Attitudes of Malaysian Teachers Toward a Performance-Appraisal System

This study investigated the attitudes of teachers of different ethnic origins in Malaysia toward an outcome-oriented performance appraisal, the New Performance Appraisal System (NPAS). It also investigated the relationship between teachers' attitudes toward the system and their job satisfaction and professional commitment. Teachers of the major ethnic origins in Malaysia—Malays, Chinese, and Indians—were selected randomly from 6 public high schools in the state of Kedah. The study found that teachers of all ethnic origins reported less favorable attitudes toward the NPAS, and that their cultural dimension had no bearing on attitudes toward the NPAS. Teachers who received appropriate explanation and supervision of their performance, despite low performance-appraisal results, reported high levels of job satisfaction and professional commitment.     

Framingham vascular age is associated with worse cognitive performance in the middle-aged and elderly

“Normal” age-related cognitive decline has been associated with cardiovascular risk factors. Framingham Vascular Age is age-normed cardiovascular risk which may help communicate risk to patients and identify those at relatively higher risk. We aim to assess the association between Framingham Vascular Age and cognition. 346 “healthy” participants (57±10 years) without neuropsychiatric disorders or clinical manifestations of cardiovascular disease were studied. Cognition was evaluated using the Brief Memory and Executive Test and Framingham Vascular Age was calculated. The association between Framingham Vascular Age and cognitive performance was determined through General Linear Models to control for covariates. Framingham Vascular age was associated with poorer Memory and Executive Function/Processing Speed indices (p= 0.019 and p<0.001, respectively). We conclude Framingham Vascular Age is associated with worse Executive Function/Processing Speed and Memory. Vascular Age may help identify patients at higher risk of age-related cognitive decline with implications for communicating the morbidity associated with cardiovascular risk.     

Ensoulment and the prohibition of abortion in Islam

This article identifies ways in which philosophical ideas of personhood influence rulings concerning abortion. The terms ‘life’, ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ are clarified through a comparative study of authoritative Shi&art10;a texts. There is a consensus that ensoulment occurs at four months, when the spirit causes the emergence of potentiality for rational thought. This stage marks a significant change in the status of the foetus, and abortion after this stage is prohibited except in extreme circumstances when the mother's life is threatened. Recent rulings by Shi&art10;a scholars on abortion at earlier stages are interpreted in terms of potentiality for ensoulment. The distinction between active and passive potentiality for ensoulment clarifies the reasons why jurists hold different views on whether the prohibition of abortion applies before the stage of implantation. The relevance of this discussion to some methods of contraception is indicated.     

Machiavellianism scores and self-rated performance of automobile salespersons

Machiavellianism (Mach-B) was positively correlated with self-reported number of vehicles sold and income in two samples of 80 car salespersons. The Mach-B scale showed higher internal consistency and significant relationship with sales performance. The Mach IV scale, used for one of two samples, showed low internal consistency and a nonsignificant relationship with performance. The results provided partial support for earlier findings. Research designed to clarify this finding is required.     

Psychometric Properties of Two Bicultural Attitude Scales: An Update

The purpose of this paper is to report evidence of psychometric properties of two Bicultural Attitude Scales (BASs) developed by the author. The paper provides evidence of the reliability and validity of the two versions of the BAS (i.e., Parents version and Children versions) based on two studies. The first study was conducted on a sample of 66 Bangladeshi immigrant parents (33 mothers and 33 fathers) living in the USA. The measuring instrument was the Parents version of the BAS. Results showed a high factorial validity structure of the scale—the values ranged from .62 to .96—and high internal consistency reliability of the scale—the alpha coefficient was .80. The second study was conducted on a 412 Bangladeshi ethnic minority young adults (40 % women and 60 % men). Children version of the BAS was used in this study. The study revealed significantly high factorial validity—factor loading values ranged from .34 to .65—and a significantly high internal consistency reliability of the scale—the alpha coefficient was .86.     

The effects of interactive staff training on staff programing and patient aggression in a psychiatric inpatient ward

Interactive staff training (IST) uses principles of organizational psychology to help line-level staff members design and implement social learning programs for severely mentally ill inpatients. IST is a training package that includes assessment of staff perceptions regarding programatic needs, selection of appropriate social learning strategies to meet these needs, appointment of a program committee from within the ward to champion development of the social learning strategy, and participative decision making about aspects of the social learning strategy. Staff on an extended care ward at a state hospital participated in IST for 15 months as part of a pilot study of its effects. Ongoing examination of ward programing showed that IST significantly increased staff and patient participation in rehabilitation programing and decreased the rate of physical restraints and aggression-related. Changes in staff attitudes about rehabilitation programing were noted on a subsample of IST participants. Implications for more controlled research into IST are discussed.     

Cross-cultural Variation in the Importance of Psychological Characteristics: A Seven-country Study

The Psychological Importance (PI) of personality traits is defined as the degree to which they provide information useful in understanding and predicting behaviour. University students from 7 countries (Chile, China, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, and the United States) rated the PI of each of the 300 items of the Adjective Check List along a 5-point scale. PI was shown to be a meaningful (i.e. reliable) concept in each country. Comparisons of PI ratings between pairs of countries indicated correlations ranging from 0.23 to 0.73, with a mean of 0.49 among the 7 countries. A variety of additional analyses indicated that six of the seven countries tended to group themselves into two clusters: (1) China, Nigeria, and Pakistan; and (2) Chile, Norway, and the United States. In the second cluster, trait importance had a curvilinear relationship to trait favourability (i.e. both good and bad traits may be important) whereas in the first cluster trait importance and favourability had a linear relationship (i.e. only good traits may be important). The findings were suggestive of substantial cross-cultural differences in the importance assigned to psychological traits.