Mentoring and the impact of the research climate

In this article, we focus on the mentoring process, and we argue that the internal and external pressures extant at research universities may create a research culture that may be antithetical to appropriate mentoring. We developed a scale based on motivation theory to determine the perceived research culture in departments and research laboratories, and a mentoring scale to determine approaches to mentoring graduate students. Participants were 610 faculty members across 49 departments at a research oriented university. The findings were that a mastery-oriented research climate and an outcome-oriented research climate were manifested at the university. More importantly, each research climate had its own unique impact on how the faculty approached mentoring graduate students. A mastery research climate was related to a more supportive approach to mentoring than the outcome research climate. We concluded by suggesting that the outcome research climate may have an adverse effect on effective mentoring and on maintaining research ethics.     

An Experimental Study of Faculty Advising

This study examined the effect on a group of college freshmen of releasing faculty members from part of their teaching assignment to devote more time to academic advising. 60 men and 60 women were randomly selected from the Macalester College freshman class and were randomly assigned to 6 faculty members, each of whom was released from 1 of the 3 courses he would ordinarily have taught. The remaining 400 freshmen, whose faculty advisers had a full teaching load, were the control group. Data indicated that the students in the experimental group were more likely to discuss course planning, career planning, and study problems with their advisers. There was a slightly higher retention rate among women in the experimental group, and there were significant differences on two scales of the College and University Environment Scales between experimental and control group women. No differences were found between the 2 groups in grade-point average.     

团体咨询成员的相互共情及其与效果的关系——社会关系模型在团体咨询研究中的应用

研究旨在探讨团体成员的相互共情及其与团体效果的关系。共收集10个团体,53名成员的数据,运用社会关系模型分析。结果发现：1.成员自评相互共情得分较高,但互评相关不显著;2.共情水平与会谈效果正相关,与团体反治疗性因素负相关;3.被共情水平与不信任负相关;4.共情准确性与团体治疗性因素正相关。结论：成员自评相互共情水平较高,但互评不匹配。成员自评共情水平越高,会谈效果越好,受团体反治疗性因素阻碍更少。越被准确评估情绪效价的成员,从治疗性因素中获益更多。     

Uncovering the diverse cultural bases of social identity: Ingroup ties predict self‐stereotyping among individualists but not among collectivists

On what basis do people form their social identities? To investigate this issue, the present research investigates cross‐cultural differences in self‐stereotyping, a key outcome of social identification. In particular, the research tests the hypothesis that ingroup ties are a stronger predictor of self‐stereotyping among people from individualist cultures than among people from collectivist cultures. In Study 1, university students (N = 117) completed measures of ingroup ties and self‐stereotyping with respect to an intimacy group (family and friends). Consistent with predictions, ingroup ties significantly predicted self‐stereotyping among individualists but not among collectivists. Study 2 (N = 104) found a similar pattern of results among members of the global internet community who considered either an intimacy group (their friends), a task group (their work group) or a social category (their gender). These results indicate that people in individualist cultures are more likely than those in collectivist cultures to base their social identities on ingroup ties. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to self‐categorization theory's depersonalization account of social identification.     

When group membership gets personal: a theory of identity fusion

Identity fusion is a relatively unexplored form of alignment with groups that entails a visceral feeling of oneness with the group. This feeling is associated with unusually porous, highly permeable borders between the personal and social self. These porous borders encourage people to channel their personal agency into group behavior, raising the possibility that the personal and social self will combine synergistically to motivate pro-group behavior. Furthermore, the strong personal as well as social identities possessed by highly fused persons cause them to recognize other group members not merely as members of the group but also as unique individuals, prompting the development of strong relational as well as collective ties within the group. In local fusion, people develop relational ties to members of relatively small groups (e.g., families or work teams) with whom they have personal relationships. In extended fusion, people project relational ties onto relatively large collectives composed of many individuals with whom they may have no personal relationships. The research literature indicates that measures of fusion are exceptionally strong predictors of extreme pro-group behavior. Moreover, fusion effects are amplified by augmenting individual agency, either directly (by increasing physiological arousal) or indirectly (by activating personal or social identities). The effects of fusion on pro-group actions are mediated by perceptions of arousal and invulnerability. Possible causes of identity fusion--ranging from relatively distal, evolutionary, and cultural influences to more proximal, contextual influences--are discussed. Finally, implications and future directions are considered.     

