SELF-REPORTED ASSERTIVE JOB-SEEKING BEHAVIORS OF MINIMALLY EDUCATED JOB HUNTERS

Little research attention has focused on the job-search behavior of minimally educated workers. The primary objective of the studies reported was to examine the relationship of self-reported assertive job-hunting behavior to acquisition of employment among minimally educated workers. The results of three studies provide: (a) construct validity evidence for the Assertive Job-Hunting Survey (AJHS; Becker, 1980), (b) evidence for construct similarity across minimally educated job seeker and college student populations, (c) evidence of a significant relationship between the AJHS and both subjective and objective job acquisition criteria in postdictive and predictive research designs, and (d) evidence that the AJHS, a measure of a non-cognitive variable, can make a unique contribution to the prediction of job acquisition beyond cognitive ability measures.     

Family Functioning and Mental Illness: A Comparison of Psychiatric and Nonclinical Families

The primary objective of the present investigation was to examine adaptive functioning in the families of patients with a wide range of psychiatric disorders. Seven dimensions of family functioning, as measured by the Family Assessment Device (FAD), were compared across families of patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (n = 61 ), bipolar disorder (n = 60 ), major depression (n = 111 ), anxiety disorder (n = 15 ), eating disorder (n = 26 ), substance abuse disorder (n = 48 ), and adjustment disorder (n = 46 ). Families in each psychiatric group were also compared to a control group of nonclinical families (N = 353 ). Results indicated that regardless of specific diagnosis, having a family member in an acute phase of a psychiatric illness was a risk factor for poor family functioning compared to the functioning of control families. However, with few exceptions, the type of the patient's psychiatric illness did not predict significant differences in family functioning. Thus, having a family member with a psychiatric illness is a general stressor for families, and family interventions should be considered for most patients who require a psychiatric hospitalization for either the onset of, or an acute exacerbation of, any psychiatric disorder.     

THE EFFECTS OF SELF-REGULATORY COPING ORIENTATION ON NEWCOMER ADJUSTMENT AND JOB SURVIVAL

In a field experiment new hires to entry-level service jobs were randomly assigned to either a comparison group, which received information warning of negative aspects of the job and information about specific coping behaviors, or to an experimental group, which received the same information as the comparison group, plus training in cognitive restructuring and positive self-talk, and statements to bolster self-efficacy. It was expected that the experimental group would exhibit less turnover and report higher levels of supportiveness, satisfaction, and commitment and less anxiety than the Comparison Group. However, the experimental group exhibited more early turnover. The coping information provided to the Experimental Group increased perceptions of negative job information, and such perceptions may have resulted in a self-selection effect. Of those remaining at 4 weeks, those from the experimental group were significantly more likely to report intentions to remain for a year or longer, and to report greater job satisfaction.     

Sexual Dual Relationships in Counseling: Confronting the Issues

Sexual intimacy between counselors and clients is a frequently claimed type of violation against licensed professional counselors. This article examines the issue of sexual dual relationships in terms of prevalence, harm inflicted on clients, counselor awareness, predictability, and parameters for concern. Implications for counseling practice, education of prospective clients, legislation, research, and counselor training are also discussed. It is suggested that despite the complexity and controversy surrounding the topic of sexual dual relationships, the challenge to counselors to confront and to explore these issues is critical to the profession and cannot be ignored.     

Overcoming Learned Helplessness: Managerial Strategies for the 1990s

Problems of work force quality in the United States in the 1990s, strategies for managerial response to these problems, and sources of employee resistance to change are discussed.     

Child's Physical Activity Lapses: Parents' Intended Use of Social Control1

This study explored parents' intention to use social control following a hypothetical lapse in their child's activity. Also examined was the role of parent and child activity as predictors of parental social control use. Parents (N = 140) were presented with 2 activity lapse vignettes (health consequences and no health consequences) and reported their intention to use social control after reading each. Results revealed greater parental intention to use social control following the health‐consequences lapse. Active parents reported greater intentions of using positive and collaborative social control tactics. Findings provide preliminary evidence that parents, especially those who are active, may attempt to regulate their child's activity following a failure to engage in a health‐enhancing behavior (i.e., lapse in physical activity).     

How Do People React to Stigma Acknowledgment? Race and Gender Acknowledgment in the Context of the 2008 Presidential Election1

Some studies have found that acknowledging one's stigmatized social identity in an evaluative context leads to more favorable evaluations, whereas others have found that stigma acknowledgment can increase negative evaluations. The present study examined one potential factor (i.e., evaluators' attitudes toward social groups to which acknowledgers belong) that may moderate the relation between stigma acknowledgment and evaluations, in the context of race and gender acknowledgment in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Results indicated that acknowledgment of race, but not gender, led to more negative evaluations, particularly for high‐prejudiced individuals. The findings highlight the importance of examining stigma acknowledgment effects from a Person × Situation perspective. Implications for advancing understanding of acknowledgment as a useful strategy in evaluative contexts are discussed.