A SIMPLE AND RELIABLE METHOD OF SCORING THE THURSTONE ATTITUDE SCALES

A simple method of scoring the Thurstone Attitude Scales is presented, which does not involve the use of a judging group and yet is found in several samples to be consistently more reliable than the original method of scoring. The scores obtained by the two methods correlate highly (median r = .88), indicating that they are measuring essentially the same thing.     

Lesbian Couples and Their Parents: The Effects of Perceived Parental Attitudes on the Couple

Twenty respondents, each of whom was in a committed couple relationship, were asked how their parents' attitudes toward (a) their partner and (b) their lesbianism impacted on their relationships with their partners. The study revealed that the adverse consequences of parental disapproval are overshadowed by the benefits to the couple that are derived from the decision to affirm one's lesbian identity and to acknowledge the nature of the couple relationship by “coming out” to parents. The negative impact of secrecy on the couple, the downplaying of parental disapproval, the positive effects on the couple of an affirmed lesbian identity, and the importance of acknowledgment of the lesbian couple are discussed. The author maintains that the counselor working with lesbian couples must be lesbian affirmative, and she suggests eight specific, clinical implications for working with lesbian couples.     

Explaining the Weak Relationship Between Job Performance and Ratings of Job Performance

Ratings of job performance are widely viewed as poor measures of job performance. Three models of the performance–performance rating relationship offer very different explanations and solutions for this seemingly weak relationship. One-factor models suggest that measurement error is the main difference between performance and performance ratings and they offer a simple solution—that is, the correction for attenuation. Multifactor models suggest that the effects of job performance on performance ratings are often masked by a range of systematic nonperformance factors that also influence these ratings. These models suggest isolating and dampening the effects of these nonperformance factors. Mediated models suggest that intentional distortions are a key reason that ratings often fail to reflect ratee performance. These models suggest that raters must be given both the tools and the incentive to perform well as measurement instruments and that systematic efforts to remove the negative consequences of giving honest performance ratings are needed if we hope to use performance ratings as serious measures of job performance.     

Superiority in Humor Theory

In this article, I consider the standard interpretation of the superiority theory of humor attributed to Plato, Aristotle, and Hobbes, according to which the theory allegedly places feelings of superiority at the center of humor and comic amusement. The view that feelings of superiority are at the heart of all comic amusement is wildly implausible. Therefore textual evidence for the interpretation of Plato, Aristotle, or Hobbes as offering the superiority theory as an essentialist theory of humor is worth careful consideration. Through textual analysis I argue that not one of these three philosophers defends an essentialist theory of comic amusement. I also discuss the way various theories of humor relate to one another and the proper place of a superiority theory in humor theory in light of my analysis.