A suggested revision in the classification of nonprofessional occupations in Holland's theory.

Reports that, in a test among 268 males in 4 mining occupations (laboratory, process, extraction, and mining), J. L. Holland's theory of vocational choice was not as predictive as previously demonstrated for professional and technical occupations. Contrary to Holland's theory, the 4 groups which were classified within the realistic type did not exhibit similar personalities. Significant differences were found between the 4 groups on 16 of 38 life history questionnaire items, and only 3 of 8 tested traits supported the classification of all 4 nonprofessional occupational groups into the realistic type. It is suggested that data from members of nonprofessional occupations may be used to test and revise Holland's primary classification of these occupations. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reliability of reported occupational history information for US coal miners, 1969-1977

For estimating reliable exposure-response relations it is necessary that random variation in both the response and the exposure variables be sufficiently small. Variability in cumulative exposures can arise from uncertainties in self-reported work histories from interviews. In most epidemiologic surveys, the information gathered from questionnaires is used without knowing the validity or reproducibility of these data. This paper investigates the reliability of occupational histories reported by the same individuals on two occasions separated by 9 years in the US National Study of Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis and its implications on the exposure-response relation for simple coal workers' pneumoconiosis. For 480 coal miners, from whom occupational histories were obtained twice (in 1969-1971 and 1977-1981), the reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient) of the cumulative exposures generated from each work history was 87%. Logistic model fitting of simple coal workers' pneumoconiosis prevalence to the cumulative coal dust exposure produced almost identical results. After accounting for intersurvey variability in the occupational histories, the authors found that the exposure-response coefficients estimated from information reported at the surveys were attenuated by 12%. In epidemiologic studies, knowledge of the reproducibility of self-reported occupational history information is important to ascertain whether the true exposure effect is underestimated.     

Moving against the world: Life-course patterns of explosive children.

Do ill-tempered children become ill-tempered adults? What are the life-course consequences of such an explosive interactional style? What processes can account for the persistence of maladaptive behavior across time and circumstance? To answer these questions, this study used data from the Berkeley Guidance Study (Macfarlane, Allen, & Honzik, 1954) to identify children with a pattern of temper tantrums in late childhood (ages 8–10) and to trace the continuities and consequences of this behavioral style across the subsequent 30 years of their lives. Life-course continuities in this behavioral style were found for both sexes. Men with histories of childhood tantrums experienced downward occupational mobility, erratic work lives, and were likely to divorce. Women with such histories married men with lower occupational status, were likely to divorce, and became ill-tempered mothers. It is proposed that maladaptive behaviors are sustained through the progressive accumulation of their own consequences (cumulative continuity) and by evoking maintaining responses from others during reciprocal social interaction (interactional continuity). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity studies of the Strong vocational interest inventories.

The concurrent validity of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) and the predictive validity of the SVIB were studied in an 18-yr follow-up of a university counseling center group of male college graduates. Results were compared with a previous 12-yr follow-up of the same Ss using C. McArthur's method (1954). The SCII had concurrent validity greater than the SVIB (T399) even after correction was made for a higher percentage of high standard scores on occupational scales. Predictive validity for 18 yrs was not quite as good as for 12 yrs. Although group data were similar for the predictive validity studies, classifications of individuals between studies varied substantially. A 6-yr predictive validity study for the SVIB (T399) had validity comparable to predictive studies using an earlier edition of the SVIB. Job satisfaction and satisfaction with type of work were statistically different, but resulted in no practical difference when used as a correlate with standard occupational scale score. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The conservation of human talent.

The history of the application of psychological findings to problems of education, occupational adjustment, and social adjustment is reviewed. Data on occupational choices, social status of various occupations, dissatisfaction with life work, and related matters are presented. 2 case histories are outlined in fair detail. One of these is cited as "a concrete example of the kind of vocational counseling needed to conserve human talent in our society." The other illustrates "a general failure of our society, in the past, to recognize and to utilize 'better than average scholastic and mechanical aptitude' from the time he left school at the turn of the century to the time of a national emergency." Problems involving resistance to hiring properly qualified, physically handicapped persons, failure to utilize the ever increasing number and proportion of older persons in our society, and widespread minority group discrimination are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the role of educational and vocational counseling in reducing and preventing occupational counseling in reducing and preventing occupational maladjustment in our society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocational choices of men and women: A comparison of predictors from the Self-Directed Search.

Examined several predictors of occupational choice derived from J. L. Holland's 1973 theory of careers. Hypotheses that a person's competencies, activities, self-estimates, interests, and vocational choices can be organized by a 6-category typology to understand and predict subsequent choice were tested. 894 men and 989 women took the Self-Directed Search at entry into 2 colleges and reported their occupational choices 1 or 3 yrs later. All hypotheses received support, although the predictive efficiency varied. Current vocational choice was the best predictor of later choice and scores based on sex-specific norms were less efficient predictors than raw scores. Findings support both the theory and the validity of the Self-Directed Search assessment for men and women. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The work experiences of transgender individuals: Negotiating the transition and career decision-making processes.

