A follow-up of a media-based,worksite smoking cessation program

Described an examination of data collected 2 years following the onset of a media-based, worksite smoking cessation intervention. Thirty-eight companies in Chicago were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions. In the inital 3-week phase, all participants in both conditions received self-help manuals and were instructed to watch a 20-day televised series designed to accompany the manual. In addition, participants in the group (G) condition received six sessions emphasizing quitting techniques and social support. In the second phase, which continued for 12 months, employees in G participated in monthly peer-led support groups and received incentives, while participants in the nongroup (NG) condition received no further treatment. Twenty-four months after pretest, 30% of employees in G were abstinent compared to only 19.5% in NG. This study is one of the few experimentally controlled worksite smoking cessation interventions to demonstrate significant program differences 2 years following the initial intervention. Our thanks to Lori Klett and Libby Yeager-Turner for their help in data collection. Work on the project was supported in part by National Institute on Drug Abuse grant DA-04406-01 and a grant from the Chicago Lung Association to the second author.     

The Portrayal of Aggression on North American Television1

The past decade has seen an accumulation of evidence that TV viewing influences beliefs about social reality, particularly in areas related to violence. Detailed content analyses of the portrayal of aggression on North American television were conducted in an attempt to document some of the symbolic messages in television content and the extent to which those messages vary according to program category. The TV sample analyzed consisted of 109 programs (81 hours) chosen on the basis of audience viewing figures; 76% were produced in the U.S.A. and 22% in Canada. An average of 9 acts of physical aggression and 7.8 acts of verbal aggression per program hour were observed, but both type and rate of aggression varied by program category. Other methods of conflict resolution occurred rarely, and few witnesses sought alternatives to aggression. Less than 2% of the aggression observed was accidental, and most (69%) was incidental to the plot. Aggression, especially verbal abuse, was often portrayed as humorous, and there was little evidence of consequences. Some differences between Canadian and U.S. programming were noted. The possibility of using schema theory to understand the role of television in the development of beliefs about social reality is explored.     

Likability,Sex-role Congruence of Interest,and Competence: It All Depends on How You Ask1

Subjects were shown one of four videotaped versions of a male or female stimulus person (SP) being interviewed, the SP' s being Competent or Incompetent and Masculine or Feminine in their interests. All S s were asked to rate the SPs' likability on an objective questionnaire, those in one condition (Standard) immediately after viewing the tape, and in another (Projective) after first having responded to a series of open-ended, TAT-like questions about the SP. In the Standard condition, the major results were two highly significant effects-Competent SP s were liked better than Incompetent ones, and the Masculine Competent SP s more than their feminine counterparts. Several changes occurred in the Projective condition. Only profeminist women continued to prefer the Masculine Competent female SP to the Feminine Competent, the other group reversing their ratings. In response to the male SP s, profeminist males in the Projective condition preferred both Masculine SP s to the Feminine ones and, in comparison with other groups, exhibited a reduced competency effect.     

Need for affiliation and sex as moderators of the relationship between need for achievement and academic performance

Sex and need for affiliation (n Aff) were investigated as potential moderators of the association between need for achievement (n Ach) and academic performance. Measures of n Ach and n Aff, based on the Personality Research form, were obtained or 78 male and 114 female grade 11 students. On the assumption of a conflict between n Ach and n Aff, it was hypothesized that high n Ach, low n Aff students earn higher grades than high n Afh, high n Aff students. The results for both males and females supported the hypothesis. Evidence was available which suggested that the poorer academic performance of the high n Ach, high n Aff students was due to an inability to maintain effectively their attention while studying. The results also indicated that, relative to other students, high n Ach females displayed a markedly superior academic orientation. Attention was drawn to the fact that the formance of the high n Ach girls appears incconsistent with some current theorizing regarding the achievement orientation of females.     

Sexual harassment: Organizational context and diffuse status

Data from a large survey of federal employees is utilized to compare three broad competing perspectives that suggest effects on sexual harassment within organizations. Three different viewpoints stress power differentials, minority status, and diffuse master status characteristics. Results of the study indicate that intraorganizational theories emphasizing either power inequalities or work group compositional heterogeneities are unable to account for the reported sexual harassment without considering diffuse master status characteristics developed and maintained outside the organization.Dair Gillespie at the University of Utah was instrumental in obtaining the data for this study and commenting on the original analysis. Theda Skocpol at the University of Chicago provided support at the Center for the Study of Industrial Societies during the completion of this research. Comments of Joe Conaty, William Wilson, John Comaroff, and many others were supportive and helpful. Finally, we wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.     

Feminism and family therapy—a possible meeting point

This paper centres on the question ‘Is it possible to be a feminist and to practise family therapy?’ We explore the essence of feminism and family therapy and conclude that a style of feminist family therapy is possible. Feminist family therapy has a particular theoretical base and is characterized by a particular combination of practice principles. It also raises general issues for the training and practice of all family therapists.     

The leisure problem and the role of the clergy

Leisure behavior reflects a response to religious questions in that it is a matter of choice and value. The article investigates leisure as a social problem and defines it as a spiritual capacity for freedom. Historically there have been variations in the value accorded leisure in religion fostering tension between the values of work and leisure. An analysis of structural interrelations between leisure and religion suggest ways clergy may help to alter the work-leisure relation by pointing to the value of leisure and creating social oportunities for its use.