Person-environment fit,job satisfaction and mental health

This study was concerned with the consequences of person-environment (P-E) congruence at work in terms of Holland's model of vocational preference. Whereas there has been some work on P-E fit and job satisfaction, and P-E fit and stress, few studies have looked at the relationship between P-E fit, job satisfaction and mental health. It was predicted that those people with a poor P-E fit would have higher levels of mental distress and lower levels of job satisfaction than those who experienced a good P-E fit. The results substantiated the major hypotheses of this study and are discussed in terms of the measurement and causes of job satisfaction. Criticisms and limitations of this type of approach are also considered.     

Structural predictors of problematic friendship in later life

The purpose of this study was to examine the constraining and facilitating effects of social structural position (age, sex, race, class, financial sufficiency, and number of friends) on opportunities for friendship. We hypothesized that the greater the number of people who share a given social structural location and the more access they have to situations where it is possible to meet new people, the less likely they are to have problematic friendships. The sample comprised 53 male and female community residents aged 55 to 84 years who enjoyed fairly good health. Logistic and multiple regression procedures revealed outcomes opposite to our predictions: those who were supposedly more social structurally advantaged actually reported greater numbers of problematic friendships. Potential interpretations include the possibility that these people are more critical than others of their friend relationships or more willing to acknowledge problems, that the norms regarding commitment to friends are weaker among these individuals, or that they learn to acquire friends but not to avoid and solve problems in their relationships. Apparently, people with more friends are not more likely than others to terminate problematic friendships or to redefine them as mere associations.     

Encouraging Women through a Career Conference

Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt.—William Shakespeare     

PURE TIME PREFERENCE

Pure time preference is a preference for something to come at one point in time rather than another merely because of when it occurs in time. In opposition to Sidgwick, Ramsey, Rawls, and Parfit we argue that it is not always irrational to be guided by pure time preferences. We argue that even if the mere difference of location in time is not a rational ground for a preference, time may nevertheless be a normatively neutral ground for a preference, and this makes it plausible to claim that the preference is rationally permitted.     

OEDIPUS REX: WHERE ARE WE GOING,ESPECIALLY WITH FEMALES?

The Oedipus myth usefully informs triangulated object relations, though males, females, and “humankind” can become overly interchangeable. Freud's intentions to enlighten sexed gender are nowadays obscured. In 1931, he rejected Oedipus for females. Counterreactive gender blindness forecloses exploration about female development. Loewald's (1979) view of Oedipus Rex emancipates male heterosexuals from a recurring (universal), regressive pull back to mother. Ogden (1987) offers further insights into earliest female development. The author suggests a lifelong, progressive trajectory of mother/daughter closeness, in synch with a girl's shared slow body development into maturity and childbearing. Freeing the female dyad from obligatory pathological interpretation may inspire fresh sex and gender clinical theory.     

Perspective‐taking induction mitigates the effect of partner attachment avoidance on self–partner overlap

Adult attachment avoidance has long been associated with relationship turmoil and dissatisfaction, and some research has highlighted the clinical potential of perspective‐taking (PT) training for ameliorating attachment avoidance‐related relationship difficulties. Prior research also suggests that prosocial sequelae of PT are mediated by increased self–other overlap. This study examined how a brief PT induction preceding an unresolved conflict discussion interacted with individual differences in attachment avoidance to influence postconflict ratings of self–partner overlap. The authors found that the PT induction buffered the effect of partner—but not one's own—avoidance on self–partner overlap. Main effects of PT condition and both actor and partner avoidance were also detected, and results remained unchanged when controlling for indirect intracouple overlap and relevant individual and couple characteristics.