Showing papers in "Journal of Counseling Psychology in 1980"

Expressed vocational choice and vocational indecision.

Abstract: This study equally divided 232 male and female college students into four groups based on their responses to the Occupational Alternatives Question. Groups were composed of subjects who had a first choice and no alternatives, a first choice plus alternatives, no first choice but alternatives, and neither a first 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 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 two recent scales measuring vocational indecision, that is, the Vocational Decision Making Difficulty Scale and the Career Decision Scale. Significant sex differences indicated that females were more congruent and satisfied with their college majors. The results are discussed and their implications for future research and vocational counseling are examined. In the literature on vocational choice, the variable of expressed choice has recently been gaining increased research support. The definitive review by Dolliver (1969) perhaps gave impetus to the investigation of expressed choice, and at present an impressive number of studies exist which consistently indicate that expressed choices have predictive validity—in terms of college major or career choice—that equals or exceeds that of inventoried interests (Borgen & Seling, 1978; Dolliver & Will, 1977; Gade & Soliah, 1975; Gottfredson & Holland, 1975; Holland & Gottfredson, 1975; Holland & Lutz, 1968; O'Neil & Magoon, 1977; O'Neil, Magoon, & Tracey, 1978; Touchton & Magoon, 1977). The findings mentioned previously on expressed choice become additionally interesting relative to a number of studies that have attempted to measure differences be

Stress inoculation for pain: What's really going on?

Abstract: Previous research demonstrated the efficacy of coping-skills training in stress inoculation for pain. An attempt was made in the present study to isolate the active ingredients of the coping-skills component, which consists of three categories of skills derived from Melzak's gate-control theory of pain: sensory discriminative (SD), motivational affective (MA), and cognitive evaluative (CE). Eighty-one undergraduate females were pretested on the cold pressor, randomly assigned to one of nine treatment conditions, and then posttested. Relaxation training (an SD procedure) produced increased tolerance, whereas distraction and imagery training (an MA procedure) resulted in higher threshold scores. Although the experimental conditions did not generate differential demand characteristics, two checks on independent variable manipulation revealed that SD skills are learned and employed, MA skills are already known but refined, and CE skills are largely ignored.

Instruction in Career Decision Making and Decision-Making Styles

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the differential effectiveness of two distinct career decision-making interventions and decision-making styles on certainty of vocational choice and changes in vocational maturity. Students were randomly assigned to (a) an intuitive intervention, (b) a rational intervention, (c) attention-placebo, or (d) no-treatment control groups. Students were classified as having either a rational, intuitive, or dependent decision-making style, and styles distributed themselves evenly across the four groups. Results indicated that decision-making style contributed to vocational maturity and certainty of vocational choice, and both interventions resulted in increases on both dependent measures. Rational decision makers did best with the rational intervention, whereas intuitive decision makers did best with the intuitive interventions. Thus, both styles can be considered as effective. Dependent decision makers have an ineffective style, demonstrating decreases on both dependent measures in all groups.

Effects of Counselor Touch on Counseling Outcome.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop a methodology that would control counselor behavior in a naturalistic counseling interview to examine the effect(s) of counselor touch on client evaluation of counseling and level of selfexploration. A 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design was utilized in which nonverbal condition (touch, no touch), sex of counselor, and sex of client were the factors. Each client participated in a single individualized vocational counseling session. All 50-minute counseling sessions were similarly structured to include six clusters of verbal and nonverbal procedures that were administered by counselors at predetermined periods of time. Dependent variable data were collected by means of questionnaires and audiotapes that were submitted to independent raters for analysis. Analyses of the data did not indicate clearly significant results. Experimental findings are discussed in light of the relevant literature.