How aware of societal issues are our young people who will soon be entering the workforce and communities as life-long residents? To what extent do young adults view local and state issues, in particular, as potential barriers to social progress and reform? In what way/s can young adults become and stay abreast of critical issues and initiate…

Power, powerlessness, and empowerment have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. Traditional applications of power tend to be autocratic and autocratic power continues to be accepted extensively in society. Increased use of alternative kinds of power is hindered by lack of skills, lack of opportunity for use, and inappropriate norms…

Assessed the assertion-related priorities of 84 trainees who rated their interest in 26 skill-areas. Results indicated the most interest in dealing with negative feelings in interpersonal relationships. Noted a discrepancy between assertive skills emphasized in the literature and skills deemed most relevant by actual trainees. (JAC)

Many researchers and clinicians are diagnosing depressed children according to criteria resembling those used to diagnose depressed adults. To investigate cognitive correlates of depression in children two studies were conducted. In the first study 37 children in grades 5-7 were given a booklet containing the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI)…

Intended to aid librarians, this guide explores the methods librarians can and do use to influence government publishers, printers, distributors, and indexers of government information, as well as those who create and interpret the policies governing those programs. Case studies from Canada, England, and the United States are cited to illustrate…

Power is the capacity of an individual to self-determine his or her life and to participate in the creation of an appropriate environment for that life. The exercise of personal power is necessary to develop one's unique potential, and it is necessary if society is to benefit from contributions and participation of all its members. In an effort to…

This study surveyed the connection of empathy and self-esteem with active sporting. The subjects were 1,381 members of Finnish baseball teams between the ages of 8 to 16. The instruments used in testing the subjects were: (1) the modified Mehrabian & Epstein Empathy test (1972); (2) the Battle Self-Esteem Scale, Form B (1981); (3) the…

The author examines issues related to adult assertiveness in controlling and setting limits for handicapped children. Reasons for adults not wishing to be in charge include feelings of guilt, lack of consistency in enforcing rules, and a sense of sympathy for special children. Assertiveness is distinguished from aggressiveness, and suggestions for…

This paper presents a guide for persons interested in conducting a workshop designed to introduce a process or strategy to help adolescents self-generate strokes to foster positive self-esteem. The steps in the process include: (1) introduction to the notion that each person has the power to take control of and direct his or her own life; (2) an…

Eighteen conversations between patients and nurses or physicians were videotaped to examine patterns that the interactants followed to maintain dominant or recessive roles. Physicians/nurses were viewed as the dominant interactants because of their greater control in the hospital setting whereas patients were viewed as the recessive interactants…

Communication apprehension (CA), an individual's fear or anxiety about real or anticipated communication, is common among pharmacy students. A course using systematic desensitization, cognitive modification, and assertiveness training has been effective in reducing CA and increasing communication skills in students. The techniques can be learned…

The purpose of this paper is to propose the construct of "countersociopathy" and specific activities consumers can undertake in a variety of sales conditions and situations. These activities are not only designed to passively neutralize the telemarketer's or salesperson's aggressiveness, but can lead to the salesperson wanting to quickly…

Previous research has suggested that behavioral differences between shy and not shy persons may be explained by differences in inhibition rather than differences in interpersonal skills. To investigate the behavior of high and low social anxiety subjects in both ambiguous social situations and in explicitly structured ones, three studies using…

A multidimensional inventory was developed to assess competitiveness as the desire to approach and strive for success in sport situations. A 32-item inventory was administered in two separate studies to samples of male and female students enrolled in competitive and non-competitive skills classes (n=237 in Study 1; n=218 in Study 2). Factor…

The base-rate fallacy states that the use of stereotypes is eroded when subjects are given minimal but diagnostic, individuating information about a target. To examine the effect of causal attributions and subject gender on the use of stereotypes in evaluations and predictions, 180 college students (90 males, 90 females) were presented with one of…