Defining Financial Conflicts and Managing Research Relationships: An Analysis of University Conflict of Interest Committee Decisions

Despite a decade of federal regulation and debate over the appropriateness of financial ties in research and their management, little is known about the actual decision-making processes of university conflict of interest (COI) committees. This paper analyzes in detail the discussions and decisions of three COI committees at three public universities in California. University committee members struggle to understand complex financial relationships and reconcile institutional, state, and federal policies and at the same time work to protect the integrity of the scientific process, the autonomy and intellectual freedom of their faculty colleagues and students, and the financial interests of the university.     

Factors associated with responses to sexual harassment and satisfaction with outcome

This study examined contextual and behavioral factors and types of responses to sexual harassment in relation to harassed employees' satisfaction with the outcome of sexual harassment situations. Subjects were 105 male and female faculty and staff members (89.5% Caucasian; 5.7% multiethnic/multicultural; 4.8% unspecified) employed by a midwestern university who reported experiencing unwanted sexual attention on the job. Results undicated that employees responded more strongly to unwanted sexual behavior if they perceived it as sexual harassment and if they perceived their work climate as encouraging the problem. Harassed employees' gender, power, and perceptions of the work climate were all associated with their satisfaction with the situation outcome. Although making a formal or informal complaint was not associated with greater satisfaction, talking to the harasser without using aggressive communication strategies increased the likelihood of a satisfactory outcome for the employee. Talking to family or friends, a response used by women more often than men, was associated with dissatisfaction. Suggestions for further research are discussed.This research was primarily funded by the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The authors gratefully acknowledge the research assistance of Jami Winters, Gena Ritter, Sarah Holmes, Kim Gangwish, and Mary Lou Costanzo.     

When he doesn't mean you: gender-exclusive language as ostracism

Three studies assessed whether a common cultural practice, namely, the use of gender-exclusive language (e.g., using he to indicate he or she), is experienced as ostracism at the group level by women. Women responded to the use of gender-exclusive language (he) during a mock job interview with a lower sense of belonging, less motivation, and less expected identification with the job compared to others exposed to gender-inclusive (he or she) or gender-neutral ( one) language (Studies 1 and 2). Moreover, the more emotionally disengaged women became over the course of a job interview upon hearing gender-exclusive language, the less motivation and job identification they subsequently reported (Study 3). Together, these studies show that subtle linguistic cues that may seem trivial at face value can signal group-based ostracism and lead members of the ostracized group to self-select out of important professional environments.     

Student Perceptions of Campus Cultural Climate by Race

Five hundred and seventy-eight African American, Asian American, Latino/a, and White undergraduates responded to a questionnaire assessing perceptions and experiences of the campus cultural climate. Results revealed significant differences between racial and ethnic groups on multiple dimensions of the campus cultural climate. African American students consistently reported significantly more racial—ethnic conflict on campus; pressure to conform to stereotypes; and less equitable treatment by faculty, staff, and teaching assistants. White students' responses reflected limited perceptions of racial—ethnic tensions and a university climate characterized by respect for diversity. Counseling implications are presented.     

Perception of Cognitive Ability in Families of Adolescents

The families of 20 hospitalized adolescents were compared with a control group of 20 non-pathological families on the accuracy with which family members could predict each others' performance on two tests of intellectual ability. Accuracy of prediction was measured by the discrepancies between actual scores obtained by each family member and the scores other family members predicted he or she would obtain. The control and experimental groups were found to differ significantly on socioeconomic status and intellectual ability, and when these variables were controlled, a covariance analysis revealed no significant difference between the groups on accuracy of predictions. The results suggest that variables other than psychopathology must be taken into account in explaining apparent differences between healthy and disturbed families on measurements of interpersonal judgments. Implications for research and family therapy are discussed.     

Negligent Liability and the Foreseeability Factor: A Critical Issue for School Counselors

Negligent liability suits involving school counselors are not common, but such litigation seems to be increasing. In most of the cases cited, the defendant's alleged negligence emanated from his or her failure to provide reasonable care to individuals who were later injured or killed. Reasonable care is the standard of conduct that a reasonable and prudent person maintains in protecting those to whom he or she owes a duty of care from unreasonable risks. The author emphasizes the role that the element of foreseeability plays in determining the outcome of negligence cases and indicates those areas of responsibility that are most subject to litigation.     

Challenge me! Communicating in multicultural classrooms

The current study investigated the value of Socratic classroom communication (e.g., critical debate and challenging each other on content matters) among students from various cultures (clustered into Western Europeans, Eastern Europeans and Non-Europeans) and from members of faculty at an international university in Germany. Students from Western cultures where Socratic communication had been valued in the school systems reported a greater ease of engaging in the respective communication style than did Eastern European and Non-European students. Furthermore, we assessed how strongly the faculty valued the respective kinds of behavior. The results show that overall students underestimated the extent to which Socratic communication behavior was esteemed by members of faculty. In addition, faculty members perceived themselves to be more explicit about their pedagogical principles than they were perceived by students. Finally, the easier it was for students to show Socratic classroom communication, the more academically satisfied they were and the better their grades. The results are discussed with regard to practical implications and the internationalization of universities.     

