The Qatar Creativity Conference: Research and Recommendations for School,Family, and Society1

A conference on creativity and its development was held at the University of Qatar in Doha, drawing approximately 75 participants from various Arab universities plus two American speakers. Research and theoretical papers focused on models of creativity development, factors related to strengthening and measuring creative abilities, the role of the family and educational and social institutions, and fostering creative development in educational technology, arts education, and physical education. Reports and discussions also considered obstacles to creative development in Arab settings. In addition, participants itemized recommendations in the areas of creativity in general, the schools, the family, and society. The present authors noted potential difficulties related to language differences, the role of women, and frequently-mentioned authoritarian teaching practices, plus a current opportunity for Arab creativity research related to recent worldwide media influence.     

Can Outcome Expectancies Help Explain Sex Differences in Direct and Indirect Aggression?

This study examined the role of outcome expectancies in explaining sex differences in adolescents' inclination to engage in acts of aggression. Using a sample of Australian adolescents, 2 scales were developed to measure outcome expectancies of direct and indirect aggression. The data were used in subsequent mediation analyses. Sex differences in direct aggression were partially mediated by 2 types of aggression expectancies. Relative to females, males anticipated more overall benefits associated with acting aggressively and less fear of reprisals from authority figures. This pattern of expectancy beliefs predicted higher levels of self‐reported direct aggression. Sex differences in indirect aggression were fully mediated by anticipation of personal benefits, with males expecting greater personal benefits for engaging in this type of aggression.     

Spiritual Empowerment: A Metaphor for Counseling

The metaphor of counseling as spiritual empowerment is presented, followed by an explanation of spiritual empowerment as a metaphor and spiritual empowerment as a theoretical framework for counselors. In the use of this metaphor, counselors initiate a spiritual experience with clients, and clients often experience a spiritual awakening in which they discover or rediscover their own spiritual power. Five conclusions are identified.     

Exploring the Emotional Side of Job Search Behavior for Younger Workforce Entrants

Using a sample of 332 younger (ages 18–23) workforce entrants broken into subsamples, Study 1 found empirical support for 2 distinct types of job search behavior, detached and interactive. These 2 dimensions seemed to represent different levels of emotional involvement in the job search process. Significant correlates for each dimension of job search behavior were found. Using a separate sample of 117 working college students, Study 2 found that extroverted individuals favored interactive job search behaviors, whereas introverted individuals favored detached job search behaviors. The implications of these results are discussed and future areas of research are identified.     

The Effect of Tomm's Therapeutic Questioning Styles on Therapeutic Alliance: A Clinical Analog Study

10 suggests that circular and reflexive questions tend to elicit feelings of freedom/acceptance whereas lineal and strategic questions usually trigger feelings of judgment/constraint. Employing an analog methodology, each of Tomm's four questioning styles was portrayed in the form of a 5-minute videotaped intake scenario. Forty family triads with a mother, father, and adolescent son were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions with ten families each. Each condition involved viewing one of four questioning style scenarios. All participants (N = 120 individuals — 40 mothers, 40 fathers, and 40 adolescent sons) completed the Family Therapy Alliance Scale (FTAS; 9 ) and a validity-check instrument. The results indicated that circular and reflexive questioning styles elicited significantly higher (p < .001 ) alliance scores on the FTAS than did either lineal or strategic questions. Implications for the use of different types of questions in family therapy are discussed.     

MEASUREMENT ERROR IN RESEARCH ON THE HUMAN RESOURCES AND FIRM PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP: FURTHER EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS

Our earlier article in Personnel Psychology demonstrated how general-izability theory could be used to obtain improved reliability estimates in the human resource (HR) and firm performance literature and that correcting for unreliability using these estimates had important implications for the magnitude of the HR and firm performance relationship. In their comment, Huselid and Becker both raise criticisms specific to our study and broad issues for the field to consider. In our present article, we argue, using empirical evidence whenever possible, that the issues and criticisms raised by Huselid and Becker do not change our original conclusions. We also provide new evidence on how the reliability of HR-related measures may differ at different levels of analysis. Finally, we build on Huselid and Becker's helpful discussion of broad research design and strategy issues in the HR and firm performance literature in an effort to help researchers make better informed choices regarding their own research designs and strategies in the area.