Cogent Bodies,Self-Aware Souls: An Apologetic for Theater in Christian Higher Education

Mission statements of Christian institutions of higher education often include the purpose of forming individuals to live out their Christian commitments in larger society. This article presents the case that including theater in Christian higher education prepares students to further God's kingdom in this world after graduation—whether or not they do so through the medium of theater. Specifically, the argument is that training in theater serves two primary and interrelated goals in students' development: cogent bodies, capable of representing God to others through relationships, and self-aware souls, foundational for the development of character. The conclusion offers a case example of a successful theater program at Wheaton College.     

Compliance and Satisfaction With Physician-Patient Communication An Expectancy Theory Interpretation of Gender Differences

This pair of studies sought to apply the explanatory calculus of expectancy theory to examine patient compliance and satisfaction with physicians’ instructions. Study 1 analyzed the differential expectations of patients based on gender of the physician. Results indicated that female physicians are expected to use instrumentally unaggressive strategies while male physicians are expected to use strategies that fall in the mid-range of a verbal aggression continuum. There were no differences in expectations based on the gender of patients. The second study manipulated physician communication and physician gender to predict an interaction such that when male physicians deviate from moderately aggressive, direction-giving strategies, using either more affiliative tactics or more instrumentally aggressive strategies, compliance increases. It was also predicted that affective satisfaction with male physicians would increase with increased use of affiliative, nonaggressive compliance-gaining messages. Based on expectancy theory, an inverse linear relationship between the use of instrumental verbal aggression and compliance and affective satisfaction was predicted for female physicians. Results supported the posited interaction. Implications for further refinement of expectancy theory are discussed, and practical implications for physician-patient communication in clinical situations are offered.     

HOW MUCH DO HIGH‐PERFORMANCE WORK PRACTICES MATTER? A META‐ANALYSIS OF THEIR EFFECTS ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Although there is growing evidence that high performance work practices (HPWPs) affect organizational performance, varying sample characteristics, research designs, practices examined, and organizational performance measures used has led extant findings to vary dramatically, making the size of the overall effect difficult to estimate. We use meta-analysis to estimate the effect size and test whether effects are larger for (a) HPWP systems versus individual practices, (b) operational versus financial performance measures, and (c) manufacturing versus service organizations. Statistical aggregation of 92 studies reveals an overall correlation that we estimate at .20. Also, the relationship is stronger when researchers examine systems of HPWPs and among manufacturers, but it appears invariant across performance measures. We use our findings as a basis to offer 4 suggestions intended to shape research practices such that future meta-analyses might answer today's emerging questions.     

THE FATE OF AGGRESSION IN MASO‐MASOCHISTIC RELATIONSHIPS

This paper examines an underexplored dimension of interpersonal relating: the relationship formed between two individuals who relate to each other in masochistic ways. The common assumption is that a sadist forms an alliance with a masochist, and that a balance is struck between an individual who is “one up” and another who is “one down.” However, relationships are frequently established between two people who both experience themselves as chronically “one down,” each playing victim to the other's aggression. This paper explores disavowed aggression in this type of couple, the implications of this disavowal for treatment, and the sadomasochistic reverberations within the therapist.