Social Desirability and Attitudes Toward the Disabled

This study explored the influence of social desirability (SD) on responses of non-handicapped persons to three attitude-toward-disability scales under conditions that varied the personally evaluative nature of the testing situation. The design of the study was based on an adaptation-level model. 280 undergraduates were divided into 3 experimental groups. All were administered the SD scale. Each group was then exposed to one of 3 sets of instructions that varied the emphasis on personal evaluation. Subjects were then administered 3 attitude-toward-disability scales that differed in degree of test structure. Results indicate that those who had high SD needs responded with significantly more positive attitudes toward the disabled on each of the attitude scales. Variations in test instructions were effective in modifying responses of high SD subjects on two of the scales.     

Civilian Technical Employees' Work Attitudes Toward Military Employers

The authors used a survey questionnaire followed by an interview to assess civilian technical employees' work attitudes in a military setting over 2 years.     

Why Social Workers Enter Private Practice:

This article describes the results of a nationwide survey which investigated private practice among clinical social workers and the factors which motivated them. The survey also explores opinions about the qualifications which social workers should meet before entering private practice.     

Locus of Control and Attitudes Toward Work and Retirement

Fifty-three older workers (M = 57.2) enrolled in a preretirement training program were administered a battery of measures designed to further evaluate the role that locus of control plays in determining attitudes toward work and retirement. Results suggested that perceived control related to work commitment. The extent of the relationship between perceived control and attitudes toward retirement, however, was mediated by sex, level of education, and self-rated health. Consistent with previous research, perceived control related to measures of adjustment.     

Private Practice with a Social Conscience

Abstract

A clinician describes her involvement in a non-profit organization that provides low-cost psychotherapy using the volunteer services of clinical social workers in private practice.     

The Social Roles Questionnaire: A New Approach to Measuring Attitudes Toward Gender

Innovative research is constrained by instruments that assume gender to be captured by dichotomous categories. This article presents the results of two studies that document the psychometric properties of the Social Roles Questionnaire (SRQ), a new measure of gender role attitudes. A social constructivist perspective guided the development of the instrument that was designed not only to capture the diversity in people’s thinking about social roles for men and women, but also to identify attitudes that transcend binary categories. The article details the process of assessing reliability and validity based on data from 414 undergraduates. Findings revealed the SRQ is reliable and valid and that women were more likely than men to endorse egalitarian and gender transcendent beliefs. Additional possible uses of the SRQ are discussed.     

The Impact of Social Issue Television Programming on Attitudes Toward Rape

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of a television movie about acquaintance rape on subsequent attitudes about rape. To maximize external validity, a nationally representative sample of 1,038 male and female adults from three age groups was selected to participate in the study. These participants were then randomly assigned to view or not view the movie over a closed-circuit channel, prior to the network broadcast of the film. Afterward, acceptance of rape myths and perceptions of rape as a social problem were measured. The movie increased awareness of date rape as a social problem across all demographic groups. The movie also had a prosocial effect on older females who were less likely to attribute blame to women in date rape situations after exposure. However, the opposite effect tended to occur among older men. The findings suggest that emotional involvement with a movie and selective perception of movie events may mediate the impact of social issue television programming.     

Microcomputer Softwarefor Independent Social Work Practice

Social workers engaged in independent practice who are interested in automating their routine office tasks and more specialized management information activities face a number of important issues in, the selection of hardware and software. In the previous issue of the Journal' of Independent Social Work was a discussion of computer hardware for such purposes. Explored in this article are software programs for word processing, data base management, spreadsheets, statistical, integrated, ut~lity and accounting programs. In addition the author addresses special concerns in the selection of software including applications programs versus special purpose and public domain software, user "friendliness," program complexity, and cost.     

Attitudes Toward Women's Rights: Relationships with Social Dominance Orientation and Political Group Identities

This research assessed the extent to whichattitudes toward women's rights are predicted by socialdominance orientation (SDO) and the political groupidentities socialist and capitalist. Respondents were 181 Australian undergraduates (54 males, 127females), most of whom were of European descent. Theresults of multiple regression analyses suggested thatSDO was the most consistent predictor of negative attitudes, although the extent to which itunderpins attitudes toward women's rights was found tovary for men and women: for men it was the onlysignificant predictor. Support was also found for theideological asymmetry hypothesis. The results are discussedwith reference to social dominance theory.     

