When similars do not attract: Tests of a prediction from the self‐expansion model

This study tested the hypothesis from the self‐expansion model that the usual effect of greater attraction to a similar (vs. dissimilar) stranger will be reduced or reversed when a person is given information that a relationship would be likely to develop (i.e., that they would be very likely to get along) with the other person. The study employed the “bogus stranger” paradigm and focused on similarity/dissimilarity of interests in the context of attraction to a same‐gender other. The effect for similarity under conditions in which no information is given about relationship likelihood replicated the usual pattern of greater attraction to similars. However, as predicted, a significant similarity by information interaction demonstrated that this effect was significantly reduced (and slightly reversed) when participants had been given information that the partner will like self. In analyses for each gender separately, both of these effects were significant only for men, suggesting that the focus on interest similarity may have been less relevant for women.     

Order of Information Affects Clinical Judgment

Family practice physicians read a case vignette describing a patient with a history of lung cancer, a new transient neurological disturbance, and a normal computerized tomographic (CT) scan of the head. They then estimated the probabilities of two diagnoses: transient ischemic attack (TIA) and brain tumor. Probability estimates of TIA were lower if the history of lung cancer was presented at the end of the case rather than at the beginning. This recency effect was found for both more and less experienced physicians and whether subjects were prompted for a single end-of-sequence probability judgment or multiple step-by-step judgments after each piece of information. These results are inconsistent with Hogarth and Einhorn's (1992) belief-adjustment model, which predicts a recency effect for the step-by-step condition but a primacy effect for the end-of-sequence condition.     

The Value of Truth and the Care of the Soul

Although the argument against the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution presented by Stephen R. L. Clark in From Athens to Jerusalem is based upon sound principles, it fails to provide an a priori refutation. If it did work, it would refute all objective scientific theories, since all of them make consciousness and subjectivity, as Clark characterises them, incomprehensible. Scientism, the thesis that science is the only source of truth, is Clark's real target, rather than science per se, but he does not diagnose this error as it is made by authors such as Jacques Monod and Richard Dawkins. Scientism is not essential to materialism in general, and a successful version of 'supervenience-materialism'could avoid both reductionism and scientism. However, Clark still has a reply. He may use his discussion of the value of truth to provide a more general critique of materialism, which in my view is far more effective.     

The Leadership of Merle Ohlsen

This interview focuses on the contributions of Merle Ohlsen to the development of the counseling profession and to the American Association for Counseling and Development (AACD).     

AGREEMENT BETWEEN SUBORDINATE AND SELF-RATINGS IN UPWARD FEEDBACK

This study examines measures of agreement between subordinate and self-ratings of leadership and boss/subordinate relationships in an upward feedback process conducted in a large department. Ratings were provided for 86 target managers from an average of six subordinates per manager. Individual characteristics of the target manager (sex and age) and organizational characteristics of the work unit (the target manager's organizational level and organizational unit, line or staff) were examined as correlates of agreement. Profile agreement (the correlation between self-ratings and the average subordinates'ratings across 48 items) was higher for female than male target managers, and was higher in line than staff units. Also, profile agreement increased over time for the 39 target managers rated one year later. Other findings indicated psychometric properties of upward feedback data. For instance, profile agreement was positively related to the number of subordinates in the work group. The discussion focuses on the need for research on variables that influence the reliability and usefulness of upward feedback data.