Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: A Tough-Minded Therapy for a Tender-Minded Profession

Objections to Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) seem to exceed the mere rational preference for one approach over another. Ziegler suggested that James's dichotomy between Tough- and Tender-Mindedness might explain REBT's appeal to some and its failure to attract others. REBT is a predominantly Tough-Minded therapy, but the counseling profession is largely Tender Minded. In this article, the author examines why Tender-Minded counselors may not accept REBT, what common misperceptions of REBT may contribute to this rejection, and how the two might be reconciled. Intervention strategies for Tender-Minded counselors are suggested.     

Differential Diagnosis in Older Adults: Dementia,Depression, and Delirium

Research shows that misdiagnosis can have particularly damaging consequences in older adults. It is frequently difficult, however, to determine whether observed symptoms are due to aging or to a medical condition. The author examines three common disorders that can be particularly challenging to diagnose in older adults: dementia, depression, and delirium. Three general questions are discussed for each: What are the age-related differences in the disorder's presentation? What medical issues need to be ruled out? What assessment methods are particularly useful in the diagnostic process?     

Crisis Intervention With Survivors of Natural Disaster: Lessons From Hurricane Andrew

Crisis intervention has typically been conceptualized as seeking a return of clients to a state of equilibrium. Our work with Hurricane Andrew survivors in south Florida, as part of the Disaster Mental Health Services team of the American Red Cross, has led us to appreciate the importance of several further considerations. In our work, we developed a proactive approach, attempting to recognize and extend clients' preexisting strengths. We offer a number of pragmatic interventions, focusing particularly on children's issues and we draw attention to sensitive multicultural issues.     

Sex-selective abortion: a relational approach

A critical application of Ruddick's model of maternal thinking is the best way to grapple with the ethical dilemmas posed by sex-selective abortion which I view as a "moral mistake." Chief among these is the need to be sensitive to local cultural practices in countries where sex-selective abortion is prevalent, while simultaneously developing consistent international standards to deal with the dangers posed by the use of sex-selective abortion to eliminate female fetuses.     

Life Satisfaction of Single Middle-Aged Professional Women

This study examined 10 factors and their relation to the life satisfaction of single middle-aged professional women. The proposed regression model, which included job satisfaction, gender identity, locus of control, social support, health, financial resources, leisure-time activities, sexual satisfaction, and regrets regarding life circumstances, was explored through a questionnaire. Questionnaires were administered to single professional women in higher education institutions. Responses were received from 152 women. Performance on life satisfaction was significantly explained by recourse to the variables of job satisfaction, internal locus of control, regrets regarding life circumstances, sexual satisfaction, and leisure-time activities.     

WHO IS HAPPY?

A flood of new studies explores people's subjective well-being (SWB) Frequent positive affect, infrequent negative affect and a global sense of satisfaction with life define high SWB These studies reveal that happiness and life satisfaction are similarly available to the young and the old, women and men, blacks and whites, the rich and the working-class. Better clues to well-being come from knowing about a person's traits, close relationships, work experiences, culture, and religiosity. We present the elements of an appraisal-based theory of happiness that recognizes the importance of adaptation, cultural world view, and personal goals     

How learning contexts facilitate strategy transfer

The present study assessed the role of context in the acquisition and transfer of a mathematical strategy. One hundred and six children were assigned to four conditions: direct strategy instruction, guided discovery, direct teaching plus discovery, or a control condition. The intervention consisted of fourteen sessions during which the number-family strategy, useful for addition and subtraction, was taught. Third grade students in the guided discovery condition performed better than those in the direct instruction condition on far transfer problems that measured deep conceptual understanding. Students who had total or partial exposure to guided discovery held stronger beliefs and adopted more positive goals about the importance of mathematical understanding and peer collaboration, attributed less importance to task extrinsic reasons for success, and reported greater use of deep processing strategies than students exposed to direct, explicit instructions. Finally, students in the discovery conditions were able to communicate more effectively during problem solving than students in the direct instructions condition.     

An investigation of the relationship between self-efficacy and the communication effectiveness of product manual formats

Product manuals have been virtually ignored in published research despite their relevance to consumer satisfaction and marketplace safety. This study examines self-efficacy (perceptions of capabilities related to operating a product) and how it influences the effectiveness of and is also influenced by three safety message formats commonly used in product manuals (i.e., 1. safety messages presented in list format at the front of the manual; 2; safety messages presented by semantic similarity interspersed throughout the manual—chunked format, and 3. safety messages presented in a combined format—both list and chunked). As anticipated, pre-exposure self-efficacy was a significant covariate which was found to be positively related to post-exposure self-efficacy and negatively related to information evaluation. Further, controlling for pre-exposure self-efficacy, post-exposure self-efficacy was significantly lower in the combined (list plus chunked) condition. Findings of this research have important implications for the practice of repeating safety warnings and future research in the consumer information domain.Authors are listed in alphabetical order. This study was supported by an Illinois State University Research Grant.     

Prediction of mood and risk appraisals from trait measures: Two studies of simulated driving

Two contrasting hypotheses concerning the relationship between personality and mood are distinguished. First, broad traits may relate to emotional temperament, and so predict mood across situations. Second, the interactionist approach to personality implies that narrow, context specific traits may sometimes be the most powerful predictors of mood within situations. This article reports correlations between mood and broad and narrow trait measures, the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI; Eysenck and Eysenck, 1964) and the Driving Behaviour Inventory (DBI; Gulian, Matthews, Glendon, Davies and Debney, 1989), within the context of vehicle driving. Mood was measured with the UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist (UMACL; Matthews, Jones and Chamberlain, 1990), in two samples before and after a simulated drive. One sample (N = 73) performed a ‘passive’ drive, in which little interaction with other traffic was required. The second sample (N = 93) performed an ‘active’ driving task, in which subjects had to decide when to overtake other vehicles. Results showed that the DBI traits were more strongly related to mood than EPI traits, particularly following the active drive. The DBI Dislike of Driving scale was the strongest single predictor of post-drive mood. Prior to the drive, subjects also rated accident risk, driving skill, and judgement, for themselves and for a ‘peer’ driver of similar age and sex. Analysis of these data in the combined sample (N = 166) showed that the DBI was the more consistent predictor of self-ratings of risk and driving competence, although some relationships between ratings and the EPI were found. Again, the DBI Dislike of Driving scale was the strongest single predictor of self-ratings. Drivers scoring high on this scale seem immune to drivers' general bias towards rating themselves as safer and more competent than their peers. It is concluded that narrow traits are more predictive than broad traits within the driving context. Data are consistent with the transactional model of driver stress, which proposes that dislike of driving is derived from negative secondary appraisals.