What Lies Beyond Same‐Sex Marriage? Marriage,Reproductive Freedom and Future Persons in Liberal Public Justification

In this article I consider whether the legalization of sex-same marriage implies a right to incestuous marriage. I begin by suggesting that the liberal state get out of the 'marriage' business by leveling down to a universal civil union status. The question is then whether incestuous unions should be both legal and eligible for this status. I argue that the arguments compatible with public reason for prohibiting them outright, or even for excluding them from the permissible types of legally registered partnerships, are quite weak. The objections to allowing such relations are those from (1) child abuse; (2) unfair burdening of society; and (3) the creation of bad lives. I argue that while rape and other forms of child abuse would be no more legal or tolerated than they are now, the concern about any form of weakening a society's legal and political resources to combat such abuses does indeed register on the justificatory scale, but does not prove that such first-degree incestuous sexual relations are inherently bad enough to warrant intervention in their own right. I then argue that the concern about unfairly burdening society with unhealthy persons is not as dangerously totalitarian as we might initially fear, but nor is it strong enough to justify an outright prohibition. Finally, I argue that a concern to dissuade persons from creating certain kinds of lives (children with extreme birth defects) is also not as dangerously totalitarian as we might initially fear, and in fact goes further towards explaining why we might have a legitimate interest in intervening. Nonetheless, I argue that the criminalization of such acts only make sense when they are indicators of other offenses, namely negligence or abuse, and it thus seems that the act of consanguineous reproduction is itself insufficient.     

The Continuing Education and Renewal of Employee Assistance Program Counselors

The past decade has brought the emergence of thousands of employee assistance programs, but little, if anything, has been reported concerning the professional updating needs of program counselors. This article presents the results of an extensive assessment of the continuing education preferences of such counselors in one state.     

Work and Leisure Orientations Among University Students: Implications for College and University Counselors

This article deals with a study of the work and leisure orientations of 516 university students and provides support for the enhanced role of leisure in career and lifestyle. Implications for college and university counselors engaged in the career-counseling process are also discussed.     

Counselor Bias and Women

Counselors are biased against girls and women. Several recent studies examining counselor's sex biases are reviewed. Research indicates that attitudes of counselor trainees, school counselors at all levels, counselor educators and supervisors, and clinicians are sexist. The Attitude Toward Women Scale was administered to 80 employment counselors. Male counselor attitudes were more sexist than female counselor attitudes. Suggestions for dealing with counselor bias are reviewed. Counselors must first battle their own biases. They should also be sensitive to the developmental stages of a person's life, as well as to job requirements and employer attitudes. Occupational literature should be nonsexist and nontraditional.     

The Structure of Family Perceptions Among Adolescents and Their Parents: Individual Satisfaction Factors and Family System Factors

This study examined the underlying structure of self-reports of family functioning by adolescents, mothers, and fathers (N of individuals = 360) from intact families. Participants completed a multidimensional self-report measure of family functioning, and their responses were entered into a factor analysis with the family as the unit of analysis (N of cases = 120). The results indicate two types of factors: individual satisfaction factors and family system factors. The findings are consistent with the view that different types of characteristics assessed in self-report measures of the family may be stored as different kinds of memories. The findings also provide preliminary data toward understanding the linkages between family system factors and satisfaction with the family based on family roles as adolescents, mothers, and fathers.     

SPINOZA'S THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Abstract:  On the basis of 3p9s and 3p39s of the Ethics , it might seem that, for Spinoza, a judgment about something's goodness or badness is motivationally inert and, moreover, that value judgments essentially reflect an individual's pre-existing motivational states. However, in this paper I show that Spinoza holds that under certain conditions a motivational state results from a value judgment. Spinoza's theory of motivation consists of two accounts of the psychological order of value judgments and motivational states: an account of their order in those in bondage as well as an account of their order in those who are free.     

Purchasing Patterns of Migrant Groups: The Impact of Acculturation on Ethnocentric Behaviors

This study investigated the social psychology of Malaysian migrants and their ethnocentric purchase behavior as they assimilate into the local culture. A theoretical framework consisting of acculturation, consumer ethnocentrism, time, and demographics was assembled; and an exploratory study was undertaken involving 255 samples of Malaysian consumers residing in the UK. The findings suggest that levels of consumer ethnocentrism are inversely related to their length of residence in the host country. Hence, respondents who reside longest exhibit less ethnocentric behavior. Contrary to our prediction, no significant relationship exists between assimilation and consumer ethnocentrism. Of significance, however, highly assimilated individuals are likely to be young male and single persons, with low assimilation most likely found in middle‐aged to older married females.