This study explored the work experiences of individuals who have started transitioning from their biological sex to a different gender expression through 18 interviews of transgender-identified individuals. Thirteen of the participants identified as male-to-female transsexuals, 2 participants identified as female-to-male transsexuals, 2 participants identified as female-bodied gender queer individuals, and 1 participant identified as a biological male cross-dresser. Using a grounded theory (K. Charmaz, 2006) approach, 2 separate work experience models emerged: (a) the process of gender transitioning at work and (b) the career decision-making process. The 3 phases of the first model included a pretransition phase, during the transition phase, and posttransition phase. Within these 3 phases, the following 5 major themes emerged: preparation for the work transition, coming out at work, presentation and appearance at work, others' reactions at work, and affective/coping experiences related to work. The second model resulted in 6 major themes related to career decision making: occupational barriers, occupational prospects, occupational aspirations, taking action, occupational gratification, and contextual influences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Esther Thelen (1941-2004).

Presents an obituary for Esther Stillman Thelen (1941-2004). Thelen's work on infant motor behavior introduced developmental psychologists to the principles and methods of dynamic systems theory, reinvigorated the moribund field of motor development, and provided a theoretical and empirical basis for clinical work in pediatric physical and occupational therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An anamnestic-observational estimation of the postural-energy-motor commitment of occupational activities via a questionnaire

A simple questionnaire for the quali-quantitative clinical assessment of the physical requirements in habitual occupational activities has been fixed. The assessment goes through the classification of qualitative, dimensional, temporal parameters referred by the patient as characteristic of the occupational activity. As a result the risk factors related to postures and movements are highlighted, and an esteem of the energy expenditure is obtained from a predictive equation which has been formulated on the basis of some important references. The energy expenditure of three homogeneous occupational phases was estimated through the equation, and then measured during a simulation of the same activities performed in a laboratory by 7 subjects. The estimated and the measured values were compared also with the esteems obtained from validated predictive equations (Garg et al, 1978). The predictivity of our equation was measured. As an on-site assessment, detailed written reports of 18 occupational phases were submitted to 6 differently trained observers and were analyzed through the questionnaire; the variability inter-observer was studied.     

Job characteristics, flow, and performance: The moderating role of conscientiousness.

The present article aims to show the importance of positive work-related experiences within occupational health psychology by examining the relationship between flow at work (i.e., absorption, work enjoyment, and intrinsic work motivation) and job performance. On the basis of the literature, it was hypothesized that (a) motivating job characteristics are positively related to flow at work and (b) conscientiousness moderates the relationship between flow and other ratings of (in-role and out-of-role) performance. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 113 employees from several occupations. Results of moderated structural equation modeling analyses generally supported the hypotheses. Motivating job characteristics were predictive of flow, and flow predicted in-role and extra-role performance, for only conscientious employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity, structure, and content of the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory.

The relative contributions of the personal style scales, general occupational themes, and basic interest scales to the concurrent validity, predictive structure, and personality content of the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory were studied. Effect sizes were provided to indicate the overall differentiation between occupational groups for each of the 35 scales. An expected inverse relationship between the predictive power of each of the 3 sets of nonoccupational scales and their occupational specificity was found. Vocational measures of personality represented by the personal style scales and general occupational themes were found to be effective in a familiar hexagonal 2-dimensional space. Although the results supported the incremental validity of the personal style scales, the basic interest scales were found to deal most effectively with the multivariate complexity of vocational interests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Corrective role of chickpea intake on a dietary-induced model of hypercholesterolemia

Occupational exposures are related to work processes carried out by the individual worker. A classification of the work processes was developed on the basis of analyses of several databases. Work-process data were collected in a sample of Danish employees. An unambiguous, exhaustive work-process classification was developed where the work process was defined as the transformation of a work object into a product. A test showed that at least 85% of free-text data on occupational injuries contained work-process data. To illustrate applications of the classification, work-process data were used to define highly exposed and unexposed job groups. This classification may be useful for (for example) major general surveys to supplement the exposure information that job and industry classifications yield.     

Review of The sociology of work.

Reviews the book The sociology of work by Theodore Caplow (see record 1955-03090-000). Caplow treats the sociology of work primarily as "the study of those social roles which arise from the classification of men by the work they do." The sociological approach gives a frame of reference and a certain realism about the phenomenon of work that adds greatly to the approaches in modern psychology. Psychologists, particularly those in the industrial, counseling, and social areas of specialization, should be interested in this book. It gives a perspective which ought to be useful in both teaching and research. The volume should be useful collateral reading for psychology students in industrial, personnel, and occupational information courses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The postwar occupational adjustment of emotionally disturbed soldiers.

