Thomas M. Magoon: Innovation,Renewal, Making a Difference

Thomas M. Magoon's 30 years of service and professional values are discussed in this interview from three overlapping perspectives: personal, professional, and familial. Magoon is a pioneer in that he has demonstrated professional innovation, mentoring, and service with conviction, action, and special caring.     

Multidimensional Scaling in Counseling Research and Practice

The authors briefly describe the use of multidimensional scaling (MDS) in counseling. They discuss types of data that have been analyzed using MDS, kinds of MDS analyses, and the interpretation of MDS results and review MDS research relevant to vocational, family, group, and individual counseling. They also briefly discuss potential applications in counseling practice.     

The Relationship Between Religiosity and Narcissism

Intrinsic religiosity correlated negatively and specifically with the maladaptive exploitiveness dimension of narcissism. Data are discussed in terms of the contemporary controversy regarding humanistic-theistic values.     

Employing the God-Family Relationship in Therapy with Religious Families

In many religious families, God functions as a crucial family member, stabilizing interpersonal relationships and engaging in daily family transactions. In the psychological role of a transitional object, God can be usefully employed by the family therapist in therapeutic interventions, when the therapist keeps the focus upon the interpersonal relationship with God rather than the specific content of religious beliefs. This approach can access a vital resource in the family, particularly when conditions for therapy are otherwise difficult, such as an isolated, enmeshed dyad presenting alone for therapy. Four case examples illustrate how one may use this approach in family therapy.     

Factors Related to Counselor Preference Among Gays and Lesbians

This study explored the preference for counselor's sexual orientation among gay and lesbian clients. Recognizing that the perceived reaction of participants to hypothetical situations may be a viable predictor of future choices, respondents were administered a comfort/discomfort index intended to probe a number of potential counseling concerns. Internalized homophobia (Hudson & Ricketts, 1977) and a scale measuring degree of same- or opposite-sex sexual preferences (Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin, & Gebbhard, 1953) were also investigated in an attempt to account for variance in the comfort/discomfort ratings. Findings indicated that gay men and lesbians tend to prefer gay or lesbian counselors, although a sizable number believe that counselors' sexual orientations do not make a difference. Internalized homophobia was found to predict discomfort in discussing various topics with a counselor of unknown sexual orientation.     

Finding Work Following Job Loss: The Role of Coping Resources

The negative physical and psychological effects of job loss are well-documented. Much less research has explored factors that might help people cope with job loss and become reemployed quickly. Individuals who became reemployed within 3 months of job loss were more “internal” in locus of control, had greater self-efficacy, and possessed better problem-solving skills than did individuals who remained unemployed.     

College Students and Their Part-Time Jobs: Job Congruency,Satisfaction, and Quality

Randomly selected undergraduate students (1,438) at an urban west coast university were surveyed about their college employment experiences. Results indicate that students employed in part-time jobs congruent with their career interests were more likely to be satisfied with their jobs. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF UPWARD FEEDBACK

This study followed 92 managers during four administrations of an upward feedback program over 2.5 years. Managers' whose initial level of performance (defined as the average rating from subordinates) was low improved between Administrations 1 and 2, and sustained this improvement 2 years later. Most of the performance improvement occurred between the first and second administrations of the program. The observed performance improvement could not be attributed solely to regression to the mean and was unrelated to the number of times, or when, the managers received feedback. Our results suggest that the continued administration of an upward feedback program can result in sustained change over a fairly long period of time and that actually receiving feedback may be less important than the exposure to the valued behaviors. We use control theory and goal setting theory as frameworks for explaining the results and suggesting directions for future research.