Managing Retirement—Rethinking Links between Individual and Organization

Retirement represents an important life event in Western countries marking the transition from one life stage to another and the movement from being within to being outside the labour force. For employees, retirement might represent the border between organizational life and life outside the workplace. This border, though commonly thought of as fixed and distinct, is becoming more and more blurred. Organizations and organizational psychology have thus far largely ignored retirement as a relevant topic. However, the changing nature of retirement, as a consequence of demographic changes and developments in the labour market, means that we need to rethink our assumptions about retirement and to attempt to specify some of the missing links between individual and organizational perspectives on retirement. We will argue that retirement is not only an important event in the life of working individuals but has become an important issue for management. This article will discuss some individual retirement processes and possible impacts of retirement on the organization focusing, in particular, on the use of early retirement schemes as a management tool replacing traditional redundancies. It is suggested that these early retirement schemes neglect some basic aspects of individual and organizational retirement processes and are likely therefore in some cases to be less than effective. By describing a different model for managing retirement we aim to suggest how a better balance between individual and organizational needs can be achieved.     

Gender differences in remembering and inferring spatial distances

The abilities of males and females to make spatial inferences were compared. Spatial inference is concerned with the ability to work out new spatial information from memory. In two experiments, participants had to study line drawings depicting shapes linked either by straight or meandering lines. Afterwards, they had to remember the straight-line distances or to infer the straight-line distances. Several spatial abilities were also assessed: perceptual discrimination, mental rotation, and visuo-spatial working memory span. The results showed that males outperformed females in spatial inference and mental rotation. Experiment 2 extended the study to old people. The results replicated and clarified those obtained in Experiment 1. Spatial inference and mental rotation showed age-related and gender-related differences; in addition, age reduced the visuo-spatial memory span. Overall, the findings suggest that gender differences favouring males are maximised with tasks requiring active processing and strategic control of metric information.     

Expanding White Racial Identity Theory: A Qualitative Investigation of Whites Engaged in Antiracist Action

This article presents outcomes of a qualitative exploration of White racial identity. Ten participants whose characteristics were reflective of Helms's ( 1990 ) autonomy status defined their racial identities and related lifestyle choices. Findings are conceptualized within the framework of Helms's ( 1990 , 1995 ) theory of White racial identity development. Suggestions are intended to enhance White racial identity theory and provide empirical support for characteristics of Whites who are engaged in antiracist activities.     

Promoting “Healthy Futures” to Reduce Risk Behaviors in Urban Youth: A Randomized Controlled Trial

There is increasing evidence of the interconnection between educational and health outcomes. Unfortunately wide disparities exist by both socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity in educational and vocational success. This study sought to promote urban youths’ career readiness as a way to reduce involvement in risk behaviors. Two hundred primarily African‐American youth (ages 14–21) were recruited from a pediatric primary care clinic. Youth randomized to the intervention received three motivational interviewing sessions focused around expectations and planning for the future. Baseline and 6‐month follow‐up assessments included measures of career readiness and risk behavior involvement (i.e., physical fighting, alcohol and marijuana use). At 6‐months, youth randomized to the intervention condition showed increased confidence in their ability to perform the behaviors needed to reach their college/career goals. Additionally, youth randomized to the intervention arm showed decreased fighting behavior (adjusted rate ratio: .27) and marijuana use (adjusted rate ratio: .61). Assisting urban youth in thinking and planning about their future holds promise as a way to reduce their involvement in risk behaviors. This study also demonstrated that motivational interviewing could be used to promote positive behaviors (i.e., career readiness).     

Educating Counselors to Practice Interprofessionally Through Creative Classroom Experiences

Interprofessional education is a creative endeavor that seeks to prepare health professionals to collaborate within and outside of their profession to better serve clients. This article reports on the experiences and attitudes of counselors-in-training toward this approach before and after a semester-long interprofessional course. Results from quantitative and qualitative assessments show changes in attitudes and readiness for interprofessional education and practice.     

Cognitive,emotional and social development in adolescents born to substance using women

The aim of this article is to investigate the long‐term developmental consequences of being born to a substance‐using mother, focusing on cognitive functions, attention, emotional and social development. The longitudinal sample comprised 48 adolescents aged 12–16 at the time of follow‐up assessments, which included the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children‐III, the Test of Everyday Attention for Children, The Tower of London test and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The adolescents scored significantly lower than the norms on Wechsler's subtests and Full‐Scale IQ, and on The Everyday Attention test. There were few differences on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The girls reported significantly more hyperactivity than the British norms, and the teachers reported higher impact scores in boys, compared to the British norms. Thus, the results on cognitive consequences of maternal substance use appear to be very substantial while the emotional and social consequences do not. The results suggest serious negative effects of substance exposure in utero on attention and cognitive functioning in general.     

Manualized Group Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety in At-Risk Mental State and First Episode Psychosis: A Pilot Study of Feasibility and Outcomes

Social anxiety has received scant attention in studies of schizophrenia and related psychoses. However, some data suggest it may be an obstacle to vocational and functional outcome. This pilot study investigated the feasibility of a group-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBGT) to reduce social anxiety in those at risk for developing psychosis or in the early phase. Twenty-nine patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) or at ultra high risk for developing psychosis or often referred to as at-risk mental state (ARMS) with comorbid social anxiety attended a CBGT intervention weekly for 14 weeks in 90-minute sessions. Baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up ratings of social anxiety were measured using the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Social Phobia Inventory, and the Brief Social Phobia Scale. Psychotic symptoms and general psychopathology were also measured before and after the intervention. Results suggest that the proposed CBGT is feasible and beneficial for socially anxious patients at risk, or with experience of, psychosis. Participants significantly improved on three outcome measures of social anxiety after completing this intervention (all p’s < .002). Participants who completed treatment also showed a significant reduction on measures of depression and negative symptoms. Future research should examine the relative efficacy of this brief manualized CBGT intervention for the treatment of social anxiety and psychotic symptoms in a larger randomized controlled trial.     

Parental Discipline,Child Inhibitory Control and Prosocial Behaviors: The Indirect Relations via Child Sympathy

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Parents’ discipline and children’s inhibitory control are important predictors of children’s prosocial behaviors. Yet few studies have...