2 assumptions regarding personnel policy in this area were tested on data of premature separations during World War II and a matched control group. Greater unemployment existed for men with history of psychosis. A downward shift in occupational level was present for neurotic histories but was not found for employed "psychotics." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Undergraduate study of value scores as predictors of occupation 25 years later.

To determine the relationship between the values held by undergraduates and subsequent occupation, a longitudinal study was undertaken to relate the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values scores of 532 college men to their occupation some 25 yrs after graduation. The occupations reported lent themselves to classification into 7 groups. Significant differences in patterns of values were found for each group, with the scores taken at graduation having a higher predictive value than those at entrance to college. Physicians, for example, scored high on the theoretical and social values, and men in business scored high on the economic and political values as undergraduates. Current self-ratings on each of E. Spranger's "ideal types" also showed differences among the occupational groups and were significantly correlated with test scores obtained 2 decades earlier. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social role and birth cohort influences on gender-linked personality traits in women: A 20-year longitudinal analysis.

Growth curve modeling was used to examine the impact of social role experiences (e.g., marital support, occupational prestige) and birth cohort on mean-level differences and age-related changes in positive personality traits indicative of either femininity or masculinity in 758 mothers heterogeneous in age, assessed 4 times over 2 decades. Both femininity and masculinity increased significantly from mean ages 39 through 59; each was predictive of an age change in the other. Low masculinity was associated with a more rapid increase in femininity, whereas high occupational prestige decreased the magnitude of association between masculinity and femininity. Femininity increased with more marital support but decreased with unmarried status, more children at home, and working full or part time; among full-time workers, that effect was modified by marital support. Masculinity increased with full-time work and high occupational prestige. A trend for differing levels of femininity, and contrasting associations of masculinity with femininity and marital conflict in women born after 1944 compared with those born earlier, suggests shifting social norms and gender relations in the marital role. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of exhaustion and workarounds in predicting occupational injuries: A cross-lagged panel study of health care professionals.

Occupational injuries remain an important concern for employers, particularly in the health care industry where injury rates have increased despite decreases in other industries. Testing the notion of resource investment from conservation of resources theory, I predicted that exhaustion would be associated with a greater likelihood of safety workarounds (alternative work processes undertaken to “work around” a perceived block in work flow, such as a safety procedure). Furthermore, I hypothesized that safety workarounds would lead to a greater frequency and severity of occupational injuries. I found support for this mediation model with a 2-sample, 3-wave survey study of a variety of health care professionals (nurses, sonographers, and others). I discuss the implications of this research for future research in occupational safety and provide ideas for the reduction of injuries through action research strategies that reduce burnout and workarounds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social-cognitive determinants of hoist usage among health care workers.

Injuries caused by unsafe manual handling of patients are a major source of ill health in health care workers. The present study evaluated the ability of 4 classes of variable to predict use of a hoist when moving a heavily dependent patient. Variables examined were occupational role characteristics, such as hours of work and type of shift worked; biographics, including age and height; aspects of occupational context, such as number of hoists available and number of patients; and motivational variables specified by the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985) and protection motivation theory (Rogers, 1983). Regression analyses showed that background and social-cognitive variables were able to account for 59% of variance in intention to use a hoist and 41% of variance in use of the hoist assessed 6 weeks later. Height, hoist availability, coworker injunctive norm, perceived behavioral control, response cost, response benefits, and social and physical costs of not using the hoist each explained independent variance in motivation to use a hoist at work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Status congruency as a predictor of job satisfaction and life stress.

Administered questionnaires to 2,080 United States Navy enlisted men grouped according to occupational specialties. A status congruency measure was developed and used to determine the degree to which an S was in step with peers within his occupational category relative to duty time, pay grade, age, and marital status. An individual's score on this measure was found to be significantly and uniquely predictive of his reported life stress and job satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparative study of the personal histories of schizophrenic and nonpsychiatric patients.

Intensive and extensive case histories were obtained on schizophrenic patients and compared with parallel data from a nonpsychiatric "normal" population. The samples, equated on 9 variables, e.g., age, education, etc., were compared re the quality of: interpersonal relationships, home factors, school, occupational and social adjustment, religious orientation, interests, aspirations, and initiative. The results failed to confirm the hypotheses of "schizophrenogenic mothers," or the significant traumatic aspect of the early life of schizophrenics. Of all the factors, scholastic, occupational, and social accomplishment fell into the predicted direction. In general, however, the 2 samples were not differentiated on the basis of biographic data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)