Pegah Touradji

Bio: Pegah Touradji is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Test validity & Discriminant validity. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 381 citations.

Appreciating similarities and valuing differences : The Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity scale

Abstract: Universal-diverse orientation was defined as an attitude of awareness and acceptance of both the similarities and differences that exist among people. A 45-item scale developed to measure the construct was administered to 4 separate samples (ns = 93, 111, 153, and 135). Internal consistency and retest reliability for the Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale (M-GUDS) ranged from .89 to .95. The M-GUDS significantly correlated in theoretically predicted ways with measures of racial identity, empathy, healthy narcissism, feminism, androgyny, homophobia, and dogmatism (the last 2 correlations were negative). The M-GUDS displayed discriminant validity by failing to correlate with Scholastic Achievement Test Verbal scores, although mixed results were obtained with social desirability. In summary, the data suggest considerable reliability and initial construct validity for the M-GUDS.

Perceptions of Serendipity: Career Paths of Prominent Academic Women in Counseling Psychology

Abstract: Consensual qualitative research was used to investigate the impact of chance events on the career choices of prominent academic women in counseling psychology and to examine the contextual factors surrounding the chance events The results suggest that chance events affected career choices most often by changing women's career paths altogether or by altering their self-concepts The results also suggest that both internal characteristics (eg, ability to take risks, self-confidence, etc) and external factors (eg, a strong support system, few external barriers, etc) helped women take advantage of chance opportunities The implications of integrating the concept of serendipity into our existing understanding of career development is discussed

Consensual Qualitative Research: An Update

Abstract: The authors reviewed the application of consensual qualitative research (CQR) in 27 studies published since the method's introduction to the field in 1997 by C. E. Hill, B. J. Thompson, and E. N. Williams (1997). After first describing the core components and the philosophical underpinnings of CQR, the authors examined how it has been applied in terms of the consensus process, biases, research teams, data collection, data analysis, and writing up the results and discussion sections of articles. On the basis of problems that have arisen in each of these areas, the authors made recommendations for modifications of the method. The authors concluded that CQR is a viable qualitative method and suggest several ideas for research on the method itself.

Changes in Dispositional Empathy in American College Students Over Time: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract: The current study examines changes over time in a commonly used measure of dispositional empathy. A cross-temporal meta-analysis was conducted on 72 samples of American college students who completed at least one of the four subscales (Empathic Concern, Perspective Taking, Fantasy, and Personal Distress) of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) between 1979 and 2009 (total N = 13,737). Overall, the authors found changes in the most prototypically empathic subscales of the IRI: Empathic Concern was most sharply dropping, followed by Perspective Taking. The IRI Fantasy and Personal Distress subscales exhibited no changes over time. Additional analyses found that the declines in Perspective Taking and Empathic Concern are relatively recent phenomena and are most pronounced in samples from after 2000.

Planned Happenstance: Constructing Unexpected Career Opportunities

Abstract: Chance plays an important role in everyone's career, but career counseling is still perceived as a process designed to eliminate chance from career decision making. Traditional career counseling interventions are no longer sufficient to prepare clients to respond to career uncertainties. Work world shifts challenge career counselors to adopt a counseling intervention that views unplanned events as both inevitable and desirable. Counselors need to teach clients to engage in exploratory activities to increase the probability that the clients will discover unexpected career opportunities. Unplanned events can become opportunities for learning.

The Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy: Development, Validation, and Reliability

Abstract: Summary and Overall Discussion The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to quantita-tively and effectively measure the construct of ethnocultural em-pathy. On the basis of a review of the literature, ethnoculturalempathy as a construct was derived from definitions of generalempathy, multiculturalism, and cultural empathy. Our effort tocreate a three-factor scale was partially supported by the results ofthe factor analysis. Although there are parallels between the in-tended definition of the three factors and the final results, the factoranalysis revealed the presence of a fourth factor. The factorscontributed to the amount of variance accounted for by the scale inthe following order, from strongest to weakest: Empathic Feelingand Expression, Empathic Perspective Taking, Acceptance of Cul-tural Differences, and Empathic Awareness. The four-factor solu-tion suggests that there are four distinct components underlyingscores on the SEE.The four factors of the SEE closely replicate the theoreticalconstructs of empathy found in the literature and bring new un-derstanding to the construct of ethnocultural empathy. Duan andHill (1996) suggested that the concept of general empathy consistsof two components: empathic emotions and intellectual empathy.The most comprehensive model of cross-cultural empathy, dis-cussed by Ridley and Lingle (1996), includes communicativeempathy in addition to the similar emotional and intellectualaspects. The four factors revealed in the present study not onlysupport the existence of the emotional, intellectual, and commu-nicative aspects of ethnocultural empathy but also suggested thatthe components of ethnocultural empathy may be more compli-cated than has been conceptualized in the existing literature (i.e.,there may be more than three components). For example, theintellectual aspect of ethnocultural empathy may encompass one’sperspective taking and awareness toward racial and ethnicdifferences.Table 5Univariate Analyses of Variance on Racial Differences in SEE Subscale Scores

Achieving trustworthiness in qualitative research: a pan-paradigmatic perspective.

Abstract: In this article, as two researchers from different traditions in qualitative research (consensual qualitative research and grounded theory), the authors present their shared views on the critical elements of trustworthiness in qualitative data. In addition to making specific recommendations about the integrity of data, the balance between participant meaning and researcher interpretation, and clear communication and application of the findings, they identify ways in which these issues are difficult to negotiate within and across different qualitative approaches. The authors present examples from various qualitative studies, emphasize the need for a shared language to reduce confusion between qualitative traditions and with researchers from a more strictly quantitative orientation, and recommend particular approaches to establishing trustworthiness in qualitative research.