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There is some empirical support for the person-centred hypothesis that self-esteem is positively associated with having a facilitative relationship. Rational emotive behaviour theory suggests such an association is more likely to occur in people holding the irrational belief that they must be approved by others while person-centred theory may presume that a less facilitative relationship leads to a demand for approval. The aim of this study was to examine these ideas in romantic relationships using a cross-sectional design. Jones' Demand for Approval Scale specified for a romantic partner, Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale and a shortened modified Barrett-Lennard's Relationship Inventory were completed by 89 female and 62 male undergraduates. Facilitativeness was not related to demand for approval. Although the rational emotive behaviour hypothesis was not confirmed, demand for approval was more strongly related to self-esteem than facilitativeness. This finding suggests that self-esteem may be increased more if this irrational belief can be successfully challenged than if a more facilitative relationship is provided. The causal nature of these associations need to be investigated. (Contains 2 tables.)

The way in which satisfaction with a romantic relationship may be affected by how supportive a partner is and how constructively they deal with conflict in that relationship was examined in young adults. Both greater support and less conflict were found to be independently associated with relationship satisfaction, implying that both are necessary for a satisfactory relationship. While support did not mitigate the possible effects of conflict on satisfaction, it may lead to more constructive conflict which in turn may enhance satisfaction. Support seen as being available as well as support that was received were independently associated with relationship satisfaction. Of the different forms of available support measured, only support reflecting being cared for was independently associated with relationship satisfaction. These results suggest that encouraging couples to be emotionally supportive to each other may improve the effectiveness of relationship counselling as well as relationship enhancement and problem prevention programmes.

This study tested whether each of the four main aspects of rational thinking decreased expected relationship dissatisfaction when imagining having a serious disagreement with either a romantic partner or closest friend. The four features, common to cognitive theories of therapy, were the tendency not to exaggerate negative effects, not to demand that one's wishes should always be met, not to globally rate individuals or relationships and not to over-generalise that these experiences always have happened or will happen. Only when combined together did the four aspects significantly decrease expected relationship dissatisfaction in comparison to a control condition in which a serious disagreement was simply reiterated. This combined condition also significantly decreased the irrational tendency to agree that disagreements are destructive.

Reports findings from research that compared personal qualities demanded by employers with actual attributes of information and library studies (ILS) students in the United Kingdom. Discusses personality and ILS students and concludes that there is a gap between educators', students', and employers' views on whether students have the qualities needed for success. (Author/LRW)

Young adolescents--12- to 13-year olds--with social-skills difficulties received (n=9) and did not receive (n=9) social-skills training (SST). Subjects were compared before and after treatment and at followup using the Social-Skills Questionnaire, Self-Report Questionnaire, and sociometric procedures. Significant improvement on two measures for treated subjects and no improvement for untreated subjects were found. (RLC)

In 2 studies the author investigated whether having the belief that disagreement is destructive to a relationship affects relationship satisfaction. The cross-sectional association between the Relationship Assessment Scale (S. S. Hendrick, 1988), the consensus items of the Marital Adjustment Test (H. J. Locke & K. M. Wallace, 1959), and the Disagreement Is Destructive subscale (Epstein & Eidelson, 1981) was examined in the predominately heterosexual, romantic relationships of college students. Findings revealed that the association between measures of relationship satisfaction and measures of destructive disagreement belief were not due to both measures referring to disagreement. The destructive disagreement belief did not moderate the association between relationship satisfaction and consensus or negative conflict. Analyses suggested that the association between relationship satisfaction and destructive disagreement belief resulted from consensus in Study 1, whereas in Study 2 the association was due to negative conflict. Using a revised belief scale in Study 2, the researcher found that relationship satisfaction led to the belief that disagreement was destructive. Overall, the notion that the destructive disagreement belief affects relationship satisfaction was not supported. Key words: beliefs, conflict, relationship satisfaction, romantic relationships, CONSENSUS ON VARIOUS ISSUES between partners in romantic and marital relationships has been found to be so closely associated with other indices of relationship satisfaction that it has been incorporated [...]

