TO LEAD, LAG, OR MATCH: ESTIMATING THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF PAY LEVEL POLICIES

In this study, the Boudreau and Berger (1985a) retention/acquisition model is modified in order to develop a utility model that can be used to assess the impact of alternative pay level policies. This paper then demonstrates how the model could be used to assess the financial impact of alternative pay level policies for an organization whose current policy is to match the market. In demonstrating this, estimates of the effect of pay level on employee and applicant behaviors are presented. The utility model is then used to translate these effects into financial terms and compare them against the wage costs associated with alternative pay level policies. Finally, break-even analysis is used to suggest how decision makers might use utility results when making decisions about pay level policy. The implications for pay level policy and the role of utility analysis in compensation decision making are discussed.     

Attachment styles and other predictors of relationship satisfaction in dating couples

A sample of 186 dating couples completed questionnaires in order to examine the relevance of attachment styles, romantic beliefs, self-esteem, and gender roles to relationship satisfaction. The aim was to assess whether male and female anxiety over abandonment and comfort with closeness, and interactions among them, predicted satisfaction beyond the contribution of the other variables. Using multiple-regression analysis, it was found that attachment styles successfully predicted satisfaction, after controlling for romantic beliers, self-esteem, and gender roles. Both partners were particularly dissatisfied when either partner suffered high anxiety over abandonment or low comfort with closeness. Implications for gender roles, relationship satisfaction, and attachment styles are discussed.     

The Duty to Aid Nonhuman Animals in Dire Need

abstract   Most moral philosophers accept that we have obligations to provide at least some aid and assistance to distant strangers in dire need. Philosophers who extend rights and obligations to nonhuman animals, however, have been less than explicit about whether we have any positive duties to free-roaming or 'wild' animals. I argue our obligations to free-roaming nonhuman animals in dire need are essentially no different to those we have to severely cognitively impaired distant strangers. I address three objections to the view that we have positive duties to free-roaming nonhuman animals, and respond to the predation objection to animal rights.     

BEYOND THE SUBLIME: THE AESTHETICS OF THE ANALOGY OF BEING (PART TWO)

This essay, the second half of a larger work, offers a constructive proposal for a theological aesthetics based upon a theological ontology of the analogia entis. The doctrine of the analogia entis, as articulated most famously by Erich Przywara, S. J., has been the subject of much criticism; however, the essay attempts to defend the doctrine, specifically, against the criticisms of Karl Barth and Martin Heidegger. The essay then offers a précis of Przywara's actual doctrine—beyond typical characterizations of it—with a view to the possibility it offers for a theological aesthetics and, specifically, for a genuinely theological account of the relationship between the beautiful and the sublime.     

Employment and Roles of Counselors in Mental Health Agencies

The authors studied the employment of counselors with master's degrees in multiservice mental health agencies. The study focused on the types of clients seen, the direct care services provided, and the administrative duties performed. Results suggested that the employment of counselors does not differ significantly from the employment of individuals with master's degrees in psychology and social work. Also, the data indicated that counselors are delivering direct care services that traditionally have been offered in mental health centers, that clients seen by counselors demonstrate a range of mental disorders, and that counselors are responsible for fulfilling various administrative duties.     

Assessing therapeutic problem solving skills: Empirical analysis of a measuring operation

Employment of caregivers as trainers is an imperative in the training and treatment of mentally retarded persons. Besides being taught specific behavior modification skills, these paraprofessional trainers have to obtain a set of general skills in order to adjust their specific skills to new clients, situations, and behaviors across time. Empirical research on the characteristics of therapeutic problem-solving skills are scarce. This may be due to a reluctance of behavior researchers against including cognitive factors in the analysis of behavior influence. However, the development of basic knowledge on the existence of therapeutic problem-solving skills should be one of the primary research goals. This article describes the development and application of four scales assumed to be representative of an important set of general skills—therapeutic problem-solving skills. By means of these four scales 21 caregivers were evaluated before and after extensive training. A multifaceted measuring operation is employed with the main objective of empirically testing the dimensionality of problem-solving skills. Rater consistency and individual differences in change from pre- to post-training level are also uncovered. It is concluded that the four scales of therapeutic skills, largely reflect the same underlying concept of a rather general therapeutic problem-solving skill. Discussion of the findings also pointed to future research.     

AN UNSTABLE ELIMINATIVISM

Abstract: Do folk objects exist? A selective eliminativism says that some do and some don’t. One eye‐catching version of this says that tennis players exist, although tennis balls and tennis rackets do not. In our paper, we focus critical attention upon a defense of such a view presented by Trenton Merricks in his book, Objects and Persons. We will show that the argument advanced by Merricks shows either too much or too little.