higher satisfaction in life. This idea is tested experimentally with scenario studies and/or a lab study.   Diefendorff, James M.; Hall, Rosalie J.; Lord, Robert G. & Strean, Mona L. (2000). Action–state orientation: Construct validity of a revised measure and its relationship to work-related variables. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 250-263.   Project 4:   Will imagined future outcomes make current outcomes look bad?   Previous research has shown that when people missed a good deal, they are less likely to take a good one now. For example, people decline the offer of a sweater with a 20% discount (which is a good deal) because they missed the opportunity to buy the sweater with a 50% discount ( a much better deal; Tykocinski, Pittman, & Tuttle, 1995). Apparently, knowing there were better outcomes before reduces the attractiveness of current good deals. In this project we will look at the possibility that deals that are not there, but that are anticipated by decision makers could have a similar effect. For example, when thinking about buying a new computer, you can easily imagine that a newer, better model will be on the market soon, making the present offer outdated and less attractive. This idea will be tested with scenario and/or lab/field experiments.   Tykocinski, O. E., Pittman, T. S., & Tuttle, E. E. (1995). Inaction inertia: Foregoing future benefits as a result of an initial failure to act. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 793-803.   S15     Daan Scheepers (3) 1.      Threats and challenges in inter-group contexts   Threat is a core concept within the psychology of inter-group relations. For example, people can experience threat to the Dutch national identity due to immigration, the multicultural society, or the European integration. Feelings of threat and uneasiness can also arise when people interact with out-group members (e.g., inter-ethnic interactions) or when being the target of prejudice. In our psychophysiology lab we have measured threat in inter-group contexts by means of specific types of cardiovascular reactivity. By means of the model we apply in this work it is possible to discern “negative” forms of stress (threat) from its more positive counterparts (“challenge”). Therefore, a particularly interesting question becomes whether we can turn possible threat in inter-group contexts into challenges. There are several more specific themes within this line of research on which an experiment can be based.   a.               Identity in inter-ethnic interactions              Inter-ethnic interactions become more and more common as ethnic diversity increases at school and at the work-floor. These interactions are often far from smooth however, as they often lead to feelings of uneasiness, stress, and threat. Interestingly, it are often not those high in prejudice but rather those low in prejudice who are the most threatened during inter-ethnic interactions, for example because they are afraid to appear prejudiced during the interaction. In this line of research we address (social) identity as a factor during inter-group interactions to test how we can turn possible threats during inter-ethnic interactions into challenges.   b.               Is the individual self primary?              Individual identity (i.e., the part of identity that makes one a “unique” individual) and social identity (i.e., the part of identity derived from group membership) have both been identified as key aspects of self-definition. Some researchers have questioned however, whether individual or social identity is more important or “primary”. This has led to the somewhat controversial conclusion that the individual self is primary (e.g., Gaertner et al., 2002). This conclusion, however, is to a large extent based on the idea that the personal identity is more responsive to threat than the social identity. This hypothesis has seldom been tested in a more direct sense. Making use of psychophysiological measures, the aim with the current line of research is obtain more direct evidence of whether personal identity or social identity is more responsive to threat.   c.                Being the target of prejudice: A threat or a challenge?              Being the target of prejudice can be a stressful experience. However, recently we found in out lab that some people do not response with a physiological threat response to discrimination against their group, but with a physiological challenge response. In the current work we will further address this interesting and important effect. 2.      Stress and prejudice   Threat has been identified as a main determinant of prejudice. Threats have been mainly examined in more abstract ways (“threat to Dutch identity”). In the current line of work we will apply stress paradigms from the field of clinical psychology to address the influence of basic bodily stress-responses on prejudice. Does stress in group contexts lead to more negative prejudice towards the out-group, a positive prejudice towards the in-group, or to an indifferent (i.e., “freezing”) response?   3.      Social power as challenge and threat   Having power means that one has a certain control over (the outcomes of) others. Having power has many psychological consequences. It has been argued that having high power brings people in an “approach” mode whereas having low power brings people in an “avoidance” mode (e.g., Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, 2003). The aims within the current project are two-fold. The first is to examine approach and avoidance tendencies in relation to power differences at the physiological level by examining cardiovascular threat and challenge responses (i.e., in terms of blood pressure, heart rate etc.). The second aim is to examine whether it is always challenging to have high power, and threatening to have low power? To examine this we will focus on whether power has more a “control” meaning or a “responsibility” meaning.   4.      Group-flow   Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity (Csiksentmihalyi, 1975). Although it has been suggested that group-contexts are ideal vehicles for the experience of flow (Sawyer, 2007) there has been no research conducted on this topic (while in general, experimental research on flow has been scarce). In the current line of research we address group-based flow. Work in this line of research can take the form of an experiment examining the basic psychological processes related to group-flow, or a more applied study (in a work, sport, or art context) examining the existence and character of group-flow.   5.      