The Sabbath: Implications for Mental Health

Jewish tradition established the Sabbath as a special day. Its observance was both part of a religious tradition and an example of psychological health. The author explores the values and attitudes that underlie Sabbath observance, identifies some of the themes and behaviors most characteristic of these observances, and relates these to current mental health practices.     

A study of pre-assessment centre candidate short-listing

A trial was made of a brief short-listing procedure, the aim of which was to identify applicants who were unlikely to be successful at a military assessment centre and whose attendance might therefore not be cost effective. Assessments of overall suitability, based on short interviews at a number of locations, correlated 0***.45 (n = 65) with assessment centre outcome. A subsequent headquarters reassessment, which included some further information, correlated 0***.53 with the outcome. It was found that variables relating to educational achievement, responsibility, and physical pursuits were particularly powerful in predicting the outcome, which is in agreement with known training demands. Problems involved in operating such a short-listing procedure are discussed.     

Marital Therapy: Emerging Trends in Research and Practice

The marital therapy literature through August, 1972, was content-analyzed to examine trends in the research and clinical practice of marital therapists. Analyses of a 415-item Marital Therapy Bibliography revealed that: (a) The literature experienced the beginning of its major growth spurt after 1960, with about half of the marital therapy publications appearing since 1967; (b) Journals contributing the most to the development of marital therapy form a heterogeneous mixture of professional disciplines, with multidisciplinary journals demonstrating the greatest impact; (c) The nature of much of marital therapy research and practice is rapidly changing, with a growing interest in empirical and methodological issues. Implications of these emerging trends in research and practice are discussed in terms of the future of marital therapy.     

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY: USING LEVELS OF ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

The purpose of this study was to refine understanding of transformational leadership theory by a specification and test of boundary conditions. Multiple levels of analysis (individual, dyad, and group) were used to identify conceptually and assess empirically the potential bounds on transformational leadership theory. Multi-source data were collected from a sample of 105 salespersons and their 33 sales supervisors, and within and between analysis (WABA) procedures were conducted. Contrary to higher-level (dyad, group) and cross-level assertions in the literature, transformational leadership results were based solely on individual differences. That is, in this sales setting, transformational leadership theory was determined to be an individual-level theory bounded by individuals' (superiors' and subordinates') perceptions and not holding at higher levels of analysis. Implications of the findings for future leadership research and practice are discussed.     

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.