Moral decision-making at night and the impact of night work with blue-enriched white light or warm white light: a counterbalanced crossover study

BACKGROUND

Cognitive function, including moral decision-making abilities, can be impaired by sleep loss. Blue-enriched light interventions have been shown to ameliorate cognitive impairment during night work. This study investigated whether the quality of moral decision-making during simulated night work differed for night work in blue-enriched white light, compared to warm white light.

METHODS

Using a counterbalanced crossover design, three consecutive night shifts were performed in blue-enriched white light (7000 K) and warm white light (2500 K) provided by ceiling-mounted LED luminaires (photopic illuminance: ∼200 lx). At 03:30 h on the second shift (i.e. twice) and at daytime (rested), the Defining Issues Test-2, assessing the activation of cognitive schemas depicting different levels of cognitive moral development, was administered. Data from 30 (10 males, average age 23.3 ± 2.9 years) participants were analysed using linear mixed-effects models.

RESULTS

Activation of the post-conventional schema (P-score), that is, the most mature moral level, was significantly lower for night work in warm white light (EMM; estimated marginal mean = 44.3, 95% CI = 38.9-49.6; pholm=.007), but not blue-enriched white light (EMM = 47.5, 95% CI = 42.2-52.8), compared to daytime (EMM = 51.2, 95% CI = 45.9-56.5). Also, the P-score was reduced for night work overall (EMM = 45.9, 95% CI = 41.1-50.8; p=.008), that is, irrespective of light condition, compared to daytime. Neither activation of the maintaining norms schema (MN-score), that is, moderately developed moral level, nor activation of the personal interest schema (i.e. the lowest moral level) differed significantly between light conditions. The MN-score was however increased for night work overall (EMM = 26.8, 95% CI = 23.1-30.5; p=.033) compared to daytime (EMM = 23.1, 95% CI = 18.9-27.2).

CONCLUSION

The results indicate that moral decisions during simulated night work in warm white light, but not blue-enriched white light, become less mature and principle-oriented, and more rule-based compared to daytime, hence blue-enriched white light may function as a moderator. Further studies are needed, and the findings should be tentatively considered.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT03203538) Registered: 26/06/2017; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03203538.

Virtual team-cooperation from home-office: a quantitative diary study of the impact of daily transformational- and passive-avoidant leadership - and the moderating role of task interdependence

During the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the workforce moved from office setting to home-office and virtual teamwork. Whereas the relationship between leadership and team cooperation in physical settings is well documented - less is known about how daily virtual team cooperation is influenced by daily constructive as well as destructive leadership, and how intervening mechanisms influence this relationship. In the present study, we test the direct effect of daily transformational- and passive avoidant leadership, respectively, on the daily quality of virtual team cooperation - and the moderating effect of task interdependence. Using virtual team cooperation as outcome, we hypothesized that (a) transformational leadership relates positively to virtual team cooperation, (b) passive-avoidant leadership relates negatively, and (c) moderated by task interdependence. Our hypotheses were tested in a 5-day quantitative diary study with 58 convenience sampled employees working from home in virtual teams. The results show that virtual team cooperation is a partially malleable process - with 28% variation in daily virtual team cooperation resulting from within team variation from day to day. Surprisingly, the results of multilevel modeling lend support only to the first hypothesis (a). Taken together, our findings suggest that in virtual settings, inspirational and development-oriented transformational leadership plays a key role in daily team cooperation, while passive-avoidance has little impact - independently of task interdependence. Hence, in virtual team settings, the study shows that "good is stronger than bad" - when comparing the negative effects of destructive leadership to the positive effect of constructive and inspirational leadership. We discuss the implications of these findings for further research and practice.