In-group bias   People have strong preferences for the groups to which they belong (their fraternity, nation, favorite soccer team). This phenomenon, called “in-group bias”, can take diverse forms from having a more general positive image of one’s in-group to explicit discrimination of out-groups. Within this project we address the motivational underpinnings of in-group bias. In other words, which motives are served (self-esteem, certainty) or under which condition has in-group bias one or the other function (e.g., identity versus instrumental functions)? S16      Henk Staats (1 à 2) Developing and executing interventions to save energy in a public building   In Leiden’s monumental city hall an experiment is being prepared to save energy in the offices. Eight offices have been wired, i.e., prepared that virtually each specific energy using device (computer, desk lamp, heating, ceiling lights) is monitored individually, and that its data can be sent to a central computer. Energy consumption can thus be registered very precisely and related to single behavioral acts. This data base can be used to give feedback to the occupants of the office. The expectation is that feedback will lead to the saving of energy. This project was initiated by technicians and information technologists, as part of a European project on Energy Saving in Public Buildings in which Great Britain, Portugal, and Sweden are the other participants.  The input from behavioral scientists, social psychologists in particular, is urgently wanted. A lot of questions will have to be answered and choices made, in cooperation with the technicians and information technologists, and the users of the building, to make this project a success. Initial results should be instrumental in developing energy saving interventions in all the offices of Leiden’s city hall. This challenging project, at the interface of environmental and organizational psychology, could be executed by one or two students who are interested in combining their thesis research with an internship. Interested students preferably live in Leiden.   S17      Thomas Ståhl (1) Stigma and self-regulation   Can supervise 1 student In my research I examine various consequences of being a member of a group that is devalued (stigmatized) in certain situations. In particular, I am interested in different strategies that stigmatized individuals can adopt to tackle their social stigma, and how those strategies affect their thoughts, feelings, motives and behavior. Below I describe two lines of research within which a student can develop and carry out a study for his/her master’s thesis in collaboration with me.    Understanding the process of stereotype threat Individuals frequently perform below their own capacity on demanding cognitive tasks when subtly reminded of stereotypes of their own group as less able than other groups in the relevant domain. For example, such so-called stereotype threat effects have been found on African Americans’ academic performance and women’s math performance. In this project we examine the underlying psychological processes of such stereotype threat effects. In particular, we investigate the role of self-regulatory strategies that individuals typically adopt in threatening performance situations.    When do people detect subtle signs of prejudice? Before someone who is being discriminated against can take appropriate action, the evidence (or signs) of prejudice first have to be detected. For example, if a woman working at a company dominated by men does not realize that her difficulties in getting promoted to a leader position are due to her manager’s negative views of women in leader positions, she is unlikely to deal with the situation appropriately. Notably, although blatant forms of prejudice are still alive and well, contemporary prejudice is often more subtle. As a result, detecting prejudice can be a difficult task. It is therefore important to find out when (and why) people do detect subtle forms of prejudice - and when they do not. In this project we focus on how (1) expectations of prejudice and (2) certain motivational orientations affect the ability to detect subtle signs of prejudice. For example, do prejudice expectations affect the ability to detect subtle prejudice cues differently depending on whether the individual is approach-oriented or avoidance-oriented? We also examine how particular emotional states affect the ability to detect subtle signs of prejudice (e.g., anxiety, sadness, happiness).   S18      Herman Steensma (1) Attributing the causes of workplace bullying to persons and context factors using new research methods(1 student)   Methods: scenario study combining elements of experimental approach and questionnaires. Aims of this study: There is already an overwhelming amount of research studies regarding the perceived causes and the reported effects of several forms of workplace bullying. Almost all studies were cross-sectional survey studies, so drawing causal conclusions is actually disputable. Longitudinal and experimental designs are better methods for analyzing causality, however, it is very difficult to organize such studies in the domain of workplace bullying. The main aim of the study is to make causal analyses of bullying behavior possible. The present study combines elements of scenario studies with the experimental approach and survey methods. Several scenarios will be written, and each scenario describes workplace bullying, with information about context factors, perpetrator (bully), witnesses, and victims of bullying. Scenarios will be part of a questionnaire. Subjects will be asked to fill out the questionnaire, and they have to analyze the causes of the workplace bullying. There will be several conditions, however, and subjects will be assigned to different conditions. For example, some subjects will be asked to identify with the victim, other participants will be asked to identify with the bully, the supervisor, the witness of bullying, and no instruction to identify will be given to another group of subjects.   S19     Wolfgang Steinel (1)   Within my broader research interest, the interplay between motivational and strategic determinants of conflict and negotiation behavior, I focus on two research areas, namely (1) information exchange in interdependent decision-making, and (2) representative negotiation. Due to the fundamental character of the research questions, I use laboratory experiments in both research areas, and I have a strong preference for the "short proposal" path (i.e., Time Schedule 1).   