The Measurement and Interpretation of Organizational Climate

This study describes the development and application of a new organizational climate instrument, the Survey of Organizational Characteristics (SOC). The participants in the development phase were 94 master's of business administration students, and the participants in the validation phase were 77 medical professionals: 24 medical faculty, 17 postdoctoral students, and 36 medical technicians. The final instrument consisted of 8 relatively independent scales with alpha coefficients based on the combined sample ranging from .77 to .98, and with 6 coefficients that were higher than .90. Validity hypotheses based on a priori knowledge about the 3 medical groups were for the most part well substantiated, although the small sample of postdoctoral students was a limitation. In relation to the findings, an attempt was made to clarify and perhaps narrow several of the conceptual and methodological gaps that persist between organizational climate and organizational culture.     

Etiquette and effort: holding doors for others

Etiquette, the customary code of polite behavior among members of a group, provides a means of conveying respect for others, but what is the basis for etiquette's unwritten rules? Here we show that one form of etiquette, holding a door open for another person, reflects the door holder's expectation that the person for whom he or she holds the door shares the belief that the total effort expended by the two of them will be less than the summed efforts of the two individuals acting on their own. Our observations extend recent work on effort reduction in motor control to the management of social interactions.     

Anchoring Effects in Simulated Academic Promotion Decisions: How the Promotion Criterion Affects Ratings and the Decision to Support an Application

Six experiments investigated the effect of the promotion criterion in simulated academic promotion decisions. In total, 547 undergraduate students and 33 university faculty members rated a promotion application, and some also indicated their decisions to support or to reject it. Performance ratings were reliably affected by the criterion, with a high criterion resulting in higher ratings than a low criterion, and this criterion effect was found regardless of the evaluator's expertise, whether he or she took the role of an independent assessor or the line manager to the applicant, or whether the criterion was provided by the experimenter or randomly generated by the participant. The criterion also affected the level of support for a candidate when the position applied for was perceived to be extremely competitive, or when a lesser position was considered at a later time. These results provide evidence that the use of a criterion, a fairly common practice in decision‐making processes, may bias performance evaluations, which in turn may have ripple effects that affect the outcome of a chain of events. Our results also shed light on the possible mechanisms that underlie the rating biases in performance appraisal. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR NEIGHBOURS ARE DOING ? A STUDY OF SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION IN EUROPE1

After this year's research on scientific communication in Europe, where almost 100 interviews were conducted in 8 European countries, one finding is clear: there is better communication between Europe and America than among European countries. Since space is limited, the analysis of this finding will be made in terms of the communication behavior of the members of the cross-national organization, the European Association of Experimental Social Psychologists. Their behavior indicates communication within a specialty, and in part, a representative case for the overall findings of the research. The Association is a limited membership organization with members in 14 countries. Since its initiation in 1963, the group has increased not only in size but in its cross-national representation. The questionnaire-interview data obtained at the Association's most recent meeting, supplemented by the findings from the general interview sample, provides the basis for the following discussion.     

Multicultural training practices in community psychology programs

Surveyed the directors of 56 community psychology graduate programs to assess multicultural training practices and attitudes. Although most program directors agreed that multicultural training is important in their mission to educate students, less than half the programs (48%) required their students to take any relevant course work and only half of the programs surveyed had any faculty who were members of an ethnic minority group and one third had only one such faculty member. Furthermore, less than half the programs had a combination of training opportunities in place to integrate classroom, research, and field experiences relevant to multicultural issues. Finally, only 23% of program directors believed their training programs were successful for most students, suggesting the need to improve training.     

Ethical standards for group leaders

A group leader is one who assumes the responsibility for a group dealing with interpersonal relationships. The leader is committed to a belief in the dignity and personal worth of each member of a group with whom he works. While demanding the freedom to function as a professional, he also accepts the responsibilities this freedom implies and defends the rights and freedom of his group members. He maintains integrity in his relationships with other professionals and the public. He does not use his specialized knowledge to take personal advantage of group members, nor does he permit himself to be used by others for purposes inconsistent with his own ethical standards. The group leader is expected to abide by and practice the ethical standards of the American Psychological Association and the American Personnel and Guidance Association. He is also expected to practice the following ethical standards that were developed for, and are more directly applicable to, working with groups.