Thinness and eating expectancies predict subsequent binge-eating and purging behavior among adolescent girls

One's expectancies for reinforcement from eating or from thinness are thought to represent summaries of one's eating-related learning history and to thus influence the development of binge-eating and purging behavior. In a 3-year longitudinal study, the authors tested this hypothesis and the hypothesis that binge eating also influences subsequent expectancy development. The authors used trajectory analysis to identify groups of middle school girls who followed different trajectories of binge eating, purging, eating expectancies, and thinness expectancies. Initial eating and thinness reinforcement expectancies identified girls whose binge eating and purging increased during middle school, and expectancies differentiated girls who began these problem behaviors from girls who did not. Initial binge-eating scores differentiated among eating expectancy developmental trajectories. The onset of most behaviors can be understood in terms of learned expectancies for reinforcement from these behaviors. The same model can be applied to the risk for eating disorders.     

ANALYSIS OF WORK GROUP PRODUCTIVITY IN AN APPLIED SETTING: APPLICATION OF A TIME SERIES PANEL DESIGN

We provide a demonstration of a time series panel analysis applied under typical field research conditions characterized by (a) a small number of groups (b) all of which experience an intervention (thus there is no traditional control group), and (c) perform noncomparable tasks. The time series techniques allow a direct test of Naylor, Pritchard, and Ilgen's (1980) theory of behavior in organizations applied to work group productivity in a large-scale study of work groups conducted by Pritchard and colleagues (1989). The responses of 5 work groups to priority scores for 37 indicators of productivity over 23 months were used to predict month-by-month changes in productivity for each of the 37 group products. The results show that group productivity improvements can be explained by feedback including priority scores derived from nonlinear contingency functions of the productivity indicators. Furthermore, groups differed in their response to priority feedback. Goal setting positively affected productivity gain consistently across work groups, after the effects of priority feedback and the interaction of work groups with priority feedback were accounted for. Implications for group performance strategies and appropriate applications of the time series panel analysis are discussed.     

Sets,Classes and Extensions: A singularity approach to Russell's paradox

Philosophical Studies -     

Reliability,stability, and factor structure of the Bulimia Test-Revised and Eating Disorder Inventory-2 scales in adolescence

The Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2) and Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R) have demonstrated strong reliability and validity in college students and adults. Although used in adolescent samples, little is known about the psychometric properties of these measures for adolescents. The reliability, factor structure, and mean levels of five EDI-2 scales and the BULIT-R were evaluated over 3 years. Data were collected yearly from two samples of adolescent females, one recruited from three public middle schools (n = 239, mean baseline age = 12.8) and one from two public high schools (n = 119, mean baseline age = 15.9). Results provide strong evidence for the reliability and stability of these measures. Mean levels of both measures appeared remarkably consistent over the 3 years. These results provide evidence of good psychometric performance for these scales in adolescence. The lack of change in these measures raises questions about the developmental trajectory of these variables through adolescence.     

PERSONALITY AND COGNITIVE ABILITY AS PREDICTORS OF JOB SEARCH AMONG EMPLOYED MANAGERS

Research on employee job search and separation traditionally focuses on situationally specific variables. Such variables may change with particular employment situations (e.g., job tenure, salary, perceived organizational success), they may be differentially relevant to work situations over time (e.g., education), or may reflect individual reactions to particular work situations (e.g., job satisfaction). More enduring individual characteristics, particularly personality and cognitive ability, may affect job search in consistent ways across different situations, but to date we have little empirical research on those effects. The present study extends traditional job search investigations by incorporating these two enduring individual characteristics–personality and cognitive ability. The value of these two enduring individual characteristics, in predicting job search, is then tested on a sample of U.S. executives. Cognitive ability as well as the personality dimensions of Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience related positively to job search. These effects remained even in the presence of an array of situational factors previously shown to affect search. The relationship between Extroversion and job search became significant and positive in the presence of situational factors, particularly job satisfaction. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Metamorphosis: Essence, appearance, and behavior in the categorization of natural kinds

The transformation paradigm (Rips, 1989) was used to contrast causal homeostasis and strict essentialist beliefs about biological kinds. Participants read scenarios describing animals that changed their appearance and behavior through either accidental mutation or developmental maturation and then rated the animals on the basis of similarity, typicality, and category membership both before and after the change. Experiment 1 in the present study replicated the dissociation of typicality and categorization reported by Rips (1989) but also revealed systematic individual differences in categorization. With typicality and membership ratings collected between participants, however, Experiment 2 found no evidence for the dissociation and few essentialist responders. In Experiment 3, excluding information about offspring led most participants to categorize on the basis of appearance and behavior alone. However, with offspring information included and with questioning focused on the change of kind, essentialist categorization was still surprisingly rare. We conclude that strict essentialist categorization in the transformation task is relatively rare and highly task dependent, and that categorization is more commonly based on causal homeostasis.     

Does a Marriage Ideal Exist? Using Q-Sort Methodology to Compare Young Adults’ and Professional Educators’ Views on Healthy Marriages

This study sought to understand whether young adults and family educators share beliefs about the components of a successful relationship. Young adults viewed successful relationships as having partners who agree on most issues. Educators characterized successful partners as exhibiting positive communication patterns and using relationship maintenance strategies. A third prototype included young adults and educators who described successful relationships in terms of agreement and problem solving behaviors. Implications for researchers and practitioners conclude the article.