Future of counseling psychology research

The author offers a critique on current counseling psychology research from her perspective as a US counseling psychology researcher and editor. She notes that unless something happens to change the trajectory, future US counseling psychology research will be open to the same criticisms. She summarizes counseling psychology values and argues that counseling psychology research reflects those values. She then identifies five ways that counseling psychology could be different in the future by: building theory-based research, embracing diversity of populations, research questions and methodologies, informing (and being informed) by other psychological disciplines, and informing policy and practice.     

Stemming the tide: Predicting women engineers' intentions to leave

This investigation adapts and extends the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by integrating it with central constructs from turnover theory. The extended model proposes that domain specific self-efficacy and outcome expectations predict job satisfaction and organizational commitment — the two key job attitudes that have been established as influential predictors of turnover cognitions and behaviors. Further, we proposed that one form of organizational supports, specifically developmental opportunities at work, are sources of self efficacy and outcome expectations, and that the relationship between organizational supports and job attitudes is mediated by self-efficacy and outcome expectations. The proposed model was tested on a national sample of 2,042 women engineers. Overall, the results provided support for our newly developed model. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

Comparison of women engineers who persist in or depart from engineering

The current research examined differences between women engineers who persisted in an engineering career versus those who left engineering using a combination of two prominent theories of career change: social cognitive career theory (SCCT, Lent, Brown & Hackett, 1994; 2002) and integrated model of career change (Rhodes & Doering, 1983). The two groups of women did not differ in three domains of self-confidence or outcome expectations (engineering tasks, navigating organizational climate, or multiple roles), in vocational interests, or in workplace barriers. Women who continue in engineering do differ from those who leave in their experience of workplace supports and their levels of occupational commitment. Engineering turnover intentions and occupational commitment emerged as the two key variables that explained 33.4% of the variance in persistence in engineering careers. We discuss the implications of the results in terms of theoretical development and practical implications for organizations.     

Predictors of maternal language to infants during a picture book task in the home: Family SES, child characteristics and the parenting environment

This study investigated the contribution of child characteristics and parenting environment to the relationship between family SES/demographic characteristics and maternal language to infants. 1157 children were drawn from a representative sample of 1292 infants born to mothers in rural Appalachian counties and rural counties in southern minority U.S. communities. Mothers and their 6–8 month old babies were videotaped at home while talking about a wordless picture book. Mothers' language output and complexity were analyzed. Child temperament, age, and parenting environment (knowledge of child development and observed mother–child engagement) were predictors of maternal language. Furthermore, their inclusion reduced the magnitude of the association between demographic characteristics and maternal language. Tests of mediation suggested that the parenting environment partially mediates the relationship between SES/demographic characteristics and maternal language. Findings are discussed with respect to identifying proximal processes that explain how SES may exert its influence on the language of young children.     

Work transitions

Individuals make choices in, and adjust to, a world of work that is often a moving target. Because work is so central to human functioning, and transitions in and out of work can have major mental health repercussions, the authors argue that applied psychologists in health services need to understand those transitions. This article focuses on the different types of transition throughout a person's working life and the resources needed at different stages to ensure the success of these transitions. The authors start by examining the roles of capability and adaptability in supporting and facilitating adjustment to work transitions and their relation to identity development. They then examine the role of social and institutional contexts in shaping work transitions and their outcomes. The authors focus on voluntary versus involuntary transitions and then broaden the lens in discussing the policy implications of research on work transitions.     

Stability,breadth and guidance

Much recent work on explanation in the interventionist tradition emphasizes the explanatory value of stable causal generalizations—i.e., causal generalizations that remain true in a wide range of background circumstances. We argue that two separate explanatory virtues are lumped together under the heading of `stability’. We call these two virtues breadth and guidance respectively. In our view, these two virtues are importantly distinct, but this fact is neglected or at least under-appreciated in the literature on stability. We argue that an adequate theory of explanatory goodness should recognize breadth and guidance as distinct virtues, as breadth and guidance track different ideals of explanation, satisfy different cognitive and pragmatic ends, and play different theoretical roles in (for example) helping us understand the explanatory value of mechanisms. Thus keeping track of the distinction between these two forms of stability yields a more accurate and perspicuous picture of the role that stability considerations play in explanation.     

Projecting loneliness into the past and future: implications for self-esteem and affect

Motivation and Emotion - Loneliness reflects a threat to people’s need to belong in close relationships, and is associated with lower self-esteem and emotional distress. The current 2-week...