The Stability of Vocational Interests Within Occupations Over Long Time Spans

Counselors and those responsible for the construction and maintenance of vocational interest inventories need to be aware of change in interest patterns over time within occupational groups. That issue is explored here for the SVIB by asking three questions: first, do the SVIB scales developed in the 1930's hold up in cross-validations today? Answer: yes, they appear to. Second, when various SVIB scales have been revised, have the revised scales differed drastically from the originals? Answer: not much; in a few instances, there has been no change whatsoever. Third, do the people who today hold exactly the same jobs as those held by Strong's criterion groups of the 1930's have the same interest patterns as the original group? Answer: yes, at least in one occupation, i.e., bankers. Further speculation suggests that men with similar interest patterns have sifted into similar occupations throughout recorded history.     

Medical Manichaeism

Medical discourse in the contemporary United States is rife with military metaphors. These metaphors have come under vigorous criticism over the last few decades but to no avail; the militaristic tendency has proven tenacious. This essay suggests that its tenacity stems, at least in part, from a dualistic understanding of medicine unaddressed by prior criticisms. For an alternative, this essay turns to Augustine of Hippo, balancing close readings of works that deal explicitly with medical themes—The Catholic Way of Life and the Manichean Way of Life (De moribus) and The Nature of the Good (De natura boni)—with a constructive approach. By adapting Augustine's privative account of evil, we can understand disease as a condition of loss and treatment as a task of restoration. This reconfiguration shifts the focus of our interpretive discourses from malicious invaders to a fuller affirmation of the lived experiences of those who are ill.     

DECIDING WHOM TO TELL: EXPECTATIONS AND OUTCOMES OF RAPE SURVIVORS' FIRST DISCLOSURES

In this study, 102 female rape survivors were interviewed regarding their first post-assault disclosure. Qualitative analysis revealed that nearly 75% of first disclosures were to informal support providers and over one third of the disclosures were not initiated by the survivors themselves. Over half of the survivors received positive reactions and less than one third felt the disclosure had a detrimental impact on their recovery. Loglinear analysis suggested that survivors who actively sought help from informal support providers were more likely to receive positive than negative reactions. In contrast, survivors who actively sought help from formal support providers were more likely to receive negative than positive reactions. When disclosure to formal support providers was initiated by the formal support providers themselves, however, survivors received exclusively positive reactions. Implications for future research are discussed.     

The role of patients' ability to pay, gender, and smoking history on public attitudes toward cardiac transplant allocation: an experimental investigation.

This study assessed public attitudes toward organ allocation through vignettes that were varied by patient's ability to pay (insured or uninsured), gender, and smoking history (current, former, or never). Participants were 681 adults contacted at a state driver's license office who read a vignette about a heart transplant candidate and subsequently rated their likelihood and priority of offering transplantation. Results revealed main effects for patient smoking history exclusively. Post hoc analyses for likelihood of offering transplantation revealed that participants gave higher ratings for never smokers than current smokers. For priority of transplantation, analyses revealed higher ratings for never smokers than for both former smokers and current smokers. Results suggest that public opinion about organ allocation may include the consideration of smoking history but not ability to pay or gender.     

Linking psychological need experiences to daily and recurring dreams

The satisfaction of individuals’ psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as conceived from a self-determination theory perspective, is said to be conducive to personal growth and well-being. What has been unexamined is whether psychological need-based experiences, either their satisfaction or frustration, manifests in people’s self-reported dream themes as well as their emotional interpretation of their dreams. A cross-sectional study (N?=?200; M age?=?21.09) focusing on individuals’ recurrent dreams and a three-day diary study (N?=?110; M age?=?25.09) focusing on daily dreams indicated that individuals experiencing psychological need frustration, either more enduringly or on a day-to-day basis, reported more negative dream themes and interpreted their dreams more negatively. The contribution of psychological need satisfaction was more modest, although it related to more positive interpretation of dreams. The discussion focuses on the role of dreams in the processing and integration of psychological need-frustrating experiences.