Gender and sexual standards in dating relationships

This study explored the current status of sexual standards for dating relationships. A sample of 148 male and 148 female U.S. college students read a brief vignette describing a couple, Bob and Cathy, who were involved in either a causal or serious romantic/sexual relationship. Subjects then completed several scales as they thought Bob or Cathy would have answered them. The measures included love attitudes, sexual attitudes, and items on dating and marriage desirability. The study was a 2 (gender of subject) × 2 (gender of target) × 2 (casual vs. serious relationship) factorial design. Perception of a casual or serious relationship affected the love attitudes, sexual attitudes, and dating and marriage desirability attributed to the stimulus person. There were few effects for gender of the stimulus person or gender of the subject. The data suggest that relationship context is extremely important in evaluating sexual activity.     

Noncognitive Predictors of Counseling Center Use by International Students

International students (N= 230) completed the Noncognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) prior to matriculation as freshmen. Results indicated that noncognitive variables, shown previously to be predictive of academic success for international students, also were predictive of their utilization of counseling center services over a 4-year period. The three noncognitive variables that significantly (p<.05) predicted counseling center use were understanding and ability to deal with racism, preference for long-term goals over short-term, immediate needs, and non-traditional ways of acquiring knowledge. Implications for designing outreach and counseling services for international students are discussed.     

The First Sophists and Feminism: Discourses of the “Other”

In this essay, I explore the parallel between the historical exclusions of rhetoric from philosophy and of women from fields of rational discourse. After considering the usefulness and limitations of deconstruction for exposing marginalization by hierax' chical systems, 1 explore links between texts of the sophists and feminist proposals for rewriting/rereading history by Cixous, Spivak, and others. I conclude that sophistic rhetoric offers a flexible alternative to philosophy as an intellectual framework for mediating theoretical oppositions among contemporary feminisms.     

Career Development Programs in Business and Industry

Research and evaluation results of career development programs in business and industry indicate that a match between individual career needs and organizational goals plays a vital role in the implementation of a successful program.     

ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AS PREDICTORS OF PERSONNEL PRACTICES

This study investigated the relationship between organizational context characteristics and personnel practices. The following organizational characteristics were hypothesized to influence personnel practices: industry sector, the pursuit of innovation as a competitive strategy, manufacturing technology, and organizational structure. In addition, organizational size and unionization were examined. Results based upon data obtained from 267 organizations provided support for the general hypothesis that personnel practices vary as a function of organizational characteristics. In addition to interorganizational differences in personnel practices, this study illustrates that large intraorganiza-tional differences exist with respect to the practices used for managerial and hourly employees. Implications and future research needs are described.     

COMPLAINANT CHARACTERISTICS AND REPORTED BEHAVIORS AND CONSEQUENCES ASSOCIATED WITH FORMAL SEXUAL HARASSMENT CHARGES

Eighty-one formal sexual harassment charges were examined in an attempt to identify the characteristics of individuals who file formal sexual harassment charges and describe the behaviors and employment-related consequences associated with such charges. The sex, age, marital status, educational level, occupation, and salary distributions of complainants differed significantly from the expected distributions based upon labor force statistics. As regards reported behaviors and consequences, the most compelling finding was that over 65% of the charges involved job discharge.