A validation of the Worker Trait Groups in the DOT

An empirical validation of the 114 Worker Trait Groups (WTG) of the Third Edition of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) was performed by comparing the factor structure of the worker trait components of the 114 WTG's with the factor structure of a random sample of 800 of the 4000 jobs used as the basis for the DOT, Third Edition. Six factors were compared and cosines between .8997 and .9657 obtained on the matched factors, thus providing a measure of empirical validity for the 114 WTG's based on the worker trait components.     

Schizotypal personality traits and atypical lateralization in motor and language functions

Atypical cerebral lateralization in motor and language functions in regard to schizotypal personality traits in healthy populations, as well as among schizophrenic patients, has attracted attention because these traits may represent a risk factor for schizophrenia. Although the relationship between handedness and schizotypal personality has been widely examined, few studies have adopted an experimental approach. This study consisted of three experiments focusing on motor and language functional lateralization in regard to schizotypal personality in the absence of mental illness: line-drawing, finger tapping, and a semantic go/no-go task. The results suggested that positive schizotypal personality might be related to functional non-lateralization in regard to at least some functions (e.g., spatial motor control and semantic processing in the present study). Subjects with high schizotypal personality traits performed equally with their right and left-hands in the line-drawing task and they reacted equally with their right and left-hands in a semantic go/no-go task involving semantic auditory stimuli presented in both ears. However, those low in schizotypal personality traits showed typical lateralization in response to these tasks. We discuss the implications of these findings for schizotypal atypical lateralization.     

Relations of socioeconomic status and sex variables to the complexity of worker functions in the occupational choices of elementary school children

The relationships of sex and socioeconomic status to complexity of worker functions in the occupational choices of elementary school children were studied. Complexity of worker functions was defined in terms of the most complex level of interaction required of a worker, when interacting with data, people, and things. The children included in the study were third- and fifth-grade students, divided on the basis of grade, sex, and socioeconomic status. The children's occupational choices were scored for complexity with the code numbers of the worker function hierarchies of the U.S. Employment Service's Dictionary of Occupational Titles (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1977, 4th ed.). Findings based on the obtained data indicated the following: (a) a positive relationship between socioeconomic status and complexity of data manipulation in occupational choices; and (b) greater complexity of interaction with things in the occupational choices of boys, than girls. The positive relationship between socioeconomic status and complexity of data manipulation was accounted for by the children's exposure to their parents' orientation toward data manipulation. Apparent differences in the play activities of boys and girls was used to explain differences between the sexes in the levels of complexity of interactions with inanimate objects and animals.     

Stress and the American worker

Stress and stress-related diseases are considered as they relate to American worker productivity and global competitiveness. Occupational trends, current and future federal government efforts to address stress in the workplace, as well as external factors that contribute to stress are discussed.     

Workplace Violence and Worker Injury in Elderly Care Settings

Abstract

Many incidents of injury, assault, and abuse occur in health care settings. To better examine the situational context of the workplace, this paper examines whether workers providing care to elderly persons experience injuries that are consistent with the “for-profit” and “interpersonal conflict” explanations of elder abuse or neglect. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, results indicate that nursing home workers and home health care workers have higher rates of workplace injuries resulting from assaults and overexertion than do other workers. The data suggest that there are unique structural and situational factors present in the nursing home, which create a work setting vulnerable to conflict, violence, and elder abuse.     

Worker and caller variety in three crisis centers.

Worker and caller behaviors are studied and compared in an available sample of 100 suicidal calls to three crisis intervention centers. Caller-Worker Interaction Program results were compared among the three centers. Worker and caller differences across centers were significant in 32 of 41 categories (p less than .05); using four discriminant functions, 2 of 18 hit percentages exceeded p less than .01. The verbal behaviors of workers and callers at the three centers are substantially different, leading to the conclusion that crisis intervention is dissimilarly practiced between centers but similar within them.     

Every Clinical Social Worker Is in Post-Adoption Practice

No abstract available for this article.     

Counselors and the Older Worker: An Overview

Between 1980 and 2000, the number of people now 55 and older who survive to become 75 and older will increase by over 52%. Also, older people are living longer and are retaining high levels of mental and physical capacity longer. Consequently, prevailing notions about retirement and retirement age are rapidly shifting. Already mandatory retirement age has been delayed from 65 to 70 in most areas of employment. This change and continued high rates of inflation have begun increasing the interest of more older people in seeking to remain qualified to stay in their present or related jobs, or, if retired, to seek to prepare for further careers. Employment counselors, and personnel and guidance professionals generally, who have tended to focus their attention on young people preparing for their first careers face a major challenge in the years ahead in preparing themselves to meet the major and novel demands placed on them by people 55 and older who increasingly will come to them for help.     

Personality and Situations in Co-worker Preference: Similarity and Complementarity in Worker Compatibility

Guided by fit-oriented personality theories, we asked with whom people prefer to work, given their own and others' personality traits and in light of trait-relevant work situations. Participants (N = 185) completed the Personality Research Form (Jackson, 1989) and rated preference for hypothetical co-workers at opposite poles of Dominance, Affiliation, Autonomy, Defendence, and Abasement in simulated job settings varying in work proximity and supervisory status. As expected, judges preferred co-workers providing opportunity for trait expression (e.g., affiliative judges preferred affiliative co-workers), especially when expecting to work together and in light of who would be in charge (e.g., low-autonomous judges preferred dominant supervisors). Use of personality data in team building is discussed.     

Codependency and gender-stereotyped traits

Sex Roles - This study examined the relationship between gender, positive and negative gender stereotyped traits, and eight codependency scales among 339 female and 115 male college students. The...     

Trade-offs and individual differences in evolved traits

Comments on Evolutionary psychology: Controversies, questions, prospects, and limitations (see record 2010-02208-001) by Confer et al. We applaud Confer et al.'s (February-March 2010) clarifications of the many misconceptions surrounding the use of evolutionary analyses in psychology. As they noted, such misunderstandings are common and result in a curious tendency of some of our colleagues to criticize evolutionary psychology without a firm understanding of evolution itself. Confer et al. also did an admirable job acknowledging current unresolved issues among evolutionary psychologists (e.g., the relative importance of group selection on humans). The above said, we disagree with their view that a current limitation of evolutionary psychology is its inability to explain phenomena "that appear to reduce an individual's reproductive success, and cannot be explained by mismatches with, or hijacking of, our psychological mechanisms by modern-day novel inputs" (Confer et al., 2010, p. 122). Mismatches between modern environments and environments of evolutionary adaptedness are only one set of explanations for seemingly maladaptive traits (Nesse, 2005). Another set involves evolutionary trade-offs.