Effects of sex, career orientation, and occupational type on vocational integration, differentiation, and conflict.

This study attempted to account for the reasons underlying the reported sex differences in structural features of vocational schemas. Most studies have neglected to control for the type of rated occupations in determining structural features, or for the individual's career orientation, so these factors were considered in a 2 (traditional or nontraditional career orientation)?×?2 (male- or female-dominated occupations)?×?2 (sex) between-subjects design. Contrary to our predictions, only gender proved to have a significant impact on structural features. As in previous work, women showed higher levels of vocational integration, and men showed higher levels of vocational differentiation. The possible role of sex role socialization is noted as an explanation of these findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of informational valence and occupational favorability on vocational differentiation: A test of the disconfirmation hypothesis.

Disliked occupations and negative occupational information have been associated with higher levels of vocational differentiation. This study develops and tests a disconfirmation hypothesis that accounts for and qualifies both of these findings. Results of a 2 (gender)?×?2?(favorable vs unfavorable occupations)?×?3?(positive vs negative vs mixed valence information) between-Ss factorial design supported predictions; negative information was linked to higher vocational differentiation when Ss evaluated favorable occupational alternatives, and positive information was related to higher vocational differentiation only when Ss evaluated unfavorable occupations. Apparently, information that disconfirms prior career expectations increases vocational differentiation, whereas information that confirms prior expectations decreases vocational differentiation, providing a basis for reconceptualization of nearly 2 decades of work in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of occupational information on personal versus provided constructs: A second look.

Recent findings have suggested the differential impact of occupational information on the use of personal, as opposed to standardized, vocational constructs (J. F. Leso & G. J. Neimeyer, 1991). Results of the current study support and extend those findings in that a decrement in vocational differentiation only occurred when participants were asked to evaluate occupational alternatives along a standard set of vocational constructs; no such decrement occurred when they used their own personal constructs. This finding provides additional challenges to earlier research concerned with the potentially detrimental impact of occupational information on aspects of vocational structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of counselor response behavior on clients' impressions during vocational counseling.

We examined the effects of four counselor response types—self-disclosure, self-involving, empathy, and open question—on subjects' impressions of the counselor during vocational counseling. A total of 201 undergraduate students viewed videotapes of an initial vocational counseling interview, in which the counselor used either self-disclosure, self-involving, empathy, or open-question statements. Using a 2 (counselor sex)?×?2 (client sex)?×?4 (response type) design, a three-way interaction was found in regard to counselor social influence. However, for the most part, a general lack of significance was found across the dependent measures. These results are interpreted relative to vocational counseling and then compared to the literature on personal–social counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of construct type in vocational differentiation: Use of elicited versus provided dimensions.

Recent studies of vocational structure have demonstrated that experimentally provided vocational constructs are used in less complex, less differentiated ways than are Ss' personally elicited construct dimensions. The possible reasons underlying these differences are addressed in this 2-part study. Results of Study 1 supported significant differences between the use of elicited and provided constructs and ruled out 1 methodological artifact that may have accounted for these differences. Study 2 helped to isolate the personal meaningfulness of the elicited construct as an active agent that accounts for differences in the use of these vocational constructs. Findings of both studies document, for the 1st time, a means of increasing differentiation and converge to suggest the important role of personal meaning in vocational structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expressed vocational choice and vocational indecision.

Equally divided 232 male and female college students into 4 groups based on their responses to the Occupational Alternatives Question. Groups were composed of Ss who had a 1st choice and no alternatives, a 1st choice plus alternatives, no 1st choice but alternatives, and neither a 1st choice nor alternatives. The hypothesis tested was that these groups would differ on dependent variables related to vocational decision making. No significant differences were found on socioeconomic status or on J. L. Holland's constructs of consistency, differentiation, or congruence with career choice. Significant group differences were found on congruence with college major, total number of Vocational Preference Inventory responses, and scales measuring satisfaction with college major and career choice. Significant differences were also found on 2 recent scales measuring vocational indecision; the Vocational Decision Making Difficulty Scale and the Career Decision Scale. Significant sex differences indicate that females were more congruent and satisfied with their college majors. Implications of the results for future research and vocational counseling are examined. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Controlled prospective study of postpartum mood disorders: Psychological, environmental, and hormonal variables.

