Using “Props” to Enhance Your Counseling

The use of props as counseling aids can add a new dimension to any counselor's current repertoire of skills.     

EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE ADMINISTRATIONS OF THE MMPI FOR EMPLOYEE SCREENING

Psychological screening has become commonplace in a number of occupational groups. With the growing popularity of screening and the relative scarcity of appropriate personality measures, re-screening individuals with the same inventory is frequent. This paper examines the effect of re-screening with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) on contract workers (n = 1,997) from the nuclear power industry. Participants completed the Inventory as a part of a routine screening procedure. Each participant provided several profiles as a result of regular employment cycles. Although the differences are generally small, some scales show large enough mean changes to warrant concern when interpreting the profiles of those who have taken the profile multiple times. Although scale reliabilities tend to increase, the usefulness of the Inventory appears to decrease with an increasing number of administrations. The effect is one of increasing normality of test profiles. One interpretation of the results is that candidates for jobs become "test-wise," and the scores are the result of a combination of responses to the repeated assessment. It becomes increasingly difficult to identify unfit employees with the Inventory. Given these results, further research on retesting effects of the Inventov, as well as other personality measures, is indicated.     

“The Lot of Gifted Ladies Is Hard”: A Study of Harriet Taylor Mill Criticism

The question, “Why has Harriet Taylor MM appeared in the history of philosophy as she has?” has several answers. The answers intertwine the personality and polities of Harriet, the sexism of those who wrote of her (which was a reflection of the overall status of women during the period the commentator wrote), misunderstandings of the means and meaning of her collaboration with John Stuart Mill, and the disturbing challenge of her questioning.     

EXPECTATIONS OF BEHAVIORALLY ANCHORED RATING SCALES

Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) are reviewed from two perspectives. First, the particular BARS methodology is assessed on the basis of its fulfilling three broad categories of "criteria for criteria:" (1) utilization criteria, (2) qualitative criteria, and (3) quantitative or psychometric criteria. These three broad categories are composed of 14 specific criteria by which performance evaluation methodologies can be assessed. The second perspective involves an evaluation of BARS in terms of psychometric criteria but with the literature broken down into studies concerned with (1) development of BARS, (2) utilization of BARS, (3) comparison of BARS to other methods, and (4) rater training in BARS use. Conclusions from these reviews indicate that BARS is no better or worse than other methods when assessed on a quantitative basis whereas it has greater potential when assessed on the utilization and qualitative criteria. Suggestions are offered for extending BARS research to process questions and to domains other than performance appraisal perse     

“De Facto Congregationalism” and Mormon Missionary Outreach: An Ethnographic Case Study

A number of theorists in the sociology of religion hold that denominations in the United States have remained vital by decentralizing power, and shifting control from central hierarchies to individual congregations: a strategy dubbed “de facto congregationalism.” However, changes in the polity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS, or Mormon, Church) contravene this trend. Unlike most denominations, Mormonism—a vital faith by all accounts—has centralized its authority and standardized its programs in recent decades. This article investigates whether the logic of de facto congregationalism applies to Mormonism. From a case study of missionary outreach in an LDS congregation, I investigate how mandates from the church's central headquarters are interpreted and implemented at the grassroots level. My findings show that the church's centralized polity may hinder the functioning of Mormon congregations outside traditional strongholds in Utah and the Intermountain West—a finding consistent with the logic of de facto congregationalism.