Psychometric properties of the Danish 16PF and EPQ

A Danish translation of the Cattell's 16PF has been used in studies evaluating the effects of prenatal drug exposure. This paper reports a psychometric analysis of the 16PF and Eysenck's EPQ based on a sample of 558 young Danes. Many 16PF scales had unacceptable psychometric properties (as indicated by coefficient alpha and item–total score correlations), but more satisfactory results were obtained with the EPQ N and E scales. A factor analysis of all 16PF and EPQ scales suggested a six factor solution that roughly corresponds to the second-order factor structure obtained by Krug and Johns (1986). It is concluded that the second-order factor structure should be the basis of interpretation of the 16PF in both practical and research contexts.     

Gender differences in the development of depression

The present study attempted to examine possible gender differences in the vulnerability to depression, specifically with regard to eliciting factors, marital status, age of onset, season of hospitalization, and type of treatment. The records of all patients (67 women and 34 men), treated during 1991 for major depression, dysthymia, or depression NOS at a psychiatric hospital in Southeastern Sweden were examined, and placed in empirically derived categories regarding eliciting factors.
The results indicated significant gender differences with regard to eliciting factors, marital status, and age. The eliciting factor in female depression was most commonly "threat to social bonds" whereas in male depression it was "threat to self esteem" or "threat to self respect". Married women were more prone to depression than were married men, as were men living alone compared to women living alone. Women above 60 years of age were significantly more prone to depression than were men of this age group. The results were discussed from two theoretical perspectives: gender role theory and gender-specific developmental theory.     

A FIELD SURVEY OF FACTORS AFFECTING THE ADOPTION AND PERCEIVED SUCCESS OF DIVERSITY TRAINING

Seven hundred and eighty-five human resource professionals responded to a questionnaire about diversity issues in their organizations. Analyses were conducted to determine the factors associated with (a) adoption of diversity training and (b) perceived training success. Results revealed that both training adoption and perceived training success were strongly associated with top management support for diversity. In addition, training adoption was associated with large organizational size, positive top management beliefs about diversity, high strategic priority of diversity relative to other competing objectives, presence of a diversity manager, and existence of a large number of other diversity-supportive policies. Perceived training success was also associated with mandatory attendance for all managers, long-term evaluation of training results, managerial rewards for increasing diversity, and a broad inclusionary definition of diversity in the organization. Suggestions for future research are offered.     

Counseling Caregivers of Relatives with Schizophrenia: Themes,Interventions, and Caveats

As part of a controlled study of the effectiveness of a counseling program for family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia, we conducted a comprehensive examination of the process. The particular foci were on themes that arose during sessions, principal therapeutic interventions offered, and caveats for counselors working in the field. The most striking finding was the diverse range of themes, covering personal, coping, family, and social aspects of the caregiving experience. This required a correspondingly broad array of interventions. The implications are clear: confining counseling for caregivers to such traditional dimensions as education or attempts to reduce emotional expressiveness denies them the opportunity to deal with other equally relevant concerns.     

A Framework for the Study of Relationships Between Organizational Characteristics and Organizational Innovation

This paper presents a taxonomy of organizational characteristics that was developed as part of a large scale job analysis project conducted for the Department of Labor (DOL). Based on research and theory related to organizations, a hierarchical taxonomy of organizational characteristics was developed with six construct domains at the highest level: organizational structure, leadership, human resources (HR) systems and practices, goals, and organizational values. The taxonomy has been empirically tested using data from over 300 organizations, and a summary of these results is presented. This taxonomy is then used to organize and review research on the relationships between organizational variables and innovation. Implications of the taxonomy for understanding relationships between organizational size, industry type, “high-performance” practices, and innovation are discussed.     

Special Needs of the Learning Disabled College Student: Implications for Interventions Through Peer Support Groups

The use of peer support groups is proposed as an effective intervention for dealing with personal and academic needs of college students who have learning disabilities.     

Attractiveness of the "Middle of the Road" Political Candidate

Three classroom experiments were done in which subjects evaluated hypothetical political candidates based on the candidates' positions on three issues. In the first study, subjects evaluated the candidate advocating a neutral position on the issues lower than all other candidates. The second study systematically varied the number of neutral positions the candidates could take and the same result was found, viz., the more neutral positions the candidate took, the lower the evaluations. It was further found that one's own political position did not affect the negative evaluation of the neutral candidate. Subjects' perceptions of the candidate advocating neutrality were assessed in a third study. Results are discussed in the framework of dealing with possible optimal political strategies that candidates might use.     

Patterns of Response to Out-of-focus Slides of Families with an Emotionally Disturbed Member

Mutual facial recognition was studied in thirty families with and without a disturbed member. It appears that families with a markedly disturbed child have idiosyncratic modes of mutual recognition, particularly in the case of the mother, whereas families without a disturbed member or with a moderately disturbed child do not display idiosyncratic patterns. Although the sample is very small, there is a suggestion that families with a disturbed parent have patterns of recognition that are entirely different from those of the other families in the study.     

THE INFLUENCE OF TRAINING METHOD AND TRAINEE AGE ON THE ACQUISITION OF COMPUTER SKILLS

This experiment examined the influence of training method and trainee age on performance during training in the acquisition of computer software skills. A behavioral modeling training method yielded consistently superior computer software mastery compared with a nonmodeling approach. Older trainees exhibited significantly lower performance than did younger trainees in both the modeling and the nonmodeling training conditions. Findings are discussed in terms of strategies for overcoming older worker technological obsolescence.     

A SURVEY OF INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT PRACTICES BY I/O PSYCHOLOGISTS

Individual assessment, defined as one psychologist making an assessment decision for a personnel-related purpose about one individual, was the focus of a survey of a segment of the Division of Industrial and Organizational Psychology of the American Psychological Association. A response rate of 31.6% was obtained. The responses of 163 individuals who conduct individual assessment to questions about their practices and of 153 individuals who do not conduct individual assessment to questions concerning their attitudes toward individual assessment were examined. Findings regarding what types of assessment are typically conducted, how methods are chosen, what methods are typically used, how findings are relayed to client organizations and assessees, and how practices are evaluated are reported. Implications for training and practice as well as areas for research are discussed.