Some Implications of Recent Research in Social and Developmental Psychology for Counseling Practice

Blocher sees four implications for counseling as a result of the additions to research and theory building of social, developmental, and general psychology. From social influence theory, from cognitive, behavioral, humanistic, and developmental research (and their hyphenated combinations) he offers a prototype “systematic eclectic” task-model directed toward implications (1) counseling is a social influence process, (2) counseling centers on the client's cognitive activity, (3) a major variable in the outcome of counseling is the level of the client's cognitive development, and (4) counselors may need intervention programs to raise cognitive levels.     

A PROCESS-ORIENTED INVESTIGATION OF RECRUITMENT SOURCE EFFECTIVENESS1

Two hypotheses explaining the causes of differences in recruitment source effectiveness, the realism of job information provided and the characteristics of individuals recruited, were tested on a sample of packaging plant employees. Seven recruitment sources used by the plant were found to differ in effectiveness as measured by attendance, performance and tenure. The hypothesis that recruitment sources differ because they reach individuals from different applicant populations received strongest support. Implications of the findings for future research and for organizational recruitment programs are discussed.     

Prevalence and severity of anxiety, depression and Type A behaviors in angina pectoris

The role of psychological factors in coronary heart disease was examined by administering the Bech Rating Scale (BRS) of mood disorders and the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) for Type A behavior patterns (TABP) to a consecutive sample of angina patients ( N = 94), to a consecutive sample of noncardiac patients ( N = 47), and to a random sample of adults from the general population ( N = 217). Anxiety and depression were both more frequent and more severe in angina patients than in noncardiac patients or in the general population. There was a tendency for certain components of TABP (i. e. speed, impatience, hard-driving and competitive disposition) to be elevated in angina patients, but a similar trend was noted in noncardiac patients. Although no consistent relations were observed between negative emotions and TABP scores in angina patients, their anxiety and depression scores were reliably related to their use of nitroglycerin. The findings concur with previous studies concerning the presence of anxiety and depression in patients with angina pectoris and indicate that such negative emotions are not closely related to Type A personality traits.     

I Am Who I Am and Who I Am Needs no Excuses

The journey to becoming a counselor may be long or difficult. For others, the journey is simply moving from one career to another. This is a summary of author's journey to become a counselor, including his experiences as a member of the clergy.     

Religious Counseling: To Be Used,Not Feared

Our society is placing more emphasis on religion and religious issues. Persons seeking counseling often request Christian counseling. Students in academic settings often express an interest in becoming Christian counselors. Often the religious aspect is left out or avoided in courses for training counselors. This article gives some specific ways in which religious issues can be used in a counseling setting using the three ps: place, personhood and philosophy.     

Effects of Alcohol on Persistent Effort and Deductive Thinking During the Preparation Phase of the Creative Process

According to the four stage model of creativity (Wallas, 1926/1970) the first stage is a phase of preparation, which requires a persistent intellectual effort over time and ability to reason deductively. The present study explored whether alcohol intoxication would impair these two abilities. 42 men and women were randomly assigned to either an Alcohol, a Placebo, or a Control group. After drinking subjects completed two tests measuring persistent effort and deductive reasoning. Results indicated that the Alcohol and Placebo groups were impaired with respect to persistent effort and that the Alcohol group also was impaired with respect to deductive reasoning. Consequences for the creative production under alcohol intoxication were discussed.     

An Empirically Derived Typology of Families: I. Relationships with Adult Health

In this report we describe the development and partial validation of an empirically derived typology of families based on 11 family variable composites derived from the California Family Health Project. Our goal was to use the typology to condense and integrate the findings from previous analyses of a large group of family variables and to account for differences in the self-reported health of adult family members. Exploratory and confirmatory cluster analyses conducted separately by gender classified 97% of the sample into four parallel types for husbands and wives: Balanced, Traditional, Disconnected, and Emotionally Strained. A 1-way MANOVA indicated that all 11 family variable composites significantly differentiated the four family types for husbands and wives. Significant differences among the four family types were also found on 10 demographic and other family variables, using ANOVA. Using MANOVA, we compared the four family types on 12 self-reported health and well-being variables by gender. Both husbands and wives from Balanced and Traditional families reported higher health scores than spouses from Disconnected and Emotionally Strained families, but no single profile of health scores was unique to a particular family type. The four family types provide an integrated and comprehensive framework for describing the family in health research.     

Understanding Betrayals in Marriage: A Synthesized Model of Forgiveness

Forgiveness is an issue that is problematic for many couples, particularly those in marital therapy. However, little attention has been paid to this construct in the psychological literature. The purpose of this article is to describe a synthesized model of forgiveness using constructs from multiple theories, including forgiveness, trauma recovery, cognitive-behavioral, family systems, and insight-oriented theories. Forgiveness is conceptualized as a process consisting of three stages, each of which has cognitive, behavioral, and affective components. Furthermore, these stages seem to parallel a person's natural response to traumatic stress. First, there is a response to the initial impact; second, there is an attempt to give the event some kind of meaning, or put it into context; and finally, the person begins to move forward and readjust. Forgiveness is conceptualized as attaining: (a) a realistic, nondistorted, balanced view of the relationship; (b) a release from being controlled by negative affect toward the participating partner; and (c) a lessened desire to punish the participating partner. Implications for marital therapy also are discussed.     

The California Family Health Project: VI. Multidomain Analyses

The preceding articles in this series have reported associations between each of four domains of family variables (World View, Emotion Management, Structure/Organization, Problem Solving) and the Health of adults in a community-based sample of 225 families. In this article, we explore the relationships among all four family domains (73 variables) and between all four family domains and adult Health. The results of both principal components and multidimensional scaling analyses suggested the viability of the four-family-domain framework. As expected, the pattern of relationships among the variables in each family domain was maintained when Health was added to the analyses. Using multidimensional scaling analysis, we also found that the relationship between some family domains and Health changed when viewed in the context of the other family domains. These shifts suggested the importance of family context on the relationship of that family domain and Health. Family World View and Emotion Management maintained their relationships with Health; family Structure/Organization shifted relatively moderately; and Problem Solving shifted substantially. Family World View and family Emotion Management may be relatively more independent in their relation to family member health than family Structure/Organization and Problem Solving.