Occupational preferences and the quality of life

This paper focuses on the theoretical and empirical aspects of occupational choice by examining the structure of individual preferences expressed in terms of abstract characteristics. Both verbal and quantitative models were successfully tested, and a rough upper limit was set on the ability of individuals to specify their quality-of-life technology. The study was too restrictive to permit general inferences concerning the quality of life of particular occupations. However, it may be concluded from the limited empirical findings that the qualitative model captured career-living preferences almost as consistently as did the highly structured quantitative approach. The experiments extracted subjects' cognitive structures for career-living stiuations in all the richness and generality permitted by verbal expression. Although more costly to determine, such qualitative information is of considerable potential benefit to policy makers, ect., and equivalent knowledge cannot be obtained from numerical representations.     

Some population characteristics of villages differentiated by size,location, and growth

Selected social characteristics of individuals were examined for groups of villages simultaneously dichotomized by size, location relative to larger cities, and population change. The percent of people having a selected characteristic in each village group of the resulting eight-fold classification was taken as the dependent variable, and difference scores indicating main effects and first order interactions were obtained for each characteristic. The universe is the 375 incorporated places under 2500 in 1950outside the SMSAs of Wisconsin. Size of place was found to be important for the sex ratio, education and income levels, and labor force and occupational variables. Characteristics associated with nearness to a large city included income, male labor force participation, occupation, and industry. Growth was important for age and sex differences, education, income, and some labor force, occupation, and industry variables. An interaction between location and growth was found for several occupation and industry characteristics. The consistency between some of the results and previous research on larger places supports the contention that villages, although classified as rural, share many characteristics of urban centers. The industry and occupation differences by location, and the interaction between location and growth, strongly suggest that location is tied closely to function here. Places near cities over 25,000, especially those that are growing, may serve as residences for commuting blue-collar workers, or perhaps as small manufacturing centers, while most places more remote from cities continue to function as small service centers for a rural hinterland.     

Riley and Cohen: Investment managers

Riley and Cohen, a new, small firm of investment managers, is facing a series of ethical dilemmas. In each case the members of the firm must choose between taking an action which will help insure their survival as a firm or rejecting the action because of moral considerations. One group of such actions may involve the possibility of direct unethical behavior by the new firm, as payment of a bribe, providing a client with an escort service, and making an undesirable political contribution. Another group of problems deals with how their investment decisions should be influenced by their personal values and those of their clients. These cases include investments in firms which produce condoms or cigarettes, practice abortion, discriminate against women and religious groups, do business with South Africa or the Soviet Union, or are involved in gambling. A consultant will make recommendations to Riley and Cohen about what to do, but ultimately the decision is theirs.     

Personal, health, academic, and environmental predictors of stress for residence hall students

The authors studied contributors to stress among undergraduate residence hall students at a midwestern, land grant university using a 76-item survey consisting of personal, health, academic, and environmental questions and 1 qualitative question asking what thing stressed them the most. Of 964 students selected at random, 462 (48%) responded to the survey. The authors weighted data to reflect the overall university-wide undergraduate population (55% men, 12% minority or international, and 25% freshmen). Women and US citizens experienced greater stress than did men and non-US citizens, respectively. Frequency of experiencing chronic illness, depression, anxiety disorder, seasonal affective disorder, mononucleosis, and sleep difficulties were significant stress predictors. Although alcohol use was a positive predictor, drug use was a negative predictor of stress. Both a conflict and a satisfactory relationship with a roommate, as well as a conflict with a faculty or staff member, were also significant predictors of stress.     

An investigation of unmet intimacy needs in marital relationships

In this investigation we examined partners' responses to unmet intimacy needs in hopes of better understanding how these responses may affect intimacy satisfaction and overall relationship satisfaction. Eighty-four married couples, plus four additional husbands and 12 additional wives, were recruited from the community and completed measures of relationship satisfaction, intimacy need satisfaction, and attributional and communication responses to unmet intimacy needs. Consistent with the proposed mediational model, less negative attributional and communication responses to unmet intimacy needs were found to be beneficial for overall intimacy satisfaction and relationship satisfaction. In addition, more positive communication responses contributed to greater intimacy satisfaction. Limitations and clinical implications of the current study and directions for future work are discussed.     

The sexual abuse questionnaire: a preliminary examination of a time and cost efficient method in evaluating the presence of childhood sexual abuse in adult patients

This paper provides the results of two studies designed to evaluate a newly constructed self-report instrument, the Sexual Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ was designed as a brief screening device to aid in the identification of a childhood sexual abuse history. A "unique" feature of the SAQ is the inclusion of a number of non-face valid questions derived from clinical experience. Both studies used an undergraduate population of self-reported abused and non-abused participants. Based upon the combined results of the two studies, the final version of the SAQ was developed, which is comprised of 45 items that manifest good test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and convergent and discriminative validity. The SAQ can discriminate between abused and non-abused male and female participants.     

PERSONAL AUTHORITY IN FAMILY EXPERIENCE VIA TERMINATION OF THE INTERGENERATIONAL HIERARCHICAL BOUNDARY: PART III—PERSONAL AUTHORITY DEFINED, AND THE POWER OF PLAY IN THE CHANGE PROCESS

Present transgenerational family therapy theory is analyzed, and it is suggested that individuation is on a continuum with fusion-triangulation (family systems theory), that relational ethics are on a continuum with invisible loyalties (contextual family therapy), and that there is in fact but one continuum, so that these terms are well-nigh interchangeable. Individuation-relational ethics is presented in a (Hegelian) dialectic with intimacy; and personal authority in family experience is offered as the synthesizing construct in this dialectic. The change process in transgenerational family therapy is briefly noted. It is suggested that playfulness, including paradox and absurdity, is an effective intervention into the intense emotionality of inter generational work. A framework for and sequence of playful interventions are described.