Self-Efficacy and Burnout in Teaching: The Importance of Interpersonal-Relations Efficacy

This study investigated the association between perceived self-efficacy and burnout among teachers. Self-efficacy has been defined operationally based on a three-dimensional conceptualization: task, relations and organization. Efficacy variables were three classroom efficacy factors: instruction (task), discipline control (task), and consideration (relations), and two organizational efficacy factors: inclusion (task) and influence (relations). Burnout was measured as both a three-dimensional measure comprised of exhaustion, unaccomplishment and depersonalization, and as a single dimension (a composite score including all three dimensions). A sample of 322 Israeli teachers completed a self-report questionnaire. Multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) and multiple regression analysis were used. It was found that perceived sense of self-efficacy was inversely correlated with perceived burnout: the lower the sense of self-efficacy, the higher the perceived burnout. The salience of organizational influence efficacy, and consideration efficacy (both are relations efficacies) were noted as important variables in predicting exhaustion, unaccomplishment and depersonalization. Task efficacies (e.g., instruction, discipline control, and inclusion) had no significant or meaningful weight in statistically predicting burnout beyond the relations efficacies. The importance of the organizational self-efficacy (teachers' beliefs in their ability to influence social and political forces within the organization, involvement in planning and executing important activities, as well as ability to draw upon the organization's resources to provide support and assistance) was discussed.     

Counterexamples to Recovery and the Filtering Condition

David Makinson has argued that the compelling character of counterexamples to the Recovery Condition on contraction is due to an appeal to justificational structure. In “naked theories” where such structure is ignored or is not present, Recovery does apply. This note attempts to show that Makinson is mistaken on both counts. Recovery fails when no appeal is made to justificational structure. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Burnout in School Principals: Role Related Antecedents

The school principal's professional world is characterized by overwhelming responsibilities, information perplexities, and emotional anxiety. The main purpose of this study was to map the common work-related stressors encountered by principals and to assess their relative weight in terms of predicting school principal burnout. A sample of 821 elementary and secondary, male and female school principals participated in the study. They completed a self-report questionnaire containing two scales: a burnout scale (measured as a three-dimensional concept consisting of exhaustion, depersonalization, and accomplishment), and a role-pressures scale. Multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA), multiple linear regression, and discriminant function analysis were used in data processing. Findings show that burnout was affected mostly by pressures stemming from teachers and parents, and to a lesser extent, from overload (qualitative and quantitative). Differences between elementary and secondary school principals were noted. The findings imply that principals who feel that their leadership is challenged or rejected feel strongly stressed and eventually burned-out.     

Genetic enhancement and the fate of the worse off

When reflecting on arguments in the debate about genetic technologies, decision makers must try to be empathetic to those who are worse off. Disparities in health and health care in the U.S. pale when global facts are considered. Although U.S. citizens ought to be concerned about the worse off in the U.S., such concern ultimately must be balanced against the urgent imperative to address the plight of those in poor countries. It is a matter of fairness that care and concern be directed to those who are truly worse off in global terms.     

Applied ethics in mental health in Cuba: part II--power differentials,dilemmas, resources,and limitations

This article is the second one in a series dealing with mental health ethics in Cuba. It reports on ethical dilemmas, resources and limitations to their resolution, and recommendations for action. The data, obtained through individual interviews and focus groups with 28 professionals, indicate that Cubans experience dilemmas related to (a) the interests of clients, (b) their personal interests, and (c) the interests of the state. These conflicts are related to power differentials among (a) clients and professionals, (b) professionals from different disciplines, and (c) professionals and organizational authorities. Resources to solve ethical dilemmas include government support, ethics committees, and collegial dialogue. Limitations include minimal training in ethics, lack of safe space to discuss professional disagreements, and little tolerance for criticism. Recommendations to address ethical dilemmas include better training, implementation of a code of ethics, and provision of safe space to discuss ethical dilemmas. The findings are discussed in light of the role of power in applied ethics.     

Applied ethics in mental health in Cuba: part I--guiding concepts and values

As part of a project on professionals' lived experience of ethics, this article explores the guiding concepts and values concerning ethics of mental health professionals in Cuba. The data, obtained through individual interviews and focus groups with 28 professionals, indicate that Cubans conceptualize applied ethics in terms of its central role in professional practice and its connection to the social context and subjective processes. Findings also show that Cuban professionals are guided not only by a set of professional values but by a set of civic values as well. The former are subdivided into other-oriented values and self-oriented values. The study of ethics in another culture such as Cuba offers a unique point of view from which to critique the social construction of our own conceptions of applied ethics in North America.     

L'idée de la logique formelle dans les appendices VI à X du volume 12 des Husserliana (1970)

Gödel always claimed that he did not know Skolem's Helsinki lecture when writing his dissertation. Some questions and doubts have been raised about this claim, in particular on the basis of a library slip showing that he had requested Skolem's paper in 1928. It is shown that this library slip does not constitute evidence against Gödel's claim, and that, on the contrary, the library slip and other archive material actually corroborate what Gödel said.     

The Future of Humanistic Psychology: Towards a Self With Expanded Horizons

What is humanistic psychology's most enduring crisis as it looks forward for a positive future? As we attempt to address this question, we argue that humanistic psychology has always neglected the task of theorizing the self. This is, indeed, a great cause of concern, given the concept's centrality to most of its defining tenets and principles. Within this frame, we propose the Galactic Self that can embrace the dichotomies presented by the conflicting theoretical positions of self in psychology, while expanding its horizons to capture its infiniteness. Such a self is dynamic, transformative, expansive, evolving and infinite in nature, and complements humanistic psychology's promise of understanding an ever-evolving human psyche.