High Time Pressure Research Articles

Novel Psychological Intervention for Decision Support in Women Considering Fertility Preservation Before Cancer Treatment.

Decisions about fertility preservation in young adults with cancer are often made under conditions of high subjective stress and time pressure. In women, these decisions are further complicated by the invasiveness of fertility preservation procedures, concerns about health risks of these procedures, and financial barriers. This article describes the rationale for and development of a brief decision support and stress management intervention for women aged 18-40 who are considering fertility preservation before cancer treatment. Case examples from participants are provided to illustrate the potential applicability of the intervention to survivors in a variety of circumstances.

How Do Auditors Order Their Tasks, and How Does Task Ordering Affect Performance?

I examine how the subjectivity of task criteria influences auditors’ ordering and performance of audit tasks under time pressure. Tasks with more objective criteria provide little flexibility in how well they can be completed (i.e. they are either performed correctly or incorrectly). On the other hand, tasks with more subjective criteria have a wider range of performance levels that satisfy the “letter” of the criteria, but not necessarily the “spirit.” I predict and find that under high time pressure, auditors tend to prioritize completion of an objective task over a subjective task, resulting in lower performance on the subjective task relative to when time pressure is low. By decreasing performance only on subjective tasks, auditors can address all of the criteria for both tasks if only in letter, rather than in spirit. I predict that this effect will be mitigated by informing auditors of heightened inherent risk related to the subjective task. While I find that auditors have an increased likelihood of performing the subjective task first when this task has higher inherent risk, I do not find differences in performance on either task relative to when inherent risk for both tasks was the same.

International Real Estate Review

This study examines the effects of time pressure on residential real estate broker behavior. Consistent with our intuition, we find that when under a binding time constraint, brokers do transact the property more quickly, but do not work as hard and ultimately recommend less optimal homes. Interestingly, brokers earn the same commission when operating in either a low or high time pressure environment. When the characteristics of the broker are considered, we find that experienced brokers are significantly more effective at matching buyers and sellers under time constrained conditions.

Associations between job demands, work-related strain and perceived quality of care: a longitudinal study among hospital physicians.

Drawing on a sample of hospital physicians, we attempted to determine prospective associations between three job demands, work-related strain and perceived quality of care. Longitudinal follow-up study with with a 1-year time lag. Physicians of two acute-care hospitals in Germany (one general urban and one children's hospital). Ninety-five physicians filled out a standardized questionnaire. Physicians' evaluations of quality of care at both waves. Our results support the hypothesis that job demands directly influence quality of care irrespective of strain. Specifically, high social stressors (β=-0.15, P=0.036) and time pressure (β=-0.19, P=0.031) were associated with decreased quality of care over time. We additionally observed reversed effects from quality of care at baseline to time pressure at follow-up (β=-0.35, P=0.006). Contrary to expectations, physicians' work-related strain did not mediate the job demands-quality of care-relationship, nor were strain-to-stressor effects observed. Our results corroborate that hospital work environments with high demands have a direct impact on physician-perceived quality of care. In turn, poor care practices contribute to increased job demands. Our findings also emphasize that further understanding is required of how physicians' workplace conditions affect job demands, well-being, and quality of care, respectively.

Dispatch Decision Making in an Air Medical Transport System

Air medical transport relies on effective dispatching of air and land vehicles to provide the fastest and best care possible for patient transfers. These difficult dispatch decisions are characterized by high time pressure, uncertainty, and the dynamic and complex environment of medical transportation. This paper describes a preliminary study of the decision making processes that occur during dispatch decisions at Ornge, the air medical transportation system in Ontario, Canada. We drew upon the Critical Decision Method and the structured data analysis approach to understand the major decision points faced by Ornge’s dispatchers, and the cues and sources of information attended to in those situations. We found that the decision points deal with three main goals: maintain situation awareness, match resource to transfer, and plan logistics of transfer. Furthermore, we found that time estimation might play an important role in helping dispatchers coordinate within the dispatch team and with their external partners. These findings may help improve the design of computer aided dispatch software to better support the goals of the dispatchers.

Time Is Money? - Time Pressure and Investor Behavior: Evidence from Peer-To-Peer Lending

This paper presents novel empirical evidence on the effects of time pressure on individual behavior by using the data in the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending market, renrendai.com in China. We show that after controlling the risk factors, individual investors tend to make bad decisions by choosing lower payoff loan listings within a shorter time under higher time pressure. Besides, under higher time pressure, the investors tend to ask less for risk compensation. We also show that when faced with the same nominal interest rate, investors prefer higher risk that implied by other information under higher time pressure, and as the time pressure goes high, theses behavior biases also increase.

