The Influence of Relationship Beliefs and Problem-Solving Responses on Satisfaction in Romantic Relationships

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association among dysfunctional relationship beliefs, problem-solving responses, and satisfaction in close relationships. A survey was completed by 322 college students, each of whom was currently involved in a close heterosexual relationship. As hypothesized, dysfunctional relationship beliefs exhibited positive correlations with the destructive problem-solving responses of exit and neglect and negative correlations with the constructive problem-solving response of voice. Canonical correlation analysis suggested that individuals possessing the beliefs that disagreement is destructive and partners cannot change were likely to respond to relational problems with exit and neglect and to eschew responding with voice. Both dysfunctional beliefs and problem-solving responses were associated with relational satisfaction. However, dysfunctional beliefs failed to predict satisfaction when controlling for problem-solving responses. Support was therefore obtained for the prediction that problem-solving responses mediate the association between dysfunctional beliefs and relational satisfaction.     

What Is the Active Ingredients Equation for Success in Executive Coaching?

In this response, we address commentator concerns about the generalizability of the active ingredients of psychotherapy to the science and practice of executive coaching. We discuss four ingredient that may make a difference: (a) client characteristics, (b) goals or success criteria, (c) role of the organization, and (d) contextual knowledge of the executive coach. We explore how each of these differences is likely to affect the weighting of the four active ingredients in the equation for predicting executive coaching outcomes. From this analysis, we re-affirm our hypotheses that the active ingredients are generalizable to coaching and hold promise for strengthening research and practice. We conclude by highlighting the efforts of several commentators to extend and deepen our hypotheses to other areas of leadership development.     

Information Attributes as Related to Psychological Symptoms and Perceived Control Among Information Seekers in the Aftermath of Technological Disaster

The relationship among information attributes, psychological symptoms, and perceived control was examined among residents in the vicinity of Three Mile island who attended the Three Mile Island Health and Environmental Information Series on cancer, radiation, and epidemiology of cancer 6 years after the nuclear accident that had occurred and shortly before restart of the plant. Among course participants, greater understanding of information was associated with slightly fewer psychological symptoms. Higher rated reliability of information was associated with less perceived control. Findings are discussed with reference to information delivery under conditions of uncertainty.     

Women and Career Competence: A Theoretical and Experiential Model

The authors describe an experiential workshop, developed to help women with career difficulties, that emphasizes freedom and responsibility for choice.     

ASSESSING COMPANY EMPLOYMENT IMAGE: AN EXAMPLE IN THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY

Historically, there has been little guidance from the recruitment literature on how organizations can assess the image that potential applicants hold of their company as a place to work. We demonstrate the application of a technique for identifying employment image dimensions that are most critical in distinguishing among companies in the same industry, and show how this information can be used to assess companies relative to their competitors on these dimensions. We used a forced-choice inductive methodology to identify relevant dimensions of company employment image in the fast food industry, and randomly assigned high school students ( n = 336) and retirees ( n = 102) to describe 1 of 8 well-known fast food companies on the dimensions. In addition, respondents indicated their general image of the targeted company as a place to work. We were able to identify dimensions that both discriminated between companies and predicted general image, and graphically benchmarked one company against other companies on image dimensions.     

Psychological science in the public arena: Three cases of dubious influence

Psychological science has a great deal to contribute to social welfare in all societies, because the world's most pressing social problems are behavioral in nature—violence, hunger, drug abuse, environmental pollution, low worker productivity, poor educational outcomes, and so forth. Thus, psychological research can inform public policies to improve approaches to these important social problems. The relationship of psychological science to public policy is often troubled, however, by misunderstandings about the role of science in the policy making process. Many scientists fear that their research results will be "misused" by others whose values differ from those of scientists. Thus, psychologists are reluctant to publish research results that can be used to support policies contrary to their own values and hesitate to ask research questions that can generate politically incorrect results. In this article, I argue that psychological science has a primary responsibility to ask dangerous questions and to report results honestly, without fear of their use; that research is not translated directly into public policies; and that psychological science should not be perverted either by fear of political consequences or by compromising truth in a quest for power. Three research examples are given to illustrate the different faces of temptation to pervert psychological science in a misguided hope that scientists' own values will be reflected in public policies.     

Work motivation among high school students before and during the economic recession in the Swedish labour market

In 1990, 2349 high school pupils from 21 high schools in the Stockholm, Uppsala and Södertälje regions answered a questionnaire concerning how important different characteristics of work were in their future job. The questionnaire also included an open question, “How would you describe an ideal job?” In 1993 the same questionnaire was answered by 1171 high school students. The two measurement occasions were separated by economic changes leading, from a condition of economic security and full employment, to a condition characterised by economic insecurity and high unemployment especially among young people. Results showed that the economic insecurity of 1993 lowered the students' ratings of the importance of all characteristics of work with the exception of the security of work. A strong gender factor influenced the ratings. Thus, the female students rated the importance of the characteristics of work higher than the male students did. The only exception concerned “good pay”, which was rated higher by the male. In 1993 these effects were less pronounced, although still evident. The motivational structure seemed to be unaffected by the economic insecurity. The same four motivational factors, i.e. (1) the expressive work goals, (2) the working conditions, (3) the benefits of work and (4) the social aspects of work, appeared in the analyses of both measurement occasions.     

Sexual satisfaction in long-term heterosexual relationships: The interpersonal exchange model of sexual satisfaction

This study examined the validity of the Interpersonal Exchange Model of Sexual Satisfaction (IEMSS) in long-term, heterosexual sexual relationships. The IEMSS proposes that sexual satisfaction depends on one's levels of rewards and costs in the sexual relationship, one's comparison levels (CL) for rewards/costs, and one's perceptions of the dyadic equality (EQ) of these rewards/costs. Sexual satisfaction is expected to be greater to the extent that, over time, levels of rewards (REW) exceed levels of costs (CST), relative reward levels (CLREW) exceed relative cost levels (CLcst ), and interpersonal equality of rewards (EQrew ) and of costs (EQCST) is perceived to exist. Married/cohabiting community volunteers and university alumni/staff completed two questionnaires, 3 months apart. The results obtained from this well-educated, relationally satisfied sample (N= 143) provided excellent support for the IEMSS. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that each component of the model (REW - CST, CLrew - CLcst , and EQrew , EQcst ) added to the prediction of sexual satisfaction as expected, accounting for 75% of the variance. Repeated measurement of the IEMSS components offered a better prediction of sexual satisfaction than a one-time measure alone. Neither gender nor relationship satisfaction interacted with the IEMSS components. However, including relationship satisfaction (but not gender) in the model significantly improved the prediction of sexual satisfaction. It was concluded that the model should be revised to include relationship satisfaction. Both the exchange components of the IEMSS and sexual satisfaction uniquely predicted relationship satisfaction. The IEMSS offers a promising approach for understanding sexual satisfaction and its relationship to relationship satisfaction, as well as for reconciling inconsistent findings in the literature.     

Strategies for Counseling Midcareer Changers: A Conceptual Framework

The authors describe a model designed to help counselors facilitate the midcareer change process. Problems of typical midcareer changers are portrayed using case studies. Intervention strategies are presented in a framework that includes emotional adaptation and cognitive decision making.     

A Group Approach Used for Counseling Perpetrators of Sexual Crimes in a Prison Setting

This article describes a group approach for working with incarcerated male perpetrators of incest or incest-like crimes. The article is based on a program currently being pilot tested in the New York State prison system at Collins Correctional Facility. Suggestions for interviewing group members are given, an approach for treatment is described, and termination guidelines are discussed.