The possible role of empathy and emotions in virtual negotiation.

The goal of the present study is to explore the role of empathic and emotional skills in virtual negotiation, and to try to verify their possible role in different contexts: monetary/non-monetary, in circumstances in which a counterparty is familiar or unknown, and with respect to polite or rude responses from the negotiating counterparty. To this end, 320 participants aged between 19 to 25 years old were involved in a simulated virtual negotiation. Participants were required to fill in a Basic Empathy Scale (BES) questionnaire, they were also asked to report the prevalent emotion they had felt during the interaction, and if they thought they were interacting with a real person. The results of this research confirm the tendency of participants to minimise losses. Although the capacity for empathy does not seem to have a role, the behaviour of participants appears more cooperative when they have to deal with a familiar negotiation counterparty. Emotions appear to play a positive role when negotiating with, what is perceived to be, a real person. Practitioner summary: We conducted this study as part of a Master's Degree programme which was specifically focussed on human-computer interaction. Results show that negotiation was affected by emotions experienced during the experiment, and by the perception of the negotiating counterparty as a familiar person more so than by empathy. Abbreviations: AE: affective empathy; AMIS: assessment model of internet systems; ANOVA: ANalysis Of VAriance; BES: base empathy scale; CE: cognitive empathy; CMC: computer mediated communication; ENS: e-negotiation systems; FTF: face-to-face communication; NSA: negotiation support agents; PC: personal computer.

Perceptions and Use of Computed Tomography in a Hospital Emergency Department: Technicians' Perspectives.

OBJECTIVE: This study traces the evolution of perceptions and use of computed tomography (CT) by radiology technicians in the emergency department (ED) of a hospital in Italy across a 7-year period. BACKGROUND: The sociotechnical context of the CT room of an ED has been neglected by scientific research-potentially impacting safety. METHOD: Two studies were performed, one in 2011 and one in 2018. Six CT technicians were involved in each. Structured interviews were performed to gather information on perceptions related to the evolution of the use of CT according to nine different factors-e.g. the level of complexity, and mental workload. Observations were performed on duration of exams, the flow of people, conversations, and any critical issues. RESULTS: The CT technology is appreciated, used effectively and with confidence by CT technicians. From 2011-2018, the execution times of the exams have decreased but not the proportion of time dedicated to the patient. Expectations for future improvements are limited by issues concerning the design of both the user interface and the social context of the ED workplace. CONCLUSIONS: The safety and efficiency of the system as a whole are greatly dependent on the competence of the CT technicians. CT manufacturers rely on this competence to help compensate for the deficiencies created by suboptimal user interfaces and the lack of fit of the technology with the social context of the workplace. APPLICATION: Training programs aimed at improving the management of relationships and communications between staff could improve performance and efficiency. CT manufacturers should try to better understand the cognitive and operational context of the workplaces where CT technicians work-and to design better diagnostic technology which accounts for these operational realities.

Perceptions of Work-Related Stress and Ethical Misconduct Amongst Non-tenured Researchers in Italy.

The relationship between stress and unethical behaviour amongst non-tenured research staff in academia is a relatively unexplored phenomenon. The research reported herein was therefore carried out with the aim of exploring the relationship(s) between stress, the socio-organisational factors which contribute to it, job satisfaction, perceptions of job instability, and the occurrence of unethical behaviour in research. 793 Italian researchers participated in the research-all of whom were working on fixed-term contracts-after being individually requested to complete an online questionnaire. The data indicate that unethical behaviours occur with alarming frequency. The stress level reported is quite high, as is the level of perceived job insecurity, both of which impact upon levels of job satisfaction. Perceived stress levels also seem to play a role in the commission of unethical behaviours, but this relationship is irrelevant when one considers the role of social and organisational factors that are known to induce it. Indeed, it seems that there are various socio-organisational determinants of stress that have an obvious direct negative influence on the commission of unethical behaviours more than the stress level per se. This research paints a worrying picture in relation to the psycho-physical state of non-tenured researchers as a result of the working conditions in which they find themselves in Italian universities.

Evaluating the iterative development of VR/AR human factors tools for manual work.

This paper outlines the approach taken to iteratively evaluate a set of VR/AR (virtual reality / augmented reality) applications for five different manual-work applications - terrestrial spacecraft assembly, assembly-line design, remote maintenance of trains, maintenance of nuclear reactors, and large-machine assembly process design - and examines the evaluation data for evidence of the effectiveness of the evaluation framework as well as the benefits to the development process of feedback from iterative evaluation. ManuVAR is an EU-funded research project that is working to develop an innovative technology platform and a framework to support high-value, high-knowledge manual work throughout the product lifecycle. The results of this study demonstrate the iterative improvements reached throughout the design cycles, observable through the trending of the quantitative results from three successive trials of the applications and the investigation of the qualitative interview findings. The paper discusses the limitations of evaluation in complex, multi-disciplinary development projects and finds evidence of the effectiveness of the use of the particular set of complementary evaluation methods incorporating a common inquiry structure used for the evaluation - particularly in facilitating triangulation of the data.