The Influence of Videoconference Technology and Interview Structure on the Recruiting Function of the Employment Interview: A Field Experiment

This field experiment examined whether interview medium and interview structure affects the attractiveness of organizations, interviewer friendliness and performance. Attractiveness ratings of 25 organizations were provided by 92 real job applicants, assigned to either a face–to–face (FTF) or a videoconference (VC) interview. An interview medium X structure interaction showed FTF applicants were attracted most to organizations who conducted their interviews with less structure, while VC applicants were more attracted to organizations using structured interviews. Interview structure had no effect on applicants’ perception of the interviewer’s performance; however, interviewers’ performance was rated higher for FTF than VC interviews. Applicants were more satisfied with their FTF performance in less structured interviews and more satisfied with their VC performance in highly structured interviews.     

Familial influences on television viewing and aggression: A sibling study

Familial influences on aggressive behavior and TV viewing were investigated in a survey of adolescent siblings. Same-sex siblings resembled one another in aggression (brothers, r = 0.59; sisters, r = 0.52) and in their exposure to violent TV programs; opposite-sex siblings were dissimilar. Within individuals, the frequency of watching crime and action programs correlated nonsignificantly with aggression. Two other variables, however, were associated with aggression: identification with aggression and aggression consequences. These relationships also held up between families (BF, covariance of sibling' averages) and within families (WF, covariance of sibling' differences). The latter WF relationship indicated that one sibling was typically the more extreme on both aggression and its correlate than a brother or sister. These results were interpreted in light of behavioral genetic data that suggest substantial genetic influences, few common environmental influences, and large within-family environmental influences on personality development.     

Mothers,fathers, and the crisis of newborn intensive care

At hospital discharge of their infant from a newborn intensive care unit, 50 mothers and fathers were interviewed and completed questionnaires. There were significant within-couple correlations for appraisals of the harm that ensued from this crisis, perceptions of personal control over the infant's recovery, and expectations about the infant's future health and development. Mothers perceived more personal control, mobilized more social support, and used more escapist coping strategies than did fathers. Mothers and fathers exhibited different patterns of relations between their own coping strategies and emotional well-being. But, neither the coping strategies used by one's spouse nor differences between spouses in the use of individual coping strategies correlated with emotional well-being. Analysis of parents' perceived differences between their own and their partner's coping strategies suggested the possibility of mutually helpful, complementary strategies of coping with this problem.     

Clinical interventions in parent-infant groups around issues related to separation-individuation

Parent-child groups as an educational method in a general hospital setting provide support for parents and an environment in which they can discuss their questions about their child's development. This paper illustrates the clinical use of parent-child groups as a means of early intervention in problems that become apparent during the Separation-Individuation stages of development. We present two case studies of mother-child pairs, who have been members of the group for 2 years. The first case is a bi-racial child whose mother is struggling to deal with the child's rapprochement stage behavior. Through the oral and anal stages, conflict has grown in their relationship due to the mother's way of viewing her child, as well as her own unresolved adolescent separation difficulties. The second case is an overprotective mother whose own pathology prevented her daughter from resolving her rapprochement crisis. Interventions by the leaders as well as the group's educational method help both mother-child pairs to resolve interpersonal conflict and to continue their essentially normal development.     

Citizenship and Community Mental Health Care

Citizenship is an approach to supporting the social inclusion and participation in society of people with mental illnesses. It is receiving greater attention in community mental health discourse and literature in parallel with increased awareness of social determinants of health and concern over the continued marginalization of persons with mental illness in the United States. In this article, we review the definition and principles of our citizenship framework with attention to social participation and access to resources as well as rights and responsibilities that society confers on its members. We then discuss our citizenship research at both individual and social‐environmental levels, including previous, current, and planned efforts. We also discuss the role of community psychology and psychologists in advancing citizenship and other themes relevant to a citizenship perspective on mental health care and persons with mental illness.     

When Your Team is Not Really Your Team Anymore: Identification with a Merged Basketball Club

In this questionnaire study it was tested to what extent identification with a merged basketball club could be predicted on the basis of six concepts derived from a social identity perspective on mergers. Respondents were 160 fans and 91 youth players of a Belgian first division basketball club that had merged the previous season. A direct multiple regression analysis indicated that, both for fans and youth players identification with the pre-merger club was the best predictor of identification with the new merger club, followed by the perceived success of the merger. Two other concepts emerged as significant, though modest, predictors of post-merger identification for fans and youth players: the perceived necessity of the merger and their satisfaction with the merger process. For the fans, the perceived continuity/representation of the in-group in the merger group was also a significant predictor. Together, the hypothesized predictors accounted for 70% of the total variance in their post-merger identification. This high percentage underlines the relevance of a social-psychological perspective on how sport fans' react to mergers. For youth players, 61% of the total variance in their post-merger identification was explained, which suggests that the processes that facilitate fans and youth players’ post-merger identification are quite similar.     

Parental goals and talk with toddlers

Myriad studies support a relation between parental beliefs and behaviours. This study adds to the literature by focusing on the specific relationship between parental goals and their communication with toddlers. Do parents with different goals talk about different topics with their children? Parents' goals for their 30‐month olds were gathered using semi‐structured interviews with 47 primary caregivers, whereas the topics of conversations that took place during interactions were investigated via coding videotapes of observations in the home. Parents' short‐ and long‐term goals spanned several areas, including educational, social–emotional, developmental and pragmatic goals. Parental utterances most frequently focused on pragmatic issues, followed by play and academic topics. Parents who mentioned long‐term educational goals devoted more of their talk to academic topics and less to pragmatic topics, controlling for socio‐economic status. Thus, parental goals differ and these differences relate to the conversations parents engage in with their children. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.