THE DECISION TO IMPLEMENT GAINSHARING: THE ROLE OF WORK CLIMATE, EXPECTED OUTCOMES, AND UNION STATUS

This study empirically examines several factors that may predict management decisions to implement high-involvement gainsharing plans, interventions that pay company-wide bonuses for performance improvements and encourage employee involvement in work decisions. It addresses the question: why does one facility that considers implementing a gainsharing plan decide to do so, while another facility does not? In 59 facilities (32 nonunion and 27 union) considering the implementation of a gainsharing plan, 485 upper-level managers evaluated the work climate in their facilities (participation, identity, cooperation, and expected plan support) and rated the anticipated outcomes of the intervention. Union status had no direct relationship with the implementation decision. A significant interaction showed that implementation was positively related to participation and expected outcomes in the nonunion facilities, but was unrelated to these variables in the unionized facilities. The results provided little support for a “transformation” model of plan implementation and moderate support for a "compatibility" model.     

Joint Consultation for High-Risk Asthmatic Children and Their Families,with Pediatrician and Child Psychiatrist as Co-Therapists: Model and Evaluation

Although a very common disease, childhood asthma can be a life-threatening condition. Psychosocial determinants have been acknowledged to trigger severe asthma. The authors review current knowledge about how psychosocial factors influence childhood asthma, with a special focus on compliance with treatment and family interaction. The authors describe their experience of joint treatment of high-risk asthmatic children and their families. The pediatrician and child psychiatrist work as co-therapists, and the results of this intervention are investigated. Forty-one high-risk asthmatics and their families were followed in the joint-consultation program. Two years after the onset of joint consultation, a significant improvement was found in symptom score, treatment score, and compliance score. The number of hospital admissions and of days spent in hospital decreased significantly. The cost of care was subsequently cut by two-thirds, despite the added cost of psychiatric care. The authors conclude that it is possible for doctors of the body and of the mind to share consultation work, with a positive impact on both the patient's health and the cost of treatment.     

Relational closeness: Comparing undergraduate college students' geographically close and long‐distance friendships

Abstract As interpersonal relationships change with the advent of new technology, researchers need to reexamine their theoretical constructs ( R. G. Adams, 1998 ). This study uses survey methodology to examine college undergraduates from the United States. It explores the concept of relational closeness by comparing how geographically close and long‐distance friends define closeness in their relationships. It assesses prior methods of defining and measuring closeness in interpersonal relationships for the impact of physical distance between the friends. Differences illustrate factors that are important in understanding relational closeness in general and in long‐distance relationships in particular.     

Parental representations and attachment style as predictors of support‐seeking behaviors and perceptions of support in an academic counseling relationship

The role of parental representations and attachment style as predictors of support‐seeking behaviors and perceptions of support in the context of an academic counseling relationship was investigated. Prior to participation in a 10‐hour academic counseling program in college, 91 students completed scales assessing perceptions of their current relationship with their parents and their attachment style. Students' support‐seeking behaviors and counselors' sensitivity, as reported by both participants (students and counselors), were evaluated twice during the counseling process, and general feelings of support were evaluated at the end of the program. Parental representations and attachment style both predicted students' support‐seeking behaviors and perceptions of support in counseling. The strength of the prediction differed as a function of time of measurement and source of evaluation. In addition, student‐perceived counselor sensitivity was found to mediate the relation between parental representations and support‐seeking behaviors in counseling     

From Friendship to Marriage: Revising Kant

This paper examines Kant's accounts of friendship and marriage, and argues for what can be called an ideal of "moral marriage" based on Kant's notion of moral friendship. After explaining why Kant values friendship so highly, it gives an account of the ways in which marriage falls far short, according to Kant, of what friendship has to offer. The paper then argues that many of Kant's reasons for finding marriage morally impoverished compared with friendship are wrong-headed. The paper further argues that a few of Kant's views about friendship are false. The main point is that, when we slightly revise Kant's account of friendship and jettison Kant's misguided notions about marriage, we see that marriages can aspire to much of the same moral richness as friendships. Finally, the paper argues that this friendship model of marriage does not obscure the important ways in which marriages and friendships differ.     

Love: A Dimension of Life

This article explores love as a human behavior that has emotional, intellectual, volitional, relational, and transcendental dimensions. The emotional and the volitional dimensions seem to be essential. Even though love is often identified as a relationship with a particular person it is essentially a matter of caring about oneself and others.     

Assaultive Adolescents: Family Decision-Making Parameters

This article presents the results of a pilot study that investigated the family decision-making styles of families with a violent adolescent ( 17 ) and families with a normal adolescent ( 12 ). The results, utilizing an unrevealed differences family interactional test, showed that families with an assaultive teenager when contrasted with normal families had: (a) less agreement when making choices as a group; (b) less agreement between mother and violent son when making choices about activities; (c) sons who had less influence in the families' choice of activities; and, (d) mothers who "dictated" the families' decisions more often. The meanings of these findings and others are discussed by the authors as they relate to the problem of assaultive youths.     

Use of Tests in the Canadian Employment Services

This article provides an overview of the use of tests within the Canadian Employment Service. Some of the topics covered include the place of tests in the counseling service (the general context), the level of testing services provided to clients, the training provided for employment counselors, and the involvement of the employment service in test development.