OUTCOME EXPECTANCIES OF PEOPLE WHO CONDUCT PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS

Outcome expectancies of people who conduct performance appraisals were identified in two disparate industries, newsprint and banking, using two methodologies: interviewing and administering a questionnaire. The alternate hypothesis was that appraisers perceive the consequences to them of conducting a thorough appraisal (i.e., giving negative as well as positive feedback) as aversive. This hypothesis was rejected. Appraisers did not perceive any consequences to them for conducting appraisals. Moderate support for the alternate hypothesis was obtained in the second study.     

Reflections on Bill Kell: The Legend and His Legacy

Bill Kell influenced many contemporary counseling psychologists through his work as author and as director of training at the Michigan State University Counseling Center from 1957 until his death in 1973. This article describes the legend and legacy of Bill Kell, by using excerpts from six oral histories collected from former trainees, colleagues, and family members.     

Parents' Sense of "Entitlement" in Adoptive and Nonadoptive Families

The literature suggests that problems with developing a sense of entitlement are unique to adoptive families, but this assumption has not been examined empirically. In this study, a questionnaire was constructed to define operationally those characteristics associated with the construct of entitlement, and was administered to adoptive and nonadoptive families with children averaging 11.5 years in age who presented either for mental health service or were recruited as a comparison-control sample. Factor analysis yielded four factors on which the four groups of subjects were compared. Results indicated that problems with entitlement are not specific to adoptive families. Instead, differences in sense of entitlement occurred primarily between clinic and nonclinic control families, regardless of whether the target child had been adopted. Findings are discussed in terms of methodological shortcomings in the adoption research literature and how problems in entitlement may be associated with other family characteristics.     

Sequential Patterning in Family Interaction: A Methodological Note

Participation rates have traditionally been used to indicate certain aspects of family and group structure. A recently reported indicator is the predictability of sequences of speakers in ongoing interaction; investigators have assumed that the greater the predictability the greater the rigidity, organization or structure of the group. We have examined one method, reported by Haley, for analyzing participation sequences and have shown that findings from the sequential analysis mix the effects of aggregate participation rates with the clustering of participation in time. We suggest an alternate method for measuring the predictability of sequences of speeches that can be more clearly interpreted and that, in combination with other measures, can provide findings which are more complex and more directly relevant to theories of family organization.     

Creating Options: A Career Development Training Program for Minorities

The lack of minority counselors in the field of career planning and placement often leaves minority students without the option of seeing a counselor of the same race. This article describes a training program designed to introduce minority staff to the field of career planning and placement as a possible career choice. The program goals, recruitment and selection strategies, training design, and implications for other institutions are discussed.     

A framework for counseling women

“The goal is to develop human beings who are free to act in ways that are appropriate to their interests and their values—not their sex.“