Aya MURAYAMA (Ph.D)

 Research Interests

1Intragroup conflict and management behaviors

I am interested in how people perceive intragroup conflict and manage these to improve and maintain group performance as well as group harmony. In group decision processes, it is rare that individuals share the same opinions at the outset; for example, group members may have different interpersonal styles and thus experience conflict in performing the task or they may disagree about the nature of the desired outcome and the tasks that are required to achieve it.  I use both survey and experimental methods in order to explore the effect of these intragroup frictions and disagreements on group process and outcomes.

 2Expert – non-expert consensus formation in deliberation

Another research interest is deliberations within saiban-in system.  The saiban-in (lay judge) system was launched in 2009 in Japan to give ordinary citizens a direct role in the criminal judicial process.  There, lay judges are selected separately for each trial and judge the case together with professional judges.  Since the system gives professional judges a power for the verdict in both explicit and implicit manner during deliberation, there is a doubt whether lay judges can practically participate in and actively discuss based on their own perspectives.  In order to investigate the effect of such expert power during deliberation, I usually set a simplified mock jury in a lab and observe how an expert and non-experts collaborate and reach consensus. Independent variables could be opinion distributions, forms of deliberation, experts’ opinions, etc.  Dependent variables are such as remarks during deliberations, trust towards experts, objective/subjective performances, etc.  I am also interested in how personal beliefs in a just world influence on these dependent variables. Studies are usually conducted with the support and cooperation of attorneys, a “real expert.”

3. Cross-cultural differences in relationship between justice reasoning and time recognition

 I am currently starting new studies about cross-cultural differences in justice reasoning. 

Education

2008 Ph.D., Human Sciences, Osaka University

2004 M.A., Human Sciences, Osaka University

2001 B.A., Psychology, The University of Montana

 Position

2016-Present: Lecturer, Faculty of International Studies, Kindai University, Japan

2014-2016: JPSP Postdoctoral Fellow, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan

2011-2014: Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Applied Psychological Science, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan

 Grants

2016-2017 Grant-in Aid for Young Scientists (B), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

2013-2015 Grant-in Aid for Young Scientists (B), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

2011-2012 Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity start-up, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

 Memberships

American Psychological Association

Society for Personality and Social Psychology

Japanese Society of Social Psychology

Japanese Group Dynamics Association

Japanese Society for Law and Psychology

Japanese Psychological Association

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

  1. Murayama, A., & Miura, A. (in press). Two types of justice reasoning about good fortune and misfortune: A replication and beyond. Social Justice Research.
  2. Murayama, A., Ryan, C. S., Shimizu, H., Kurebayashi, K., & Miura, A. (2015). Cultural Differences in Perceptions of Intragroup Conflict and Preferred Conflict-Management Behavior: A Scenario ExperimentJournal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46, 88-100.
  3. Murayama, A., & Miura, A (2014). Intragroup conflict and subjective performance within group discussion -A multiphasic examination using a hierarchical linear model- . Japanese Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (in Japanese). [Abstract in English (pdf)]
  4. Kimura, K., Murayama, A., Miura, A., & Katayama, J. (2013). Effect of Decision Confidence on the Evaluation of Conflicting Decisions in a Social Context. Neuroscience Letters, 556C, 176-180.
  5. Murayama, A., Imazato, U., & Miura, A. (2012). The effect of legal professional opinion on lay citizensjudgment during deliberation: Focusing on changes and confidence of the judgment-. Japanese Journal of Law and Psychology, 12(1), 35-44 (in Japanese). [Abstract in English (pdf)]
  6. Murayama, A., & Miura, A. (2012). Intragroup relationship conflict and task conflict: Exploring misperceptions of the other and differences in management behavior Japanese Journal of Social Psychology, 28(1), 51-59 (in Japanese). [Abstract in English(pdf)]
  7. Kurebayashi, K., Hoffman, L., Ryan, C. S., & Murayama, A. (2012).  Japanese and American Perceptions of Group Entitativity and Autonomy: A Multilevel Analysis. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology , 43, 349-364.
  8. Murayama, A., and Daibo, I (2008). The influence process of supervisor’s leadership function, intragroup conflict, and management behavior.  Japanese Journal of Applied Psychology, 33, 120-127 (in Japanese). [Abstract inEnglish(pdf)]
  9. Murayama, A., and Daibo, I (2004). Identifying task conflict resolution strategies in a small-group discussion. Japanese Journal of Interpersonal Social Psychology, 4 105-111 (in Japanese).

 Contact Information

Mailing Address: 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashiosaka, Osaka 577-8502, Japan

Email: murayama(at)intl(dot)kindai(dot)ac(dot)jp