infusing systems thinking into career counseling

This study examined the role of career counselors in infusing systems thinking into occupational advising. The authors conducted a qualitative review and analysis of selected literature on systems thinking and analyzed trends for adaptation to career counseling practice. This analysis suggests that career counselors need to infuse systems approaches into professional practice, for example, use of systems language that assists the client in exploring career plans. The authors also identified various new right‐brain directed thinking approaches (Pink, 2006; Shutt, 2008) for use in career counseling sessions. Results and implications are discussed.     

Pursuing Pleasure or Virtue: The Differential and Overlapping Well-Being Benefits of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motives

Hedonia (seeking pleasure and comfort) and eudaimonia (seeking to use and develop the best in oneself) are often seen as opposing pursuits, yet each may contribute to well-being in different ways. We conducted four studies (two correlational, one experience-sampling, and one intervention study) to determine outcomes associated with activities motivated by hedonic and eudaimonic aims. Overall, results indicated that: between persons (at the trait level) and within persons (at the momentary state level), hedonic pursuits related more to positive affect and carefreeness, while eudaimonic pursuits related more to meaning; between persons, eudaimonia related more to elevating experience (awe, inspiration, and sense of connection with a greater whole); within persons, hedonia related more negatively to negative affect; between and within persons, both pursuits related equally to vitality; and both pursuits showed some links with life satisfaction, though hedonia’s links were more frequent. People whose lives were high in both eudaimonia and hedonia had: higher degrees of most well-being variables than people whose lives were low in both pursuits (but did not differ in negative affect or carefreeness); higher positive affect and carefreeness than predominantly eudaimonic individuals; and higher meaning, elevating experience, and vitality than predominantly hedonic individuals. In the intervention study, hedonia produced more well-being benefits at short-term follow-up, while eudaimonia produced more at 3-month follow-up. The findings show that hedonia and eudaimonia occupy both overlapping and distinct niches within a complete picture of well-being, and their combination may be associated with the greatest well-being.     

Reward-related brain function as a predictor of treatment response in adolescents with major depressive disorder

The present study provides preliminary evidence that pretreatment reward-related brain function in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) could have relevance for predicting both final level and rate of change of clinical characteristics in adolescents with major depressive disorder. Adolescents with depression underwent a functional MRI scan during a monetary reward task, participated in an 8-week open trial of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or CBT plus selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and completed reports of anxiety and depressive symptoms before, during, and after treatment. Clinicians rated adolescents’ improvement and severity at the same time points. Growth models were used to examine change in clinical characteristics and its association with brain function. Severity, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms decreased over treatment. Final levels of severity and anxiety symptoms were associated with pretreatment striatal reactivity, and rate of anxiety symptom reduction was associated with greater striatal reactivity and lower medial PFC reactivity.     

Exercise dependence and the drive for muscularity in male bodybuilders,power lifters,and fitness lifters

Researchers have hypothesized differences in exercise dependence and drive for muscularity between bodybuilders and power lifters, while others have not found the predicted differences. This study assessed 146 weight lifters (bodybuilders, n = 59; power lifters, n = 47; fitness lifters, n = 40) on the Exercise Dependence Scale, Bodybuilding Dependence Scale, and the Drive for Muscularity Scale. Results showed that bodybuilders and power lifters were significantly higher than fitness lifters on EDS Total, 7 EDS scales, and the 3 BDS scales. In contrast, power lifters were found to be significantly higher on DMS Total and DMS Behavior scales than bodybuilders. The regression results suggest that exercise dependence may be directly related to the drive for muscularity.     

