INTERACTIVE VIDEO ASSESSMENT OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILLS

In this research we developed and validated an interactive video assessment of conflict resolution skills. A model of conflict management was used to develop the conflict scenarios and part of the scoring key. Computer assessments of conflict resolution skills and two cognitive abilities were administered to 347 supervisors and job performance ratings were collected from their managers. The conflict skills assessment was found to be significantly related to supervisory ratings of on-the-job performance in managing conflict but to be unrelated to the measures of cognitive ability. In addition, the conflict skills assessment had no adverse impact for women. The implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.     

POTENTIAL VERSUS ACTUAL FAKING OF A BIODATA FORM: AN ANALYSIS ALONG SEVERAL DIMENSIONS OF ITEM TYPE

Two studies examined faking of a 25-item biodata questionnaire. The first study investigated potential and actual faking of the form using three groups: a group told to make themselves look as good as possible, a group told to complete the form honestly, and a group completing the instrument in a real selection situation. Subjects were 58 current employees and 231 job applicants. Results indicated that subjects could fake the instrument when instructed to do so. Also, some faking appeared to be occurring in practice, although results depended upon the composition of the comparison group. Only eight items appeared to be fakable, and only three of these seemed to be faked in practice. In Study 2, 26 business majors rated the biodata items on eight dimensions of item type. Results showed that the three items faked in practice were less historical, objective, discrete, verifiable, and external than other items, and were more job relevant.     

Collegiate COAs and Alcohol Abuse: Problem Drinking in Relation to Assessments of Parent and Grandparent Alcoholism

In a survey of college students (N = 860), significantly greater problem drinking was indicated by students who reported having a parent or grandparent diagnosed or treated for alcoholism. The highest rates of problem drinking were found among students who reported both an alcoholic parent and grandparent. Students who had experienced distress and family discord from parental alcohol abuse, though without a diagnosed alcoholic parent, also indicated greater problem drinking. The increased alcohol problems of students without a diagnosed alcoholic parent, however, were somewhat different from other children of alcoholics (COAs). Thus, different types of COAs must be considered in research, treatment, and prevention programs.     

A FIVE-YEAR STUDY OF UPWARD FEEDBACK: WHAT MANAGERS DO WITH THEIR RESULTS MATTERS

We present results for 252 target managers over 5 annual administrations of an upward feedback program (i.e., twice as long as any previous study in this area). We show that managers initially rated poor or moderate showed significant improvements in upward feedback ratings over the 5-year period, and that these improvements were beyond what could be expected due to regression to the mean. We also found that (a) managers who met with direct reports to discuss their upward feedback improved more than other managers, and (b) managers improved more in years when they discussed the previous year's feedback with direct reports than in years when they did not discuss the previous year's feedback with direct reports. This is important because it is the first research evidence demonstrating that what managers do with upward feedback is related to its benefits. We use an accountability framework to discuss our results and suggest directions for future research.     

Christian Counseling: An Emerging Specialty

The emerging professional specialty of Christian counseling is examined in light of its development, theoretical underpinning, training, and roles. Also examined are the various approaches to Christian counseling. Finally, a rationale for classifying Christian counseling as a separate specialty is presented.     

A LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN JOB INFORMATION SOURCES, APPLICANT PERCEPTIONS OF FIT, AND WORK OUTCOMES

This longitudinal field study was designed to examine the relationships between job information sources, self-esteem, and perceptions of person-job (P-J) and person-organization (P-O) fit, as well as the relationships between perceptions of fit and work outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational identification, intentions to quit, stress symptoms, and turnover). The results indicate that the number of formal job information sources and self-esteem were positively related to perceptions of P-J fit, and formal job information sources were positively related to perceptions of P-O fit. Perceptions of P-J fit were positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational identification, and negatively related to stress symptoms and intentions to quit. Perceptions of P-O fit were negatively related to intentions to quit and turnover. In addition, perceptions of fit mediated the relationships between job information sources and self-esteem with job satisfaction, intentions to quit, and turnover. These results highlight the job applicant's perspective of fit, and demonstrate the importance of both P-J and P-O fit perceptions.     

Some Notes on the Use of Family Sculpture in Therapy

Therapists learning to use family sculpture as a tool often find difficulty in exploiting the technique to its fullest. This article, designed to encourage therapists to take the risks involved in using a technique new to them, describes how the author and his cotherapists used sculpture in three cases in different ways. In each case, the author explains how the therapists made the choices involved in directing the therapeutic process. He suggests that even when a sculpture itself seems to have failed to produce useful information, it can elicit from clients signals that will indicate opportunities for effective use of other techniques and that a sculpture, once used, can be restaged to reinforce client behavior change.     

Innoculi Innocula

In "Innocuous Infallibility," Earl Conee argues that the infallibility to which I argue Internalism is committed, in "An Argument that Internalism Requires Infallibility," is harmless and trivial. I maintain that this overlooks the fact that Internalism makes use of an intuitive notion of 'epistemic twinhood' to drive its position, rather than one antecedently defined with a filled-out notion of 'relevant epistemic circumstances'. Conee is correct that any theory requires, and trivially gets, some sort of infallibility-but it is not trivial that there is a coherent and univocal notion of the sort of relevant circumstances-and so, twinhood and infallibility-behind the Internalist strategy and motivation.     

Reason Internalism

Traditional epistemological reflection on our beliefs about the world attempts to proceed without presupposing or ineliminably depending upon any claims about the world. It has been argued that epistemological externalism fails to engage in the right way with the motivations for this project. I argue, however, that epistemological externalism satisfyingly undermines this project. If we accept the thesis that certain conditions other than the truth of one's belief must obtain in the world outside of one's mind in order for one to have knowledge (or justified belief) about the world, then there is no good intellectual motivation for taking up the traditional project. This results stands even if we accept the traditional theses that knowledge requires justified belief and that justified belief requires the ability to provide good reasons for one's belief.