Teamwork on Patrol: Investigating Teamwork Processes and Underlaying Coordinating Mechanisms in a Police Training Program

The Big Five theory suggests that five components in teamwork are essential for team effectiveness in stressful environments. Furthermore, three coordinating mechanisms are claimed to be decisive to upholding and informing vital teamwork processes. Although much research has been conducted into the Big Five theory and its components, to the best of our knowledge, no study has yet been made of the relative importance of the three mechanisms and their impact on team effectiveness. Also, only a few studies have tried to investigate whether the components and the coordinating mechanisms are trainable. This study aims to make a theoretical contribution to the part of the theory focusing on the coordinating mechanisms. Secondly, it investigates whether training can improve team performance. Working in teams of two, 166 police officers participated in a simulated operational scenario. Correlational analyses indicated that all Big Five teamwork behaviors and coordinating mechanisms relate to external ratings of team performance. Only the mechanisms of Closed Loop Communication (CLC) and Shared Mental Model (SMM) predicted performance indicators, with SMM predicting above and beyond the effect of CLC. No effect of the training program was found. The study provides new evidence in a police situation that the most important coordinating mechanism of the Big Five theory is that of shared mental models, which in turn has consequences for the type of training needed.

Gaming in the Military: A Longitudinal Study of Changes in Gaming Behavior Among Conscripts During Military Service and Associated Risk Factors

A central task in military leadership is to take care of one's followers, which presupposes knowledge about relevant risk factors. Very little research has focused on the risks of developing problematic gaming behavior during military service. The present study tries to bridge this gap by assessing prevalence rates and associated risk factors of problem gaming in a sample of Norwegian conscripts across two time-points: at the beginning and end of duty. The sample comprised 2,555 individuals aged 18-24 years. A total of 1,017 (39.8%) completed the questionnaire at Time 1, ~1 month after starting the military service. Respondents who completed the first wave, at enrollment, were invited to participate in wave two, after completing their service. At Time 2, 259 (25.5%) participants responded. The prevalence rates of gaming addiction were 0.5% at Time 1 and 4.6% at Time 2, while problem gaming use was reported by 4.8% of the sample at Time 1 and 8.1% of the sample at Time 2. Paired sample t-tests revealed an overall significant increase in the mean scores on the Gaming Addiction Scale from T1 (M = 0.86, SD = 1.35) to T2 (M = 1.31, SD = 2.14), t = -2.40, p < 0.05. According to the reliable change index, 17.1% of the sample showed a reliable negative change, whereas 8.3% exhibited a reliable positive change in gaming addiction scores. However, no psychological variables measured at T1 (loneliness, boredom proneness-Internal, boredom proneness-External, anxiety, depression, game addiction, and time spent gaming) were related to attrition (from T1 to T2), or worsening of game addiction, while a positive relationship was observed between boredom proneness-External and reduced gaming addiction from T1 to T2. In sum, we observed a tendency toward a negative change in gaming behaviors during military service which may complicate the soldiers' reintegration into civilian life after their service. More research is needed to assess potential gaming problems in the Military.

Outcomes of a Proximal Workplace Intervention Against Workplace Bullying and Harassment: A Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial Among Norwegian Industrial Workers

Background: Workplace bullying is an important and prevalent risk factors for health impairment, reduced workability and lowered efficiency among both targets and observers. Development and tests of effective organizational intervention strategies are therefore highly important. The present study describes the background, design, and protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of an organization-wide intervention on preventing workplace bullying with a focus on promoting active and constructive bystander behavior. The main overarching goal is to develop an easy to use and standardized organizational intervention based on theory and research in the role of bystanders in bullying situations with the potential of reducing the prevalence of workplace bullying. The theoretical framework of the study is theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). Methods/Design: Using a full randomized control trial (RCT) design, this project will empirically test the outcomes of an intervention program targeting bullying and harassment as the main distal outcomes and perceived behavioral control and helping behavior among bystanders as the main proximal outcome. A 1-year cluster randomized controlled design will be utilized, in which controls will also receive the intervention. About 1,500 workers from two different locations of a Norwegian industrial company will be randomized into one intervention group and two control groups with at least 400 workers in each group. A survey will be conducted electronically. With a total of three assessments over 10-12 months, the time interval between the measurement times will be 4 months. Thus, the data collection will take place at baseline, completion of the intervention and at 4 months follow-up. Discussion: This study primarily aims to develop, implement, and evaluate an intervention based on the abovementioned features with the ultimate aim of reducing the prevalence of workplace bullying, by awareness raising and training of bystanders. Manager involvement and involvement of the union representative and the elected health and safety representatives is an important feature of the program. Results of the intervention study will provide important information regarding the effectiveness of preventive interventions against workplace bullying when focusing on bystanders, particularly so regarding the role of bystander awareness, bystander self-efficacy, and bystander behavioral control on the one hand and the prevalence of bullying and harassment on the other.

