Knowledge hiding in the academia: Individual and social factors predicting knowledge hiding behaviour of undergraduates of a Nigerian university

This study examined the knowledge hiding behaviour (KHB) of undergraduates of a university in southwestern, Nigeria, as well as the individual and social factors influencing their knowledge hiding behaviour. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. Random sampling was used to select 390 undergraduates across the faculties of the university. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Findings revealed that the undergraduates engaged in knowledge hiding. The study also identified the various methods the students used to hide knowledge, among which are pretense of lack of knowledge, avoiding interactive classes, reading alone and unwillingness to release lecture notes, among others. The results show that the individual factors (distrust and psychological ownership), as well as the social factors (negative or lack of mutual reciprocity, lack of social interaction and lack of social identification), predicted the KHB of the students. The study concluded that the undergraduates engaged in knowledge hiding in so many ways and for many reasons. The individual factors of the students, as well as the social factors surrounding them, predicted their KHB. The study made some recommendations for research and practice.

Monetary payoffs modulate reciprocity expectations in outcome evaluations: An event-related potential study

Choosing cooperation or aggression relies on reciprocity preferences which refer to the tendency of an individual to return cooperative or aggressive action for cooperative or aggressive action (i.e., positive or negative reciprocity preference). The reciprocity preference is positively correlated with reciprocity expectation, wherein individuals with stronger reciprocity preferences may have higher expectations than future cooperative or aggressive behavior should be delivered by beneficiaries (positive reciprocity expectation) or victims (negative reciprocity expectation). Although previous studies have demonstrated that the presence of monetary payoffs enhances reciprocity preferences, the modulation of monetary payoffs in reciprocity expectations remains unclear. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), we examined how monetary payoffs modulated reciprocity expectations by adopting the Chicken game. Participants were asked to choose between cooperation and aggression with a putative opponent in the Chicken game involving the monetary (vs. non-monetary) payoffs. Participants' electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded when they saw the opponent's cooperative or aggressive decision. Results showed that compared to the non-monetary payoff trials, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) effect in response to the opponent's decisions was stronger following the participant's aggressive decision in the monetary payoff trials, whereas P3 was insensitive to monetary payoffs. These findings suggest that monetary payoffs heighten expectations of negative reciprocity at the earlier and automatic outcome processing stage.

What We Owe to Family: The Impact of Special Obligations on Moral Judgment

Although people often recognize the moral value of impartial behavior (i.e., not favoring specific individuals), it is unclear when, if ever, people recognize the moral value of partiality. The current studies investigated whether information about special obligations to specific individuals, particularly kin, is integrated into moral judgments. In Studies 1 and 2, agents who helped a stranger were judged as more morally good and trustworthy than those who helped kin, but agents who helped a stranger, instead of kin were judged as less morally good and trustworthy than those who did the opposite. In Studies 3 and 4, agents who simply neglected a stranger were judged as less morally bad and untrustworthy than those who neglected kin. Study 4 also demonstrated that the violation (vs. fulfillment) of perceived obligations underlaid all judgment patterns. Study 5 demonstrated boundary conditions: When occupying roles requiring impartiality, agents who helped a stranger instead of kin were judged as more morally good and trustworthy than agents who did the opposite. These findings illuminate the importance of obligations in structuring moral judgment.