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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.