Counselor Ethical Reasoning: Decision‐Making Practice Versus Theory

Counselors’ decision‐making processes have received little attention in the literature. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the ethical decision‐making practices of counselors working in the field. The results of a phenomenological study indicate that linear models and an orientation to professional ethical guidelines learned in graduate training serve as a foundation, yet not a practical guide, in professional ethical decision making. The authors found that 4 themes guide counselors’ ethical decision making: personal values, clients’ best interest, transparency in decision making, and perceptions of formal training and practice. Implications for practice and counselor education are provided, with recommendations for future research.     

‘If you look the part you’ll get the job’: should career professionals help clients to enhance their career image?

This article presents a critical exploration of the role of career professionals in supporting people to reflect on and enhance their appearance, attractiveness and self-presentation (career image). The article is conceptual and based on a review of the broader literature on career success, appearance and attractiveness. It explores the evidence for a relationship between attractiveness and career, and the authors propose a conceptual framework in which career image is comprised of three elements (interpersonal skills, aesthetic presentation and beauty). The paper examines a possible role for career professionals in relation to this and then critically examines this role and concludes with the proposition of a research agenda in this area.     

Positive Psychological Functioning and the Biology of Health

Most research considers both psychological and physical health with a disease perspective by focusing on poor psychological functioning or disease outcomes. However, identifying attributes that support adaptive functioning may inform approaches to achieving health beyond what we learn from studying risk factors that accelerate deterioration. Recent evidence suggests that positive psychological functioning contributes to attaining optimal physical health. We evaluate the current state of knowledge on the relationship between positive psychological functioning and physical health, defining health beyond solely the absence of disease. We further consider when positive psychological functioning begins to exert effects on health, whether it has direct effects on biological processes or serves primarily to buffer the effects of stress, and whether it is associated with health outcomes and biological processes beyond those that reflect the absence of deterioration and disease. We propose some key directions for future research including the assessment of positive psychological functioning, positive biological functioning, and optimal health, the value of multi‐system measures, and the potential of “omics” to provide novel insights into biological mechanisms underlying associations between positive psychological functioning and physical health.     

Should I plan? Planning effects on perceived effort and motivation in goal pursuit

This research investigates how forming a plan can have both beneficial and detrimental effects on people's motivation to pursue a goal. We propose that forming a plan makes the necessary steps to pursue a goal salient, directing attention to the effort involved in executing these steps, which ultimately affects perceptions of required effort and motivation. We theorize that the impact of forming plans on motivation in goal pursuit depends on the level of difficulty to achieve a goal. When a goal is relatively easy to achieve, planning should make goal pursuit seem less effortful, thereby decreasing motivation to pursue the goal. When a goal is more difficult to achieve, planning should make goal pursuit seem more effortful, which ironically should increase motivation to pursue it. Three studies demonstrate how plans influence motivation in the domains of losing weight and saving money. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Honest and Deceptive Impression Management in the Employment Interview: Can It Be Detected and How Does It Impact Evaluations?

Applicants use honest and deceptive impression management (IM) in employment interviews. Deceptive IM is especially problematic because it can lead organizations to hire less competent but deceptive applicants if interviewers are not able to identify the deception. We investigated interviewers’ capacity to detect IM in 5 experimental studies using real‐time video coding of IM (N = 246 professional interviewers and 270 novice interviewers). Interviewers’ attempts to detect applicants’ IM were often unsuccessful. Interviewers were better at detecting honest than deceptive IM. Interview question type affected IM detection, but interviewers’ experience did not. Finally, interviewers’ perceptions of IM use by applicants were related to their evaluations of applicants’ performance in the interview. Interviewers’ attempts to adjust their evaluations of applicants they perceive to use deceptive IM may fail because they cannot correctly identify when applicants actually engage in various IM tactics. Helping interviewers to better identify deceptive IM tactics used by applicants may increase the validity of employment interviews.