Twenty-five years and thirty days

One can imagine the history of psychoanalytic literary criticism (like psychoanalysis itself) as three phases, each enlarging and including the previous one: a classical phase that studied the oedipal conflicts of literary figures; an ego psychology that addressed literary structures; now, a psychology of the self that uses associations to unfold and deepen one's relations to literature. Psychoanalytic criticism used to be disdained in literary circles, but has become highly fashionable, for today other kinds of criticism also use associations. They do not acknowledge the critic's self or countertransference, however, and their psychoanalysis is not the clinician's.     

Stability of personality self-ratings over 30 years: evidence for an age/cohort interaction

An investigation was made of the hypothesis of Bloom (1964) and others that the stability of personality is greater among older than younger adults. The subjects were 459 men in two cohorts, followed from 1947 to 1977 as part of a longitudinal medical study. Self-ratings were obtained over the 30-year period on 15 item-factor scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and on two higher order factors. There was no selective attrition in the sample with respect to baseline personality scores. Thirty-year uncorrected stability coefficients ranged from .08 to .88 across the two cohorts. There was substantial evidence of greater stability on many traits in the older than in the younger age/cohort group. Furthermore, in late adulthood, traits related to the higher order factor Constraint were more stable than were traits related to Positive vs. Negative Affectivity. The study is not a definitive test of Bloom's hypothesis because cohort and age effects are confounded. However, the results are supportive of the hypothesis and the study improves on existing research in a number of ways.     

Stability of MMPI scale scores within four codetypes across forty years

The changes in the standard validity and clinical scales on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were examined within four frequently occurring codetypes (Spike 4, 2-4/4-2, 2-7/7-2, and 6-8/8-6) in samples of psychiatric patients over a time span of 40 years. The validity and clinical scale scores within these four codetypes were very stable over this time span with differences in the range of only a few T-score points. These results are very similar to those reported by Pancoast and Archer (1989) who found remarkable stability in the MMPI scale scores of normal adult samples across 40 years.     

The relationship between vocational interests and the location of an ideal occupation in the individual's perceived occupational structure

The relationship between vocational interests and the location of an ideal occupation in the perceived occupational structure of career counselees was investigated. Ninety-six career counselees completed the RAMAK vocational interest inventory. Then, the occupational constructs of each subject were elicited by the career grid procedure. Finally, each subject rated 24 occupations and his/her ideal and rejected occupations on his/her own elicited constructs. The intrasubject analyses indicated that the preferences for occupational fields as measured by the interest inventory reflect the fields' proximity to an ideal occupation in the individual's perceived occupational structure. The implications for career development are discussed.     

Stability of masculinity-femininity scores over an eleven-year period

The Gough Femininity Scale was administered to students in an introductory psychology class at an urban community college over an 11-year period. Means for male and female students maintained the same relative difference for the 11 years and were not different from Gough's 1952 standardization sample.     

Stability and change in the prestige rankings of occupations over 49 years

The social status of occupations has remained stable over a 49-yr period beginning with Count's study that found occupations in a well-defined, prestige order. This prestige hierarchy has obtained throughout several replicated studies, some of which controlled the variables of race, educational level and sex. The prestige level of occupations have withstood the test of time including World War II and even sociological and educational changes.     

The past thirty years of emotion research: appraisal and beyond

ABSTRACT

For this Special Issue, I highlight the past and present importance of appraisal theory as well as the challenges to its status as a total theory of emotions from the other functions of emotions: associative learning, self-regulation and social communication. This theoretical view applies both to emotion research in general and the specific fields of my interest in the emotions of moral judgment and intergroup processes. Methodologically, developments in analyses of large and more naturally occurring data sets will give an opportunity to square psychology’s structural models of discrete emotions with the more complicated reality that exists. Both for the field and for individual researchers picking up the study of emotions, my advice is to pay special attention to measures, their assumptions and their context.     

Vocational interests across 20 years of adulthood: Stability,change, and the role of work experiences

Vocational interests demonstrate high rank-order stability during childhood and adolescence. However, few studies have investigated the development of vocational interests into adulthood. The present study examined rank-order and profile stability, mean-level and correlated change, and individual differences in change in RIASEC scores across 20 years of adulthood. In addition, life events were examined as moderators of change. Rank-order stability was strong across vocational interest dimensions. Mean-level changes also occurred, with increases in Realistic interests and decreases in Investigative interests for men, increases in Enterprising interests for women, and decreases in Artistic interests for men and women. Individual differences in change indicated that not everyone changed in the same manner, with occupational experiences, such as job loss, related to greater change.     

Schooling without learning: thirty years of cheating in high school.

A survey instrument, developed in 1968 and administered to 1,629 high school students in 1969, 1,100 students in 1979, and 1,291 students in 1989, asked them to respond to items regarding the following: (1) the amount of cheating believed going on, (2) who was most guilty, (3) reasons given for cheating, (4) the courses in which most cheating occurred, (5) how to punish cheaters and by whom, (6) beliefs regarding dishonesty in society, and (7) confessions of their own dishonest behaviors in school. Between 1969 and 1989, student responses reflected increasingly pessimistic opinions about dishonesty in school and society. Fear of failure remained the most common reason for cheating. Math and science were the courses in which cheating most often occurred. The home was considered the best place and school the worst place to inculcate honesty. Over the three decades covered by this study, dishonesty was viewed as increasingly necessary, more people believed advertising was suspect, and success in business was attributed to fraudulent activities. More students admitted to cheating on tests and homework. More parents were not aiding and abetting students in avoidance of school rules. Polls, studies, and reports recently published by state, federal, and private agencies appear to confirm these findings.     

