Response

This essay is a response to the comments and critique, included in this issue, of Claudia Card and Marilyn Friedman to my book, A Passion for Friends. In this response, I emphasize the crucial distinction between female separation and dissociation from the world, so as to register the difference between the positive and negative separations in which women are engaged. I also expand the discussion of individuality and individualism. The latter has arisen within the context of a feminist liberal campaign for sexual liberation which defends, among other things, sadomasochism, prostitution, pornography, and surrogacy.     

THE INFLUENCE OF TRAINEE ATTITUDES ON TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS: TEST OF A MODEL

Studies of the influence of trainee characteristics on training effectiveness have focused on the ability level necessary to learn program content. Motivational and environmental influences on training effectiveness have received little attention. The purpose of this study was to test an exploratory model describing the influence on trainee career and job attitudes on training outcomes (learning, behavior change, performance improvement). Results of the study suggest that job involvement and career planning are antecedents of learning and behavior change. Future research directions and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

ORGANIZATION AND RATER DIFFERENCES IN PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS

This study examines the effects of organizational differences and rater differences on performance appraisals. Self, peer, and supervisory ratings of performance for nurses in four hospitals and self, student, peer, and supervisory ratings for resident advisors in seven university dormitory complexes were used in this study. The analyses indicate that both organization and rater differences have significant, independent effects on performance ratings. The findings suggest that organizational differences may restrict the generality of the findings of performance appraisal studies across organizational settings. They also may have a negative impact on the usefulness of any particular performance appraisal form in different settings, and on the ability of managers to accurately interpret and compare performance ratings for individuals in different organizational subunits.     

A study of the psychological effects of redundancy and unemployment

This study is an investigation of the psychological and social consequences of redundancy and unemployment. A sample of redundant adults was monitored for the first six months following job loss. They were interviewed every four weeks and data concerning psychiatric symptoms, level and direction of hostility, self-concept, social attitudes, interpersonal relations and family relationships were collected on each occasion. A matched control group of employed workers was also recruited and monitored. Significant differences between the unemployed who remained without work for the duration of the study and employed subjects were found on the measures of symptomatology, hostility, guilt, self-satisfaction, acceptance by others and family role behaviour. In each case the redundant workers manifested the greater personal distress. Although there were no significant differences between the male and female unemployed, unemployment was experienced differently by each sex. Previous writers have suggested a stage theory of unemployment which is characterized by four principal stages: anticipation—optimism—pessimism—fatalism. The results of this study failed to confirm a stage model of unemployment.