Do you think that your health or safety are at risk because of your work? A large European study on psychological and physical work demands

Throughout Europe there are relatively few statistics, gathered a national level, which deal specifically with the problem of violence at work. In the UK, the revised Reporting of Injuries. Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 now require that certain violent incidents are reported on a national basis. The criteria for reporting, which are entirely dependent on the physical outcome of incidents, are discussed. It is recommended that employing organizations should establish their own internal systems for reportmg and recording a wider range of violent, and potentially violent, incidents. These should then be used to inform risk assessment and risk management.     

Coherency conditions for finite exchangeable inference

Summary We idenify the invertible coherent functional relation between an array of asserted conditional probabilities and the probability distribution for the sum of events that are regarded exchangeably, in the regular case thatP(N _N+1 |S _N =a) ∈ (0, 1) for everya=0, 1, ...,N. The result is used to construct a useful algebraic and geometrical representation of all coherent inferences in the regular case, including those that are nonlinear in the sum of the conditioning events. The special case in which conditional probabilities mimic observed frequencies within (0, 1) receives an exact solution, which allows an easy interpretation of its surprising consequences. Finally, we introduce a new direction in research on prior opinion assessment that this approach, inverse to the usual one, suggests.     

Success and interpersonal touch in a competitive setting

Early observations of interpersonal touch among American adults have revealed rates of touch well below that of many European and Latin American countries. Conclusions drawn from these results, however, mandate caution since touch has been shown to be affected by age, gender, race, and setting. Observation of mens' televised sports has revealed that high rates of touch often follow a successful performance. The present study attempted to quantify touch within a mixed-gender, competitive setting in both black and white subcultures. Interpersonal touch following a success and otherwise occurring was observed among bowlers during league play. Overall rates of touch were much higher than those reported for other public settings. High rates of touch following a success were reported only for blacks. Unlike previous studies females initiated cross-gender touch as often as did males.     

The judgment of rapport: A cross-cultural comparison between Americans and Greeks

Interpersonal perception was examined cross-culturally by having samples of Greek and American subjects view and judge the level of rapport throughout the same series of 50 dyadic interactions recorded in America. The overall pattern of results showed that: (a) the judgment policies and accuracy of the Greek and American samples were remarkably similar; (b) both groups fell far short of the agreement level possible for this task; and (c) the low levels of achievement were a consequence of both groups giving insufficient weight to valid behavioral predictors of rapport while relying on the apparently compelling but invalid cues, smiling and expressivity. Both the Greeks and Americans, it appears, have widely shared implicit theories or policies regarding which observable (i.e., nonverbal) aspects of an interaction indicate its positivity; these implicit policies are remarkably similar and they are imperfect.This research was supported by a National Science Foundation Young Investigator grant to the first author.     

Linking organizational effectiveness and environmental change

Advisors on strategic planning often give two separate pieces of advice to managers: first, managers must interact with rather than react to the external environment. That is, they should be proactive, not reactive. Second, the organizational effectiveness must be improved. However, seldom is any linkage established between these two pieces of advice. The first premise is primarily an external view, and the second is an internal view. If these two views are not linked, the results may range from slightly below optimum to bankruptcy. The purpose of this article is to show how these two views can be linked.     

Pollsters Under Attack: 2004 Election Incivility and Its Consequences

The 2004 election was remarkable for a number of reasons, includingthe harsh, personal attacks from all parts of the politicalspectrum on a number of media pollsters. The idea of "killingthe messenger" has been around long enough for the phenomenonto have its own name, but it appears to have intensified muchmore than in the past. The article details the experiences oftwo polls and their pollsters, one national and one statewide.These attacks are part of a growing practice of trying to mitigateperceived damage by any message in the political marketplace.The article suggests that while there are positive effects fromthese developments, including heightened awareness among votersof polling methods, negative effects can damage the credibilityof specific polls and their sponsors, as well as the professionin general, including market and other public opinion research.The article ends with a call for researchers to be more openwith their methods and measures, and to strongly defend properlydone research against critics; for journalists to be more discerningin evaluating poll criticisms before publishing them; and forprofessional organizations to help the public better understandpolling, market research, and other public opinion researchand their benefits to society.     

Introduction to the special section: The role of cognitive-behavioral interventions in couple and family therapy

Marriage and family therapists' perspectives on cognitive–behavior family therapy (CBFT) have seen major changes over the years. The focus on cognitions and behaviors in treatment is now widely embraced by marriage and family therapists because of the effectiveness of the approach and its flexibility and integrative potential. This article provides an introduction to the special section and a brief history and overview of the application of CBFT to the field and some of the benefits it can provide to the growing and ever-challenging area of couples and family therapy.