Work Satisfaction as a Function of Gender and Job Status

Male lawyers, female lawyers, and female legal secretaries were interviewed concerning their work satisfaction, the nature of their employment-related gratifications and deprivations, and their work values. The data showed that the three samples' responses concerning work-related gratifications, deprivations, and values were largely similar. When they differed, the splits tended to be along the lines of job status (lawyer vs. secretary) rather than along the lines of gender (male vs. female). In addition, lawyers tended to be more satisfied with their work than were secretaries.     

Strengthening Couples from a Single-Parent Household Using Relational Cultural Therapy

ABSTRACT

Individuals initially learn about intimate relationships from observing others, such as their parents or caregivers’ relationship, which may positively or negatively affect their own romantic relationship. This article focuses on the application of Relational-Cultural Therapy (RCT) concepts to establish resilience among couples with at least one partner from a single-parent household. Some individuals from single-parent households may not have witnessed romantic relationships to confidently engage in adult romantic relationships. Additionally, clinicians may not consider family background as a source of contention for a couple’s presenting concerns. Thus, this article provides creative interventions and implications to assist counselors in working with couples.     

Fear of Success in Black Male and Female Graduate Students: A Pilot Study

In accordance with Horner's (1969) assumption that the intensity of fear of success arousal increases with the subject's success potential, graduate students from a prestigious university were chosen for a pilot investigation of the motive to avoid success in black men and women. Thirty-five subjects (14 female; 21 male) received a verbal TAT and a 54-item sex role questionnaire designed for purposes of this investigation. Fear of success was scored according to the new, experimentally derived scoring system for this motive. Contrary to expectation, the results did not indicate any evidence of success avoidance in either sex. However, fear of success in females was clearly associated with striving to develop career interests compatible with their strong commitment to home and husband, while among similarly motivated males it was suggested that the pragmatic career orientation observed was the product of compensatory motivational dynamics. It was concluded that these subjects were motivated to avoid what are perceived to be role-inappropriate behaviors while conforming to socially accepted values internalized in earlier years.     

Step by step: A microgenetic study of the development of strategy choice in infancy

To examine patterns of strategy choice and discovery during problem‐solving of a novel locomotor task, 13.5‐ and 18‐month‐old infants were placed at the top of a staircase and encouraged to descend. Spontaneous stair descent strategy choices were documented step by step and trial by trial to provide a microgenetic account of problem‐solving in action. Younger infants tended to begin each trial walking, were more likely to choose walking with each successive step, and were more likely to lose their balance and have to be rescued by an experimenter. Conversely, older infants tended to begin each trial scooting, were more likely to choose scooting with each successive step, and were more likely to use a handrail to augment balance on stairs. Documenting problem‐solving microgenetically across age groups revealed striking similarities between younger infants' strategy development and older children's behaviour on more traditionally cognitive tasks, including using alternative strategies, mapping prior experiences with strategies to a novel task, and strengthening new strategies. As cognitive resources are taxed during a challenging task, resources available for weighing alternatives or inhibiting a well‐used strategy are reduced. With increased motor experience, infants can more easily consider alternative strategies and maintain those solutions over the course of the trial.     

Addressing Summer Reading Setback Among Economically Disadvantaged Elementary Students

Much research has established the contribution of summer reading setback to the reading achievement gap that is present between children from more and less economically advantaged families. Likewise, summer reading activity, or the lack of it, has been linked to summer setback. Finally, family socioeconomic status has been linked to the access children have to books in their homes and neighborhoods. Thus, in this longitudinal experimental study we tested the hypothesis that providing elementary school students from low-income families with a supply of self-selected trade books would ameliorate summer reading setback. Thus, 852 students from 17 high-poverty schools were randomly selected to receive a supply of self-selected trade books on the final day of school over a 3-year period, and 478 randomly selected students from these same schools received no books and served as the control group. No further effort was provided in this intervention study. Outcomes on the state reading assessment indicated a statistically significant effect (p = .015) for providing access to books for summer reading along with a significant (d = .14) effect size. Slightly larger effects (d = .21) were found when comparing the achievement of the most economically disadvantaged students in the treatment and control groups.