A study of the effectiveness of social skills training programs by evaluating the effects of Individualized Training and Standardized Training on samples of 12-13-years-old reveals that Individualized Training which gives priority to individual skills is superior to Standardized Training. Students, taking part in Individualized Training showed significant progress in all the three dependent measures, self-report questionnaire, role-taking test and sociometric questionnaire. Measurements of Standardized Testing showed a lack of sensitivity.

Interviews with 57 employees in a large British engineering firm revealed that the major sources of turnover were dissatisfaction with (a) career structure, (b) salary, (c) management supervision, (d) training, and (e) working environment. These five characteristics were assessed, together with organizational commitment; favorable self-presentation; and satisfaction with job, life, and residential location. Distal indices of turnover were postulated as being tenure, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. The results indicated that the strongest predictor of tenure was younger age at joining the company, and the major predictor of both organizational commitment and job satisfaction was satisfaction with career structure., VOLUNTARY INTERORGANIZATIONAL TURNOVER among employed college graduates can be high. In a British survey of 264 industrial and commercial employers conducted in 1980, 16% of the college graduates left after [...]

In a nationally representative sample of 1,073 British adults, the roles of sociological and psychological variables as predictors of voting participation was investigated. The total variance explained was 18.4%. The psychological variables were more strongly associated with electoral participation than the sociological ones. The relationship between these two sets of variables was considered. The main predictor of electoral participation was the degree of party allegiance, which explained 10.4% of the variance. These results emphasize the role of political parties in mobilizing voters.

Lee's Lovestyles Questionnaire was completed in terms of past or present romantic relationship by 105 female and 44 male undergraduates to determine its factorial validity. First four orthogonal factors extracted did not reflect Lee's lovestyles but seemed to characterize satisfaction, openness, importance, and physical intimacy of relationship. (Author/NB)

The present study examined elite cricket batsmen's experiences of sledging to establish its frequency, effects, and the coping strategies used by players. Sledging in cricket is the practice whereby players seek to gain an advantage by insulting or verbally intimidating the opposing batter. Semistructured interviews were conducted on 10 elite batsmen. Interviews were transcribed and content analysis was conducted to elucidate themes. Several similar factors were reported for both the frequency of sledging and its effectiveness, the most influential being the period of innings, state of the game, and in-game pressure. The majority of the reported effects of sledging were negative, most notably, an altered perception of self, an altered state of mind, decreased batting ability, and over arousal. Numerous associated coping strategies were mentioned, the most frequently used being variations of self-talk. Other noteworthy coping strategies included routines, external support, showing frustration, avoidance coping, and relaxation techniques. Overall, players perceived that sledging had a substantial effect on a batter and their level of performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by the work-family interface literature, this study examined the concept of spillover in a sample of elite athletes. It was conceptualized that there would be potential negativity and interference between athletes' intense demands of competitive sport and efforts to maintain positive relationships with their partners. Antecedents and consequences of the potential spillover phenomenon were assessed in a sample of 87 elite-level athletes who had either romantic or marital, heterosexual relationships. Findings indicated that while trust, commitment, and communication were not strongly related to spillover, negative transactions were. Moreover, the occurrence of spillover was negatively related to sport satisfaction and positively to depressive symptoms. Finally, it was found that a mechanism by which perceived negative transactions were linked to athletes' satisfaction and depression was through spillover. Spillover can help explain how personal relationships and sport are likely to contribute to athletes' performance accomplishment and overall well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RUBIN BELIEVED his Love Scale (1970) could be subdivided into dependence, helpfulness, and absorption and that his Liking Scale (1970) could be subdivided into respect and similarity. Hendrick and Hendrick [...]

ABSTRACT. The authors investigated (a) whether increased closeness and decreased closeness of a relationship are associated with better and poorer psychological health, respectively; and (b) whether poorer psychological health is [...]