Testing the Validity and Reliability of the Perceived Employability Scale (PES) Among a Culturally Diverse Population

This article reports the results of a study designed to test the validity and reliability of a newly developed career self-efficacy test called the Perceived Employability Scale (PES). A large group (N = 2,600) of low-income women with diverse cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds living in Hawaii participated in this investigation. Recommendations for researchers and practitioners who are employment counselors are discussed.     

Antecedents and consequences of explicit agreements to declare a topic taboo in dating relationships

Some intimates try to prevent relational problems by agreeing not to talk about them again. This article investigates the antecedents and consequences of explicitly or implicitly declaring a topic taboo. A survey of college daters indicated that explicit agreements are more likely when individuals declare the topics unimportant to their relationship, but are less likely when the topic is perceived to be relationally harmful. Furthermore, prolonged discussion prior to declaring a topic taboo increases the explicitness of the accord. Relational satisfaction is negatively associated with the number of taboo topics, and with the degree to which such agreements are explicit. However, the association between satisfaction and explicitness is moderated by relational commitment. The negative association is only statistically significant among individuals who are relatively uncommitted or moderately committed to their relationship. Furthermore, this ordinal interaction proves to be a more powerful predictor of relational satisfaction that is the number of taboo topics.     

Comparison of Schizophrenic Patients' Families and Normal Families in China,Using Chinese Versions of FACES-II and the Family Environment Scales

The lack of measures that systematically evaluate the characteristics and functioning of Chinese families is hindering the development of appropriate family interventions for schizophrenia in China. We assessed the reliability and validity of revised and adapted Chinese versions (CV) of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES-II-CV) and the Family Environment Scales (FES-CV) and administered these instruments to 120 respondents from families with a schizophrenic member and 126 respondents from control families. The psychometric properties of the FACES-II-CV and of the FES-CV Cohesion, Conflict, Intellectual-Cultural Orientation, and Active-Recreational Orientation scales are satisfactory, so they are appropriate for use in China; the remaining six FES-CV scales require further culturally appropriate revision. Compared to control families, families with schizophrenic patients in China have higher conflict, lower cohesion, poor adaptability, and are less likely to be involved in intellectual and recreational activities. These differences remained significant after adjusting for family and respondent characteristics.     

A Developmental, Conceptual Premise for Family Therapy

The article describes an hypothesis about the staging of the development of the family system for use in diagnostic understanding and treatment planning with families.     

NEEDS AND NEED SATISFACTION AMONG CLERICAL WORKERS IN COMPLEX AND ROUTINE JOBS

Reliable measurement of needs and need satisfaction on Maslow's hierarchy is possible. Clerical employees (mainly female) indicated a high need for self-actualization and autonomy. In this respect they are similar to lower level managers described by Porter (1962) and women described by Jurgensen (1949). There was no substantial difference in need satisfaction patterns between clerical employees in routine jobs and those in more complex clerical jobs. Similarly, no difference was found in the motivation of these two groups. It was concluded that jobs which appear to management as higher in responsibility and complexity, and which are commonly viewed as promotions, may not always provide additional satisfactions in self-actualization, autonomy, or esteem. This study focused on the importance of defining accurately what constitutes job enlargement. An increase in variety and responsibility does not necessarily result in increasing higher order need satisfaction or motivation. How much job enlargement makes a difference in these variables is still open to question and must be the subject of further investigation.