Holland's theory: Stability of avocational interests

The generality and stability of Holland's vocational choice model was tested by examining preference for avocational (leisure) activity. Based on their responses to the Strong Vocational Interest Blank, college students were placed into one of the six Holland groups. They also indicated preferred leisure activities on questionnaires that were administered at a 9-year interval. Six hypotheses were developed relating Holland groups to particular types of avocational behavior. For example, it was predicted that the Artistic group would be more active in cultural affairs and that the Enterprising group would prefer reading political and economic magazines. The initial test of these hypotheses during late adolescence confirmed five of the six predictions. A follow-up 9 years later confirmed all six hypotheses. These results provide some support for the notion that individuals self-select a variety of situations. Also, the relationships between Holland scales and leisure activity and possible implications for the vocational choice model are discussed.     

The changing nature of diagnosis in an inpatient service over 20 years

This study examined factors related to mental illness in children and adolescents. A survey of all 362 files of child and adolescent patients discharged from a single residential treatment facility in 1961-1962, 1971-1972, and 1978 revealed several major diagnostic trends. The proportion of cases diagnosed as schizophrenic decreased by one-third, those diagnosed as neurotic increased over ten-fold, and significant increases occurred in the proportion of children diagnosed as autistic, personality disorder, and behavior disorder of childhood and adolescence. There was a decrease in cases between 6 and 12 years of age and a significant increase in 13- to 18-year-olds. The relative importance of symptoms appeared to be interpreted differently at various times. Significant changes were also found In treatment length, in medications used, and in a number of factors related to the characteristics of the family.     

Stability of Life-satisfaction over Time

This paper is about constancy of differences in life-satisfaction in society. It analyzes data of a large panel study in Germany, which involved yearly interviews between 1984 and 1994. Year-to-year correlation started at +0.45 and increased gradually to +0.54. The correlation between the first and later reports declined through the years, the correlation between the 1st and the 11th report was only +0.29.Observed overtime correlation may result from six effects. Firstly, the correlation is attenuated by error: (1) common measurement error, such as haphazard responding, and (2) error in estimating general satisfaction due to passing uplifts and hassles. Both errors may shrink (3) as respondents become experienced in answering questions about life-satisfaction and (4) when they mature. Next, 'true' correlation will depend on: (5) major changes in life, such as job loss or getting married, and (6) stable stocks, such as personal capabilities and social relations. This paper develops models to untangle these effects.The best fitting model suggests that almost half of the initial variance in life-satisfaction was due to error: 23% in responding (effect 1) and 19% in estimating one's satisfaction with life (effect 2). In 10 years the error component shrinks by 10%, largely due to learning (effect 3) and partly due to aging (effect 4). In the end, life-changes explained 30% of the variance (effect 5) and stable stocks another 29% (effect 6).These results mark a considerable mobility along the life-satisfaction ladder in a modern society: over a lifetime less than 30% of the original rank order in life-satisfaction will be left. That outcome is at odds with common theories of class and personality.     

The other side of the coin: Vocational interests,interest differentiation and annual income at the occupation level of analysis

This research examined the effects of vocational interest levels and differentiation on annual income. Following the environmental perspective, we investigated whether relationships existed at the occupation level of analysis. Using data from 665 occupations in the U.S. obtained from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*Net, we demonstrated that certain vocational interests – namely investigative, enterprising, and realistic interests – were most critical in predicting annual income for occupations. Controlling for interest levels, differentiation not only positively predicted annual income but also moderated each interest's relationship with income. In addition, occupations' education and training requirement partially mediated the effects of interest profiles on income. Our findings reveal the need for a better understanding of how characteristics of an occupation's interest profile may shape the experiences of its workers.     

The other side of the coin: Vocational interests,interest differentiation and annual income at the occupation level of analysis

This research examined the effects of vocational interest levels and differentiation on annual income. Following the environmental perspective, we investigated whether relationships existed at the occupation level of analysis. Using data from 665 occupations in the U.S. obtained from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*Net, we demonstrated that certain vocational interests – namely investigative, enterprising, and realistic interests – were most critical in predicting annual income for occupations. Controlling for interest levels, differentiation not only positively predicted annual income but also moderated each interest's relationship with income. In addition, occupations' education and training requirement partially mediated the effects of interest profiles on income. Our findings reveal the need for a better understanding of how characteristics of an occupation's interest profile may shape the experiences of its workers.     

Stability and change in interests: A longitudinal examination of grades 7 through college

The joint issue of stability and change of interests in adolescence and early adulthood was investigated longitudinally over three years in three different grade cohorts. The patterns of structural stability, mean stability, rank order stability, and profile stability as well as how these patterns were moderated by gender were examined based on three cohorts of grades 7 and 8 (n = 3191), grades 9 and 10 (n = 6818), and grades 11 and 12 (n = 1078) using the Personal Globe Inventory-Short (Tracey, 2010). Results indicated that adherence to the RIASEC circular model was high and stable; there was a lack of appreciable change in interest means; interests were stable; interest crystallization, profile, and pattern were stable. While the results supported late adolescence and early adulthood being a stable period for interests in general, more changes were found among male and younger students. The implication of the current study was discussed along with its limitations and suggestions for future research.