What's measured is not necessarily managed: cognitive contingencies of organizational measurement

Organizational measurement is necessary for managing incremental improvements or change efforts. Some have argued that indicators of financial performance measure the past and should be joined by "lead" measures such as management development and customer relations, assumed to be drivers of performance. Approaches of "lead" measures have met criticism for not contributing to operational management. The present is an empirical case study where measures from a customer satisfaction survey and a management assessment instrument were analyzed and compared to actual measures of financial performance. The effects of measures obtained seem to depend on the interpretations and reflection taking place in the organization. The pursuit of "lead" indicators did not seem to drive results. Counter-intuitively, higher scores on these measures were related to poorer financial performance. The explication of and reflection on the underlying dynamic seemed to turn the development in a profitable direction.     

青少年性发展的差异及其对人格发展的影响

研究青少年性发育现状及其对性心理与人格发展的影响。方法：采用统一编制的《中学生性现状调查问卷》及16PF人格问卷,采用分层抽样方法,对江西4所中学的1000名学生进行问卷调查。结果：(1)青少年手淫行为发生率、与异性交往愿望及性冲动等方面均存在性别差异和年级差异;(2)性成熟的青少年的多种人格特征与未成熟的存在显著性差异。结论：青少年性生理发育正常,但在性心理方面很不成熟,对手淫、性冲动和异性交往等方面问题较多,性发展影响青少年人格发展。     

Learning from Communities: Overcoming Difficulties in Dissemination of Prevention and Promotion Efforts

The model of prevention science advocated by the Institute of Medicine (P. J. Mrazek & R. J. Haggerty, 1994) has not lead to widespread adoption of prevention and promotion programs for four reasons. The model of dissemination of programs to communities fails to consider community and organizational capacity to implement programs, ignores the need for congruence in values between programs and host sites, displays a pro-innovation bias that undervalues indigenous practices, and assumes a simplistic model of how community organizations adopt innovations. To address these faults, researchers should locate, study, and help disseminate successful indigenous programs that fit community capacity and values. In addition, they should build on theoretical models of how locally developed programs work to make existing programs and polices more effective.     

Community Science: Creating an Alternative Place to Stand?

This article comments on two emerging views of community psychologys approaches to the use of research for responding to social problems in contemporary community contexts – (a) the formation of a new field of community science, or (b) the updating of community psychology research traditions. If community science is to become established as a field related to community psychology, its proponents will need to agree upon conventions of epistemology, foci of interest, methods, and standards by which its work can be judged so that it can be distinguished from other human sciences. These articles provide early sketches for what community science might be. However, as noted in this commentary, we need to heed signs of concern about community psychologys continued relevance in public discourse regarding the analysis of and responses to social problems. While this special issue offers some promising responses to the concern of what the field can contribute, the field would be well served if we broaden our dialogue about a renewal of community psychologys commitment to social justice and the need for its perspectives in the practice of research that seeks to address community-based issues in the early 21st century.     

心理学:人力资源管理和开发的一条独特途径

企业竞争中其他资源的无差异化导致了人力资源成为关注的热点问题。研究人力资源问题时,心理学应该突出自己的学科特点和优势：从个体关怀的角度出发;回答“为什么”的问题;重视理论与实务之间的联系;强调意识层面的问题。要想对管理实践起到切实的指导作用,应该掀起一场心理学理论和知识的工具化和可操作化运动。     

AJCP as a Vehicle for Improving Community Life: An Historic–Analytic Review of the Journal’s Contents

The current article is an analysis of the research represented in American Journal of Community Psychology (AJCP) from 1993 to 1998, including a comparison to two previously published analytic reviews by Lounsbury et al. (J. W. Lounsbury, D. S. Leader, E. P. Meares, & M. P. Cook, 1980) and Speer et al. (P. Speer, A. Dey, P. Griggs, C. Gibson, B. Lubin, & J. Hughey, 1992), respectively. Observed trends are examined with references to major epistemological frameworks and methods used to define community psychology. Four guiding principles were examined to determine the representation of the epistemological frameworks of the articles published in the journal. The frameworks include social action, human diversity and cultural relativity, person–environmental fit, and methodological procedures. The results document the transition of community psychology from its early beginnings to an independent field conducting research consistent with the values articulated at the Swampscott Conference. This paper also comments on how well, after three decades of publication, the journal has served as a vehicle for improving community life.     

Psychoanalysis and empirical research

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the idea of reason began to lose its universal and absolute value, undermining the view of science as a form of objective knowledge that reveals a fundamental reality. These changes have also had an impact on psychoanalysis, leading to a proliferation of theories and the end of a positivistic approach, epitomized by a 'neutral' analyst who knows the contents of the patient's mind. Hermeneutic philosophy provides a tool with which to explore both theoretical multiplicity and the contribution of the analyst's subjectivity to the analytic process. Furthermore, a hermeneutic approach does not have to be hostile to empirical science, but can be integrated with it in a 'scientific-hermeneutic model' in which historical and biological principles are given equal value.     

Jung's view on myth and post-modern psychology

Post-modern psychology embodies two core themes, the social mind and the narrative self. Whereas the social-mind thesis seems diametrically opposed to Jung's position regarding human nature, the narrative-self thesis is associated with research and theorizing about personal myth and mythmaking in ways that could make contact with Jung's concerns. Jung's view is examined here with particular attention to McAdams' theory of narrative identity. It is suggested that the ostensible differences between Jung and post-modern psychology might reflect divergent interests, rather than necessarily irreconcilable worldviews.     

Citation trends of applied journals in behavioral psychology 1981-2000

One variable with which to evaluate scientific journals is how often their articles are cited in the literature. Such data are amenable to longitudinal analysis and can be used as a measure of a journal's impact on research within a discipline. We evaluated multiple citation measures for a number of applied journals in behavioral psychology from 1981 to 2000. The results indicate a relatively consistent impact across these journals, with some evidence of growth.