Richard T. Kinnier

Self-administered programs for health behavior change: Smoking cessation and weight reduction by mail.

Forty smokers and 47 overweight individuals were recruited for a home correspondence program for either smoking cessation or weight loss. Participants were assigned to one of four programs for changing their respective health behaviors: (1) a home correspondence program conducted entirely by mail, (2) the mail program with supplemental financial contigency contracts tied to completion of written homework, (3) the correspondence programs supplemented both by homework contracts and by regular calls to a telephone answering system, and (4) a standard behavioral group program which acted as a comparison condition. Results showed that all three correspondence approaches produced significant changes in health behaviors equal to the changes experienced by participants in the standard group program. The implication of these findings for development of low cost programs for disease prevention are discussed.

A Pilot Study on the Regrets and Priorities of Women

In this pilot study, we surveyed 178 women about their major regrets and priorities in life. Chi-square analyses were used to compare the womens responses based on their ages, marital and family statuses, occupations, and levels of life satisfaction. Findings indicated that the most frequently cited regrets related to missed educational opportunities and a perceived lack of self-assertiveness. Women in less prestigious occupations regretted missed educational opportunities most often. Family was the most often cited priority, especially among homemakers and women with large families. Friendships were more important to single and divorced women than to married women. The women who were least satisfied with their lives more often regretted missed educational opportunities and not having taken more risks than did the most satisfied women.

Teaching a Rational Approach to Career Decision Making: Who Benefits Most?.

Abstract Who benefits most from rational decision-making training? Rational, intuitive, fatalistic, and dependent decision makers were compared on how much they learned from a rational decision-making training intervention. A Decision-Making Questionnaire was administered to 255 community college students to determine which style each used predominantly in three past career-related decisions. Subjects were randomly assigned to instruction in rational decision making or to a placebo intervention and later completed the Career Decision-Making Skills Assessment Exercise , a paper and pencil test on the application of rational decision-making principles. Individuals who had been highly impulsive, dependent, or fatalistic in prior course selections and those who exhibited dependency in prior job choices appeared to learn most from the rational training curriculum. Implications for when rational decision-making training should be prescribed are discussed.

Manifest values of eminent psychologists: A content analysis of their obituaries

Obituaries published in theAmerican Psychologist (from January 1979 to December 1990,N=161) were content analyzed to create a modal demographic profile of the deceased and a ranking of the most frequently occurring value themes. Virtually all of the eminent psychologists were highly productive academicians and researchers. Typically, they were also actively involved in other professional arenas (e.g., administration, service). The majority were male (87%), white (99%), and born in the United States (86%). Ninety-seven percent had obtained Ph.D.’s, most frequently from Columbia University (16%), Harvard (11%), and Chicago (6%). Median age at death was 76. The most frequently occurring value themes written about the deceased were that they were independent-minded (67%), a good friend (61%), hard-working (53%), a good teacher/mentor (51%), and a beloved family member (35%). The implications of these data are discussed.

Behaviors associated with “good” and “poor” outcomes in a simulated career decision

Abstract What career decision-making procedures enable people to make decisions that yield consequences congruent with their own values? The 40 “best” (most congruent) and 40 “worst” decision makers on the Career Decision Simulation were compared in a sample of 148 community college students. No significant differences appeared in the amount of double checking, number of occupations and information sources checked, amount of information collected, decision time required, and the proportion of information sought about high values. The “best” decision makers, however, were significantly more persistent in immediately seeking more information about an occupation that seemed to match one of their most important personal work values. Following a values-guided search appears more effective than simply searching exhaustively.

Imaginal relationships with the dead: Applications for psychotherapy

This study explores possible therapeutic benefits derived from imaginal relationships with deceased loved ones. Using grounded theory methodology, triangulation of the qualitative data was attained through analysis of three data sets: responses from experts, interviews with elders, and a search using LexisNexis. Replicated findings or “global assertions” indicate that imaginal relationships with the deceased are common, “normal,” and therapeutic. Reported therapeutic benefits include feeling cared for and loved, experiencing resolution of grief and relationship conflicts, and experiencing increased confidence in problem solving and decision making. The discussion focuses on applications in counseling.

Psychologists' search for the good life

Psychologists working in three settings (academia, university counseling centers, and community mental health) completed three measures of the “good life” as part of a study examining psychologists’ personal and professional values and beliefs. Psychologists generally endorsed accepting something from allways of life, appreciating and preserving the best of humanity, showing sympathetic concern for others, and enjoying the easily obtainable pleasures as preferred ways to live. They also supported feeling or expressing love, having or being part of a family, having good physical and/or mental health, and having significant friendships as the most desired characteristics of life. Psychologists were generally divided into moral absolutists and moral situationists with regard to their views about the moral dimensions of the good life.

Values Most Extolled in Nobel Peace Prize Speeches

The authors randomly selected 50 Nobel Peace Prize speeches and content analyzed them to determine which values the speakers extolled most frequently. The 10 most frequently mentioned values were peace (in 100% of the speeches), hope (92%), security (86%), justice (85%), responsibility (81%), liberty (80%), tolerance (79%), altruism (75%), God (49%), and truth (38%). The authors discuss the interplay of these values in the modern world and implications regarding the search for universal moral values.

The Fate of Career Dreams: A Test of Levinson's Theory.

The ‘dream’, as defined by Levinson et al. (1979), is an individuals vision about his/her important future accomplishment or special role in life. In this study, several predictions derived from Levinsons theory of dreams are tested. A questionnaire asking respondents to predict the probability that their dream will come true and to rate their disappointment if their dream does not come true was collected from 368 adults (265 women and 103 men). In support of Levinsons theory, womens dreams more often than mens included references to their family. Older adults believed that their original dreams were less likely to come true and the older adults also reported less disappointment than younger adults that their dreams would not be realised. Women were more hopeful than men that their dreams would be realised. Those who were more educated said that they would be less disappointed if their dreams did not come true.