The Glass Is Half Full: The Positive Effects of Organizational Identification for Employees Higher in Negative Affectivity

Organizational identification has traditionally been associated with positive organizational outcomes, whereas negative affectivity (NA) has most often been associated with negative individual outcomes. We hypothesize that organizational identification will positively influence self‐reported performance for individuals high in NA. Conversely, individuals low in NA will not experience feelings of enhanced performance as organizational identification increases. The findings from 2 samples provided support for the research hypothesis; specifically, the personality factor of NA moderated the organizational‐identification/self‐reported performance relationship. We discuss our findings in light of important implications for the positive psychology movement and practicing managers.     

Gender-related personality traits and interpersonal resource exchange among brother—sister relationships

Brother-sister relationships are understudied within the field of personal relationships. Accordingly, the present study examines patterns of interpersonal resource exchange (drawing upon resource exchange theory; Foa & Foa, 1974), along with influences of gender-related personality traits (i.e., agency and communion) on individuals’giving of interpersonal resources (i.e., affection and respect), among 79 brother-sister pairs. Consistent with predictions, brothers’and sisters’exchanges of both affection and respect were positive and significant. Also, consistent with predictions, communion was a positive and significant predictor of respectful behavior among sisters. However, contrary to hypotheses, communion did not achieve or approach significance as a predictor of respectful behavior among brothers, nor did communion achieve or approach significance as a predictor of affectionate behavior among sisters or brothers Implications for the study of male-female relationships in general—and brother-sister relationships in particular—are discussed.     

Challenges in a Dialectical Conception of Career Evolution

This article seeks to clarify the differences between traditional and dialectical perspectives on career development. The application of a dialectical model to career evolution is based on the assumption that an individual's work experiences and other life experiences exert an ongoing, reciprocal effect on career development.     

Christian Counseling: A Synthesis of Psychological and Christian Concepts

Strong describes an approach to counseling that synthesizes psychological processes of change with theological concepts of the Christian faith. Clients are assumed to be self-directing and responsible for their behavior, including the changes that counseling is intended to facilitate. The counselor's junction is to equip clients to enable them to change. The key objectives in Christian counseling are described and the counseling process is reviewed in the light of these objectives. The author discusses the place of justification, responsibility, forgiveness, grace, sin, responsible loving, and prayer in the counseling process. Francis Mc Guire makes a response to Strong's article from a perspective that views Zen Buddhism as an integrated psychospiritual system capable of offering a critique and a complementary viewpoint. Herman Slotkin 's think piece is an attempt to define and clarify some of the language and goals of moral education and propose a civic, nonsectarian perspective regarding value and moral awareness.     

The Holistic Health Movement

This article provides a conceptual framework for understanding the holistic health field so counselors may consider its implications in addressing a new service area. Counselors can also use the framework as a model for their own self-development. Gross contrasts holistic health with traditional approaches to healing. Holistic health has unique emphases on ‘'positive wellness,’ environmental concerns, self-responsibility, and such practices as meditation, fitness, nourishment, vitality, and spirituality.     

NUMBER AND SPECIFICITY OF PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES IN THE PREDICTION OF ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS

The problem of how many performance outcomes to use and how specific they should be in predicting satisfaction and behavioral intentions was addressed. 323 soldiers responded to a desirability and instrumentality scale for each of 16 potential outcomes obtainable from outstanding performance. Scores were factor analysed and composites were formed to reflect each dimension. Three criteria (satisfaction, perceived effort and intention to reenlist) were predicted using (a) all 16 outcome items, (b) only 11 items defining four outcome dimensions and (c) 4 items only, each item reflecting an outcome dimension. In all cases, the 11-item set was a better predictor than the 16-item set, and the 4-item set was nearly as effective as the 16-item set. Instrumentalities were found to be significantly better predictors of satisfaction than of effort, while the reverse was true of valences. It was suggested that adequacy of coverage of the out come domain rather than list length or outcome specificity, was the critical issue in improving predictability.     

The experiences of remarried stepfathers who pay child support

Abstract Remarried stepfathers' experiences paying child support for nonresidential children were explored using a multiple‐interview phenomenological approach with 11 fathers in the United States. Circumstances that negatively affected satisfaction with paying child support were seldom related to money, per se. Rather, the pervasive phenomenon that emerged was attempts at managing competing interests among themselves, their children, and their new families. Remarriage magnified feelings of disempowerment and introduced additional complexities to existing child support arrangements. Although generally satisfied with their child support obligations at divorce, fairness concerns arose over time and are situated within equity theory. Nonetheless, identity conceptualizations were more salient than exchange principles, and identity theory therefore frames a discussion on the centrality of a provider mentality among these fathers.