Contemporary Psychologydoi: 10.1037/0003-066X.46.5.475pmid: N/A
This article deals with the author's concern for the quality of current psychological inquiry as an intellectual enterprise and for the effects of extreme specialization on the nature of the behavioral science disciplines. Worry is expressed for psychology's failure to confront fundamental metaphysical issues that make psychology, in Toulmin's phrase, a “would-be-discipline.” In subsequent sections, attention is directed toward the role of narrative in science making and to the role of the rhetoric of inquiry in intellectual formulation. Attention is also directed toward the role of ideology in science, to the concept of order in scientific thinking, and to the essential properties of method in the human sciences. Finally, the writer issues a call for new institutional experiments that relate to the role of collaboration in intellectual work and to a need for new intellectual models in the social and behavioral sciences.
Inside Rumordoi: 10.1037/0003-066X.46.5.484pmid: N/A
Developments are discussed that shaped the conceptualization of the psychology of rumor. In the period just after World War II, G. W. Allport and Postman (1947) postulated that the occurrence of rumors will vary according to an incident's thematic importance and the amount of ambiguity inherent in a given situation. Although never empirically validated, that basic proposition until recently was widely accepted. Recent work now suggests that rumor generation and transmission results from an optimal combination of personal anxiety, general uncertainty, credulity, and outcome-relevant involvement. General implications of the proposed conceptualization for rumor control are raised.
Gender Dilemmas in Sexual Harassment Policies and Proceduresdoi: 10.1037/0003-066X.46.5.497pmid: N/A
Many organizations have established policies and procedures to deal with sexual harassment, yet few complaints are reported. Some have suggested that the lack of complaints is due to the absence of a problem, or the timidity or fearfulness of victims. This article proposes that the reasons for the lack of use of sexual harassment grievance procedures lie not in the victims, but rather in the procedures themselves. Women perceive sexual harassment differently than men do, and their orientation to dispute resolution processes is likely to differ as well. The way that policies define harassment and the nature of dispute resolution procedures may better fit male than female perspectives. This gender bias is likely to discourage women from reporting complaints.
Ethics of Teachingdoi: 10.1037/0003-066X.46.5.506pmid: N/A
Lacking are comprehensive, systematically gathered data concerning the beliefs and behaviors of psychologists functioning as educators. Survey data were collected from 482 APA members whose primary work setting is in an institution of higher education. They were asked the degree to which they engaged in each of 63 behaviors and the degree to which they considered each of these to be ethical. These behaviors fell into such categories as course content, evaluation of students, educational environment, disrespectful behavior, research and publication issues, financial and material transactions, social relationships with students, and sexual relationships with students and other faculty. Of the 63 behaviors, 6 were very difficult for participants to evaluate on the basis of ethics, and 10 were exceptionally controversial. Of the 63 behaviors, 3 were practiced by at least 90% of the respondents on at least a rare basis; 10 were practiced by fewer than 8%. Data are compared with those from a previous national survey of psychologists functioning as therapists.
Prevention and Public Healthdoi: 10.1037/0003-066X.46.5.516pmid: N/A
Psychology as a scientific and applied discipline has a unique responsibility to participate in the pursuit of strategies that reduce the nation's health care needs. As a social and behavioral science, psychology can contribute to unraveling the processes underlying conditions of health and disorder. As an applied discipline, psychology can work to design effective interventions to promote human health and to avoid disease and dysfunction. Insofar as these endeavors are unsuccessful, psychology can help reduce significant contributors to the nation's morbidity and mortality. Achieving such success, however, challenges psychologists to collaborate effectively, to combine science with practice and policy, and to address complex philosophical and ethical issues concerned with individual freedom and public responsibility.
Health Objectives for the NationMcGinnis, J. M.
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.46.5.520pmid: N/A
National health objectives challenge the nation to improve the health of Americans through a coordinated and comprehensive emphasis on prevention. Substantial progress has been made toward achieving 1990 goals established with the 1979 Surgeon General's Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, entitled Healthy People. Still the nation is falling short of its full potential. Development of the year 2000 objectives used the experiences of the previous decade to create an agenda for the future, and has been broader in its focus and scope of participation. Healthy People 2000 sets three broad goals: increase the span of healthy life for Americans, reduce health disparities among Americans, and achieve access to preventive services for all Americans. Achievement of these goals and the 300 specific objectives calls for individualized and collective action.
AsiaPacific Prevention Researchdoi: 10.1037/0003-066X.46.5.528pmid: N/A
An effort is underway in the Asia–Pacific region to carry out multidisciplinary prevention research, with an emphasis on understanding health-related behaviors. In partnerships with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. Public Health Service, international health agencies, governments, and universities in the region, researchers at the University of Hawaii are pursuing a paradigm for international, multicultural prevention research in the field of health promotion and disease prevention. An integrated framework for guiding a program of research is discussed along with several factors that present challenges to the conduct of prevention research in the Asia–Pacific region.