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Journal Article 1: Employability and Job Performance as Links in the Relationship Between Mentoring Receipt and Career Success

Nikos, B., Kostopoulos, K., Van der Heijden, B., Rousseau, D. M, Bozionelos, G., & Hoyland, T., . . . Van der Heijde, C. (2015). Employability and job performance as links in the relationship between mentoring receipt and career success: A study in SMEs. 41, 135–171. doi:10.1177/1059601115617086

Abstract: This study developed and tested a model that posited employability and job performance as intervening variables in the relationship between receipt of mentoring and career success. Participants were 207 information technology (IT) professionals employed in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in three European countries. Mentoring receipt was related to both employability and job performance. Employability mediated the relationship of mentoring receipt with objective and subjective career success, as well as its relationship with job performance. The findings indicate that receipt of mentoring is connected to job performance, a link that has hitherto lacked empirical evidence. In addition, they suggest a pivotal role for employability in the relationship of mentoring receipt with job performance and career success. Overall, this study helps unveil the mechanism through which mentoring affects career outcomes. Moreover, it shows that the benefits of mentoring hold outside the context of large corporations.

Journal Article 2: Choosing an Inferior Alternative

Russo, J. E., Carlson, K. A., & Meloy M. G.. (2006). Choosing an inferior alternative. 17, 889–904. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01800

Abstract: We show how decision makers can be induced to choose a personally inferior alternative, a strong violation of rational decision-making. First, the inferior alternative is installed as the leading option by starting with information that supports this alternative. Then, the decision maker uses the natural process of distorting new information to support whichever alternative is leading. This leader-supporting distortion overcomes the inherent advantages of the superior alternative. The end result is a tendency to choose the self-identified inferior alternative. We trace the choice process to reveal the amount of distortion and its influence on preference. Self-reported awareness of distortion to support the inferior alternative is not related to the amount of distortion. The absence of valid awareness suggests that the manipulation that produces this preference violation is unlikely to be detected and that the distortion is unlikely to be corrected by the decision maker. As expected, given the lack of awareness, final confidence is just as high when the inferior alternative is chosen as when the superior one is. The discussion considers how to prevent an adversary from manipulating one's decisions using this technique.

In the study of intellective tasks, decision-making has been the one most characterized by a focus on standards of accuracy and the investigation of errors. Decision researchers have typically taken inaccurate choices to indicate nonnormative choice processes. In the present work, we attempted to contribute to this tradition by exploring an especially stark form of inaccuracy, the choice of a self-identified inferior alternative.