Measuring Responsiveness in the Therapeutic Relationship: A Patient Perspective

This article reports results from a three-country study of patient perceptions of physician responsiveness. Based on existing research in the medical and social-psychological literatures, we theorized that patients' perceptions of physician responsiveness to their needs would be an important component of the patient–physician relationship and that this construct could be distinguished reliably from more global assessments of patient satisfaction. We then developed a new measure designed to assess these perceptions from the patients' point of view. This measure was administered to large samples of patients in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Results supported our hypotheses. Patient perception of physician responsiveness significantly predicted both patient satisfaction and subjective health-related problems, over and above effects attributable to general satisfaction. We also noted the absence of significant differences across the three cultures or sex, suggesting that the process we identify has considerable generality. We also describe a short version of our measure that researchers may find useful in a variety of research or clinical settings.     

Tribal morality and civilization

The present paper attempts to clarify the cognitive conditions which make it possible to define so‐called reality from five individual criteria and a confrontation to the paradigms of the community. Reality unfolds from potentially infinite reiteration, but can actually be caught only through finite operations. Our access to discoveries and increased knowledge depends upon abduction which enables us to probe the viability of unlikely hypotheses. Man becomes autonomous through using abduction; that is to say through interacting within the family and the constraints of social ecosystems which built his identity, and his conflictual access to the construction of reality.     

The Effects of Coaching and Speeding on Big Five and Impression Management Scale Scores

We examined the effects of coaching and speeding on personality scale scores in a faking context (N = 192). A completely crossed 2 × 2 experimental design was used in which instructions (no coaching or coaching) and speeding (with or without a time limit) were manipulated. No statistically significant effects on scale scores were evidenced for speeding. Coaching participants significantly elevated scores (average d = .76) for each of the Big Five personality factors but did not significantly elevate the scores on the Impression Management scale (d = .06). Cognitive ability was significantly positively related to impression management for uncoached participants but not for coached participants. An exploratory simulation suggests that coaching would have an effect on who would be selected for a job.     

The Effects of Warnings and Speeding on Scale Scores and Convergent Validity of Conscientiousness

We examined the effects of warnings and speeding on scale scores and convergent validity of a measure of Conscientiousness in a faking context (N = 329). A completely crossed 2 × 2 experimental design was used in which instructions (no warning or a warning) and speeding (with or without a time limit) were manipulated. No statistically significant effects on scale scores or convergent validity were evidenced for speeding. Warning participants did decrease Conscientiousness scores by almost 1 standard deviation (d = .91). Warnings also moderated the relationship between self- and observer-ratings of Conscientiousness such that the relationship between self- and observer-ratings was statistically significant and positive in the warned conditions (r _partial = .29, p < .01, n = 136), but this same relationship was statistically nonsignificant (r _partial = ?.14, p > .05, n = 148) in the unwarned conditions.     

Evaluating the Psychometric and Measurement Characteristics of a Measure of Sexual Orientation Harassment

We use classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT) methodologies to examine the psychometric and measurement properties of an instrument designed to assess sexual orientation harassment among military personnel (N?=?71,989). CTT analyses indicated that items were unidimensional and exhibited adequate levels of reliability. IRT analyses demonstrated that the items functioned similarly and exhibited appropriate levels of item discrimination. However, the analyses also suggested that the sensitivity of the items may be limited. Differential test functioning analyses provided evidence of the measurement equivalence of the instrument across male and female respondents. The findings provide support for the psychometric properties and measurement equivalence of the instrument for measuring sexual orientation harassment among male and female military personnel. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research on sexual orientation harassment in the workplace.     

McColl and Minimization

In 1952, Quine showed that the problem of reducing a propositional formula to a simplest normal equivalent can be solved in two steps, viz., (i) express the given formula, Φ, equivalently as the disjunction of all its prime implicants, and (ii) find all non-redundant disjunctions of the latter that are equivalent to Φ (Quine 1952 Quine, W. V. 1952. ‘The problem of simplifying truth functions’. American Mathematical Monthly, 59: 521–531. [Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). However, it seems not generally known that an ingenious form of the same two-step process was published by Hugh McColl in 1878.     

Sexting, Catcalls, and Butt Slaps: How Gender Stereotypes and Perceived Group Norms Predict Sexualized Behavior

The current study examined the role of endorsed stereotypes about men and women and perceived peer norms in predicting three distinct types of stereotypical sexualized behaviors (verbal, physical, and indirect) among late adolescents. Two hundred and fifty U.S. college students from the mid-South (178 females, 72 males) between the ages of 17 and 19 completed a number of surveys regarding sexual gender stereotypes (e.g., men are sex-focused and women are sexual objects), perceived peer norms about the acceptability of stereotypical sexualized behaviors (SSB), and their own SSBs. Results revealed that most college students have perpetrated these SSBs at least once, and that the most common form of sexualized behavior was verbal SSB, such as rating someone’s body. Results also showed that, although the young men and women did not differ in their perpetration of indirect SSBs (e.g., sending pictures via text), young men perpetrated more verbal and physical SSB than women. For young women, endorsing the idea that men are sex-focused predicted all three types of SSB. For young men, endorsing the stereotype that men are sex-focused predicted verbal and physical SSB, and endorsing the stereotype that women are sex objects predicted physical SSB. Importantly, perceived peer group norms were a significant predictor of all three types of SSB for both women and men. Thus, the current study suggests that distinct types of stereotypical sexualized behaviors are common among college students, and are predicted by an individual’s stereotypes about men and women and perceived peer norms.     

The Relevance of Age of Onset to the Psychopathology of Social Phobia

The present study aimed to examine the relevance of age of onset to the psychopathology of social phobia using a large clinical sample of 210 patients with social phobia. The two most common periods of onset were during adolescence (ages 14–17) and early childhood (prior to age 10). Structural regression modeling was used to test predictions that early onset social phobia would be associated with greater severity of the disorder, stronger current symptoms of depression and anxiety, greater functional impairment, and more pronounced levels of emotional disorder vulnerabilities (e.g., neuroticism/behavioral inhibition, extraversion, perceptions of control). Logistic regression was used to evaluate relationships between age of onset and the presence of acute and chronic stress at the time of onset. Results showed that earlier age of social phobia onset was associated with stronger current psychopathology, functional impairment, and emotional disorder vulnerabilities, and that later age of onset predicted the presence of an acutely stressful event around the time of disorder emergence. These results are discussed in regard to their clinical implications and congruence with prominent etiological models of the emotional disorders.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Advancing the Field of Selling and Sales Management

The authors served as Special Issue Guest Editors for this issue of JPSSM. In this introduction to the Special Issue, they discuss how the issue was conceived and produced, and express their gratitude to the many colleagues who worked to make the issue a success.     

Adapting Motivation,Control, and Compensation Research to A New Environment

The authors discuss the need to adapt research in three substantively related but paradigmatically diverse research domains (salesperson motivation, control systems, and compensation) in light of the evolving selling environment. A key objective is to suggest the desirability of integrating these literatures, which, ultimately, all seek to inform management regarding how salespeople and sales organizations can be encouraged to become more productive. The authors maintain that specification of the right goals and metrics constitutes a fundamental common denominator across the three literatures.