Career exploration in adolescents: The role of anxiety, attachment, and parenting style

The aim of the study was to examine the role of parent-adolescent attachment, adolescent anxiety and parenting style in the career exploration process and in career satisfaction. Three kinds of anxiety were considered: general trait anxiety, fear of failing in one’s career and fear of disappointing one’s parents. The participants were 283 French high school students on the threshold of one of the most important school transitions. The results varied by gender. For girls, general anxiety and neglectful style were negatively related to career exploration; secure attachment and fear of failing were positively related to it. For boys, fear of disappointing parents was positively related to career exploration. Attachment to parents, authoritative style, general anxiety, and fear of failing were related to some career exploration satisfaction scores, though differently for boys and girls. The differences between boys and girls in the roles played by anxiety, attachment and parenting style are discussed.     

The role of chance events in the school-to-work transition: The influence of demographic, personality and career development variables

Chance events are considered important in career development, yet little empirical research is available on their predictors and consequences. The present study investigated socio-demographic (gender, nationality, school-type), personality (openness, locus of control) and career development variables (career decidedness, career planning) in relation to perceived chance events with a retrospective (N = 229, eleventh grade), and 1-year longitudinal prospective study (N = 245, eighth/ninth grade) among Swiss adolescents. The results showed that the majority of both groups reported a significant influence of chance events on their transition from compulsory school to vocational education or high school. Importance of chance events related to socio-demographics and personality but not career preparation. Career preparation and chance events predicted subjective career success in terms of wish correspondence and overall satisfaction with transition outcome among the younger cohort. Implications include the necessity to integrate both thorough career preparation and chance events in theory and counseling practice.     

Parental and school effects on students' occupational exploration: A longitudinal and multilevel analysis

The study examines school and parental influences on adolescents' occupational exploration. Analyses of data from 859 6th, 8th, and 10th graders attending high- and lower-track high schools in the German federal state of Thuringia suggested more extensive exploration among students closer to the school-to-work transition. Besides cross-sectional effects of parenting and achievement orientation at school, acceptance and openness students experienced in class predicted increases of their exploratory behaviors. Multilevel analyses showed, however, that school effects operated on the level of subjective perceptions (individual level), but not on the level of intersubjective reality (classroom level). Implications for attempts to foster and facilitate exploration are discussed.     

Nature of ferroelectric–paraelectric transition

Ferroelectric (FE) materials directly convert electrical energy to mechanical energy and are critical to applications such as sensors, transducers, and actuators. The giant electromechanical response is the manifestation of the critical point between the first-order and second-order ferroelectric–paraelectric (FE–PE) transitions. For the simple classic FE lead titanate (PbTiO₃), it is commonly accepted that there is a critical point in the temperature–pressure phase diagram separating the first- and second-order FE–PE transitions at zero electric field. Here, we show that the FE-PE transition in PbTiO₃ is second-order at zero electric field. We introduce the concept of the invariant critical points (ICP) among three phases, representing the stability of the PE phase with respect to two FE phases in a three-dimensional electric field-pressure-temperature phase diagram of PbTiO₃. It is pointed out that the electromechanical response near ICPs is larger than that near the line of critical end points (LCEPs) between two phases.     

Behavioral Assessment in the Schools:

This article discusses behavioral assessment as a way of obtaining and evaluating information used to individualize programming for special needs pupils. Behavioral assessment offers a range of techniques for gathering and for evaluating information. Strategies for obtaining information that are described are self-monitoring, direct observation, permanent product review, and retrospective ratings using behavior checklists. Strategies for evaluating information that are discussed are single-case research designs and social validation. These strategies assist in identifying pupil problems and selecting interventions, evaluating student progress, assessing treatment fidelity, determining causality, and revising individualized programs by providing a broad base for decision-making.     

Un regard structural sur l’inégalité des genres au travail : La causalité des différences « genrées » dans les caractéristiques de réseau de l’employé

This study aims at identifying gender differences in network structure and, hence, at understanding the underlying nature of gender inequalities in organisations. The hypotheses address four ego-network characteristics: network size and density, and ego’s centrality and brokerage. Contrary to the existing body of literature, none significant isolated gender difference in network structure is identified. Instead, those gender differences are triggered exclusively by organisational status, that is to say, they are due to the increased level of power. Thus, organisational status is considered as moderating the relationship between gender and network structure’s characteristics. Some further perspectives are suggested to clarify and generalise the phenomena observed.     

Teachers' attunement to students' peer group affiliations as a source of improved student experiences of the school social-affective context following the middle school transition

A randomized control trial examined the impact of a professional development program on rural teachers' attunement to student social dynamics, and the influence of teacher attunement on students' school experiences. In intervention schools serving Latino and White rural early adolescents, teachers (N = 14) received training on social dynamics and aspects of early adolescent adjustment; control school teachers (N = 12) received no training. Social cognitive mapping procedures assessed and compared students' and teachers' perceptions of peer groups; structured observations assessed teachers' management of social dynamics. Students (N = 225) self-reported their perceptions of the school social-affective context. Intervention and control schools differed on teacher attunement and management of the social environment. Students whose teachers were more attuned to peer group affiliations evidenced improved views of the school social environment. Findings are discussed in terms of attunement as an element of teachers' invisible hand, and for teachers' role in promoting productive contexts for students during the middle school transition.     

幸福感的稳态与跃迁：一个新的整合视角

以往的实证和理论研究对幸福感稳定性与变化性问题持有不同观点。设定点理论认为幸福感通常保持在设定点位置, 动态平衡理论(及其变式——主观幸福感稳态理论)进一步强调幸福感在围绕设定点的某个范围内波动而呈动态平衡状态, 享乐适应理论在动态平衡理论基础上从情绪适应的角度分析了幸福感维持稳定的原因, 这三个理论均强调幸福感维持在某个平衡水平。相反, 持续幸福理论强调幸福感是可以提升的, 能发生长期的变化。这些理论观点的差异本质在于如何看待幸福感的稳定性与变化性, 我们借用生物学中的“稳态”“稳态应激”概念及物理学中的“跃迁”思想, 认为幸福感不仅存在稳态, 也会出现稳态应激, 并可由此引起幸福感稳态的跃升。这一整合视角为幸福感研究提供了新的解释框架, 也对幸福感的持续提升有启发意义。     

弗洛姆的道德认识理论

弗洛姆的道德认识理论建立在对人的研究的基础上。认识善、恶以及道德规范,主要是对人性以及蕴含在人性中的可能性的认识。由于人是有生命的,处于不断的生成过程中,因此,对人的认识必须打破客观主义的认识模式,认识主体打破与对象之间的鸿沟,实现融合合一,以整个的内在体验对象,从而获得如对象本来所是的样子去认识对象。弗洛姆的体验性知识在强调人的主观情感投入到认识中的同时,认为认识对象是外在实在的,知识是普遍性有效的,因而是一种客观的认识。弗洛姆的道德认识理论与认识论的实践转向的暗相契合。     

A Grand Theory and a Small Social Scientific Community: Niklas luhmann in Slovenia

We analyse the reception of Niklas Luhmanns social metatheory in Slovenian social. The first part outlines the intellectual climate that prevailed in the decade before the post-socialist transition. The decline of the previously dominant Marxist ideology created space for other social theories. Luhmanns ideas were the most prominent among social macro theories in the initial phase. The second part describes variations in the reception of his ideas. The initial affirmative approach was upgraded by a number of more selective and critical approaches. The third part shows that, although his ideas are no longer quite so prominent, his work is both well recognized and firmly embedded in Slovenian social thought.