A core concept in organizational communication, participative processes refer to a wide range of efforts aimed at initiating or enhancing the involvement of employees in decision-making activities to which they would otherwise not have access by virtue of their positioning within an organizational hierarchy. Participative processes are generally discussed in opposition to or as a
Organizational decision-making is a primary process in organizations. It has been the subject of much research, and numerous prescriptive frameworks have been advanced. A facile analogy with individual decision-making makes organizational decision processes seem relatively straightforward, but research has shown it to be complex and problematic. In its simplest form, decision-making is the process of
Engineers have linked the concepts of feedback and enhanced performance since the time of the industrial revolution, but the term “feedback” was coined only in 1948 by cybernetic theorist Norbert Weiner. In this early work, feedback was a signal which indicated a discrepancy between the goal of a system and its current state. Based on
Millions of people cross cultural boundaries each year. Immigrants and refugees seek a new life away from their familiar grounds, along with various groups of temporary sojourners – from employees of multinational corporations, missionaries, diplomats, and military personnel, to professors, researchers, high school and college students, musicians and artists, and doctors and nurses. Although individual
Attributions are the cognitive and communicative processes involved in making sense of why someone acted the way he or she did. This sense-making usually revolves around attempts to determine the cause (i.e., why) and/or who is responsible for an action. Studied initially as a largely internal, psychological process (e.g., Heider 1958), researchers in communication often
Nonconscious Processes Definition Nonconscious processes (or unconscious processes) are all the processes people are not consciously aware of. As opposed to what most people think, nonconscious processes make up most interesting psychological processes. People are only consciously aware of a very limited subset of psychological processes. Nonconscious Processes Analysis There is logic behind this division
This article explores the intricate decision-making processes involved in contraceptive choices within the realm of health psychology. Beginning with an overview of the critical role of contraceptive decisions in reproductive health, the article delves into three primary dimensions: sociocultural factors, psychological influences, and relationship dynamics. It investigates how cultural norms, social influences, religious beliefs, attitudes
Many psychological terms have meanings similar to how those terms are used in everyday language. Such is the case with assimilation, which a plain old English dictionary defines as to absorb, digest, and integrate (usually into a culture), making disparate people/items similar. Its use in social psychology (across separate content domains) is similar; assimilation means
Automatic Processes Definition Automatic processes are unconscious practices that happen quickly, do not require attention, and cannot be avoided. Automatic Processes Analysis Imagine you are driving a very familiar route, such as your daily route to school, the university, or your work. You mindlessly drive along various familiar roads and upon arrival, a friend asks
Polarization Processes Definition Like the North Pole and the South Pole or the opposite ends of a magnet, poles represent extreme end-points, and polarization indicates movement toward those extremes. In psychological terms, polarization processes describe movement in individuals’ views toward opposite extremes. For example, imagine a group of individuals that includes both moderate supporters and
Ironic Processes Definition In almost all English dictionaries, one meaning of irony (i.e., that which is ironic) refers to an unexpected outcome or a surprising consequence. Social psychologists, however, reference ironic processes predicated upon the inner workings of the mind. Thus, ironic processes are mental processes. What is ironic is the nature of a person’s