Preference and similarity: affective and cognitive judgement?

This study is a test of some implications of the distinction between cognitive and affective processes proposed by Zajonc (1980), applied to preference and similarity judgements. Preference and similarity data were obtained for male and female subjects judging male and female cinema actors. Preference judgements were assumed to be an example of primarily affective judgement, similarity was assumed to be mainly cognitive. It was furthermore assumed that men when judging women and women judging men should be more affectively involved than the opposite cases. It was predicted (a) that making preference judgements would be more confident, (b) that such judgements would be more stable, (c) that preference judgements would show a more simple structure than similarity judgements, and (d) that the difference between similarities and preferences with regard to the level of complexity indicated by the ratings should be especially large with large affective involvement. In support of Zajonc's model, preference judgements were given with more confidence by the subjects and they were more stable over time. There was a tendency for similarity spaces to be more complex for affectively involved subjects while the opposite occurred for preference ratings. Women seemed to react more negatively to the similarity task than men did.     

DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIPLE JOB PERFORMANCE MEASURES IN A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF JOBS

The goal of criterion development in Project A was to construct multiple measures of the major components of job performance such that the total performance domain for a representative sample of the population of entry-level enlisted positions in the U.S. Army was covered. These measures were to be used as criteria against which to validate both experimental and existing predictors of job performance. The initial model specified that performance is multidimensional within two major categories of dimensions designated as organization-wide and job specific. The development strategy involved describing the total domain of job content via extensive task analyses and critical incident analyses, generating the critical performance dimensions that constitute it, constructing measures for each dimension, and evaluating each measure using expert judgment and field test data. The specific measures developed consisted of rating scales, tests of job knowledge, hands-on job samples, and archival records. The major steps in the job analyses, content sampling, instrument construction, and instrument evaluation are described, and the final array of criterion measures is presented.     

COMPARING RECRUITER, STUDENT, AND FACULTY PERCEPTIONS OF IMPORTANT APPLICANT AND JOB CHARACTERISTICS

This study investigated the extent to which corporate recruiters, students and faculty share an understanding of important job applicant characteristics and desirable job factors. Multivariate analyses revealed significant differences between the three groups. The implications of these findings for recruitment, selection, and career counseling are discussed.     

The Moral Nature of Psychotherapy

Although psychotherapists are aware that psychotherapy is a value-laden practice, they do not generally appreciate that psychotherapy is necessarily based on moral values. Conceptions of moral values as attitudes regarding the well-being of others and of human enterprises as actions based on reasoned choices or values are presented. The nature of psychotherapy as a moral enterprise is shown through an examination of two views of theory. Theories, the typical basis for guiding and justifying practice, either contain moral values or require them as assumptions necessary for practice. Implications for the teaching and presentation of forms of psychotherapy are briefly discussed.     

The Limits of Reciprocity in Behavioral Marriage Therapy

This reexamination of the values underlying Behavioral Marriage Therapy (BMT) focuses on the central theoretical concept of reciprocity. It is suggested that BMT's emphasis on individuality and instrumental exchange may not be suitable for all couples. An alternative perspective, emphasizing a developmental progression in marriage reciprocity defined by mutual understanding, is seen to be more sensitive to the differing value systems of couples in therapy.     

A student-operated crisis center

In this article we describe an attempt to meet a university community's needs for emergency mental health services through the establishment of a student-operated telephone emergency service. The service provides an interesting model for use of nonprofessionals in mental health services, in which the professional functions primarily as a trainer and consultant rather than offering direct services. We describe the structure of the center and then discuss further innovations and projects.     

Mapping and/or Discovering Meaning in Family Therapy: An E-Mail Conversation

Editor's Note: Because of the provocative and stimulating nature of the study reported on by Steven Kogan and Jerry Gale in their article "Decentering Therapy," I have invited one of our Advisory Editors, Chris Beels, to provide some comments about the study and its implications. However, rather than use the standard for mat of a formal "Commentary," followed by an "Authors' Response," Beels, Kogan, and Gale have instead carried out a series of e-mail exchanges, with reactions and responses going back and forth in the form of a dialogue. What follows is a slightly edited version of their conversation. As you will see, this exchange has afforded Beels, Kogan, and Gale the opportunity not only to critique each other's ideas, but also to raise questions and to puzzle together about the linkages that might be forged between the Kogan and Gale study and earlier therapy process research carried out by Beels using Scheflen's context analysis techniques. The use of a conversation format seemed more consonant with the research being discussed, research that urges a stance of openness and curiosity rather than formal hypothesis testing and closure. Hence my decision to endorse this experiment in "commentary as conversation," rather than "commentary as debate." What follows is the first three rounds of this "conversation," with the "roughess" of ordinary e-mail communications retained, but with some minor editing in order to facilitate clarity and narrative flow .