1) Information exchange in interdependent decision making In the first area, information exchange in social decision making, I approach information exchange, especially lying and deception, from a motivational perspective and building on interdependence theory and goal expectation theory to investigate motivational underpinnings of strategic information provision in social decision making. I am interested in how people's strategic choices of whether to provide accurate or deceptive information are influenced by the effects and interplay of characteristics of the person and the situation. My research in this area focuses on personality factors like social and epistemic motivation, fear, greed, punitive sentiments, impression management and reputation concerns, and situational characteristics such as dependency and power and trust. The research paradigms I mainly use in this area are based on the game-theoretical tradition. Planning: Time Schedule 1   2) Negotiating on behalf of others In my second area of interest, representative negotiation, I build on both the behavioral decision-making tradition and on self-categorization theory to investigate how various aspects of representing a group influences a negotiator's stance in intergroup negotiations. Research questions in this area are, for example, what motivates group representatives to show norm-congruent behavior, how does a group representative deal with the different positions within his or her constituenciy, how does one's standing in a group influence negotiation behavior towards an outgroup opponent, or how the differential motivations and subsequent behavior of core versus marginal group members are influences by characteristics the person or the situation, such as dispositional need to belong, group attractiveness or group norms. Planning: Time Schedule 1   S20     Arjaan Wit (1)   Categorization, identification and cooperation in Nested Social Dilemmas (Wit, 2)   In its simplest generic form, a social dilemma poses a conflict between private and collective interests. In organizations and society, however, people are often faced with a conflict between private, (sub)group, and collective interests. The present research focuses on participants' simultaneous weighing of these multiple (at least three) nested interests. Earlier results (e.g., Wit & Kerr, 2002) show that increased salience of social categorization of any level of the hierarchy (individuals, subgroups, collective) increases participants' concern for the corresponding level of interest. Concern for the collective interest, which is lowest under categorization as two subgroups, can be promoted by any of several ways of re-categorization, such as individuating the members of the own subgroup and/or individuating the members of the opposing subgroup, or cross-categorization with the opposing subgroup. In the present research project, the MSc student will use the Nested Social Dilemma paradigm to study (re-)categorization, identification and cooperation processes in a field setting (the experimental laboratory setting may serve as a back-up option). Behavioral variables to be studied are cooperation and competition within and between organizational (sub)groups, organizational citizenship behavior, or intra/inter-organizational mobility.   Planning: Schedule 1 or 2, depending upon type of research (field or lab) mutually agreed upon.        S21     Frank de Wit(2) 1.          Team conflict: Why do some people feel threatened while others feel challenged?   In this project you will investigate how people react physiologically to a team conflict. This will be done by means of a new approach that makes use of specific physiological instruments. You will investigate, for instance, what happens during a team conflict to an individuals’ cortisol levels, heart rate, or blood pressure. During your research, you might try to uncover the specific factors causing individuals’ reactions. Such factors might be found on the individual level (e.g. personality, gender, age, ethnicity, cultural background). Though, such factors might also be found on the team level (e.g. differences in power, team size) or the conflict itself (e.g. emotional intensity, topic of disagreement). Specific things you might investigate: Are people with a certain cultural background more physiologically threatened by a team conflict than people with another cultural background? Is there a difference between those in power and their subordinates? Can we predict the way individuals resolve a conflict by looking at their physiological responses? To provide a bit of background: Current physiological techniques allow us to precisely assess whether an individual experiences physiological ‘threat’ or more positive physiological ‘challenge’. Instead of proposing an one-to-one positive (or negative) relationship between conflicts and team performance, we theorize that conflicts will have a positive impact on team performance when the conflict is physiologically felt as a challenge, but a negative impact on team performance when the conflict is physiologically felt as a threat. Identifying the conditions under which people perceive a conflict as a challenge or a threat can therefore help to make teams to perform better.   2.          Team Conflict vs. Groupthink:Solving the conflict-paradox   The Bay of Pigs Fiasco, as well as the Iraq War, have shown the devastating consequences that groupthink has on the decisions that people make in highly cohesive groups. A widely held belief is that to prevent groupthink, group-members should dare to challenge each other’s viewpoints. Although this positive view of intragroup conflict is popular and widespread, past research supports a more pessimistic view of conflict: disagreements among group members not only lead to worse decisions, they also fuel resentment and tension among group members causing group members to be less satisfied and committed to their group. In sum, disagreements within a group offer a paradox for group functioning. On the one hand it appears to be crucial to prevent groupthink and to stimulate superior decisions, yet at the same time it hurts intragroup relationships and group performance. In your thesis you will investigate what makes a potential productive disagreement turn disruptive. One important factor you might want to investigate is what makes people unable to separate the people from the problem. So when, and why, do some people perceive and take a purely work-related conflict too personally? What effects does this have psychologically, physiologically, or behaviorally?