Organizational Culture and Climate and Mental Health Provider Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based Practice

Mental health provider attitudes toward adopting evidence-based practice (EBP) are associated with organizational context and provider individual differences. Organizational culture and climate are contextual factors that can affect staff acceptance of innovation. This study examined the association of organizational culture and climate with attitudes toward adopting EBP. Participants were 301 public sector mental health service providers from 49 programs providing mental health services for youths and families. Correlation analyses and multilevel hierarchical regressions, controlling for effects of provider characteristics, showed that constructive culture was associated with more positive attitudes toward adoption of EBP and poor organizational climates with perceived divergence of usual practice and EBP. Behavioral health organizations may benefit from consideration of how culture and climate affect staff attitudes toward change in practice.     

A Qualitative Investigation of Practicing Psychologists' Attitudes Toward Research-Informed Practice: Implications for Dissemination Strategies

This article presents the results of a qualitative analysis of interviews with 25 psychologists in independent practice, investigating everyday treatment decisions and attitudes about treatment outcome research and empirically supported treatments (ESTs). Clinicians noted positive aspects about treatment outcome research, such as being interested in what works. However, they had misgivings about the application of controlled research findings to their practices, were skeptical about using manualized protocols, and expressed concern that nonpsychologists would use EST lists to dictate practice. Clinicians reported practicing in an eclectic framework, and many reported including cognitive-behavioral elements in their practice. To improve their practice, they reported valuing clinical experience, peer networks, practitioner-oriented books, and continuing education when it was not too basic. Time and financial barriers concerned nearly all participants. Clinicians suggested they might be interested in ESTs if they could integrate them into their current frameworks, and if resources for learning ESTs were improved.     

Ideology,Prejudice, and Attitudes Toward Sexual Minority Social Policies and Organizations

This study tested the effects of multiple ideologies on support for restrictive policies against gay and lesbian individuals and organizations and if these effects were mediated by sexual prejudice. Social dominance orientation (SDO), conservatism, and right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) each had significant direct and indirect effects. SDO had the most consistent direct effects in addition to its effects through sexual prejudice. The direct effects of conservatism were smaller and similar in size to its indirect effects through prejudice. Although the direct effect of RWA was significant for policy attitudes, its effect was entirely mediated through sexual prejudice for organization opposition. Results suggest that high‐RWA individuals adopt their positions largely because of prejudice toward sexual minorities, while high‐SDO individuals adopt their positions partly out of prejudice and partly because these positions perpetuate hierarchies between heterosexuals and sexual minorities. Results also diminish the principled conservatism argument that conservative positions on these policies and organizations are absent of prejudice. As policies continue to be enacted that affect the sexual minority community, research is needed to identify the underlying motivations for individuals' positions toward these policies.     

Gender Attitudes Mediate Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Adoption in Guatemala

Gender differences in gender role attitudes, including machismo, and attitudes toward adoption were studied in Guatemala, a country that provides a large number of children for international adoption. Guatemalan university students (N = 152) completed the machismo subscale of the Multiphasic Assessment of Cultural Constructs–short form (Cuéllar, Arnold, & González, 1995), the attitudes toward women scale for adolescents (Galambos, Peterson, Richards, & Gitelson, 1985), and an adoption beliefs scale developed for the present study. Men endorsed more machismo, more traditional gender role attitudes, and held less favorable attitudes toward adoption than women did. Gender differences in adoption attitudes were mediated by machismo and gender role attitudes. These results suggest that machismo and traditional gender role attitudes may serve as barriers in the promotion of intra-country adoption.     

Attitudes Toward Civil Liberties: A Cross-Cultural Study

In a test of the hypothesis that irrational thinking is associated with phobic anxiety, the Rational Behavior Inventory and the Fear Survey Schedule were administered to 128 undergraduates. Although a statistically significant correlation between irrationality and phobic anxiety was found, the result appears to have little clincial meaning. Other evidence is cited which suggests that rational emotive therapy is best suited for the treatment of generalized anxiety, whereas deconditioning treatments are appropriate for most cases of phobic anxiety.     

Clinicians' Attitudes Toward No-Suicide Agreements

Though no-suicide agreements are widely used and often recommended for suicidal patients, their sparse empirical support leads to questions regarding their use with patients of various ages. To answer this question, 46 licensed psychologist members of a Southern state psychology association answered questions regarding their beliefs and attitudes about no-suicide agreements. Such agreements were considered more appropriate for adults or adolescents than children. They were judged highly appropriate with moderately suicidal patients and were expected to help patients postpone suicide until after a crisis had past and to help reduce clinicians' anxiety.