Trust After Just 45 Seconds? An Experimental Vignette Study of How Leader Behavior and Emotional States Influence Immediate Trust in Strangers

Many critical and unexpected situations are handled by people that have never met. In the literature, development of immediate trust has been identified as a prerequisite for such temporary groups and leadership to function well. Limited experimental research has studied what leadership stimulates immediate trust between strangers. The present study investigate how four leadership styles, combining autocratic or democratic leadership behavior with low or high emotional stability, is related to immediate trust in a leader displayed through a 45-s video vignette of a car accident. A sample of 280 adults, randomly assigned to one of four conditions (1, autocratic/stable; 2, autocratic/unstable; 3, democratic/stable; 4, democratic/unstable) rated immediate trust after watching the vignette. The results show that autocratic and emotionally stable leaders were on average rated higher on immediate trust than all other leadership styles, after controlling for generalized trust.

A Brief Report on a Reduced Preference for Passive-Avoidant Leadership After a Restless Night

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of fragmented sleep on followers’ leadership preferences. In a counterbalanced experimental study involving 39 followers, changes in leadership preferences were recorded after one night of fragmented sleep (awakened every 80 min during the night), compared to a rested condition with the conditions separated by seven nights. The results showed that the participants rated passive-avoidant leadership less ideal, after one night of fragmented sleep. No differences regarding preference for transactional or transformational leadership occurred. Thus, negative perceptions of leaders may partly stem from reduced sleep patterns. However, further studies are needed to confirm this finding.

Introduction of a new instrument to measure motivation for gaming: the electronic gaming motives questionnaire

AIMS

To adapt the four-dimensional Gambling Motives Questionnaire-Revised (GMQ-R) to measure the motivation for engaging in electronic gaming, and to validate the internal structure and investigate the criterion validity of the new Electronic Gaming Motives Questionnaire (EGMQ).

DESIGN AND SETTING

The GMQ-R was adapted to measure motivation for playing video games and the new instrument was tested on a sample of Norwegian conscripts selected randomly from the pool of conscripts who started their military service between 2013 and 2015.

PARTICIPANTS

The questionnaire was administered to all those who had played video games during the last 6 months and consisted of 853 gamers (86.8% men, mean age = 19.4 years).

MEASUREMENTS

All participants completed the EGMQ, as well as other measures of gaming behaviour, gaming problems, boredom, loneliness and depression.

FINDINGS

The confirmatory factor analyses showed that the proposed EGMQ (measuring enhancement, coping, social and self-gratification motives) displayed satisfactory fit and internal consistency. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that gender emerged as a significant predictor (P < 0.001) of all the dependent variables (variety, hours weekly gaming, loss of control and gaming problems) and the first step explained between 1 and 6.1% of the variance in the gaming behaviours. In the second step the four motivational dimensions explained an additional 5.8-38.8% of the variance. Coping and self-gratification predicted gaming problems (P < 0.001) and coping alone predicted loss of control (P < 0.001). The four motivational dimensions were also predicted differentially by indicators of psychosocial wellbeing, indicating divergent validity of the four motives.

CONCLUSIONS

The four-dimensional Electronic Gaming Motives Questionnaire is a valid instrument for measuring motives for gaming.

