SUPERVISORY MENTORING BY ADVISERS: RELATIONSHIPS WITH DOCTORAL STUDENT POTENTIAL, PRODUCTIVITY, AND COMMITMENT

A 2-year, three-panel (T1-T3) longitudinal study of 233 entering Ph.D. students examined the relationships between student potential for mentoring, (i.e., attitudes and objective abilities at entry (T1), mentoring functions used by the faculty adviser (T2,T3), and student research productivity and commitment (T3). Student potential was found to predict the amount of psychosocial mentoring, career mentoring, and research collaboration provided by the adviser. Psychosocial mentoring and collaboration were not related to student productivity or commitment after controlling for the students' entering abilities and attitudes. Career mentoring at T2 was negatively related to the students' affective commitment to their program at T3. Implications for our understanding of mentoring and future research are discussed.     

Professional Ethics and the Concept of the 'Merits'

ABSTRACT This paper examines the significance to professional decision-making of the concept of the 'merits'. The merits serve in practical affairs to delineate considerations appropriate to ethical decision-making and require in particular the avoidance of 'self-interest'. Drawing on the example of politics, it is argued that the boundaries of the 'merits'are never fixed across professional fields but rather are determined by the distinctive character of the professional's fiduciary responsibilities; and that properly understood, the merits may demand some 'self-interested'considerations which in the common conception would be rejected. The political example also suggests how the 'ethical'conflict over the accepted boundaries of the merits can mask fundamental normative and political differences which would be better made explicit.     

ENHANCING CAREER BENEFITS OF EMPLOYEE PROACTIVE PERSONALITY: THE ROLE OF FIT WITH JOBS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Organizations increasingly expect employees to demonstrate proactive behaviors. We examined person–organization fit (P–O fit) and person–job fit (P–J fit) as moderators of the relationship between proactive personality and intrinsic career success (job and career satisfaction). We hypothesized that proactive personality would be related to intrinsic career success only to the extent that individuals had high fit with organizations and jobs. In Study 1, using a sample of 295 teachers and 139 of their peers working in 15 elementary and high schools in Turkey, we found that proactive personality was positively related to job satisfaction only for individuals with high P–O fit. Furthermore, proactive personality was positively related to career satisfaction only for individuals with high P–O fit and for individuals with high P–J fit. We replicated the findings for P–O fit as a moderator of personality with respect to job and career satisfaction in Study 2, using a sample of 203 university professors in the United States. We found no support in either sample for P–J fit as a moderator of proactive personality with respect to job satisfaction. In Study 2, we found that research productivity was related to proactive personality differentially for high and low P–J fit tenure-track faculty members.     

Patron Contact Training: A Workshop for Personnel Who Meet the Public

This article is intended to provide counselors with a format for designing and running workshops to train personnel employed in positions of high customer contact.     

Bulimic Beliefs: Food for Thought

Individuals suffering from bulimia nervosa share a characteristic pattern of thinking which needs to be understood if effective treatment is to take place. This article presents these beliefs, gathered by clinical experience and a review of the literature, in a format which describes each belief, discusses the common causes for its development, and suggests therapeutic interventions.     

Life Themes and Motivations of Re-Entry Students

The purpose of this study was to describe the life themes and motivations associated with the psychosocial transition occurring among students who ranged in age from 28 to 35 years and who were re-entering a university environment. Eight women and eight men participated in structured individual interviews lasting from 1½ to 3 hours. Binomial tests showed that more participants were oriented toward their present life than were oriented toward their future life; a larger number were concerned about resolving conflicts with family, friends, and self than were concerned about future careers. Rank orderings of values by men and women reflected opposite poles of Erikson's intimacy versus isolation dichotomy and Levinson's attachment-separation dichotomy. Results are discussed in relationship to socialization to delay gratification and to development of a sense of generativity. Findings implied the need for greater attention by educators to students' interests and to mentoring relationships.