Social Class and Reported Changes in Behavior After Job Loss

Reports were obtained from middle-class and working-class unemployed British men about change or lack of change since job loss in 37 different behaviors. The behaviors were grouped into Domestic Work, Domestic Pastimes, Other Pastimes, Book Reading, Recreations, Entertainment Through Money, and Social Contacts. Contrary to findings from 1930s research, significant increases in social contact and book reading were reported since job loss. Other significant increases were reported within all categories except Entertainment Through Money, where a significant decline was recorded. A number of social class differences were found. For instance, middleclass unemploycd men were significantly more likely than their working-class counterparts to report increased book reading for study and more visits to the public library. Working-class respondents were significantly more likely to report increased looking around shops without buying and reduced visits to the pub. Several significant associations between reported behavior changes and aspects of psychological and general health were observed.     

Factors influencing two types of congruence in multirater judgments

In two studies of 360° judgments, it was shown that congruence measured in terms of intercorrelations between ratings by different people (congruence‐r) and in terms of the discrepancy between those ratings (congruence‐d) were empirically independent of each other. Congruence‐r was greatest, and congruence‐d was smallest, between judgments made by a target person and his or her supervisor, rather than by subordinates or peers; the differential observability of rated behaviors predicted congruence‐r but not congruence‐d. Variations in both forms of congruence were found to arise from the source of a judgment, and from a target person's age, gender, cognitive ability, and certain personality attributes. Over‐ and under‐rating associated with a personality or another third factor was shown to derive from substantially different correlations between such a factor and the two separate judgments under consideration.     

Associations between rating content and self-other agreement in multi-source feedback

In a study of the ratings of managers' behaviour made by themselves, their supervisors, subordinates, and peers, it was found that degree of similarity between self-ratings and ratings by colleagues was significantly associated with three aspects of rating content: the observability of a behaviour, its desirability, and the degree to which it concerned technical rather than interpersonal activities. However, these associations with rating content depended on which of two indices of between-rater similarity was studied, in terms of either the correlation or the difference between ratings. The desirability of behaviour more influenced correlation measures of similarity, and the type of behaviour had more influence on difference scores: managers over-rated their interpersonal activities but not their technical effectiveness.     

The effect of repetition of items on two phases of paired associate learning

An investigation is reported in which the effect of repetition of items on two learning tasks is determined. These tasks are considered to be analogous to the response-learning and associative phases of paired associate learning. The findings tend to support the hypotheses under investigation, that response learning is an all-or-none occurrence and that the associative phase may be explained by the dual factor hypothesis.     

Work values: Some demographic and cultural correlates

Employment‐related values were recorded at two levels of scope: perceived importance of the work‐role and of particular job characteristics. Associations with workers' sex, age, employment status, and education level were significant. Work values also differed among countries with a different cultural heritage – historically catholic, historically communist, or historically protestant. Implications for research into job content and reactions and for evaluative judgments in the operation of traits, motives, and attitudes were considered.     

Book reviews

Timing in Temporal Tracking. By J. A. Michon. Soesterberg, Netherlands: Institute for Perception RVO-TNO, Netherlands. 1967. Pp. 127.

Human Performance. By Paul M. Fitts and Michael I. Posner. Belmont, California: Brook/Cole Publishing Co. 1967. Pp. x + 162. 14s.

Human Memory. By Jack A. Adams. New York: Mcgraw Hill. I967. Pp. ix + 326. $9.50.

Biological Foundations of Language. By Eric H. Lenneberg. With Appendices by Noam Chomsky and Otto Marx. New York and London: Wiley. 1967. Pp. xvi+489. £6.

The Genesis of Language: A Psycholinguistic Approach. Edited by Frank Smith and G. A. Miller. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: The M. I. T. Press. Pp. xii + 400. $4.

Acquisition du Langage at Developpement de la Pensee. By H. Sinclair-de Zwart. Paris: Dound. 1967. Pp. vi+ 168. 23F.

Principles and Methods of Social Psychology. By E. P. Hollander. London and New York: Oxford University Press. 1967. Pp. xxiii + 520. 64s.

Current Perspectives in Social Psychology. Second Edition. Edited by E. P. Hollander and R. G. Hunt. London and New York: Oxford University Press. 1967. Pp. vii + 685. 40s. (paper).

The Use of Lateral Thinking. By Edward de Bono. London: Cape. 1967. Pp. 157. 18s.

“Instinct” and “Intelligence”: The Science of Behaviour in Animals and Man. By S. A. Barnett. London: Macgibbon & Kee. 1967. Pp. xiv + 250. 45s.     

The effect of repeated presentation of items on paired associate learning

An experimental design is outlined which allows the probability of an item being learned to be related to the number of presentations of that item. The results of an experiment of this design are considered in relation to the hypothesis that learning is a single trial occurrence. The results are found to support neither the single trial hypothesis nor the incremental hypothesis. A “dual factor” hypothesis is put forward and considered in relation to these and other experimental findings. The scoring procedures employed allow consideration of the response learning and the associative phases of paired associate learning. It is suggested that the response learning phase may be explained by the single trial hypothesis and the associative phase by the dual factor hypothesis.     

Assessment Centre Observation Procedures: An Experimental Comparison of Traditional,Checklist and Coding Methods

Concern about the construct validity of assessment centre judgements has led to calls for research into observers’ cognitive processes. In an experiment comparing the Traditional observation procedure against use of a Behavioural Checklist and of Behavioural Coding, six outcome variables were examined. The methods were found to yield similar outcomes in terms of accuracy of judgement, accuracy of written evidence, correlation between dimension ratings, and attitude toward the method employed. However, significant between-method differences were observed in variability between observers and in their willingness to recommend a procedure. It is argued that Behavioural Coding has special merit in assessment centres; the method reduces the cognitive demands placed on assessors, and valuably structures their information-processing. Traditional objections to simultaneous observation and classification are shown to be inappropriate.     

Four-quadrant investigation of job-related affects and behaviours

Emphasizing differences in activation as well as valence, six studies across a range of situations examined relations between types of job-related core affect and 13 self-reported work behaviours. A theory-based measure of affect was developed, and its four-quadrant structure was found to be supported across studies. Also consistent with hypotheses, high-activation pleasant affect was more strongly correlated with positive behaviours than were low-activation pleasant feelings, and those associations tended to be greatest for discretionary behaviours in contrast to routine task proficiency. Additionally as predicted, unpleasant job-related affects that had low rather than high activation were more strongly linked to the negative work behaviours examined. Theory and practice would benefit from greater differentiation between affects and between behaviours.