Associations of work characteristics, employee strain and self-perceived quality of care in Emergency Departments: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundThe individual and shared effects of adverse work characteristics on patient care in Emergency Departments (ED) are yet not well understood. We investigated the associations of self-reported ED work characteristics, work-related strain, and perceived quality of care. MethodsQuestionnaire-based survey with standardized measures among N=53 ED professionals (i.e., nurses, physicians, and administration staff). The study was conducted in the interdisciplinary ED of a German community hospital. ResultsA high prevalence of work-related strain was observed: 66.0% of ED professionals showed high levels of emotional exhaustion and 55.6% showed irritation scores above the cut-off value. ED staff reported high supervisor support and autonomy, paired with high time pressure and patient-related stressors. Multivariate analyses revealed that high time pressure and low supervisor support were associated with high work-related strain. Low staffing was related to inferior quality of ED care. ConclusionsED work systems involve high competing demands for ED professionals with substantial risks for work-related strain. Moreover, adverse ED work characteristics comprise risks for high quality patient care. Our results suggest that promoting work characteristics might foster ED staff functioning on the job as well as improve ED patient care.

Worklife and Wellness in Academic General Internal Medicine: Results from a National Survey.

General internal medicine (GIM) careers are increasingly viewed as challenging and unsustainable. We aimed to assess academic GIM worklife and determine remediable predictors of stress and burnout. We conducted an email survey. Physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants in 15 GIM divisions participated. A ten-item survey queried stress, burnout, and work conditions such as electronic medical record (EMR) challenges. An open-ended question assessed stressors and solutions. Results were categorized into burnout, high stress, high control, chaos, good teamwork, high values alignment, documentation time pressure, and excessive home EMR use. Frequencies were determined for national data, Veterans Affairs (VA) versus civilian populations, and hospitalist versus ambulatory roles. A General Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) evaluated associations with burnout. A formal content analysis was performed for open-ended question responses. Of 1235 clinicians sampled, 579 responded (47%). High stress was present in 67%, with 38% burned out (burnout range 10-56% by division). Half of respondents had low work control, 60% reported high documentation time pressure, half described too much home EMR time, and most reported very busy or chaotic workplaces. Two-thirds felt aligned with departmental leaders' values, and three-quarters were satisfied with teamwork. Burnout was associated with high stress, low work control, and low values alignment with leaders (all p < 0.001). The 45 VA faculty had less burnout than civilian counterparts (17% vs. 40%, p < 0.05). Hospitalists described better teamwork than ambulatory clinicians and fewer hospitalists noted documentation time pressure (both p < 0.001). Key themes from the qualitative analysis were short visits, insufficient support staff, a Relative Value Unit mentality, documentation time pressure, and undervaluing education. While GIM divisions overall demonstrate high stress and burnout, division rates vary widely. Sustainability efforts within GIM could focus on visit length, staff support, schedule control, clinic chaos, and EMR stress.

The Effects of Product Popularity and Time Pressure on Consumer Responses in Social Commerce

Shopping in social commerce websites is different from other shopping in terms of time pressure and product popularity presented on the webistes. This study investigates the effects of time pressure and product popularity on consumer responses in a context of social commerce. Time pressure is operationalized as the time remaining for consumers to sign up for a deal, and product popularity is operationalized as the number of products already sold at the moment when consumers visit the web page. The design of the study was a 2 (time pressure: high vs. low) x 2 (product popularity: high vs. low) between-subjects design, and a total of 363 people participated in an online experiment. The results suggest that product popularity significantly influences perceived risk and purchase intention. Moreover, consumers with high time pressure perceive higher risk and have lower purchase intention than consumers with low time pressure when they perceive the product as being popular. As an individual difference, this study also examines a moderating role of conformity intention and finds that consumers with high conformity intention perceive significantly less risk in a high product popularity condition than consumers with low conformity intention. The results provide practical implications for an effective strategy for retailers.

Identifying Decision Making Biases in Entrepreneurial Opportunity Exploitation Decisions

&lt;p&gt;Opportunities are the core of entrepreneurial process. By identifying, evaluating and exploiting lucrative opportunities, not only do entrepreneurs make profits for themselves, they also propel their societies to prosperity. In order to exploit opportunities, entrepreneurs need to make various decisions based on their evaluation of opportunities as well as their own capabilities. Most of the time, theses decision are made under reverse circumstances rife with uncertainty, ambiguity, lack of needed resources as well as high time pressure. Thus, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that entrepreneurs’ decisions to exploit opportunities are prone to decision making biases. In order to test this hypothesis, this paper conducted a qualitative content analysis approach by interviewing 17 Iranian entrepreneurs. According to our findings, overconfidence, escalation of commitment, planning fallacy and illusion of control are the common decision making biases in entrepreneurs’ decisions to exploit opportunities.&lt;/p&gt;

Novel intervention for decision support and distress in female cancer survivors considering fertility preservation.

