Siblings of children with mental retardation: Family characteristics and adjustment

Siblings of children with mental retardation may be at greater risk for adjustment problems because of family stress related to the needs of the child with mental retardation. Family dimensions were investigated to determine their relationship to sibling adjustment. Adjustment of 12 siblings of children with mental retardation was examined in relationship to family dimensions. These relationships were compared to those for children from families without a disabled child. For both groups, self concept was positively associated with family cohesion, and social competence was positively associated with family promotion of independence. For only the siblings of the mentally retarded children, family conflict was inversely related to social competence, and family organization was positively related to sibling self concept. Our results suggest that family conflict and disorganization appear to have a more negative effect in families with a child with mental retardation.     

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE FUTURE

Since the 19th century, feminists have criticized the mental health establishment and its treatment of women. Issues include the sexist use of psychoanalytic concepts and psychiatric diagnoses, the misuse of medication, and sexual misconduct in therapy. Feminists have also called attention to psychological problems arising from gender inequality in everyday life. Physical and sexual abuse of women is of special concern. Feminist innovations in therapy include consciousness-raising, sex-role resocialization, and new approaches to psychoanalysis and family therapy. We urge feminists to develop a fuller understanding of gender and power, and to use this knowledge to challenge the established theory and practice of clinical psychology.     

Profile of the American CEO: Comparing Inc. and fortune executives

Given the documented differences between entrepreneurial and traditional organizations in their structure and climate, a well as the predicted escalation of competition in global markets in the upcoming decade, the present study focused on the following questions. First, do chief executive officers (CEOs) from different corporate environments differ in the attributes, skills, and abilities they possess, and second, what meaning do these differences have for CEOs in confronting immediate and future challenges in small growth companies and large corporations. A sample of 35Fortune 500 CEOs and 35Inc. 500 CEOs was assessed on the London House STEP battery in order to identify differences between these groups. It was hypothesized that although there would be some overlap, the pattern of strengths and weaknesses would differ between the CEO groups. Specifically, it was expected thatInc. CEOs would be more creative whileFortune CEOs would exhibit a better balance in their breadth of managerial and executive skills. Results showed that these hypotheses were confirmed. Both groups were, not surprisingly, high in their potential for success and were not significantly different from one another in this overall dimension. However,Inc. CEOs were significantly higher in creativity, ability to work under pressure, and developing technical ideas, whileFortune CEOs excelled in the interpersonal skills of communications, developing teamwork, supervisory practices, developing employee potential and in the areas of leadership experience and financial responsibility. Findings are discussed in terms of developmental and strategic suggestions for current and aspiring CEOs.Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Academy of Management, Washington, D.C., August, 1989.     

Men in female-dominated professions: Distinguishing personality and background features

Personality and background features of men in female-dominated professions were assessed by comparing survey data on 54 men employed in atypical professions (A′s) with 63 men employed in sex-typical fields (S′s). Subjects were American born, college-educated males, under 50 years of age, employed in fields with over 75% male or female participation, and recruited in Atlanta in 1978. Subjects completed a biographical questionnaire, the Cattell 16 PF, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory under three instructional sets. In comparison with S′s the A′s showed lower adherence to traditional sex-role expectations on the Bem Sex Role Inventory, in the allotment of sex-typed household responsibilities, and in their greater “tender-minded” emotional sensitivity on the Cattell 16 PF. In terms of their personal histories, A′s more frequently reported having had employed mothers, having had distant relationships with their fathers, and having been positively influenced in their career choices by women. A′s more frequently experienced a death of a parent or sibling, or parental divorce or separation, and frequently mentioned such stresses as sensitizing them to their nurturant and emotional capabilities. There was also evidence that upward-mobility strivings may have contributed to atypical career choice, with A′s more frequently being members of racial minorities and/or of lower socioeconomic background. As expected, in contrast to S′s, A′s shared personality and socialization factors indicative of lower sex-typing, thus confirming the psychological significance of the sex composition of one's occupation for men as was confirmed earlier for women.     

Design and use of a U.S. census data computer laboratory for teaching undergraduate research methods

This paper discusses the design and development of an interdisciplinary social science computer laboratory for teaching undergraduate research methods courses and research components of applied and theoretical courses. The U.S. Census of the Population, a database commonly used in all of the social sciences, is used in order to give students research experience and to avoid ethical problems involved in working with animal and human subjects in an undergraduate course. Some issues in laboratory design and required changes in teaching methods are discussed.     

A Gibbs sampler for the multidimensional four-parameter logistic item response model via a data augmentation scheme

The four-parameter logistic (4PL) item response model, which includes an upper asymptote for the correct response probability, has drawn increasing interest due to its suitability for many practical scenarios. This paper proposes a new Gibbs sampling algorithm for estimation of the multidimensional 4PL model based on an efficient data augmentation scheme (DAGS). With the introduction of three continuous latent variables, the full conditional distributions are tractable, allowing easy implementation of a Gibbs sampler. Simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the proposed method and several popular alternatives. An empirical data set was analysed using the 4PL model to show its improved performance over the three-parameter and two-parameter logistic models. The proposed estimation scheme is easily accessible to practitioners through the open-source IRTlogit package.     

Vertical vs horizontal bullying: A need of socio‐interactive ethical trainings at workplace

Bullying at workplaces is a growing problem associated with several antecedents and outcomes of psychological disorders. Extant literature shows the relationship of victimization with the owning‐up curriculum to confront bullying, but so far there is little research to cure the issue of bullying through ethics and there is no study to check the impact of ethical lessons and exercises in training materials to curb bullying at workplace. The current paper is based on a literature review of aggression and bullying, and chiefly addresses the HR practices in rescuing the people from peer victimization. Conceptually segregating supervisor‐subordinate (vertical) and peer‐peer (horizontal) bullying psychology, this paper attempts to see what possible corrective steps can be taken by senior managers, supervisors and psychologists to resolve this critical problem through interior capacities. In this paper, we have developed three propositions for conducting a future empirical investigation in connection to a cohort study. By addressing the counterproductive/deviant behavior, the present report is likely to be beneficial for psychology scientists and HR practitioners in noticing and resolving the bullying issues at the workplace for the well‐being of employees.     

Linking servant leadership to positive deviant behavior: The mediating role of self-determination theory

How can servant leadership focused primarily on developing employees help them to become more ethical and prosocial, and to achieve positive results reaching beyond mere compliance with their tasks? More specifically, we propose that servant leadership may influence employees to engage in positive deviant behavior (PDB), meaning non-conforming behavior that is positive and ethical. Using self-determination theory (SDT), our research examines the effect of perceived servant leadership on the adoption of PDB by employees, mediated by basic psychological needs satisfaction and intrinsic motivation. To this end, we conducted a quantitative study of 344 French employees’ answers to an online survey. Structural equation modeling results indicated that the relationship between perceived servant leadership and innovative PDB is strongly predicted by SDT. Intrinsic motivation mediates the relationship between perceived servant leadership, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and innovative PDB. Several limitations and implications will be discussed.     

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Distress Thermometer for Screening Distress in Asian Patients with Cancer

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - The distress thermometer (DT) is a commonly used tool for screening distress in Asian patients with cancer. However, the optimal cut-off score...