Neural responses to interpersonal requests: Effects of imposition and vocally-expressed stance.

The way that speakers communicate their stance towards the listener is often vital for understanding the interpersonal relevance of speech acts, such as basic requests. To establish how interpersonal dimensions of an utterance affect neurocognitive processing, we compared event-related potentials elicited by requests that linguistically varied in how much they imposed on listeners (e.g., Lend me a nickel vs. hundred) and in the speaker's vocally-expressed stance towards the listener (polite or rude tone of voice). From utterance onset, effects of vocal stance were robustly differentiated by an early anterior positivity (P200) which increased for rude versus polite voices. At the utterance-final noun that marked the 'cost' of the request (nickel vs. hundred), there was an increased negativity between 300 and 500 ms in response to high-imposition requests accompanied by rude stance compared to the rest of the conditions. This N400 effect was followed by interactions of stance and imposition that continued to inform several effects in the late positivity time window (500-800 ms post-onset of the critical noun), some of which correlated significantly with prosody-related changes in the P200 response from utterance onset. Results point to rapid neural differentiation of voice-related information conveying stance (around 200 ms post-onset of speech) and exemplify the interplay of different sources of interpersonal meaning (stance, imposition) as listeners evaluate social implications of a request. Data show that representations of speaker meaning are actively shaped by vocal and verbal cues that encode interpersonal features of an utterance, promoting attempts to reanalyze and infer the pragmatic significance of speech acts in the 500-800 ms time window.

Impact of workplace incivility on compassion competence of Korean nurses: Moderating effect of psychological capital.

AIM: This study aimed to examine the association between workplace incivility and compassion competence of Korean nurses, as well as the moderating effect of psychological capital. BACKGROUND: Workplace incivility affects the quality of patient care and as such is worthy of critical examination regarding its impact on the compassion competence of nurses. METHODS: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, data for 192 Korean hospital nurses were used to analyse the relationship between workplace incivility and compassion competence and the moderating effect of psychological capital. RESULTS: Workplace incivility was negatively associated with compassion competence of nurses. Furthermore, psychological capital had a conditional moderating effect on the relationship between workplace incivility and nurses' compassion competence. The negative associations of workplace incivility with compassion competence were significant at low and medium levels of psychological capital but not at high psychological capital. Moreover, the association was stronger for those with low psychological capital. CONCLUSION: Workplace incivility is negatively associated with compassion competence among nurses, and psychological capital has conditional moderating effects in its relationship. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Management efforts to reduce workplace incivility and to improve nurses' psychological capital are needed to improve patient care quality.

Examining the presence and sources of incivility within nursing.

AIMS: Examine the presence and various sources of incivility among nursing staff working within an academic medical centre utilizing the Nurse Incivility Scale (NIS). BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests various forms of negative behaviour including incivility exist among nurses. Established consequences of these behaviours include increased employee turnover rates, decreased job satisfaction, decreased productivity and increased absenteeism. METHODS: A descriptive survey design was used which included the NIS instrument to measure the presence of incivility within the nursing workforce and specific sources of these behaviours among 414 nurses in an academic medical centre. RESULTS: Hospital nurses working within the intensive and intermediate care unit experienced significantly greater incivility from patients and families than other participants within the study [F (3, 413) 8.62, p = .001]. No other significant differences existed in sources of incivility between various levels of direct care. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing staff working within high-risk areas for incivility such as the intensive care and intermediate care units may require additional interventions to reduce perceptions of incivility from patients/families. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Findings suggest further research is necessary to develop targeted interventions for nurses practicing within intensive care and intermediate units to alleviate the perceived burden of incivility from patients/families.