114 Background: Treatment-related infertility is a source of long-term psychological distress in cancer survivors, particularly among women. Decisions about fertility preservation (FP) are made under conditions of high stress and time pressure, which may contribute to the relatively low uptake of FP among women with cancer. Little is known about the effect of interventions to support the decision-making process and reduce fertility-related distress in cancer survivors considering FP. We describe the design and preliminary data from a randomized trial to determine whether incorporating psychological assessment and intervention into the standard FP consultation enhances satisfaction with decision-making and psychosocial outcomes. Methods: We developed a brief intervention for women referred to our institution’s oncofertility service for consideration of FP. The intervention focuses on values clarification for decision support, identification of unmet psychosocial needs, and mindfulness and acceptance-based skills. Participants were randomized to usual care (consultation with a reproductive endocrinologist and nurse) or the intervention (usual care plus a 1-hour visit with a psychologist and two follow-up calls). Outcomes included feasibility measures and measures of decisional conflict (Decisional Conflict Scale) and satisfaction with the FP program (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8). Results: All 14 participants randomized to date have completed baseline and 1-month assessments. The mean age was 32 (SD = 7.5, range 20-44), and the majority were nulliparous (n = 9, 64%). All 7 intervention participants completed at least 1 follow-up call, and 5 (71%) completed both follow-up calls. Across all participants, Decisional Conflict Scale scores decreased from baseline (M = 24.8, SD = 17.2) to 1 month (M = 22.2, SD = 16.3). Overall satisfaction with the program at 1 month was high (M = 29 out of a possible 32). Conclusions: Incorporating a psychological assessment and intervention into a standard FP consultation appears feasible and may improve levels of decisional conflict over time. Women appeared to find the intervention helpful when contemplating FP.

Cues and Attention in Parkinsonian Gait: Potential Mechanisms and Future Directions.

Cues and Attention in Parkinsonian Gait: Potential Mechanisms and Future Directions.

Guidelines and Caveats for Manipulating Expectancies in Experiments Involving Human Participants

In a number of domains involving decision making under high time pressure, the appearance of an unexpected critical event can startle operators causing errors that may potentially lead to a chain reaction of unfavorable events. Simulating such situations in a laboratory requires overcoming several challenges tied to human responses to unexpected and rare critical events. We discuss cases of experimental studies that have incorporated simulations, critical events, interruptions, predictive displays and ecological displays involving naïve and expert participants. We spell out guidelines and caveats pertaining to training, expertise, temporal variables, critical event frequencies, scenario design, mediator and moderator variables to name a few. The guidelines and caveats may inform researchers in the design of generalizable and reproducible experiments and in the analysis of data.

Grandparental childcare in Australia: gender differences in the correlates of providing regular grandparental care while parents work

Grandparents’ regular care for children while parents work has been mostly studied from the parental perspective. This paper focuses on the grandparents. Using the Australian Bureau of Statistics Time Use Survey 2006 (N = 7672) we investigate regular-caring grandparents’ demographic characteristics, which childcare activities they undertake, and how regular childcare provision relates to their time in other activities, subjective time pressure and satisfaction. Results indicate the correlates and nature of regular care differ by gender. Regular and non-regular-caring grandmothers’ relative time allocation to different childcare tasks barely differs, while regular-caring grandfathers’ care includes a much higher proportion of active care and travel than non-regular-caring grandfathers’. Regular care provision is associated with less leisure than non-regular-caring counterparts for both genders, but with only grandmothers’ housework, personal care and sleep time. Providing regular care doubles the likelihood of grandmothers reporting high subjective time pressure compared to non-regular-caring grandmothers; there is no association between regular care and time pressure for grandfathers. We conclude that in taking on regular care, grandparents echo the gender patterns found among parents, namely that it is women who are disproportionately impacted by meeting family care needs.

Auction Fever! How Time Pressure and Social Competition Affect Bidders’ Arousal and Bids in Retail Auctions

Auction sites on the Internet frequently put bidders under time pressure or highlight the social competition that is inherent to auctions. Both aspects are believed to elicit an exciting shopping experience, which may culminate in auction fever. In two laboratory experiments, we investigate the process of auction fever in retail auctions and demonstrate when and how auction fever affects bidding behavior. In contrast to previous studies, we employ physiological measurements as an objective and continuous assessment of bidders’ arousal in addition to a subjective assessment of bidders’ emotions through psychometric scales. Moreover, we explicitly study the interaction of time pressure and social competition on arousal and bids. We find that bidders’ arousal is increased in high time pressure auctions and that this leads to higher bids in ascending auctions—but only when bidders compete with human opponents. Thus, social competition is the actual driver underlying the auction fever phenomenon. Furthermore, we show that the “joy of winning” is significantly stronger than the “frustration of losing” in ascending auctions. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for the design of retail auctions.

