Exploring Social Justice Via Résumés

Much expert advice about résumé writing is available. Whereas some job seekers will use self‐help guides to construct their résumés, others will seek the assistance of career counselors. Career counselors have a significant opportunity to engage clients in holistic career considerations when helping them to construct résumés. Especially significant is the opportunity to identify possible client disadvantages stemming from social injustices. Résumé‐writing assistance is enhanced through the application of career microcounseling. This article examines social justice issues that may be embedded during résumé writing. A review of microcounseling skills is presented, and examples of applying them during résumé writing are provided.     

Individual Differences in Commitment to Value‐Based Beliefs and the Amplification of Perceived Belief Dissimilarity Effects

The commitment to beliefs (CTB) framework (Maxwell‐Smith & Esses, 2012) proposes that there are individual differences in the extent to which people generally follow beliefs that are a reflection of their values. The current research hypothesized that CTB would amplify the effects of perceived belief dissimilarity or incompatibility, such that individuals higher in CTB would display more pronounced reactions to belief‐relevant groups, events, or individuals seen as incompatible with their value‐based beliefs. We tested our hypothesis in three studies that assessed participants' CTB and their perceptions of belief dissimilarity or incompatibility with regard to other religious groups (Study 1), political parties during a national election (Study 2), and their romantic partner (Study 3). CTB amplified the effects of perceived belief dissimilarity or incompatibility on people's biases toward other religious groups, voting intentions and behavior in a national election, and their evaluative and behavioral responses toward their romantic partner. These results collectively suggest that perceptions of belief dissimilarity or incompatibility are particularly important cues for individuals with higher levels of CTB as they encounter other people or events that are relevant to their beliefs.     

Changes in step variability of new walkers with typical development and with Down syndrome

Models of human gait are based on adult locomotion. C. E. Bauby and A. D. Kuo (2000) proposed that adults rely on passive mechanisms at the spinal level to control motion in the anteroposterior direction and rely on direct monitoring of postural control in the lateral direction. The authors' purpose in this study was to determine if that model applies to control at the onset of walking in typically developing toddlers (n = 9) and in toddlers with Down syndrome (n = 6). Their longitudinal data suggested that toddlers control gait in a distinctly different manner than adults do. An adult pattern of control emerges with experience. In addition, the effect of experience on the emergence of that pattern is magnified by task-specific early intervention. The present data support the emergence and discovery of efficient patterns of control in this fundamental human behavior.     

Examination stress as an ecological inducer of cortisol and psychological responses to stress in undergraduate students

The purpose of the present study was to investigate basic methodological issues related to the usage of an examination stress protocol in studies of psychoneuroendocrinology. In the present study, 57 undergraduate students served as participants. All subjects provided salivary samples and completed psychological inventories during a low examination stress period and again during a high examination stress period. Salivary samples were analyzed for cortisol. Three major findings were observed. First, the examination stress protocol proved to be an effective trigger of elevations in both psychological measures of stress and in cortisol levels. Second, sex differences were observed in cortisol levels, such that males showed an elevation in cortisol during the high examination stress session whereas females did not. Finally, no significant correlations were observed between elevations in psychological measures of stress and elevations in cortisol levels. These findings suggest that the examination stress protocol used in the present study effectively elevated both psychological stress and cortisol levels. Furthermore, these findings suggest that there are biological differences in how males and females respond to stress. Finally, no evidence was found to suggest a relationship between psychological and hormonal levels of stress. Together, these findings suggest the need to better define and consider the implications of both the specific measures of stress being used and individual differences in the subject samples in psychoendocrine studies.     

Dealing With Complexity Differently: From Interaction-Dominant Dynamics to Theoretical Plurality

We describe how the work of Guy Van Orden has been deeply influential in a variety of ways and focus on 2 important features: measurement and context. The centrality of these variables in understanding how psychological regularities emerge in our investigative contexts, and evolve into theories, recommends a different way of dealing with complexity. We argue that the Van Orden approach has, as one possible consequence, a plural approach to psychological phenomena. We end by describing what this means for cognitive science.