Moral Development and Counselor Trainee Empathy

A high moral development group was superior to a low moral development group in the demonstration of empathy on a counseling tape.     

Counselor Effectiveness and Family-of-Origin Experiences: A Significant Relationship?

In this article, the authors investigate the relationship between family-of-origin experiences and counseling effectiveness of counselors in training.     

A Psychoeducational Group Intervention for Family Members of Persons with HIV/AIDS

We describe a psychoeducational group intervention for family members of persons living with AIDS. The 33 family members were compared with 13 waiting-list controls in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. We focus on the practice aspects of the intervention, its development and implementation, and our belief that it is an apparently effective approach for helping family members work through the social and emotional aspects of the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS.     

Changes ahead! implications of the Vail Conference

Counseling practice is heavily influenced by psychological models. The summer 1973 conference at Vail, Colorado, examined the role of the applied psychologist. The recommendations of this conference are new and powerful and are likely to reverberate throughout the helping professions. The authors, both of whom were delegates to that conference, discuss major conference recommendations and their implications for professional counseling practice.     

Experience-related factors as determinants of leisure satisfaction

Two studies were conducted to investigate the effects on leisure satisfaction of factors related and unrelated to a leisure experience. The first study showed that subjects' sex and educational level were not significantly related to leisure satisfaction which was measured without regard to any particular explicit leisure experience. However, when the measures of leisure satisfaction were taken in close temporal proximity to a leisure experience (the second study), two significant interaction effects were obtained. The one involving sex and outcome indicated that the experience of a basketball game itself, regardless of its outcome, increased males' leisure satisfaction, whereas females' leisure satisfaction was outcome-dependent. The interaction of outcome and competitiveness revealed that leisure satisfaction was higher for the competitive than recreational players before the game, with this difference enlarging after winning and especially after losing. Theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed.     

HYPOTHESIZING DIFFERENTIAL ITEM FUNCTIONING IN GLOBAL EMPLOYEE OPINION SURVEYS

Cross-cultural researchers have not used cultural dimensions to predict when differential item functioning (DIF) in attitude survey items is likely to occur. Predictive hypotheses for items related to supervision on a global corporate survey were developed based on 3 of Hofstede's (1991a) dimensions. In some cases, greater DIF was found on hypothesized items between countries differing on cultural dimensions. Implications for the use of this framework and DIF in examining multinational employee opinion surveys are discussed.     

How Do “Religion” and “Spirituality” Differ? Lay Definitions Among Older Adults

Research and public interest in religion and spirituality is on the rise. Consequently, there is an increasing need for rigorously obtained information on what individuals mean when they use these terms. This study examined how 64 older adults living in three retirement communities (including one Christian‐based community), a relatively understudied population, conceptualize religion and spirituality. Participants defined “religion” and “spirituality,” and their narrative definitions were coded and compared using a framework derived from Hill et al.'s (2000) conceptualization of religion and spirituality. Despite considerable overlap, participants' definitions differed on several dimensions. Participants were more likely to associate religion than spirituality with personal beliefs, community affiliation, and organized practices. Moreover, spirituality appeared to be a more abstract concept than religion, and included nontheistic notions of a higher power.