Further Observations on Group Judgments of Lifted Weights

With use of a sample of five kibbutzim and subjects from three cities in Israel, the hypothesis investigated was that the adults in the kibbutz would obtain higher scores than the other subjects in their perceptions of the past and present on the Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. These responses were compared to those of two groups from the United States, Jewish and non-Jewish. The total sample consisted of 160 Ss with 40 Ss in each of the four groups. It was also hypothesized that there would be less discrepancy in the perceptions of the future as compared to the past and present between Israeli and United States Ss. The hypotheses presented were supported by the data.

The kibbutz sample in expressing hopes and aspirations had a significantly higher number of Ss that desired world peace than the other three samples. The Israeli city sample in responding to aspirations had a significantly greater number of responses than the kibbutz for the following categories: having a good job, owning a house, and possessing wealth.

The Israeli city sample compared to the kibbutz had a significantly higher number of responses to a fear of a deterioration in the standard of living. The rank order correlation of the verbal responses indicated that the responses of the American Jewish group were more similar to both Israeli groups than the United States non-Jewish group.     

Aurelius Augustine on Imagination

The evaluation of a person seeking or volunteering information in cooperatively or competitively oriented problem solving groups was investigated in 63 white and black, male and female, high school and college students. It was hypothesized that under cooperative conditions the seeking of information would be evaluated more positively than would the volunteering of information, while under competitive conditions the volunteering of information would be evaluated more positively than would the seeking of information. A highly trained confederate (C) engaged in either the seeking of information or the volunteering of information in four-person problem solving groups in which Ss were either cooperatively or competitively oriented. Ss rated Cs on eight bipolar scales. The results confirmed the hypothesis.     

Patterns of Daily Time Use of Young Adults With or Without First-Episode Psychosis

This study compared patterns of daily activities and satisfaction with time use of young adults with first-episode psychosis and healthy volunteers. Fifty young adults participated in retrospective structured interviews on time use. Young adults with first-episode psychosis spend more time in sleep, passive leisure, and personal care activities, and less in total productive activities and education. No difference appeared for leisure, paid work, and household work, or satisfaction with daily time use. Reasons underlying dissatisfaction with daily time use differed between the groups. Clinical and research implications are discussed.     

The biasing effect of personality on self-estimates of cognitive abilities in males and females

In addition to exploring the relationship between psychometric and self-estimated measures of Crystallized Knowledge (Gc) and Visual Processing (Gv), this study investigated whether personality significantly moderated these relationships, thereby influencing the accuracy of the self-estimates. Adult participants (N = 165) completed the Big Five Inventory and self-estimated their levels of Gc and Gv. They were subsequently administered the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery II, a group test of cognitive ability. Significant and positive relationships between psychometric Gc and Gv and their respective self-estimates were found. Additionally, investigation of the moderating effects of personality for each gender separately using standard multiple regressions found that females high in Extraversion and males low in Conscientiousness were more prone to overestimating their Gv ability, while males high in Openness provided more accurate estimates of their Gv than those low in Openness. Elucidating the personality traits that distort self-perceptions of intellectual functioning has significant implications for the identification of individuals at risk of harboring inaccurate expectations, leading to the potential for interventions aimed at ameliorating associated deleterious consequences.     

A Prime Time for Marital/Relational Intervention: A Review of the Transition to Parenthood Literature with Treatment Recommendations

The transition to parenthood is a near universal experience for individuals and families, yet there is a severe lack of applied research and clinical treatment guidelines. Justification for a greater clinical emphasis on this transition is made through a review of the common changes experienced by new parents. Intervention guidelines are offered in the areas of client/participant recruitment, assessment, and clinical areas of focus. Specific topics that should be addressed in treatment include the parents' family-of-origin influences and individual personality characteristics, changes experienced in the couple relationship, and important contextual issues.     

Shallow Gratitude: Public and Private Acknowledgement of External Help in Accounts of Success

Subjects furnished public or private accounts of major recent success experiences. Public accounts contained many references to receiving help from other people, whereas private accounts were relatively devoid of such acknowledgements. Thus, expressions of gratitude and other references to external help may often be a superficial concession to self-presentational norms, expectations, and other interpersonal factors' that restrict the typical operation of self-serving biases.     

The growth hypothesis and self‐actualization: An existential alternative

Abstract

Examining the process of becoming from an existential perspective, we describe the existence of the self in non‐biological terms as a product of its own intentionality. In this context, there is no need to postulate a growth hypothesis in order to (1) to describe a person as a process of becoming, and (2) to explain self‐actualization. While the process of becoming is a static process, self‐actualization is a dynamic process. In the first case, the self deterministically and naively merely becomes. In the second, case, the process results from becoming the object of personal choices, whereby we become authentic. While the self is “a being in the process of mere becoming,” self‐actualization is “a being in the process of authentic becoming.” In this view, humanistic psychotherapy aims at making the self's mere becoming an authentic process. Existential crisis, in particular confrontation with death, is often the transformational medium.     

Legal Risk in Selection: An Analysis of Processes and Tools

Purpose

This paper reviews a decade of employment litigation to illuminate the most legally dangerous selection devices and employment practices.

Design/Methodology/Approach

A sample (n = 312) of court cases drawn from 10 years of Bloomberg BNA case briefs was analyzed to determine which selection tools (e.g., biographical information blank, interview, cognitive ability test, and psychomotor test) and which selection processes (e.g., violations of the four-fifths rule, administrative inconsistencies, lack of documentation, failure to provide accommodations) are most at risk for litigation for unfair employment practices.

Findings

Results demonstrate that while some selection tools do attract legal scrutiny, dangerous hiring practices such as favoritism against protected classes and improper human resource documentation put employers at far greater risk of suit. When considering cases settled outside of court and those that continued to trial, the data reveal that employers lose employment discrimination cases at a rate nearing 90 % and suffer an average payout of over $1.5 million per case.

Implications

Just as legal challenges once drove the search for selection tools free of adverse impact, the current legal landscape demonstrates the necessity of fair and consistent selection processes. This paper provides evidence of common mistakes in implementing selection systems—mistakes that lead to costly legal battles.

Originality/Value

This paper reduces cumbersome legal records into useful evidence of trends in recent employment law cases. Selection system designers and organizations who implement them will benefit from avoiding the risky hiring practices presented in this paper.     

Personality Traits Predict Irrational Beliefs

Irrational beliefs are the focus of many psychological theories, since research has shown that holding irrational beliefs often leads to unhealthy emotions, dysfunctional behaviors, and psychological disturbances. The aim of such therapies as rational emotive behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy is to dispute irrational beliefs to promote more rational ways of thinking; however they do not take into account individual personality differences. The aim of this study was to determine whether personality traits predict rational and irrational beliefs in a mixed student and clinical sample. It was hypothesized that the domains of the five factor model of personality would predict rational beliefs as well as a range of irrational beliefs. Our findings supported the hypothesis, showing distinct associations between personality traits and each specific irrational belief. Neuroticism predicted rational beliefs as well as six out of the seven types of irrational beliefs measured. Additionally, extraversion predicted rationality and self-downing, openness predicted need for comfort and total irrationality, and conscientiousness predicted need for achievement and demand for fairness. Agreeableness did not predict any type of rational or irrational beliefs. Knowledge of these distinct relationships may increase a clinician’s ability to conceptualize a therapy case and determine the best approach to treatment.