Improving Research Training in Doctoral Counseling Programs

The authors surveyed the research training practices of doctoral-level, APA-approved counseling psychology programs, non-APA-approved counseling psychology programs, and counselor education programs to identify ways to improve such training. Some differences were found according to program type. No differences were found in percentage of students' publishing or presenting research during 1983–84. Suggestions for improving future research training were assessed; highest ratings were given to required participation in research teams; 1st-year, “hands-on” research experience; and greater emphasis on design rather than statistics training. Programs characterized by high and low student research productivity differed in the areas of required research training, research emphases and research climate, required presentation or submission of research for publication, and material support for student research. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Counselor Credentialing and Interprofessional Collaboration

The history and development of counselor credentialing are presented, including the dimensions of standards, accreditation, certification, and licensure. Unresolved issues critical to the success of interprofessional collaboration are analyzed. The authors offer predictions for the future of the nonmedical mental health professions, based on their assessment that collaboration is an essential but often neglected ingredient.     

Body image and personality: Associations between the Big Five Personality Factors,actual‐ideal weight discrepancy,and body appreciation

Studies have suggested associations between personality dimensions and body image constructs, but these have not been conclusively established. In two studies, we examined direct associations between the Big Five dimensions and two body image constructs, actual‐ideal weight discrepancy and body appreciation. In Study 1, 950 women completed measures of both body image constructs and a brief measure of the Big Five dimensions. In Study 2, 339 women completed measures of the body image constructs and a more reliable measure of the Big Five. Both studies showed that Neuroticism was significantly associated with actual‐ideal weight discrepancy (positively) and body appreciation (negatively) once the effects of body mass index and social status had been accounted for. These results are consistent with the suggestion that Neuroticism is a trait of public health significance requiring attention by body image scholars.     

On Living in an Unjust Society

ABSTRACT Can it be wrong to simply live in an unjust society? Four moral principles: group responsibility, unjust enrichment, a general duty to prevent injustice and the need to preserve one's moral integrity indicate that it might be. I explore the implications of each of these principles and conclude that while the possibility of doing good might counterbalance the threat to moral integrity, a person who continues to live in an unjust society should repudiate the injustice to avoid being held responsible for it and has a duty to compensate those deprived if he is unjustly enriched. Moreover, the general duty to prevent injustice bears more heavily on those who are closest to it.     

Interpersonal Construct Differentiation and Conversational Planning An Examination of Two Cognitive Accounts for the Production of Competent Verbal Disagreement Tactics

This study examines three cognition-based theoretical explanations for variations in verbal disagreement tactics. The cognitive requirements of competent message production in conflict situations are examined first. Then the relative success of (a) an individual difference explanation (based on constructivist logic), (b) a situated cognition explanation (based on planning theory), and (c) a hybrid explanation in accounting for the use of competent verbal disagreement tactics is assessed. Results based on analysis of 40 dyadic interactions indicated that planning measures are strongly correlated with use of integrative conflict tactics. In addition, the individual difference measure (i.e., the Role Category Questionnaire) was strongly associated with the quality of plans. Results are interpreted as evidence of the need for integrative models that link individual differences in social cognition, conversational plans, and message behavior.     

IS COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY LOQUACITY? A REPLY TO POWERS,JORDAN, AND STREET

Powers, Jordan, and Street recently presented evidence suggesting that assessments of cognitive complexity obtained from a widely used procedure may be significantly influenced by general loquacity and verbal complexity. This report argues that Powers et al.'s results are an artifact of the procedures employed, and presents additional evidence bearing on the relationship between cognitive complexity and general verbal abilities. In one study, conceptually independent assessments of cognitive complexity, loquacity, and writing speed were obtained from a group of college students. Cognitive complexity was found generally unrelated to both writing speed and loquacity. In a second set of studies, independent assessments of interpersonal cognitive complexity and two indices of general verbal abilities were obtained from three diverse populations (college students, mothers of young children, and grade-school children). Only low and generally nonsignificant relationships were found between cognitive complexity scores and the measures of verbal facility. These results are discussed within the framework of a construct! vist theory of cognitive development.