Individual Differences in Cognitive Editing Standards

This study is aimed at understanding how people edit their own arguments prior to uttering them (Hample, 1984; Hample & Dallinger, 1985a, 1985b). The main categories of editorial criteria are effectiveness, principled objection to type of argument, person-centered issues, and discourse competence standards. Our main purpose here is to begin an account of what sort of person prefers which criteria. Argumentativeness (Infante & Rancer, 1982), verbal aggression (Infante & Wigley, 1986), interpersonal orientation (Swap & Rubin, 1983), and respondent gender are associated with use of editorial criteria. Results point to two different approaches to editing one's own arguments. The task orientation focuses on effectiveness, and is taken by males, and by people high in verbal aggressiveness and low in interpersonal orientation. The relational orientation is taken by females, and by people low in verbal aggressiveness and high in argument avoidance and interpersonal orientation. Justification for using multiple arguments to instantiate each type of argument, and for using multiple situations was also found.     

THE MEASUREMENT OF WORK: HIERACHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE MULTIMETHOD JOB DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE

To study the changing nature of work, researchers need measures of work that are valid and comprehensive. One potentially useful measure of work is the Multimethod Job Design Questionnaire (MJDQ; Campion, 1988), which was developed to assess 4 general approaches to work design (i.e., motivational, mechanistic, biological, perceptual-motor). Although the MJDQ holds promise as a general measure of work, little information is available regarding its psychometric properties. This study examines the MJDQ, using alternative hierarchical factor structures to represent work at varying levels of abstraction. Little support was found for the 4-factor structure corresponding to the work design approaches underling the MJDQ or for various hierarchical factor structures that simultaneously depicted general and specific aspects of work. However, a 10-factor first-order model received good support and may provide a useful basis for scoring and interpreting the MJDQ in future research.     

A Support Group for Women with Relationship Dependency

The author describes a support group for women with relationship dependency focusing on friendship, decision making, and feelings. Issues include loneliness, coping with loss, anger, and self-esteem. Guidelines for counselors are provided.     

Follow-Up of Doctoral Graduates in Counseling

The national population of persons who graduated from doctoral programs in counselor preparation during 1984–1985 was surveyed to discern their demographic, work history, current job status, productivity, and future employment plans. The 270 responses revealed a high level of preparation-related employment, with work being performed in very diverse settings. Today's graduates are older than those who graduated 15 years ago and are relatively experienced in counseling and human development services. Private practice has emerged as a significant employment setting and is projected to increase even more. Productivity in terms of contributions to the profession is substantial. Conclusions and implications are drawn for practitioners and counselor preparation institutions.     

The counselor and civil liberties

Although educators tend to talk positively about freedom, civil liberties are often denied to students as a matter of course. Since the counseling profession is committed to the concepts of individual development and human dignity, counselors have no choice but to stand firmly in favor of civil liberties and against repression. Their role should include working toward democratization of the environment, acting as civil liberties advocates for individual students whose rights are in jeopardy, and providing support for counselees who choose to dissent against conventionally accepted policies of school or society.     

The Sandwich Generation: Dealing with Aging Parents

This article discusses a workshop designed to provide middle-aged adults with information and opportunities to process their attitudes, emotions, and the realities of exchanging roles with aging parents.