Human factors assessment of conflict resolution aid reliability and time pressure in future air traffic control

Though it has been reported that air traffic controllers' (ATCos') performance improves with the aid of a conflict resolution aid (CRA), the effects of imperfect automation on CRA are so far unknown. The main objective of this study was to examine the effects of imperfect automation on conflict resolution. Twelve students with ATC knowledge were instructed to complete ATC tasks in four CRA conditions including reliable, unreliable and high time pressure, unreliable and low time pressure, and manual conditions. Participants were able to resolve the designated conflicts more accurately and faster in the reliable versus unreliable CRA conditions. When comparing the unreliable CRA and manual conditions, unreliable CRA led to better conflict resolution performance and higher situation awareness. Surprisingly, high time pressure triggered better conflict resolution performance as compared to the low time pressure condition. The findings from the present study highlight the importance of CRA in future ATC operations.Practitioner Summary: Conflict resolution aid (CRA) is a proposed automation decision aid in air traffic control (ATC). It was found in the present study that CRA was able to promote air traffic controllers' performance even when it was not perfectly reliable. These findings highlight the importance of CRA in future ATC operations.

Time pressure, working time control and long-term sickness absence

ObjectivesPerceived time pressure at work has increased in most European countries during recent decades. Time pressure may be harmful for employees’ health and well-being. The aim of this register-based follow-up...

Effect of time Pressure on Dynamic Visual Search Performance

A time limit usually exists in a real-life visual search task. This study investigated the effect of time pressure on dynamic visual search performance. A 2 (movement velocity: high vs. low) × 2 (time pressure: high vs. low) between-subject factorial design was used in this experiment. The time lengths corresponding to 63.2% cumulative probability of detection (i.e., time constant) and the probability of 50% were selected as low and high time pressure. When velocity was 4̊/s, 9.72 s and 6.89 s were chosen as the time limits for low and high time pressure respectively; when velocity was 16̊/s, 20.30 s and 14.22 s were chosen for low and high time pressure separately. There were 4 different experimental conditions: high velocity/high pressure, high velocity/low pressure, low velocity/high pressure, low velocity /low pressure, and no time-pressure control condition. 60 university students participated in this experiment. They were divided into 4 groups, i.e., each group included 15 students. Each participant took 20 search tasks in the experiment. The search time and accuracy of each participant were recorded. The difference in search performance between low time pressure condition and no time pressure condition was not significant whereas that between low time pressure condition and high time pressure condition was significant in the course of 4̊/s movement velocity. In the velocity of 16̊/s situation, the differences in performance between low time pressure and high time pressure conditions were not significant. Those results revealed that search performance was sensitive to time pressure under the situation of low movement velocity and the performance was not sensitive in the high velocity condition. The obtained results could be a reference for deciding the time limit (i.e., the permitted longest search time) for a specific visual search task.

Beyond Navel Gazing: Exploring the Concept and Payoff of Individual Reflection at Work

While managerial work is action-oriented and time pressured, this paper proposes that both individuals and organizations gain from increased individual reflection at work. While previous work has studied reflection at the team-level and as a structured organizational intervention, we conceptualize individual reflection as individuals’ general tendency to consider and examine various elements of their work in the course of their day- to-day activities. We develop a measure of individual reflection comprising four dimensions representing the different types of issues upon which individual might reflect on – goals, methods, self and relationships. We then theoretically argue, and empirically confirm, that individual reflection can be meaningfully distinguished from other related constructs, such as mindfulness, feedback seeking, social awareness and reflective pondering. Finally, we explore antecedents (e.g., intrinsic motivation, time pressure) and outcomes (e.g., learning, performance) of individual reflection. Our results suggest that people with high intrinsic motivation and time pressure are more likely to engage in reflection. We also find that when people engage in reflection, their learning and performance are enhanced. Given these individual and organizational benefits, we argue that individual reflection deserves more attention from scholars as a meaningful field of research and from practitioners as a valuable management practice.

Occupational accidents in the Netherlands: incidence, mental harm, and their relationship with psychosocial factors at work

This study investigated the incidence of mental harm due to occupational accidents and the relation between psychosocial factors at work and the occurrence of occupational accidents in the Netherlands for the construction industry and health and welfare sector. Analyses revealed that occupational accidents in the construction industry more often involved physical harm, whereas accidents in the health and welfare sector relatively more often resulted in mental harm, in comparison to other sectors. Results showed that psychosocial factors were associated with occupational accidents in both sectors. For the construction industry, high time pressure and exposure to violence and harassment by colleagues or supervisors were associated with occupational accidents. For the health and welfare sector, low autonomy and exposure to violence and harassment by colleagues or supervisors or by people outside the organization were associated with occupational accidents. The present paper stresses the importance of also taking psychological consequences and psychosocial factors at work into account in assessing the occurrence of occupational accidents.