Till death do us part: Terror management and forgiveness in close relationships

Two experiments extended terror management theory to investigate forgiveness in close relationships. We hypothesized that mortality salience would elicit less forgiveness in less committed relationships. In Experiment 1, participants were primed with either mortality salience or a physical pain control condition, recalled a recent hurtful interpersonal offense, and reported their degree of forgiveness. Mortality salience evoked less forgiveness in less committed relationships. In Experiment 2, participants were assigned to recall an offense that occurred in a low‐commitment or high‐commitment relationship. Again, mortality salience elicited less forgiveness in less committed relationships; it elicited more forgiveness in more committed relationships. Moreover, this interaction was mediated by empathy. Existential considerations may play an important role in the functioning of close relationships.     

Non‐Cognitive Constructs and Self‐Reported Creativity by Domain

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which non‐cognitive constructs (personality, thinking styles, motivation, and psychological well‐being) would predict self‐reported creativity across different domains among 266 college students. Consistent with hypotheses, openness, legislative thinking styles, and intrinsic motivation were significant predictors of overall self‐reported creativity and across several domains. Extraversion was also a key predictor. Some other relationships consistent with past research (such as disagreeableness and math/science creativity) were also noted.     

WE (SOMETIMES) KNOW NOT HOW WE FEEL: PREDICTING JOB PERFORMANCE WITH AN IMPLICIT MEASURE OF TRAIT AFFECTIVITY

In this study we examined relationships between trait affectivity and work performance. However, because trait affectivity is believed to operate primarily outside awareness, we assessed it using techniques designed to measure content at explicit  and  implicit levels. Although results were consistent across the explicit and implicit measures (i.e., positive affectivity was positively related to task performance and citizenship behavior, whereas negative affectivity was negatively related to task performance and positively related to counterproductive behavior), the implicit measure predicted greater proportions of variance in supervisor-rated criteria and did so incremental to the explicit measure. We discuss the implications of these results for theory and practice, and highlight the potential usefulness of implicit measures for applied research.     

Clinical supervisor training in Australia: A review of current problems and possible solutions

Clinical supervision cuts to the heart of professional psychology training. It is the most expensive single investment of staff time in the training of the psychology practitioner, and it appears to be the single most important contributor to training effectiveness, repaying that investment. Now there are changes afoot internationally which may change its pivotal role. For example, the Psychology Board of Australia has recently proposed that supervisors undergo approved supervisor training; in the USA, a competence‐based emphasis is gaining ground; while in the UK, supervisors within the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies initiative are receiving unprecedented training and support. It is therefore timely to clarify the need for such training and to consider promising options for its effective delivery. Following a summary of the changes within Australia, we next address these emergent problems and promising solutions by examining the available scientific evidence and by considering professional consensus statements.     

DEVELOPING A NOMOLOGICAL NETWORK FOR INTERVIEW STRUCTURE: ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE STRUCTURED SELECTION INTERVIEW

A review by Campion, Palmer, and Campion (1997) identified 15 elements of interview structure and made predictions regarding how applicants and interviewers might react to these elements. In this 2-sample field survey of 812 interviewees and 592 interviewers from over 502 organizations, interview structure was best described by 4 dimensions: (a) Questioning Consistency, (b) Evaluation Standardization, (c) Question Sophistication, and (d) Rapport Building. Interviewers with formal training and those with a selection rather than recruiting focus employed higher levels of interview structure. In addition, reactions to increased structure were mixed. Both higher structure (Question Sophistication) and lower structure (Rapport Building) were positively related to interviewer reactions. Less than 34% of interviewers had any formal interview training. However, interviewers were confident that they could identify the best candidates regardless of the amount of interview structure employed. Applicants reacted negatively to the increased perceived difficulty of structured interviews, but perceptions of procedural justice were not affected by interview structure.     

Stress, Religious Coping Resources, and Depressive Symptoms in an Urban Adolescent Sample

We surveyed low-income urban adolescents about their total exposure to urban stressors and their use of religious coping resources, specifically in the areas of social support, spiritual support, and community service opportunities provided by their congregations. Additionally, we assessed their current levels of depressive symptomatology. Among females, the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms was moderated by the use of spiritual support and community service opportunities. The moderating relationship was such that at low levels of stress, high usage of these resources protected against the development of depressive symptoms. At high levels of stress, however, the protective relationship was lost. Lastly, when the social support aspects of religious coping were statistically controlled, the moderation effect disappeared, suggesting that within this sample, the social support seeking aspects of the resources, rather than their religious nature, was responsible for the effects.     

AN ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION FOR THE ASYMMETRICAL EFFECTS IN RELATIONAL DEMOGRAPHY RESEARCH

Several relational demography studies have demonstrated asymmetrical effects of dissimilarity across different groups of employees. Some groups of employees appear to be more influenced by differences from fellow employees, whereas other groups of employees appear indifferent. Although numerous theoretical explanations have been developed to account for these asymmetrical effects, this paper argues that such effects are actually methodological artifacts resulting from an imbalance in the proportion of group members and deficiencies in the most commonly used measure of dissimilarity, Euclidean distance. This paper illustrates how such asymmetrical effects can be observed even when none exist in the population. Suggestions for methodological improvements in future diversity research are discussed along with recommendations for managing diversity in organizations.     

DISPOSITIONAL INFLUENCES ON TRANSFER OF LEARNING IN MULTISTAGE TRAINING PROGRAMS

The training effectiveness literature has paid little attention to the potentially dynamic interaction of individual differences with various phases of training in determining ultimate training success. This study investigates the role of individual differences in explaining the transfer of learning from 1 phase of training to another among pilot trainees in a multistage, aviation training program. Using 3 of the Big Five factors (Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Openness to Experience), the results showed these measures to contribute to the prediction of the number of hours it took for trainees to attain their private pilot's license. Significant interactions between some of these measures and success on an earlier, simulator phase of the training program were also found. The results are discussed in terms of both the role of individual differences in training research as well as the broader issue of transfer of learning between phases of training.