Salesperson Job Involvement: A Modern Perspective a New Scale

Job involvement is a person's psychological identification or commitment to his/her job. Job involvement is an important construct in salesforce performance research because (1) it is a relevant consequence of a salesperson's work environment and internal feelings, (2) it is a relevant antecedent of a number of important sales job outcomes, and (3) it impacts the socialization process for salespeople. Because sales jobs have changed markedly over the past decade, a salesperson's job involvement now tends to be more focused on relationships with clients and less on aspects within an organizational boundary. The most widely used measure of job involvement (Lodahl and Kejner 1965) is not occupation-specific to sales. This article outlines the development of a new scale for relationship-based salesperson job involvement utilizing rigorous assessments of reliability, validity, and dimensionality within a broad sample of practicing salespeople.     

Socioeconomic Factors in Relation to Discrepancy in Parent versus Teacher Ratings of Child Behavior

Discrepancies between observers are common in studies of child behavior problems that rely on behavior ratings. Although modest concordance between informants is well-documented, little is known about characteristics that predict discrepancies. In 477 children aged 5 to 12 years, maternal age and indicators of socioeconomic status (SES; maternal education, family income) were evaluated in relation to score discrepancies between the Child Behavior Checklist and Teacher Report Form for Total, Externalizing and Internalizing Problems. Family income <?$35,000 was independently associated with discrepancies in which mothers rated more clinically significant child behavior problems than teachers for Total, Externalizing and Internalizing Problems [odds ratio (OR)?=?3.26, 95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.19–8.96, OR?=?2.76, 95 % CI 1.03–7.34 and OR?=?3.07, 95 % CI 1.30–7.26, respectively]. Maternal education was not associated with discrepancies, but younger mothers were less likely to rate child’s behavior in the clinical range for Externalizing Problems than teachers (OR per year of age?=?0.88, 95 % CI 0.81–0.96). These results suggest that studies that utilize only maternal or teacher report of child behavior may have misclassification of outcomes that is dependent on SES and could produce biased results.     

Intrinsicality and Grounding

A number of philosophers have recently claimed that intrinsicality can be analysed in terms of the metaphysical notion of grounding. Since grounding is a hyperintensional notion, accounts of intrinsicality in terms of grounding, unlike most other accounts, promise to be able to discriminate between necessarily coextensive properties that differ in whether they are intrinsic. They therefore promise to be compatible with popular metaphysical theories that posit necessary entities and necessary connections between wholly distinct entities, on which it is plausible that there are such properties. This paper argues that this promise is illusory. It is not possible to give an analysis of intrinsicality in terms of grounding that is consistent with these theories. Given an adequate analysis should be compatible with these theories, it follows that it is not possible to analyse intrinsicality in terms of grounding.     

Reducing Identity Distress: Results of an Identity Intervention for Emerging Adults

Emerging adulthood is a transitional period between adolescence and adulthood where positive and negative life trajectories tend to diverge, with issues surrounding identity formation playing a key role. The present study evaluated the Miami Adult Development Project, a self-facilitated identity-focused intervention. The sample consisted of 141 emerging adults (19?29 years old; M = 23.08) who completed pretest and posttest assessments. Results indicated participation in the intervention relative to the comparison group was associated with lower levels of identity distress and higher levels of well-being via the reduction of identity distress and the development of a consolidated identity (commitment and synthesis). The present study provides evidence for the effectiveness of positive identity interventions during emerging adulthood.     

Broadening Horizons: Self‐Expansion in Relational and Non‐Relational Contexts

The self‐expansion model posits that individuals are motivated to broaden their sense of self by acquiring new identities, developing new perspectives, enhancing capabilities, and gaining resources. The self‐expansion motivation is driven by individuals' desire to increase their potential self‐efficacy and ability to accomplish goals. In this article, we discuss two main ways individuals self‐expand – by forming relationships and including the other in the self and through engaging in novel activities that are challenging and/or interesting either on one's own or with a relationship partner. We provide an overview of recent research detailing the numerous interpersonal and intrapersonal benefits and implications of self‐expansion. Additionally, we differentiate self‐expansion from a series of potentially associated constructs.     

The Mutually Facilitating Maturational Matrix

The author discusses several significant points made by Dr. Lewis Aron in his rich discussion of birth fantasies and themes in relation to perinatal familial circumstances. Contributing a wide variety of clinical vignettes, Dr. Willock portrays the possibility (perhaps the necessity) of revisiting and revising these foundational fantasies as the patient’s internal object world is reconfigured. New birth fantasies often first see the light of day in dreams. As the transformative thrust gains momentum, constricted repetition yields to promising renaissance. New hope and enthusiasm begins replacing archaic, limiting, organizing principles. Embracing a comparative-integrative approach, the author considers a year of the analysis described by Dr. Aron from multiple perspectives. Each viewpoint contributes something unique to our understanding. Combined, these diverse frameworks shed valuable light on the nature of the presenting difficulties and the impressive analytic progress achieved by Dr. Aron and his analysand.