Employability Assessment: Its Importance and One Method of Doing It

A new programmed learning package, PLACE: Guided Steps to Employment Readiness, provides a measurable definition of employability and helps clients measure their own employability and prepare themselves for work.     

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL: MEASUREMENT AND RELATIONSHIP WITH PERFORMANCE AND SATISFACTION

Two studies were conducted to analyze how hope, resilience, optimism, and efficacy individually and as a composite higher-order factor predicted work performance and satisfaction. Results from Study 1 provided psychometric support for a new survey measure designed to assess each of these 4 facets, as well as a composite factor. Study 2 results indicated a significant positive relationship regarding the composite of these 4 facets with performance and satisfaction. Results from Study 2 also indicated that the composite factor may be a better predictor of performance and satisfaction than the 4 individual facets. Limitations and practical implications conclude the article.     

Aboriginal Right: A Conciliatory Concept

The confusion that persists over Aboriginal claim in North America calls for close examination. The paper begins by sorting out various versions of 'Aboriginal right'and some of the main factors that govern its use. Confusion is analysed as the result of conflating different frames of reference which determine different sets of expectations by Aboriginal and government representatives.
To appreciate the significance of this conflation, it is helpful if not necessary to view the move to use the concept 'Aboriginal right'as a strategic rather than a legally substantive one. Understanding the move in this way helps to explain why it is that definitions remain elusive. The effect of using the concept has indeed been to enable Aboriginals finally and effectively to table their claim. However, the strategy has its cost. Using the language of the courts places Aboriginal negotiators at a disadvantage, since that language is ineluctably tied to European social and legal sensibilities that militate against understanding Aboriginal claim.
If, in the end, we understand that the move to use the language of the courts has been conciliatory, we can better recognise the nature of Aboriginal claim. We can begin to understand that it involves a complex web of responsibilities and commitments, most of which have either been forgotten or perverted to suit government agendas. We can begin to see that it has to do with restoring a relationship of mutual respect and protection.     

The Marketing of Parochial Schooling Modeled as an Exchange Process

An old adage has it that “necessity is the mother of invention.” This aphorism may in part account for the increased interest of church school educators in the discipline of marketing as an aid in stimulating demand for their product. Drawing from social exchange theory, the framework below explores the link between sociology, marketing, and education in explaining why people choose education in parochial schools.     

HOW TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP WEAVES ITS INFLUENCE ON INDIVIDUAL JOB PERFORMANCE: THE ROLE OF IDENTIFICATION AND EFFICACY BELIEFS

This study examined how transformational leadership directly and indirectly relates to supervisory‐rated performance collected over time including 437 participants employed by 6 U.S. banking organizations in the midwest. Results revealed that one's identification with his or her work unit, self‐efficacy, and means efficacy were related to supervisor‐rated performance. The effect of transformational leadership on rated performance was also mediated by the interaction of identification and means efficacy, as well as partially mediated by the interaction of self‐efficacy and means efficacy. Implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed.     

EFFECTS OF LEADERSHIP STYLE AND PROBLEM STRUCTURE ON WORK GROUP PROCESS AND OUTCOMES IN AN ELECTRONIC MEETING SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT

Organizations are increasingly utilizing electronic meeting systems to enhance work group process and outcomes. Because leadership is a key group attribute, it is important to examine how behaviors of leaders influence work groups using electronic meeting systems. Results of a laboratory experiment indicated that (a) Participants made more supportive remarks under a consultative form of participative leadership than directive leadership; (b) Participants proposed more solutions and made fewer critical remarks for a fairly structured problem than for a moderately structured problem; (c) Participative leadership was more conducive to proposal of solutions for a moderately structured problem, while directive leadership was more conducive for a fairly structured problem; and (d) Frequency of solution proposals in turn affected group productivity and satisfaction. Implications for personnel practitioners and research on leadership in electronic meeting environments are presented.     

Rod involvement in peripheral color processing

Abstract.— It has previously been suggested that rods act as blue receptors in peripheral color vision. Two experiments examining this issue were conducted. Experiment 1 investigated the perceived hue of a test light presented at a luminance level above chromatic threshold. At 8° in the periphery, the 500 nm test light was perceived as more blue under conditions of dark adaptation than after light adaptation. Similar differences were not found for foveal presentation. The increased blue in the periphery after dark adaptation was attributed to a rod contribution. In Experiment 2 an attempt was made to mix a rod contribution obtained with a 470 nm light below chromatic threshold, with a cone color obtained from a 670 nm light presented above chromatic threshold. No evidence was obtained to support the idea that a blue produced by rods stimulated below chromatic threshold could mix with a red produced by cones stimulated above chromatic threshold. The results are discussed in terms of a rod contribution to hue which is dependent on the luminance level of short wavelength stimulation.     

Can Counselor Trainees Apply Their Skills in Actual Client Interviews?

The authors compared a skill-based training method (Carkhuff's human relations development model) with a conceptual-based training method by measuring (a) trainees' skill application in actual client interviews and (b) client outcomes. Participants were 14 male and 34 female master's degree trainees. Counseling skills were measured by rating segments of audiotaped sessions with field placement clients. Interrater reliabilities of .94 and above were achieved. A self-report instrument measured client outcome. Although the groups did not differ in responding skills at pretest, the skill-based group exhibited greater skill application in client interviews and superior client outcome ratings at posttest. Results support the use of skill-based training methods to increase trainees' skill application in applied settings.