Not all same-different discriminations are created equal: Evidence contrary to a unidimensional account of same-different learning

In Experiment 1, we trained four pigeons to concurrently discriminate displays of 16 same icons (16S) from displays of 16 different icons (16D) as well as between displays of same icons (16S) from displays that contained 15 same icons and one different icon (15S:1D). The birds rapidly learned to discriminate 16S vs. 16D displays, but they failed to learn to discriminate 16S vs. 15S:1D displays. In Experiment 2, the same pigeons acquired the 16S vs. 15S:1D task after being required to locate and peck at the odd-item in the 15S:1D displays. Acquisition of the 16S vs. 15S:1D task had little effect on discriminative performance in the concurrent 16S:16D task, suggesting that a unidimensional entropy explanation for mastery of these two same-different tasks is not viable. During testing, the birds transferred discriminative performance in both tasks to displays composed of different visual stimuli. Such concurrent discrimination learning, performance, and transfer suggest that pigeons are flexible in the way they process the displays seen in these two same-different tasks.     

Non‐instrumental voice and extra‐role behaviour

The instrumental power associated with voicing opinions to an authority was manipulated to observe the effects upon subsequent discretionary, extra‐role behaviours. In two experiments, the provision of non‐instrumental voice increased extra‐role behaviours above a no voice condition. Experiment 2 also showed that this relationship was mediated by procedural‐justice perceptions, but not respect from, or social identification with, the group. The implications of these data for current theory, as well as the possible moderating role of social identification, are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental studies of sequential selection and assignment with relative ranks

We study a class of sequential selection and assignment problems in which a decision maker (DM) must sequentially assign applicants to positions with the objective of minimizing expected cost. In modeling this class of problems, we assume that on each period the DM is only informed of the rank of the present applicant relative to the applicants that she previously observed and assigned. We first present the optimal decision policy that we subsequently use as a normative benchmark, and then report results from three experiments designed to study sequential assignment behavior. In comparing the aggregate results from all three experiments to the optimal decision policy, we identify a systematic bias, called the middleness bias, to over‐assign applicants to intermediate positions. The results also reveal a strong bias for early applicants to be over‐assigned to important positions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Toward an Integrated Model of Applicant Faking Behavior1

The present research tested a model that integrated the theory of planned behavior (TPB) with a model of faking presented by McFarland and Ryan (2000) to predict faking on a personality test. In Study 1, the TPB explained sizable variance in the intention to fake. In Study 2, the TPB explained both the intention to fake and actual faking behavior. Different faking measures (i.e., difference scores and social desirability scales) tended to yield similar conclusions, but the difference scores were more strongly related to the variables in the model. These results provide support for a model that may increase understanding of applicant faking behavior and suggest reasons for the discrepancies in past research regarding the prevalence and consequences of faking.     

Physician job satisfaction across six major specialties

A random sample of 763 physicians was surveyed to examine the relation of 18 critical work-related factors to job satisfaction. On the whole, physicians reported that they were satisfied with their careers and believed that caring for patients, sense of accomplishment, continuity of care, autonomy, and personal time were the five most important factors for their personal job satisfaction. Regression analyses were run to determine the role of each of the 18 critical factors in predicting job satisfaction. Dissimilar to the self-report, the five most significant predictors were sense of accomplishment, creativity, income satisfaction, security, and autonomy. Additional regression analyses were run using the 18 critical factors to predict job satisfaction across the six major medical specialties. Significant factors varied greatly depending on specialty area, suggesting that physician job satisfaction may be better understood in terms of specialty rather than as a whole.     

Distractor familiarity leads to more efficient visual search for complex stimuli

Previous reports suggest that distractor familiarity plays an important role in determining visual search efficiency. However, the specific tasks used in those studies limit the extension of their findings to real-world situations and everyday images. In the present study, subjects engaged in a prolonged period of search experience as a control of their level of familiarity with a large set of target and distractor images. Reaction times and search slopes decreased dramatically over this period, especially for trials with a large target eccentricity and many distractors. Following extended practice, search among familiar distractors was more efficient than search among unfamiliar distractors. Furthermore, we found that familiar targets were located more efficiently than unfamiliar targets and that subjects were faster at locating targets that they had experienced in the majority of the search trials. These results show that prolonged visual experience facilitates processing of both target and distractor items during search.