Demographic, psychiatric, social, cognitive, and life stress variables were used to determine the etiology of depression in childbearing (CB; n?=?182) and nonchildbearing (NCB; n?=?179) women. Hormonal variables in postpartum depression were also evaluated. In the CB group predictors of depression diagnosis were previous depression, depression during pregnancy, and a Vulnerability (V)?×?Life Stress (LS) interaction; predictors of depressive symptomatology were previous depression, depressive symptoms during pregnancy, life events, and V?×?LS. Only estradiol was associated with postpartum depression diagnosis. In the NCB group V?×?LS was the only predictor of depression diagnosis; depressive symptoms during pregnancy and life events were predictors of depressive symptomatology. Previous findings about depression vulnerability were replicated. The significant V?×?LS interactions support the vulnerability-stress model of postpartum depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explaining performance variability: Contributions of goal setting, task characteristics, and evaluative contexts.

263 undergraduates participated in a factorial design consisting of 4 goal conditions (no goal, do your best, easy goal, and difficult goal)?×?3 evaluative contexts (control, peer evaluation, and compliance)?×?2 task characteristics (low and high variety)?×?2 (order of task presentation); all Ss worked on 2 tasks (manual and cognitive). Univariate MANOVAs revealed that performance on the cognitive task was significantly affected by type of goal, task variety, and evaluative context. Performance on the manual task was affected by task variety and evaluative context but not by type of goal. For both tasks, satisfaction was adversely affected by the presence of goals but was unaffected by evaluative contexts. For the cognitive task only, satisfaction was significantly higher in the low-variety condition. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural mistrust and its effects on expectational variables in Black client-White counselor relationships.

In a previous analog study by C. E. Watkins and F. Terrell (see record 1988-36489-001), it was found that highly mistrustful Blacks assigned to White rather than to Black counselors generally had lower expectations of counseling. To extend this earlier study, we examined the effects of cultural mistrust on Blacks' expectations about counselor credibility and counselor competence and their willingness to see someone like the described counselor for counseling. In a 2 (subject sex)?×?2 (subject mistrust level)?×?2 (counselor race) factorial design, subject mistrust level and counselor race interacted significantly on several dependent variables. In comparison to Blacks low on mistrust, highly mistrustful Blacks regarded the White counselor as less credible and less able to help them with four problem areas: general anxiety, shyness, inferiority feelings, and dating difficulties. The implications of the findings of Black client–White counselor relationships are discussed, and the further need for counselors to be aware of the cultural mistrust issue is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluative reaction to interpersonal touch in a counseling interview.

Investigated the effects of the use of touch gestures by counselors on client evaluative responses to the counseling experience, using a 2 (touch vs no touch)?×?2 (male vs female client)?×?2 (male vs female counselor) between-Ss design. Clients who were touched evaluated the counseling experience more positively than no-touch control Ss. However, the magnitude of the effect of touch was affected by the sex composition of the counseling dyad, with stronger effects occurring when clients were touched by an opposite-sex counselor. Results are discussed in terms of conceptual implications and with respect to applied relevance for therapeutic practice and the training of counselors. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of uncontrollability on subsequent decision making: Testing the cognitive exhaustion hypothesis.

The cognitive exhaustion model of helplessness (predicting withdrawal from constructive effortful processing after uncontrollability) was applied to decision making. After unsolvable problems (or no preexposure), Ss requested information from a matrix with 5 alternatives (films)?×?10 attributes and then chose the best film. Films in a set were either similar (difficult decision) or dissimilar (easy decision) in attractiveness. As predicted, Ss with an uncontrollable preexposure spent less time on predecisional information search, disregarded their own importance criteria when asking for information, and had attention highly focused on a selected option for the easy decision condition but diffused across options for the difficult decision condition. The implications of these findings for understanding cognitive mechanisms of learned helplessness and depression are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

American Indian and Caucasian students' preferences for counselors: Effects of counselor dress and sex.

Examined the effects of 2 nonverbal cues, the counselor's dress and sex, on students' preferences for counselors. 140 Native Americans from a reservation high school and 226 students from a primarily Caucasian, urban high school rated their preferences for discussing personal, academic, and vocational concerns with a counselor. The independent variables were race and sex of student, and form of dress and sex of counselor. The results of the 2?×?2?×?6?×?2 MANOVA showed that the Ss' preferences for counselors varied with the counselors' sex and dress, the type of concern, and the race of the S. Same-sex preferences for counselors were not influenced by counselor dress. Preference for a counselor of the same sex was strongest for female Native Americans. Cultural and methodological aspects of these results are discussed. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mexican-American acculturation, counselor ethnicity, counseling style, and perceived counselor credibility.

