Types of Paradoxical Intervention and Indications/Contraindications for Use in Clinical Practice

A review of theoretical mechanisms underlying paradoxical interventions is undertaken in an effort to classify them into three broad types: redefinition, symptom escalation and crisis induction, and redirection. A list of individual and family patient characteristics and problems particularly applicable to each type of paradoxical intervention is presented along with contraindications for use. Last, implications for training and cautions as to their use are presented.     

DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF SEXUAL COMPOSITION AND INTERACTIONAL CONTEXT ON INTERACTION PATTERNS IN DYADS

Recent research into whether males and females differ in their communication has been confounded by several variables: perceptual measures, observing isolated behaviors, and same-sex or mixed-sex composition of the communicative system. Some research has suggested that the interactional context may affect whether males and females communicate differently at all. This study sought to determine the differential impact of sexual composition and one aspect of interactional context (specifically, competitive or cooperative orientation) on interaction patterns in same-sex and mixed-sex dyads. Results confirm the expectation that competitive/cooperative orientation exerts a significant impact on both content and relationship patterns of interaction. Results also demonstate that the sexual composition of the dyads did not affect the interaction patterns, measured on any of five dimensions of interactional functions, in competitive dyads, cooperative dyads, or all dyads taken together.     

The Impact of Conflict Issues on Fixed-Pie Perceptions, Problem Solving, and Integrative Outcomes in Negotiation

It is argued that a negotiator's fixed-pie perception, cooperative motivation, problem-solving behavior, and integrative outcomes are influenced by the content of the negotiation—the conflict issue. Negotiation involves conflicting interests, conflicting ideas about intellective problems, or conflicting ideas about evaluative problems. Study 1 showed that individuals in a negotiation about interests have a stronger fixed-pie perception and have a lower cooperative motivation than individuals in an evaluative negotiation, with intellective negotiations taking an intermediate position. Study 2 showed that individuals in a negotiation about interests made more trade-offs and reached higher joint outcomes than individuals in an intellective or evaluative negotiation. Study 3 replicated this finding in a field study. The studies bridge insights from negotiation research and decision-making research and show that the conflict issue has important effects on the negotiation process.