A new model for understanding teamwork onboard: the shipmate model

The increasing complexity onboard a ship underline the importance of crews that are able to coordinate and cooperate with each other to facilitate task objectives through a shared understanding of resources (e.g. team members' knowledge, skills and experience), the crew's goals, and the constrains under which they work. Rotation of personnel through 24/7 shift-work schedules and replacements often put crews ina position of having little or no previous history as a team. Findings from 3 studies indicated that unfamiliar teams used less efficient coordination strategies which reduced efficiency and increased levels of stress in situations where team members where experts on task, distributed or unknown to task and environment.Implications for staffing, safety and training are discussed.

The impact of partial sleep deprivation on military naval officers' ability to anticipate moral and tactical problems in a simulated maritime combat operation

The current research investigated how long-term partial sleep deprivation influenced naval officers' ability to generate anticipations of potentially critical problems at the entry of an operation. The study was organised as a balanced experimental design, testing the officers both in a rested and a sleepless condition during a complex naval simulator exercise. The results showed that lack of sleep severely impaired the officers' ability to foresee important problems within both the moral and tactical domain of the operation.These findings indicate that lack of sleep may obstruct planning and preparations in maritime operations in a way that may increase the risk of accidents and fatal errors, which again underscores the importance of sleep and rest as an integrated element of maritime operations and leadership.

Psychometric properties of a four-component Norwegian Organizational Justice Scale

Organizational justice has attracted attention as a predictor of employees' mental and physical health as well as commitment and work outcomes. The lack of a Norwegian translation of an organizational justice scale has precluded its use in Norway. Four dimensions of the organizational justice construct were examined in a Norwegian military context, including facet measures of distributional, interpersonal, and informational justice developed by Colquitt in 2001, in addition to procedural justice developed by Moorman in 1991. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-dimensional structure with good internal consistency. Follow-up analyses have suggested that the four dimensions were nested beneath a general, latent organizational justice factor. A positive relationship between organizational justice and self-sacrificial behavior was found, indicating satisfactory construct validity. The results demonstrate that the Norwegian Organizational Justice Scale is a reliable and construct-valid measure of organizational justice in a Norwegian setting.

Cultural differences in emotional intelligence among top officers on board merchant ships

The current research investigated cultural differences in emotional intelligence among top officers on board vessels of multicultural maritime companies. We found that Southeast Asian officers scored higher than European officers on the total Emotional Intelligence scale. When separating the EQ scale in its facets, higher scores for Asian officers were found on "Utilization of emotions", "Handling relationships", and on "Self-control". Another finding was that Chief officers/Second engineers scored higher than Masters/Chief Officers on "Self-control". Finally, we found a negative correlation between age and scores on the facet of "Self-control". These crosscultural differences may have implications for interpersonal relations and ship management.

The impact of partial sleep deprivation on moral reasoning in military officers

STUDY OBJECTIVES

The present study explores the impact of long-term partial sleep deprivation on the activation of moral justice schemas, which are suggested to play a prominent role in moral reasoning and the formation of moral judgments and behavior.

DESIGN

Participants judged 5 dilemmas in rested and partially sleep deprived condition, in a counterbalanced design.

SETTING

In classroom and field exercises at the Norwegian Naval Academy and the Norwegian Army Academy.

PARTICIPANTS

Seventy-one Norwegian naval and army officer cadets.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS

The results showed that the officers' ability to conduct mature and principally oriented moral reasoning was severely impaired during partial sleep deprivation compared to the rested state. At the same time, the officers became substantially more rules-oriented in the sleep deprived condition, while self-oriented moral reasoning did not change. Interaction effects showed that those officers who displayed high levels of mature moral reasoning (n = 24) in the rested condition, lost much of this capacity during sleep deprivation in favor of a strong increase in rules-oriented moral reasoning as well as self-orientation. Conversely, officers at low levels of mature moral reasoning in rested condition (n = 23) were unaffected by sleep deprivation.

CONCLUSIONS

The present data show that long-term partial sleep deprivation has an impact on the activation of moral justice schemas, and consequently on the ability to make moral justice judgments.