Used a 3?×?2?×?2 factorial design to study the effects of S acculturation (low, medium, or high), counselor ethnicity (Anglo-American or Mexican-American), and counseling style (directive or nondirective) on Mexican-American Ss' perceptions of and willingness to see a counselor. Within acculturation levels, Ss were randomly assigned to view stimulus materials (in which the counselor's ethnicity was varied) and to listen to tape recordings of a simulated counseling session (in which the counseling style was varied). No evidence was found of an acculturation effect for any dependent variable. However, Ss gave higher credibility ratings and were more willing to see a counselor who was Mexican American for personal, academic, and vocational concerns. Also, more positive ratings were given to the directive counseling style than the nondirective counseling style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mistrust level and its effects on counseling expectations in Black client-White counselor relationships: An analogue study.

Black clients' high dropout rates from counseling with White counselors are often explained by the clients' lack of trust for Whites. This analogue study examined the effects of cultural mistrust on counseling expectations for Black clients assigned to both Black and White counselors. Subjects completed the Cultural Mistrust Inventory (an inventory designed to measure Blacks' mistrust of Whites) and the Expectations About Counseling questionnaire. In a 2 (subject sex)?×?2 (subject mistrust level)?×?2 (counselor race) factorial design, client mistrust level interacted significantly with counselor race. When assigned to a White instead of a Black counselor, highly mistrustful Blacks expected the counselor to be less accepting, trustworthy, and expert; they also expected less in terms of counseling outcome. We discuss the possible implications of these findings for counseling practice and the need for White counselors to be sensitive to the cultural mistrust issue when working with Black clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal attachment: Experiencing, expressing, and coping with stress.

From a sample of 1,157 prescreened individuals, a sample of 193 participants with clearly identifiable attachment styles completed a stress narrative, a measure of coping styles, and a measure of emotional distress. Results of the 4 (attachment style: secure, fearful, preoccupied, and dismissing)?×?2(gender) study provided general support for predictions. Compared with severe attachment, for example, preoccupied attachment was associated with higher levels of intrusive psychological symptoms and higher levels of overall psychological distress, although specific predictions concerning characteristic styles of coping received mixed support. The nature and limitations of these findings are discussed in relation to contemporary issues in attachment theory, research, and measurement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions of mental illness and judgments about help seeking among Japanese-American and White American students.

Perceived causes of mental illness and help-seeking preferences among Japanese-American and White American college students (72 men and 72 women in each ethnic group) were compared in order to investigate the reported underuse of mental health services by Japanese Americans. Results of a 2 (ethnicity of S)?×?2(severity of disorder)?×?2(gender of person with disorder)?×?2(gender of S) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed that Japanese-American students were more likely than White American students to attribute mental illness to social causes, to resolve problems on their own, and to seek help from family members or friends or both. Possible barriers to use of services by this sample of Japanese Americans include both a preference for informal resources and the stigmatization of mental illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance attributions: Effects of mood and involvement.

A 2 (good vs bad mood)?×?2 (important vs unimportant)?×?2 (success vs failure) experimental design was used to investigate whether importance could moderate mood effects on students' performance attributions. Attributions were analyzed in terms of their underlying dimensions (locus, stability, and controllability) as specified by B. Weiner (1985). Undergraduate business students (31 men, 49 women) were randomly assigned to 1 of the 8 experimental conditions. Analysis revealed a significant 3-way interaction of mood, importance, and performance outcome (p?     

Effects of combined counseling and vocational training on personal adjustment.

To evaluate the effects of combined counseling and vocational training on personal adjustment, the Manson Evaluation test was administered to 85 students during the 1st 2 wk. of training and again near termination. The students, ages 17-21 yr., were generally characterized by previous failure in social, academic, and vocational endeavors. All students and classes received individual and group counseling by skilled counselors. Comparisons of "before" and "after" Manson scores revealed consistent and highly significant gains in personal adjustment. The findings are discussed in terms of current governmental efforts to combat socioeconomic problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of rapport on hypnotically induced pseudomemory.

Three studies examined the influence of rapport on pseudomemory. Study 1 tested 8 groups of 22 Ss in a 2 (level of susceptibility: high, low)?×?2?(state instruction: hypnosis, waking)?×?2?(rapport: present reduced) design, rapport being inhibited by the hypnotist criticizing Ss' performance. Pseudomemory was tested by a 2nd experimenter who also criticized Ss. Study 2 varied level of susceptibility and rapport for 88 hypnotically instructed Ss where criticism was offered only by the 2nd experimenter. Study 3 analyzed effects among 44 highly susceptible hypnotic Ss where the 2nd experimenter refrained from criticizing Ss. Data indicated a significant association between rapport with the hypnotist and pseudomemory in cued recall, strength of pseudomemory being appreciably lowered when negative hypnotist rapport was reinforced by the person testing pseudomemory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)