Applying the M-92, A Self-Knowledge Technique for Determining Job Aspirations and Expectations

The M-92 technique is aimed at helping teenagers become aware of: (a) the relationships between certain classic determinants such as prestige, income, and job opportunities and their system of job aspirations and/or expectations; (b) the strong and weak points in their system of information about jobs; (c) the internal structure of their system of occupational representations; and (d) possible conflicts in values or discordancies between aspirations and expectations. From a theoretical standpoint the M-92 draws directly on Coombs (1975) and Gottfredson (1981). Methodologically, it is an extension of the Hammond et al. (1988) Social Judgement Theory to the case of pair comparisons. Several concrete examples of the M-92 in use are described.     

Applications of social cognitive theory to the career development of women of color

This article provides a review of the literature on the educational and career development of women of color within the context of social cognitive career theory (Lent, et al, 1994 and Lent, et al, 1996). Specifically, possible gender, ethnic, racial, and cultural influences on career self-efficacy and outcome expectations are explored to delinate the potential mechanisms whereby ethnicity, culture, and ethnic and racial identity development, in interaction with gender, affect career choice and adjustment. Suggestions for future research on social cognitive career theory and the career development of women of color are presented.     

新手—熟手—专家型教师心理特征的比较

为了更深入地了解教师的教学专长发展,采用了量表法分别对433名和469名新手型、熟手型、专家型教师进行了教学策略、成就目标定向、人格特征和职业承诺、职业倦怠两个比较研究。结果表明：⑴在教学策略、成就目标、人格特征上,专家型教师均优于熟手型教师,而熟手型教师又优于新手型教师;在职业承诺和职业倦怠上,专家型教师均优于熟手型教师和新手型教师,而熟手型教师与新手型教师不存在差异。⑵重视课前准备,成绩目标是其重要的工作动机是新手型教师的主要特征;课中策略水平较高,任务目标成为重要的工作动机,具有随和、宽容、乐群、能关心他人的人格特点是熟手型教师的主要特征;教学策略以课前计划、课后的评估、反思为核心,具有鲜明的情绪稳定性、理智、着重实际、自信心和批判性强的人格特点,职业的情感投入程度和职业成就感高是专家型教师的主要特征。⑶三类教师在课后的补救策略、成绩目标、内外向、继续承诺和情绪耗竭上没有显著差异是其共同点。     

Organizational citizenship behavior and organizational commitment in Nepal

The present study examines the structure of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and its relation to organizational commitment in Nepal. Four-hundred and fifty employees of five Nepalese organizations filled out standardized questionnaires. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed two factors of OCB, altruism and compliance, replicating Western models of extra-role behavior. Structural equation analysis showed a positive relation between affective and normative commitment on the one hand and both citizenship factors on the other. Continuance commitment was negatively related to compliance and unrelated to altruism. The findings thus confirmed the structure and usefulness of the concepts in an under-researched geographical area. Findings of the research are discussed within the Nepalese sociocultural context.     

说服效应的理论模型、影响因素与应对策略

说服效应是指面临说服性信息时, 个体态度发生转变并影响其决策行为的一种现象, 该现象普遍存在于政治选举、生活消费及商业广告等领域, 具有重要的应用价值。说服效应的两个主要理论模型包括双加工模型和自我功效理论。信息源的可信度、情绪、信息框架、社会网络、事件卷入度等是影响说服效应的主要因素。说服效应的应对策略包括公开承诺和自我控制。未来的研究应该从说服效应的产生根源、特征成分及应用领域等方面进行深入地探讨。     

Affective and normative commitment to organization, supervisor, and coworkers: Do collectivist values matter?

Employees’ commitment to their organization is increasingly recognized as comprising of different bases (affect-, obligation-, or cost-based) and different foci (e.g., supervisor, coworkers). Two studies investigated affective and normative commitment to the organization, supervisor and coworkers in the Turkish context. The results of Study 1 confirmed that employees differentiate between affect versus obligation-based commitment towards the organization, supervisor and coworkers. Study 2 tested the “cultural hypothesis” which argues for the moderating influence of collectivistic values on the relationship between person (local) commitments and organizational-level (global) outcomes. The results failed to support the cultural hypothesis and showed that commitment to organization was predictive of organizational-level outcomes (e.g., turnover intentions), and commitment to supervisor was predictive of supervisor-related outcomes (e.g., citizenship towards supervisor). These findings suggest that the influence of culture may be less straightforward and may require a more sophisticated measurement of the nature of relationships and organizational characteristics in general.     

Can career self-directedness be improved through counseling?

We examine the learnability, antecedents and outcomes of career self-directedness using a longitudinal dataset of Flemish career counseling clients. The results show that the career counseling clients improved their career self-directedness during the counseling and that this improvement lasted for at least 6 months. Furthermore, we found career self-directedness to be explained in a significant way by self-awareness and adaptability, two competences identified by Hall [Hall, D. T. (1996). Protean careers in the 21st century. Academy of Management Executive, 10(4), 8-16; Hall, D. T. (2004). The protean career: A quarter-century journey. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(1), 1-13] as crucial for steering one’s career. Also, career self-directedness related positively to training participation, job mobility and career satisfaction. The main implications of our findings for the protean career and the career counseling literature are discussed.     

Are facilitated mentoring programs beneficial? A randomized experimental field study

Results from a pretest–posttest randomized field experiment study with a control group comparing the impact of high- and low-level-facilitated mentoring programs on new employees’ performance and perceptions about their jobs and organization were reported in this paper. Results indicated increases in job satisfaction, organizational commitment, person-organization fit and performance by participants in both mentoring programs with larger gains made by the high-level-facilitated group. These results suggest that a formal mentoring program can have positive effects on employee’s work-related attitudes, cognition and behavior with significantly greater gains made by formal mentoring programs with higher levels of facilitation.     

Family transmission of work affectivity and experiences to children

Theory and research suggest that children develop orientations toward work appreciably influenced by their family members’ own expressed work experiences and emotions. Cross-sectional data from 100 children (53 girls, 47 boys; mean age = 11.1 years) and structural equation modeling were used to assess measures of work affectivity and experiences and to test hypotheses suggesting that family work experiences and emotions influence the orientations children develop toward work and how they in turn influence children’s work and school motivation. Results indicated that the family setting influences children’s perceptions of and future orientation toward the world of work through adults’ expression of positive work experiences, negative work affect, and negative work experiences. Furthermore, children’s work and school motivations appear to be principally influenced by indicators of favorable work affect and experiences. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered that cast the family as an important core setting for children’s vocational development.     

Alternatives to traditional mentoring in fostering career success

Researchers have called for an examination of the roles that alternatives to traditional mentoring play in individuals’ career success. This study tests how important, but less examined factors, such as employees’ direct leader, personal and work factors such as ability and the formality of the organization, and employees’ engagement in career management strategies relate to career outcomes. Mechanisms intervening in the relationship between mentoring alternatives and career success were examined, including the moderating effect of individual differences (e.g., proactive personality, career motivation, and career stage) and the mediating role of employees’ career self-efficacy. We discuss how our results continue the examination of alternative sources of mentoring and contribute to existing theory. Finally, we elaborate on the practical importance of our results for situations where alternatives to traditional mentoring are needed.