On‐again/off‐again dating relationships: How are they different from other dating relationships?

This article explores the understudied yet prevalent phenomenon of on‐again/off‐again (on‐off) dating relationships. Study 1 (N= 445 U.S. college students) showed that almost two thirds of participants had experienced an on‐off relationship. Analyses of open‐ended responses about relationship experiences showed on‐off partners were less likely to report positives (e.g., love and understanding from partners) and more likely to report negatives (e.g., communication problems, uncertainty) than partners who had not broken up and renewed. Study 2 (N= 236), employing quantitative measures, substantiated these findings and further showed a greater number of renewals was associated with greater negatives and fewer positives. Results highlight the need for further investigation regarding on‐off relationships, and theories potentially useful in explaining these relationships are discussed.     

THE EFFECT OF A MASTERY PRACTICE DESIGN ON LEARNING AND TRANSFER IN BEHAVIOR MODELING TRAINING

This study employed a pretest-posttest control group design in a field setting with 38 supervisors and managers to test the effect of a theory-based mastery practice design for interpersonal skills training. The mastery practice protocol was drawn from recent research in cognitive and educational psychology on complex skill acquisition. Dependent measures included knowledge retention, behavioral skill demonstration, and far transfer to the workplace based on a multirater 360-degree survey instrument. In addition, qualitative data were collected using a semistructured interview process. Comparison of the mastery practice design to conventional behavior modeling workshop practice indicated improvements in retention and behavioral demonstration measures but failed to document any effect on transfer. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Approach motivation and the expansion of self in close relationships

The self‐expansion model posits that individuals are fundamentally motivated to expand their sense of self. It is proposed that approach—but not avoidance—motivation underlies self‐expansion and that approach‐motivated individuals should be especially interested in self‐expanding with a person who provides many novel resources, identities, and perspectives. In Studies 1, 2a, and 2b, correlational evidence that self‐expansion is associated with both relationship‐specific and global measures of approach motivation, but is unrelated to avoidance motivation, was found. In Study 3, experimental evidence that approach motivation increases sensitivity to self‐expansion opportunities, such that individuals high in approach motivation are especially attracted to targets who offer many expansion opportunities and unattracted to targets who offer few expansion opportunities was found. Taken together, these studies provide evidence that self‐expansion is rooted in approach motivation.     

“Out of the Broom Closet”: The Social Ecology of American Wicca

The fastest growing form of religious identification, spirituality, or “new” religious movement in American society over the last decade is Wicca and related forms of “Neo-Paganism.” However, with no national organization and minimal local organization, little is known about its distribution across a privatized religious landscape nor about the features of state social and cultural environments that are receptive or contrary to its spread. This study uses Internet data to create estimates of the comparative strength of Wiccan-Pagan identification across the 50 states and conducts multivariate analyses of the ability of variables suggested in prior research to explain its distribution. Not only are the findings consistent with expectations, but differences in correlates of Wicca using the Internet data in contrast to existing measures of “New Age” spirituality highlight the empirical importance of maintaining distinctions between the two.     

EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF DECISION MAKERS' RACE AND GENDER ON ACTUAL PROMOTIONS TO TOP MANAGEMENT

The effects of decision makers' race and gender on promotion decisions about applicants of diverse race and gender for 51 top management positions in a cabinet-level U.S. federal department over a 12-year period were examined. Promotion decisions were made in a 2-stage process. First, a review panel decided which applicants to refer for the position. Second, the selecting official selected one of the referred applicants for the position. Overall, decisions by review panels of different race and gender composition and by selecting officials of different race and gender were to the advantage of female applicants and to the disadvantage of African American and Hispanic male applicants. These effects were not fully accounted for by race or gender differences in applicant qualifications, or by any of several theoretical explanations for the effects of race and gender on promotions to top management.