An Assessment of the Effect of Vocational Exploration on Career Decision Making

The researchers assessed the effect of a vocational exploration assignment on the career decisiveness of college students who said that they were career decisive. The results of the study showed decision shifting in the treatment group but not in the control group. The researchers concluded that career indecisiveness relates to a lack of clarity regarding how personality needs can be satisfied in a career choice.     

A Component Analysis of Marriage Enrichment: Information and Treatment Modality

Two primary components were identified in marriage enrichment programs: information about marital life (or none) and discussion among married couples (or none). Student couples (N = 36) volunteered for a marriage enrichment program and were assigned to one of four conditions: (1) assessment only, (2) information only (received by couples), (3) an unstructured discussion group, and (4) a structured group with both information and group discussion. Information had little apparent effect on couples, but discussion in groups improved couples' marriage satisfaction and their sexual and intellectual intimacy throughout the study relative to couples not receiving group discussion. Improvement was thought to be due to the group discussion heightening couples' attention to how they use their time as a couple.     

RELATIONS BETWEEN WORK TEAM CHARACTERISTICS AND EFFECTIVENESS: A REPLICATION AND EXTENSION

Previous research has demonstrated that work team characteristics can be related to effectiveness (Campion, Medsker, & Higgs, 1993). This study provides a replication with professional knowledge worker jobs, different measures of effectiveness, and work units that varied in the degree to which members identified as a team. Data were collected from 357 employees, 93 managers, and archival records for 60 teams in a financial services organization. Team characteristics were measured with questionnaires completed by employees and managers. Effectiveness measures included immediate manager judgments at two points in time, senior and peer manager judgments, employee judgments, and archival records of employee satisfaction and performance appraisals. Results were similar to previous findings in that most team characteristics were related to most effectiveness criteria. Relationships were strongest for process characteristics, followed by job design, context, interdependence, and other characteristics. Further, work units higher on single-team identity were higher on many team characteristics and effectiveness measures.     

THE PEN-BASED COMPUTER AS AN ALTERNATIVE PLATFORM FOR TEST ADMINISTRATION

Pen-based computers are similar to paper and pencil (P&P) tests in the method of responding, and thus, may more closely match paper and pencil administration in construct equivalence than keyboard-entry computers. A study was conducted comparing P&P, pen-based note-book computer, and keyboard-entry PC versions of two test batteries. Participants completed tests administered using different administration modes on separate days; construct equivalence was evaluated by comparing Day 1-Day 2 correlations across conditions. Although construct equivalence was found for the power tests, differences emerged for the speeded tests. For the pen-based computer, solid evidence of equivalence to P&P appeared for all but one of the speeded tests, whereas the keyboard PC showed borderline equivalence for only one of the three speeded tests. These findings suggested that the pen-entry computer may be more capable than the keyboard-entry computer in maintaining construct equivalence to P&P tests.     

Creativity and Dream Recall

The literature on creativity and dream recall often found significant positive correlations between measures of creativity and dream recall frequency (DRF). The present study investigated the relation between creative interests and DRF in detail. The findings confirmed the results reported in the literature, according to which persons with visual and verbal creative skills recalled more dreams. It is suggested that the visual memory may serve as a mediator variable in the relation between creativity and DRF.     

In Celebration of Nature: A Dialogue With Jerome Kagan

Jerome Kagan has studied the role of biology as a major determinant of human behavior for more than three decades. The results of this research have had significant impact on the field of developmental psychology and on our understanding of temperamental factors. Dr. Kagan discusses his career and the practical implications of his research.     

CONCEPTUAL INTEGRATION AND EMPIRICAL TEST OF JOB DESIGN AND COMPENSATION RELATIONSHIPS

A conceptual integration of job design and compensation draws on interdisciplinary job design, job evaluation, and labor economic theory. It is argued that job design influences the number and level of skills required and the degree to which jobs are physically aversive or hazardous. External labor markets also respond to skill and physical requirements. Job evaluation links job design and market forces by analyzing jobs'compensable factors that reflect these requirements, and then relating them to the market through wage surveys across firms. An empirical examination presents relationships between job design and pay or job evaluation measures. Strongly supportive results replicate in two separate samples (total n = 213 jobs) which differ in industries, job types, skill levels, job design measures, job evaluation measures, and labor markets. Motivational job design had higher job evaluation measures reflecting higher skill requirements, and mechanistic and perceptual/motor design had lower evaluation measures reflecting lower skill requirements. Biological design had lower evaluation measures reflecting physical requirements.     

Spirituality Reconsidered

Counseling and the helping arts in general have been hesitant to openly embrace the concept of spirituality as part of their working knowledge base. Part of the dilemma centers on sometimes confusing a religious view with a more secular conception of the term. Another potentially confounding element is the existing variety of ways the term is actually being used by both. In this investigation of the roots of the problem I hope to catalyze a more inviting and open dialogue as the profession considers the possibilities associated with an expansion or consolidation of definition(s).