FEMALE VS. MALE ABSENCE RATES: A TEMPORAL ANALYSIS

The purpose of this research is to test the importance of temporal trends within absenteeism data for males and females. The data support previous findings of higher absenteeism rates for women when compared to men. The data also indicate the importance of temporal trends as suggested by Dansereau, Alutto, and Markham (1978). Conclusions are drawn concerning the use of absence rates as dependent variables.     

A CONCEPTUAL RATIONALE FOR THE DOMAIN AND ATTRIBUTES OF BIODATA ITEMS

There is considerable disagreement among researchers regarding the defining attributes of biodata items, especially in contrast to other self-report measures. This paper provides a conceptual rationale for the use of biodata in order to evaluate various proposed attributes of biodata, and to clarify similarities and differences between biodata and temperament items. It is suggested that the core attribute of biodata items is that the items pertain to historical events that may have shaped the person's behavior and identity. Other attributes advanced as antidotes to socially desirable responding and faking are that biodata items reflect external events, that they be limited to objective and first-hand recollections, that they be potentially verifiable, and that they measure discrete, unique events when appropriate. Some researchers also require that the life events being sampled be controllable and equally accessible to all respondents. Items may also need to be visibly job relevant and nonintrusive to avoid legal censure. Disagreements among researchers regarding the importance of these attributes are discussed, and implications for practice and research are proposed.     

Achievement motivation and problem solving

Abstract.— The relationships between achievement motivation and problem solving were discussed. It was suggested that problem solving may be differentially related to achievement motivation in high and low ability groups. In a group of 46 male students, scoring high on a test of intellectual flexibility, a positive relationship was found between a projective measure of fear of failure and solution of the Hatrack Problem. In a group of 49 male subjects with low flexibility scores, fear of failure was negatively related to problem solving. The results were taken to indicate that the ability measure represented general self confidence and expectancy. Thus subjects with high self confidence might attempt to avoid failure by trying hard to succeed, while a more probable strategy for subjects with low expectancy would be to exert little effort. A test of this hypothesis was made by analyzing a measure of overt activity in the Hatrack situation across high/low motivational and ability groups. Whereas in the high ability group subjects with high fear of failure showed a high level of activity, high fear of failure subjects in the low ability group showed a low level of activity, thus supporting the hypothesis.     

Achievement motivation and perception of the body boundary

Vollmer, F. Achievement motivation and perception of the body boundary. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 91–95.-In a group of 37 female students, a measure of the perceived body boundary (the Barrier Index) was related to three indices of achievement motivation: Hope of Success (HS), Fear of Failure (FF), and Net Hope (NH=HS minus FF). The Barrier Index correlated negatively with FF and positively with NH, but was unrelated to HS. Analysis of the NH variable showed that the correlation between NH and the Barrier Index could be ascribed alone to the strong negative relationship between FF and the Barrier Index, and that subjects with NH scores around zero, due both to high HS and high FF, scored notably low on the Barrier Index.     

Freud's “A Case of Successful Treatment by Hypnotism (1892–1893)”: An Uncommon Therapy?

Freud's first reported successful treatment by hypnosis included suggestions that have much in common with some recent developments in family systems therapy. The case is discussed within the context of the evolution of psychoanalytic and family systems theories with the view that intrapsychic and contextual forces are not mutually exclusive. The author agrees with Haley in his recent book, Uncommon Therapy, regarding the value of viewing psychiatric symptoms as manifestations of a disturbance in family relations, occurring especially at transitional stages of family development. However, the emphasis on behavior change and symptom removal restricts the potentiality of the family approach to that of psychoanalysis in 1895, when it was a naive, simplistic, and mechanistic therapy.     

NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS: PARAMETERS OF BIODATA INVASIVENESS

In this research, biodata items were evaluated for their perceived invasiveness by over 200 professionals (psychologists and social scientists), as well as three samples of nonprofessionals. In addition to item subject matter, perceived invasiveness of items was related to various biodata attributes, in that items that were more verifiable, more transparent in purpose, and more impersonal were seen as less invasive. Subjects with more positive attitudes toward biodata and organizational selection measures viewed fewer items as invasive, as did those with more education. Dispositional variables and gender were related to invasiveness perceptions in some samples. Four general motives or topics were determined to generate the greatest concern: fear of stigmatization, concern about having applicants recall traumatic events, intimacy, and religion. The results may help develop consensus about defining "invasive" and contribute to ways of reducing perceptions of invasiveness.     

Job satisfaction research of 1966-67

This review of job satisfaction research is the 24th in a series. It covers earlier studies not previously reviewed in this series as well as 103 reports published in 1966-67 relating job satisfaction to some 53 variables. The format—overview, variables investigated, current emphases—has become standard in this series. Earlier summaries will be found in Job Satisfaction by Robert Hoppock (Harper & Bros., 1935), in Occupations (April 1938, October 1940, February 1943, April 1945, April 1948, December 1948, December 1949, October 1950, May 1951, May 1952), and in the Personnel and Guidance Journal (September 1953, September 1954, May 1955, May 1956, September 1957, September 1958, May 1959, September 1960, December 1961, November 1962, October 1963, December 1964, December 1966). Readers are invited to notify the authors of research appropriate for review in future surveys.